Resolution row

I've got a plan, which is not to buy any more books, apart from those I may need for courses, or, say, travel guides. I thought I might start by putting on this shelf some books that I either started reading, or bought, recently, or some that I want to re-read this year. I was inspired by Susan Hill's Howard's End is on the Landing book, in which she documents her year of reading, in 2009. She had to cut down her internet time. ( I may have to, too). The Jane Gardam Old Filth Trilogy is on this shelf in the re-read category, as well a new book called My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, also part of a trilogy. I bought that in London recently, at the Slightly Foxed bookshop. I have a horrid feeling that if I were to add up the cost of all the books I bought on Amazon last year, never mind the ebay ones and those from charity shops and independent stores, it would come to more than the price of two long-haul tickets to somewhere exotic. But hey, who needs planes for mind-travel?

The day dawned gloomy, and never got better. Steve can walk around a little on his foot, but nothing strenuous. I watched all three episodes of Mapp and Lucia on catch-up, and defrosted the freezer for the first time in decades. Managed to make a fancy gluten-free crumble (apple, mincemeat and almond) from the Honeybuns gluten-free baking book, which is beyond ridiculous.

Grated butter? Forcing bag? Only in your dreams, Emma Goss-Custard (author of the book)! I'd be more likely to possess a set of bagpipes than a set of piping bags and nozzles. Unless, of course, they were electric.... The crumble turned out delicious, but I still wish I'd been able to make the complicated-sounding pecan pie, but the shops had been out of pecans on hogmanay.

As you can tell, when I am at home and at a loose end, I bake. I didn't do that for years, for various reasons including a wheat intolerance, so I am learning to do it all over again, gluten-free. The holidays is the only time I can be bothered to attempt ten-stage recipes.

Oh yes! I almost forgot the teddies on the shelf. Yellow Teddy is a veteran from my childhood, I blipped him on 7th Aug 2012, a date etched on my memory forever, as it's the day I dropped and broke my Nikon Coolpix. The other 'vet' is the koala at the end, brought back from Australia for me by relatives when I was a toddler. I am led to believe that it is covered with real koala fur, which I suppose might have been the case almost fifty years ago (shudder). I used to cut the fur with nail scissors to see if it would grow back. I chewed off the black plastic claws, too, for good measure. The other two teddies are younger, and just passing through.