A Windy, Cloudy Summer Day

Clouds and 13 degrees C. (55.4 F).

I’m just sitting here with my Sunday morning coffee, reading the digital copy of the New York Times. I don’t read anything political going on over there as it is too overwhelming. But I really like the book section. 

There are so many books by American authors that I seldom hear about here. It is good to know there are those in America who can be a lot more intelligent than the ones I see on the news. 

I found a couple of books I put on a wish list. 

But back here in Tasmania- I just finished an audible book by Sally Vickers that is a real comfort read. It is called The Gardener and it has dormant on my shelf for some time. It was narrated by the author, who did have a good speaking voice. ( A lot of times authors are better writers than speakers. You just don’t want to listen to a squeaky voice for five or six hours.)

The Gardener reminded me of Iris Murdoch’s The Sea, The Sea without the awful food. Two sisters leave the big city and buy a property in a small village, in an old house with a large garden.. One a freelance illustrator who is working for an author of a children’s books who writes about elves. She is very bored by this work.

The other high flying, rich sister commutes from the big city to the property every other week or so.

The sisters have been at odds with each other for years as one was her dad’s favourite and one her mother’s favourite. You get the picture. Throughout the book the sisters renovate the property, put in a garden with the help of a young migrant Muslim man who has his own storyline and argue a lot. There are a couple of other storylines, one a feral child and another a retired old school teacher.

By developing the house and garden, making new friends in the village and a lot of problem solving, they work out the differences in their relationship. Of course one sister thinks the other sister had the best life compared to their own struggle. It is not an original story, but I liked the writing. The characters are well developed and I feel I’d know them if I met them in town. It was just a very comfortable read.

A lot of bloggers I follow read a lot of books. I am happy with one book a week. I spend a lot of time each week studying photography. Videos, instruction, you tube people I follow. One book a week is enough.

Also, so many print books have such small print now and novels cost so much here, as well as my poor reading eye sight, I am enjoying listening to more and more books. I do puzzles, work on my journals, colour funny little books while I listen. The combination of it all is really relaxing and helps me get to sleep at night.  

I have a pretty good sleeping schedule, recommended by my GP (as I have never been a strong sleeper) to go to bed at a fixed time and get up at a fixed time. So it is midnight- lights out, alarm at 8 am or 8:30. I listen to a half hour of a podcast but often don’t make it through that 30 minute segment. I listen to a few book review podcasts.

I coped a lot better when working as I had structure and schedules. Once retired these tend to go out the window. Being neurodivergent, I am so much happier with my schedules I have set up for myself with the help of psychologists and general practitioners.

I heard an interview with Australian past woman of the year, Grace Tame on the ABC radio the other day. She is neurodivergent and is in the process of developing a series of episodes of a podcast about neurodivergent women. So many women who weren’t identified during their younger years have now been diagnosed and are changing how they are structuring their lives to cut down on a lot of angst and stress. I am looking forward to hearing what she says.

Isn’t it funny how one can go into stream of consciousness writing when typing out a blog post. I will now move on.

February is looking to be a very busy month with a couple of senior group activities, several Fullers book launches, one about brain development, one political one and one Tasmanian indigenous historical one. More on those once I’ve attended. I am still working with my trainer and we continue to enjoy weekly coffee. The things we talk about that cause belly laughs is always a great way to finish a week. Especially as I suffer through the pilates and Barre’ classes earlier in the week. 

Our diabetic cat is settling into his routine of testing his morning urine from his litter box and giving him his meds at the same time each day. He is doing well. Our adopted cat Pickles has certainly adjusted to her new home. She is very funny as she runs with the dogs or stalks them. She has many little games in her head she enjoys.

Pickles in her large outdoor enclosure for the first time.

Photography has been a bit quiet but I do have a couple of photos to share with you below.  As we all know- life goes on!

Our photo club spent a morning photographing the boat houses at Cornelian Bay and the river Derwent.

Have a good week everyone. I’ll also put up Penguin’s question of the week. I enjoy reading your answers. 

Penguin enjoyed visiting the sisters old home.

Question of the week. Do you have a structure with your reading time or do you just grab a book when the mood grabs you?