Monday, March 11, 2024

Blogging from A to Z April 2024 Blogging Challenge - Theme Reveal

 

Looking back through my travel photos I see that in many places we visited there was, on our agendas, an Abbey, Cathedral, Chapel, Church, Convent, Monastery, Mosque, Pagoda, Synagogue, Temple or other place of worship. As we travel along the road I often take snaps of some of God's many houses we pass by. These buildings range from ordinary to ostentatious. 

For the Blogging from A to Z April 2024 Blogging Challenge my theme is Gods' Houses. During April I invite you to join me for an online tour of Gods' Houses from my digital albums

I will endeavour to post on this blog each day in April (excepting Sunday). I will share photos from inside and outside of some Gods' Houses I have seen.



Tuesday, February 20, 2024

The Book of Me - Prompt 5 - Your Childhood Home

Back in 2013 I participated in a challenge which required us to write a post that responded to a few prompts.

I published these posts in a private blog. Following is a repost from 5th October 2013.

This week Julie Goucher of Angler's Rest asked us to respond to the following prompt in The Book of Me, Written by You activity.
The prompt for week 5 is Your Childhood Home

When did you leave home?
Where was it?
Where did you move to?
Was it rented or owned? – with parents/Grandparents
Was it inherited
What was it like – describe it – each room.
Were there a favourite room?
Is there anything you particularly remember from the house?
Pictures
The road & area
__________________________________________________

My first home was just a room in a house in Kensington opposite my maternal grandmother's home. I think, while my dad was at work, my mother and I spent most of our time across the road. In post war times housing was in short supply in Sydney so finding self contained accommodation was a challenge. I have absolutely no memories of this place.

As it happened my father's two younger sisters had moved from the country to Sydney and were renting a one-bedroom flat in what was then a fashionable area, Kings Cross. They must have taken pity on their brother and his family as they gave up their flat for us and moved into the family home with their parents. I believe we moved here when I was about one and we stayed till I was around nine. I remember our Wedgwood blue kitchen, the dark Jacobean furniture, playing in the park with my little friends and being spoilt rotten by elderly, childless next door neighbours. I don't have any pictures of the flat but I was able to find a current photo of the building on a real estate site and it looks pretty much how it did when I was a child.


Kentwood Court, Kings Cross

When my parents were offered a Housing Commission home in Malabar I was nine, they had been looking to purchase a home closer to Sydney but decided to take up the offer of this house at Malabar that was 8 miles from Sydney's CBD and a 1 mile walk to public transport. I think it was quite a shock for my mother who was used to having the city on her doorstep to move to a house where the closest shop was a mile away instead of the 50 yards was used to. My father purchased a car very soon after the move to Malabar.

I loved having my own pretty pink bedroom and a yard to play in; there were lots of young families in the street so even though I was an only child there were plenty of playmates. We seemed to have a lot more freedom than children do these days and I remember being able to go with my friends to swim in the rock pool at Malabar or in the safe beach down at Little Bay.There was a lot of vacant land in the vicinity so we kids were able to build cubby houses and explore to our hearts content.

The thing that I didn't like about this house was that it was in an unsewered area and we did not have a septic tank, ours was an old-fashioned dunny. I was especially spooked when I had to visit our outside loo at night



Our little house at Malabar before the garden grew

Even though she was a country girl I don't think my mother ever got used to living at Malabar. When I was in high school I returned to the inner-city school that I had attended when we lived in Kings Cross, I had to catch three buses to get to school. When I was 14 we moved again. This time it was to a brand-new home unit (apartment) that my parents bought at Randwick, a suburb that was only 4 miles from the city and much closer to transport and services.

I loved living in a home unit with its modern bathroom and inside toilet and we even got our first telephone connected, that was teenage heaven. Although it was a small building there were half a dozen other kids my age in residence, we quickly bonded and had a wonderful time just hanging out or getting sunburnt at Coogee Beach that was only a 15 min walk away. When I left school and started socialising our convenient location made it easy for me to travel about and get home safely. A taxi fare home was only two dollars from busy Peters Corner.

Although our living room wasn't huge Mum always seemed to be able to accommodate and feed the groups of friends I brought home from the beach or our youth club for a meal. My teenage years at Randwick were very happy.


Geniaus aged 16 in the garden of our home unit block

I don't have any photos of the interior of the Randwick building but I do have some pictures taken on the last day that I lived there, my wedding day.


With Dad and Mum in our living room on my wedding day

Monday, February 12, 2024

What do your mugs say about you?

Have you ever received a Coffee Mug as a present?

I have quite a collection of mugs that have been gifted to me over the years. When we lived on an acreage I was in my chicken phase so, now that I've moved on, I think have a large collection of chicken mugs and other novelties among our treasures in the garage. Perhaps I sent them to Vinnies.

As I was emptying the dishwasher this evening I surveyed the mugs I had used, most were boring white ones but there were four gift ones in the haul.

What do my mugs say about me?

What do your mugs say about you?

Monday, February 5, 2024

Too busy to post

When I'm travelling I try to organise my photos into folders and attach metadata. If I have time I select and resize some photos from the day and save them into a folder ready to be uploaded to Facebook or a blog post. I'm fairly good with the Facebook posts but sometimes I don't get around to blogging. 

Today I've spent a few hours deleting those folders of photos I've shared in blog posts and find myself with quite a collection that deserve a post. 

As we've recently booked our next trip to the UK and Europe today I'm posting some photos from my EnglandSigns folder. These images remind me to keep my wits about me and stay safe as I travel in that foreign land.

Horningsham, Wiltshire

Bury St Edmonds, Suffolk

Hever Castle, Kent

Abbotsbury Swannery, Dorset

On a fence in London

Doors in London

Also in London

On the road in Kent?

At the SS Great Britain in Bristol

Tower Bridge Machinery

A Park in Winchester

A London Theatre

London

Docklands, London

Docklands, London

Botany Bay, Kent

Bath

Wisley Garden

Moravian Settlement near Pudsey

Saltaire

Hale Purlieu, Hampshire

Churchill's War Rooms, London

Sunday, January 28, 2024

The 52 Book Club’s 2024 Reading Challenge - January - Weeks 1-5



"The 52 Book Club is part of an annual challenge: to read 52 books in 52 weeks. Every year, the challenge is composed of (you guessed it!) 52 different categories. Find a book that fits the category, read it, and check it off the list!"

This is my first year in the challenge and the first post relating to my reading. I intend to post an update on this blog every month. I think I can manage that.

When I started this challenge I planned to answer the prompts in the order they appeared on the challenge site. I managed for the first two weeks but then, due to the availability of the titles I selected, I had to stray. Several of the books on my list are are ebooks on hold at local libraries so I have to read them when I gain access.

Week 1

Prompt 1) Locked-room mystery
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney


I didn't know what a locked-room mystery was so I had to turn to the helpful posts on Goodreads that explained each of the prompts as well as giving some suggestions of appropriate titles. I found that the ebook version of this title was available for loan via Libby from a local library.

This is the story of a family reunion that went wrong ending in a murder.

I enjoyed this tale of a sad young woman and her interactions with her unique family. I had no clue as to whodunnit until the end of the book.

Week 2

Prompt 2) Bibliosmia: A smelly book

The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro




I initially thought I would read an old favourite, The Smelly Book by Babette Cole for this prompt but, as it's a picture book of only 32 pages, I thought it was a trifle short for the challenge. Off to Libby I went and searched for a book with the word "perfume" in the title. This book was available so I borrowed it. I really enjoyed this well-written book that wasn't overly descriptive and had elements of history, mystery and romance. As a bonus I learnt about the perfume industry in France.

Week 3

Prompt 8) Features the Ocean

Water by John Boyne

I saw this book as I was Christmas shopping and bought it for my daughter-in-law. 
She read it immediately and asked if I'd like to borrow it, of course I did. I enjoy
Boyne's writing and this tome did not disappoint. I hadn't set out to read this for the challenge but as it fitted a prompt I decided to add it. If it was mine I would have waited until week 8 but I wanted to return it ASAP.
 
A short read it was beautifully written and dealt with several issues related to women. The main protagonist moved to a lonely island off the coast where she lived under an assumed name. As she goes about her business in this new home her story unfolds.


Week 4

Prompt 3) More than 40 chapters

The Benevolent Society of ill-mannered ladies by Alison Goodman  

 
This is another title that I did not initially select for the challenge. I had this book on hold for some time when my turn came up. As I was reading along I realised that it had more than 40 chapters so I added it to my list. The author, Alison Goodman is an Australian with a serious interest in the Regency period.

Slightly unbelievable (but hey its fiction) it's the story of two middle aged spinsters of independent means who are part-time detectives. It ticked the boxes for me as it covered romance, history, mystery and women's issues. I will definitely seek out the next book in the series. 


Week 5

Prompt 44) Includes a wedding 
At the Foot of the Cherry Tree by Alli Parker


Another treasure borrowed from Libby was this story set in Australia and Japan after the end of World War 2. The protagonists were a young Australian soldier and a Japanese girl. The cultural differences and racial discrimination  suffered by this pair were strong themes throughout the work. Until I read the notes at the end of the work I didn't realise that it was based on a true story.  as was the determination of the soldier. My knowledge of  Japan and Hiroshima was expanded through reading this book. 

I would recommend this as a pleasant read with a satisfying conclusion.

Monday, January 1, 2024

The 3H's - A New Year's Day Wish

Our 2023 started out well with a family skiing holiday in Japan with our 21 descendants and partners. We had many happy times on our holidays across the Pacific, around the Mediterranean and driving in remote Queensland and the Northern Territory. 

Sadly our adventuring was interrupted by my life-threatening illness and subsequent surgery that clipped my wings and forced us to cancel two cruises in Asia.

Reflecting on 2023 I have decided to commit to the 3H's in 2024: Health, Happiness and Holidays.  

I urge my family, friends and followers to also commit to the 3H's. 



 

Sunday, December 31, 2023

December Reading

 As I continued to convalesce in December my concentration improved and I managed to read 11 books.

The Things That Matter Most
4.48
Dec 30, 2023 [edit]
Dec 30, 2023

The Collector (Gabriel Allon, #23)
4.42
Dec 28, 2023 [edit]
Dec 27, 2023

The Watchful Wife
3.76
Dec 23, 2023 [edit]
Dec 23, 2023

Voices in the Dark
4.30
Dec 19, 2023 [edit]
Dec 19, 2023

The Raging Storm (Two Rivers #3)
4.05
Dec 17, 2023 [edit]
Dec 15, 2023

The Rosie Effect (Don Tillman, #2)
3.63
Dec 14, 2023 [edit]
Dec 14, 2023

Cold Enough for Snow
3.77
Dec 12, 2023 [edit]
Dec 12, 2023

The Dragon Man (Peninsular Crimes, #1)
3.76
Dec 11, 2023 [edit]
Dec 11, 2023
Bee Miles: Australia's famous bohemian rebel, and the untold story behind the legend
4.09
Dec 10, 2023 [edit]
Dec 05, 2023

Tom Lake
4.12
Dec 06, 2023 [edit]
Dec 05, 2023

The Library
4.35
Dec 03, 2023 [edit]
Dec 02, 2023
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