52 books... stalling and walking

So there has been a bit of a hiccup over the past few weeks. What with illness, visitors, long days and of course the rugby ('MON SCOTLAND) reading has, alas, taken a bit of a back seat and it unlikely to get rolling again for some time. Hopefully summer will afford plenty of reading time, it being too hot to do much more than laze on a beach and read (and perhaps swim a bit too).

What did manage to happen this weekend was a hike - of sorts. The aim was to get to the top of mount parker. With no map and a partially signposted trail this didn't happen, but it was a really nice walk in the wilderness above the city anyhow - the best part being that it's right on my doorstep!

It was a strange walk in many ways with much of the path having been paved/concreted in place and where this hadn't happened it was so well worn you knew you were going in the right direction. Parts of it made me feel like I should be somewhere in Europe, but then you'd come round a bend or crest a hill and all of a sudent he skyline of Hong Kong is visible again. All in all, HK remains a crazy multi-personality place. Here are a few pictured from said walk...

Near the end of the walk we came across some wartime stoves that had been built after 1938 when the locals felt the threat of the Japanese being so close in Guangzhou. Measures for food rationing, air raid shelters and first aid were stepped up and these stoves and a nearby food store were built. In the end  Hong Kong fell into the hands of the Japanese after a mere 18 days, and the stoves were never used. Post war the area was left untouched hence their presence today.

It was quite surreal to stumble upon them and the atmosphere of the area changed subtly. It felt darker, a little lost and even a fraction spooky almost as if marked with the memory's of the fear under which they were built. There is also a deep sadness, most likely attributed to the fact that there were never used, which is a hangover of the swift pace and oppressive nature of the invasion. As the city develops at such a pace it is nice, in a strange roundabout way, to find something of such meaning hidden away up a secluded slope!

In other news, there is the excitement of an oven today!!! After ten months without one, I am rather excited at all the things I now may be able to cook - albeit on an incredibly small scale - and the next challenge is to get the sewing machine properly up and running... somehow I am going to become an incredibly technological genius.... perhaps! Here's hoping!

Nelly x

52 Books Challenge #7

This week has not been the best of them! Three days off for Chinese New Year was an excellent boon to the week but the lagging recovery from the last illness and they sudden swooping arrival of a new and nasty one meant that the week was rather turned on its head.

What this did mean however, was that the purchasing of sympathy books (when one buys books to make themselves feel better) is totally applicable and utterly guilt free. It is one of my sympathy purchases that is this weeks book: Fixing Shadows by Susan Barrett.

I spotted the spine of this book on a bookshelf and being a sucker for a decorative cover I had a peek. The cover indicates a vast cast, which this book has, but I barely warmed to anyone. By the end of the book, though still not enamoured of any of the main players, I could very much appreciate and enjoy the delicate weaving of the story and the interesting way in which it was told.

Two baby boy are born on the same night to a Duchess and her governess; one dies and the other does not. What follows is how their lives played out in the aftermath of that fateful night and what effect it had on the child who lived!

It took a while to trudge through the first few chapters and get used to the style and the absence of connection but it was well worth the effort and an excellent sympathy purchase indeed.

52 Books Challenge #6

So I'm back on track with a brand new unread book, but sadly this weeks book was a bit of a disappointment, so much so that I read it rather quickly and I'm sure there were bits and pieces here and there that I skipped. I wouldn't say that I would never read the author again ( I hear on the grapevine that her second novel was much better) but this one while not abysmal, wasn't great. The book in question is Trade Winds by Christina Courtnay.

 

The plot of the novel was, for the most part, it's saving grace. The writers personal knowledge and interest shine through and it is believable and in parts exciting, my personal problem was the way in which it was written. Set in the 1700's the dialogue did not match the time period and the section set in Scotland had swathes of dialogue that made me physically cringe. Having spent four years in Scotland, and having read Trainspotting, I know that this can be done better. It was the literary equivalent of Gerard Butler's terrible Irish accent in the film adaptation of Cecelia Ahern's P.S. I love you (a great book by the way).

All that said it was a joyful romp and although not one I am ever going to read again, I may brave Courtney's second novel.

The Dark Bathtub: #5

The looked at each other and grimaced. Now was the time that they had to act. One of them had to win, there was no doubt about that. There could be no compromise. The others around them fell silent as they sensed battle was about to commence. There would be no help from the sidelines here, it was between them and them alone. They faced each other fully and each raised their right hands to their shoulders. The brought them down again in unison though neither had spoken. There was no winner. Again they raised their hands. No winner. For the third time they raised their hands. Scissors beat paper.

© Nancy Laidler 2013

Sewing Season

For some reason, the beginning of the year has transformed into the time where I start sewing things. Last year it was dresses in preparation for the travels to HK. This year, now I am here, it is all about the dresses that are going to get me though this summer. This means balance the hot (the weather outside being seriously sunny and horrendously humid) with the cold (the f..f..f..freezing air conditioning). Once again it is going to be a simplicity pattern that I have gone for, and I have been dying to make one of Cynthia Rowley's for eons!

I'll be making this pattern in the longer length so it will definitely hit my knees, and with the wider straps. The two major bonuses of this dress are it is not a pencil skirt (as last years dresses were) and it has POCKETS!!! As I made all  of last years dresses for this very reason this is an absolute essential! Can't do without them!

I already have a vast array of cardigans I can put this dress with and, being in HK, silly amounts of fabric to choose from, and the jacket pattern looks nice too! I might see if I can rustle one up in a light jersey!

Now just to go and wave a wand over my sewing machine foot to make it work... oh and finish my afternoon tea dress....

52 Books Challenge #4 & #5

So it's been a busy fortnight, preparing for the brothers arrival, having epic amounts of fun while he was here and now recovering after his departure (not helped by the immune system taking a bashing thanks to lurgyfied kids sneezing everywhere). As such I have not managed to bend my mind to reading anything new and instead I have re-read some old favourites that I haven't dipped into for a while.

My one rule for this challenge is not re-reading anything I have read since I came to Hong Kong, thankfully neither of these books were on that list!

There's not much I can really say about either of them. They are both so well known that I'm sure my reading of them can be understood. One is just a classic and the other is such a good comfort read, especially when feeling under the weather:

I would love to re-read the hunger games at the moment, but sadly I read those since being in Hong Kong, so I am going to peruse through the extensive kindle library to find something that catches my attention!