Can you tell a book by its cover?

Summer holidays are the best time to get stuck into some reading. I wonder what you can tell about a person from what they read. Let's have a look at what is on my beside table at the moment. I always have a stack of stuff to read. Reading is my favourite thing to do - besides eating chocolate ice cream.

First up is my beloved Frankie magazine.

I love, love, love this mag as it's full of other dags just like myself who are trying to be creative.

Plus the writing is just so, so good. Even Bill loves to have have a flick through this one. It has a little bit of craft, a bit of cooking, stuff to buy, home decorating that is just like mine. It's just fab.

Another mag I love is G magazine. It's all environmental stuff and organic stuff and simple living and frugality and heaps of ideas on how to reduce your carbon footprint. Just stuff that floats my boat really.

I am super excited that Tintin has been made into a movie as it's one of my favourite sets of books from my childhood.

We used to go to The Entrance Library every Friday afternoon and I would always try to borrow Tintin books.

Yesterday in the city we had a stroll around Dymocks and Bill bought me a Tintin book. It is going to be the first one in my new collection. There are 24 in the set. I know it's quite an acquired taste but I do love a bit of nostalgia.

A new book on the bedside table this week. It's got fantastic reviews. It's a bit of a sociology/anthropology book about the lack of interaction between kids and nature these days and the consequences of that lack of interaction. Can't wait to get into this one.

But it's not all heavy going.

Another new book on the bedside table is this bit of chick lit. I can't even remember what it's about but it sounded good in the book shop. I'll take this one away camping with us in January as I suspect it's the kind of book you can read while you cook sausages on a campfire.

What are you reading now?

Any recommendations?

Am I the biggest dag you've ever known?

Three Degrees of Buying

I have been reading a good book lately called "Enough". It's about (funnily enough) having enough. Enough food, enough stuff, even enough work and happiness. It's got me thinking about stuff though today. In this house we definitely have enough possessions.

To create our current standard of living we have farmed one quarter of the land on this earth, overexploited our ocean life, increased the level of carbon dioxide by 30% and mutilplied the extinction rate 1000 times. Not much to be proud of there!!!!

Now when we have to buy something to add to the house I try to buy in the following ways.

I always op shop first.

Firstly, because the "stuff" in those shops already exists. Meaning resources have already been used to create them. So it's best to get as much use out of them as possible.

However, op shopping is an art. Yes, really.

Say I needed some jeans as mine are falling apart. You can bet your bottom dollar if I went to an op shop looking for a pair of jeans for myself I wouldn't find them. No way! That would be too easy.

No op shopping requires forward thinking. You have to browse with the future in mind.

last week I picked up a t-shirt foR Rhianna - almost new and she has very few shirts.



I also found two great non-fiction books to add to our collection. Both of them at her reading level and she has been interested in both these subjects lately.

Now, I am not perfect and I did manage to squeeze in a non essential purchase - a vintage handbag to add to my very small collection.

But really, it was only $2 and will be loved forever by myself and Rhianna who has taken a bit of a shine to it. It's the gold one.

After second hand I try to buy green and organic. For instance, I always buy recycled toilet paper and purchase things such as cosmetics and sunscreen from reputable organic sellers - usually off the net.

Lastly I'll buy new if I have to. Things that fall into this category are specialised clothing such as swimmers, electrical goods such as cameras and of course food that I can't get organically.

The whole purchasing thing is such a juggling act sometimes that often I do without.

Then there is always the law of the universe that says when you need something it will come to you.

Like yesterday, I mentioned to a girlfriend that I was going to begin teaching Time to Rhianna and she mentioned that she had an old magnetic clock set that she was finished with - a match made in heaven.

Do you buy green or organic or second hand. Or are you trying to reduce your consumption in other ways. I'd love to know.

Overdue Update

Well I know the posts are getting few and far between now. I guess I feel it's because I don't have a lot going on at the moment. But here are a few random things I have been doing and thinking about the past week.

The thing taking up most of my thought processes is Rhianna's education.

Last year she had a brilliant teacher and I was resting easy about her learning. This year I am not so sure.

Rhianna is in a Year 2/3 composite. She is in the year 2 portion of the class ( the minority). That is not the problem however. It's the teacher I'm afraid. I didn't really "warm" to her when I first met her but hey, I figured I don't have to like everybody!!!!

No, it's a couple of other things - like the fast finisher work that she has given Rhianna - it's basic Kindergarten stuff. Laziness or bad teaching - not sure yet!

Then the other day Rhianna came home and she had wet her pants!

After much prompting and crying she told me that her teacher said if the kids go to the toilet during class time then they have to "make up" the time at recess and lunch.

So basically, a detention for having to go to the toilet. These kids are 7 and 8 years old. Not only had she wet her pants but she was too afraid to tell the teacher and had sat on the bus all the way home in soaked pants.

Of course I was furious.

I went up to see this teacher and asked her outright if this was her "toileting policy".

Well, yes she said. After all she said, she can't go to the toilet during class so why should she let the children? Well, ummm, because you're an adult with a few years more practice with bladder control than a 7 year old! Because you have the cognition to understand that you have to use the toilet when you have the chance!

So I told her that Rhianna was to be able to go to the toilet 20 times a day if she needed to and she was never to be kept in during recess or lunch unless a phone call was made to me to explain why.

Gosh, I have rambled on a bit here haven't I.

I actually started this post to tell you about the home schooling I intend to start with Rhianna. I am not pulling her out of school or anything (yet) but I am going to be focusing more on her literacy and numeracy at home.

We have been doing a lot more shared reading at home. I noticed she had slid backwards with her reading over the Christmas holidays.

We've been borrowing these Aussie Nibblies books from the library.

We've also started on some basic grammar work and maths.

When I was teaching year 2 (many moons ago) I recall money and time being the two most difficult concepts to cover in maths so we've started on money for this week.

We set up a little shop at home with her toys and priced them accordingly. Rhianna then has to "buy" something and create the exact amount of money with the notes and coins available to her. During the week I intend to make it progressively harder.

The Sunday Shop

The Sunday float

The weekend is the perfect time to sit around and do these activities but unfortunately it seems that Rhianna is never home. Yesterday a bowling birthday party and today a play date.

I wish I had her life sometimes.

Friday 4th February 2011

This week was the first week back at school for kids in NSW.

It has also unhappily coincided with the hottest week of the summer so far. So other than dropping Rhianna off and picking her up from school I've been barricading myself in the air conditioning.

My son Broc had an operation last week so he is home as well keeping me company.

As I tidy the lounge room this morning I can't help but be a little sad when I look at Rhianna's cubby that she built in the lounge room during the holidays and spent much time reading, playing and watching TV in there. Now there are no little brown legs poking out from under the sheet - bit sad really.

The up side is that we are having a fantastic time every afternoon after school when we both flop in the pool and play games till dinner.

One of the books I got for Christmas is called The Happiness Project.

It's a bit of a bio about a a New York Mum who decides that although her life is very nice there is always room for more happiness. She sets out to explore every month the things that she can do to increase the happiness in her life.

The book is set out in a monthly format running January to December with a challenge for each month.

For January she decided to get more sleep and exercise every day to see if it increase her general happiness with life.

For the month of January I did the same.

Not too hard to sleep in this weather though is it?

I started to go to bed earlier, no late than 10.30pm and I exercised every day. I mainly walked but did some swimming too.

Yes, I did feel happier. I felt more in control of myself and the house. I found I did not lose my temper as much with the family and had plebty of energy to do things with Rhianna through the holidays. I also lost 4 kilos.

For February she focuses on her relationship with her husband. I'll let you know how I go with that at the end of the month. Bill says he can't wait to see how I go either haha....

In retail therapy news, I have continued to buy with sustainability and no chemicals in mind.

In Priceline this week I found this lovely Sukin facial mist spray which is lovely in place of a moisturising cream in this heat we are having.

I also found another brand of aluminium free deodorant to try.

And for winter some foot and hand gloves made from sustainable bamboo. After moisturising your hands and feet at night, you pop these gloves and socks on and wear them to bed and they help to your hands and feet retain the moisture. I do tend to suffer from very dry hands in Winter.

Another busy weekend coming up for us. Keep cool everybody.

Book Review

Revolutionary Road

Although this is a classic, I have only just got around to reading it.

I have to admit that I watched the movie first with Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio. I found the movie just amazing in every way. I went out and bought the novel the same day. And having studied Thoreau at university I was constantly replaying his famous lines through my head as I read the book.
"..most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to their graves with the song left in them".

Of course his quote really applies to the woman in the story - April. Married with two children, she feels trapped in her suburban life with an unambitious husband and the same daily routine slowly eroding her happiness in life.

April and her husband decide to throw it all in and move to Paris. But Frank resists at the last moment and April finds herself again with child - a child neither of them really wants. This is where the "quiet desperation" of April becomes a deafening roar to all those around her.

If you can get a copy of this book, I highly recommend it for a thought provoking read.

Donating Books

As most people who read this blog know Bill and I are bookaholics. One of our favourite things to do is wander around dusty old bookshops looking for that elusive "gem" that we don't own and haven't read yet. We are so book addicted we have a bookcase in our bedroom for those midnight fixes. And yes, we do read books in the early hours of the morning if we can't sleep.

Which is why the following statistics stunned me:

61% of low income families have no books in their homes.

43% of adults with a low literacy level live in poverty. In contrast, only 4% of adults with strong literacy skills live in poverty.

Children who grow up with a large variety of books in their home have been shown to be more creative, imaginative and proficient in reading.

We have so many books they even get their own chair to sit on. These are current bedtime reads.

I encourage you to go through your bookcase this weekend and pick out 10 books you know you are never going to read again. Deliver them to the local school, preschool or womens shelter.It's something good you can do for the environment and your local community that is low on effort and high on feel good factor.

Oops, more books in the bedroom waiting for a home

The hard part for me (as you can see) is physically separating myself from what I consider to be my very close friends. I mean, Pride and Prejudice has been my very close chum through about 8 boyfriend breakups now. So of course, there are books that must stay with you for life.

But I'm sure like myself you have lots of books that are just filling up space on the bookshelf. Just see if you can give away 10 this week - especially childrens books which are so desperately important in the development of literacy skills in our young.

Wednesday

It's starting to get a bit wintery out there now isn't it? I'm loving this colder weather, especially at night time when we all snuggle under the extra layers on the bed. I am in bliss under all my vintage eiderdowns. I bet there are a few readers out there who have never even heard of that word before - eiderdown. It's what doonas used to be called when I was little.

Unfortunately I have succumbed to the household illness doing the rounds. I woke up yesterday with a sore throat, runny nose, watery eyes and a headache. Nothing for it but to lay on the lounge all day. Luckily I had stocked up on some new loves, oops, I mean books to keep me company for the day.

The new arrivals

Did you notice that they are lying on the blanket I have knitted for Miss Rhianna. Not quite finished yet. I will have the big reveal soon. But don't get too excited as my blanket is the very essence of "homemade".

First book I purchased is "Homemade" (what a funny co-incidence) which was co-written by Elspeth Thompson.

I have followed Elspeth's blog for a couple of years and logged on last week to congratulate her on her new book only to read a short post by her husband saying that Elspeth had committed suicide a few days prior. I can't tell you the absolute shock I felt upon reading this.

In her previous post there is no hint that all is not well. And she was such an accomplished person writing books and the like. But depression has no mercy even on the very talented, creative and just plain lovely people of the world. I suffer from depression myself and this was a timely reminder to keep taking my medications and to remind myself that we all have our demons to battle in this life.
The book is lovely and I got my copy in Big W. Have a look, it really is a gorgeously styled book.

Second book is the Cath Kidston book called MAKE. I adore her craft and sewing projects and it looks pretty easy. The pictures are very English and kitschy.

The last book I bought was a a bit of a bargain purchase from Lincraft. It's a papercraft book so it has a mix of scrapbook ideas and lots of other cool things to do with paper and cardstock.

Anyway, I am inspired by all this printed goodness and cold weather to get creative. Hopefully I'll get back here to post some results. But first, the knitted blanket needs to be completed. One project at a time.

A Few New Loves

Don't you just love it when someone gives you a gift for no reason. Well, I do. Yesterday one of my lovely new friends, Emma surprised me with this card making tool (on the right). She then further surprised me by lending me this fantastic book all about vinegar and its wonderful uses.

You see she sometimes reads my blog and thought this was something I might be interested in reading. Umm... yes please. Thanks Emma. I wish there were more people like you in the world and that I was one of them.

Going through my scrapbook stash the other day, I started to feel mighty guilty about the amount of scrapbooking supplies I have for somebody who has not produced a layout in about 6 months.

So I got to work. These two pages are in their early stages but I felt a great relief that I can again say with pride "Yes, I scrap."

Do you remember what it's like to fall in love? The thrill of seeing your beloved for the very first tim? well, I felt it all again today - at the newsagents.

I am a magazineaholic and these, dear readers are my new drug of choice. Peppermint and Frankie. Another blogger got me onto these 2 magazines and I am loving them. If you love your craft with a good deal of kitsch thrown in - have a look at these next time you are at the shops.

And in the mail today, some welcome junk mail. My new Cath Kidson magazine from the UK. I am having a bit of a moment lately with everything British - (think tea and toast and woolly cardigans). I just applied for this online and a few weeks later here it is. All things Cath Kidson - very drool worthy over a cup of Earl Grey.


Rhianna decided to make some flags with chalk in the backyard. One was an Australian flag. (Rhianna actually wrote this part of today's post herself)

Hope everybody had a good hump day.

The Bedtime Bag

I think I might have mentioned that my Mum loves the odd bit of craft herself. I wanted to show you something she made for Miss R last year. Its the bedtime bag.

It's simply a reusable "green" bag that you buy from Coles, except obviously, its blue. Then Mum has appliqued a fish on the front. This is to represent one of our favourite books - The Rainbow Fish.

Here's a close up of the detail. Inside the bag Rhianna keeps her Pajamas for that night and the bag hangs on the back of her bedroom door.

On either side of the bag is a pocket - this is where we keep our nightime reading stories. At the moment its chapter books that I read to her.


Anne of Green Gables is a new addition to the bookcase. we started it last night. Rhianna loves it. A friend of mine, Emma, reminded me how much I loved this story myself as a girl so I found it for Rhianna.

Mum says the whole bag cost her 99 cents as she had all the fabric scraps already lying around. So much cutemess for such a little price.

Favourite Books

As most people who know me or read this blog know, I LOVE books. If ever there was a fire in this house, after the kids and photos, I would be grabbing a lot of my favourite books. Here are some I would be packing as the flames licked my heels.


The World of Susie Wong.

I watched this as a movie when I was a kid. The movie had William Holden in it and is about an artist who moves to Hong Kong to paint and falls in love with a Wanchi girl who works in a bar as a prostitute (Kinda like Pretty Woman about 30 years before Julia Roberts was born).

Then one day in a dusty old book store I found the novel - for a huge $1. I was so overjoyed and of course the book is SO much better then the movie.

Betty Blue.

Another find in a second hand book store in Glebe. I bought this when I was 19 and I have read it 31 times. No word of a lie. Djian's prose is the most beautiful writing I have ever read. The story is set in France and is about Betty who is a functional lunatic and the love affair she has with Zorg. Zorg knows she is a bit unbalanced but loves her (and tries to save her from herself) anyway. Of course I own the movie too, but the book is just perfect...nothing could compete.

The Creative Family.

Amanda Blake Soule has a blog and I discovered her books through there. This book is food for the eyes to look through and it encapsulates everything I would like my home with with my family to be. Lots and lots of creative and home made things to do with your kids.

Handmade Home.

Another book by Amanda Blake Soule. Here she has lots of sewing and craft projects for Mumma to do. Such a lovely book with quite achieveable projects to do within its pages.

Our Family Table.

My newest addition to the bookcase. My husband Bill bought this for me (Gotta love a man who buys you stuff for no good reason).

If you were a fan of Masterchef last year then this book would need no introduction. Julie Goodwin was the winner of Series One and this is her cookbook. Lovely photos and nice family friendly recipes. I'm sure it will be a favourite.

And Bill, my new book wishlist is on the fridge.

I'd love to hear all about your favourite books. Your oldest, the one you'd save in a fire and the newest addtion. I may have overlooked a potential new favourite to my bookcase.

Happenings at our House

We are all loving this rainy weather. Although its not cold at night time the three of us (Bill, Rhianna and I ) are climbing into bed to watch Season 2 of Little House on the Prairie.

I love this series for a lot of reasons. Firstly it takes me back to my own childhood. You never have to worry about inappropriate content and of course Michael Landon (aka Charles Ingalls) was the moral compass of the 1970's. So, a good wholesome lesson for the youngsters in every episode.

Last night was an episode about Mary getting glasses and being called four eyes at school - so its a great avenue to talk about things like name calling and kids being different. I highly recommend it if you have kids around 6-12 years of age.

Rhianna and I picked up a copy of Pippi Longstocking at the Op shop yesterday for 20 cents. It's a chapter book that's appropriate for her age and we read a chapter last night after LHOTP and before sleep. This also brings back fond childhood memories as I read this same book when I was about 7.
Here's an update on the knitting. The squares are building up and I am still enjoying it.

Miss Rhianna lost 2 teeth last week - the tooth fairy was very busy at our house. And we enjoyed our last afternoon by the pool on Sunday before the rain started. This little girl adores her daddy - can you tell??

Hope you all are having a lovely week.