#BookSnapSunday – Wide Sargasso Sea

Visitors to our place often comment on our extensive book collection. As avid readers we do have a lot of books and it can be very difficult to part with such dear friends. Some are long time favourites. Some are still waiting to be read. And others have been read at some point in the …

#BookBingo – Prize Winner

I missed Book Bingo in June. With the stress of assignments and exams I was otherwise occupied, but today I am checking off the Prizewinner square with Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce (1920-2006). First published in 1958, it won the Carnegie Medal and is still credited as "one of the best-loved children's books ever …

#BookSnapSunday – Here Be Dragons!

It’s quite possible that this dragon themed post is inspired by our recent burst of cold weather. This morning was one of those days when you would rather stay in bed and seriously consider hibernation. Do dragons hibernate? Smaug seemed to have slept for a long time before desolating Laketown in fire and ash. At …

Caring During Covid 19

Covid 19 has scored a sizeable hit on life as we once knew it. Businesses and services were closed. Many people lost their jobs. Travellers were stranded overseas and grocery shopping became the social highlight of the week. As schools closed and moved to online learning, many parents struggled to balance working from home with …

#BookSnapSunday – The Dictionary of Lost Words

"Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary,  how potent … they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them!"  Nathaniel Hawthorne The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams In 1901, the word bondmaid was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is …

#BookSnapSunday – Philippa Gregory

I haven't quite got back into the rhythm of reading yet. Current events are proving to be very distracting and worrying, but pictured here is my Philippa Gregory shelf. As a history student, of course I love Philippa Gregory. She brings to life the various kings, queens and consorts of the royal court of England. …

Why the Humanities Matter

Yesterday was my first day of the mid year break. After a particularly challenging first semester, trying to balance two history courses, caring for Dan and Covid 19 restrictions, isolation and all the stress and anxiety that entails, I was looking forward to a relaxing day. I didn’t have any firm plans in place, but …

#BookSnapSunday – Tom’s Midnight Garden

When Tom is sent to stay at his aunt and uncle's house for the summer, he resigns himself to weeks of boredom. But as he lies awake in his bed he listens to the grandfather clock chiming in the hall downstairs. Eleven...Twelve...Thirteen... Thirteen! Tom races down the stairs and finds, outside the back door, a …

#BookSnapSunday – Australian History

  Since the beginning of Covid 19 my reading has taken a downward spiral. Despite all the extra time spent at home I seem to have had less time for reading rather than more. Being naturally introverted, I initially relished the idea of having a valid excuse for staying home and thought of all the …

Taking Art Outdoors

Ever since the implementation of Covid 19 restrictions, we have been wondering whether life would ever return to the way it used to be. Social commentators predict that even when this is all over, whenever that may actually be, life will be changed. And to a certain extent that is true. Life after a crisis …