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Mar. 21st, 2011
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10) 21/3/11
Lisa Shearin: Armed and Magical
I read the first one of these: 'Magic Lost, Trouble Found' last year and though it didn't entirely rock my world it was good enough to try a second one. Glad I did, whether it's because I'm already familiar with the world or whether this really is a better book than the first one, I enjoyed it enormously. It picks up just days after the last one ends. Raine Benares, daughter of the criminally active Benares clan, is a small-time sorceress, a seeker, who has just, in the last book, become magically twinned with the Saghred, a soul-sucking Goblin stone of unimaginable dark power. She's either its guardian or its servant. Which one of them will come out on top is by no means clear.
She's come to the Isle of Mid, where the Conclave of Mages rules, in order to find a mage wily enough to unhook her from the stone. All she wants is her life back, but the stone has other ideas, and so do the factions that want to use it through her. The Goblins, sexy dark and dangerous, think it's theirs. The Elves, gorgeous, light and equally dangerous want to keep it out of the Goblins' hands and since Raine is an Elf they think she's theirs. The Mages and their Conclave Guardians (think: magical police force) want to keep it locked away where it can't do any damage. Rival mages just want to see Raine dead because they think she's as dangerous as the stone. And its previous owner, nutty as a really poisonous fruit cake and supposedly dead a thousand years ago, wants it back and he doesn't care how many souls he has to sacrifice to get it.
On Raine's side is her dashing, piratical cousin Phaelan, her young spellsinger friend Piaras, now a student at the magic college, and (probably) the archmagus himself, plus Mychael, head of the Conclave Guardians, a hunky, spellsinging elf who is obviously head over heels in love with Raine, but that won't strand in the way of his duty. If the Conclave says lock her up, he'll do it.
This seems much more focused than the first book with a simple but twisty get-out-of-this-if-you-can theme. Raine has to avoid all attempts to gain control over her and the Saghred while keeping Piaras safe, protecting her own hide and thwarting the plans of at least four different factions. There's a slow-burning romance, almost unacknowledged, between Mychael and Raine and a passionate attraction between Raine and her old friend/adversary Tam, a reformed Dark Mage – or is he... reformed that is.
One of the blurb quotes calls this book funny. It's not funny in the least, but it's got a witty quirkiness that's hard to resist. Raine's viewpoint voice is endearingly honest. If I still had reservations after reading the first book, this one had me convinced to order the next three Raine Benares books without delay.
Lisa Shearin: Armed and Magical
I read the first one of these: 'Magic Lost, Trouble Found' last year and though it didn't entirely rock my world it was good enough to try a second one. Glad I did, whether it's because I'm already familiar with the world or whether this really is a better book than the first one, I enjoyed it enormously. It picks up just days after the last one ends. Raine Benares, daughter of the criminally active Benares clan, is a small-time sorceress, a seeker, who has just, in the last book, become magically twinned with the Saghred, a soul-sucking Goblin stone of unimaginable dark power. She's either its guardian or its servant. Which one of them will come out on top is by no means clear.
She's come to the Isle of Mid, where the Conclave of Mages rules, in order to find a mage wily enough to unhook her from the stone. All she wants is her life back, but the stone has other ideas, and so do the factions that want to use it through her. The Goblins, sexy dark and dangerous, think it's theirs. The Elves, gorgeous, light and equally dangerous want to keep it out of the Goblins' hands and since Raine is an Elf they think she's theirs. The Mages and their Conclave Guardians (think: magical police force) want to keep it locked away where it can't do any damage. Rival mages just want to see Raine dead because they think she's as dangerous as the stone. And its previous owner, nutty as a really poisonous fruit cake and supposedly dead a thousand years ago, wants it back and he doesn't care how many souls he has to sacrifice to get it.
On Raine's side is her dashing, piratical cousin Phaelan, her young spellsinger friend Piaras, now a student at the magic college, and (probably) the archmagus himself, plus Mychael, head of the Conclave Guardians, a hunky, spellsinging elf who is obviously head over heels in love with Raine, but that won't strand in the way of his duty. If the Conclave says lock her up, he'll do it.
This seems much more focused than the first book with a simple but twisty get-out-of-this-if-you-can theme. Raine has to avoid all attempts to gain control over her and the Saghred while keeping Piaras safe, protecting her own hide and thwarting the plans of at least four different factions. There's a slow-burning romance, almost unacknowledged, between Mychael and Raine and a passionate attraction between Raine and her old friend/adversary Tam, a reformed Dark Mage – or is he... reformed that is.
One of the blurb quotes calls this book funny. It's not funny in the least, but it's got a witty quirkiness that's hard to resist. Raine's viewpoint voice is endearingly honest. If I still had reservations after reading the first book, this one had me convinced to order the next three Raine Benares books without delay.
10) 21/3/11
Lisa Shearin: Armed and Magical
I read the first one of these: 'Magic Lost, Trouble Found' last year and though it didn't entirely rock my world it was good enough to try a second one. Glad I did, whether it's because I'm already familiar with the world or whether this really is a better book than the first one, I enjoyed it enormously. It picks up just days after the last one ends. Raine Benares, daughter of the criminally active Benares clan, is a small-time sorceress, a seeker, who has just, in the last book, become magically twinned with the Saghred, a soul-sucking Goblin stone of unimaginable dark power. She's either its guardian or its servant. Which one of them will come out on top is by no means clear.
She's come to the Isle of Mid, where the Conclave of Mages rules, in order to find a mage wily enough to unhook her from the stone. All she wants is her life back, but the stone has other ideas, and so do the factions that want to use it through her. The Goblins, sexy dark and dangerous, think it's theirs. The Elves, gorgeous, light and equally dangerous want to keep it out of the Goblins' hands and since Raine is an Elf they think she's theirs. The Mages and their Conclave Guardians (think: magical police force) want to keep it locked away where it can't do any damage. Rival mages just want to see Raine dead because they think she's as dangerous as the stone. And its previous owner, nutty as a really poisonous fruit cake and supposedly dead a thousand years ago, wants it back and he doesn't care how many souls he has to sacrifice to get it.
On Raine's side is her dashing, piratical cousin Phaelan, her young spellsinger friend Piaras, now a student at the magic college, and (probably) the archmagus himself, plus Mychael, head of the Conclave Guardians, a hunky, spellsinging elf who is obviously head over heels in love with Raine, but that won't strand in the way of his duty. If the Conclave says lock her up, he'll do it.
This seems much more focused than the first book with a simple but twisty get-out-of-this-if-you-can theme. Raine has to avoid all attempts to gain control over her and the Saghred while keeping Piaras safe, protecting her own hide and thwarting the plans of at least four different factions. There's a slow-burning romance, almost unacknowledged, between Mychael and Raine and a passionate attraction between Raine and her old friend/adversary Tam, a reformed Dark Mage – or is he... reformed that is.
One of the blurb quotes calls this book funny. It's not funny in the least, but it's got a witty quirkiness that's hard to resist. Raine's viewpoint voice is endearingly honest. If I still had reservations after reading the first book, this one had me convinced to order the next three Raine Benares books without delay.
Lisa Shearin: Armed and Magical
I read the first one of these: 'Magic Lost, Trouble Found' last year and though it didn't entirely rock my world it was good enough to try a second one. Glad I did, whether it's because I'm already familiar with the world or whether this really is a better book than the first one, I enjoyed it enormously. It picks up just days after the last one ends. Raine Benares, daughter of the criminally active Benares clan, is a small-time sorceress, a seeker, who has just, in the last book, become magically twinned with the Saghred, a soul-sucking Goblin stone of unimaginable dark power. She's either its guardian or its servant. Which one of them will come out on top is by no means clear.
She's come to the Isle of Mid, where the Conclave of Mages rules, in order to find a mage wily enough to unhook her from the stone. All she wants is her life back, but the stone has other ideas, and so do the factions that want to use it through her. The Goblins, sexy dark and dangerous, think it's theirs. The Elves, gorgeous, light and equally dangerous want to keep it out of the Goblins' hands and since Raine is an Elf they think she's theirs. The Mages and their Conclave Guardians (think: magical police force) want to keep it locked away where it can't do any damage. Rival mages just want to see Raine dead because they think she's as dangerous as the stone. And its previous owner, nutty as a really poisonous fruit cake and supposedly dead a thousand years ago, wants it back and he doesn't care how many souls he has to sacrifice to get it.
On Raine's side is her dashing, piratical cousin Phaelan, her young spellsinger friend Piaras, now a student at the magic college, and (probably) the archmagus himself, plus Mychael, head of the Conclave Guardians, a hunky, spellsinging elf who is obviously head over heels in love with Raine, but that won't strand in the way of his duty. If the Conclave says lock her up, he'll do it.
This seems much more focused than the first book with a simple but twisty get-out-of-this-if-you-can theme. Raine has to avoid all attempts to gain control over her and the Saghred while keeping Piaras safe, protecting her own hide and thwarting the plans of at least four different factions. There's a slow-burning romance, almost unacknowledged, between Mychael and Raine and a passionate attraction between Raine and her old friend/adversary Tam, a reformed Dark Mage – or is he... reformed that is.
One of the blurb quotes calls this book funny. It's not funny in the least, but it's got a witty quirkiness that's hard to resist. Raine's viewpoint voice is endearingly honest. If I still had reservations after reading the first book, this one had me convinced to order the next three Raine Benares books without delay.
Fruit shopping
Mar. 21st, 2011 07:46 pmWent fruit shopping with a vengeance this morning. Bought three apple trees (2 eaters, 1 Bramley for baking), 1 pear tree and a plum tree - all espalier trained to go next to the new fence which now divides the lawn from the vegetable garden (i.e. keeps the dog from digging up the nice soft earth in the raised beds). Delivery tomorrow. Ground already prepared.
Introduced dog to the new fence today. Over the weekend the fence was up but the gates (one at each end) weren't, so it didn't restrict him. Now, suddenly the gates are up and bolted and he can't quite work out why his world has shrunk. The top end of the garden is so exciting. It has grass sods which
Anyone here grow raspberries? Any tips? How thorny are they? Are they as bad as brambles to control? I love raspberries, but BB doesn't want anything that throws of suckers and spreads like the plague. From what i rmember of raspberries they're nowhere near as bad as blackberries in that respect. (And I don't actually like blackberries anyway.)
Going to grow some blackcurrants, too. Yum. My absolute favourite.
Debating the value of installing a greenhouse. What do you grow in yours?
Introduced dog to the new fence today. Over the weekend the fence was up but the gates (one at each end) weren't, so it didn't restrict him. Now, suddenly the gates are up and bolted and he can't quite work out why his world has shrunk. The top end of the garden is so exciting. It has grass sods which
Anyone here grow raspberries? Any tips? How thorny are they? Are they as bad as brambles to control? I love raspberries, but BB doesn't want anything that throws of suckers and spreads like the plague. From what i rmember of raspberries they're nowhere near as bad as blackberries in that respect. (And I don't actually like blackberries anyway.)
Going to grow some blackcurrants, too. Yum. My absolute favourite.
Debating the value of installing a greenhouse. What do you grow in yours?
Fruit shopping
Mar. 21st, 2011 07:46 pmWent fruit shopping with a vengeance this morning. Bought three apple trees (2 eaters, 1 Bramley for baking), 1 pear tree and a plum tree - all espalier trained to go next to the new fence which now divides the lawn from the vegetable garden (i.e. keeps the dog from digging up the nice soft earth in the raised beds). Delivery tomorrow. Ground already prepared.
Introduced dog to the new fence today. Over the weekend the fence was up but the gates (one at each end) weren't, so it didn't restrict him. Now, suddenly the gates are up and bolted and he can't quite work out why his world has shrunk. The top end of the garden is so exciting. It has grass sods which
Anyone here grow raspberries? Any tips? How thorny are they? Are they as bad as brambles to control? I love raspberries, but BB doesn't want anything that throws of suckers and spreads like the plague. From what i rmember of raspberries they're nowhere near as bad as blackberries in that respect. (And I don't actually like blackberries anyway.)
Going to grow some blackcurrants, too. Yum. My absolute favourite.
Debating the value of installing a greenhouse. What do you grow in yours?
Introduced dog to the new fence today. Over the weekend the fence was up but the gates (one at each end) weren't, so it didn't restrict him. Now, suddenly the gates are up and bolted and he can't quite work out why his world has shrunk. The top end of the garden is so exciting. It has grass sods which
Anyone here grow raspberries? Any tips? How thorny are they? Are they as bad as brambles to control? I love raspberries, but BB doesn't want anything that throws of suckers and spreads like the plague. From what i rmember of raspberries they're nowhere near as bad as blackberries in that respect. (And I don't actually like blackberries anyway.)
Going to grow some blackcurrants, too. Yum. My absolute favourite.
Debating the value of installing a greenhouse. What do you grow in yours?
11) 21/3/11
Pamela Cooksey: Joseph Wood 1750 – 1821, A Yorkshire Quaker
A biography of Joseph Wood who lived in my village two hundred years ago and left hundreds of notebooks, letters and ephemera which have survived in a private family collection as a hugely important archive contributing greatly to Quaker studies and 18th century studies.
I came at this from a local history point of view. Joseph chronicled daily happenings, interactions with his neighbours and accounts of his travels. Sadly the author is far more interested in Joseph's life, his Quaker ministry and his travels, so though I found it interesteing to a certain extent I am less interested in Joseph Wood's fairth, ministry and travels than I am in his house (New House Farm - still standing), his neightbours, his cloth business (mentioned but never in detail) and the daily life in the village in which he lived.
Sadly this book, though fascinating in itself, barely touches on them, however, Pamela Cooksey has transcribed Joseph's notebooks for eventual lodging in an accessible collection and thus a closer reading of them might reveal what I need ad an amateur local historian.
Pamela Cooksey: Joseph Wood 1750 – 1821, A Yorkshire Quaker
A biography of Joseph Wood who lived in my village two hundred years ago and left hundreds of notebooks, letters and ephemera which have survived in a private family collection as a hugely important archive contributing greatly to Quaker studies and 18th century studies.
I came at this from a local history point of view. Joseph chronicled daily happenings, interactions with his neighbours and accounts of his travels. Sadly the author is far more interested in Joseph's life, his Quaker ministry and his travels, so though I found it interesteing to a certain extent I am less interested in Joseph Wood's fairth, ministry and travels than I am in his house (New House Farm - still standing), his neightbours, his cloth business (mentioned but never in detail) and the daily life in the village in which he lived.
Sadly this book, though fascinating in itself, barely touches on them, however, Pamela Cooksey has transcribed Joseph's notebooks for eventual lodging in an accessible collection and thus a closer reading of them might reveal what I need ad an amateur local historian.
11) 21/3/11
Pamela Cooksey: Joseph Wood 1750 – 1821, A Yorkshire Quaker
A biography of Joseph Wood who lived in my village two hundred years ago and left hundreds of notebooks, letters and ephemera which have survived in a private family collection as a hugely important archive contributing greatly to Quaker studies and 18th century studies.
I came at this from a local history point of view. Joseph chronicled daily happenings, interactions with his neighbours and accounts of his travels. Sadly the author is far more interested in Joseph's life, his Quaker ministry and his travels, so though I found it interesteing to a certain extent I am less interested in Joseph Wood's fairth, ministry and travels than I am in his house (New House Farm - still standing), his neightbours, his cloth business (mentioned but never in detail) and the daily life in the village in which he lived.
Sadly this book, though fascinating in itself, barely touches on them, however, Pamela Cooksey has transcribed Joseph's notebooks for eventual lodging in an accessible collection and thus a closer reading of them might reveal what I need ad an amateur local historian.
Pamela Cooksey: Joseph Wood 1750 – 1821, A Yorkshire Quaker
A biography of Joseph Wood who lived in my village two hundred years ago and left hundreds of notebooks, letters and ephemera which have survived in a private family collection as a hugely important archive contributing greatly to Quaker studies and 18th century studies.
I came at this from a local history point of view. Joseph chronicled daily happenings, interactions with his neighbours and accounts of his travels. Sadly the author is far more interested in Joseph's life, his Quaker ministry and his travels, so though I found it interesteing to a certain extent I am less interested in Joseph Wood's fairth, ministry and travels than I am in his house (New House Farm - still standing), his neightbours, his cloth business (mentioned but never in detail) and the daily life in the village in which he lived.
Sadly this book, though fascinating in itself, barely touches on them, however, Pamela Cooksey has transcribed Joseph's notebooks for eventual lodging in an accessible collection and thus a closer reading of them might reveal what I need ad an amateur local historian.
Spring is Sprung
Mar. 21st, 2011 08:54 pm21st March and I can almost believe that spring is - if not here - at least just around the corner. Instead of heavy coat weather it's light fleece weather out there even a thousand feet up on the edge of the Pennines. Thanks to BB's hard work in the garden over the last month the daffs have been freed from the morass of weed-debris and bramble and are bending their heads and showing yellow, ready to flower. The undergrowth has been cleared from the trees round the edge of the garden. 150 hedging plants - mainly hawthorne with intermingled crab-apple, hazel, cherry plum, forsythia, field maple and guelder rose - have been planted and mulched. The raised beds (not used last year because we were away for three months from July to September) have been weeded turned and fed with new compost and paths between them have been beaten back, weed-screened and bark chipped.
Wow!
And all while I was sitting on my bum in the office. (In all fairness I was working.) I could get to like this type of gardening.
The planting and weeding comes next. That's my job. (Though BB is planting the espalier apple trees due tomorrow.)
This year I'm planning a strawberry bed and some soft fruit (blackcurrants and possibly raspberries) in a permanent site and then (raised beds) onions, garlic, broccoli, curly kale, cabbage, cauliflower, sprouts, beans (runner, french and broad), carrots, parsnips and swede with some lettuce. I've got three different varieties of tomato seeds (probably to be grown in the house this year on sunny bedroom windowsils where the dog won't knock them over).
I'm hoping I can rescue the rhubarb that BB heaved out last week to plant the fence. He doesn't like rhubarb and tried his best to kill it, but I'm hoping I can tub-plant it. It's been in the garden over 30 years - or longer, I suspect, since it was probably planted by our predecessor's predecessor. Hopefully a little upheaval won't kill it off completely. It needed dividing anyway. We are in the rhubarb triangle, i.e. we have optimum conditions for the stuff, so we might as well make use of it.
Wow!
And all while I was sitting on my bum in the office. (In all fairness I was working.) I could get to like this type of gardening.
The planting and weeding comes next. That's my job. (Though BB is planting the espalier apple trees due tomorrow.)
This year I'm planning a strawberry bed and some soft fruit (blackcurrants and possibly raspberries) in a permanent site and then (raised beds) onions, garlic, broccoli, curly kale, cabbage, cauliflower, sprouts, beans (runner, french and broad), carrots, parsnips and swede with some lettuce. I've got three different varieties of tomato seeds (probably to be grown in the house this year on sunny bedroom windowsils where the dog won't knock them over).
I'm hoping I can rescue the rhubarb that BB heaved out last week to plant the fence. He doesn't like rhubarb and tried his best to kill it, but I'm hoping I can tub-plant it. It's been in the garden over 30 years - or longer, I suspect, since it was probably planted by our predecessor's predecessor. Hopefully a little upheaval won't kill it off completely. It needed dividing anyway. We are in the rhubarb triangle, i.e. we have optimum conditions for the stuff, so we might as well make use of it.
Spring is Sprung
Mar. 21st, 2011 08:54 pm21st March and I can almost believe that spring is - if not here - at least just around the corner. Instead of heavy coat weather it's light fleece weather out there even a thousand feet up on the edge of the Pennines. Thanks to BB's hard work in the garden over the last month the daffs have been freed from the morass of weed-debris and bramble and are bending their heads and showing yellow, ready to flower. The undergrowth has been cleared from the trees round the edge of the garden. 150 hedging plants - mainly hawthorne with intermingled crab-apple, hazel, cherry plum, forsythia, field maple and guelder rose - have been planted and mulched. The raised beds (not used last year because we were away for three months from July to September) have been weeded turned and fed with new compost and paths between them have been beaten back, weed-screened and bark chipped.
Wow!
And all while I was sitting on my bum in the office. (In all fairness I was working.) I could get to like this type of gardening.
The planting and weeding comes next. That's my job. (Though BB is planting the espalier apple trees due tomorrow.)
This year I'm planning a strawberry bed and some soft fruit (blackcurrants and possibly raspberries) in a permanent site and then (raised beds) onions, garlic, broccoli, curly kale, cabbage, cauliflower, sprouts, beans (runner, french and broad), carrots, parsnips and swede with some lettuce. I've got three different varieties of tomato seeds (probably to be grown in the house this year on sunny bedroom windowsils where the dog won't knock them over).
I'm hoping I can rescue the rhubarb that BB heaved out last week to plant the fence. He doesn't like rhubarb and tried his best to kill it, but I'm hoping I can tub-plant it. It's been in the garden over 30 years - or longer, I suspect, since it was probably planted by our predecessor's predecessor. Hopefully a little upheaval won't kill it off completely. It needed dividing anyway. We are in the rhubarb triangle, i.e. we have optimum conditions for the stuff, so we might as well make use of it.
Wow!
And all while I was sitting on my bum in the office. (In all fairness I was working.) I could get to like this type of gardening.
The planting and weeding comes next. That's my job. (Though BB is planting the espalier apple trees due tomorrow.)
This year I'm planning a strawberry bed and some soft fruit (blackcurrants and possibly raspberries) in a permanent site and then (raised beds) onions, garlic, broccoli, curly kale, cabbage, cauliflower, sprouts, beans (runner, french and broad), carrots, parsnips and swede with some lettuce. I've got three different varieties of tomato seeds (probably to be grown in the house this year on sunny bedroom windowsils where the dog won't knock them over).
I'm hoping I can rescue the rhubarb that BB heaved out last week to plant the fence. He doesn't like rhubarb and tried his best to kill it, but I'm hoping I can tub-plant it. It's been in the garden over 30 years - or longer, I suspect, since it was probably planted by our predecessor's predecessor. Hopefully a little upheaval won't kill it off completely. It needed dividing anyway. We are in the rhubarb triangle, i.e. we have optimum conditions for the stuff, so we might as well make use of it.