In 2023 I Mostly Read . . .

Finally, here's the reading list for 2023:

June - December 2023 - Didn't get back to the Chalet School in the end. Started on a re-read of Jodi Taylor's The Chronicles of St Mary's time travel series in June, and what with one thing or another, was still on book 11 by Christmas! Read the first seven or so way back when, and there are now actually fourteen (plus the short stories), so still got a few to go. Really enjoying them when I get time to actually read!

April-May 2023 - Another diversion, with the Green Man series of books by Juliet E. McKenna. Five in the series to date - focus on British folklore, with the main character the mortal son of a dryad, who the 'Green Man' enlists to sort out a variety of dangerous supernatural situations. Three books down - The Green Man’s Heir (2018) The Green Man’s Foe (2019) The Green Man’s Silence (2020) - and now on to fourth, The Green Man’s Challenge (2021), which is actually set during the pandemic, and reflects on some of its challenges too. Really enjoying these, so expect I'll be finished soon!

March-April 2023 - Inspired by a colleague at Epic to see what I made of a Russian 'classic' Crime and Punishment a bit different from the ongoing Chalet School series re-read :) Actually found it surprisingly readable - a lot of angst, and a bit grim in places, but gives you a real flavour of what mid-C19 Russia was like, and in a few places it is even rather funny. Glad I read it!

February 2023 - Now on to a full re-read of the Chalet School series - a blast from the past and real comfort reading! Also mixing it up, with the continuing self improvement mission and Russell Foster's Life Time all about how the body clock works.

January 2023 - In the spirit of 'New Year New Me' finally finished Four Thousand Weeks as started in July 2022 (there's time management for you). Followed this with The Clever Guts Diet - some interesting stuff here, but had heard a good bit of it before on Michael Mosley's various tv offerings.

Cold and Stormy Days

The weather continued colder and brighter for a few days after our walk up Consti - in fact we even made a second trip later in the week!  

We actually saw a dash of snow one day - all good for the 'meadow' which we'd planted up with Yellow Rattle seeds that need some colder weather to prime them to germinate.

Hoping that if that 'takes' we may actually have more success with other meadow plants, as it is supposed to suppress the grass and help other more delicate wildflower plants to flourish.  

Just have to wait and see what comes up!

Of course the cold days soon gave way to more wet and windy weather - with Storm Isha hitting us hard enough to do some serious damage to the polytunnel.  Martin made a temporary repair, but we'll have to replace the cover for the new growing season - although we'll wait for better weather first! 

Consti Cold and Bright

After the wet start to the year, we've finally been enjoying some bright (if rather cold) weather - and today we took our first walk of 2024 up Constitution Hill in the sunshine.

Must admit I found it harder work than I would have liked (too much Christmas indulgence!) but the views are always worth it  . . .

Return of 'The Pond'

And here we go again indeed - new year, new 'pond' at the bottom of the garden . . .

To be fair, Storm Henk wasn't that bad for us, it was just the sheer relentlessness of the rain falling on already fairly sodden ground.

Even the path down to the Folly became waterlogged, to the point where I had to use bricks as stepping stones!

But it did eventually stop raining, and with some newly excavated drainage channels, things are almost back to normal now.  

Look out for an update on 'Project Flood Defences' later in the year!

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

Well 2023 kind of proved that things could get worse - I feel very privileged to live as we do and where we do when so many around the world live in fear and danger.  But I have to live in hope, so . . .

Happy New Year Folks!

Here's to 2024 and a kinder, more peaceful, world.