blow the dust off

Dear blog, forgive me - it has been over 2 whole weeks since my last post.

I always think that I will have more time to do 'my things' when my husband is home with us all but of course it never works out like that - we all get too busy just being together and making the most of being our unit of 5 for a while.  He left in the small hours for a further 3 weeks so I find myself with more time to myself again (boo).

Talking of 'my rock' I really should have put this photo into my last post.  It's a pretty dramatic shot of one of the oaks in our garden and I'd forgotten all about it until flicking through picasa earlier today looking for something else entirely. 

Aside from my adoration of trees, I also have an ongoing fixation with old books and have been stocking up my collection of penguin orange covers, king penguins, and not forgetting Ant and Bee.  I also found  a lovely early copy Shakespeare's Sonnets in Oxfam on a recent visit to Cambridge (always a great town for finding quality second hand books).

I spied a lovely antiques shop whilst out the other night with lot of old books tucked away into dark corners, so shall be returning there shortly to see if there are any treasures to unearth.  I love the history of old books - the textures, the smell, the dust, the scribbled names, addresses or class numbers.  I like to wonder about who has read the books before me and what their lives were like and how the book may have influenced them.  

Oh, and I haven't given up on my sewing machine yet either!  More of that in the next few weeks too (I can tell you can't wait!).  Tif bought me a lovely Japanese craft book on her trip home to the UK so I can't fail to be inspired now.  Whilst I wait for that inspiration to transpire into physical activity though I shall eat some of these utterly devine choccies that I received as a little homecoming treat.  Yummy.