illustration Friday - red

coloured pencil
red always makes me think of poppies.

tagged

yes I have been tagged - twice - by Mrs Davey and Bianca who sent me a jar of her yummy relish. so here goes....

five things about me that you don't know:
1. I love to watch people - and often do it so intensely I get caught out staring - so embarassing! but doesn't stop me being a nosey parker!

2. I often reorder the shelving of books in bookstores - I like them to be all grouped together and arranged neatly! sometimes I think I should work in a library.

3. I love handbags so much I am always checking out other peoples - I can spend hours in shops looking for the next 'perfect' handbag. my husband doesn't understand this at all - his constant comment is 'how many handbags does one girl need?'

4. I secretly really love kids tv, so am always happy to sit and watch ABC kids with Miss L. Some of my favourites are Pingu, Oobi, Bear in the Big Blue house.

5. I prefer writing with pencils. My writing always feels so cramped and ugly with a pen, whereas a pencil provides a wonderful soft flow - my preference is for a 2HB!

now the next tag is a little longer but I hope you can stay with me- and Jo I hope my brain copes with these questions.
DO YOU LIKE THE LOOK AND CONTENTS OF YOUR BLOG?
I don't mind it - although it good be more polished

DOES YOUR FAMILY KNOW ABOUT YOUR BLOG?
yes, my mum and sister both read it and even sometimes dad. well I think they still do?!

CAN YOU TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT YOUR BLOG?
yes

DO YOU JUST READ THE BLOGS OF THOSE THAT COMMENT ON YOUR BLOG?
sure do - especially if I haven't seen them before. I've found some great blogs this way.

DOES YOUR BLOG POSITIVELY EFFECT YOUR MIND?
Mostly - although sometimes I feel the pressure of needing to post.

WHAT DOES THE NUMBER OF VISITORS TO YOUR BLOG MEAN?
It's nice to know that people are reading my blather. (Other than you mum!)

DO YOU IMAGINE WHAT OTHER BLOGGERS LOOK LIKE?
YES - its like reading books - I always imagine the characters.

DO YOU THINK BLOGGING HAS ANY REAL BENEFIT?
It provides an outlet for some creativity and also has given me a new community to be involved with.

DO YOU THINK THAT THE BLOGASHERE IS A STAND ALONE COMMUNITY SEPERATED FROM THE REAL WORLD?
no

DO SOME POLITICAL BLOGS SCARE YOU? DO YOU AVOID THEM?
don't read them

DO YOU THINK THAT CRITICIZING YOUR BLOG IS USEFUL?
I guess it depends how it's done, but honestly I think if you don't like it then don't come back. I have enough therapy to cope with without further issues!

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO YOUR BLOG INCASE YOU DIED?
who thought of this question? no - I guess it would just disappear into the blogoshpere.

WHICH BLOGGER HAD THE GREATEST IMPRESSION ON YOU?
Shannon gave me the courage to start up, and Jo, Jackie, Laura and Ellia have been very supportive - thanks girls

WHICH BLOGGER DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST SIMILAR TO YOU?
No idea really - aren't we all individuals?

NAME A SONG YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO?
At the moment it would be Boogie Wonderland from Happy Feet but I'll be sick of it soon they way Miss L has the CD on repeat!


Phew! if you made it this far you are a legend!
Now I must go make up the guest bed as my best friend and family arrive tomorrow - Yippee

off load that monkey

Yes I did it - I have left Iris (see here if you don't know what the hell I'm gabbing about) mid way through : I-can't-stand-the-torture-no-more. I have now started a new book and oh the relief - some guilt - but I'm trying my damndest to ignore it. I decided that with my new word(see above) I needed to get that monkey off my back - life is too short. Hence, with Miss L at holiday school today, and after a sweltering session with my trainer, am I crafting in this free time? am I cleaning up the chaos from the weekend? am I writing letters to folks who long ago believe us lost? no, I am indulging my first child free day with Australian Open Tennis and catching up with my bloglines... I call it embracing some 'me' time!
Here are some new editions to my online reading
scent of water
tsk tsk
A

back in time for tea

yes we are back, back. back from the beach, but so sad, sad, sad are Miss L and I that we are consoling each other by talking about the beach, the beach house, what we did, over and over! You can gather pretty quickly that we are struggling to get back into the old routine thing, so lucky school is still a couple of weeks away. We had a fantastic time thankyou, came back sort of beigish (which for a whitey like me it's a tan!) very relaxed having read 8, yes 8 books while away. Oh, the bliss of just pottering around with a book, down to the beach and back with book, in bed with book - heaven. To make it even harder about not being next to the beach anymore, the book I am reading is hell. The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch. I've always wanted to try some Iris, but boy she is really making it hard work. I have this thing about always finishing a book no matter how bad it is because you just never know it might get better! R says I should just get over it, ditch the thing and start anew. So tempting, but old habits die hard and I slog on. I also didn't bring back in resolutions with the new year. In fact, I really have no idea - none at all - about what I want to do for this year, get from this year, achieve blah blah blah. So, instead I decided I would happily flounder away still in holiday mode, join some others for a cup of tea today (I'm bringing some anzac cookies - very Aus), and mull over a word for this little idea I like too.