Trapped in Discworld and other brief thoughts

The Snowdrop Fairy, by Cicely M. Barker, 1923. Via flowerfairiesprints.com.

This post is brought to you by my realisation that not writing a review of a book within a week of finishing said book then creates an urgent need to reread the book in order to write said review. I finished The Colour of Magic rather quickly, but then wasn’t able to get to the computer to write anything about it. So now I’m rereading the book – which, let’s be honest, is absolutely not a chore – and rereading it more slowly, taking the time to appreciate the language and the knowledge behind the jokes. But the review is on its way, and I have the next three books borrowed from the library to begin immediately upon publishing said review.

On to those other brief thoughts:

• The snowdrops are out in our garden! I’ve always looked forward to the snowdrops appearing; they’re such graceful and delicate flowers. I posted above Cicely M. Barker’s Snowdrop Fairy – I’ve loved her Flower Fairies since I was little. She’s the reason I bought Candytuft flowers as the first plants of my own when I was four.
• I received the February 2015 catalogue from the Folio Society (a bibliophile’s paradise). Much to my delight, they have released an edition of William Goldman’s The Princess Bride. It’s funny, romantic, tragic, wonderful, clever, swashbuckly, and quite possibly the perfect book. The film is brilliantly done too, but there are so many reasons why the book is better
• O, Labour Party, for shame! The pink van (sorry, Harriet, I mean magenta, of course) travelling the country to speak to women voters in the run-up to May’s general election is just … o dear.


Lily Vanilli’s bleeding heart cupcakes

• I’m going to try my hand at making anatomically correct hearts today. This is not some kind of Frankinsteinian madness on my part, but my finally using Lily Vanilli’s Bleeding Hearts cake recipe to make red velvet cupcakes. This also led to the mildly entertaining goth shopping excursion yesterday when I had to buy black icing and food colouring.


My new red DMs, Sara and Mary. Say hello!

• New boots! Yesterday was the first outing of my wonderful red Doc Marten boots. They are so wonderful, in fact, that I have named them for two of my favourite Frances Hodgson Burnett heroines, Mary Lennox from The Secret Garden and Sara Crewe from The Little Princess.
• In the development of transatlantic ties recently, I sent a group of friends a range of examples of Scottish music. Of course, this had to include the Proclaimers, but I used the video made by the Dr Who cast and crew of the Proclaimers’ 500 Miles, marking David Tennant’s leaving the programme. I have several problems with the writing and characterisation of the Tenth Doctor, but this video is so perfect, and Mr Tennant such a delightful Proclaimers fanboy, that you have to watch it: go here!
• If you visit my Mediatheque, you’ll have noticed that I’m currently watching series 1 of Torchwood. It’s an interesting programme, a little uneven now and again, and Gwen (whom I presume is the character with whom we should identify) can be decidedly overbearing, but I am enjoying it. The music choices have been really good, and recently I was very happy to hear the inclusion of a favourite song, Lamb’s Gorecki, towards the end of the episode “They Keep Killing Suzie” (spoilers at the link). Simply put, it’s a gorgeous love song, with beautiful lyrics.