Miscellaneous books, photos and a couple of evenings out.

Sorry I’ve missed you guys for a couple of weeks but life has been hectic. Ollie’s rehab walks are going well. He’s still on lead for a couple of more weeks. He can’t be loose for 12 weeks post surgery but he’s doing good walks now.

I have had a couple of nights out and a couple of lunches. I also spent some time in my back yard with a surprise visitor in our protea bushes. More on that later. So starting out…

Last week Australian writer Tim Winton was at the Theatre Royal with Tassie garden guru Hannah Maloney interviewing him about his new book of anecdotes and essays Songs From the Firefront. I was surprised Hannah, a garden celebrity was interviewing one of Australia’s most popular authors, but they really hit it off. She is on ABC’s Gardening Australia program at times. Not sure if she presents regularly or not. I don’t watch the show. Everyone is always smiling and grinning. Just once I’d like to see a worm in a tomato or aphids on their lemon tree and they stop smiling. It is almost annoying.

They talked a lot about the increased temperatures across Australia especially the northern regions. Global warming was a main topic. However she also quizzed him about how he writes, where does he get his ideas and about his childhood as he grew up. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing their conversation. Both of them also have a good sense of humour. I have to say I chuckled when Tim referred to Trump as an orange dumpling with brains like applesauce.

Tim, the director of Fullers book shop organised with Penguin publishers to slot Tim into Tasmania for a night as it wasn’t originally on the schedule. Well what a good thing that happened as 600 people turned up at the Theatre Royal and many bought the signed copies. What a crowd! Mainlanders really underestimate the book culture in this small state but they are readers! 600 ! The theatre was sold out.

I haven’t read a lot lately but I have spun the wheel a couple of times. I read an hour and a half yesterday of Kitchen Confidential, the story of American chef Anthony Bourdain. It’s always a long wait at the surgeon’s office so I take my kindle, tune out the big number of people sitting around me, staring at the walls, waiting and get a good chunk of a book read. Anthony talks about his training in France as a chef and man is that something I’d hate to do. These chefs are sadists to their students. What a dangerous job what with flaming pans, hot dishes, very crowded working conditions, slippery food that some how manages to land on the floor and a well known chef screaming into their faces whether they do a good job or not.

I also picked the five Text classics I’m starting to read as 2027 arrives.

Another day or two was lost as I sat in front of the tv watching the American midterm elections. Wow, Texas went blue. Unheard of. I won’t say more as I don’t put politics into my posts. You can guess if I was happy or not.

Another Fullers event featured Leigh Sales, a national ABC television presenter and well known journalist and her fellow friend, cook and writer Gwen Blake as they presented their book The Holiday Kitchen. I thought this book was going to be Christmas things…holiday and all. But it isn’t. It is written for families who go off in caravans, overseas trips, camping. If you are travelling with your kids then you need to organise ways to feed them without having to visit expensive restaurants over time. They talk about recipes that translate into second meals, jars of spice/herb preparations so you don’t need to take the whole jars of everything. Dishes to take- one very sharp knife, two pots only. The two of them were excellent presenters, meaning they know how to speak into a microphone properly. Amazing how many people don’t know it has to go near your mouth. They had good chemistry between them and had the audience asking interesting questions and laughing. Such a fun hour.

Now what/who was my backyard visitor? People who don’t live in Australia might enjoy these photos. I was in the back yard. At the top of our yard, it’s on a hill, there is a large protea bush. I’ll find a photo online to show you. Three yellow tailed black cockatoos flew over my head. Three of them! Why bare they special? These birds are hard to photograph. They are really quite hard to even see. They live up in the mountain. They spend a lot of time in the tops of tall trees. When the weather changes they come down to our neighbourhood. We are at the base of the mountain. If you see a black cockatoo you know rain or wind is coming and they don’t get it wrong. They are beautiful birds. They are large birds.

I happened to be outdoors checking my plants when they almost hit my head flying by. They all three landed in the bush and began eating the blossoms. They don’t just eat them. They shred them. Cockatoos have very strong beaks and can shred almost anything. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Last but not least the Penguin and I saw an ad on Instagram of a little wildlife cotton journal cover. It is so cute, I ordered one and it came rather quickly from a business called Frey. Everything they make is handmade and Australian. They have really cute stuff. I asked Penguin to share it with you. I already have my journal and pens popped into it.