Today I had a parcel arrive from a good friend of mine (you know who you are!) It was a stash of books she had mentioned and asked if I would like as she had read them. Well, of course the answer was yes. I hardly know which to read first, but am drawn to Emma Freud's novel, set in wartime I believe.
Above is a book I would have liked to buy when we went to the Quantocks last year, and visited Coleridge's cottage. Richard Holmes has written two excellent biographies (the 2nd is Darker Reflections, about the mature Coleridge, and his friendship with Opium), and I was fortunate to have been given both by my friend Annie's daughter yesterday (along with a lovely old Patchwork book too). These were some of the books still needing rehoming fron Annie's cottage and I was so thrilled to be given them. I have started reading this one, and am thoroughly enjoying it as I know very little about Coleridge's life other than he wrote poetry, was once interrupted by the Person From Porlock and he wasn't a very good husband.
When I was feeling unwell on Thursday, and had an enforced sofa day, I got out the nearly-finished woolwork embroidery (for a firescreen) which my friend Annie hadn't been able to complete before her death. I had promised her and her daughter that I would put the final stitches. A couple of flowers needed finishing (above) and the border needed a bright colour to finish it off. It was all in chain stitch, which is fortunately the embroidery stitch I am most competent at!
The finished embroidery. The keen-sighted amongst you may notice the ceiling is where the floor should be, mainly because this was hanging over the door and Annie had sewn it from the middle down, so to speak. Isn't it lovely? Her daughter was very pleased.
When I was in the bath tonight it looked pretty dimpsey outside, but a Robin was singing his heart out, as if he was trying to impress a gal! It was uplifting to hear him. I wonder if it was the one who was perched on top of the telegraph pole earlier? We have several about the place so it might not have been.
I hope you are enjoying your weekends. I'm off to read now!
