Autumn Reading and a Book Challenge

Today I thought I would share what I have been reading this last week or so and also a blog I found which features some interesting reading challenges.  The blog can be found here . It is called purple ink studios and the challenge I like is below, it began in January so I'm very late starting but after looking down the list I've read most of the categories through the year anyway so it is just a case of filling in the blanks. I have put a mark beside the book genres/themes that I have read and I will aim to read a selection from the ones that are left over the next two months.

copied from Purple Ink Studios

Now I am not sure what to do about a book you were supposed to read in school but didn't as I always read what I was supposed to, along with a load of rubbish as well as a teenager. Covering the classics I bought a couple from the charity shop at three for a fiver.

I am currently reading Madame Bovary, Tess of the D'Urbervilles I read years ago but thought I would read it again in the coming months. 

I picked this one up because I enjoyed A country doctor's notebook, and also the TV adaption of it.

This past week I also read Outwitting the Devil which has only just been published a few years ago despite being written many years before, apparently due to family fears of what the church would make of it.  It is really just Napolean Hill's idea of what a conversation of this sort might be like and also his own ideas about what faith is and what an irrational thing fear is and how it can control and hold us back.  Some bits were interesting, others were repetitive and pompous and depending on your viewpoint quite in contrast to many ideas on faith whatever your religion.

I suppose this could be my banned book as he was never permitted to publish it while he was alive.  So I have a few ideas there of what I can be reading over the next few moths it is good to curl up with a book, and I especially like to discover new favourites and new ideas.

Black Dress Déjà Vu

While we were off on our travels yesterday we happened to walk past a Next store and what did I see in the window? A black party dress almost the same as the one I made for a Christmas party two yeas ago.  I found this very strange as I didn't copy any image at the time or use a pattern I just worked with the fabric that I had.  I have to say I only really wore it over the Christmas season that year as it is just that sort of dress, but if you can make things quite economically it is not such a big deal.  I'm sure it will have an outing again this year.

Here is the dress I made two years ago...

It cost £3.50 for the fringe and the jersey underneath I already had, the neck on mine is slightly different but other than that take away the belt and you have this...

This Next dress is advertised at £70 pounds so quite a difference especially if you only wear it a handful of times.  Now ok you have a super model and lovely photo shoot showing off this dress but ultimately the design is the same.

You can view the original post for my dress here, but this got me thinking that I may start and do a little post each month by choosing a  garment I like and then see how I can recreate it on the cheap or better still by recycling.  I will have a look around and see what I can come up with.

If some of you are already thinking about what you will wear for upcoming special occasions it might be an idea to have a look at what is out there and what you already have.  Can you change the neckline on a dress, add a panel, chiffon sleeves and different belts can all change the look of an item.  These ideas may save you over paying on an outfit that has a very short season.

A Little Trip

We have just had a night away in a hotel just the two of us.  That is something we haven't  done since before the children were born so eighteen years, quite a long way to travel for one night but we enjoyed it.

Earlier in the year we were watching Location, Location, Location ( you know the one, where people often have budgets of about nine hundred thousand pounds and still act disappointed the whole time!) well on this occasion they featured Cheltenham and we thought it looked nice.  My husband booked it as a one off treat and my mum said she would stay the night with the children and dogs. 

We stayed in the Cheltenham Townhouse and it is such a lovely building, the area was called Pittville Lawn and the whole street was gorgeous with gates at the end and just a five minute walk into town.
I have taken a few photos of the street as it was so pretty...

The grey building at the end with the sign out front is the one we stayed in, very grand but if you lived there you wouldn't have a garden and I wouldn't like that.

This lovely property opposite was for rent, I bet they are asking a small fortune per month.

This is another row of townhouses, there are lots of buildings of this style around the town, they have a lovely feel to them.

I just liked the Autumn feel to this picture.

Anyway back now, and much as I enjoyed it, it was a bit far to return to unless you were in the area for longer, and of course there are other places to visit.  Next time it will be all of us including the dogs travelling somewhere new but not until next year.  It was good to do something different out of our usual routine.