Madeleine

Funnily enough the theme music is being used in a TV ad in the UK, involving a tortoise. Of course I can't remember what the ad is for though.......

Oh yes that theme tune, I think it got into the charts didn't it? I can see the horse now, galloping along......

Yep I'd say that was probably the slowest part, it did take a while to get going.

Tidelands" by Philippa Gregory - this is the first in the Fairmile trilogy, it's the late 1640s and Charles I is under house arrest on the Isle of Wight whilst the country is divided into supporters of Cromwell's Parliament and the Royalists who want to restore the King. Meanwhile on the Tidelands of the title, which is a marshy estuary in Sussex, near Chichester, Alinor scrapes a living as a midwife and herbalist, helped by her children Rob and Alys. Alinor's husband went to sea several months ago and hasn't been heard of since, and there are suspicions amongst the close knit community that Alinor may have cast a spell on him to make him disappear - this is of course a time when distrust of any woman with so called healing powers led to fears that she was a witch. One day Alinor comes to the help of a young man making his way through the treacherous paths of the tidelands, she agrees to lead him to the local Priory and home of the landlord, where he taking up a post as tutor to the man's son. This however is a cover for his real purpose, he is a Catholic priest (which was a banned religion in England at that time) and is also a spy, for the lord is one of those who is trying to restore the monarchy. When the lord agrees that Alinor's son can be tutored alongside his own son and can therefore move into the Priory, the priest and Alinor are inevitably thrown together even more, and both find themselves in danger, and not only from local gossips. After a slightly slow start this picked up and I really enjoyed it, it's hard to believe now how petty and narrow minded people could be, but that was how it was at the time (and indeed in some areas of the world it still is), but Alinor finds herself in real danger. I did find myself rooting for Alinor and James, although I could have shaken her daughter! Looking forward to the sequel. 8/10

Wonderful tonight - Eric Clapton

Yes that was the other one, I was trying to remember it, thanks for that!

We had a few showers yesterday but nothing like last Monday which was downpours and storms, like Meg I've been leaving my small plants in the shed for a few days to protect them, however I've tentatively taken them out today, as no rain is forecast, although it's very dull and chilly at the moment. We had some sunny bits yesterday too so hopefully will brighten up later.

All this Time - Sting

I would put Lord of the Rings into fantasy rather than sci fi.

I can second that, the Poldark books are very well written. I remember A Horseman riding by being on the telly, they did a few of Delderfield's books in the 70s.

Same here, the weekend wasn't quite as bad as forecast, though we did have a few downpours, and it rained heavily last night, so far it keeps coming over very threatening and then blowing over.

The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Graham

Letter from America - The Proclaimers

Hi, enjoy finding your way around the forum.

If you like family sagas, with a bit of historical background thrown in (the later books concentrate quite a bit on the Napoleonic wars) then it's a great read.

Welcome to our new Mods!

Hi Goose, another rec for the Rivers of London series, also Jasper Fforde gives an alternative view of the universe too, not quite dystopian but definitely skewed, but with a literary angle too.

After raining most of the night yesterday was quite dry, a couple of short showers but not too bad. Who knows what today will be like, it's quite cold and dull at the moment.

yesterday was abysmal, rained nearly all day, had 3 major downpours and one storm, hasn't rained overnight but meant to be pretty much the same for most of the week. It's sunny now but not expected to last.

My heart will go on - Celine Dion

Weekend was pretty much a washout as it rained most of the time, especially yesterday. Did manage to do a bit of gardening in the dry bits though, planted some cornflower seeds and some sunflower seeds, and potted up a couple of things.

It has been done before, I think Frances Barber played the Bolter but that's all I can remember. I watched the first episode of the new version, hated it. too much narration, most of them were irritating, apparently it does get better but I never was a Mitford fan so will pass on this one.

Living in a box - Living in a box

Still too cold to plant anything out. I now have 2 tiny cosmos seedlings, sweet peas still doing well, possibly a few zinnia seedlings though some seem to have disappeared, still no scabious, something is growing in the hollyhock pot but not sure what it is yet! I did buy some dahlias over the weekend which look nice, and hope to plant a large tub with all wildflower seeds, to encourage bees. But it still gets quite chilly at night, and is very damp.

Girl with a Pearl Ear-ring - Tracy Chevalier