Other women may want diamonds and expensive clothes for Christmas but all I really want is English chocolate and one special book. The book that I asked for this year (and received!) is "The Mystery of Lewis Carroll" and is written by a former BBC journalist from England named Jenny Woolf. (I am sorry that my photo of the book is on its side but I don't know how to make it go right side up!) I have not had time to read this book other than just to skim through it on Christmas day to see where it mentions Eastbourne! (He spent every August the last thirty years of his life in Eastbourne, which is on the southeast coast of England, and I am so pleased to know some of the places he visited!) The very interesting thing about this book for me is that the author was able to obtain the records of all the bank accounts for Lewis Carroll and can therefore relay exactly how and where his money was spent in his lifetime. Jenny Woolf also writes a wonderful blog and you can find her at
www.jennywoolftravel.blogspot.com She is an excellent writer. Visit her blog and you will not be disappointed, I promise! After I finish this book, I hope to write more about it. Somehow, it is very hard to write about books on my blog. I just want to say, here is a good book...read it!
Okay, now technically, those are English biscuits covered in chocolate (and they say biscuits in England whereas we call them cookies in the USA) but please know they are WONDERFUL! The nice thing about them, even though they are from England, they were purchased at our local Target! (Unless, Santa found them somewhere else!) Oh, and speaking of Santa... I always believed in Santa so very much growing up. My older sister knew from a very early age that our parents did everything and that no Santa came down our chimney... SHE NEVER TOLD ME THIS AND LET ME BELIEVE! She knew how much I loved him, you see. I hope you have someone in your life who does wonderful things like that for you...
Oh, and you see the nice young man dressed in the vintage Christmas sweatshirt? Remember little C. with Santa? That is little C. but not so little anymore! We still didn't open his letter to Santa, we will keep it in the special Christmas book...
And I hope everyone likes this cartoon..but it especially reminds me of the librarian in Germany (
www.librarianwithsecrets.blogspot.com) and also of that nice sister of mine who works in a library!
Hi Kay, That's a fantastic cartoon - there's a lot of truth in it!
ReplyDeleteYour new book sounds very interesting and I look forward to your review. I know what you mean about writing book reviews, I've tried my hand at a few and it's hard to condense your thoughts.
Enjoy those yummy-looking chocolates/cookies :)
Love the cartoon, love the English chocolate, but sigh... I have to stay away from sweets which is exceedingly difficult at this time of year.
ReplyDeleteYour son is stunningly handsome! He must drive the girls crazy. He looks like a warm and gentle man.
Kay, you are so sweet, thank you for mentioning me and my blog on here :-)
ReplyDeleteGuess what, I have exactly the same purple tin here, it is now empty but once contained Cadbury's Milk Tray. Lovely, isn't it? I know some people don't like Cadbury's chocolate, it is not sophisticated enough for their refined taste buds, because it contains a lot of sugar, but I love it and I WANT my choccies and biccies to be sweet!
Great for you to have Jenny Woolf's book. I have been thinking about ordering this one and the ones Frances Garrood wrote; it is interesting to "know" the author of a book, isn't it, even though it is "only" through their blogs and not personally.
How lovely to think that you have a special Christmas book...
As for people doing something wonderful for you: my sister did the most wonderful thing for me when I was five and she taught me reading, a full year before I started school.
Jane,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment! I hope to one day be able to write a book review on my blog, anything is possible! And yes, I will enjoy that tin of cookies!
Cartoons are just one of my favorite things...Charles Schulz is one of my favorites.
Kay,
ReplyDeleteBoy, I know what you mean about sweets! I too have to be very careful!
And thank you! You know I think my son is handsome! Warm and gentle, how sweet of you to say so and how funny you can see that from his photo, since that is exactly right. That could be a description also of his Dad!
Have a happy Friday! Did you hear that they will skip it in Samoa?:-)
Librarian,
ReplyDeleteYour sister taught you to read! What a wonderful thing to do and to treasure always!
People here will sometimes only want expensive chocolate, but they did a blind test taste once and the cheaper chocolate won the test!
Oh, and it is to nice to "know" these nice writers from their blogs but I would not have known about them if not for YOUR well written blog, so I thank you! And thanks for reminding me of Frances Garrood, she is also excellent!
Did you hear that they are skipping Friday today in Samoa?
THANK you so much for your wonderful comments. I hope you enjoy my book and your kind remarks about the blog makes me think I should take a break from my tax and post something now :)
ReplyDeleteYes, Lewis Carroll loved Eastbourne. It was mostly developed in his lifetime as a seaside resort, so to him it was full of all the latest amusements, with novelties and fun (unlike life at Oxford, I suspect).
I love Cadbury's bikkies too, and had to tear myself away empty handed from special Christmas packs reduced in our local store. I wonder if you ever managed to get a taste for Christmas pudding?
Your son is not only handsome but looks friendly and good natured too, so is very recognisably the nice little boy of the earlier photo.
Happy 2012!
Dear Jenny,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comment. It makes me happy to know that Lewis Carroll loved Eastbourne and I hope it was a happy escape for him.
I love Christmas pudding! My mother in law in Eastbourne makes the best one, with that lovely cream poured over it...oh, it is so good. Also, I really miss Christmas crackers, I think they are so fun, love the silly jokes & the hats!
So happy that you can tell from the photo that he is the same little boy with Santa! He is very much a really nice guy, just like his DAD!
Happy 2012 (do you say two thousand twelve or twenty twelve?)
icedgurl,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for you kind comment! And a very happy new year to you too.
Cheers!
The book sounds fascinating and thanks for the pointer to Jenny's blog. I used to live in Portsmouth - Dickens once lived there and basis for scenes and characters in some of his books are places and people buried there. I love finding the archeology of people's lives and stories..
ReplyDeleteOne of my new year's resolutions will be to get out more - if there's anything mentioned in the book that you'd like photographing, let me know and I'll plan a day trip to Eastbourne or nearby - that would be a fun day trip for me :-)
Wendy,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment! I love Charles Dickens too! He visited Eastbourne, there is a plaque across the street from the Lamb (you know he liked to visit the pubs, he liked to have a good time from all accounts and I say good for him!)
There are so many places that I would love for you to visit & photograph! Go to the Hydo Hotel and have tea there and see if you can find out if Lewis Carroll ever visited there, I'm dying to know. Have you been to Bateman's, Rudyard Kipling's home? There is a pub near there in Burwash which has the most beautiful view, and the food is good too!
Goodness me, I am a bossyboots (love that expression, I like to use it here, no one has ever heard of it!)
Oh, and I really thought that I had followed you on my blog, but for some reason, your name doesn't come up...I just remember to type your name in from time to time....
Hello!
ReplyDeleteI do want that book now, I can't wait to hear your take on it. I like Cadburys too.
Best
Julie
Love your photo of Cadbury's chocolate bikkies and I can't believe you actually found them in Target. I'll be checking our Target next year. I did demolish a whole box of Cadbury's Milk Tray on Christmas Day, and enjoyed each one. I just love Cadbury's even if the rest of Europe think our chocolate is not really chocolate. I'll have to check out this book too. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteJulie,
ReplyDeleteOh, I hope you will be as excited over this book as I am...if you go back to my earlier post about England, you will see a comment on there from Jenny Woolf about Lewis Carroll and his love of Beachy Head. I was THRILLED about that comment!!!
Oh, and I do so love Cadbury's!
Irish American Mom,
ReplyDeleteSomething about the amount of cocoa or too much milk in it, I can't remember...but Cadbury's is certainly good enough for me! Hope you will read the book! I thank you for your comment!
Wanted to stop by and wish you a Happy New Year. I do appreciate your comments on my blog and yes, you do add the apples in my recipe along with the onions! I had mine this evening and it was delicious!
ReplyDeleteWell, chocolates and books - who needs anything else?! :) Thanks for the book recommendation - you know, Daniel and I always love to hear about good books and this one sounds great!! Happy New Year to you and your family. I'm so happy we met here in the blog world!! Hugs, Silke
ReplyDeleteI'm mostly known as MA,
ReplyDeleteThat recipe looks great! My Dad is making sauerkraut today from cabbages that he has grown himself and I bet THAT will be good in your recipe! Love your blog, you have a great attitude!
Silke,
ReplyDeleteYou do make me smile! Chocolates and books, music and art... all of these are musts, to me.
Hugs to you and I am so glad that you are back in Georgia again!
Such fun gifts! That book looks fantastic :) Libraries are really struggling in England too. Lastly, I DID spill the beans to my little sis about Santa, but not to be mean - I thought I really had uncovered a mystery and was excited to share my discovery!
ReplyDeleteHappy Homemaker UK,
ReplyDeleteThat's funny, you solved the mystery of Santa and just had to share it!
Lucky you, you can have Cadbury's biscuits anytime!
You have great photos on your blog, by the way, I really enjoy them.
Hi Kay. Haven't been looked @ your BSpot in a while. Loved the pix of St. Mtn. Many yrs since I climed up (when Connie was on the way). Arabia Mtn. also a neat place to visit, especially if u can get someone to explain all the little plants that come out in Feb, March in depressions on the mtn. Thanks for jogging my memory a/b Mr. Louie. I had heard of his WW II story and forgotten it. I will try and read about him. Glad to know you received a reply after writing. Wishing you and the family the best new year ever.
ReplyDeleteHey!
ReplyDeletePlease let me know when you read either book about Louis Zamperini. you will love his story.
Hey, let's go to Stone Mountain and Arabia Mountain! Either one of those are beautiful!
Thanks for your comment!
Love,
Kay
Christopher is just a doll!
ReplyDeleteThat was me commenting on Christopher...I forgot to sign my name...thought I was on Facebook! lol
ReplyDeleteLove,
Gayle
Oh, yes, I could guess that was you anyway! And you know most aunts are old, but you ain't! :-)
ReplyDeleteLove,
Kay