Book group

I have been going to a Book Group for a while now and thought I would write about the books we read.

Last month we read The Girl in the Polka Dot Dress by Beryl Bainbridge.

The book is set in the summer of 1968, Rose and Washington Harold set off on a journey across the USA to find Dr Wheeler who they both knew in the past.

I found this book quite a difficult read and did not finish it which is unusual for me, I normally keep going no matter what.

Unfortunately none of us in the group enjoyed the book.  It was the last book written by Beryl Bainbridge, in fact she died before it was completed.  It was published anyway but we agreed it would have been better not to publish it.  The book did have some good reviews, but we felt there was not really a story and the two main characters were not very likeable.

Have you read this book?  What did you think about it?

Me on Monday

Waving to my blog readers on a foggy morning!


It was a busy Saturday and a restful Sunday this weekend.

Saturday started by helping on a stall with a Christmas Fair for a charity (Dorothy House, a local hospice) in the morning, it was organised by my sister's friend in memory of her husband. We took £74 on the stall and overall the amount raised was £620 which is a very good amount as it is held in a small village. 

In the afternoon, my sister and I went to Shearwater for a geocaching event, then we took Tara for a long walk around the lake. My back has not quite recovered from the fall but I find walking even though it is painful does help. It was a beautiful afternoon and very mild.  We both remembered visiting the lake with our parents when we were young.  Last time I visited Shearwater it was pouring with rain so it was good to see the area on a sunny day.

We found out later that the bus belongs to Noel Edmonds (a TV celebrity), he was there dressed up in a halloween costume and visited the geocaching event and signed the log book, unfortunately we missed him as we had left for our walk.  

Sunday was a catching up day and watching a film in the afternoon.  

Tara out on Sunday afternoon without a coat - very unusual for this time of the year.

Me on Monday is a wonderful idea started by Sian from High in The Sky.

Do visit her blog to see who else is taking part.

Me on Monday

Waving to blog readers on a sunny but cold Monday.  Now the clocks have changed Autumn is really here.

A quiet weekend due to rain all day on Saturday so a sorting files on the computer sort of day.  I seem to have the same photos in different places and on an external drive so I am deleting the extras.

A recovering from a fall weekend, I slipped down some steps on some wet leaves on Thursday so have a big painful bruise on my leg.  Not something I recommend doing.

I slipped just after the rail stops.  This is part of the East Mendip Way and these steps lead down into a quarry, I wouldn't say the walk is well maintained in this area.  At the bottom there was no signpost to show which way to go.

As the clocks went back an hour Sunday seemed to be very long, I had walked the dog and had breakfast and it was still very early.  Tara, who lives to a very strict routine (it's a greyhound thing), wanted her walks and meals one hour early, I did manage to give her dinner half an hour later but by then she was very worried she would never be fed ever again!

Our Sunday afternoon walk:

(one hour early)

The trees are still quite green

Me on Monday is a wonderful idea started by Sian from High in The Sky.

Do visit her blog to see who else is taking part.

Pairs - Spring and Autumn

My pair photos this week are of a tree at the doctor's surgery, one taken in the spring and one taken last week in autumn.

The leaves are deep red but they don't show up so well on a cloudy day.

Pairs is a wonderful meme created by Helena at her Creative Maven

Pairs - zooming in

I spotted this fungi growing on the bottom of a tree that has been cut down and made into a seat.

I have been trying to find out the name of it and came up with two - King Alfred's Cake fungus or Hoof fungus - please let me know if you do know the name.

This is the lane where the tree is:

Pairs is a wonderful meme created by Helena at her Creative Maven

Me on Monday

Waving to Sian and all my blog friends.  I have been away from blogland all week so will be reading and catching up with your blogs.

Monday finds me getting wet three times today while taking the dog out.  We have been lucky to have two weeks of sunshine so I won't complain.

This weekend was mixed with a resting day on Saturday and a long walk (for me) on Sunday.  My sister and I walked part of the Fosse Way (an old Roman Road) and then took a bridlepath and walked along until we came to a barrier - actually a piece of rope - but we assumed the farmer had a reason for blocking the path so we turned and went back the way we had come.  It was quite a foggy morning which didn't clear until the end of our walk.

Some curious faces watching as we walked past.

Part of the Fosse Way

The countryside is starting to look very autumnal with the leaves starting to change colour. I can never make up my mind whether I like spring or autumn best.

Me on Monday is a wonderful idea started by Sian from High in The Sky.

Do visit her blog to see who else is taking part.

Me on Monday

Waving to Sian and all my blog readers.

Monday finds me on a very rainy morning attending a pain management course - we have homework to do,  we have to set a small goal and hopefully achieve it.  I have decided to meditate for 10 minutes a day.  So far one day done!

A walk on Saturday in the countryside in lovely sunshine with my sister, it was good to see the sunshine after a very rainy week.

Sunday started with fog, after walking Tara the rest of the day was spent recovering from the walk.  I have a back problem and have recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia so any longish walks do bring on chronic fatigue but I refuse to stop walking as it is something I really enjoy.

This is Tara in her 'I am not going to look at the camera' pose.

Me on Monday is a wonderful idea started by Sian from High in The Sky.

Do visit her blog to see who else is taking part.

Pairs - then and now

I planted some wild flowers when I took part in 30 days wild in June, they have grown and started to flower but as the weather has become cold and wet I am not sure if I will see the rest of the flowers now.

A few weeks after planting

Starting to flower.

Pairs is a wonderful meme created by Helena at her Creative Maven

2015 Scavenger Hunt

I am not taking many photographs this year for the scavenger hunt, I must be going to the wrong places as I am not finding what I need.

Here are my recent finds:

No. 6 A Metal Bridge

No. 5  Architectural Columns

No. 8  Someone plugged into social media. 

No. 10  A college or university - just the sign as the buildings cannot be seen from the road.

No. 13  A Merry-go-round

No. 16  A panoramic view taken while standing somewhere high

Hopefully I will find a few more in the next few days if the rain stops!

Me on Monday

Waving to you all from a sunny Somerset.  Today has been a beautiful sunny day but there is a breeze with an autumnal feel to the air.

Saturday my sister and I went geocaching this time we collected caches in a series which were a few miles apart so I drove to each one, they are known as 'cache and dash' caches.  All the containers were cats which made it interesting.  We found 4 out of a total of 7.  One was missing and for 2 of them we read the wrong clue so we were looking in the wrong places!

Sunday was a lazy day, apart from cutting the grass I spent time reading and sitting in the sunshine. It made a change as I didn't sit in the garden at all during August with all the rainy weather.

Me on Monday is a wonderful idea started by Sian from High in The Sky.

Do visit her blog to see who else is taking part.