Secret note folding is a valuable skill. Who knows when you may have to send something by pigeon or fit a piece of paper into a tiny space? I do both pretty often, so I've acquired a fine knowledge of how notes should be folded. 

Make sure you have a secret note, first of all. I also like to seal all my correspondance in red, and highly recommend it. 

Fold your note so it looks like this.

Fold the bottom left corner to the top of the paper, and the bottom right to the bottom of the paper.

Fold the bottom left corner to the top of paper, and repeat with the top right corner.

Fold the left flap back behind the paper to create a triangle that sticks up behind the paper. Fold the bottom flap down in front of the paper to create a triangle that protrudes below the paper. 

Fold the right triangle behind the square of paper and tuck it under the left flap. This will create a diagonal line across the square. Do the same with the left flap, tucking it under the right triangle. 

 Your note is complete!

Seal, and deliver.

Harney and Sons Vanilla Cormoro fine tea.

It comes in silk tea sachets which makes it very fancy. 

Even the Prime Minister drinks it. 

Storytime is a family affair. 

Lately I have read:

The Encyclopedia of the Exquisite

Sherlock Holmes

Once Upon a Time in the North

Gnomes

Gentlemen of the Road

The Night Circus

and

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt.

They are all very good, especially Sherlock Holmes and Gnomes, which are brilliant at any time, day or night, and are on the list of FAVORITES FOR ALWAYS. The Night Circus was a bit disappointing and I shall most likely have a review of it sometime. 

Here's a book I didn't like:

Water for Elephants.

 I don't understand all of the frenzy over this book. In my personal opinion, it was a good idea wasted because of a nursing home and too many details. Also, I thought the movie was better than the book, which is a rare phenomenon. 

In another of my personal opinions, the only truly extraordinary books are the ones that were written long ago by extraordinary authors. I think it's because most books written lately are awful.

I like finding feathers and imagining what parts of the world they have traveled too while attached to a bird's wing. Then I bottle them up and put them in the window. 

Courtesy of One-Eyed William.

M Y C H R I S T M A S L I S T

It may be a bit extravagant. 

A C H R I S T M A S N O V E L R E V I E W

I just finished reading the new Flavia de Luce mystery novel, which author Alan Bradley describes as "A Christmas pudding" of a book. 

As usual, Flavia is up to her old tricks. While she is planning to glue Father Christmas to the chimney pot, a film crew is roaming the halls of Buckshaw, helping her father to pay the bills while filiming "The Cry of the Raven". Phylis Waverly, the world famous movie star, is also roaming, and she and Flavia soon become fast friends. But something is hidden behind her bejeweled costumes and flawless makeup... something sinister! When Flavia finds her, dead as a doornail with a ribbon of cine film tied in an elaborate bow around her neck, she is immersed in a Christmas Conundrum. Amid her quest to discover the killer, Flavia unearths interesting facts about her Aunt's murky past, and faces puzzling questions about her belief in Santa Claus's existence. 

I loved this book, but felt that the mystery could have been a bit deeper and more elaborate, like in past Flavia de Luce books. Other than that, it was a wonderful book, full of fabulous Christmas details and firework displays, and, of course, intriguing chemical formulas.