About
Reviews (3)
01 July 2011
Ideal for a new gardener as a pretty log-book.
This is a really charming little book. It's not year-dated, so it can be used at any time, and the illustrations are really beautiful. There's plenty of room for notes and plans in each monthly section.
10 August 2017
Splendid coffee-table book, great re-issue of a self-sufficiency classic
I first encountered this book in its early '70's original format, when it was a relatively light A4 soft-bound volume, admittedly a lot easier to handle than this modern version. The clarity of the illustrations and the delightfully sensible text deeply impressed me then, and still does today.
I think readers would enjoy this book on several levels - as a 'dreamers'' coffee-table book for browsing, as a planning aid for making the most of existing resources of land and time, and as an instruction book for a complete change of lifestyle to full self-sufficiency. I particularly like the realism of the writing - there's no dreamy, airy-fairy hippy stuff here - it's when to sow and dig your turnips, and how much land you'd need to live off completely. Intensely practical and well-illustrated, this is a splendid great Tome in praise of making the most of one's abilities, time, and land to live well and joyously.
10 August 2017
Very agreeable compilation of music
I bought this CD for two reasons: I love classical/baroque music, and as a former steward at Clandon Park I am very familiar indeed with the wonderful accoustics of the Marble Hall, where it was recorded. A 40-foot cube of glorious space, the Marble Hall has been much used over the years as a concert venue, and of course will be so used again when reconstructed.
The recording is very pleasant to listen to, with excellent performances and a pleasing variety of composers and pieces. I'm a little disappointed that the post-production editing seems to have 'flattened out' the wonderful accoustics of the Marble Hall, to the point where it sounds rather dull and lacking any 'life'. Perhaps if played on better equipment than a computer it might reveal some of the glorious sound that seems to be lacking.