Hoot!

For the doubting Thomasina - Voila!  C'est fini! 

One has run out of buttons for all the owls eyes...one must head to the button shop tomorrow and find matching owls eyes.

Gawd I'm hot in this jumper!!

Only I would knit a jumper in summer......

The Owls The Owls

Yes, I know this doesn't look like owls...they're coming in a bit.....this is more of The Adelaide Collection...

There has been much knitting today...and sucking of teeth...and a little bit of driving for the Learner driver...and eating of leftovers....and now a little bit of wine....

Yes, I know you can't see the owls yet but I want to assure you fervently that they are coming....I have indeed begun on the yoke and yes, one sleeve does look longer than the other...sigh...but I'm sure you won't notice once I've got it on, like....

Towns in Queensland now officially considered disaster zones are - Theodore, Dalby and Chinchilla, Alpha, Jericho and Warra with more to follow....it certainly has been raining....I got my raincoat out yesterday and discovered it was mouldy....time to buy a new raincoat.

The Adelaide Collection and Rhapsody

It's raining buckets here in the Sunshine State. Perfect reading weather!

But it's Christmas too - people need to be fed, tables laid, floors swept, presents wrapped - you get the picture....so...short stories are perfect fare for the domestically distracted.

Rhapsody is a book of ten short stories written by Dorothy Edwards with an introduction by Elaine Morgan. This book is one of the Virago Modern Classics series published by Penguin in 1986. You can find out more about Elaine Morgan here http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A5316860 or watch her speak here http://www.elainemorgan.me.uk/. Elaine, like Dorothy Edwards, is Welsh and probably best known for writing The Descent of Woman and for many popular BBC TV series e.g. How Green Was My Valley, Dr Finlay's Casebook and Testament of Youth. Most recently she wrote Pinker's List.

Elaine's introduction gives us great context for reading Dorothy's work - she was the daughter of an idealistic Welshman..."a pioneering Shavian, socialist and vegetarian" and behaved "as if the world of letters was a genuine republic - as if here at least the age of equality had already arrived. She was presuming a little too much." For despite being "adopted" by David Garnett in the flush of her early literary success, he grew "irritated by her clumsy homemade dresses and her lack of any form of corset."

These stories were published in 1926 when Dorothy was in her early 20s. As Morgan says, Edwards ignored the cardinal rule to write about what you know best. She wrote about privileged life and, as such, much of what she writes comes across as stilted or awkward. Not much happens in these stories. People seem somewhat constipated or ill at ease in their environment. Things aren't explained. Thoughts are left hanging. The characters try their hand at creative endeavours - music, poetry, writing - with varying degrees of success.

But don't let that dissuade you from reading them - they are haunting in their quality and for people who are interested in writing, I think they are well worth reading.

The picture featured is another fabric from Michele Hill's new Adelaide Collection.

Merry Christmas!

Bubbly was drunk...

Lunch was served.....

and only a couple of presents left under the tree....

Merry Christmas everyone!

Book Reviews and More Adelaide Collection

Here's another sample of the fabulous new Adelaide Collection of William Morris fabric from Michele Hill.

And here are some book reviews that I have finally got round to writing today about my most recent reads....

One of the great things about Librarything is the fabulous people you get to meet - even if only virtually. PaperbackPirate recommended I consider this book for my bookclub on the other side of the globe in the land down under. What an excellent suggestion!

Even though I do describe myself as a Bear of Little Brain and can truthfully say I spectacularly failed Science at school, I did manage to make my way through this amazing book. A couple of times I did stop myself and rehearse what I would say if someone asked me what it was about....aka "Well it's about cell culture thingummies" just wouldn't cut it with the scientific fraternity.

So what is it about? Well it's about one woman's journey to find out who Henrietta Lacks really was. Rebecca Skloot first heard about Henrietta in a community college biology class. She learned that she had died in 1951 from cervical cancer but that before she died, "a surgeon took samples of her tumor and put them in a petri dish." Her cells differed from other human cells in that they reproduced every 24 hours and didn't die. She wanted to know more but no-one could tell her anything about Henrietta despite her cells being omnipresent in most labs around the world today.

This book is, at face value, about scientific discovery and ethics. But it is so much more than that. There were times when I had to put the book down and take a big breath because some of the subject matter was so tough to read. It impressed upon me the immense vulnerability of those who through misfortune do not have access to education, good health or parents to protect their best interests in their childhood.

Ultimately what impressed me most was Rebecca Skloot's tenacity and compassion to work together with Henrietta's descendants to uncover the truth . She gives an honest account of that journey which was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. Yes the book is about science but it is also a story about a family's and an individual's struggle. This book is a tribute to Rebecca, to Henrietta and her descendants.

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

At long last ! My very first Barbara Pym! I wasn't quite sure to expect but being rather fond of a Pimms at Christmas I thought it couldn't be too bad and probably rather nice. An enthusiastic response from fellow Virago-ites confirmed my supposition and I leapt in with both feet.

This particular edition has an introduction by Alexander McCall Smith which is also an excellent sign as I'm very fond of his sense of humour. He sums up the world of the book very cogently by describing it as "a world of shortages and genteel drabness". Excellent Women is in fact the perfect tonic for these austere times. For our book-club this year we have decided to swap books for Christmas as a nod towards belt tightening. Some lucky gal will be snaffling this treasure tomorrow night.

So what's it about? Well it's about living in a small community where everyone knows who you are and thinks they know where you will end up - including you - only you sub-consciously wish it might be different. The story is set after the war when, no doubt, a lot of eligible young men were knocked off and there is a surplus of eligible young women - or spinsters as some unkind people used to call them.

Mildred is our heroine of sorts. She provides a wry commentary of the goings-on of her new neighbours, the Napiers, and the disturbance they cause to the delicate balance that is ultimately village life, even in the big smoke - London. When you discover that the lead male "interest' Mr Napier's christian name is Rockingham, you know you're in for a treat. Mildred is a clergyman's daughter and spends much of her time with the local vicar and his sister organising the odd bazaar and, before she can object, the rocky domestic life of the Napiers.

As McCall-Smith says, much of the joy in this book is to be gained from a reflection of our own human foibles. Chapter Two for example concludes with the following observation...

"I hoped the Napiers were not going to keep late hours and have noisy parties. Perhaps I was getting spinsterish and 'set' in my ways, but I was irritated at having been woken. I stretched out my hand towards the little bookshelf where I kept cookery and devotional books, the most comforting bedside reading. My hand might have chosen Religio Medici, but I was rather glad that it had picked out Chinese Cookery and I was soon soothed into drowsiness." Well I may not have Chinese Cookery or Religio Medici for that matter in my collection, but I am guilty of taking a good craft book to bed, secure in the knowledge that I will never complete one tenth of the projects therein but deriving great satisfaction from considering them nonetheless.

There are so many wonderful lines in this work. Barbara Pym celebrates the ordinariness of life - the sheer, at times, tedium of existence and how we invent ways to deal with it.....shall I share one more quote? Here Mildred is describing Everard Bone, the object of Mrs Napier's unrequited affection....

"He was certainly very clever and handsome, too, in his own way, but there was no warmth or charm about his personality. I began imagining him as a clergyman and decided that he would make a good one. His rather forbidding matter would be useful to him. I realised that one might love him secretly with no hope of encouragement, which can be very enjoyable for the young or inexperienced."

Fabulous stuff! Excellent Women - you know from the get-go what kind of book it will be and sometimes that is a very comforting place to be indeed.

What will you be reading over the Christmas holidays?  What do you hope to be given for Christmas?

Battle of the Bulge....

It has been quite a while since I posted and many lovely things have happened since then.  

Today was the unveiling of my Secret Santa gift from a friend on Librarything.....a very thoughtful gift with lovely shiny new books and a special journal for recording Secret Thoughts by a Bear of Little Brain...my two new books are Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim and The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.  I am very fortunate indeed.....

It's rainy weather again in Brisvegas today...just the sort of weather to get crafting really....but we need to get Caspar's hours up, so a trip to the Coast is called for to wish Fay a very Happy Birthday.  Caspar and Fay are in that exclusive club of poor souls who have their birthdays in the week leading up to Christmas...it is a vexed affair trying to make them feel as though their birthdays are a separate affair from the celebrations surrounding Christmas....we never quite carry it off I'm afraid.

Please to peruse a sample of my latest winnings (it seems to have been my lucky year as far as winning prizes on blogs is concerned).....I was one of the lucky winners to win a stash of Michele Hill's William Morris fabric called The Adelaide Collection.  It is absolutely beautiful and I will post a photo of the no less than nine (9) gorgeous designs here over the next few days so you too can luxuriate in their glory.  My personal favourite is the one featured today and I have told Tweetie that she is of course the model for the border.  One might say that she is getting a bit cocky about it all but she is a budgie and budgies don't do that sort of thing.....they merely budge.... 

I hope that you are not too stressed in the lead up to Christmas and can take the time to reflect on the little things in life that make it so wonderful....my week so far has included breakfast on the beach with an old and very dear friend, lunch with old work colleagues here and here, a drink (or two - hic!) in a new bar with a young and very hip colleague who works for this great company, some shared Christmas treats with Rob from Southside DVDs who delivers movies to us faithfully every week...I am very very lucky indeed...but I fear my waistline is assuming Titanic proportions....roll on New Year's resolutions!!

Dinner

Tonight I ate very well.  And in good company. 

It is a blessing - yes?

I was with strangers ....and friends......

A complete stranger cooked a beautiful meal for me and new friends and old friends....

He threw food at us which we tried to catch with our mouths......

Not all of it mind you.....

Most was served elegantly in bowls.....and on plates.

The throwing bit was just to have fun and make us laugh at each other and with each other....

And to applaud those who could actually catch the food with their mouths....

I think we were noisier than the 12 year olds who preceded us......

We're not sure whether their event was a birthday or a graduation from primary school to high school.

I am reminded of how great cuisine and a bit of slapstick can conquer inhibitions and smooth the way to make new friends.

When was the last time you shared a meal with someone you didn't know? 

Aviation History

P1543_12

As an update to my last post, here is a photo of Jack Percival and Henry Purvis who were part of the crew who flew the Catalina Flying Boat "Frigate Bird II" from Rose Bay to Chile in 1951. Jack Percival, according to this source was the Sydney Morning Herald's Aviation correspondent that came up with the idea of delivering newspapers to country towns via converted warplanes. Harry Purvis was appointed Manager of the Herald Flying Services in 1946.

Remembrance Day

In honour of Remembrance Day I am remembering my Uncle.  His is not a story of great valour and great deeds.  He did not die in glorious battle.  He did not die in war.  Nevertheless he did serve and was prepared to make the great sacrifice.  And I think sometimes ordinary stories are interesting ones nevertheless.

I did not know my Uncle.  I am in fact a bit short on aunts and uncles.  I have none now. I did have an aunt once and loved her to bits but she died when I was 14.  My father had three siblings and my mother was an only child, hence the shortage.

My father was the youngest of four children. His oldest sibling was Hazel, my aunt, who I adored. My father had an older brother, Edwin or Ted, who was much loved. There was a younger sister Trixy, but she died of scarlet fever as a baby. Here is a picture of Hazel, Ted and Trixy.

Ted was born 12 September 1926 in Marrickville in Sydney.  As the first son he was named after his father, Edwin.  I suspect his middle name, Oswald,  came from his mother Ethel's side of the family.  Ethel was the second eldest of seven children and she had a younger brother Oswald who was six years her junior.  Ossie, as I think he was called, died the year I was born. 

1926 was the year Queen Elizabeth 11 was born.  And Dame Joan Sutherland.  Andrew Fisher was Prime Minister and Jack Lang Premier.  It was the year Winne the Pooh was first published.  Ethel, Ted's mother was 23 years old, nearly 24.  Hazel her oldest child was about to turn 2.  Her husband Edwin was an Electrical draftsman with the Sydney City Council.

Trixy was born on Boxing Day a couple of years later.  I have a copy of the receipt for her funeral expenses dated 6th January 1930.  Hazel would have been five years old and Ted just three when Trixy died.  These were the years of the Great Depression in more ways than one I imagine.

At the age of 30 Ethel gave birth to my father, Jim.  Ted was nearly nine years old by then.  Four years later Australia entered the Second World War.

There was military history on both sides of the family.  Ted's grandfather on his father's side was in the Navy and had served in WW1.  His grandfather on his mother's side had also served in WW1 in the Army.

Ted's sister Hazel enlisted in February 1943 a couple of months after she turned 18 and served as a Corporal in the General Hospital.  Ted dreamed of being a fighter pilot.  He put his age up and joined the RAAF as quickly as he could at the age of 17 in July the following year.  He spent some time in Queensland during the war.  His rank at discharge a year later was Leading Aircraftman.  Here is a photo of him.

On discharge Ted was given a bit of money to help him on his way.  He set up a model boat building business and my father remembers a beautiful workshop in the garage of their home at Undercliffe.  However someone dobbed him into the local council so that was the end of that.  I think it was then that he went on to get his commercial pilot's licence. 

Ted died a couple of years after the war.  He was just 21 years old.  He and Geoff Hoskins, aged 33, died when their plane crashed south east of Muswellbrook at Black Hill early on the morning of 30 October in 1947.  They were dropping off newspapers for the Sydney Morning Herald.  The Aircraft Accident Report concluded that the "cause of the accident was loss of control probably resulting from the Centre of Gravity of VH-SMJ being considerably aft of the rearward limit....as a consequence of the incorrect disposal of the load." 

My father found an article in the Daily Telegraph dated 31 October 1947 that contains gruesome pictures of the plan wreckage and photos of the airmen.

In my search for an image of a Lockheed Hudson type aircraft I came across this interesting article...I think this story bears further investigation.

Who do you remember on Remembrance Day?

The Finkler Question

Just in case you have been living under a rock (which I sometimes do), this won the Booker Prize this year. On the back cover it is described as "A blistering portrayal of a funny man...." and "Our funniest living writer....". It is always dangerous to describe things as funny. A bit like saying to someone "I saw this great movie last night!"...a sure set-up for disappointment.

I finished this book today. I now owe the Brisbane City Council Library $1.75 in late fees for it. I was determined to finish it by hook or by crook. I think I laughed maybe twice.

This year for me seems to have been marked by books about vampires and books about Jews or Jewishness. I haven't deliberately chosen this path. I merely remark upon it and I mean nothing by the association. I am just intrigued by it. So far I am finding neither genre or subject matter an easy read - certainly not funny.

Let's talk about the Jews we know. Or what it means to be Jewish. Yes, let's talk about stereotypes. Bette Midler. Woody Allen. They come to my mind. I often quote Bette Midler's line in Beaches "But enough about me, let's talk about you,........what do You think about me?" Neurotic. Self-obsessed. Funny. Sad.

The Finkler Question is about three men who come together in grief. The main character Julian Treslove is a kind of an anti-hero. He was born to be miserable. He is excruciatingly pathetic. He is so miserable he secetly fantasises about being Jewish. A bit like you fantasise about being adopted....anything not to have been born into this awfully boring suburban family. Give me a bit of the exotic...make me Jewish! His best friend from school Sam Finkler is Jewish and all that Julian wishes he was - smart, successful, a bedder of countless women. They keep in touch with an old teacher from their school days - turned friend - Libor - an eccentric loveable Czech, also Jewish. Libor and Sam are recently bereaved and Julian revels with them in their misery.

Spoiler alert! The book is called The Finkler Question. And, of course, as the reader you thirst to know why. It is Julian's secret way of internally de-stigmatising the word "Jew". And I quote..."Before he met Finkler, Treslove had never met a Jew. Not knowingly at least. He supposed a Jew would be like the word Jew - small and dark and beetling. A secret person. But Finkler was almost orange in colour and spilled out of his clothes. He had extravagant features, a prominent jaw, long arms and big feet....If this was what all Jews looked like, Treslove thought, then Finkler....was a better name for them than Jew.....The minute you talked about the Finkler Question, say, or the Finklerish Conspiracy, you sucked out the toxins. But he was never quite able to get around to explaining this to Finkler himself."

That last sentence I believe holds the key to the book. Why doesn't Julian get around to explaining his labelling to Sam? And therein lies the genius I guess of Howard Jacobson. Because Julian is a loathsome character. He is in fact like some kind of small dark beetle...a secret person. He, like a vampire, sucks the lifeblood out of his friends and girlfriends/wives/lovers. He purports to be deeply interested in being Jewish but is frustrated when the going gets tough....His lover Hephzibah recommends reading Moses Maimonides' The Guide for the Perplexed when he seeks enlightenment with regard to Jewish thought.....but poor Julian can barely make it beyond the first sentence and feels "like a child lost in a dark forest full of decrepit lucubrations." He is lost because he is never honest with himself about his motivations and he is certainly never honest with his friends about his innermost thoughts.

I wonder if by The Finkler Question in fact Jacobson is referring to the Human Question. Ultimately I felt I loathed Julian because I was seeing a reflection of myself.....see it's all about me!!! He disappointed me the same way I disappoint myself. There was no great triumph or change in Julian's character...he was excruciating from beginning to end...failing to see what a tosspot he was...as indeed no doubt we all do of ourselves. For me, The Finkler Question is about the mystery of the human condition...about our eternal quest to label, categorize, blame and explain the inexplicable.

Laugh? I could have cried.

Walk

I went for a walk this morning......at last.  Purple petals were strewn in my path from the jacarandas.

This is what a jacaranda looks like in case you haven't seen one.

It rained last night so everything smelt fresh and damp....loverly.....

I enjoyed watching the fog lift off our moutain.  We live in the foothills of Mt Coot-tha which is probably more of a bump by world standards...

You can see the television antennas peeking through in this photo.

Wish me luck on my "Get thin before I turn 50 challenge!"

Sur ....PRIZE!

Look what turned up in the mail on Thursday!  My lovely prize from Curlypops!  Thank you.  I feel very spoilt.

Look at all my lovely fabric.......

and I got special wool too in the most lubberly colours.....English Leicester it's called......now I must confess I don't know what to do with it when it is in this state...

does this mean I have to spin it or something?  I'm such an ignoramus.....tell me Grand Purl Baa...what do I do?

Let's just have another look at that beautiful card designed by Curlypops herself.  Isn't she wonderful?  Don't you just meet the nicest people when you blog??

All the rest have ....

31

My weekend has been a mix of triumphs and ordinary pordinaryness.

I fixed a zip in a skirt.  I fixed a bra that got mangled in the wash.


Yesterday I went to the shop that must not be named but sounds like it suffers from measles or should be in showbiz to get new plastic tablecloths to shelter the guinea pigs from tropical downpours....

I of course came out with tea-towels....I do like a good tea-towel.

And some cat fabric - cushions perhaps?

I love looking up numbers on Wikipaedia...you find out so many interesting things.....

Did you know, for example that 31 is a centered triangular number, a centered pentagonal number and centered decagonal number.

It's also Turkish for masturbation - and I say unto you in Spanish, a la Manuel - "Che?????"

So has Blogtoberfest been a w---?  Absolutely not!!

I say....it's been a lot of hard work...and a lot of fun....

God Bless Tinniegirl for bringing all 270 of us together.  It's been a feast!

I will end this month of Blogtoberfesting by saying thank you to all of you for visiting and sharing your triumphs together with your ordinary pordinary days.

Bag Lady

What's in the bag, lady?

A bomb?

Yes!

What else?  A surprise?

A green-tea surprise!

What else?  A bear?

Why yes!  A panda cheese!

I do like it when new stores open.  

This one has been open for 2 weeks according to the sales assistant at Indooroopilly Shockingtown who served me and business is brisk!

Have you ever tasted anything like these before?

Workhouse

 
Sometimes when I come to work I feel like I'm working in a Victorian workhouse!!!

It's a bit foreboding isn't it?

But it really is a lovely building see.....this is the front.....

and the sun is shining in Brisvegas today after a terrific downpour yesterday afternoon.

The rain made the water feature in my office sing and carry on like nobody's business.

Can anybody else boast about having a downpipe in their office?????

This bike is often parked in our carpark....I've always wanted to zip around on one of these, haven't you?

Frustrated

It's pouring with rain outside but we're all warm and toasty inside.  The kids have gone out for a drive in this weather as only teenagers can....let's hope they return safely.

I'm a bit frustrated.

I've started knitting my owl jumper but I didn't have any 6.5mm circular needles....so I went to the shop to buy some (spent quite a bit on them actually) and now I find one of them keeps catching the wool....so I'll have to take them back. Drat.

 I think I'm so cranky because the wool is really lovely and springy and produces results quickly...it's Cascade Ecological.  The Owl pattern is very popular and from this wonderful woman here.  She is really very special....takes beautiful photos...is very clever and, well...I hope you like her work as much as I do.

In good news, I finally made it to the American Yarns shop on Saturday.  I had a good old mooch around and ended up walking out with stuff I never expected to buy.

The minute I touched the blue yarn on the left I was sold...it is the softest stuff you have ever felt....I think it is a mix of casmere and silk...sigh.  The big red ball on the right, Moonnight is a mix of lambswool and cashmere.  Think I'll try my hand at shawls with these ones.  The owner was very patient with me (I think I was there for probably at least an hour).  I was delighted when she gave me a loyalty card.  It's a little thing but honestly I spend so much on this hobby, it's nice to be rewarded for good custom. 

That's all to report really.  It's been a tidying kind of day today while my wonderful mechanic fixed my car - broken engine mount and a timing belt that needed replacing.  I read a bit of the Guardian and am stuck on the Quick Crossword AGAIN!!

Did you know that (according to page 31 of the Guardian) "walking may protect the brain against shrinking and preserve memory in the elderly, according to research by US neurologists who monitored 300 volunteers over 13 years......The study suggests that about 14km a week is the optimum distance for "neurological exercise".  The paper, published in Neurology, the online medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, found no discernible bonus in going further."

Right that does it....got to get back into walking.  Apart from anything else....my jeans are too uncomfortable.

By the way, the kids did return safely :)

Baaria

If only all milkos were this scrummy!

This is in fact Francesco Scianna who plays the part of Peppino Torrenuova in Giuseppe Tornatore's Baaria.  You remember Mr Tornatore...He made that marvellous hearwarming film Cinema Paradiso.  And a couple of others - like A Pure Formality starring Gerard Depardieu. Baaria is apparently Sicilian slang for the town called Bagheria - Tornatore's birthplace.

I am a complete sucker for Italian films.  It all began back in the lates 70s when I enrolled in Italian at Sydney Uni.  Our teachers encouraged us to avail ourselves of all the free movies at the Uni cinema.....I saw Bertolucci's 1900, I saw Padre Padrone...I probably saw a lot more than that...but they are the ones I remember...

I cheerfully confess that I learned about sex in Italian movies....and violence.  They are a passionate people.

Rather like Bertolucci's 1900, this film attempts to encapsulate a great span of time - from about 1920 through to the 60s and more.  One absolutely needs to suspend disbelief but in the hands of a master storyteller, I had no difficulty.  From the opening scene where the little Peppino runs down the street so fast that he starts to fly, I was entranced.

This is ultimately a story about the human struggle - to live, to fight for one's beliefs, to dream and to believe.  Strong stuff indeed.  It is a story about love, family and politics.  Here...in Sicily where poverty still is a grim reality, the personal is political.


Ennio Morricone provides the score to lead us through the raging torrent of emotions.  I did not find it overpowering or intrusive - just complementary.  What a powerhouse that man is - I get RSI just rolling through his credits on IMDB.

The cast in turn was stupendous and the cinematography stunning.  Some of the scenery is breathtaking.


It is not for the faint of bladder running at 163 minutes but I loved every second and stayed til the last rolling credit. Of course there are others who would disagree, such as Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian who described it as epically dull and a colossal Stella Artois ad.  Sniff. 

This was part of the Lavazza Italian Film Festival which finished in Brisbane last night.  If you're in Adelaide or Perth I think you may be out of luck for this particular film, though the Festival continues for a couple more days there. 

The rest of you in Australia will have to pray that SBS picks it up or that your local DVD shop sees fit to buy it.

Salute!

Day 24

Those of you who know me well would never leave a garden in my care.

I can water potted plants and that is about it.  

Look what threw itself in my path on the way out the back to hang out the washing.

Some orchids have no shame!

Aren't I clever?

And guess what Grand Purl Baa....those socks is finished.  I hope they fit now!

Whether to weather the weather or not....

We fondly refer to our local paper as The Curious Mail.

Today it has reached new heights of curiousness.

I beg you to turn to Page 108 of today's edition to fathom the mysteries of the forecast for today.

Should I take my brolly or not?

It says Fine but what if I'm illiterate?  That looks like a great big storm cloud to me.  With lightening even...

Hubby is most put out.  The weather is his favourite topic of conversation.  It goes without saying that B.O.M. (aka the Bureua of Meteorology) is his Favourite website.  Some women unfairly accuse their husbands of browsing the net looking for....well...I won't say....but not my hubbie...he's never happier than when musing upon the radar and all its dusky loops and pointers.

Normally the weather forecast is on the front page of the Curious Mail (well that's what Robbie told me...I've never noticed)....but today it isn't...there's some silly strip ad for Policelink....which forced him to hunt towards the back to find.....nonsense. 

He's in the backyard now, pulling his whiskers looking up at the clear blue sky....wondering.

4 things...

4 things I always carry

Donkey Daw they call me....

1. my basket - a tisket a tasket - it carries just about everything
2. if not my basket - my handbag
3. if not my handbag - my wallet
4. and my phone

4 things that are in my bedroom

1. a pew - yes a real church pew - a hangover from seeing one in a Seventeen magazine 500 years ago
2. books books books
3. toys - yes - it is sad - but all my soft toys are lined up on the pew
4. wonderful wicker chair that my step-mother gave me - so very beautiful

4 things that I would like to do but haven't done yet

1. Go on a cruise - yes - tragic
2. Go to Ireland
3. Go to Canada
4. Go to the US
5. Just GO!!! (Oh sorry it's 4 isn't it?)

4 things that you don't know about me

1. I can put up a spinnaker - well it has been a while but....
2. I can wolf whistle really loudly and do so without much provocation particularly at concerts - very inelegant
3. I studied Latin til Grade 12 - truly tragic
4. I am obsessed with True Blood and deeply in lust with Eric

4 things I often wonder

1. Would Eric be attracted to me?
2. What do dogs smell? (apart from the obvious)
3. Which poor sucker is going to inherit my stash?
4. What else could I be doing?

Wordless Wednesday

Knackered

Sunday is meant to be a day of rest isn't it?

 

No rest for the wicked this end I'm afraid.

I have been on the go all day....

 

Cooking...

 

Washing up....

 

Stripping and making the bed....

 

Washing.....

Handwashing (gasp!)....

Sweeping.....

Mopping...

 

Vacuuming...

 

Ironing......

 

Cleaning bathrooms....

Tidying cupboards....

Back to work tomorrow....

 

 

 

It'll be a relief!

Man those cats can really swing!

Okay - let's have a bit of reminiscing ..

Remember when men wore paisley or harlequin shirts?  and funny hats...and had long hair....and sung strange lyrics?


Deep Purple - Space Truckin'
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Originally performed by Deep Purple

Well we had a lot of luck on Venus
We always have a ball on Mars
With meeting all the groovy people
We've rocked the Milky Way so far
We danced around with Borealis
We're space trucking round the stars
Come on, come on, come on,
Let's go Space trucking
Come on, come on, come on, Space trucking!

Remember when we did the moonshot
And Ronny Trekker led the way
We'd move to the Canaveral Moonstomp
And every naut would dance and way
We got music in our solar system
We're space trucking round the stars
Come on, come on, come on,
Let's go Space trucking
Come on, come on, come on, Space trucking!

The fireball that we rode way moving
But now we've got a new machine
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! the frenks say
Man those cats can really swing
The got music in their solar system
The y've rocked around the Milky Way
They dance around with Borealis
They're space trucking every day!
Come on, come on, come on,
Let's go Space trucking
Come on, come on, come on, Space trucking!

Thank God for men.  

Thank God for my man - who replaced the battery

in my car this week - a couple of times until it 

was just right.

Thank God for my son who gives me good hugs and 

texts me about the funniest things.

Thank God for my father who is the host with the 

most, loving, patient and wise.

Thank God for all the sons out there who look me 

in the eye, laugh with me and are resourceful 

in the toughest of times.

It's Saturday night - put on your favourite record 

and your dancing shoes - because you can! 

Day 15 - Happy Hour

Well it's happy hour for the guinea pigs.  The rain has stopped and they are drowning in grass.

Don't you just love animals? 

This is an old photo but a goody....Karen's dogs at the old house....waiting patiently at the bar to be served.....

Did you see this reindeer at the Asia Pacific Triennial at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane - it made lots of people smile with wonder.

What makes you happy?

Day 14 - My Creative Space

So GrandPurlBaa will be pleased to see that the second sock is almost finished.....

I am ploughing on with Phil's jumper too....courtesy of lovely yarn wrapped lovingly and supplied by Thicket..

My mind is always on the next 50 projects though....recently I was inspired by Tangled Yarns latest newsletter which showcased Berrocco patterns and I am rather fond of a few there....

 I want to make this hoody for Bel....and maybe this top for Lucy

So many patterns, so much wool, so little time.....More creative spaces at Kootooyoo