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Saturday 25 February 2017

February 25th, 2017

I have been very busy of late what with work, home and getting on with things.  I did decide in the New Year that I would read more books because last year I read none.  I gave myself a target of at least 10 books this year and so far I have read 3.  I thought I might do a little review of them just in case anyone wanted to know if they were of any interest.

1. Monty Don My Family and Other Dogs

Monty Don is the presenter of Gardeners World on BBC 1 and is not just an experienced gardener but also a family man and the main reason I chose this book as my first read is because of his love for his dogs.

He talks about all of the dogs that he has loved and lost and how important they are to him and how they are part of the family unit.  His relationship with Nigel has been portrayed on the gardening programme and the book tells you about his dog following him around the garden, being spoiled by the camera crew at times and the way he poses when the camera points at him.  Apparently, Nigel gets more fan mail than Monty does.

2. Woman of God by James Patterson & Maxine Paetra

Frank had just finished reading this and said I would like it.  So I said to him straight away does it have a good ending and he said yes.  

The story is about a lady doctor who works in South Sudan working long days, under a lot of stress and heartache without much equipment or medicine.  She is a religious lady who has a strong faith and feels that is where her vocation is.  There are children around her that are orphans and she loves them.  In the midst of it all there is a bad person who just kills for fun and so does his men and it got me quite angry reading it.  Thank god it was not explicit detail and I had to stop reading it a few times so that I could think about the first part of the book.  

I picked it up again after a few days and the story line continued with some relief of good things happening and then it went to pot again.  I said to Frank that I thought it had a good ending and he said just to keep reading it.  

After the leader of the terrible men was tortured and she lost a loved one, she went back to her home country and took on another job as a doctor in a special clinic.  The rest of the book continues in this manner of work, love and loss but it does have a reasonable ending but not what I was expecting or hoped for.  I would however, recommend this book, even now I am still thinking about the characters in it.

3.  Monty Don The Jewel Garden

I know that I have read Monty Dons books in the wrong order but I just wanted to read something that would not make me so anguished as the previous book.

This book is briefly about how Monty and his wife meet, build a Jewellery business, have a family and enjoy making their garden.  Later, they lose their business and their home and Monty ends up unemployed. 

After the loss of a relative they gain enough money to start again and this book is about starting from scratch and one of their ideas was to have a Jewel Garden that reflects their love of colour using plants.

Monty often talks and shows you the garden on the BBC programme and the book has some fantastic photos of where they live and tells you how they build it up.

I really enjoyed this book too. 

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One of the reasons I like reading about Monty is his similarity to fighting with depression and my love for creativity.  That being said my creative side has been a bit hit and miss and it is only the past month that I have really bothered with anything.  So here are some photos of what I have been doing.



I have knitted two pair of socks for Frank in Regia 4-fadiq sock yarn, I first pair was a self striping colourway and the second pair is the Regia 4-fadiq Mosaic sock yarn.  He loves them, says the keep his feet warm when he is out working in the cold.  They are washed in the machine at 30c and left on the radiator to dry which is excellent with hand knitted socks.



I then crocheted this small blanket for a colleague at work.  Jessie had bought a doll for her daughter and I said would she like a blanket for it and within about a week, I had crocheted this.  I used a size 5mm hook and some Super Chunky Cream yarn and randomly thought of a design.  

Not bad for roughly 10 hours work!

So what am I going to read next....I have not got a clue.  I am debating whether to read another one of Monty Dons books or another autobiography but not sure who.

It is my weekend off so Frank and I had a lay in today (Saturday), went for breakfast in our favourite cafe, did a bit of shopping and then come home.  Frank started pottering around in the garden, planted his Rose bush and I did a load of cleaning and some washing,  We went back out to the local shops and took Tammie for her walk and then I spent a few hours crocheting on my big blanket and started a new knitting project whilst Frank read his book.  

Sunday will be another lay in, I hope and then some cuddles with my Grandchild, some breakfast and then Scott, my eldest will be visiting.  I have not seen him for ages and cant wait to see him again.

So I am going to wish you all a very happy weekend, spring is on its way which will brighten me up a bit and hope to write again soon.