I know. I know. A Catch Up 😊

| TravellinPenguin

I have had a bit of a break from keeping this little blog moving along. Focusing on actually reading books and keeping fit. On these short, cold winter days I just crash at home at the end of day, keep the dogs entertained and watch Netflix, rest or read some more. So let’s catch up here. I won’t go too far back, just starting over.

Shared Reading Group Selection

I have joined a shared reading group at Fullers Bookshop. I have been on a waiting list for this group for ages. I finally got in. Each Monday night we meet in a group of 10 to 12 people (it is capped) and are reading aloud from Chekhov’s book of short stories. As I have joined this group late, I have now attended three sessions and read six stories. We have one more Monday night (next week) to finish off the book. Then there will be a bit of a break and we are going to do a reading aloud of Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. I have heard so much about this story but not read it so really looking forward to it. Also there won’t be a lot of Russian names to pronounce. We have done quite well though with the Russian words in the Chekhov book. It did include some laughter.

Our Fullers Book Group met earlier this month and we read the book Here We Are by Graham Swift. We read his book Mothering Sunday several years ago and we enjoyed this one. It was decided if one reads Here We Are it appears to be a lightweight book about a trio of friends, Ronnie, Jack and Evie who participate in vaudeville and Illusion acts in Brighton, England in the 1950s.

The book begins with the death of Jack, who is married to Evie in the late 20th century then goes backwards 50 years to the evacuation of Ronnie to the countryside as a child during the second world war. Upon a second reading several people mentioned they uncovered much deeper levels to this book and that is what we discussed. Themes of endings, death, colours (the colours white and green are used throughout as symbols), relationships, regret. Each member of the group took away various meanings from this book.

The book I am now reading for the August group is the Russian book The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. I am almost 200 pages into it and must say I am enjoying it. It is on many lists of 100 or 1000 books you must read before you die. It has been on my shelf for quite awhile but I never had the nerve to open it. No excuses now and not difficult at all to get into as long as one keeps an open mind and asks no questions. I find it is a book to simply walk into and follow the story without too many questions.

In other news. I have been doing a bit of photography though the last few weeks have been very cold and rainy. Now it is simply cold and sunny. I continue with my fitness regime three times a week with trainers at the gym and enjoy that very much. I also get into conversations at the bus stop waiting for the bus that brings me home afterwards.

Peanut and Ollie are well. They keep us on our toes. We are also having a spare room redone with a new wall bed that is actually a desk when folded up onto the wall. It looks like cabinet doors with a bookshelf beside it. When company comes (that sounds hopeful doesn’t it) it pulls down into a lovely double bed with a full sized mattress.

I told you it was wet out.

We have painters coming today to work in the bedroom and hallway the next three days and then hopefully the bed will be delivered before too long from Sydney though they are in lockdown now due to the Delta strain of Covid and our Prime Minister’s incompetence at getting enough Pfizer vaccines to make our citizens safe. It is breathtaking how completely ineffective and incompetent this man is. We actually have a previous prime minister working with official at Pfizer because they won’t deal with our current one as he was so arrogant with them they ignore him. Just unbelievable.

Okay, I’ll share some photos with you now and move on. I did want to get this out today. All the best to everyone, stay cool in the northern hemisphere, warm in the southern hemisphere and safe around the world.

Our photo club went to the Terhune Airwalk in southern Tasmania a couple of weeks back to look for fungi. It is a beautiful area with a large airwalk that reigns over the trees. However we spent more time scrounging around on the ground looking for fungi. We were dressed in layers of clothing but overall we had a great day out with hot food and drink in their cafe when finished.

The swinging bridge over the river.

21 thoughts on “I know. I know. A Catch Up 😊”

  1. Beautiful photos! The second last one, of the orange mushrooms, is my favourite. I’m working on a 1,001 Books list myself and I’m sure The Master and the Margarita is on it. I love all the covers, since most of them feature a cat 🙂 Love Chekhov stories, he’s great.

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  5. Wow! Some great reading there – Mrs. Dalloway, Chekhov and The Master & Margarita – three of my favourites! And thank you for sharing the lovely pictures. We are sweltering a bit up here so forget how you’re in winter down south. But at least it isn’t as bad for us as in some parts of the USA and Canada. This climate change is unsettling….

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  6. I wonder if I would like a reading aloud group. I know there is a U3A play reading one here. I feel that I may not like it because of he different voices. What do you do, a page at a time?

    I love photographing fungus, but you have some great ones in Tasmania. My brother has taken some stunning ones over the years.

    I’m not sure I’ve ever read Swift, though I’d like to. I have seen the film version of Last orders, and enjoyed that. I don’t know how good an adaptation it is, though.

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    1. The reading aloud is lots of fun. Yes, we do read a page at a time. Then once story finished we talk about it. Just a happy, social event. I haven’t seen the Swift film. I didn’t know a lot about him until we read his books in book group. Mothering Sunday 2 yrs ago and now Here We Are.

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  7. that sounds like a lot of fun! we found out what a “heat dome” was a week or so ago… not an experience to be repeated! the airwalk looks delightful; there’s a bridge that sort of looks like that up near Seattle some where… we’ve got fungi also, some pretty big ones on the older doug firs. if i knew anything about cameras i’d send off a photo of them, but…

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  9. I can’t even seem to get the govt app to book for a vaccine to work properly so still waiting for a chance to get it but apparently the wait for pfizer is going to be awhile. Love the photos of the bedraggled hounds and the fungi, always a good subject for photography.

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  10. Exactly, reading aloud in fifth grade. I didn’t like it then and wouldn’t now. That makes me wonder because I listen to so many audiobooks – firstly, having the book in front of me would send me off ahead, and also I would have to stop myself shouting at the reader for mispronunciations and mis-empasies. Cold in Perth WA and also wet and windy.

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  11. Wow, those fungi are stunning. The things you capture with a photographer’s eye are remarkable…
    I had a chuckle about reading aloud Russian names….Years ago I was a volunteer for Radio for the Print Handicapped. We read aloud from magazines and newspapers, so we had to audition for it. I did fine on the names of musicians, artists, authors, politicians, people in the news, except – you guessed it – not the sportsmen and women!

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    1. We had one Russian name in a story and 10 people pronounced it 10 different ways. It was hilarious. We had to stop laughing to keep reading. Thanks re Photos. I do love our Fullers Reading groups. Reading aloud is so different from silent reading. Like being in 5th grade again. 😊

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