Bits and bobs

I've started another blanket.  My fourth.  For the Girlie this time.  At her request.   She and her beloved have just moved house, their first as a couple, so there's been a flurry of spending the wedding present vouchers, decorating and arranging down Manchester way.  Had me thinking about our first marital home, rented just after finishing university and furnished with whatever we could scrounge or borrow or buy secondhand.  I remember our ancient oven cost three quid.  My dad took it to pieces to thoroughly clean it and my brother painted the numbers on the regulo dial.  Our first meal using it was cheese pasties which, incidentally, the mister here wishes featured more frequently on the menu these days.

A new book has been added to the to be read pile.  A bit of a change from recent reads and next month's title for Cornflower Book Group's discussion which I'm hoping to join in.   I bought it at the weekend in Waterstones, now the only bookshop left in town.  Sadly, they weren't doing a lot of business (and yes, I'm as guilty as many of defaulting to Amazon) so it's anyone's guess how long it will remain.  However, not being busy meant that the sales assistant could indulge in some book related chat which included another recommendation.

Pottering in the garden today (and finally acknowledging that I haven't a clue about pruning) I spotted the hellebore (Corsican, I think) flowering away next to the bird bath and brought some inside, inspired by Littlegreenshed's 'Nature in the Home' posts which I've been enjoying.

Obviously, I'm still faffing with photo effects (this last one is 'Cruz', apparently) though mindful that you really can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.