Life / Come, tell me how you live

I had wanted to write a new post yesterday as I had some things in my mind that I thought would be fun to share but unfortunately I really don't remember what those things were. They were things that I did think of while I was trying to finish my most recent book. You know you always get to a point in books where you have to push yourself a little bit to get through to the end, even if you are having a good time.

And I was reading a collection of short stories. You'd think that those would be reasonably easy to get through but personally I always find that they are the most difficult. It's not within the reach of every single writer to be able to jot down an attractive -and- convincing story in that time while also trying to make you care about the characters (Who are, due to the medium, all introduced terribly fast). Thankfully this was a series of short stories written by Agatha Christie.

She is rather marvelous isn't she? I have to say it's been a while since I feel like I can say that I actually enjoyed most of the stories in a collection. This time I went through the 'Miss Marple Mystery: Over 50 stories' collection. A few years ago I had already read the Hercule Poirot version of that collection, and although I don't really remember it I have to say it was probably even better than this one! I do love Poirot as a character, probably more than Miss Marple. But they'd both be lovely to have as friends.

Anyway, I did finally finish it. It wasn't as much of a chore as I make it out to be, but when a book is over six hundred pages after a while you do think that it would be nice to move on. After all, I have a bookcase full of books that still need to be read.

In the same series as this collection there is also another one that collects short stories from all other characters that have popped up in her stories. But I'm not quite ready to delve into another large collection right now, I need a few shorter books to settle the brain again. Just a few minutes before opening the editor to write all of this down I picked up 'Come, Tell Me How You Live' which is noted to be an archeological memoir writing by Agatha Christie herself. I think it should be interesting.

I've got a fair amount of books summarizing travels from lady adventures though. I think most of them are filled with their own writings on the topic. It's something that interests me wildly. Personally I don't really enjoy leaving my city but I sure do really enjoy reading what some random lady was doing on a boat on the Orinoco back in 1860. Half of that sentence is a reference to something Captain Hastings said, I am sure someone will get it.

Well the weather for reading is coming along nicely now. I've understood from some close friends that the warm weather is over and that winter is going to slap us across the face soon. I'm not super enthusiastic about that but I had been thinking that it was awfully warm for the middle of November. I'll have to make sure that my winter wardrobe is up to scratch, otherwise I may have a few less toes next summer.

- Lily

- Somewhat related, it is the Greenway Estate where Christie herself lived. The screenshot is from the Hercule Poirot episode 'Dead Mans Folly' which was filmed on location! -

Life / Peaceful day

Today I am having a nice stay at home day. Not entirely due to my own personal choices but I am enjoying it nonetheless since the weather outside is really awful. Last Saturday we went out on a little adventure slash errand. L had needed to buy a new desk for some hobby he is interested in pursuing and after a lot of failed attempts he managed to nab one for twenty euros on an online marketplace.

It was rather far away from home though. So we got our foldout camping cart (We do not go camping, it is just for moving things around. Very practical, I would recommend it) and went out to get it. The weather had already been anticipated as being terrible that day as well so I was armed with a bag full of folded up thrash bags, tape and a rather large plastic bag which in my opinion was to be used to store those huge umbrellas that you see on a terrace in summer. 

Apparently the bags are meant for money though? Really not sure how that is the correct answer because I think the full length of those bags is easily over two meters.

Anyway we went out on our adventure in the pouring rain. I'm quite surprised that after walking for roughly forty five minutes that the cart wasn't filled with water? Seemed quite like magic to me. Well after having been confronted with a very complicated intercom system we made it inside of the apartment building. It's full of really small studio apartments but they can be quite charming if you're good at interior decoration. The man we purchased the desk from was obviously not very good at this but he seemed like a lovely person.

Luckily the desk was rather light, so we could flip it and place it onto the cart. Unfortunately the large bag seemed to have holes on both sides as it was the mangled end piece of a roll so I did get a rather heated speech from L about how I am never able to do anything right. I thought that was rather rude as the piece still comfortably covered the entire middle of the desk and I had normal thrash bags for the legs.

Fortunately it seemed that most of the rain had fallen down on the journey there, and going back we were just mildly pelted with raindrops. The rest of the day was spent moving things about to make space for the new desk. In the end I thought it looked rather charming and really professional! 

So at the moment I am at home waiting for a delivery of some rather expensive piece of equipment that L is going to use to press shirts, bags and so on. I hope he will be able to make a few nice tote bags for me so I can use them for groceries. Most of my tote bags are from my favorite record store, and although they are practical they don't really go with my clothes most of the time. 

Now I'm listening to a playlist meant for 'romanticized reading' and it is lovely. I'm contemplating what to have for lunch. I'm in the mood to be more careful with my money this month so I want to use up more of the items that are in the pantry. 

Also, I found a new background for this page which I think is marvelous! The last one was quite beautiful as well but it had become a little grainy and too beige for me. I wanted something that was a little warmer so I think this lovely green combined with the florals is really warming. I'm sure I'll replace it with something else someday in the future but for now I feel like it's suitable. It does make me want to adjust the banner but at the moment I don't have any editing software...

It'll be a project for future me, at the moment I don't think it's too jarring. I'll have lunch first and think about it again at a later point in time. As per usual, it's a problem for future me to contemplate.

- Lily

Life // A bit boring

I'm afraid that todays storm has been a little bit of a letdown. The news said it would arrive around six in the evening and that it would be classified as code orange! We've had a fair amount of storms the past few months but I think this was the dullest one by far. I had told L to perhaps ask his boss if he could go home an hour early to avoid what could have been the start of the storm but that wasn't an option. Companies not caring about their employees? Nothing new there.

So far we've had some rain but that's not unusual in the Netherlands. A few interesting and promising pangs of wind right before seven but nothing since. I even went out to the grocery store for a little snack run. The worst thing that happened is that the back of my dress ended up a little wet. Ended up getting a little strawberry trifle and some plain Pringles. People online say sweet and salty is a good mix but I ended up eating them separately. 

The weather being better than expected didn't rouse me to go outside though. I've spent the day pottering around the house, cleaning and trying to figure out where I'm supposed to put the air purifier. It hasn't been used in months, maybe even years as far as I know but L refuses to get rid of it. 

I did get a few chapters done in the third Thursday Murder Club book today, it's very thrilling so far. But I thought I'd slow down a bit in order to enjoy it more. Otherwise I'll catch up in no time and when it comes to waiting for new books I've little patience. The fifth book was just released but it seems that the ones I've bought are from Penguin. I'll have to wait for them to release their edition, otherwise they won't match.

Once I've caught up I'll have to go back to my British Library Crime Classics for a bit. There are a fair few in the bookcase that I haven't read them. I'm reading them in order now, or at least the ones I have because I'm still missing a few. But I'm also -not- really looking forward to getting back into it because now I've gotten used to Richard Osman's writing.

I think he's a marvelous writer, you just swim through it really. And the characters are so lively. Going back to a more dull way of writing is going to be hard. It'll be like reading any plain old crime novel after having gone though a few Agatha Christie books. At the end you just think "Was that the solution? Agatha would have done it better" 

Overall I'm also not that pleased at books where the solution is by a character revealed in the third act. Well how was I supposed to solve it then? I didn't even know he existed! But the worst are really books that are written in a very complicated setting. If I have to memorize the layout of a full mansion in order for the manner of murder to be understandable I'm very much lost. I'm tired just thinking about it.

If the weather is alright tomorrow I may go out looking for LED tea lights. I have a few spaces in my room that would normally be for normal tea lights but I'd rather not start a fire. I've also been quite interested in those racks that you hang on the ceiling to dry herbs. It's very witchy, but a lot of those herbs also smell great. Would be great for dried orange slices too.

But for now I am quite looking forward to simply going to bed. It looks very comfortable right now. It is still a little early for bed, only a little past ten. And I still have a warm cup of tea next to me so maybe I'll aim for around eleven. 

- Lily

- Not sure where this is, but it seems like a nice peaceful life -

Life // Reading, reading, reading...

I'm afraid that I might have forgotten that I had a page here, and I haven't written anything for almost an entire year. I suppose it's fine because I don't think that anyone is reading this, so it's really more for myself than anyone else to begin with. This year I've been reading a lot and I've far exceeded my meager goal of reading twenty books. Well I've exceeded it by seven books, almost eight. I am currently on book number twenty seven. And if I am being honest, also on twenty eight and twenty nine but I've been trying to get through those books for a few months so they don't really count.

At the moment I'm clawing my way through the Thursday Murder Club series and I have to say I've been really enjoying it. It's funny really that I haven't discovered this series before. Or rather I had discovered it but it was not at the right moment. I also collect books in the British Library Crime Classics series but as I am rather lagging behind I have to try and find a lot of the books second hand.

As you may imagine entering 'murder' into the book section on Vinted gets quite a lot of results. And just a few months ago I was really annoyed that this little red book with a fox on it kept clogging up all of the pages! Imagine that. If I had just been a little bit more curious I could have started this series much earlier. Although considering that the first book was released in the dreaded year of 2020 I was lagging behind quite a bit already to begin with.

Anyway, the series is marvelous. I've just gone through it like butter melting in a hot pan. I read the first in a week, the second in three days and I started the third yesterday. I imagine I will finish it tomorrow because the weather will be horrific (Code orange storm!) and I have a package set to be delivered. So that's my day set as a cozy day in I suppose, not that I wanted anything else.

The book is right up my alley. I love it when elderly people do fun things and I especially love it when they get involved in murders! Over the years I've loved my Miss Marple books and adaptations (I've just gone through a boxset of the Joan Hickson series) and I also liked Rosemary and Thyme. Although they weren't quite elderly yet I believe.

But I do love this series. It tackles quite series crimes, well murder obviously but it also delves deep into all of these little thoughts that all of us have. And the characters are so well structured, they seem like people I'd love to be friends with. Haven't watched the recent film adaption yet though, although I imagine I may be able to fit it into this week.

I did see that they've cast Pierce Brosnan as Ron? Apologies to the man but I find that to be an offense quite close to being criminal. I've always imagined Ron as this rugged working class, perhaps bald (Or balding?) man you could find outside of a local chippy before a football game. Pierce doesn't quite fit the bill, he's much to suave. Maybe watching it will change my mind, but I doubt it! The other characters appear to be closer to my visions for them.

What it all boils down too, the books are written from the perspective of each character and some side characters but also in the form of Diary entries by Joyce. She reminds me of an aunt that I could have had. Reading those chapters made me feel quite happy, they're so captivating yet also mundane.

When I was younger I also had various blogs and I always felt like I needed to have a topic, or some kind of angle. But this isn't an episode of the news and I'm hardly a product so I can just write about whatever I want right? It would feel much more natural too, and as nothing really happens to me anyway normally I wouldn't have anything to write about anyway.

I'd like to start treating this blog as much more of a diary, as Joyce would do it. I think that if you are going to start looking at fictional characters for inspiration it's perfectly alright to choose a kind and shy retired nurse with a growing knack for solving crimes. I always thought on the inside I was pushing eighty years old already. Unfortunately for myself I almost never correctly guess who the killer is but you can't have it all.

So I'd like to say, let's see each other soon again as I intended and not in a few months time! Can't make promises after all but I'll try my best.

- Lily

- Unrelated, but this is where I'd like to solve crimes -

Life // Another year done

 The 31st of December 2024

It's already the end of the year! I will admit to being a bit blind sided by this year, it doesn't feel like we are already at the finish line of a whole calendar year. I think in my own mind we may still be lingering around somewhere in October? Maybe I've been daydreaming a bit too much and I've lost the plot somewhere along the way.

Still, I'd like to think I had a pretty pleasant year if I look back at it. These days I think that every single year I get a firmer grasp on who I am as a person and what kind of things that I enjoy. Every year my room becomes just a little cozier and just a little more pleasant. Even right now I have all these little ideas here and there how to maximize my comfort for the coming months, which will still be a little cold.

Just the other day, on the 29th, I celebrated my birthday. For the most part I had a lovely quiet day inside of the house which is exactly how I like them to be. Of course I did have a little pitstop at my parents for a cup of tea and to receive my gifts. This year I received two beautiful Joni Mitchell records, I've been really enjoying her reissues on colored vinyl. I am particularly looking forward to Night Ride Home to be released at some point in time which has one of my favorite songs called Two Grey Rooms.

In any case this year I once again found out how you can find connections in music. I spend a fair amount of time pottering around on various Kate Bush forums and pages, just chatting about her works and what I would hope the next one would sound like. However just this year I began speaking to a lovely fan called Thomas more often, we both share a deep love for her music and it's been wonderful being able to rattle on about all of the little details that may bore our everyday friends to a slow death.

And on the Kate Bush forum on tapatalk I received a lovely birthday message from another user, we share the same birthday but in vastly different decades and he felt like it would be nice to send a message. I was thrilled to receive it! He forwarded me a lovely song connected to another artist that I had expressed a love for and it was just so sweet to receive it. I really do wish the best for people who take the time out of their day to send kindness to someone else. 

Of course I did reply to wish him a very joyful birthday as well. I hope he had a very pleasant day. I told him that this time of the year in some way is my favorite. The holidays have passed, our birthdays are over and we only have the New Years celebrations right in front of us. However after the festivities have lost their spark we just have the cold winter left in front of us.

I often find that this time of the year is the most important for self care, and to find something to carry us over to the beginning warmth of spring. I like to make additional efforts to find new music in this period as music is truly the balm for the soul in many ways. This is also why I was so happy to be forwarded some music, the path to new discoveries started early this year! 

As for the coming new year. I hope that anyone who finds themselves on this page by accident will have the most joyful 2025. We are all probably a little worried about the future but on a day to day basis we can only try to find joy in the small things, and to be kind to all of the people in our surroundings. And then hopefully we can all find a brighter future to look forward too.

I have no particular goals for the new year to come. I'd like to remain active, and to perhaps venture out into nature a little bit more. Although maybe I'll do that when the good weather returns to me?

- Unrelated, but I'd love to live somewhere like here. A nice quiet life -