Photo diary: Project 365, May'22

 After a very long pause in my Photo Diary posts, here is a loadsa photos for May. 

It's easy to sprout slogans for Mental Health Awareness on social media and share images of self-love and universal acceptance. In real life, people with mental health problems keep struggling, and so do their carers. Who cares for the mental health of carers?

Since Sash turned 18 and moved to adult social care services, we've had zero support. In the past he used to stay two nights per month in a nursing home, specialising in caring for children with special needs. Sash loved going there, they treated him wonderfully there, taking him on outings, preparing his favourite foods etc. And it gave me a break from the stressful routine, time to recharge the batteries and also do something with Eddie without the additional pressure. We knew our boy was well looked-after and we could relax. 

Then he became technically a grown-up, but mentally still a very very young child. Covid happened, that was the somewhat understandable excuse for doing nothing on the social care part. This year we had a few Zoom meetings to discuss any possible provision for respite. And then, boom, we're closing him to our team, said the social worker. Apparently we're coping well. I don't know what was I supposed to do, to dissolve in a muddled heap of sobbing to convince them that I am exhausted, and actually, yes, I do need help. I don't sleep well, so many worries. Even the metal gets fatigue, as for the humans, they can fracture under stress.

For that and many other reasons, I am trying to escape from the sad reality of my life and outside world. Books and art community are my sanity savers. 

The beginning of May was a highlight of my recent art endeavours. I have been asked to lead one of the weeks of Pen and Ink challenge on Instagram with my prompts. I have chosen Folklore as the Theme of the week. I rejoiced at the chance of showing my sketches, and seeing all the inspirational work by the other participants. The response was overwhelming, there were so many brilliant entries.

Here are some of my sketches. For the Traditions prompt I have chosen a legend of Kokopelli, a fertility deity of the Native American cultures. He is a trickster god, and represents the spirit of music. He is usually portrayed as a hunchbacked flute player. 

Kokopelli is a symbol of good luck, and goodness me, I need that.

For Folk Costumes day I painted a traditional Kazakh bridal costume, with a high headdress called a saukele. It is richly decorated, and has to be ordered in advance of the wedding, a year or a year and a half prior, after the engagement is announced. My girl is holding a plate of baursaki, a Kazakh version of doughnuts.

One of the books I read in May was The Guest Book by C.L. Pattison. I spotted it in the library. It's set in Cornwall, so how could I resist it. It's a dark thriller, with the elements of supernatural. I took the photo before returning the book to the library, thinking I might write a review some time later.

Folk Crafts: this is a sketch of the glazed pharmacy jar (albarelli). The original Renaissance maiolica from Deruta could be seen in the Wallace Collection in London. I've never visited it, but hoping one day to discover its treasures in real life, not just via books and online images.

When Sasha's photo popped up among Facebook Memories, I asked Eddie if he would let me take his photo for comparison. Here are my boys, at exactly the same age. Sasha's hair is darker, and the eyes are hazel brown to Eddie's blue ones, but they do look quite similar. Different but also similar. Not sure why I was surprised, after all, they are brothers.

I can't wait to see Cornwall again. I painted the Cornish pasties for the Traditional Foods prompt.

St Mary's Church is beautiful in any weather.

I love May flowers and blooms, with the tulips, and irises, lilac and rhododendron.

Eddie is a big Marvel fan. Of course, we had to go to the cinema to watch Dr Strange 2.

He enjoyed it, I didn't like it that much. It might as well have been called WandaVision II (and I utterly disliked the TV series, for me that was the worst Marvel TV series ever).

The pleasures of living not far from Brize Norton is seeing the planes flying very low over our town all the time.

Blue blossom of Ceanothus thyrsiflorus is so striking to look at, but it always makes me sneeze

To coincide with Mental Health Awareness week I took part in the Readalong/Cookalong event with Tandem Collective and Breadsong book, written by Kitty and Al Tait. You can find more about the book Breadsong from my review.

I confess I haven't heard of their bakery until I read the book. Kitty's story is an inspiration.

Breadsong is part-memoir, part-cook book.

I tested three recipes from the book, including the choc chip cookies with mini fudge.

More cookies from that week, this time, it was choc chip gluten free cookies, made with peanut butter, honey and oats. 

I was watering the tomato plants in the greenhouse, and saw my child sitting in the window of his bedroom.

We had pretty flowers this month in town. The flower arrangements are changed regularly in big planters around the town centre.

Marie Saba is the social media sensation, who is known for her creative food puns. She recently published a book called Don't Worry, Be Ha-PEA. 

I tried to do my own food pun photo, dedicated to one of my favourite detectives. 

Toys and Games prompt for the Pen and Ink Challenge - I painted two of the Lewis Chessmen, a group of 12C chess pieces, carved from walrus ivory.

Today, 82 pieces are displayed at the British Museum, while the remaining eleven are in Scotland.

I hope Eddie and I could visit the British Museum some time soon. Maybe even this summer?

For Music prompt I painted a loose copy of a manuscript illustration by Testard Robinet. The original artwork is in Bibliotheque Nationale de France in Paris.

All my current artwork is painted with Diamine inks.

The pink rhododenron always gladdens my heart, blooming in May, just outside kitchen windows. Whenever I wash my dishes, I see the planter. The bees love it too.

Legacy by Chris Coppel is a chilling Gothic story. It's a combination of sci fi, horror and fantasy, with elements of time travel. If you're sensitive, don't read the book at bedtime.

The Book of Kells was my inspiration for the Travel week. Ireland was one of our virtual destinations. The illuminated manuscript is kept in Trinity College, Dublin, another place which I would love to visit one day. 

Nature is the most magnificent artist of all. Just look at that glorious sky, with all the shades of blue, grey and white. A true masterpiece.

From Ireland to Indonesia, I travel with my inks. 

Wayang Kulit is an ancient art of theatre with shadow puppets. The puppets are carved with intricate designs, and are manipulated with the rods.

A Scottish Highland Surprise by Julie Shackman is a modern feel-good romance, set in a little Scottish town of Briar Glen. 

The main character opens a china shop, where she sells vintage and modern pottery. I loved all the talk about teapots, cups and saucers. 

Don't care much about the romance, just tell me about porcelain!

The white champagne rose is at its most marvellous in May. I should really trim it, as its branches go very high over the plum tree, over four metres high, and the cascade of white roses is a sight to behold.

To celebrate Her Majesty's Jubilee, Witney is decorated with the Royal-themed displays. Teddy Bears of Witney didn't disappoint with their teddies' show. 

Are you celebrating this weekend, or ignoring any celebrations and just chilling out?

Our lovely neighbours decided to do the major construction works in the garden, starting early in the morning. It's been four days and counting. By the amount of cement and flagstones outside their house, the works will be going on for a long time.

So much for a much-hoped for lie-in during the midterm break.

In the last month we've been watching The Walking Dead, as recommened by Kim from Life as Kim, and also Stranger Things. 

Are you watching Stranger Season 4? What do you think?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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A Scottish Highland Surprise by Julie Shackman

 

"It was from her I inherited my love of all things porcelain. Grandma had taught me from an early age about the delicate beauty of crockery, its often fascinating history and the sheer delight of indulging in a cup of tea from a dainty cup and saucer".

A Scottish Highland Surprise by Julie Shackman is an uplifting modern feel-good romance, with a cosy mystery (minus murder), set in a picturesque little Scottish town of Briar Glen.

The story starts a bit slowly, as we get to meet Sophie Harkness who works as a wedding planner. She feels frazzled and under-appreciated, working long hours, with no work-life balance. Sophie refuses to move a colleague's wedding to accommodate the wishes of a posh Bridezilla who insists on having her big day on Christmas, and walks away from her job out of principle.

Sophie's grandmother Helena who died recently, has left a surprise will. There are very expensive vintage tea sets to sell, a newly bought shop in Briar Glen and a plan for Sophie to open her own crockery shop. 

At first, Sophie is flabbergasted. "I loved beautiful crockery every bit as much as she had, but turning that passion into a successful business - the idea was a ludicrous one!... The list of negatives grew larger and darker as I thought about them... It had been a wonderful, loving and very generous idea of my grandmother's and she would never know how much I appreciated what she had attempted to do for me. But it was impossible."

Though lacking experience of running a business of her own, and troubled by "flurries of panic and pessimism", Sophie decides to have a go at being her own boss and open the porcelain shop to honour her grandmother's wishes.

One day a vintage tea set with a striking peacock design is left with Sophie, along with a mysterious letter. 

"At the beginning, I had considered the peacock design and the mix of blues and greens rather garish, but the more I looked at it, the more I found myself appreciating the sweeps of colour and the extravagant detail in the peacock's fanned tail".

To solve the mystery of the unique tea set, Sophie needs help from a professional with a knowledge of antique porcelain and local history.

Enter Xander North, a handsome but oh so cold art critic. He appears aloof and stand-offish, "with his flinty stare and brusque attitude". As they begin to work together, there is plenty of misunderstanding on the way to keep them slightly wary of each other.

There is another candidate for the possible romance, a charming fun-loving artist Jake, with his blond Viking looks and talent for mischief.

Who will win Sophie over? Will the truth about the enigmatic tea set be discovered? Will she succeed as a business owner and find romance along the way?

There are three stories intertwined: Sophie's, her Grandma's and the young woman's connected to the historical tea set.

Sophie's Grandma's story is not a happy one. To appease her husband and conform to the standards of the small-town society, she didn't pursue her dreams of opening her own china shop, instead passing on her aspirations on to her granddaughter. In a way, it's like some parents push their children to achieve things they haven't been able to reach themselves, as if living their own dreams through them. 

As it happened, Sophie has become very adept at running a shop, but perhaps if her Grandma didn't push her into the business, she would have chosen a different creative path in her life.

The most exciting aspect of the novel for me was the talk about porcelain, all different varieties, history, descriptions. Loved every bit of that. I would love to have a china shop, selling antique and vintage porcelain. One of my hobbies is scouring the local charity and vintage shops for a fancy odd teacup and saucer. I don't mind that my china collection is very random and mismatched, for me there is a beauty in its lack of unanimity.

I enjoyed the mystery of the tea set, as well as the setting of the quaint little town. "Almost all of the local cottages possess an engraving above their door, depicting the mysterious blue Briar Glen rose in full bloom. The blue rose was said to represent something impossible to comprehend or a dream that may never be fulfilled".

The romance felt a little rushed, but in a way of many romantic comedies, where at first the two main characters resent each other through a series of miscommunications, then they realise their errors of judgment and can't hide their feelings any longer. Imagine the modern likes of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy, add a whole loadsa china, with a sneaky manipulative love interest on the side, and you get Pride and Prejuidce of the 21C.

Whether you're looking for a rainy summer day book to escape in, or a beach read, A Scottish Highand Surprise is an easy, entertaining romance story, with a charming and intriguing mystery. It's a treat!

Many thanks to Julie Shackman and NetGalley for my free e-copy of the book!

Author Bio – 

Julie Shackman is a former journalist from Scotland, who has always wanted to write feel-good romance. As well as being an author, Julie also writes verses and captions for greetings card companies. Julie admits to having an obsession with stationery and handbags. She is married, has two sons and a Romanian rescue pup, who she named Cooper. A Scottish Highland Surprise is Julie's sixth novel.

Social Media Links – 

https://twitter.com/G13Julie

https://www.facebook.com/julie.shackman

https://www.instagram.com/juliegeorginashackman

Breadsong by Kitty & Al Tait

 

"It was like Jenga, pull one block out too fast, too soon, and my whole tower toppled".

Breadsong by Kitty & Al Tait is an inspirational hybrid of genres: part-memoirs, part-cook book.

This is the story of Kitty, a 14-year-old girl with a bubbly personality, who began suffering from anxiety and depression, and withdrew from the world to the confines of her home. The family has been trying everything to help her, but it felt like she was slipping further away.

If someone you love suffers with mental health issues, it might be not so easy to read the pages of Kitty's memoirs. You can feel her torment as she is descending into depression. 

Kitty's parents tried out many activities to provide her with some kind of distraction. Gardening, TV, crafts, sewing, painting... until one day Kitty watched her father mixing flour, water and salt in a bowl to make a dough.

"There was nothing planned about it. I just asked Kitty if she wanted to have a go herself. There was no hallelujah chorus or a blinding flash of light... I had no idea just how important that moment was, and I still didn't when Kitty asked to bake that bread again".

For Kitty it was pure alchemy of breadmaking that fascinated her. "Something so dull had transformed into something so brilliant. Like the girl who could spin straw into gold, I could do it too. And so I did it again and again and again".

Baking was taking over. Two weeks in, the family started sharing their loaves with the neighbours. The new routine was developing, with bread being delivered to the happy recipients in their street. The demand for the bread in their street has soared, and soon orders started to come in for more loaves.

The subscription service was born.

The recovery wasn't immediate. As Al writes, "I'm not sure initially I was any help to Kitty apart from just being there. I spent a lot of time barrelling into verbal cul-de-sacs thinking that maybe I could talk her out of the sadness she was lost in".

Delivering bread came with the interacting part. "People were genuinely excited to receive Kitty's bread. The buzz of handing over a warm loaf to a grateful customer lit a spark within her".

The next thing they needed was a name. Starting with Breadheads, they eventually chose The Orange Bakery because of Kitty's favourite orange dungarees.

The bakery has become Kitty's salvation.

"The bakery was a place that soothed my brain and made me feel safe. I knew what I was doing there, and my anxiety never roared away. It was just a really happy place".

Reading Kitty's story brought back some painful memories of referrals to CAHMS. I cannot fault the commitment of the medical staff working there, but everything takes ages. If you need help urgently, it takes forever. There is also no consistency of care. People leave, new people appear in your life, and at times it feels like you are re-starting from the beginning again and again.

I'm only saying that as to stress the point, that you might find Kitty's story too upsetting to read at the beginning. It might trigger strong emotions, though you might also find it inspiring and helpful.

Baking could be a therapeutic activity for some people, even if it is not a universal cure. 

I nod my head in agreement, reading that when a family member has mental health issues, the whole family is affected. "The needs of the rest of the family had to play second fiddle for a while", says Al. For us it's our reality. Our family life is centred around the needs of our older son. My younger one never knew anything different, and he accepts the situation with grace. 

The book also made me smile, as it brought back memories of making my own sourdough starter, and failing most of the time. I also had jars and jars of sinister grey unappetising liquid. I did manage to make a decent starter a couple of times and even used it in a few recipes, but then it died a natural death from lack of use.

Al's voice has a distinct touch of sarcasm. "Sourdough pizza, sourdough crackers, sourdough breadsticks; these are the high-class, artisan versions of their peers. The prefix sourdough somehow means that it's okay to charge twice as much". That is so true. I do love sourdough, but agree there's a whiff of the Emperor's New Clothes about it. Despite being an ancient technique, it has become so trendy, especially during the lockdown, that now almost everything is sourdough.

The second half of the book is a cook book of Kitty and Al's recipes.

You will find chapters on Bread (including miracle overnight white loaf, overnight focaccia, Challah, Biga bread, soda bread, Guinness soda bread and more), Sourdough Bread (including a step-by-step on the sourdough starter, recipes for Ultimate sourdough bread, sourdough focaccia, Ulla's rye bread, Fika buns, Next level Chelsea buns - which I hope to try baking one day), Pastries (including Cheese straws, Eccles cakes, Pasteis de Nata, croissants, pains au chocolat and many more) and finally, Cookies and Cakes (Cheddars, Stem Gingernuts, Ultimate brown butter choc chip cookies, vegan nut butter and banana cookies, blondies with a Marmite glaze etc).

Kitty's creative approach to classic recipes is original and inspiring.

For example, she adds chunks of sweet and salty miso fudge to her Ultimate brown butter choc chip cookies. I have followed the recipe quite closely, but knowing my guys, didn't risk with a miso flavour, adding standard fudge pieces to the cookie dough.

Pasteis de Nata or Custard Tarts are our family favourite pastries. One of our local cafes sells pretty good pastel de nata, and I do often buy frozen ones from Waitrose.

However, if you buy a ready-made puff pastry, you can quickly make a batch of your own custard tarts.

Kitty's twist on the classic recipe is to add a pinch of garam masala to the custard. I added a little bit of garam masala to two of the pastries, as I wasn't sure how much we'd like it. 

The pastries are delicate and wonderfully creamy. 

I also tried a recipe for savoury biscuits - Cheddars, made with strong Cheddar. This is an eggless recipe. I wasn't sure how well I can roll the dough, it looked pretty crumbly, but a dash of water was all that was needed. 

Very tasty biscuits, they didn't last long.

Totally delicious with a dollop of chilli jam.

I have bookmarked a few recipes from the book, which I would love to try.

This book tells a beautiful, uplifting story of a courageous girl.

You can check out Kitty's Instagram @kittytaitbaker for delightful baked goodies and inspiration.

Many thanks to Kitty and Al Tait, Bloomsbury and Tandem Collective UK for my copy of the book! I enjoyed taking part in the Readalong and looking at everyone's bakes.

Legacy by Chris Coppel

"She simply exists. She has become pure evil. Most of the time she doesn't even take human form. She feeds on suffering and pain. If she can't find it naturally, she will create it herself."

If someone bangs on your door in the middle of the night to leave a mysterious heavy crate, from an anonymous sender, without any clue as to what might be hidden inside, you and I would most likely not accept the unexpected package or take it in the house.

Craig Edmonds, the main protagonist of Legacy by Chris Coppel, however, doesn't think twice. He has no idea what is inside this super heavy and solid crate, but brings it in. In the morning the whole family gathers around the package to open it. Inside they find an antique mirror.

 "It was quite something. It was obviously old. Very old. The mirror had yellowed with time and was pitted. It had backing missing along most of its edging and a small crack across the top right-hand corner. All in all, it wasn't in great shape... The frame was the kicker. It appeared to be hand carved from what Craig guessed was walnut... It certainly wasn't the work of an artisan yet there was something intrinsically beautiful about its artistic naivety".

Jenny, Craig's wife, insists that the mirror should go up on the wall, touching the floor, looking like a doorway or portal.

The Edmonds live in an old remote house, built by an early settler to Southern Utah in the late 1800s. They love their little house, even if it's too small for four of them. The unexpected delivery of the mirror leaves Craig slightly unsettled. Somehow it feels wrong. 

A sheriff in the high desert of Southern Utah, Craig used to be an elite Marine sniper. It took him many years to to recover from the psychological trauma of his military life, as well as his very traumatic childhood.

The demons of the past, nonetheless, pale in comparison to the horrors which arrive in their house with the mirror. It hides the dark secret.

The mirror strikes terror into the family dog, who wouldn't come close to it, as if sensing something unholy. Strange occurences follow: the attic suddenly becomes infested with all kinds of vermin, soon turning into a vile giant throat with rattlesnakes, etc, yet the baffled Edmonds don't connect the dots.

The weird and dangerous events escalate, not just in the house, but in the nearby community. Craig is at a loss. Until he meets Ahote, an old Native American, (his name means restless in Hopi) who offers his help to fight the evil. This enemy is much worse than any Craig has encountered in his life as the marine. He is fighting against time and the essence of unspeakable evil, trying to save his family.

What Craig and his family don't know is that the mirror is indeed a portal for an ancient witch Beyath who needs to venture into the world of the living every twenty five years to keep herself immortal. All the ungodly events happening in the house come just before the arrival of Beyath as she intends to transition from the fifth realm and take on her original mortal form.

"She had fed the light fourteen times starting in 1643... She had witnessed almost 400 years of change in the old realm... The days when she cared about what went on within the old realm were long gone. She now had only one focus. To follow her bloodline and feed the light".

With the assistance of Ahote, Craig must time travel twenty five years into the past to defeat the 16C English witch with a taste for immortality.

Ahote himself is a powerful adversary of all things evil, but he is not strong enough to battle Beyath alone. Craig's talents from his days as the marine would come helpful. "His actions as a sniper played a big part in causing the stress that had almost destroyed him, however, Craig recognised that it was also a part of what had made him who he was".

Will Craig and Ahote be able to stop the witch on their travel back in time before her evil destroys his family forever?

As we follow Craig's story, we also get to know his background, from tragic childhood (both his parents die in a murder/suicide) and awful realities of the orphanage, to the stark distressing truth of his years as the marine. 

Potential triggers: murder, child abuse, PTSD, witchcraft.

Legacy is a chilling, immersive and compelling Gothic story. Its genre is a combination of sci fi, horror, and fantasy with elements of time travel. The book casts a sense of slowly-rising dread from the first pages. A horror story to chill the marrow. If you're sensitive, don't read this story at bedtime.

Many thanks to Chris Coppel and Henry Roi for my e-copy of the book!

The Witch's Tree by Elena Collins

 

"Now two women stay beneath the same roof, sharing the same shelter. The walls keep out the cold, hold strangers beyond the door; it is a refuge where secrets and promises and love are precious treasures that have never been uttered for centuries.

Two women live in the house, embraced in its protective hold, watching, waiting. Two women, one then, one now".

"Well, it is a blackthorn tree... Do you know what it symbolises?... There are all sorts of myths surrounding the blackthorn, from way back to the time of the Celts. Death, misfortune - some people call it the witch's tree - it has a long association with witchcraft. It's about opposites too: spring and autumn, blossom and berry".

The Witch's Tree by Elena Collins is a ghost story, told in a dualtime setting.

The narrative shifts from the past to present with ease, with entrancing parallels between the lives of two protagonists.

The prologue sets the melancholic atmosphere, when we enter the old cottage, with the blacktorn tree tapping against the window and casting long shadows across the moon. There is an unhappy, despondent entity, a spirit of a woman who cannot depart the domain of the living. 

"The house hides so many memories, so many years of fingers touching the same walls, being warmed by the same fire.

She knows the house well: it is hers, she will not leave it".

The present day. Manchester.

Selena is devastated when the man she loves leaves her, once she announces her pregnancy. She knows David is married, but like all delusional women who believe in fairy tales fed to them by the married cheats (his wife is vulnerable at the moment, as soon as the moment is right, he will leave her, they haven't had sex for years, have nothing in common, etc etc), imagines her story would be different. The love affair comes to an end abruptly, and Selena is hurt.

"David had broken her heart, along with all her hopes and dreams". Of course, it's the scumbag David who's the culprit, but delusional Selena is not entirely blameless either. Once she's discovered her lover is married, she chooses to believe his promises.

Claire, Selena's flatmate and business partner (they co-own an art gallery) warns her repeatedly, "a relationship with a married man was bound to end in tears, especially one like David, often self-absorbed, uncommitted and capable of manipulation". 

Intent to move on, Selena wants to have her baby and bring her/him up alone. She believes she can manage, while Claire promises to help. Tragically, she loses the baby.

All her dreams for her future are in tatters. To recuperate and revive her artistic mojo, Selena is looking for a retreat.

Searching online, she discovers a lovely little cottage in the Somerset village of Ashcombe, named Sloe Cottage. It looks picture-perfect and offers a lot of possibilities for a determined artist. It might be just the right place for Selena if not to forget her problems, then come to terms with the loss of her baby and her dreams.

As the spring arrives, Selena is settled in her new temporary home. Weeks of her rural retreat give birth to numerous paintings. If only the strange presence in the cottage didn't manifest itself so often and so vividly. "The house seems to affect my paintings. I feel isolated and a bit edgy; sometimes it's as if someone is watching me when I paint. And my work is becoming influenced by that".

It isn't long til she becomes aware of the strange shenanigans in the house. She glimpses a shape shifting in the shadows, there is a feeling of being watched, the sound of footsteps outside her bedroom door. The secrets of the past come unravelling. Who is the unquiet spirit, stuck in the cottage?

In 1682 Ascomb, Somerset, young Grace Cotter is living with her father in a little old cottage. She is content with her lot, working on a nearby farm, milking the cows, growing medicinal herbs in her garden, looking after her ailing father and learning midwifery secrets from her grandmother Beth.

Grace dreams of having a family of her own one day. Grace's grandmother is anxious to see her married, "A young woman on her own is prey to such wicked creatures. You need a husband to take care of you". But being a dreamer, Grace would only marry for love. Her love interest is above her station though, being a son of rich farmers. 

The times are hard for innocent single women. Both men and women are easily accused of withcraft on any trumped-up accusation. The gossip spread by the ignorant villagers could become a deadly weapon. One misstep could turn fatal. 

Knowing the fate of many women of that period in history who didn't conform, it is not hard to predict how Grace's story will progress.

Three centuries between them, Selena and Grace have to deal with deception and betrayal by those who you trust. In a way, both female protagonists share the same level of naivety when it comes to men. 

There appears to be an invisible thread which connects the two women. Will Selena's distrust in men become an obstacle in finding new love? Will she heal and be able to fall in love again?

How can she help the restless spirit find peace?

The cottage and the witch's tree feature prominently in the narrative, they acquire a personality of their own, and become a contact point between the centuries.

There are other parallels in the story. Grace's grandmother is a healer who knows her herbs. Selena's new friend Joely is a herbalist who brews healing tisanes and makes a range of natural cosmetics.

Selena's love of painting gets a new stimulus. Living among the stunning countryside, she takes numerous photos to use as references for her artwork. "Cottage was an inspirational place to live: strange, yet somehow inspiring, as if she was almost connected to the people who had lived there before, who had been immersed in the harsh beauty of rural Somerset".

She is a prolific artist, and paints with an amazing speed (which in itself is almost supernatural. As someone who studied at art school, I found the speed at which she works quite extraordinary). 

Selena's character becomes more mature as the story develops. When we meet her, it's hard to relate to her. In her thirties, she appears quite immature, naive and too submissive. David is so unpleasant that it's hard to imagine what would attract Selena to him in the first place. Moving away, living in isolation and having time to re-assess her life and priorities allows her to grow from passive to active.

The rural Somerset setting is evocative and atmospheric. I enjoyed all the descriptions of the landscapes.

The Witch's Tree is a quietly eloquent novel of love and loss, betrayal and hope. 

This is not a terrifying tale with a vindictive ghost, more of a melancholic spirit story. The sense of creeping dread is well-executed.

Many thanks to Elena Collins, NetGalley and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!

This post is part of the blog tour for The Witch's Tree.

Purchase Link - https://amzn.to/3Cl2rVF

Author Bio –

Elena Collins is the pen name of Judy Leigh. Judy Leigh is the bestselling author of Five French Hens, A Grand Old Time and The Age of Misadventure and the doyenne of the ‘it’s never too late’ genre of women’s fiction. She has lived all over the UK from Liverpool to Cornwall, but currently resides in Somerset.

 

Social Media Links.

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/judyleighuk

Twitter https://twitter.com/judyleighwriter

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/judyrleigh/

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/JudyLeighNews

Don't Worry, Be Ha-PEA by Marie Saba

Did you know that May 15 is a National Pun Day?! Well, I totally missed it. 

If you're a pun fan, you might have heard of the social media sensation Marie Saba and her creative food puns which she shares at @MarieSaba on Instagram or @MariesKitchenTikTok on TikTok.

Don't Worry, Be Ha-PEA/101 Deliciously Clever Food Puns by Marie Saba is a delightful little hardback edition of food puns. 

This collection of playful food puns is divided into several sections: Deliciously Romantic, Movie Title Munchies, Nom-Nom Celebrity Names, Spicy Slang, Sweet Inspiration, Tasty Tourist Attractions and Yummy Cartoon Characters.

The photos are bright, colourful, a combination of letters and food items. "Saba creates and photographs food that is both whimsical and downright playful" (Bon Appétit). 

My younger son and I enjoyed looking at the photos and solving the puns.

Some puns are pretty straightforward, some are slightly trickier. It will test your knowledge of the popular culture, celebrity names, cartoon characters etc.

The last pun of the book stumped me for a bit, as I couldn't get beyond the watermelon (slice?). When I got it, I couldn't understand why I didn't immediately see it, as it is pretty obvious.

It's a fun entertaining coffee book, to be enjoyed by the whole family. You might even want to do a fun activity as a family together and create your own food puns.

Here are two of my attempts at food puns.

If you know the French word for pear, you'll get this food pun straight away.

This cute book will make a lovely gift for any foodie.

About the Author

Marie Saba is a former lawyer, cookbook author and freelance content creator. Her playful creations have been featured in numerous media, including Bon Appetit and Food & Wine, as well as on The Rachel Ray Show and Martha Stewart Show. Marie lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband John, and their two children, Jack and Elaine.

Marie was recently named by Country Living Magazine as one of the top creative people in the country.

Don't worry Be Ha-PEA: 101 Deliciouslly Clever Food Puns

Publisher: Familius Publishing/Distributed by Hatchet

ISBN-10: 1641704640

ISBN-13: 978-1641704649

Available from Amazon, Target.co. BN.com, Booksaillion.com and bookstores nationwide.