Blogging, every day of June

Last year, a group of us decided to blog every day of June. This is a heads up to say we're doing it again this year, though some days I'll be blogging over at The Room of Infinite Diligence about library related stuff.

Over the weekend I made two nuno scarves for two different people.

"Blue skies and flowers"


"Breath of winter"


You can click through to my Flickr to see the details if you're interested.

I also made some booties for Miss4. I liked how these turned out but it was a learning experience for me. There were 4 layers of wool in this project which I found difficult to work with in terms of feeling the resist and eliminating seams. I ended up with a ridge along the edges of the resist because the merino inner felted a bit faster than the outer. I managed to work it out a bit but not entirely. Shrinking the boots to Miss4's feet was hard work but fortunately she was willing to sit there and let me use her feet as the "last". She was giggling away as I was rubbing the soles - I think it tickled a bit.  I sewed some leather on as soles to help prevent slipping.



I found a place online that sells vintage kimono silks (www.cherryblossom.co.nz ).  I ordered some remnants. They arrived the other day - I'm excited to try them out as embellishment for felting, but also think they will work for card making and scrapbooking. 

Weekends with felt

With this autumnal weather it seems appropriate to be thinking of warm woolly things.

I picked up some alpaca wool the other day and decided to try it layered with some of the merino wool.  It is a different texture to the merino.  Not sure if it's clear in this picture, but the fibre in the lower left is the alpaca wool, the darker in the top right is merino.  To me, the merino feels fluffier but with shorter fibre length.  The alpaca is lovely and soft and has a longer fibre length. 



I purchased the alpaca wool from Craftworld. I really love this marketing ploy - a photo of the alpaca from which the fibre came from! Very sweet.



I started with the merino layer. I wanted to see if the wool "prickle factor" would be decreased if I mixed the fibre. Not sure that it does but I've yet to try felting just the alpaca. Merino's prickle factor isn't too bad for me but others find it uncomfortable.



Here it is with the alpaca layer. The rovings for the alpaca were very fine.



I found felting the two fibres wasn't as simple as using solely merino. It took a while for the alpaca to felt and fuse with the merino. In fact I was starting to get concerned that I might have two separate layers happening. But after working on some areas more vigorously it did finally merge. The alpaca fibre did seem to make the over all effect more fluffy than I expected. I think it would be better if the two were carded together rather than placed in layers perhaps.

Here is DH modeling it for me. I gave it to my Dad since he wears scarves. I like the embellishment on this one - simple but effective. It reminds me of stones that you see on the beach or some streams that have stripes of different minerals in them.



Then I decided to make MIL a scarf for mother's day. Here it is laid out before wetting.



And after being felted. With a felt flower on a pin for decoration. So tempting to keep it for myself.



I also made one for my Mum.


Close up of the silk chiffon embedded in the scarf.

Hoping to attempt some 3D stuff soon.

Please sign this petition

On March 7, 2011, the publisher HarperCollins instituted an expiration policy on eBooks that are licensed to libraries. Under this new arrangement, eBooks would "self-destruct" after being checked out 26 times. This would require libraries to re-purchase the eBook if they wanted to continue to make it available. [Read More]

I don't agree with their assumptions and attitudes.  I hope you'll join me in petitioning this practice to stop.

March-April Reading Round Up

Indian takeaway : one man's attempt to cook his way home / Hardeep Singh Kohli.
"Hardeep Singh Kohli loves many things in life - but none more than food. He loves to eat it, he loves to cook it. So when he decided to travel round India in search of his roots, what seemed the obvious thing to take with him? It was shepherd's pie and Yorkshire pudding." "Indian Takeaway is the hilarious story of Hardeep's attempts to cook his way round India, dishing up very British meals for the people he meets. How will a Goan garage mechanic, a Delhi socialite or a Mysore hippy cope with fish and chips, or a Full English Breakfast? What will they make of his madcap quest? And will Hardeep find a kitchen to call home?"--BOOK JACKET.
Funny, interesting and made me hungry.  Tries to be introspective but doesn't really succeed.

The Holmes affair / Graham Moore.
As the world mourns the demise of Sherlock Holmes at the foot of the Reichenbach Falls, Conan Doyle has a new preoccupation. A chance encounter sets him on the trail of a brutal killer targeting suffragettes. Together with Bram Stoker, he roams the streets of Victorian London searching for clues. And in present-day New York, Harold White's lifelong obsession with Sherlock Holmes turns into something far more sinister. The world's leading Doyle scholar is found murdered in his hotel room, and only Harold is familiar enough with the Holmes novels to recognise the clues the killer has left. Clues which will lead him not only to a murderer, but also to Conan Doyle's missing diary - and a secret that Conan Doyle, a hundred years earlier, risked everything to hide.~from the blurb
Two parallel stories - one from Conan Doyle and the other from modern day.  An interesting tangled web of deceit and lies.  Well written.

This body of death / Elizabeth George.
"While DI Thomas Lynley is still on compassionate leave after the murder of his wife, Isabelle Ardery is brought into the Met as his temporary replacement. The discovery of a body in a Stoke Newington cemetery offers Isabelle the chance to make her mark with a high profile murder investigation. Persuading Lynley back to work seems the best way to guarantee a result: Lynley's team is fiercely loyal to him and Isabelle needs them - and especially Barbara Havers - on side. The Met is twitchy: a series of PR disasters has undermined its confidence. Isabelle knows that she'll be operating under the unforgiving scrutiny of the media, so is quick – perhaps too quick – to pin the murder on a convenient suspect. The murder trail leads Lynley and Havers to the New Forest, and the eventual resolution of the case. Its roots are in a long-ago act of violence that has poisoned subsequent generations and its outcome is both tragic and shocking."-- Publisher description.
I had to get over my pique that George had killed off Lynley's wife in the prequel to this.  George always writes comprehensively and with great skill to weave a multiplicity of threads through her books.  


Persona non grata : a novel of the Roman empire / Ruth Downie.
Gaius Petreius Ruso and his companion, Tilla, become embroiled in a family scandal when Severus, the family's chief creditor, winds up dead.~ from the blurb
Another in this series that I enjoyed.  I seem to be reading a lot of mysteries lately.  Must be in that sort of mood.


Twitterature : the world's greatest books in twenty tweets or less / Alexander Aciman and Emmett Rensin.
 Famous literature presented in Tweet form.  Mildy amusing.  You do have to be a Twitter user to really appreciate it I think.


Blackout / Connie Willis.
When a time-travel lab suddenly cancels assignments for no apparent reason and switches around everyone's schedules, time-traveling historians Michael, Merope, and Polly find themselves in World War II, facing air raids, blackouts, unexploded bombs, dive-bombing Stukas, rationing, shrapnel, V-1s, and two of the most incorrigible children in all of history--to say nothing of a growing feeling that not only their assignments but the war and history itself are spiraling out of control.~from the blurb
All clear / Connie Willis.
When three Oxford historians become unexpectedly trapped in 1940, they struggle not only to find their way home but to survive as Hitler's bombers attempt to pummel London into submission. Meanwhile, in 2060 Oxford, the historians' supervisor and seventeen-year-old Colin Templer are engaged in a frantic and seemingly impossible struggle to find them.~from the blurb
It's been a while since Willis wrote the first book in this series (The Domesday book).  These sequels have been worth waiting for.  I found them gripping and couldn't put them down (managed to muck up dinner a couple of times because of it). I do recommend them.  They are classified as sci-fi but I think if you're a fan of historical fiction you'd find them good too.  Especially if, like me, you have fantasies of travelling back in time to experience what it was like.


The scarlet contessa : a novel of the Italian Renaissance / Jeanne Kalogridis.
Daughter of the Duke of Milan and wife of the conniving Count Girolamo Riario, Caterina Sforza was the bravest warrior Renaissance Italy ever knew. She ruled her own lands, fought her own battles, and openly took lovers whenever she pleased. Her remarkable tale is told by her lady-in-waiting, Dea. Dea reviews Caterina's scandalous past and struggles to understand their joint destiny, while Caterina valiantly tries to fight off Cesare Borgia's unconquerable army.~from the blurb
Kalogridis has written about this era before and she doesn't disappoint with this one.  Good writing, suitable amounts of conflict and relationships will appeal to many.


Passage / Connie Willis.
A clinical psychologist obsessed with near death experiences, Joanna Lander joins forces with Dr. Richard Wright, a neurologist who has come up with a way to manufacture NDEs in the laboratory with the help of a mind-altering drug, but the experiments may yield far more than she ever anticipated.~from the blurb
Set in modern day and somewhat different in style to her time-travelling sci fi, this book explores the experience of death in quite an imaginative way.  I didn't like it as much as her time travelling series.


An empty death / Laura Wilson.
This is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed 'Stratton's War'. It is summer, 1944: London's exhausted inhabitants are living hand-to-mouth in a world of dust and dereliction, and war-weary DI Ted Stratton is no exception. In this novel he must investigate the suspicious death of a doctor.--Publisher.
Another mystery!  Good stuff, classic crime with a psychological twist.


Scapegallows / Carol Birch.
A convict colony in New South Wales, Australia, is the setting for Birch's new novel, based on real events. Margaret is stranded at a settler's homestead as the floodwater draws in and she finds herself facing death, as she has several times before.~from the blurb
I liked this book and found it engaging.  I enjoyed the historical aspects to it (as usual) and also the Australian links in it.  Based on a real person and their letters back to the old country it explores the themes of justice, truth and law.


The lovely bones / Alice Sebold.
Susie Salmon looks down from a heaven which looks a lot like her school playground. There are counsellors to help newcomers adjust, and friends to room with. Everything she wants appears as soon as she thinks of it - except the thing she wants most: to be back with the people she loved on Earth.~from the blurb
I've resisted reading this one for a while, purely because I thought it might be too gory and distressing.  As it turns out, I was wrong and the bit I was scared of wasn't at all as bad as I thought.  I liked the story and thought the approach to be quite original in many ways.  I wasn't so sure about one part close to the end where Susie returns to earth briefly in someone else's body - that didn't work for me.  But overall, it was a good read.


The river knows / Amanda Quick.
Teaming up with wealthy and handsome Anthony Stalbridge, who suspects prominent society figure Elwin Hastings of hiding dangerous secrets, Louisa Bryce of late-Victorian London investigates her beliefs about Hastings's criminal activities.~from the blurb

Lie by moonlight / Amanda Quick.
Hired to tutor four orphaned girls at remote ramshackle Aldwick Castle, Miss Concordia Glade is pleased to find her pupils both eager and bright. Indeed, they are bright enough to have noticed some oddities about their situation. Provided for by an unseen benefactor, they are surrounded at all times by hard-eyed guards in the guise of gardeners - and their previous tutor, she learns, disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Stepping into this uncertain atmosphere, Concordia sees at once what must be done. Of course, even the best-laid plans can go awry... and even the most independent, strong-minded lady must occasionally accept an offer of help.~ from the blurb
These two were a bit of fluff, suitable camping reads. :)  Nice to have some unchallenging romance now and again.

March and April in pictures

For want of a blog post I did a mosaic of some of my daily photos from March and April.



This project has been very interesting and somewhat challenging.  A lot of my photos are of what I'm doing at home since that is when I'm mostly able to think about taking a picture.  Must try for some more work related photos to better reflect what my life is like at present.  Also, food features a lot.

So, stuff that has happened:

• baked some afghans
• got a new car (and sold the other older one.. it has retired to the country)
• managed to fall over and twist my ankle again, not quite as bad as last year
• made a heap of quince paste
• sewed up a monkey's bum
• Also sewed a dress for me but am not happy with it so it'll probably go in the rag bag - very disappointing.  The pattern looked good, but once again I discover that my bust size is not accounted for in the sizing of these patterns. Meh. 
• cooked multiple dinners
• read some books
• did housework

Stuff that hasn't happened:

• felting
• further fleece sorting, washing etc
• scrapbooking (well, not for me anyway)

Hoping my holiday is going to revive the creative side of me... I desperately need some time and space for it.

Quince paste

Quince paste in the dehydrator
Originally uploaded by pdugmore2001.

I am fond of quinces. They look so bohemian and old but have lovely flavour - a sort of cross between plum & pear. I really like quince jelly but this year when Mum turned up with some I decided to make quince paste.

I used a recipe from an ancient (1970s! ha ha - I was born then so makes me ancient as well) paperback of Elizabeth David's French cooking book :) It's an easy recipe even though I've written a lot of words here.

Rub the down off the quinces and put in a pot and cover with cold water. Heat until the water is almost at the boil. The book says you cook them till soft but don't let the skins split.. however, mine started splitting before they were totally cooked.

Take out the quinces and let cool enough to handle. Peel off the skins and core the fruit, put skins/cores/pips back into the water you used and bring to boil. Reduce the water to about a 1/3 of the original amount. You should start to see the carnelian colour of the quinces coming through.

Remove the cores/skins from the water. Chop up the fruit left over from earlier and weigh it. Now weigh out the same amount of sugar. Put the fruit and the sugar into the water and bring to a slow boil. I used a stick blender to puree the fruit once it was soft enough.

Keep boiling, stirring regularly until the fruit starts to come away from the sides and bottom of the pot. (Mine didn't get that far because I was afraid of burning it. However, it was definitely thickly coating the spoon and very thick! Towards the end you have to watch it closely so it doesn't burn and be careful of it spitting and getting your hands).

Pour into a prepared pan. I used a lamington pan lined with foil. Let cool overnight. The book then advises you to dehydrate the paste in a plate warmer section of the oven (she refers to an Aga oven I think). I have a dehydrator so I just plunked in squares of it onto the fruit leather liner and put it on low. You dehydrate it until it is firmer. Though I have to say mine was already pretty firm!

Put a ring on it

Miss 4 came home very proud of herself.  "Jason gave me a wing!"

It's a little cardboard tube.  I didn't realise courting started this young.

I made afghans tonight.  Miss 4 hopped out of the shower and said, "What's that delicious smell?" and on discovering them later she asked if she could have "one of dose chocolate fings."  Which she proceeded to eat in the washing basket.

Mad inventor

Mr 7 is obviously going to follow in Gyro Gearloose's footsteps.

Below - diagram for his invention.  A whistle.

And the diagram realised.  Not sure why a whistle has guitar like strings though.

 

His parents look forward to being kept in the style to which they would like to become accustomed through the royalties from his patents.

Sundry happenings & February/March Reading Round Up

The auctions have finished and we raised a total of $6229! Wow! All credit to Louise who has tirelessly co-ordinated the whole event. All of my donations sold and I have to say the person who won the felted bag got a bargain since they retail for rather more than the final bid! :-) But that is okay.

And oh.. Japan. No words. :-(

In other news:
I have 2 raw fleeces that I'm sorting at present.  They are going up north to be washed and carded but the person who is doing this requires them to be de-seeded and sorted.  It's a stinky, messy job.



Miss 4 stuck a piece of lego up her nose last Sunday which necessitated a visit to A&E after trying to blow it out was unsuccessful.  Fortunately for her it was a single, flat, round piece and not a square one with sharp edges.  Mr 7 was concerned that a) his lego would be returned to him and b) it would be clean. 

We have been enjoying watermelons from the garden. We've had 8 in total.



Recently the US National Archives uploaded a collection of photos to the Flickr Commons of women from the Civil War era.  I loved looking through them. I wondered about their stories.  Some of them are ordinary looking, others stunningly beautiful.  Their clothes are amazing.




The other thing I wonder... how on earth did they do their hair!?





Many of the photos are un-named with minimal information.  This, and the fact my kids have been looking through their scrapbook albums have motivated me to get back into doing a layout after a long hiatus.




Nothing amazing - I need to find my groove again.
The good thing about the oncoming winter is that scrapbooking fits well with being inside on wet days :)

Reading Round Up

The bookseller's daughter / Pam Rosenthal.
um... didn't finish it. It started off okay and then the characters were jumping into the sack at every opportunity. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a prude and like a bit of the old horizontal mambo in stories, but oh boy... this one made me roll my eyes.

Medicus and the disappearing dancing girls / Ruth Downie.
Caveat emptor : a novel of the Roman Empire / Ruth Downie.
Crime stories set in Roman Britain. I like.

Back when we were grownups : a novel / by Anne Tyler.
Beck Davitch looks back on her thirty-year marriage to Joe and her role as a mother and manager of the Open Arms, wondering if she is living the life she was meant to live and reconsidering her dedication to the family business.~ from the blurb
This was good. I think we've all at some time wondered what life would be like if we'd taken a different pathway. I liked how the book ended up too.

Life of Pi : a novel / Yann Martel.
Pi and his family, who own a zoo, decide to emigrate from India. On the way, tragedy strikes and the ship is sunk. Pi finds himself in a life boat with a hyena, a zebra, a tiger and an orangutan. He manages to keep his wits as the food chain establishes itself. ~from the blurb
This one won the Booker prize for fiction in 2002 and I think deservedly so. The blurb makes the story sound fantastical but when you actually read it, it does in the end seem plausible. Some thought provoking themes run through the novel.

As always, Julia : the letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto : food, friendship, and the making of a masterpiece / selected and edited by Joan Reardon.
I've read Julie and Julia and seen the film of same. (I liked the film better funnily enough). This book is a selection of letters between Julia and Avis, the woman who managed to get Julia's cookbook published. I really like this book. The development of friendship between two feisty, intelligent woman is heart warming and uplifting.

The last lecture / Randy Pausch, with Jeffrey Zaslow.
Based on the extraordinary final lecture by Carnegie Mellon University professor Pausch, given after he discovered he had pancreatic cancer, this moving book goes beyond the now-famous lecture to inspire readers to live each day with purpose and joy.~ from the blurb
There has been a lot of people who've liked this book. I found it just a bit on the OTT side of things. It's not that I disagreed with what the author was writing but perhaps the manner of it. Oh well.

Water for elephants : a novel / Sara Gruen.
Set in the circus world circa 1932. When Jacob Jankowski, orphaned and adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her. ~from the blurb.
The story is interwoven with Jacob as an old man telling the story. Some of it is sad but I really liked this book. Again, like the Life of Pi, some thought provoking themes running through it. Some have said it mirrors the story of Jacob in the Bible. Not sure I can see the connections myself.

Charity auction: Red Cross funding for Christchurch Earthquake Relief

This weekend I've been busy.  Louise has organised a charity auction on Facebook to raise money to give to the Red Cross in response to the devastating earthquake in Christchurch.  So these are the things I'm donating to the auction.  If you are interested in bidding on them, you can join the group.  If you aren't a Facebook member but still want to bid, email Louise and see if there is some way you can nominate a proxy (or something).

Donation 1









Donation 2 (three jars of this so three opportunities to win)




Donation 3




Donation 4




Donation 5




Donation 6 - Kisses for Christchurch: Nuno felted merino wool on polyester chiffon wrap



DH's relatives from that area appear to be safe though I haven't heard about how their houses etc have fared. It seems our friends down there are alive but some have lost material things. One family has lost their house & pets and they have evacuated to here in Auckland to one our other friend's who lives locally.

It has been a strange sort of time since the earthquake happened. On the one hand, we've had to keep on about our daily business, but myself and others I've spoken to have found it hard to focus on anything in particular. The news coverage has been extensive but I've had to step away from it at times just to keep myself on an even keel. It has been so touching to hear of people, organisations and countries contributing to helping those affected.

[for the believers]... On Sunday, someone mentioned Psalm 46 which I found encouraging and restorative:

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
etc...
(New International Version, ©2010)

I don't find it profitable to ask why these things happen or make dire predictions about the meaning of natural events. We live in a world governed by physical laws like gravity, plate tectonics and so on so it is inevitable that we'll see this stuff occur. But it is a strength to me to know there is grace and peace within these experiences.[/for the believers]

12 books for 2011 | invitation to photo essay

1. Water for elephants / Sarah Gruen
2. The Thirteenth Tale / Diane Setterfield
3. Three Cups of Tea / Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin 
4. The Secret Life of Bees / Sue Monk Kidd
5. Outliers / Malcolm Gladwell 
6. And then there's this : how stories live and die in viral culture / Bill Wasik. 
7. Strength in What Remains / Tracy Kidder 
8. The 10pm Question / Kate De Goldi
9. Year of magical thinking / Joan Didion
10. Her fearful symmetry / Audrey Niffenegger  
11. Atonement : a novel / Ian McEwan.
12. Blindsight / Maurice Gee

Let me know if you'll join me in this list!

My other book related project is to photograph the library book pile whenever I get books from a library.  This is going to be a like a photo essay of my reading for the year.  It will be books from whatever library I borrow from, public or academic.  If you'd like to join my project, I've made an open Flickr group you can join.  It's uncompetitive, no pressure and doesn't have to be artistic in any way.  I like seeing what other people borrow.

My first photo is this one:





Libraries (particularly public libraries), are being threatened by budget cuts and closures around the world.  In New Zealand we are fortunate that we haven't suffered the drastic cuts like the US, and now the UK where 400 libraries are planned to be closed.  That is 400 libraries worth of staff and collection that will no longer be available to the tax paying community.  Tomorrow there will be a day of protest in the UK over these closures.  Check out this scary map of libraries affected produced by the author of Public Libraries News.


View Larger Map

I think it is worth pointing out that this is more than just books we're talking about.  The printed book is an enduring physical entity and it'll be around for a while yet.  E-books are great and are becoming more important.  I'm anxious for them to mature past the issues relating to digital rights management and the multiplicity of ereaders available on the market so that we can really get our digital teeth into using them especially in the academic library world.  Libraries supply other resources like magazines, local history collections, newspapers, resources for family historians.  Have you tried the audio books available from your library?  Auckland Public libraries has great collection that you can access online and put on your mobile device via Overdrive.  Great for when you're sick, for kids, on long road trips or just to chill out.

It is worth pointing out that it is more than just resources we're talking about.  Libraries are a physical space too where people come to meet, work and relax.  They are warm and relatively safe places to be.  Public libraries are open to everyone in the community regardless of race, gender or ability.  Academic libraries provide a much needed physical sanctuary for students and even staff of their institution.  The digital space should not be disregarded either as much interaction can take place between the user and the library in the virtual realm.

So use your library.  Don't let it be taken away from you.


By Phil Bradley

January Reading Round Up

Zoia's gold / Philip Sington.
A novel based on the hidden life of Zoia Krukovskaya, the last-known survivor of the Romanov court and an artist who learnt the secret of painting with gold. ~from the blurb
Found this one intriguing from the mystery point of view, and also the art history behind the story.  I wanted to find out more on this artist, but haven't managed to yet.

January Blogosphere Book Club Book of the Month

Balzac and the little Chinese seamstress / Dai Sijie ; translated from the French by Ina Rilke. New York : Knopf, 2001. ISBN: 037541309X

During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, two boys, both sons of doctors, are sent to the top of a mountain for "re-education". An education that involves carting buckets of excrement up and down precipitous paths. But their lives take an unexpected turn when they meet the beautiful daughter of a local tailor and stumble upon a forbidden stash of Western literature. ~from the blurb

This is a short and sweet book which I really enjoyed.  The struggles of the young men seemed so poignant and dare I say, romantic. I wanted to know more of the seamstress though.  I particularly liked the imagery of the Chinese country-side.

The timewaster diary / Robin Cooper.
The year starts badly for Robin, losing his job for sending so many letters in work time, and for his wife Rita, who sprains her ankle (yet again). But Robin has a cunning plan - his marrying of the crossword and sudoku into his devilish 'crossoku', which might just make their fortune. ~from the blurb

I laughed dear readers, I laughed over this book.  It was also an interesting read in juxtaposition with The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith (which has been recreated as a blog).  They have much in common! 

Secrets / Freya North.
"They drive each other crazy. And they both have something to hide. But we all have our secrets. It's just some are bigger than others! Joe has a beautiful house, a great job, no commitments -- and he likes it like that. All he needs is a quiet house-sitter for his rambling old place by the sea. When Tess turns up on his doorstep, he's not sure she's right for the job. Where has she come from in such a hurry? Her past is a blank and she's something of an enigma. But there's something about her -- even though sparks fly every time they meet. And it looks as though she's here to stay!"--Publisher description.
Typical chick lit but good stuff.  I liked.

The Detective Branch / Andrew Pepper.
A robbery at a prawnbroker is a headache for Pyke and a valuable religious artifact appears to have motivated the robbery. Then several suspicious murders later Pyke must face up to forces within the police and the church who would rather the secrets from the past remain buried forever.~from the blurb
A good crime novel - winced a bit at some of the dodgy behaviour of the detective but it was all in aid of a good story.

Singing saltwater country : journey to the songlines of Carpentaria / John Bradley with Yanyuwa families.
John Bradley's compelling account of three decades living with the Yanyuwa people of the Gulf of Carpentaria and of how the elders revealed to him the ancient songlines of their Dreaming. ~from the blurb
Started this one with high hopes but didn't completely finish it.  It was a bit repetative to totally hold my attention but I can see for people who live in that area it has valuable insight into the values of the local tribes.  What was interesting was trying to get my head around some of the different ways of knowing described in the book.  It was also interesting to see again how important story telling is to the human race for information transfer as well as entertainment.

Nine dragons : a novel / Michael Connelly.
The murder of John Li, a South L.A. liquour store owner, hits LAPD Detective Harry Bosch hard, and he promises Li's family that he'll find the killer. As he uncovers a link to a Hong Kong triad--a lethal and far-reaching crime ring that follows many immigrants to their new lives in the U.S.--his world instantly explodes and the person he holds most dear is taken from him. ~from the blurb
Typical crime thriller genre but still enjoyed it.


Ruso and the demented doctor / R. S. Downie.
Army doctor Gaius Petreius Ruso is waiting for the gods to smile on him. But, on a posting to the hostile North of Britannia, he’s in for a long wait. Not least because the locals have a new hero who likes to strap antlers to his head and scare the Romans silly, while Ruso’s slave girl, Tilla, is stubbornly refusing to identify the culprit in a police line-up. But when Ruso is waylaid at the Fort of Coria, where a fellow doctor has confessed to a grisly murder, it’s a case of out of the cauldron and into the fire. With Tilla thrust outside the fort (and into the arms of a former lover), Ruso is landed not only with Doctor Thessalus’s patients but also the tricky task of getting him to retract the confession. Something smells fishy about this murder and Coria is miles from the sea … Ruso faces a nightmarish investigation trailed by the secret police, hunted by the Stag Man and betrayed by Tilla, is it any wonder he’s seeking solace in the rather-too-watery local beer?~from the blurb
Interesting mystery story with some twisty bits and great historical flavour!

Whither the Blogosphere Book Circle? | Parties and Nuno Felting

Well folks - I think the Blogosphere Book Circle has died a natural death and should be laid to rest with suitable pomp and ceremony.  For whatever reason, it's been tough for people to join in and read and interact over the books we voted for.

Instead I'm going to choose 12 books I want to read this year and post them on the blog here.  If you want to join me in reading those 12 books, then please do so and please share your thoughts and reactions. I won't have a particular month assigned to them, they will just turn up in my Reading Round Up posts as and when I get hold of them.

If you have any suggestions for books to include on that list I would love to hear them!

The other thing I'm thinking of doing is posting a photo of the book pile each time I go and get some from the library.  I think it would make an interesting photo essay of my reading in 2011.  If you like to join me, let me know.  Maybe we could make a group on Flickr. :)

In other news....

Miss 4 had her birthday party for her daycare friends - she enjoyed it immensely and didn't seem to stop bouncing the whole time.  The "Twinkerbell" cake turned out okay despite some naughty words on my behalf while rescuing expensive Tinkerbell sprinkles from a leaky Spray 'n' Wipe bottle that had fallen on the packet. I was pleased with my Green Tea and Chai French Macarons though (in the photo to the left of the cake).  So were my work colleagues when I brought in the left overs.  Note the hands-on-hip attitude my daughter has... she has so much self-assurance that I'm torn between admiration and horror.  Is this a 4 year old girl thing?  I don't recall Mr7 being like this at all. We seem to be having quite a lot of 'tude going on at present with answering back and general you-can't-make-me-do-it snarkiness.  Where has my sweet girl gone?  She does make an appearance here and there... enough to give me hope.

 


I felted another nuno scarf - this one for a colleague, very much like the other one I did.



School starts for Mr7 tomorrow, can't believe he's in "middle school" now... no more junior syndicate! I've got all his stationery and his uniform sorted. I don't think I'm going to bother covering it this year, unless he particularly asks. Must remember to take a photo of him tomorrow. I really hope this year is a better one for him academically.  He has a male teacher this year, so I'm curious to see if that has an affect on his attitude and learning (as sexist as that may sound).

In which I burble about what I did on my holidays

*note this isn't too exciting. Just updating.

We set out for Waikawau Bay a day earlier than planned since we had all the stuff ready to be pack and it seemed silly to hang around.  It's a long drive there so we left after lunch on Sunday and got there just after 5pm.  The camp was chokka with people which was a bit of a disappointment and it took us a while to find a place to pitch the tent.  (In fact, we waited until some folks had packed up and took their spot).  Anyway, we settled in.  Monday dawned a beautiful day.  The morning highlight for DS was the tanker that came to suck out the long drop toilets!

We walked to the top of the hill and looked down onto the beach, then walked down to the beach and looked in rock pools (saw a black sea slug).



The children were agitating to get onto their boogie boards so we did that after lunch. The new togs got christened by the Pacific Ocean! Even DH got into the water which is worthy of mentioning! Unfortunately DD got dumped on her first attempt to board in so that ruined any hope of her having another go - she went and grizzled on the sand. DS however, he had a whale of a time and had a grin from ear to ear the whole time. He could have stayed in much longer but it had clouded over and the drizzle had started.

The weather went downhill after that. The ranger had posted a severe weather warning by Tuesday so after some agonising we decided to pack up and go home. (Queueing for the long drop toilets in the rain contributed some to this decision). By the time we got home we were regretting that decision as it was starting to clear again.  So we executed Holiday Plan B and headed down to Rotorua to stay in our favoured camp ground in a cabin. It turned out to be a better holiday for photographic opportunities anyway. We did some walks, went on the gondalas, sat in some hot pools... the usual.

After dropping DS at a friends house for a week long sleep over we headed back home.  I then went into town to meet (finally) Mim and her family.  It's always neat to meet people you have got to know online.  Actually I can't remember exactly how we "met" but in any case here we are with our other mutual friend Em!



So now it's back to work, back to normal.. well, as normal as one can be until school goes back anyway. And I have a four year old birthday party to organise!  The birthday itself has long gone, but we promised the party for when she was back to daycare with her friends.

New togs!!

I ordered some togs from Modcloth - yes, a bit of an extravagance but given the difficulty I have in finding some that look nice and a suitably modest, supportive and a colour I like... I think it was worth it.



Sunbathing in my bedroom! Hee hee - nah, just posing for the #dailyimage2011 project I'm doing.  You can see the other photos on my Flickr stream.
So happy they fit and I feel great in them.

Day 12 #blog12daysxmas In which I photograph SCKC layouts

The past few years, Trina has made a call for these small 6"x6" layouts to send to the Southern Cross Kids Camp organisers. They are used to make small memory albums for the children who attend the camps.



These camps are for children who've had it tough. So it's nice to be able to contribute in a small way to a bit of positivity in their experience.



This year I made 46. They are super easy to do and they are great for using up stash and scraps.

Today was the first day back at work after the festive break.  I was horrified surprised to see we had students coming back in!  But most of them were on the computers checking Facebook and Youtube so one does have to wonder at the virtue of opening this week.  Oh well.

Nothing much else is open on campus - the copy centre, bookshop and convenience store but no food apart from a minimal selection in the staff room (pies and sarnies) and no coffee cart.  The library staff plunger coffee thingy is broken so I had to make do with the excuse for coffee from the coffee machine in the staff room.



Tomorrow the kidlets will be coming with me so that will be interesting but at least I'll have company in the office! 

Day 11 #blog12daysxmas Reading Log for 2010

January
The ghost map : a street, an epidemic and the two men who battled to save Victorian London / Steven Johnson.
The bread with seven crusts / Susan Temby. 
The captive wife / Fiona Kidman.
People of the book : a novel / Geraldine Brooks.  
The boy who harnessed the wind : creating currents of electricity and hope / William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer.
Weeping waters : a novel based on a true story / Anne Maria Nicholson.
My enemy's cradle / Sara Young.
Cross the river to home / Kaye Kelly.
Those who save us / Jenna Blum.
Diary of a girl in Changi : 1941-1945 / Sheila Allan.
The trespass / Barbara Ewing.
The heretic's daughter : a novel / Kathleen Kent.
When people matter most : vision driven leadership / Colin Prentice with Ian Hunter.
The kommandant's girl / Pam Jenoff.
Love in the time of cholera / Gabriel García Márquez ; translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman.      
      
February
The birthday present / Barbara Vine. 
The other queen / Philippa Gregory.
The girl of his dreams / Donna Leon. 
Song yet sung / James McBride.
Alice Hartley's happiness / Philippa Gregory.
The sand castle / Rita Mae Brown.
Mister Pip / Lloyd Jones.
The darkness looking back / by Andrea Jutson.    

March
The girl who played with fire/ Steig Larsson
The king's mistress / Emma Campion.
The girl on the landing / Paul Torday.
Access road / Maurice Gee.  
 
April
The story of Danny Dunn/ Bryce Corteney
The book thief / Markus Zusak.
Eat, pray, love : one woman's search for everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia / Elizabeth Gilbert.
Unseen academicals / Terry Pratchett
Growing great marriages / Ian and Mary Grant.
Replenishing the Earth : the settler revolution and the rise of the Anglo-world, 1783-1939 / James Belich.    
 
May
A taint in the blood / Dana Stabenow.
Delicious / Nicky Pellegrino.
The Italian wedding / Nicky Pellegrino.
I'm perfect, you're doomed : tales from a Jehovah's witness upbringing / Kyria Abrahams.
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.
We two : Victoria and Albert: rulers, partners, rivals / Gillian Gill.
Bad science / Ben Goldacre. 
     
June
Half broke horses : a true-life novel / Jeannette Walls.
Tu / Patricia Grace.
Sand in my shoes : war-time diaries of a WAAF / Joan Rice.
Colditz : the definitive history / Henry Chancellor.
The white queen / Philippa Gregory.
Educating boys : helping Kiwi boys to succeed at school / Michael Irwin.    
The diary of a nobody / George and Weedon Grossmith 
The graveyard book / Neil Gaiman  
 
July
Silent in the grave / Deanna Raybourn.
Silent in the sanctuary : a Lady Julia Grey mystery / Deanna Raybourn.
Eat cake : a novel / Jeanne Ray.
The girl who kicked the hornet's nest / Stieg Larsson ; translated from the Swedish by Reg Keeland.
Wolf Hall / Hilary Mantel  
 
August
Hobson's chance / Jenny Haworth.
Rifling through my drawers / Clarissa Dickson-Wright.  
Ashes to dust / Yrsa Sigurdardottir ; translated from the Icelandic by Philip Roughton.
Six feet down under : memoirs of a New Zealand funeral director / Chris Mann.  
Novel about my wife / Emily Perkins 

September
The Einstein girl / Philip Sington.
Sweetwater Creek : a novel / Anne Rivers Siddons.
Last rituals : an Icelandic novel of secret symbols, medieval witchcraft, and modern murder / Yrsa Sigurdardottir ; translated from the Icelandic by Bernard Scudder.
Martyr / Rory Clements.
Empress Orchid / Anchee Min.
Day after night : a novel / Anita Diamant.
My stroke of insight : a brain scientist's personal journey / Jill Bolte Taylor.
The lacuna : a novel / Barbara Kingsolver.       
 
October
Pride and prejudice and zombies : the classic Regency romance - now with ultraviolent zombie mayhem / by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
The good plain cook / Bethan Roberts.
Lands beyond the sea / Tamara McKinley.
Falling & laughing : the restoration of Edwyn Collins / Grace Maxwell. 
Animal's people / Indra Sinha.
 Lone Creek : a novel / Neil McMahon.
The English patient : a novel / Michael Ondaatje.      
 
November
The redbreast / Jo Nesbo ; translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett
The optimists / Andrew Miller
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks / Rebecca Skloot.
The road / Cormac McCarthy  
 
December
The swan thieves / by Elizabeth Kostova
Someone knows my name : a novel / Lawrence Hill
Allons enfants: a New Zealand family in France / Linda Burgess 

Total: 80
Best month = January with 15
Worst month = December with 3
Average books per month = 6.6 

Last year I read a few more but 80ish seems to be standard for me.

New reads= 80
Non-fiction = 19
Fiction = 61

Can't be bothered categorising them into genre but a quick glance tells me my choices are a bit wider this year than in the past.

December reading round up | December Book

I didn't read much in December.

The swan thieves / by Elizabeth Kostova.
Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe, devoted to his profession and the painting hobby he loves, has a solitary but ordered life. Renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient. Desperate to understand the secret that torments the genius, he embarks on a journey.~ from the blurb
Some one recommended this one to me and I did enjoy it.  There are several stories woven into the book and much about the strengths, weaknesses and variety of the human condition.

Someone knows my name : a novel / Lawrence Hill.
Dreaming daily of escaping her life of slavery in South Carolina and returning to her African home, slave Aminata Diallo is torn from her family when she is sold and thrown into the chaos of the Revolutionary War, during which she helps create a list of black people who have been honoured for their service to the king. ~ from the blurb
Horrors of the slave experience aside, I liked this book for the historical fiction and for the character development of the protagonist.


Allons enfants: a New Zealand family in France / Linda Burgess.
A biographical account of this family and their experiences living in France during the eighties. I found a lot that resonated with my experience as a young teen living in a small town in Germany. 

March / Geraldine Brooks
New York : Viking, 2004.
ISBN: 9780143036661
Set on the front lines of the American Civil War. The main character, March, has been taken from Louisa May Alcott's " Little Women". He is the father who is away at war and who returns and needs to reassemble his shattered mind and reconnect with his family. ~ from the blurb

I think this book was probably my favourite of all the books we've read for the Book Circle this year.  It gives a gritty, realistic treatment of a reluctant soldier and his relationships with his men, wife and contemporaries.  I am fond of Little Women but it is a child's story and somewhat saccharine alongside this book about the Dad.  I definitely recommend it.

Day 10 #blog12daysxmas Making iced coffee

Making iced coffee
Originally uploaded by pdugmore2001.
We spent most of the day at the Botanic Gardens, sweltering in the heat so we needed something to cool off with.

Day 9 #blog12daysxmas Lazy sunday

After church meeting and lunch at Mum's I came home to attack the vast crop of cucumbers we're accumulating. I'm making Bread & Butter Pickles.



We have quite a nursery of monarch's on our fence. They all seem to like this bit of real estate. We have 4 on this part (one outside the photo) and one actually travelled about 4 metres up the fence line to it's own little patch.



I hope we'll be quick enough to see them emerge.

Day 8 #blog12daysxmas In which we visit water gardens

It was a lovely day and we decided to visit Wright's Water Gardens in Patumahoe.  DH has a new macro lens he is playing with so he hoped to get some action in the photography department.  We took a picnic since the cafe was closed for New Year's Day.



The lotus flowers are out (they have pink and white ones), plus many other water lilies. I do love their luminous quality. One of these days I want to paint a triptych with them as a subject.



We also saw frogs in the pools near the entrance. Funnily enough I didn't notice them at first but as we waited for DH to try and capture some damselflies I suddenly noticed them! Just goes to show it is worth stopping, being quiet and still in such places instead of rushing about.



I'm participating in a Daily portrait challenge so I made DS take this one at 1.11pm on 1/1/2011 just for the record.



DD (and DS) got a bit fed up with it all eventually and claimed to be "totally bored". However, I managed to persuade DD to pose under this lotus leaf umbrella.

From a photographic point of view it was a successful day - DH has posted some results on his photostream if you'd like to see.