Friday 14 February 2014

Books . . . I have been BAD!


I have just had an Amazon moment.  I only went there to order some printer cartridges too.  Then I couldn't remember what was on my Wish List.  So I went and checked.  I looked long and hard at Judy Kendall's Poet to Poet (Letters between Edward Thomas and Walter de la Mare.)  My finger hovered . . .  I noticed that it was being offered at almost half the price (2nd hand) than it was new.  That did it, and I put it in my basket.  I am laid up with an unexpected? - unwanted certainly! - bout of Bronchitis? now, which suddenly came on 3 days ago with a bonzer of a temperature - I couldn't stop shivering violently or teefs chattering, and went to bed with 6 quilts and a hat on . . .  Off to Doc's this afternoon to see what he advises other than Ibuprofen.  Update - it's just a viral infection and keep taking the Ibuprofen.  That's a positive. 

Anyway, that is all a preamble to the fact I am sofa-bound with a good book.  I am re-reading a Phil Rickman I got from the travelling library this week (To Dream of the Dead).  I thought I would just . . . check . . . for the ones I haven't yet read whilst I was on Amazon.  I was . . . merely checking.  Anyway, The Smile of a Ghost just happened to find its way into my basket too . . . at a knockdown price.  Which more or less levels out with the two collectable books I sold on Fleabay this week, and those sales covered the cost of the ink cartridges AND the two books and delivery.  So let's call it quits . . .

I have been SO GOOD with going through our books recently and have dozens to slowly sell.  We are going the right way in that department anyway.

Anyway, I may drag my husband off to do the grocery shopping in a minute, as there is nothing in the house I feel like eating (feed a cold, starve a fever, how TRUE!)  I have had two apples, a small bowl of tinned Mulligatawny soup and a thin slice of Ciabatta bread today (and not a great deal more yesterday).  When I went into the kitchen just now I smelt the soup and felt quite nauseous.  How odd is that? - I'd just eaten some for heaven's sake.  Anyway, what I do fancy - what I REALLY fancy - is Jacob's Peak Frean cheese biscuits.  I can just taste them.  I just hope my disarranged senses of smell and taste enjoy them when I buy some (I have a nasty suspicion they may not).  I certainly can't manage anything sweet at present - my home made Cornish Fairings yesterday (ginger) did NOT hit the spot.

16 comments:

  1. Isn't it strange how books just fall into that basket!
    Hope you feel better soon.
    It's a Chinese takeaway that I always fancy after I've been unwell and not eating.I can just hear my mum tutting and offering dry toast!

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  2. I've had that same yearning before SSS. After I'd had a sicky bug too . . . No Peak Freans in the shops today (fingers crossed that Morrisons may have some). I thought I would stick to safe eating and bought some fish. That was an error. I wanted M&S fish which is so fresh and tasty - this was Bird's Eye and tasted like it had been dead for months before it even got the breadcrumbs slapped on it. So I had half a piece and 5 chips. I had better lose some weighth now!!!

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  3. Oh no! Poor you, feeling yukky. Hope you feel better tomorrow. Sleep is my prescription, every time.
    I'm the same with books, but because I always buy them second hand when amazon shopping at around £2.80 each, I lull myself into a false sense of security. I'm reading Phil Rickman at the moment too- got all of them except the most recent too and now have a lovely pile to read through- should keep me going for a while at least :-)

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  4. CT - the latest Phil Rickman (Magus of Hay) is what I requested for Christmas from Eldest Daughter. As it is set in Hay, reading it was almost as good as being there! I really enjoyed it.

    I was awake in the night as my body decided it would sweat out the evil bug (did IT) so feeling somewhat jaded this morning. I find I am better up and moving around though, or else everything starts to ache. I think I've turned the corner now anyway.

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  5. Sorry you are ill again. I do like the sound of that Edward Thomas book - might just pop over the Amazon myself (that click on the button is just too easy isn't it)

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  6. Hi Pat. My body is actually responding and fighting back now - although I awoke drenched in perspiration in the night - so feel a little like a wet dish rag today! Judy Kendall writes very well and really knows her subject. She is the speaker at a day school in Oxford held by the Edward Thomas Fellowship. I'm hoping to go, so fingers crossed. Enjoy the book : )

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  7. I hope you feel a lot better soon :)

    I can't visit Amazon or a book shop without buying several. And now I have a Kindle its even easier!!! And there's me trying to declutter!!! :)

    The Edward Thomas book does sound good! and I've never read any Phil Rickman - off to check him out!

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  8. Oh so sorry to hear you are ill and having odd food cravings...same for me if I get a stinking cold...crave lots of odd things and hate heavy stodgy foods like bread and potatoes.
    I have finished Tess and Under The Greenwood Tree, and then read Jude The Obscure-which I had forgotten just how much I loved, and I'm now on The Woodlanders. This stormy weather has certainly got me reading like crazy!
    I hope you enjoy your new book.

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  9. Suzie - I see you are having a Hardy season. I love his work and have many of his books and lots of biographies/critical writings about him too. Tess is my favourite of his books, although it is so sad. My tastebuds are out of kilter at the moment (and sense of smell) and nothing tastes like it should, and then it just "sits" in my tummy, which is Not Good!!

    R. Robin - DO check out Phil Rickman. I love his books which are set along the Welsh Marches, an area we know well and are planning to relocate to as soon as our house is sold. I am eagerly awaiting the Edward Thomas book, of course. My "special" books stay with me forever.

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  10. BAD? No BB, it is GOOD to have more books!

    Suzie - I reread The Woodlanders last summer. Wonderful.

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  11. I hate it when your appetite goes funny. When I was 15 and suffering a particularly nasty bout of the flu, a friend brought me three Lion Bars with which I was obsessed. I ate them all and have never touched one since.

    I've just finished Cross stitch (it won't accept one word!) which I really enjoyed. Which one do I need to order from Amazon next???? She appears to be pregnant and I can't hang on very long to find out what happens next. DDid you say they were making a film of them? x

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  12. Goodness I hope you will be feeling better soon.
    This cold flu bronchitis ? has been hanging on so long.
    cheers, parsnip

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  13. DW - that's what I thought . . . really : )

    Em - I didn't eat plums for years for that same reason. Next Diana Gabaldon book is Dragonfly in Amber . . Here's a rather flord link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/outlander-series-order-Books/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=outlander%20series%20in%20order&page=1&rh=n%3A266239%2Ck%3Aoutlander%20series%20in%20order

    parsnip - so as not to bore me, this is an entirely DIFFERENT bug, "just" a virus, but it has knocked me for six until my immune system kicked in and gave it (and me!) hell. I have been wet with perspiration two nights in a row, but can now eat again (I had a midnight feast as my stomach was telling me my throat had been cut) and have felt a lot more . . . normal! . . . today.

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  14. It is never naughty to buy books for they are one of life's essentials....or so I tell myself anyway. Hope you are feeling better.
    Arilx

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  15. Definitely a staple of life Aril. I have sold some bits and bobs on eBay recently (surplus books includes) so I dont feel TOO guilty!

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