Day 5: Saturday swimming

Saturday means swimming lessons round here.  I've enrolled the kids for this term and will probably re-enrol for next term too.  It cuts into my "free" time but it is important to us that our children gain water confidence and respect.  There are too many drowning accidents in New Zealand.  Some of those accidents could have been prevented by basic respect for water and some swimming skills.  (Of course, swimming skills are not always going to be helpful in bad situations but still ... YKWIM).

This one used to be terrified of the water.  His first swimming lesson when he was 3 1/2 was a disaster.  He clung to the teacher the whole time and screamed nonstop "I want my mummy" in her ear.  The poor girl!  Before his second lesson I took him to the local pool and swam around with him, played floating games and after that he was happy to get into the water with the teacher and actually learn some skills.  These days he seems to spend a lot of time under the water when he isn't being supervised to do some activity. His skills are slowly improving.  He still pokes his bum in the air when trying to stroke freestyle!

This little monkey has a blast!  She has a very experienced, gentle teacher called Matt who does a great job with the littlies, some of whom are very afraid. They play cool games like Jungle River and pretend to be crocodiles.  They have rides on a floating device (Tommy the Turtle) to practice kicking.  They fetch rings from under the water to practice putting their faces underneath.  She has had a small falling-over-under-the-water accident since and although it gave her a fright I am glad because she now has a bit more respect for the water environment than before.

It's worth missing out my sleep in for.

Day 4: Incredible sulk

Miss 3 sulking because I told her to change her clothes prior to going out. Apparently if you can't wear a dress with cherries on it your life is not worth living.

10 Reasons I love my library

1. It has a pirate stapler.

2. It lets you have lots of holds... for FREE. When the supercity happens I will highly peeved if we inherit charges for holds from Un-named City. Bah! Bah I tell you! edited to add: not every library in NZ charges for holds, but one of the major Auckland ones does.  Which I think stinks.

3. It hosts fun events like New Zealand Music Month.  Including bagpipes.

4. The staff get to have paper aeroplane fights at their Christmas party. (Note plane crash landed in halo).

5. It has the entire Beatles collection on CD and it lets you borrow them.

6. You can sign up to get library notices via txt.

7. It has cool spaces for different needs.

8. It keeps your reading history for you.  This is great for remembering what you read for monthly reading round ups! edited to add: this is an opt in option. You don't have to choose it if you are concerned about privacy.

9. It promotes the use of eco-bags to carry your books in.

10. The boss sends me to cool conferences like National Digital Forum and VALA.

Meal Plan for this week

Ha! Menu planing. Now this one should give me at least one post per week for June. *rubs hands and cackles*

Not sure what it is about this time of year, but I find my interest in cooking peaks in winter time, especially when it comes to puddings.  I think it is the side of me that wants to solve everyone's problems by giving them food.

I accidentally ordered the large vege box this week instead of my normal medium family box.  This means we have a lot of veges and fruit to eat!  Including 2 cauliflowers, 2 broccolis and 2 cabbages.  Brassica bounty! 

The box itself provides entertainment too.

Boo!

Monday - sausages/vension rissoles, oven fries, broccoli (I know, so balanced and gourmet but it's a weeknight)
Tuesday - Burritos with the usual fixin's (easy for DH to prepare since it is my late night at work)
Wednesday - Thai beef salad
Thursday - Morrocan style chicken tomato curry with Israeli couscous, wilted spinach
Friday - lamb steaks with lemon, mustard and feta, roasted beetroot, sauteed silverbeet, carrots
Saturday - vege soup, apple pie
Sunday - a roast dinner (beef, taters etc), some sort of pudding... maybe involving poached pears if I can get to the booze shop for some wine

Baking: I want to make Nigel Slater's Coffee and Walnut cake or his marmalade cake. 

The thing about menu planning is that it makes me peruse my cookbooks more.  This week uses ideas and recipes from these books.

Pity my cooking inspiration doesn't extend to making lunches. *sigh*

I think I might treat this daily blogging as fodder for a photo/scrapbooking essay.  Will see how it goes.  It might give me the kick in the pants to scrapbook.  In any case, it will document some everyday things which are sometimes forgotten.

Blogging every day of June | May reading round up

June is bustin' out all over and I've foolishly bravely joined a bunch of Twittering friends on a challenge to blog every day this month!  This blog has been so quiet that I'm hoping the practice will rejuvenate it a bit.

Reading Round Up for May

A taint in the blood / Dana Stabenow.
Hired by Charlotte Mauravieff, who wants to clear her mother's name of the arson fire that killed one of her brothers, private investigator Kate Shugak finds the case complicated by someone who wants the truth to stay hidden.~from the blurb.
This one was recommended to me and I quite enjoyed it.  It is set in Alaska and is an entertaining crime/mystery with a strong female character.  I was a little bit uncomfortable with attitude towards men but anyway, a good story.

Delicious / Nicky Pellegrino.
At Caffe Angeli the pastries are rich and creamy, the coffee strong and the tables always overflowing with friends, neighbours and - who knows - maybe a suitable husband for one of the pretty Carrozza girls. At least, that's what Pepina hopes for her two eldest daughters. The trouble is the girls have plans of their own.The drama that ensues has repercussions that continue from the 1960s to the present day and travel from a quiet village in southern Italy to a seaside town in England and beyond. In this sumptuous story of food and love, dreams are fulfilled, but never quite as planned.~from the blurb


The Italian wedding / Nicky Pellegrino.
Two feuding families, two love stories and a feast of delicious Italian food. As Pieta stiches and beads her sister's wedding gown, she uncovers the secrets that make her family what it is and stands between her and happiness. ~from the blurb

A New Zealand author who is probably best known for her co-writing of Angela D'Audney's biography, turns her hand to writing stories.  I liked these books for a relaxing undemanding read.  Good family drama.  The ending is a little rushed in Delicious.  Both have lots of coverage of Italian food which is always a hit with me! :P

I'm perfect, you're doomed : tales from a Jehovah's witness upbringing / Kyria Abrahams.
"I'm Perfect, You're Doomed is the story of Kyria Abrahams's coming-of-age as a Jehovah's Witness-- a doorbell-ringing Pioneer of the Lord. Her childhood was haunted by the knowledge that her neighbors and schoolmates were doomed to die in an imminent fiery apocalypse; that Smurfs were evil; that just about anything you could buy at a yard sale was infested by demons; and that Ouija boards-- even if they were manufactured by Parker Brothers-- were portals to hell. Never mind how popular you are when you hand out the Watchtower instead of candy at Halloween. When Abrahams turned eighteen, things got even stranger. That's when she found herself married to a man she didn't love, with adultery her only way out. Disfellowshipped and exiled from the only world she'd ever known, Abrahams realized that the only people who could save her were the very sinners she had prayed would be smitten by God's wrath. Raucously funny, deeply unsettling, and written with scorching wit and deep compassion, I'm Perfect, You're Doomed explores the ironic absurdity of growing up believing that nothing matters because everything's about to be destroyed"--Publisher's description.
This was funny but also very sad.  The writing was amusing.  The sadness came from two sources. Firstly, the strange doctrines that were promoted by the church and secondly, the way the author ended up dealing with it.   Kind of disappointing.

Julie and Julia : 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen : how one girl risked her marriage, her job, and her sanity to master the art of living / Julie Powell.
Powell became an Internet celebrity with her 2004 blog chronicling her yearlong odyssey of cooking every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. A frustrated secretary in New York City, Powell embarked on "the Julie/Julia project" to find a sense of direction, and both the cooking and the writing quickly became all-consuming. Some passages in the book are taken verbatim from the blog, but Powell expands on her experience and gives generous background about her personal life: her doting husband, wacky friends, evil co-workers. Powell never met Julia Child, but the venerable chef's spirit is present throughout, and Powell imaginatively reconstructs episodes from Child's life in the 1940s.~from the blurb
A celebrated book (with associated movie) so I had high hopes for this one despite others suggesting it did not live up to the hype, but in the end my feelings were mixed about it. I found the book to have too much of the My-life-sucks-so-I'm-going-to-do-something-dramatic-to-make-it-worthwhile-and-tell-everybody-about-it theme.  Is this style of book something that is being promoted as best sellers by publishers?  Or is the apparent consumer desire for reality-TV style of writing more common? Either way, I'm not sure I'm on the band wagon.  Anyway, I liked hearing about the food related adventures I guess. I was almost tempted to turn my blog into Penny Cooks Everything In xCookbook as a fun sort of exercise... just wasn't able to choose one of my many books!  Plus I don't do offal.

We two : Victoria and Albert: rulers, partners, rivals / Gillian Gill.
Gillian Gill offers a revolutionary portrait of a queen and her prince, revealing at once both an intimate but far-from-idyllic relationship that succeeded against all odds as the strong, feisty queen and the brilliant, fragile prince worked together to build a family based on support, trust, and fidelity.~from the blurb
Found this book to be interesting and easy to read.  I didn't do much Victorian history at school so I like to learn new stuff about different periods.  This one was fresh.

May Book Circle Book

Bad science / Ben Goldacre. London : Fourth Estate, 2008.
ISBN: 9780007240197
When Dr Ben Goldacre saw someone on daytime TV dipping her feet in an ′Aqua Detox′ footbath‚ releasing her toxins into the water‚ turning it brown‚ he thought he′d try the same at home. Using his girlfriend′s Barbie doll‚ he gently passed an electrical current through the warm salt water. It turned brown. In his words: ′before my very eyes‚ the world′s first Detox Barbie was sat‚ with her feet in a pool of brown sludge‚ purged of a weekend′s immorality.′ This book is concerned with the ′bad science′ we are constantly bombarded with in the media and in advertising. At a time when science is used to prove everything and nothing‚ everyone has their own ′bad science′ moments - from the useless pie-chart on the back of cereal packets to the use of the word ′visibly′ in cosmetics ads. This book will help people to quantify their instincts - that a lot of the so-called ′science′ which appears in the media and in advertising is just wrong or misleading.~from the blurb

This one has had mixed reviews from the bookcircle folks.  Personally I found it rather funny in a *face palm* sort of way.  I have a science background so some of the things he writes about I agreed whole heartedly with, particularly the abuse by the media of statistics and scientific literature which I find verges on the unethical.  The whole nutrition band wagon thing really annoys me so it was gratifying to see some of my own feelings on it were backed up.  The history behind the vaccination/autism scare was enlightening.  I also found the information on the placebo effect highly interesting because of the connection between mind/body.  As Goldacre points out, this is something that has great potential for research and exploitation but on the whole is overlooked by those who are doing the research.

I'll stick my neck out and say everyone should read this book. So there.

Quiet but busy and thankful

It's been quiet on this blog.  Life has been busy though. 


Most of you know (from my Facebook) that I'm starting a new job in July - as eLearning librarian over on the Main Campus.  It will be a move up for me though the position is only for 3 semesters.  It will be a secondment position and I'll return to my information librarian job after the 3 semesters.  I will miss the environment I'm currently working in but the job itself is going to be a lot more interesting for me in many ways and I'm excited to start.  In fact, I really need to be there now because things are moving quite quickly so I'm having to travel back and forth between roles and the two campuses which is a bit wearying.  I'm thankful for opportunities to extend my professional skills.

In amongst the applying, interviewing and associated angst that goes with that, DH had a job offer as well.  It wasn't a bad offer but would have meant some major changes for him.  The salary didn't quite compensate for those changes so he turned them down.  His current employers have since acknowledged his dilemma by giving him a bit of a rise so we're grateful for that, especially given the fiscal constraints we're all operating under.  I'm very thankful both of us have employment and employers who do what they can.

The whole family has been struggling with seasonal colds and coughs.  DD ended up with ear infections and I got sinusitus so with the help of antibiotics we are now on the mend.  Unfortunately the sinus problems have put me behind with my running efforts because it hurt my teeth to run! Hoping for better in the coming weeks.  I'm thankful we have reasonable health most of the time.

We've been working with DS on his reading as he is a little challenged by it.  He's getting some help at school, and we're using a kit to help strengthen his eyes.  We think it is helping.  I'm thankful for our local school which noticed he needed help and is trying to give him help even though they have little funding.

Both children are having swimming lessons on Saturdays which reduces my free time but they love it and it is such a necessary life skill in New Zealand.

I've been doing some sewing. These little kimonos are from this book and are for little Samuel Clarke. They aren't perfect (my home sewing rarely is) but hopefully will be nice and light.

Yesterday we ventured down to the Tron to make felted slippers with a scrapbooking friend V.  We had a bit of adventure trying to get them to work but I'm pretty pleased with mine even though they look a bit scabby since I patched a few holes with the inside colour.  I'm going to do a few things to improve them, like bind the edges.  DD is keen for me to make her some - she has asked several times already when we're going to get her wool and I am to make some with butterflies on apparently.  Also they have to be "pearple", her favourite colour.  I'm wondering if there is a better place to get wool from other than Spotlight - if you know, tell me in the comments.  Online is fine.  I'm thankful for friends and for a measure of time and funds to do crafting projects.

V and some of the other girls requested this recipe.

Sweet Corn Chowder *

3 oz butter

2 large onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

4 cups stock (vegetable or chicken)

2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 cup canned creamed-style corn

2 cups fresh corn kernels (frozen is fine)

3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

salt and pepper

3 Tablespoons cream (optional)

2 Tablespoons fresh chives to garnish

Heat butter in large heavy based pan. Add onions and cook over medium heat for 5 mins or until golden. Add garlic and cumin seeds, cook 1 min stirring constantly. Add stock and bring to boil. Add potatoes and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes. Add creamed corn, corn kernels and parsley. Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes. Stir through cheese, salt and pepper, and cream. Heat gently so the cheese melts. Serve sprinkle with chives. Serves 8. 
* This is a vegetarian soup, but I like to throw in some bacon bones or a bacon hock into the stock as I feel it gives it more flavour depth.

and also this one which is from the magazine Dish, 11, Feb 2007-May 2007, pg 90

Hazelnut, Chocolate & Polenta Cake

325g butter at room temperature
325g caster sugar
1 teasp vanilla
300g hazelnuts, roasted, skinned and finely ground
35g good quality cocoa, sifted
4 eggs
160g fine, quick cook polenta
1 1/2 teasp baking powder
1/4 teasp salt

Raspberry Sauce
500g frozen raspberries, thawed
icing sugar
1 lime

Perheat oven to 160 C. Grease base and sde of 26cm cake tin with melted butter or canola spray and line both with baking paper.
Beat butter, sugar and vanilla together until pale and creamy. Mix through the ground hazels and cocoa.
Beat in eggs one at a time.
Combine the polenta, baking powder and salt and fold into the batter.
Spoon into the prepared tin and smooth the top.  Bake for about 50 mins or until skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. The top will have formed a good crust.
Transfer to rack and leave to cool.

Raspberry Sauce
Place the thawed raspberries in a food processor with 2 Tablesp of icing sugar and blend until smooth.  Taste and add more icing sugar if needed.  Then add a good squeeze of the lime juice.  Blend again and strain the sauce through a fine sieve, pushing the sauce through with the back of a spoon.  Discard the seeds. Pour sauce into serving jug.

To serve: Dust top of the cake with icing sugar and serve in slices with raspberry sauce and creme fraiche or yoghurt.  The cake will keep in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Serves 10-12.

I'm thankful for cake. ;-P

Speaking of recipes - I rescued this gem from Mum & Dad's last year.  It's one of those fund raising cookbooks that were popular (and may be still are).  This one is from the 80's.

It includes such gourmet delights as:

Check out the sponsor on this page - Rainbow Chinese Restaurant Finest Chinese cuisine.  While I was growing up the only "ethnic" cuisine available was Chinese food.  Indian food we made at home and as for Italian, Turkish or other international foods... well, you were out of luck unless you could cook them yourselves as well.  The Rainbow was popular with us kids.  We got to go there for our birthdays and for a treat.  I'm pretty sure they had the standard fare available in the 80's for such an establishment but we thought it was special particularly when we got to have deep fried ice cream and deep friend banana for dessert!

Then there is this dish - I know you'll be after making it for sure!

Sorry, but possum is unlikely to be on my menu.  It would all be given to the cat.

Oh, remember what I said about international food?  Here's the 80s Kiwi version of pizza.

That's right.  Spaghetti on scones =  pizza.  Actually it's not too bad but lets be honest - it is NOT pizza.  It's scones with spaghetti on top.

It's not all bad this little book.  There are some good old fashioned baking items that I like in it.  The scouting advice is amusing too.  I'm thankful for a family who is adventurous in their eating habits.

The sun is shining so I'm going to hang out some washing!

Creating... in a chef sort of way

No scrapbooking this weekend - but I did make these.

Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli

First make your pasta, but don't put it through the fettucine/spaghetti cutter, just leave the flat bit to dry a bit.  I cheated and kneaded the pasta in the Kitchen Aid because I was in a bit of a hurry.

You will notice that I have the same helper with the pasta machine as I did in my post back in October 2006!

Finely chop half a shallot.

Grate a little fresh nutmeg into the bowl with the onion. (Or use child labour).

Wash a few leaves of spinach and then wilt with some boiling water.

Squeeze out the spinach and finely chop.  Add to the bowl with the nutmeg and onion.  Grab your ricotta and add that.  (I used just under half of this 250g pot).

Mix it all up and season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Take your flattened pasta and make the ravioli.  I don't have one of those special tins to make them so I use my smallest cookie cutter to cut out some shapes.  But you could just cut the pasta with a knife and make squares or triangles. 

Wet the edges of the shapes and stick the topper pieces on them pressing firmly to make them stick.  Mine end up looking like flying saucers :-)


Boil up a big pan of water, salting to taste.  Place the ravioli into the boiling water and cook until al dente.  You may have to do it in batches.

While that is happening you could make this Blue Cheese sauce or this Walnut and Garlic one.  We had it with blue cheese.  I was going to take a photo of the finished product but I was too slow!  They were gobbled down too quick.

April Reading Round Up | Book Circle Book

The story of Danny Dunn/ Bryce Corteney
In the 1930s few opportunities existed for boys in Balmain, but at just sixteen years of age Danny Dunn has everything going for him: brains, looks, sporting aptitude - and luck with the ladies. His parents run The Hero, the favourite neighbourhood watering hole, and Danny is a local hero. Luck changes for Danny when he signs up to go to war.~from the blurb
I dunno. This one was okay but kind of disappointing really.  I enjoyed Corteney's ealier writings but now he seems to be churning them out in industrial fashion and they are all the same.  This could have been a book with so much more depth but he tries to cover so much time and too many people IMO.  It was very predictable and too shallow.  The ending leaves things open for a sequel but I don't think I'll bother.


The book thief / Markus Zusak.
Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors. ~ from the blurb
This was one of last year's book circle books which I never got in time to read.  But finally my turn came and I must say I would recommend the book.  The mix of vulnerability, honesty and bravery against the back drop of WW2 with all it's desperation and deprivation is highly engaging.  It's not a "happy" book as such but eminently satistfying.

Eat, pray, love : one woman's search for everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia / Elizabeth Gilbert.
Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned thirty, she went through an early-onslaught midlife crisis. She had everything an educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want; a husband, a house, a successful career. But instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief, and confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love, and the eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be. To recover from all this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, and undertook a yearlong journey around the world. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year.~ from the blurb
This much celebrated book was one I'd had on hold for a while and it finally arrived.  I wasn't sure what to expect from it.  Sometimes I find the popular books are too saccharine for me.  The first few chapters made me wonder if I'd bother to finish it.  I was beginning to think this was another book about a spoiled, undercommitted, over-dramatic Westerner trying to get meaning in their lives.  However, I persevered and gradually got drawn into the book.  Gilbert's writing is quite amusing too so I found myself laughing a few times.  I enjoyed her investigations on prayer and meditation.  Prayer is something I feel like I fail at and I'd like to learn better how to be effectual.  Also in meditation - I find it hard to settle down and stop the self talk.  So those chapters were particularly interesting for me.  Unfortunately, I can't afford to take the time off to have month long explorations of spirituality and love so somehow I have to work this out in the here and now. It is probably a cultural thing but I did find myself rolling my eyes a few times with this woman.  The way she hung on to her previous lover got a bit annoying when it seemed obvious to me that it was never going to work.  But maybe that is me and my Kiwi "get over it and move on" attitude.


Unseen academicals / Terry Pratchett
Football has come to the ancient city of Ankh-Morpork - not the old fashioned, grubby pushing and shoving, but the new, fast football with pointy hats for goalposts and balls that go gloing when you drop them. And now, the wizards of Unseen University must win a football match, without using magic, so they're in the mood for trying everything else.~from the blurb
I always enjoy Prachett's satirical writing.  My French teacher in 4th form first introduced me to them and I've been a fan ever since.  I have my favourites of course - Mort being one of them.  This one is kind of about football, but also about assumptions and stereotypes.  Prachett always makes me laugh.  (And I really wish I had a Luggage).

Growing great marriages / Ian and Mary Grant.
Ian and Mary Grant maintain that the two great human desires are to know that we can love and that we can be loved. In their latest book, they give skills and tips on how to maintain your relationship with your husband or wife. Whether your relationship is flaming with passion or just flaming awful, this entertaining book gives you insights and practical ideas to make your life stronger and happier. You will take away keys and tips to transform your relationship into one that others will envy, full of fun, communication, passion and intimacy. Turn the dream into a reality.~ from the blurb
This one is good.  Janine recommended it and I also do.  I wanted DH to read it but there were so many holds on it I had to return it.


and then my reading history on my library record disappeared! So any others I read this past month I'll have to try and remember.

Book Circle April Book
Replenishing the Earth : the settler revolution and the rise of the Anglo-world, 1783-1939 / James Belich.
(2009). Oxford : Oxford University Press.
ISBN:9780199297276

Pioneering study of the anglophone 'settler boom' in North America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand between the early 19th and early 20th centuries, looking at what made it the most successful of all such settler revolutions, and how this laid the basis of British and American power in the 19th and 20th centuries. Why does so much of the world speak English? Replenishing the Earth gives a new answer to that question, uncovering a 'settler revolution' that took place from the early nineteenth century that led to the explosive settlement of the American West and its forgotten twin, the British West, comprising the settler dominions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Between 1780 and 1930 the number of English-speakers rocketed from 12 million in 1780 to 200 million, and their wealth and power grew to match. Their secret was not racial, or cultural, or institutional superiority but a resonant intersection of historical changes, including the sudden rise of mass transfer across oceans and mountains, a revolutionary upward shift in attitudes to emigration, the emergence of a settler 'boom mentality', and a late flowering of non-industrial technologies -wind, water, wood, and work animals - especially on settler frontiers. ~from the blurb

Well the blurb sounded interesting okay?  I thought I'd enjoy it but oh boy, it was hard going.  Much more academic than I thought it was going to be!  Which is a shame because Belich can write in a more engaging style and his historical documentary on The New Zealand Wars was very interesting.
I did persevere until almost the end but I'm really not sure I "got" what he was trying to say except that much of the world speaks English because of the fortuitous factors that promoted English-speaking settlers where they settled, and their willingness to make a go of it despite the hardships they faced.

The curious thing about this is there were several holds on this book after me so either other people were seduced by the blurb or there are some dedicated historians out there.

Omaha

Omaha
Originally uploaded by pdugmore2001.

We spend a few days at a friends' bach up at Omaha.

Lydia @ 3

Lydia @ 3
Originally uploaded by pdugmore2001.

Butterflies and clock graphics from The Graphic Fairy blog.

Interview with a 3 year old...
What are your favourite things?
Pink toys, pink dollies, pibk cots and pink swimming pools.

Who are your friends?
Ashita, Connor, Benjamin, Joshua, Eden and Holly and I don't know.

What games do you like to play?
Old MacDonald, teddy bears and my friend is Eden. Do you know Eden? And we dances when the music comes Mumma. I can hop now 'cause I am big now Mumma eh?

What do you like to eat?
Sugar, chicken, pink sausages and red sausages/

What did we do today?
We went for a swimming pool. Mumma can we have a picture of me swimming?

What else?
Ticke everywhere Mumma!

Family & Friends

Family & Friends
Originally uploaded by pdugmore2001.

another layout done over a period of weeks!!! finally finished it. Taken quite a few years ago now when we went down to Ashburton for a friend's wedding. This was before I met DH even.

Tart Undies

Tart Undies
Originally uploaded by pdugmore2001.

A layout done on my day off work.

Hodge podge

My blog seems to be mostly about books these days - sorry.

Just for a change, here is a shout out for the MAGS Roarbotix Team who won the New Zealand Vex Robotics National Championship 3 weeks ago.  They are now off to Dallas, Texas in the US to represent New Zealand tomorrow!  You can track the progress of the team via their blog.  Mitchell, the driver of the robot in the nationals is the son of one of our friends.  Please pop over and give them some comment love - I am sure they would love some support from back home while they are over there.  It's really exciting to see these young guys pursuing robotics, and being a household of geeks we think stuff like this is cool. Tim is a keen robot fan.

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January Blogosphere Book Circle Review
The bolter : Idina Sackville-- the woman who scandalised 1920s society and became White mischief's infamous seductress / Frances Osborne. London : Virago, 2008.
ISBN: 9781844084814

Synopsis
On Friday 25th May, 1934, a forty-one-year-old woman walked into the lobby of Claridge's Hotel to meet the nineteen-year-old son whose face she did not know. Fifteen years earlier, as the First World War ended, Idina Sackville shocked high society by leaving his multimillionaire father to run off to Africa with a near penniless man. An inspiration for Nancy Mitford's character The Bolter, painted by William Orpen, and photographed by Cecil Beaton, Sackville went on to divorce a total of five times, yet died with a picture of her first love by her bed. Her struggle to reinvent her life with each new marriage left one husband murdered and branded her the 'high priestess' of White Mischief's bed-hopping Happy Valley in Kenya. Sackville's life was so scandalous that it was kept a secret from her great-granddaughter Frances Osborne. Now, Osborne tells the moving tale of betrayal and heartbreak behind Sackville's road to scandal and return, painting a dazzling portrait of high society in the early twentieth century. ~from the blurb

I did enjoy this book.  I know some of the book circle group found it boring, but I found it easy to read; the historical side of things always appeals to me.  I really couldn't relate to the lifestyle portrayed in the book though!  Wow is all I can say! :-P
I did feel sorry for Idina - she obviously was born in the wrong era and her upbringing must have heavily influenced her attitudes towards a whole bunch of things.  These days she would have been some sort of politician I'm sure!  She appears to have been a feisty number on the outside but with a terrible need to be loved/worshipped. It's clear she was looking for "something" that would be fulfilling and never really found it.  As a mum I found it so hard to understand how she could abandon her sons and have so little to do with bringing up her daughter but as other book circle members have pointed out, the connection between parents and kids in those days in that class was very distant.
I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone who didn't like to read about historical time periods or biographies.  There is a lot of detail about various family members and important people of the day which I found reasonably interesting but others found less than diverting!  But that's ok. :) 

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Easter Camping
We spent the Easter weekend camping at Otamure Bay.  Friends on Facebook will have already seen these photos.

The weather was great, some cloud and a shower or two but mostly sunny and warm.  The kids had a grand time playing in the sand and sea and generally pottering around.  The photographic options weren't so good for Rod but he did take some photos.  We went with some friends of ours who have children a similar age and this turned out to be a good thing for the mothers since they mostly entertained themselves together. :-)

The campsite was very busy with fishermen, people attending a motorbike rally next door and of course, the likes of us on a family holiday.  Unfortunately this meant queues for the toilets and the single shower (cold) and that wasn't especially fun.  It's a lovely spot, but perhaps not one we'll be going back to.

I've had a few days off work this week and today I'm *gasp* even going to do some scrapbooking!

March Reading Round Up

The girl who played with fire/ Steig Larsson
"This time it is Lisbeth Salander, the troubled, wise-beyond-her-years genius hacker, who is the focus ... of the story. Mikael Blomkvist—crusading journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium—has decided to publish a story exposing an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business, and government. On the eve of publication, the two reporters responsible for the story are brutally murdered. But perhaps more shocking for Blomkvist: the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to Lisbeth Salander. Now, as Blomkvist—alone in his belief in her innocence—plunges into his own investigation of the slayings, Salander is drawn into a murderous hunt in which she is the prey, and which compels her to revisit her dark past in an effort to settle with it once and for all."--Publisher's information.
Having read the first in the Millennium series last year for the Blogosphere Book Circle I actually went and bought this copy because the waiting list was too long at the library.  Plus I needed something to read on the plane.   Larsson's style is highly engaging.  He reveals things gradually and keeps the reader gripped.  This is not a series for readers of genteel crime fiction - there is brutality, guts and murky, mixed up relationships.  I really want to read the next one.  Think I'll have to buy it too!


The king's mistress / Emma Campion.
"From childhood Alice Salisbury has learnt obedience in all things and at fourteen dutifully marries the man her father has chosen for her... But merchant Janyn Perrers is a good and loving husband and Alice soon learns to enjoy her marriage. Until a messenger brings news of his disappearance and she discovers that her husband had many secrets – secrets which have now put a price on her own head and that of her beloved daughter. Brought under the protection of King Edward III and Queen Philippa she must obediently embrace her fate once more – as a virtual prisoner at Court. And when the king singles her out for more than just royal patronage she knows she has little choice but to accept his advances. But obeying the king brings with it many burdens as well as pleasures, as she forfeits her good name to keep her daughter free from hurt... But as one of the king’s favourites she brings jealousy and hatred in her wake and some will stop at nothing to see her fall from grace…" --Publisher
It took me ages to finish this one which is unusual for me since it's the genre I read the most.  It is a long story and rambles along fairly sedately.  I enjoyed it but I can't say it gripped me especially.

The girl on the landing / Paul Torday.
Michael, a middle-aged man of means, is dressing for dinner at a friend's country house in Ireland. As he descends the grand staircase, he spots a small painting of a landing with an old linen press and the white marble statue of an angel. In the background is a woman clad in a dark green dress. During dinner, Michael comments on the painting to his hosts but they say there is no woman in the picture. When Michael goes up to bed later, he sees that they are correct. This is only the first in a series of incidents that lead Michael to question his grip on reality. His wife Elizabeth is unsettled by the changes she sees in a man she originally married because he was dependable and steady, not because she loved him. Suddenly she is aware that she has never really known Michael and as he changes, she sees glimpses of someone she could fall in love with. Michael, in the meantime, is disturbed by events up at his family's ancestral home in the wilds of Scotland and by a past that he is threatening to destroy everything, and everyone, he has ever loved.~ from the blurb
I picked up this book expecting one thing and was surprised (in the end) about what emerged!  It is a story about a relationship with questions about normality and society's evaluation of what normal is.  As the story progresses, the friction between "otherness" and "normality" creates an engaging story in a wierd way.

March Book for the Book Circle 

 

More book information

Access road / Maurice Gee.
Auckland, N.Z. : Penguin, 2009.
ISBN: 9780143202448 (pbk.)

" As she watches her brother losing the battle with his memories, Rowan wonders how long she can keep her own past at bay. The old family home in Access Road, where Lionel, Roly and Rowan grew up, is crumbling away - but after more than fifty years Lionel and Roly are back. Rowan too, otherwise safe in her 'upper crusty' suburb, is drawn more and more strongly 'out west'. The past is dangerously alive. Clyde Buckley - violent as a boy; enigmatic, subterranean as an old man - returns to his childhood territory. What does he want? What crimes does he hide? And how is Lionel involved? Rowan must abandon safety if she is to find out . . . " --Back cover.

I must confess I haven't read a lot of Gee's work.  However, since the book circle started I've now read 2 by him and I'm interested enough to consider choosing some more by him.  Gee is probably one of New Zealand's best writers and his lyrical prose is highly evocative.  I really enjoyed his descriptive writing.

Like the previous book I read (Live Bodies), Access Road is set in New Zealand and to my amusement it appears to be set in the very suburb that I currently live in!  In fact I went looking on the map for Access Road.  (There is one up in Kumeu, but not around here).  I like reading books set in places that I've been to or know about as it gives me strong cues for my visualisation of the story.

The story revolves around the complex relationships between Rowan, her brothers, her husband and a childhood contact Clyde.  I thought it was unusual that the story was set from the viewpoint of an elderly person, though I should clarify it is unusual for me perhaps because it's not a viewpoint I read often.  There is a sinister undercurrent in the book that becomes louder and louder as the story wends it's way along.  The gradual revelation of each part of the jigsaw making up the mystery kept me turning the page.  Recommended.

Total: 4*
Genre:
Historical fiction=1
Crime/mystery = 3

*Actually I read more than 4, but a lot of them were for the Book Circle books later in the year.  Just like buses they all came into the library at once!  However, last month's book The Bolter has only just arrived so I can read it over Easter.

One way to test my patience

moar funny pictures

*Sigh*
That combined with his propensity for Saturday night booze ups does not endear him to me.

being doing a lot of

turning this

into this

February Reading Round Up

The birthday present / Barbara Vine.
It's late spring of 1990 and a love affair is flourishing: between Ivor Tesham, a thirty-three year old rising star of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government, and Hebe Furnal, a stunning North London housewife stuck in a dull marriage. What excitement Hebe lacks at home, however, is amply compensated for by the well-bred and intensely attractive Tesham - an ardent womanizer and ambitious politican. On the eve of her twenty-eighth birthday, Tesham decides to give Hebe a present to remember: something far more memorable than, say, the costly string of pearls he's already lavished upon her. ~from the blurb
And it all turns to custard!  Very much enjoyed this mystery.  Vine (the pen name for Ruth Rendall) has some strongly developed characters from a variety of societal levels interacting together in ways that appear random at first but later intersect in surprising ways.  It is also a story of how our actions and decisions affect whole families and society.

The other queen / Philippa Gregory.
A historical novel about Mary, Queen of Scots, who is placed under house arrest with the newly-married Bess of Hardwick and the Earl of Shrewsbury. The intrigues, tangled loyalties and relationships that develop as a result of this untenable situation makes for a very interesting read.  I did find the somewhat wooden character of Bess a little annoying - she was obviously a very strong minded, capable woman in an era where women were given little acknowledgement for their skills in areas outside traditional female occupations.  I felt Gregory pinned her into a particular corner and didn't let her grow much. 

The girl of his dreams / Donna Leon.
Commissario Brunetti and Ispettore Vianello pull a body out of the Grand Canal. No one has reported a missing child, nor the theft of the gold jewellery that she carries. So Brunetti is drawn into a search not only for the cause of her death but also for her identity. His investigation takes him from the canals and palazzos of Venice to a Gypsy encampment on the mainland, as he struggles with institutional prejudice and entrenched criminality to try to unravel the fate of the dead child.~ from the blurb
The usual crime fiction.  Always enjoy Leon's writing which touches on controversial subjects and doesn't necessarily have tidy, parcelled up endings.

Song yet sung / James McBride.
March 1850. In the tense days before the Civil War, a slave breakout in the swamps of Maryland's eastern shore sets loose a riveting drama among slave catchers, plantation owners, watermen, runaway slaves and free blacks. Liz Spocott, a young runaway slave, shot and near death, is wracked by disturbing visions about the future as she lies shackled to an old woman in the prison attic of the notorious female slave-trader Patty Cannon. The ancient nameless woman reveals "the Code", a fiercely guarded cryptic means of communication for slaves on the run. Armed with an array of words that she does not understand, Liz escapes once again, but now must evade an enraged Patty Cannon and a new nemesis, Denwood Long - a troubled slave catcher and waterman, who is coaxed out of retirement to break the Code. ~ from the blurb
I enjoyed this one a lot more than Miracle at St Anna by the same author.  The author captures the flavour of the particular time period where individuals found themselves pulled in all kinds of directions depending on their beliefs and social situation.

Alice Hartley's happiness / Philippa Gregory.
Alice Hartley can no longer arouse interest in her pompous husband the adulterous professor. Then she meets Michael a student with an excessive libido and Alice discovers revenge sex and a large house suitable for conversion. Soon the house is thigh deep in women casting off the shackles of oppression but neighbours don't seem to understand. ~from the blurb
I'm not sure what I was expecting with this one.  It's entirely different to Gregory's historical fiction.  I laughed a lot at the story becaus scenarios were very amusing.  I enjoyed the way Alice stirs up the staid neighbourhood with her new age theories and ideas in particular.  A bit of enjoyable fluff, Thelma and Louise ending notwithstanding!

The sand castle / Rita Mae Brown.
It's August, 1952, and seven-year-old Nickel spends the day at the seashore with her mother, aunt, and cousin Leroy, who is recently motherless and frightened of the world around him. As the group begins work on a magnificent sand castle, the sisters try to coax Leroy out of his shell by telling stories about their own childhood trips to the shore. But Nickel's taunting of her cousin escalates, and the weight of family history between her mother and aunt rises to the surface - until a surprise attack forces them all to come together.~ from the blurb
This was really a short story I think.  Set over the period of one day, one outing where lots of family history and drama is revealed.  I felt so sorry for Leroy.  The 50's era is strongly portrayed in this one.  

Mister Pip / Lloyd Jones.
Mister Pip is a love story, a story about the meaning of names and the power of words. It is about growing up, survival and the search for clues to make sense of life. Thirteen year old Matilda lives with her mother on the Pacific island of Bougainville, which suddenly becomes a violent place: Rebels want the copper mine, which is poisoning their island, to close. They are trying to drive the redskin army, enemies from neighbouring Papua New Guinea, into the sea. The abandoned schoolhouse is overgrown with jungle. In this troubled world, Mr Watts decides he will open the school once more, and read 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens aloud to his students, a chapter a day. Stories flourish on the island. While the lives of Pip and Magwitch and other characters from 'Great Expectations' are transformed in their new tropical setting, the locals come to the schoolhouse to tell their own tales, about the meaning of the colour blue, about broken dreams, black birds, devil women and a dozen other subjects. In Matilda's eyes, Pip is as real as any living person. He has become her friend. She writes his name in the sand and decorates it with shells. That's where the redskin soldiers see it, and decide they must track this stranger down. Who is this Mr Pip? The search to find him will have devastating consequences for Matilda, Mr Watts and the entire village. Matilda may never stop looking for him. ~ from the blurb
I found this one hard to classify in terms of genre.  I think it's probably a coming of age story as much as survival.  It starts off quite slow but the end parts have some rather shocking events.  I liked it.  I liked the sultry, tropical feel of the book and Jones brings out the oppressive fear of the redskins rather well.


The darkness looking back / by Andrea Jutson.
Deliveries are failing to reach their targets - because the intended recipients are dead. What starts as a grisly murder without a motive turns into something more sinister, as another body is discovered. Someone wants them found; someone who wants to send a message. A serial killer is at work and his victims are women with too much love to give. To track down the avenging Cupid, Detective Constable Andy Stirling needs all the help he can get from psychic medium James Paxton. When the media get wind of Paxton's involvement, however, the manhunt rapidly becomes a circus. As pressure mounts from all sides, Paxton and Stirling must find the killer before he strikes again.~ from the blurb
This book is set in Auckland which is quite neat from my point of view.  The other interesting thing about it is that the author works in the joint library I work in... so I see her sometimes in my lunch break. :-)  I wasn't quite sure how I was going to find this book but I was pulled into the story really quickly and felt at home with it all.  It certainly has a New Zealand flavour to it.  Am definitely going to get out the sequels.

8 books total

Genres
3 crime/mystery
2 historical fiction
1 literature
2 fluff/chicklit/dunnowhattocallit

NB: have yet to get February's Book Circle book in my hands.  I'm about 3 on the list now so it's getting closer!

Writing a book review for the Blogosphere Book Circle

 

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We have a few newbies to our book circle so I thought I'd take the opportunity to outline some things that are good to include in your book reviews.

A book review is a description, critical analysis, and an evaluation on the quality, meaning, and significance of a book, not a retelling. It should focus on the book's purpose, content, and authority...  It is a reaction paper in which strengths and weaknesses of the material are analyzed. It should include a statement of what the author has tried to do, evaluates how well (in the opinion of the reviewer) the author has succeeded, and presents evidence to support this evaluation. (How to write a book review / LA Valley College (2009). Retrieved 25th February 2010)

Well, that sounds quite high falutin' and  a bit OTT for what we are doing which is not English Lit 101!  But you get the idea.  The good thing is that apparently there is no one right way to write a review.  What is important is that the review is the expression of the reader's opinion. 

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There will be some factual parts to the review though, and I suggest we include the basics such as:

Title / Author. (Publication Date). Publisher: Publication Place

If you wish to include the ISBN as well, that is helpful for anyone who wanted to order the book from a book seller.

The other basic factual part to a review is a brief synopsis of the book. 

If it is a fiction book, the story outline need not reveal anything that would spoil it for potential readers. 

For non-fiction books it is helpful to give an idea of the book's main purpose.  Sometimes it is also helpful to put a non-fiction book in context with some background of the author's previous works. 

I often use the blurb on a book for my synopsis if I think it describes it well.  Feel free to do the same but do make sure you attribute it so readers realise it isn't your own words.  I usually write ~from the blurb or something like that.

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As for the rest of the review, there are many places on the web that can give you some ideas on what to include.  You don't have to include them all of course!  Here are a selection I've cobbled together to prompt you.

This one is a bit old, but still has some good points.
From How to write a book review / Bill Asenjo. (2002). Retrieved 25th February 2010

Points to Ponder:
• What was the story about?
• Who were the main characters?
• Were the characters credible?
• What did the main characters do in the story?
• Did the main characters run into any problems? Adventures?
• Who was your favorite character? Why?
Your personal experiences
• Could you relate to any of the characters in the story?
• Have you ever done or felt some of the things, the characters did?
Your opinion
• Did you like the book?
• What was your favorite part of the book?
• Do you have a least favorite part of the book?
• If you could change something, what would it be? (If you wish you could change the ending, don't reveal it!)
Your recommendation
• Would you recommend this book to another person?
• What type of person would like this book?

This one is even older, but I liked some the points they bring out.
Writing Book Reviews / Literacy Education Online. (1997). Retrieved 25th February 2010

Describe the book: Is it interesting, memorable, entertaining, instructive? Why?
Respond to the author's opinions: What do you agree with? And why? What do you disagree with? And why?
Explore issues the book raises: What possibilities does the book suggest? Explain. What matters does the book leave out? Explain.
Relate your argument to other books or authors: Support your argument for or against the author's opinions by bringing in other authors you agree with.
Relate the book to larger issues: How did the book affect you? How have your opinions about the topic changed? How is the book related to your own course or personal agenda.

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Part of the fun of the Blogosphere Book Circle is visiting other member's blogs or their reviews on Facebook and seeing what other people thought.  It's inevitable that some of our reactions will be the same or similar, so if you do wish to use another member's words or expressions, please attribute the original poster via a linkback in your text.  For example, I often find Mel takes the words out of my head and writes them in her review so I might write "As Mel has said" [insert words of excellence here].

Hope that is helpful!  Like I say, we're not aiming for university level reviews here but it is good to have some guidelines to spark the old brain into action.

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