Shadows, round things, backwards.

Approximately-weekly news, #82

Hello! I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: spring always comes. And boy, am I glad of it this year.

You need some proper sun for these shadows: and look at that sky. Also, I have a new coat, which I loved anyway but all the more so now I realise it gives me the silhouette of a Victorian lady botanist who takes no nonsense.*

When we are not at the beach, I have been mostly writing and Harris has been selflessly sunbathing/guarding the Mystery Hole in the garden.

It is unclear whether he is guarding it to stop the phantom digger** from doing further damage, or from a muttering Victorian lady botanist with wood chips, topsoil and grass seed.

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Eek! And also Meep! The paperback of A BOOKSHOP SUMMER is coming. I am trying to find the exact string lights that are featured on the book cover. If you see them anywhere please let me know.***

Thank you to everyone who has so generously bought and reviewed the ebook. It makes such a difference, to sales and publicity for the paperback and also to calm a writer’s anxious heart.

If you’d like to preorder a paperback, it’s easy! (And also calms a writer’s anxious heart.) Your local indie (there’s a searchable UK database here) will be happy to help, or you can go to Amazon in the UK or the US (where paperback publication date is July 28), or Waterstones, or here.

And if you’re not in a position to pre-order a buy a book, that is absolutely fine. Did you know that every time you borrow a book from a library, the author gets a small payment, which can add up to thousands of pounds? And if you buy a second-hand copy of a book, that’s good news too: I’m all for recycling and reusing, and second-hand bookshops are - as you will know if you have met Loveday - extremely close to my heart.

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I made an apple cake from ‘Dinner At Mine’ by Kate Young, which is a fabulous book, based around the idea of cooking from the things you are likely to have hanging around in your kitchen. (A box of eggs, a bag of frozen peas, a few potatoes, a bag of apples****.)

I’ve also made the courgette pasta, which I neglected to photograph, but is one of those recipes that is so much more than the sum of its parts.

These cookies are just divine. They contain actual hot cross buns. I cannot even begin to describe their utter deliciousness.

The recipe is here. It looks like a lot of faff but it’s honestly worth it.

And while we’re admiring round things*****, I am developing a bit of a paperweight habit since Trixie bought one in A BOOKSHOP SUMMER. Look look look. Isn’t it beautiful?

It’s a good job it’s not possible to start glassblowing at home because if it were, I would be setting fire to my own feet on the regular.

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I have finally finished the crescent shawl I’ve been knitting since 1749******.

It was a mystery shawl, which is when you are told what yarn you will need, how much and how many colours, and then you get a series of clues, and you knit along and see what you get. It’s a potential high-risk strategy, because you might make something that you don’t much like or might not have chosen to knit. (It’s less of a high-risk strategy if you spend all year filling your Christmas Doesn’t Knit Itself drawer, because even if you don’t like/suit the finished object there’s a good chance it will be perfect for someone that you love.)

Anyway! This one worked out. Here I am, proudly displaying it… and I just realised that in all the photos I am holding it the wrong way round.

I have just had a little chat with myself and decided that instead of deleting this bit, I’d let it stay. Take it as this week’s permission:

You have permission to get things wrong, and admit it.

Info for knitters: the pattern is the Hedgerow Shawl MKAL and the yarn is from Along Avec Anna. It’s a joy to knit with. I used just less than 50g of colour A, exactly 50g of colour B, and had quite a bit of my 50g ball of colour C left over, so could have made it from 150g.

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That’s it for this week, except to show you these flowers, which are making me smile every time I look at them.

Until next time, friends, stay well.

Love,

Stephanie

PS I haven’t mentioned writing services but you’ll find details here. Hit me up if you’d like to know more.

*I may be reading more into this shadow than is actually there.

**Harris assures me that he is definitely not the phantom digger. He has such a convincingly innocent expression that I believe him even when he is standing with his two front legs in the hole.

***Obviously not in any way whatsoever a way of displacing All The Feelings that come with a book publication.

****Not all in the same dish.

*****which we apparently are now

******mid-February, but somehow it has felt like a lot longer.