Dumpling in a Hanky

I have a new role model: the shelving technique demonstrated between 12 and 18 seconds by the librarian in this Lucozade video is something to aspire to! :D

I bring you...pumpkin carving! Yes, when you live in a historic, atmospheric old city like Edinburgh, Halloween's a great excuse to break out the creepy carving skills... First, a sketch, then a bit of freehand drawing...and cutting.. Then some scraping... And some scooping... And finally...a haunted house! Not content with that though, after a bit more sketching, I moved on to another pumpkin: off came the top and out came the innards... ...and then came....a howling werewolf! Dumpling in a Hanky: available for all your pumpkin carving needs ;)

It seems to be the week for messages in bottles being discovered in Scotland, filled with either mysterious  (or not so much, when translated , but still a lovely sentiment) or vintage scientific messages . Looks like that's my weekend sorted then: I shall contribute to the world stock of random messages in bottles, adrift at sea. What message should I put in my bottles?...

Certain old law books are very, very expensive (like this one ). Certain new law books are also very, very expensive. This book has slipped from its original publication date by about 3 years so far, so there's no guarantee that it will actually be coming out in November this year, as currently promised. But just look at that price. £785. Yes: that's not a typo. It actually costs £785 for a single volume of a single book. It has 568 pages.  That's £1.38 per page . Law book prices are just insane sometimes.  

Edinburghshire has regressed (or progressed) to Autumn in full on 3D mode (Damp, Dark, and Dreich), so I'm cheering myself up with a reminder of a sunny day. Feel free to make full use of this for self-cheering purposes too. Make a wish!

People searching for a pirate treasure map seem to be one of the most frequent hits on my blog. Now, I'm not entirely sure what amoral baddies that steal goods from others have to do with a blog about lawyers and the law but...oh. Right. Anyway, I thought I'd oblige, and share a pirate treasure map that I made on here. It's got a sea monster, octopus, whirlpool, pirate ship, mountains, a volcano, and all sorts of terrain on the island. It also has an X marking the spot...can you find it?

This is the post of oddments, strange bits, and things that I accidentally missed from the other posts, and expands slightly beyond "books" into "books and library 'hings". I think it's best that I don't even try to explain some of these.... Kusudama flowers are pretty, easy to make, and look kinda funky when made from old book pages: shop They're also nice in a bunch: shop And as roses too: shop Books can have all sorts of covers, as these show: shop shop shop shop Make sure the books stay on the shelf with a bit of punctuation geekery: shop You could carry your books about in a bag...with a picture of books on it: shop Make sure you never lose your place again, with some unusual bookmarks: shop shop shop Some more necklaces here: shop shop Badges are also a good wearable way of showing your book love: shop shop shop If you need to get yourself or...

You won't want to draw the line at just showing book bits around your home, do you? You want images and art for your walls, and cards to send to all and sundry, featuring books and book quotes in all their formats? So feast your eyes on these! shop shop shop shop shop shop This is a popular quote...and tea seems to feature in book prints quite frequently! shop shop shop shop shop shop shop shop shop shop shop shop

As a true book lover, you'll be keen to decorate your home with things made from bits-o'-books, and book related items, won't you? To begin with, you can welcome people in to your home with a nice decorative wreath on your door: shop Once you're inside, you'll be looking for a nice way to store the books that you want to keep to read. This is an unusual take on the traditional way of keeping books on shelves... shop However, if you stick with a traditional bookcase style, you'll need some bookends...how about keeping things in place with a slice of the outside world, and its strata? shop But you don't want time to run away from you, while you're buried in your books. So maybe a clock would be a wise investment? shop Don't strain your eyes when reading your favourite tome: invest in a nice little light to illuminate your reading material. shop For the ladies, a pretty place to store jewellery is always a bonus...