Greenbank Gardens near East Kilbride, Scotland

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We found ourselves in East Kilbride recently so decided to visit nearby Greenbank Gardens, we had never been in that part of the west of Scotland before.

Greenbank Gardens 1

There had obviously been a lot of rain there recently (where hasn’t there been?!) and it was pretty muddy underfoot in places so we decided that we would take a quick squint at the place and go back another day later in the season when there is more of interest actually flowering. It’s a National Trust for Scotland garden.

Greenbank Gardens 2

Sadly the house that the garden is actually attached to isn’t open to the public, but as you can see from the photo below it looks quite grand. It’s a Grade A listed Georgian building.

Greenbank Gardens 4

The gates in the photo below lead from the lawn to the more informal garden. It’s well worth a look if you find yourself in that area of the west of Scotland.

Greenbank Gardens 5

You can see more images of the gardens here.

Flambards in Summer by K.M. Peyton

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Flambards in Summer cover

Flambards in Summer by K.M.Peyton was first published in 1969 and it’s the third book in the Flambards series. You really have to read these books in order.

The second book ended in sadness. Now Christina is on her own with the death of her pilot husband Will who had joined the Royal Flying Corps to do his bit during World War 1. His elder brother who was in the army is missing presumed dead. Uncle Matthew is also dead and Flambards has been left to go to wrack and ruin. Christina is shocked by the state of the house and land, but with most of the local men away at war it’s a hard task to make improvements.

The horses have all been taken for war service and the empty stables are unbearably sad for Christina who has always lived for horses in much the same way as Will lived for flying. She sets about buying some more horses for farm work and for riding, then attempts to track down some of the people who had lived at Flambards years before to bring the place back to life and help with farming it again.

The Flambards books are aimed at children around twelve years old I suppose and they do give a good idea of how life was for those caught up in the war, whether so called peasants or gentry. This is an entertaining and informative read and as it is from my own book piles it counts towards the Reading My Own Damn Books challenge. This is the fourth book of my own that I’ve read this month but as I have bought seven books over the last three days … my book piles continue to expand. But what can I do about it? I tend to buy more unusual books rather than modern fiction, so when I see them I just have to pounce!

The 1979 TV adaptation of Flambards DVD is available. For some reason it seems never to have been on TV since then, I enjoyed watching it at the time but it might seem very old fashioned now. It’s amazing how acting styles change over the years, The Pallisers was on TV recently and I gave up on it as it seemed so stilted and stiff, but I didn’t see it when it was on originally so way back then I might have thought it was wonderful.

Murder in Piccadilly by Charles Kingston

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Murder in Piccadilly cover

Murder in Piccadilly by Charles Kingston was first published in 1936 but the one I read is one of those British Library Crime Classics which have atmospheric 1930s covers this one featuring Piccadilly Circus.

I really shouldn’t have enjoyed this book as much as I did because it’s one of those murder mysteries where the murder doesn’t occur until half way through the book. I really prefer it if the murder is discovered before page three and so you don’t really know anything much about the victim.

But there was enough going on in the first half to keep me interested and I really liked Kingston’s writing style, his dialogue is entertaining, witty and cutting at times.

The setting is mainly London although a country manor house does also feature. Ruby Cheldon is a World War 1 widow, her husband was blown up by a shell and she was left to bring up their son on her own. Bobbie is in his early 20s, but he has been so spoiled by his mother that despite having to live on her very small allowance he has no intention of getting a job.

The main reason for his lack of ambition is that he has been brought up with the knowledge that his father’s elder brother Massy Cheldon is very wealthy and as he has never married Bobbie will eventually inherit his money and property.

Uncle Massy is a miser and seems to enjoy maintaining his widowed sister-in-law and nephew in a life of penury, living in a poverty stricken part of London, while he lives the high life. Massy expects to live at least another twenty of thirty years more, but Bobbie has fallen for Nancy a beautiful young woman, a dancer in a nightclub. Nancy is only interested in Bobbie for his money though and it’s a shock for her to discover that the much talked of money and property is actually in the hands of Massy.

Bobbie is consumed by the unfairness of his life and feels that he is the rightful owner of the wealth and that Massy is simply keeping him from everything he should already have, including Nancy. Throw in a couple of dodgy characters from the seedier side of London in the shape of Nancy’s dancing partner and a failed boxer and it all adds up to a good vintage crime book with a nice twist near the end.

I will definitely be looking out for more books by Charles Kingston who was apparently a fairly prolific crime writer in his day but for some reason his books haven’t been reprinted over the years, until now.

There’s an introduction by Martin Edwards which of course should NOT be read before you read the book. It ends by him writing:This is not a cerebral country house whodunnit of the kind so often written during the Golden Age, but a good-natured old-fashioned thriller, that retains a warm period charm.

I agree.

A Shopping Trip West (Glasgow)

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Over the last couple of days I’ve been trawling the department stores and boutiques in Glasgow, on a mission to buy an outfit for the July wedding of Gordon and Laura. It’s going to be a fairly informal affair because Gordon doesn’t want anyone to be stressed about it. He will be wearing his kilt, but his older brother Duncan isn’t keen on wearing a kilt – so he will be in a suit. I think it’s fair to say it’s going to be a ‘harlequin’ wedding, by which I mean there is going to be none of that ‘everything must match’ nonsense. I believe that the bridesmaids have been told to buy dresses that will suit them and hopefully they can wear again.

I’m all for that attitude to a wedding because in doing the many house clearances of elderly relatives that I’ve had the misfortune to do over the years, I always find it really sad when I open a wardrobe and see an outfit hanging there that was worn once for a son’s/daughter’s big occasion, never to be worn again because they scream mother of the bride/groom. It seems such a waste to me, especially as the outfits are probably the most expensive ones that have been bought by the wearer.

So I was looking for a smart but not too fussy dress and I thought that the worst problem I would have would be trying to avoid something too floral and frilly. But I’m no further forward than I was because the shops are full of dresses that have no sleeves, plunging necklines, no back, scratchy lace, black and navy blue. Whatever happened to nice summery colours?

The most prolific design at the moment is a bodice with the shape of a vest/singlet with not a suspicion of sleeves. I suspect that this is so that the shops will get lots of sales of ‘shrugs’ because they know that most women would feel too bare without even a small cap sleeve.

One good thing though was that I didn’t have to try on one dress (always something I dread) because there was absolutely nothing I would have considered wearing. Fatally I have an image in my mind of exactly what I would like, in days gone past I could have described it to a dressmaker and she would have run it up for me. Jack had no luck finding a suit either, he’s another who won’t wear a kilt.

July is quite a long way away isn’t it?!

Falkland Palace Gardens

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Nowadays we visit the historical village of Falkland almost every week, we like visiting the wee library there and having a chat with the very friendly Sandra who works there – if she’s not too busy. The modern wrought iron gate below is at the entrance to Falkland Palace orchard. Of course it was too early for there to have been any fruit trees blossoming.

Falkland Palace gate

That’s the orchard wall you can see in the background and the trees and daffodils in the photo are in the main part of the palace gardens, it’s a cute wee summerhouse/shelter, obviously modern.

It’s funny to think that Mary Queen of Scots (amongst many others) walked around these gardens getting on for 500 years ago. This is just a wee bit of the gardens, there was nothing much blooming elsewhere, it was that funny time of spring when the crocuses are over and the other flowers are still waiting in the wings.

Falkland 5

The photo below was taken from the orchard and you can see some of the village with one of the Lomond hills beyond. It was quite a cold and slightly misty day, but it’s worthwhile taking a hike up those hills on a clear day, as long as it’s not too windy!
Falkland 8

Library Closures in the UK

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You might know that in Fife there has been a campaign to keep libraries open, sixteen of them were singled out for the axe. The campaign has failed as although the closures have been postponed it’s only for a short time. One library might have a future but it is all very much pie in the sky at the moment with councillors suggesting that the library could move to a nearby high school. That’s a suggestion that seems to pop up frequently but I can’t see how that can work as schools are not the sort of places that should be open to random people walking off the street into them. The library access could end up being a honey pot for weirdos intent on getting a hold of youngsters for nefarious purposes.

Anyway, it’s a problem over the whole country and not only in the UK. You can read about the occupation of the Carnegie Library in Lambeth here.

Apparently the coucil in Lambeth plan to change the library building into a gym, with a few shelves of books in it, but there will be no librarians on the premises. The books are obviously just a sop to local readers and will be of very little use. Some readers have occupied the building. According to the BBC 350 libraries have closed recently in the UK and 8,000 library jobs have been lost. Andrew Carnegie will be birling in his grave, so if you’re in the vicinity of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Tarrytown – that’s what the funny noise is! Honestly, that’s where he is buried, he was in the US when he died, so no Skibo Castle resting place for him. It’s such a pity that he didn’t stipulate that the buildings he donated for libraries must not be used for any other purposes – or maybe he did and they are just ignoring his wishes.

The libraries in Fife are trying all sorts to generate some income, selling bits and pieces, including coffee. But what sort of person thinks that the profit from libraries can be counted in monetary values? Surely the gains are far more important than filthy lucre.

There’s a Friends of Carnegie Library Facebook page which you can see here if you’re interested in seeing how the campaign and library occupation is going.

It enrages me that people who read are always seen as being of no importance compared with others. Why is it seen as being necessary to have a gym in the area? We all know what happens in gyms – some people join in enthusiastically for a few weeks and then never darken the door again. It’s simpler to get fit on your own, just eat less and move more – walk.

I noticed that in the Glenrothes area of Fife the council workers are busy building cycle paths, no doubt at great expense, I’d really like to know how much it’s all costing. I just wish that the library users in Fife had as much get up and go – or should I say sit down and stay – as the readers in Lambeth have.

This and That

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I haven’t been getting through many books recently. I do tend to read just one book at a time although if you look at my Goodreads thingy it often looks like I’m reading four or five at once.

At the moment I’m reading Oblomov by Goncharov, it’s the book I got in the Classics Club spin and although it isn’t due to be blogged about until the 2nd of May (I think) we’re going to Holland and Belgium before then so I want to get it done and dusted before we leave.

Otherwise I’ve been busy gardening, weeding to be precise. It seems that I have just about every known weed in the UK in my garden but today I managed to weed about 70% of the back garden, of course it’ll be just as bad again in a couple of weeks. A lot of ground cover plants are required to keep them in check I think. Just give them no room to germinate is my thinking, but that won’t help with the couch grass, ground elder and creeping buttercups that come in under the garden fence.

I got too hot whilst gardening, can you believe that? It was 11 C which translates to 52 F. You can imagine how I feel when it gets to 70 F, not that that happens often here.

Meanwhile, we’ve been asked by Gordon (youngest son) if there is a song that we would like to have played at his wedding in July. Yes Gordon and Laura are getting married at last.

So whilst weeding I’ve been trying to think of songs we like. If Jack and I have an ‘our song’ then it would have to be Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head, by Sacha Distel. I think that came about because when we started going out with each other it seemed to be forever raining – well we lived in the west of Scotland, well known for wet weather. We walked everywhere and lived at opposite ends of the town from each other so we spent a lot of time in rain. One of my first gifts to Jack was an umbrella! But really ‘our song’ for some reason is associated with autumn for us. If we see a load of dry autumn leaves by the roadside we have to scuff along them singing that ‘Raindrops’ song – silly I know.

But it isn’t suitable for a summer wedding dance. I love Somewhere in my Heart by the Scottish band Aztec Camera, it’s a cheery summery tune, but some of the words are a bit weird. It begins well with the words Summer in the city, very apt as it will be summer and the wedding is taking place in Glasgow. I’ve always wondered what the second line is supposed to mean though – A baby bein’ born to the overkill. I wonder if it was written using the David Bowie method of cutting up random lines of words and rearranging them.

Summer in the city where the air is still
A baby bein’ born to the overkill
Well, who cares what people say?
We walk down love’s motorway

Ambition and love, wearin’ boxin’ gloves
And singin’ hearts and flowers

But somewhere in my heart
There is a star that shines for you
Silver splits the blue
Love will see it through

And somewhere in my heart
There is the will to set you free
All you’ve got to be is true

A star above the city in the northern chill
A baby bein’ born to the overkill
No say, no place to go
A TV and a radio

Ambition and love, wearin’ boxin’ gloves
And singin’ hearts and flowers

But somewhere in my heart
There is a star that shines for you
Silver splits the blue
Love will see it through

And somewhere in my heart
There is the will to set you free
And all you’ve got to be is true

Who could heal what’s never been as one?
And our hearts have been torn
Since the day we were born
Just like anyone

From Westwood to Hollywood
The one thing that’s understood
Is that you can’t buy time but you can sell your soul
And the closest thing to heaven is to rock and roll

And somewhere in my heart
There is a star that shines for you
Silver splits the blue
Love will see it through

And somewhere in my heart
There is the will to set you free
All you’ve got to be is true

Somewhere in my heart
There is a star that shines for you
Silver splits the blue
Love will see it through

And somewhere in my heart
There is the will to set you free
All you’ve got to be is true

Just in case you have no idea who Sacha Distel was have a look at him singing Raindrops.

Some Luck by Jane Smiley

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Some Luck cover

I requested from the library Some Luck by Jane Smiley after reading this review by Helen @ She Reads Novels. I had never read anything by Jane Smiley before.

I was a bit downcast when I got Some Luck and saw that it was quite a chunkster, 624 pages to be exact, but the print is big and clear so it really didn’t take me too long to read it. It’s the first novel in a trilogy that will span a century in America and it begins in 1920 ending in 1953. That was obviously a long and eventful time in America but this book is about the small events of family life over generations and how the bigger events affected them.

Mainly it’s about Walter and Rosanna Langdon, a young married couple who are farming in a remote part of Iowa. Walter’s father had advised him not to become a farmer as it’s such a hard life but it was all that Walter ever wanted to do and Rosanna is sure that she will be even better as a farmer’s wife than her mother and mother-in-law are.

We all know what the 1930s were like for farmers in America but they get through it, unlike some of their neighbours.Rosanna has several children but it’s not all sweetness and light and she falls into a depression.

World War 2 means an even deeper difference between their two sons who have always been opposites, with one being very academic and self-centred and the other being a farming home lover interested in improving his crops. I have to say some of the stuff they were putting on crops back then sounds very scary.

This book reminded me a bit of Willa Cather’s One of Us and I had one of those spooky moments when the book sort of echoed what someone had said to me a few days before. A friend had mentioned to me that she had had a friend from America staying with her and her friend had been a real Anglophile, but when she got to the UK she was disappointed to realise that what she had thought of as being her British heritage turned out to be – German. This book had characters realising that the German parts of their heritage had disappeared, their grandfather had given up singing German songs when the US went to war with Germany. It must have been a common occurrence within families of German extraction and they were in good company as the British royal family did their best to shake off those Germanic ties at the outbreak of World War 1. One thing I know for sure and that is that if you have cake for breakfast – that’s Germanic, much as I love cake, I couldn’t face it for breakfast.

Anyway – I’ve meandered as I often do. I enjoyed Some Luck and will be reading the others in the trilogy. Jane Smiley won the Pulitzer prize for her book A Thousand Acres. Have any of you read that one?

Going off at another slight tangent, Some Luck has so many small details of daily life in it that I was reminded of some of the extracts from Christy’s @ A Good Stopping Point ancestor’s (Emma Tilton Richards) journal which begins in 1888 and you can read it here if you’re interested in social history.

The Country Home – an Edinburgh purchase

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I was in my favourite Stockbridge, Edinburgh bookshop one day last week and for once I was feeling a wee bit disappointed because there were no ‘must buy’ books on the shelves.

Another Book Cover

Then Jack pointed out The Country Home to me. Well I couldn’t resist it – could you? I could just move into that house and garden right now.

It’s actually bound copies of The Country Home magazine: Nov-Apr 1909. It has some interesting articles and lots of photos of – homes and gardens. It cost me all of five quid – bargain.

Scottish Spring Garden

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Early April Garden

I took the photo above a couple of days ago when the weather was quite good. It’s of the rockery area outside my kitchen window. I plan to cover all of the earth with pebbles, in the hope of stopping too many weeds from germinating.

As you can see there’s quite a bit of colour in it at the moment, primulas, miniature daffodils, narcissus and the red flowers are dwarf tulips, they’re a nice splash of colour but the flower head is almost normal tulip size, it’s just the stem which is dwarfed, I’m not too sure if I like the effect.

Today it has rained most of the day and it seems like our weather is dipping back into winter instead of springing forward. I went out without having boots on for the first time this year, just an experiment which I won’t repeat soon as my ankles were freezing. I hope the weather warms up soon.