Too hot to knit/sew/craft...

...so instead I am reading again.

I have always loved reading. Not just enjoyed the odd book, but loved and craved reading. I came home from my first day of school (reception in SA, prep in Vic, kindergarten in NSW/ACT) in tears because I had not learned to read yet. High standards even at 5 years old! I remember bringing bagfuls of books home from the library as a kid, and reading through dozens in a week. I remember being accused of cheating in my lists of books read over the school holidays in year 7/form 1, and I remember the librarian at school trying to get me to read War and Peace (I had zero interest in it at age 14!)

Instead I discovered the trilogy or series of books.

Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising sequence, Narnia books, Ramona books, Dorrie the witch, Secret Seven and Famous Five, as well as many others.

Now Master 7 appears to have this reading bug too. He reads very fast and processes well. His comprehension is not yet up to the larger and more complex books, but Zac Power and Geronimo Stilton in particular, as well as Tashi and Battle Boy books are consumed at an extraordinary pace.

I have always had an obsession with collecting Agatha Christie Books. In fact there are only a few titles that I am hunting down and then my collection will be complete. They are have all been read and re-read dozens of times.

Last week I read the Wildacre trilogy by Philippa Gregory. This trilogy is not necessarily recommended, but on my to-do list. The third book, Meridon, was a chore to get through.

Recently read over the Summer have been:

Remarkable Creatures - Tracy Chevalier (author of Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Lady and the Unicorn). Interesting historical fiction about fossil collection;

Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger. I enjoyed this so much more than her Time Traveller's Wife. Just as extreme but this was somehow mildly believeable...!

The Wideacre Trilogy - Philippa Gregory. I love her books, however this trilogy although gripping for the first 2 books, was disturbing. The tudor court books such as The Boleyn Inheritance are much better reading.

Currently on the go are the following books:

Committed - Elizabeth Gilbert (already wanting to argue with her and not even 100 pages in!)

Crime and Punishment - Dostoevsky (makes me realise how ordinary my vocabulary is!)

Can't Eat, Won't Eat - Brenda Legge (brilliant book about Austism Spectrum Disorder and Asperger Syndrome and the issue of eating - love this book)

Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks - John Curran (present from Mr BB at Christmas; reads like an academic dissertation on Agatha Christie's methods. Fascinating)

Excel HSC Ancient History Book 1 - P. Roberts (just for interest - I always wish I had done an Arts Degree!)

Still to come in the next pile which may come to the beach next week are:

Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf (can't believe I've never read it!)

The Slap - Christos Tsiolkas (am I the last person to read this?)

Look Me in the Eye - John Elder Robinson (another one about Aspergers).

A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf (I have read this every January since 1992. We read it in year twelve, and every year I get something different from it as my life develops. Mr BB also bought me the mug for Christmas - favourite mug at the moment!)

Enjoy your reading - got any good recommendations for Summer reading?

Just realised that this post is just a list - oh well, a good record for me of what's passing by the bedside table!

J

Pottering around with friends

This week has been wonderful. I have crafted almost every day. As my friend Ruth said on Tuesday (as we did some quilting): "it's the cheapest therapy around!"

Wednesday Consumption Rebellion and I did some book upcycling. I had a battered and falling apart copy of Pigling Bland by Beatrix Potter. Quite damaged in sections, but lovely illustrations. After the previous post and the use I am getting from the Kamahl jotter, I thought I needed a dainty little book for ideas.

After a brief trip to Officeworks for the binding, please meet my new pal:


Some pages have been retained for character, and also as they have delightful sketches on them for Miss 2 to colour. I have some lined pages, some plain pages, and some reused envelopes for pockets for ephemera. I am rather chuffed, and have many more planned, including a little pressie for this girl who has lent me her binder and guillotine! Thanks E! You can see what she spent the day making here. Much more impressive!!



j

Upcycling a 45

My friend Eilleen and I very much enjoyed the Handmade market a few weekends ago here in Canberra. One clever possum was selling scrapbooks, journals, notebooks and photo albums made from old books. We were rather taken with these.

Eilleen bought several old records at the YMCA garage sale, and has done a great upcycle of these. One is blogged over here. I love the one she generously made for me -

It fits perfectly into my current handbag, with a pen snugly in the spine. I have my list of things to do on the page and my shopping lists, receipts, etc in the pockets. Thanks E - I have a pile of books ready to try my own!



The original EP is still in the back, which is a bonus if I can get hold of a record player! Master 6 wonders how to put it into the CD player.......


Our books ready for modifying! Where's that Stanley knife??

xx

Golden Hands in Good Hands

As an addendum to the previous post, I must not forget my Golden Hands book! I now have numbers 1 and 2 in the series, and look forward to finding number 3 another time.


Nothing like a few frills and bows and puffs to jazz up an outfit -


Matching watchband, tie and hat anyone?


I do love these crochet flowers though!


Love Golden Hands - do you collect them?

Op, op and away!

Op shopping is always fun, some days the op-shop fairies are with me though. To get away from the ironing/washing/blah-de-blah at home, I took an hour off. I left the washing-to-be-folded on the couch,


And fluffed off to the oppy fairies' fave spot. Fancy finding aprons for a Christmas pressie for a friend's daughters:

And a lovely book about Grandma and her hats and her button box!


The crappy news is that Miss 2 is again sick, so my bloglines is now around 400 or so posts I have not read/commented on...

Ti-i-i-ime, is not on my si-ide!

J

Reading in bed is the life...

Best part of being sick in bed is being able to READ. Those of you with kids will know what I mean! Anyway, I have a large stack of books I want to read, and three days in bed allowed me to devour Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (amazing stroke of six-degrees is that her lover's kids live in Australia, one in Canberra, and actually works with my best buddy here!!!) I loved the Eat section on Rome.

The Rushdie is still being read - another book that's easy to read, like hot chocolate it is enjoyable, goes down well, and you are sad when it is over. He is a master story-teller.

Pi was a gift from my Best Friend in The World before she went to Saudi for a year. I don't want to finish it!!



A reading session can only improve with 1970s and 1980s cookbooks, including a Robert Carrier classic (each 20c at oppy).

And a forgotten This is... where I craft from - my newly-stacked shelves with fabrics, linens, pillowcases, etc. Larger pieces are still in the huge chest, but this is my treasure trove!


J

For the baby

I went to school with a Most Lovely Gal who introduced me to the delights of Williamstown, and miss her very much now we don't live in Melbourne.

She is about to become Mum for a second time, and I am very thrilled to be making some little lovelies for the baby.

She has always loved kids' books, and so I want to make singlets for the baby based on The Very Hungry Caterpillar. (Click for cool links for kids' craft).

I am working on 'On Tuesday he ate through two pears' in embroidery and with applique. I love it! Maybe every birthday and Christmas I can do the next page in the book in the appropriate size!?

Photos to come when it's finished.

I'm also finishing this quilt for the baby, my first proper attempt at quilting (photo from a previous post). It's just going to be a pram one or a floor quilt as I was using fabrics in the stash:


I have to read some tutorials and discover how to bind it... Maybe I can be Beki when I grow up! Her quilting makes it all seem so easy... And maybe I'll finally use the Clover Bias Tape Maker Curlypops inspired me to buy!!


x

Vintage Australiana - Skippy!

This may just be the scariest Little Golden Book I have ever read. Master 6 still won't look at it, and I don't blame him!

Tk, tk, tk - what's that Skip?

Yes, it is pretty bleak even for 1974!

Check out Mikes for more Skippy Australiana from Gemma!





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Vintage Australiana

In my family, there has always been room for rhyming slang. Australians have their own style - rather dry and bordering on offensive at times I guess, but all intended lovingly!

This extract is from a Book called "Aussie English - an explanation of the australian idiom" by John O'Grady, published in 1965.

To me this is Australiana - the language is great!!

This is.... my favourite book (at the moment)

My first love is reading. I have long been a book-devourer. Incredulously people ask me "did you really read all that?!", but those close to me know I am quite the speed reader. Not always of course, as some things are better when read slowly.

This is ... has been lots of fun, and it's always good reading about other people's entries. This should be rather interesting, as I will enjoy making notes and seeking out books that I like the sound of!

A FAVOURITE book is a big ask. A favourite for a long time was Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I was given this at the age of 16 by my then-boyfriend. It has always been a heavy read but a great book. Of course I then went on the Marquez-discovery, and read many, many more of his works.

Later, Siddhartha by Herman Hesse tickled my fancy.

The poetry of Alfred, Lord Tennyson has also always been wonderful to me, especially The Lady of Shalott.

When reading to kids, certain books never lose their sheen, like Each, Peach, Pear, Plum by the Ahlbergs, or Great Day for Up by the incomparable Dr Seuss.


I own most Agatha Christie novels, which are great to read quickly, read on holiday, or just immerse oneself in on a cold day. These are a treasure and a lovely little collection!

Today, my favourite book is my Oxford Concise Dictionary. This is the most thoughtful pressie I think I have ever received, as it is exactly what I wanted. Boring to many, brilliant to most!


x

Back and busy

Back home (mmm, my own bed!), mountains of washing, bags and boxes to unpack, photos to take and upload, emails to respond to, memes to update (and I've been tagged for another!), and I will NEVER go away without the computer AGAIN!

Above are some daisies to make me smile. Mum had a school teacher in the 1950s who told her there were NO blue flowers. I have inherited her joy in finding more and more of them! What about a Forget-me-not?!

We had a super-busy time in Melbourne. I went to my first Brown Owls meeting, which was fun but terrifying at the same time. It's not very 'me' to just go somewhere without knowing anyone. I was fine until I realised they all knew each other, and I tried so hard but may have been inadvertently rude to some lovely people... Sorry!

It was especially nice to meet Ms Curlypops, Drewzel, Pip, and others, and we did a spot of crocheting!

I had the pleasure and joy of meeting an elderly relative, Edna, who is 95 and loves a Vanilla Slice and a cappuccino (must be genetic)! She has loaned Mum a family diary that covers 1901 to 1912 of Edna's grandmother (Mum's great-grandmother). It was amazing to read. I loved reading the entry about her voting on the first occasion women could in Australia.

I also saw a darling lady, a companion of my late great-uncle Lloyd. Margaret is another amazing woman, also 95, and has recently had HER grandmother's cookbook restored by a conservator and archivist. It is hand-written on water-marked vellum, and inscribed 1783. I was so moved. Marg is legally blind, so her enjoyment of it comes from others reading it to her. I loved doing this, and would have read the whole book to her.

Mum is in the process of 'down-sizing', so I also came home with a box of stunning vintage fabrics from the 60s, 70s and 80s, some old books from my childhood, op-shop finds, dresses of mine from the 1970s for Miss 2, and lovely memories.

HEAPS of photos to come. Sorry for the rant!

x

Vintage illustrations Day 6

Has this meme inspired you to read to your kids more? Get out old books? Remember your childhood? Me Too!!

Visit Meet Me At Mikes to see who else is playing along in this meme, and what they are sharing.

This is a real trip down memory lane for me so far. I smile a lot as I see what others are posting, and I remember the same or similar books.

I have tended to veer away from artistic illustrations and have chosen what I loved as a child, the illustrations, story, feel of the paper, the whole experience. My kids have access to a lot of my old books, and love them, yet are too young to really explain what they love about them.

My son tells me he likes them as Granny read them to him when she was visiting, so just that Mum read them to me, and now to my kids, is really special to me. It's also lovely to think that he thinks of her when he sees certain books.


At the time of the Golden Books, I also had Wonder Books. This was a firm favourite and much-thumbed-through edition about a little girl who loses her shoes but finds lots of others. Miss 2 adores this, and we often read it, then to cries of 'again', 'again', 'again'. I think it's imprinted in my memory now. It's very 1970s in its colour and fashion.

Kiddy nirvana - eyes closed, loving the beach and the freedom of NO SHOES. The inside cover is also a gorgeous collection of colour and life, with story and nursery rhyme depictions.

This is a lovely little story about two little girls meeting for the first time for a 'play-date'.

While the mums drink cups of tea, the girls go for a walk down the lane in their undies, and talk to strangers until the mums come looking for them. Remember those days?! So clearly this is a story from the 1970s when kids had a lot more freedom. Bring on the old days.


Finally, a thrifted book of my son's. I've always loved this page with the sewing paraphenalia, fabrics, and embroidery scissors. Also love the touch of ric-rac in the forground. Super-cute!

I've crammed a lot in, as tomorrow is day 7 and the end of the challenge. I will miss it, so may do one day a week of vintage books just for my own amusement!!


x

Day 5 of vintage illustration

Golden Books were a staple of the library we had as kids. These two were firm favourites.

Out of My Window, illustrated by Polly Jackson, shows the 1950s beautifully. Someone has written in the cover under This belongs to: MY NANNY!

The child in the story could be male or female, which means all kids relate to the child. The busy-ness of the street was amazing to me, as hardly anyone drove down our street as kids! I remember looking out the front window, willing some of this street action to come by!

Boy With a Drum has soft and gentle pencil illustrations. The boy walks along drumming, and all kinds of animals follow him. It's beautiful. This is a thrifted copy, I think our original has no cover anymore!

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Vintage Illustrations Day 4 (image heavy)

So many illustrations, not enough days in the week!

I am reminded of some favourites today, just by looking at what the kids wanted read last night!

The simplicity of Dick Bruna


These reprints are circa 1972 although the originals were 1960s, and were loved by my brother and I, and now by my kids. I came across a wooden jigsaw dated 1967 of this bear on the abc at Vinnies for $3, which the kids now love doing as well!


Next comes a book that I apparently used to take to bed, hence its 'loved' appearance.

The Andy Pandy books written by Maria Bird, illustrated by Matvyn Wright. This first in the series is a first edition, 1956. Andy Pandy and The Willow Tree. I love, love, love this book.


I'm squeezing lots in today, as the meme ends at the end of the week. One of the reasons I love it, is that it's part of the Use-What-You-Have side of me that really doesn't think I need to let much else into the house. I like to appreciate things, but I don't have to HAVE them. Have a look at what Consumption Rebellion says on the topic here.

Last one for today is the Ladybird Book Talkabout The Beach. SOMEONE, I've forgotten (do you know?) collects Ladybird books, um, um, can't remember... and I'm sure she has this one. It's compiled by W. Murray and illustrated by Eric Winter, Harry Wingfield, and Martin Aitchison, 1974 (the year I was born!) I do think so many illustrators was a little disconcerting, as some pages were a bit scary, some a bit weird, but here are some faves:

I remember thinking this girl was so lucky to have so many beach toys!

Would love to have these chairs and umbrella now!

Happy beach games - we used to do beach cricket every Summer

We used to love telling our own story with this one, and I still love the glee on the face of the lady as the balloon interrupts her tea! (Ooh - it reminds me of an old library book, The Red Balloon. Anyone have it? I think it was photos only, no words, 1960s.)

Tomorrow will be Golden Books that I loved. I'm sure there are many more at Mum and Dad's!!

A Rainbow Of Buttons

No creations as yet, but I couldn't sleep with excitement about the stash I just (very gratefully) received!


Dear Tank Girl (another blog mention!!!) has a very community-minded neighbour who has donated a mass of buttons to the crafty girls I create with, and we pored over them tonight. I could visualise the creations already. So many Feature buttons that will be front and centre in the next batch of stock.

The best thing about buttons is looking through tins of them. I wonder what their history is, what item of clothing did they grace? Who wore them? My Nan was a super stylish lady who appears in a multitude of photos in shoes, dresses, and buttons that amaze me and take my breath away. I love looking at these photos, and Mum recalls the outfits in detail. The colours, fabrics, occasions. I Love looking through them with her when the kids let me have a moment with her!

I recently cam upon a book called the Button Box, by Margarette S. Reid, published 1990 by Puffin. It has superbly evocative illustrations by Sarah Chamberlain. It tells of a little boy who loves going through his Grandma's button box, imagining, sorting, learning history, and best of all, spending time with her. Highly recommended!

As an aside: I wonder what the collective noun is for a group of buttons??!! A clatter of buttons? Any ideas? I may have a competition with a give-away as the prize! Who wants to join in? Add a comment with your suggestion to win! Drawn in one week.