Thursday, June 16, 2005

Dusk, green fizz and Mrs Hauksbee.

1. Light evenings.

2. Lime and soda 'than which there is no prettier tipple,' according to Selsea Bill, the narrator of an Eleanor Farjeon story. I like mine with gin, though, and it must be Rose's Lime Cordial, or it's just not the same.

3. Kipling's Plain tales from the hills. Mrs Hauksbee is one of my favourite heroines. She gives way gracefully if women want their husbands back, is not above forgery to advance those she likes, puts her riding crop to her mouth while she's thinking of ways to save young men from the likes of Mrs Reiver ('There was nothing good about Mrs. Reiver, unless it was her dress. She was bad from her hair - which started life on a Brittany's girl's head - to her boot-heels, which were two and three-eighth inches high. She was not honestly mischievous like Mrs. Hauksbee; she was wicked in a business-like way.').

Book treasure, worn and speaker.

1. Finding treasure in the Oxfam bookshop. I only popped in to look for a card. 2. Bettany doesn't wear makeup out and about, but noneth...