This is a different kind of post from my usual but I wanted to share Neil the Seal. My North American friends and family will enjoy seeing him.
We have a gorgeous sunny day but it is about 37F out. I’m glad we have sun. I’m wrapped up in my fuzzy robe with my coffee. I have to tell you about Neil the Seal. He is a very large elephant seal. He evidently lost his mother 5 or 6 years ago as a pup and survived. But every year he comes out of the water and has a big rest on one of our local beaches and does a big moult. The issue is he is big‼️ He attracts a lot of attention. He is a real celebrity here. People from all over visit him. It has become a problem as he needs protection.
My friend called me last night and was chatting away. She and husband and her two boys who are home on school hols from uni took a drive out to see him.
There are security guards 24/7 keeping an eye on him and tourists and dogs away from him. Everybody seems to be talking about him and he’s in the news a lot. He’ll go back to the sea before long. Personally I wish everyone would just keave him alone. But my veterinarian friend said if he was that bothered he would go back into the water and rest elsewhere. There is a lot of coastline here yet he visits every year.
Enjoy the internet photos. Such an interesting animal.
I just fed the dogs and have sat down here to write a post. The cockatoos are finished for the day and flying around the yard. We are on the flight path to the mountain but it is too cold up there now so they tend to stop and sleep at night in trees around here.
They visit our bird bath each night for a long drink of water. I really enjoy watching them.
Mr P is in Canada visiting family for awhile yet so it’s just me and the two dogs, Ollie and Peannie (Peanut) and the two cats, Grizzy and Pickles.
I spent the afternoon editing some fungi photos I’ve taken over the last year or so. We have a fungi folder to share at our next photo club meeting. Everyone and their brother is out taking photos of fungi in Tasmania every year from autumn into winter. The more rain the more fungi. I’ll share them here.
I had my book group meeting last week. Only a couple of us didn’t care for A Little Trickery by Rosamund Pike. I am surprised so many really enjoyed it. Sometimes I just don’t get it. I was bored to tears with it but it absolutely has a following so who knows what I missed. Not that it matters. I’ve started a very short novella by Robert Louis Stevenson called Oglala. I love the imagery on this little novella. I’m coming up on half way through it.
Olalla is a Gothic novella by Robert Louis Stevenson about a wounded British army officer who recovers in the isolated home of a noble Spanish family. He falls in love with the mysterious and intelligent Oglala, but gradually discovers that her family is burdened by a dark hereditary curse that threatens both their future and his own. It has psychological tension, romance and horror. The story explores themes of inherited evil, self-control, fate and the struggle between human instinct and moral choice.
I am enjoying it so far. I chose it because it has been on my Kindle for ages and though I don’t remember downloading this book I thought I’d read some of the back log of kindle books. I remember at one time I did download quite a few old classic books as they are free. So I have a stockpile of them.
The book I’m listening to in the evenings while working on my puzzles is the new one by David Sedaris. It is called The Land and its People. I’m reading this as David Sedaris is coming to the Theatre Royal again in January to discuss this latest book of his. He makes me laugh like no other author. He has such a wit and such ridiculously funny stories. I have enjoyed his older books that include so much of his family. But several of his family members have passed away so he has moved on a bit. His parents are both gone and two of his sisters passed away. He is so good at going through his day and then writing about what happened during that day that just makes you laugh. I really like him.
Well, that is all that is happening around here. As you can see not a lot is happening. There is a book launch coming up at the end of the week that should be interesting. More on that later.
Have a good week everyone.
Question of the week: What type of books make you really laugh. Or do you just not read funny books? Lol.
Jason Steger is a British-born Australian journalist and one of Australia’s best-known literary critics. He served as the books editor and literary editor of The Age in Melbourne for 25 years, becoming a respected voice on Australian and international literature through his book reviews, author interviews and commentary. Steger was also a regular panellist on the The Book Club on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, where he discussed classic and contemporary books with fellow critics and writers. Widely regarded for his thoughtful, accessible criticism, he has played a significant role in promoting Australian literature and reading culture.
I receive a weekly newsletter from him every Friday called Booklist. He reviews new Australian books, talks about current literary festivals and asks readers questions about books. I enjoy reading his bookish discussions.
A couple of weeks ago he was asking readers what type of book ending do they like/dislike. Some endings wrap everything up. Some are ambiguous. Some just leave the ending completely open. A few books have several endings.
I’d be interested to know what are your favourite type of ending. I must say I enjoy closure. All things wrapped up. However having said that I find if an ending is ambiguous or not clear I tend to think about the story for a longer time.
What do you prefer?
Peanny loves watching animals on tv.
Having a quiet day today. Hobart has been very cold this past week. One of those days you just can’t shake the chill. I think I need to get to the pet store and get little moss Peanny a jumper. She keeps crawling under blankets as does our cat Pickles. But I think Pickles would hate wearing one.
(By the way for you North Americans- a jumper is a sweater here.)
I had some journal pages to catch up on so am doing that today. Updated the reading journal somewhat. Need to look up some publishing dates to fill in some blanks.
I enjoyed making up a page in my junk journal using a paper menu from the Cascade Brewery menu with some magazine pics and a few doll stickers. Lastly I saw a sketching exercise on Tik Tok of drawing heads and decorating them so I did that and found it quite relaxing.
In the end I did go ahead and finish the book Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. Overall I enjoyed it but I had to dip into it a half hour or so a day instead of reading it right through. It is somewhat repetitive and really so sentimental but I liked Theo very much. And I enjoyed the setting of Golden, Georgia.
I have several book launches coming up at Fullers book shop but will talk about them later.
Mr P is visiting family in Canada for a month so things have slowed right down here.
I did a 6+km walk the other day with a friend as we had sun if not warmth. It was bracing and we stopped at a local cafe on the way home for a hot Chai Latte.
Last night I spent an evening out at the cinema with a friend and her son. We saw The Sheep Detectives with Hugh Jackman. It was silly but I can’t go past a flock of sheep who all talk and have different personalities. The sheep do solve the murder. They are very clever. We followed that with a Vietnamese meal. A very enjoyable time. I haven’t been to the cinema in a long time.
Well that’s my week finished. Just to finalise it all I received Cousin Eddie’s ashes. (He was our old cat we said goodbye to last week.). The vet also sent some little papers with his foot prints, a vial with a hair clipping and a lovely card. I will put his ashes under our Japanese maple tree come summer and hang his bell. All of our past pets are there and they each have their own little bell. It sounds lovely when the wind comes through.
All the best for the week,
Don’t forget to answer the question about book endings.
Travellin' Penguin 