Dear readers who may or may not be too hot, I hope this finds you well and not a melted puddle of exhaustion waiting to re-form into something human-shaped. Weirdly, for someone who dislikes summer so intensely, I haven’t found the heat too awful on a personal level
I *am* a melted puddle of exhaustion - our flat has only just cooled down to about 26C in the past hour or two, late on Wednesday night - but the evening's combination of football and footnotes has pepped me up slightly. I didn't even read the whole of the main text (too many book reviews; you read too fast!) but did read all 10-and-a-bit (bit being the *) glorious footnotes without even knowing what half of them referred to. Was Castle Gibson the shop opposite St Mary's on Upper Street? The octopus Ophelia - hahaha so good! And yes, clearly Boglaboll said, "That's a really beautiful quilt, I'll have that." Have a lovely August! x
I’m am totally with you, Florence, regarding The Island of Missing Trees. I haven’t read as much as you of it yet but already feel it’s a book to be savoured, that I don’t want to read too quickly as I want to prolong the enjoyment. We planted a fig in our garden a few years ago, originally in a pot as we didn’t want it to swamp everything else, but it outgrew it and we had to break the pot to get it out which involved propping up the tree and all sorts of shenanigans to find a happy place for it. Reading the book makes me think of the stress the poor tree must have been under! However, it has rewarded us with figs and lovely foliage since, so hopefully it is happy. Always felt figs trees differed from other trees………
Good to hear you are enjoying the Island of Missing Trees - I heard her talking about it to Mary Beard ( I think on Inside Culture) and she came across really well. But I had really struggled with Forty Rules of Love so wasn't sure, but I'll definitely give it a go now.
I *am* a melted puddle of exhaustion - our flat has only just cooled down to about 26C in the past hour or two, late on Wednesday night - but the evening's combination of football and footnotes has pepped me up slightly. I didn't even read the whole of the main text (too many book reviews; you read too fast!) but did read all 10-and-a-bit (bit being the *) glorious footnotes without even knowing what half of them referred to. Was Castle Gibson the shop opposite St Mary's on Upper Street? The octopus Ophelia - hahaha so good! And yes, clearly Boglaboll said, "That's a really beautiful quilt, I'll have that." Have a lovely August! x
Dear Florence,
I love your newsletters and reading the comments. You have a wonderful community.
I hope Nina feels cooler soon. I noticed that the option next the posting was ‘like’ or ‘collapse’. Apt. Rochelle x
Ps and a lovely summer to you too.
I’m am totally with you, Florence, regarding The Island of Missing Trees. I haven’t read as much as you of it yet but already feel it’s a book to be savoured, that I don’t want to read too quickly as I want to prolong the enjoyment. We planted a fig in our garden a few years ago, originally in a pot as we didn’t want it to swamp everything else, but it outgrew it and we had to break the pot to get it out which involved propping up the tree and all sorts of shenanigans to find a happy place for it. Reading the book makes me think of the stress the poor tree must have been under! However, it has rewarded us with figs and lovely foliage since, so hopefully it is happy. Always felt figs trees differed from other trees………
Good to hear you are enjoying the Island of Missing Trees - I heard her talking about it to Mary Beard ( I think on Inside Culture) and she came across really well. But I had really struggled with Forty Rules of Love so wasn't sure, but I'll definitely give it a go now.
P.S. I love your footnotes!