vivdunstan

Finished a bunch more books since last month, so time for another update.

( earlier books )
1. Insomniacs After School volume 8 (manga) by Makoto Ojiro
2. Shakespeare: The World as a Stage by Bill Bryson
3. The Book of Life (Discovery of Witches book 3) by Deborah Harkness
4. A Hat Full of Sky (Tiffany Aching book 2) by Terry Pratchett
5. Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book by Bill Oddie
6. Echolands: A Journey in Search of Boudica by Duncan Mackay

Continuing to enjoy Insomniacs After School manga, though volume 8 felt more of a filler volume than usual. The story continues to delight though, as do the lead characters. Good art too.

Bill Bryson's Shakespeare biography is very compact and concise, but well done, and covers the key issues. Also suitably analytical about the evidence and different perspectives. Recommended.

I reread the third Discovery of Witches book, a couple of years after rereading the second. The third book is by far my least favourite, with too much gratuitous violence, and also a rambling plot that needed tightening up. But it does provide a good resolution to the opening trilogy.

A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett was another reread, as I work my way through the Witches subset of Discworld books. Tiffany is delightful, and here is combined with Granny Weatherwax plus the Nac Mac Feegles. Solidly 5/5, though it's not my absolute favourite Tiffany book.

Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book was recommended to me by a birding friend, who knew it would give me an insight into the psychology of birders like Martin. Excellent stuff, though it was originally written back in 1980, and much is very dated now in terms of how birders operate. But still insightful, and ever so amusing. I read lots of bits out loud to Martin.

Duncan Mackay's Echolands book about Boudica is a voyage of discovery, digging into her story and the landscapes in which the story unfolded. On the downside I struggled an awful lot with the numerous descriptions of places and landscape. I probably have aphantasia from my neurological disease, and it's worsened over the years as the disease has progressed further. I couldn't picture enough what was being described, though I think the written descriptions were fair. I was also frustrated by footnotes in the Kindle version not being hot linked, so pretty useless in that format. But it was an evocative read, and the discussion of the archaeological evidence was gripping.

Martin had a very brief lunchtime visit on Friday to Broughty Ferry harbour, after he’d dropped off loads of books for me to Broughty Ferry Oxfams. It was the first beautifully sunlit day for many weeks, so he took his big camera and got some great photos of birds. He’s uploaded loads to his Flickr account, but here is one I liked the most.

Another of my occasional posts here of photos from Martin's walks. This photo was taken yesterday, on his usual weekend walk in the wooded river valley and old railway viaduct area near our home. It is a gem on so many levels.

Book haul from Monifieth Library (4 books from elsewhere in Angus, found in the library catalogue and transferred over to Monifieth for me) plus a small book about the Greek Myths I'd ordered from our local bookshop in Broughty Ferry.

Martin’s birds etc list from his walk today. Walking in his usual area, in the wooded river valley / old railway viaduct area very near our home.

25 birds seen, 4 others heard, 4 butterfly species (3 ID'd)

blackbird
blue tit
chiffchaff
collared dove
crow
dipper
dunnock
feral pigeon
goldfinch
grey heron
grey wagtail
herring gull
house martin
house sparrow
long tailed tits
magpie
robin
rook
siskin
song thrush
starling
swift
whitethroat
wood pigeon
wren

blackcap heard
chaffinch heard
coal tit heard
stock dove heard

butterfly white
red admiral butterfly?
small tortoiseshell butterfly
speckled wood butterfly

From top to bottom standard size Cats Rule the Earth Tarot, below that playing card sized Pocket Crow Tarot, and at the very bottom tiny Deviant Moon Tarot Borderless Mini Edition.

On the way home from my bone density scan at Perth Royal Infirmary we called into Gannochy Duck Pond in Perth. Martin was particularly hoping to see their mandarin ducks - a very unusual thing to see in Scotland. The mandarin ducks were there but staying largely under cover, though he got some pictures. But there were lots of other birds to photograph. I especially liked this photo of three mallard ducks, with loads of interesting reflections in the water.

Got my new tablecloth - a William Morris design, thick cotton, newly hemmed to the required size, including overhang - and looking forward to using it soon with my new small folding table for gaming on. Here's what the design looks like.

Again a rare photo post from me here. I post far more on my Mastodon, Bluesky and Facebook feeds. Almost always photos from my husband. Usually from his Saturday walk near our home. Like this one.

Listening to sparrows outside. Our birdsong accompaniment to the morning is a mix usually of sparrows, cooing wood pigeons and loud seagulls.