Here's what I read this year (a bit late, I know!):
My Antonia - Willa Cather
The Big Snow - David Park
The White King - Gyorgy Dragoman
Achilles - Elizabeth Book
*The Little Stranger - Sarah Walters
The House of Mirth - Edith Wharton
The Lacuna - Barbara Kingsolver
*The Glass Room - Simon Mower
The Good Man Jesus... - Philip Pullman
Trespass - Rose Tremain
One Day - David Nicolls
The Unnamed - Joshua Ferris
The Madonnas of Leningrad - Debra Dean
The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff
Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
An Imaginary Life - David Malouf
*Brooklyn - Colm Toibin
Child 44 - Tom Rob Smith
*Await Your Reply - Dan Chaon
Tony and Susan - Austin Wright
*The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim - Jonathon Coe
The Perfect Murder - Peter James
Not Untrue and Not Unkind - Ed O'Loughlin
and the stars (*) are the ones I really recommend!
What are your great reads of 2010?
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Friday, 7 January 2011
Folksy Friday: Spring is in the air
Spring is coming, you know. It might be a few months away, but it's coming!
Folksy sellers responded to a request for Spring items this week. Here's a selection - there are lots more in this thread too.
1. Ahh, the little lambs, by Leopard Print Bee
2. The cats get ready for lounging in this bag by SimJaTa
3. Hydrangea petals and embroidery picture by Cherry Tree
4. Beautiful amethyst, garnet and citrine stones in these earrings by Alicia's Stones
5. Flower journal with exposed binding by Kate Bowles
6. Hand painted spring bird notelets by clootielugs
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
A touch of Spring from UK Etsy sellers
Here's a new treasury of picks to brighten up the dark winter nights, from UK sellers on Etsy. Click on any of the pictures to visit these great shops and their pretty, pretty items.
UK sellers look forward to warmer weather and fields of flowers. Enjoy!
'Close your eyes and think of spring' by BlueForestJewellery
UK sellers look forward to warmer weather and fields of flowers. Enjoy!
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Monday, 3 January 2011
BESTeam weekly feature: OfftheWallExpression on Etsy
Tina from Indiana, runs Off the Wall Expression with her husband Mick. They specialise in contemporary and stylish vinyl graphics for homes and businesses. What is great about this shop is that it really takes wall art to another level, and the examples of how to dress a room to show off the wall graphics are really inspiring. As Tina says, the only limit is your own imagination, and you can use these state-of-the-art decorations to express yourself, share ideas, make you and your visitors laugh, or simply to look stunningly beautiful.
My picks come in that last category, making your walls look stunning! Love the plain background decoration with a splash of colour, shape and form. For me, these three also help to bring the wonder of nature inside and that's something I really go for!
Love this - there's a cool refreshing breeze always blowing through this room, and there's movement and life there too.
Birds are so in vogue at the moment, aren't they, this one could make your room look like a magazine feature!
Imagine waking in the morning to this burst of citrus energy. The sun would always be shining with this on the wall.
All the decals come with application instructions and are so reasonably priced that this shop makes changing your home environment easy and inexpensive.
You can follow Tina and Mick further through these links:
http://offthewallexpressions.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/offthewallexpressions
http://www.flickr.com/photos/offthewallexpressions/
My picks come in that last category, making your walls look stunning! Love the plain background decoration with a splash of colour, shape and form. For me, these three also help to bring the wonder of nature inside and that's something I really go for!
Love this - there's a cool refreshing breeze always blowing through this room, and there's movement and life there too.
Birds are so in vogue at the moment, aren't they, this one could make your room look like a magazine feature!
Imagine waking in the morning to this burst of citrus energy. The sun would always be shining with this on the wall.
All the decals come with application instructions and are so reasonably priced that this shop makes changing your home environment easy and inexpensive.
You can follow Tina and Mick further through these links:
http://offthewallexpressions.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/offthewallexpressions
http://www.flickr.com/photos/offthewallexpressions/
Saturday, 1 January 2011
A dangerous start to the year!
Walked the coastal path today - or perhaps the correct term is 'slithered' the coastal path, due to the prevalence of very slippery mud. We liked these warning signs - so reassuring, not!
OH points out that viewed upside down the message is 'beware of strange men scrabbling up the cliff side'!
Fabulous views can be had from risking your life on the coastal path. It was quite a busy New Years Day on Broadhaven beach.
The sea was quite a nice shade of turquoise - odd because the sky was very grey and it was sort of raining at the time.
The dog has a tendency to go flat out after a couple of seaside walks!
Happy New Year, blog followers :-)
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
New Year resolutions (and how to get out of them)
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| By heavenlyhandbag on Etsy |
Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and has found time to relax and refresh in the post Christmas lull. Funny time of the year, isn't it, this week between the two events. I can get a bit maudlin at this time, so I thought I'd occupy myself with New Year resolutions. And because each year I try really hard but somehow fail, this year I've made them a bit more realistic. Call them SMART targets if you like a bit of business speak!
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| by erin on Folksy |
1) Go on a diet. As often as possible. Try to diet for whole days at a time. Tell as many people as possible that I'm dieting as often as possible, as this will make me feel thinner and more virtuous.
Likely to last until ... first encounter with chocolate machine on first day back in the office.
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| By sophiaedesigns on Etsy |
Only buy ones I really need or really want very much. OH says we need to move to a bigger house if I buy any more. Have included a selection I'm currently drooling over so that you can help me out and buy them before I can.
Likely to last until ... the next email offer for bags comes through.
3) Spend less time on the computer.
Likely to last until ... Oops, broken that one already!
Share your resolutions here, and your get-out clauses :-)
Happy New Year!
Alison
Monday, 27 December 2010
BESTeam weekly feature: LoveElycia on Etsy
LoveElycia on Etsy, based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is the perfect place to shop if you need a post Christmas disguise. Perhaps you're popping into town to return an unwanted gift to the store and don't want any friends and relatives to recognise you. A simple moustache headband is just the ticket then.
By now, you've probably guessed that this week's BESTeam feature is a shop that is a little bit quirky in a fun and funky way. LoveElycia, or ♥elycia, provides fun headbands for fun people and a selection of vintage clothes and prints as well.
The prints all come with a story attached to the character. I like Derby, here, who loves to crochet but can't commit to a full Afghan.
Just recognise myself there - short attention span, low boredom threshold, love to make cute things!
Here's my pick from the vintage section - Frills and Lines - I think you need to supply the skates yourself!
Elycia trained as an engineer, but is now pursuing her dream of making cute things full time. I think she's getting close there - a popular shop, a great fun blog and lots of new ideas - watch this space!
You can keep up with Elycia from these links:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LoveElycia
http://www.loveelycia.com
(some super cute cat pics here for those like me who enjoy blogs with added animals)
http://www.twitter.com/loveelycia
http://www.facebook.com/loveelycia
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