Surprise & a look back

She certainly is a beauty Stera. By the way, who is that guy taking up her space on the couch? :)

Lovely photo Sue . . . our favourite type of dog, and the teetering pile of books makes me smile! Comfort personified :)

Oh - glad you’ve got berries too!

Three pictures showing true happiness and contentment for different reasons.
The last one is full of charm.
Just remember - puppies are for life, not just Christmas, if you are feeling tempted!!!

I'm happy you have berries Stera ,we had one before we moved I always looked forward to the berries .I love the last picture,where will you sit? Lol .. animals have a habit of getting their own way our daughter has put a cat flap in their living room door to keep their Moggy happy the dogs are not allowed in during the day when they're at work but the cat is ...

Are those all gardening books ?

Ha ha - Loose, the guy is my OH with his necessary props - you can't move for books in our house- there are 3000 in the loft for starters...

Thank you Sheila - and Wildrose, there is no danger of us acquiring a puppy - its cats or nothing here, and its nothing at present - but we have the cat flaps... Funny, people kept asking us if we were tempted to get a pup of our own.

Happiness, contentment and comfort - what lovely sentiments - thank you both for reminding me to count my blessings once again.

Amy I wonder why you get berries and we never have before??? Re where do I sit -I have my own comfy rocking chair complete with swivel and footrest, (and heap of books) so no worries there...and there wasn't room for the dog thank goodness!

Meadowland its hard to believe but the dog is a long haired Alsation - sorry, German Shepherd. She's a gentle soul whose only fault apart from cats seemed to be making a beeline for the pond if she got the chance.

Sorry Diane, OH isn't the gardener.At present they are mixture of detective stories and books about battleships.

Hi Sue' that's a lovely BIG dog, I'm not surprised you had trouble holding her, glad you finally got some berries.
ps, I also have a beard, but mine is whiter than your O H, Derek.

Isn’t it fascinating, how one simple blog can turn into a cosy chat?! I wonder if we’re all thinking of sharing comfy sofa pictures, and telling you what books we’re reading . . . Agent Zigzag, Lost for Words, and Monty Don in my case.

Lovely photos, glad about the berries, lovely dog. I'm
being squashed on my sofa at the moment by an incredibly lazy cat, she does nothing but sleep her life away. What is the point of a life spent 95% asleep, anyone know?
Sheilabub, I think Agent Zigzag is a great book. A film was made also but I always prefer the book.

Yes, Feverfew, it's fascinating and so well researched and written by Ben MacIntyre. Not the type of book I would normally read but it was chosen by my book group, and I'm grateful.

Love berries. They look so glossy and bright against the greenery.

Love your dog also though she is so large I reckon she is the sort that takes her owner for walks!

Glad someone else has books all over the place though I am trying to dispose of mine. About 600 gone now.

I tend to read "easy" books these days! Have just finished the Diana Martin books about her detective Hillary Greene. Also some of Agatha Christie's. They are dated but still intriguing. I found these on the online library site. (It's my way of trying to stop actual books coming into the house).Oh and I re-read "Call the Midwife". To think I lived through those days!!!

I enjoyed Call the Midwife too. The first time I asked for it at the Library theyhadn't heard of it and hadn't got any. Then came the telly series... Lots of new book suggestions here - must make a note!
Eirlys, congratulations - 600 is good going - Was it difficult? I have found I haven't actually missed any of those that have gone from here so far but its nothing like as many as that.
I sent some to the church bazaar but most of them came back again...

I've never seen a berry on Euonymus fortunii, I hope mine will have them one day.
Pretty dog … big though :D Your place will seem empty after he's gone home !

Feverview, I have known quite a few people who have spent their lives 95% asleep even though for all appearances they seemed to be awake.

Lovely blog and love the dog but then you might have guessed i would saythat with me having 2 German Shepherds lol. Stereo, how did you cope with all the dog hair. They are not fondly called German Shedders for nothing 😁. As for books, Tim is the real reader here, in fact 2 more arrived for him today. He likes thrillers where I'm more into history. Wish I could get him to use a kindle but he says he much prefers a proper book.

I do agree with Tim about proper books! I bought a tablet but it just sits on the shelf - can't get on with it at all.
The dog was only with us for two weeks Jen, so I dealt with the hair by ignoring it. It wasn't at all obvious and I only realised how much there was when I came to empty the vacuum cleaner later! (I'm Stera not a music centre, lol!)

Sorry auto correct strikes again lol. I won't tell you what it turned my friends Peni name into but luckily she laughed.

There is absolutely nothing that can be called a book than an actual, real, proper book! Harrumph.

On the subject of books, I can recommend. The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul. & also The Kabul Beauty School by
Deborah Rodriguez. Good ones for a book club.

Interesting comment Loosestrife2!

Our local library is closed at present, moving to a new site. I can now compile a booklist for when it reopens next month, so thank you for all the suggestions! I have been reduced to rereading old ones yet again, but have tried some of OH's old detective stories (never read detectives normally) and enjoyed them. Problem is that with my distressingly deteriorating memory I cant really be sure of following a complicated plot...

Sheila, hear hear!

Jen I can't imagine what you mean hum hum... Serves her right for not using the normal abbreviation Penny!

Loosestrife2, also watch out for people who appear to be asleep but are actually wide awake...

Stera - if you haven't read The Guernsey Potato Peel Pie Literary Society you have a treat in store. I love it to bits, and have read it three times.

What an intriguing title! I just Googled this and found there is a film of it - wonder if you'd enjoy that or complain about the parts that are usually different in films! Well I'm just going to make a list of all these suggestions now - keep me going for ages!

Lol, Stera, you probably got it right 😀.

Sheilabub I totally agree with The Guernsey Potato Peel Pie Literary club. A friend lent it to me a few yrs back when I was still living in Kent. Really good read, gentle but dealing with WW2 and life on Guernsey at the time. Keep meaning to look for a copy of my own. They have also just made it into a film. The same friend gave me for a birthday, Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevallier as she knew how much I enjoyed the Guernsey one and it is written in the same style. As for the kindle, I was trying to cut down Tim's amount of books, he doesn't use the Library and keeps all that he buys, normally 3 or a month, but really I understood why he didn't want one lol.

Good point Sue, but I have seen the film and loved it.

Jen, I enjoyed Remarkable Creatures too. Aren’t we lucky to have so many good writers to choose from?!

Sheilabub, have you read any of her other books? If so any recommendations?

Yes, one or two, Jen. At the Edge of the Orchard (grafting apples and collecting seeds from giant Sequoias); The Lion and the Unicorn (fascinating tapestries).

But my great love is books about books and bookshops . . . I’m always on the lookout for more!

Here are some really interesting non fiction ones:

Winchester, Simon.The surgeon of Crowthorne - a history of the original compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary (you would never believe it,-totally astonishing! Well worth hunting up on Amazon.

Hitchings, H. How English became English:the secret life of words.

and Garfield, S. Just my type. Definitely different - if you are interested in design. there is more to type than you would ever have thought!

Sounds good Stera. Yes, enjoyed the Winchester book, and will look up the other two . . . thank you!

Thanks. Will have to look those up.

How English became English looks like a good present for OH . . . I remember him enjoying Bill Bryson’s “Mother Tongue”, so thanks for the idea Sue :)

Love al Bill Bryson's books!

I have read The Surgeon of Crowthorne too, fascinating. My mother was a matron at Mill Hill School where he started a library. Have also read The Potato Pie book but haven't seen the film. I need to read it again though as these days I forget what I've read!

Oh dear, so do I - these days I forget what I've read before I've finished reading it which makes remember who characters are a bit difficult...

Feverfew and Sue (Stera) I have kept a notebook of everything I’ve read since 1981 - well now it’s two notebooks! It makes fascinating reading, and I can look back to find a title when I think “oh, I think I’ve read that before.” Several bookish friends say they wish they’d done that, but it’s never too late . . .

Wow Sheila you sure have stickability! Did you note whether you enjoyed them? The Library often tells me if I'm taking one out I've had already and forgotten about.

Yes, I write a brief “review” for each one. Do you have a Pin for accessing your Library use? OH can look at a list of everything he’s ever borrowed, but he still takes out a book before realising that he’s read it before!

I will ask about that next time I go!

:))

Great to see berries on your Euonymous fortunii. When I married OH I had to agree to share his life with a Samoyed. The dog agreed I was the boss but as soon as we turned our backs he did everything he knew he was not allowed to do, like sleeping on the red couch. He should have had an equity card. If we crept up and peeped through the lounge window he would be sound asleep stretched out on said couch but by the time we unlocked the door and came in to the house he was getting up from the rug and stretching as if he had been asleep there. The white hairs were a giveaway but he did not seem to notice them.
I have added this blog to favourites and will have a look at reading some of the books. I can never remember what I have read in the past and only find out when the story unfolds enough to remind me. I have an ipad mini and love it. I can read in bed without the need to have a separate light source. I have not found the delete button for books I have downloaded and read so I can check on recent reads very easily. My favourite hard back books are my OH's collection of Zane Grey novels.
Steragram thank you for telling us that Seaburngirl is in hospital. I hope she makes a quick recovery and gets home soon.

The Samoyed sounds a cracker - what a character! It did make me laugh that he never thought abut the white hairs - but you can't be cross can you?

Steragram I could write a book about him. No you could never be cross with him.

Why don't you? animal books usually sell well!

Yes, they say you can sell anything about cats, golf and . . . I can’t remember the third thing . . . aaargh!

We have grown Euonymus for many years, but have never noticed any berries.......
That dog is enormous, we are only used to small dogs lol!!
For those of you who like a good thriller I could heartily recommend The Woman in The Window A.J.Finn on Kindle 3.99! takes a couple of chapters to get in to the swing of it, I thoroughly enjoyed it.....