Boyd County Public Library

I love some of the graphics Boyd County Public Library posts on its Facebook page.

Here is today's gem:

Banned

I'll be following this blog for sure. Might pick up a few suggestions.

Banned: "Welcome to the National Archives of Australia’s Banned blog. Over the next 12 months we will delve into the secret history of Australian censorship by exploring some of the books that were banned during the 20th century."

'via Blog this'

Janelle's family tree addiction: Our new book has arrived!!

Better late than never - I just found this post from Australian genealogist, Janelle, telling about the book she and a group of Maria Northcote's Genies Downunder listeners published.

Janelle's family tree addiction: Our new book has arrived!!:

'via Blog this'

$50 well spent

True confessions time - I have an addiction - BOOKS

Even though I am a former librarian I prefer to own books rather than borrow them. I love fetes and op shops where I sometimes pick up pre-loved  books for a song.

Today I found that an Australian charity has put their bookshop online. From their website I learnt that "Brotherhood Books is a new Social Enterprise from the Brotherhood of St Laurence and is intended to encourage the recycling of high quality books and to contribute funds to the Brotherhood’s charitable operations."

Brotherhood Books Home Page www.brotherhoodbooks.org.au

Before I blogged about this fantastic site I joined up and did a little shopping. I allowed myself a budget of $50 and, as I wasn't looking for anything in particular except books relating the Australia's history, I restricted myself to books under $10. 

For that sum I purchased eight books with no extra cost for shipping. I am now anxiously awaiting the arrival of my purchases:

Immigrants in Western Australia
Families in Colonial Australia
Ella Norman: or A Woman's Perils
A Portrait of Bathurst
In Sunshine or in Shadow
A City on a Hill
Chosen: The Jews in Australia
Old Canberra

This is a fantastic initiative from a charity. I encourage all my Aussie friends who share my passion for reading to support this venture. You can keep up with their news at Brotherhood Books on Facebook

Ann Howard

I snapped a photo of the guest speaker at our local historical society today for the society blog.

Some like it hot

Our daughter cooked us a delicious Warm Chicken Salad Tonight. The little red chili flakes in the sauce made it more than warm; it was hot, hot, hot.

Warm Chicken Salad

Woof Woof

This tree has an interesting bark.

Twinkletoes

I love watching my four week old granddaughter as she wiggles  her toes.

Myrtle

I love Crepe Myrtles so we have a few varieties in our garden. I always look forward to the time they come into bloom; my snap today is of the first and oldest tree that is now in bloom.

Burning the Midnight Oil

Temptation often forces me to read late into the night. I find that when I have a good book I just have to turn the next page and the next and.....then it's 2:00 am.

I am loving the book I am reading at the moment. I'm sure I will give it a rating of 4/5 on my Librarything.

Merewether

We attended a young friend's birthday party at Merewether today. It was over 40c outside but we were comfortable thanks to the air conditioning inside the party venue.

There was a spectacular view of the beach from the venue.

Look Right

Look Left

Solar Power...

...nature's own clothes drier.

This reminds me of a song my kids learnt at preschool:

Wet Washing

Wet washing hanging on the line Drying very quickly when the weather’s fine Along comes the wind and blows it all about Flip flap flip flap blowing in and out

An Adult Meal

Like myself my best friend has been entertaining and keeping company with many people who are aged ten and under during the school holiday period.

In a message this week she said "How about an adults' meal this week?" I think she should have said senior citizens' meal.

We did enjoy our get together with her old man and Mr Geniaus tonight.

Our seafood risotto wasn't too bad either.

Seafood Risotto

The 500 club

I hope that a screenshot counts as a photo.

I love playing Words with Friends online and was pleased that I have passed 500 in a game I am presently playing.

Keeping Cool

As the temperature at my house soared to 41c (over 100F) soared my little visitors stayed indoors.
Cool.

Well pressed

Guess what I did for four hours today?

Time for a Dip

The pool is very inviting on a hot summer's d

Rolled out

Our turf is being unrolled. Still more to be done.

The Grass is Greener...

... or it will be when Mr Geniaus lays this turf that was delivered today.

Baby Nicholas

Baby Nicholas, his brothers and his Dad joined us today to celebrate Little Lizzie's birthday. I enjoyed having lots of special cuddles with this handsome little chap.

I didn't take this photo but I took the next one

Baby Nicholas' Dad eating Birthday Cake 

Little Lizzie

Her Grandpa called her Little Lizzie. I am sure that he is watching over her and sending birthday wishes her way today.

Little Lizzie and her Grandpa on her 1st Birthday, January 3

Tourist Sandals

My tourist sandals have been around the world a couple of times. Purchased in a market in China for around $12 over five years ago they are extremely comfortable and durable and are perfect for walking and swimming in areas with rough seabeds. Each time I take them on a trip I say that I will ditch them and replace them with a new pair but I always bring these faithful soles home.

Today I ventured to the sales where I found a new pair of tourist sandals at half price. As I can't resist a good bargain I purchased them. They will accompany me on my next cruise but I can't bring myself to throw out the old Chinese models just yet.

Bird Feed

Living in a semi-rural area on a small acreage allows us to have the benefits of homegrown fruit and vegetables and fresh eggs from our chooks.

In our mini orchard we have over 20 fruit trees and vines of various varieties, it's fun to observe their annual cycle and we get especially excited when buds turn to small fruits and we watch their progress as they mature and become ready for picking. We have recently been watching our stone fruit and apples.

Our Mini Orchard

 One of our plum trees was laden with fruit so the last week Mr Geniaus decided that he would collect the fruit for Christmas. The local bird life also watch the progress of our fruit. So when Mr Geniaus went out with his bucket to collect the plums what did he find but a tree that was bearing absolutely no fruit.  The birds had beaten us to it and had just left us the plum seeds scattered on the ground under the tree.

Plum Seeds on the Ground

We know how to outsmart those birds so we had netted the apple tree that had the most fruit. Mr Geniaus went out on Sunday to find that a bird had gotten under the net and was having a great old feast. He adjusted the net and came inside quite satisfied. Those birds just can't be beaten, yesterday Mr Geniaus went out to find more birds having a picnic through and under his net.

Netted Apples

He was able to salvage four small apples.

Similar to the saved apples

365 Days

Most days I take a few photos on my phone, tablet or one of my cameras. I love looking back at my pictures and reminiscing about the people, places and events they capture.

For the past couple of years I have contemplated taking part in the 365 days project in which people take and share on the internet a photo they take on each day of the year. Today a couple of my online pals announced that they are responding to this challenge. I thought about setting up a blog for the purpose and, on second thoughts, decided that I probably wouldn't manage to finish the challenge so why start I then realised that I alreaady have this blog and that I could use it to post photos on most days. I will tag them with 365 and see how many I manage for the year.

So here is my first photo in my half-hearted attempt at 365 days.

Bedlamp

When I realised that I hadn't taken a photo on New Year's Day I leant out of bed, grabbed the Galaxy S3 and took a snap of my trusty bedlamp.  This lamp shines her light on me when I sometimes burn the midnight oil in the company of a good book.

Sydney's stunning fireworks

Happy New Year

New Year's Eve fireworks in Sydney - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)