Counting my chickens… – Deborah Devonshire

As a child Chatsworth was one of those places that we visited quite often. For a while it was a bit of a family tradition to go to the farm shop on Christmas Eve to buy meat for Christmas. I remember many, many visits to the children's farmyard and also have such fond memories of the annual country show that I really hope I can take Little Miss C and Mr C there one year.

It was at the country show that I was once served lemonade (lovely homemade stuff!) by the then Duchess of Devonshire (now the Dowager Duchess) and even at my young age I was struck by just how down to earth she was. Counting My Chickens has been on my mum's bookcase for ages and it's one of those books that I've always been keen to read, but for some reason never have until now.

The book is rather strange in that it is a collection of writings and thoughts that have been published elsewhere and all come together in this volume. There are some real gems in there, but it jumps from one to another without any context as to when things were written or why.  As I read it I was left feeling a bit frustrated at times as I wanted to know more background to what her views were and to be able to put them into context more.

Also on my bookcase at the moment is a copy of Wait For Me!: Memoirs of the Youngest Mitford Sister which I picked up in a charity shop a while back and I'm hoping that this will fill in the gaps for me.