Monday 31 March 2014

Coffee, letters and a delightful novel

Coffee & the cover of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows · Lisa Stefan


Do you ever experience moments when you are going to sleep and are already looking forward to waking up in the morning to enjoy good coffee? Anyone? For me it happens quite frequently but this weekend I was wondering if moments like that are more likely to occur when you are reading something really good. On Friday I entered a bookshop to buy stationery and this book that a dear friend in Iceland had told me about and praised. It's called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. Lately, I haven't really been reading any novels, only coffee table books and magazines, and it felt so good to return to novels with such a delightful one that I was hardly able to put down. It takes place in 1946 and is mainly about life on the island Guernsey during the German Occupation, described in letters written after the war.

There is a lot of letter writing in the book and I'm glad I bought stationery and airmail envelopes as well on Friday because on Saturday I just wanted to write letters in between reading. I posted them this morning.

Post offices can be extremely charming. The one in my neighbourhood is small and it will never win any design awards but all the customers seem to know the names of the clerks and the clerks greet you with: "How are you, my love?" or "Is everything all right, my love?" Tacky post office for sure, but the most loving I have ever entered.
Coffee, letters and a delightful novel · Lisa Stefan


Tuesday 11 March 2014

West Midlands spring blossoms

West Midlands spring blossoms · Lisa Stefan


I am totally smitten with this spring season that, much to my delight, arrived early this year in the West Midlands. Sunday was spent on the patio / in the garden in 18 degrees (about 65°F) and sunshine. Yesterday, between studying for an exam, I grabbed my camera and went for a walk in the neighbourhood to capture some of the spring blossoms.
West Midlands spring blossoms · Lisa Stefan


There are gorgeous cherry and plum trees all around (I wish I knew the name of all the varieties) and now I'm waiting for the magnolias to start blooming, especially two specific trees that I pass by every day.

I was born and raised in Iceland and these kinds of blossoms hardly exist over there (spring arrives late - it's still snowing there). This is the first time living abroad that I see trees in bloom so early. I already knew I had turned into a spring girl, but now I can say for certain that I'm an early-spring girl.

Has spring arrived in your corner of the world?
West Midlands spring blossoms · Lisa Stefan