Cripes! Wizards, Weirdstone, trees and fun at the Edge ...

 The Weirdstone of Brisingamen

~ Alan Garner

A few weeks ago, Nick from A Pile of Leaves suggested a blog book club reading the The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath by Alan Garner during this August in preparation of the long awaited third book.  Join in here!  Go on, there is still time and it is immense fun.  It follows the magical adventures of Colin and Susan, but I won't spoil it for you by telling you everything, read the books (yes, it is a trilogy).  I've just started the second one and am loving it so far.

On Saturday, Rhid and I met up with Nick and Jon so that we could explore Alderley Edge where the books are set.  We had a lovely picnic (possibly the most extensive picnic you've ever seen), eating delicious cherries and then set about finding wizards, lovely views and trees!

What a magical, awe-inspiring place.  The whole woodland felt full of wonder and excitement.  The atmosphere was thick with anticipation, anything could happen.  I mean, with visible root balls bathed in dappled sunlight (see above), why wouldn't there be svarts and dwarves running behind the trees?  It is an enchanted wood, with beautiful gnarled old trees, a place where dark magic could exist and be fought by the kind of good magic that exists in the like of twelve year old.  My favourite tree had grown so remarkably, it was almost unbelievable (below).  Thank you Nick and Jon for a lovely day, now all that remains to be said, "Cripes, I am so thirsty I could drink a sea of lemonade!"  

A little pile of books ...

How can you improve a day of wandering in the sunshine holding your sweethearts hand?  By finding yourself in a wonderful bookshop of course!  We're a bit light on that sort of thing up North (both sunshine and wonderful bookshops) but every time we visit Aberystwyth, my favourite way to pass the time is in the secondhand bookshop.  This time was no exception and I managed to come across a whole heap of great finds.  I am on a budget so had to limit myself but decided to splash out on some of these beautifully pink and illustrated Doctor Dolittle puffins.  Have you read any?  I hadn't seen them before and am looking forward to getting stuck in.  I am especially excited about Doctor Dolittle's Garden.  This is what Puffin editor Kaye Webb has written about it in the blurb:

"Of course, the Doctor had been talking to the bigger animals - dogs, cats, monkeys and so on, for a long time, but it was a great step forward when he began making contact with tiny creatures like insects.  

It wasn't easy.  Special very complicated machines were needed to listen to the sounds the insects made, and they were very delicate to handle.  When for instance the wasp went to sleep in his private jar of marmalade, the white mouse had to bath him, as no one else's hands were small enough to wash a wasp's legs and face without doing damage.  And there were sometimes a bit of trouble among the staff.  For instance, Dab-Dab thought the plan for a country house for house-flies was sheer madness and wouldn't put up with some of the others. 'Who cares what a cockroach has to say - or a spide either?' she said.

Then a giant moth as big as a house settled on the lawn.  It seemed to be connected with Chee-Chee's story of giant animals on the moon - and once again Tommy had a disturbing feeling that Doctor John Dolittle was making secret discoveries and laying secret plans.  Which of course he was." 

I would love to hear if you have read any and what you think of the series.  I also love the nature section of the bookshop.  Last time I was there I managed to find several wonderful things (I'll search them out for another blog post) and it didn't disappoint on Saturday.  I found a beautifully tatty copy of The Cherry Tree and a fabulous wild flower book.  With drawings like this one of the poppy, how could I resist?  I was running out of time, Rhid kept coming over to see if I was finished, so I just skimmed through to see the quality of its' poppy cover and knew that I had to have it.  I can't wait to see what else is hidden inside.

There were a few gems that I left on the shelves, even though I was sorely tempted.  A couple of Pelican British Wild Flower Books and a nature book, Notes from Walnut Tree Farm by Roger Deakin.  I have a copy of his Wildwood: A Journey through Trees from the lovely Nick, that I have yet to read.  It said that Notes from Walnut Tree Farm is a collection of notes and observations that Deakin made in his notebooks.  I aspire to that!  If only I could get past having to keep a notebook tidy and just write in it!

As regular readers of this blog will know, I don't usually write about books.  Mainly because my friends do it so much more eloquently than I do.  If you want to read some insightful and wonderfully fun blogs, then please head over to the afforementioned Nick or to the brilliant Paul (professional author no less!) or to reviewer extraordinaire Simon.  I suggest that you keep on scrolling if you like cute and fluffy.

 A beautiful young rabbit chewing on some grass.