Ireadthereforeiam: reading out the year

My sister practising the handstand at sunrise, on her recent yoga teacher training course in Australia.

Read so far:

DECEMBER:
98. The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek (fiction)
99. Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald (fiction)
100. Stonefish by Keri Hulme (short stories)
101. The New Penguin Book of American Short Stories: from Washington Irving to Lydia Dawson (short stories)
102. Granta: New Fiction Special (#106)
103. Train Dreams, Denis Johnson (novella)
104. Mind the Child by Camila Batmanghelidjh (NF)
105. Religion for Atheists by Alain deBotton (NF)
NOVEMBER:
91. Resilience, by Anne Deveson (NF, re-read)
92. The Secret Island, by Enid Blyton (kids fiction, re-read)
93. Andris, where are you?, by Ron Crosby (memoir, re-re-re-read)
94. The Winter of our Discontent, by John Steinbeck (classic fiction)
95. The Moon is Down, by John Steinbeck (classic, novella)
96. Place, Identity and Everyday Life in a Globalising World, by Harvey Perkins and David Thorns (NF, NZ, Academic)
97. The Empty Family, by Colm Toibin (short stories)

OCTOBER:
86. The Chequebook and the Cruise-Missile by Arundhati Roy (NF, interviews transcribed)
87. I Think Therefore I Am by Lesley Levine (NF)
88. The Luminaries, Elanor Catton (fiction)
89. Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (fiction)
90. Heat and Dust, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (fiction)

SEPTEMBER:
77. The Children of Men, by PD James (dystopian fiction)
78. Isaac's Storm, Erik Larson (narrative non-fiction)
79. Sula by Toni Morrison (fiction)
80. TransAtlantic, by Colum McCann (fiction)
81. Human Chain, Seamus Heaney (poetry)
82. Quiet, by Susan Cain (NF)
83. Harvest, Jim Crace (fiction)
84. Hellhound on his Trail by Hampton Sides (NNF)
85. The Time Machine by HG Wells (fiction, novella)

AUGUST:
66. A Tale for the Time Being, Ruth Ozeki (fiction)
67. Closely Watched Trains, Bohumil Hrabal (fiction)
68. The Cellist of Sarajevo, by Steven Galloway (fiction)
69. Wild, by Cheryl Strayed (memoir)
70. Raising Boys by Steve Biddulph (parenting)
71. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (short stories)
72. The Beauty of Humanity Movement, by Camilla Gibb (fiction)
73. The Spinning Heart, Donal Ryan (fiction)
74. The Eye in the Door, by Pat barker (fiction)
75. Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney (classic, epic poem)
76 Tortilla Flat, by John Steinbeck (classic, fiction)

JULY:
57. The Unconscious Civilisation, by John Ralston Saul (NF)
58. Extremes: Life Death and the Limits of the Human Body by Dr Kevin Fong (NF)
59. Degrees for Everyone, by Bob Jones (NZ, satire)
60. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad (classic)
61. The Blank Wall by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding (crime)
62. How to Look at a Painting, by Justin Paton (NF)
63. The Testament of Mary, by Colm Toibin (alternative history/fiction)
64. Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger (fiction)
65. The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway (fiction, classic)

JUNE:
48. The Motel Life, Willy Vlautin (fiction)
49. My Name is Asher Lev, by Chaim Potok (fiction, re-read)
50. Lyrics, Paul Simon (lyrics)
51. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald (classic, re-re-read)
52. The ACB with Honora Lee, Kate De Goldi (YA)
53. Northline by Willy Vlautin (fiction)
54. The Accidental Tourist, by Anne Tyler (fiction)
55. Coraline, Neil Gaiman (YA)
56. Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates (fiction)

MAY:
40. Bereft, Chris Womersley (fiction)
41. The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks (fiction)
42. The Colour, Rose Tremain (historical fiction, NZ)
43. The God Boy, Ian Cross (fiction, NZ)
44. The Yellow Birds, Kevin Powers (fiction)
45. The End of the Affair, Graham Greene (fiction)
46. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (fiction)
47. Skios, Michael Frayn (fiction)

APRIL:
33. Excellent Women, Barbara Pym (classic)
34. Decline into Darkness, Gay Oakes (memoir, NZ)
35. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald (classic, re-read)
36. The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Michael Chabon (fiction)
37. All Quiet on the Western Front (classic, fiction)
38. Regeneration, Pat Barker (fiction)
39. Safe Area Gorazde, Joe Sacco (GN)

MARCH:
24. The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Moshin Hamid (fiction)
25. Somebody Stole My Game, Chris Laidlaw (NZ, NF, rugby)
26. Looking for Lionel, Sharon Snir (memoir)
27. Pocket Book Of Dinosaurs - Illustrated Guide To The Dinosaur Kingdom, Dougal Dixon (NF, educational)
28. The Worst Hard Time, Timothy Egan (NFN)
29. Call the Midwife, Jeniffer Worth (memoir)
30. The Shock Doctrine, by Naomi Klein (NF)
31. The Gospel According to Judas, Benjamin Iscariot/Jeffrey Archer/Francis Moloney (fiction)
32. The Swiss Family Robinson by Johan Wyss (classic)

FEBRUARY:
13. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (historic fiction)
14. The Forrests by Emily Perkins (NZ, fiction)
15. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee (classic, fiction)
16. Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively (fiction)
17. No Country for Old Men, Cormac McCarthy (fiction)
18. The Rape of the Lock, Alexander Pope (poetry)
19. The Plague, Albert Camus (classic, fiction)
20. Whale Rider, Witi Ihimaera (NZ fiction)
21. Odyssey and Images, Ron Crosby (NZ, memoir, my own family history, a re-read)
22. We Don't Live Here Anymore, Andre Dubus (3x Novellas)
23. Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls (classic, fiction)

JANUARY:
1. Mister Pip- Lloyd Jones (NZ fiction)
2. Writer MD- edited by Leah Kaminsky (Essays, Short Stories)
3. Mayflower- Nathaniel Philbrick (NFN)
4. Quarry- by Damon Galgut (fiction)
5. Old Filth- by Jane (fiction)
6. The Sense of an Ending- by Julian Barnes (fiction)
7. Leningrad, by Anna Reid (NF, history)
8. The Memory of Running, by Ron McLarty(fiction)
9. Brokeback Mountain, by Annie Proulx (short story)
10. Lemona's Tale, by Ken Saro-Wiwa (African fiction)
11. Various Pets Dead and Alive, by Marina Lewycka (fiction)
12. What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge (classic)

Books Acquired 2013
Crossing them off as I read them is proving a good reminder for me to read what I get.

DECEMBER:
(172) Night Fall, Joan Aiken .50c
(173) The Rehearsal, Eleanor Catton $19.80
(174) Mind That Child, by Camila Batmanghelidjh and Kids Company $4.30
(175) The Great Degeneration, by Niall Ferguson $13
(176) Train Dreams, Denis Johnson *gift*
(177) Religion for Atheists by Alain deBotton *gift*

NOVEMBER:
(155) The Executioner's Song, by Norman Mailer $7.99
(156) Andris, Where are you? by Ron Crosby (free, gift)
(157) My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead, edited by Jeffrey Eugenides $1 (sold for $3 at market!)
(158) 100 NZ Short Short Stories edited by Graeme Lay $1 (sold at market for $3!)
(159) The Ancestor Game by Alex Miller $1
(160) Life is so Good, George Dawson .50c
(161) Fair Warning by Robert Olen Butler .50c
(162) The Tortilla Curtain by T Coraghessan Boyle .50c
(163) The Reason of Things by AC Grayling $2
(164) Runaway by Alice Munro $2
(165) Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally $2
(166) The Moral Law by Immanuel Kant $2
(167) Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka $2
(168) The Great Wall of China and Other Short Works by Franz Kafka $2
(169) Psychology Fifth Edition by Peter Gray $2
(170) And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks by William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac $1
(171) Hegemony or Survival by Noam Chomsky $1

OCTOBER:
(133) The Luminaries by Elanor Catton $22
(134) Palace of Desire by Naguib Mahfouz $4
(135) Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler $3
(136) Fire Under the Snow by Palden Gyatso $3
(137) The Boy in Striped Pyjamas by John Boyle $3
(138) A State of Siege and The Rainbirds by Janet Frame $3
(139) The Forrests by Emily Perkins $3
(140) On Equilibrium by John Raulston Saul $3 READING NOW
(141) Krakatoa by Simon Winchester $3
(142) The Chequebook and the Cruise-Missile by Arundhati Roy $3
(143) Granta: New Fiction Special (#106) $3
(144) Granta: Going Back (#111) $3
(145) Granta: The New Nature Writing (#102) $3
(146) Colony by Hugo Wilcken .33c
(147) Resilience by Anne Deveson .33c
(148) The Known World by Edward P Jones .33c
(149) Zoology by Ben Dolnick .33c
(150) The Caged Virgin by Ayaan Hersi Ali .33c
(151) How to Gaze at the Southern Stars by Richard Hall .33c
(152) Shipwrecks by Akira Yoshimura .33c
(153) The Mermaid and the Drunks by Ben Richards .33c
(154) A Recent Martyr by Valerie Martin .33c

SEPTEMBER:
(123) Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi $2
(124) Replay by Ken Grimwood $2
(125) Branded Nation, James B Twitchell $2
(126) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou $2
(127) Island by Aldous Huxley $2
(128) July's People by Nadine Gordimer $2
(129) A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan $2
(130) The Bridge by Iain Banks $2
(131) Dead Air by Iain Banks $2
(132) The Magician's Nephew by CS Lewis $2

AUGUST: looks like the worst, or best??, month for book-buying so far!
(120) The Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht .25c
(121) The Secret River by Kate Grenville .25c
(122) The Children of Men by PD James $1

JULY
(111) White Gold by Giles Milton (NNF) $1
(112) The Dangerous Book for Boys (NZ Edition) $2
(113) The Ghost Road by Pat Barker $7.99
(114) Bamboo Palace by Christopher Kremmer .50c
(115) Miramar Dog by Denis Edwards $2
(116) Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh .50c
(117) Beowolf translated by Seamus Heaney (free)
(118) Brick Lane, by Monica Ali .50c
(119) Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen $1 (new!)

JUNE
(102) Sum by David Eagleman $1
(103) Degrees for Everyone by Bob Jones $1
(104) The Calendar by David Ewing Duncan $2
(105) Apricots on the Nile by Colette Rossant $2
(106) Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys $5 (gave away)
(107) The Lord of the Rings- trilogy, by JRR Tolkein $2
(108) Double Vision by Pat Barker $2
(109) Black Holes and Baby Universes by Stephen Hawking $2
(110) Isaac's Storm, by Erik Larson $2

MAY
(89) The Rules of Engagement, by Anita Brookner .50c
(90) Lyrics 1964-2011, by Paul Simon, NEW! $21
(91) American Pastoral by Philip Roth $2
(92) The Other by David Guterson $2
(93) Closely Watched Trains by Bohumil Hrabal $2 (gave away)
(94) The Hours by Michael Cunningham $2
(95) Love and Other Impossible Pursuits by Ayelet Waldman 50c
(96) Where Angels Fear to Tread by EM Forster 50c
(97) The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James and $2
(98) The Waves by Virginia Woolfe $2
(99) American Gods by Neil Gaiman (free)
(100) From Oslo to Iraq and the Roadmap by Edward W Said (free)
(101) My Name is Asher Lev, by Chaim Potok

APRIL
(66) All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque $5
(67) What is the What by Dave Eggers $9
(68) The Unconscious Civilization by John Raulston Saul (NF) $8.30
(69) The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman $8.30
(70) Indignation by Philip Roth $8.30
(71) Songs of Enchantment by Ben Okri $8.50
(73) The Human Stain by Philip Roth $8.50
(74) How Late it was, How Late by James Kelman (Booker winner) $13.50 (most expensive 2nd hand book so far!)
(75) Sugar Street by Naguib Mahfouz $9
(76) Cosmopolis by Don DeLillo $9.50
(77) The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler $1
(78) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson .50c
(79) The Regeneration Trilogy by Pat Barker .50c (gave away)
(80) Sula by Toni Morrison .50c
(81) Arthur and George by Julian Barnes $3
(82) The Colour by Rose Tremain $3
(83) In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick $3
(84) Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott $3
(85) The Accidental by Ali Smith $3
(86) Falling Slowly by Anita Brookner $3
(87) Skios by Michael Frayn $3
(88) Our Kind of Traitor by John LeCarre $3

MARCH
(40) The Antelope Wife by Louise Erdrich $2
(41) Under the Clock, Tony Harrison .50c (poetry)
(42) Tales from the Arabian Nights .50c
(43) Time's Arrow, Martin Amis .33c
(44) Aleutian Sparrow, Karen Hesse .33c
(45) Looking for Lionel, Sharon Snir .50c
(46) March, Geraldine Brooks $2 (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
(47) Used and Rare, Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone (from mum)
(48) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
(49) The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey (shortlisted Orange Prize 2010) $6.33
(50) Kings of the Water by Mark Behr $6.33
(51) The Emigre by Joan Brady $6.33
(52) Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez $4
(53) The God Boy by Ian Cross $4
(54) The Lemur by Benjamin Black $1.75
(55) The Tale of Troy (Puffin Classic) $5.92
(56) Black Beauty (Puffin Classic) $5.92
(57) The Hound of the Baskervilles (Puffin Classic) $5.92
(58) The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker $12
(59) The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot and Jeffrey Archer $3
(60) In America by Susan Sontag $3
(61) The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon $3
(62) Starbook by Ben Okri $5
(63) Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel $4 DNF
(64) Anne of Avonlea a Puffin Classic edition $3
(65) How to Look at a Painting by Justin Paton $5

FEBRUARY
(21) Family Matters, Rohinton Mistry (Booker shortlist 2002) $4 (given away)
(22) Offshore, Penelope Fitzgerald (Booker winner 1979) $2
(23) Infinite Riches by Ben Okri $5
(24) Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach .50c
(25) Fosterling by Emma Neale .50c (got rid of)
(26) The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope $1
(27) An Uncommon Reader, Alan Bennett $1 (sold at market for $2)
(28) The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carre (Penguin Modern Classic) $4
(29) Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver $5
(30) Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (Puffin Classic series that I collect) $4
(31) The End of the Affair by Graham Greene $4
(32) The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce by Paul Torday $4
(33) Lord of the Flies by William Golding $5
(34) The Famished Road by Ben Okri (Booker winner 1991) $2
(35) Astonishing the Gods by Ben Okri $2
(36) Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner (Booker winner 1984) $2
(37) Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery $2
(38) The Time Machine, HG Wells $8
(39) The Red Pony, John Steinbeck $3

JANUARY
(1) The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai $4
(2) The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes $4
(3) The Quarry by Damon Galgut $4
(4) The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
(5) The Body Artist by Don Delillo $3
(6) Old Filth by Jane Gardham $4
(7) Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson $3
(8) Lemona's Tale by Ken Saro-Wiwa $3
(9) Life and Times of Michael K by JM Coetzee $4
(10) Dirt Music by Tim Winton $1
(11) Voss, by Patrick White .50c
(12) Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx .50c
(13) Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales $6
(14) What Katy Did, Susan Coolidge $6
(15) The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (as pressie) $3.63
(16) The Interrogator's War by Chris Mackey with Greg Miller (free)
(17) At One with the Sea by Naomi James (free)
(18) The Railway Children by E. Nesbit $4.95
(19) Kim by Rudyard Kipling $6.40
(20) The Swiss Family by Robinson, Johan Wyss $6.50

Currently Reading

This is where my review of The Piano Teacher was going to go, but my littlest angel is needing to get outside and enjoy the sunshine, and this review is not one that I can just bang out, as it were.
So- I'll be back!

What a lovely picture of your sister, Megan! I could not get myself into that position with a motorized derrick, so I salute her flexibility!

New thready goodness! Eager for review.

What Julia said. Happy new thread!

My goodness, that's a stunning picture! Sister has beautiful legs. And Happy New Thread! And looking forward to the *Piano Teacher* review.

BOOK 98
The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek

The piano teacher is Erika. She lives with her cold and controlling mother. Their relationship is dysfunctional, physically abusive and emotionally manipulative. It is also a co-dependent relationship and like nothing I have ever read or witnessed. But it does go a long way in explaining how there are some very messed up people out there.

Erika is and has been under her mothers control since childhood. Although she is now an adult and her mother elderly, Erika must be home on time and if out, will be phoned many times. Partly her mother does this to be sure of Erika's safety but mostly to assert her control over her daughter and to maintain ownership of her life. Erika's strict upbringing within a training regime to become a concert pianist is the guise under which this level of control has been allowed to escalate.

****spoilers from here****

When Erika finds a student has an interest in her, she sees an opportunity to explore the self-loathing (see quote) part of herself even more, and to see if her admirer will partake.

Rot between her legs, an unfeeling soft mass. Decay, putrescent lumps of organic material. No spring breezes awaken anything. It is a dull pile of petty wishes and mediocre desires, afraid of coming true. (p 197)

Unable to express herself other than through anger or pain, she makes this request by a lengthy and disturbingly specific letter. Klemmer, her much younger suitor, is thrilled by the chase, but has neither the emotional maturity to respond to her requests appropriately, nor the restraint to hold back his anger.

Klemmer feels superior to other night people, who are wandering along, holding some lady's hands. He feels superior to them because his anger is a lot hotter than the fire of love. (p 252)

The resulting fiasco is possibly the most intense and disturbing piece of writing I have read. The kinds of pain Erika wishes on herself is fairly revolting and I cant help but fear that some type of person reading it would use it as justification for physical attacks. Nevertheless, people use all sorts of ways to achieve sexual gratification in a consensual manner, and this part of the story was interesting for that aspect.

The narrative was so distinctive with every comment adding more and more to flesh out the character until you feel that you are bizarrely in the know with regards to their intentions and actions.

To finish, a quote from the introduction: "Anyone vaguely interested in the power of literature to make us think beyond cosy characters and conventional plotlines cannot fail to be stunned by her writing and her sensibly". Razia Iqbal
4.5 stars

>6 rosalita: Hi Julia!
My sister is a former gymnast, she even represented NZ! So her flexibility is ingrained, she has managed to control it somewhat with practicing yoga. She does splits 3 ways, and can pretty much fold herself in half.

>7 richardderus: Hi RD- review posted! Phew, that was some book. I see your name listed on the book page, does this mean you have read it?

>8 Crazymamie: hi Mamie, so you aren't that flexible? hehe, me neither. Actually my joints are quite mobile, bar all the joints I have had operations on, which is 3. Which makes me not that flexible afterall ;)

>9 LizzieD: Hi Peggy- the beautiful legs came with much yoga practice and weight loss accelerated by the anxiety of standing in front of a class full of yoga students and having to direct their movements safely for an hour.
I think I'll stick to being amongst the class rather than in front of it.

Happy new thread, last one of 2013 : ). SO impressed with your sister's yoga and flexibility, Megan!

Hi Nancy- she is one bendy pretzel, indeed :)
I was in one of her classes not long ago, and she was demonstrating a pose called pachimottanasana.....where you sit with your legs out in front of you and fold your torso forward toward/onto your legs. She said "you get to a point where it is hard to go any further, for me it is *here*. So that is where you stop and just hang your head down".
I thought to myself...*here*? really? When I asked her about it after she said she didn't want to just fold completely in half is it can intimidate some yogis! haha. She was trying to teach restraint, but her own flexibility prevented her!

Intimidation, indeed! I'm intimidated just by the story, Megan! :) What a fantastic picture of your sister ~~ such a gorgeous pose & stunning background!

Now, when do we get a picture of you in the new green dress??

I'm a bit scared by the review of The Piano Teacher... It sounds unsettling!

I have indeed read The Piano Teacher.

Hi Megan- Congrats on the new thread! Your sister has nice form. Great photo. And great review of The Piano Teacher. Sounds dark & twisted. My kinda book, eh?

Great photo of your sister....the sunrise ain't half bad either ;)

The Piano Teacher sounds quite disturbing and probably not my cup of tea. However, your review was very well-written!

Tina: the new green dress might get its first outing this evening! I am not sure if there will be a photo of it though :) I am heading out with my mum to an art talk....or something. I heard art, saw the venue, and that there would be nibbles, so agreed to go.

RD: I saw the film version of it at Alice in Videoland (a very very cool DVD hire place that has all sorts of foreign and arthouse movies) last night. I will not be getting it out.
This is the website. They also have a teeny tiny cinema, where I went last night to see 20 Feet from Stardom- a brilliant documentary about backup singers.

Mark: Dark. Indeed. But also Nobel winning- so sanctioned. haha. I think I might have given it 5 stars, if not for the high ick factor of the sexual violence.
The more I hear about it possibly being autobiographical, the more disturbed I become, actually. I liked it more when it was pure fiction.

Cobscook: hi- yea! The sunrise ain't bad at all is it? :)
Thanks for reading my review, I have been slack with reviews lately, but thought this one deserved a bit more effort.

Very well-written review, Megan. I actually looked to see if the library had that one available as an e-book and I found a book called The Piano Teacher but it was not that one. How very odd that there would be two books with that title!

Yes, there seem to be a few "The Piano Teacher"s out there :) It looks like three at least.
You would certainly get a shock if you were expecting a quiet story of music and melody...and you got sadomasochism!

Gorgeous photo. Wow.
Happy new thread!

What a beautiful photo and how faboo your sister looks against that sunrise. I used to be uber bendy and foldy but those days are long gone. I am now decidedly unbendable. Am thinking of Tai Chi or yoga as an antidote to this whole aging thing.

Meagan...What a lovely opening photo!

I have just now purchased The Piano Teacher, despite all the library books I have sitting on my nightstand. Thanks a lot.

How is your summer?

Cripes- I have been away too long! And now I am away for a long weekend, and didn't even have the courtesy to advise my LT friends. Terrible form on my part :)

So we are in Arrowtown, close to Queenstown, at my brothers place, for a memorial dinner to remember my grandfather. It took us 6 or 7 hours to get here by car, including a stop in Tekapo to swim at the hot pools. Delicious.

Jenn: I think so to! She has a lot of photos of yoga poses on instagram, under "the Yoga Club", I think.

Tui: I was always bendy in places but not in my joints that have since been operated on :) So all up, semi-flexi! But since I am nearing 40 I can hear myself making those noises you make when you get up from chairs....not to mention what kind of noises are needed to get me up off the floor!

Linda: hello! It is beautiful isnt it? It makes me want to roll off a few yoga poses of my own, but only if there is a sunrise or sunset to go with it :)

Luxx: ooops, sorry about that? I mean, you'll thank me later. Summer is grand so far, a really warn day travelling down here to my brother's place today. And a few more in the mid 20 degrees zone. The trees have burst with their lovely light green leaves and all is lovely- apart form the early morning birds waking the kids too early ;)

Megan! Visas! They are on their way. So ready to get to NZ and get settled!

Wow, Megan, I'm very impressed by your sister's pose!

And I think The Piano Teacher looks excellent. Disturbing, but excellent. Nice review!!

Megan, if you're not going to be forthcoming about your travel plans we may need to implant a GPS chip so your LT pals know where you are at all times. I've heard they hardly hurt at all. ;-)

No!!!! Tekapo, Arrowtown, Queenstown. I'm off to the mirror to wipe all the green off my face. Have a lovely weekend.

29 > Hahahaha!

*traipsing through trailing smooches*

Hey there, Megan!
It sounds like you are having a lovely time :)

The opening picture is just too awesome! Is that what sunrise looks like?

The opening book review was very helpful - I don't have to add to my WL!
eeeeooooo!

Enjoy those light green leaves.

Jenn: yippee- you are on your way to becoming a NZer! Good for you, and good for us too :)

Ellen: yes! I think disturbing but excellent is a good description of the book. I really did enjoy it...with a fascination in my being able to observe this life I was reading about.

Julia: GPS chip....could be useful! I could log on to LT remotely from everywhere and state my location. hehe, that would be a keen LibraryThinger!!

Paul: Once again, I can state that the journey and destination were utterly wonderful. But that the return journey was fractious with toddler frustrations.
*yikes*
We have had a few long car trips in recent months. They are not really getting any easier for Little Lenny!

Alex: mm hmm, our Paul is quite the green monster when it comes to Tekapo- I think his visit there ruined him for any other destination. At least I hope so!

RD: *wandering about collecting smooches in basket to save for later*

Cee: I see you found me out! I loved choosing books for you, and wrapping them, and sending them, and anticipating a book from my shelf now living upon yours. :)
Enjoy!

Me to Lenny: Hello beautiful little boy, what's your name?
Lenny: Um, 68 please?
Me: *shakes head and thanks goodness the answer is at least now not HELEN*

We are back, we are tired, we are Latvian-fooded to the gills and we had a great family sendoff for my Grandfather.
Food:
Pork casserole (with cumin and creme fraiche)
Sauerkraut (with bacon and onion)
Rye bread (dark)
Bacon rolls
Christmas biscuits (spicy)
Potato casserole
Cucumber dill salad
Pickled cucumbers
Pastries
Beer/wine/cocktails
I'll track down a photo asap as the Latvian flag was even draped in the background.
:)

68. Interesting answer.

Hi Megan- Sounds like you had a nice time at your brother's. I know we both like dark books, so you might like Night Film. I still have a long way to go but it might just be your cuppa.
Hope you are having a great weekend. Go Lenny! LOL.

>34 LovingLit: I like Lenny's answer; always keep 'em guessing.

Oh that feast sounds *nummers*! Lenny is, of course, a future member of the Monty Python Revival team.

I like Lenny's answer, too. LOL.

Feast sounds fabulous, Megan! Glad you are home safely and contentedly Latvian-fooded.

Ellen: interesting, yes. Lenny has turned out to be the character of the family. My sister likes to tell the story of how when he could barely talk, he would announce to the world every time he turned a corner. By yelling out "corner!" every time he turned one.

Mark: thanks for the rec- I shall check out the book page and proceed to curse you if I end up starting it before finishing one of the 6 I am still reading :)

Darryl: I am not sure he could pass for 68.....what with being only 2. But seeing as Wilbur's fish count from last month has gone from 1 (the true number of fish he caught), beyond 2, to 3....I think I have a family of tall tale tellers!

RD: food nummers. Num num nummers.
Also nice to have the family together and my dad saying nice things about us all to all our faces at the dinner table. For a traditionally unemotional family this is a huge step- and one I like.

Nancy: they were right when they said that kids say the funniest things. (whoever they are....)
That was a rather long long weekend for us. A lot of driving with toddlers is not something I would normally be in for- but we made it!

BOOK 99
Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald

I can't say I was impressed by this book. Bewildered maybe, but little more than that.

The story centers around Nenna, a separated mother of two girls, who lives on a small house boat on the Thames with her daughters. I wasn't sure she was the main character until over half way through this short novel though, such is the level of noise and confusion with other people in the novel. I suppose in this way the writing mirrors the lives of the assortment of river-dwellers, but I cant help thinking this is accidental rather than intentional on the part of the author.

I suppose you could say that the lives of the characters are described as the story unfolds, but not in a way which made me at all interested in them. This had the unfortunate consequence of making a 140 page book seem 540 pages long. There were probably 2 passages that I read again on account of being impressed by the combination of words, but I need way more than that from my Booker Prize winning books, thank you very much. 1.5 stars.

Stunning photo of your sister! Wow!

Beautiful photo, beautiful reviews... and beautiful posts. Status quo here :)
Funny about the zither :)

Saving myself a spot in your new thread...sorry to be so behind :(

Hi Megan. What a fabulous shot of your very flexible sister. And what a card that Lenny is. I think Penelope Fitzgerald is an acquired taste but I've only read a couple of hers. The Piano Teacher however, has landed atop my teetering tower.

Kath: wow, I know- she is a flexible woman, I remember her as a high school student sitting in center splits (you know, facing straight ahead, one leg to the left, and one the exact opposite direction) to do her homework.

Bonnie: Lenny is working how to work a crowd, I think. People other than myself continue to laugh at what he says/does, so he amps it up. I have to admit though, it is funny most of the time.
Glad I snagged another reader for The Piano Teacher :)

"...he would announce to the world every time he turned a corner. By yelling out "corner!" every time he turned one."
You know, I think he may be onto something there. Life philosophy from the perspective of a toddler. Life is full of corners, how much better would things go if we announced to those around us when we were heading into one.....??!!

I'm glad your Monday has been relatively painless, Megan!

Hi Megan, thanks for your lovely message my dear, it has meant a lot. Hope everything is good with you and yours.

Happy Tuesday, my Kiwi-arincess pal.

Ellen: that is a great idea, and then we could all just flop down on to the floor when we were frustrated and have a tantrum too. I have often felt like doing that.
Monday was rounded off by an early night in bed with my book- hoorah! I read Stonefish by Keri Hulme, a collection of short stories and poetry.

John: no problems at all. Me and mine are good, Wilbur is performing in his school production this afternoon. His class is doing the song "Hey Mickey" and I have been lucky enough to be getting sneak previews of the dance moves :)

RD: cheers! The outlook for Tuesday? Your guess is as good as mine, but from this desk it looks cloudy. I shall attend aforementioned childs production at school and do housely things like dinner, lunch, washing and tidying.
*sigh*
I have post holiday comedown.

Mr Wilbur's school production went very well. His Grandad was able to come which was wonderful (he got a huge hug in the classroom at pick up time- I love to see a kid loving his grandad). Wilbur proclaimed the experience of performing "extra double good". I have no idea where he got this phrasing from, I am pretty sure I have never read him 1984, but he often describes things as extra-double______. Maybe he is transposing from me and his dad, who jokingly describe things as mega-upload _______ (after the ridiculous Kim Dotcom company currently being investigated by the FBI).

So- off to bed to read Stonefish- it is proving to be in the style of The Bone People, which is to say utterly innovative and brilliant.

One of these centuries I will read The Bone People - and then track down a copy of Stonefish :)

Hooray for a successful school production for Wilbur. I bet Grandad loved his huge hug too. My niece has taken to saying "You betcha-catcha" ... nobody knows where she picked this up from.

Happy Wednesday! *smooch* As Flies to Whatless Boys is outstandingly good, not that you'll read my review or anything. *lipquiver* But it really, really is!

What Stasia said — I keep hearing about "The Bone People" everywhere I go, and how I haven't broken down and read it by now is a mystery.

Extra double good morning, Megan : ). I love to see children hugging their grandparents, too.

Hi Stasia! I know you will one day too. I hope you like it, I always feel a bit invested in NZ books.

Caro- lol- there was a band in NZ called Betchadupa- it just sounds good. Kids seem to latch onto things that roll off the tongue easily. I remember announcing that Wilbur had called the kitchen tongs "snippy-pickers", we still call them that now!

RD- I will make reading your review a priority, honest :)

Julia - I hope you are one that loves The Bone People. It does tend to polarise people. If you are interested only in stories with a linear plot, then maybe you should steer clear?

Hi Nancy, extra double good afternoon to you! :)
Wilbur was fairly reserved in terms of hugs and cuddles with people until he neared 5, Lenny would hug a stranger with no problems. My parents love that they now have 2 cuddly grandsons.

The Bone People is on my list for 2014.

Ellen, this is good news.
It took my dad 3 goes to "get into it", but I knocked it off in my first try ;)

Well, I have to admit I do prefer books that are a little more, straightforward shall we say? But often knowing that a book is unusual before I start reading it helps me get into the swing of it. So I'll have to give it a try and see.

Julia- I am mostly/sometimes OK with odd writing. I have found Salman Rushdie somewhat kooky, and looking over my shelves now The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian, Red Earth Pouring Rain by Vikram Chandra, Janet Frame and of course Keri Hulme have been different novels/novelists to read. But (bar Soul Mountain) I have loved them all. I reckon if you can let the weird stuff wash over you without being concerned about understanding it each word at a time, you sometimes find it gets in your head and stays there.
Wine can help with this :)

Just listening to The Lemonheads, a blast from the past. Well, actually Evan Dando. Man did I used to love the Lemonheads, I saw them once, and him once. Both were amazing concerts, and very (surprisingly) small. My Drug Buddy is a gorgeous song, not sure about the message though...

#59, after reading Satanic Verses I swore I would never, ever read Salman Rushdie again.

Megan, I did read and love "The God of Small Things" a few years ago, so perhaps there's hope for me yet. Your advice is good — let it all wash over you and see what get stuck. No wine in the house at present, but I suspect that bottle of good bourbon in the cupboard could also be useful in that regard. :-)

#41 - Oh, my. That sounds like a mess. It's still sitting securely in my little TBR pile though, so I'll give it a try eventually. Mostly due to my Booker project. Sigh.

#60 - We have a good friend with a lifelong Lemonheads/Evan Dando obsession (like he should probably get some help. Ha!). Any time Evan Dando is at any sort of street fest or whatever, that guy is there, getting stuff signed, etc. Respect though.

Hi Megan. I might be like your dad. I gave The Bone People at least one try about 12 years ago and then it sat on my shelves forever. I finally got rid of it but purchased a lovely deckle-edged edition this summer. So many people whose opinions I trust say it's wonderful!

>61 AuntieClio: haha. I have never read that one! Only Midnight's Children- which, although hard, was so rewarding.

>62 rosalita: yeah, the only time I would recommend drinking and reading is when you get those ethereal/out there/evocative type groupings of words.
Mostly if I read after more than one glass of wine, I cant concentrate on the meaning, so if the meaning is already skew-whiff then I figure I'll do OK :)

>63 DorsVenabili: I too have a Booker project, Kerri. Which is why I read it. I was annoyed by it, but others weren't. (this isn't helping is it!). Anyway, at least it is short.
I wouldn't call myself a fanatic fan! There isn't much opportunity for following a star about here in NZ ;)

>64 EBT1002: I remember you purchasing the deckle-edged edition, Ellen. Is is the one with the black and white cover? My dad collects editions of the book, seeing as he knows the author personally now. He would never dare ask her to sign one though, as he knows she is not into that.

#65 - Ha! Oh, to clarify (perhaps something I should attempt more often), I wasn't comparing you to my crazy friend. It was just the first Evan Dando anecdote that popped into my head. I have faith that you are much less rabid. :-)

He can't be that crazy if he is a friend of yours :)
I don't think I have any Evan Dando Anecdotes *thinking thinking*
Nope.
I was rather thinking when I saw him perform in Perth Australia in 2001, 2002, 2003 or 2004 (yes, that is how good my memory is), that he seemed rather down, to the point of depressed/suicidal. Maybe that is just his demeanour, as when I saw him a few years later in my home town...he seemed only slightly more upbeat.

I think at some point in there, he was a heroin addict, so that might explain a lot. Wow. This is the most I've talked about Evan Dando...like ever. :-)

Hello Megan - quick drive-by here - loving the Lenny anecdotes. So busy at work these days....Roll on Christmas!

deleted duplicate message. Woopsie!

Kerri: haha, me too! Although I did once buy a heavily discounted picture book of him for a friend. On account of it being heavily discounted.

Prue: thanks for bumping up my stats ;)
Busy Decembers are a drain.....they put so much pressure on Xmas to be good/relaxing/the answer. It is a modern problem....
My mum says we used to go away the week before Xmas with another family (just mums and kids) and that it was a great way to escape the hubbub. I do declare I agree with her on that idea!

Stopping by to say hello and see what the Megan-ites are up to :)

I think your mum is very wise.. I think that is a great Xmas tradition... family going away and just being!

I'm glad Wilbur's school production went off so well. My daughter's Holiday concert was last night....you've never seen anything as miserable as 12 and 13 year olds being forced to stand in front of a crowd and sing a Christmas carol! But the little ones were totally adorable!

Kath- Christmas is so consumption focussed, the roads and shops are clogged with grouchy people and the kids whine about wanting things all the time. I dont like taking them to the supermarket at the best of times, and especially not now when there are kids toys for sale too....I guess I am a born hermit!

Heidi- for a minute there I thought your daughter was called Holiday :)
My niece had her concert as a matinee and as an evening show, she was only 6 and found it pretty tiring. I wasn't sure it as necessary to get the junior junior kids up that late. Lucky ours was a day time one, and it was packed so that was lovely.

shops are clogged with grouchy people and the kids whine about wanting things all the time.

Absolutely! Takes away that feeling of Christmas that I love, so I stay away from the malls in the last 2 run up weeks to Christmas.

Me too Megan... A Born Hermit.

Caro- I got the chance to dash to the shops this morning (with Lenny in tow, on the bus for extra excitement on his part) and I happened upon a discounted but NEW copy of Booker Prize winning author Eleanor Catton's first book, The Rehearsal. So I got it. Half cos it was so pretty, half cos it was so discounted, and half to make up for buying her other one online- which equals one and a half times the excitement.

Kath- I think I would be quite happy living in a cabin in the woods alone, so long as I had books and coffee and some sweets :)

Hi Megan- Still chattering about the Lemonheads? I thought they were okay. I liked their cover of Mrs. Robinson.
Reading anything good?

Hi Mark!
Just finished Stonefish today. So still reading On Equilibrium, a Granta issue, How to make Gravy, The Scarlet Letter and the collection of American short stories....and thinking about starting something new instead of finishing the piles I am already reading. haha, so like me.

Eta: re the Lemonheads cover of Mrs Robinson, its about the only one of theirs I didn't like. It was so unlike the *perfect* original, you see. But I did like that it brought more people to Simon and Garfunkel :)

Wow, you have a nice variety going! I admire that. I think I heard the Mrs. Robinson cover so many times, it grew on me.

All this talk of Lemonheads might search out their albums or should i say cassette tapes .... yes I am that old!

Mark: my variety is born of my desire to get a good read- I was trying everything ;)
I wondered if I should "save" The Scarlet Letter for my summer holidays, camping. It is a really small edition, so would pack well.

Alex: we still have a box of tapes in the garage, and use them when out there or to play when we have outside BBQs. It's fun, and I like the way you have to go and turn the tape over, haha.

BOOK 100
Stonefish by Keri Hulme

If you like your fiction straightforward and obvious, then this book is not for you. It is a collection of short stories, observations and poetry that is based in mysticism, that alludes to occurrences and that leaves you with impressions rather than facts. It is also fun in places, clever all over and intriguing throughout. I get the feeling that Hulme loves language and loves playing with it.

A few stories stood out:
Getting It
A city council is in session to hear submissions from interested parties regarding a development in a coastal region. The usual suspects object, and also some local spirits- one with demonic "wholly red" eyes and nails, another who is 2.5 metres tall and covered in red hair. Naturally, they hold the audiences attention, but they also have some warnings for those who wish to mess with sacred land.

Sometimes I Dream I am Driving
A story true to its title it describes dreams of driving, but is interlaced with what reads like real memories of car trips, childhood anecdotes and familiar landmarks like the Rakaia Bridge, "all nine-eighths of a mile of it". A short story that holds a lot of history.

Hinekaro Goes on a Picnic and Blows Up Another Obelisk
This made no sense to me at all, and is memorable for that reason. I took my own advice and read it again after a few wines which, unfortunately, did not help. Parts of this story read like a newspaper and a science fiction novel have had all their words cut out, and been mixed up in an air forced Lotto ball mixing machine and then thrown onto a page to be recorded where they fell. Kooky- maybe it was written under the influence of peyote, who knows.

Some Foods You Should Try Not To Encounter
A section whereby various foods are ascribed characteristics and personalities which make you laugh. The "Extremely Pickled Onion" made me laugh the most, and the "Quiet Blue Chilli" ("this one is not a skite"- like all those bright red ones) came a close second.

A strong love of the land comes through the stories and there is a dystopian bent to some of them. I found myself a tad bewildered nearing the end of the collection, perhaps more a case of consuming too much at once than of the material. But overall I loved the places these words took me. 4.5 stars.

PS BOOK 100!

Book 100? YAY!

Congratulations on hitting 100 books for the year, Megan!

#83 - Great review! I hope to find a copy of this, but it's a bit rare. I think I may have already mentioned this, but I have another collection of hers on the TBR pile called Te Kaihau/the Windeater. I think it intimidates me a bit, but now I'm motivated to give it a try.

Congrats on 100!

Congrats on No. 100, Megan! Well done, you.

Woot! 100!!! You go, girl!

Congrats on hitting 100 for the year! Woot!

Congratulations on Book 100, Megan! Sounds like an intriguing one, too. I love the idea of demonic spirits showing up to have their turn at the city council meeting, and your seeing whether a re-read after a few wines would help with another. I like trying unusual books like this one. Sum: Forty Tales and 420 Characters were a bit like that for me, although both sound more straightforward than this one.

Congratulations on reading 100 books Megan! I think I'd like to read The Bone People one day, will bear in mind your comments.

Stephanie, Stasia: thanks! *proud*

Kerri: I have Te Kaihau/the Windeater on my shelves too, but have not read it yet. I will give myself a little break first from the style, and go for it within the next few months.

Julia, Nancy, Heidi: thanks! I cant believe I have broken triple figures :)

Joe: I like trying unusual books
I am usually confined to my favourite genres, fantasy not being one of them! But somehow I made an exception, I guess this is a good thing about fancy literary prizes, they make you discover authors you might not otherwise read.

Heather: thanks- it's a good feeling. As is reading the Bone People :)

Woohoo! And it was one you liked, even!

Congrats on reaching the mystical 100 .... with a mystical book too!

Well done Megan on reaching the century mark.

100! I'm about to crack it too... :)

Nearly there with the cleaning up of my dregs.....

RD: thanks for the fireworks! Did you know about my irrational fear of unannounced loud noises?
*ducks*

Alex: It was mystical, that one. That is probably the best way to describe it actually, that or fantasy. Oh, and thanks!

John: thanks you very much *bows*

Jim: you can do it! I have to say, it helps to have a stack of half-read books that you are working on finishing off (see the above picture)

#65 - "I remember you purchasing the deckle-edged edition, Ellen. Is is the one with the black and white cover?"
Yep. It's quite nice. Even if I did see the same edition on the sale table just a couple of weeks ago. Sigh.

CONGRATS ON 100!!!!!!!

Ah, the beauty of *virtual* fireworks then!

Well done Megan, and you did state that you would never beat last years total......didn't take long did it?

I trust that the weekend continues to be "extra double good". xx

By the way I had a chuckle at your 1.5 stars for Offshore. I didn't hate it quite as much as you (there wasn't enough of it to hate so much) but when I finished it I did ponder "how the hell did that win the Booker prize?"

Ellen: ack, curse the shop that discounts the book just after you have bought it. I love those new Penguin editions though, they are Penguin I think?

RD: yee hee, virtual it is then, all the way. My *cat* will be pleased too then. I know you are keen to please my cat ;)

Paul: I remember at the end of last year I tallied and found an extra few books to add to the total, which took me to 98. I was pretty happy about that.

Mark: you knew! I have finished an additional 2 since cracking the hundy, and it's in your cartoon ;)
Thank you.

Congrats on #100+ :) I might tackle Stonefish just for Some Foods You Should Try Not To Encounter. Great review.

I agree with you on the Christmas spirit getting drained out of you by the shopping. The last few years we have instituted a new system in our family. 1. Something you want 2. Something you need 3. Something to wear 4. Something to read. It's working great. We also opt to reduce the items further if the something they want is very expensive. I hate that Christmas is so consumer oriented. I want it to be about family and so relaxing. I want to get the kids to save up during the year to donate to a charity or something, but I also wonder if the donations might be more useful in the middle of the year...
This year, it will be even less. It will be something we either need or want to carry in our luggage on our flight to NZ - and a trip to Disneyland with our cousins (which will be quite expensive enough as it is). That's it.

Some Foods You Should Try Not To Encounter is very good. And very short, also, so I really could just write it all here. But I am not sure that is legal ;)

I love your Christmas present giving guide! And that you each get 4 gifts is all the cooler. We have stockings for the kiddos (W was skeptical since he could talk about Father Christmas, so it is symbolic mainly). And a "big" gift for each kid- but by big I mean $20 or $30 worth (or in Lenny's case this year $7.50 worth).

Disneyland sounds awesome! I was lucky enough to go when I was 7 and still remember it really really well. It was so so exciting as a kid.

I am with you on the shopping Megan. You have a very smart approach to gift buying. My kids always got books for any and every gifting occasion when they were little... but we didn't have such a great system for other gifts. You are a very smart young lady. We did limit gifts and give things you need, too.. but it wasn't a quite your system. I wish it had been!

Disneyland sounds like a great idea! Did I miss that? Which and when?

Megan, congratulations on reading 100 books! With two young children that is quite amazing. I think a Christmas getaway would be pretty amazing, too. I long for a cabin in the mountains of Colorado. *sigh* We mainly buy for the children in the family because those are the fun gifts to shop for. I tend to be heavy on books and craft items and toys that have lasting value (like Legos) instead of the toys based on movies, etc. that will be out of vogue when the next movie comes out. Our Christmas Day will be quiet this year as we are celebrating next week end. I hope the weather cooperates so we can head out to Colorado to see our newest grandchild. That will be my best Christmas gift!

Kath You are a very smart young lady.
I am actually just a cheapskate who hates to see waste :) But thank you so much for the compliment!
Disneyland is Jenn (message 104) and her kids, but I got to go when I was 7.....on the west coast of the U.S.. I got Snow White's autograph which made me very happy at the time :)

Donna: i hope you get to meet your newest grandchild! Hope, isn't it? That would be a fantastic Christmas gift.
I love your gift giving strategies too....when Wilbur was born 5 years ago, I considered asking that no one give him plastic toys, or DVDs- ever, but thought people would think I was weird. Now I have relaxed my attitude a bit on that. We even own some kids dvds that we bought ourselves ;)

oops! Sorry, that's what I get for skimming.. Glad you did go to DL tho!

Still. I stand by the you are a really good mom who has priorities sorted. Not the most common thing these days. Donna, too! I hate the tv show based gift thingies. My nephlets are immersed in Octonaut stuff, and I can't keep it straight. I did buy Little O some Mickey Mouse things.. books and a toy. So there is that out the window. I am also with Donna when it comes to .. we buy mostly for the kids. It IS fun.

Kath, I think you can get away with Mickey Mouse things, he has been around for nearly 100 years now, so there is a certain about of staying power with him.
Wilbue really wanted a Buzz Lightyear thingy (a foot tall and $100 worth....) but I refused based on the cost but mainly the principle. Plus, he ended up finding a small version at the op shop and was really pleased with that.
I would never let the kids loose in a toy shop as it is just too much temptation.

It is so nice to make Christmas about family and fun, but they always remember the presents first!

-----------------***--------***---------***--------------

Neither my own purchases NOR my LT Christmas book swap book have arrived yet from Book Depo. I still hold out hope for them, and am not giving up!
C'mon Rudolf! Get those legs working (wings?) and pronto ;)

I'm still waiting for my Christmas Swap books too Megan. A bit late but Congrats on surpassing 100 books.

(((((Megan)))))) Big congratulatory hugs on reaching 100 books!!! Yay for you!!! I am hoping I can reach it by year's end, so you're my new hero!! :)

Rudolf is waiting for his ** ahem** driver to recover from inhaling beverages all night .....

100!!! 100!! Congratulation, you! On the Christmas gift front, we only buy for people there on the day and gifts can only be either purchased from the Op shop (Goodwill?) or be re-gifts or otherwise recycled items (in other words Stuff From Our Cupboards). As I found some fantastic $5 book bargains - NEW! - at the discount Book Shop, I pretty much got something for everyone from there. And I figure that $5 is in the Op Shop range. Unfortunately it will be an adults-mostly Christmas Day - only child will be a 12 year-old boy. But my mum used to love buying small things for Lucy when she was little! Currently I'm reading - and loving - Old Filth. Perfect book for me at the moment!

Bonnie: so I am not the only one to be left checking the mailbox in vain four times a day? ;) Seriously, I do that.

Tina: thanks! I always wanted to be a hero :)
I hope you can reach your target too- I am thinking to bookhorn in a few little ones.

Alex: uh oh, Santa got drunk!? Naughty Santa.

Prue: gifts can only be either purchased from the Op shop (Goodwill?) or be re-gifts or otherwise recycled items (in other words Stuff From Our Cupboards)
I would LOVE to start something like that. But I fear I would be laughed at my by in-laws. They would think that was crazy and use it as evidence of the hard-core environmentalism they think I subscribe to just because I recycle ;)

I got my Christmas swap book!
Train Dreams- a long-wanted edition is now in my hot little hands, and about to be in my Christmas camping suitcase. Thanks Suz!!

This beautiful book leapt off the shelf at me and tackled me to the floor. Naturally I had to check it out, and now I want to buy it. Portrait of a House by photographer Simon Devitt is a gorgeous coffee table book with some text, and would make my house so much more habitable if it were here...all the time.... *sigh*



A couple of images taken from the authors website (www.simondevitt.com):


This book has my name written all over it and I am wondering if EQC (the Earthquake Commission) would mind if I spent my house repair money on this book instead of on Selly's No More Gaps ;)

Enjoy Train Dreams, Megan. It's a good one.

Ellen- I intend to fully enjoy Train Dreams. Really, I am excited about starting it already.
Also arriving in today's post were the two books I ordered from the Book Depo on their 25 hour sale, it just so happened that the first 2 books I saw featured were ones I wanted. And to think I almost didn't get them as there were still so many featured books to come in the sale! *lesson learned*
I got Mind the Child and The Great Degeneration which are both lovely looking. When it rains new books, it pours!

Recycling = Hard-core environmentalism - too funny I love it !

If you bought the book, it would fill a gap of sorts, the one where it isn't in your house. Right?

Hi Megan- Congrats on snagging Train Dreams. It's a gorgeous book. My only problem with it, is it's length. It's over far to soon.

Alex: tell me about it. They are seriously conservative in their approach to life and see me as a radical. Don't get them started on the fact that I haven't even married their elder son.....

Kath: well, you do have a point! I have been looking at it again since I posted, coming up is a photo of one of the spreads that I love.

Mark: It is disappointing to finish a book that is small but great isn't it? That is one of the benefits of the chunkster, the experience lasts and lasts and lasts.
I gave my other train related book (Closely Watched Trains) away to a friend whose stage name is Stanier-Black Five, (apparetnly a type of train) as I figured trains in literature don't come up all that often!

More from the gorgeous book, Portrait of a House by Simon Devitt

Ooo! That *is* a beauty.

Hi RD! You mean the book, or that bottom picture, I would like to read lying on a day bed up on that mezzanine floor. How cool its that? (I am sure it is illegal to have no balustrade to protect you from falls, when I have one, I will have to warn people or at least not allow drunk people up there!)

I meant the book, but yes indeed that's a space I'd love to have in my home. Oh heck yeah.

Book is NZ$90, I checked. But postage from NZ to the US is probably near that as well, so...meh.
Re: the space? Who says you can't have a freestanding non-used fire place with magnificent mantelpiece in the middle of your room? haha, breaking architectural rules- what fun.

Check this out for breaking the rules .. a hanging bed in a small apartment ..what a great idea.



http://theultralinx.com/2013/09/hanging-bed-great-save-space-tiny-apartment.html

Maybe the photo is deceptive, but that doesn't look like an especially tiny apartment to me. Cool, though.

#130 Just what I was thinking! Seen FAR smaller in my day. My bro in law had one with an especially scabby shared bathroom (Ick).

Hope you are enjoying the Christmas run up with the boys Megan - has Wilbur finished term yet? Sorry if that's a defunct Q and I've been lurky-scanning again...

Caro- I like that idea! THat photos looks like it might be the whole apartment, seeing as the bath is just there. cool!

RD: Beds are just so big.....hanging it from the ceiling is a cool idea. I wanted to get us a raised bed, with hanging clothes space under, or for drawers. Instead we got one for Wilbur :) He has a hidey hole under it, and it is super cool.

Bekka: school finishes tomorrow (Friday) for the summer. And we go camping! Yay. I am really looking forward to it and had a brainwave last night that if I empty out the toy box (an old travellers chest) we can fill it with camping gear to take up there with us, and them when empty it will be a great table!

Books II have recently finished and have yet to review:

101. The New Penguin Book of American Short Stories: from Washington Irving to Lydia Dawson (short stories)
102. Granta: New Fiction Special (#106)
103. Train Dreams, Denis Johnson (novella)
104. Mind the Child by Camila Batmanghelidjh

Numbers 103/104 (my Xmas swap present and my Book Depo present to self) I read last night, from 7.45pm to 11.20pm. Straight.

Now that is what I call a great night in!

#124 - Very interesting.

Hi Ellen- I think so too. If I was a photographer, I would take photos like that.


Book 103
Train Dreams by Denis Johnson (much appreciated Christmas Book Swap book from Chatterbox/Suzanne)

I really was going to save this to open for Christmas, and after I opened it I really was going to take it with me to read on holiday. And then I suddenly though, hey- its a novella, I can bang this out tonight if I want to. So I did.

I ran a bath, got in and read until the water became uncomfortably cool, then washed myself hurriedly so as not to miss out on reading time unnecessarily, got out and read the rest snuggled up in bed. It was a wonderful experience.

There is not much I can say about the book that has not already been said, but if I had to choose some words to describe it, they would be: calm, unpretentious, laconic, unhurried, beautiful. And so, so worth reading! 4.5 stars.

BOOK 104
Mind the Child by Camila Batmanghelidjh

Penguin published a series of small books linked to each of the London Underground train lines. This book is representing the Victoria Line, and the author has linked the train line and its movement through London to the lives of children living in London who are neglected, abused or uncared for by their parents. The 'underground' nature of these kids' lives is that they are unseen by policy makers, social services and by a lot of society.

Camila Batmanghelidjh's role within charity the Kids Company gives her a window into lives that she would have never seen otherwise. Drug addicts who have children they cannot provide for, abusive parents, alcoholics. Kids who end up on the streets grow up knowing no love, only hunger and fear. It makes for very sad reading. But this is a book which should be read because it lets you in on what is really happening for a generation of people growing up with no plans for themselves but survival on the streets of London.

The author does not excuse the anti social behaviour of these youths, but does go a long way in explaining it. And if you want something changed, knowing about it is a good place to start. It seems fairly obvious to me that seriously attempting to curb drug and alcohol addictions would be the key to breaking the abuse and neglect cycle. One thing almost all the kids featured in the book have in common, is addicted parents. 4 stars

129 > WANT!

Alex- I get you. It is cool ay? I was trying to tell my lovely other about it last night, and my powers of description were not up to the task :(
I will just have to drag him to the computer and show him!

Megan- I am so glad you loved Train Dreams. I agree it's a gem. I NEED to get to tree of Smoke, which I've had on shelf forever.

Oh man, he's got a huge back catalogue I suppose. Which means I need to read them all. Yikes.
*off to see just how many books Denis Johnson has written*

Today's project? Making Latvian Christmas biscuits (3rd batch), and compiling these gems.....mini Christmas puddings. THey are made from Mallowpuffs, white chocolate, and two NZ lolly favourites- jaffas and mint leaves. YUM!

I'm salivating ... well done, Megan!

Nancy- they are so yummy, and way better than real Xmas pud.
This photo is from last year (or the year before!?) but I am doing the same as soon as I go get the mallowpuffs and white chocolate. Which is now :)

The mint leaves look yum! "Mallow" usually means "marshmallow" and that's never a good thing to me. But they're so festive I can hardly stand it! What's a "jaffa"? Google only tells me about the port city.

RD: What's a "jaffa"? Google only tells me about the port city.
LOL
That would be Just Another F'ing Aucklander? (I would never say that....just so you know)
A Jaffa is a chocolate ball covered in a candy shell, and tastes of orange and chocolate all in one delicious bundle. Their sister treat, the Snifter, was discontinued a few years ago, in spite of being considered a NZ favourite. Both came in boxes and were ceremoniously rattled in movie theaters throughout the land, and in the case of the Jaffa, rolled down the aisle by pesky kids (Snifters were not afforded this privilege as were rugby-ball shaped, and so went wonky).

Mallowpuffs are biscuit-based, mallow-topped and surrounded by crackling chocolate. There are 10 in a pack, and once opened, there is no need to keep that package for storage.

Let's play the Guess the Lenny Song game!

(1) "Ol McDannul ha'a fum EEE YA YA YO"

(2) "Chwinkul chwinkul lil tar"

(3) "weel bus raan raan"

Prizes include a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Yes, Murrikins call the cookie thingies "Mallomars" and they are on my list of never-eat-these foods. A jaffa sounds good, what with the orange flavor and all.

1) Old MacDonald
2) Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
3) The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

How'd I do?

LOL! What a cutie you've got there! At least he's into songs from way back that I can actually remember ;-)

Congrats on surpassing 100 books read this year!!!!

I actually like the sound of "Christmas camping"...

RD: you win :)
He has a few more gems up his sleeve as well, and not just songs. Things like "ow my blood hurts" if he ever has red felt pen on him. And then howls.
It is so much fun It is so full on having a toddler.

Cee: we do the traditional nursery rhymes and songs here, with some whacky world kids music thrown in, and then some of the "adult's music" for evening dancing sessions (they like the Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode best).

A few of my friends reckon that the kids should just listen to whatever they (the adults) like, but I see a real place for children's music. I see it as the more accessible and friendly the song/beat/rhythm/melody the more they will learn about those things, and therefore can graduate on to more complex songs later o with a greater understanding of music. Just a thought.

I am really looking forward to Christmas camping, and will have to remember to pack more decorations I think- I dont want to be OTT (like the tree on RDs thread) but there needs to be demonstrative festive-ness, I think.

Cookie thingies.. I'll have rd's share.....thanks!

OK Kath! I just made another 18....8 for tonight (Christmas drinks at my place) and 10 for tomorrow (Christmas lunch a the in-laws). You are welcome to a few off the in-laws plate ;)

140 > very cool idea - never really liked the mint leaves myself was more of a milk bottle kid - but those are very festive might have to steal that idea!

144 > Hope that wasn't aimed at this JAFFA ..... they were also great for bouncing off peoples heads, not that I would ever have done such a thing :)

Love Lenny's songs, Megan! I got such a chuckle out of Ow, my blood hurts. LOL!

Hi Alex- I wondered if you would catch wind of the Jafa thing.....no aiming of Jaffa's allowed- at heads or otherwise :)
Milk Bottles are great, but beware the imitation. They suck. I myself liked the chocolate eclair lolly and the Milk Shake!! *rushing headlong down memory lane*

Nancy- it was funny to hear the first time. The second time too, but with the drama (read: howling) it loses its charm ;) All it takes is a deep breath to regain its charm, (or a coffee), so it's just as well.

Coffee coming up:




Let the drama recommence :)

In happy anticipation of more pictures and fun sayings and general shenanigans to come, sweet Megan:



Celebrate the return of the light with feasts, merriment, and gratitude for all the wonders of this wide green earth.

RMD

Stasia! Thanks so much, and as it happened, when viewing your message I was coffee in hand :)
Needed it this morning, as (get ready for the broken record), awake since 430am, up since 5.30am. Coincidentally it is actually the longest day today. And by the looks of it I am going to get full use of all those hours of daylight!

RMD- thank you. We indeed have a busy day planned for the longest day. 2 visitors this morning (comprising a total of 6 people), out for proxy Christmas lunch at in-laws, then hosting a couple (perhaps +1) for dinner. Oh, and also packing for camping, and prepping food for trip as well (making Christmas biscuits, and a slow cooked beef dish to take with us).
Oh dear, even writing that down makes me wonder if it is possible to get it all done.
And, that M. Is it Mervin? Mahoney? Mason? My money's on Magnum!

M = My Mother's Maiden Name.

RMD- My mother has one of those too. So, your mum's maiden name was Magnum? COOL! ;)
Hey, you and me are all over the internet right now! We have got it covered.

I'm really glad you enjoyed Train Dreams, Megan. It almost made it onto my top-five list for 2013. It would certainly be in my top ten.

Happy holidays and safe travels!

Safe travels from me as well, Megan!

Have a safe and wonderful trip, Megan!

Look at you Megan, well over 100 already.

Richard's middle name is of course something eminently distinguished and as a proud dog lover quite fittingly Marrowbone.

Have fun camping - I'm sure the boys will in any event and since you may not be online awhile - have a wonderful Christmas. xx

Ellen- I am considering who to recommend Train Dreams to - left right and centre, right now.

Stasia- thanks! We are about to leave, and I figured I had better farewell my own thread! (as well as check directions to the campground)

Darryl- thanks, and Merry Christmas to you !

Paul- off we go, looking forward to Christmas and holidays. Thanks for the farewell

Happy Holiday Season to you all!!

Safe travels and have a super time! Can't wait for the photos when you get back. :-)

Have a Merry Christmas holiday!

Megan,

Not sure when you take off for your Xmas camping trip - Have a great time & fingers crossed the weather gods play nicely .....

Megan- Have a wonderful trip and a fantastic Christmas! We'll see you when you get back. Big Hugs!

Have a great time Megan. Who knows? Maybe Lenny will entertain you with a few of his songs:-)

rd's middle name is Mudge

Just adding another Merry Christmas! to the piile. I hope you have an amazing trip with those lovely boys of yours.

Have a great camping trip.
I got the audio of train dreams from the library a while back though I think it was lost when my iPod had to be reset. Will have to go after it again.

RMD = I like to think of it as "Richard, my dear" when I'm writing to him.... :P

Feel free to steal, Megan.

Your cookies look & sound fantastic! And, as always, the stories of the children are so sweet. I had a great time guessing. I was too late to win the prize; that's too bad. I'm still a box of birds, though. ;) (did I get that right?)

Megan, just stopping by to wish you a very happy Christmas and New Year!

Hi Megan, Since Christmas will greet you before anyone, I thought I'd start with you and wish you and yours a very merry Christmas

yep. Merry Christmas Megs..

Hi Megan,

Happy Holidays to you and your family, Megan!

Dear, dear Megan you thought in 2013 you wouldn't be able to beat the number of books read but you've done so easily this year whilst being one of the few multi-thread posters to actually increase her numbers this year too.
Your popularity is founded upon a wonderful sense of humour, the sharing of a joyful life centred around your two delightful boys (and your significant other) and it is a constant pleasure to watch them grow and experience life through the joyful medium of your thread. Wishing you the best for the festive season and always. xx

Merry Christmas to you and your family, Megan : ).

Happy Glamping and a very merry Christmas to you and your family, Megan.

>179 cameling: WOW! Love that.

Dear, dear
Megan, best wishes to you and your family for a very merry Christmas! And CONGRATULATIONS on reaching 100+ books -- double wow!

Megan... may you and your family have a wonderful Christmas this year!

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!!

I do hope you are 'Glamping' & Not 'camping' otherwise you might be a a bit damp at this moment ......

Hope the camping trip is going well, and that you have saved book #2 for the evenings when you can read in peace and quiet!

Merry Christmas and a happy book-filled 2014!

Seasons greetings Megan and your lovely family from John and Karen over in the UK.

Joy to you and your wonderful family this Christmas!



(I'll be opening book #2 very soon.... gotta wait for everyone (Ron) to wake up!)

Hope you've had a lovely Christmas!

I'm back!
Thank you so much everyone for your lovely messages this Christmas. It was so lovely to get home early evening, (unpack the car, bath the kids, put washing on, get kids asleep, put washing out) pour a glass of red and log on to see all my gorgeous visitors.

Glamping was a blast. Our tent was spacious and waterproof......the kids slept OK...the food and company were wonderful.....the days sunny, the swimming spots plentiful and the coffees strong. Some evidence:


Family photo! (outing my lovely other thrice here....)


Our tent setup. Did someone say TWO rooms!? Wow, when I was a kid it was 2x pup tents, no room to roll over and a whole lotta no fun if it rained. :)


The salt water baths at Motueka, near Nelson. This was about 20 minutes drive away from where we camped, so we visited one morning.


My new birthday shoes! (well, shoe) Illuminated by Christmas lights at home before glamping. But important to document nonetheless, seeing as new shoes enter my house once in more than a blue moon.

Your "lovely other" finally gets an introduction after a few years in the group! Wilbur looks more like you by the day and Lenny now thankfully looks nothing at all like a certain TV chef who shall remain nameless so that I can remain blameless.

Looks like a wonderful holiday and I do hope Cinderella got a matching shoe to go to the ball. xx

Great to have you back, Megan! Sounds like you had a great "glamping" trip. What a cute family you all are!

Welcome home, Megan! Love the photos. You have a beautiful family. And I love that birthday shoe.

^I see your man drinking a beer up there. Makes me proud.

Glad you are home and the trip was so much fun!

Wonderful pictures! Those boys are getting too big... stop feeding them!

Congrats on the new shoes (and new feet, too). Heels even ;-) Like.

Christmas camping looks like a blast, Megan! It's not something my Canadian mind associates with Christmas, but what fun! Love your new shoes, too!

Goodness me, a quaintly old-fashioned 2013 thread! I'd forgotten suchlike still existed when the new, modern 2014 forum is all open and stuff.

Paul: hi! And yes, it has been an age, and my lovely other deserves to be outed by now, right? Plus, its the last thread of the year and will be seen by few....
:)

Julia: we were very lucky with the weather as it turns out. a lot of campers (as usual around NZ) got rained out. It is a tumultuous time of year!

Mark: yes, Mark. There was a lot of beer drinking. Macs, a hoppy Pilsner. I think that one was. I added a dash of ginger wine to mine making it a cocktail! (glamping, you see)

Cushla: hi- how was your international sojourn? I bet it was (is??!) grand.

Cee: I know! I have heels. haha- they are only small heels, but heels they are.
I hope you got to tear (or carefully) open your book for Christmas, and that you were pleased with the contents.

Nancy: It must be weird to think of people camping at Christmas for you Northerners. Just think of our Christmas time as being smack dab in the middle of the summer holidays and you will more easily think of how we see it. Christmas is a small part of the Summer Holidays, the rest of it being no work, no school and New Years.

RMD: what!!?! I knew it. I knew it couldn't be still boring old 2013 in 75 land. *off to see*

Hmmm... someplace I thought I thanked you for the second book - which I carefully tore into on Christmas morning and am greatly looking forward to reading! Maybe it was on the Swap thread - or maybe I dreamed it???
Anyway, ya did good my friend! I loved getting those books. And guess what? They are the only two books I got for Christmas. So, extra special thanks!!!

eta #322 on the Swap thread

Oh Cee, so you did! I am glad you like it. I love those Penguin Modern Classics, they look gorgeous and I hope it reads gorgeously as well.

I only got 2 books for Christmas as well! Hmph. Ok, 4, if you count the 2 I got myself. Haha, I have finished nearly 3 of them though, so am doing very well.

Welcome home, Megan! The glamping looks like a huge success. Loved the photos, not least that your lovely other has finally been outed to the group. :-)

Love your birthday shoe too ...

So, countdown to the new year begins. Any parties?

Hi Caro- camping was a great success indeed, we got lucky with the weather unlike many this holiday. *fist pump* to things going our way.
My #1 great idea was to empty the kids toy box, which happens to be an old sea chest, and fill it with kitchen gear, food and stuff, and then use it as a giant storage box outside the tent. It worked a treat. Kept the kids away from knives, insect repellent etc too.

New Years parties? Not around here- but a couple of old friends and their kiddos are coming to stay, so there will be nice food (vege kebabs, sausages, salads and new potatoes) and wine (red, and sparkling white) and beer and joviality all around!

Maude dear...not to be a vile seducing tempter or anything...but my 2014 thread has a chocolate pavlova with honey-roasted pears for all who have 2014 threads....

HONEY ROASTED PEARS!
*I'm there*
(in fact, I have been there....I dropped in earlier to say hi but have yet to start a 2014 thread, seeing as it ain't yet 2014)

I think RD was tempting you to start your thread NOW ..... or of course you could visit his 2013 thread & join the fun there :)

But no pavlova for them as has no 2014 threads...just sayin'

>188 LovingLit: Great family photos, Megan!

I dropped in earlier to say hi but have yet to start a 2014 thread, seeing as it ain't yet 2014

That's the spirit! These early birds, especially a particular Long Islander, are akin to those crazy Black Friday shoppers who camp out days in advance of the first Christmas sales of the year. (Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, which used to be the start of the Christmas shopping season, until some retailers decided to make their employees work on Thanksgiving Day instead of spending it with their families.)

Maude dear...not to be a vile seducing tempter or anything...but my 2014 thread has a chocolate pavlova with honey-roasted pears for all who have 2014 threads....

Ignore him. If you hold out until at least New Year's Eve I will ship you a gift box filled with Philly cheese steaks and hoagies, brick oven pizza, cannolis, sfogliatelle and other Italian pastries.

Ah, the forces of Reaktion are up to their usual bread-and-circuses antics I see. As always, goodies tomorrow for following behaviors guaranteed to reduce your happiness and effectiveness today, and somehow the goodies get...lost...

Forward! Forward into the (pavlova-laden) future! Grab 2014 by its, errrmmm, horns and bend it into the shape *you* not some elderly, stuffy, pooh-bah, want it to have!

Although I have succumbed to starting a 2014 thread before its natural time, I applaud the stalwartness (stalwartocity?) of Megan and Darryl for resisting the peer pressure. Salute!

Forward into the (pavlova-laden) future!

Hmph. Seems more Pavlovian to me.

Thanks, Julia!

But the future is here NOW! All those young at heart should vault into the world as it will be and leave the failed, dim 1980s-ish past (I mean srsly Darryl, MOSAIC?)!

*snerk* to this whole frickin' set of messages... :)

Sorry, Megan. They've dragged me kicking and screaming into the 2014 group.

And may I point out that "stalWART" is a kind of unappealing sounding word? "Stal" like "stall" or "stalag", and "wart" I mean really EW.

Oh Darryl- you give in so easily.

When I start my 2014 thread, I'll be one of the first to legally be allowed to, so I feel ok in my decision to hold out, be a stalwart, seek delayed gratification (*hoping no one brings up the tearing open of my Xmas swap pressent within seconds of receipt*) and start 2014 with a BANG!



Looking forward to my gift box filled with Philly cheese steaks and hoagies, brick oven pizza, cannolis, sfogliatelle and other Italian pastries.

>203 roundballnz: OIC ALex- pavs for dissenters only, you reckon!? Tempting me to the Dark Side....

>204 richardderus: RMD- I didn't want to offend before, but I prefer my pavlova sans chocolate, just pure eggy sugary gooness for me thanks (and cream, a lot of dolloppy fallollopy goopy whipped cream). Thanks.

>205 kidzdoc: If you hold out until at least New Year's Eve
I shall be holding out til at least New Years Day, Darryl. Partly because of my uncompromising sense of justice and standing up for what is right and good in this world and partly because I am having friends over tonight (NEW YEARS EVE) and it is just more convenient ;)

>206 richardderus:/209 *dialing Stephen Hawking*
Oh hi, Happy New Year, etc, can you call my friend RMD and explain to him the rules about when Jan 1 starts please, and how just cos you want it to be earlier, you cant actually change the date by bending the space/time continuum......thanks Stevo!
*hangs up*

>207 rosalita: Hi Julia, I think Stalwart-aliciousness works ;)
(ps no one need to know that I only found out about the new group yesterday.....)

>208 kidzdoc: Oh Darryl, if only you could bend time, hop back in at post #211 and see what you said in the future
*sigh*

>210 drneutron: Oh, Hi Jim! See what trouble is caused by starting a 2014 group in 2013?
:)

>211 kidzdoc: *looks other way in denial*

>212 richardderus: RMD- it is an odd word now that you point it out- hence forth I declare it null and voided.

*backs slowly away*

of course, Maudie, whatever you say, mmm hmmm

*skedaddles*

Hehe, turns out we both love 2013 as were just on each others threads at the same (2013) time
:0

214 > agree what's up with chocolate pavlova ??? why play with simplicity & perfection

Alex- nice to see you here on our last day of the year. I was just thinking about starting a new thread for the occasion.....in this group of course....I am sure I can squeeze one more in?
I can definitely have chocolate sprinkles (a crumbled Flake) on top of my Pav. That I can cope with.

Yes crumbled Flake is definitely allowed ...... I dare you to start another thread just for RD :)

mmmmmmmmmm, Flake

She liked it too...remember that ad!!?!@!

(OMG!)

LOL .... how could one forget that .......

Oh dear #221 - *Hey! SWMBO wake up, I have something to show you!*

Before you all indulge in your substance of choice - Happy New year! - Have a great night & even better year to come - remember its the little things that make life what it is .....

>223 PaulCranswick: LOL- it's a chocolate bar Paul!
I'm thinking if it was a chocolate bar she might be keen.....or at least more keen.

>224 roundballnz: Before? During more like.
Have sunk a couple of bottles of Lindeaur already and it' s only 6.39 pm. Have also made a spectacular vege lasagne and salad for tea, and entertained...little things like good food and company? Covered. Happy new year to you too!

Happy New Year to you and your family, Megan! Here's to another year of great reading, good laughs (of which there are many in your thread) and stimulating conversation.

So, how does 2014 look now that you're in it, Megan? Anything we should be worried about? :-)

Thanks Darryl!
I hope my thread can provide all on that list, and wish for yours all the same :)

Julia: 2014 is great so far! Cloudy, but warm. The lounge is full of kids right now (2,3,5 &6 years of age), so I can't say it is exactly relaxing....haha, but it is eventful :)

Happy New Year to you and yours, Megan! Warm sounds good here in the chilly north.

Happy New Year, Megan! Love the photos of your family while glamping and your shoes are gorgeous!