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?