Book Review- Jim Butcher

                                            




                                              

Storm Front is the first in the Harry Dresden Wizard series that is written by Jim Butcher. I first came across this character in s short story anthology called Side Jobs and was fascinated.

A male wizard with a strong moral code who seems to be always getting into trouble. Someone, who because of his power, has to live without the technological advances of the day. Electrics die when he's around.

So I tracked down the first in the series, and couldn't put it down. I can't wait until I read the rest.

This is one of those books where I would love to be able to live in his world, alas not to be.

Book Review- Cathy Caron

                                             




                                           

I am currently on a knitting obsession. (I just have an obsessive personality when it comes to books and crafts). Not that I would consider myself a great knitter.

I am making a jumper for my husband that has caused all sorts of grief. (Its a long long story). But has that stopped me? No way.

I am currently knitting a sock on double point needles while I wait for some new yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills. I am also finding time to crochet a ripple blanket and make a right angle weave necklace. But I have wandered of topic.

I borrowed the above book from my local library and I am fascinated by the concept of no seams. Seriously fascinated by it. But at the same time I really thought that it would be too hard to do.

Not with this book!

The first few sections explain what top down is about and how to do it. From there it goes in to understanding sizing and then leads onto designing a sweater. Its beautifully simple to read and understand. Anyone could follow Cathy Carrons instructions and be successfull.

This is one book that I will be buying for my own collection.

Do you have any knitting book recommendations?

Book Week

This week my son is having Book Week at his school. All of the activities are being done today with like a rolling display that the kids are involved in.


As part of Multilit this week the organiser asked us if we could read to our students. Something that we had read as kids. So I picked The Story Of Ferdinand. Originally printed in 1937, my copy is from 1970. I would be very surprised if it is still available in print. Its hard to see in these pictures but the pictures are all hand drawn and amazingly detailed.


The story is about a bull called Ferdinand who only wants to sit and smell the flowers. But after being stung by a bee ends up being taken to Madrid to participate in the bullfights. Things don't quite go according to plan.

The kids loved having me read to them for a change and it was really fun for me too.

FSF- Darkness

        
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What it’s all about: Five Sentence Fiction is about packing a powerful punch in a tiny fist. Each week Lillie McFerrin will post a one word inspiration, then anyone wishing to participate will write a five sentence story based on the prompt word.

The word does not have to appear in your five sentences, just use it for direction.

This week’s word: DARKNESS



The road stretched into the distance, seemingly endless. So tired now that she was numb, she trudged along, one foot after the other.

No where along the road had she come across shelter and the night was enclosing fast.

Resigned, she at last stopped by a tree, unshouldering her pack.

Another night to be spent sleeping on the ground.

Book Review- Jacqueline Carey

 
I first read Jaqueline Careys series Kushiels Legacy many years ago and its one of my absolute favourites. I have read it multiple times. So when I first found Autumn Bones at my local library I wasn't sure it was the same author. I had to bring it home and check Jaqueline Careys website, and yes its the same author.

But its very different in tone when you read it. And, of course, being me its the second in the series. Believe it or not my library does not have the first book. Drives me nuts when they do that.

This book is set in a much more modern setting. With a heroine that is not afraid to make choices and stand up for them, while often she seems to be flying by the seat of her pants.

Its a fun read that I enjoyed and am looking forward to reading the reast of the series.                                                                                                                    

Spring Has Sprung!

Can you believe that spring is here already? And today in Sydney they are expecting it to hit 23 degrees. Quite a change to last week where it was cold and raining for most of it.

It's great for all of my plants though. Above is a photo of my blueberry bush. It's about 5 years old and a couple of weeks ago I moved it to the above pot. It gets more sun here which it loves. It produces berries every year now and more each year, so I am hoping for a bumper crop this year.




Two weeks ago I planted these seeds with my son. Within days we had the snow and dwarf peas sprout. It's hard to see in the photo but the carrots are also coming up now.

We have made a little wooden garden bed for them but I haven't had time to fill it with soil yet. With the rate at which these plants are growing I really need to get a move on.







Now is when I start my anxious wait for my oak and maple bonsais to leaf again. I do this every year and I am always so relieved when the leaves appear. Shouldn't be long now.



My last bonsai, a port Jackson fig is doing well. I use to have a lot more bonsai but when we got our dog she thought they were chew toys and ate the lot. That's one of the reasons their is wire around the base of the blueberry. It stops our dog from digging it up.


What plans do you have for your garden this spring?

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FSF - Waiting

                                             

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What it’s all about: Five Sentence Fiction is about packing a powerful punch in a tiny fist. Each week Lillie McFerrin will post a one word inspiration, then anyone wishing to participate will write a five sentence story based on the prompt word.

The word does not have to appear in your five sentences, just use it for direction.

This week’s word: Waiting. And for some reason it made me think of the farmers in central parts of Australia as they wait or the rains to come.


Hat jammed on his head he leaned on the old fence.

In the distance he could see the storm gathering but would it come this far.

Stooping he picked up a handful of the dirt at his feet, it crumbled to dust in his hands.

Without the rains every thing would die, but he couldn't control nature.

He went back to leaning on the fence.

Book Review- Clair Yates

Again this weeks review is a non fiction. I am still researching diets etc for ways that I might improve my skin and general health.

And I adore this book.

Clair Yates is an Australian nutritionist. I have read a few books on Paleo but I have found them hard to understand, or even way to extreme. One book started by telling you to throw out every thing in your pantry and start again. As you can probably imagine I didn't get very far with it.

This book is really simple to understand. This book is packed full of information to show how eating a Paleo way can lead to better health in the long run.

Clair starts with looking at different conditions and explaining how the diet can help. Then she goes into what being Paleo really means. At the end of the book is a selection of recipes and she also gives you a 28 day reset diet to help you get into the way of eating Paleo.

This book is an ebook that I borrowed from my local library but I am going to get a hard copy as this is a book I can see me referring to a lot.

Have you read this?


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Bullet Journal

When my son started kindergarten I was very excited as I thought I would finally get to do all the things that I wanted to do, both house, craft and blog related. The first week of school I nearly had a melt down until it occurred to me that I had all year to get everything done.

Since then I have to admit that I am still trying to get organised. Some days I feel as though I get loads done, other days nothing. I have to do list and notes all over the place, though I have been trying to keep them together.

And then in July I came across a post on And Sew We Craft about a bullet journal.

Well I was hooked. I spent hours on the internet looking at everything I could find about it. I immediately found an notebook I've never used and set it up. The only thing I haven't used yet is a symbol key as I'm not sure it would work for me.



Now I know it will take some time for me to customise it to myself but I have already found that it's helping me achieve more each day. And hopefully I will keep it up.

Do you bullet journal?

FSF- Luminous

What it's all about: Five Sentence Fiction is about packing a powerful punch in a tiny fist. Each week Lillie McFerrin posts a one word inspiration, then anyone wishing to participate will write a five sentence story based on the prompt word.

The word does not have to appear in your sentences, just use it for direction.

This weeks word is luminous.


The glow was hardly noticeable at first. A tiny pinprick of light that broke through the darkness.

As it came closer it seemed to move. Flitting like the proverbial will o' the wisp.

Gradually becoming a luminescence that dazzled the eyes.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

FSF- Secure

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What it’s all about: Five Sentence Fiction is about packing a powerful punch in a tiny fist. Each week Lillie McFerrin will post a one word inspiration, then anyone wishing to participate will write a five sentence story based on the prompt word.

The word does not have to appear in your five sentences, just use it for direction.


This weeks word is Secure.

The first howl took her by surprise. Startled she glanced at the window, only to realise the sun had already set.

Nearly falling in her haste she ran to lock the front and then the back doors. Heart pounding with fear, how could she have been so stupid as to loose track of the time.

Trembling, she backed slowly away from the back door she watched as the knob slowly turned.

Book Review - The Eczema Diet

Today's review is a little different.

I suffer with atopic dermatitis (allergies and asthma). Normally summer is the worse time for me but this year it's been winter. My skin was great through summer and then the moment the season changed off it went.

The most common treatment is steroid based creams but I try to avoid them as much as possible. Usually it's easy, a few days of extra moisturising and I'm good. But it's just not happening this time.

Quite by chance I found this book while I was on my local library's site. So I downloaded it to read.

I have to say that while I will probably never follow the diet exactly I did get a lot out of the book. I have bought some vitamin and mineral supplements and I am going to try avoiding some food groups.

Hopefully it will help.


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Time Management

Ever since I wrote the last post on trying to get too much done Here I have been thinking about ways that I could save time/ make things faster.

Now I am sure that there are millions of things that I can do, but they have to work for me. So it's been a little bit of trial and error around here.

One of the things that I find most time consuming is washing. Hanging, sorting, folding etc all can take a lot of time. And I have to be honest and say that some days I don't get it all done, so I am left staring at an overflowing clothes basket. Not fun!

But I have found a new way of doing it. And it does save time!

I do one load a day in winter as it takes so long to dry. But I put it on first thing in the morning. That way by the time I am home from the school run its ready to hang out. No waiting around while the washing machine runs. And if its a nice day I can put a second load on.

Then once its dry I fold it as I take it off the line and put it into the basket. Once I am back inside I just have to put it away in drawers. It's really made a difference to getting it finished.


For things like sheet sets I fold them up and put them into their pillowcase. So when I want a particular set I just have to grab that pillowcase. Not only do I find that this saves time but my linen closet looks so much neater.

What tricks do you have for saving time with the laundry?

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

FSF- Wishes

Source

Five Sentence Fiction is about packing a powerful punch in a tiny fist. Each week Lillie McFerrin posts a one word inspiration, then anyone wishing to participate will write a five sentence story based on the prompt word.

The word does not need to appear in your five sentences.


She sat, feet dangling over the edge of the verandah, breathe little puffs of vapour in the cold.

"What are you doing out there? It's freezing".

"I'm waiting for the brumbies to come". Her dad sighed and sat down next to her.

"You'll be waiting a long time I'm afraid".



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Critical Much?

Do you find that you are very critical of yourself? I do! And I have to admit that it's more so now that I have a child.

Before I was pregnant I was an extremely organised Type A personality. I worked full time, did all the overtime I was offered and still managed to keep the house spotless, read lots and craft lots.

Then I got pregnant and things changed (as everyone with kids will tell you).

Now I am doing housework daily, and as for reading and crafting? Well not as much as I would like too. It's frustrating because I am only working part time so in theory should have more time.

Yesterday was a public holiday in Sydney. I ended up spending most of the time reorganising my sons toys and getting rid of the ones he doesn't play with anymore. Plus he and I played a few games together.

Sometime during the day I realised that I was being critical of myself yet again as I had done all the things that I wanted to do. If you had asked my son though, he would probably have told you it was the best day ever, as we had played together.

It really made me think. When did life become all about getting things done? Why do I measure my success like that now?

So I am going to attempt to change the way I think. My son is my major priority. I am going to stop trying to get so much done all the time.

Maybe all I need is to reorganise the way I do things.


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Book Review- Stephanie Dowrick

Today's review is a little different. I found this book at the library while looking for a different book altogether, and thought it looked interesting.

Stephanie Dowrick's book is called Creative Journal Writing, and obviously, it talks about creative Journalling. In it Stephanie talks about the process of journaling. It also has a series of exercises throughout it to encourage creativity. For added inspiration are little stories from people who journal as well and what they have gotten out of it.

I have always kept a diary but I have to say that it has become more of a list of events than a true journal. And to be honest most of the entries are bland, we worked type entries.

Stephanie's book has encouraged me to try writing more freely. To turn off the logical side of my mind and let the creativity flow. I am looking forward to see where it might take my writing.

Do you journal?


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My Writing

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The last FSF I did was using the word Marriage as a prompt. At the time this story popped into my head but I had to keep it to the five lines. Since then the story has been swirling around my head wanting to get out. So here we are:

"We're still married!" Stan grinned an ear to ear grin at me.

"No we are not" I ground out through gritted teeth, so angry all I could see was red. "It's to death do us part, and we are dead". Stan's grin just got wider.

"But don't you remember, I got you to leave that line out". I did remember that, at the time I hadn't thought much of it as I was so busy planning our upcoming wedding.

"Why did we leave it out?" I really wanted to rant and rave at him but was holding on to my temper by a thread. Maybe it was the shock of waking up and finding myself here, where ever the hell here was, but while I knew I was dead I was having trouble accepting it.

"Isn't it obvious? By leaving it out once we died it meant we were still married and I could keep you with me here". His hand did a vague wave around him and finally I let myself look around.

We were in a large stone chamber, flames danced on the walls while the floor looked like water. Experimentally I stamped my foot, definitely not water. Slowly I reached out to the nearest wall., jumping when Stan grabbed my outstretched hand.

"Where are we?".

"Home. Well my home anyway. Your home too now. Careful of the walls though, they're real". I stared at him, waiting for the words to come, to explain where the hell I was and what was going on. Since I wasn't showing any signs of another outburst Stan waved his hands again and announced

"Welcome to Hell".

"We really are dead?". Stan nodded, enthusiastically, too enthusiastically for me. With a soft sigh I passed out.

FSF- Marriage

                           
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What it’s all about: Five Sentence Fiction is about packing a powerful punch in a tiny fist. Each week Lillie McFerrin will post a one word inspiration, then anyone wishing to participate will write a five sentence story based on the prompt word.

This weeks inspiration is Marriage.

"We're still married!" Stan grinned an ear to ear grin at me.

"No we are not" I ground out through gritted teeth, so angry all I could see was red. "It's to death do us part, and we are dead". Stan's grin just got wider.

"But don't you remember, I got you to leave that line out".

Dog Sitting

My mum is currently in hospital so I am doggy sitting her two cavalier king charles spaniels, Archie and Marli. I also have my own dog, Bindi, a kelpie cross.

My mums gods are mostly inside dogs, while mine is an outside, but allowed in, dog. So mums dog are sleeping in my bathroom and Bindi has her kennel outside, so far every one is getting along great. As long as I remember to pat Bindi first, otherwise she tends to sit on the other two.

Marli is one of the most timid dogs I have ever met. She's about 18 months old and scared of her own shadow. Doesn't like being patted, or picked up. Runs around with her tail tucked between her legs. Now mum got her as a puppy and she's never been mistreated so I am guessing it's due to her breed.

Though she as my mum organised she was in for a shock when she came to my house. If the dogs bark or cry mum is there immediately to see whats wrong. I'm not. If they don't eat their food after 30 minute, I take it away. They are much better eaters already.

I have a baby gate across the bathroom door so the dogs can't roam the house at night. But it means that I have to pick them up over it. Archie is fine with that, though boy is he a heavy dog (as in overweight heavy). Marli was not amused, at all, and wouldn't let me pick her up. Every time I tried she ran back to her mat out of reach. She's quick though, 15 minutes of crying and barking to get out and she caved and let me pick her up.

FSF- Anchor

                           
                                                                   Source

What it’s all about: Five Sentence Fiction is about packing a powerful punch in a tiny fist. Each week Lillie McFerrin will post a one word inspiration, then anyone wishing to participate will write a five sentence story based on the prompt word.

The word does not have to appear in your five sentences, just use it for direction.

This weeks word is Anchor.


She floated, adrift, free from her troubles for the first time. Dimly she wondered if this was heaven, but then the logical side of her mind stopped thinking.

The pain, when it came, felt like lightening.  Arcing through her body, electrifying every nerve ending.

Through the sudden pain came a voice "we have a heartbeat".