We have a cool autumn, sunny day here today. It is really lovely but I was so tired from the week I just had a sleep for awhile. Now I am in my comfy reading chair with a hot cup of tea thinking of you all. 🙂🌻
Fridays are usually my rest day. We had lunch yesterday at a restaurant with a couple of old friends. We hadn’t seen them for awhile but one of them is in his 80s and quite severely hearing impaired as is Mr P. The conversation was quite funny as one hearing impaired asked a question to the other hearing impaired and both partners had to repeat what was said and then they would answer and again the partners would repeat. It could have been one of those old British sitcoms that make people laugh so much. Fortunately I had my hearing aids in and the partner of the other older friend is younger and can hear!! Old age is such an adventure. Things happen you never thought about before.
But let’s get on with the book I bought a couple of weeks ago. I came across it accidentally on a table while going into the local second hand book shop Cracked and Spineless. I was asking Richard, who owns the shop if he had any Muriel Spark books. I did find one but will save that for later. He also sells new books too. He has a real following of both university students and older adults, like us. He is known for getting some really quirky books in.
The sign in front of his shop.You never know what you’ll find here.
What is this new book you ask?
Cousin Eddie gets bored with my books.
The book is full of gravestone photographs. Now, photographers get photos of all kinds of themed ideas. This one is gravestones. There isn’t much new with that idea but these are gravestones with recipes on them. Little old ladies who passed away and are remembered for their wicked biscuits (cookies to you N Americans), pies or cakes, etc.
The entire recipe is carved into the marble of the gravestone. This book is full of gravestones with lovely old recipes on it.
As I have several days at home over Easter weekend I was thinking I might pick one and bake it and see if it is as good as it sounds. Though I am trying to lose a couple of kilos I could still make something and train myself not to eat it all at once.
There are also stories of some of the women who baked these delights.
I have included a couple of the illustrations. I might also take my camera and find some local gravestones and see if I can find something unusual to photograph. I think these recipe stones are probably in North America. I haven’t had chance to really read through it all yet but plan to now I am not quite as busy for a few days and feel more rested.
How good does this look‼️
Have any of you ever seen something special on a gravestone? If I do get out and get some gravestone photos I’ll post them up at a future date. I’ll also share what I bake from the book. In the meantime. Enjoy the photos.
Have you ever seen an interesting epitaph on a gravestone?
I’m going to be changing the format of this blog a little bit. I have been trying to get too much information into each post. I have books, photos, daytime excursions and on and on. I have decided I am going to do shorter posts but maybe more often. As a reader I’m a tortoise, not a hare. The same goes for writing posts. So I’m going to adjust myself to that realisation. 😃. One day there may be a photography focus. The next will be about a book I read. I want to mention entries in journals. I want to share some interesting books from my shelf. I want almost a diary format.
I want to write about the walks I do with a camera around Hobart or southern Tasmania. I want to make the information for others to comment back and not overwhelm them.
I have two things today. One book. One excursion and just a couple of photos. If you love hearing about books but not interested in photography you can just skip the photo ones. If you enjoy the photos but not so much the book talk then that can be for you. If you just want to hear about life rambles then you’ve got it!! The Penguin will continue to be a part of the blog and I thought I’ll take him with me more often and get photos of him out and about. I’ll continue to dress him in themes that match the posts.
Life is busy and I know some of you don’t have a lot of time to read long posts that cover too much info. So I’ll keep them shorter. I hope it works. I enjoy hearing from my readers so much. So now I’ll move on with the topics of today. Stay tuned for the change. Maybe I should turn Penguin in for a tortoise- (joke-I’m too attached).
I finished the book group’s book The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley for Thursday’s book group meeting coming up.
Good Reads gives it 3.5 stars. I did not enjoy it at all.
The Ministry of Time is a clever mix of time travel, romance, and intrigue. AI explains:
In a near-future Britain, a secret government agency discovers time travel and brings people from the past into the present to study them. A young civil servant becomes a “bridge,” assigned to live with and guide a 19th-century Arctic explorer, helping him adjust to modern life.
As they navigate everything from technology to social norms, their relationship deepens into something romantic—but the project itself hides darker motives, and things begin to unravel into danger and conspiracy.
At its heart, the book explores big ideas:
what it means to belong in a different time
identity and cultural displacement
and whether love can survive across history
It’s both entertaining and thoughtful—part love story, part spy thriller, and part reflection on history colliding with the present.
************
I thought the premise was interesting. But I didn’t like the structure of the book and how of the four people brought back from centuries past, only one seemed to be very developed and then that just melted into a big romance with his “bridge”. Next thing you know there are then people from the future trying to wipe everyone out. I just thought the whole book was ridiculous. HOWEVER…..I know there are people who really enjoyed this book. I just am not one of them. It is imaginative, I’ll give it that. I do look forward to the discussion Thursday of our book club members and I’ll let you know how that goes.
Yesterday I had an interesting day. The Tasmanian Museum organised a trip with Ian Terry who produced a wonderful historical photographic journey of a Tasmanian historical figure, George Augustus Robinson. The trip was based on the photographic book he produced of the places Robinson visited along with excerpts from the man’s diary. A great deal of research went into this project and it is wonderful.
George Augustus Robinson was a British-born colonial official best known for his role in early 19th-century Tasmania during the violent conflict between European settlers and Aboriginal Tasmanians, often referred to as the Black War. He led what he called a “friendly mission” to persuade Aboriginal people to relocate, promising safety and support, and ultimately facilitated their removal to Flinders Island. (Flinders Island is a small island off the northern coast of mainland Tas in Bass Strait). While Robinson saw himself as a protector, his actions contributed to the displacement, suffering, and dramatic population decline of Aboriginal communities. He later became Chief Protector of Aborigines in the Port Phillip District (now Victoria), continuing similar policies.
We had a bus load of about 45 people who signed up for this excursion. We left Hobart at 8:30 am and returned a little after 5pm. I sat next to a lovely woman who I’d not met before and we had really fun conversations. All of the people on the trip seemed to be lovely and I also saw two others who I had met in the past and chatted to.
We explored the forests of the central highlands of Tasmania. We enjoyed a couple of longer walks in the forests and the information of where Robinson had had meetings with Aboriginal people back in the 1800s was explained to us. It was a great way to learn history of this terrible time in Tasmanian history. The forests were beautiful and I did take some photos of which I will share more of.
A very old Cider Gum tree. They are disappearing from our state due to global warming. It isn’t as cold here in winter for their seeds to propagate.
I’ll leave you with this for today. I’ll be back to share a bery different type of book with you very soon.
Have a good week.
Is there a favourite forest you visit where you live?
I try to post every weekend but the days have their own way of disappearing. So let’s just keep going forward and don’t worry about those missed days.
BOOK I ENJOYED
I read Muriel Spark’s novella The Driver’s Seat. What a very strange story. I will go as far as to say it was weird but it kept me turning pages. She packs a punch in this book and I think the reader has no idea where the story is going. All we know from the start is the woman named Lise as the main protagonist is going to be murdered.
Overview
The story follows Lise, a strange and erratic woman who leaves her job and travels to a southern European city (often read as Italy). From the beginning, her behaviour feels off: she’s confrontational, overly specific about trivial details (like clothing), and seems to be following a rigid internal script.
What makes the novel distinctive is that Muriel Spark reveals a crucial outcome ahead of time: Lise is going to be murdered. The narrative then becomes a kind of inverted detective story where the “victim” appears to be orchestrating the circumstances of her own death. (AI explanation)
Lise has worked in a boring job for a number of years. She suddenly takes off on a ‘holiday’ to an unnamed country in Europe, the reader thinks, for a holiday. On the plane she sees a man who she “thinks is her type”. She is so weird he gets up from his seat and moves. She finds her hotel upon landing and had agreed to meet up with the man seated beside her on the plane (who is really creepy) for a drink at his hotel later.
In the meantime she meets an elderly woman outside her hotel and they decide to spend the afternoon together, having lunch, shopping etc.
She keeps running into various men during the day and she continually tells the older woman, “He’s not my type”. The reader thinks she is looking for romance but as we are also told she is going to be dead there is quite a twist of events.
Spark’s writing is:
Sparse and precise — very little emotional explanation
Disorienting — jumps in time and perspective
Darkly ironic — often undercuts expectations
The tone can feel almost clinical, which makes the disturbing content even more intense.
I really enjoyed this book as it kept me on my toes. I just kept asking what is going to happen? Why does the elderly woman keep talking about her nephew who is flying in to meet her? Why does she think he will be a good match for Lise? Why is Lise controlling every situation? What is she looking for? Why does she reject everyone she meets?
As we know from the start she is going to die? Why?
I really got into this little story. I have read Spark in the past but it has been awhile and I’d like to read more. This book has been unread on my shelf for awhile and now I can pass it on to an op shop or a small library and it can creep someone else out.
PHOTOGRAPHY
I mentioned in my last post I’d be doing some photography at some wetlands but unfortunately it was located in an odd spot I’d not visited before and parking wasn’t available where I thought it should be. One of those mornings that just don’t work out. However I did get to go to the dog beach with my two dogs and I got a few photos there.
I also had a morning in the city doing street photography. I had watched a video about a street photographer in Lebanon in the past and he did a lot of photography with bright colours. I took the bus into town and spent time looking for brightly coloured walls and some light, though it was a flat cloudy day.
BOOKISH EVENTS COMING UP
***Tonight three of us went to a book launch about Gough Whitlam, a former Prime Minister of Australia. Here is the quick blurb.
Gough Whitlam | In Conversation with Troy Bramston
Troy is also known as his in depth biography of previous Prime Ministers Paul Keating, Bob Hawke and Robert Menzies.
The Blurb: Whitlam’s bio is a commanding biography of one of Australia’s greatest and most visionary prime minsters by an acclaimed political journalist and author. There has been no one like Gough Whitlam in public life – a charismatic, inspirational and visionary leader who ushered in a reform revolution to modernise Australia, which endures to this day. But Whitlam’s immense self-belief, relentless determination, misjudgements and blunders were truly Shakespearean and help to explain his downfall.
***Last night I bought a ticket for Irish writer Niall Williams who is coming to Tasmania the end of April. I love his writing and look forward to hearing what he has to say. It will be packed event for sure.
Thursday 30 April 2026
Beloved Irish writer, Niall Williams, reflects on his writing life and career and the country home that inspired his acclaimed novels. Niall Williams was born in Dublin in 1958. His critically acclaimed and bestselling fiction has been shortlisted for the Irish Times Literature Prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the IMPAC Award. Williams’ debut novel Four Letters of Love, an international bestseller, has been adapted by the author for screen and will star Helena Bonham-Carter, Pierce Brosnan and Gabriel Byrne. His most recent novel Time of the Child was an instant Irish Times bestseller and was awarded the Kerry Group Novel of the Year Award. He lives in Kiltumper in County Clare, with his wife, Christine. Join Niall for an unforgettable night.
***I’m heading into the middle of our April book group with the Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. More on this book later.
That wraps up another couple of weeks. Hopefully I’ll be back in another week all decompressed from life’s events lately.
Question of the week- As Ministry of Time features time travelling/sci-fi I’m trying to get my head around it though it is interesting. It is a genre I never choose for myself so here’s your question:
What genre do you want to read more of but rarely pick up?
Travellin' Penguin 