October Reading...

 

The month began as September ended with Bella Mackie and How to kill your family - and I confess I am a little nervous about what this says about me because I absolutely loved this! Very dark, very twisted, but also very funny. The twist at the end was completely hilarious and totally unexpected, and that is all I’ll say about it! This got popped into a book exchange local to where I work. 

Time for an Ian Rankin Rebus story then. Saints of the Shadow Bible is set in the time period where Rebus returns to the Edinburgh force after a brief period of retirement - rejoining as a Detective Sergeant. Initially this sees hiring as junior officer to now D.I. Siobhan Clarke - and interesting turning of the tables! Probably not the most gripping Rankin I’ve read, but still a good enough storyline to keep me hooked. This one got finished on the Isle of Eight, but usually for books read while travelling it headed home with us to join the others on the shelf.

The month’s Reacher fix followed - Lee Child’s 61 Hours. This was one of the books we grabbed from a book exchange either in the Hebrides or en-route - I had read it before but it wasn't one we had on the shelf as far as I could remember. Standard Reacher stuff, as usual, although the countdown running right from the beginning is a clever twist to build suspense. Thoroughly enjoyable, now on the shelf with the rest of the collection.

A book I had for some reason been putting off reading for ages next - Peter May’s Chinese Whispers has been on the to-be-read shelf for a ridiculous amount of time, but following May's recent death I felt it was only fitting to read it. As is so often the case with his books, I was immediately grabbed by it and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was interesting to read a book set in such a different culture - although I appreciate that this was softened by one of the main characters being an American woman. It's reminded me how good May was as an author - I must re read some of his others, and this one is now on the shelf alongside them. 

A non fiction offering was next off the shelf - Barbie Probert-Wright with Little Girl Lost - her account of her time as a young girl in wartime and immediate post-war Europe travelling with her sister Eva to attempt to be reunited with their family. This is another book that has been on my shelf for ages, and I  confess that I wasn’t sure how I would get on with it, however I was only a chapter or so in before I was thoroughly engrossed. A fascinating read and astonishing story. Not one to keep, this will return to the charity shop. 

Finally for the month - David Baldacci with Deliver us from Evil. Baldacci does write a good gripping thriller, and this is no exception. I particularly enjoyed the way he built to a climax mid-book, but still managed to maintain the pace to the finale! That said, I actually think he could have left things hanging a little more with the finale - it felt like unfinished business to me, with a set of “non ending” on one of the storylines. There were also some minor irritations that often come from an American writing a book with British characters and/or set in Britain. Sorry Mr Baldacci, but nobody in Britain was calling the Channel Tunnel the “Chunnel” by the time you wrote that! This one has gone on the shelf for now, but I’m reconsidering keeping this author’s books as I’m not convinced I enjoy them sufficiently to justify keeping them.

Robyn. 

I did a THING!

Photo and tattoo by Adam Silas.

For pretty much as long as I can remember, I have hankered after getting a tattoo, while simultaneously assuming it was never going to happen because I was worried about how painful it would be, AND completely undecided about what on earth I would get. Obviously it isn’t the sort of decision to take unless you are very invested in the design, and of course there is also that idea that a tattoo has to be terribly meaningful as well, very deep…

A few months back, instagram decided that I needed to see posts about tattoos. You know the way it does this- you like one random post on a subject, and insta decides that must be the new thing you need to see EVERYTHING about! One of the posts that popped up was from an artist called Adam Silas - also known as The Goosefather because the majority of his work is what can best be described as comedy geese. I clicked through to his profile, spent several minutes laughing uproariously,and then announced to MrEH that I may just have decided to get a tattoo! 

Oddly enough after all the shenanigans around actually making the decision to do it, the idea for the design came together really quickly. As you know I have been a Queen fan for pretty much as long as I can remember, with my favourite band member always having been drummer Roger Taylor. Once I’d decided that I loved the idea of a silly goose, the obvious next step was a silly queen video in the shape of “I’m going slightly mad”. When I messaged Adam to ask if it might be something he was interested in tattooing, he was immediately enthusiastic - he is a Queen fan himself and also happens to love that video, so he immediately got the vibe I was after. 

Outline completed, next step colour!

On Friday I headed into London to Queens Park where the studio Adam works in is situated.  From the moment he greeted me I was set at ease- although oddly enough I really wasn’t nervous beforehand, I think making the decision to do it was the biggest thing for me although I would be fibbing if I didn’t say that the trust involved in not seeing the design until I arrived wasn’t a bit challenging. The feeling that we were on the same wavelength over it was borne out though and there were no changes to make to Adam’s original design at all.

Having filled in some paperwork, and gone through what I could expect from the process Adam set to work. I was pleasantly surprised how little discomfort there was - it felt scratchy, with the occasional sharper feeling where nerves are closer to the surface, but certainly nothing that was any sort of problem - a definite relief! The time passed surprisingly quickly - there was lots of chatting, periodic breaks for a stretch, and around three and a half hours later I had my very own Slightly Mad goose!

I am honestly delighted with it - it is just so cute, and makes me smile every single time I catch sight of it, and you can’t ask for much more than that. I can also now vouch for the fact that what people say about a first tattoo not being the last is very probably going to be true in my case as I’m already thinking about ideas for more!

Robyn.

HOW long?

 

I have just realised that January 2027 will see me having occupied this little corner of the internet for a whopping 20 years! It seems astonishing that is even possible - I can actually remember making that very first post too, and wondering how long I would keep up with being a blogger - turns out that to some extent or another the answer is "a really long while"! 

I'd love to say that in that time I have been someone who had routinely blogged every few days, but of course that is far from the case. There have been years within that where I have only put up a handful of posts, but there have also been others where I've been active on here far more - with 2020 perhaps unsurprisingly being the standout year for that with a long run of daily posts during the first lockdown, and a total of 177 for the year. 2012 and 2013 were also good blogging years. 

I've never really set any sort of target for any frequency of posts. There are folk out there doing "A photo a day" blogs and I applaud them for that - although I have my suspicions that sometimes those don't feature a photo taken that day or even the day before at all, but are simply batch-readied and scheduled for upload. Still lots of work, though! Others have blogged for years most days - and again, that's so impressive, when life gets busy all too often it also gets interesting, but that tends to be when I find the first thing to get pushed aside is this little space! I've always tended towards more of a "when I feel like it" approach - because the quickest way for me to go entirely off doing something is to feel that I "have to" and particularly from the photography perspective I certainly don't want picking up the camera to feel like a chore! 

Where would I like it to go from here then? To be honest I quite like the randomness of it - although I'm well aware that more consistency would see better stats, I've only ever written it for myself, never for anyone else, so I'm not wildly motivated by that side of things. I love that people do read it, but I'd write it just the same - more than anything else it's fascinating to look back and see what was in my head at a certain point in 2010, or 2017, or whenever. I'm more and more driven to write about experiences as well - trips away, days out, the life changing events of the Covid pandemic... Similarly I could define it more - a Frugal blog, or a photography blog, or whatever - but again that steps away from the randomness aspect, and I've never wanted it to be curtailed by having to fit within a category. It started out around photography, certainly, and I do generally try to get a photo or more into each post, but sometimes that just doesn't happen, and that's fine. 

So I'll stick around and keep doing much the same thing I should think - for some context, when I started the blog I was 35, we were living in the flat with our lovely HRH The Cat of course, and had begun to discover a more frugal way of life. Overpaying the mortgage hadn't quite happened. Since then we have paid that original mortgage off completely, enjoyed 7 mortgage free years during which we refurbished the bathroom, kitchen and hallway of the flat, and then decided to move to a house, which of course meant taking on a whole new mortgage to be attacked! I've gone from most of my photography being speedway-based, to not attending speedway at all, and now my main focus is aviation. The one factor that still plays a huge part in our lives unchanged is our trips to the Hebrides - and long may that continue. 

The photos in this post are a random selection of favourites from the time I've been blogging. 

Robyn

September reading…

The month began of course in the Hebrides and with the end of Elly Griffiths  A Room Full of Bones. Like the others of hers I have read I enjoyed this, although perhaps the storyline felt a little too contrived even for a series involving a Druid,  the character of Bob in particular felt rather far-fetched although the subject matter - that of UK museums etc holding on to items which should probably have been returned to their ancestral homes - was thought provoking. That one ended up heading home with us as MrEH was still reading it when we left. 

A very unusual hardback read for me next - I’m not a fan of a hardback, finding them unwieldy and uncomfortable to handle, but I was willing to make an exception for Lee Child - The Affair, a Reacher series book which as far as we could recall when we spotted it on a supermarket charity bookshelf in Stirling, we didn’t already have. A spectacularly wet and windy Sunday saw us spend much of the day reading, and indeed I demolished over half of the book in that one day, finishing the remainder the day after. Usual Reacher fare of course - although this one perhaps even slightly more far fetched than usual - but as always extremely readable and entertaining. This one will head home with us and join the others. 

Charity book shelves on the way up provided rich pickings for us on the Reacher front - as well as this we also found two others we didn’t think we already had, so our plan of only taking home books we were currently reading appeared to have been scuppered early on! 

On to another book I took with me specifically to read while away -  Molly Green- The Wartime Librarian’s Secret. Quite the culture shock going from Reacher to this, I confess! The story here was a decent enough one, albeit a fairly classic boy-meets-girl tale, but some minor errors which should really have been sorted out in the editing process let it down rather. The ending too felt rather rushed - the death of a main character generally merits more than a brief mention in a letter, for a start! It was interesting to read the authors notes regarding the setting and certain aspects of the book, but ultimately I won’t be seeking out anymore of Ms Green’s work. Left behind in a book exchange on Uist. 

Back to a favourite author - TV’s Fern Britton adores Cornwall, knows it well, and this shows in her novels which are at least mainly set in the county. I picked up Daughters Of Cornwall from a book exchange in the first few days of our arrival in Uist, and it ended up waiting until the end of the trip to get started. I tore through it though- a fascinating story of three women, Mother, Daughter and Granddaughter - and how through various circumstances their lives mirror one another. This one was finished at our hotel where we broke the journey on our way back, and will be passed on to Mum who also enjoys Britton’s writing. 

As you will be aware by the time you see this, I then found myself needing to select another book - or books - that I could take away and not have to worry about bringing home - this time for my trip to Lundy with pals. Thankfully one of the features of the Marisco Tavern on the island is plentifully filled bookshelves - you take a book to read and leave another behind - with limited mobile signals lots of reading tends to get done - along with various silly games, and jigsaws - and so it works well to have a good supply of books available. Initially I selected Linwood Barclay and Find You First - an author who while I enjoy reading is not one we keep, they are excellent thrillers (this one being no exception) but don’t necessarily lend themselves to being read again particularly soon. Tech millionaire Miles on discovering he has a terminal illness sets out to track down his offspring from a fertility clinic donation he made in his youth - a simple enough concept but one which quickly turns quite dark. A good read but somewhat spoiled by a very implausible ending, for me. Left behind on Lundy. 

The second book I took with me to Lundy was Anita Burgh - Clare’s War. I thought from the title I’d read this one before but the first few pages told me that was wrong. Burgh’s books are usually a good read, and a foggy day on Lundy saw me tear through the first half of this tale set in wartime France, by which time I was hooked enough to read the rest the following day! If I had to make any criticism of the book it would be that the ending was slightly telegraphed, but it really didn’t spoil my enjoyment at all. A great read from a solid author- left on the Tavern bookshelves for someone else to enjoy. 

Time to move on to a book that L had  finished - we tend to swap books between us while here, before raiding the Tavern bookshelves when there is nothing else that appeals. L absolutely devoured Harriet Tyce - Blood Orange, going through it from start to finish in one day, so I was expecting good things. I wasn’t disappointed - a main character who becomes more likeable as the story goes on, cleverly interwoven stories with parallels between the characters, and a huge twist in the tail which neither of us saw coming.  Couldn’t recommend this one enough - and our copy was immediately passed to S to read! 

Time for a raid of the Tavern bookshelves then - and a distinct change of genre as L recommended Spider Woman - the autobiography of Lady Hale. I wouldn’t describe myself as a regular autobiography reader but every now and again one does grab me, and this one certainly did. Hale has an engaging way of writing, and a wonderfully descriptive turn of phrase, and she has also lead a very interesting life! I thoroughly enjoyed this, and it was no chore to shoehorn in time to read the final few pages before leaving so it could be returned to the Tavern shelves. 

Final Lundy book was another that L had read and enjoyed - How to kill your family by Bella Mackie. I started this one on our final day, reading the first few chapters in the pub while we waited for the boat, and a good few more on my journey home. Oddly enough I did only have someone in the adjacent seat on the train for a single stop while reading this - maybe the title was offputting?! This is a cleverly written book with a seriously dark, twisted main character - likeable is certainly not a word that could be applied to Grace, but she is definitely fascinating! This one carries forward to October. 

A couple of late additions to the “To Be Read” shelf via a little book exchange box I pass near to work - the Rankin is one I haven’t read, and the Pullman is the first in the His Dark Materials trilogy - the third in the series is already awaiting reading.

With 9 books during the month, this is certainly the most I've read in a month for a very long while - and the amount of downtime facilitated that of course. It's also a very eclectic mix isn't it, and one where my reading choices were very influenced by circumstances of course! 

Robyn

What, three lighthouses?

Tuesday dawned far brighter than the very misty day before, and as it was a boat day, which means day trippers, it felt like a good day to head to the northern end of the Island.  On days when there are day trippers the southern half of the Island can be quite busy with anything up an additional 150+ people, and the pub is impossible, so a longer distance walk is always a sensible plan. 

From our accommodation everything starts with the Village as you can see from the top photo - there is the Tavern on the left, with square cottage and the church, plus the Black Shed - used for storage of various items belonging to the island, the pub’s cellar is in there, and it’s also a popular leisure time hangout for the staff too. The only public use of it is the toilets to one side. I popped into the shop - I’d made a sandwich but wanted a drink and some crisps to take with me, and then headed out along the main track.

The island is divided into sections via stone walls - descriptively referred to as Quarter Wall, Halfway Wall and Threequarter Wall - above you can see Halfway wall with Tibbetts visible on the Horizon. Tibbetts is a former lookout, and is the most northerly accommodation available on the Island, over a mile from the Village. It is also the only place you can stay which has no mains electricity - with everything running on bottled gas, AND the only place where you can get your shopping delivered - the staff take it up on the Land Rover! 

Past Tibbetts and on to Threequarter Wall, and that rise ahead is the end of the island! The terrain changes at this stage with the path becoming far more rocky, and lots of up-and-downy sections too, a view back the way you’ve come makes things feel quite remote too - see Old Light looking absolutely tiny on the horizon…

I decided to see where the party of round the island swimmers had got to - they were doing well as they had already rounded the Northern tip and were heading up the Eastern side - I managed to get a few pictures with the big camera too but haven’t looked at those yet.

There were seven of them, albeit not really spottable in that shot, I appreciate! 

Time then for my first view of the North Light. Lundy does indeed have three lighthouses - the Old Light was built first as the name suggests, at the top of the island, until it became apparent that the top of the island can spend a lot of time swathed in low cloud - so not an ideal location for a lighthouse! At that stage the North and South Lights were added, much lower down. As a result North Light is reached by a set of steep stone steps…

…there is the first section - from there you turn right,  cross the metal bridge and then are met with this…

See - a long way down! I don’t always bother going all the way way down, but I had it to myself and fancied eating lunch down there on this occasion, so I picked my way down, finding a handily positioned rock on one of the “landing” sections where I stopped to eat before doing the final stretch of steps for an explore…

It’s a classic Trinity House style Lighthouse,  but still interesting to wander round - it’s been automated since 1985 and now runs on solar power. Larger than its opposite number at the southern end of the Island, which is far more compact. 

Time then to head back up again - and I elected to return via the West side path - far more undulating and uneven but with stunning views along the coastline…

There were also good views of the Aircraft carrier H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth which could be seen on the western horizon- too far away for anything other than the haziest photos! 

Partway back along I met one of the little groups of resident Soay sheep - these far more relaxed with my presence than some, and I stood watching them for awhile before they cleared the path and I moved on.

On this side of the Island the walls are crossed by way of stiles rather than gates (other than at Quarter wall which currently has a collapsed section which has been replaced with a fence and gate) - the stiles are rather wonderful - and as you can see VERY substantial! 

Then the final stretch on past the Old Light - just a short distance back to the village from there, although on this occasion I took the detour via the Castle…

…so I could complete the lighthouse set with a view down to the SouthLight and the jetty. You can really see the difference in size between north and south there too! 

A lovely walk on a glorious day - just over 6.5m walked with 15,500 steps, and 535 ft of elevation, and barely another soul seen for much of it!

Robyn

An(other) unexpected treat…

 

Isn’t it cheerful when lovely things happen - and all the more so when they pop up completely out of the blue? At the tail end of our holiday I was more than a bit surprised to get a message inviting me to pop up to RAF Waddington for a Red Arrows in-season practise. You might recall that I do travel up there to shoot those whenever I can but this was an invitation from the team to head on to base to watch the practise from there!  It is the current Red 1’s final season, and he had decided that he wanted to extend a thank you to some of the amateur photographers who have photographed him over the 8 seasons he has been on the team, which was a lovely gesture, and very unexpected indeed.

The boss in his first season in the iconic red suit

My first issue was whether I would be able to secure the holiday time - I wasn’t even due back into the office for another few days, and was then only meant to be working three days before having another week off for a trip to Lundy - so I was well aware that I was probably on rather thin ice - regardless I sent a hopeful message explaining the situation and thank goodness got an “oh, go on then!” one in return shortly after. Phew! 

Even the crew room mugs are in formation! 

Thursday morning saw me in the car heading up - very excited and completely unsure what to expect. On arriving at the specified location at the base I met the other invitees, all similarly in the dark. Much nervous giggling ensued as we waited for our escort round to the RAFAT section. I don’t think there was anyone among us who was anything other than slightly astonished to find ourselves there! 

Claire, Caz, Tom & me failing to hide our excitement!

Our escort turned out to be the very lovely Doug - Chief of Staff and someone I have known for years, so that was excellent! With parking at the squadron apparently at a premium that day, once equipped with our visitor passes we hopped into two cars and proceeded through past lots of interesting looking buildings - Waddington is very different from the slightly run-down familiarity of Scampton with its World War 2 infrastructure and is also far bigger! Into the squadron building - but not before I had noticed just outside my lovely XX311 - the jet my pal Ross flew in in 2014 - now retired and installed as Squadron guardian!

XX311 enjoying her retirement 

The all important brew was a priority of course - always - an introduction to Joe from the PR team who was helping to host us, and lots of hellos from various people milling about too, and then Doug explained that we would be sitting in on the pre practice briefing which was very exciting - I have done this before but not for a lot of years. Briefings are fascinating - hearing all information relevant to the next activity being imparted and then the whole intended display plus any likely variations talked through step by step in incredible detail. Once complete, the pilots headed off to get kitted up and we went back to the crew room where someone else I have known for years- P R Manager Andy Morton - joined us. He wasted no time in jokingly pointing out how little I had been about this season - a very valid point indeed! We split into two groups at that stage to head out to datum, Claire and I hopped into the car with Andy driving along with another of our group, David, and a chap called Steve who was there filming, and Doug drove the rest of the group. 

OC RAFAT supervising, Iwan filming - “Rollbacks” in the background

The practice itself was essentially like watching our own private Red Arrows display - and watching everyone get their”game faces” on once the camera kit came out was entertaining. I do wonder what the value of the assembled kit out there was though - I suspect well north of £50k total between us, and that is not counting Steve’s kit and that of the team’s own photographer! New Officer Commanding Wing Commander Sasha Nash was supervising, I’d not met her before so it was nice to have quick chat in between her duties.

Back to the squadron then, and after a bit of a break for the pilots time for the debrief - another treat! Just as fascinating - the level of scrutiny they subject themselves to is astonishing - after all these years we are pretty good at noticing stuff that isn’t quite to the incredibly high standard the team set for themselves and indeed the Boss (Red 1 is always known as The Boss) commented that we were all very good at not posting photos of those moments, but they pick up on the tiniest things that are invisible to us! Seeing the way they call themselves out on errors really underlines why the team motto is “Eclat” - Excellence. 

There was still more in store for us - photos outside with the team, both individually and as a group…thanks to Claire for the shot above - and then a hangar tour where the very lovely Matt, one of the team’s armourers - gave us all sorts of interesting info about the jets in the hangar and the engineering side in general. It is always great to see the jets up close, but being able to look inside the engine bay was a new one for me - with the engine (below) having been dropped out of XX219 to go to Rolls Royce for repair.

Rolls Royce Adour engine as used in the Hawk.

We got the chance to sit in the training jet too - active team jets are off limits to visitors but the training jet has its ejection seat system disabled and so is “safe” for random people! Naturally after all my work with the Blues and circus team in the past I chose the backseat!   Time then for farewells, and heartfelt thank you’s from us - I think we were all a bit shell-shocked to be honest, it was an incredible day and although we didn’t really know what to expect, it wasn’t a fraction of that! - before Joe who had been looking after us through the day drove us back across to our cars.  

Simply a superb day, and an incredible opportunity, one I am so glad to have been able to accept and something I certainly won’t forget in a hurry! 

Robyn

August Reading…

 

Right - where we were - ahh yes, Mark Billingham and Good as Dead. Needless to say it didn’t take me long to rattle through this one. I LOVE Billingham’s writing - in spite of the fact that the first book of his I read was “Sleepyhead” which should be the the stuff of nightmares for a claustrophobic- I was hooked. Thorne, Hendricks et al are great characters - not permanently likeable, and I think that is key - they become more real because there are times you find yourself thinking they’re behaving badly and wanting to call them out for it!  Overall though the characters are so well written you truly crave a good outcome for them. Good as Dead doesn’t let the side down, and has already slotted into it’s appropriate place on the shelf. 

Next up then - and another one I tore through - L J Ross - The Cove. Holy Island from the same author was one of my very occasional kindle fiction reads and I thoroughly enjoyed that, so I was expecting good things, and I wasn’t disappointed. Murder mystery cross standard chick-lit girl meets boy tale, but set down on the Lizard in Cornwall - a part of the country I’m very fond of as you know. Nice characters, a great storyline that takes us from London all the way down to Cornwall, and it rattles along picking up pace towards a pretty unexpected ending. This one will be heading on to my Mum - it’s right up her street I reckon - and I will be keeping an eye for more from the same author. 

An Ian Rankin Rebus series novel followed - The Falls. I love that Rankin tends to write an introduction to his books giving an outline of his inspiration for the story - it adds context before you even turn to the first chapter. This book involves Siobhan Clarke as a main rather than supporting character which adds another dimension, and we know I like a strong leading female character in a book. Classic Rankin, and a great read as ever. 

JD Kirk’s City of Scars  was up next - the second of Kirk’s Jack Logan series I’ve read in the last few months. Once again I enjoyed the humorous way the characters are written, and it being set in and around Inverness added some interest. The storyline itself was basic murder mystery stuff, but well enough written that it made an enjoyable read. Probably not one to keep long term, but I will certainly keep an eye out for more from the series. 

At this stage the question of "books to take on holiday" came up - we've adopted a principle of taking just a few with us - usually one for MrEH and two for me - with at least one of those being interchangeable between us. This then keeps us both in reading material for the first few days even if a wet ferry crossing keeps us inside and reading, and we can then make use of the handful of book exchanges we know of on the islands to top up the levels from that. We never take anything with us that we want to bring home either - same with jigsaws, they go across, get completed, then get left behind, a policy which has worked really well for us for a good few years now. A bit like camping trips, holidays are a time when I tend to make my way through a lot of books, so you'll be seeing what I chose this time pretty soon! 

An author I enjoy but hadn't read much from for a good while now - Marion Keyes, very much a favourite of the Chick-lit genre. The Other Side of the Story features her usual slightly far fetched but down to earth enough to make them believable characters - and a clever storyline that intertwines their lives via the world of publishing. The usual mix of love, hate, high drama and sufficient happy-ever-after to let you end the book with a satisfied sigh! 

The first of the holiday books was Elly Griffiths with A Room Full of Bones -  from her Dr Ruth Galloway series, and so of course set in Norfolk once again ticking the box for a book being all the more enjoyable when it is set somewhere you know. This one carries across into September.

Robyn.

July Reading...

 

The month began as June ended - with Ian Rankin's Set In Darkness - one of his Rebus series. As always this was a great and engaging read, bringing in many of the usual favourite characters outside of Rebus himself. This is set around the time that Queensberry House was being remodelled to turn it into part of the new Scottish Parliament complex, and indeed that is where a big strand of the story originates, with other strands weaving there way through that as the book goes on. I can remember those works starting back in the late 1990s, it was quite interesting thinking back! This one will be joining the other Rankin novels on the shelf.

A random book find early in the month when I spotted some books sitting on a wall as I walked back to the car after work - Phillip Pullman's The Amber Spyglass. I'm aware that this is the third book of a trilogy and I'm not certain whether I should track down the others to read first, or whether it works as a standalone - if anyone has views I'd be happy to hear them! 

On to another author who has rapidly become a bit of a favourite - Leanne Moriarty - with Here One Moment. This one was a cracker, with the main storyline woven around events that occurred on a flight from Hobart to Sydney. Subsequent chapters follow the stories and lives of those involved and how those events affect them, and are as usual from Moriarty well written and extremely readable. Less of a twist in the tail than some of her books, and I’m not even going to HINT at why that is the case because that would definitely be a spoiler and we’re not here for those, but still her signature mix of chick-lit and thriller. A great read and I think I will pass this one on to Mum as I reckon she’ll enjoy it. 

With the hot weather ramping up, I felt like something suitably easy on the brain for my next choice and so. a Reacher book was the obvious selection. Lee Child, Never Go Back. Obviously I have read this before - it is going to turn out that we already own it? Perfectly possible, but never fear, if that is the case once finished it will return to the charity shop from where it originally came! As usual I pretty much tore through this - we’ve established that the Reacher books are fairly formulaic, yet  none the less readable for that. It isn’t any sort of spoiler to reveal that this one in no way breaks the mould. A good read - it’s obviously now been added to the shelf. 

On to an author whose stuff I’ve read in the past although not for a while - Adele Parks. First Wife’s Shadow begins as classic chick-lit then takes a turn. The first part of the book was actually quite an uncomfortable read I found - as it appeared that it was fairly obvious what was happening in the storyline and where it was heading, the lead character Emma is instantly likeable which adds to the discomfort. I didn’t see the twist coming though - and then a further twist towards the later stages of the book adds to the surprise. A really clever, well written tale, I’ll pass this one to Mum as it’s definitely her sort of thing. 

Elly Griffiths is another author who is rapidly becoming a favourite - she writes as excellent thriller and The Zig Zag Girl is no exception. Set amongst the variety theatre scene post world war 2, it takes us back to the "end of the pier show" and names up in lights, with a dose of murder and mystery thrown in. Again this one had plot twists along the way - with the murderer being revealed as one would expect in the closing chapters. Entertainingly written with excellent characters and good judgement around who "snuffs it" and who doesn't. I'll set this aside to go to Mum I think - she's doing well this month! 

Another "incoming" book when MrEH found a Lee Child we hadn't already got in a charity shop - well done him! That's on the shelf and I may even wait and take it on holiday when we go - we'll see! 

Finishing up the month is a Val McDermid I've not read before - The Mermaids Singing is one of her Tony Hills Series, not quite as good as Karen Pirie but there is still a  nice strong female character in there so all good. The usual McDermid mix of a great storyline plus enough personal interest created in the characters that you actually care what happens to them too. This is the usual breadcrumb trail of clues left throughout the story, until the twist in the tail arrives and you realise you’d missed something huge. Great reading! Onto the shelf with the others!

It almost feels slightly annoying having to go into a new book on the last couple of days if the month butI will make an exception for a Mark Billingham - not least because I know I will positively romp through it. Good as Dead is a bit of  twist - we meet Helen Weeks for the first time, and in quite dramatic circumstances, enter Tom Thorne to save the day…or will he? We’ll know by next month! 

Robyn

June Reading...

 

Following on from the (mostly Cornwall-based) adventures of May, I confess I was rather looking forward to a more home-based month of June. In theory this ought to mean lots of time for reading, but in fact what all too often happens when I'm at home more is I end up spending more time on various screens, or simply doing odd jobs around the house or garden, rather than picking up a book. The first of those though is something I want to try to scale back a little - maybe this will be the month for that?

I began with a book that's been on my "to be read" shelf for a few months - Rowland White's "Harrier 809", an account of the exploits of some of the Harrier force during the Falklands conflict, and in particular RNAS 809 Squadron, from their standing up and going into action. I'm sometimes a bit wary of this sort of aviation based book as they can be very "dry" and I really am far more interested in photographing aircraft than reading about them! To some extend this did indeed fit that mould, with far more detail about individual sorties and tactical details than I would usually go for - at times I did struggle with it a bit, however the story of the personalities involved and the sheer level of determination needed to go from nothing to a full additional squadron of Harriers and Pilots being deployed kept me reading. Another review of the book said “a lot of acronyms” though - and the full ELEVEN pages of them at the back of the book underlines this! MrEH will probably read this one at some stage, so it will get kept for now, at least.  

Two new books in to report early in the month - an L J Ross - "The Cove" which was on the charity bookshelf in the supermarket (50p) and a Val McDermid - "The Mermaids Singing" which was in a book exchange outside a house near work. I must remember to take a couple of books along there in exchange at some stage. Those have both gone onto the "to be read" shelf. There was also a stack of books from a charity shop later in the month - I really must stop going in there until the "to be read" pile has shrunk at least a bit! 

Next up was a Mark Billingham - one of my absolute favourite authors, and particular the Tom Thorne series, of which this was one. From the Dead takes Thorne outside  the UK for a change, but maintains the usual themes of Thorne’s boundary pushing…the usual supporting cast are less evident in this one which is a shame, the leading characters interactions with the likes of Dave Holland are always entertaining, Holland is there in the background but doesn’t playa y significant part here. I realised early on that I had read this one before, but got fully half way through it before realising that there was in fact a copy on the shelf! As a result it will be heading back to the charity shop. 

A new to me author next - Joanna Cannon with The Trouble With Goats and Sheep. “Quirky” proclaimed the sticker on the cover, and so it was. A interesting twist was that the book is partly set in the summer of 1976 - something which has been very much in mind over the blazing hot June days while I was reading it! Nicely written- with characters you warm to and a good twist in the tail as well. I’ll set this one aside to go to Mum although I’m not entirely sure she will get on with it. 

Ending the month with an Ian Rankin Rebus novel - Set In Darkness. You know I believe that I love these because of the location as much as anything - Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities and it always works so well when a book is set somewhere you can actually picture. His characters are always so engaging though - and I love the fact that rather like the Reacher books, it doesn't matter if you don't read them in the order they were written. I got roughly half way through this before the end of the month, so that is where we will pick up in July...

Robyn

Places to go and things to do...

 

Peak District - 2021

Who remembers this list then?

Places to go and things to do...

1) The Lake District 
2) The Peak District
3) Go back to the Farne Islands to photograph the puffins again. 
4) Go back to Donna Nook to photograph the seals again
5) Go back to Dublin
6) Belfast
7) Spend more time exploring the bits of Cornwall we've not yet seen
8) Glastonbury - The tor and village, not the festival! 
8) Do a trip on the Settle to Carlisle railway in better weather!
9) Northumberland
10) Ardnamurchan Point
11) Dunnet Head (I've been there, MrEH hasn't)
12) Lowestoft (Bizarrely MrEH's never been there, either!) - We've both been to The Lizard already
13) Arran
14) Islay
15) Blackpool! (Yes, really, I've never been, but LOVE tacky seaside places!)
16) Anthony Gormley's Another Place - Crosby
17) Visit to the Red Arrows at RAF Scampton  
18) Orkney! 
19) Re-visit the National Railway Museum at York
20) Make a short visit to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
21) This one is for 2013 - get to an Airshow where the Vulcan is flying. Last chance to see her airborne.

It first saw the light of day in late 2011 I think, and I posted again with a bit of an update in 2013, but as far as I can see I've not updated it again since. With that in mind, I reckoned it might be time to update it, as I can see a lot needing changed! 

1) The Lake District - we have twice spent a few days there now - first camping, and then sharing a big house with the friends we consider our "CAMRA Family" a few years later. 

2) The Peak District - We made a fleeting visit there when heading up to Chesterfield and had the most glorious walk - we'd certainly like to return and spend some more time though! 

3) Go back to the Farne Islands to photograph the Puffins again - yes! Once again we had weather issues, but we got a decent length of time on one Island, lovely views of Puffins and seals, and MrEH even got dive-bombed by a Tern which is all you can really want from such a trip! Another thing we'd be keep to do again.

4) Donna Nook - I've been back, but (probably for the best) it's no longer considered acceptable to walk out on the sands, so all viewing is now from behind fences at the top of the beach. Still lovely, but not the experience it was.

5) Go back to Dublin - we went on the excuse of attending Bray Air Display for my birthday in 2016, and had a lovely weekend!

6) Belfast - I've been several times, including once with MrEH as well. Another place I'd like to spend more time.

7) Cornwall - well we spent a good chunk of May down there it seems! I never get tired of Cornwall and we find new things every time we visit. Definite plans to return!

(While writing this I noticed that my list had two number 8’s on it - how did I not notice that before?)

8) Glastonbury Tor & Village - yes, we did this some years ago now when on our way back from a weekend in Wales. 

8) - again!  Settle to Carlisle Railway in good weather - not achieved as yet. 

9) Northumberland - we camped up there the same weekend we did the last Farne Islands trip, and we're both keen to repeat the trip. 

10) & 11) Ardnamurchan Point & Dunnet Head - we have plans afoot around these, watch this space (in a year or so!)

12) Lowestoft - yes, done. This leaves me needing just one UK compass point to tick off (Ardnamurchan) and MrEH with 2. 

  Vulcan over North Weald- 2015

13) & 14) Arran & Islay - both Islands still on the wanted list. 

15) Blackpool - made it briefly in 2014 (for fish & chips on the night we were at Blackpool Airport with the Reds) and then for a proper visit for the airshow in 2024. Every bit as tacky as expected! 

16) Anthony Gormley's Another Place - Crosby. Yes - although another fairly fleeting visit in failing light thanks to getting delayed in traffic. Definitely want to get back for a proper look at some stage. 

17) Visit to the Red Arrows at RAF Scampton - well, that one escalated didn't it! Of course having written in 2013 that the team had now suspended all visits so it wasn't going to be possible, I nearly removed it from the list. Then 2014 came along, and as we know, a LOT happened, including me ending up spending a LOT of time at Scampton over the following few years! Such incredible opportunities, and times I will always look back on with a huge amount of joy and gratitude to those who made it possible!

18) Orkney - another one ticked off, having visited lovely Fay up there. Again, we'd like to return.

19) Re-visit the National Railway Museum at York - We've been back a couple of times, including in January when we were in York for a pal's birthday weekend. 

20) Short re-visit to the Edinburgh Fringe - I fear this one may now be beyond us as accommodation in Edinburgh at even the most basic of levels during August is likely to be more money than we are willing to pay. It might perhaps be possible as a day trip from somewhere else though? 

21) See the Vulcan Flying - well yes, and in the end between 2013 and when she retired from flight, I was fortunate to see her a good many times. Great memories, even if tinged with a little sadness that such an incredible aircraft is now grounded. 

That’s pretty decent progress isn’t it! I’m actually quite surprised and impressed how much we have done- and I am now thinking that perhaps a new list is required - or at least an extension of this one! 

Robyn

May in the garden…

 

A late start to the month in the garden as we were away for the first week of the month of course. We gave everything plenty of water before we left and hoped for the best - and actually almost everything survived unscathed. Two of the troughs of strawberries were looking quite sorry for themselves when we got back, but a few good soakings and they soon sprang back. We also lost just a few seedlings but nothing we couldn’t re sow. 

One thing that had happened while we were away was various things bursting into flower - the Alliums at the top are one of my absolute favourite plants in the garden, so ridiculously dramatic! Our Lidl bargain Clematis “Elizabeth” is also positively smothered in flower and another Lidl bargain - the little £2.99 rose I bought a couple of months ago is flowering again, not quite the bright yellow it was when I bought it, instead more of a vibrant orange. 

In the front garden both Salvias are flowering and attracting plentiful bees and other pollinators- one of the reasons we wanted them. The rose we cut back fairly brutally at the end of the winter has grown back to pretty much the enormous size we cut it back from and is  now flowering well with masses more buds - we may even get some cut flower from that this year - and it’s definitely going to need a scalping next winter! 

Not many plant purchases this month - although there was a visit to our favourite local nursery and some more herbs found their way home with us - 2 Crimean Basils, I'd anticipated Greek, but these seem to be the same sort of more woody variety so I'm hoping they will attract the bees just as well, plus a gorgeous Tricolour Sage and a lovely sturdy little Tarragon - we both love tarragon! One of the Basils has already been tucked into a pot at the front, and the others will probably end up in pots for the time being at least as well - I'd love to see if I could nurture the tarragon through the winter, although that will take some effort I suspect! These were just £1.20 each - an absolute bargain for really good quality plants. 

We got more seedlings on the go too - although the chilly weather at the start of the month combined with what once again seems to be some really quite disappointing compost means that things are generally seeming to struggle quite badly. Apparently we're not the only ones finding this to be a problem either - and even the RHS are advising feeding from far earlier than would be normal!  The sudden burst of heat during the final week of May made a massive difference though - although of course it hit while we were away again just to complicate things! We got back to beans bursting through and an entire module set of peas - having finally given up trying to get them to any sort of sensible size in the ground this year (we suspect the birds are getting their own back from the RSPB instructions to take in seed feeders!) and those have been mostly transferred to a large pot, although there will be some more to go into the ground too. Two Tromboncino squashes and one courgette were finally deemed large enough to make it to the ground too, and MrEH set up the obelisk and got the runner beans in around that - less this year as we had far too many in 2025 and may be eating them for ever more! We've also got several troughs sown with salads of various sorts - I may well invest in some more troughs so we can keep successionally sowing things like that as well. 

We've had our first small harvest of the year in the shape of the first of the strawberries - delicious they are too - although hopefully some of the salad is also not too far away from being edible sized now also.  June will be a month with the weekends spent at home - so next month's post will catch up with where we're at in terms of the veg planting as a whole. 

Robyn