Fodder for Daydreams

Yesterday I woke up from a dream about walking on cobbles surrounded by churches.  It was 3:40 am and there was no going back to sleep for me.  But it was awfully nice to just lie there and mull over my trip to England instead of hopping out of bed to shower and change in time to make breakfast at the B & Bs we stayed at.

After an overnight flight, a one hour tube ride to St Pancras and a one hour train ride out to Canterbury, I emerged on to the station platform expecting a melodramatic reunion with my daughter.  She was coming down the stairs as I made my way through the tunnel so we missed each other but in no time at all we were all sorted and had a cuddle for the first time in thirteen months.  What followed was nine days of adventure as The Heiress gave me a guided tour of Canterbury, we visited Dover Castle and its underground tunnels from World War II, and then moved on to the hustle and bustle of London.  Over the next few posts I'll be sharing a handful of photos (which I haven't even looked at properly myself yet) and stories of the things we did and to hopefully inspire someone out there to add a place or two to their holiday or weekend plans.

Most of my nearest and dearest who stop by here love nothing more than a bit of book porn.  Considering the nature of my trip was to help The Heiress cart back her belongings I had to keep the British Airways luggage allowance in mind while browsing.  It was torture as the bookshops are packed with so many irresistible books - really large books, perfect for drooling over on rainy days.  THE find was a first edition copy of Late and Soon by E. M. Delafield which I found in the 'G' section of the basement at Any Amount of Books on Charing Cross Road.  It pays to carefully look at every single book since people are notorious for shoving things back in any space that's handy.  The other lovely finds were from second-hand bookshops, Oxfam, Waterstones and in the case of The Book of Christmas from the V&A gift shop.  Alighting from the Russell Square tube stop one day I realized that a determined stride would have me squeezing through the door at Persephone Books before closing time at six.  Danielle from A Work in Progress kindly sent me her spare copy of A Little Dinner Before the Play by Agnes Jekyll and it was waiting for me when I got home.  Surely I will never be a fan of aspic but reading about historical menus is something I never get tired of.  In the chapter 'For the Too Fat' Agnes recommends...

'If that insidious enemy, soup, be held indispensable at dinner, at least avoid the vegetable purees and bisque's made with cream, butter, root vegetables and rich fish, also the savoury potage in which milk and flour figure, and try clear Consomme a l'Estragon, with its delicate and clean flavour.

My husband doesn't particularly like soup and that really annoys me but thinking of it as an 'insidious enemy' is hilarious.  Calories are not something to concern myself with considering all of the walking I have done recently and as the photo attests, there is jam to enjoy!  Be back soon with more trip details....

 

In Search of The Shooting Party

Other than a night out to see Danny Bhoy's comedy routine last weekend (which we quite enjoyed) it has been all work and very little play lately.  So with the forecast calling for warm temperatures and sunny skies, R and I noted three second-hand bookshops we haven't been to yet and set off.

A few titles were on my 'look for' list but The Shooting Party by Isabel Colegate was going to be my coup find of the day if I could spot a copy.  It all began with an enthusiastic review by not only a blog friend but a reading enthusiast I hold in high esteem.  When Rachel says drop what you're doing and get your hands on a certain book right this very minute I usually do.  Well, there was this thing with Willa Cather that I tried to ignore but one of her novels landed in my mailbox anyway, courtesy of you-know-who.  Book Snob is passionate about spreading the word when it comes to a good read let me tell you!

So R and I visited Re: Reading where I browsed but didn't buy, Balfour Books (above photo) where I bought a much-read copy of Jenny Wren by E. H. Young and Indifferent Heroes by Mary Hocking.  This is the second in a trilogy but sounds so fantastic that I'm willing to spend the rest of my days in search of the first and third books in the series.  The very astute owner noted my choices and pointed out The Other Elizabeth Taylor by Nicola Beauman to which I replied "Read it and loved it!".  Next up was Ten Editions with impossibly high shelves stacked with so many books, mostly non-fiction, that it's going to be saved for another day.  Less than a mile away was my go-to shop, BMV Books, and my last hope to find The Shooting Party.

Not only were several copies in stock but I found a pristine edition that had been reduced by almost half!  They also had very reasonably priced copies of an Elizabeth Bowen I don't have and an L.P. Hartley which has been on my wishlist for ages.  It's all about the hunt and delayed gratification, right?  Then, lo and behold, I spied a copy of Manservant and Maidservant by Ivy Compton-Burnett which I'm quite sure is a first edition and priced at only $2.  Thinking of Simon from StuckInABook I had to snap it up as he's a fan and would have cheered me on no doubt.  I've never read anything by this author so I'm curious to discover the appeal.

Being more than pleased with my finds it was time to get out and enjoy the sunshine and buy my long-suffering husband and book search partner some lunch.   

Sunday on a Patio...and Books!

Yesterday a case of golfer's guilt prompted my husband to offer up a drive to Toronto for some book browsing with lunch on a patio.  It's also Caribana weekend so he planned alternate routes in case the traffic wreaked havoc.  I was fine with a lazy afternoon around the house but after a millisecond of hesitation it was on with the lippy and out the door we went.

BMV Books has no catalogue system whatsoever so there's no quick and easy way to find out if something is in stock.  There's nothing for it but to load up the parking meter and browse until your time is up.  The literature section flips over quickly with stacks of green book bins full of fresh stock to fill gaps once a space is made so each visit is like scanning the shelves for the first time. 

My heart leapt at finding the orange Penguin edition of Little Boy Lost on a bottom shelf looking out of place amongst more recent publications.  I loved the Persephone Classic version but have coveted this edition for ages. The Lehmann short stories are described as 'set against the background of Britain at war: the world of women and children, the minutiae of daily life in rural England...'  Perfect.  The Wilkie Collins was just because and my inner 'downstairs girl' simply could not resist another book on English domesticity.  Reading snippets about the etiquette of entertaining guests for dinner, dealing with infant teething (they lanced their gums!), how maids should mend linens on their day off and the most humane way to slaughter a pig made the drive home seem a lot quicker.  The seemingly endless paragraphs of rigid rules and guidelines had R saying he would rather have been the type to hang out at the docks wheeling and dealing for a living.

I probably should have spent my time reading the book on my nightstand instead of buying more but it was a fun afternoon out.  You can't go back to work after a long weekend saying you hung around the house now can you?  We've also seen the last installment in the Harry Potter series with our group of friends.  Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith, I love you.  And this weekend was the annual Steak-Off BBQ.  R won it last year but this year barely managed to stay out of the basement.  He went with an untested recipe which was a bit banal for his liking once he tried it at the event.  So what's a fellow to do at that point?  He starts rooting through the host's spice cupboard, finds a jar of steak spice and begins shaking it over the steaks like a madman with a set of maracas in a mariachi band.  It actually wasn't bad at all but the competition was quite exemplary this year so better luck, and practice, next time.

So today I am a golf widow and perfectly happy with plans to use my day off to get some housework and laundry done.  Mrs Beeton would be so pleased.

Playing Hooky from Housework

Every few weeks it's important to forget about the lawn mower, the laundry and the grocery shopping so you can just take off and have fun.  Last winter, R and I discovered West Bloor Village in Toronto and since strolling is much nicer in the warm weather that's where we set off for yesterday.  Imagine walking into what looked like an average Chapters bookstore to discover it used to be a vaudeville theatre!  To visit the ladies room you have to exit stage left but naturally I couldn't resist turning to look out over a sea of books and imagine faces.  What a ham!
 

As someone who has a designated 'chocolate cupboard' my eye was drawn to a display of Dolfin chocolate bars in a shop full of the most fresh and colourful take-out food you can imagine.  These are for the gourmand with delectable flavours such as lemon and ginger, pear and grilled almond and dark chocolate with violets.  But who am I kidding?  Cadbury Fruit and Nut Dark takes me to a happy place every bit as well.

With Mexican music playing in the background we could have closed our eyes and pretended to be on a hot, sunny beach.  And we would have had to pretend as the weather was quite cool and grey yesterday in Toronto, not at all typical for June.  While these bottles were a feast for the eyes with their summery picnic packaging we found some chardonnay from a local winery on offer at a great price.  You can probably guess which one we brought home.

And last not but least we found the proverbial 'doggy in the window'.  With sleepy eyes this little sweetheart watched a steady stream of people go past the shop from the comfort of a sofa on display.  Hopefully whoever ends up buying it isn't allergic to dogs!

I suppose that my book find should also have a mention.  At BMV Books, a second-hand shop, I found a great deal on a very nearly pristine copy of this.  But first I have some housework to catch up on before I get stuck in!

Books and a Bit of Luck

Not that I'm a loser or anything like that, but I'm not usually the person at the company Christmas party taking home the raffle prizes.  Recently the planets aligned and I became stupendously lucky all of a sudden, winning a photo contest and two draws through blogging and a sweatshirt from the library.  Wouldn't you know it though, getting cocky I bought a lottery ticket and my luck ended right then and there. C'est la vie and really, would I want to run the risk that all that money could possibly affect who I am anyway?

My smile could not have been any brighter at finding a copy of, Mapp and Lucia, by E.F. Benson, courtesy of Rochester Reader, in my mailbox.  A few days later, South Riding, by Winifred Holtby arrived, ever so cheekily sweetly, accompanied by a copy of O Pioneers! by Willa Cather.  Book Snob is convinced that she can illuminate me to the joys of American literature and will not rest until I experience this book for myself.  Shy away from nothing lest you face a force to be reckoned with named, Rachel!

Dropping The Heiress off after an overnight visit this past Sunday, R and I browsed a few second-hand shops in the blustery downtown area of Kitchener.  I should know better than to wear flats without socks there, it's always so much colder!  The only thing my search was yielding was a stiff neck from tilting my head to read the spines.  Then what do I spy but R walking towards me holding a copy of, A Wreath of Roses, by Elizabeth Taylor, I think he was saying something like 'do you have this one?'  Honestly, the only thing I saw was a fabulous book surrounded by a halo of light.  Then, back he goes and quickly spots, Miss Mole, by the wonderful E.H. Young, only the very book I've most wanted to read since being completely enamoured by, William!  Spotting green spines has made these bookish outings a great source of fun for my husband as he takes great pleasure in being way more successful at it than I am.    

Somewhere between here and Paperback Reader's house there is a copy of, The Winds of Heaven, by Monica Dickens.  Lady Luck struck again during Persephone Reading Weekend leaving me almost embarrassed to claim another prize, almost.  I think that saying the Brits have of 'all your Christmases and birthdays coming at once' applies here because if you are a book lover it is the best gift there is and that is exactly how I am feeling at the moment.

An Aga, Some Tarts & Me

Today will be a day to remember forever and always.  I drank in the beauty that is an Aga cooker in all its cast iron glory.  R didn't quite understand the attraction at first but by the time we left The Aga Shop he was planning a new kitchen with a refrigerator to match.  Realistically though, until we finish paying for The Heiress' education the best we can hope to attain is one of these...

...adorable teapots!

 We were just up the road from the St Lawrence Market so we stopped in for something sweet.  The Key Lime tarts (bottom shelf) came highly recommended by the waiter at the pub were we had lunch.  R wanted to buy some fruit as well and while he made his choices I tried my first fresh fig from Argentina....delicious!

                                    
And thanks to Renata's suggestion in response to my post about visiting second-hand bookshops in Toronto last weekend, we stopped at Eliot's on Yonge Street.  To my sheer delight there were creaky floors, creaky steps and a sliding ladder!  It did make a very unfeminine 'thunk' whenever I stepped on it causing R to shout out a couple of times from the row over 'Is that you going up again?'  With copies of On the Side of the Angels by Betty Miller (VMC) and The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen under my arm it was time to head back home for some playtime with Deacon.  Perhaps we could skip dinner and go straight to dessert!

Books and Buns

Several weeks ago, I received an email from someone who reads my blog.  She was wondering which second-hand bookshops I could recommend in Toronto.  It then came to my attention that bookshops carrying new were my usual haunts when in the city.  It was my responsibility to do some research and the sooner the better!  Saturday was to be the nicest day of the weekend so R and I grabbed a bagel and a tea/coffee and off we went.  Our first stop was BMV Books, I had read that there was a large supply of remainders and second-hand titles but that some of the staff were a bit on the rude side...hmmm.  Finding a copy of Angel by Elizabeth Taylor made my day, further finds by Rebecca West, Rose Macaulay and Elizabeth von Arnim had me beaming.  Then I asked a clerk where the Art Deco books were.  'In the Arts section' came her dry, unenthusiastic reply.  'No shit, Sherlock' was what I wanted to say but instead I replied 'That's lovely!'

Driving to another area of Toronto we stopped at The Book Exchange, where I found a copy of I'm Not Complaining by Ruth Adams.  I know nothing about her but the characters in this book consist of a promiscuous Jenny, a communist Freda and a spinsterish Miss Jones.  Yes, please!  Right next door was Dencan Books...oh my goodness.  R wondered if the collapsing shelves with books spilled all over the window display was some sort of artsy statement.  Cautiously opening the door, we were greeted with the overwhelming smell of mold.  It was total chaos with piles of books littering the floor, there was barely a path to allow any meandering at all.  Bravely we began to browse the ridiculously stuffed shelves and after a few minutes, R called me over.  He was checking for some authors and found...Dickens, Dickens, Dickens, Beginner Accounting, Dickens, Dickens...and so on.  It was definitely time for a change of scenery so we drove off to find a bakery but I swear I coughed mold spores for several minutes afterwards.

The Hot Oven Bakery was just the place for rest and refreshment and oh, the gorgeous aromas floating in the air, way better than mold!  R ordered some cookies to go, I chose the Empire cookies (the large ones) and he decided on chocolate chip.  Then we munched on cinnamon buns and sipped our hot drinks while we chatted and thought about what we might like to try the next time we stop by. 

All too soon it was time for the drive back to Burlington.  My research mission was pretty successful but I am quite sure that there is more work still to be done.  And if you've read any of the Viragos I found please let me know what you thought! 

A Book and a Confession

Waking up this morning I was full of resolve in my personal challenge to read from my shelves for as long as possible this year.  Once The Heiress was packed up and driven back to school today, a blog post declaring my intent was going to be written.

The only thing I have to declare at this moment is that I AM WEAK!

This was not an indiscriminate purchase, plucked from a shelf out of greed...it's a Folio Society publication for goodness sake!  Costing the same as a mere paperback there was really nothing to think about.   More Pick of Punch will add another layer of knowledge to my education in 20th century authors and is full of just the sort of humour I adore.  Flipping through the pages I spied snippets by EM Delafield, PG Wodehouse, Graham Greene, Kingsley Amis, Antonia White and even a bit of Diary of a Nobody.  Off to the cash register!

I'm not planning to don a hair shirt or anything and there are no feelings of guilt, I just wanted to share my folly.  But just for fun, as of right now, I am going to see how far into 2011 I can go without adding to my bookshelves.  It's not that they are groaning, it's to see how disciplined I can be in enjoying the books I already own.

Is anyone entertaining the same idea?