This week on Tuesday Treasures, I am featuring more of our unkempt garden… Since I’ve taken these pics – on a day when I was feeling better – Himself has now done a lot of weeding, so it’s looking tidier! And I’m also able to sit out in the sunshine and enjoy it😊.
This is part of the weekly meme over at the Caffeinated Reviewer, where book bloggers can share the books and blogs they have written.
A very happy Fourth of July to all my American friends – I hope you have a lovely day.
It’s been an odd week. On the plus side, we celebrated little Eliza’s birthday on Wednesday – I can’t quite believe that she is already three years old – where has the time gone? My daughter arranged for her to have a session at Outward Bound, where there is a huge soft play area. Her brothers crawled through tunnels with her, helped her up steps and ushered her down slides, while she duly bossed them around and generally had a wonderful time. I was able to drive myself there, as it is only ten minutes up the road from where I live. Now I have a walking stick, I was able to get out of the car and walk across the endless acreage of the car park without any help. Though it’s surprising how much BIGGER everywhere seems when you move at the speed of a dozing snail. It was lovely being able to see the birthday girl and give her a present and card (a batgirl dress in black and gold netting, with mask), and also see the rest of the family, who I really miss. The pics this week show Eliza and her brothers on their birthday outing, and more wilderness scenes from my overgrown garden.
The rest of the week, I’ve been watching Wimbledon and trying – and failing – to do more than move between the bed and the settee. I’m aware that I’ve so much to be grateful for – but this week, I’ve found it tough. My life is on hold and I’ve no idea when I will become well enough to resume my former busy schedule. Or if I will ever recover sufficiently to do so. I need to cling to the fact that I am able to occasionally write reviews and post them. Though depressingly my wordage for June didn’t even make 10,000 words, which is the lowest I’ve recorded since I started keeping track of my annual wordcount in 2013. When is a writer not a writer – when she doesn’t write!! Thank goodness for books. If I couldn’t regularly escape between the covers of a variety of lovely reads, I’d be a gibbering wreck by now.
Last week I read:
Patterns in the Dark – Book 4 of the Dragon Blood series by Lindsay Buroker
Everyone knows dragons have been extinct for over a thousand years. Everyone is wrong. At least one dragon remains, and military scientists from the Cofah Empire are experimenting with its blood, using the magical substance to power deadly new weapons that could be used to bring the world to its knees.
That’s a concern for Zirkander, Cas, and the rest of the Iskandians, but all Tolemek wants is to find his missing sister. The last time he saw her, their father had locked her in an asylum because of a mental illness with no cure. Now the military has taken her. What use the Cofah have for her, Tolemek can only guess, but he is certain she is in danger. He must save her before it’s too late. But her fate is inexplicably tied to the dragon’s, and he must find it to find her.
I’m working my way through this series far too fast! And that’s because it’s becoming addictive, as Buroker keeps on delivering books full of action, enjoyable characters and quirky humour. The big bonus in this one is that we finally come face to face with a dragon – yay! Unsurprisingly, Buroker is now one of my favourite authors – and I’m delighted to see that she’s written a LOT😊.
Assassin’s Orbit by John Appel
On the eve of the planet Ileri’s historic vote to join the Commonwealth, the assassination of a government minister threatens to shatter everything. Private investigator Noo Okereke and spy Meiko Ogawa join forces with police chief Toiwa to investigate – and discover clues that point disturbingly toward a threat humanity thought they had escaped.
A threat that could destroy Ileri and spark an interplanetary war… unless the disparate team can work together to solve the mystery.
This was another enjoyable, action-packed read, full of incident and appealing characters. I loved the nuanced, political world. And I really loved that the main characters were of a certain age – though still willing and able to mix it up with the wrong-headed youngsters. Review to follow.
Paladin’s Grace – Book 1 of The Saint of Steel series by T. Kingfisher
Stephen’s god died on the longest day of the year…
Three years later, Stephen is a broken paladin, living only for the chance to be useful before he dies. But all that changes when he encounters a fugitive named Grace in an alley and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now the pair must navigate a web of treachery, beset on all sides by spies and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind…
And yet, ANOTHER lovely, entertaining read – this one had me howling with laughter during some of the romance scenes. I love it when an author successfully highlights just how funny passion can be😊. And yet, there is also plenty of adventure and tension, too. And I’m delighted to note that there are two more books in this series, so I now know where some of my birthday money is going…
The Daydreamer Detective Opens a Tea Shop – Book 3 of the Miso Cosy Mystery series by Steph Gennaro
Mei Yamagawa’s bad luck is almost at an end…
Her tea shop is a week away from opening, she and Yasahiro have planned a trip away, and the future is looking bright and hopeful. But when Yasahiro’s ex-fiancée, Amanda, shows up unexpectedly, demanding his time and presence, all of their plans dissolve…
Annoyingly, it wasn’t until I’d nearly finished this one that I realised I’d read Books 2 and 3 out of sequence. However, that didn’t prevent me from thoroughly enjoying this cosy contemporary murder mystery set in Japan. I really like Mei’s character – and I’ve edited the blurb somewhat, because I didn’t bother to read it before tucking into the book. And got a real shock when I discovered who exactly had been murdered… A charming, engrossing read that has me keen to return to this quirky and different world. Review to follow.
My posts last week:
Castellan the Black and his Wise Draconic Tips on Life
*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of The Stranding by Kate Sawyer
Friday Face-off featuring Dragonfly in Amber – Book 2 of the Outlander series by Diane Gabaldon
Review of NETGALLEY arc Willow – Book 1 of The Pepper Lane Club by Grace Parks
*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of Artifact Space by Miles Cameron
Unfortunately, I haven’t been online enough to recommend any blogs or articles. And neither have I been visiting my fellow bloggers all that much, either… I’m very sorry. Thank you for those of you who continue to visit and comment – I really do appreciate you taking the time and effort to do so😊. I hope you all have a happy, healthy week.
This week on Tuesday Treasures, I am featuring our VERY shaggy, rather dishevelled garden. Now I’m suffering from Long Covid, Himself – who was also badly smitten by the illness – now has to do all the cooking, cleaning and gardening, in addition to taking care of me and holding down a full-time job. Therefore the gardening has been a tad neglected… However, he has been weeding, if not cutting back or mowing – and I think the effect is really rather lovely. Now we just need a run of hot weather to be able to sit out in the sunshine and enjoy it.
The fallen echium is the result of a violent storm we had a couple of weeks ago. In all the time I’ve been growing echiums in the garden, since 2005, it’s the first time one has been blown over, but it’s still alive and flowering, so my instinct is to leave it there until the bees stop coming to it.
This week on Tuesday Treasures, some of the photos are from our beach walk on Sunday and some from the garden. As I didn’t have the energy to spend much time on a long walk, or an extended ramble around the garden, I didn’t get to take many pics. But the sun was shining and it was lovely to walk on the sands for the first time since February!
This week on Tuesday Treasures, the photos are from last week on a lovely sunny morning when I took a wander around the garden with my camera. The garden is in a dreadful state, given that it is busy being overrun by weeds and neither of us has the energy to do anything about it – but at least some of legal plants are also putting their best foot forward, too.
Welcome back to my blog! Apologies for the long absence – but you might be aware that on that last Sunday Post, I’d just learnt that the illness we had gone down with was Covid 19 – and both Himself and I went down with it hard. I’m sure it didn’t help that I’d had my vaccination on the previous Saturday…
I don’t ever want to go through another month like March again. Himself missed going into hospital by a whisker, as he had significant breathing difficulties. As for me, I was coping with severe joint pain and life-muffling exhaustion. I just slept, or endured the pain. And no one could come in and help us. It was frightening and miserable. What we did have was a steady stream of concerned enquiries from loving family and my wonderful sister and daughter ensured we didn’t go without any medication or food – not that we ate all that much.
Himself has just started back to work, but I am still recovering. Yesterday I’d planned to start back on my blog, but it was a bad day. I woke up at midday feeling exhausted and by the time I’d showered and dressed – that was it. I’m having to learn to pace myself. So there will still be sudden absences, for which I apologise. But I’ve already learnt the hard way that if I try to push through it, I just end up feeling worse. And most of my mental energy has to go to my writing, which is what keeps my mental health topped up.
Today’s Tuesday Treasures are previous pics I’ve taken of Spring springing, which I’m aware has been going on while I’ve been indoors battling to get well. I’m hoping next week to have had the chance to actually get outside and take some new photos, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy these offerings from previous years. Please, stay safe. I’m here to tell you that this is a terrible illness.x
In this week’s Tuesday Treasures, I’ve some photos of emerging flowers in the garden, along with sprays of narcissi that Himself bought me in my spring flower Valentine bouquet. And yes… I know photographically they are not the best I’ve taken. But they are a promise of flowers to come, with sunshine and warmth. And right now on a bleak, wet mid-February day, I need that promise… That said, I’m still not quite sure why my perennial wallflower shrub insists on trying to flower right now. Or why my rosemary is also covered in buds which are just beginning to bloom.
In this week’s Tuesday Treasures, I’ve taken a series of photos from the garden last week, during a cold snap, when the frost formed slightly differently so that the ice crystals were larger than usual. So I grabbed my camera and went outside…
In this week’s Tuesday Treasures, I’ve taken a series of photos last Saturday in the garden, when we had a bright sunny day. I’m surprised at just how many flowers are still flowering amongst the seed heads, now that winter is properly getting going. That said, it was a mild November – if very rainy…
Himself and I had a break a couple of weeks ago to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, and visited Bateman’s, the home of Rudyard Kipling. Though the house is closed at present, we spent a lovely afternoon wandering around the gardens, which is where I took this week’s photos.
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