Old glass and curios

A mirror is a strange thing. Somehow this picture is showing my living room, and somehow it is not. All the elements are there, true, but the mirror makes the end result so striking I got completely baffled after taking the picture! I am finding it very hard to believe my living room could ever look this good.

I do love the old glass I have inherited or found in antique shops and my curio collection, though. This might be just a small part of everything I have collected, but at last I have found a way of displaying them. Happy days. An added bonus is I have better space in my library now, too!

Old glass and curios ♥

"A year of doing good" by Judith O'Reilly

...each one a small miracle...

365 good deeds. Can you even imagine it? It sounds so easy, just doing one good deed a day for a year, but after reading of O'Reilly's attempt (and success), I am in more doubt. Perhaps the odd good deed, without the pressure involved, is more suited for me. Or perhaps I am a chicken for not giving it a proper try. The world could very much need more people doing good - however small the act of kindness is. Even picking up litter on the ground can save a life - and that makes all the difference.

"A year of doing good" by Judith O'Reilly

Reading together

Some mornings you just want to keep in a bubble. You do not want the world to move on and out of that little piece of heaven you have managed to create. And for a while...that might actually work.

Tea, coffee, breakfast, books and company ♥

The Fae Queen

Ever dreamt of the Fae? Ever seen or felt a vague glimpse of the Vale and the mysteries lying beyond? Sometimes some of the Fae leaves the Vale. Sometimes humans get entry. And sometimes, shadows are made.

"She dreams of two shooting stars, dancing across heaven. They spin, twirling and circling each other.
[...] Caderyn runs with her bare feet skimming the dewy grass, as she tries to keep up with the stars. With her face lifted to the heavens above, she smiles watching them as they break through." 

loc 150, "Fae Queen" by Lynn Landes

"Fae Queen" by Lynn Landes

Svalbard

 - the land of ice, polar bears, snow mobiles, views and friends - 

Me being me, I even found books to collect up here...!

A polar bear mum and her two tiny cubs left paw prints in my heart

A grand midnight sun ♥

Libraries can be most poetic, too.

"The smell of the library always lifted my spirits - that peculiar combination of old stone, dust, woodworm, and paper made properly from rags. Sun streamed through the windows on the staircase landings, illuminating the dust motes flying through the air and shining bars of light on the ancient walls."

from "A discovery of witches" by Deborah Harkness

 

Sora's Quest

When a young noble Lady finds a necklace after her mother, a journey begins.

A journey that all but erases all the earlier traces of nobility in the young girl, and instead leads her to discover a magical world where dangers and death hide around corners, love can be found in a cold stranger and the clue to survival is friendship.

Sora used to dream of adventures and travels - and now she is smack in the middle of it. This is the first book in the series about Sora and her friends, and I enjoyed it immensely. Even the covers of the books draw you in - the first one is simply stunning.

"Sora's Quest" by T. L. Shreffler

"She immediately reveled in the warmth that flooded her senses, and looked around the room in wonder. Cheery lanters graced the walls on either side of the shop. She had never seen anything quite like this, not even in Lord Fallcrest's library, which was one of her favorite places. The small circular room was jammed full of bookshelves, whch were crammed with all sorts of books. She could see the twinkle of a thousand stars through the large domed roof. Tables set up like a maze throughout the tiny shop were stacked with piles of dusty scrolls, yellowed books and wrinkled parchments. The air was heavy with the scent of paper. Sora had the sudden, intense urge to curl up in an armchair with an old book and maybe a nice cup of tea."

p. 160, "Sora's Quest" by T. L. Shreffler