Review: Saints of the Shadow Bible

Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am not normally a fan of the Rebus stories and have not read one for many years. However this had me gripped from the off. Maybe it was the wonderful narration by James MacPherson, (Inspector Jardine in Taggart), his intonations really helped set the scenes and made me keep wanting to listen just a wee bit longer.
The story itself had just the right amount of twists to keep me guessing right to the end.
I will be sure to look out for more of the Rankin books read by this narrator.

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A Day of Deliveries

Today has turned out to be delivery day here at Chez Mary.
First to arrive was some yarn from the USA.. The package from Knit Picks, who at last deliver direct to the UK, had some gorgeous buttery soft sock yarn, Stroll Fingering in the colour Make Believe

and some more Gloss Fingering in Cranberry,

 with which I am going to knit a Hitofude cardigan (Ravelry link) for my cruise next year.

Next to arrive was something I have wanted for ages

a model stand to drape my finished shawls on. I have always struggled to photograph any shawls I have knitted in a way which properly shows their shape and beauty and I am hoping that having this will help.

Finally the big item arrived

our new tumble dryer.
Last November whilst watching the news I heard about a problem with certain tumble dryers which could cause a fire. I duly checked the model we had and lo it was one of the affected types. I put the details into the website and waited to hear back. At the end of January I got an e-mail saying that due to overwhelming demand it would be a while longer before our dryer could have the modification completed but if I wanted I could have a brand new dryer, delivered and installed within a week at a very reduced price with the old one taken away for free. Now our tumble was at least 10 years old and whilst it had given us no problems other than us having to replace the belt once it seemed a no-brainer to get a brand spanking new one. So here it is and a handsome looking machine it is too.

Reading Corner

Anyone who knows me from Facebook will know that I have two book challenges running at the moment. One with Goodreads to read 50 books this year and another to read all 200 books from the 2003 BBC Big Read.
Due to my passion for knitting I am choosing to use audiobooks for my reading as I can totally immerse myself in the stories whilst still following a pattern. I have two sources for my reading pleasure, the One Click Digital service from my local library and my Audible subscription. I currently have a subscription for two books a month and as far as I am concerned it is the best value for money I get from anything I buy, (other than yarn of course).
Anyhoo, back to my challenge progress.
I have so far this year completed

7/50 Books in the Goodreads challenge

and overall

10/200 from the Big Read

As most of the reading I do comes from the library the Goodreads total will increase much quicker and I shall just dip into my Big Read challenge from time to time. I am not reading the Big Read books in any particular order, rather I am using a random number generator to choose my next book for me. 

My reading will slow down drastically in the summer when I am back at work but the winter months are just perfect for curling up with a good book.

My current book is The English Girl by Daniel Silva read by Jim Barclay

This fast moving thriller has really gripped me and I am racing through the story.

I will declare now that I am not a book reviewer, rather I am an avid reader who will share with you what I am currently reading and whether I like it or not.

Knitting Natters

Disaster has struck! I may have to go a day or two without knitting. I woke up this morning with a burning sensation in my right thumb. Upon closer inspection I discovered a tiny blister.

Not a major obstacle you would think but it is mighty sore and damned annoying.

So, what to do? Well I could, gasp!, do some housework, or I could spend the day sorting out my stash, (otherwise known as home insulation). But hey it is Saturday and these are not weekend jobs. So I will gingerly pick up the big needles and try oh so carefully to do some knitting on my garter squish blanket.

Knitting Natters

Super Secret Knitting

I received an e-mail yesterday which caused me to drop everything and with giddy excitement rush to my stash and sharpen up my 2.5mm circular. I have been asked to test knit a pair of socks. How wonderful! A few e-mails back and forth and the yarn was chosen and the pattern arrived. Now, whilst I cannot show you my progress I am sure Fiona, the designer, will not mind me sharing my yarn choice with you.

This lovely yarn is Ripples Crafts reliable sock yarn in Wild Heather. I bought this at last year's Edinburgh Yarn Festival and it has been sitting in my sock yarn box just waiting for the right pattern to come along.

Once the design is released I will of course share the link with you all.

Monday Musings

Last Friday saw the 40th anniversary of the maiden flight, with paying passengers, of Concorde. The British Airways flight from Heathrow to Bahrain on the 21st Jan 1976 was undertaken by G-BOAA. This anniversary got me reminiscing about my ambitions as a child.
Back in those days I had only 3 things I really wanted to do in my life. I suppose today it would be called a bucket list. Those three things were to fly on a Concorde, sail on the QE2 and overnight on the Orient Express. Yes, as a child I was attracted to luxury.
Fast forward to me here in my 5th decade and what of my list have I achieved? Nada, nothing, nowt!
The QE2 which was launched the year I was born is retired, as is Concorde (2 years younger than me), I seem to see a theme developing here, and the Orient Express is way out of my league price wise.
I have however cruised on a number of beautiful ships with another cruise to look forward to next year. I have been on many trains and I have travelled the beautiful Inverness to Kyle line which has scenery to take your breath away. I have flown with a few airlines, mainly EasyJet, which have adequately served to get me from A to B.
So my bucket list from childhood is but a memory.
All is not lost completely though. I have a wonderful job which more than makes up for the disappointment of never having flown on a Concorde, I now work with one. And not just any one, I work with G-BOAA, the very Concorde which made that maiden flight 40 years ago. I have been on that aircraft now more times than I care to remember and I still marvel at what she and her sisters achieved in the realms of transatlantic flight. I delight in the faces of visitors whose jaws drop when they see her for the first time. And I never tire of seeing her sleek beauty each and every time I step into the hangar in which she is housed.

Smokin' Hot Needles

This month I have been busting the stash. With a week still to go I have already knitted up nearly 2.5 miles of yarn.
I have finished the socks I mentioned last week. So cosy and perfect for cold January days.

I have finished the body part of the jumper for mu mum and am now on the sleeves.

I am knitting the sleeves on very short, 40cm, circular needles. They are fiddly to use to begin with but you soon get into the rhythm and I find them much, much less stressful than DPN's.
Next up I have put a few rows and beads into this shawl.

I started this nearly a year ago but it went into hibernation and I have just recently pulled it out again.
Finally, I had heard a lot of folk talk about multi-stranding to use up stash. As I like to work with thin yarn and needles I had more or less let the idea pass me by. Recently I had been feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the fact that my sock yarn leftover bag was starting to overflow and the blanket I am knitting with these leftovers is a very slow and long term project. I decided to bite the bullet and give multi-stranding a try. I chose to follow the Garter Squish pattern by Stephen West but I am using 3 strands of sock yarn weight and size 7.5mm needles. The resulting fabric is just to my liking and the i-cord edges give a neat finish.

As you can see my needles have been clicking along at a fair pace.