John Simpson - Back to the Normal Reads No 4

Welcome to the new thread, please come and visit to enjoy my reading journey.

Hello everyone, this is my Ninth year being part of this wonderful group. I am John, 58 years old and married to Karen for 37 years and counting. We have two lovely children, Rob and Amy. Rob lives with his Fiancee Louise, daughter Hannah who will be 11 in February. Amy married Andy in 2015 and they now have a cat called Combie and Elliott who was born on Star Wars Day. We also have a mad Cat called Felix and we love him, he is nearly two and a half.

Please come along and leave a message and let's see what fun we have.

I love books and currently have just over 2,650 books on my shelves and this doesn't include my Cricket collection which stands at about 430 books. While reading I do enjoy the odd pot or two of tea.

CURRENTLY READING

I just love Big Books, these are my 1000+page reads so far with more to add.

1.Shogun by James Clavell, 1243 pgs
2.Gai-Jin by James Clavell, 1578 pgs
3.Noble House by James Clavell, 1435 pgs
4.War & Remembrance by Herman Wouk, 1171 pgs
5.Whirlwind by James Clavell, 1343 pgs
6.Centennial by James A. Michener 1100 pgs
7.The Covenant by James A. Michener, 1080 pgs
8.Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd, 1344 pgs
9.Homeland by John Jakes, 1138 pgs
10.Russka by Edward Rutherfurd, 1007 pgs
11.A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, 1474 pgs
12.Love and War by John Jakes, 1019 pgs
13.Texas by James A. Michener, 1508 pgs
14.My Life by Bill Clinton, 1000 pgs
15.Child of the Phoenix by Barbara Erskine, 1086 pgs
16.Voyager by Diana Gabaldon, 1059 pgs
17.The Journeyer by Gary Jennings, 1219 pgs
18.Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton, 1144 pgs
19.Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton, 1235 pgs
20.Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon, 1185 pgs
21.Wicked by Jilly Cooper, 1007 pgs
22.The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon, 1412 pgs
23.London by Edward Rutherfurd, 1299 pgs
24.The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, 1076 pgs
25.A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon, 1391 pgs
26.World Without End by Ken Follett, 1111 pgs
27.Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey, 1,015 pgs
28.The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer, 1,056 pgs
29.An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon, 1,065 pgs
30.New York by Edward Rutherfurd, 1017 pgs
31.Hawaii by James A.Michener, 1130 pgs
32.The Company by Robert Littell, 1281 pgs
33.The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F.Hamilton, 1225 pgs
34.Spangle by Gary Jennings, 1276 pgs
35.Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell, 1024 pgs
36.Alaska by James A. Michener, 1073 pgs.
37.Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson, 1180 pgs.
38.Chesapeake by James A. Michener, 1132 pgs
39. 4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster, 1070 pgs.
40. The Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch, 1156 pgs.
41. The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter F. Hamilton, 1259 pgs.
42. The Naked God by Peter F. Hamilton, 1244 pgs.
43. The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy, 1104 pgs.
44. The Source by James A. Michener, 1032 pgs.
45. Against The Day by Thomas Pynchon, 1220 pgs.
46. The Stand by Stephen King, 1325 pgs.
47. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, 1006 pgs.
48. Harlot's Ghost by Norman Mailer, 1401 pgs.

BOOKS READ IN JANUARY BY JOHN

1. Heavenly Dates and Other Flirtations by Alexander McCall Smith, PB - 200 pages.
2. The Rocky Road to Romance by Janet Evanovich, PB - 249 pages.
3. The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted by Robert Hillman, PB - 275 pages.
4. Juror No.3 by James Patterson, PB - 331 pages.
5. Following On by Emma John, PB - 257 pages. Non-Fiction
6. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, HB - 377 pages.
7. The Strange Disappearance of the Bollywood Star by Vaseem Khan, PB - 356 pages.
8. Agatha Raisin and the Witches' Tree by M.C. Beaton, PB - 232 pages.

BOOKS READ IN FEBRUARY BY JOHN

9. The Store by James Patterson, PB - 322 pages.
10. Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child, PB - 522 pages.
11. The Wandering Wombles by Elizabeth Beresford, PB - 169 pages.
12. Mrs Sinclair's Suitcase by Louise Walters, PB - 294 pages.
13. The Scent of the Night by Andrea Camilleri, PB - 228 pages.
14. Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer, PB - 322 pages.
15. Agatha Raisin and the Dead Ringer by M. C. Beaton, PB - 233 pages.
16. Resort to Murder by T.P. Fielden, PB - 310 pages.

BOOKS READ IN JANUARY BY KAREN
1. A Good Heart is Hard to Find by Trisha Ashley, PB. 4.5 Stars
2. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, HB. 5 Stars
3. Seven Kinds of People you find in Bookshops by Shaun Bythell, HB. 4 Stars
4. My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith, PB. 4 Stars
5. Confessions of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell, HB. 4 Stars

BOOKS READ IN FEBRUARY BY KAREN

6. Things we left Unsaid by Emma Kennedy, PB. 5 Stars +
7. To the Land of Lost Friends by Alexander McCall Smith, PB. 4 Stars
8. The Wandering Wombles by Elizabeth Beresford, PB. 4 Stars
9. Under Gemini by Rosamunde Pilcher, PB. 4 Stars
10. Death in a Tunnel by Miles Barton, PB. 3.5 Stars
11. The Haunted Season by G. M. Malliet, PB. 5 Stars +
12. Devils Breath by G. M. Malliet, PB. 3.5 Stars
13. Hormones, Hexes and Exes by J. C. Blake, PB. 3.5 Stars

BOOKS READ IN MARCH BY JOHN

17. Twelve Days of Christmas by Trisha Ashley, PB - 402 pages.
18. 18th Abduction by James Patterson, PB - 381 pages.
19. I Talk Too Much - My Autobiography by Francis Rossi, HB - 306 pages. Non-Fiction
20. Nice Work (If You Can Get It) by Celia Imrie, PB - 391 pages.
21. the next person you meet in heaven by Mitch Albom, PB - 210 pages.
22. 59 Memory Lane by Celia Anderson, PB - 382 pages.
23. Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer, HB - 306 pages.

BOOKS READ IN APRIL BY JOHN

24. Agatha Raisin - Beating About The Bush by M. C. Beaton, HB - 238 pages.
25. The Firm by John Grisham, PB - 490 pages.
26. Changing Times by Jack Sheffield, PB - 334 pages.
27. The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier, PB - 176 pages.
28. Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues by Trisha Ashley, PB - 402 pages.
29. Private Vegas by James Patterson, PB - 479 pages.
30. Tricky Twenty-Two by Janet Evanovich, PB - 313 pages.
31. Turbo Twenty-Three by Janet Evanovich, PB - 313 pages.

BOOKS READ IN MARCH BY KAREN

14. Top of the Dale by Gervase Phinn. 5 Stars
15. Intrigue in Capri by Ashley Weaver. 3 Stars Novella on Kindle
16. Perils of Morning Coffee by Alexander McCall Smith. 4 Stars Novella on Kindle
17. Notting Hill Carnival by Candice Carty-Williams. 2 Stars Quick Reads.
18. Becoming by Michelle Obama. 5+ stars
19. Nice Work if You Can Get It by Celia Imrie. 5 Stars
20. The Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell. 4 Stars

BOOKS READ IN APRIL BY KAREN

21. A Nice Cup of Tea by Celia Imrie. 4 Stars
22. Finding Love at Hedgerow Hollow by Jessica Redland. 4 Stars.
23. Bill Mitchell's Yorkshire Compiled by David Mitchell. 3 Stars.
24. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. 3 Stars.
25. Wedding Tiers by Trisha Ashley.

BOOKS READ BY JOHN IN MAY

32. Damaged by Martina Cole, PB - 410 pages.
33. Date with Danger by Julia Chapman, PB - 419 pages.
34. A Perfect Stranger by Danielle Steel, PB - 278 pages.
35. A Nice Cup of Tea by Celia Imrie, PB - 380 pages.
36. Murder Games by James Patterson, PB - 340 pages.
37. The Colours of all the Cattle by Alexander McCall Smith, HB - 230 pages.

BOOKS READ BY KAREN IN MAY

26. Absolute Pandemonium by Brian Blessed, HB 4.5 stars
27. The Death Box by Lorna Michel Morgan, PB 4 stars
28. I Talk Too Much, An Autobiography by Francis Rossi, HB 5 stars
29. Death by Fancy Dress by Antony Gilbert, PB 4.5 stars
30. Rules by Jenny Colgan, PB 4.5 stars

BOOKS READ BY JOHN IN JUNE

38. A Quarter Past Dead by T P Fielden, PB - 309 pages.
39. Crossings by Danielle Steel, PB - 406 pages.
40. The Killing Place by Tess Gerritsen, PB - 443 pages.
41. Buried by Mark Billingham, PB - 498 pages.
42. 19th Christmas by James Patterson, PB - 339 pages.

BOOKS READ BY KAREN IN JUNE

31. A Talent For Murder by Andrew Wilson, PB 3.5 stars
32. The Beachside Guest House by Vanessa Greene, PB 5 stars
33. My Autobiography by Guy Martin, HB 3.5 stars
34. Saving the Day (Quick Reads) by Katie Fforde, PB 3 stars
35. Chocolate Wishes by Trisha Ashley, PB 5 stars
36. A Woman Unknown by Frances Brody, PB 5 stars

BOOKS READ BY JOHN IN JULY

43. The Little Pieces of You and Me by Vanessa Greene, PB - 374 pages.
44. Death of a Macho Man by M.C. Beaton, PB - 281 pages.
45. From Potter's Field by Patricia Cornwell, PB - 405 pages.
46. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Bachman, PB - 289 pages.
47. An Offer You Can't Refuse by Jill Mansell, PB - 410 pages.
48. Dark Blood by Stuart Macbride, PB - 493 pages.

BOOKS READ BY KAREN IN JULY

37. The House on Bellevue Gardens by Rachel Hore, HB 5 stars
38. The Tyler Mystery by Francis Durbridge, PB 4 stars
39. Practice Makes Perfect by Penny Parkes, PB 4 stars
40. A Dangerous Engagement by Ashley Weaver, PB 5 stars

BOOKS READ IN AUGUST BY JOHN

49. Death of a Dentist by M.C. Beaton, PB - 277 pages.
50. Blood Test by Jonathan Kellerman, PB - 317 pages.
51. Tales Out of School by Gervase Phinn, PB - 394 pages.
52. My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith, PB - 249 pages.
53. Forging On by Catherine Robinson, PB - 295 pages.

BOOKS READ IN AUGUST BY KAREN

41. Sofia Khan is not Obliged by Ayisha Malik, PB 4 Stars
42. Fill my Stocking by Alan Titchmarsh, PB 4 Stars
43. The Dress by Jane L. Rosen, PB 3.5 Stars
44. Tales of the Country by Brian Viner, PB 5 Stars
45. Sweet Valentine by Debbie Macomber, PB 3.5 Stars

BOOKS READ IN SEPTEMBER BY JOHN

54. 20th Victim by James Patterson, PB - 398 pages
55. Queenie Malone's Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan, PB - 318 pages.
56. Bloodline by Mark Billingham, PB - 467 pages.
57. The Overlook by Michael Connelly, PB - 291 pages.
58. Rounding The Mark by Andrea Camilleri, PB - 274 pages.
59. Woman of God by James Patterson, PB - 362 pages.

BOOKS READ IN SEPTEMBER BY KAREN

BOOKS BOUGHT IN 2021

JANUARY

1. 1st Case by James Patterson, PB.
2. Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Childs, PB.
3. A Cricketer and a Gentleman by Bob Willis, HB.
4. Seven Kinds of People You Find In Bookshops by Shaun Bythell, HB.
5. Hawk by James Patterson, PB.

FEBRUARY

6. Lessons by Jenny Colgan, PB.
7. 20th Victim by James Patterson, PB.
8. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, PB.
9. Hormones, Hexes & Exes by J.C. Blake, PB.
10. Inspector Singh investigates : A Curious Indian Cadaver by Shamini Flint, PB.

BOOKS BOUGHT IN 2021

MARCH

11. Becoming by Michelle Obama, PB.
12. The Moroccan Daughter by Deborah Rodriguez, PB.

APRIL

13. Private Moscow by James Patterson, PB.
14. ME by Elton John, PB.
15. Caedmon's Song by Peter Robinson, PB.
16. The Killing Place by Tess Gerritsen, PB.
17. Date with Deceit by Julia Chapman, PB.
18. Camino Winds by John Grisham, PB.
19. Playfair Cricket Annual 2021 ed by Ian Marshall, PB.
20. Playfair Cricket World Cup Guide (1996) ed by Bill Frindall, PB.
21. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2021 ed by Lawrence Booth, HB.
22. The Battle of the Bulge - Britain's Untold Story by Charles Whiting, PB.
23. The Death Box by Lorna Nicholl Morgan, PB.

BOOKS BOUGHT IN 2021

MAY

24. Letters From the Past by Erica James, PB.
25. The Garden of Forgotten Wishes by Trisha Ashley, PB.
26. Vagabond by Gerald Seymour, PB.
27. Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman, PB.
28. The Stranger by Camilla Lackberg, PB.
29. So Lucky by Dawn O'Porter, PB.
30. The Killings at Kingfisher Hill by Sophie Hannah, PB.
31. The Wombles at Work by Elisabeth Beresford, PB.
32. The Wombles by Elisabeth Beresford, PB.
33. The Wood Beyond by Reginald Hill, PB.
34. The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths, PB.
35. Bloodline by Mark Billingham, PB.
36. Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child, PB.
37. Stalker by Gemma Rogers, PB.
38. Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty, PB.
39. The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley, PB.
40. A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson, PB.
41. A Different Kind of Evil by Andrew Wilson, PB.
42. Where we Belong by Anstey Harris, PB.

JUNE

43. Lockdown by Peter May, PB.
44. The Wild Silence by Raynor Winn, PB.
45. Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan, PB.
46. The Village Green Bookshop by Rachael Lucas, PB.
47. and now you're back by Jill Mansell, PB.
48. A Country Escape by Katie Fforde, PB.
49. Don't Want to Miss a Thing by Jill Mansell, PB.
50. A Springtime Affair by Katie Fforde, PB.
51. Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith, PB.
52. NYPD Red 6 by James Patterson, PB.
53. Take a Chance on Me by Jill Mansell, PB.
54. It Started with a Secret by Jill Mansell, PB.
55. Meet me at Beachcomber Bay by Jill Mansell, PB.
56. Maybe This Time by Jill Mansell, PB.
57. This Could Change Everything by Jill Mansell, PB.

JULY

58. The Geometry of Holding Hands by Alexander McCall Smith, PB.
59. Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce, PB.
60. Death and The Brewery Queen by Frances Brody, PB.
61. Bad Love by Jonathan Kellerman, PB.
62. Silent Partner by Jonathan Kellerman, PB.
63. Devil's Waltz by Jonathan Kellerman, PB.
64. Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik, PB.
65. The Phone Box at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina, PB.
66. The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs, PB.
67. A Time for Mercy by John Grisham, PB.
68. Behind Closed Doors by Catherine Alliott, PB.
69. The Shadow by James Patterson, PB.
70. Deadly Cross by James Patterson, PB.
71. A Deadly Cambodian Crime Spree by Shamini Flint, PB.
72. A Frightfully English Execution by Shamini Flint, PB.
73. A Calamitous Chinese Killing by Shamini Flint, PB.
74. The Dress by Jane L. Rosen, PB.
75. A Perfect Cornish Christmas by Phillipa Ashley, PB.
76. Target Alex Cross by James Patterson, PB.
77. Simple Genius by David Baldacci, PB.

JULY'S READING STATS

Books Read...................... 6

No of Authors.................... 6

New Authors...................... 1

Male Authors..................... 4

Female Authors.................. 2

Pages Read....................... 2,257

Daily Avg........................... 72.81

Book Length avg................. 376.17

Latest reading stats:

Books on shelves at 1-7-21 - 2692
Books added in July - 20
Books read in July - 6

Revised book total - 2706

Pages to read at 1-7-2021- 1,111,707
Pages added in July - 7,951
Pages read in July - 2,257

Revised total pages to read - 1,117,401

Next one is yours.

Happy new thread!

>15 johnsimpson:, Thanks Jim mate, i ought to have a prize for first visitor to a new thread.

I just got lucky - happened to be on LT at just the right time!

Happy new thread, John!

Sending love and hugs to you and Karen.

>19 FAMeulstee:, Thanks Anita my dear.

Happy new thread!

I hope for the best for you and your family.

>21 quondame:, Thank you Susan for your message, i am hoping to be back messaging daily from now.

Happy new thread, John!

>23 bell7:, Thanks Mary my dear.

Happy new thread, John. Sending love and hugs to you and Karen and kitty skritches for Felix the Cat.

Happy new thread, John and I hope things are getting back to being ok, at your end.

Happy new one!

Happy New Thread, John!

Happy new thread, John!

>25 karenmarie:, Hi Karen my dear, thank you for dropping by, i will start to visit the threads over the next few days, sending love and hugs dear friend.

>26 PaulCranswick:, Hi Paul mate, thanks for calling into the new abode. i will be getting around the threads over the next few days. Things are no further forward but we have to try and carry on as best as we can. Thank you for being here along with all my other dear LT friends.

>27 figsfromthistle:, Hi Anita my dear, thanks for stopping by, dear friend.

>28 connie53:, Hi Connie my dear, thank you for stopping by, dear friend.

>29 scaifea:, Hi Amber my dear, Thank you for stopping by, dear friend.

Happy new thread, John!

>33 EllaTim:, Thanks Ella my dear.

Finished book 49 on Sunday evening, Death of a Dentist by M.C. Beaton, PB - 277 pages.

25-7-21 to 2-8-21

BOOKS BOUGHT IN AUGUST.

78. The Evening and The Morning by Ken Follett, PB.
79. Black Dog by Stephen Booth, PB.
80. Dancing with the Virgins by Stephen Booth, PB.
81. From the Dead by Mark Billingham, PB.
82. Hard Pushed: A Midwife's Story by Leah Hazard, PB.
83. Tales From the Country by Brian Viner, PB.
84. Fortune is a Woman by Elizabeth Adler, PB.
85. Nothing Ventured by Jeffrey Archer, PB.
86. Hidden in Plain Sight by Jeffrey Archer, PB.
87. Death of a Nurse by M.C. Beaton, PB.
88. The Windsor Knot by S.J. Bennett, PB.
89. Blood on the Tongue by Stephen Booth, PB.
90. The Sicilian Method by Andrea Camilleri, PB.
91. A Voice in the Night by Andrea Camilleri, PB.
92. The Affair by Lee Child, PB.
93. Personal by Lee Child, PB.
94. A Wanted Man by Lee Child, PB.
95. 61 Hours by Lee Child, PB.
96. Worth Dying For by Lee Child, PB.
97. Darkest Fear by Harlen Coben, PB.
98. Paul Temple Intervenes by Francis Durbridge, PB.
99. Paul Temple and the Front Page Man by Francis Durbridge, PB.
100. News of Paul Temple by Francis Durbridge, PB.
101. Send for Paul Temple by Francis Durbridge, PB.
102. Send for Paul temple Again by Francis Durbridge, PB.
103. The Ruby Knight by David Eddings, PB.
104. Ultimatum by Frank Gardner, PB.
105. The Appeal by Janice Hallett, PB.
106. Sacred Clowns by Tony Hillerman, PB.
107. Skinner's Ghost by Quintin Jardine, PB.
108. Private Eyes by Jonathan Kellerman, PB.
109. Dragonspell by Katherine Kerr, PB.
110. A Year in the Chateau by Sarah Long, PB.
111. Making Your Mind Up by Jill Mansell, PB.
112. To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell, PB.
113. Swing Brother Swing by Ngaio Marsh, PB.
114. Scales of Justice by Ngaio Marsh, PB.
115. Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh, PB.
116.The Blood King by Gail Z. Martin, PB.
117.The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick, PB.
118. See How They Run by James Patterson, PB.
119. No Mortal Thing by Gerald Seymour, PB.
120. Beyond Recall by Gerald Seymour, PB.
121. The Corporal's Wife By Gerald Seymour, PB.
122. Against all Odds by Danielle Steel, PB.
123. Home to Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigani, PB.
124. Sorry For The Dead by Nicola Upson, PB.
125. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, PB.
126. Archie Jackson by David Frith HB
127. Sir Vivian, The Definitive Autobiography by Vivian Richards HB
128. Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yearbook 1940 HB
129. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot HB
130. The Chef by James Patterson, PB.
131. So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish by Douglas Adams, PB.
132. Yorkshire and Back by Ray Illingworth, PB.
133. Montalbano's First Case and Other Stories by Andrea Camilleri, PB.
134. Flappy Entertains by Santa Montefiore, HB.

BOOKS BOUGHT IN SEPTEMBER

135. How to Raise an Elephant by Alexander McCall Smith, PB.
136. The Switch by Beth O'Leary, PB.
137. Miss Austen by Gill Hornby, PB.
138. Murder by the Book (Mysteries for Bibliophiles) Ed by Martin Edwards, PB.
139. The Farther Corner by Harry Pearson, PB.
140. The Safety Net by Andrea Camilleri, PB.
141. The Guardians by John Grisham, PB.
142. Basingstoke Boy by John Arlott, HB.
143. Away with the Penguins by Hazel Prior, PB.
144. Turn a Blind Eye by Jeffrey Archer, PB.
145. Full Bloom by Janet Evanovich, PB.
146. Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler, PB.
147. The Other End of the Line by Andrea Camilleri, PB.
148. A Nest of Vipers by Andrea Camilleri, PB.
149. The Overnight Kidnapper by Andrea Camilleri, HB.
150. Return to Prior's Ford by Evelyn Hood, HB
151. Festival in Prior's Ford by Evelyn Hood, HB.
152. The Other End of the Line by Andrea Camilleri, PB.
153. A Nest of Vipers by Andrea Camilleri, PB.
154. The Overnight Kidnapper by Andrea Camilleri, HB.
155. Return to Prior's Ford by Evelyn Hood, HB.
156. Festival in Prior's Ford by Evelyn Hood, HB.
157. Mystery in Prior's Ford by Evelyn Hood, PB.
158. The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear, PB.
159. The Social History of English Cricket by Derek Birley, PB.
160. Jim Laker by Alan Hill, HB.

Yesterday i managed to get the first footings filled with concrete although it was not without drama. We had begun the day with a pot of tea in bed and once we were up, washed and dressed we came downstairs to get things sorted out. Karen set a load of washing going and then we got everything out and sorted out Felix's dishes and had breakfast.

After breakfast i went to get my haircut and Karen had asked me to pick up some small bread cakes. I got to the Barber's only to find it was closed, i thought closing day was Monday, it must be an age thing, lol. I walked back a few yards and went into Hoffman's bakery and got the bread cakes and some fruit flapjack.

Once home i made us a coffee and then while Karen started to make biscuits i went into the garden and got the bags of sharp sand, some gravel and the bag of cement and started to make up some concrete. As i laid the last full trug full i noticed the clouds looked ominous and shortly after it started spotting of rain. I helped Karen as best as i could to get the washing in and the rain started coming down a bit harder, i started to move my tackle into the garage when the heavens opened. I put an old coat on and got the last of my tools before shutting the door into the garage and the rain battered everything. It came down that heavy that the guttering couldn't cope and it was coming over the sides. I made the last mix as i only had a three foot length left to do, the rain had eased a bit and i dashed out and laid the last of the concrete and hoped for the best.

I finished my pot of tea off in the garage and hung up the coat and dashed back into the house. A couple of hours later and it was now dry and i had a look at the concrete and it looked OK, today i checked and it had set OK.

Today we have done all the shopping and Karen had an appointment with the Doctor to get another sicknote, she explained what the problem was and he told her who to get in touch with. Karen will be off work until the 1st September, she will have had six weeks off sick because of the ongoing situation but will go back to work. I managed to get my haircut this morning.

Happy new thread, John! Sorry Karen is still not feeling well. Small pleasures count--glad you got your hair cut. And the concrete set. : ) Best wishes to you both!

I hope that Karen begins to feel better soon, John. Please send her my love and best wishes.

Happy new thread, John. I hope that the ongoing situation resolves in a positive way.

Hugs aplenty to Karen, John and to you of course!

Belated anniversary greetings! My Internet access was not the best last week. I could not stay connected to the Internet in the hotel. I'm sorry Karen isn't feeling well.

>38 Berly:, Hi Kim my dear, nice to see you stopping by. The little things are helpful, Karen is not too bad but then something happens and it sets her back a bit, apart from that we are both doing fine. Sending love and hugs.

>39 kidzdoc:, Hi Darryl, Karen appreciates the love and best wishes mate, we are both doing fine day to day and that is all we can do at the moment.

>40 Familyhistorian:, Hi Meg my dear, the situation will get resolved but it is taking its time, we are both doing as fine as can be expected.

>41 PaulCranswick:, Hi Paul, thanks mate, it is much appreciated.

>42 thornton37814:, Hi Lori my dear, thank you for the anniversary greeting, Karen is doing fine and taking things day by day, it will all be resolved but will take time.

We have had a good last few days, we had Linda and Geoff around on Friday evening for a meal, drinks and a catch up, it was a lovely evening for all.

On Saturday we decided to have a drive out and we went up into North Yorkshire to visit Northallerton, a lovely market town and it was market day. The weather was lovely while we were there, better than was forecast. We parked up in the Golden Lion Hotel car park and went inside for a Coffee and Karen had a toasted teacake as she did not have breakfast before we set off. We left the Hotel and began wandering up one side of the high street. We found an old fashioned sweet stall and picked up some of our favourites before continuing our wandering.

We popped into one or two shops before Karen went into the Lewis and Cooper shop to pick up some of the coffees that we both like, it is a lovely shop with lots of local produce on offer and now has its own coffee shop at the back of the store. We kept on wandering and crossed over the high street to wander back down the other side. We called into one or two shops and picked up some small items, i picked up three books and Karen got one. We had another drinks break and we shared a toasted ham and cheese sandwich before making our way back to the car and heading for home. The weather changed for the worse as we got onto the A1 but by the time we neared home it was bright and sunny.

Yesterday we pottered about until we had amid afternoon lunch and then set off to Andy and Amy's. We got there are both had a cuddle with Elliott, he changes so quickly, his head and neck are quite firm now and he gives me such lovely smiles. After a drink of tea i put some weedkiller onto the front garden and parking area for them and hopefully it will do the job needed. I had another drink and cuddle before i left for home, Karen is staying over until sometime on Tuesday and they are going to do a few household chores between them.

Finished book 50 last night, Blood Test by Jonathan Kellerman, PB - 317 pages.

2-8-21 to 8-8-21

>50 Familyhistorian: Don't get in too much trouble while you are on your own there, John. More time for reading, perhaps?

50 books done, congratulations John.

Congrats on reading 50! I'm hoping to get a little reading in over lunch hour today.

>50 Familyhistorian:, Hi Meg my dear, i was good on my own, a bit of reading, book stats and notes done, Felix fed and watered and also the hedgehogs fed and watered.

>51 EllaTim:, >52 thornton37814:, Thank you dear ladies.

Karen came home with Amy and Elliott at noon on Tuesday, Amy and Elliott stayed with us until just after 6pm. I had lots of cuddles and smiles with Elliott.

On Wednesday we picked Hannah up at 10.15am and then popped into Wakefield, i was sent one way and Karen and Hannah went the other way, i got back to the car after being unsuccessful in the tasks i was given and got back to the car and read until the girls arrived back. Hannah stayed with us until 3.30pm when i took her home.

Today has been a steady one, after we had breakfast i went to the post office in the neighbouring village to post a small parcel for Karen and to pay this month's Council Tax. Not long after getting back i set off out to drop Karen at the hairdresser's, after dropping her off i made my way home, made a drink and listened to the Test Cricket until she messaged me when to pick her up. After picking her up, we went to the nearby Aldi and i waited in the car and read while Karen picked up the few bits we needed, once this was done we made our way home.

We only needed a few bits as we go away on Monday morning down to Salisbury, we are staying at a pub on the outskirts of the City. We will stop off in Wantage to break the journey and also there is a Antiquarian/secondhand bookshop that purportedly has 100,000 books in stock, the largest South of Hay-on-Wye allegedly. We will take a look and report back, as it is on our way down to Salisbury it would be a shame not to call in, we will try to be very good but that can't be guaranteed, lol.

We are away from Monday to Friday and Salisbury is a very good base to get around the area, we have been down here a few time over the last eight years and there is still lots to do and see. We can pop over the border into Dorset or Hampshire and the coast is only 45 minutes away. On the way home we will stop off somewhere to break up the journey home and to extend the break as we don't need to be home early on the Friday.

Have a lovely trip, John! Sounds wonderful...looking forward to your book acquisitions and travel notes for future reference. :)

>56 kac522:, Hi Kathy my dear, we are looking forward to the few days away in a place we like and also the area. I will make sure i give a good travelogue and book guide either during our stay or when we get back. I will be taking the laptop with me so hopefully i will be able to post and use it for research on new places to explore.

Sending love and hugs to you and your family from both of us dear friend.

Hi John!

>49 johnsimpson: Congrats on book #50.

>55 johnsimpson: I hope your trip has been wonderful so far.

Sending love and hugs to you and Karen.

The trip sounds great, and I hope the bookstore meets your expectations!

Enjoy the trip!

First day of the second test and I am ever more of the view that Joe Root is not a captain. Some of his field placements and his shuffling of the attack was amateurish at best. Even more to the point if he had a hand in choosing the team. For heaven sake who would have Burns, Sibley and Hameed as our top three - look at their collective scoring rates and tell me how is the scoreboard going to click around? having one anchor in the top order is a must but all three?

>55 johnsimpson: Wishing you and Karen a nice time in Salisbury, and enjoy your visit to the bookshop in Wantage.

Looking forward to the bookstore scouting report!

>58 karenmarie:, Hi Karen my dear, thanks for the congrats, it's going to be a big ask to hit 100 but i am going to give it a good go.

Our trip doesn't start until the 16th my dear, through to the 21st, i think we need this and we will do our best to get some relaxation in as well as seeing the sights in this region.

>59 thornton37814:, Hi Lori my dear, there is lots for us to see in and around this region so we will not be short of ideas and places. We are looking forward to the bookshop in Wantage, from the pictures i have seen on their website we could get lost and i think we will be there for a good while. On our way back we could call into the Astley book farm and coffee shop in Bedworth, Warwickshire. This is the largest second-hand bookshop in the Midlands and has around 75,000 books to peruse, i just hope we have some money left, lol, to make good use of this unless by then we are booked out.

>60 quondame:, Thanks Susan my dear.

>61 PaulCranswick:, Hi Paul, typical British weather, the conditions made it imperative to win the toss as both Captains said but by the time they had had lunch the sun came out and it was more of a batting day than a bowling day. The make up of the team was a mystery to me but the big plus was that Anderson was passed fit to play and he did his usual stuff. Kohli is still out of sorts and Pujara's place is looking dicey. After a slow start by Rahul he eventually started to unfurl some beautiful shots and got a well deserved Century.

The second day conditions were much more bowler friendly and England picked up two early wickets, Rahul only added two to his score and Rahane, another under a bit of pressure failed. Pant and Jadeja got together and this was the vital pairing to remove quickly and they did this without too much damage. By the time Jimmy got his 31st five-for, the Indians today were 88 for 7 at close of innings.

Sibley got out to the same shot as last week and he must be dropped now, after all the hype of Hameed he played a bad shot and got a Golden Duck, so once again poor Root was in the middle after only 14 overs rest with the score 23 for 2. Again Root stabilised the innings and with Burns they started to play a few shots, sadly Burns could not see it through to the close and so day three will start with Root, two short of another Test Match fifty and has Bairstow for company, hopefully (fingers crossed) they will not do anything stupid and put together a big partnership.

There will need to be a thorough discussion about the side for the Third Test, i think Nina is correct and we need to be brought together to sort the selection meetings out. There's one thing mate, we couldn't do any worse and would probably do a lot better with a few home truths told, oh well we can only dream mate.

>62 FAMeulstee:, Thanks Anita my dear, we are looking forward to visiting Salisbury again and will have a good time in the Wantage book shop and as long as we have money (lol) and are not booked out we could call into the Astley book farm and coffee shop in Bedworth, Warwickshire. This is the largest second-hand bookshop in the Midlands and has around 75,000 books to peruse.

>63 drneutron:, Hi Jim, i will make sure i give it a good report and will make sure that either me or Karen take some photos so that i can show what it looks like.

Today has been a steady day, after a pot of tea in bed we got up, washed and dressed and then came downstairs to get everything sorted out. Between us we cleaned Felix's food bowl mat and then his dishes and then they were refilled and put back down. I emptied the dishwasher and then got our meds out while Karen got breakfast out and then i made us a coffee. I had my meds and coffee and then after looking at the time i decided to forego breakfast until i got back from Wakefield. I set off to town to do the banking and take an item of clothing back to Next. By the time i got home, Debbie the nail technician was here and Karen had put the kettle on to boil so i could make us all a nice pot of tea. I had my tea with my breakfast.

By the time i had finished breakfast the Cricket was on the radio and i listened to it while Karen had her nails done. Debbie also waxed my back, it makes it better for my patches to adhere. When Debbie had gone we had another drink and then i got on with the upstairs housework before we had a light lunch. We pottered about until it was time to take Karen to the Doctor's so the Nurse could give her her B12 injection. I stayed in the car and read until Karen got back to the car and then we made our way home. We had another drink and i checked my phone and looked at Fountain Pen websites while listening to the Cricket and Karen read.

Hello, John! Congrats on hitting #50 already. I am just a book behind you. Race you to 100! LOL. Wishing you (and Karen) a wonderful weekend. Karen should be raring to go now that she has her B12 shot! : )

Hi John and Karen. Wishing you all the best!

>67 johnsimpson: Good performances today by Bairstow (I am pleased for him and he was due to convert a good start). Buttler disappointed again and we could do worse than turn to your namesake behind the stumps. I really believe that Davies, Cox and Simpson are all much better wicket keepers and all three of them are handy with the bat. Davies averages more in first class cricket than Buttler and is a clearly better keeper.
I thought the retention of Sibley was bizarre and a student of stats like myself could have told Silverwood not to put Hameed in at one down. He averages 36 opening but less than 20 coming in at 3.

I hope Moeen Ali goes on to play a full part in the game. Having him allows us to play a spinner and I really would be tempted to make him captain.

I don't want to talk about the football!

>71 Berly:, Hi Kim my dear, lovely to see you in these parts again, it seems that we are neck and neck on the reading front and i will gladly accept your challenge dear lady, may the best reader win, lol.

We are having a nice steady weekend, Karen has just about finished packing for our trip down to Salisbury on Monday. We have Hannah staying overnight and possibly Amy and Elliott will come over tomorrow. Karen wanted to make sure that she had her B12 injection before we went away and hopefully it will perk her up. Things are steady at the moment and we are still taking things day by day, Karen is off work sick until the 1st of September and the break is doing her good although sometimes things seem to overwhelm her. Hopefully everything will get sorted out and then i can explain what has been going on and why it has taken a bit of toll on us.

Sending love and hugs to you and the family and wish you all a lovely weekend from both of us dear friend.

>72 connie53:, Hi Connie my dear, thank you dear friend.

>73 PaulCranswick:, Hi Paul, it was good to see Bairstow get a half century and I would have liked him to push on, Buttler is struggling and his position is another that should be looked at, Moeen got a start before getting out and sadly young Curran is out of his depth at the moment. The first two Tests should clearly show that a lack of Red ball Cricket is damaging the Test side. I just thank God that Root is on a very rich vein of form in 2021, the leading Test scorer by a country mile with over 1200 runs so far this calendar year. If he had had some reliable support we could have batted until lunch tomorrow or an hour into the afternoon session and had a very healthy lead to put pressure on the Indian batsmen, Root would surely have had a chance of a triple century. The remaining two days are going to be very interesting though and i think Kohli and India will rue not having Ashwin to bowl at England on the last day.

My namesake certainly lit up Headingley on Thursday evening and alongside Cox and Davies, should be in contention to replace Buttler.

I will say nothing about the first round of games in the Premier League mate, as they say, Pride comes before a fall and i would not like to tempt fate. On the positive side, you have 37 games left to show how you can play.

Finished book 51 last night, Tales out of School by Gervase Phinn, PB - 394 pages.

8-8-21 to 13-8-21

>74 johnsimpson: John - We are all hoping that Everything soon goes completely smooth again - those little Hedgehogs
need you and Karen to be strong and healthy!

So while you're away from Yorkshire, a Smithsonian article shows up on my Facebook feed about St Mary's Church in Beverley replacing worn down carvings with characters from the Narnia series.

>79 quondame: Long time since I visited Beverley - miss my home county.

Have a grand weekend, John.

>78 m.belljackson:, Hi Marianne my dear, thank you for the good wishes, the break has done us good.

>79 quondame:, Hi Susan my dear, replacing worn down carvings on the Churches and Minsters is an ongoing job, i do like the thought that characters from Narnia are being used on this church.

>80 PaulCranswick:, Hi Paul, mate, the weekend has been nice and steady after a good week in Wiltshire.

We have had a lovely week down in Wiltshire, i would have posted during the week but i forgot to put the laptop in the car on Monday morning, Duh!

We set off just before 9am on Monday and made good progress down the M1 motorway and then onto the M42, we had a stop to allow me to have a stretch at Tamworth services. We stopped longer than we expected due to queues at the Costa Coffee shop, after our coffee we continued on our way. After a few more miles on the M42 we headed onto the M40 to continue to our journey break in Wantage. We had to have another stop at the services, this time Cherwell Valley for a call of nature, lol. After the brief stop we came off at the next junction and made our way down dual carriageways and local roads until we got to Wantage, a market town in Oxfordshire.

Once parked up in Wantage, we made our way to Regent Furniture, Carpets and Secondhand Bookshop. On entering we could see a vast array of books ahead of us and we started to browse, i had my notebook with all the authors of Series that i am reading. Books started to accumulate in my arms and eventually Karen took them off me and approached the cash desk and owner to ask if we could leave them with him while we continued wandering around, he said yes. This was the first large Secondhand Bookshop that had a room set aside for Penguin Books, i have never seen as many Orange and Green Penguin books in one place, (more about Penguin books later).

Eventually we had done the perusing and i had added more books to the pile on the cash desk, so much that the owner gave us a jute bag to take them away with us. I paid the man after Karen had cheekily asked if there was a discount for buying so many books, to which he said he had been known to be a bit soft and accede to this type of request. He totted up the cost of the books and then knocked some off so that we ended up with the round figure of £50 to pay. I paid and we left the bookshop and crossed the road to where i was parked and i put the bag of books in the car.

By this time we were a bit thirsty and peckish and so we headed to the Costa Coffee shop as we were too late for a couple of independent coffee shops. We had a nice coffee and we shared two pieces of cake before heading back to the car and heading to our destination. I set the Satnav and off we went, it was lovely driving through the Oxfordshire countryside and then a brief bit of Berkshire before going into Hampshire and then into Wiltshire. We got caught up in traffic on the A303, the longer we drove i was getting a bit unsure that the Satnav was correct as we passed the turn off i have normally taken when going down to Salisbury. I realised that she was taking further West to avoid having to skirt around the centre of Salisbury and then we saw Stonehenge. We passed within about 1.5 to 2 miles of the ancient site as we crawled along before i was directed to take the next left turn. Once this was done it was a relatively straight 6 miles passing through Wilton, which was the ancient capital of Wessex in the time of King Alfred the Great. Before long we entered the village of Barford St Martin and came upon the Barford Arms, a Sixteenth Century Coaching Inn.

We checked in and were directed to our room where we unpacked our things before i made us a pot of tea and then I just had time to record in my notebooks what we had purchased to avoid any duplication. We had a quick wash and then set the Satnav to the Bat and Ball Pub/Restaurant for our evening meal. The meal was fabulous, i had the Bobotie and Karen had Fish and Chips.

We awoke on Tuesday morning and i used the tea/coffee making facilities to make us a nice pot of tea before we got washed and dressed and went down and out of our accommodation annexe and went into the pub to have our breakfast, I had a Full English Breakfast and Karen had Poached eggs on toast, we both had a cup of coffee and then had some toast.

Once breakfast was done with we went back to our room to collect the rucksack and then went to the car and headed to the park and ride at nearby Wilton. We had just got parked up when the bus pulled in and we quickly got on and paid and a short while later we were in the centre of Salisbury. The rain had got a bit heavier while we were on the bus and so it was a good job we had our cagoule's on. We wandered around the market which was mainly a food market, the veg stalls looked lovely as with the various Bakery stalls.

We decided that we needed to have a nice pot of tea and soon found a nice cafe where we had a pot of tea for two. After we had refreshed ourselves we began wandering around, we called into a couple of jewellers to look for Oval hooped earrings as Karen had lost one of hers at work and could not find it, she was upset as it was a pair that i had bought her about seven years ago for Christmas. Sadly we were out of luck, earrings seem to be in short supply at the moment.

After this we went to the Salisbury Antique Centre, Karen perused the brooches while i wandered around looking for Fountain Pens and Cricket memorabilia. Karen bought a nice Comedy and Tragedy Stick pin and i found a nice looking Parker Fountain pen in Matt Bronze Laque and Gold Fill Trim, i checked it out and kept my face deadpan. I realised it was a Parker 50, otherwise known as the Falcon as it is a fixed nib pen and it was on sale for £12, i haggled and settled on £11, we were both happy. I was more than happy as i knew i had picked up a real bargain, I joined Karen and gave her the news.

We left the Antique Centre and perused a few Charity shops before nature called, we found the public toilets and then resumed our look at the charity shops before we went into Paperchase where Karen got a birthday card. By this time we were ready for a drink and something to eat and we went into Costa Coffee, while we had our coffee i pulled up Heritage Collectable Pens on my phone and found my pen for sale, it was listed at £125 and i had just paid the princely sum of £11, result.

We spent the next three hours wandering around the shops of Salisbury, i used some of my birthday money to buy a FatFace T-Shirt, Karen picked up a couple of items and then we went into Waterstones bookshop. I found nothing that shouted out at me but Karen did, so she gave me £20 for my £20 giftcard and bought two books with enough left for another book, we were both happy with the deal.I picked up a couple of books or so and after another stop for a pot of tea, we made our way to the bus stop for our bus back to the park and ride car park.

Once back at the pub we went into our room, put our baggage down and i made us a pot of tea and we relaxed. I noted down what had been bought and before we went into the pub to have our evening meal, i put some things back in the car. We had a lovely meal in the pub and a couple of drinks before retiring to our room.

Karen woke up and nudged me to go and make us a pot of tea, after finishing our tea we got washed and dressed and then took what we needed with us to the car before going into the pub for breakfast. Karen decided on a change and asked for a fried egg, one sausage and one slice of bacon whereas i went for the full English again, the chef decided that Karen should have two sausages, lol.

Once we had finished our breakfast we went to the car and decided to border hop and go into Dorset, our destination was Dorchester, the home of Thomas Hardy. We had a lovely drive through the countryside before arriving in the town, due to market day we were directed to the car park near to the market. After parking up we went into the indoor market and had a good wander around, i picked up three books while we were in there. The outdoor market was predominantly veg and food so we left and crossed the road to the old Eldridge Brewery site which is now being developed into living areas, retail and leisure areas. We found a lovely independent coffee shop, very quirky with a barber's and a clothing area. We had coffee and a cake before venturing into the town.

We started to wander up the town precinct and stopped to peruse one or two charity shops. We went into a secondhand bookshop that helps to fund two Children's Hospices, it was a wonderful shop. Once again i was surprised to see so many Orange and Green Penguin books and even more shocked to find that they were being sold by the box full. I counted five boxes with at least 30 books per box and one inside with 43 as i counted them, each box was for sale at £10. If i could have got them home i would have bought them, for £50 i could have got nearly 200 books, as it was i came out with four books.

We continued wandering about, calling into various shops before we had another drink stop, this time we ordered a pot of tea for two and Karen had some toasted teacakes. Once we had finished we continued our wandering, we picked up some small presents and a nice present for our neighbour, Catherine, who was looking after Felix for us. As we neared the top of the precinct we found a few stalls, one selling books and i picked up another four books. We wandered about for a while before deciding to make our way back to the car and head back to the pub.

Once back at the pub we went to our room and after i made us a drink of tea i noted down the books we had purchased. After about an hour we decided we were hungry and Karen checked local pubs and restaurants, we settled on The Greyhound Pub in Wilton. I drove the two miles into Wilton and once parked up we went into the pub, sadly we had not booked and they were very busy but they offered us a table as long as we were done by 7pm, we agreed to this and were seated. As it was only 5.50pm we thought it was doable, we ordered our drinks and then looked at the menu. I decided on the Pork, Honey and Watercress Sausage and Mustard Mash while Karen had Welsh Rarebit, we finished our main course and Karen had Biscotti Icecream while i had Dorset Apple Cake and Custard. The food was lovely and we were all done by 6.50pm, we paid and left the pub and went back to the Barford Arms and had a drink before retiring back to our room.

On Thursday morning we had a pot of tea in bed courtesy of moi before getting washed and dressed and going down to the pub for breakfast. We had the same breakfast as Wednesday and once finished we went to the room and picked up our things and went to the car and set the Satnav for Devizes. We had a nice drive again through the Wiltshire countryside before arriving in Devizes and i parked up.

Again it was Market day and we had a nice wander around this small market towns market, the veg on the stalls looked magnificent, especially the Purple headed Cauliflowers, they were quite big and stood out. After perusing the market we wandered around the town, we picked up a couple of items and another couple of books found there way into the shopping bag. Once we were done in Devizes, we moved on to Chippenham, slightly larger than Devizes.

I parked up in the shopping centre in Chippenham and then we made our way into the shopping centre. We looked in a bedding store and picked up a lovely new duvet cover and pillowcases that will fit into the new colour scheme of our bedroom. We left the bedding store and wandered into a local Charity shop, i came out with a book. We carried on wandering through the shopping centre when i spotted F.H.Hinds jewellers, this was the store that i got the earrings for Karen in 2013 and i wondered if they still had the same style of earrings. We went in and looked at the earrings display and spotted the exact ones, they got them out for us for Karen to look at and they were. While we were looking at the earring display, just to the side was a display of Men's bracelets, my Silver Torque bracelet had broken in half last year and we tried to have it repaired at a working jewellers in Wakefield, we were told that it would be hard as it was a weak spot and could last a day, a month or a couple of years BUT he advised against it as it was risky. Karen spotted a Titanium bracelet, they got it out, i tried it on and that was added to the earrings. The visit to this shopping centre was an expensive one but i wanted to replace the earrings and Karen had been so upset when she found she had lost one.

We had a wander around before going back to the car and headed for Lacock. Lacock is a quaint village which has not changed in over 200 years and has been used as a film set numerous times. We got parked up in Lacock and had a wander around, by this time we were hungry and thirsty, we called into the George pub but they stopped serving at 3pm and although it was 2.45pm, they take last orders at 2.30pm. We made our war back to the car and made for Melksham, the weather had turned and it was drizzling so we stopped at the McDonald's and Karen had a Happy Meal and i had a double cheeseburger and fries. We sat in the car and had our food and drink before setting the Satnav for Corsham.

We arrived in Corsham and parked up before wandering down the main street, Karen took some photos as she has done all week. After wandering around we decided to head back to the car via the bookshop. Corsham Bookshop is a lovely independent and we had a good look around and then a chat with the owner. As we left it had started to rain, we skipped along as fast as we could and just got into the car before the heavens opened.I set the Satnav for the pub and as we set off the rain was coming down so heavy that the windscreen wipers could not cope, luckily it was a 20mph zone so we weren't holding traffic up by driving slowly. By the time we got near to Stonehenge the sun had come back out.

We got back to our room and had a pot of tea, i noted my books down and later we went into the pub for our evening meal.

Sounds like you are having a lovely time on your "bookshop tour."

Sound like you and Karen had a good time, John.

>85 johnsimpson: That was a bargain, finding a fountain pen for £11 instead of £125!

Lovely trip, John. It sounds relaxing and exciting all rolled up together - especially the pen for £11 instead of £125.

Sending love and hugs to you and Karen and kitty skritches for Felix.

>88 thornton37814:,Hi Lori my dear, the "bookshop tour" went very well and the area is lovely.

>89 FAMeulstee:, Hi Anita my dear, we had a really lovely time and the "bookshop tour" was great, the area is so lovely and the locals are so friendly.

The pen was a bargain and an unexpected find, i had not seen a Bronze/Brown Parker pen before and so i wanted it, i thought it worth a haggle even if just for fun, it was marked at £12 and i offered £10 and we settled on £11, it would have been too cheeky to offer less than £10. As i took the cap off to check the nib, i realised what i had got an just had to keep a poker face until i got downstairs with Karen.

>90 karenmarie:, Hi Karen my dear, it was an exciting and relaxing trip, just what we needed. The area is so lovely and because Salisbury is so low down in the county, it is so easy to border hop into Hampshire and Dorset and we could have gone to Bath as that is not too far away.

The pen was an absolute bonus, on seeing it in the cabinet i just knew it was a Parker and as i had not seen a Bronze/Brown Parker before, i just wanted it. It was only on taking the cap off to check the nib that i knew what it was, i just thought i would haggle and see what he would do, it was marked at £12 and i offered £10 and we settled on £11, we were both happy although really i was ecstatic knowing what i had got.

Sending love and hugs to you, Bill, Jenna, Inara, Wash and Zoe.

It was surprising how quickly it had got to Friday, we had had a really lovely time exploring the area. We had a last pot of tea in bed before getting ready to go down to breakfast, we both had the same as the previous two days and once we had finished it was time to pay the bill. The bill paid, we said our goodbyes and we know we will stay there again, the place was lovely, the food good and an ideal base to explore the area.

We got into the car, we had loaded everything up before we went for breakfast, and i set the Satnav for Astley Book Barn. We had a steady journey for the first couple of hours and then we encountered traffic jams and then a mass of roadworks as we skirted around Coventry. We were approaching the Book Barn when we encountered the last of the roadworks and were diverted through a housing estate before we got on the road to the Book Barn.

We parked up and first stop was a call of nature and them the book perusing began, we went to the furthest end of the barn and discounted a lot of the subjects until we got to Sport, i picked a Cricket book up and then we got to Sci-Fi/Fantasy and i had a good look at these before we hit Fiction. At this point we popped upstairs to the Children's section for a quick look before getting back to fiction. The only problem was that we had to do the alphabet backwards. Before long we had put a few books in our bag, by the time we got near to the counter, we found baskets to put the books in, lol. We were hungry and thirsty at this point and so went to the cafe.

Karen went and ordered tea for two and a slice of Carrot Cake for me and Karen had Victoria Sponge, the cakes were divine and what a size. Once we were done we resumed book hunting, they had a selection of Wisdens but i already had them. We wandered out to the Ten Bob Barn, this area is randomly shelved so you have to look at every book. After a short while Karen felt a bit unwell and so she took the car keys and went back to the car, leaving me to it. I had a good look and picked up four books and then took all the purchases to the counter and paid. I went back to the car, stored the bag of books and set the Satnav for home.

We wandered through North Warwickshire villages and then on into Leicestershire before getting onto the M42, after about 40 minutes we came upon the M1 and a nice steady drive for 90 minutes and we were home.

Unlike our previous cat Leo, Felix greeted us with so much enthusiasm, he was nuzzling my legs and wanting fussing over, he seemed to be saying "you've come home, i have missed you" whereas Leo used to give us a look that said, "Oh, your finally home are you" and wander off and it would be a couple of days before he came round.

I made us a pot of tea and then got the books out but it was Saturday before they were all sorted and listed. Here goes:

Fortune is a Woman by Elizabeth Adler
Nothing Ventured by Jeffrey Archer
Hidden in Plain Sight by Jeffrey Archer
Death of a Nurse by M.C. Beaton
The Windsor Knot by S.J. Bennett
Blood on the Tongue by Stephen Booth
The Sicilian Method by Andrea Camilleri
A Voice in the Night by Andrea Camilleri
The Affair by Lee Child
Personal by Lee Child
A Wanted Man by Lee Child
61 Hours by Lee Child
Worth Dying For by Lee Child
Darkest Fear by Harlen Coben
Paul Temple Intervenes by Francis Durbridge
Paul Temple and the Front Page Man by Francis Durbridge
News of Paul Temple by Francis Durbridge
Send for Paul Temple by Francis Durbridge
Send for Paul temple Again by Francis Durbridge
The Ruby Knight by David Eddings
Ultimatum by Frank Gardner
The Appeal by Janice Hallett
Sacred Clowns by Tony Hillerman
Skinner's Ghost by Quintin Jardine
Private Eyes by Jonathan Kellerman
Dragonspell by Katherine Kerr
A Year in the Chateau by Sarah Long
Making Your Mind Up by Jill Mansell
To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell
Swing Brother Swing by Ngaio Marsh
Scales of Justice by Ngaio Marsh
Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh
The Blood King by Gail Z. Martin
The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick
See How They Run by James Patterson
No Mortal Thing by Gerald Seymour
Beyond Recall by Gerald Seymour
The Corporal's Wife By Gerald Seymour
Against all Odds by Danielle Steel
Home to Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigani
Sorry For The Dead by Nicola Upson
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Archie Jackson by David Frith HB
Sir Vivian, The Definitive Autobiography by Vivian Richards HB
Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yearbook 1940 HB
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot HB

Add to this two Mary Berry Cookbooks for Karen and four books for Elliott for a total of 52 books in all.

You are going to really like Shadow of the Wind. I read it when it first came out and literally read most of the night through to finish it. Sounds like you guys had a lovely trip. Relaxing, but plenty of excitement as well. It is always refreshing to see new countryside.

>95 benitastrnad:, Hi Benita my dear, i am looking forward to Shadow of the Wind and hope to get to it before year end, BUT with all these books on the TBR pile, which do i pick up, lol.

Our trip was lovely, we do like this part of the country and from Salisbury we can border hope quite easily so we have a wide range of places to visit. Another plus is that there are lots of Secondhand and Charity shops to peruse book in which is always a bonus.

I hope things are well with you my dear, i am presuming that the college year has started and if so i would say that you are busy.

Sending love and hugs from both of us dear friend.

Finished book 52 on Sunday afternoon, My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith, PB - 249 pages.

13-8-21 to 22-8-21

>97 johnsimpson: I enjoyed that book, John, especially when the main character (Paul??) has to decide where to legally "park" his bulldozer.

Your holiday sounds wonderful--making notes to someday visit the room full of Penguins! My son & family are on their way home to Sheffield from northern Italy. Quite the drive (via France) with 3 kids and Lucy the Cat.

Quite impressive haul, John, I must say.

>95 benitastrnad: Agree with Benita that Shadow of the Wind is a great read.

How marvellous that travel restrictions seem to be helping Brits reacquaint with the beauty of our own shores.

>98 kac522: That is an impressive journey too, Kathy. I hope to return to our apartment in Sheffield soon.

>99 PaulCranswick: Quite the ordeal--negative Covid tests before entering each country and a 10-day quarantine on return to the UK. Hopefully all will be accomplished before the first day of school.

So nice you had a nice trip and a great haul of books, John!

Looks like a really nice trip John! Salisbury and Bath and 17th century inns. And a wonderful list of books bought, enjoy!
(I’ve never been to Salisbury or Bath, the names stand out because they are more or less famous from lots of books I’ve read.)

>97 johnsimpson: that's the one-a-week milestone met! Congratulations.

>98 kac522:, Hi Kathy my dear, the idea of trying to decide where to park a Bulldozer made me chuckle and i did enjoy the book, looking forward to the second one which is on the shelves.

I will always have the information on the Penguin room bookshop my dear, never fear, i hope that your Son and family had a lovely holiday in Italy even though they had a long journey home.

Sending love and hugs dear friend.

>99 PaulCranswick:, Hi Paul mate, i though it was a good book haul too. We love that part of the Country and there is so much to see and places to go to within an hour's drive. We have booked our holiday for next year, we were toying with going to Madeira but decided to wait another year and so we are staying in Newton Abbot and again we will have lots of places nearby to go and visit and i will check to see if there are any large book establishments, both new and Secondhand along with all the Independent bookshops.

>101 connie53:, Hi Connie my dear, it was great trip and lots of good bookshops both New, Secondhand and Charity. We could have bought lots more books to be honest, when we were in Wantage, the secondhand bookshop had a room set aside for Penguin books, i have never seen as many Orange and Green Penguin books in one place and then in Dorchester we visited a Charity shop that raised funds for two Children's Hospices, outside on a table there were four crates of Penguin books, each crate was for sale for £10 but you could buy them seperately and inside was another crate of Penguins, again for sale at £10. I counted the books in the indoor crate and there were 43 books so potentially i could have picked up somewhere between 150 to 200 books for £50.

>102 EllaTim:, Hi Ella my dear, Salisbury, Bath and Dorchester all have literary connections and we were in the first and visited the second and if not for Astley Book Barn, we would have gone home via Bath.

The Pub we were staying in was a really lovely 16th Century Inn with all modern fittings and the accommodation extension being sympathetically done and in keeping with the the old pub.

It was a nice book haul with books for both of us, mainly for me but a good selection.

Sending love and hugs to you and Marc, my dear friend.

>103 LovingLit:, Hi Megan my dear, it is always nice to get the one-a-week milestone done when the target is 75 as per the group title and my own target of 100.

Sending love and hugs to you and your family my dear friend.

Finished book 53 on Sunday afternoon, Forging On by Catherine Robinson, PB - 295 pages.

22-8-21 to 29-8-21

Holy moldy, that’s quite a haul!

Hi, John!

Just passing through. Give Karen a hug for me!

>110 drneutron:, Hi Jim, mate, it could have been longer some lovely places with lots and lots and lots of books to choose from, lol.

>111 scaifea:, Hi Amber my dear, thanks for passing through and i will give Karen a hug from you dear friend.

AUGUST'S READING STATS

Books Read....................... 5

No of Authors.................... 5

New Authors...................... 1

Male Authors..................... 3

Female Authors.................. 2

Pages Read....................... 1,532

Daily Avg........................... 49.42

Book Length avg................. 306.40

Latest reading stats:

Books on shelves at 1-8-21 - 2,706
Books added in August - 56
Books read in August - 5

Revised book total - 2757

Pages to read at 1-8-2021- 1,111,401
Pages added in August - 22,101
Pages read in August - 1,532

Revised total pages to read - 1,137,970

Just checking in here. Hope you are enjoying some tea while you are compiling all those stats!

>116 thornton37814:, Hi Lori my dear, i always have a pot of tea to hand, more so when i am busy collating stats or writing up my book notes.

The week after we got back from Salisbury we spent getting back into the swing of things and we saw Elliott a couple of times.

Last Saturday was a relaxing day, the only bit of work i did was digging out the footings ready for hardcore to be put in and cement put in.

Sunday we pottered about until noon and then we went to Xscape complex at Castleford to meet up with Amy and Andy and Elliott. We took Elliott for the afternoon while they went to the cinema, we headed to Rob and Louise's so they could see Elliott and have hot beef sandwiches. When the film finished Amy and Andy came to ours and they had something to eat before taking Elliott home.

On Bank Holiday Monday i got the baking trays down for Karen and put the rotary washing line up before i headed to the Antique fair at Doncaster racecourse. I had a good wander around all the stands, stopping at one or two and looking at fountain pens. Once i had done a first look around i went back to the stands that had something i wanted. First stop was to have another look at a Pelikan M200 fountain pen, it was marked up at £40 and i asked what his best price was, he said £32 and we shook hands on it. I had seen the same pen on Heritage Collectibles and it was £80, so i got a really good bargain. Once this was bought i went back to another stand to look at a potential Montblanc, it was on its own at the bottom of a tin full of pens in boxes.

I got to the pen and one of the people running the stand came over, i asked how much it was, he had a look at it and mentioned it had a German nib and was that good, i said they make good nibs, then he said it says Montblanc, was that a good make, i said it wasn't too bad. He looked at the pen and then said £75, if it was genuine that was a good price but i didn't have that much money on me and they didn't take cards. I said i would leave it and he said make me an offer. I told him with what i had in my pocket it would be an insult to make an offer and he said that was honest. I then picked out a Sheaffer No Nonsense in Yellow for £15. After i had paid him he said they were always at this fair so come back with a bit more money and we both laughed.

Once home i did a bit of checking on how to spot a fake and so next time if they still have it, i will have a really good look to check it out.

On Tuesday we went into Wakefield via the Doctors, i dropped off our repeat prescriptions before dropping Karen at the Aldi at Snowhill and i went back into Wakefield and parked up. Once parked up i went to the bank to pay some off the credit card before going to pick Karen back up at the Aldi. Once home we unpacked and put the shopping away and then we had a pot of tea before i did the upstairs housework.

Yesterday i went to pick Hannah up and when we got home, Amy and Elliott were here, Hannah was very pleased as she loves to see him. We had a good few hours together before i took Hannah home. Once back home we had a pot of tea and Amy had some homemade Curry before she and Elliott set off for home.

A belated happy new thread! Checking in to send love and hugs to you, Karen and the whole clan!

>119 witchyrichy:, Hi Karen my dear, nice to see you here, thank you dear friend.

Since Saturday we have had a surprise September heatwave with temperatures being around 27C to 29C here in Walton.

On Saturday after i had taken Karen to work i decided to mix up some concrete for the footings in the veg plot. By the time i had finished i was wet through with sweat (why did i think it was a good idea to do this sort of work in these temperature), i washed and dried my hands and face i had my sandwiches before going for a shower and a change of clothes. I had a steady evening although i did ache a little bit.

Sunday was a very relaxing day for both of us, me from the previous days activity and Karen after her first two days back at work. Karen was quite anxious on Friday but she managed to get through the day and Saturday wasn't too bad.

On Monday i took Karen to work for 10 am and after picking up some patches that were owed to me from the pharmacy, i made my way home and made a coffee and sat down to listen to the Cricket. Until mid-afternoon this was my day, tea or coffee, a bit of reading and listening to the cricket until a rush of lost wickets meant we were doomed for a loss and i went out into the garden to do a little bit of weeding.

Eventually the lure of the cricket drew me back in and i listened to the remaining debacle, well played India, we were rubbish.

Tuesday i took Karen to work and once home i had a coffee before going out into the garden to do some building work. After mixing up the first barrowful of mortar, i laid seven blocks on the top row of the veg plot. By the time i had done this i was wet with sweat, time for a drink and a short rest. While having my pot of tea and resting, Felix kept me company, he has been very close to me over the last few days and wanted lots of stroking and loving.

After my short rest i mixed up another barrowful of mortar and laid another seven blocks on the bottom row of the veg bed. I had a little bit of mortar left and so used it for some minor repairs to brickwork at the back of the garage. When i had finished i cleaned all the tools and myself and had my lunch before having a well deserved shower and a fresh change of clothes. I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and drinking tea while listening to the County Championship cricket commentary. I made Karen a drink in the travel mug and went to collect her from work. Again i was in a little bit of pain despite a nice shower and my meds and patches, but i wanted to take advantage of the dry weather, as with Saturday, i wondered what i was doing in this heat.

Yesterday was nice and steady, we did the Aldi shopping before we had breakfast, after having breakfast we had a little bit of time before Debbie the Nail Technician arrived. I made us all a pot of tea and not long after, Amy and Elliott arrived and i made Amy a drink. While Karen had her nails done and Amy showed Elliott off, i put blocks down and then used the old brick pavers to draw the veg bed design so that Karen could give the final say. I left them and went to collect Hannah from school, it was lovely to see her in a white shirt and clip on tie as she is now in year six and at the end of this school year she moves up to senior school. By the time i got back, Debbie had gone but Hannah was overjoyed to see Elliott and Auntie Amy. Hannah played with Elliott and he loved it as much as she did.

Finished book 54 last Friday, 20th Victim by James Patterson, PB - 398 pages.

29-8-21 to 3-9-21

Finished book 55 this morning, Queenie Malone's Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan, PB - 318 pages.

3-9-21 to 9-9-21

You are plugging along nicely!

>121 johnsimpson: Final test about to start John. The selectors (possibly Root and Silverwood) really do make me grind my teeth. Understand Buttler having paternity leave but on what grounds is it justified he walks straight back into the team. He has managed only 2 centuries in over 50 tests and has been awful recently. I thought that we had learned our lesson in picking Overton for Headingley where conditions dictate he would flourish but he looked lost and completely ineffectual at the Oval.

Why doesn't Parkinson and Mahmood feature (or in the T/20 World Cup squad)? Jimmy and Ollie both looked exhausted and Robinson probably needs a rest as it may be Anderson's last Old Trafford test. I think that there are obvious questions about Bairstow and Moeen but both showed enough in the first innings to persist with them. The top four are at last looking better and Malan was incredibly unlucky to be run out and has looked a thousand times better than anyone in at #3 in an age. My team would have been:
Hameed, Burns, Malan, Root, Bairstow, Pope, Ali, Woakes, Mahmood, Anderson, Parkinson

Have a great weekend.

Happy Friday!

How nice to have warm temperatures in fall. It sounds like the veg plot is coming along nicely. Can't wait to see photos of the finished project.

Hi John!

Congrats on the reading spurt.

Sending love and hugs to you and Karen and kitty skritches for Felix the Cat.

>124 thornton37814:, Hi Lori my dear, the books are coming along nicely.

>125 PaulCranswick:, Hi Paul, i was looking forward to the Fifth Test and was shocked to find out that it had been cancelled, as the day wore on i got more and more angry. I have to agree with a few of the commentators in that this is all about IPL money and to be honest i find it premeditated.

The BCCI wanted to move this Test as it was too close to the restart of the IPL, then Shastri goes down with Covid BUT he still did his book launch and players attended and they were soon on planes to the UAE to do the six days isolation that is required. All this with Tom Harrison saying that it was nothing to do with the IPL, bollocks, it is time that some backbone was shown and the BCCI brought to book. Everyone seems scared of them but money grabbing does not supercede Test Cricket and they should be made aware of this and sanctions taken against them.

As for the Test squad, both Anderson and Robinson did look tired and the Oval did not suit Overton. Buttler has already said that he is doubtful for the Ashes so why should he come straight back into the side, Bairstow is a better keeper and Batsman, although he is not really showing it at the moment. As for Moeen, he is ineffective with the ball, his average is shocking and when it comes to batting, where his his brain. He keeps on doing this but still given chances, he must be coming to his ninth life now, last chance saloon. And finally, Malan was at fault, he wasn't backing up as he should have done, the run was there and if he had backed up properly, he would have got in with room to spare.

On the Ashes, and other sports, i am old fashioned, the current crop of sportsmen make my heart bleed. They have the best facilities, they hardly play, they have all the best in sports science and nutrition and they have world beating technology and still they bleeding complain and whinge. I'll miss my missus and kids, the players of yore had to go by boat not a bloody comfy plane, they played shedloads of games on tour this current lot play bugger all and the current lot can facetime, skype, videocall etc whereas the old boys used a fountain pen like me with paper or a postcard, oh and this shower get paid shitloads. My mate Geoff worked on the oil rigs in the North Sea, two weeks on two weeks off and for his kids he did not have Christmas with then until his eldest, Sarah was seven and Grace was five. Yes he was well paid and his opposite number offered to swap as his kids were older than Geoff's but the company wouldn't have it. Geoff never complained as this was his job, he was well paid and they had the luxuries, this touring lot ought to have a chat with Geoff and get their priorities right, they have had their families with them before, this is a one off because of Covid, live with it. Also, why put your families at potential risk, just risk yourselves but oh no, they want their cake and to eat it. Rant over.

>126 figsfromthistle:, Hi Anita my dear, it is nice to get warm temperatures in early fall and good for me when trying to get the building work done although the downside is that i am melting as i am doing it. Once it is all completed i will post before and after photos.

>127 karenmarie:, Hi Karen my dear, the reading is coming along well although i have some work to get done shortly that may slow me down a bit. I want to get the building work for the Veg plot done before the cold and bad weather comes, although the unexpected early fall heatwave is a plus, and i have the staircase to decorate.

Sending love and hugs to you, Bill, Jenna and kitty skritches for Zoe, Wash and Inara my dear friend.

Last Friday i took Karen to work and then popped into store to pick up half a dozen items that we needed. Once done i went into town to do the banking before making my way home. I put the bit of shopping away and made a pot of tea before setting off to the Bookfair at York Racecourse.

This is the biggest Antiquarian bookfair in the UK and held over two days, York Racecourse also has a one day show in January, all run by the PBFA (Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association). The doors opened at noon and i got there by 12.15pm, paid my £2 entrance fee and had a wander around. I knew that the Cricket bookseller, Christopher Saunders wouldn't be there but hoped that one or two others would be, sadly i was wrong, no Cricket books at all.

I was done within an hour and went back to the car and headed into York City Centre to have a quick look around. I parked up and went to Rymans to see if they had any pens on offer, again this was a no but i did get an A5 2022 diary. I left Rymans and went and got a latte from Costa Coffee before heading to Fossgate to go into Signatures pen shop. I got a shock to find it empty and it had been repainted outside, i went back into the centre and got my rail magazine before heading back to the car. Once in the car i made my way to Selby to see Amy, Andy and Elliott. I had an hour with them and while Amy looked at her phone to find out the name of the bookseller she bought a Wisden for me and i looked for Signatures pen shop. The owners of Signatures had decided to retire and they had a closing down sale from 16th August to 31st August, i never knew about this, darn it. They still own the shop and are renting it to Age UK as they needed to move from their current premises in Walmgate, another bricks and mortar pen shop gone.

I left Amy's at 4pm and got to the Asda to pick Karen up from work at 4.50pm, once home we had a drink of tea before having some food and then had a steady evening.

The weekend was nice and steady, i had some housework to do on Saturday while Karen was at work and on Sunday we just relaxed.

>132 johnsimpson: A double whammy--no cricket books and a shuttered pen shop. Hope your next shopping venture is better.

>133 thornton37814:, Hi Lori my dear, the next shopping venture was very good. After dropping Karen at work this morning, i made my way to Elsecar Antique Centre and picked up a nice Sheaffer pen for £14, it is in great condition with a nice medium nib and writes nicely.

>134 johnsimpson: Glad to hear it!

On Monday we awoke with the alarm and i went and made us a pot of tea and let Felix out. After we had finished our tea we got up, washed and dressed before coming downstairs to get everything sorted out.

We had our breakfast while watching BBC Breakfast and the news about Emma Raducano's US Open triumph. A short time later it was time to take Karen to work, i dropped Karen off and then set off to Elsecar Antique Centre near Barnsley. I arrived and parked up and made my way to the antique centre and began my wandering about, looking into the all the cabinets and various rooms. I spotted a few Fountain Pens early doors but kept on looking until i found a nice Sheaffer Imperial in cabinet 119, it was priced at £14 and so i went to get a member of staff to open the cabinet to have a look at it properly. Once this was done i decided to have it and we went back down to the sales desk so that i could pay for it.

After paying for my pen i made my way back to the car and headed for home, as i neared home i decided to go and have a look at the Hospice shop to look at books, sadly it was closed so i went home.

Once home i made myself a pot of tea and put the radio on to listen to County Cricket Commetary. The rest of the afternoon was spent drinking and listening to the Cricket until it was time to go and pick Karen up from work. Once we got home we had a drink and as i wasn't feeling too good i just had some toast and then the last of the Apple crumble and custard before having a steady evening.

Yesterday i took Karen to work and after dropping her off i went into the store to do the shopping as it was staff double discount day. I had to go down to the George department to pick up some baby clothes that Karen had put away and then got on with getting the rest of what we wanted. Once done and paid for i made my way back to the car, put the shopping in the boot and made my way home.

Once home i got the shopping out of the car and then unpacked and put it all away before having a pot of tea and listening to the Cricket. Just after 11.30am i set off to Amy's as she needed me to look after Elliott while she had her dentist appointment. Just before she set off, Andy's mum arrived and between us we looked after Elliott until she got back from the dentists.

Not long after Amy got back, Andy and his dad arrived and then shortly after i set off for home so i could have some lunch. Once home i made myself some lunch and a pot of tea and listened to the Cricket while i had my sandwiches and pot of tea.

I read for a bit while still listening to the Cricket and then set off to get Karen from work. Once we got back we had a drink and then made our tea before Karen went for a shower and i went to feed the Hedgehogs before watching a bit of TV.

>132 johnsimpson: Sorry to read the booksale wasn't what you had hoped for, John, and that the pen shop closed.
I don't think anyone here would be willing pay to get to a book fair. Here most book fairs are outside, with market stalls.

I've been gardening myself and always sort of surprised when I end up so hot and sweaty. It is September, after all. But the gardens are looking as good as ever and I have a few things to move around before winter. My husband does the vegies but I am thinking about starting a more formal herb garden next year.

Sending love to the whole family: I know you love all the time you have with those children!

Hey buddy, good to see things are moving along well. I’m glad you got some good time with Elliot. Emma Raducanu was awesome; so was her opponent. And both were so composed and articulate afterwards. Great match.

>138 FAMeulstee:, Hi Anita my dear, it was a little bit disappointing but there were about 80 booksellers missing due to Covid. This is a bookfair mainly for collectors looking for first editions or to add to their collections. The vast majority of books are Hardback and the subjects are very large ranging, there were quite a few Children's stands with quite large collections. Prices range from £3 up to about £5,000 to £10,000 depending on age and the subject and rarity.

>139 witchyrichy:, Hi Karen my dear, it was a surprise to have these sorts of temperatures in England at this time and then it turned cooler but apparently we are due to get another short heatwave before the end of the month.

No work done for about a week but that is because of being told to do other things, lol.

We have seen quite a lot of the little fella and they are all here tomorrow as it is Amy's birthday today and we are having them all over for lunch. Rob and family are having hot Beef sandwiches whereas the rest of us are having Hydrabadi curry and Karen has baked a cake for Amy.

Hope you are having a good weekend so far and we send love and hugs from both of us dear friend.

>140 jnwelch:, Hi Joe, mate, we have seen quite a lot of the little fella over the last week or so and all the family are coming over tomorrow as it is Amy's birthday today and we are doing Hot Beef sandwiches for Rob and family and we are all having Hydrabadi Curry and Karen has made a birthday cake for Amy.

Finished book 56 late on Wednesday night, Bloodline by Mark Billingham, PB - 467 pages.

9-9-21 to 15-9-21

>129 johnsimpson: Agree completely with your comments, John. The IPL and Hundred are spoiling our sport. The England players who play in it this year should not be considered for the Ashes full stop.

What would be your sixteen for Down Under, John?

I guess we cannot debut a new captain so that job goes to Root. I'll assume that Broad and Archer are not fit and that Buttler and Stokes aren't touring.

ROOT
BURNS
HAMEED
ABELL
MALAN
POPE
BALLANCE
BAIRSTOW
BEN BROWN
ROBINSON
WOAKES
WOOD
ANDERSON
PAYNE /GARTON
PARKINSON
LEACH

>145 PaulCranswick:, Hi Paul, i presume that Parkinson is Matt from Lancashire.

ROOT (C)
BURNS
HAMEED
ABELL
MALAN
POPE
BALLANCE
BAIRSTOW
ROBINSON (KENT) WK
ROBINSON (SUSSEX)
WOAKES
WOOD
ANDERSON
PAYNE
PARKINSON M
LEACH

Finished book 57 on Saturday night, The Overlook by Michael Connelly, PB - 291 pages.

15-9-21 to 18-9-21

>146 johnsimpson: Wow John we agreed on 15 out of the 16 players.

Finished book 58 late last night, Rounding the Mark by Andrea Camilleri, PB - 274 pages.

18-9-21 to 23-9-21

We had a lovely day last Sunday with all the family over for lunch to celebrate Amy's birthday, two dishes were made, Hot Beef Sandwiches with Fried Onion, Chips and and full jug of Gravy and then Hydrabadi Curry, Potato Bhaji, Pilau rice and Garlic and Coriander Naan. Allegedly the Hot Beef dishes were for Rob and Family and Amy wanted a Curry but in the end we ended up sharing all the dishes. To follow this we had Biscoffi Cheesecake and a Coffee Cake which Amy had chosen to be made.

We had a lovely few hours before they all departed and we were left with two dishwasher loads of crockery and cutlery.

On Monday i dropped Karen at work and then went to Thornes Park in Wakefield to collect some more Conkers, i collected enough to finish the window corners off and the rest were put in a glass bowl on the coffee table. Since we have put Conkers in the corners of the windows we have had very few Spiders in the house. After collecting the Conkers and putting them where they belong, i had a coffee and listened to the Cricket on the radio until the lunch break and then got on with the upstairs housework. Once done i had my lunch and then read until it was time to pick Karen up from work.

Tuesday i took Karen to work and then headed to Amy's to help with putting some laminate flooring down. I got there and parked up and had a pot of tea and then Amy got a call she needed to take, i had another drink and played with Elliott along with Andy. When she was done and i had finished my drink, we got on with the flooring, i had to break off to go and get a set square and a Tenon saw. Once i got back with these the job moved on quickly and smoothly. The only problem was that the new flooring was slightly narrower than the old but the colour match was great. The only bit left to do is a narrow long length and that needs a jigsaw to cut it and mine is knackered. Why the last but one owner left a small bit and carpeted it just for the wardrobes to be on, i'll never know. Once done i cleaned myself up, put the wardrobes back with Andy and made my way home to let Felix in and have some lunch before picking Karen up from work.

Wednesday was a steady day, we set a load of washing going before going to the Aldi in Featherstone, once back i put the washing out on the line while Karen set another load going and then she unpacked and put the shopping away. Once all this was done we had breakfast and then put fresh, clean bedding on our bed before i had a drink before going to collect Hannah from school.

Once i had Hannah, we went and picked up her mum and first stop was to post some parcels before i dropped Louise in Wakefield and then we made our way home. Hannah was disappointed that Elliott was not at ours, we had tea and then she disappeared upstairs. After she had a shower and some milk and a biscuit, i took her home.

Yesterday was haircut day, i dropped Karen at the hairdressers and then made my way to Barber Joes to have my hair cut by owner David. Once done i made my way home, made a pot of tea and listened to the Cricket on the radio while reading. I got a message to go and collect Karen as she was done. We came back home, sorted a few things out and then picked up a few things and then set off to Amy's. Felix had come into the house and gone up to bed so we were happy. Once we got to Amy's we had a drink and a chat and a cuddle with Elliott before Amy and Andy went to the cinema, they were also eating out and they had time to have a wander around the Outlet site. We had a lovely afternoon with Elliott, he had a feed and then we played with him before he had a sleep. He awoke and then had some Carrot puree and then cried, he needed a nappy change and then it was bottle time. Karen gave him his bottle and suddenly she got a whiff of something, at first she thought it was wind but then the whiff got stronger, he had poohed in his clean nappy, another change for Grandma to do.

We had something to eat while Elliott had a little light nap in his bouncer before it was bath time. I took Elliott upstairs as Karen was wary of carrying him, we undressed him and then Karen enjoyed bath time, i got a shout to make his bottle and i took it up to his bedroom as Karen was struggling to get him into his cozy bag, Karen gave him his bottle while i zipped up the cozy bag. He dropped off to sleep after some patting by Karen and then we had a drink. About an hour later Amy and Andy came back, we had another drink with them before we left.

On the way back we encountered an accident that the Police were dealing with, i had to turn around and i set off in another direction to get to the M62 motorway, as i neared the junction i found it had been closed so i had to drive round the back roads. It was a longer journey home than we imagined and Felix was waiting to go out when we got back, bless him. We had a lovely 8 hours or so with Elliott to ourselves.

You've been busy! I read almost nothing over the weekend. I was simply too exhausted to read. I kept up with my devotional stuff and read a few chapters in a couple other books, but that was about it.

After a hectic end to last Thursday, the last few days have been nice and steady away, on Monday after dropping Karen at work, i made my way to the M62 motorway and crossed the Pennines on my way to Bygone Times Antique Centre in Eccleston. It is a few years since i had been there and i had forgotten how big it was, 6 vast rooms with over 500 stallholders.

I had a good look around, obviously i could disregard quite a lot of stalls as i was mainly looking for any Cricket and Fountain Pen related items. In the basement was all the big furniture, there were some lovely items, i saw a nice small bureau desk that could possibly fit in the small bedroom which is our library room, sadly i had no measurements with me but i think we may have a trip over in the near future. In the end i did find a pen, one that i haven't got, a nice Sheaffer's Saratoga Snorkel, i checked it over and everything worked so along with two Cricket books i went to the pay desk and paid for them before getting back in the car and headed home.

Yesterday i took Karen to work before dropping a couple of baby cards off at a colleagues, from there i called in at the doctors to drop off our repeat prescriptions before going into Wakefield to pay some money off the Credit card. Once done and dusted i made my way home and once home i made a coffee, put the radio on to listen to the Cricket and read for a bit. The Postman knocked at the door, i opened it and he had a couple of letters and a small parcel for me. I opened the parcel and it was the Conklin Minigraph fountain pen that i purchased off a fellow FPUK member as a Christmas present from Karen. After having a close look, i put it to one side for Karen to see it and then put it away to be wrapped nearer to Christmas.

In the afternoon i got on with the upstairs housework after i had some homemade soup for lunch. Once the housework was done i made a pot of tea and listened to the Cricket until it was time to make Karen a drink in the travel mug and then go and collect her from work.

Since Friday we have been suffering from a "Fuel shortage", this was blown out of all proportion by the media, BP had said they were temporary closing a few fuel stations as the shortage of Heavy Goods Vehicle drivers was affecting deliveries. This caused idiots to start panic buying fuel and by the end of Friday a lot of filling stations were empty. Karen messaged me at 8.30pm on Saturday night to say a delivery had taken place and it would be open until 9.30pm for Asda staff and immediate families, i went to get Karen early to get some fuel as i was quite low and i had a hot drink for my wait for Karen to finish.

As i type there are still some problems at filling stations but as i passed the Asda filling station a couple of hours ago, it was just normal numbers getting fuel. It was a bit like Chinese whispers on Friday as the media announcement went from BP closing a few filling stations to oh my god we are running out of fuel. Messages were put out by the refineries to say that they had full storage tanks but this panic buying was putting pressure on them to deliver to filling stations. I am amazed at the mentality of people and how a simple message could be twisted so much that massive queues formed throughout the country at filling stations and even fights took place, madness.

>153 johnsimpson:
The "shortage" was on the news here in Alabama. There was even a video of a man who pulled a knife on another man while in line waiting for fuel. Apparently, the man with the knife thought the other man had jumped the line.

Here in Alabama there is another shortage of toilet paper. The media has been trying to tell people not to worry there really isn't a shortage of toilet paper, but of course, the more they talk about it, the more people go out and buy it.

>154 benitastrnad:, Hi Benita my dear, it is a certain kind of madness that seems to affect people after seeing or hearing the media. One thing that has bothered me throughout the Covid crisis, why is toilet paper a target for buyers to such an extent that there are shortages, do they think that the threat of Covid means that you are going to get the Shits (pardon the language).

Finished book 59 on Wednesday morning, Woman of God by James Patterson, PB - 362 pages.

23-9-21 to 29-9-21

Yesterday was a steady day, the alarm went off and i went downstairs to make us both a pot of tea, i also set the washer going and let Felix out. After we had finished our tea, we got up, washed and dressed and came downstairs to get everything sorted out. I got our meds out while Karen cleaned and refilled Felix's dishes and then while she got breakfast ready, i made us a coffee.

Once we had finished breakfast i took Karen into Wakefield to meet her friend Sharon for a coffee and a chat, after dropping her off, i made my way home. Once home i put the washing on the line outside and then made myself a coffee, put the radio on to listen to the Cricket and picked up my book. A short time later i finished my book and went and selected my next book.

I went to pick Karen up at noon and we made our way to the Aldi at Snowhill to do the bit of shopping needed. I stayed in the car and started my new book while Karen did the shopping, once she was done and the shopping was in the car, we made our way home.

Once home we unpacked and put the shopping away and then i made us a pot of tea, not long after i set off to get Hannah from school. Once i had Hannah in the car, we popped down the road to pick Louise up as she had asked if i could take her to the post office with some parcel from her business. I took Louise up to the post office, she posted the parcels and i took her back home and Hannah and I made our way home. Hannah asked if Elliott was here but i said no due to the fuel problems, she loves seeing him.

Hannah had some milk and some cheese and played on her phone to chill out, we made tea for all of us and then she went upstairs to watch a DVD. Time seemed to pass quickly and it was soon time to take her home.

The alarm went off this morning and i went downstairs to make us a pot of tea, it was horrible outside as it was raining. Felix was not sure if he wanted to go out but eventually he decided that it was dry under the conifers and that was where he parked himself. We had our tea and then once washed and dressed, we made our way downstairs.

Once downstairs we did the usual, Felix's dished were cleaned and refilled and the meds got out, i made us a coffee and Karen got breakfast out. We had our breakfast and then we set off to Amy's. We got there and had a coffee and a cuddle with Elliott before he went for a little nap. I took Amy to Andy's sister Helen's to pick up a Jig-Saw so that i could do the last bit of flooring, sadly Amy didn't phrase the message correctly and Helen gave her a 1200 piece Jigsaw. Helen wasn't feeling very well and was trying to cope and home school son, Murphy, and the Jig-saw was probably in the shed and as it was raining she din't want to add to her problems so accepted the Jigsaw and came back to the car. Once we had moved on, we both laughed, bless her.

We got back and explained all this to Karen and shortly after, Elliott woke up, it was time for a feed. We had another drink and a cuddle with Elliott and then Amy made us all some sandwiches for lunch, i left mine as it was time for me to go and pick Andy up from work, i went to the Aldi store and as i was a few minutes early, i popped into store to pick up a loaf of bread for Amy. I collected Andy and we made our way home and had my lunch, Andy was fine and just wanted a drink. We had a drink with our lunch and after a last cuddle, we left them and made our way home. The weather had been awful all day and i took it carefully while on the motorway. We got home quite quickly surprisingly and i made us a pot of tea before Felix came down and wanted to go out.

We had our tea and watched a bit of TV and then i fired up the laptop to come on here.

The shortages of various things are so random. Here there's an entire section of sandwich meats empty at the store. (These are the prepackaged variety.) It's hard to get the bottled unsweetened tea I take to work for lunch. (I found a couple of individual bottles of a different brand with an acceptable taste.) Drinking and spring water in gallon jugs is hard to come by (but that may be related to it being redirected to the areas affected by the hurricane. I haven't noticed a shortage of toilet paper, but I haven't really needed any. I've got a couple more multi-packs from sales I found over the summer. Canned cat food is difficult to find, but I haven't had trouble with the dry kind. I've had trouble finding cat litter in manageable box sizes, so the last two times I've had to get the ones I can barely lift.

I was just watching a 2019 interview with Neil Gaimon and at about 25min in they start talking fountain pens. Earlier, when speaking about the mechanics of his writing he explained that he prefers to do a first draft with a fountain pen. There is also a discussion of notebooks and paper, but the CC's aren't accurate enough for me to distinguish any actual names.

Hello, John. Just checking in to see how the chunksters are going. . .

>153 johnsimpson: The media worldwide is so horribly irresponsible and opinionated these days that we should hold them all in contempt. They have by their reporting helped make a difficult situation a crisis.

It is their agenda that this shortage is the result of Brexit when it is clear that it is a result of the lock-downs and restrictions placed on the country in response to COVID and the inability during that time to licence new HGV drivers.

It is also the result of governmental and administrative incompetence - the UK should be targeting what jobs need to be filled and re-training the unemployed and interested accordingly.

In America the liberal media is closing its eyes to the failings of the current administration whilst the right-wing media is lionising a dangerous gas-bag. In the UK we have the media beating on about issues such as whether only women have cervixes and unsure whether to support or call out extinction protestors blocking the capital's arterial motorway whilst the need to regenerate the country stares people squarely in the face.

Hope the Ashes go ahead mate. Root is our best batsman by a country mile but if he doesn't tour we may get a captain who can actually understand tactics rather than play to establishment soundbites. Sorry in a way to see Moeen Ali retire from the test team - a really lovely bloke and such a talented player, but his struggles in the format were evident in the last couple of tests. Hope he will continue to serve our country with distinction in the white-ball format.

Hi John, we saw the news about fuel shortages as well. Here the media talk about the lack of drivers as the cause. Whatever it is. Oil prices are going up here as well, and people are more concerned about that.
Toilet paper shortage, it’s so strange what people will be panicking about. Better about that, than about food shortage, I guess.
Have a nice sunday!

Dropping in to say hello. Hope your weekend is going well.

>162 PaulCranswick: Hey, Paul, THE WASHINGTON POST regularly nails Biden's failings as well as trashing the latest Republican horrors.

The price of food in general is going up here in the U.S. Meat has really risen in price. There is apparently a shortage of truck drivers here that is keeping deliveries from happening to grocery stores. Many of the restaurants here in town have had to raise prices due to the increased shortage. Some foods in the stores still have restricted the number of something that you can buy. As mentioned upthread, you can only purchase two packets of sandwich meat at a time and some kinds of canned soups are restricted to 2 cans. Paper products of all kinds are in short supply, but not a severe shortage that I can see, even if it keeps popping up on the news.

>162 PaulCranswick:
The media here is doing lots of talking about the failures of the Biden administration to keep those pesky progressive Democrats in line so that some kind of legislation gets passed. I think the media is providing criticism of Biden and it is coming from all different types of media - newspapers and TV. I don't think they are going soft on him. It might be the media outlets that you are getting over there that may be soft-pedaling but that certainly isn't the case here in the U.S. At least in my opinion - especially in the last week.

>165 m.belljackson: & >167 benitastrnad: That is good to hear, politicians and public figures should be called out whatever the political persuasion of those involved.

I still hold the view that the liberal press/media cover for their side and the conservative press cover for their side. There has definitely been a fall in objective reporting across the board.

I find it interesting that Politico seems to have now acknowledged that the Hunter Biden laptop stories were not in fact after all Russian smears and that the e-mails seem to have been validated. A new book The Bidens is on release from one of their staffers (Ben Schreckinger) in which the allegations are repeated and more details given. It will be interesting to see if any lawsuits are filed. It was the same Politico who had called out the original reports as being a Russian hoax and the news media and even social media worked hard to suppress the story such that it would not become an issue in the need to remove Chump. No sympathy for him of course but the whole thing is a little bit scary.

>166 benitastrnad: The shortage of trained drivers is a result of a year of closed classes due to COVID. Who would think that that would be one of the outcomes.

>159 thornton37814:, Hi Lori my dear, it is strange to see what items are being restricted and what has run out. Yesterday our beloved PM (sic) admitted that he had known about the the lack of drivers in the haulage industry but has only recently decided to do something about it.

A lot of the supermarkets have their own delivery drivers which is fine but it is the lack of drivers delivering to their distribution depots that is the problem. Since i do the little bit of shopping we require from Asda, i have seen gaps on the shelves, the latest being tissues, yet across the aisle toilet paper is in abundance so it is not as though tissues are being used as an alternative (sorry about this description).

It would appear that the fuel "Crisis" is over in the North of England but London and the South East and West are struggling. Also we may still be suffering food shortages right up to Christmas with some retailers saying that Turkey and some other Christmas items, sales have rocketed.

Some conspiracy theorists are saying that it is all a con to drive up prices although one filling station should be prosecuted for profiteering, fuel is £1.32 for unleaded and £1.34 for Diesel at Asda, at the likes of BP, Shell etc it is £1.35 and £1.37, yet this unnamed filling station ran out of Unleaded despite pricing it at £2.68 a litre.

I hope that you can get the supplies you require my dear and hope that you have had a good weekend dear friend.

>160 quondame:, Hi Susan my dear, i also have heard that he likes to write the first draft of a new book with a Fountain Pen and i think he has a small collection of them but have not heard which brand he prefers or has.

Although the art of letter writing has dropped, the Fountain Pen group i am a member of has a lot who write letters to penfriends and the vast majority of us use a pen or two each day to write notes, daily diary notes etc.

I have at least 15 pens inked at any one time and do most of my book notes with a fountain pen and we are saving the planet as we do not use disposable devil sticks (ball pens etc).

I hope that you had a good weekend my dear.

>161 alcottacre:, Hi Stasia my dear, i haven't read a Chunkster all year so far, lol. I have been trying to reduce my TBR pile and get to the books Karen read last year as she has been nagging me to read some of them so that she can talk about them to me. Does she not know that i haven't time to talk about books to her as i am trying to read them, Sheesh.

Hope all is well with you and the family my dear and hope that you all had a good weekend, dear friend.

>162 PaulCranswick:, Hi Paul, the media has exacerbated to panic at filling stations as the public (not all) do not need much to set them off panic buying since the start of the Covid pandemic. The pictures of folk filling their tanks then filling fuel cans and even plastic water bottles have been plastered all over the media both terrestrial and social and this has caused even more panic buying.

Karen rang me on Saturday night 25th September to say that the filling station at Asda had just had a delivery and that staff and their families were to have priority, i set off to collect her earlier than normal so that i could get some fuel before it closed at 9.30pm, i put in £50 of Diesel that i knew would last me at least two weeks and by then the panic should be over. As it is, the North of England is now ok with most having normal customer levels and normal fuel sales whereas in London, the South East and West are struggling and that is where the extra help from the army is going to be concentrated from today.

The media in all its forms has a lot to answer for at the current time.

I am hopeful that the Ashes will go ahead and Root will lead the team, the gobshite from Tim Paine is trying to stir things up. He needs to look at himself as he and his Tasmania team scuttled back home when four cases were announced in Queensland and the problems between the various states is more of an issue than whether the England team do visit. Add to all this that at the moment Australian sports is so insular at the moment, the last time the full Test side went abroad was the 2019 Ashes, they have backed out of the Rugby World Cup and will only play at home, and that is if they let anyone in. If the Ashes do go ahead it will be interesting to see how Paine performs.

>163 EllaTim:, Hi Ella my dear, it seems that the lack of Haulage drivers is Europe wide but over here it is a problem because of older drivers in the industry that are either coming up to retirement or are leaving because of driver conditions.

Some of the day to day things that are now in short supply amazes me, Toilet paper is the number one in this regard. We are not short of food, it is getting it from the manufacturers to the distribution depots, once there the supermarkets have their own truck drivers and will get it to the stores.

I hope that you and Marc have had a good weekend my dear, ours was fine my dear friend.

>164 figsfromthistle:, Hi Anita my dear, our weekend was pretty good and i hope you had a good weekend my dear friend.

>166 benitastrnad:, >167 benitastrnad:, Hi Benita my dear, i hadn't heard of your problem with the lack of truck drivers. It would seem that this is not a career that young folk want to go into. I must say that at least some of the restrictions that you are talking about are not in force over here, we just have gaps on certain shelves or certain products. I had a problem getting the cat food that Felix likes yet after dropping Karen at work on Saturday afternoon, i popped into store and they had some so i got two boxes.

The media across all levels are the problem at the moment and the fact that since the start of Covid, common sense seems to have gone out of the window and some folks (not all) start to panic buy items that they would not ordinarily do and then that gets out and the spiral of panic buying grips and before long shelves are empty.

Going back to the fuel issue, in normal times at the Asda filling stations there is a £99 limit on fuel, since Wednesday that has been reduced to £30, thereby more people can get some fuel without going overboard and filling their tanks and fuel containers etc. One person was photographed at the pump and the pump showed that he had spent £217 on fuel.

I do hope that things get back to some kind of normality and we can all do our shopping safe in the knowledge that we can get what we want in whatever quantities we want without it being seen as panic buying.

I hope that you have had a good weekend my dear friend.

It is time for a new thread, it should be up and running in about 30 minutes, please join me there.