Saturday 22 July 2017

Book Review and some Pom Poms

Thank your all the well wishes, my teeth are sorted out, hope that doesn't happen again in a hurry! Big yea here, the school summer holidays have begun and I have my girl at home for the next 6 weeks... well I say at home, but I'm sure she'll have plenty of things planned independent of 'the 'rents' (that'd be parents to the rest of us) or sometimes 'the parental units', oh they grow up so fast. We will have lots of family time too, days out together, family evenings and of course the welcoming of our grandson and Imogen's nephew in the next couple of weeks.

The latest book I read was called 'The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox' by Maggie O'Farrell, not my usual thriller, but just as enjoyable. I picked it up in the clearance section at the back of our WHSmiths in town, they have quite a decent size selection of clearance books priced from 50p so it's often worth a look through.




Esme (how I adore that name) has been a patient in a psychiatric hospital for over 60 years and is being discharged due to the closure of the hospitals. I know when many of the old psychiatric hospitals closed in this country, there were many older people (particularly women) who had spent their entire lives in them, sent away as young girls for being 'difficult' or perhaps for getting pregnant. Such a travesty, their young lives stolen away from them and many endured many horrors in these institutions.

Anyway... Esme has been away for a long while with no visits, forgotten by everyone, her only sister now an elderly lady with dementia and just a great niece left in the family. Her story is told through fractured memories and is quite a story. Well worth reading.


I've finished knitting my latest baby cardigan, it just needs buttons then I shall take a quick picture and show you. I'm having a break from baby knitting and crochet for a while, I've started making pom poms.





I've made about 24 so far and still have a great deal left to make. I think I'm getting pom poms wrist, shoulder and even fingers from snipping them, so may need to slow down or have a day off



I am glad I have my trusty pom pom maker, it definitely makes it much easier than when I used to cut circles out of cardboard and have to squish the wool through the hole that I'd cut in the middle, remember making them like that when you were a child? I won't show you what I'm making just yet, but wait till it gets a bit further along.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend

Take care
xxx




40 comments:

  1. I am curious what you are making with the pom poms! I look forward to seeing your newest cardigan, too. You have much to look forward to in the coming weeks. Blessings to you and yours.

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  2. I remember making pompoms with two circles of cardboard too! We have our grandchildren regularly through the summer hols.

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    1. That must be lovely for you, the holidays always seem to pass so quickly x

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  3. Oh I haven't made a pom-pom in years it's satisfying one the scissors come out. Will wait and see what you make x

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    1. I made a couple for our grandsons hat and it must have given me the Pom Pom bug x

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  4. Ooooh...so glad your tooth is sorted now.

    Big cheers here for the summer break too. Ruby was so ready for it and I am ready for the week she spends with us.

    I hated making pom poms with cardboard circles so I bought a set of the makers only to discover that I just hate making pom poms full stop...lol-x-

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    1. I bet you can't wait for her to stay. I suppose Pom poms can be a bit monotonous to make, but I just love their fluffy loveliness x

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  5. I've just yarnbombed my school (I was challenged by the deputy head) as I run an afterschool and lunchtime knitting clubs. As I only have about 10 knitters, who are beginners, I thought the challenge was a tall order so I launched a school wide pompom making competition with two categories - a prize for the person making the most pompoms (95) and the largest pompom (25 balls of wool and 4 weeks in the making!) I took the Year 6's and showed them how to make them using the two circles of cardboard method and they loved it! I do have a few pompom makers but thought the children would enjoy making them as I was taught. Are you making something for your soon to be grandson with these? I'm glad someone else has the pompom bug!

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    1. That sounds amazing, I can't imagine what the large one looks like. I think it's nice for the children to know how to make them from old bits of cardboard, it means they can always find the means to make them if they have some yarn x

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  6. I used to work in a psychiatric hospital before the closures and remember one particulat patient there, Dorothy. She was in her sixties and had been there all her life as she was the illigitimate baby. Doesn't bear thinking about does it. So wrong.

    Joan (Devon)

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    1. Oh how tragic and there are so many similar stories x

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  7. My mom used to make pom poms and put them on my slippers. She wrapped yard around a piece of cardboard somehow and made them.

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    1. Yes, that's just how I used to make them. How sweet, making them for your slippers x

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  8. Dear Cheryl
    I read that book too and 'enjoyed' it - it always seems wrong to say that when the subject matter is sad/moving/disturbing. Your pompoms look perfect!
    Best wishes
    Ellie

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    1. Yes, I know what you mean, perhaps 'interesting' would be a better word? x

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  9. Glad you got your dental problems sorted.
    The book sounds like a good read, i'll have to look out for that one, can't say i've ever looked in our WH Smiths in town to see if they have any bargains, usually their books are expensive.
    I'm intrigued about what you are going to make with all the pom poms :-) I do love a pom pom, i've got a bag of them made up and keep adding to them occasionally for a Christmas project i've got in mind,
    Have a good week

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    1. I'm afraid I wouldn't dream of paying their full prices either, but the clearance section is worth checking. Now I'm intrigued by your Christmas project x

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  10. I remember making pompoms with cardboard circles too, I'm intrigued to know what you're making with them all. The book sounds very interesting, so sad to think that people were shut away in psychiatric hospitals nearly all their lives for such trivial reasons, you just can't imagine it, can you?

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    1. It was so tragic, whole lives stolen from people, atrocious x

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  11. I think I've read that one. I've read several of her books. Can't wait to see the cardigan.

    Enjoy having your daughter home! Six weeks seems like a long time but it will fly by. I hope you get to do some fun things together.

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    1. I think this may have been one of her earlier books. I love the school holidays xx

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  12. Glad your teeth are sorted. Happy pom pom making, those makers are great aren't they!

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  13. I do enjoy your book reviews Cheryl & you often share some great looking titles. I am now most fascinated to see what you make with all those wonderful pom poms you are creating !!

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    1. Thank you, I love chatting and sharing with my bloggy friends x

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  14. I enjoyed reading about Esme Lennox too.
    So pleased you got your mouth sorted and are pain free.

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  15. Hi Cheryl, I'm just catching up with your blog. I hope Imogen's injury has healed by now. I'm glad to hear everything is sorted with your teeth too. Dental problems are never fun. This book sounds really good. I enjoy books like this, though the stories can be very sad. On the topic of girls put away for being pregnant, I enjoyed reading a non-fiction collection of stories called The Girls Who Went Away. Women who were teenagers in the 40's through the 70's shared their stories of being sent away when they became pregnant. It was sad but also very touching to read their experiences. I hope all is well with you and your family, especially the mom-to-be and the baby-to-be.

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    1. Imogen's doing much better now, thank you. I shall look for that book, I like to read true accounts x

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  16. So pleased that your tooth is sorted now.

    Yes, out and about today and there were definitely more children in and around the shops with their mums doing some shopping ... the school holidays are here!

    I don't know where the month of July has gone to its simply whizzed by, and we are now in the last week of the seventh month! Eek!

    I hope you have a good week.

    All the best Jan

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    1. My hubby said today, just the school holidays then we're thinking about Christmas, I had to tell him to stop rushing the year away! x

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  17. I'm intrigued by the premise of your book. Now I'm off to check if my local library carries it!

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  18. How fluffy they look. I have seen those pom pom makers and wondered how good they are.
    So pleased to see your teeth are sorted!
    Hope Imogen enjoys her hols.
    Lisa x

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    1. They're very easy to use and lots of different sizes x

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  19. Thank you for coming to visit my blog! How lovely to meet you, how did you come across my blog? I've got some of those Clover Pom Pom makers too, they are fantastic and soooo much easier than the old cardboard circles! I've had Crocheter's Thumb before now, while making a blanket, but never Pom Pom shoulder, lol 😊
    Xx

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  20. Hi Cheryl. Love the sound of that book, though such an emotive subject. Haven't made Pom pons for years. Perhaps I should get my grandsons to have a go during the holidays! Thanks for popping by my blog, Good to say hello again. X

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  21. Thrilled to hear your teeth have been sorted. I now have pom pom makers, they are so much better than the old way of cutting cardboard circles. Looking forward to seeing what you are making with them. Maybe a wreath?

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