The Spectator have reviewed The Politics of Washing: Real Life in Venice by Polly Coles, dubbing it ‘more cerebral than most Venetian travelogues or fictions’.
They go on to say that ‘Venice deserves this dose of perspicacious pragmatism’ and that Coles writes ‘fantastically well’ and clearly has both knowledge and wit.
To read more of the review, click here. You can order your copy here.
Allen Foster, author of the bestselling Foster’s Irish Oddities, was born in Dublin in 1974 and works as a researcher and writer.
Allen currently lives in the heart of the Irish countryside in County Meath and spends far too much time hunting down oddities and long lost nuggets of history.
Foster’s English Oddities by Allan Foster Blurb
Foster’s English Oddities is a wonderful collection of England’s quirkiest characters, most extraordinary facts and strangest coincidences. This fascinating book is a must-read for anyone interested in English trivia!
Are you tired of conventional history books that tell you the stuff that everyone knows but neglect to mention the more colourful tales? Well, this isn’t that kind of book!
What about the stories of….
The man who lived for thirty-two years after being shot through the heart?
The first goat to circumnavigate the world (twice!)?
The horse that won the Grand National with the aid of 2lbs of butter?
The blind woman who could distinguish colours and read print using her fingers?
The man who left his estate to his sons on the condition that neither one ever grow a moustache?
Foster’s English Oddities by Allan Foster is out now
Sandrine Maugy is a botanical artist and writer. She is a member of the Society of Botanical Artists and the Society of Floral Painters and was awarded a Silver Medal by the Royal Horticultural Society for her paintings of A Plantman’s Garden. She paints to commission and for exhibitions, with paintings in collections in Europe, Australia and the United States.
Sandrine teaches for the London Art College and for the Society of Botanical Artists’ Diploma, as well as at West Dean College. She has students from all over the world and is well known in botanical, artistic and horticultural circles for her articles in Artists & Illustrators Magazine, of which she has written more than forty to date. Her painting style is characterised by pure, vibrant colours and dramatic light, which give this traditional style a contemporary twist.
Colours of Nature is the perfect companion for anyone who is puzzled by the seemingly unpredictable behaviour of the paints on their palette, as well as those who would like their watercolour paintings to look fresher and livelier.
The author has tested more than 150 artists’ watercolour paints from six manufacturers, and the results of this exhaustive testing are not only included here but also analysed, with the best colours recommended in a palette section.
Throughout this beautifully illustrated book, Sandrine Maugy guides the reader through a world of colours and exquisite flowers and fruit, explaining simple concepts and more advanced colour-mixing theory while exploring the serendipity and beauty of wet-in-wet watercolour painting. Her ‘Harmonic Shadows’ theory creates a link between tone and colour, making both work in harmony for better form and purer colours.
Colours of Nature: Botanical Painting by Sandrine Maugy is out now
Felicity Bertin is an osteopath, a breastfeeding peer support volunteer and a lecturer in Neuro-Musculo-Skeletal Medicine, Embryology and Developmental Biology at the British School of Osteopathy – as well as being mum to three-year-old Lucas.
Emma Ogden-Hooper studied English language and linguistics at university and enjoyed a successful career in professional recruitment before becoming a full-time mum to her two year old son, Ethan. Whether it be baking birthday cakes for children, hosting dinner parties for friends, or creating dishes for her family, Emma always takes delight in cooking up a storm in the kitchen.
Together, Felicity and Emma have written The Baby-Led Weaning Recipe Book. Here’s how it all came about…
Felicity
Emma and I met at ante-natal classes when we were pregnant with our boys, Lucas and Ethan. We supported each other through each stage, regularly discussing how many times we had been up that night or vomited upon. At six months old, the time came for us to wean our boys and this is where (for the first time) our parenting choices deviated. I decided to baby-led wean Lucas and Emma decided to traditionally wean Ethan. As a health professional it’s in my nature to research every parenting decision I make, from vaccinations to washable nappies. All my friends were pureeing up carrot and shovelling another spoonful of baby rice in to their little one’s open mouth, but all my knowledge of child development led me down a different path. I decided to follow my instincts and got stuck in with serving up chicken curry and falafels and allowing Lucas to feed himself.
Being a new mum I was scared. None of my mummy-friends (who I always looked to for reassurance) were following this method. I had nobody to ask for help or to gather tips from and I had no idea if what I was doing was right. There was only one book on the market on baby-led weaning which gave me guidance on how to do it but didn’t answer all my needs. So, I fumbled my way through and in the evenings once Lucas was in bed, I started writing my own – a baby-led weaning recipe book which I hope deals with questions that occurred to me. I wanted it to contain knowledge I had gleaned and recipes which could be knocked together when Lucas was napping whilst still squeezing in a cup of tea and biscuit.
I kept my little project to myself and then several months later, Emma and I were sitting in the cafe enjoying lunch with our little ones and the subject of weaning came up. As we started sharing recipes for finger foods Emma suggested “Why don’t you write your own recipe book” and from there I knew that the book I had started to pen was a good idea, and let her in on my little secret. With Emma being such a fabulous cook I knew that if we pulled together our experiences of baby-led weaning and traditional weaning we could produce something really special. And we have.
The book sat there for months on my computer, not really doing much as how do two mums with no experience of publishing get a book on the market? One day, fate intervened and in my work as an osteopath, it turned out a patient whose baby I was treating was a graphic designer. I told her all about our book (which she thought was brilliant) and before I knew it, we had a possible book cover and sample pages drawn-up and a company: Yummy Discoveries. I searched on the internet on how we might get our book published and stumbled across Robert Hale Ltd who stated on their website that they accepted unsolicited manuscripts – so we wouldn’t need an agent. Amazingly, they liked what they saw and the rest, as they say, is history.
Emma
Felicity and I met back in 2009 through the NCT course we signed up to in Hertfordshire. Both of us went on to have baby boys Lucas and Ethan, who are now 3 years of age and are just as good friends as their mums are!
When it came to weaning, the one thing I was sure of was that I was going to feed Ethan home cooked food.
I was brought up on traditional food and I can fondly remember how my mum’s kitchen always smelled of something delicious being cooked or baked. Being the daughter of a mother who cooked everything herself from scratch (pies, casseroles, roasts, soup, bread, pastry, biscuits….) I have clearly inherited her love of cooking. I believe that this attribute has contributed to why I am conscious of eating a healthy diet and one not laden with processed foods. Becoming a mum myself, I wanted to give Ethan the best possible start to his culinary journey and that for me, begins with home cooking.
What I wasn’t sure of was the method I was going to use to feed my son this home cooked goodness. All my friends with older children gave me advice on how to wean with purées as did my mother and the health visitors at the local children’s centre. So I decided to go down the puréeing route. I armed myself with a blender and ice cube trays and whizzed up the foods I cooked. But after a few months Ethan become bored and restless at mealtimes and started to refuse what I was feeding him. But I discovered that if I offered him the food and allowed him to feed himself he once again became happy when eating. It therefore became clear to me that Ethan enjoyed the freedom to explore food for himself and he relished the independence that came with self-feeding.
Due to Felicity’s own experience of weaning her son, when we came to write the book together, we both agreed it was important that it offered more than just recipes to parents who are at the weaning stage; we wanted to create a “handbook” and one whose style, tone and content reflected the ethos of ‘written by parents, for parents’.
Therefore our book provides a step-by-step guide on how to wean the baby-led way in addition to over 150 recipes that the family can enjoy together (not just for weaning babies). We have included useful tips which we found save time or make weaning and cooking a little easier, practical advice on how to get started with baby-led weaning, first foods, meal planners, shopping lists and eating out when weaning. We have listed recipes according to their actual cooking times as we understand time is a precious commodity. As parents, we also appreciate how costly throwing away food can be so we created recipes and suggestions for leftovers.
Children’s health seems to be a hot topic at the moment; from discussions about childhood obesity to fussy eating habits in addition to articles that discuss the virtues of home cooked foods for babies and children against those that are processed or pre-packaged.
I personally hope that our book is being released at a time when it can make a positive difference. Not only can baby-led weaning help establish healthy eating habits and prevent fussy eating later on in life, its principle of ‘your baby can eat what you eat (with a few dos and don’ts)’ is reflected positively by our book’s promotion of recipes you and your baby can both enjoy together.
The Baby-Led Weaning Recipe Book by Felicity Bertin and Emma Ogden-Hooper
We like to think we have created something special because our book has a few unique points which help reinforce our books ethos:
Gardens Illustrated have reviewed the gorgeous ‘Growing for Food & Colour’ by Graham Clarke.
‘this is a solid book that a beginner gardener can turn to again and again for good advice’ – Gardens Illustrated
In their review, Gardens Illustrated said that the book has ‘everything… a beginner might need’ and is ‘detailed and thorough’. The review goes on to say that ‘this is a solid book that a beginner gardener can turn to again and again for good advice’. Clarke’s voice is also described as being ‘warm, humorous and authoritative’.
GROWING FOR FOOD & COLOUR by Graham Clarke
Over the past four or five years in the UK, the grow-your-own phenomenon has meant that more and more people have been producing their own food. From salads and root crops to apples, cucumbers, squashes and strawberries, home-grown food is enjoyed in ever-increasing quantities.
And why not? Growing your own provides exercise, nutritious food, and gardeners can choose their favourite varieties for taste or yield. But what about those who want to grow their own, but perhaps have a small garden, and do not want to lose its decorative appeal? How can they combine growing their own food with flowers and colour?
Growing for Food and Colour shows that it really is possible to cultivate fruits, vegetables and herbs alongside flowers – and that the beauty of the garden can be enhanced rather than compromised by productive plants. Following the advice in this book will enable the reader to enjoy home-grown food that is fresher, healthier and tastier – but which also looks fantastic.
Growing for Food & Colour by Graham Clarke is available to buy now
The Author: The late Peter J. Neville Havins was born in Birmingham in 1937 and went on to read history at UniversityCollege, Swansea, and later palaeography at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. After leaving university he worked as a librarian, a schoolmaster and a journalist with Berrow’s Newspapers in Worcester. This is his second history of Worcestershire.
The Editor: Anne Bradford has lived in Worcestershire for more than fifty years, where she spent a decade working as a teacher before taking early retirement to become a full-time writer. She has written ten books on Worcestershire and is on the committee of the Worcestershire Local History Forum, which co-ordinates history societies in the county.
Worcestershire
The second longest river in England flows through Worcestershire and its gentle hills have some of the oldest rocks in the world. Now a peaceful county of great beauty, Worcestershire’s history is a rich tapestry.
The county has been invaded many times. The Romans came in 43AD and when they left the Picts, the Angles and the Jutes arrived. In 875 the Vikings swept up the River Severn, looting and burning, followed by William the Conqueror in 1066. In 1139 Empress Matilda came to England to claim the throne and in the ensuing civil war Worcester was burned down twice. Then in 1349, the Black Death appeared, killing up to half the population of Worcestershire and changing their way of life for ever.
Religious controversy has played a major part in Worcestershire’s history. A humble tailor from Evesham, Harold Badby, was burned to death in 1410 for his beliefs, and two Worcestershire bishops were also burned at the stake. The Worcestershire gentry were heavily involved in the gunpowder plot of 1605 and the story of their flight across Worcestershire makes for breathtaking reading.
Among the many famous figures inspired by the Malvern Hills are the composer Edward Elgar, C.S. Lewis, author of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
From ancient times to the present day, this book endeavours to provide a comprehensive picture of the county of Worcestershire, which is famous for its sauce but has a wealth of other hidden treasures besides.
Stuart Phillips is a director at the Gaia Consultancy horticultural training company. He trained in horticulture at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and worked for many years as a lecturer in horticulture, first at ReaseheathCollege in Cheshire and then at MoultonCollege, Northampton. His interest in the folklore of plants was first sparked as a result of his horticultural training.
For more than fifteen years Stuart Phillips has been a regular contributor to BBC radio programmes, giving gardening advice and answering listeners’ questions. He has also written articles on all aspects of horticulture for a number of periodicals.
An Encyclopaedia of Plants in Myth, Legend, Magic and Lore
In An Encyclopaedia of Plants in Myth, Legend, Magic and Lore Stuart Phillips brings together a collection of the stories, folk tales and legends relating to plants. Whereas at one time these folk stories might have been passed on from parent to child as a way of teaching something of the natural world, many are now largely forgotten – yet they are an important part of our folk heritage.
Wherever possible, a complete a list of common names is given for each plant in this book. These names are as much a part of the plant’s folklore as the myths surrounding it and they also serve to show where the myths and lore relating to one plant may, at some point in the past, have been attributed to another plant with the same common name.
This collection works as both a ‘dip-in’ book for items of interest and a comprehensive guide to the use of plants in art, literature and common customs.
An Encyclopaedia of Plants in Myth, Legend, Magic and Lore is out now
Graham Clarke studied with the UK’s Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley Gardens, and after that worked as a gardener at Buckingham Palace in London. For thirty years he has been a gardening writer and journalist. He has written fifteen books, many of them concerned with growing fruit and vegetables organically. At various times he was editor of two of the UK’s leading weekly magazines – Amateur Gardening (for amateurs) and Horticulture Week (for professionals). Graham now runs a horticultural consultancy in Dorset, on England’s south coast, where he lives with his wife and two daughters.
GROWING FOR FOOD & COLOUR by Graham Clarke
Over the past four or five years in the UK, the grow-your-own phenomenon has meant that more and more people have been producing their own food. From salads and root crops to apples, cucumbers, squashes and strawberries, home-grown food is enjoyed in ever-increasing quantities.
And why not? Growing your own provides exercise, nutritious food, and gardeners can choose their favourite varieties for taste or yield. But what about those who want to grow their own, but perhaps have a small garden, and do not want to lose its decorative appeal? How can they combine growing their own food with flowers and colour?
Growing for Food and Colour shows that it really is possible to cultivate fruits, vegetables and herbs alongside flowers – and that the beauty of the garden can be enhanced rather than compromised by productive plants. Following the advice in this book will enable the reader to enjoy home-grown food that is fresher, healthier and tastier – but which also looks fantastic.
Helen Osborn is co-founder of Pharos Tutors, providers of online genealogy courses. She has worked as a professional genealogist and historical researcher since 1998 with clients worldwide and thousands of hours of research time under her belt. She is a member of AGRA and has been a consultant on the popular TV series Who Do You Think You Are? Helen has been lecturing, writing and teaching about research methods for many years and has written three previous books about public houses and brewing history. This is her first book about genealogy.
GENEALOGY: ESSENTIAL RESEARCH METHODS
This book is the ideal companion for anybody researching their family tree. It provides advice and inspiration on methods and problem-solving and helps the amateur family historian understand what successful professionals do to get results, and why we should copy them.
Over ten chapters, it examines the various themes that affect the success or failure of all genealogy research. This begins with an overview of common challenges genealogists encounter and continues with an examination of how to both search effectively and find the right documentary sources.
Using examples from her own family history as well as client work, teacher and professional genealogist Helen Osborn demonstrates how to get the most from documents, analyse problems and build research plans. These subjects lead on to recording results, how to ensure relationships are correctly proved, organizing information and presenting your findings.
Although the book deals mainly with research in England and Wales, the skills taught are easily transferable to research in other countries. This book will be particularly valuable to anyone who is stuck with their research, in addition to those who are keen to learn about advanced skills and methods used by genealogists.
Originally from Western Australia, Darryl Martin moved to the United Kingdom in the 1980s to work as a harpsichord maker. Increasingly interested in the study of antique examples, he pursued this research as a PhD (awarded in 2003) and since 2004 has been curator of the Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments, which is home to the celebrated Raymond Russell and Rodger Mirrey keyboard instrument collections. A regular writer for major journals and a speaker at international conferences, Darryl Martin is also active as a lecturer and postgraduate supervisor at the University of Edinburgh.
THE ART OF MAKING A HARPSICHORD
For around three hundred years, the harpsichord was the leading domestic musical instrument and often a highly fashionable piece of furniture as well. Usurped by the piano at the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was taken up again with the first revival of early music at the beginning of the twentieth century. Over the past forty years, makers have been getting closer to reproducing examples from the historical past.Now, The Art of Making a Harpsichord gives its readers the chance to discover this challenging and rewarding pursuit in a way that is rarely possible without working with an established builder.
Beginning with an overview of the instrument, its schools and workshop traditions, the author – himself an experienced maker and researcher – explores the various models and types before leading the reader through the manufacture of an Italian-style instrument, while describing historically-based working methods which are applicable to all traditions. Just as in the seventeenth or eighteenth century, there is no need to rely on large power-tools.
This book has been designed to provide assistance to all harpsichord makers, whatever model they choose to make. It is lavishly illustrated with line drawings and photographs, the latter taken – wherever possible – from antique examples that give the reader as full an understanding as possible of the quality of these beautiful instruments.
The Art of Making a Harpsichord is available to buy now with a limited time only discount of 30%
