The Closet of Savage Mementos

(image from New Island Books)

 

This is going to be another post about books (and a wee bit of food!) I'm afraid.  Quite simply these long warm light summer evening are just perfect for lounging around with a great book and as the World Cup and the continued house renovations have employed most of Mr S's time, I have been taking the opportunity to escape into print, mostly fiction. There have been many recommendations that have passed around my book-club this year, but there has been only one exceptional novel that has achieved a consensus of enthusiastic approval.

 

The Closet of Savage Mementos is one of those books that will surprise and delight you with the skill and vitality of it's story telling. The characters continue to haunt you long after the final page has been read, you wish that it had been slightly longer so you could tarry a while longer in their company. Yet, there are no uneasy gaps in the plot, the characters have been allowed to have enough room within the novel to impart empathy yet retain a realistic unknowability. Nuala Ni Chonchuir tells a very particular story of love, the lightning-strike of passion and the impact of its absence but Lillis's story is also a universal tale, she is an everyman battling against exceptional circumstances to make her way in life, a life marked by great love and great loss.

Our book-club is lucky enough to have some very pro-active members, Pavlova Queen Fi who does all the Facebooking/admin and organising, Margaret who organises some great 'meet the author' nights and opens up her home and library to us and who blogs from here. Not forgetting, Lisa, who is a prolific blogger, bookseller, writer and book-fairy and who blogs from here. I just turn up occasionally and drink my coffee/wine and offer an opinion or two. In the past I have never really been that concerned to meet any authors, perhaps because they have always seemed very remote or perhaps being content with the book as a stand-alone piece of art.

However, last week when Nuala Ni Chonchuir graciously took some time out to meet us I was really looking forward to the evening, there was just something about that book! Having read it a good few weeks ago, I thought I better scan through, however it is so good I found myself properly re-reading again.We had a wonderful time chatting with Nuala, and getting some of the background to the novel, the process of writing and the experience of working with all the team who contribute to the process of publishing and marketing a book. I would recommend to any of you also in book-clubs to not only read this particular book but also to have a go and organise a 'meet-the-author' for yourselves.

As well as having a good natter, we always bring some food and drink to the hosts table. Cooking and drinking lovely wine in combination with book-talk - are for me - a sublime trinity of pleasure. For this night we had some dietary requirements to consider, one vegetarian, one person completely gluten-free and some other ladies trying to cut down on the amount of gluten in their diet. It was also a gorgeous warm summer evening. So a quick browse of the net, resulted in these two lovely recipes:

Pasta Salad with Haloumi and Lemon

I marinated the grated courgette for around an hour and a half in the dressing and replaced half of the olive oil with some camellia oil. This camellia oil is produced locally to me in the beautiful Boyne Valley and is apparently very high in omega 3,6 & 9 and has a delicious if slightly unusual nutty taste. I also replaced the pasta with a gluten-free alterative.

My sweet contribution is one of my favourite gluten-free recipes, these brownies are so scrumptious and just so easy to make. My kids go mad for these and of-course love licking the bowl after mixing. I didn't make the sauce as we were going to have a selection of goodies.
Nigella's Peerless Flourless Chocolate Brownies

Click on the titles for the links!

Enjoy-let me know if you try these! xxxx

 

Inspiring Teachers

 

 

 

The school year is finally at an end, an auspicious year for our family as both children attended school. E moving out of the infants classes and O just at the beginning. Both children had a fantastic year and reading their school reports I was the most puffed-up proud Mama in the world! I have a feeling that O managed to totally charm his vivacious young teacher and I really appreciated how E's teacher discerned and fostered her love of reading, writing and maths. Did you have a teacher that inspired and championed you? What books from your school days do you still love or which are still totally hated because of exams and essays?

I detested school, the old-fashioned teachers, the naked aggressive bullying, the choking atmosphere of catholic containment. Additionally, Northern Ireland in the late 1980's was a bitter and uneasy place. There was one sustaining class though, Eng Lit/Lang, taught by the lovely Mr H. This class, the first cohort of GCSE student,s gave me an escape from the day-to day mundanity and the anticipation of a permanent absence. The power of words and a university education could take me away from the chilling graffiti chalked up on the 'gasworks wall', a release from the constant self-censorship both in words and of actions and of movement.

The images above are just three of the rich and vivid books that we poured over that summer. That cover of Cider With Rosie, while not my favourite was the text that we used and just a glimpse brings me back to that stuffy classroom, the shuffle of paper, the laconic buzz of a distant fly and the smell of Tippex, Impluse and cut grass. As Laurie explores Rosie in the hay, there was a corresponding fission of anticipation in that classroom. Occasionally Mr H would divert off into a monologue about his hobby of flying micro-light aircraft. I would surreptitiously stare out of the mobile classroom window at the handsome curly haired boy while my friend N had thinly disguised thoughts for Mr H's moustache.

A little later, armed with A levels I escaped to the beautiful but sometimes haunting city of Bath to study, Handsome Curly Haired boy married the girl next door at 21, Mr H stayed on teaching at the same school chalking up thirty years at the same school. I wonder how many students he inspired to continue and enjoy reading and writing not as a chore or even a sometime habit but as an essential fundamental part of  everyday life. I wonder if he still spends the weekends flying his little 'plane. I wonder did any of us thank him...

Inspired by Sue's wonderful post about Cider with Rosie and the centenary of Laurie Lee's birth falling so close to my own birthday I was inspired to pick this book for our June book-club choice and I cannot tell you what a wonderful experience it was to re-read. The rich descriptive language, the abundance of unforgettable characters, the Grannies, the Uncles, Miss Fluck and her pre-Raphaelite suicide, this book touches my heart like few others. Now, re-reading as a mother, the chapter 'Mother' especially emerges as one of the most loving and compassionate portraits in the English literary canon.

"She was as muddled and mischievous as a chimney-jackdaw, she made her nest of rags and jewels, was happy in the sunlight, squawked loudly at danger, pried and was insatiably curious, forgot to eat or ate all day and sang when sunsets were red."

A Place called Perfect.

Hi Everyone! Oh, it is so good to be back and free from the rigors of the OU and the constant thinking and worrying about studying. I have so much catching up to do, especially with my little ones. They have been so good but really it is not great to have a Mum so preoccupied with something other than themselves. They only have two more weeks left at school though so I am loving the few hours in the day that I can call my own. Catching up with friends, with exercise, DIY, baking, making and sweet sweet reading for pleasure.

Way back before Christmas, I was delighted to win an intriguing book from this interesting blog- Northern Irish based 'The Patchwork Quill'.  I was so touched to receive the book with a personalised note from the author with a polite request for a review for her website. Well, I am slightly shame-faced when I confesses that I have only just gotten around to reading it. A Place called Perfect by Kilkenny based, author, designer and illustrator Helena Duggan,  is an intriguing, sinister and clever book aimed at young readers 10+ but adults who love reading a wide genre selection will also love this magical world that Helena has created. Children will love the characters of Violet and Boy and emphasise with their struggles in this world of untrustworthy adults. I love the distinctive cover of this book and only wish that there was more of Helena's beautiful illustration inside. I will certainly pass this over to my kids when they are old enough.

I also want to share another perfect little place with you. Last month I had to travel to Newry for an Open University day school. I arrived in Newry in pouring rain, much too early for my appointment and feeling a little cold and miserable. I not familiar with the town and on this day, it looked very much like a town both in recovery thanks to the peace process but also one that has been hit by recession so I was charmed to stumble into My Aunt Jane's Tearoom. I sat down gratefully in the cosy and quirky vintage inspired interior, with a generous pot of tea and a beautiful fresh scone and had a lovely chat with Katrina, the friendly owner. Katrina is a wonderful host and is so passionate about her business, it is infectious. If you love fine loose tea, scrumptious coffee, crafty activities or quirky vintage finds be sure to check this shop out. Newry is also a fantastic base for exploring the majestic countryside of the Mourne mountains on one side and the Cooley mountains on the other.

 

Hi Katrina! (Sorry about the quality of the pics, they were shot on the phone camera.)

My own little place of perfection is looking rather forlorn and scruffy at the moment, we are diligently stripping off all our '80's wallpaper in preparation for some late summer renovations. That sure is one piece of vintage that I shall be relieved to put in the bin! Unfortunately we have revealed wall upon wall of dark red plaster so the interior is beginning to look more like a dank cave every day. On the bright side though my little fireplace has finally been installed, the seedlings are growing strong and the whole place smells of elderflower cordial and freshly baked bread. There is much to look forward to. I love June! What are you looking forward to this summer?

Summer Longings

Ah! my heart is weary waiting,
Waiting for the May--
Waiting for the pleasant rambles,
Where the fragrant hawthorn brambles,
With the woodbine alternating,
Scent the dewy way.
Ah! my heart is weary waiting,
Waiting for the May.
Ah! my heart is sick with longing,
Longing for the May--
Longing to escape from study,
To the young face fair and ruddy,
And the thousand charms belonging
To the summer's day.
Ah! my heart is sick with longing,
Longing for the May.

Denis Florence MacCarthy 1817-1882

Oh, I can't wait for the summer, the long days of doing nothing, the kids playing and exploring, the absence of study and timetables. Flowers, fruit salad and day trips to new places. This week has been very grey and gloomy with great long showers of rain but despite this, you can see how nature is again blooming, drawing her finery around her in bounteous joy. I have tiny salad seedlings popping up in pots and baby plums and cherries forming on the fruit trees. The apple tree, notoriously fickle has yet to show her hand but then she is an old Irish heirloom tree so we put up with her moods. The youthful quince twins appear to be almost miraculously free of rust this year, thank goodness I didn't pull them out.

I have walked for miles this week and eaten a lot of cake outside on my back step. Walking has become almost a meditative process for me, particularly in very bad weather! It becomes refreshing and soothing, one foot after the other, the little dog trotting alongside, walking out into the rain and solitude. Myself and the kids have watched this **video (**scroll down to the 3rd video) about beach artist Andreas Amador over and over again, how cool would this be to spend some hours doing this!

I have so many half-crafted posts I have been wanting to share but life keeps getting in the way. I have so many works in progress, books to review, fabric to find for my sewing project and many many seeds to plant. I am feeling a tiny bit overwhelmed as I have a huge OU deadline looming. Four thousand words in three weeks which will count for half the marks on my course. Thank-goodness, I am off to Newry for our day-school tomorrow which hopefully should give us all some inspiration on how to progress.

Also, our book-cub has been picked for the TV3* book-club of the month for May so we have to read Mansfield Park for next Wednesday for filming on Thursday. Despite hating the sound of my own voice and getting my photograph taken, I managed to volunteer to speak on camera. I was at the time fuelled by a lovely South African shiraz and feeling ecstatic from completing the first 'half' (12 thousand words across 7 months!) of my course. Groan. We are hoping that they bring lots of make-up and hair stylists...

I am going to take a little break from blogging until this is all finished and hopefully when I come back I shall begin the McCall's sew-along and have plenty of little veggie seedlings to show you. Oh and the Giro d'Italia sweeps through our town this weekend, the whole place has gone pink in it's honour! See you on the 6th of June! xxx

(*Irish television channel, similar to ITV in the UK)
(**scroll down to the 3rd video)

Sharing is caring-blog giveaway!

Hi all,
Sorry to have been away for so long! I hope you all had a great Easter, we had a very busy one. I can't wait to have the time to write a proper post but I just had to pop in to share a lovely blog giveaway that my friend Lisa is running on her fabulous book-review blog. Why don't you drop by and pay her a visit!
http://lisareadsbooks.blogspot.ie/2014/04/the-crimson-ribbon-by-katherine.html?showComment=1398544812002#c4309684226066841504

Housewifery.

Let me tell you a secret. Sure you won't tell ANYONE? Ok, then. I quite like housework. Not all the time, obviously but every now and again I take the notion for a good auld scrub.
Most of last week was spent writing in the perplexing brain-curdling mist that was my penultimate essay for my OU module for this year, just one more short one to go then the big EMA which is like a mini dissertation and then summer freedom. Hurrah.

After a good sleep I was ready to tackle the cob-webby slovenly hovel that my home turns into with a couple of days neglect. There is something about sitting down with a steaming cup of coffee and home made Lemon and Poppy seed cake and admiring order, clean surfaces, sparkling bathroom and a washing-line billowing with clean linen and all scented with fresh flowers and furniture polish. I found this cute tutorial for a Land-girl style head-scarf on YouTube, great for bad-hair days and protecting those victory rolls while playing at house. I am so tempted to do the shopping looking like this!

 

Hello, to all of you that are popping over from Daisy's blog. I am so sorry if you were disappointed that there has been no sewing. I wanted to try and source the pattern locally or at least on the island of Ireland but I have had no luck. I capitulated and ordered it from Amazon this morning.

I get so worried about our independent shops when browsing that site -no matter how many times I swear I am not going back I always do.  I am so consistently surprised at the range of items that Amazon carries, how can local retailers survive in this difficult economic climate? Last month, we lost our biggest newsagent in the town, Eason's have a chain of stores all over Ireland and while there were many faults with that particular shop it was a huge shock to lose them. We still have some gorgeous wee crafty shops hanging on my the skin of their teeth though, The Crafty Fox, Quaint, Breda's Wool shop and two of my absolute favourites, Kirwan's fishmongers and Sampson's Craft Butchers. I was a vegetarian for almost twenty years till I moved here...

Do you guys have any favourite shops? I wish I could go back for an hour or so to the weird and wonderful shops that we had when I was little. All family owned business and all so different even those the three I remember best sold the same stuff, groceries, sweets and newspapers. There was one shop that I cant even remember the name off, I don't think it even had a sign but it was run by this ancient old lady and her mother! They never took the dark red wooden shutter from the window and it was so dark inside but that is where my Gran got her newspapers and gossip and a comic for me every week. Twinkle, Bunty and then Judy. I still have some of the Christmas annuals of those comics and when I peek inside I forget I am a middle aged housewife and transported back to being a little girl with white socks and scuffed shoes again!

All sew together.

 

I am very excited and a tad tingly. Finally after all the procrastination, at the weekend I made something with my sewing machine. I actually made two pillowcases, they are a little bit crooked, a little bit wonky and needless to say that if Patrick from the Great British Sewing Bee looked inside he would not be impressed by my seams. I had a few anxious moments along the way, I can tell you. First I got a great wedge of fabric stuck in the thingy-ma-jig ( I mean the feed dogs) I thought I was going to have to tearfully phone John Lewis and explain that I had broken my wee sewing machine on its first proper outing!

After managing to remove the trapped fabric with much pulling, poking, cursing and praying to St Anthony,  I then had the shocking realisation that I had not sewn a completely straight seam so there was some gapage in the seams and then I sewed one bit on back to front, it was completely exhausting but sooo much fun. E had a little turn pressing down the pedal to make the machine go while I held the fabric but she kept ignoring me when I yelled STOP so she flounced off and played with her dads iPad. Mr S and O were out for a walk with the dog so I was delighted to show them all my afternoons work when they all came back from the muddy fields and the virtual woods.

Mr S attempted to settle down and watch the football but did look at little alarmed when I burst in to show him yet another mistake. I made the covers from some spare pieces of curtain material that we had left over from trimming our Ikea curtains. Mr S claims that he 'hates' these curtains but so far he has been a complete sport and not complained about the matching cushions now cluttering adorning the bed!

Thank the Goddess of common sense that I did not blithely start learning to sew with my gorgeous collection of vintage scarves. The pattern for the simple covers is available from this cute blog here. I must say while I was sewing I was transported back to first year in secondary school to domestic science, Mrs W and those loathed Bernina machines that I found nigh on impossible to thread. Why, oh why did I not listen to Mrs W at the time? Is it interesting that the two skills that I had the opportunity to learn at school-sewing and violin-the two lessons that I couldn't stand are now the very skills I really really want to be proficient at. Anyway, that is enough navel gazing for now.

So I pondering what to attempt as my next project when I happened to drop into the lovely Lazy Daisy Jones only to find that this lady who is a very talented and witty crafter is hosting a sew along. She is going to hold our hands while we attempt this easy (?) A-line skirt. Fantastic. Now I have to chose some fabric and try and source the pattern here in Ireland. I think I might try and look for a pattern for a similar skirt for a certain seven year old girly, she would love that. So that is why I have a new side button on the blog. Please share your thoughts on the project as it progresses and why not join in. The link should take you there. Lovely. Talk soon.xx
Oh, ps Sewing Bee is back tonight, I have been having severe withdrawals. I do so want Lynda to win and then adopt me and teach me all she knows...