Beyond the Moon by Catherine Taylor #BlogTour (review + giveaway)

Round and round it went in her mind as she lay in bed, listening to the first birds chirping. Had the doctors been right about her all along? Had they been able to peer into her mind and see what she couldn't - that she was delusional?
What was he? Where had he come from? Was he simply the result of a psychotic episode? A hallucination? A product of her anxious, agitated mind? Could just being an inpatient in a psychiatric hospital cause delusions?
But how could she have conjured up something so realistic and specific in every detail? A blind, mysterious, dark-haired young man who spoke so politely and painted so exquisitely.

Beyond the Moon by Catherine Taylor is a novel which combines historical fiction with a time travel romance.
Louisa Casson has just lost her grandmother, who was her only family. Her mother died when Louisa was a child, her father abandoned her for the woman who was his mistress and immigrated to the other side of the world.
Louisa is heartbroken: "So that's it then, she thought. I'm all on my own. Not a soul left in the world I can call family any more. Except for my father - but he doesn't count".
Toasting her grandmother's memory with a bottle of vintage cognac while sitting on a cliff is not her brightest idea.
After an accident on the cliff, Louisa finds herself in hospital.
Since she is found by the rescue team at a notorious suicide spot, and she has a history of depression, she is admitted as a "voluntary patient" to a psychiatric hospital.

The Coldbrook Hall hospital is a large Victorian building surrounded by forests. It is chronically understaffed, and the patients are at the mercy of indifferent personnel ruled by the sadistic nurse nicknamed Enema, who enjoys her power over the vulnerable people.

Reading exposé articles on the hospital units run by private companies, the cruelty of the staff and the lack of proper treatment and provision are sadly not a fictional exaggeration.

One day, following another patient she befriends in the hospital, Louisa ventures into the closed off, dilapidated and abandoned wing. There she hears a call for help, and stumbles across a dark, old-fashioned hospital room. Inside she finds a mysterious young man, who has lost his sight, and who claims he was wounded at the Battle of the Somme.
Since it's a psychiatric hospital, Louise humours him by agreeing with what he says.
Only the young man is not delusional. Lieutenant Robert Lovett is indeed in hospital, recuperating after the famous battle of the WWI.

What Louisa doesn't realise at first, is that she manages to enter the door to the past.

Robert is a talented artist, with a promising future. Suffering from hysterical blindness, he is in despair. The medical professionals are not sure of the mechanism of his sight loss.
"Oh God, would he ever see again - well enough even to wash or feed himself, let alone paint pictures of birds and flowers, his favourite views of the South Downs and the cliffs? Or would he be shut up forever in this crypt of shadows, wretched, a prisoner in his own body, shirking his duty while the Somme campaign went from bad to worse, neglecting his men, gradually being erased from the world bit by bit?"

Two lost souls, vulnerable and feeling hopeless, Louisa and Robert are drawn to each other, breaking the barriers of time.

Beyond the Moon has been promoted as "Outlander meets Birdsong". The comparisons with Outlander are inevitable. Both female protagonists are aspiring to become medical doctors, both accidentally travel through the time portal and fall in love with a hero who lives in a parallel world of the past. Though there is enough gore (especially on the battlefields and in the hospital), Taylor respects her characters more and avoids the unnecessary sadism and often too graphic sex scenes which Gabaldon is known for.

It is a beautiful love story, set against a historically authentic backdrop. The front lines of 2016-17 are portrayed with great insight and compassion.
The war chapters are poignant and sad. So many young lives doomed. The appalling conditions of life in the trenches and the daily horrors of the medical hospital at the front make it not an easy reading. Some of the pages are heart-chilling and linger in the mind.

Beyond the Moon is a beautifully executed novel, with a powerful sense of time and place. It is a deeply moving story of love and heartache, a time travel romance of great imaginative depth.


This review is part of the blog tour. You can check out the other reviews following the tour:

Author Bio:
Catherine Taylor was born and grew up on the island of Guernsey in the British Channel Islands. She is a former journalist, most recently for Dow Jones News and The Wall Street Journal in London.
Beyond the Moon is her first novel. She lives in Ealing, London, with her husband and two children.
Social media links:
Instagram - @catherine_taylor_author
Twitter @CathTaylorNovel
https://catherinetaylor.net

Giveaway
If you like the sound of this book, you have a chance of winning one of 5 paperback copies of Beyond the Moon.

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Photo diary: week 2, project 366

The second week of January was thankfully rather uneventful. My boys are back to school. I like to have mornings to myself, after I take Eddie to school and come home. I make myself a cup of coffee, and either read or watch something on Netflix before tackling the endless home tasks.
This week I started watching The Witcher on Netflix. I watched about 5 episodes, and not sure if I want to continue. Geralt of Rivia, with his long hair and piercing eyes, is, of course, an eye candy, but I don't care about anyone in the series, whether they stay alive or get killed off.
All female characters are irrational, I think they are meant to be feisty and independent, but they just appear highly annoying. And don't start me on the irritating singer.
The question is Do I give up on the series, or will it get better? People seem to sing praises to it on Twitter.

As much as I like the camera in my iphone, it just doesn't do small sized objects well. I've tried to take a photo of a single white berry for several days, but no matter how far (or close) I step away, the berry is slightly out of focus.

On Monday Eddie had a dental appointment in Oxford, and afterwards his Dad took him to the West Gate centre to check out the play area and the book shop.

Reflections in the Windrush river...
It was the Russian Christmas, but we didn't do any special celebratory meal. I cooked tofu in a teriyaki sauce with sesame seeds the day before, and Eddie loved it so much, he requested it again.

I am an incorrigible book buyer. I was hoping to restrain myself from buying more books this month, but have managed to break all promises to myself. This is a stash of books I have acquired in the last week, from the charity shops, Waterstone's, Sainsbury's, The Works and Amazon.
Eddie asked me to get him House of Secrets, but all the rest - is for my own reading.

On Wednesday Sasha had his respite stay. Eddie and I didn't do very much. We watched Avengers Assemble for the umpteenth time.

Only last week I was saying that there is no colour in the garden. This week the purple hellebore began to bloom.

It was the Wolf Moon yesterday, the first full Moon of the decade, which also coincided with the lunar eclipse. I missed the eclipse altogether, but managed to catch the full Moon from the garden.

It's been drizzling on and off for several days, and everything outside is soggy. We did venture to the playground, but it started to rain, and we didn't linger for long.

I've been reading A house of ghosts by W.C. Ryan, and hope to finish it tonight. It's quite an entertaining mix of mystery and ghost story. Have you read it?

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Million Eyes by C. R. Berry #BlogTour

A loud, continuous hum pinched her ears. She felt sleepy, dizzy. She blinked. Suddenly there were people and vehicles everywhere, surrounding her car, and everyone and everything was transparent - like ghosts - and blurred together like countless photos superimposed over one another...
It dawned on Jennifer what this blur of ghosts meant. Time. All of it. The past, the present, the future. All of it happening at once. All of it merged in front of her eyes...

Million Eyes by C.R. Berry (Elsewhen Press), a fascinating and unusual novel, moves at a cracking pace from the past to the present, and back in time again.

As if meeting King William II in 1100 in the first pages of the book was not exciting enough, we learn that he has acquired a book under an improbable title of The History of Computer-Aided Timetabling for Railway Systems. Now, did that catch your attention?
William orders his chief minister to hide the book with a low-born family who would understand the importance of the book and can be trusted to protect its secrets.
"We must protect it," said William... "This book is evidence of a serious threat to the kingdom and of those behind it. It is an omen. An omen foretelling the future that God is compelling me to avert."

A few days later King William meets his death in the New Forest.

In 2019, a former history teacher Gregory Farro, is not convinced that William's death was a shooting accident. He finds evidence that a cabal of time travellers might be responsible for this "accident" and a whole series of events which have moulded the British history.
"Apparently this time traveller was pretending to be Walter Tyrrell and was looking for an unnamed "book" that the king had hidden. He then shot the king, talked to someone on what Ferro interpreted as a mobile phone" and vanished into thin air.

The mysterious book, which is published in 1995, is also mentioned in a letter to Edward III in 1348, as well as in a history book written in 1977.

Ferro blogs about his historical discoveries. Jennifer Larson, a history graduate, who is earning money as an admin assistant, is still deciding what to do with her life, when she stumbles upon the conspiracy/time travel blog.
She offers her help to Ferro, and together, they try to piece the relevant information together. Unbeknown to them, they are closely watched by Million Eyes, the biggest computer company in the world.
Their research makes them the targets of the unknown assassins who are set upon the task of rewriting the history and building an alternative timeline.

It's a darkly addictive story which weaves together the threads of the Princes in the Tower, the Great Pestilence, the death of William II, the mystery of Jack the Ripper and the tragic crash that killed Princess Diana.

Million Eyes is the first book in the series. It's published as an ebook on the 10th of January, and as a paperback on the 20th of March 2020. The author is currently working on the 2nd book in the series.
Million Eyes is an amalgam of genres - science fiction, with time travel as sub-genre and conspiracy theory. We get to know characters and concepts which will be developed in the new book.

There are some sinister figures who appear to hop from one historical period to another, and they have an agenda.

The concept of time travelling and its consequences, when a minor change in the past could bring on a profound shift and reshuffling in the future events is not a new one. I believe, it is called the Butterfly effect (part of the Chaos theory). But, of course what matters, it's how the concept is delivered - in case of Million Eyes - with a great aplomb and coolness.


I have read a few time-travelling books, and the technique of moving from one period to another is usually through some sort of portal, sometimes a permanent one, sometimes a moving entity.
The way the characters travel in time in Milliom Eyes is quite an unusual one (but I won't give you any spoilers).

This complex, dark, menacing novel breathes new life into the time travel genre. Readers who delight in conspiracy theories will take a great pleasure in this cleverly plotted tale.

Author Bio:
C.R.Berry caught the writing bug at the tender age of four and has never recovered. His earliest stories were filled with witches, monsters, evil headteachers, Disney characters and the occasional Dalek. He realised pretty quickly that his favourite characters were usually the villains. He wonders if that's what led him to become a criminal lawyer. It's certainly why he's taken to writing conspiracy thrillers, where baddies are numerous and everywhere.
After a few years getting a more rounded view of human nature's darker side, he quit lawyering and turned to writing full-time. He now works as a freelance copywriter and novelist and blogs about conspiracy theories, time travel and other otherworldly weirdness.
He was shortlisted in the 2018 Grindstone Literary International Novel Competition and has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Storgy, Dark Tales, Theme of Absence and Suspense Magazine. He was also shortlisted in the Aeon Award Contest, highly commended by Writers' Forum, and won second prize in the inaugural To Hull and Back Humorous Short Story Competition.
He grew up in Farnborough, Hampshire, a town he says has as much character as a broccoli. He's since moved to the "much more interesting and charming" Haslemere in Surrey.
Website and social media links:
https://crberryauthor.wordpress.com
http://millioneyes.co.uk
https://gregoryferro.home.blog
https://twitter.com/CRBerry1
https://www.facebook.com/CRBerry1

Many thanks to C.R.Berry, Elsewhen Press and Rachel's Random Resources for my copy of the book.

This post is part of the blog tour, you may check out the other reviews along the route.

Photo diary: week 1, project 366

Yotam Ottolenghi wrote in the latest issue of Feast: "There's a fuzzy period between Christmas and New Year when no one quite remembers what the date or plan is". That in a way describes all the winter school break for me, I'm not quite following the days or dates.
It's back to school tomorrow for us.
And amen to that, it was a rather stressful long holiday period, and so many things were put on hold.
Happy new year to you all, and a happy new decade!

This post is a mix of the last few days of 2019 and the beginning of 2020. On the last Sunday of 2019 I was trying to finish my Top reads of 2019 post, and taking some images of the books I've read in the last year, like A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison.
It's a wonderful magic adventure for children, with feisty heroines.

In between shopping trips, I took Eddie to Greggs. All sausage rolls were finished, so he has chosen a slice of pepperoni pizza instead. To me it's not a proper pizza. I like the Italian-style crust, thin and crispy, this slab looks more like an open pie than pizza.

The 31st passed in a blur of cooking and TV. We watched Billy Elliot with Eddie. I didn't realise there was so much effing in the film. It is a good film, though the language made me wince quite a few times.
Eddie told me that Tom Holland, who is his hero, was in a Billy Elliot musical production when he was a child. I wonder if he'd like to see the musical in the theatre.

I didn't take any photos on the 31st as such, though I did try to catch the fireworks just a minute past midnight. We could see some feeble attempts at fireworks over the garden wall, but it was more noisy than spectacular.

On the 1st of January Eddie and I went to the cinema to see Spies in Disguise. It was actually quite entertaining, if you don't expect anything too clever. Eddie had to see it, because Tom Holland is voicing one of the main characters.

I asked Eddie to take a photo of me, as I wanted to do the "ten year challenge". Yep, I know, I'm jumping on the bandwagon unashamedly. Eddie wanted me to make a double photo for him as well, but I told him he wasn't born yet a decade ago, so I couldn't possibly help him.

It's only week 1, and I've already failed to take photos every day. I'm just feeling so listless and tired, and lacking in motivation.
I walked around the garden yesterday afternoon, looking for some inspiration, maybe a flower.
I know a year ago we already had hellebores in bloom in the early days of Jnauary but this year there are only leaves on view.
The only colour in the garden is the bright red of rosehips.

I am trying to grow a red hyacinth in a jar on the kitchen window sill, without soil, but with pebbles and some seashells. The roots go down and sideways in a slightly creepy way. And the bulb shifted itself, so it's now slightly lop-sided.

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My top 10 reads of 2019

It could have easily been 11 or 12, but 10 is a good round number. I have read well over 75 books this year, with a few -  which I started and never finished - not added to the final total.
Many of the books on my Reading challenge 2019 at Good Reads (if you're curious, click on the link to see what is on my list) are stories for children and YA fiction. This is mainly because I read to my younger son every evening, but there were a couple of YA books which I've read on my own, for pure pleasure.

Hence my top 10 are a mix of adult and YA fiction. Some of them are reviewed on my blog, some are still waiting to be reviewed, but each and every one of them is splendid in its own way, and each one made me marvel at the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of the human nature.

For keeping me sane in the hours when I feel despondent or stressed, I thank all the authors. I know that an escapism is a "bad" word, when related to books, but for me it's a positive experience. Escaping the mundane (how about reading The Wonky Donkey or Georgina the Giraffe aloud every single evening for half a year, or the drudgery of daily washing & ironing?!), the anxiety and stress of parenting, family disagreements, health issues etc - by moving into the parallel world of books - should be prescribed as a medical solution to many a problem.

I salute you, readers and authors!

And here are my favourite reads of 2019 in no particular order...

The Secret by Katharine Johnson (Crooked Cat) was my first book of the year (<--- you can read a full review which was part of the blog tour). It is an absorbing novel which has managed to capture the particular time and place with a great authority and genuineness.
This is a story of two friends, whose lives were damaged by secrets and lies. This is also a story of the country, complicated and intense.
Martina and Elena grow up in Mussolini's Italy.
Martina is a beautiful spirited girl, who marries into a wealthy family. Her in-laws look at their only surviving son's union as a mesalliance.
Irena is plain but smart, she values books and education, and wants to become a teacher.
Their friendship is tested by the political events and personal circumstances.

This novel made me think of my parents-in-law's wartime childhood in Italy, and also of my own family. My great grandma and grandma lived under the Nazi occupation in the South of Russia. Those were the scary times, when loyalties were tested, families divided, and the survival depended on many factors. Just like in Katharine Johnson's book.

A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison (Simon & Schuster) is a bewitching magic story with not one but three spirited heroines.
The Widdershin sisters - Betty, Fliss and Charlie - grow up on the isle of Crowstone. The village inn, The Poacher's Pocket is the only home they knew.
On her birthday, Betty learns about the family curse. And about the gifts bestowed on each Widdershin girl. There are three items, three gifts, each of them an everyday object, and each of them holds a different kind of power. A pinch of magic, as described by their grandma.
The sisters must work as a team, if they ever hope to break the family curse which has been killing off the womenfolk in their family for many generations. Their magic adventures border on suicide, and they must be brave, bold and trusting each other while going on their journey of discovery and self-discovery.

Book 2 in the series (A Sprinkle of Sorcery) will be out in 2020, and I'm super impatient to learn of the latest Widdershins' adventure.

The Girl Who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson (Usborne) is a magical tale of self-discovery, self-identity, our uniqueness and differentness, of what family and friendship, and true love mean to us. It's a beautiful story, and a future classic.

Yanka the Bear is big and strong, she is so different from the other children in the village.
She lives with Mamochka, a lady who found her in the deep forest outside the bear cave. Yanka keeps wondering about her parents, and the bear who looked after her when she was a baby.
One day after an accident in the snow fortress, Yanka wakes up to find that her feet have turned into the bear legs. She flees her home, looking for the answers in the forest.

It is a delightful story, with lots of elements of reinvented and retold Russian folk tales.
Wonderful cover design by Kathrin Honesta deserves a special mention too.

I wish this book was written when I was a child. I know that I would have loved it.
(And I also wish I wrote this book, as I love it so much).

Malamander by Thomas Taylor (Walker Books) is another book for children, which has won my son's and my hearts. It is a fabulous seaside mystery for anyone who enjoys a mix of folklore, Gothic horror and magic.
Herbie Lemon is the Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel in Eerie-on-Sea. He looks after the lost property, and lives in the hotel cubbyhole. He was found on the beach in a crate of lemons, with his memory wiped out.
One day a girl scrambles into his room through the window, she is trying to escape a scary Boathook Man. Violet is an orphan who tries to find the truth about her parents. Since Herbie is a Lost-and-Founder, Violet reckons he could help her in her search.
Thus a detective duo is born, and their adventures begin, amidst the stormy wintery atmosphere.

Malamander is the legendary sea monster, who roams the cold beach of Eerie-on-Sea in the dead of night. Meet him at your peril. It might destroy you or it might grant your wish, if you are lucky to get hold of its magical egg.

It's a wonderful story. A pure joy to read.

The 2nd book in the series should be out some time in 2020, and we cannot wait to read it.

Sleep by C.L.Taylor (Avon) comes with the most enticing cover blurb:
Seven Guests. Seven Secrets. One Killer. Do you dare to... Sleep

Anna, an acting manager at Bay View Hotel on the remote Scottish island of Rum, is not able to sleep. Insomnia and night terrors, driven by a feeling of guilt, keep her awake.
Seven guests arrive to the small hotel, each hiding their own secrets, and all act suspiciously.
One of them is playing sadistic cruel mind games. When the first death in the hotel occurs, Anna is panic-stricken.
Cut off by the bad weather from the rest of the island, Anna and the guests have to endure each other's company, socialise and ultimately survive.
The cut-off hotel, with its remote location, and no way of getting in touch with anyone on the isle or beyond, works perfectly as a mystery vehicle to intensify the claustrophobic tension and drama.
The twist at the end will chill your bones.

The Way of All Flesh by Ambrose Parry (Canongate) is a historical mystery with a medical twist. It is pretty gruesome (some of the scenes of childbirth are so harrowing, they stay with you for a long time), so if you're squeamish when it comes to gore in books, perhaps it is not a right book for you.
Will Raven, the main protagonist of the novel, is a medical student apprenticed to the renowned Dr Simpson.
Sarah Fisher is a housemaid in the same household. She is intelligent and shrewd, but being a female at those times, she is not expected to give her opinions on any things that truly matter.
The 19th C Edinburgh is brought to life and provides an atmospheric background to the series of spine-chilling murders. As the bodies' count grows, Will and Sarah begin to work together to find out the culprit.
Their relationship starts on a negative note, but slowly they begin to respect each other.
The medical scene of Edinburgh of 1847 is fascinating. The experiments with ether and chloroform (when women are used as guinea pigs by the medical men) are denounced by the church. Medical research takes a prime position in this historical crime.

It's a historical whodunnit at its finest.

The second book in the series, The Art of Dying, was published earlier in 2019.

Storytellers by Bjørn Larssen (JosephTaylor) is set in Iceland, with its harsh unforgiving, yet breathtakingly beautiful and poetic landscape.
Gunnar is a reclusive blacksmith with a drinking problem. He lives with his dog and horse, and doesn't want to socialise. He's a loner, and likes it that way. Visitors make him panic. He wants peace of the nature around him and the company of his animals. And a steady supply of his "medication".

However, the fate brings a visitor on his doorstep.
Sigurd, a man with a broken ankle, has some mysterious plans of his own. He imposes himself on Gunnar, and pays for his silence. No-one should know about his whereabouts or even his existence.
To stop Gunnar from asking too many questions, Sigurd offers to tell him a story. A story which will include love and death, and plenty of everything.

The story unravels, as we travel back in time, and meet a young, fearless Icelander named Arnar who goes to America to seek fortune. There he meets the love of his life, a beautiful Juana. They elope and go back to Iceland.
Gunnar and Arnar's stories are interconnected. They are both stories of the human loneliness, depression and feeling entrapped.
This is a multi-layered tale, where the lives of farmers in the small closed community are elevated to the level of the sagas.

This is a beautiful narrative, with a vivid sense of place and time. A terrific read.

I believe Bjørn Larssen is working on a new book, and I'm looking forward to reading it (the hints on Twitter feed are very exciting).

Tilly and the Bookwanderers (Pages & Co, book 1) by Anna James is a magical adventure for true bookworms.
Tilly lives with her grandparents above their bookshop ever since her mother has disappeared without a trace. All her family are bookish. They live and breathe books, escaping into the pages of their favourite novels.
One day Tilly meets children who turn up to be just like her favourite book characters - Anne of Green Gables and Alice in Wonderland. Only they're not LIKE the characters, they ARE the characters. How is that even possible?!
Tilly discovers that she has a gift of bookwandering, i.e. crossing the borders between the real world and the world of books. She can step into books and watch the events as they would unravel in stories.
With the help of her friend Oscar, Tilly wants to explore her newly-found gift, trying to find out what has happened to her mother. Will she be able to solve the mystery?

This is a great story for anyone who believes in the power of books. The concept of bookwandering is close to my heart. I'd love to go on an adventure with Tilly.

Tilly and the lost fairytales (Pages & Co book 2) was published earlier this year. We're half way through reading it.

The Iron Chariot by Stein Riverton (Lightning Books; translation by Lucy Moffatt) was published in 1909. It has been voted the best Norwegian crime novel of all time in 2017.
On a hot summer day, a nameless narrator and his companions from a boarding house on an island are shocked to discover that one of their fellow guests has been found murdered.
The narrator was the last person to see the victim alive. On his walk on the eve before the gruesome discovery he meets a fisherman, and while talking, they both hear the sound of the rattling chains.
This is the sound of the iron chariot, a harbinger of an imminent death, according to the locals.

Detective Asbjorn Krag arrives from the capital to investigate.
Another death occurs in the neighbourhood, and again, the iron chariot is heard but not seen. The mystery intensifies, when it is revealed that the second victim was supposed to be dead for several years.
The narrator is drawn into the investigation by Detective Krag, who appears to be jolly, insensitive and rather devious.
The setting of the novel is reminiscent of the other famous sinister location in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Riverton's Gothic descriptions of nature provide an eerie background to the unravelling mystery.

Lucy Moffatt did a fantastic job, translating this novel for the English-speaking readers. My special thanks to her.

The Iron Chariot is a superb psychological mystery, which will appeal to the Scandi Noir fans.

Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver (Head of Zeus) is a striking Gothic thriller. I only just finished reading it a few days ago, but after finishing it, I knew I had to rethink my original top 10 reads.
It has all the elements which appeal to me in a mystery - a secluded setting, a mix of suspense and supernatural, a strong female protagonist, a beautiful style of writing.
The novel is set in a remote manor house of Wake's End, surrounded by the fens of Suffolk at the beginning of the 20th C. The master of the house, a local landowner and historian Edmund Stearne is a scholar of the Middle Ages.
The story is mainly told by his daughter Maud, who we meet as a 69-year-old woman, and then travel with her back in time, when her father commits an atrocious murder and is confined to an asylum.
We also see the insights into the mind of a maniac from his diary entries.
Life in the fens is cruel and unforgiving. No wonder, the superstitions and local lore are abundant. Young Maud is caught between the pull of the fens and glimpses of freedom, and the expectations of what a young lady of her class and status should do. And oh my, how stifling that life is.
It seems a woman's lot is dreadful, wherever you look, from young Ivy who trades sex for the scraps of "better life" to Maud's mother whose married life is a drudgery of the "debt of matrimony", endless pregnancies and still births.
Wakenhyrst is dark, menacing and chilling.

And that's my top 10 reads of 2019. I wonder what new treasures 2020 will bring.

What were you favourite books of the year?

Photo diary: weeks 51 & 52, project 365

Welcome to the last photo diary post of the year! I can't quite believe where the year has gone. It was a tough year, with lots of ups and downs. I am quite deflated by the end of the year, and hoping the next year will be better (optimistic much?!).
I didn't have a chance to post a weekly post last weekend, as my guys were going to Italy, and I had a lot of things to finish before they left, so here is a combined lot of photos for two weeks.

On Sunday the 15th we felt like the characters of Frozen. Our boiler got broken the day before, and the house was very cold. This is Eddie's selfie on my iphone.

After the school run in the morning I walked towards the flood fields to check out the levels of the Windrush river. It wasn't an extensive flood, but I still couldn't get through, and had to make a detour to get back home.

Waiting outside Eddie's school for the gates to open, I spotted this pale pansy. Really not the right season for these flowers at all.

A quick coffee in the morning at the Blue Boar before rushing into the shops to find the last minute gifts for my family.

It was the last day of school for Eddie, and he had a Nativity service at the church with his school. He was a donkey. He didn't have any words, and wasn't even allowed to say Hee Haw. I thought he looked very cute in his donkey costume. I told him that the donkey was very important, as without him Mary and Joseph wouldn't have reached Bethlehem, and Jesus would have been born on the road. The story might have been completely different...

The next day Eddie went to Oxford to see a dentist, and then they stopped at my husband's college. Here is Eddie doing an "installation piece" under the table (photo courtesy of my husband).

I finally put the Christmas wreath on the door. I bought it at the local market.

On Sunday lucky Eddie had a chance to jump on the flight simulator outside the cinema, which for the festive weekend was free. He was ecstatic. It must be such a wonderful feeling to soar up.

Early on Monday morning I hugged my boy and cried, as they were leaving for the airport. I was anxious about their trip and about how I would cope with Sasha for five days on my own.
It's the first time in Eddie's life that we spent so many days apart.
I knew it would be hard, but didn't expect it to be so hard. I'm not fond of drama, but I was truly in a bad place.
It didn't help that Sash's behaviour was extremely challenging.
Since Eddie was leaving before Christmas, he opened his gifts from me earlier. He loves Funko Pop toys, and I got him two new ones to add to his collection - Captain America and Spidey from Endgame. They are now watching us from the bookshelf.

The next day I talked to Eddie on Whatssap, and told him that I was watching Kung Fu Panda 3. He said he wished he watched it with me, so I snapped a shot from the film and sent it to him.
It reminded us how we saw it in the cinema for the first time. Eddie's friend who's a year younger, found it too scary and his Mum had to take him home half-way through the film.
I love the Kung Fu Panda series. The music by Zimmerman is excellent.

Eddie had a good time though. His grandparents loved having him there, and he was spoilt rotten. That was my consolation, knowing that he enjoyed his break. They sent me daily photos of their activities, including zorbing.

I have been thinking of which books to choose as my top 10 reads of the year. It's a mix of adult and YA/children's fiction. Hoping to finish the blog post by the end of the year.

I finished reading Wakenhurst by Michelle Paver only this week, and had to re-think my top ten list, as I felt I really had to include it. It has all the elements which I enjoy in books: a suspense, a secluded manor house, a thrill of supernatural, a strong female protagonist. It also shows how bleak a woman's lot is in the patriarchal society. Superb storytelling.

My guys came back home at almost midnight, pretty exhausted after a late evening flight. We went straight to bed.
This morning I looked at the gifts they brought home, including this black cardigan, a gift from my mother-in-law. I asked Eddie to take a photo of me, when we were in the café.
He took several pictures, and in all of them I look so tired. There's a Russian expression krashe v grob kladut, which means someone would look prettier in the coffin.
This Christmas holiday was very tough. I didn't sleep much, and the days were long and stressful. On the plus side, I read several books and watched some old Poirot films.
From the new TV, I only managed to see Call the Midwife, but had to miss The Small Hand with Douglas Henshall.

Hope you had a lovely Christmas.

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Gourmet & Fiesta (December 2019) Degustabox

Christmas is over, and in a few days' time we'll be greeting a new year and a new decade. Looking back over the last few years, you notice that food boxes begin to cater more to people with different diets and food allergies. There are more vegetarian and vegan products, as well as products which could be easily adapted for different diets.
The last Degustabox of the year is bursting with festive treats.

This monthly food and drink subscription box is an excellent way to discover new products which have only just appeared in the shops, or those which might have been around for a while, but you haven't had a chance to try them yet.
Thanks to Degustabox, I have found new favourites to add to our shopping list, including some products which I probably wouldn't have tried otherwise.

Each time the monthly box arrives, it's a total surprise. You get a good selection of foods and drinks. If you haven't tried Degustabox subscription box yet and would like to have a go, I have a whopping £7 off discount from your 1st box (and you can unsubscribe any time), just use a code 8EVI8 when you place an order.

What did we receive in a Gourmet & Fiesta box? (Please bear in mind that the photo below includes items from both alcohol and non-alcohol boxes)

Ardens Gruyere & Spinach Twists (£1.75) are light, flaky all-butter puff pastry twists, entwined with mellow Gruyere cheese and vibrant spinach. It's a perfect pairing of flavours.
Nutritional info: 32kcal per twist, or 488kcal per 100g box.
We scoffed them in one go, straight from the box. Very moreish.
Available from Waitrose.

UFIT Crunchers Sea Salt & Vinegar (gift, see above) is a high protein and healthy on-the-go snack. These delicious high protein popped soy chips come at 158kcal per bag. UFIT Crunchers come in 3 flavours - Smokehouse BBQ, Sea Salt & Vinegar and Thai Sweet Chilli flavour.
That's another snack which disappeared in 60 seconds.

Indie Bay Chocolate Pretzels (Dark and Milk) (£1.25 each) are oven baked spelt, wheat and sunflower bites, covered in chocolate. You will receive 2 items in your box.
Nutritional information: 149kcal and 5.6g of sugar per 31g bag.
Delicious combination of flavours and textures, these little bites will be a big hit with anyone who enjoys a sweet and savoury fusion of tastes.
They are made with ancient grains, and are a source of fibre.
Available on indiebaysnacks.com, Amazon, at Whole Foods Market and Planet Organic.

I have already discovered Gloriously Grown snacks in Sainsbury's, and was glad to see a bag of Gloriously Grown Vietnamese Jumbo Wrapped Cashews (£3) in the box.
These delicious salted cashews are a perfect snack for a party.
Available at Sainsbury's (look out for the other tasty flavours of fruit and nut mixes).

MadeGood Granola Bars (£2.90) are allergy friendly and school safe snack, made from gluten free oats.
Since many children have food allergies and sensitivities, schools are restricting foods brought into the classroom. MadeGood snacks are free from common allergens so children can enjoy them at school or at home. These granola bars are chewy and contain the nutrients of one full serving of vegetables.
All MadeGood ingredients are ethically sourced.
They come in 3 tasty flavours - Chocolate chip, Mixed Berry and Chocolate Banana. Each box includes 6 individually wrapped bars.
Subscribers will receive 1 of 3 flavours (bloggers get to try all 3).
Available at ASDA.

Candy Kittens Tropical Mango (£2) is the delicious new addition to the range of gourmet sweets. Tropical Mango is joining Candy Kittens' vegan range, which is also gluten free and dairy free, uses natural colours and flavourings and contains real fruit juice.
This flavour is available from Morrisons and candykittens.co.uk.

Smith & Sinclair Alcoholic Cocktail Gummies (£15 for a selection of 8) is a grown-up treat.
London-based, cocktail confectionery specialists Smith & Sinclair proudly bring you their alcoholic cocktail gummies.
Blended like a real cocktail with premium spirits, fresh fruit and syrups, each gummy contains half a shot and is vegan. Cin cin!
You should receive 1 gummy in your box. Shop the full range at www.smithandsinclair.com and use code DEGUSTA for 15% off.

King Monty Chocolate Snacks (Pop Rice & Sunny Orange) will be delivered to subscribers who opted for non-alcohol box. These are small-sized dairy and gluten free, plant-based chocolate bars.
They are made with authentic Belgian chocolate.
At 169kcal per bar, this makes it an attractive treat for elevenses or with an afternoon tea.

From snacks to easy meal kits and ideas:
Blue Dragon Teriyaki Street Food Skewers (£2.70) includes everything you will need to prepare an authentic Japanese meal. It includes a Teriyaki sauce sachet, a Teriaki marinade, sesame seeds and skewers. It takes 20 minutes to cook an easy and tasty meal.
This kit is suitable for vegetarians and vegans (and obviously meat-eaters too).
Use chicken, beef or tofu.
Available at ASDA, Morrisons, Tesco, Waitrose and Ocado.

Blue Dragon Thai Holy Basil Stir Fry Kit (£1.50) contains three key ingredients - a base, sauce and topping. It's a kit which includes a Holy Basil sauce, Garlic and ginger paste and dried holy basil.
Take your stir fry to the next level and create an authentic Thai dish in your own kitchen.
Available in Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Ocado.

Very Lazy Chopped Garlic (£1.50) saves you time (and all the washing) in the kitchen, when you need to add flavour to any savoury dish. (Of course, it's not difficult to peel and press a clove through a garlic press, but I hate cleaning the press)
Check out verylazy.com for recipe ideas.
Available in all major supermarkets.

And finally, the drinks:
Lagunitas DayTime Session IPA (£1.80) is" a light beer boldly dosed with a glorious fortune of hops". At 98kcal per bottle and 4% ABV, DayTime is light, crisp and tasty.
Available at ASDA, Morrisons, and pubs and bars across the country.

Pedrino Vermouth & Tonic Spritz (£1.95) is a refreshing, floral blend. The light 5.5% spritzer offers subtle notes of melon, floral botanicals and grapefruit. Serve chilled over ice or use as an effortlessly elegant way to spritz up your classic cocktails.

Aavailable in Ocado, at waitrose and on Amazon.

Oteas Green Tea, Cranberry, Cherry & Strawberry (£3.39) is a refreshing mid-afternoon tea.
It's not the first time Oteas appears in Degustabox's selection.
Classic green tea is enhanced by sour cherry, zesty cranberries and fragrant lemongrass and bamboo leaves, and complemented by sweet apples, strawberries and a touch of cornflour blossoms.
It's a delightful combination of sweet and sour.
Available on Oteas.com, Amazon and Ocado.

As you can see, the last Degustabox of the year was a wonderful box of treats.

Disclosure: We receive a monthly box for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are our own.