Advent Day 9…. The Secret Garden

Mary Lennox, a spoiled, ill-tempered, and unhealthy child, comes to live with her reclusive uncle in Misselthwaite Manor on England’s Yorkshire moors after the death of her parents. There she meets a hearty housekeeper and her spirited brother, a dour gardener, a cheerful robin, and her wilful, hysterical, and sickly cousin, Master Colin, whose wails she hears echoing through the house at night.

With the help of the robin, Mary finds the door to a secret garden, neglected and hidden for years. When she decides to restore the garden in secret, the story becomes a charming journey into the places of the heart, where faith restores health, flowers refresh the spirit, and the magic of the garden, coming to life anew, brings health to Colin and happiness to Mary.

Ohhhhhhh, it had to be included, didn’t it?!

I mean, if you didn’t read this growing up then please go read it. This book is full nostalgia and just so wonderful.

The cover used for inspiration had the most gorgeous array of colours it had to be the one! It looks like a dark, mysterious, and magical garden in its own right!

Deep greens and warm reds with burgandy and golden brown. Its just so delicious.

Scroll all the way down for the day 9 pattern spoiler!

Phwoar, look at them 😍 where are we off tomorrow, I wonder?!

xxx Jess

Advent Day 8…. Little Women

The tale of the March sisters… the talented tomboy and author-to-be Jo, tragically frail Beth, beautiful Meg, and romantic, spoiled Amy, united in their devotion to each other and their struggles to survive in New England during the Civil War. An absolute classic and joy to read. This is on my new year reads list for sure! It’s been so long since I last read it.

Honesty time… I had never seen this cover before but it was so beautiful that it made the cut for the advent.

A black background with various green for the leaves, golden splashed for the writing and a mix of peach and brown for the girls themselves.

The result of these colours makes a vivid but lovely natural colourway with a hint of magic. Sort of like the girls themselves!

Scroll all the way down for the day 8 pattern spoiler!

Ohhhh our shelf is filling up! Can you believe we are a third of the way through… I don’t want it to end!

xxx Jess

Advent Day 7…. In the woods

As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children. He is gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.

Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a 12-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox (his partner and closest friend) find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.

Oh this book!! It’s a fab crime novel, a real jaunt! The rest of the series is well worth a read too! I’m super happy to hear some of you who hadn’t read any of the previous books had read this one!

I took so much time and thought when planning what books to include in our library and tried to cover most genres so that everyone would have at least one they recognise.

The haunting cover had beautiful hidden colours that make this skein a beauty even in the pan… I mean its gorgeous!

Teal greens with navy and warm greys against the ivory cream… It’s an absolute triumph!

Scroll all the way down for the day 7 pattern spoiler!

How on earth has it been a week?! Day 8 tomorrow… 😁

xxx Jess

Advent Day 6…. Mrs England

When newly graduated nurse Ruby May takes a position looking after the children of Charles and Lilian England, a wealthy couple from a powerful dynasty of mill owners, she hopes it will be the fresh start she needs. But as she adapts to life at the isolated Hardcastle House, it becomes clear there’s something not quite right about the beautiful, mysterious Mrs England. Ostracised by the servants and feeling increasingly uneasy, Ruby is forced to confront her own demons in order to prevent history from repeating itself. After all, there’s no such thing as the perfect family – and she should know.

Day 6 and another dye bath for you to ogle!

Ohhhh I love today’s! Give me blue green as a main colour any day! I’m always happy when I can get the teal dye out! And it’s even more special when paired with a contrasting golden yellow and browns.

The result speaks for itself, the sumptuous colourway has tones of character and is a big hitter after yesterday’s softer shades of blue. However, it does compliment yesterday’s colourway beautifully!

Scroll all the way down for the day 6 pattern spoiler!

How many of the books have you read so far?! I’m wondering is anyone will have read them all? Until tomorrow…

xxx Jess

Advent Day 5…. Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen created a love story to boss all love stories. The heroine, Elizabeth Bennet has the perfectly tumultuous and brilliant relationship with her beau, Mr. Darcy. Their romantic clash has been described as “a splendid performance of civilized sparring.” Just the best classic in my opinion!

Day 5 has us working with this gorgeous cover as inspiration for the Pride and Prejudice colourway! And for this blog there’s a peek into the dye bath!

Beautifully varigated tonal pale blues make the base of this colourway with hints of jade and turquoise striped through. The final result is this multidimensional gorgeous blue.

Scroll all the way down for the day 5 pattern spoiler!

A bit of a change since yesterday, I hope you’ve enjoyed the first 5 day, can’t wait to share more with you as we count down to Christmas together!

xxx Jess