Large White Butterfly..... Dorset Garden July 2019

 

 Not my picture, taken in fact from the British Butterflies site, this is a female Large White.  Saw her hovering over the lavender last week. I never have my camera in the garden at the right time!

 But my garden is very low on butterflies and moths this year, sadly.  I wonder if the birds are eating them? I'd expect to see several species by now, but only one in May and one in July so far seems too little by far.

We Hope for Better Things - Erin Bartels

Some books you feel lucky you found, don't you?  I belong to an on-line quarterly book club, and this was the choice recently.  I had never heard of it, and a member who had read it passed it on to me.  I read all sorts of things, but like of us all I do enjoy a story that encourages you onwards with "just another page/chapter - or two/three/four!"

We Hope For Better Things has three separate time lines - The American Civil War, the Detroit Riots in the 1960s and today.  The leading characters are all women, Mary during the Civil War, Nora in the 1960s and Elizabeth today, who tells you this complicated but so cleverly linked story.  Can love overcome everything?  I think we always hope so, but it isn't always the case, and then again, sometimes life conspires to find us in the wrong place and then it isn't plain sailing.  This is a book about three women who don't necessarily get the happy ending they started out wishing for.  Bartel's understanding of race and prejudice makes this a book worth reading, because each woman is different, each lives in a different time and each has a major problem which haunts them.  The sense of history is given in glimpsed descriptions of the times but we are made to understand that in the case of Mary and Nora, society at large often conspires against us.  Secrets are revealed slowly and surely as the pages are turned.  Warning - don't read the last paragraph  before you start, but read it twice when you finish!

I know this description of the book is rather vague, but reader, if you are intrigued, I want you to discover this one yourself because for me it really was a wonderful read.

Mrs Mac Suggests - What to read in July '19

We've had a little hot spell here in the South-West of England, and yesterday I spent most of the day in the garden reading!  So that urged me onwards to look for something suitable for Summer reading, and I found one on my shelves,

and I am suggesting  A book connected with a garden

That should give you some scope - even if the only one you can think of is Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden - but honestly, there are loads.  I'm going to read:

All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West

This is not about gardening, but the author was a gardener.  Sissinghurst is one of the most famous gardens in England, and it was she who designed it and worked on it.
So enjoy your garden - on paper or sitting in it, or both.  Happy July! 

Brodeck - Philippe Claudel

Brodeck returns home from a POW camp, where he escaped death by pretending to be a dog, agreeing to be put on a collar and lead and be led around the camp on all fours, and to sleep with other dogs in the kennels at night.  He dreams of home, his village, and his beautiful wife, and at the end of the war he is able to leave the camp and start for home.

To a village he knows.  To a wife who does not speak.  To a daughter. And gradually we find out many things about Brodeck and his village, for he is asked to write a report for the mayor about a dreadful happening in the village.  He's writing the report, and he's telling his own story at the same time.  Gradually things are revealed;  things which were mentioned early on in his story but didn't make sense at first.  And we are witnessing the human race at it's worst, it's inhumanity to others when life should be so much better.  Gruelling and hard to read, nevertheless this beautifully written book may break your heart, and make you understand how easily bigotry and hatred can be conjured out of nowhere.

Music - Collecting and Disposing of same! 1. A little touch of Schmilsson in the Night

 I'm on a roll!  I'm sorting out and disposing of things I no longer want and this includes music.  Collecting stuff for so many years, I find there are lots of albums (vinyl and CD) that I no longer want to listen to.  Many of these were bought when I was running 4 quiz nights a year in a place I worked.  They were great compilation albums for quiz rounds like "Name the Intro"  "Where does this guitar riff come from?" and so on.  But I don't need them now, and most can be had for a few quid on the Internet - so I am sending them to the charity shop and maybe someone else will find pleasure in them and the charity shop will make money.

But guess what I found?  I found that I don't like noise but I do like music!!

I like, in no particular order, a good voice, or a good interpreter of a song, or a brilliant musician, or a brilliant tune, or clever lyrics; and I got to thinking about desert island discs..... which records I would take?  But it's hard to break down the music you love into ten only, especially when the entire album is a stroke of genius.

Here's one I have come back to again, and again - A Little Touch Of Schmilsson In The Night - Harry Nilsson.  I can't choose a track - I'd have to take the whole album.  It was never a best seller, yet here it is, wonderful as ever and one of my forever favourites.  When someone asked Michael Buble why he kept singing "old" songs, he told them that they were not old, just good.  That's how I feel about  Nilsson's interpretations on here.  Go on, give it a listen.

And then, you might like to listen to another couple of albums -

Borderline - Ry Cooder (completely different but just as wonderful)
Mi Tierra - Gloria Estevan (and never mind that it's sung in Cuban Spanish... just open your ears).

I think I'll make this a regular post - and you can always suggest albums to me - I will listen and comment, honestly!)

The Skylarks' War - Hilary McKay

   

A remark on the cover says a children's book.  I'd say YA - but actually, if you find this and take the time to read it, you can be any age over (say) 10 years.  Starting at the very  beginning of the 20th Century and leading up to and through WW1, this is a wonderful and gripping read. And for the chosen audience, an insight into a time long gone (and a super glossary at the end to explain things no longer commonly used or spoken of;  certainly worth referring to for any reader).  The Skylarks are three cousins who spend summer holidays in Cornwall with grandparents, and throughout their childhoods, they look forward to this more than anything in the world.  But we all grow up, and for them, war advances and things change.  The first third of the book is funny, sunny and bright, and the second two thirds are not, dealing as they do with the war, and the losses of that dreadful time.   

All in all this was a wonderful read, just under 300 pages;  a book which stirred up my emotions and made me feel everything that these young characters dealt with in a changing world.  Recommended.

Thalictrum Splendide - new in the garden and a hole in my bank account!

This is Thalictrum Splendide (white).   I suddenly have a lot of them hahaha........  This is the tale of how you make a mistake shopping on line.  There is a large group of Thalictrum;  most seem to be either white or pink,  and bees like them.  They will give you a lovely frothy show, and so I placed my order and bought three.  When the parcel was delivered, on opening, they had sent nine.

 I phoned the plant nursery straight away but they were too busy to answer, so I left a message to tell them they might have sent too many.  In the meantime, I planted two groups of three, and the final three are outside the door waiting for me to make up my mind about their location.  I kept looking at the delivery note and one side quite clearly said "x 3"  whilst the final column said "9".  24 hours later they phoned me back.  Yes, the order was correct, yes they had sent nine.  I explained that I wasn't worried about a mistake, but maybe I should pay for the others because I didn't want staff to get into trouble.  But no, nine ordered, nine paid for.   When I looked back that the nursery site, I found that ordering one meant I would get three plants.  Didn't see that!  Cost me though, so here's hoping that all nine do really well!

But here's the PS.... the nursery member of staff said "Thank you for being so honest".  What?  Do people just not bother anymore?  Would this just be treated as a freebie?  What's your view?