Hayley

I really can’t believe that it’s almost July! I should have a bit more reading time for this one so I’ll aim to read a good chunk of, if not finish, The Essex Serpent

Really tempted by this after you bought it up! Oh no! I’m glad it’s sorted now! Fingers crossed you’ll enjoy loads of reading in the next few days . I’m still working my way slowly through The Essex Serpent. I can’t wait for all the moving chaos to be done so I can spend a whole evening reading!

This made me laugh because that’s exactly what I think of when I think of Conrad. I’m surprised that The Shadow Line is different! It’s an interesting point that nautical books tend to focus on the captain, not the sailers. I’ve never thought about that before.

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Hello, welcome to the forum!

Yes, I was horrified. We all know Amazon's practices are iffy, but that was a truly shocking amount of waste. On the subject of Amazon alternatives, have I already posted about Book-ish? They have 4 for 3 offer on Penguin 'Summer' books at the moment: Penguin 4 for 3 offer! – book-ish.co.uk

That would be amazing, I'd love to try them if you don't mind! Thank you, I appreciate that. I'll try not to be too annoying . This sounds like it would be very pretty though!

To be fair, I would pay £30 a box if they did . I've noticed that you can buy them individually, where they're about £4 per pencil. I am tempted to buy a single one at some point, just to see what all the fuss is about! Aware that this may be a stupid question, but would I plant the cucumber seeds in a pot first, or just put them straight into the ground? I was hoping you might say the posts don't need to be too tall because we found a couple of discarded posts just in the bushes when we were clearing space, so I can probably use those!

This thread was inspired by Athena's thread on the subject a couple of years ago . What books are coming out this year that you're excited about!? I saw this in an email from Waterstones today and I definitely want to get it: The Haunting Season: Tales for Long Winter Nights, The Haunting Season by Bridget Collins, Natasha Pulley | Waterstones. The selection of authors sounds great and just look at the sprayed edges on the exclusive edition!

I am a list-making person too, I love the thought of doing them with nice ink! Have you ever heard of palomino pencils? Someone recommended that I get them for writing but they're really expensive for pencils! I can't think of any I don't like! Do you think it would be too late in the year for me to grow from seed now? I know that would be a lot cheaper but I've seen established plants (well, of pepper and tomato at least) in shops now. I suppose I'll be able to do a better plan next year, when I'm hopefully here in the spring! Thank you! (It looks like you'll have loads of tomatoes!) How tall are the posts?

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I totally agree with the bits you loved about Lies Sleeping, that was my favourite thing too! (I also always round my ratings up for Goodreads!) This sounds amazing

I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: I gazed—and gazed—but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils. I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud - William Wordsworth

I can read tab but not sheet music. Like you, I can work out bits of sheet music but if I try to read a whole chunk it just becomes a muddle. I definitely couldn't play a song from it. A friend told me once (when I got my first guitar) that if you lie your guitar down on your lap, your strings are now the lines of the tab. That's how I learnt . That's very cool, I bet you've had some great experiences! I very nearly bought a pepper plant the other day but decided I should do some more research first (for things like should I leave it in a pot, does it need to be in direct sun etc.). We've started cutting back all the overgrown things and weeds at my new house and there is space to plant things now. I'd really like to grow edible things, I'm just not quite sure what yet, or where they should go!

I would call that a successful shopping trip . Pine looks really good, I was tempted to buy that too. I also love the cover!

Woah, that is hot! It's about 24 here and I feel like I'm melting already! Noooooo. I thought the predicted storms meant it would be cooler tonight!!

Wow, you did well! I hope you enjoyed them all It definitely does . I also just looked this book up because it sounded familiar and it looks really good!

I was cheered up today (enough to come and post again) by the fact that I now have internet again!

Just remembered I didn’t update this. I didn’t do a page count this month because my main goal was to get back into the book, but I definitely did that! We were painting at the new house but every time I had a break I sat in the garden and read a bit more. The Essex Serpent is very atmospheric and I got drawn back in easily, so happy with this months read-a-thon!

Wow And wow again! It sounds like you have some amazing instruments! It’s never occurred to me before but do you use tab or sheet music for ukulele? Are peppers difficult to grow? I was talking to some of the neighbours at my new house and they told me the garden here used to be really lovely (there are some beautiful plants still but it’s very overgrown). So I’m determined to make it as lovely again . I also want to make it a good space for wildlife. This might be the start of a new hobby!

This absolutely sounds worth it! Aww, I bet you couldn’t wait! I was cheered up today by my (old) neighbour giving me a table and chairs for my new garden! It’s in pieces at the moment so I’m excited to put it together tomorrow .

Thank you! I’m getting back into The Essex Serpent for the read-a-thon! I haven’t picked it up for… a while. Luckily the plot isn’t hard to follow!

That’s interesting! I definitely would have associated ‘maritime’ exclusively with the sea. There’s a Jack Vance (science fiction) book that’s set on boats called Showboat World. And also one that’s set on a planet that’s entirely covered by water called The Blue World. I suppose they would be a form of maritime by that definition.

The biggest thing I can think of that annoys me is when a book is set in the past and the author shoehorns random historical facts in, despite the fact that they have no relation to the story. It makes me feel like they’re trying far too hard to convince us they’ve done their research! Also this, unless it’s meant to be funny and then it’s fine .