Life must be filled up

I’ve never read Eric Carle’s The Bad-tempered Ladybird but the menacing expression on the cover bug’s face looks all too realistic to me.

When the estate agent first suggested that I might look at a thatched cottage I said, ‘Ugh, thatch! Mice! Spiders! No!’ Then of course I fell in love with the place and luckily have not been troubled by mice, spiders or other wildlife. Ladybirds are quite another matter. There are dozens of them clustered around the window frames in my bedroom and as long as they stay there quietly hibernating and leave me alone I don’t mind. But. If the sun comes out they start marching all over the ceiling in a creepy manner. Instead of keeping themselves to themselves, they drop on me *when I’m reading in bed* which I find intolerable. Several times a day I'm frantically brushing my hair because I'm sitting quietly, as now, and *feel* something.

They are vicious. One evening I switched on the light and heard a strange whirring noise. A moth was fluttering near the bulb and ladybirds were whizzing round and round it as if they were on strings like one of those children’s toys. I hastily switched off the light as I found this very unnerving. Never saw the moth again. Ladybirds are supposed to be good bugs because they eat aphids. Underneath the bedroom window is a climbing rose; in spite of the ladybird infestation the rose was smothered in greenfly all last summer so they don't live up to their job description.

I’m soooo tempted to get out the hoover and crevice tool and just dispose of them but can’t bring myself to do it. Or I could try brushing them outdoors. Any ideas? I'm quite prepared for Fotherington-Thomas types to tell me how lucky I am to share my home with such wonderful creatures but I diskard them.

I’ve now read the first three Daisy Dalrymple mysteries and enjoyed them very much as light, undemanding reads. As the books are a series which follows Daisy’s progress in love as well as in detection I want to read them in order. Because I’m a fusspot about these things I’ve decided I want a matching set and there comes the problem. Plenty of editions but not the ones I want. The most recent (and eighteenth!) book in the series, Sheer Folly is available from Amazon now but the three books following on from Requiem for a Mezzo have to be pre-ordered.

If a book is scarce and expensive it makes sense to reprint that one before tackling more common books by the same author. If the books are still available, why not print them in order? Luckily for readers (though not for dealers) a number of small publishers have acquired copyrights and reprinted desirable books. I make a distinction between that worthwhile task and what is merely repackaging to find a new market.
( publishers and a poll )

Many happy returns of the day to fidrabooks! Have a lovely day.

Tulips from the Co-op.



'Scandinavian' socks I'm knitting, using two skeins of contrasting variegated wool. I thought this would be challenging but I'm loving it.

I’ve just watched another 1940s film by Carol Reed: Night Train to Munich. It's set in September 1939 and was designed to show the British just how nasty the Nazis were. A Czech industrialist, working on armour plating which might win the war for whichever side has it, is whisked out of the country as German troops roll in. (‘You will land at Croydon!’) His daughter (Margaret Lockwood, whom I prefer as The Wicked Lady) is nabbed to give the baddies a hold over him. She ‘escapes’ rather easily from a concentration camp, helped by a man she trusts (she’s a very silly girl) but who is of course a Nazi. Thanks to this agent the Czech pair are picked up and carried back to Germany.

The film then livens up considerably as Rex Harrison portrays a suave British Secret Service agent who impersonates a German officer and nearly gets away with it. It's worth watching just for this performance. To add to the fun Naughton Wayne and Basil Radford reprise their characters Caldicott and Charters from Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes. They’re unwilling and funny heroes but play the game as expected. It all ends with the battle of the cable cars, phew!

I’d seen the film before but still enjoyed a second viewing. Not one of the great war films but with plenty of interest. Watch out for Raymond Huntley,who appeared in so many other war films but is probably best remembered for his role as Sir Geoffrey Dillon in the TV series Upstairs, Downstairs.

At last, eBay has given in over the 'free postage and packing requirement' which has been causing such grief to people trying to sell books. In come 'maximum limits'. For most books, it will be £2.75. How odd that this should be what Amazon Marketplace charges! There are still anomalies though: nothing to stop people charging the maximum for posting a lightweight paperback; some books will cost more than the allowed max. to post; you can charge more for 'antiquarian' books (watch people switch categories); only £7.00 is allowed for a collection or lot which might cost ten or twelve pounds to post. Still, for once they have actually taken notice of the howls of complaint carefully reasoned arguments which have been presented to them over that ludicrous new policy. Or has the change of heart been brought about by a fall in the number of listings? Surely not! As for being overcharged, caveat emptor.

Bury Her Deep, Catriona McPherson
Penelope’s Prefects, Judith Carr
I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith
The Case of the Missing Servant, Tarquin Hall *L
Death of a Village, M C Beaton *L
Death of a Dustman, M C Beaton *L
Juliet, Naked, Nick Hornby
Mrs Malory and Any Man’s Death, Hazel Holt
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Going Dutch, Katie Fforde
Death at Wentwater Court, a Daisy Dalrymple Mystery, Carola Dunn
The Winter Garden Mystery, Carola Dunn
( comments )

Woke up this morning, switched in the radio; it was just coming up to six o'clock. The first news item was that Terry Pratchett 'wants a tribunal set up to help those with incurable diseases end their lives with help from doctors.' (Quote from BBC web site.) Why was this considered to be the most important story in the world at that moment? Because it's the subject of a Panorama programme on BBC 1 this evening of course, schoopid. I wish Sir Terry no ill, quite the reverse but a) I don't want to wake too early and then hear talk of assisted suicide and b) it isn't news. So I switched off again. I may soon give up Radio 4 altogether, I'm so sick of its mission to depress.

Normal service, i.e. January books, will be resumed later.

Why the head banging? It’s due yet again to the complete and utter uselessness of the BBC Radio web site! I knew that this Sunday, 31st January, there was to be a reading at 7.45 on Radio 4 of Jennings' Little Hut. Now, how hard would it be to ensure that typing ‘Jennings’ into the ‘Explore the BBC’ box would bring up any relevant programmes? No such luck! What you get is ‘Garth Jennings, director of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy’ and pages of other irrelevant information. I Googled ‘Jennings BBC Radio’ and the programme came up, first hit here. Why Google rules the earth. I know I’m always going on about this but I’ll continue to do so because it’s so frustrating and it’s my money that pays for the rubbish site. Anyway, heads up for Jennings.

Switch from Radio 4 to Radio 7 at 8 o’clock to hear a reading from Alison Uttley’s A Traveller in Time. For those who don’t know it, this is a time slip story where the action takes place in the same house but split between the twentieth and the sixteenth centuries. It’s rather sad. There’s a very brief synopsis here.

A lot of my favourite clothes have come from charity shops, courtesy of people who are better off and better shoppers than I am. Recently though, going round the shops, I’ve found the clothes on offer look as if they should be in a jumble sale and have walked out with my nose in the air. Perhaps this is because in the UK last year charitable giving was down 10% and donations to Oxfam were down 15%.

Buying really cheap clothes in this way (thrifting, as Americans call it) can help you dress more creatively. I’ve been checking out some of the many style blogs. They’re rather fun and are produced by women (and some men) of all shapes and sizes who say, ‘Hello world! This is what I’m wearing today and I look gorgeous!’ I prefer the ones which show a daily outfit; it’s just like dressing paper dolls. Already Pretty is a little too instructional for me but obviously produced by a Nice Person. You won’t see me in bondage belts and swear rings but I love Fashion for Nerds. Isn’t she cute?

So, as part of a new leaf for a new year, why not give some decent clothes away? Then we can all start clothes swapping again.

I bought a basket of hyacinths in bud twelve days ago and today they've started to open. Worth every penny.

There was a discussion recently on the cornflower blog about film adaptations of books. I thought of this when watching the 1994 film of Little Women again. As long as people read, they will go on discussing this book; I’ve only just found a whole Live Journal community of littlewomenfans. The Provincial Lady was a devotee. In The Provincial Lady in America, her kind American hosts are bemused by her insistence that ‘the thing I want to do most of all is to visit the Alcott house at Concord, Mass.’ This proves surprisingly difficult but she makes it and ‘could willingly remain there for hours and hours.’ Later, she meets up with Mademoiselle (now employed in another family) and suggests that they go to see the film of Little Women. Cue explosion from Mlle., Cette chère vie de famille – ce gentil roman de la jeunesse – cette drôle de Jo etc. etc. They do make it to the film and

‘Well-remembered house at Concord is thrown on the screen, snow falling on the ground, and I dissolve, without the slightest hesitation, in floods of tears. Film continues unutterably moving throughout and is beautifully acted and produced. Mademoiselle weeps beside me – can hear most people round us doing the same – and we spend entirely blissful afternoon.’

I’m assuming they watched George Cukor’s 1933 version which I have seen but so long ago I can’t remember what it was like.
( the modern film )

News today that Jean Simmons has died. For me, she will always be the beautiful Estella in David Lean’s 1946 film of Great Expectations.
"He calls the knaves 'jecks', this boy!" Wonderful.

Yesterday, yet another Cath Kidston catalogue appeared in the letter box. It’s been given a bookish theme, with photo shoots in Hay-on-Wye and some apparently randomly selected quotes scattered about. There are book recommendations (Cath Kidston’s favourite book is Frenchman’s Creek), advice on starting a book club and an interview with Jilly Cooper. “Now I’m 72, when it’s hot I type topless at the bottom of the garden.” Go Jilly!

There is rather a ‘books do furnish a room’ attitude in all this. Anyone who looks at books on eBay has seen some listed as ‘suitable for vintage décor’. What interests me is how little the content or even the condition of the book matter, so long as it’s old. On the many vintage or shabby chic sites on the net, you’ll soon notice that sellers there can get a higher price for a book (an old Ladybird, a children’s annual) than they would if they put it up on Amazon or eBay; it’s the age and the look which matter. Curious!

Just last week I was writing here about books set in India. Shortly afterwards someone *waves* asked me if I’d heard of J G Farrell. 'I love J G Farrell!' I replied, 'But it’s a long time since I read any of his books.' Then came a mailshot from The Book People with this great offer . It must have been meant so I’ve ordered them up. I’m especially looking forward to re-reading Troubles, set in a decaying Irish hotel after the First World War. Terrific stuff.
I fell for those Heyers as well, even though I have two of them already.

Happy Birthday today to lizarfaufic!

Wishing gghost a very Happy Birthday today!

Thanks to a link from reelmolesworth on Twitter, I’ve been mesmerized by this wonderful slideshow on Flickr. It's so great that someone recorded these images, to make an archive of daily life on the streets. When the photos were taken, who knew that one day I’d be saying, 'Look out for the Woodbines ad and the Green Shield Stamps, J Lyons and the man with the barrow. And the scooters!' As for the shots of the docks, I was nearly swooning with nostalgia. There’s *lots* of it, so give yourself time. I’d like Battersea Power Station for my desktop.

Two books set in rural Scotland, two very different detectives trying to get at the truth behind superstition and religious mania in a remote village.
Bury her Deep by Catriona McPherson was part of a lovely Christmas present which means I have all the Dandy Gilver mysteries currently in paperback. My advice though: if you’re thinking of trying the books, don’t start with this one. Dandy is called in by Mr Tait, a charming minister, to investigate strange goings-on in his village. A 'dark stranger' has been attacking women on their way home from 'the Rural', the Scottish Women’s Rural Institute. Is the phenomenon caused by misogyny (men not liking their wives out in the evening)? Has the disturbance of an ancient burial ground brought bad luck? Or is it just mischief? Dandy has her work cut out dealing with the taciturn villagers, some of whom mysteriously deny that anything is happening at all. And why does Mr Tait seem to know so much more than he’s telling?

I found the book slow to start and then began to feel that I was reading the same chapter over and over again. As usual, I wanted to see more of Alec; 'my Watson' Dandy calls him. I'd even have liked more Hugh. Towards the end events speed up and get so nasty that I was sorry I was reading it in bed. Unsatisfactory compared with the earlier books but as well written as ever. I particularly liked the clever management of the skipping song theme which gives the book its title.



No need to complain of lack of incident in Death of a Village by M C Beaton. The flame-haired Highland detective Hamish Macbeth survives three attempts on his own life, saves the lives of several other people and solves four cases apart from the main mystery of the book. All this in the author’s usual hectic, staccato style. Phew!



I knew I had a book somewhere about the Scottish Rural and here it is, published in 1938. All the recipes were provided by members and pretty depressing they are. The very first is for Barley Soup, the second for Beef-Tea (Invalid) and the next for Broth Without Meat Of Any Kind. I was intrigued to see that the book begins with ‘Mottoes’ which include The Selkirk Grace. This was used in the Christmas episode of Outnumbered!
"Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some can eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit."

Not the book, but researching and making vintage knits for films. It must be quite an industry these days. There's some lovely examples in the TV film of Ballet Shoes.

Here's Posy in a cute and complicated sleeveless top:


( more vintage knitwear )