Friday night - one of my favourite times in the week. No work hasn't been that bad I think it's the restrictions on my freedom to do what I want that I resent - obviously my brain thinks I should retire!
I have been captivated by a very old book this week - E M Delafield's 'Diary of a Provincial Lady.' Such marvellous descriptions and self deprecating humour. It reads almost like a 1930s version of a blog I suppose. I was fortunate to pick up a Folio Society copy with Nicholas Bentley illustrations on Ebay for £1.99, and I'm savouring it in short bursts. I suppose in tone it is a little like E F Benson.
I have also just about finished Katherine Swift's 'The Morville Hours.' This is an epiphany of a book with delicious descriptions of the garden at all seasons with digressions into local history, the history of plants and their uses and comments on local people. It is arranged according to the monastic hours of worship - Vigils, Lauds, Sext, Terce, Prime, None, Compline,Vespers. I'm not convinced I have those in the right order but I'll correct them when I pick up the book. Whilst I have always admired the illustrations in books of hours I had not appreciated exactly what purpose books of hours fulfilled - now I know. They were for lay people to carry around so that they could read the prayers etc for each of the hours, just as monks and nuns would have done. I could have done with some photographs of the garden itself but the descriptions do bring it vividly to life.
Have a good weekend everyone and let's hope it doesn't rain as much as they're forecasting.
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