Passions

I've been reading a lot of fluff lately. Although I don't devour mysteries as some readers do, I do like the occasional light mystery with the backdrop of the English countryside. M.C. Beaton has a light-hearted series that takes place in the English Cotswolds. The detective is an eccentric middle-aged woman by the name of Agatha Raisin. Agatha is a self-made woman who has retired in middle-age from her public relations firm to move to a cottage in the Cotswolds. Agatha is a hopeless romantic, always dreaming of romantic encounters, while puffing away on a cigarette and eating microwave dinners. She is so hilarious in her own quirky way and can't seem to keep herself out of trouble. M.C. Beaton also has a series of novels with the Scottish detective, Hamish MacBeth, as the central character.

Going from a fluffy mystery to a novel about the bubonic plague does seem like an extreme jump. I am currently reading Geraldine Brooks A Year of Wonders, a novel of a small village in England in 1665, which is beset by the plague. I'm just about 20 pages into the book. The writing is excellent and the subject matter interesting.

The Newfoundland Mitts Revisted are finished. I highly recommend this pattern. Not only were they an easy, quick knit but they do promise to be one of the warmest pair of mittens ever! I did add a few stitches to the thumb as they seemed to be a bit tight, even on my small hands. It could be that my gauge was a bit tight.

I heard recently that one of the keys to keeping yourself young is having a passion in life. Oh my goodness....where do I begin? Saturday night I went to bed having finished my mittens and the Agatha Raisin book so I was plotting my next knitting project, next book, next piping tune to memorize, butterfly gazing soon in the spring...Uh, no problem with passions here! I think I'll live a long time.