Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.” Orson Scott
Books
I am having a lot of winter fun journaling with my new desk space. I have a new bright lamp arriving soon too.
Keeping track of what I want to do/read/photograph on a really cold, blowy winter’s day is great fun. I do some junk journaling too and play with a couple of wonderful sticker books I have. I even got my fountain pen filled with ink again.
I recently acquired Julia Cameron’s latest book, Walking In This World. I can’t tell you what it is about yet but once into it I will.
I finished the book The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch. I am really glad I read it. There was so much in it.
There is such a myriad of motivations that drive the protagonist, Charles Arrowby and the other characters that Iris Murdoch lays bare. There is human vanity, jealousy, and lack of compassion behind the various characters, especially Charles. The whole story is played out against the ocean from beautiful to terrifying. The ocean is a metaphor for Charles’ actions and mood. He varies from erratic, gentle, terrifying anger then calm.
I began the latest book by Charlotte Wood, an author who I like. Stone Yard Devotional but I can’t say anything yet as I only cracked the pages last night.
I did finish another short book by David Sedaris on audible. It is titled Naked and it is both sad at times then hilarious.
Sadness as he describes his mother’s death and funny when he visit a nudist colony. Non fiction memoir at its best is what Sedaris is known for.
I like hearing him talk about his family. His father and mother were unusual characters and he portrays them in both an exasperating and loving way especially as they age. They was so much dysfunction in that family between him and his siblings yet they all remained close.
He explains how hard it was growing up with OCD-compulsive behaviours. For example he would get out of his chair at school and go over and lick the light switch, he had so many bizarre behaviours that he couldn’t control. He was bullied very much as a result of his behaviour. He spent time in his room making very high-pitched noises in his throat. The behaviours were the only way he could comfort himself before the cycle began again.
His visitation to a nudist colony retreat was very funny – both how he handled walking around nude and the descriptions of the others.
He is very good describing his observations of people which I love. I spend a lot of time going out and observing people myself with my camera and although I don’t write about them I enjoy photographing them.
Photography
There is a Facebook page that is called Street Photos. Each day they take the best street photography posted in a 24-hour period and post up what they see as the best photos.
I submit two photos a day but have yet to be selected in the “best of”. There are many excellent photographers on the site and people “like” the ones they think are worthy. It makes me really study how I take photos and I find they are getting better.
Good photos of people have colour, gesture and light. They also need somewhat of a story or reason to exist. One also needs a good character, location and event. (See comment under a recent street photo I took above.
The photo is good if you can get all six of those features but it is very difficult. It is more challenging if one doesn’t live in London, NYC, Venice or other beautiful cities. One must work hard to find the equivalent in Hobart! The biggest task is just to have that information in your head before you push the shutter.
I have been studying the book The Photography Storytelling Workshop by Finn Beales. It is a five-step guide to creating unforgettable photographs. I am taking lots of notes in the margins.
So enough on books and photos.
Pets
We were at the vet’s again this week. We took our cat Grizzy for his final dental check after his big clean. He is doing very well. Ollie goes every three months for an injection that hopefully keeps him mobile on his back, reconstructed leg. He is doing well and so far, no arthritis. He will be five years old in August already.
Food
Yesterday I cleaned a few things that were hiding in the back of the refrigerator and found a bottle of Marion’s Kitchen Satay Sauce. I forgot it was there. She was a MasterChef contestant, winner? I forget, from a few years ago and has a line of Asian style sauces and kits. I have used them once or twice before and they were good.
I put some chicken, potatoes, carrots and onions into the slow cooker and all the sauce from the bottle and stirred it so everything is covered. The smell is wonderful as it is a really cold Sunday (10C – 50F) as it is quite windy with the cold coming down from the mountain. It feels like 30. S0 this is just what we will need later.
Your turn 😄🌻
Let me know something fun you did this past week and we’ll keep the conversation going.
Bye for now…
Travellin' Penguin 
P.S. I do not even want to know the story I see in that picture of the guys in the truck with some dogs in a cage. I don’t want to know why the dogs are in a cage or where they are going in a cage.
But that is a very good street photo!!!!
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The story is okay. They are tradies and tradies often take their dogs to work with them. The law here states if you transfer a dog in a pickup you must have it either tethered or contained so no need to worry.
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Tradies!!! How cute! And that is good to know that they take their dogs to work with them! Better than the poor dog staying home alone, lonely and bored.
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P.S. and now I think I WOULD like to know the story inside your photo. I want to know everything about the guys in the truck and the work they do and their dogs on the job.
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You’re as bad as I am. I am always wanting to know the stories of people.
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Oooo I love seeing all your journaling stuff! I’ve kept journals since I was 8 years old, starting out with one of those 5-year diary things where almost every day I would write down “I’m bored.” LOL
Oh you just had your cat’s teeth cleaned? Marilyn’s vet said she needs her teeth cleaned and I am in a complete panic over whether or not I want to risk putting her under anesthesia for that. I will be posing that question to all the cat people out there in blogland on Sunday.
Something fun I did this past week. Hmm…no. Nothing fun.
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It is important to get their teeth cleaned. It can cause bacteria to travel if not done and infection in their body. It isn’t a high dose of anaesthetic and doesn’t take long. We have had dogs and cats who needed this procedure with no problem.
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Thank you! I am gathering all the advice given to me and will make my decision next week.
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Thank you for an inspiring post. I love the quote on the top, so true. I am also doing journaling and am collecting tickets and other memories from travels. I try to use them as a travel diary where I can go back and look at what I did. I am not very good at it, but hope the one day, with a little bit more experience, I will succeed.
I have just discovered Julia Cameron. I found her book The Artist’s Way on my Nextory app. I usually prefer books like this in a paper version, but will see if it suits me first.
I have never read anything by Murdoch, but your review tempts me. I am happy to hear that your cat and dog are doing well. Ollie looks really cute.
There is a photography exhibition in a city not far from me. It seems it is by a Swedish, female photographer, Tuija Lindström (1950-2017). I happen to see some photos and they are really great. I must try to pass by and have a look. Photos, like yours as well, can be very inspirational.
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Thank you for your kind words. Don’t worry about thinking you’re not good at journaling. Journaling can be anything you like so don’t compare yourself to anyone 😄 I do like watching people journal on instagram or tik tok but such a rabbit hole. You tube is also good. I will look up Tuija Lindström. I enjoy discovering other photographers especially older women. Ollie has just learned how to shake hands. He is very good at it now. Very cute with his short fuzzy legs. All the best🌻🌻🌻
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I know it … it does last a long time but it has its limits. I now have some in a clear container on a shelf in the fridge were I can see and not forget it!
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Now that we are living in the mountains, we have been enjoying the slow cooker a lot more this winter. Lots of rich wine and tomato based sauces, curries and soups. But for one of the veggie stews I didn’t dice the sweet potato small enough (missed that step on the recipe!)
Turns out crunchy sweet potato is not a good thing!!
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I do not like crunchy sweet potato or pumpkin. There’s a Buddha Bowl I like at a local cafe, but I’ve learnt to ask for the pumpkin to be cooked till soft, otherwise it’s variable. In my experience, meat dishes with potato, pumpkin, or sweet potato often fail because they don’t allow enough time. Sometimes I cut them really small, sometimes I parboil first, sometimes I just start cooking them first and then add the meat a little later!
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Normally I would sauté the veg first with some of the herbs or even bake them for half an hour but this recipe didn’t specify that – I should have followed my gut instincts!
I enjoy a good Buddha bowl too, one cafe in Balmain used a delicious miso sauce that I am now getting cravings for.
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Sometimes I decide not to use my gut instincts but often to my detriment. If it’s a cook/recipe source I know to be good I’m more likely to trust but even that’s not foolproof.
I’ve been experimenting a bit more with miso lately. Having l cooked a little Japanese years ago and letting miso go to waste I am now realising there are so many ways I can use it. It’s a great flavour isn’t it?
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A very very old pack of miso flavour was one of the items I had to throw out before we moved – purchased during of my good intentions phases 😁
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You keep so busy, Pam! I have had the usual mad week at work (I work in a school and there’s always some kind of drama going on). I have read loads too, and done a bit of art journaling. I envy your lovely sticker books – I’ve seent hem about!!
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I imagine school is busy this time of year but lovely you manage to fit so much reading in and forget about the drama🌻
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Well we are in Melbourne again and yesterday was a family birthday party for our 6-year-old grandson and this evening we babysat him and his 2YO sister. Such fun. (When I went to say goodnight to him after putting his sister to bed, he said “what will we talk about?” He is such fun.) Do I need to tell you anything more?
I am about to start Stone Yard Devotional. Can’t wait.
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Kids always say such funny thungs. You never know what will come next 🌷
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For fun, I went to Book Chat at the Sandringham Library. This is the one where we just talk about the books we’ve read rather than talk about one we’ve all read. I told them about Oblivion (2024) by Patrick Holland and Water Baby by Chioma Okereke. And it turns out that we have a Charmian Clift/George Johnson enthusiast among us and I’ve promised to lend her my out-of-print copy of the Johnson bio. So I’m reading it as quickly as I can so that she can have it at the next meeting.
One of our regular participants was there after an absence and it turned out that it had been her birthday. So I took her across the street for tea and cake and we had Basque cheesecake at D’zert. (See here: https://www.recipetineats.com/basque-cheesecake/). Decadent but delicious!
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Oh my gosh, that cheese cake looks just amazing. So good. And here I sit with just a drawer of some old biscuits. Lol.
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Should I tell you about my disaster with the Brownies?
At the Op Shop I found a new recipe book about baking for $3…
First I tried their recipe for blueberries and had my doubts because it didn’t use eggs, and then compounded my mistake by trying its recipe for Brownies.
Choc flavoured stodge.
Recipe book in the bin!
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Hahahahaha, it happens to the best of us. I cooked cherry jam once too long and next day it was so hard it cracked the side of the jar. Hahaha
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