The Marmalade Bush (Streptosolen jamesonii) is a bright, long flowering evergreen. A South American plant (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru), it does very well in temperate areas of Australia. Its blooms are loose clusters of small flared trumpet shaped flowers which range in colour from yellow to bright orange, the colour deepening as the flower matures. While … Continue reading In My Garden – Marmalade bush
My Reading – October 2016
His Bloody Project : Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae by Graeme Macrae Burnet The Wife's Tale by Christine Wells Hot Milk by Deborah Levy The Sellout by Paul Beatty Save
One Minute Book Review – A Test of Wills by Charles Todd
This is more like a two and a half minute review. A Test of Wills is the first in the Ian Rutledge series, written by mother and son team Caroline and Charles Todd. It begins in June 1919 with Ian Rutledge, a Scotland Yard detective, returned after five years military service in France. Prior to … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – A Test of Wills by Charles Todd
In My Garden – Aquilegia
Aquilegia, also known as Columbine and Granny's Bonnet, is a perennial which flowers in spring. The blooms are striking - a spurred bell-shaped flower made up of five petals that spread out from the base surrounding five larger sepals. The petals and sepals are often of different colours and the blooms overall range in colour … Continue reading In My Garden – Aquilegia
Embroidered history
So take a brightly coloured strand and thread it through the eye, then pierce the cloth to draw it on and watch the story grow. With English cloth and English yarn in colours wrung from life, a banner stitched in Canterbury relates the victor's tale. Stem stitches draw the story out, long threads laid side … Continue reading Embroidered history
One Minute Book Review – The Wife’s Tale by Christine Wells
The Wife’s Tale by Christine Wells is a novel with dual intertwining timelines. The modern strand involves Australian lawyer Liz Jones who, under the pretence of writing a novel about the 18th century Lady Nash, goes to the Isle of Wight to discretely investigate her employer’s claim to descent from Delaney Nash. As she delves … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – The Wife’s Tale by Christine Wells
In My Garden – Cistus
Cistus or rock rose is an extremely hardy evergreen shrub which requires minimal care and can stand full sunlight in summer. Originally from the Mediterranean area, it blooms through spring and summer with open single flowers that last for no more than a day. The fallen blooms are quickly replaced by newly opened flowers. The … Continue reading In My Garden – Cistus
One Minute Book Review – His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet
This book has been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2016 but don't let that put you off. It is presented as a series of documents relating to a brutal triple murder in 1869 on the west coast of Scotland. The murderer, seventeen-year-old Roderick Macrae, is the son of a poor crofter barely managing to … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet
In My Garden – Dr Clifford Parks
Dr Clifford Parks is my pride and joy - a camellia reticulata with showy deep red informal double blooms. I planted it in mid-1992 as a spindly little specimen from the local nursery. It now is over eight foot high with blooms between 5 and 6 inches in diameter; the leaves are dark green. It … Continue reading In My Garden – Dr Clifford Parks
One Minute Book Review – The Mystery of a Handsome Cab by Fergus Hume
First published in 1886, this detective mystery set in Melbourne became an international best seller, outselling Sherlock Holmes' first appearance in A Study in Scarlet. The Mystery of a Hansom Cab follows the investigation by police detective Samuel Gorby into the murder of well-connected Oliver Whyte which takes him from the mansions of St Kilda … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – The Mystery of a Handsome Cab by Fergus Hume
Catherine Meyrick 