November always means Bonfire night, a fantastic fireworks display in the city centre. Festus is not bothered at all by all the noises. Even on the 4th, on the evening walk he couldn’t be bothered despite all the fireworks around him, he didn’t flinch. The neighbours though have a German Shepherd who spent the night barking constantly, very puzzling indeed. Fireworks sound a bit like gunshots, so most dogs should be able to handle this without any issues (I don’t mean toy breeds though; as for the gunshots, most breeds are either made for hunting or guarding). Festus was not even bothered by her barks, as a guard dog he was aware that there is nothing to be alarmed about (the postman is something you have to keen an eye on).
This month I’ve decided to start another series on my blog: Caravan Cooking. We are in the process of updating the caravan and now I have a gorgeous new white table, instead of the previous one that was dark. On the picture above you can see on the left the old table with the cake my husband had for this birthday and on the right is my birthday cake, on the new table. I’m very excited about showing off the recipes I make on holiday.
Last months I’ve been talking about my bakes, as I baked along the Great British Bake Off. Well, I’ve won a fantastic prize and I’m going to blog about it soon. It’s a Sage Bakery Boss food mixer. It’s so great, I can’t wait to make a few things with it. More about it in the following weeks.
This month I’ve read 9 books, here is the list with all of them:
Unnatural Causes by Richard Shepherd – 5 stars
Someone to Love by Mary Balogh – 5 stars
Someone to Hold by Mary Balogh – 5 stars
Someone to Wed by Mary Balogh – 5 stars
Dark Tracks by Philippa Gregory – 1 star
A Lab of One’s Own by Patricia Fara – 5 stars
Someone to care by Mary Balogh – 5 stars
A Daughter’s Love by John Guy – 4.5 stars
This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay – 3 stars
As you can see, I’ve enjoyed almost all of them. Dark tracks, a book published this year was the 4th in the Order of Darkness series by Philippa Gregory. While I’ve read a lot of books by Philippa, this one wasn’t good at all. I also had high expectations from the last one, This is Going to Hurt, a book I’ve read many positive reviews of. I was disappointed by it as well, the author seemed very keen on swearing, quite unfortunately considering his background. He also makes fun of pretty serious things, not showing the care he had for his patients. I might have given it a bit more if I wouldn’t have read it so soon after Unnatural Causes, a pretty emotional book, where the doctor shows an amazing amount of care for his dead patients (he was a forensic pathologist).
I would also recommend A Lab of One’s Own, a book I’ve mentioned once on my blog, in 3 Books You Should Read. It is a great book.
Besides there is a history book about Thomas More and his daughter, a very enjoyable book. I’ve read a series by Mary Balogh where part of the action happens in Bath, just before my holiday in Bath.
Have you read any good books recently? What would you recommend?
Today we are going to set up the advent calendar, remember that I’m making my own. We are also going to decorate the Christmas tree today, as having an advent calendar without a Christmas tree sounds a bit strange. I’m going to talk more about getting into the Christmas mood these days, maybe tomorrow, when I’m going to share a fab trail I’ve been to yesterday.
It’s good that Festus isn’t bothered by fireworks. Despite the fact we live in the country and hunt with most of our dogs, they haven’t always enjoyed it when we do our own fireworks at home. The boom of the explosion isn’t what gets them, it’s the sizzling sound many make as they’re taking off. Thankfully, we rarely do them ourselves anymore. It makes me more nervous than the dogs!
Aww, you are right, the sizzling doesn’t sound natural. Didn’t know that might be the cause of the fear.