Five on Friday- Feb 2015

This year I've decided to join in with Amy from Love Made My Home, with her Five on Friday meme. While it is technically Saturday here in New Zealand, the Five in Friday originates in England, and it's Friday there, so that is my disclaimer!

1. Last week we went and had fish and chips on the beach with our niece Kristina, from Auckland, and I allowed my son to have a play with my good camera, a Canon. It wasn't until a few days later when I was looking at the new photos downloaded onto my laptop, that I was stunned with how good he is at photography. He always seems to get an interesting, unique angle on things.

2. We have had quite a few big bills come in at this time of the year. School fees, birthdays, sports fees, uniforms, the extra cost of my son having to learn French through the Correspondence School (long story, but if you are a friend on Facebook, you will have heard my rants on that), along with the usual bills of rent and petrol and power and food. So this week, food was way down the list and I've been using up what was in the pantry and freezer, and so grateful for family who live near by and have established fruit trees so we have had fresh fruit to pop into the kids' lunchboxes. And there is nothing prettier than a little grove of bountiful fruit trees.

3. It is still very hot here in New Zealand. I am a creature who prefers the cold. After studying my ancestry this week, I think I know why..... my ancestors hail from the Orkney Islands in the far north of Scotland, and Stewart Island in the far south of New Zealand. Hardy people from harsh environments. So after school, on the days that we can make it, we've been going up to my brother in law's pool to cool off. Diving into the water I can almost hear my body breathing a sigh of relief.

4. Since my husband Rob started his new job he now works from Tuesday to Saturday, which means we get Monday all to ourselves while the children are at school. It is awesome! So this is what we did last Monday. Had a luxurious hour by ourselves at a local cafe, Nourish. When you have 4 children these times are treasures.

5. Funny little notes written by a six year old.

Linking in with Amy:

Memoir Meme - rewriting history

This is the first entry for my theme Memoir Moments - rewriting history. Every Monday I will write a short memory from my own life, based around a word prompt. As you may know from reading this post, I have a good memory, and this is a way I can relive those moments, record them, and practice writing at the same time. Join in if you like the sound of that too! 500 words max.

Spider:

In the backwoods of Marlborough, far, far off the busy main road that winds past the turnoff, going out to Pelorus, is a camping ground beside a little river, bubbling away over rocky ground as it sweeps past the valleys and hills and old, old trees.

We were there one summer. Me and my sister and a few friends from town. Those carefree days in the early 80’s when the phrase Politically Correct didn’t exist and we children could go off exploring across the river on our own.

We forged that flowing river and rested ourselves on the hot sunny rocks on the other side before climbing around to an area where it was flatter. We perched on those rocks and looked back at the little camp with the triangular pup-tents and our parents sitting around on the river bank drinking cups of tea from a thermos and sharing cake from a tupperware container. Their laughter drifting across the water, echoing around the valley in the warm sunshine.

Creeping carefully around the rocks, to our delight we found a cave. A rocky tunnel of sorts stretching a few metres in rugged tubular cavern, damp and wet and stony. It wasn’t unusual to find a cave in this place. We had already explored a few that were dotted around the landscape. The older girls went ahead of us, while me and my sister and a friend lingured behind them, allowing them the privilege of intrepid travellers.

“I bet there are lots of spiders in here.” one of us said.

“I can find you one.” said the older girl.

She bent down and lifted a few of the heavy, damp stones away that lay near the entrance. We watched with cautious curiosity, edging closely around her as she knelt and peered into the hollows she left behind as she turned the rocks over.

She stood up.

“Have you ever seen a Katipo spider?” she asked.

Photo Source

“I’ve seen one preserved in a jar at my old school.” I replied. But that was all. None of us had ever seen one in the wild.

“Well, here’s one now. If you look carefully. It’s tucked in right down the end of that hole.”

We each took our turn, bending down and peering into the hole, our hearts beating fast with the thrill, and there way at the back was the Katipo. Looking like it was doing its best to ignore us.

I’ve never seen a Katipo in the wild again. That was the first and only time to date, and the closest I have ever come to New Zealand’s only deadly spider.

Blogging Memes - a small compilation of my trawl through the internet

I like the community of blogging. I like the creativity of blogging. Sometimes though, in the hectic chaos of everyday life with four children, setting up a business, building a new home and playing games on my iPad (did I just admit to that), it's hard to find the time to write here on my blog. I tried to start my own meme discipline, but even that fell by the wayside. So I'm going to choose one meme…. ok, maybe two if I'm seriously tempted and try and stick to that for the year.

But what to choose? There are so many blogging memes out in the world. I've been doing a bit of holiday-relaxing-looking-around-the-internet, and here is my list - and if you have one that you think should be added, please let me know! This is not a comprehensive list by any stretch of the imagination!

Book Memes

It's Monday, What are you Reading - This sounds like fun - post about your reading lists for the week.


Photography Memes

Instagram Blog Hop - I really need to join instagram so I can do this one!

The Gallery - themed photo of the week. I have been looking for something like this!

The 52 Project - a photo a week of your children. Hugely popular and one I'm considering because my baby is growing up so fast!

Wordless Wednesday - a photo post that everyone knows about.

Sepia Saturday - post an historical photo and write about it. This sounds like my kind of thing!

Photo A Day - themed photo - one every day.


Crafty Memes

Made by You Monday - show any crafty thing that you have made.

Project Life Tuesday - scrapbooking. This looks hugely popular.

Show and Tell - show what you've been making and write about it

Yarn Along - what are you knitting and what are you reading?



Food Memes

Menu Plan Monday - organise your eating for a week. I'm thinking of joining this one myself. I totally need to sort myself out on this one.


Writing Memes

Five Minute Friday Fight - write for 5 minutes, and then stop.

MamaKat's Writing Prompts - once a week a word or phrase to get you writing.


Miscellaneous Memes

Tell Us Tuesdays - link up with your latest blog post. Anything goes.

Wardrobe Wednesday - show what you're wearing.

Things I'm Loving - a post that celebrates the good things in your life.

Country Kids - fresh air family fun.

Love Where I Live

I know it's an iconic photo, this picture of the well-known, ex-volcano Mt. Maunganui, but I really wanted to start off my little meme with something identifiable.

It took me quite a few months to fall in love with the Bay of Plenty, but now I am a convert, and there really is no other place like it.

Writer's Workshop: Something I have learned about blogging from an unlikely source.

Blogging is one of those things that you kind of grow into as you go along. You don't start out knowing everything there is to know about blogging. I guess a lot of life is like that too. Learning the lessons along the way. It's all part of the journey. It's all part of accruing wisdom and experience.

I can't even remember why I started blogging. I think I heard about it as a way of keeping in touch with friends and family who no longer lived nearby. I used to read other people's blogs. Once I typed 'fear of flying' into the google search engine, and that was how I found pioneer woman. But I also loved the idea of being able to write down my thoughts, my experiences, my view on life, that wasn't in a small, shabby little notebook tucked away under the mattress of my bed, with the key hanging around my neck so nobody could read what I had written.

This was writing freedom. This was what I loved. This was made for me.

photo source

And then, one night, at a Christmas party I put on for a few friends, I was telling a small cluster of people about my 'hobby'. About my little blog, my little place on the world wide web, where I loved to write, when someone, this man, this friend, this professional, turned to me with a puzzled expression on his face, almost scornful, and said this to me....

"It sounds like you need to get a life."

I was taken aback, to say the least.
And ever since then, I have remembered what he said and in my mind, probably more often that I care to admit, I try to justify why I spend precious minutes of my day here on my blog.

Apart from the fact that I naturally love to write, need to write; then yes, blogging is initially a lonely, solitary task. I sit here at my computer using my fingers to type out my thoughts. I am alone. Even if there are people around me, and noise going on, I am alone, because nobody else can write this for me.

But blogging has taught me so much and brought so much interest into my life. My life that has been full and exciting and mundane. My life that is full, and interesting and mundane.

I don't need to 'get a life' because I already have one. A good one. A precious one. And I like to talk about it.
Here.
With you.
That's what blogging is to me.

That's what blogging has taught me.

That life, any life, is good.
That everyone has a story to tell.
Everyone has wisdom to share and experiences to relate. And blogging has taught me about community and friendship and that even though some of the writers on those blogs that I like to read are so different to me - they have different lives, different culture, different beliefs, different values, different interests, they are my friends. I like them because of our diversity, and because of our common interest in sharing our lives with our readers and because we are all human, we are all people writing about our lives and our struggles. I have made such lovely friends through blogging. Some I have met, some I haven't, but they are life-long friends and I am part of their life as my readers are part of mine. It might not be the world that our grandmothers grew up in, but it's a community none-the-less, and a precious gathering of precious souls and lives and sharing.

So, even though I was struck in the face with a negative comment about my blog and my writing, it has allowed me to think through the value of what I do and the value of my online community and the 'neighbours' I interact with everyday.

So what started out as a 'hobby' has become an important social interaction. A meeting of minds. A blending of lives. That is what I have learned from blogging.

Joining in with, for the first time....

photo credit: seyed mostafa zamani via photopin cc

Blogging Dilemma

I've been doing a lot of thinking about my blog these past two weeks.

I love blogging for so many reasons and I'm not ready to give it up, but life just seems to get in the way sometimes, and these past weeks, for one reason or another, have been very stressful - like you wouldn't believe, and when I get stressed two things happen to me. I chew on the inside of my cheeks, and I can't write.

Some of the things I've been putting up with are not huge, but that is what day to day stress can be like - little niggly things that eat away at you.

* I am putting off writing a difficult letter to someone that has to be written.
* My oldest son has been having bleeding noses every day for the past 3 months and the doctor ordered blood tests which threw my anxiety levels through the roof (but they came back all clear - I cried in relief)
* Miss A is wearing glasses and having to have an eye patch 5 hours a day, and at the moment that seems impossible.
* Teddy ended up with a chest infection
* Miss A got an ear infection 
* Building a new house is not a simple or cheap process.

Those are just a few of the things that have been happening around here, not to mention just the day to day management of a house and 4 growing, busy people who think I'm SuperMum depend on you.

picture source

When I can't write, I get grumpy. Writing is to me, what a run or exercise is to some, or a glass of wine is to others. It's my outlet for stress. (Seriously, it has taken me 40 years to realise this). It doesn't matter what I write or what I write about, as long as I get to do it in some form or other, then somehow my world seems to roll back into place.

So, I've been brainstorming about how I can make blogging part of my life, but not stressful, and I think I've come up with the answer.

I've planned my own personal weekly 'memes,' as a way to keep me writing and to keep me here, on my blog.

So I had fun on picmonkey this morning making my memes and have decided to start this Friday when I will join in with a real writing meme, but it's the only one I'm going to join in with. I've looked around on the web for others that I feel I can commit to, and there are so many and some interest me and some don't, and in the end I just decided to make my own, just for me and my blog.

So here is my list:

Monday: Bite Back Monday - I usually bake at the weekend to stock up for the week, and Monday being Monday and the delightful pickup/tidy up/clean up day that it is, seemed perfect for a recipe that I used over the weekend.

Tuesday: Anything Goes - the day for spontaneous blogging.

Wednesday - a non-blogging day.

Thursday - Little Life Moments - just everyday kind of things, what's been happening around here.

Friday - Writing - where I join in with Mama Kat.

Saturday - a busy day around here, so a non-blogging day.

Sunday - Love Where You Live photo Sunday. A day to take pride in where I live and share a photo from around here.

So I will see how it goes. I'm still not 100% happy with Tuesday or Thursday, but I can leave that open for development.
This plan gives me hope that I can keep blogging regularly during these busy, busy family days.

photo credit: pedrosimoes7 via photopin cc

Day 10 - Favourite Classic Book

This one is right up my alley. Which book not to list? I love the classics.
Although, I never used to, until I discovered audio. Having a book read to you unabridged in the voice of an actor or actress who really knows how to emphasize the right words and is clever with voices is the way to open up the classics if you haven't attempted it yet. For example, Dickens might look intimidating, if you pull it off the book shelf. Small print, thick book, and sometimes it takes a few chapters to get into Dickens, so audio introduced me to him, and now he is my favourite classic author. (I think David Copperfield is almost 40 hours on audio - now there's a bargain for your money)!

Of course, who can pass by Jane Austen or the Bronte's, or Daphne DuMaurier or William Makepeace Thackery, and I think I can throw in LM Montgomery. Surely, she is a classic by now.

Instead of listing my favourite classic book, which is quite impossible for me, I will list my favourite book written by the most well-known classic authors.

Jane Austen - Sense and Sensibility. I know that most people love Pride and Prejudice the most, but there is something about Sense and Sensibility that appeals to me. I love the moodiness of it, and I love the cottage by the sea. I also love the fall-in-love-with-a-villain plotline. I have read it so many times and I  still haven't decided who I like best out of Eleanor and Marianne.

Charlotte and Emily Bronte - Jane Eyre has to take the cake here (it is brilliant), but I also love Wuthering Heights. Is there a more villainous villain that Heathcliff? The thing about the Brontes is that while Jane Eyre is my most favourite classic book ever, if I had to choose between meeting Charlotte and Emily, I would choose Emily, because I think she was the more interesting of the two. What a mind to conceive of Wuthering Heights, when she led a fairly isolated life. I did a study on her for an English assignment in 4th Form (year 10), and I struggled to find in-depth information on her. I would love to know her better. I have always had a fascination for her.

Charles Dickens - for our 10th wedding anniversary, we went to hear Miriam Margolyes give her incredible performance of Dickens' Women. What I love about Dickens is his social conscience and the subtle way he wrote to bring about change in his society of the day. I am inspired by that. A true example of the power of the written word. Harriet Beecher Stowe is another example of this. My favourite Dickens book is David Copperfield (it was his favourite too), but I have written about his books many times before.

Elizabeth Gaskell - I love, love, love North and South. Another social conscience plotline (and she was friends with Dickens too). But the characters truly live in this story. It is wonderful.

Of course, other favourites are Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery. I am also discovering Anthony Trollope and have enjoyed a few of his, but they always leave me with a funny taste in my mouth, so to speak, so not a favourite, but definitely enjoyable and contemplative.

There are so many other classic writers, but these are a few that stand out to me. Jane Eyre tops them all, in my opinion.

Day 9 - A Book I Thought I Wouldn't Like But Ended Up Loving

This is an easy one, because it's relatively fresh in my mind.

It actually was my first book into the world of..... I don't even know what you call it.... popular fiction? I haven't been very tolerant to romance/fiction books in the past. I find so many of them predictable and boring. But I really can't read Dickens and the Bronte's and Anne over and over again, and I was desperate for something new. So I tried it.

My Last Duchess by Daisy Goodwin


And I hated it. I got it on audio and listened to the first couple of hours and then gave up. I turned it off, stuffed it away and nearly forgot about it.
Until we were driving long distance somewhere and I needed something to block out the noise of 4 kids in the back keep my mind occupied. So I tried again, and this time I was hooked. I don't know what it was that pulled me in, but something did.

It follows the life of Cora, a rich, young, slightly selfish American heiress whose mother has high ambitions for her in regards to marriage.

She does eventually marry a lonely British aristocrat with a country mansion and servants and prestige, but Cora worries if he married her for love or for her money.

The ending was sweet and not predictable and I would happily listen to this again, so if you can get through the first couple of hours then you'll probably like it.

It also sent me on a hunt for other novels like this, and I discovered Nora Roberts, but that is another post for another day.

Day 8 - Most Overrated Book

This is my opinion on what I think is the most overrated book.

This book was actually recommended to me by someone who told me that if I loved The Help, then I would probably love this book.

 

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman.

I can't believe this book made the New York Times Bestsellers list. Honestly, I can't believe it.

I liked the look of the cover, and the blurb on the back sounded interesting. Basically, it's about a young girl whose mother dies in a freak accident and she goes to live with her ageing aunty down in Georgia, in a big old house, near the coast and she gets to meet her friends and neighbours, and gradually throws off the stigma that had fallen on her from having a crazy, out-of-her-head mother.

But I yawned and yawned my way through it, and only just managed to talk myself into finishing it, and the ending was very predictable and dull.

I gave it to my sister-in-law to read over the Christmas holidays and she said the same, and she loaned it to her sister, and she said the same. So, I know it's not just me. And it's most definitely not in the same calibre of The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

The story had potential, and there were rave reviews of it on amazon, but for me, it just doesn't stack up.

If it made the NY Times bestseller list, and my copy claims that it did, then this book is very much overrated.

Day 7 - Most Underrated Book

This is a hard one to answer.
If you are familiar with this book, you might look at it and frown and wonder why I chose it as a book that I believe is underrated. It's because I think it deserves a second life.

This book was very popular around 20-25 years ago, and I think it was ahead of its time.

This is not my favourite genre. I think you would classify it under science-fiction or spirituality. But Frank Peretti was ahead of his game when he wrote this.

 I don't know if you have noticed, but para-normal books and erotica books are all the rage at the moment. Just on one writer's group that I belong to, I would say that most of the authors write para-normal for young adults, and there are more than I expected who write erotica. I think maybe they are trying to jump on the gravy train of Harry Potter and 50 Shades.

And good on them for wanting to fill their pockets with the mass media hype surrounding these books, and I suppose you could argue for the point that at least it gets people reading, but you won't find me writing anything like that. And I don't mean that to sound superior (although I suppose it does), because I admire anyone who can sit down and churn out anything longer than 40,000 words, and if they can make a living out of it, even better. I suppose it's just a bit of writer-snobbery on my part. I'll be honest and admit it. 

But this book above, is one book in the para-normal department that I will give an exception to. I also really love the Lemony-Snicket books (as do my children), which is written from a brilliant imagination without being too dark - more along the lines of Dr. Seuss crossed with C.S. Lewis.

So, This Present Darkness hit the christian bookworld with a bit of a bang back in the day. I remember it being discussed and it being controversial, because the author takes a story between humans, but he also has the perspective of the angels and the demons, which back then was very different and very out there.

It's a gripping read and a book that once you start you can't put down. The sequel to this, Piercing the Darkness is also one of my favourites.

The story centres on a small university town in the USA, and the troubled editor of the local paper. It's a classic good verses evil story, when the demons try to take over the town. It's life and death.

I believe it's underrated now, because of the popular genre of the day. And it certainly offers an interesting perspective on the spirit world, which christians believe in. I think this book made that very clear to the church at the time, and opened our eyes to the possibilities of what goes on around us. Things we can't see, but know to be real; but sometimes christians prefer not to think about the dark side, and this book definitely explores that. If you like thrillers, you'll love this book.

Day 4 - A Book That Makes You Sad

The saddest, most tragic book has to be Wuthering Heights. It has a great, happy, perfect ending, but to get to that you have to wade through the dark, murky, fathomless depths of evil and simmering jealousy and rage and one tragedy, horror and deep, deep sadness after another.

Wuthering Heights is blatent in its sadness, but one book that is not so blatent, and even sweet, but still leaves you with a taste of sadness at the end is this novella.

Cousin Phillis by Elizabeth Gaskell (the same author of North and South and Cranford).

I think this is one of her little known novels. I loved it, but I sometimes find myself still thinking of Phillis and her sadness, her own personal tragedy. It's sad because what happens to her happens to so many.

It's a human story. A story of innocence and first love and sweetness and loss and tragedy. I began the book hoping for a happy ending, so be warned that the ending is not happy, but it's not tragic either. Nobody dies (that I can recall), but it's a living death. But I won't spoil it and tell you about it.

I think also, it's about hope, and learning to live with sadness. It's a lesson for the reader to not let personal tragedies distort or ruin life. That there is always more hope and that life is worth living. That is what I took from it, anyway; what I took from Phillis. But it's funny that I still think of Phillis - a fictional creation of the writer, but there is something very real about her.

Day 5 - A Book That Makes Me Happy

I struggled with this one, because there are so many, and I really wanted to write about The Help, but I've done that before (I must spend a lot of time blogging about books), so the book I'm writing about as my top book for making me happy is...

Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

The reason this book makes me happy is wide and varied.

A little known classic by Dickens, it has recently become popular by the dramatised version of it (it is a must-see - perfectly executed, almost word for word). I love adaptation movies that don't divert from the original stories (don't even get me started on the awful Miss Marple renditions that came out awhile ago).

Little Dorrit follows the adult life of Amy Dorrit, the daughter of a well-born man who has spent the last 20 years in a debtors prison.

Here is why this book makes me happy:

1. It is an interesting setting (the debtors prison)
2. It has romance
3. It has suspence - there's a real, true-blue murder and intrigue mystery in this.
4. It has sweetness and whimsy
5. It has villains
6. It has a cad you will love to hate
7. It mocks at beurocracy. I mean, really, really mocks. In fact, Dickens was the first to highlight the idiocy of beurocracy with this novel, inventing the term the 'circumlocution office' for the purposes of this book.
8. It has Italians
9. There are several mysteries within the story. Mysteries within mysteries. Typical Dickens, you might say.
10. Funny moments

And the thing I love the most about this book, is that everything and everyone is tied up nicely at the end. You are not left wondering about anyone or anything. I can't think of a more satisfying ending to a much-loved book.

Here is an excerpt from the movie if you haven't seen it:

Day 4 - Favourite Book from Favourite Series

The last two days that we were on holiday the internet decided to be cantakerous, so now I am behind in posting my 30 day challenge, so I will catch up on the three days today.

Because I have several favourite series, I'm going to take my favourite book from a favourite series from Anne of Green Gables. I can't blog about books without blogging about LM Montgomery.

Why is this my favourite book in the Anne series?

Because it is a sweet escape from the realities of the real world, and it is a little nod by LM Montgomery towards the genre of romance/mystery. the story is centred around Anne and Gilbert in their first year of marriage, but the author takes us on a lovely journey around the village of Glen St. Mary and we get to meet Miss Cornelia, Captain Jim and Lesley West. Three of my most favourite ficticious characters. I love them like I love David Copperfield and Agnes and Betsy Trotwood (Charles Dickens).

This story sets up the rest of the Anne books and Glen St. Mary becomes the centre of their world.

It might not be the most sophisticated thing to admit that an Anne book is on my favourites list, but I admit it without shame - this is LM Montgomery's best book in my opinion, and I have read it over and over. LM Montgomery is a genius at descriptive narrative. Why else do tourists flock to Prince Edward Island seeking out all things Anne. It's because she wrote in such a way that they seem real. That they really lived and that those lovely people in her books were once part of the world.

So, for a book that really isn't all about the red-headed Anne, but about her friends and her neighbours with alot of life lessons and laughter woven in, you can't go past this story.

Day 3 - My Favourite Series

I've been thinking about this all day. Honestly, it has been troubling me because there are so many I'd like to list. Little House on the Prairie, Anne of Green Gables, The Family of One End Street, This Present Darkness, Love Comes Softly series,  James Herriot.... and so on and so on.

When you think about it, there are lots of really great series out there. But the one that really stands out to me, for the purpose of this challenge is Alexander McCall Smith's series of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

Mma Ramotswe. Of course.

And Grace Makutsi, and Phuti Radaphuti, and J.B. Matekoni. The names just roll off your tongue with those lovely Botswana accents.

The reason I love this series so much is because it introduced me to a new country, a new culture with characters that are endearing and loveable and funny.

If you are not familiar with the books (and I am always surprised at how many are not), Mma Ramotswe is the heroine - the single lady who decides, when her father passes away and leaves her with an inheritance of cattle, to sell them and set up her own detective agency in her African village. Along the way, she makes friends, solves mysteries and introduces the reader to one of the most charming places on earth.

After the first book comes Tears of the Giraffe, Morality for Girls, Blue Shoes and Happiness, The Husband of Zebra Drive (not necessarily in order).

I love the humanity of these stories, and the laughter and the colour.

Alexander McCall Smith himself if inspirational. If you want to learn more about him and his writings, here is an interview:

Day 2 - A Book I've Read More Than 3 Times

This title should really read, Books I Have Read More Than 3 Times.

I really find this hard to narrow down. For awhile there, before I branched out to discover new authors, I just read my favourites over and over. I think I even blogged about my favourites.

So, I'll just give you one (that I haven't blogged about before, I don't think), that I have read over and over.

For me, loving a book enough to read it again and again means that somehow the author has transported me out of this world and into theirs. Prince William (according to the Daily Mail) joked a few days ago to their tour guides when he and Kate and Prince Harry were touring the Harry Potter museum, not to tell Harry that Harry Potter wasn't real, because he didn't know that yet. I laughed out loud when I read that, because that would actually totally be me. I often fantasize that Hercule Poirot is real, and that if only someone wrote to him he could come and solve all these unsolved murders. And Anne of Green Gables - she really lived all those years ago on Prince Edward Island. And in my mind, camping on the lake with four children who sailed in the dark and were nearly duffers really did happen - actually, I think that one might be based on real-life events.

So, to read a book more than once proves the art and skill of the writer. So hard to choose, but I have to pick a book I haven't blogged about before (so hard to do), so I'm choosing My Family And Other Animals by Gerald Durrell.

This is actually the cover of the DVD movie, but it kind of sums up the book. And look! Imelda Staunton, who is one of my favourite actresses, is just brilliant as the mother.

A madcap English family. Dogs. Greek island and Greek Villas and plenty of laughs.

Gerald Durrell is one of my favourite authors. So many of his books are actually informative and educational but he weaves the educational bits into such humourus stories, that you don't even realise that you are captivated by the mating rituals of the preying mantis, or feel quite protective to the matchbox full of tiny scorpion babies when his older brother, who only wants to light a candle, opens up the matchbox at the dinner table, only to throw the tiny little scorpion babies all over the table.

This is a laugh out loud book, pretty irreverant in places and Jerry just pulls you in to the magic and old-time world of the island of Corfu. Truly, this island is on my bucket list of places to see, just because of his writings. The sun-drenched hills filled to the brim with bountiful olive trees, and high, narrow walkways, and hot, sleepy villages and lonely beaches with warm water, and lunch under the sweeping bows of trees near the house - it really does sound like a paradise in Jerry's eyes, and he has made me want to go there.

I love his eccentric, crazy family and the funny things that they do. This is a definite for anyone's library. I love it so much, I actually once bought a very expensive rare edition with photographs from the Durrell's family album and paintings to illustrate. It is one of my most prized books.

If you haven't read this, go and do yourself a favour and get it now, and enjoy a romp on the Island of Corfu with the funniest, most endearing family you will ever meet.

30 Day Reading Challenge

So there's been this challenge doing the rounds on Facebook, and because I am a book fiend, I thought it would be fun to do on my blog. The trouble with this is, that I will have to discipline myself to stop talking about the book that I'm blogging on.

 

To make all things neat and tidy,  I thought about starting on May 1, but I don't want to wait, and really, there's no time like the present, so here we go.

Day 1 - The Best Book I've Read This Year

Well, the year is still quite young, but thanks to audible and kindle, I have actually managed to read quite a few books already this year, and while it is almost impossible for me to choose just one book that I think is the best, I will try to do it.

Cross that out. The best book I've read is the one I blogged about in the previous post, so to keep it fresh I'll list my second favourite book I've read this year. 

Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

This is a post-apocalyptic novel. (sorry for the blurry image). Another one that I had sitting in my audible wishlist for quite some time. The reason I have chosen this book, is because I was completely drawn up into this small town of America and into the lives of the people in the story. You will be amazed when you learn that this book was actually written in the 1950/60s. 

In my opinion it should be a classic. It's beautifully and brilliantly written and really gets you thinking about your own survival skills in a cataclysmic event.

It takes a small commmunity and follows the events in the lives of the people when the USA is struck by a series of nuclear bombs, wiping out city after city. This little town is one of the few to survive.

The writer does actually deal with some pretty hard topics; murder, drugs, illness, theft, fight of the fittest. One of the things that really struck me is our dependance on communication. This small town is completely cut off from the outside world. They have no clue what is going on outside their little village, because the power is cut and the radio batteries are fast running out.

I loved how the town librarian, who was a nobody in a dead-end job before the bombs, suddenly becomes one of the most important people - as old books are looked up for solutions to the problems that arise, like how to cure meat and purify water, and all the children start returning to the library for their source of entertainment.

It did get me thinking about how I would cope without the internet and without coffee!

A really great and entertaining read. One of the little-known classics.

Introducing My Glad Game for 2012

I wanted to have a special blogging project for 2012 to focus on for the year.

I am not sure what this coming year will hold for us. We will be in a transitional state for several months at the beginning as we relocate and find a new nest, and all the adjustments that come with a new town and a new school. I am sure there will be good days and bad days and frustrating days, and days of happiness, and pretty ordinary days too.

I read in a magazine recently about some Australian women who started blogging every day about being grateful for something - just one thing - every day. Even if it was really, really hard to find something.

I love this idea so much that I thought I would make it my project for 2012. A personal challenge for me, to commit to doing it every day.

One photo. Every day. To celebrate the good in that day.

I've been thinking about the best way to do it - I didn't want it to take over my own blog. This blog. So it had to be somewhere separate, but still connected. So here it is. A Glad Game (remember Pollyanna)?
Come over and see it. But I won't be posting there until the evening of January 1. What do you think? Is it a good idea? I'd love it if anyone wanted to join me in doing this!

Project 2011 - Going Strong

I made a new year's resolution to get my felt handmade shop up and running really well, and that has been my focus for the first few months of the year, and I'm so thrilled with how it's going. I have been making at least one sale each week on my little cloth shoes. I have a few other things in there as well that get sold little by little, but the shoes have been my best-seller, until this week.

As I mentioned in a previous post I've been teaching myself a little pattern drafting. This is something I have always wanted to learn but never have. It's kind of in my blood - my grandmother was an expert at this - so I guess I get the desire from her. Anyway, this past week I've made and drafted an old-fashioned style winter hat for children - it used to be called a helmet in the old days, but that is not a pretty word, so I just call it a Little Red Riding-Hood Winter Hat and have been dedicating two evenings in the week to putting some pretty hand-embroidery onto it. I line the pressed wool with a soft flannel, and it fits snugly over those little ears on these cold wintery days.

I uploaded my first one last night, and it sold two hours later!

Doesn't Alice make a sweet model?

So guess what I'll be doing today? I have a blue one half finished, and others planned.

I think Cate is still doing Project 2011 - to see other bloggers' progress on their resolutions, go here.

First Sale - Project 2011

I'm so excited! I made my first sale on my new-look felt shop.
It wasn't a huge sale, and it didn't make my fortune, but it's one small victory for me, since making my New Years' resolution that I would revamp the shop and boost my stock and focus on getting it up and running well.

I am the proverbial procrastinator. I also have a tendency to start projects with great enthusiasm, and then move onto something else within a few weeks. So this is a great accomplishment for me - to have started something and finished it - and still be enthusiastic about it!

I've actually made another sale since my first one, but it was my mother that bought some shoes, and mother's don't count, right? I mean - that's what mothers do. But this pretty little pair, all wrapped up in pink tissue should be arriving somewhere in Auckland today at a complete stranger's house. There is satisfaction in that.

Project 2011

In the first earthquake, I baked. And baked. And baked. In this earthquake, I sew. Just little things here and there - a distraction from the anxiety.

I am way behind on my goals for the year, but I plug away at them as I can. I haven't taken on any major sewing projects like I did last year with the quilt. So far, I've just been working away at little things for my shop on felt. Making them up first to see if  like them enough to put up for sale.

I love this ipod/MP4 holder. It's much prettier than stuffing my mp4 into my bra (and probably safer too), and hooks onto my jeans or anything else that's hookable, and away I go. On the back is a velcro strap to hold it in place. I'll definitely be making more of these for my little online shop.

I finally found a pattern for some baby shoes that will let me reproduce and sell in small quantities. I'm really enjoying making these. This is my first one, and I can see so much potential for embellishing and changing it up slightly. I love it in the red linen!

I've also been working on a quilt label for my Down in the Garden quilt. I ended up sending it away to be quilted as I was messing it up quite a bit with my amateurish attempts at machine quilting. The lovely Ros, who was doing it for me had just about finished it when the quake hit last week. She rang to say that her quilting studio is in ruins over in Lyttelton - but fortunately all the quilts were safe at her house in town. She was upset and coping with a lot, so it may be awhile before I get it back, but it's ok - I'm not in any hurry. But here is the label ready and waiting (just needs an iron). I hope to make more of these to sell as well.

That's my progress as far as my shop.
As this is my 40th year, I want to mark it by writing a book. The discipline of writing is hard for me. Thinking up the ideas is not. So I'm hoping that once things have settled with the kids at school, I've cleaned up the house and established my new routines, and the earthquakes settle down (hopefully), I will find the time to sit down and plan and sketch out what I want to do.

The first thing I wanted to do when the earthquake came was knit. Only a few days before I had said to my husband that I wasn't quite ready to do knitting yet (still in summer mode), so I found it interesting that knitting was the first craft I wanted to turn to after the 'quake. I found this gorgeous little jacket pattern online at Ravelry, and have just ordered my wool (online) for it in a light plum/pinky colour. I don't even know what colour it is. I had to find a 10 ply which was not simple! The pattern idea and a picture of the gorgeousness comes from Posie Gets Cozy.