The burning times by Jeanne Kalogridis
THE BURNING TIMES tells the story of Sybille, a midwife with the Sight, the power to see the present and future. Soon her power and her practice of the Old Religion causes her to be caught up in the forces of the Inquisition, where she meets Michel, a young monk struggling to repress his desire for her and his feelings about being the interrogator whose success must lead to her death. Set in 14th-century France, in the southern region of Languedoc known for its heretical pagans, Gnostics, Cathars, and Knights Templar The Burning Times weaves together a tale of magic, mystery and intertwined destiny against the historical backdrop of the Black Death and the Hundred Years War.
Tomorrow my little baby girl turns 22……Happy Birthday my love…..
(the two of us in London last month)
Fresh slices of salmon, pachino tomatoes, black olives, capers, oregano, thyme, marjoram and olive oil.
The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see.
(Winston Churchill)
Thal (German pronunciation: [ˈtaːl]) is a small village in Austria, and a suburb of Graz. The village is about 3.2 kilometres from the edge of Graz. Most famous for being the birthplace of Arnold Schwarzenegger, it has a population of 2,138 and boasts a remarkably different and striking modern church.
Here we are, young M., me and hubby on the Thalersee, at the hotel we were staying with our friends, and where Schwarzenegger’s mom was having her meals at a table near us….
M. and our friends’ daughter V. in front of the very strange church, St. Jacob
See more here.
The place has lovely paths among the woods and on the lake to have nice walks and picnics, and you absolutely have to rent a bike to discover how nice a stay there can be!
The Evil Seed by Joanne Harris
Alice is contacted out of the blue by her ex boyfriend Joe with the weird request that she offer her spare bedroom to his eighteen year old new girlfriend. Joe does seem the insensitve, selfish type of man who wouldn’t see a problem with that but I will never understand why the terminally dull Alice would agree. But she does and the weird and silent Ginny arrives, only to completely change her outfit and personality the second Joe leaves the house and disappears with a group of odd friends, despite Joe claiming she doesn’t know anyone in Oxford but him. So obviously Alice follows her and discovers a mystery surrounding Ginny and her friends that risks her life. A dull back story telling the tale of Daniel, Robert and Rosemary is mixed in but does nothing to help the book along.
It’s something don’t ever do, start a book and then drop it if I don’t like it, but this time it was hard to follow my own rules. This book was written by the author when she was just 23 and it had disappeared from print and resurected when she became a more successful auther later on in life. In her foreword she questions republication and I think this one would have been better left in oblivion. It seems to be a poor attempt to cash in on her later success with a substandard book.
This month of my life in random photos…..
The annual winter charity dinner for our friends’s son mission in Brazil (sorry the pics are from my cell - bad quality)
A shopping spread in Serravalle at the biggest outlet in Italy
Husband had a weird face….maybe looking at the Ferrari’s prices?
Then London with my daughter
(acting as a silly girl)
The new established tradition of a buffet-dinner with our neighbours, a nice evening….(sorry, again my cell here)
So, I guess I’m ready for february now…….
I was very busy in the last days, I didn’t have the time and chance to download and organize my pics from London and from others events I attended….and I didn’t visit all the blogs I used to, but I promise I will catch up soon.
I have a quiet weekend ahead, so I hope to do my homework properly!
May you all have a nice weekend, full of everything you whish for!
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better
(Samuel Beckett)
Big, lightly boiled shells, filled with bolognese sauce……….
You can add some peas if you like, then bechamel sauce………
and sliced fresh pecorino cheese, then in the oven till all is melted together….
Now you can enjoy a nice and yummy dinner!
