I seem to have dropped from monthly blog posts to one per season. This is what I have been doing:..
Dealing with Drought
I spent most of the summer at home and in the garden. It has been the sunniest summer for many years, hot frequently and very dry. We have had hardly any rain - any showers forecast have missed us. As a result the garden has suffered and I have spent a lot of time watering. The water butts are empty now so I’m resorting to tipping the washing up water onto thirsty plants. There’s no hose pipe ban in our area surprisingly but I don’t feel comfortable spraying water around wastefully so I just use a watering can for the droopy hydrangeas and other unhappy looking plants. It has been a lovely summer nevertheless - I’ve enjoyed eating outside in the evening sunshine,
Swapping Books
A new independent bookshop has opened nearby. It’s called Books on the Wall as it’s on the Chester City Walls just by Northgate. The owner Kate chooses her books carefully focussing on indie publishers and local writers. There’s a cafe too. I love it and have resolved to buy all new books from there. I also love our secondhand bookshop, Amblognus Books, run by the very knowledgable Sally who often delves into her back room to find me exactly the book I was looking for. These two have got together to host a monthly book swap event. You turn up, talk about a book you’ve read purchased from one of the stores and then swap it for another one you like the sound of which someone else has brought. It’s great fun - interesting variation on the usual bookclub format.
Visiting Stratford-on-Avon
I last went to Stratford around about 1989 when I took a school party to see a production - it was probably Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet, the usual GCSE choices. I can’t remember much about the trip apart from the minibus breaking down. This time I went with an ex-English teacher friend to see a play at The Swan Theatre, not a Shakespeare one, but The Constant Wife by Somerset Maugham, a very entertaining and slick production. We also did the whole touristy thing of visiting Shakespeare’s birthplace and Anne Hathaway’s Cottage. An enjoyable couple of days doing something the rest of the family wouldn’t be terribly keen on.
Doing an Austenathon
The same friend persuaded me to join a group who have resolved to read/reread all the books by Jane Austen as it’s 250 years since her birth. We have a whole year to do it - good job as too much JA at once is tiresome. I’ve read Lady Susan which I knew nothing about. It was quite amusing - mostly written in letter form - there’s a word for this which I can’t spell. I couldn’t help admiring the way Lady Susan was so unapologetically badly behaved. Quite a character. On Sense and Sensibility now and I am finding both Marianne and Elinor irritating. Will take a break for a month or so after this. There are other books to read. I’m going on holiday to Palma tomorrow for a few days with Kate before she goes back to school and she has recommended The Safekeep.
That’s it for now. Will do a book post soon.
