103 books and over 25,000 pages read. It’s been a brilliant year of wonderful reading – and very little television watching. I hope to continue the trend in the new year…..
What I’m Reading
When we were in Canberra a couple of weeks ago, we caught up with friends whom we hadn’t seen in years. Over dinner, the discussion started on our favourite books and this one was mentioned. It was published some years back and it was one that had some popularity. Certainly the film also helped to […]
Book Review of She and Her Cat by Makoto Shinkai
Here’s the latest weekly video that I uploaded this morning on Makoto Shinkai’s debut novel, She and Her Cat. He’s a well-known Japanese anime film maker who created this story first as anime so I assume that as a novel, it would reach a wider audience….
Book Review of Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
This week I uploaded this book which is the first time I read this author. It’s written beautifully but the subject makes you feel concern for the main character, a young woman under the power of her harsh father. Lots of themes of personal power, patriarchy and domestic violence.
Visit to New and Old Parliament House in Canberra
Yesterday Andrew and I decided to have a look at Parliament House. We know someone who works here so it was a chance to get a tour behind the scenes, away from public areas and see what the staff see and do. It’s such a fascinating place to go and do a tour to learn […]
Futuro House
Today Andrew and I took a tour of the University of Canberra in the northern part of the city thanks to our niece who is studying there. She guided us around the campus, in and out of student union and faculty buildings so that Andrew could reminisce about his time there. Through the tour, we […]
Creating a Reading Journal
One of the things I’ve been doing in my spare time is creating a Reader’s Journal. I enjoy reading and writing my notes into my journal and I figured, “Why not share what I do?” So for the last week, I planned out the entire annual journal and what will go on each page. It […]
Book Review: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
Here’s the latest book review. I was hanging around the Monash University book store one day and saw it. I made a mental note then found it at my local library. I didn’t mind it. It was enough to keep me intrigued but I was slightly let down with the ending.
Last Book Club Chat for the Year
I run the Book Club called Birdies, Bogies and Books at our golf club. There’s about 20 or so people who are signed up in our WhatsApp group and although we don’t have everyone come along to the meetings every month, there’s about 8-10 people who do. To my surprise, I’ve had positive feedback about […]
New Book Review: Home by Toni Morrison
Golf Trip to The Dunes
This week on Friday, the ladies from my Golf Program decided to celebrate one of our friend’s 60th birthday by playing at The Dunes on the Mornington Peninsula. We are lucky to be in an area with awesome golf courses that have spectacular views of the sea, rivers and countryside in our state. The drive […]
A Week of Golf and Cleaning
Last week, the ladies from our golf club, my 2022 Women Into Golf Program, all decided to head to 13th Beach Golf Club at Barwon Heads to play two rounds of golf over two days. I’m so happy I participated in this 6 month program that not only has helped my golf but it now […]
Book Review: Leonard & Hungry Paul
This was one of the best books I’ve read this year. It was lovely! No sex, violence, bad language, awful characters, bad writing, nasty families or people thinking the worst of each other. It was a breath of fresh air.
Quiet Life and Spring Days
It’s been quiet at home. After we put down Pud, I didn’t want to leave the house for over a week. I spent most of my days writing in my journal, cleaning the house and packing away all his things away into the garage. I also walked a lot at a nearby park. I cleaned […]
Rest Your Paws Pud
We had to say goodbye to our darling boy this morning. We are devastated and heartbroken that he left us so soon. Unfortunately his health deteriorated and it was only going to get worse. We didn’t want him to suffer. We found out that he had an aggressive osteosarcoma that had nearly eaten through his […]
Book Review: The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
My latest book review is on this book that was surprising. For a book that is well known but didn’t receive acknowledgement or popularity (much to the annoyance of its author), I’m glad I read it. If you want a book where you will detest all the characters, then look no further. If you’re not […]
Pud
Our cat Pud has had a difficult time since May. He’s been one sick little cat but we are trying to get his health issues sorted so he can have a comfortable life as long as possible. Yesterday the vet tells us that they may have got the original diagnosis of megacolon wrong when an […]
Jaunt Around Melbourne University
It’s Seniors Week this week with a variety of different events around the state celebrating our seniors, health and ageing. Seniors can travel free on public transport all month. I asked my mother what she’d like to do this week and one place she always wanted to visit was to see the futuristic car park […]
Talking About Books ~ Vlog Q and A
My latest video is a vlog where I answer some questions that no one has asked (let’s get real about that 
) The questions are: There’ll be some other questions which I’ll answer on another video (Part 2) and I’m thinking of answering these questions: I’m also thinking of doing a video on how I […]
Keeping Warm in Winter for Cheap
She’s got the right idea! Although I don’t have a sleeping bag, this year, during winter, I wrapped myself up in a heavy pure wool blanket that I bought in Scotland many years ago. On my feet, I had on a pair of my thick knitting wool socks and a hot water bottle. In fact, […]