I hope everyone is well and adjusting to the speed to which this year is going. Lots happening here so will break it down into manageable paragraphs.
BOOKS: Reading Shaun Bythell’s third diary of his Wigtown, Scottish bookstore. He sure seems to fit the profile of some of the curmudgeonly book sellers I met while travelling in the UK a few years ago. The characters he writes about are good fun to follow and having read both Diary of a Bookseller and Confessions of a Bookseller, I continue to enjoy this very much.
I am also reading Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Her story revolves around women trying to pursue a decent career as scientists in the 1950s (I believe…60’s?) as they are very much discriminated against by the male scientists. I always find that so frustrating but I am enjoying the story.
Fullers book club begins in April. We were sent the book list for the first 4 months and I am very much waiting for it. Our first read to be discussed is Ernest Hemingway’s book, The Sun Also Rises. I have read a couple of his others but never that one as it has bull fighting in it which I really dislike. So I will skip over that part. It is not a very long book so should be able to polish it off. I have always wanted to read more of him.
TRAVEL: We are finally going to go somewhere out of the country. Not that far but really looking forward to it. Two weeks of a road trip in the south island of New Zealand. We have previously travelled the north island so really looking forward to photographing this area. More to come.
CULTURE: I saw David Sedaris at the Theatre Royal and he was hilarious. Very modest and very funny. He is such a keen observer of everyday life and makes the most mundane laughable. The theatre was packed and everyone stamped feet, applauded and yelled out when he conversed directly with the audience with house lights up. What a fun night out. People here are always happy when performers come to Tasmania as most forget about our little state down here but more enthusiastic audiences will not be found when someone does choose to visit.
NEW OBSESSION: Since I left motorbiking and struggle as I miss it so much I needed something to replace the interest. A few years ago I had a metal detector that was a very low end model. I had no group support or idea of what could be done with it and it went by the wayside. Well I have dived into the earth big time now. Not reading much but learning all the settings on this Minelab Equinox 800. Thank goodness for You Tube. Have linked up with some very supportive Tassie and Victorian detectorists. I put up a post on our local Good Karma fb page and have several offers to detect some very old properties locally. I have a large bush park behind us here that supposedly had a building on it that was burned in the 1967 fires. I have found several interesting items, including a pre decimal coin and name brands on a canister and brewery that are no longer in business. I research each item as much as possible and the detectorist groups help with item description and cheer each other on. I really enjoy it. It also works on balance, stepping on a shovel with one foot 🤠, knee strength, getting up and down and muscle action, digging through baked clay and sandstone. More on that as it happens.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Continues to go well. I begin attendance this coming week at a second club I’ve not attended before and looking forward to meeting the men and women in it who seem to be quite active.
FITNESS: Still lifting those weights, walking a lot especially detecting beaches. Diet going well, lost 2 kilos simply by removing all sweet food from house except Frosty Fruit icy poles that help deal with the late night cravings of ice cream, biscuits and chocolate.
Hopefully this brings you up to date with Tassie life. Let me know what you do when you aren’t reading books. For fun, of course. All the best.
Travellin' Penguin 