About Diamonds

Who said that local magazines were only about coffee shops, church sales and makeup. They can have quite interesting articles on hot topics. In this specific case, hot ice. I mean of course diamonds. So anyway, in February's editionof Round & About, they talk about diamonds. The excuse is Valentine's Day, nevertheless I learned a few things about mined and synthetic diamonds. Well, about diamonds in general. It's quite fascinating really. Anyway, did you ever buy diamonds? I think I only ever did it when I bought my wife her engagement ring.

The Little Bookshop (Cookham)

I am blogging again about The Little Bookshop in Cookham, just because. I had been wanting to visit it since since 2020, I finally got to do it last month, but haven't been back there since. Purchase-wise, it makes sense: I have more than enough books to read for now and for a long time. All the same, I love quaint little bookshops (it truly deserves its name) that are yet full of treasures, so I am hoping to revisit it soon. I need to find an excuse to go to Cookham and convince my wife.

Reading Mugs at The Little Bookshop

You may remember that I bought a "Go away, I'm reading" mug back in 2017. Well, I was happily surprised to find the same mugs in The Little Bookshop in Cookham, during our first and so far only visit there. I know they are available online as well, but it's nice to know we can buy reading accessories in the bookshop as well, and invest in an independent business without hoarding books. Now I won't buy more, because our cupboards are even more crammed than our bookshelves. That said, if my mug breaks, I know where to go to replace it.

"Summer Books"

I took this picture during our visit to The Little Bookshop in Cookham. I really like the retro display. Anyway, as you know, I loathe summertime. I try to survive it, through various means. Among them, of course, is reading. I loathe summertime, but I do read seasonally, because I enjoy summer books, paradoxically. So I always eagerly pick up this free seasonal leaflet from Books Are My Bag. It always has something in there that is worth reading, or at least buying. So yeah, I picked one leaflet, checked it, and bought a book listed in it. Because for me, summer can only be tolerable if I lose myself in a book.

The Little Bookshop

I have been wanting to visit it since 2020. Yesterday, I finally got my wish granted: we went to The Little Bookshop in Cookham. I think I'm in love, it's like the perfect quaint village bookshop. As it was also the first day of Independent Bookshop Week, I decided not to behave, I spent like a drunken sailor and I bought myself five books. I would have bought more, but Wolfie didn't find anything he liked and my wife did not dare, fearing rightly I might go on a hoarding spree. Then again, I thought I would spoil myself as it is today Father's Day. Which the bookshop advertised quite a lot, so it's all fair. Anyway, we will not go back to Cookham any time soon, so I think it's okay to make the best of our short visit. Until next time.

Spooky Round & About

 Like last year, I recently got my hand on the October edition of Round & About.I had to take a copy because of the cover. Don't judge a free local magazine by its cover, but what a great Halloween cover all the same, with its pathway full of Jack O'Lanterns. There is also an article about local ghost stories and hauntings, which is always something that I find fascinating. I would visit them just for fun, if I did not want to avoid getting Wolfie scared. That said, they can be used as inspiration for my own scary stories (if I can come round to it). So I'll keep it.

Frightening Jack O'Lantern

Oh the lovely things you find in regional magazines! I stumbled recently upon the Round & About edition for October and lo and behond, there was this gorgeous cover, with the most frightening image of a Jack O'Lantern, with a skeletal body. I had to take it, just for the cover. If it hadn't been free, I would have taken it anyway. Now Halloween content was rather thin, it gave some suggestions of spooky activities for the month and half term, but all the same, what a cover! It will give us inspiration when the time comes for our pumpkin carving.

The Little Bookshop in Cookham

Sometimes, I find things by chance. Or my wife does and tells me. Anyway, she found out recently that there is an independent bookshop in Cookham, which is not too far from where we live. It is aptly named The Little Bookshop and indeed seems quite small and cosy in the pictures I saw online. It has been open since November 2018. I think last time we went to Cookham was some time in March 2018. In any case, I intend to visit the bookshop as soon as possible. So there is something else to look forward to.

The menu of The Ferry in Cookham

This is this time of the week again, when I plug a meal or a pub or a restaurant to celebrate Friday. This time, it is The Ferry in Cookham. It is a pub I visited fairly often at work, when I had Friday lunches there anyway. I also had dinner there with my parents, and I ate there a few other times. Nothing on the menu is outstanding, but I was never disappointed by what I ate. And the venue is quite nice, right by the river Thames, which makes every visit an experience in itself. I first ate a hamburger there that was delicious. With my parents it was some pasta and salmon. I also once had a Sunday roast. Every time, I was full. Meals in The Ferry are very filling. And they have decent beers too. In any case, with the setting, I always had a pleasant time eating there.

The club sandwich of the Crown in Cookham

I have decided to start a new series of blog posts, food-related, a bit like the Friday sandwich treat posts I used to blog (remember those?). In this one, I will merely plug a restaurant or a pub, or something in particular on their menu. I have decided to start with one of those village pubs that makes England so enjoyable. The pub I am refering to is The Crown in Cookham, which I did not visit very often and only one visit was memorable enough. About a year ago, I went there with my colleagues for lunch. I had their open club sandwich. You can see it on the menu. It was a discovery. I was surprised to love it so much. I think very little of English bacon, in fact I usually don't like it at all. Since bacon is an important part of a self-respecting club sandwich, I also think very little of British club sandwiches. This one, however, was not only decent, it was great. And adding avocado to the mix was a stroke of genius. It is by far one of the best club sandwiches I had in a restaurant, a fancy version of the classic. If you stop by the village (which is absolutely lovely), stop at The Crown and try it. The rest of the menu seems good too. But their club sandwich was devilish.