Nom de Plume

I saw this at the bookstore, and despite having given up on the Bartimaeus Trilogy, thought it sounded interesting. On my hold list at the library it went, and when it came, I found myself riveted. For about three chapters. Basically, one of two orphaned brothers who live with their short-tempered sister in a small English village, falls asleep on a hill and wakes up with dragon vision in which he can see the souls of people. He takes his brother up there, so he can also get a taste of the vision. Then it turns out that there are other dangerous people in the village who have partaken, and the plot heats up. Only not enough to sustain my interest. Like his other novels, the concept was great, the writing fine, and the execution somewhat less than dazzling. Abandoned.

It’s the future and we’re running out of natural resources. Never to fear: scientists have discovered to go back in time to a slightly different dimension. The place in question is the Scottish border in the 16th century, peopled by a fierce group of warriors called the Sterkarms. Treaties abound; the Sterkarms are still untrustworthy. Andrea Mitchell is an anthropologist hired to mingle with the Sterkarm and report back to headquarters. She falls in love with one, and must manage her allegiences. Despite the fact that this had a gazillion more battles than I wanted to read, and went on (and on and on), it was not without charm.

Here’ s a little reminder of what the bathroom looked like when we moved in:

This is it now:

The tub, in which I have been spending most of my free time:

We bought the mirror at an antique store about a year ago. The corner cabinet was that unfinished furniture stuff. I’ve stained it, still have to varnish. Steve hates it in the bathroom; he says it looks hulking. Personally, I rather like it, but am thinking about just painting it white. The stain looks amateurish. Which isn’t a surprise because I did it.

And this is the marble thingie separating the hall and the bathroom. There’s another matching piece that’s going in the window as a sill/shelf.

We still need to get hooks/towel racks/other sundry storage, and finish the trim around the door. But for the most part, this is done.

And it feels a little anticlimactic. Sigh.