Vegetable garden update

In case anyone was wondering......

The vegetable garden has been a fantastic success.

I have done several mystery box deliveries to various people for them to cook up as I had WAY too much produce.

I provided my friend Kate with many 'Asian greens' because I had absolutely NO idea what they actually were and how to cook them.

I no longer think a white cabbage moth looks pretty flying over my garden.

My children love apple and rhubarb crumble. OK actually they only like the apple and the crumble but I'm working on it. They do like the beetroot - only because they are still trying to make their wee turn pink. I have one child liking broccoli - that's got to be good doesn't it? And both kids liking cauliflower - plain, no cheese sauce thanks.

I have also been nominated as the best parsley grower in Adelaide.!!

My lovely friend Heidi is kindly planting my new summer veggies and I'm determined that the children WILL enjoy tomatoes by March next year - stay tuned...

Bird by Bird

Have you got a story in you that's just dying to get out? Have you ever wondered whether you could write a book and be the next JK Rowling? Maybe its just a short story, an article or even a poem.

If your inner writer is trying to be heard, you should definitely read this funny, clever, humbling and inspiring book Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.

I'm not sure whether this book has inspired me (and my little story wanting to come out) or provided me with a very real wake-up call. Every now and then I think writing a book wouldn't be that hard and then I read something like Bird by Bird and realise I haven't got a clue and the most beautiful books are extremely cleverly composed by very talented writers - and I am not one of them.

Anyway the journey continues and I highly recommend reading this book to anyone interested in the art of book writing - whether you dream of writing your own or just appreciate the skill required and are interested in finding out more about how it is done.

But I want it...

I'm obsessed with this beautiful linen duvet cover and valance from Rough Linen! Can't work out how to buy it from Australia, but I really want it.

Yes it's all frighteningly expensive but I can't stop looking at it and keep finding it referenced in every blog / website I look at eg: sfgirlbybay blog site and design sponge blog. Help - anybody know how I can source it or do you have any suggestions for other linen doona / duvet covers that are available here?

Bookshelf choices

I thought I'd write a quick entry on some of the books that have stayed on my bookshelf over the years and are usually on my list of recommendations for a good read.

Staircase bookshelf - isn't it a fantastic idea!

Over the last couple of years I've been requested to give recommendations to friends who have not been well, are leaving children for long periods, wanted a good holiday read or just wanted to read something a bit different.

There are many books I've read and loved over the years but:
(a): I've forgotten their titles and / or their authors, or
(b): I've forgotten I've read them, or
(c): My list would be too long if I listed them all.

I read most of these over the last few years, so I haven't retrospectively reviewed them merely listed them - I'm happy to tell you more about them if you want more info.

So here is a very random and incomplete selection of what is still in my bookshelf (hence making it easy for me to remember their titles, etc!) and I would recommend as good reading (in no particular order):

1) Q&A by Vikas Swarup (plus Six Suspects by the same author)

2) The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif (have realised I did review this book earlier in this blog!)

3) Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry (plus A Fine Balance by the same author)

4) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

5) The Famished Road by Ben Okri

6) Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (plus Run by the same author)

7) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy by Stieg Larsson

8) Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

9) Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (plus The Blind Assassin and also The Handmaid's Tale)

10) March by Geraldine Brooks (plus People of the Book by the same author)

All images courtesy of the book depository

What are you reading at the moment? Are you enjoying it or finding it a struggle? Would love to hear some recommendations....

Little Bee

Brilliant. Compelling. Different. Memorable. Read it....

Little Bee by Chris Cleave is an amazing book that I could not put down for the last few days and I don't think the story will leave me for a lot longer.

Little Bee, a young Nigerian refugee, has just been released from the British immigration detention center where she has been held under horrific conditions for the past two years, after narrowly escaping a traumatic fate in her homeland Nigeria. Alone in a foreign country, without a family member, friend or pound to call her own, she seeks out the only English person she knows. Sarah is a posh young mother and magazine editor with whom Little Bee shares a dark and tumultuous past.

The book is written with unpredictable moments of humour and horror - you just want to keep turning the page to see whether the next event will the former or the latter. The characters were great - although I did struggle with the maturity Little Bee displayed for a 16 year old - I suppose though, after what she had endured in her youth, her level of life experiences is more than any of us could comprehend. I really can't say too much about the book without spoiling the unfolding story but I highly recommend this book.

Once again I seem to have selected a book that makes you think about your contribution to the world - sorry to get deep again, but I really like what the author says about human rights at the end of the book:

(I know this quote is long but I couldn't shorten it without losing its impact)

' Evil is not going to be vanquished. Our job is to resist it, and to plant the seeds of further resistance so that goodness never entirely vanishes from the universe. There are degrees of resistance. It starts when you give a dollar to a homeless person and it escalates to the point where people give their lives, as Gandhi did or Martin Luther King, Jr. One person can make a difference by travelling as far along that continuum as they feel able.'

Three cups of tea

OK back to the real blog topic. It's been a while between book reviews as I've found this last book slow to get through. Don't let that put you off though! It was an incredible story.

If you've ever wondered whether one person truly can make a difference in the world - this book answers that question brilliantly. If you've ever wondered whether you should embark on any philanthropic ventures in your life - this book is for you. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

"In 1993, after a terrifying and disastrous attempt to climb K2, a mountaineer called Greg Mortenson drifted, cold and dehydrated, into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram Mountains. Moved by the inhabitants' kindness, he promised to return and build a school...Over the next decade Mortenson built not just on but fifty-five schools in remote villages across the forbidding and breathtaking landscape of Pakistan and Afghanistan, just as the Taliban rose to power."

The basic concept of what Greg Mortenson is doing to bring peace is so simple but beautiful. He believes that children (no matter where they are from), if given the opportunity for an education, will grow up with options beyond a predestined future of violence or crime. I loved this excerpt from the book as I think it summed up his philosophy perfectly:

"You have to attack the source of your enemy's strength. In America's case, that's not Osama or Saddam or anyone else. The enemy is ignorance. The only way to defeat it is to build relationships with these people, to draw them into the modern world with education and business. Otherwise the fight will go on forever."

The book was slow going for me as I found it a bit disjointed and due to the foreignness of the Pakistan and Afghanistan names of people and places. However this just demonstrates my (embarrassingly) complete lack of any knowledge of these countries. My knowledge of what happens in these countries and the issues that the predominantly innocent people face, is limited to what I learnt as a result of 9/11 and the recent floods in Pakistan.

I'm glad I read this inspiring book and I hope there are more people like Greg Mortenson in the world.  I wish I had just a little of Greg's guts and determination - the limit of my philanthropic gestures are to donate to World Vision, Cancer Council, Medicine sans Frontieres and other charities from the comfort of my home!

Very off the blog topic

I am currently researching places to stay in South Africa for our potential holiday there next year. Travelling with an architect and two young boys presents a number of challenges in finding perfect accommodation to suit everybody's needs and within a price range we can recover from! In doing so I have been scouring the internet (with all the information there it can be extremely overwhelming!) and found this amazing house featured in Living etc. The old farmhouse is in the Klein Karoo which is near Cape Town.

How about the light above the bed - its made of ostrich eggs and the wooden bed head is shaped in the same design like the traditional cape dutch homestead.

I love the mixture of prints and mirror in the bathroom.

Unfortunately I have discovered that it is not actually available to rent / stay in but isn't it beautiful anyway? 

The search continues...