a day of rainbows

Last Sunday was one of those lovely days when it rains gently most of the time and all you can do is curl up and read.  This suits me fine and I've been doing quite a bit of it lately.
 

I wickedly ordered The Chocolate Factory from the library, feeling very disloyal.  The Floosie wrote MacRobertson: The Chocolate King many years ago.  There is, of course, no comparison.  The Chocolate King is thoroughly researched and engagingly written Australian history.  The Chocolate Factory is a mystery story seemingly authentically set on the Tasmanian Cadbury Estate as it develops in the 1920s.  And I'm biased.

This book fell into my hands and I thought it only fair to give boy books another go.  I realised as I was reading it that I'd read an earlier book in the same series.  There were some interesting thoughts, feelings and realisations in the main character (who after all is a psychologist) but I'm constantly amazed at how our hero gets assaulted, kicked, beaten up and carries on effortlessly with everyday life.

This is a monumental book covering three generations of one family.  It reminded me of life in Sri Lanka, which is not surprising given much of the story is set in Kerala in southern India.  This is particularly poignant given the terrible flooding there at the moment.  Leprosy is also a central topic, and I learned a lot.

I finally got around to ordering this one from the library.  I first read it as a child in England and I loved it so much I resolved to call my sons Marcus and Esca...  I learned a lot about myself on the re-reading.  My memory of the gist of the story was true but what a difference experience and adulthood brings to understanding.

I had to return this to the library before completing it.  Each chapter is a season so I started in August which happens to be the last chapter because Simon Grove thinks the Tasmanian year starts in Spring.  I was making my way through September when I had to return it, ie not very far into the book at all.  It is both autobiographical and biological and I found the detail hard going, although there are certainly snippets of fascinating places and wildlife totally new to me.

This is a children's book featured on Gardening Australia when Hannah was investigating the forty spotted pardalote and birdboxes on Bruny Island.  It's a charming little book which takes about 3 minutes to read.

I read about bird boxes for a reason.  You may recall that Georgia and I had a bird box painting stall at The Village market some months ago.  These are the leftovers stored in her garage.  Malcolm, the maker, and I had a stall at the last market to sell them and promote an awareness of the need for them.

Here's Malcolm striding through bushland on his property followed by a pack of wolves.

Miya and Winter on the trail

We had a Dog Romp on Malcolm's property as a trial run for the Dogs Breakfast I have been charged with organising for Mental Health Week in October.

Jill and Miya enjoying a Friday night at our place.

glimpse of daffodils from the kitchen window

daffodil alley

It's been a lazy week - no gym or yoga.   Bit of tai chi, gardening and some slaughtering of Spanish Heath in one of the Triabunna Reserves.  Jilly got cabin fever so I took her to get a breath of fresh air.

Breathe.