Had a wee jaunt to Gateshead for an antiques fair with @thebooktrail and yes indeed I spent a few quid...
Blue and silver pendent, pressed glass scent bottle with a silver top (I've several, but not that shape), green Maling china pin dish, tiny pressed glass cream jug, crown derby penguin, pair of candlesticks to go with a deco dressing table set I've had for years (never seen them in 30yrs of collecting!). Plus a Sowerby slag glass beaker from 1886 Edinburgh exhibition and a fabulous powder bowl that I've also never seen before outside a book.
Spent up but very happy 😁
(Oh, and a wee treat for the train home...)
#antiques #vintage #collectables
Lunch thanks to @redkitecafe (as seen in The Night Watcher by @tariqashkanani !), much walking and many steps with m'lady @heatherjfitt in the name of book research, and a small libation in the Jinglin Geordie to conclude the afternoon. I've definitely had worse days off 😊
#books #food #friends #Edinburgh
I spent a delightful evening in the company of @quineofcrime and @nicolasturgeon last week that I forgot to tell you about, oops...
Thanks to @portybooks for getting these wonderful women together to chat about Silent Bones and Winter and so much more, including Nicola's wish that she had more influence over Val ("if you're putting the independence referendum in fiction, you could at least have changed the result!") and their deal that if independence was delivered, Karen Pirie would get a happy ever after...
And more seriously, Val talked about how she has always tried to give victims a place, a voice, a backstory, agency. She explored this to great effect in Silent Bones - but the moral dilemma at the end is left for the reader to resolve. (To read my review of the novel, pop here: /2025/12/18/review-silent-bones/)
Thanks for a great evening, ladies!
(And @nicolasturgeon here's another nag to read Doug Johnstone's terrific Enceladons trilogy, starting with The Space Between Us, and my review as promised! /2023/03/10/review-the-space-between-us/)
#books #crimefiction #event #bookstagram
Before: fresh from the garden leeks, parsnips and carrots. After: add homegrown onion and purchased potatoes, stock cubes, water and bay leaves, and lo, chunky vegetable soup.
Not really a recipe, but... Chop an onion, soften in some oil. Chop 1/3 turnip, 2-3 parsnips (about the same amount as turnip), 4-5 carrots (bit more than the amount of turnip) and 1-2 potatoes (bit less than the amount of turnip), bung them in the pan to fry while you boil two pints ish of water for your two stock cubes (2 veg, or 1 veg and 1 chicken). Add stock, maybe a bit more water depending on how you like it. Add pepper and a couple of bay leaves. Bring to boil and simmer while you chop 1-2 leeks, then add them. Simmer quietly til it's all cooked. I leave it chunky, you could blitz til smooth.
#winter #soup #vegetables #growyourown
Why yes, I do enjoy giving rectangular gifts at Christmas! And yes indeed, I am giving my dad a set of slim metal bookends in an effort to keep at least some of his paperbacks under control... (And yes, I did run out of silver curling ribbon and tags, but the book underneath is in red paper so I figured I'd just damn well cheat this time 😂).
#Christmas #gifts #presents #books
One of today's tasks: gingerbread Christmas trees (including a few that didn't want to be parted from the baking tray, which are useful for research purposes...)
#Christmas #biscuits #homebaking
