Happy Birthday Jane Austen

Today is the birthday of Jane Austen. It has been 250 years since Jane Austen was born. 250 years since one of my favourite authors entered the world!

The works of Jane Austen are some of my all time favourite books and ones that I have read over and over again. Over the years my favourite Jane Austen book has changed and I imagine it will continue to change. At first Sense and Sensibility was my favourite, then Pride and Prejudice and now it is Persuasion.

Last week I went on the tour at the Jane Austen centre in Bath again and absolutely loved it. If I was lucky enough to live in Bath I would definitely try and get a job there.

Jane Austen started my love of classics and she is my ultimate comfort author who I will always return to. So thank you Jane Austen. Thank you for inspiring my love of reading and always been there when I need a comfort read.

What is your favourite Jane Austen novel?

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

This and That Thursday

Hello!

It has been a busy summer for me so I thought it was time to do a This and That Thursday post.

Rhodes

For our summer holiday this year we went to Rhodes. We loved Kos when we went in 2023 so we thought it was time for another Greek island. We spent some time seeing the sights and some time by the pool reading loads of books.

Harvington Hall History Festival

I attended two of the events at the history festival this year. One by was Alison Weir and one by Tracy Borman. I also attended the book signings they kindly did at the end. The Harvington Hall cats were also in attendance but I wasn’t lucky enough to get a photo.

National Trust

We have also attended a few National trust places this summer. The first was a new one for us called Canons Ashby. Canons Ashby was a lovely Tudor property which was just like a maze. There were so many little staircases and little corridors I absolutely loved it.

Next was Waddeson Manor which was a return visit for us. It is definitely one of our favourite places to visit and they do a very nice afternoon tea as well.

We met my best friend at Charlecote Park last week and the weather was beautiful. We also had a great time helping my best friend’s son fill out the activity sheet where we had to work out whether certain things were ‘Tudor’ or ‘Not Tudor’.

Bath

We spent Bank Holiday weekend in Bath where we visited the Victoria Art Gallery and No. 1 Royal Crescent. I also did a lot of book shopping and eating of yummy food.

I am back teaching next week but this summer has been a lovely break with some great adventures. I am hoping that we will fit in more adventures around work.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

This and That Thursday

Hello!

I thought it was time for a post about all my activities that are not book related. Work has been back in full force after a lovely week off for half term. This has meant loads of teaching and organ playing. I have also been really busy with my Etsy which has been wonderful. October was my best month yet for my Etsy and I’m hoping it continues.

Walks

We have got back into our walking again and have been trying to go to different places for our walks. It has been nice to get out and about again and so I have also started playing Pokemon Go again and working on my Conqueror Challenge to Mordor again.

Afternoon Tea

For Christmas 2023 my parents gave my husband and myself a voucher for afternoon tea at Brokencote Hall and we finally got around to going. It was quite funny because my brother had also had a voucher and entirely by accident we ended up going on the same day and virtually the same time. I have never been to Brokencote Hall before but I absolutely loved the building and the afternoon tea.

RAF Museum Midlands

We love visiting Cosford so we decided to go for a visit because we haven’t been this year. I must admit I’m not so keen on some of the changes they have made recently especially because this means some of my favourite planes are no longer on display. I really hope my favourite planes return one day. I did have fun trying to find all the yellow planes.

Worcester

The building work continues on the house but thankfully the end is in sight. Due to being stuck at home for most of the summer we have been trying to leave the house more and so last week we decided to go for a wonder around Worcester and a nice lunch out. I did also end up buying quite a few books which I will post about on Saturday.

Webbs of Wychbold

Every year at around this time we go Christmas shopping at Webbs of Wychbold. I love Webbs at Christmas because the displays are always excellent and they have so many amazing decorations. We always end up buying quite a lot of decorations and this year was no exception. I can’t wait to get decorating the house for Christmas now. I also went a little bit crazy in Hobbycraft.

So there are my recent adventures. We are always quite busy on the run up to Christmas as we are both musicians but we hope to fit a few more in before Christmas.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

I hope you all have some fun plans for Halloween. I have spent the day reading and National Trust exploring and this evening I am watching Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

We don’t do much for Halloween but it has been nice to have a nice relaxing day. I also hope to have some Halloween chocolate later this evening.

Have a good Halloween Everyone!

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Blogtober 2024

Hello!

I have decided to attempt Blogtober again! Blogtober is where you commit to blogging everyday of October and I must admit I find it a real challenge. I suspect that this year will be even harder as I’m not reading so much so not reviewing as much. However, I’m looking forward to the challenge as I do really love blogging!

I will be posting my regular Mid Week Quote, Friday Poetry and The Weekly Brief posts and I’m hoping to have more book content as well.

Please let me know if you are taking part in Blogtober as I would love to head over and visit your blog.

Happy Reading and Blogging Everyone!

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

This and That Thursday

Happy Thursday!

I thought it was time for a non bookish update. I will be honest since being back at school I haven’t had as much time for adventures but we are trying to make the most of our days off together.

Boscobel House and White Ladies Priory

Last week we visited Boscobel Hosue and White Ladies Priory. We loved the fact that you get a candle and every time you see the candle symbol you put your candle on it and something happens, whether that be sound effects or videos. It was a nice feature that we had never seen before. When we had finished in the house we walked to the ruin that is White Ladies Priory and then went around the farm at Boscobel.

Berrington Hall

Today we met up with a friend and visited the National Trust property Berrington Hall. Berrington is one of my favourite National Trust properties because I always love how they decorate the rooms at Christmas. It was also nice to see the house without the scaffolding inside as that was there when we last visited. After a lovely lunch we went for a nice walk around the grounds and enjoyed the beautiful views and Autumn sunshine.

I am really looking forward to half term as we have lots of adventures planned so I will probably do another This and That Thursday then.

Happy Reading

Etsy

Blogtober 2022

Hello!

I have been blogging since 2018 and I have always admired my fellow bloggers who take part in Blogtober. However, I have never had the guts to take part myself and having looked back it would appear October is usually my worst month blogging wise. I have no idea why my blogging falls away in October but this year it hopefully won’t as I fully intend to take part in Blogtober and to succeed.

My Blogtober will include the usual posts of Mid Week Poetry, The Weekly Brief, Friday Poetry, Reviews (I’m very behind on my reviews), This and That Thursday and maybe some extras to spice up the mix.

Please let me know if you are taking part in Blogtober because I would love to follow your Blogtober journey and give out moral support to my fellow bloggers.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Lyra’s Pawsome Books #2

Hello!

I have so many new products in the pipeline for my Etsy shop and hopefully I will get those up for sale soon but until then I have released another two products on the shop. The code BOOKDRAGON10 can still be used at checkout for 10% off anything on my Etsy store.

Now one of my favourite things to do on a cold winter evening is curl up with a mug of hot chocolate, some biscuits and a good book. This made me come up with my dream book box. I would personally love to get this book box as a present.

Luxury Hot Chocolate Book Box

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lyra’s Pawsome Books (@lyraspawsomebooks)

The box includes:

A brand new paperback book of a genre of your choice.

A bookmark so you don’t lose your place in your new book when you put your book down for a hot chocolate refill.

Kingsbridge Hot Chocolate Spoon Flavours:

– Marshmallow Milk Hot Chocolate
– Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate
– Marshmallow Dark Hot Chocolate
– Marshmallow White Hot Chocolate
– Marshmallow Caramel Sea Salt Hot Chocolate

Border Biscuit Flavours:
– Chocolate Cookies
– Viennese Whirls
– Golden Oat Crumbles
– Butterscotch Crunch

Lotus biscuits x2

Book Box with Vegan Treats

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lyra’s Pawsome Books (@lyraspawsomebooks)

Box Includes

– Brand new paperback book (genre of your choice)
– Tea bags
– Coffee bag
– Bookmark
– Nomo vegan chocolate bar
– Candy Kittens Wild Strawberry Vegan Gourmet Sweets
– Vegan Popcorn

All products now have the option to include a free personalised gift message that will be handwritten on a bookish themed postcard.

There are now 5 different book boxes on the Etsy store and one book present so it is slowly building up. The Christmas and Advent themed book boxes will be put up soon.

Happy Reading

This and That Thursday

Hello!

I hope everyone is well.

I thought it was time for another This and That Thursday because I have been quite busy going on adventures recently.

Norfolk

Just recently I went to Norfolk where my best friend lives to surprise her for her birthday. The surprise went really well and we had a really great time. We ate some lovely food and visited a lovely National Trust property called Felbrigg Hall. It was a wonderful weekend away and it was so good to spend time with friends.

Afternoon Tea

My husband and myself went to try afternoon tea at our local Golf club. We had never been before but thought as it was the holidays we would treat ourselves. We really enjoyed it and have also been for dinner there as well.

Powis Castle

Powis Castle is a bit of a distance for us but we had a rare Sunday off together so we thought we would set off earlier and go to a National Trust place further afield. We enjoyed the castle so much that we went around twice and this also helped us avoid the rain.

Witley Court

We are also members of the English Heritage but we haven’t used our membership this year so we decided to remedy the situation and visit Witley Court. I love Witley Court but I do find it depressing. The house was clearly a gorgeous house and would have been wonderful to see before it was burned down. However, walking around the ruins you get the sense of the grandeur but also sadness that so little remains.

Wightwick Manor

Wightwick Manor is one of my favourite National Trust places and one that is very local to us. I love the design of Wightwick and the fact that in comparison to most National Trust properties it is relatively new. The house is so eccentric and always fills me full of wonder. It is also has some beautiful artwork in and a very nice library.

So there are some of my adventures. I am going on another adventure tomorrow all being well so I am hoping it doesn’t rain.

What adventures have you been on recently?

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Happy Book Lovers Day!

A day to put aside those phones and instead enjoy a good book. To celebrate this day I have decided to list ten of my favourite short reads which are 300 pages or less.

Big Panda and Tiny Dragon by James Norbury