On grief

We all experience it in different ways and use varied methods to help us deal with it. Your grief is not my grief and mine is not yours. Mourning doesn't become easier; it simply becomes a part of life.

My father died late last year. I am his first-born and I adored him. He taught me so much about life; practical skills that I still use to this day as well as behaviours that have served me well. I miss him every day.

When someone this important to me died, although we knew it was coming for most of a year, I felt diminished. This man, who had loved me unconditionally every day since I was born, was no longer here. 

It's unpredictable. Today the grief hit me with a punch. The bluebell bulbs that he had given me from his garden opened their blooms in my ground. My dad isn't here to see them and never will be. 

Somehow my memories of him aren't enough to console me today. That's one of the unforeseeable impacts of grief.

My book of the month: August

I do enjoy a psychological thriller, where the answer to the puzzle continues until the end of the story. I've read several of Chris Brookmyre's Jack Parlabane series (must start reading these from book 1; somehow I missed the first few) but Fallen Angel is a stand-alone novel. It's a ripper of a story. 

Read more about Fallen Angel on Goodreads.

My book of the month: May

Ghost Wall is is the latest story by Sarah Moss. It's a slender book but it packs a punch!

For two weeks, Sylvie and her family join a group of university students to re-enact life as it could have been in Iron Age England. Her father is obsessed with the archaeology and anthropology of the times and he joins with an equally-obsessed academic to lead the group.

It's an unsettling story, as the group starts to unravel and we get a glimpse of where the men's decisions could lead. Satisfyingly creepy.

You can read more about Ghost Wall on Goodreads.

My book of the month: April

My favourite stories are those that have a strong sense of place, either real or imagined. That's why I found Home Fires engrossing; well, that and the believable characters.

The story is set in the Victorian town of Myrtle, where a catastrophic bushfire destroyed not only the buildings and the landscape but also the lives of the residents. Through a combination of chapters of before, after and during the fire, the story reveals the tragedies in Myrtle.

Read more about Home Fires on Goodreads. 

2019 reading challenge

At the beginning of this year I joined the 2019 reading challenge on Goodreads. I don't usually keep track of how many books I read but I thought this might be fun. I chose a target of 100 books so, if I read regularly, I should have reached 25% of my target by the end of March. Instead, I am ahead!



Do you record your reading? Visit my challenge page to see what I've read this year. 

My book of the month: March

I haven't found a good Gothic thriller for years, until I read The Stranger Diaries. It has all the elements of the genre: fear, terror, death, gloom, the supernatural, romance, and emotion. Ooh, it's shiveringly good!

Elly Griffiths is the author of one of my favourite series, the Ruth Galloway series, so I knew she could write great mysteries. Still, I wasn't prepared for the scary pleasure of immersing myself in the world of Clare Cassidy. Make sure you have all the lights on when you read it!

Read more about The Stranger Diaries on Goodreads. 

Using OneNote

I love to organise stuff. Seeing everything lined up and arranged so I can see at a glance what I have brings me pleasure. I'm hard-wired like that!

I recently decided to learn how to organise some of my digital files with Microsoft's OneNote. First I had to work through my confusion about the multiple OneNote software I had. There's OneNote 2016, which allows you to save notebooks to your own computer, and the OneNote app (sometimes called OneNote for Windows10) which will only allow you to save notebooks in the cloud to OneDrive.

OneNote 2016 will no longer have enhancements but I'll continue to use it for personal information I don't want shared in the cloud (yes, I'm mildly paranoid - in a good way, of course!). All my other notebooks are on OneDrive.

I confess I'm having fun. The notebooks sync across all my devices so I can view them on my laptop, tablet, and phone. Very handy.

Here's a screen shot of my Knitting notebook. All my digital knitting patterns in one place. I may start scanning my printed patterns and saving them in my notebook, too.

I love that I can set up tabs with any headings I like as well as rename and move pages and tabs around. I can then make sure they are in alphabetical order. 😃

Here's my recipe notebook.

So far I've added pdfs and copied and pasted photos and text from Word documents. I had all this information in documents on my PC but this is a better way to access them, I think.

Do you use OneNote? I'm just a beginner and I know there is sooo much more to learn.

There's even a Facebook group for people using OneNote for their bullet journals. The layouts they have on their pages are amazing. I can't imagine how they have set them up, but I'm absorbing the information they share.

If you have any tips for me, please leave a comment. All advice will be gratefully received!

My book of the month: February

I read this book a few months ago but the story has stayed with me. It's such an original story, I guess that's why (but I did guess the twist in the plot way before the end. That did not diminish my enjoyment, though!).

When Inga Karlson died in a fire in New York in the 1930s, she left behind a hugely successful first novel, the scorched fragments of a second book, and a mystery that intrigued many readers.

Brisbane bookseller Caddie Walker visited an exhibition of the famous fragments fifty years later, where she met a woman who quoted a previously-unknown phrase from the fragments. That's all it took for Caddie to commence her investigation into this great literary mystery.

You can read more about The Fragments on Goodreads.

My 2019 reading progress

In a moment of January holiday eagerness, I committed to the Goodreads 2019 reading challenge. I arbitrarily chose to read 100 books this year and have already finished 16. Let's see how I go with the rest of them!

Are you a member of Goodreads? Let's be friends there if you are!

No more huge quilts for me

I've been wrestling with an unfinished quilt top this month. It's enormous (by that I mean queen sized) and I've finally wrangled all the pieces through my sewing machine. It is a Trip Around the World (the pic below shows it in an early stage on my design wall) and there's no way I'm quilting it. 

My purpose was to use the myriad fabric in my cupboards. Ha! I can't see any difference to the size of the fabric piles.

I've arranged to have it professionally quilted. By the time I bought the batting and backing fabric and factored in the cost of the quilting (which is so worth the money and will look fabulous), my quilt works out to be very expensive.

I don't want to spend so much money on a quilt. Making quilts is my hobby, not my job, and it's not like I have a lack of bedding. It's just too expensive to make these big quilts and I'd rather save the money.

I've decided that I won't start any new bed quilts. I have two other queen-sized pieced quilt tops nearly finished. One's made with simple rectangles in low contrast fabrics and the other's a scrappy Lady of the Lake design. I will complete these and then that's it for me.

All my quilt projects from then on will be small quilts that I can hand quilt myself. I will be exploring more hand applique (I love that process) and am looking forward to the joy of contemplative stitching.

It's such a relief to have a clear intention for my future quilt making. Do you have a plan for your projects? 

My book of the month: January

I read plenty of books during the summer holiday break. I've started to add the books I read to Goodreads again. I lost interest in recording my reading a few years ago but I'm back in 2019! You can find me over there if you are interested to see what I am reading.

My choice for January is The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland. Such an enchanting story!

I'm always interested in stories about how a person finds her way through life. Sometimes they are clear about the type of life they want to lead, while other times they are unsure and wounded by experiences and secrets.

The story of Alice Hart is sad yet also life-affirming. You can read more about it on Goodreads.

A-Z of plants

I've been having fun on Instagram, working through the alphabet by posting a photo of a plant from my garden each day. Today is the day for X - which plant do you think I chose?

I enjoy Instagram because it's so simple to use. You can find me here if you are curious.

My book of the month: December

I've not read other books by Barbara Kingsolver but was intrigued by the premise of resilience. It's a theme that resonates with me this year, as I try to work my way through stress and grief. I wasn't disappointed.

There are two strands to the story, each set in times of great upheaval. It's the way that the characters react to societal changes around them that was the appeal of this novel for me. Ordinary people, caught in circumstances that affect whole sections of the community, struggle to find their way through.

You can read more about Unsheltered on Goodreads. 

Life cycle

My love of gardening came from my father. As well as regularly visiting garden centres, we often popped into specialist plant shows to admire the prize-winning plants. It didn't matter whether it was an African violet, bromeliad or orchid show; we always came home with a couple of new plants. I knew that Dad would always propagate new ones from these and that cuttings would eventually head my way. My garden is full of plants from my father and his full of plants from me.

Every time I saw a spectacular plant, my first thought was that I must take a photo to show my father. Stunning plants are often discovered in ordinary places. We spotted a huge patch of oyster plants in full bloom at Concord Hospital. Dad was delighted to see them and I took photos that we pored over together during the following days.

Every year we spent a lot of time pruning the enormous camellias in his back yard. We had a system that worked well for us. I would wield the long-reach pruner among the high branches, while he would patiently chop the branches into smaller pieces for disposal in his garden waste bin. These were quiet times, after which we admired the neatness of our work together.

My father died four weeks ago. Some of his potted plants now live with me. I feel his presence around me as I water and talk to them all and this gives me comfort as I try to deal with my sense of loss. I am bereft.

Spring zing

The bees are out in force in my garden because the citrus is in flower! The zesty fragrance from my lemon, mandarin, blood orange and finger lime trees is wafting in the air and don't the bees love it. 

They all deserve a good feed, so it's on with the pellets of organic citrus food followed by a long drink of water. Spring zing is happening! 😄

My book of the month: August

I don't often read historical novels but this one enticed me. I think that's because it is mostly set in Australia and has two feisty female characters - one in the early 1800s and the other a century later. 

At the crux of the story is the platypus. English scientists (male of course, due to the time in history) refused to believe that such a creature existed and mocked any evidence to the contrary. 

There's also a theme of self discovery, as both women begin to learn more about themselves and their places in the world. It's a fascinating read.

You can read more about The Naturalist's Daughter on Goodreads.

1718 coverlet

Back in 2015, I was excited about taking part in a quilt-along to make my version of the 1718 coverlet, after I had purchased Susan Briscoe's beautiful book, The 1718 Coverlet: 69 Quilt Blocks from the Oldest Dated British Patchwork Coverlet. The book contains the fascinating story of the coverlet, including a chapter describing how members of The Quilters' Guild of the British Isles constructed a replica of the original.

Well, it's three years later and I have completed only the centre blocks of the first three rows. My enthusiasm has returned, though, now that the original coverlet celebrates its 300 year anniversary. 

There's going to be an exhibition of coverlets made from Susan Briscoe's patterns at the UK Festival of Quilts this month, as well as the original 1718 silk coverlet. I so wish I could be there to see them all but, since I live on the other side of the world, I've only been able to visit the show once. Best quilt show I've ever attended! Will you be there?

If you can't see the quilts in the flesh, check out issue 38 of Today's Quilter magazine (I bought my digital copy through Zinio), which features a supplement about the coverlet and shows some recently made. It's a beauty!  

In the meantime, I've started on the two large applique blocks that book-end the first three rows. In recent years I have become more interested in applique work and find that my stitching is improving the more I do. So satisfying.

Are you using Susan Briscoe's patterns, too? I'd love to see your versions, so please leave a comment with a link to your photos. I hope you are enjoying this project as much as I am.

My book of the month: June

One of my fantasies is to live in a small community away from the noise of the city. Then I read a story set in such a place and wonder whether there will be hidden mysteries surrounding me. How would I cope?

The Two Houses by Fran Cooper is such a story. Set in a remote setting in northern England, the setting almost becomes a character in the book. I love a story with a strong sense of place and this sure has that. It also has a buried body and a 'secret' that everyone seems to know about except Jay and Simon, who have purchased the property, Two Houses, after moving from London.

Intrigued? You can read more about The Two Houses on Goodreads.

Indoor plants have never been out of fashion to me

Indoor plants have been attracting plenty of attention over the past year. If you believe recent articles, they are having a resurgence from the years of the 1970s and 1980s as if they have never been popular before. 

In fact, house plants have been popular for many centuries and have been cultivated by generations of people who looked to plants to beautify, decorate, and improve the health inside their homes. Plants in our homes help absorb pollutants emitted by things like glues and modern furnishings.

I purchased my first indoor plant and decorative pot while I was still living in my parents' home. I can't recall the type of plant but I do remember how well it thrived in my north-facing bedroom, which was flooded by light filtered through net curtains. 

I have added to my collection of plants through all the decades since and say 'welcome!' to all the people who are just discovering the pleasure of cultivating plants indoors.

Fun fact: 

Recent research from the University of Melbourne and RMIT suggests that it is the bacteria living in plant root systems that do the work, rather than the leaves of the plant. Fascinating!

If you are new to indoor gardening (or want to revel in photos of gorgeous plant-filled rooms), I recommend these three books.

My favourite plant website is The Planthunter - Life With Plants

This is a fabulous online magazine with many articles about indoor plants, the latest being A guide to growing native houseplants, which shows how you can use some Australian natives indoors.

Finally, here's a fun new app - Plant Life Balance -  that allows you to take photos of areas in your home and add pictures of plants to them. It's a super way to visualise how your room could look with greenery. (And no, this photo isn't my place - sadly.)

Do you include plants in your home? Which ones do you find most reliable?

Three things

There are always positive spots in life; it's just a matter of looking for them!

1. This newsletter from Local is Lovely

Oh, it's a joy to receive this weekly newsletter from Sophie Hansen! Do you know it? Sophie is a food writer and farmer from Orange NSW, who brings sunshine into my email inbox each week. Just delightful. You can sign up for her newsletter here.

2. Using a digital pen

I love learning something new every week, even if it's a simple skill. This time, I taught myself how to write payment details on PDFs of bills so I can keep digital records, not paper ones. I love technology that helps me accomplish tasks in a more efficient way!

3. Liberty of London

Who doesn't love Liberty of London fabrics? They are so seriously delicious that I have a carefully curated pile of them. (Must start sewing with them one day instead of just fondling them. 😀)

My sister visited the shop in London last month and arrived back with this fabric-covered sewing box for me. The box closed:

and open:

Of course, another one came home for her, as well (pink and purple this time). How fortunate am I?

So there are my three things. Tell me about your week - what have you liked this week?

Magazines and newspapers galore!

Libraries rock.

I've always been a lover of magazines. Dipping in and out of stories about all sorts of subjects has always informed and entertained me, ever since I could read. I used to buy dozens of magazines until my local library subscribed to titles through RB Digital (the library app was formerly called Zinio for Libraries). Then I stopped paying for magazines and took advantage of my library paying for specific subscriptions instead.

Reading magazines while online has never appealed to me. I want my digital magazines downloaded onto my tablet so I can take them with me to read when there is no internet access. I stopped reading some titles that didn't let me do this. Reading solely online is so yesterday.

I told you libraries rock!

But recently my magazine world exploded. My library subscribed to PressReader, which allows me to access and download 3828 magazine titles. But wait, there's more: 3406 newspaper titles, to be precise!

I immediately installed the app on my tablet, chose my library, and signed in with my library card number. Dear reader, I binged.

I can read overseas and local magazines and newspapers for free - for free, I tell you!

I haven't had my local suburban newspaper delivered to my home for many years because the publisher can't get people willing to deliver them. Now, though, the digital version is automatically downloaded each week and I can again read about all that's going on in my area. 

It's magazine and newspaper lovers' heaven. Why don't you ask your public library if they subscribe to PressReader? You won't regret it. 😄