Painful Feet

For the past month i have been getting Sore Burning Feet, it started with my right foot, the longer i am on my feet the worse it gets, till i can barely walk or stand.

It then progressed to my left foot but it is not as bad, so far.

The agony is indescribible at times, sometimes it comes on very sharp like a knife slicing the sole of my foot.

To begin with i put it down to my shoes as they are about 18 mths old, i thought they lacked cushioning, but i have now disregarded this idea, because i think my feet are so bad and it is getting progressively worse.


Of course an additional problem to all this, i can't do walking which i love and i can't exercise, which of course doesn't aid my weight loss.

The longer i am on my feet the worse it gets, and when i am at work 3 days running is a killer.  My days off work are just so boring and frustrating, because i try and rest it....

I googled it and this is the closest possibilty i could find.

Metatarsalgia

Definition

Metatarsalgia

Metatarsalgia is a condition marked by pain and inflammation in the ball of your foot.
You may experience metatarsalgia if you're physically active and you participate in activities that involve running and jumping. Or, you may develop metatarsalgia by wearing ill-fitting shoes. There are other causes as well.
Although generally not serious, metatarsalgia can sideline you. Fortunately, conservative treatments, such as ice and rest, can often relieve metatarsalgia symptoms. And proper footwear, along with shock-absorbing insoles or arch supports, may be all you need to prevent or minimize future problems with metatarsalgia.

Symptoms

Symptoms of metatarsalgia may include:

• Sharp, aching or burning pain in the ball of your foot — the part of the sole just behind your toes
• Pain in the area around your second, third or fourth toes — or, only near your big toe
• Pain that gets worse when you stand, walk or run and improves when you rest
• Sharp or shooting pain in your toes
• Numbness or tingling in your toes
• Pain that worsens when you flex your feet
• A feeling in your feet as if you're walking with a pebble in your shoe
• Increased pain when you're walking barefoot, especially on a hard surface

Sometimes these symptoms develop suddenly — especially if you've recently increased your usual amount of running, jumping or other high-impact exercise — but problems usually develop over time.

What are the causes of metatarsalgia?

One or a combination of many factors can cause metatarsalgia.
Among the most common is over-training or over-activity. Studies show that runners – who tend to put excessive pressure on their metatarsals when playing – develop metatarsalgia more than others do. Intensive, extended training puts an abnormal amount of stress on the balls of the feet, often causing irritation and eventually, inflammation.
A high arch, an abnormally long second toe, and other such structural factors can also cause metatarsalgia. People with hammertoes , those who wear high heels (which prevent the toes from relaxing flat), and those who are overweight are also more prone to metatarsalgia because their conditions tend to put more pressure on the balls of the feet.
The risk of developing metatarsalgia also appears to go higher as a patient grown older. This is because the fat pads on the metatarsals thin out as a person ages, diminishing the ability of the metatarsal bones to protect themselves.

Tests and Diagnoses

Most doctors require a patient to undergo an x-ray in order to rule out other foot problems which cause symptoms similar to those of metatarsalgia. Most doctors also ask about a patient’s lifestyle, exercising habits, activity levels, etc.

How to treat metatarsalgia?

Most metatarsalgia cases only require conservative treatment.
Metatarsalgia treatment can be as simple as applying ice packs to the affected area several times during the first day, for example – in most cases, this can already significantly reduce swelling and ease pain. Rest is another simple but effective form of metatarsalgia treatment. By keeping stress off the balls of the feet, inflammation and pain are reduced. Athletes who need to still keep active even during recuperation period are usually advised to temporarily switch to low impact exercises like swimming.
In some cases, doctors may prescribe nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication like ibuprofen. These drugs aid in lessening pain and swelling. Doctors may also prescribe specially-designed orthotics to minimize pressure. Shock-absorbing insoles are also great in cushioning the balls of the feet.
When conservative metatarsalgia treatment options fail, the doctor may recommend metatarsalgia surgery. During surgery, the metatarsal bones are realigned.

Breast Screening

On Wednesday i received a letter from Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn, telling me i had an appointment for a Breast Screening on Friday 11th November, i had many doubts about this:

Having the nerve to make an appointment without consulting me
Having an invasive procedure performed
Venue is Tesco's carpark, this is a personal thing, anyone i know could see me enter
I have heard the procedure is painful, i do have a low tolerance to pain
My phobia of any medical procedure

So i had reservations, but decided to read the enclosed leaflet as i was in a quandry the leaflet said

Sometimes a mammogram will look normal, even if cancer is there, this is called a false negative result.

Sometimes a mammogram will not look normal and you will do recalled for more tests, but cancer is not there, this is called a false positve result.

Okay, so they are not accurate and they don't really know, der why bother going.

Then on Wednesday a review on Breast Screening was announced because

•   Review of large clinical trials questions whether screening does more harm than good. It says for every 2,000 women screened, 1 life would be saved, 10 women would have treatment they don't need and 200 would face stress of false positive results
• Government cancer expert announces review of evidence. 

Well i guess that clinches it for me

7 tips to stay motivated

1. Set goals

Start with simple goals and then progress to longer range goals. Remember to make your goals realistic and achievable. It's easy to get frustrated and give up if your goals are too ambitious. For example, if you haven't exercised in a while, a short-term goal might be to walk five minutes once or twice a day. An intermediate goal might be to walk 20 minutes three or four times a week. A long-term goal might be to complete a 5K walk.
 
2. Make it fun

Find sports or activities that you enjoy, then vary the routine to keep you on your toes. If you're not enjoying your workouts, try something different. Join a volleyball or softball league. Take a ballroom dancing class. Check out a health club or martial arts center. Discover your hidden athletic talent. Remember, exercise doesn't have to be drudgery — and you're more likely to stick with a fitness program if you're having fun.
3. Make physical activity part of your daily routine

If it's hard to find time for exercise, don't fall back on excuses. Schedule workouts as you would any other important activity. You can also slip in physical activity throughout the day. Be creative! Take a walk during your child's music lesson. Take the stairs instead of the elevator at work. Pedal a stationary bike or do strength training exercises with resistance tubing while you watch TV at night.

4. Put it on paper

Are you hoping to lose weight? Boost your energy? Sleep better? Manage a chronic condition? Write it down! Seeing the benefits of regular exercise on paper may help you stay motivated. It may also help to keep an exercise diary. Record what you did during each exercise session, how long you exercised and how you felt afterward. Recording your efforts can help you work toward your goals — and remind you that you're making progress.

5. Join forces with friends, neighbors or others

You're not in this alone. Invite friends or co-workers to join you when you exercise. Work out with your partner or other loved ones. Play soccer with your kids. Organize a group of neighbors to take fitness classes at a local health club.

6. Reward yourself

After each exercise session, take a few minutes to savor the good feelings that exercise gives you. This type of internal reward can help you make a long-term commitment to regular exercise. External rewards can help, too. When you reach a longer range goal, treat yourself to a new pair of walking shoes or new tunes to enjoy while you exercise.

7. Be flexible

If you're too busy to work out or simply don't feel up to it, take a day or two off. Be gentle with yourself if you need a break. The important thing is to get back on track as soon as you can.

Now that you're enthusiastic again, get moving! Set your goals, make it fun and pat yourself on the back from time to time. Remember, physical activity is for life. Review these tips whenever you feel your motivation sliding. 

5 Tips to Weightloss

1. Always have a goal in mind - As the saying goes, we need to have a vision. Close your eyes and visualize your end goal. This will help you to be mentally focused when reaching your desired weight.

2. Write down your goals - Visualizing your goals is one thing and reminding you of your goals is another. Always remind yourself of what you want to achieve. Post it on your wall, place on your cellphone, as long as you get to be reminded then post it there. Being able to read your goals keeps you on track with what you want to achieve.

3. Make a short term goal - Having short term goals give us a boost of confidence and a sense of accomplishment. Whenever we feel these, we reassure ourselves that what we are doing is right and this will keep us going.

4. Have a cheat day - I know everyone is doing this but I just want to include it here because I believe that this is really important. Cheat days allow us to be mentally and emotionally focused. an ice cream or 2 won't hurt as long as you get back on track the day after.

5. Read other's success stories - Another way to keep yourself motivated through others. Join forums and read the stories of others, that way you will be reminded that it is possible to lose weight and reach your goals. If others can do it so can you.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

I had seen many references to this book but had my reservations, but eventually gave this book a go, a wopping book of 538 pages.

But wow what a surprise, fantastic.

The Prologue was a bit boring but it did set the scene, then you went into part 1, and it became a great page turner one of those rare books you can't get enough of and grudge every minute not reading.

I loved Mikael and as for Lisbeth, not a nice person, but there is something about her that as her character grows you start to gain sympathy for.  

I have to say i didn't like Cecilia, she seemed a very selfish woman.

I guess there is only one thing for it i will have to read Book2 of the Millennium Series :)

The Industrialist
Henrik Vanger, head of the dynastic Vanger Corporation, is tormented by the loss of a child decades earlier and convinced that a member of his family has committed murder.

The Journalist
Mikael Blomkvist delves deep into the Vangers' past to uncover the truth behind the unsolved mystery. But someone else wants the past to remain a sec...more 

The Industrialist

Henrik Vanger, head of the dynastic Vanger Corporation, is tormented by the loss of a child decades earlier and convinced that a member of his family has committed murder.

The Journalist
Mikael Blomkvist delves deep into the Vangers' past to uncover the truth behind the unsolved mystery. But someone else wants the past to remain a secret and will go to any lengths to keep it that way.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Lisbeth Salander, the enigmatic, delinquent and dangerous security specialist, assists in the investigation. A genius computer hacker, she tolerates no restrictions placed upon her by individuals, society or the law.

Beware Pensthorpe - Here we come!

Today after Micheal and Hana collected Iliana we decided to take Dylan and Sophie to Pensthorpe, during the summer i won a family ticket to Pensthorpe on a raffle and we used it today.

On arrival we entered the park the photos might not necessarily be in order.

We went round the Bug Trail

We did Pond Dipping which they both loved

We finished at the inevitable playground

The Ambassadors by Henry James

This is the October Book of the Month for BCF, i couldn't find a copy so Popyshake from BCF loaned me a copy.

 This is a different genre for me, I am cautious of Classics, in this case i was right to be, i didn't enjoy the writing style, it was very long winded and tiresome, i suppose boring would be more the term.  And i just couldn't relate to the characters at all, after struggling through a  1/4 of the book i finally gave up.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ambassadors

Graham Greene and E.M. Forster marvelled at it, but F.R. Leavis considered it to be 'not only not one of his great books, but to be a bad one.' As for the author, he held The Ambassadors as the favorite among all his novels.
Sent from Massachusetts by the formidable Mrs. Newsome to recall her son, Chad, from what she assumes to be a corrupt life in Paris, Strether finds his intentions subtly and profoundly transformed as he falls under the spell of the city and of his charge. He is quick to perceive that Chad has been not so much corrupted as refined, and over the course of the hot summer months in Paris he gradually realizes that this discovery and acceptance of Chad's unconventional new lifestyle alter his own ideals and ambitions.
One of Henry James's three final novels, all of which have sharply divided modern critics, The Ambassadors is the finely drawn portrait of a man's late awakening to the importance of morality that is founded not on the dictates of convention but on its value per se.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

This is British Book Club November Book of the Month
 
The edition I read was a very old Penquin edition with yellowing pages the book was published 1923 and this edition was a 1953 edition, complete with diagrams of the murder scene, brilliant.

This really is Agatha Christie at her best, i had read the book before and remembered who did it, so that took a bit of the element from it, but it certainly it a most surprising murderer.

My Favourite Character has be Dr Sheppherd and Caroline

The part I enjoyed most was the end when all was revealed

I have read a few Agatha Christie books and do enjoy them, they are refreshing, often surprising, and not too gruesome

I enjoyed the book apart from the knowledge of who did it.

I did  enjoy this book because the surprise of the ending, and the way all the clues came together

The last line was awesome 'But i wish Hercule Poirot had never retired from work and come here to grown vegetable marrows'

read book

From Goodreads - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot #4) 

Agatha Christie's genius for detective fiction is unparalleled. Her worldwide popularity is phenomenal, her characters engaging, her plots spellbinding. No one knows the human heart or the dark passions that can stop it better than Agatha Christie. She is truly the one and only Queen of Crime.

Village rumor hints that Mrs. Ferrars poisoned her husband, but no one is sure. Then there's another victim in a chain of death. Unfortunately for the killer, master sleuth Hercule Poirot takes over the investigation.

Black Shuck - The Devil's Dog by Piers Warren

Just read in the Eeatern Daily Press (a regional newspaper)about a book coming out on the 24th October called Black Shuck - The Devil's Dog by Piers Warren it is about the legend of the large Black Dog that has haunted the East Anglian Coast for centuries.

Synopsis from http://www.black-shuck.co.uk/

Black Shuck - The Devil's Dog - a terrifying new supernatural thriller
by Piers Warren set in the village of Blakeney on the North Norfolk coast.

A New Ghost Story for Halloween 2011

For centuries Black Shuck has patrolled the coastal paths of Norfolk – a spectral portent of death. But now the phantom dog is evolving into something altogether more horrifying. Gaining strength and powers by the day, Shuck has developed a gruesome appetite – a hunger he sets out to satiate ...

Wildlife film-maker Harry Lambert needs a serious rest. His best friend is dead, his wife has left him and his career is on the rocks. A spot of bird-watching on the Norfolk coast should help ... but when Harry stumbles into Black Shuck's territory, the hellhound finds the victim it was hunting for ..

Doesn't it sound wonderful, I can't wait........... and Blakeney is just a few miles up the coast from me.........fantastic.

Mans Milano Leather Tie Shoe Size 11 £15

Mens Milano

Brown Leather Tie Shoe

Size 11

£15

Pre-Owned

The Queen of Sorcery by David Eddings

1 My Favourite Characters Was Belgareth and Polgara, although all the characters knitted so well together, i enjoyed the interaction between Belgareth and Polgara.

2The part I enjoyed most was Belgarions gradual realisation of  who he is.

I 

I do enjoy fantasy books that take centre round a small group people on a quest/search, i find it exciting following their adventures

3-

I have read this book before it is a great story and very well told, watching it develop and grow.

From Goodreads - "BELGARIAD is exactly the kind of fantasy I like. It has magic, adventure, humor, mystery, and a certain delightful human insight."
PIERS ANTHONY The master Sorcerer Belgarath and his daughter Polgara the arch-Sorceress were on the trail of the Orb, seeking to regain its saving power before the final disaster prophesized by the legends. And with them went Garion, a simple farm boy only months before, but now the focus of the struggle. He had never believed in sorcery and wanted no part of it. Yet with every league they traveled, the power grew in him, forcing him to acts of wizardry he could not accept

Pikolinos Shoes Size 38 £20

Pikolinos Shoes

Red

Size 38
£20

Pre-Owned

Publish Post

Jeffrey Rogers Orange Jacket Size 16

Jeffrey Rogers Orange Jacket

Size 16

£10

Orange Scarf £5

Jacket Pre-Owned/Scarf New

The Book Club Forum (BCF)

Is an active forum, full of people who love books and reading! The members read a wide range of books, and have many favourite authors, so there's usually someone to chat to. As you look around, you'll also notice that they have a busy general chat section, where you can chat about tv, music, sport or even food!

http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/

Goodreads

Goodreads is a large social book discovery and recommendation site for readers in the world. We have more than 5,700,000 members who have added more than 180,000,000 books to their shelves. A home for casual readers and bona-fide bookworms alike, Goodreads users recommend books, compare what they are reading, keep track of what they've read and would like to read, find their next favorite book, form book clubs and much more. Goodreads was launched in December 2006.

http://www.goodreads.com/

Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings

Pawn of Prophecy (The Belgariad, #1)
by David Eddings

I love books with Maps in them, although this starts a little slow, the characters in the book and the setting for the story are a great read. This is Fantasy at its best. Going back down memory lane and rereading such a good story. I adore Polgara.

Garion the farm boy did not believe in magic dooms, but then he did not know that soon he would be on a quest of unparalleled magic and danger when the dread evil God Torak was reawakened.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)
by Suzanne Collins

Surprisingly i thoroughly enjoyed this, it was superbly well written, and the characters were well thought out and most believable, I lived through every pain and emotion along the way. Brilliant.

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Murder and the Golden Goblet by Any Myers

Murder and the Golden Goblet
by Amy Myers

I found this book very confusing, i found it slow and disjointed and didn't relate to the characters they seemed shallow and unreal to me somehow

The latest in the Marsh & Daughter mystery series - Who was Lance Venyon? Curiosity over a memorial plaque in an old Kentish church sets wheelchair-bound ex-cop Peter Marsh and his daughter Georgia on a long and dangerous trail that will lead them not only into the world of art fakes in 1950s Paris, but further back still to the legends of King Arthur, Sir Gawain and their connections with Dover Castle . . .

The Armada Boy by Kate Ellis

The Armada Boy: Wesley Peterson Book 2
by Kate Ellis

Once again Kate Ellis got me enthralled in a wonderful storyline with wonderful characters.

Fifty years after D Day, a group of American veterans has returned to the small Devonshire town of Bereton where, in 1944, they prepared for Normandy, amazed the local children with gifts of candy and comics, and courted the local maidens. When one of the old soldiers, Norman Openheim, is found stabbed to death in the ruins of the same chapel where the GIs and the village girls once held their wartime trysts, Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson finds his investigative attention torn between the past and the present. There is no shortage of suspects. Dorinda, Openheim's widow, is acting anything but bereaved in the company of tall, handsome Todd Weringer; a trio of post-adolescent urban urchins (Dog, Rat, and Snot) has been harassing the local merchants at knifepoint; and Norman's romance of 50 years ago produced a son with a criminal record and, just maybe, a lifetime of resentment built up against the father he never knew. More intriguing to Peterson and archaeologist Neil Watson are the parallels that exist between this murder and the murder of a sailor from the Spanish Armada in 1588. Hatred, jealousy, and revenge have cast 400-year-old shadows, and Peterson must untangle a skein of accusations, resentments, and family alliances that stretch back through the centuries. 

The Old Contemptibles by Martha Grimes

The Old Contemptibles (Richard Jury Mysteries 11)
by Martha Grimes (Goodreads Author)

confused.com, i got so totally confused with the storyline and didn't relate to the characters, another one bites the dust:)

A passionate affair comes to a crashing halt when Richard Jury's lover is found dead. And since Jury is himself a suspect, he must send Melrose Plant to her family's Lake District home, where secrets that rise to the surface threaten to pull the contentious clan under.

A vengeful Longing by R N Morris

A Vengeful Longing (Porfiry Petrovich, #2)
by R.N. Morris

I did not get on with this book, it was very long winded and slow moving, i did not relate to the characters, in the end i felt it was not improving and gave up on it.

Hailed with glowing reviews , R. N. Morris's The Gentle Axe borrowed Porfiry Petrovich of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment to create a wholly new, hauntingly authentic novel of suspense. A Vengeful Longing, Petrovich's next outing, is even more engrossing. As the laconic investigator follows a trail that begins innocently with a box of chocolates, he is drawn deep into St. Petersburg's squalid heart. Aided by Morris's effortless prose, readers are immersed in the stifling world of nineteenth-century tsarist Russia and treated to an unforgettable rendering of a brutal time and place that will ensnare every fan of sophisticated historical fiction

Death and the Cornish Fiddler by Deryn Lake

Death and the Cornish Fiddler (John Rawlings, #11)
by Deryn Lake

I don't usually read set in this era, anything pre Victorian, i do not usually choose to read, so was sceptical, however, i was attracted by the cover and the title, and the synopsis, if you chose to ignore the era, so thought give it a go.

I was pleasantly surprised, it was a pleasant read, very descriptive of the era, and i enjoyed reading about the characters and the storyline was also very good.

The spring of 1765 brings a welcome sense of recovery to the recently widowed Apothecary John Rawlings, but his tentative peace of mind does not last for long: a young child disappears in strange circumstances at the Hellstone Floral Dance and a seemingly omnipresent blind musician is never far away. While this mysterious figure intrigues Rawlings, the case of the missing child alarms him; he feels he must do all in his powers to attempt to rescue the young life.Packed full of colorful historical detail, Death and the Cornish Fiddler is the eleventh book in the highly acclaimed John Rawlings series - a new masterpiece from the queen of Georgian fiction.

The Mesmerists Apprentice by Lee Jackson

The Mesmerist's Apprentice (Sarah Tanner, #2)
by Lee Jackson, L.M. Jackson

What a wonderful writer, just like 'A most dangerous woman' it bought Victorian London alive, the sights and smells seemed so real. The characters believable and likeable. And the story itself had me on the edge of my seat during all the twists and turns. Fantastic Book.

When the enigmatic Sarah Tanner re-opens her Dining and Coffee Rooms soon after a disastrous fire, the gossips of Leather Lane grudgingly admit she has “the luck of the devil.” Yet when a local butcher is falsely accused of a heinous offence — selling horsemeat — it seems her luck has run out. Drawn into an evermore dangerous series of confrontations with a gang of youths who seem determined to put an innocent man out of business, Sarah Tanner’s own livelihood looks set for ruin into the bargain.But what links the persecution of a humble butcher with a certain Dr. Stead — a leading practitioner of the strange art of mesmerism — and a desperate plea from Sarah’s former lover, the aristocrat Arthur De Salle? As Sarah Tanner investigates, she increasingly fears that the mesmerist, patronized by the highest society, is a charlatan and his latest patient, the unwitting victim of a grotesque fraud.
To preserve a family’s honour, Sarah sets out upon a trail of suicide, murder, deception and deceit stretching from the alleys of Leather Lane to the drawing rooms of Mayfair.

An Unhallowed Grave by Kate Ellis

An Unhallowed Grave (Wesley Peterson, #3)
by Kate Ellis

I loved every minute of this book, i grudged every moment i couldn't read. As usual with this author it was well written, with twists and turns along the way. The characters were very real and well thought out. Brilliant.

When the body of Pauline Brent is found hanging from a yew tree in a local graveyard, DS Wesley Peterson immediately suspects foul play. Meanwhile Wesley's archaeologist friend Neil Watson has excavated a corpse at his nearby dig, that of a young woman who—local legend has it—had been publicly hanged from the very same tree before being buried on unhallowed ground five centuries ago. Wesley is forced to consider the possibility that the killer knows the tree's dark history. Has Pauline also been executed rather than murdered? To catch a dangerous killer Wesley must discover as much as he can about the victim, but Pauline appears to have been a woman with few friends, no relatives, and a past she has carefully tried to hide.

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

The Crossing Places (Ruth Galloway, #1)
by Elly Griffiths (Goodreads Author)

A brilliant boo, made the more intrigueing as it's setting is local to me, it mentioned Holme, Saltmarsh, Blakeney, King's Lynn, it was quite surreal all the places familiar to me. I am also intrigued by the murder stories which involve archeology because i am interested in the subject, altogether a good read.

When she’s not digging up bones or other ancient objects, quirky, tart-tongued archaeologist Ruth Galloway lives happily alone in a remote area called Saltmarsh near Norfolk, land that was sacred to its Iron Age inhabitants - not quite earth, not quite sea.

When a child’s bones are found on a desolate beach nearby, Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson calls Galloway for help. Nelson thinks he has found the remains of Lucy Downey, a little girl who went missing ten years ago. Since her disappearance he has been receiving bizarre letters about her, letters with references to ritual and sacrifice.

The bones actually turn out to be two thousand years old, but Ruth is soon drawn into the Lucy Downey case and into the mind of the letter writer, who seems to have both archaeological knowledge and eerie psychic powers. Then another child goes missing and the hunt is on to find her. As the letter writer moves closer and the windswept Norfolk landscape exerts its power, Ruth finds herself in completely new territory – and in serious danger.

THE CROSSING PLACES marks the beginning of a captivating new crime series featuring an irresistible heroine

In a Dry Season by Peter Robinson

In A Dry Season (Inspector Banks, #10)
by Peter Robinson

An amazing book, Peter Robinson really excelled himself here, i had difficulty putting it down.

On the outs with their superiors, Detective Inspector Banks and Detective Sergeant Annie Cabbot are lumbered with a case that is supposed to frustrate and annoy them--and find the challenge fascinating. When a reservoir dries out, a flooded village emerges and a boy finds a skeleton buried in an outhouse--by solid police work, and the use of experts, Banks and Cabbot find out who she was and when she died, and then have to find out why. The reader knows more than they do of course--elderly crime writer Vivien has written her own account of what happened during World War Two when she was an intense unhappy teenager, and this is presented in alternate chapters--but there are surprises still in store... An intense sense of period and a celebration of the virtues of solid investigation, this admirable combination of the police procedural and the psychological period thriller was nominated for the Edgar, the US crime writers' best of the year award. Peter Robinson's acute portrayal of his flawed, humane detectives and the charismatic doomed victim the truth of whose death they are trying to uncover has a desperate sadness which comes together in a climax of unexpected power

Dead Beat by Jim Butcher

Dead Beat (The Dresden Files #7)
by Jim Butcher (Goodreads Author)

I found this book rather hard going but i got through it, not one of my favourite authors or series, which is a surprise as i enjoy fantasy and crime, it seemed an ideal combination for me but I just didn't get on with it.

Paranormal investigations are Harry 'Dresden's business, and Chicago is his beat as he tries to bring law and order to a world of wizards and monsters that exists alongside everyday life. And though most inhabitants of the Windy City don't believe in magic, the Special Investigations department of the Chicago PD knows better.

Karin Murphy is the head of SI and Harry's good friend. So when a killer vampire threatens to destroy Murphy's reputation unless Harry does her bidding, he has no choice. The vampire wants the Word of Kemmler (whatever that is) and all the power that comes with it. Now Harry is in a race against time--and six merciless necromancers--to find the Word before Chicago experiences a Halloween night to wake the dead....

Blue Lightning By Ann Cleeves

Fell down a bit here, when i got this out the library, i didn't realise it was book 4 till i logged it on Goodreads, i usually don't do this, however, i decided to give it a go, and it does stand on its own quite well.

However, i found it slow, uninspiring and quite predictable, to be honest i couldn't wait to finish it, though i have to confess the ending bought a tear to my eye.

Murder can strike more than once… Shetland Detective Jimmy Perez knows it will be a difficult homecoming when he returns to the Fair Isles to introduce his fiancée, Fran, to his parents. It’s a community where everyone knows each other, and strangers, while welcomed, are still viewed with a degree of mistrust. Challenging to live on at the best of times, with the autumn storms raging, the island feels cut off from the rest of the world. Trapped, tension is high and tempers become frayed. Enough to drive someone to murder… When a woman’s body is discovered at the renowned Fair Isles bird observatory, with feathers threaded through her hair, the islanders react with fear and anger. With no support from the mainland and only Fran to help him, Jimmy has to investigate the old-fashioned way. He soon realizes that this is no crime of passion—but a murder of cold and calculated intention. With no way off the island until the storms abate, Jimmy knows he has to work quickly. There’s a killer on the island just waiting for the opportunity to strike again

Sponsored Walk for The Guide Dogs

Today Smithdon and Brothercross District had a Sponsored Walk for the Guide Dogs, we met at the Field Study Centre in Sandringham at 1.30pm on a glorious sunny sunday afternoon.

The walk took about an hour for most of us,  when we returned we to the centre we had a cup a soup and hot dog, made for us by The Trefoil Guild

It was a lovely afternoon enjoyed by all who went.

The sum raised for the Guide Dogs appeared to be in excess of £300.