The Big Cats Dance Party - (Book Review)

 

The Big Cats Dance Party 
by Alexander McCall Smith
No. 27 in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series
Audio book narrated by Chipo Chung

 In this latest installment in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi both take on a case involving an elephant sanctuary quite a long way from Gabarone; and Mma Ramotswe's husband J.L.B. Matekoni decides to accompany them on the journey. This leaves Charlie, junior mechanic at J.L.B. Matekoni's garage + part time "trainee detective", in sole charge of the Detective Agency for a while. While Mma Makutsi is (of course) sceptical of his ability to cope with that responsibility, Mma Ramotswe decides that it's time Charlie gets the chance to prove himself.

The result, not surprisingly, is a bit "so-so"... While Charlie does manage to be helpful in one case,  he also finds himself in trouble when he gets involved in the planning of a concert together with two musicians (going by the names of Lion and Leopard)...

All in all, Alexander McCall has once again managed to concoct an enjoyable story, also well suited to listen to as audio book; narrated by Chipo Chung - who I think is new as narrator of these books. I looked her up, and she's a Zimbabwean acrtress based in London. 

One Thing Leads to Another...

 

At least two readers asked about the background picture behind my Barbie dolls in yesterday's post. (Currently the top right in the collage above.) The short answer is that it's a print on a cork trivet - i.e. if you like, you can put a hot pan or pot on it.

The somewhat longer answer is that the artist behind the image is an old friend of mine, Lena, nowadays living on the west coast of Sweden (where she also grew up). Since her "retirement" (as teacher of young children), she's nowadays busier than ever as a full time artist. Besides painting new originals, she has also had many of her images turned into prints, trays, coasters, trivets, postcards etc to sell to tourists during her summer exhibitions in various towns and villages along the coast. Back in August 2023, my brother and I visited her exhibition at Smögen. Then I also purchased an original by her which now hangs in my hall, by the entrance to my living room. If you click on the Smögen link you'll see photos both from the kind of environment that typically inspires her, the exhibition we visited, the painting which I bought on that occasion, and a photo of Lena and me together. 

A year later she also published a picture book with some of her paintings (which I bought from her), and which I now from time to time have on display (on a small easel) in my home as well. Over the years I've also bought various trays, coasters, trivets, postcards etc from her - some to keep, others to give away. And I often use her images as background on the shelf where my Barbie dolls sit. (Not outdoors weather just now, I imagine them having a "picture window"...!)

Lena also has a website, but I'm afraid it's all in Swedish. 

 

 

On Request...

In a comment to my post Early Autumn Colours, Meike (Librarian) wondered whether Barbie and Skipper have also already changed into "autumn clothes"? The answer is yes! :)

Having sorted through my own wardrobes this week - taking some summer clothes down to the basement for winter storage, and bringing some winter items up instead - I did also find it a good time to dress the dolls for somewhat chillier days. So just now they're in the outfits above (and have been given a battery tealight to brighten up the darker evenings).

For readers who may not know/remember them from earlier posts, the story is that for five decades or more, all my old Barbie(&co) dolls were packed away in a box; first in my parent's attic, and then in my own storage. In 2023 I finally decided to donate them to a charity shop - but in the process of organising that, I arrived at the compromise to keep two (with a selection of clothes for each, most of them made by my mum in the 1960s). 

And since then, these two have been on display on a shelf in my living room instead - and changing outfits now and then, according to season. I suspect I've probably shown their entire wardrobes by now - but I did choose items that can be combined in various ways. In the photo above, all clothes were sewn by my mum, except Barbie's pink top (which I actually made myself a year or two ago, from the cuff of a sock).   

Moody Skies for Skywatch Friday

Wednesday 16 September, 19:06

 

Wednesday 16 September, 19:26

The two photos were taken only 20 minutes apart the same evening (from my balcony). 

We're in a period of quickly shifting weather this week. Today after lunch the sun was shining, and I decided to go for a short walk to the nearest small convenience shop, just to buy some fresh fruit. When I got out of there, the sky still had a lot of blue in it...

 ... and I reckoned I'd be able to prolong the walk back home a little bit without getting wet. That was a mistake, though! Five minutes later the rain was pouring down. I was wearing my new rain jacket, so stayed dry on my top half - but before I got back home, my jeans from a bit above the knees and down were dripping wet - and I had to wring my socks out, and fill my shoes with crumpled pages from an old newspaper to dry (so far unknown how long that may take!) 

 Linking to Skywatch Friday 

Early Autumn Colours

 

The counting of the votes from the recent Swedish election has been finished, resulting in the left-wing "red+green" opposition winning by 176 vs 173 (members of parliament) over our old "right-wing" government. 

The old government will continue as transition government until a new one has been sorted out. It remains to be seen if that will happen before the trees have lost all their leaves, though - as there are disagreements to sort out among the four parties on the winning "side" as well. So speculations are still running high as to whether they'll succeed or not. And no doubt this will continue to dominate all our newscasts for quite a while yet.

▲Crab apple tree in my neighbourhood▼

  

 

 

Autumn colours in a flower bed in the cemetery 

 

 
Another project that is still only in the phase of Chaos rather than Progress is the transformation of the old football field to a "park"...