Days have been flying by lately.

Life has been busy. Work has been stressful. WordPress has been playing up.

I’ve found myself wanting to do things around the house – after work and dog- walking – rather than sit to read or write.

But now – I think – things are settling down again.

And, once again, I’m beginning again with an A to Z …..

A is for AN ANGEL IN THE CORNER by Monica Dickens. An excellent charity shop find by the man of the house.

B is for BERGERE DE FRANCE. I’d not read this particular knitting magazine before, but I spotted a new issue with lots of cable patterns and I knew it was time to try. I love that it came in two parts, one with photographs and one with patterns.

C is for COWS, We were surprised to see cows grazing on Madron Carn for the first time, but Briar was transfixed. She’d never seen animals that big quite so close before.

D is for DAVID COPPERFIELD. I’m trying to read a Dickens a year, and I think this might be this year’s book.

E is for ELLEN THORNEYCROFT FOWLER was the sister of Edith Henrietta Fowler, and now that I’ve read one I’d like to read the other.

F is for THE FLOWERING THORN. My next Margery Sharp read.

G is for GULVAL. Briar loved walking through the paths and the fields last weekend; and at the highest point of the walk there’s a lovely view across Mounts Bay.

H is for HI-FI. I’ve just passed my father’s beloved hi-fi on to a collector. I was sorry to let it go but we were never going to use it, it took up space and because he looked after it it was in lovely conditions. We even found the guarantee cards he’d filled in, back in 1979.

I is for I TOO HAVE LIVED IN ARCADIA by Marie Belloc Lowndes. It’s a memoir of the author’s mother, and I do hope it’s good, because I’ve spotted three volumes of her memoirs in the library.

J is for JESSICA CORNWELL. It’s not the sort of book I often read, but I do like the look of ‘The Serpent Papers.’

K is for KEEPING UP. I started recording the books I was reading and the books coming into the house in my Persephone Diary last month, and I’m not quite up to date but I do want to keep it up for the whole year.

L is for LADY ANNA. It’s this month’s Trollope, and I’m liking it very much.

M is for MARGARET KENNEDY. An old copy of Return I Dare Not! was ordered in December but it arrived in January, so I’m trying to save it until the TBR dare is done. Luckily I remembered that ‘Troy Chimneys’ had been waiting on the Virago bookshelf for quite some time.

N is for NATALIE PRASS. A lovely part of the current soundtrack to my life.

O is for ORIGINAL DENIM. I’ve not knitted with it before, but I love the deep shades of blue and I’m very taken with Hestia from the most recent Rowan magazine.

P is for PIPIT. A pair of rock pipits visit our garden regularly, eating from the feeder, picking up bits from the ground, and coming right up to the house to drink from Briar’s bucket by the front door.

Q is for QUESTIONS. I rarely win things but a few weeks ago I won a £50 book budget by answering survey questions.

R is for RAILINGS. The storm battered railings on our promenade our being replaced, and that’s lovely, but Briar is not at all happy that the promenade is completely fenced off and that she can’t get to her own beloved beach.

S is for STICKY LABELS. I know that charity shops have to label books, I know that gift aid is a very good thing, but I do wish they wouldn’t stick the kind of sticky labels that are impossible to remove bang in the middle of front covers.

T is for TBR DARE. It’s just past half-time and I’m still on track.

U is for THE UNFORGOTTEN by Patrice Chaplin. A very readable psychological thriller, with echoes of ‘Rebecca’, that had been sitting on a shelf for long time.

V is for VANESSA AND HER SISTER by Priya Parmar. A lovely book.

W is for WOLF HALL. I love the BBC adaptation and I’ll re-read the book one day soon. First time around I read it much too quicly, because I had to take it back to the library for the next person in the queue

X is for EXHIBITION – ‘Then and Now: An Enchanted Landscape – Photographic Excursions Through West Penwith’ is at Penlee House until the end of March

Y is for YOKED SWEATER. I’ve never knitted one, I’m planning to try some new things with my knitting this year, and I love William.!

Z is for ZZZZZ – it seems to be the sleepy season for border terriers!

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Back soon ….