shut yer gob

I'm on a self-imposed knitting ban, as my shoulder hurts. I don't think it's the knitting really, but it isn't helping any so I'm taking a few days off.

Fortunately I have just bought the biggest book in the world to read: Peter Ackroyd's 'London: The Biography'*. This tome is so massive that I have serious plans to use it as a kitchen step if I can't get through it. I was quite daunted by its heft and had to be persuaded that I really could read that many pages: just not all at once. Certainly one to avoid carrying in a bag for train reading, unless I want to do the shoulder further damage.

Having flicked through it a bit I can see that the format is eminently readable (not so sure about the language yet), and I am excited to have already had an 'Ooh, that's interesting' moment, which frankly is what reading books about London is all about for me.

Did you know that the use of the word 'gob' was first recorded in 1550? Me neither. That is a officially A Very Long Time Ago; and I now can't wait for page two.


*I bought it at the lovely Crockatt and Powell. Not sure what's happened to their website though, the link is mainly a map.