Monthly Archives: March 2012

The 12:30 from Croydon by Freeman Wills Crofts

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The 12.30 From Croydon

I had completely forgotten about Freeman Wills Crofts until I saw this book in my library. I had never read any before although I’d handled the books often enough in the past, I always got his name mixed up with that shoe shop chain – Freeman Hardy Willis, do they still exist? So I was quite surprised to find out that he is regarded as one of the ‘Big Four’ of the Golden Age of Crime Fiction.

First published in 1934, The 12:30 from Croydon is crime fiction with a difference because you know who the murderer is and how he has talked himself into committing murder. The mystery is – will he get off with it and if not how did he slip up?

I ended up thoroughly enjoying this one and I’m looking forward to reading more of his books which have been reprinted by House of Stratus. At first I was not at all sure I would like it because it begins with Rose Morley, her father and grandfather taking a flight to Paris. The whole experience is described in detail as obviously in 1934 very few of the readers would have been on an aeroplane and this would have been seen as an exciting start to the book. Nowadays it just isn’t and what was cutting edge when the book was first published is now charmingly old-fashioned. Apparently there was an air-station at Victoria,London which I’m presuming was just a part of the bus station where you boarded a bus for the airport.

Luckily Freeman Wills Crofts wrote quite a lot of books, so I’ll be tracking them down soon, hopefully via the library although I believe Peggy Ann has managed to get one from Project Gutenberg.

Creative Stitches – again

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As I was saying before, it’s sometimes difficult to see the difference between quilts and embroideries. I think it’s probably just that some wadding/batting is used in the quilt whereas embroideries are just layers of material and stitches. Anyway, these ones are definitely quilts as they were part of an exhibition of the Quilters’ Guild.

The name of the exhibition was The Song of the Clyde, the Clyde is obviously the river which runs through Glasgow and was/is famous for shipbuilding. I suppose these were quilted by the Glasgow branch of the guild.

I think this one of cranes is my favourite.
Song of the Clyde Quilt

But this one was fab too.

Song of the Clyde

I was so busy chatting to the lady from the Quilter’s Guild that I didn’t get a chance to read what this one was all about. Gorgeous colours though!
Song of the Clyde Quilt

The one below is much more muted but still lovely.

Song of the Clyde

I presume the red shapes are the propellers of ships.

Song of the Clyde

And this one is made from an old linen map which has been sliced up and interspersed with fabric which has been quilted.

Map Quilt

There were so many beautiful quilts on show, this is just a few of them. Of course there were lots of DO NOT TOUCH notices about, which was understandable, but honestly I had to go about hanging on to my camera round my neck because they’re all so temptingly tactile looking.

Creative Stitches – at Glasgow

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I went to the Creative Stitches Exhibition at the SECC in Glasgow on Sunday, it was the first time I had been so I didn’t really know what to expect. It was hoaching/heaving with women and just a few men (not mine)! All sorts of crafts were featured and there were plenty of knitters and crochet folks about but I was a wee bit disappointed by the knitted things which were on display. As far as I could see there didn’t seem to be much in the way of traditional knitting nor anything really innovative. Thinking back to the 1980s which was when there was a last big resurgence in the craft I remember it as being more exciting somehow – yes knitting can be exciting!

It was quite difficult to get photos but I did just manage to snap some of the Downton Abbey costumes – as you can see.

Downton Abbey costumes

Downton Abbey costumes

Downton Abbey costumes

I took lots of photos of quilts and embroideries as that’s mainly what I’m interested in and I thought I’d start off with this one, a tribute to Jane Austen. It’s about a metre square I think and although this was part of the Quilter’s Guild Exhibition it also has a lot of embroidery on it.

Jane Austen Tribute

In fact I think it’s often quite difficult to figure out what is meant to be embroidery or quilting. The two crafts seem to cross over into each other’s territory a lot. I would call quite a lot of the exhibits collages, but whatever they’re called I’m just awestruck by the beauty of some of them. I’ll be posting some real crackers soon!

The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe

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This is a book which I borrowed from my local library entirely because it’s one of those ‘cultural tumbleweed moments’ for me. Do you know what I mean? It’s something which is often referred to because we are all supposed to have experienced it and for some reason there are always things which have just passed me by – or I’ve passed them by, hence that feeling of complete ignorance whenever the subject comes up.

So I thought it was high time I got around to reading The Murders in the Rue Morgue especially as vintage crime is one of my favourite sorts of reading matter. There are two other short stories in the book – The Mystery of Marie Roget and The Purloined Letter.

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1809 and this short story was first published in 1841. It’s generally described as the first real detective story and Dupin the detective is a type similar to Sherlock Holmes. Poe seems to have set the pattern for the brilliantly observant detective with a helpful partner which so many other writers have copied. Conan Doyle described Dupin as the best detective in fiction, some Holmes fans might have argued with him on that one.

Anyway I enjoyed these short stories although I have to admit that it’s really 1930s crime fiction which is my favourite, for me that was really the golden age of crime fiction. Given that this is part of the history of the whole crime genre I’m really glad that I read them and I now know what people are talking about when they mention The Murders in the Rue Morgue. I think it must have been quite shocking when it was first published as it’s really quite gory and violent.

I’m sure I read somewher that Edgar Allan Poe was of Scottish descent but according to Wiki it was just his foster father who was Scottish. Poe did go to school in Irvine, in the west of Scotland, at one point before moving to England and then back to America. He also married his 13 year old cousin, so I’m not at all sure that we would want to claim him as a Scot!

Is there anything which you feel you should have read or experienced years ago and for some reason haven’t, resulting in those tumbleweed moments?

Irn Bru – Scotland’s other national drink

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A blogpal (you know who you are) has recently been imbibing that stuff which some people call golden nectar, in other words whisky, and I was asked for some advice on the matter. As I said I’m not a great one for the booze but I would plump for a hot toddy any day or night as my favourite way of drinking whisky but really for me it is honestly just medicinal. I’m sure that just breathing in the fumes kills off germs.

Otherwise I’m with the younger generation and I would mix whisky with Coke or Irn Bru, I did think of ginger beer but on second thoughts that would be piling fire on fire! I must admit though that I do enjoy a wee Baileys from time to time, definitely neat.

Anyway, I decided to have a look and see if Irn Bru has reached the other side of the pond yet and the answer seems to be that it is sometimes available at Highland Games in the US. As it isn’t all that long since it managed to make it into English supermarkets I imagine it’ll be a long time before it’s generally available in the US – shame. It’s our other national drink!

I thought you might like to see a couple of old Irn Bru adverts. My favourite is still the parody of ‘The Snowman’ one, but that’s obviously only shown at New Year.

The Crazy Yanks advert is a parody of the Coca Cola ones.

Then there’s the High School Musical parody, I never watched that programme and I don’t think it’s a great ad but it has its moments.

So what does Irn Bru taste like? It’s difficult to describe, it’s a bit fruity, some people say bubble gum-ish, slightly (pleasantly) metallic and my Dutch sister-in-law almost choked when she first tried it. I say first, but she only ever tried it once so I suppose it might be one of those things that you have to grow up with otherwise you think it’s disgusting.

Olivia in India by O. Douglas

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This is the first book which O.Douglas, sometimes known as Anna Buchan, had published (in 1912). It’s very autobiographical and it’s written in the form of a series of letters, the first of which is written from a ship in Liverpool which is ready to set off on the long voyage to India. Olivia is going to India to spend time with her bother, affectionately nicknamed Boggley. He is in India doing some sort of Empire related job.

We only read the letters which Olivia is writing and it’s very near the end before we learn who she’s actually writing them to. There are never any replies, although she sometimes alludes to something which has been mentioned in a letter to her. Obviously the early letters are all about the voyage and the other passengers but when Olivia reaches India she’s all over the place, experiencing as much of the life there as she can, taking trains across the country, visiting the Taj Mahal and meeting all sorts of people, good and bad.

So it’s all very different from her other books which are set in Scotland but she does write about home and reminisces about the past. She even mentions that she’s writing a book, encouraged by her brother John’s books’ good reviews.

So I started wondering how much of this book was fiction and I had a look at the index of O.Douglas’ biography “Unforgettable, Unforgotten” and sure enough she did go to India to visit one of her brothers. I’ll have to get around to reading that one soon.

I enjoyed Olivia in India and I think it is probably a realistic account of life in India for Anglo-Indians, the fear of mutinies and disease and the odd bomb or two being thrown as Indians became more and more dissatisfied with their position as part of the British Empire.

I borrowed “Olivia in India” from the library but I’ve promised myself that I’m not going to look at books when I return the ones I have out. Last week I went to two libraries in two different towns and apart from this book I also borrowed:

Symposium by Muriel Spark
The 12.30 from Croydon by Freeman Wills Crofts
Augustus Carp Esq. by Himself
The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allen Poe

The Poe book is one of those ones that I feel I should have read years ago and for some reason or other I haven’t.

So, with an eye on the due back dates I’m neglecting my own books and Mary Stewart’s The Ivy Tree in particular has been glowering at me from the top of a pile of books which are balanced on a cantilevered sewing box near my bedside. I’m banning myself from the library!

I Have Post

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Anbolyn of Gudrun’s Tights has been participating in The Month of Letters challenge. Well, I’ve always loved getting post but nowadays unless it’s books which I’ve bought the post is deadly boring. So I asked Anbolyn to send me a postcard to cheer things up. I was thinking that I’ve never had anything from Arizona before but actually I don’t think I’ve ever had any post from America.

So I want to say a big thank you to Anbolyn for sending me not one but two lovely cards which I received this morning. I can’t decide which one is my favourite. The Green Inspired geometric card would make a fab design for a quilt. I doubt if I’d ever get around to sewing something so intricate though, but I can dream.

I love E. Nesbit’s book The Phoenix and the Carpet but my copy is an old one with a blue cover. This Puffin Books design captures the Edwardian atmosphere of the book beautifully. As you can see it cost 3/6 which in ‘new’ money is 17½ pence. I’ve done a wee bit of research and this version of the cover seems to have been published in 1959 – which just happens to have been the year I was born. How apt is that!

I haven’t shown you Anbolyn’s handwriting but it’s lovely, the sort of script which would look good embroidered, and she writes old-fashioned ‘S’s which I used to do and gave up for some reason.

So Anbolyn, a wee surprise (not me) will be winging its way to you within the next day or so. Stand by for my scrawl!

Summer Bunting

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I’ve been meaning to get around to making some bunting for ages and I managed to get it done a couple of weeks ago – well one length done – three more to go!

As I want to hang the bunting in the garden, looped from trees to the so called summer-house I thought I had better make it more robust than the stuff you can buy in shops or on-line. With the sort of weather that we can get, even in the summer, those flimsy shop bought things would be rags in no time.

As you can see I’ve strung it along a dresser in my dining-room, just so that you can see it a bit better. I didn’t have to buy any fabric because I have lots in my stash, I’m a bit of a fabric remnant junky and I can’t resist poking around anywhere there’s likely to be nice material, new or vintage. The patterned material is from Laura Ashley, I bought it years ago and as the design is only printed on one side I decided that I would make all the flags/pennants like wee pockets or ‘pokey hat’ shaped as we say in Scotland, so that the design is visible on both sides. It also makes them much stronger.

Summer bunting

I used bias binding for the ‘string’ as it comes already folded over and it’s simple to place the flags on the fold and sew along the edge. Job done!

I can see that by the time I’ve finished the other lengths of bunting I’ll have a pile of small off-cuts of the fabrics and I can’t possibly chuck it all out. Maybe I can make a small crazy patchwork quilt with the leftovers. Waste not want not and all that. I think I would have made quite a good pioneer or crofter!

Spring Garden

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I was walking along to the shops a few days ago and I don’t know if it was the early morning sun (yes it was sunny!) hitting the dew on the plants or what – but suddenly everything smelled of springtime, all fresh and green. It seems that spring is here and for once we really can’t complain about the winter because it was an unusually mild one. The only snow I’ve seen was at a distance, a smattering on the Pentland hills behind Edinburgh.

I know, having said that we’ll almost certainly get inundated with snow at Easter, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time. But for now I’m just grateful for the sunshine and winds which don’t feel as if they’re whistling through my bones.

My garden shouted to me to come and redd (tidy) it up. So my brown garden rubbish bin is now full to the brim. This photo was taken before the big clean up.

Back Garden and path

This is the path from the other end. I’ve always liked paths with the slabs placed diagonally and it’s very easy to do. I laid weed suppressing fabric before laying the slabs and then bought bags of river pebbles from a garden centre, although I must admit that I did nick some bigger stones from a nearby beach. Too naughty, but I can’t stop myself from scanning the shore for pretty stones. For me it’s the best thing about going to a beach.
Path and House

The reason I was out taking photos was because we just had our old cast iron guttering replaced last week with nice new shiny black guttering – and not before time. Half of the old guttering fell down during that second big hurricane which we had last month and as you can see the back wall has been getting really wet. That wall is now part of the kitchen, which was originally the old wash house, the small square window used to be covered with a wooden shutter instead of glass as it was the coal hole/bunker. Unfortunately we couldn’t get the right size of guttering in grey to match the guttering on the left and right sides of the house but I don’t think it looks too bad as they are offset and don’t adjoin the black stuff. As you can see our house is an unusual design, almost as higgledy-piggledy as the ones I was taking photos of in England.

Back garden and house
The weather hasn’t been good for the plants in my garden, they haven’t coped well with the mild one day and frosty the next. The snowdrops lasted no time and the crocuses resembled burst balloons after a couple of days of dodgy weather. But these primulas are nice and bright, even if my photo is blurred.

Primulas

A God and his Gifts by Ivy Compton-Burnett

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Well, it’ll be a good wee while before Ivy Compton-Burnett darkens my door again. I don’t think I have actually read anything by her before this one but I did see her mentioned on another blog, I can’t remember which one though. I had just about forgotten about her so when I saw this book in the Oxfam bookshop in Perth I thought I’d give her a go.

The blurb on the back says:
‘An acting out of powerful impulses that run counter to an accepted morality – brutal truth-telling, repressed family hatreds and loves’ – Storm Jameson in the Spectator.

and
‘One of the most brilliant and original novelists in the English language’ – Daily Telegraph.

A God and his Gifts really didn’t appeal to me at all and it was only the fact that it was just 173 pages long and the hope that a certain ghastly character would come to a very sticky end which enabled me to get to the end of the book.

It was published in 1963 but the setting is Edwardian upper-class family life. Hereward Egerton is the young arrogant son of Sir Michael and his wife Joanna and when Hereward’s proposal of marriage to Rosa is rejected he takes himself off and marries Ada because he feels it’s time he had a wife. Unfortunately for all the other characters Hereward is incapable of keeping his hands off all of the young female members of his family, including his daughters-in-law.

He is able to get off with it because as a successful author of novels he is keeping the entire family afloat with his earnings. Apart from the tacky subject matter I also didn’t like Compton-Burnett’s writing style. Almost the entire book is dialogue, probably as much as 95% of it. It was more like reading a play than a novel, there’s hardly any description in it and I like to be able to imagine the settings, clothes and such so that was a big drawback for me too.

I kept hoping that Hereward would be struck by lightning as being run over by a double decker bus obviously wasn’t going to happen – but no such luck!