Christmas reading 2018

I wrote about my favourite Christmas reading back in December 2010 (you can read the post here).  They are: The Wind in the Willows, Little Women, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Children of Green Knowe, The Pickwick Papers and A Christmas Carol.While I have revisited some of these books so far this December (The Children of Green Knowe and A Christmas Carol), I have added another to the list. This is The Box of Delights by John Masefield (those of you of a certain age will remember the BBC dramatisation with what was then cutting edge animation).  I may also sneak in A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley as the story includes some wonderful descriptions of Christmas feasts and entertainment.
I really enjoy revisiting these books and in fact,  I get a great deal of pleasure re-reading many of my books.  I am quite a quick reader, which means that sometime I miss things the first time round.  I do view my books as old friends, ready to welcome me back in, no matter how long I have been away.

'Toby's Japanese mouse' - update

 You may remember I posted about my love for 'Toby's Japanese mouse' from the book 'The Children of Green Knowe' by Lucy Boston and how I saw a resin version for sale in the Hemingford Grey shop. I told my friend Rachael about them and she very kindly made me a polymer clay version, which is lovely. You can read my post about it here (you'll need to scroll down the post a little).

Rachael's polymer version

 Well, of course, having seen the mouse was back for sale, I treated myself to one and was very excited when it arrived, accompanied by a hand written note from Diana Boston who is in charge of the house now. I had expressed a wish to see the gardens and she suggested visiting in May or June, so that is on the agenda for us now.

Back to my mouse.  He really is as pictured in the illustration from the book, which is not all that surprising, as the mould was was taken from the original.

 Even with the shiny black eye.

 Underneath, you can see his tail and the soles of his feet with his toes peeping over the top of his tail.

So now my first mouse has a friend and I am delighted with them both.  Somehow, I feel as though I have a tangible link to this magical story which captivated me when I was a child and has stayed with me.  I still read the book every December.

Versatility

 I know that I am often writing about how versatile polymer clay is, but the two projects featured today really do demonstrate this.  A colleague from work asked me if I could lengthen a necklace which she had bought recently.  I had a look at it and said I could.  Chris and I looked through our massive stash of beads and gemstones, but, we didn't have anything just right.  I then thought I could take the necklace apart and intersperse some round beads in similar colours.  I then had a brainwave!  Polymer clay! I set to and made lots of tube beads out of the ecru clay and baked them. I then painted the ends with some acrylic paint, which I rubbed off to just leave a faint colour.  Having glazed them with a satin glaze, I threaded them onto eye pins and made the necklace longer.

 You can see the beads I added in this photo, but I was pretty happy with the match.  I just hope my colleague is happy with them too!

 On a completely different subject, ever since I was a child, I had really wanted my own 'Toby's Japanese Mouse' from the story 'The Children of Green Knowe' by Lucy Boston.  I loved the illustration in the book which was drawn by Peter Boston.  In the book, here is the description: "...an ebony mouse, life sized with shiny black eyes. It was so cleverly carved that you could see every hair, and it felt like fur to stroke".  I visited the website for Lucy Boston's house, Hemingford Grey and was thrilled to see the shop offering resin versions of the mouse.  'I must order one', I thought,  However, I didn't and when I looked again, they weren't on sale any more. (Ironically, they are back on sale again now! Typical, isn't it?! I may have to have one anyway now...)

However, my clever sculpting friend, Rachael, has come to my assistance and has made me my very own Toby's Japanese Mouse out of polymer clay.  He isn't exactly the same as the illustration, but that makes him more special. 

Isn't he sweet?  I dry brushed him with a grey acrylic paint which I wiped off straightaway, so that the fur can be seen and the details can be seen.

I then glazed him with a gloss glaze so that he would be shiny.  Thank you so much, Rachael, he is wonderful!

My Life in Books

I have been watching a few episodes in the short BBC2 series 'My Life in Books', http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00z0ltv where people in the public eye have been asked to choose five books - one children's book, one 'guilty pleasure', and three others. They also have to say what their choices say about them. There have been some interesting combinations of people interviewed, such as Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen and Sister Wendy Beckett (my favourite of the programmes I saw, actually). This got me thinking, what would I choose? I must say that this was one of the most difficult choices as I have so many favourite books. If it had been top 100, or even top 50, it would have been much easier. No Dickens, no Cold Comfort Farm, no The Moonstone, no Wives and Daughters, no A Traveller in Time and only one Jane Austen - but I am reasonably pleased with my final choice. Here they are:

Children's book: The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M Boston

I first read this when I was about eight or nine and I loved it. I still read it every year, around Christmas. It is the story of Tolly, who comes to stay with his Great Granny at Green Knowe, and discovers that the house has other occupants from previous generations. There is a curse on a large yew tree in the garden and he has a very exciting time sorting everything out!

Persuasion by Jane Austen

This is my favourite of Jane Austen's novels. It has a wonderfully autumnal feel and tells the story of Anne Elliott, an unmarried middle daughter who previously fell in love with Frederick Wentworth, only to be persuaded that he had no prospects, so she declined his proposal. Several years later, he returns, a Captain in the Navy with lots of money, and Anne (who has remained in love with him) realises that her chance of happiness may have gone forever. The story is beautifully written, with wonderful characters, and I really empathised with Anne throughout.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

This book kept me absolutely engrossed and I often re-read it, despite knowing what happens. It is a convoluted story told by different characters and contains blackmail, mistaken identities, love, murder, and one of the most evil (but charming) villains ever to appear in print, Count Fosco. The heroine, Marian, is an amazing woman who is described as ugly which immediately grabbed my interest, as an ugly heroine is extremely unusual. She is wonderfully clever and a match for Fosco. The ending is satisfactory, with everything explained, but it is not altogether happy.

The Morville Hours by Katherine Swift

Beautiful prose, written over fourteen years and based around the forming of a garden is how this book can be described, but it is so much more. The author writes about geography, geology, astronomy, astrology, county lore, gardening, country people, the seasons, her own family history and at the heart of the book is her creation of a garden. It is a book that you need to read slowly, without distractions, to savour each bit of it. I have read it twice now and will continue to read it for the rest of my life, I think.

Guilty Pleasure: The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge

This is a children's book really, but it is one I still enjoy reading. It has a 13 year old heroine called Maria, who goes to stay with her cousin, Sir Benjamin Merryweather. Gradually she realises that she has got to sort out some very ancient history and if she doesn't, she will have to leave the valley and never return. It has magical and supernatural elements and Maria is a strong-willed and determined young lady. Does she sort everything out? You'll have to read the book!

What do my choices say about me? I think they show that I am a romantic person who likes a satisfactory ending - not always happy, because life isn't like that, but with all the ends tied up. I also love stories I can escape into and leave the world behind. There is also a bit of a supernatural element to some of the books I have chosen, which really surprised me, as I have a really vivid imagination and don't like horror films or ghost stories usually. I found this a really interesting thing to do - what are your five favourites?

Christmas reading

I know that it is a bit early for proper Christmas reading, but what with all the snow and freezing temperatures, my 'inner child' has been quietly nudging me to re-read various excerpts from some of my favourite books, both childhood and beyond. So, I gave in to temptation and have been re-acquainting myself with Mole and Badger's cosy warm homes; Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy's heroic breakfast donations; Christmas parties at Dingley Dell with Mr Pickwick; Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy in Narnia and Tolly's adventures at Green Knowe. Each is like an old friend who doesn't criticise you for not visiting as often as you should, but welcomes you wholeheartedly and makes you feel as though you have never been away.
Of course, the quintessential Christmas story has to be 'A Christmas Carol' which I have read this morning. The book is so much better than any adaptation for TV or film, no matter how good they are. It has a wonderful humour to it as well as amazing descriptions of a Victorian Christmas at Fezziwig's and nephew Fred's house. There are mouth watering descriptions of Victorian shops, overflowing with succulent fruit and treats - how can the reader not be drawn in? The redemption of Scrooge is the central theme, naturally, and Dickens lays before his reader the whole of Scrooge's life, explaining what led him to become the miserly old skinflint and how this cold veneer was eventually shattered. In this freezing snowy weather, what could be better than to allow these stories to send you a warm glow?