Saturday 21 January 2023

This Week

Thank you to everyone for comments this week and apologies for not replying every day. As usual I forgot to look in spam and found several there again - now let out onto the page. Thank you also to people who don't comment often - lovely to hear from you.
I found this from the  1st of  month that I'd missed............

As one of your long time "lurkers", it’s been an interesting year of posts. You always manage to mix things up, along with the regular pieces we enjoy, churches, books etc… looking forward to more lurking ahead! Karen S

It's good to hear that people enjoy reading - I do enjoy writing and tracking down ideas to write about must be good for the brain. Although sometimes it's difficult to find something to fill a post everyday which is why this week has been mainly Saints and poems!

Last week there was yet another funeral over the road in the graveyard, the third in as many weeks. I also heard about someone else in the village who had died, a man who was at secondary school with brother-in-law and my sister (that means four years younger than me). Hearing and seeing death so often very close like this, certainly makes a person wonder how long they have left! Although I don't dwell on that thought for long.

 I discovered that British Library Crime Classics are publishing one new book each month this year and doing a subscription service at a reduced price and free postage, I thought "what the heck - go for it!"
How good it will be having a new book through the letter box for the next six months........ I never buy new fiction books.....until now.
Here's my first, arriving one day after being posted - speedy! Probably my favourite of the BLCC authors



The 9.30 swimming session was nice and quiet again. 3 mums with 4 toddlers between them, the lady swimming very fast again and a man who is often there and spends most of his time talking to the lifeguard - loudly - after hearing him at various times over the last 5 years I could almost tell you his whole life history!

The weather turned much colder as the week went on. Exercise group was OK but I was very lazy and didn't head out to WI in the evening - tut, tut! apart from being really cold I'd heard the speaker on his subject ( The American G.I's in Suffolk in the 1940s) at the over 60s group last year. Plus I was well into a good book and it was nice and warm snuggled on the settee.

Tomorrow - the 22nd - is St Vincent's Day with a weather rhyme attached

Remember on St Vincent's Day,
If the sun his beams display,
Be sure to mark his transient beam
Which through the casement sheds a gleam 
For 'tis a token bright and clear
of prosperous weather all the year





Hope everyone has a good weekend.
I'll be back Monday
Sue

35 comments:

  1. I rather think I'd have done what you did - stayed put in the warm with a good book. How nice to have a new book a month to look forward to. No pockets in shrouds, they do say, so a little indulgence now and again is worth it.

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    1. I'd missed December too s- extra bad. The other WI have Febs meeting in the morning - daylight - so I will get to that one

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  2. I really need to be persuaded to step outside in these cold, dark evenings.

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    1. I shall have some explaining to do at next months knit and stitch group!

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  3. E.C.R. Lorac is one of my favs too and that looks like a good'un. I shall look into the subscription service you mentioned. I'm with you on wondering how long I have left but, like you, do not dwell on it as I feel there's no point. My gran used to say, 'When your time's come, your time's come'. Being young I didn't think much to it but now I firmly believe she was right.

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    1. A year subs was even cheaper but there are no details of what they are publishing after June so I thought 6 months was enough of an extravagance

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  4. I expect the man goes 'swimming' for the company - there are so many lonely people out there. Having a book each month is going to be so good to look forward to - I always like to see the postman coming down our drive with my Country Living in his hand.

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    1. From what I've heard him say he isn't lonely as he moans about his son, partner etc etc!

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  5. I think our own mortality comes to the fore more and more the older we get. Our friends and family start to get illnesses we never even considered when we were young which is a bit unsettling. My mum lived to be 91but my dad died at 73 which is the age I am now! 😱 I really do have to laugh it off 😜
    You have a lovely lot of new books to come through the post. We rarely seem to get post these days.

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    1. Once a week I get postmans junk - pizza deliveries etc but a book a month will be good

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  6. I like Lorac too! I wonder if the subscription series is international? Probably the postage would kill any sense of making it worthwhile.

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    1. I'm not sure about postage abroad - I looked on the website and it might be as much as the actual price of the book again

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  7. I just checked US selling locations, the E.C.R. Lorac book isn't for sale yet on this side of the Atlantic. I very much enjoy all of her works I have been able to read or listen to audiobooks of, probably a year or so for the official US publication date. I do enjoy your posts.

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    1. Thank you . Annoying that you can't get the British Library books sooner

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  8. It has gotten chillier here and we may have a bit of snow by tomorrow morning. It is nice to stay snug and warm at home with a good book!
    Have a nice weekend, Sue!

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    1. It's slightly milder here today - just above freezing point, should be better next week

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  9. It's so good to have a monthly treat to look forward to. That used to be the best part of magazine subs back when I had them.

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    1. Lovely to get something interesting in the post apart from junk mail and catalogues for the previous house owners!

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  10. Had a smile about the talk you missed (this time around) about American GIs in Suffolk in the 1940s as my Dad was one of them. I used to have many conversations with him about his time there and have been fortunate enough to visit the three farms that originally made up his old airfield. Even up until his death, he still had many contacts with the people around the area where he served; he visited them whenever he could. In fact, we held his memorial service in the village church and many locals attended, so Suffolk holds fond memories for me, too.
    Mary

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    1. There is a memorial in this village for USAF personnel who didn't return to the local airbase and there was another not far from the smallholding as well.

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  11. I'd been more of a lurker on your site as well. I very much enjoy your book posts and you've given me good ideas to add to my to-read list on Goodreads,

    As for your spam comments, I was very shocked to see many comments from people who visit me regularly on my blog were sent to Spam. It went back years and so I let folks know I had not been ignoring them and now check it regularly.

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    1. I've popped into your blog and will add you to my reading list as I see you have posts about books too - hopeful for ideas!
      As for the spam, it's a odd thing how and why it has changed so that all sorts of comments go in, even things that have been published will be suddenly un-published and put in spam.

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  12. I enjoy your blog as well. I guess that I'm not a very good lurker! I learn so much from blog reading. Saints interest me, and I often find myself googling for additional reading.

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    1. It's always lovely to see comments from everyone - I've been very bad at commenting lately - should have apologised for that too!

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  13. My friend and co-worker in the bookshop is also a church warden and she has to go to so many funerals and memorial services. There seems to be at least one a week during the winter months. I had a shock when I picked up my latest book from the library. It seems that the 60p online reservation charge has been reintroduced (suspended during Covid) and I owed £3.60. You are very lucky having free reservations and a library van. How are you getting on with I Bought A Mountain? I bought a copy of this book secondhand after staying in Thomas Firbanks’ farmhouse some years ago. His property and land was bequeathed to the National Trust and they turned the original farmhouse and its replacement 1950s farmhouse into very nice holiday cottages. We stayed in the 1950s house which had huge windows with panoramic views over Snowdonia and was furnished in a very comfortable mid-century vibe. Currently reading Akenfield, borrowed from the bookshop. Not sure if it is quite my cup of tea, despite being a fan of Roger Deakin, Gilbert White, Richard Jeffries, Edward Thomas, Robert Macfarlane … Sarah in Sussex.

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    1. I've read Akenfield twice, 30 years apart, and still didn't enjoy it. I much prefer his books about his everyday life

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    2. I bought a mountain is still waiting. Read that 30 years ago too but can't remember a thing about it

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  14. Your BLCC subscription sounds like a nice treat. Having a new book monthly at a reasonable price is a good find. Swimming is great exercise and having a good uncrowded pool to utilize makes it all very convenient. It's cold again and the ground is snow covered. Once the night falls, staying cozy at home is my choice as well.

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    1. I love swimming - wish I lived closer to a pool

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  15. your subscription sounds wonderful I haven't bought new books in forever. Except for gifts. We are a used bookstore and
    I am getting at least 2 calls a day about Harry's book (which I will not read.) WE have no new books.
    I read the obituaries everyday a very bad habit as the ages are pretty close.
    I need to hurry up and retire
    Cathy

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    1. No I won't be reading That book either - Never!

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  16. Nice to get a mention! Still lurking… Karen S

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  17. How exciting it will be to get a new book through the post! I still have a long way to go until that can even happen. There are too many books in the house.

    I really enjoy your blog. Said this before, but you bring a taste of home to someone who really misses Suffolk! Hoping to get back again this year.

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    1. Hope you get over for a visit to your Sisters again. Very hard frost here this Sunday morning. Looks lovely - but not inviting

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