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claramay.bsky.social
Claraisreading 🌿💙📚📚
@claramay.bsky.social
730 followers 430 following 1.2K posts

books, pond plants and wildflowers; Backlisted Podcast and WildflowerHour

(and more books)
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claramay.bsky.social
deeply engrossed in They Were Counted by Miklos Banffy, which I would never have discovered without enthusiastic recommendations here - thank you - from @jacquiwine.bsky.social @nancykay-alt-acct.bsky.social and @neglectedbooks.com
They were right, it’s very readable and wide ranging
Paperback copy of They Were Counted by Miklos Banffy. Photo of book showing what a solid thick book it is - almost 2 inches
November 16, 2025 at 11:06 PM
claramay.bsky.social
all in yellow for this evening's #WildflowerHour: Dandelion, Sows Thistle, and a very short Mullein:
Dandelion growing at foot of wall: single yellow flower Yellow flower in mixed foliage Two rosettes of grey Mullein leaves and a short yellow flower spike
November 16, 2025 at 8:09 PM
claramay.bsky.social
The ridiculously satisfying task of covering the dust jackets of old books in a protective cover:
A roll of paper and cellophane for covering dust jackets. Scissors, big ruler, pencil. Books: in for a penny by Wilfred Blunt, about Kew Gardens; for love of Rose, by Antonia Ridge; over the hill, autobiography of Keble Martin.
November 12, 2025 at 5:08 PM
claramay.bsky.social
Rereading Nancy Mitford's The Blessing, and re-listening to the excellent vintage Backlisted podcast edition with Mitford biographer Laura Thompson, which discusses the book:
Fond of this episode as it's the first one I ever heard, back in the day 😊
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/4-n...
Photo of paperback Nancy Mitford, The Blessing. Penguin 1981 edition. Photo shows Sigi (The Blessing himself) twiddling a finger in his hair, which always means he is plotting something!
November 10, 2025 at 10:10 AM
claramay.bsky.social
A KESTREL for A KNAVE Written in Mamdani campaign style script
November 9, 2025 at 12:37 AM
claramay.bsky.social
Hogweed still going strong, and being visited by insects, and Ivy-leaved Toadflax, Cymbalaria muralis in a warm spot at the foot of a wall #thewinter10 #Wildflowerhour
White umbels of little starry flowers hot wheat and flower, with grass in the background Little rounded loaded leaves, and you can just see a few of the little little Lilac-purplecoloured flowers Of ivy leaved toadflax
November 2, 2025 at 8:51 PM
claramay.bsky.social
Yes! daft threads of "I'll be going dressed as..." jokes, some great pumpkin pictures, a busy #Samhain hashtag, and positive things to do like the book people. Samhain greetings to you both, Valarie x
Hazy dark photo of a moon amongst clouds, rising above wooded hillsides
November 1, 2025 at 6:58 AM
claramay.bsky.social
#NowPlaying
All’ Improvviso by Christina Pluhar
October 20, 2025 at 7:42 PM
claramay.bsky.social
Same Hogweed still going for this week's #WildflowerHour - three umbels of flowers waving in the wet windy field, as Autumn Colour begins in the distant woods:
A late Hogweed flower, waving in the wind - same plant as last week, still going! White umbels, surrounded by mown grassland
October 19, 2025 at 6:39 PM
claramay.bsky.social
Weaver of Dreams by Elfrida Vipont - the childhood of Charlotte Brontë and her siblings. Written as a children‘s book, vivid and memorable, and still on my shelves.
Cover - a watercolour by Charlotte…
/2
Cover of hardback edition, Weaver of Dreams - the girlhood of Charlotte Brontë. Watercolour by Charlotte in pastel shades of grey, silver, blue and purple, depicting towers and buildings with distant background hills.
October 18, 2025 at 8:09 AM
claramay.bsky.social
#WildflowerHour one last hogweed, standing not very tall, and flowering in the field. There was a late hay cut, and this has come up since then.
Dark green divided leaves, Hairy stem, flower a group of white umbels. A rather short hogweed plant growing in short grass
October 12, 2025 at 7:46 PM
claramay.bsky.social
Just an ordinary meadow buttercup – so bright!
A couple of bright golden flowers, a few buttercup leaves, lots of short grass
October 12, 2025 at 7:42 PM
claramay.bsky.social
Creeping thistle, such an unlikely sugary pink colour flower, just a few left in the field
Pink thistle flowers on a prickly looking plant growing in short grass
October 12, 2025 at 7:41 PM
claramay.bsky.social
#NowReading Rebecca Solnit's essay collection "No Straight Road Takes You There"
Rebecca Solnit, No Straight Road Takes You There, Essays for Uneven Terrain This book's title, No Straight Road Takes You There, is an evocation and a declaration. Highways tend to be built across the easy routes and the flat places; or the landscape is cleared away for them - logged, graded, levelled, tunnelled through. But to stick to these roads is to miss what else is out there. In her writing and activism, Rebecca Solnit has sought the pathless places in order to celebrate indirect and unpredictable consequences, and to embrace slowness, imperfection and uncertainty which, she argues, are key to understanding the possibilities of change. In this collection of her best recent essays, the award-winning writer explores responses to the climate crisis, as well as reflections on women's rights, the fight for democracy, the trends in masculinity, and the rise of the far right in the West. Incantatory and poetic, positive and engaging, these essays argue for the long-term view and the power of collective action, making a case for seeding change wherever possible, and offering us all a path out of the wilderness.
October 11, 2025 at 10:03 AM
claramay.bsky.social
A Quiet Life by Natasha Walter.
Only about 1/3 in; so far it is Absolutely Tremendous and I foresee twists and turns ahead!
Front cover of library paperback edition published by The Borough Press 2017. Front cover Illustration is a close up of a woman’s hands, wearing white gloves, holding a mid-C20 camera. She is wearing a pale blue dress but, as the picture has zoomed in on her hands, her face isn’t in the picture. Cover puff quotes: ‘impressive (Daily Mail), ‘Terrific’ (Guardian), ‘Game-changing’ The Times.
October 5, 2025 at 8:25 PM
claramay.bsky.social
#NowPlaying
great for getting chores done, and a change from the usual indie-folk-rock on the turntable here:
Singularity - album cover - by Jon Hopkins
September 30, 2025 at 6:47 PM
claramay.bsky.social
For this week’s #WildflowerHour, memories of early summer exploring the Muker Meadows in Upper Swaledale:
my #FavouritePlant has got to be Melancholy Thistle, a first for me, growing by the stream at the Yelland Meadow Nature Reserve:
A robust looking plant with spear shaped leaves, curved around where they join the stem, and a large bud of the red flower at the top of the stem. Pignut flowers and other foliage in the background Flower stalk coming up from mixed foliage by a stream, with a big bright pink thistle-like flower at the top Also visible: meadowsweet and marsh marigolds
September 14, 2025 at 7:26 PM
claramay.bsky.social
First paragraph of an old-favourite novel:
#BookSky💙📚
July had been blown out like a candle by a biting wind that ushered in a leaden August sky. A sharp, stinging drizzle fell, billowing into opaque grey sheets when the wind caught it. Along the Bournemouth sea-front the beach-huts turned blank wooden faces towards a greeny-grey, froth-chained sea that leapt eagerly at the cement bulwark of the shore. The gulls had been tumbled inland over the town, and they now drifted above the house-tops on taut wings, whining peevishly. It was the sort of weather calculated to try anyone's endurance.
September 13, 2025 at 8:57 AM
claramay.bsky.social
#WildflowerHour #SeedHeads
Wild Angelica - Angelica sylvestris - much less this year than last year, when it enjoyed the wet Springtime; but some plants thriving in damp corners of fields and just setting seed now with some proper Umbel shapes:
Seed of Wild Angelica, in the several distinctive little bobbly circles which make up each umbel or flattish group of seed heads. They haven’t fully dried yet so they are still a pale grey-green colour. In the background are nettle leaves and Meadow Cranesbill leaves
September 7, 2025 at 7:41 PM
claramay.bsky.social
#WildflowerHour #SeedHeads Wood Sage, Teucrium scorodonia - not just found in woods; near here it grows on the Malvern Hills. The little cup-like seed cases are so distinctive!
Thin stalks with little brown cup shaped seed cases, above pairs of veined grey-green eaves Thin stalks with little brown cup shaped seed cases, above pairs of veined grey-green eaves - Wood Sedge, here growing by an earth path
September 7, 2025 at 7:34 PM
claramay.bsky.social
That little round thing was going round and round for a long time, as if it was, idk, counting the years or something :)
Screenshot of screen with little circle going round and round, and the words “Estimating Age” on the screen for about 20 minutes, while I wondered if it would be finished in time for Wildflower Hour
September 7, 2025 at 5:42 PM
claramay.bsky.social
Finished Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden: an atmospheric story with a dramatic ending! Growing up; issues of loyalty; the cusp between childhood and adolescence; family life and learning about other ways of living. Some enchanting characterisation, not least of the beautiful setting. Glorious!
September 2, 2025 at 8:48 PM
claramay.bsky.social
Please can we ask #WildflowerHour friends for some #WildflowerHourID help? My friend has gone to work in the Channel Islands and the plants are very different from Herefordshire - she sent me this pic of a little pink flower by the sea today:
A little pink flower amongst rocks at the seaside
August 31, 2025 at 7:56 PM
claramay.bsky.social
Some Black Briony berries in the hedge for #WildflowerHour #Fruits
A thread of Briony draping clusters of bright red berries between fencepost and brambly hedge Close up of clusters of Black Briony Berries
August 31, 2025 at 7:47 PM
claramay.bsky.social
#BookWormSat Revisiting Rumer Godden’s The Greengage summer. Such a joy to go back to a book last read decades ago. It’s such a visual book: here the countryside is described as an artist sees it painting a picture:
Cover of Rumer Godden’s The Greengage Summer. This Pan edition has an Author’s Preface. When we went through the blue door we were on the margin of the river and here we would sometimes encounter Monsieur Joubert, though soon he would get up and go in to lunch because the light had grown too hard and brilliant. His stool and umbrella were left for the afternoon, but I like to think we did not dream of shading ourselves or sitting down. We went to the cove or farther along, where the inlet joined the main bank by a plank bridge, and the towing- path ran between the river and the fields. Here and there there was a willow tree, as big as the ones in the garden, its leaves blown silver by the wind; bulrushes grew along the water verges here, great, hot, black-headed, taller than we, and everywhere hung wreaths and cascades of white convolvulus; skiffs were moored to poles dug in the bank, and now and again there was a barge tied up. Other barges passed all through the day and we stood still to look at them; some were towing still more barges behind them, and whole families lived on board, with washing, hens, firewood, and sometimes a garden planted in pots. When a barge sounds: the sound of the bells, of hammering from the boat- yards, the hoot of a barge, the land hooter of the Brass Instruments Factory behind the town and, nearer, the cries of children bathing in the Plage des Saules.
August 30, 2025 at 9:28 AM