Category: Books

Books · Happy · Writing

Familiarity, Comfort and Recommendations.

sareenmclayLeave a comment

When I was younger, say in my teens, I remember wondering why people would choose to return to the same place on holiday every year.

Obviously, it must have totally escaped my notice that for years as a family we did exactly that. Every October school holiday we decamped to Aviemore. No light undertaking with a big family and the number of belongings to move that would have entailed. I remember listening to Radio 2 in the car and the truly eclectic mix of my parents’ music choices as we drove through Speyside. Even now, as I think back, I can picture myself singing along in my head to Anne Murray’s version of ‘Both Sides‘ and staring out of the window at the warm rosy glow of the glorious autumn days.

It was the safety of routine, we knew the walks we would take, even the meals we would eat, the shops we would pop into with our pocket money. 

Was it perhaps these memories that made me and my own family head to Grantown-on-Spey on our first ever Scottish caravan holiday? It was Easter and I packed onesies (very trendy at the time!), woollen hats and scarves and so on, thinking how my internationally raised children would probably find it cold. Ha! I should have packed more shorts; the weather was fabulous. 

The walk from the caravan site into town takes less than ten minutes and we discovered a super street of shops including an independent book shop! The Bookmark. Meeting the owner, Marjory Marshall, was a treat. Her knowledge and genuine enthusiasm filled the little shop. A real book-lover’s treasure chest and the children’s section was amazing. She took the time to ask each of us what our interests were and embodied the spirit of ‘there is a book for everyone’.

What with the walks and cycles in Anagach Woods and beyond, visits into Aviemore, superb cycling routes, Loch an Eilein, dinner in the various eateries at Grantown and of course, the coffee shops with their fabulous cakes, our family soon built up a list of ‘must do’ things for a holiday in Grantown. It was perhaps no wonder, then that we decided to return the next year, and the next, barely missing a year in the last decade.

So, I have changed my mind about returning to the same place, but I am sad that one particular thing will change on our next trip. The Bookmark is up for sale. 

Am I tempted, I can almost hear you ask. Yes! Of course!

Luckily for us inhabitants of Aberdeen, a new independent bookshop has opened, Somerville Books. I learnt about it when chatting to a friend and it got me thinking about recommendations.

On my phone I have a list of books I would like to read. For so long I have been adding to it without considering how it is curated. Recently, however, I decided to note down who has recommended the book to me. I love that already, there are so many different people, magazines, television/radio programmes and some from books I am reading, on my list.

When I walk into a bookshop, even I who loves to read, can sometimes find it overwhelming so having this list gives me a starting point.

Then there are the bookshop tables.

So tempting.

In Somerville books I was absolutely blown away to find a table dedicated to books from local authors. Yahoo! It was too hard to resist, and I bought a (signed) copy of ‘Nest’ by Catriona Turner.  

It is a memoir of a Scottish woman who lived abroad for years. I found it fascinating as so many of her experiences resonated with me, being lucky enough to have had the opportunity to live in Oman, Malaysia and The Netherlands before returning to Scotland.

The book has been independently published and the day I bought it was coincidently the one when twenty British independent publishers sent an open letter asking the publishing industry to help independent presses in these challenging times.

Having absolutely raced through ‘Nest’, the letter was a reminder to me to look out for books by independent publishers and support them as best I can.

So, back to recommendations. Apparently, word of mouth is one of the best ways to improve sales of books. Nowadays the review sections in the newspapers are often smaller than they once were. Magazines do a fabulous job and television and radio too but sadly; there is not enough room for all to have a chance to get publicity like that.

How can you help? How about adding your own online review of a book you have read?

As the Director of ‘My Book Corner’, myself and the other volunteers are constantly trying to champion the fabulous range of books for children from picture through to young adults including non-fiction.

So, if you are thinking of doing a Secret Santa this year, could the theme be books? Perhaps you are you going to adopt the Icelandic tradition of Jolabokaflod and gift a book to one another on Christmas Eve?

As I settle into the cosiness of this winter season, I am also beginning to think about next year. Yes, another trip to Grantown-on-Spey at some point may be on the cards and I am hoping that the wonderful independent bookshop will still be there, as part of the comforting routine of returning.

Of course, no post on recommendations would be complete without mentioning my wonderful book group! This month’s read is ‘Taste’ by Stanley Tucci and last month we read ‘Quartet in Autumn’ by Barbara Pym – had a great discussion about that one!

Perfect weather for a walk followed by a cuppa with a good book!

I am reading ‘Much More to Come’ by Eleanor Mills and have recently finished ‘The Truths We Hold’ by Kamala Harris.

One more recommendation, if I may, some self promotion here.

I have a story published in the wonderful ‘The People’s Friend’ Special, edition 285. So many fabulous stories included in each magazine. Definitely plenty of reading!

Last but not least, here’s one to listen to – Desert Island Discs with Dame Carol Robinson. What a story she has to tell.

It would be lovely if you would like to pop over to www.mybookcorner.co.uk where you can read my reviews of the latest books for children. There is the opportunity to sign up for the newsletter as well, providing you with great recommendations sent straight to your inbox!

bees · Birds · Books · butterflies · Flowers · Garden · Happy · Inspiration · Wildflowers · wildlife

Flowers

sareenmclay

I grew up watching Beechgrove Garden and Gardeners’ World on the telly. The arrival of seed catalogues through the letterbox meant I could pour over stunning pictures of flowers, loving their colours, variety and beauty.

Only when I look back now do I realise how much of an impact these, and many other, influences from my childhood have shaped me.

I do love a flower!

Over the years I have continued to watch these long-running television programmes, admittedly not every week. Having suffered from migraines, I find the calm and beauty of them help me when I am at the stage of beginning to get going again.

During the summer I often sit down to watch and then think, I should be outside in the garden, not watching television! A few weeks ago, however, I ended up needing to recuperate from a bit of a fall and had the perfect excuse to sit down and watch the coverage of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. My what an absolute treat!

Brightly coloured flowers were much in evidence at RHS Chelsea.

The knowledge, creativity, obvious joy and laughter on display were so inspiring. I learnt a huge amount and took copious notes – of course! The weather played its part and I was inspired to pot on the seedlings I have; teasels, sunflowers, zinnias, nasturtiums and sweet peas. A job I always put off as I never think I have enough patience to do but then, as ever, one that fully absorbs me and forces me to take my time. Every year I think I will grow flowers to bring in to the house but then I find it too hard to cut them; they look so beautiful where they are!

It does make me laugh though, there I am busy sowing seeds, potting on, watering and trying to nurture the plants when Nature has her own way of deciding exactly what she wants to do. When I was in the greenhouse I must have dropped some of the foxglove seeds I collected one year and the number of plants that have popped up through the stones is hilarious.

I am particularly proud of this poppy which, again, I probably dropped the seed and it has survived and flowered really well since last autumn in a pot in the corner of the greenhouse. It looks so happy there, I am just going to leave it.

I never thought ours would be a garden good enough for any flower show but listening to the experts at Chelsea, I do feel an extra sense of pride. The plants I have chosen have always been for wildlife, we have piles of stones and sticks, bee hotels, a butterfly house, a small pond and a water bath for the birds – with stones for the bees to land on. We began our back garden from a patch of grass, twelve years ago and now it looks so much more mature.

One of the first presents I was given for it was a bird feeding station. It has taken time to encourage the birds to come but the diversity of birds we have had this year has been fabulous. Woodpeckers, goldfinches, great tits and blue tits, blackbirds, dunnets, sparrows, doves, robins, wood pigeons, jackdaws and crows! Fantastic! There is an area which backs on to a woodland and that has been left as a ‘woodland’ garden where we even saw a large hedgehog one year. So along with my rather rag tag, ‘naturalistic’ planting, I have to laugh at myself, for once I am feeling right on trend in the gardening world!

But the greatest gift of all is the sharing. Going around the garden I can point out plants my parents, family and friends have given us. Watching the birds flitting in and around the feeders and listening to the hum of the giant bumblebees, I feel incredibly lucky. Gardening has been a gift for me in so many ways, much like the gift I was given when those catalogues came through the door all those years ago.

A lovely gift – Aquilegia

Like a book, I would find it incredibly difficult to choose a favourite when it comes to flowers. Is there a particular flower you love and why?

I Am Reading

The Flower Book, A Bloom for Every Day of the Year. Gardeners’ World

It would be lovely if you would like to pop over to www.mybookcorner.co.uk where you can read my reviews of the latest books for children. There is the opportunity to sign up for the newsletter there as well, providing you with great recommendations sent straight to your inbox.

Gardens, Photography, Reading, Writing and Learning- of course!
bees · Books · butterflies · Flowers · Garden · Happy · Holidays · Inspiration · Latin names · Nature · Photography · Seasons · wildlife · Writing

Gardens, Photography, Reading, Writing and Learning- of course!

sareenmclayLeave a comment

I began this post in the summer. For some reason, I couldn’t get my head around what the thread of it was until I realised, that was the point. This is about meandering.

In gardens that have been specially designed, the aim seems to be to have a winding path. One to deliberately make you slow down and take your time. Along the way, there will be side shoots, leading you to ‘moments of interest’ in the garden. At the end of the path there may be an area that was at first hidden from sight.

I confess to not knowing much about garden design, despite the many I have visited! One designer I have read and heard mention of over the years is Gertrude Jekyll. On a visit to the Holy Island (Lindisfarne) on the North East Coast of England, I was delighted to learn there was a garden she had designed. Oh, how beautiful it is too! Filled with an abundance of summer blooms in a riot of colour, it was an absolute treat to see. Fragrant sweet peas and roses, poppies, daisies and flowering Lamb’s Ears (Stachys Byzantina)amidst others.

Garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll at Lindesfarne (Holy Island).

A long time ago I planted Lamb’s Ears in my garden after admiring them in the walled garden at Drum Castle: the leaves are so soft to touch. So it is with gardens, each one I visit inspires me to do something more with my own. Returning home with renewed determination to try sweet peas again, I think of how amazing their perfume is and how they are so pretty in a posy.

Six-spot Burnet moth

I am a meandering sort of a person, I think. The years have taught me that I do get there, slowly, following paths I choose, often without a clear idea of how it will all turn out but willing to give it a try. Perhaps my way is like the butterflies and moths I enjoy spotting, flitting from one stem to the next but with an overall sense of purpose.

Often I am inspired by others who have followed their own paths. Watching the documentary on the writer Joan Didion, reading about the photographer Imogen Cunningham and Kate Bradbury’s ‘The Bumblebee Flies Anyway’ have set the tone for my summer.

Always one to enjoy a learning opportunity, the talk by Annie Ives on identifying bumble bees for the Scottish Wildlife Trust was right up my street.

Writing this blog has given me the perfect opportunity to use some of the photos of the natural world around us that I love to take. This love of photography combined with writing meant I very much enjoyed running a ‘Scrawl and Crawl’ workshop with SCBWI‘s Karen McDonald at the wonderful Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at Aberdeen Art Gallery. I am hoping the exercises we did will get me writing!

As ever, the garden provides me with so many opportunities to take photos, it is hard to resist! Here are a selection of September moments. Sunshine, spiders and sunflowers, a white-tailed bee on the Sedum (Hylotelephium) and stunning white anemones.

To see the wild flowers amongst the apples this summer was a delight.

I wondered whether to post this or not, time has run away with me but today, as I swept up piles of leaves to let the grass breathe I thought, why not. Perhaps this is a summer/autumn round up.

Leaving the leaves (!) on the flower beds with the aim that they will break down as a natural mulch, I gathered a couple of bags full to hopefully create leaf mould. Making sure there were holes in the bags, I poured in some water from the rainwater butt and am keeping my fingers crossed.

Outside, in the October sunshine, I heard the honks, quacks and barks of pink-footed geese flying in a ‘v’ formation overhead. As I swept the leaves, a beautiful light green frog moved to hide in between the cracks in the wall. So that was the end of my clearing up. I left the rest for the frogs.

The Fuchsia are still going strong but are there any ‘froggy friends’ lurking underneath the beech leaves?

I am reading:

‘Haddo Reimagined‘ by Rae Cowie and Susan Orr this is a wonderful collaboration between writer and photographer.

Do you have a book recommendation which would be perfect for this time of year?

Books · Inspiration · Knitting · Lighthouses · Seasons

Flashes of Light and Inspiration

sareenmclay

It seems appropriate to be talking about light at this time of year, especially since the clocks have been turned back and, well, it has often been pretty dark and stormy.

This summer I was able to fulfil a wish I’d had for a long time, to visit the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses in Fraserburgh with family and friends.

I’ve long been fascinated by lighthouses, possibly as far back as when I was in primary school. I remember reading the story of the three lighthouse keepers who disappeared mysteriously from the Flannan Isles Lighthouse in December 1900. Years later I discovered there had been a poem written about the incident by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, Flannan Isle.

I realise I am not alone in loving this link between poetry and lighthouses, after all, the author and poet Robert Louis Stevenson was a member of the famous Stevenson family who designed many of the lighthouses around our coasts. (There is a super book about this by Bella Bathurst, ‘The Lighthouse Stevensons’.)

Kinnaird Lighthouse
On top of the world!

The museum is housed beside the Kinnaird Head Castle lighthouse. It’s built right through the middle of a castle that is more than 450 years old. What a fabulous example of finding a new use for a building!

While at the museum we couldn’t help noticing these wonderful knitted yarn bombs and I loved the Bell Rock Flags, hand-embroidered altar cloths made by Jane Stevenson in 1820.

For a very calming moment, here’s a lovely video of lighthouses at night, I promise you, you’ll end up watching it more than once.

This is Book Week Scotland – here’s a couple of quick fun things to do!

Add your choice of book to their Book Week Scotland Map.

Fill in the quick quiz to find out how adventurous you are before reading the wonderful stories about adventure in the Book Week Scotland book.

When the sun is shining and the light is filtering through the trees, it’s a joy to walk through a forest filled with the beauty of autumn’s stunning colours.

Now, does this not just make you want to hug a tree!

If you’re feeling the cold, here’s a link to a post I did on Winter Warmers!

Recommend: Stargazing by Peter Hill

I am reading:

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Safon, it’s been on the tbr pile for a while!

DO/ HOPE/ Why you should never give up. Gail Muller

Books · Happy · Inspiration · Writing

Sharing the Joy of Quentin Blake’s Illustrations

sareenmclay6 Comments

Last weekend I had the absolute pleasure of running a workshop in the Aberdeen Art Gallery.

Inspired by the exhibition of Quentin Blake’s illustrations, I organised it on behalf of the SCBWI*. We had such a good laugh, sharing the results of writing exercises and quick-draw illustrations.

To be honest, that was my third time at the exhibition. I loved delving in deeper to study ‘Angelica Sprocket’s Pockets’ and the joy that is ‘Mr Magnolia’.

The exercises were chosen with care. There were writing and illustrating exercises and time to collaborate to create a story from the starter ‘All was well until …’ The fact that everyone felt able to share their work showed me what a fabulous group of creatives I was part of and I really would like to thank everyone that came along for their enthusiasm and willingness to take part in every activity.

I took my time finding resources, such as the bag my Mum had sewn, to fill with items for a writing exercise. I borrowed my daughter’s toy mouse with it’s hidden pocket, my daughter drew a puddle for me to use and I collected pine cones from the garden making me feel I was bringing a whole world to the workshop.

Angelica Sprocket’s Pockets by Quentin Blake

So much time can be spent writing alone, so to share the company of other like minded writers was indeed an inspiration. We all agreed how wonderful it is that many events are now online and accessible. The buzz of meeting up in person can’t be denied though.

This week the Wayword Festival is being run by Aberdeen University so I have a few events booked to enjoy – online and in person!

I am reading: Haarville by Justin Davies and The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

Meeting Maggie O’Farrell at the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen, what a joy!

Podcasts: Frank Skinner’s Poetry Podcast – My Last Duchess

Learn Italian – Joy of Languages (always learning, that’s me!)

Quentin Blake Illustration Exhibitions

*SCBWI Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

Books · Happy · Hope · Inspiration

A Special Memorial: Betty’s Reading Room

sareenmclay5 Comments

I wondered whether to post this blog but on thinking about it, I think it is the perfect time to think about how we celebrate the lives of those we have loved.

In this busy, busy world of ours, amidst all the hustle and bustle, we are encouraged to take time to slow down. We should stop and just ‘be’ for a moment. Use our senses to take in the world around us. Sometimes that can be so much harder than others. However, if we are lucky enough to physically be in a place that lends itself to that, then surely it must make this challenge easier.

Of course, we can’t always be physically in such a place but we can use the wonderful power of our minds to take us somewhere else. (Perhaps a bit of a ‘Beam me up Scotty’ sort of a moment!) If I need a picture in my mind of a place that is calm and peaceful, then I can take myself back to sitting on the cliffs at Marwick Bay on Orkney. I can remember the smell of the fresh sea air, almost feel the brush of the wind on my face and hear the seabirds calling as I watched a group of four puffins bobbing on the water below.

On our way to the Bay, we spotted a hare standing in a field. Its long ears pointed skyward in the sunshine. Another day we saw four more hares – more than I’ve ever seen in my life. That was until we visited a place that not only offered me peace but hope.

I write of a little cottage in the small village of Tingwall on mainland Orkney. A cottage donated to a couple who had the wish to create a special and unique memorial.

Betty Proctor was a very good friend of Craig Mollison and Jane Spiers. When Betty passed away after an operation, Craig and Jane decided they would organise a memorial with a difference. The result is the wonderful, ‘Betty’s Reading Room’. A tiny cottage filled from floor to ceiling with second hand books. There are comfy sofas, one covered in a specially handmade beautiful blanket, fairy lights strung from the rafters, lanterns, a stove and everywhere, hares. There is a lovely photo of Betty holding a hare, she must have loved hares!

Every visitor is invited to spend time in the reading room and, if they would like to, they can choose a book to take home with them. If it’s possible, they are asked to pop a little into the next charity box they see. For each book there is a label that the visitor can stick inside and, when they have finished reading it, they can pass it on to someone else. And so the chain of kindness spreads.

On a table lies a book for visitors telling the story of how the reading room came about and all who helped to make the vision of Craig and Jane come alive.

Look out for the stain glass window and also the mermaid sculpture by Frances Pelly

To have inspired such an outpouring of love, Betty truly deserves to be in our thoughts. Once again it is the kindness of others that I love and appreciate. The fingers of joy that are spread when a hand is held out to help others.

So I would like to say thank you, to Craig and Jane and all the others who created this wonderful room but also to Betty Prictor. What an inspiration to us all.

I am at the start of ‘A Long Petal of the Sea’ by Isabel Allende and have just finished ‘The Penguin Lessons’ by Tom Michell which I would thoroughly recommend!