whatcathyreadnext

Six on Saturday is a weekly meme originally hosted by The Propagator but now in the tender care of Jim at Garden Ruminations.

I’ve been a lurker for quite a while, enjoying reading the posts of other gardeners – celebrating their triumphs, glorying in their knowledge, commiserating with their struggles – but not contributing myself. However, I reckon it’s time that changed even if I have chosen the most challenging time of the year to join in.

(L to R) One – The pyracantha growing over our garden gate is still covered in berries. Two – Just about the last remaining, rather tatty flower of achillea millefolium ‘Cerise Queen’. The achillea took over in the borders last year, smothering other plants. I divided some of the larger clumps back in the autumn and potted them up ready to be moved to new raised beds in the front garden. (Perhaps more on that next time.) Three – Choiysa ternata ‘Sundance’ living up to its name. If you look closely you’ll see the only frog to visit our new wildlife pond so far is a terracotta one.

(L to R) Four – I like the foliage combination of aucuba japonica and arbutus unedo, the latter with most of its strawberry-like fruits now on the ground. At least, those the pigeons haven’t snaffled. Five – It seems way too early to see the leaves of allium schubertii appearing but here they are poking up through frosty earth. There’s nothing around them because I’ve been clearing the bed they’re in as part of another project. (Like most gardeners, I have many projects on the go.) Six – My first attempt at growing purple sprouting broccoli. Whether it will get big enough to be worth harvesting is another matter.

Do check out the posts of other participants by following the links in the comments section of Jim’s post. If you fancy taking part yourself but don’t know where to start, here’s the participant’s guide.

It’s the first Saturday of the month which means it’s time for 6 Degrees of Separation.

Here’s how it works: a book is chosen as a starting point by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best and linked to six other books to form a chain. Readers and bloggers are invited to join in by creating their own ‘chain’ leading from the selected book.

Kate says: Books can be linked in obvious ways – for example, books by the same authors, from the same era or genre, or books with similar themes or settings. Or, you may choose to link them in more personal or esoteric ways: books you read on the same holiday, books given to you by a particular friend, books that remind you of a particular time in your life, or books you read for an online challenge. Join in by posting your own #6Degrees chain on your blog and adding the link in the comments section of each month’s post. You can also check out links to posts on X using the hashtag #6Degrees.

We begin the year with a wildcard which means starting with the final book in our December chain. In my case that was The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles. Links from each title will take you to my review or the book description on Goodreads.

The French Lieutenant’s Woman is set in Lyme Regis, Dorset which is also one of the locations in Persuasion, Jane Austen’s last completed novel. It’s a story of second chances in which Anne Elliot and naval officer, Captain Frederick Wentworth, meet again years after their engagement was broken off because of family pressure.

Another book featuring a sea captain is The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat. Captain Ericson (memorably played by Jack Hawkins in the film version) commands the corvette Compass Rose, assigned to escort Atlantic convoys and protect them against German U-boat attacks during World War 2.

Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian, set in the early years of the 19th century, features Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend ship’s surgeon, Stephen Maturin. Aboard their ship, the HMS Sophie, they become involved in numerous sea battles.

A very similarly named character appears in Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier. Jaded by court life in Restoration London, Lady Dona St. Columb flees to Cornwall where she encounters and falls in love with Jean-Benoit Aubéry, a French pirate. She joins the crew of his ship disguised as a boy.

In The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse, the third book in the Joubert Family Chronicles, Louise Reydon-Joubert is determined not to let her gender prevent her achieving her ambition to become captain of her own ship.

At one point in The Ghost Ship, a mysterious vessel is seen floating silently on the water, evoking an image of the Mary Celeste, a merchant ship discovered adrift and deserted in the Atlantic Ocean in December 1872. J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement is an 1884 short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle loosely based on the mystery of the Mary Celeste. It purports to be an eye-witness testimony of the end met by those on the mysterious “ghost ship”. (Bonus facts courtesy of Wikipedia: In the story the ship is called the Marie Celeste, a misnaming which has become common, initially the story was published anonymously, and some – including one newspaper – mistook it as a true account.)

Ahoy there, a chain with a very nautical theme.