Reading Challenge Progress - January

On the 27th December 2021 the Goodwill Librarian launched on Facebook her 2022 reading challenge. I made a hasty decision to join this challenge. 

Each month I will report on this blog my progress in reading books that fulfil her criteria. I will add a link to the Librarything entry for each book I read.

Following are details of titles I ticked off in January. You can see the full list of criteria here.

2. Set in a foreign country. In order to live
https://www.librarything.com/work/16520906/summary/211997030

3. Recommended by a friend  The forgotten garden   https://www.librarything.com/work/5503881/book/210668524

4. Part of a series  A few right thinking men
  https://www.librarything.com/work/9921210/book/210452790

11. With a pretty cover The Banksia House Breakout 
 https://www.librarything.com/work/27123453/book/211268996

14. Published this year (It's only January - this one is from the last 12 months) Sweet Jimmy
https://www.librarything.com/work/27069748/book/211747277

15. Translated from another language  Detective Inspector Huss
 https://www.librarything.com/work/57741/book/211268974

16. With a female protagonist  The Marx sisters
https://www.librarything.com/work/426709/book/211596251

37. That's a murder mystery Lies to tell 
 https://www.librarything.com/work/24951213/book/210953591

46. Everyone is talking about  Apples never fall
https://www.librarything.com/work/26067511/book/210925283

47. Based on a real person Nellie
https://www.librarything.com/work/27183688/211700780

20 Something Snaps from a Sunday Drive

After staying close to home for months and then being in Covid isolation we filled the tank yesterday and took off for a drive in the country. It was a hot day with the temperature along our way reaching 35 degrees but we were quite comfortable in our airconditioned chariot.

Travelling north-west from home we saw some beautiful landscapes in which pretty clouds figured prominently. NB All these snapshots were taken from a moving car.

We're free

 Although we were able to come out of isolation on Tuesday we decided to extend our time in quarantine "to be sure, to be sure." While I have graciously allowed Robert to invade my quarters upstairs we are keeping our distance for yet another day. The government instructions suggested that for the first days after isolation we should wear masks, we thought it easier to stay apart than mask up.

The good news is that Robert has emerged from his bout of Covid unscathed and I managed to avoid an infection. After his sore throat departed he was well enough to get outside and do some tidying up in the garden. He also spent some considerable time sorting through his stamp collection and he was able to watch the cricket on TV without having my complaints.

Most of these are in the stamp collection (image Pixabay)

While I tried to do a bit of decrapifying in my study and wardrobe I failed but I enjoyed watching the tennis, filling some holes in our family trees and reading until the wee hours. 

While we were isolating Robert got the offer of a few weeks work in a country town in north-western New South Wales. As the job comes with a house I am looking forward to joining him as I have never previously visited the area. 

I'm sure I'll find some cemeteries and museums to visit while Robert has his nose to the grindstone. 

A Few Bangs

Life in isolation - Day 6

Last night I had just settled down in bed to watch Alex De Minaur's match at the Ausopen (with my eBook as backup for ad breaks and change of ends).

It was at an exciting time in the match when I heard a few bangs. Curiosity got the better of me so I grabbed the phone and went out on the deck to see what was doing in the backyard.

 
I'd forgotten that the local Australia Day fireworks were on in the backyard (the weekend closest to the day). They aren't as grand as the Sydney NYE display but the excited reactions from children in neighbouring backyards indicate they were well received.

 
It was a nice surprise to relieve the monotony of isolation.

Back to the Kitchen

Day Three in Isolation. 

Thankful that the patient is comfortable in the guest quarters downstairs and that ,in the absence of his company, I have Australian Open tennis, genealogy and photos to amuse me. 

Downsides are that I miss my breakfast in bed and have to cook our dinners.

No Boat Today

Isolation Day 3

We couldn't take the boat out today because conditions on our usually placid lake are rather turbulent.

Then, of course, as we have a Covid case in the house, we are in isolation for the next few days.

I'm not a guy!!!

My blog stats tell me that some people out there in cyberspace have recently been reading this post of mine from 2013.

I'm reposting because I am still incensed by the over use of this term.

_____________________________________________________

 
Please call me Madam

Although Oxford Dictionaries Online (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/guy) defines Guys as "people of either sex" they define a Guy as "a Man". How contradictory is that?

I am not a Man.

The common usage of the plural "Guys" is another Americanism that has crept into our Australian language over the last ten years and its use annoys me intensely.

Someone close to me, when I objected to her use of guys said "Well, what should I say?"

That depends on the context, there are many alternatives one can use: buddies, chaps, class, colleagues, crew, fellow Australians, fellow ..., friends, gang, girls and boys, ladies and gentlemen, madam, mates, members, mesdames, sir, sirs, staff, students, supporters, team." There are many alternatives.

I am not alone; after commencing this post I turned to my mate Google to see if I could find others who agreed with me. The first article I read, Fight hamburgerisation; dig up some old Aussie lingo
from the Sydney Morning Herald of February 1, 2010 expressed my feelings far more eloquently than I can. 

I give a similar answer to the person quoted in this article when someone asks me where the "Bathroom" is. I go to the bathroom to bathe; in fact many bathrooms in Australia do not even have a toilet.

Would all you guys out there please be a bit more creative with your language and, please, call me Madam.

Definition of guy in English

guy1

Pronunciation: /gʌɪ/

Translate guy | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish

noun

• 1 informal a man:he’s a nice guy
•  (guys) people of either sex:you guys want some coffee?

• 2British a figure representing Guy Fawkes, burnt on a bonfire on Guy Fawkes Night, and often displayed by children begging for money for fireworks.

verb

[with object]

• make fun of; ridicule:she never stopped guying him about his weight

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/guy