THIS morning's fog has lifted revealing another glorious autumn blue-sky day. Three loads of washing will go out on the line this morning. Manure and compost will be dug into a garden bed I freed of summer annuals two days ago and new seedlings and seeds will go in. I'll go for a run, eat good food, write a little, read a little (see below), knit a little: what a perfect end to a holiday long weekend.

:: Op shopping in Sierra Leone. An Aussie aid worker shares her secrets.
:: Could you make this work in an abandoned corner near you?
:: Half of these women have been harassed in their workplace. I'm one of them.
:: Crochet as therapy. Really. Serious. Therapy.
:: Having it all kinda sucks. The reality check we all need to read.

DO you ever think about how many thousands of words you’ve written in emails, text message, blog posts, comment replies over the years? Or how many you’ve read? I’ve written and read a library of words this year, but only cracked a dozen or so spines of actual books.

The remainder of my reading has, in the main, been emails and reports. So many reports. So many emails. In fact, I spent hours of last week cataloguing emails and replies. But, now, I have a week off with no plans and many, many books.

If you’ve managed to carve out time for holiday reading, here’s my suggestions from this year's reading list.

Happy holidays, and happy reading.

:: Brain Picking's best children's books of 2015
:: Top booksellers pick their best reads of the year
:: ABC Radio National presenters choose their summer holiday reads

I GOTTA stop apologising for these late posts, but again, as the end of the month rolled around, I was nowhere near a computer and definitely nowhere in cooee of a decent mobile connection.

Bliss. ;)

In NOVEMBER:

I WENT TO… on a weekend road trip, and it was sooooo worth the long drive from the NSW Central Coast to the state's Central West. We stopped to visit an old friend and and her darling new bub at Ballimore, near Dubbo, and then drove onto Coolah, with a day spent in Coolah Tops National Park. It was a classic road trip. Thermos tea and cut sandwiches out of the Esky, a Pub Squash at the Ballimore Inn, pulling up at the only motel in town (fan on, enamel sink, squeaky beds with velour spreads) and enjoying a schnitzel and chips and cold ale at the local pub before an early start to bushwalking the next day. It was all wrapped up with milkshakes and a 'slab' of Vanilla Slice at the country bakery at Merriwa on the way home.

I ATE… Nothing fancy. I had to restrain myself after last month's culinary adventures.

I OP SHOPPED… a linen top and jeans, a mid-century pottery vase and gold brocade dress, circa 1960s. I love the monthly car boot sale, and it's on again this weekend.

I MADE… a start on a summer knitting project, courtesy of hours spent in the car during the weekend road trip.

I READ… Kate Llewellyn’s newest book, A Fig at the Gate. I am a fan of Llewellyn's diaries of love, loss, gardening, cups of tea and her examinations of friends, lovers and the anyone she chooses to muse on, from the bloke across the road to taxi drivers.

I also finished Patti Smith's Just Kids. I've been reading this on and off for months but finally sat with it and read it to its end. I loved the writing, but picked and picked at it not really feeling I had the head space to surrender to the writing and telling of this story. Finishing it feels like parting with something important. M Train? Who's read it?

The final read of the month was Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic. I actually listened to it as an audio book. So satisfying to garden and listen to Gilbert read this one aloud. Plenty to muse on.

THIS post is late. We're three days into November, the Melbourne Cup horse race has been run and I can feel the squeeze of those last weeks in the run up to Christmas. Thankfully, this month brought a sweet moment of respite by way of a lovely tropical island break. Here's hoping that post mini-break glow doesn't wear off too quickly.

In October:

I WENT TO… Hamilton Island. The boy - now a 21-year-old man - lives there running quad bike tours. He’s the youngest of the brood and, to date, the most widely travelled with plans for more adventures in the new year. 

I ATE… The boy booked us in to Hamilton Island’s beautiful Co Ca Chu restaurant. An Asian-inspired ‘fusion' menu with sweeping views of sand, sea and island: what’s not to like?

I OP SHOPPED… Very little this month. I brought home a Lisa Ho dress for $10 without trying it on. I figured the silk was worth it if the fit was not. Turns out I’ll be keeping it for the silk alone and it’ll be made into a flowing summer tank. I also brought home a 1980s denim skirt and that string of 1970s wooden macrame beads you see above. 

I MADE… I made my first wicking bed. That seed saving day I raced ahead to mention in last month's post was a day to learn a new garden art - the art of making seed raising mixtures and a wicking bed. Hands down, it's proved the most successful seed propagating method I've used.

I READ… Three books - and none of them from that five-book pile still sitting on my bedside table. I’m pottering through that lot, unlike two of this month’s three reads which were devoured in a single day; something I’ve not done for years. 

THIS pumpkin, along with a few handfuls of coriander and parsley, are all I've harvested from the garden over winter. I've dug, weeded, pruned to open up new spaces for spring and summer planting. Life here gets a little crazy from next weekend, so I'm busting for longer days when I can scratch away at my new plans.

In July:

I WENT TO: Girl Guide Jamboree. Yup, 400 of them, 100 of us.

MY favourite, quarterly, beachside book fair and market was on last weekend. I have been filling my bookshelves with the kind of works that will help me be "well-read", or at least that's what I tell myself when I hand over my donation each time.

I adore Atwood's writing and picked up another of her earlier works from the fair last year - so this title was an easy choice. Thank goodness I wasn't restricting myself like another was recently.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work came onto my radar late last year with the reworking of his stories for the BBC series Sherlock. I'd never read Sherlock Holmes' adventures but have since downloaded a bunch to my iPod; and now have this natty 1968 paperback on the bookshelf.

It's a funny thing: I never fancied myself a reader of the mystery genre but given a childhood love of the Famous Five and Nancy Drewe and now Sherlock - plus the fact I'm busting to see the television adaptation of the Phryne Fisher mysteries (of which I've only read one volume), I think it's fair to say I'm fairly planted among the blue-rinse set.

Hmmm, maybe "well-read" is too ambitious. I should just aim for "widely-read".

HOW long has it been since you've read a Famous Five story? For me, I am guessing it's been a good 30 years. Lordy have things changed in that time. Granted, ol' Enid did write them in the 1950s but, by golly, my jaw hit the floor a number of times.

For starters, surely social services needed to be called in. Who lets their children go off riding into the never never for days on end, without even so much as checking where they're going and what they plan to do for accommodation and food?

And is it just me, or did Enid have a commission from the Department of Health to keep spruiking the virtues of exercise and hearty meals - in moderation and only when required as fuel? Either way, I was salivating at the simple, wholesome picnic spreads these young teens knocked up - mine have managed to rise to topping a pre-bought pizza crust, so I was suitably impressed.

Speaking of young teens, how old ARE the Famous Five. I picked Julian for 14 or 15? Anne at, what, 11 or 12? Anne seemed a whizz with fresh bread rolls, a bit of Pecks Paste and crisp lettuce - so dab a hand I tried it myself. Let me tell you, the five were onto something with that tasty morsel.
If you haven't read a Famous Five for a while and you've got one banging about at the back of a bookshelf, drag it out for a re-read. When you're done, get back to me and tell me if you weren't suddenly hankering to pack an overnight bag, slap it on your kid's back, hand over a couple of bucks and tell 'em to go off adventuring - possibly with a mobile phone programmed with Constable Plod's number?

I HAVE a confession. I have never read Jane Eyre. I haven't read Pride and Prejudice. No Bronte, no Austen. It's true. I am a neanderthal. Even worse, before I go and see the movie (one of drillions I've never seen) I thought I'd cheat and read the abridged version Sophie sent me. Or maybe I'll just see the movie. It must be good. Alisa's busting for it.

I HAD an op shop niggle last week and it was a good one. I scored four tubes of buttons - each 50c a tube and these Jonathan Sceats frames from the 1980s for $3. Boo-yah! They're my spectacle Nirvana and my optometrist hasn't been asked to pull apart a vintage pair of specs apart for some time. Hey, I need these specs to be fitted with my prescription. I read. I read a lot and I've got a backlog of books piling up (and sewing if the above photo of my long-standing Easter craft UFO is any indication).

The Sydney Writers Festival is this month and I have tickets to a couple of events, one featuring Kate Holden. I'm reading her book In My Skin during the daily train commute and today nearly missed my stop I was so engrossed.

In reaching for new books, mostly with the help of a couple of well-worn library cards, I have bookmarked the Black Book Challenge. Go on, how many books by indigenous Australian authors can you claim to have read? Hmmm, me too.

Keeping with the literary theme, I was at the Sydney launch of Pia's book, My Heart Wanders, on Friday night. I couldn't stay long, more was the pity. I've had the good fortune to write professionally about Pia's books before and though I haven't yet read this book it's waiting as a treat for when I duck off to a creative residential at Sturt's Winter School in July. I just know it'll be perfect for cosying up to of an evening.

Before I toddle off and stick my nose back into Holden's writing, Caz, of Bird with the Golden Seed tagged me last week. I'm blushing to have this tag come my way again so quickly. Instead of boring you with more about me I'll point you to Caz's own reading challenge, which has been to hunt down cult literature in The Year of Reading Backwards. Maybe instead of seven things, you can pluck out seven books to read in the remaining eight months of 2011. Gosh, how did that happen?

WHAT was with the rain? I had markets bookmarked, cash in my wallet to buy up big at the cake stalls and book sales, and then the heaven's opened and plodding out to the nether reaches of the coast seemed a bad idea.

I did plough on only to be elbowed away from tables at what was my first visit to a well-regarded annual book fair. Miffed. I'd say so. I did feel a good deal better when I finally rolled in to my favourite seasonal book sale closer to home at Macmasters Beach. It's fabulous. You really should go.

Other weekend market scores were a bamboo-look ceramic jug and pair of screw-back earrings, in bronze and perfect for the '70s vibe looks I am seeing everywhere. I blame Paper Giants: The birth of Cleo and new series screening on ABC2, Swingtown. Haven't seen the latter? Do. It's like Melrose Place meets Mad Men for the 1970s.

THREE days off. I know everyone else has five. Don't start with me. I was going the way of being grateful for three. If I am super lucky my lapsed, and now renewed, subscription to Dumbo Feather will arrive in the mail today and I'll be able to curl up in this glorious autumn sunshine and catch up on a little reading.

A new mag subscription means old ones have to go and I have a stack of Mixtape zines to send on to a lucky crafter, or two. Just pop by my Facebook page and post a link on the wall to a fab online craft tutorial or idea I can add to my "Things to Make and Do" Pinterest board. Are you on Pinterest?

I've got the full set of Mixtape zines but if you're just after one to finish your set let me know. I'm happy to share the love and will do my best to hand the lot over to one super keen Mixtape fan or to lovely craft-sters who have gaps to fill.

Oh, and I've heard about an underground craft club soon to launch in Sydney. It's been described to me as an inner-west alternative kinda craftin' scene. Who's excited?

If you have time to be online this long weekend, or the inclinaton, pop by and vote for Australia's best blogs, as hosted by the Sydney Writers' Centre. I've voted for Curlypops, Daily Imprint, Gary Pepper Vintage, Girl With A Satchel, Her Library Adventures, Maxabella Loves, Meet Me At Mikes, Op Shop Diva, pottymouthmama, Strawberry Communications and Tsk Tsk.

And you can vote for me too, if you like. Clickety click on the button below.


Happy Easter, long weekend, or whatever you're doin' right now.

Ooops, my Facebook wall was locking crafty peeps out. It's open for your links now.

THIS weekend I've managed to visit a friend in hospital; plant broad beans seeds, a blueberry bush, leek seedlings, cumin, rosemary and a bunch of other herbs; and, cook real food - not the harried muck I've been dishing up. There was a Thai chicken broth last night and today I've got a parsnip and chilli curry in the slow cooker, baked a chicken and chickpea dish to serve up with mashed potato and greens tomorrow night and put on a pot of spiced pumpkin and lentil soup.

It's a return to normality and a little slowing of pace. It's autumn. The evenings are cooler, mornings darker and Daylight Saving time has, thankfully, for me, ended.

The light is mellow, my mind turns to what I have stacked on my bookshelf for indulgent winter weekend reading. I've aired the winter wardrobe and taken a few things to the dry cleaner so they're ready to wear when the days turn cold. My scarves and brooches have been looked over with a critical eye. Which ones can be paired and what will they be draped over? My new kingfisher brooch, made and sent to me by the talented Kate Slater seems a good fit for a vintage Desert Designs silk scarf I picked up at the op shop for $1 a few weeks back.

I'm even thinking about the blog again. It's been drifting along on its own merry way but I feel like I'm ready to pull this poor old thing back into shape, starting now with a shout out to Tracey Sargent, of Quiet Paws, who bestowed upon me a versatile blogger's award. If that's a nice way to say my blog's all over the shop, I'll take it on the chin.

I tag Etcetera, FanGirlish, Pepper Stitches and Maxabella Loves to tell you seven random facts about themselves after, of course, I've shared mine.

1. I have a birth mark on my left hand and use it to tell left from right.
2. I hired a car for the first time while in Hobart. Too true. 37 and never hired a car before.
3. I used a GPS thing-a-me-jig for the first time while driving above said hire car. I got cranky with it.
4. I commute four hours a day to work and back. Yup, count 'em. Four hours.
5. I have never seen a full episode of Glee. Tell me, am I missing something here?
6. Kelly Doust's book, Life in Frocks, was the last book I read.
7. I only learned to swim at age 17. Properly swim, that is. I could float just fine.

I WATCHED Gardening Australia tonight and will buy the magazine sometimes this week so I can lust over Hendrik's garden.

This afternoon I preordered PJ Harvey's Let England Shake on iTunes.

I also ordered Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life and Angie Lewin: Plants and Places from Amazon as an early birthday present to myself.

I am cooking felafels for dinner tomorrow night and will put a pot of dahl into the slow cooker for Monday night's dinner. It's always better if it's allowed to sit for a day.

I am wearing my yellow Saltwater sandals. I love, love, love them. Can you see them peeping out from below my new-to-me op-shopped apron? Look at those sweet pockets. They're perfect for filling with the day's crop of yellow cherry tomatoes.

It's the weekend and I have a play date tomorrow.

What are you doing?