Here comes the Moon again, in a circle of colours. Last night it shone so bright it woke us from our sleep.
A2 is rereading The Paper Eater by Liz Jensen.
Tag: admin2 reading
Sky News
A celestial selection box! A backdrop of cirrus, contrails in all directions, a circumzenithal arc at top right, a tiny sundog at bottom leftish and a Kelvin-Helmholtz wave left of centre. Atmospheric Optics used to explain all these things but something has gone horribly wrong.
We had a warming meal of spag bol and apple crumble on another chilly day and scored 10 on the GSQ.
A1 is reading The Sins of Our Fathers* by Asa Larsson. A2 is rereading Gods Without Men by Hari Kunzru.
Moonrise
The gibbous moon soars above the clouds and trees on a chilly (-1.4 °C) night.
A1 is reading The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard. A2 is reading Last Night in Montreal* by Emily St John Mandel.
Sunrise
Here comes the Sun — and a flock of pigeons.
A1 is reading White as Snow* by Lilja Sigurdardottir. A2 is reading The Ice by Laline Paull.
And yes, it’s cold today.
Sundowner
A2 went to town today for the first time in weeks. On the way home she saw this pretty sky with the low sun behind a cloud.
A1 is reading The Ice by Laline Paull, a near-future “cli-fi” (urgh) novel whose plot-driving event happens on Svalbard during the total solar eclipse of 20 March, 2015. We pondered going to Svalbard for this (extremely expensive) or the Faroes (just very expensive, but clouded out anyway), but ended up watching it from the UK, where there was a 90% eclipse — blog post. Anyway, the book was somewhat off-putting initially, being very blokey and privileged (arms fairs, private clubs, rich bastards), but rapidly paid off further reading with terrific writing and some very affecting quotes from real polar explorers as chapter headings. An excellent read.
A2 is reading Never Coming Back by Tim Weaver.
Pies for Yorkshire
We had a substantial meal of shepherd’s pie/cheese and tomato pasta bake followed by this apple tart (which underwent a rapid unscheduled disassembly when taken out of the tin) and scored a substantial 12 on the GSQ.
A2 is reading White as Snow* by Lilja Sigurdardottir.
The Owl in Daylight
Our scare owl reflected in the calm pond.
A1 is reading You Can’t See Me* by Eva Borg Aegisdottir. A2 is reading No One Home by Tim Weaver.
Cold Case Coppers Come Knocking
Current crime fiction fans A1 and A2 were surprised when a pair of detectives (bearing a slight resemblance to characters Catherine Cawood of Happy Valley and Steve Arnott of Line of Duty, who are standing in for them in this photo) turned up unannounced to question A1 about a 1996 unsolved murder close to his former flat; sadly he couldn’t help them with their enquiries.
A1 is reading Cold as Hell* by Lilja Sigurdardottir. A2 is reading The Arsenic Labyrinth by Martin Edwards.
After Debi
The sun shines on the rainy window after a stormy night.
A1 is reading Wolf Pack* by Will Dean, but gave it up due to the annoyingly staccato style. A2 is reading Stigma* by Jorn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger.
Diwali
It’s Diwali! The Sikh Temple opened their gigantic box of fireworks and filled the sky with whooshing crackling sparkling sprays of light and colour.
A1 is reading The Creak on the Stairs* by Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir. A2 is reading Cold as Hell* (too right it is) by Lilja Sigurdardottir.
We had meltingly tender Italian beef stew and trifle for our family nosh and scored THIRTEEN on the GSQ; thanks everybody.
Fallen Leaves
Abandoned books on a bench.
A1 is reading Stigma* by Jorn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger. A2 is reading The Creak on the Stairs* by Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir.
Long Fine Legs
Hello harvestperson!
A1 is reading You Were Gone by Tim Weaver. A2 is reading The Broken Bridge by Philip Pullman; third book in a row featuring an arty teenage girl with family problems and psychic powers.
Guida (Fawkes) Night
Happy birthday, Guida!
We had various pasta bakes for our family meal, followed by parkin and custard. We scored a reasonable 11 on the GSQ, then repaired outside to let off a box of fireworks to celebrate.
A2 is reading The Black Path* by Asa Larsson, which was so complicated she lost the plot.
All the Leaves Are Brown
And the sky is grey.
A1 is reading The Spanish Game by Charles Cumming. A2 is rereading The Rapture by Liz Jensen; dire warnings about climate change which of course have gone unheeded.
Devil Cat from Hell (for Halloween)
The diabolical Deimos, and the new camera’s OTT simulation of HDR.
A2 is rereading After the Crash by Michel Bussi.
A Ray of Sunshine
At last (but it didn’t last) a bit of brightness lights up the dark and oppressive skies.
A1 is reading Missing Pieces by Tim Weaver. A2 is rereading Red Pill by Hari Kunzru
We had chicken pie and apfelstrudel for our family dinner and scored a better-than-usual 12 on the GSQ.
Mistification
We were hoping for a lunar eclipse today but all we got was fog followed by black clouds followed by rain. No doubt the moon was eclipsing behind it all regardless.
A1 is reading Never Coming Back by Tim Weaver. A2 is rereading England, England by Julian Barnes.
The History Man
The splendid interior of the Local History section of Leeds Central Library, where A1 spent the day shadowing the staff.
A1 is rereading No One Home by Tim Weaver. A2 is reading The Last Goodbye, also by Tim Weaver.
A Walk on the Wood
A ladybird ventures forth along the fence.
We had porky vegetables and fruit salad cake for our Sunday dinner and scored 11 on the GSQ with the inestimable Faye as quizmistress.
A1 is reading The Last Goodbye by Tim Weaver. A2 is rereading An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris.
Puffballs
A2 went out to light up and strengthen the fence in advance of Storm Babet and discovered these tiny puffballs growing alongside.
A1 is reading Outside* by Ragnar Jonasson, which was unbelievable and rather stupid. A2 is rereading Revelation by CJ Sansom.
Two Little Dogs
A matching par of parhelia. There was also a faint circumzenithal arc.
A1 is reading Reykjavik* by Ragnar Jonasson and Kristin Jakobsdottir. A2 is rereading 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard.
Setting Sundog
A parhelion sinking behind a tree as the day closes.
A2 is reading Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford; a piano-playing policeman in a mythical multicultural American city in an alternative roaring twenties. An unalloyed delight.
Near and Far
Now that the data cable has arrived, A2 has been trying out the £2 camera’s 1 cm macro
and 26x zoom on a mistifying morning.
It’s not bad for £2 + £4 cable and various bits of salvage (luckily A1 found some unused metal hydride batteries and charger lying around so we have everything we need now). Thank you Salvation Army.
A2 is rereading Sovereign by CJ Sansom.
Carrot Cake
Something everybody could eat, unlike A2’s kedgeree for which the vegetarian and fish-refuser had to have substitutes of cauliflower cheese.
We did this week’s and last week’s GSQs and scored 11.5 on one and 8.5 on t’other, keeping our average a bit over 10.
A1 is rereading Mr Mercedes by Stephen King. A2 is reading Reykjavik* by Ragnar Jonasson and Icelandic Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir, which is more like an Agatha Christie, to whom this book is dedicated, than Ragnar’s usual helping of doom and gloom. Not bad though.
Criss Cross
Contrails and telephone wires on the warmest day this month.
A2 is reading The Spanish Game by Charles Cumming; an erstwhile spy running his own operation in Madrid gets embroiled in games within games.