While preparing for my ration challenge, I had a lot of trouble finding a suitable ration book template, so I created my own. It isn’t perfect (and it is 2 sheets rather than a booklet), but it suitable for my… Read More ›
shopping
New Clothes & First Dogwash
Only two things of note happened today. First, Dad took the kids shopping for clothes. Given that they rarely get brand new clothing and that they love spending time with their Grandad, you can imagine just how pleased the children… Read More ›
30 Day Book Challenge – Day 29
A Book You Hated The list of books that I have hated is surprisingly short. I sometimes cannot get into a book, but disliking it enough to add it to my ‘do not read’ list is rare. Such books do… Read More ›
30 Day Book Challenge – Day 28
Favourite Quote From A Book I am actually going to include more than one quote here, but I think it should be acceptable because they are all from the same book – The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield: Quote 1:… Read More ›
30 Day Book Challenge Day 16
Most Thought-Provoking Book I am not going to choose a book for this category. Rather, I am choosing an author. That author is Jodi Picoult. Jodi Picoult is an excellent author who engages the reader from page one. Her characters… Read More ›
30 Day Book Challenge Day 14:
A Book That Made You Cry Whether you are talking about books or movies or music, I cry at the drop of a hat. Therefore, there are loads of books that I could use for today’s blog. The book I… Read More ›
30 Day Book Challenge Day 12:
A Book You Wanted to Read for a Long Time But Still Haven’t Wow. There are so many, many books I could use for today’s challenge. At the time of printing, I have 2,667 books on my wishlist, and over… Read More ›
30 Day Book Challenge Day 11:
Favourite Classic Book I don’t seem to have read a lot of the classic books that others have, though many are on my wishlist. I think it may be because people often make it their mission to read as many… Read More ›
30 Day Book Challenge Day 9:
Most Overrated Book Everybody has their own taste in books. One person’s favourite book is another’s most hated. Sometimes a book comes along that is almost universally loved or loathed and, like people, a book’s reputation is often entirely undeserved…. Read More ›
30 Day Book Challenge Day 8:
Most Underrated Book In my opinion, one of the most underrated books I have read is a little known book called Letters of an Indian Judge to an English Gentlewoman. First published in 1934, the book takes the form of… Read More ›
30 Day Book Challenge Day 7:
A Guilty Pleasure Book This is an extremely difficult question for me, because I really don’t have a guilty pleasure book. Having a guilty pleasure book implies that you are ashamed or embarrassed in some way about the book you… Read More ›
30 Day Book Challenge Day 6:
Book You’ve Read the Most Number of Times I am a bit unsure as to the answer for this one, since I am assuming books read over and over (and over and over and over) to my children don’t count…. Read More ›
30 Day Book Challenge Day 3:
The Longest Book You’ve Ever Read Warning: Spoilers! You may find this difficult to believe, considering how much I love books, but I actually have yet to read the most notoriously long books, like War and Peace and so on…. Read More ›
Thirty Day Book Challenge Day 1:
A book series you wish had gone on longer OR a book series you wish would just end already Warning: Contains Spoilers! This is a difficult one for me because I am generally fairly happy with the length of series’ that… Read More ›
30 Day Book Challenge
I found this challenge at Blogs-Of-A-Bookaholic. Basically, the idea is to post every day for 30 days. But these aren’t random posts – that would be too easy. Instead, every day has a specific book-related theme. Here is the list,… Read More ›
Top Ten Back-to-School Essentials 2013
Well, it’s that time of year again. Our kids have just returned to school, we’ve been issued with school lists and our kids are bugging us not to buy the same old generic stuff. So here is a list of… Read More ›
Books I Read in January 2013
The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritsen Death Along the Spirit Road by C. M. Wendelboe How Many Socks Make a Pair? by Rob Eastaway Vampires: A Bite-Sized History by Judyth A. McLeod The Dying Game by Beverly Barton The Ritual… Read More ›
Powerlessness
Powerlessness creeps in as a result of setbacks children experience as they strive to feel confident and self-assured. They can’t do things as well as their older siblings or peers, so they feel frustrated. They are criticized and punished and… Read More ›
If I were an animal…
I reckon that if I were put in a position where I had to be an animal, I would want to be a (well cared-for) domestic cat. Think about it. Think about every cat you have ever known. Sure, you… Read More ›
My ever expanding wishlist
As of the date of this post, my wishlist is 2,628 books and it is constantly expanding. Every time I hear of a good book I might like to read, on to my wishlist it goes. Honestly, my wishlist is… Read More ›
The Bushman’s Farewell to Queensland
Queensland, thou art a land of pests; Fo flies and fleas one never rests. E’en now mosquitos round me revel — In fact they are the very devil. Sandflies and hornets just as bad — They nearly drive a fellow… Read More ›
Art appreciation
I know nothing about art, but I know what I like. It’s a cliché, but in my case it is true. I know next to nothing about art. I can tell the difference between abstract, portrait, still life and landscape,… Read More ›
Music of my youth
The music we listen to now is often very different from the music we listened to when we were younger, but sometimes that music follows us throughout our lives. The music I listened to growing up is both very different… Read More ›
Threadbare
— Alan Marshall quoted in Bill Wannan’s Come in Spinner
Writing
There are no Pulitzer prizes for writing brilliant shopping lists. —Allan & Barbara Pease in ‘Why Men Lie and Women Cry’
Crazy Joker
We celebrated Annie’s tenth birthday yesterday. We don’t have a party every year, just on the important birthdays – 5, 10, 13, 16, 18, 21 – and Annie wanted it to be special. She requested to have her party at… Read More ›
the world of a woman’s handbag
Like many women I feel absolutely naked if I leave home without my trusty bag. The female handbag is a mystery to most men, who only leave home with a wallet, keys and a some shrapnel for the toll. But… Read More ›
snippets of birthdays past
I am unsure which of my birthdays is my most memorable. My memory isn’t the best. At best, I have mere glimpses – snippets of birthdays past. I don’t remember, but know from photographs that I had at least one… Read More ›
plates, phones, scooters but no bones
We’ve all seen the ads. Child/husband/baby-sitter/house-sitter mucks about in the house or has a party without permission. Mum’s favourite vase or ornament gets broken and the offending person searches frantically for a replacement, which ends up costing a mint. Yellow… Read More ›
Books I Read in November 2010
A House full of Men by Pauline Marrington The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway The Beach Road by Sarah Diamond
Rafferty's Rules is Closing Down 