Tinkerblue

11 and 1/2 books in 24 days

I've said this before, I read a lot. A. LOT.

I left Canada on January 24th and returned on February 16th. That's 24 days.

Rhonda had gifted me two trashy novels for the flight. I was carrying the three Hunger Games books to give to Kelly. There were three books in my Kindle app waiting to be read.

Jo decided I was home (in Hobart) for 16 days, therefore I could read 16 books. Not quite. But she did give me a pile of books (6) that she said I just had to read.

So in 24 days I read 11 and 1/2 books. That almost a book every two days. Yes, I read the whole book, I did not skip any pages.

I finished the two books Rhonda gave me on the flight to Australia:
Cordina's Crown Jewel
With the Risk (Partners/Art of Deception)
- both are trashy airplane reads, require no concentration and you know the outcome.... Girl meets boy, girl doesn't like boy, girl falls madly in love with boy. Good for reading on plane. Don't need to read again. Don't feel need to run out and buy other books in series.

I re-read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire the week I was in Melbourne. I finished Mockingjay during my first couple of days in Hobart, before I gave them all to Kelly.
- love all three books. Can't wait for the movie.

Then I started on the books from Jo:
A House in Fez - enjoyed it. Made me jealous. I want to visit Morocco.

The House of Special Purpose - I guessed the end about a third of the way into the book, but to was still a good read. I'd read it again, and I'd recommend it. Written by John Boyne who wrote Boy in the Stripes Pyjamas.

The Lady of the The Rivers - the third book in the Cousins War series by Phillipa Gregory. I'm a fan of all her books and this one was no different.

Falling Angels
The Lady and the Unicorn
- both books are written by Tracy Chevalier who wrote Girl with the Pearl Earring. I haven't read Pearl but I will now. I enjoyed both books, but preferred the Lady and the Unicorn.

I only got half way through Bess Hardwicke. I finished it on the plane home. This one took me a little longer to read. I just couldn't get into it. The subject matter interested me, but I didn't like the writing style. It was more like a history lecture.

Somewhere across the Pacific I then started reading one of the books in my Kindle app - The Story of Danny Dunn. I was just over half way into when I landed in Seattle. I'd have finished it in the car, but I get carsick. The Story of Danny Dunn is by Bryce Courtenay. I haven't met a book by Mr Courtenay that I haven't liked.

Up next...
My Brilliant Career
Left Neglected
The Paris Wife
The Book Thief

Jo and I - Impossible to Take a Decent Photo

I wanted a recent photo of Jo and I.

Neither of us can stand still, keep a straight face, or take the whole posing thing seriously.

So there were many outtakes. My favourite photo is the last one. Who knows what we were laughing at.

It is Goodnight and Not Goodbye

Excuse the sappy Girl Guide campfire song lyrics.

We had our last supper at Mezethes Greek Taverna at Salamanca Place. Jo and I tried to eat there last year, but no go. This year we finally made it. We dragged my Mum and Dad, Nan and Shaun and Kelly along with us.

I'm going to miss them all. A lot.

Photos are:
Shaun and I. Do we look like brother and sister or what? Just think he's my little brother.

Kelly and I. Shaun's partner and my friend.

Nan and I.

Dad.

Mum.

The Return of the Birds

Remember the birds? http://tinkerblue.typepad.com/tinkerblue_the_daily_tink/2011/12/advent-calendar-day-6-buy-a-new-decoration.html

Well they followed me to Australia.

There were birds everywhere at Floriade. And my Mum gave me one (the white one) to take back to Vancouver with me.

Weekend in Hobart Recap

Saturday:
Salamanca Market with Jo for falafel, carrot cake and wood boxes.

Floriade at St David's Cathedral with my Nan, Kelly and Jo.

Lunch at Mt Nelson Signal Station with my Nan, Kelly and Jo.

Sausage Sizzle for dinner to celebrate Irene's birthday with Jo, Claire, Cristie and Joanna.

Sunday:
Watched the Canucks game live with Sharyn, Kath, Garin, Karen and Tony. We lost in a shoot out but still fun to watch.

Bubbly, dinner and a movie (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) at the State Theatre with Mum, Dad and Jo.

Watched the One Day International between India and Australia on TV with my Dad. It was close, but India won with 2 balls to go.

Monday (public holiday):
Dinner at Fish Frenzy on the wharf with Mum and Dad.

Evening at the Royal Hobart Regatta watching the Roulettes (like the Snowbirds or Blue Angels), listening to big band music by the Australian Army and watching fireworks.

A great long weekend with family and friends. I'm going to miss everyone when I leave next week.

Dinner with Jo

Not quite sure that we covered all the food groups.

Dinner Friday night consisted of:
Cheezels
BBQ Shapes
Vanilla Slice (we ate 1/4 each, the rest is still in the fridge).
Lamington (again we only ate 1/4 each. This thing was the size of a house brick).
Bottle of wine
Cup of tea.

Dinner of champions.

Reliving the Early 90's

Spending the evening with Jo.

Drinking wine.

Eating cheezels, BBQ Shapes, lamingtons and vanilla slices.

Reminiscing and laughing about life in London and elsewhere in the early 90's.

- Getting drunk on fermenting wine in Strasbourg.
- Jo and the pretzel man at Oktoberfest I Munich
- lots of beer at Oktoberfest
- New Years Eve in London
- concentrating hard at work in London

Leah, Jo, Rachael, Sara and Robin

The Odd Things I Buy

Three weeks in Australia and this is what I've bought to take back to Canada with me.

Vegemite
Milo
Turkish Delight Chocolate Bars
Mint Patties
Freddo Frogs
Turkish Delight Tim Tams
Black Forest Chocolate
Rocky Road Chocolate

My 3 Dates

I spent the first week back in Australia in Mornington, just south of Melbourne with my friends.

These 3 kept me amused for the week and smothered with hugs and kisses.

I watched Dale play cricket and score 30 runs, not out.

Liam lent me his bedroom for the week. He took me to his new primary school to show me his grade 1 classroom and then we went out to dinner wearing our matching Canucks t-shirts.

Tait is the youngest and very smiley. He loves to give kisses, although he could do with some practice, his kisses are slobbery. He also loved to pull on my bra strap and stick his fingers in my mouth. Cute when you're 8 months old, but a habit he'll need to grow out of.

I'm going to miss them heaps (and their mum and dad).

Home

A quick flight from Melbourne, (seriously quick, our one hour flight arrived 15 mins early) above the clouds and I'm home.

In my childhood home, sleeping in my childhood bedroom. Although the room has been through a few changes since I left. The wallpaper and the bookshelf remain the same.

Between jet lag and insomnia I didn't sleep all that well in Melbourne, but it must be something about the comfort of home - I've had two relatively good nights sleep.

No exciting touristy stories to tell, this trip is not about that. Yesterday I spent the day with my Mum and Nan. Today I'm home doing laundry and re-reading some of those books on my bookshelf.

The weekend will be all about hanging out with childhood friends.