Persisting Down

We have had rain. More rain. Yet more rain. We are not complaining. Rain is good.

We are told, that the rain is landing in catchment areas, so we are hopeful of filling dams. This is largely in New South Wales. I dont believe the Victorians are having such beneficence from the skies.

I recently watched a programme on the dreaded TV about a Citrus Orchardist, who was cutting down, & uprooting his beautiful Orange groves. Because of the drought, they were not allowed enough water to maintain the trees. They could buy water, at an enormous cost, which was far too prohibitive to sustain, either their fruit trees or their livelihoods. I could have wept as I watched this proud man, destroy the work begun by his father, who planted the wonderful trees.

The price they could get at market was the same price they had been getting for 7 years. The markup at Coles, Woolworths etc, was 2000% ! Yes, two thousand percent markup on what they paid the grower.

Then there was all the produce they couldnt sell. It was not the 'desired size'. There were large oranges, smaller oranges, all delicious fruit. All perfect. But they did not fit the size mould, required by the Supermarkets.

Crikey! Think about that! There may be a day coming soon, to a venue near you, when you wont fit the size requirement! You may not fit the colour requirement either! You may be too tall, too short. Too thin, too fat. Too sweet, too sour. Too wrinkled, too smooth. Your navel may be the wrong shape!! Or, like some oranges, you may have none!

What the Hell is the world coming to, when imperfect is null. Nature does not make "perfect" very often. Nature has a place for imperfect. A place for all shapes, all colours, all sizes, all creatures. Nature, basically, is all about imperfect.

What are we teaching our children, when all they see is uniform fruit, vegetables, loaves of bread, buns, biscuits, cuts of meat. Neat fillets of fish. Eggs, all of a uniform weight. Turkeys, neatly sized to suit every gathering.

Is this society encouraging individual beings.. or shaping, in sinister ways, little monsters, who will be future huge monsters for convenience of 'law & order', a society of sheep who will conform, & obey, & bow down to Authority.

I could carry this post on & on. Suggest the fruit be bought for other uses. Suggest educating people to accept the slightly over/undersized. The 'wrong' colours.

Then again, if we can't accept peoples of the world in all these variations, I suppose that is the ranting of a fool. The dream of an idiot.

I cannot help but think, about times of war. People would give anything for fruit- of any shape or size.

I am sure there are better minds than mine, who ponder these matters. I am sure there are many, who could offer some reasons for all of this.

Who will offer any solutions... or is it too late?

************

Perhaps the rain has turned my thoughts dark. Who knows.

I keep thinking of a friend who went off to some 'Exhibition' & came to visit me, on her return. She was all excited, & presented me with a gift she had got for me. She told me, "I saw this, & knew it would be perfect for you".
On opening the gift, I was speechless, & not in a good way.

Has that ever happened to you?

I looked at the item, buckled & bent as it was, from the packaging, a creation of twisted wire & 'gem stones'.

I stuttered, "I don't know what to say!" It was true. I was so touched that she had thought of me.

I was fond of her. We shared many things in common. I just could not understand why she would have chosen such an item for me.

I felt so awful I got tears in my eyes. I just could not understand what part of me, she thought she had seen in the item.

As I hugged her, & thanked her, I just felt wretched.

We lost touch with each other when she moved to another State. I still wonder why she chose that particular object. I still feel guilty when I think of how I viewed it.

Has this ever happened to you?

Has this turned into a "Frog & Toad are Friends" post??
(My daughter knows exactly how I feel about this. She felt the same.)


*******************


All was not doom & gloom today. We got some bargain books!
10 books for $5!! Too cheap not to buy, as American friend used to say!
two books for me, as I still have not read Memoirs of a Geisha, nor God of Small Things. The others, I have a feeling I have read Patricia Cornwell, but I will try it, in case I have missed it. And I will read Good Morning Midnight, as I always enjoy Dalziel & Pascoe.

These 3 books made up the numbers. We had only 7 books so I decided to get these to add to my craft library. After all, a girl can never have too many quilt books, right?
Nor too many Knitting stitches, or Embroidery ideas!

Ahhh, I miss those cold Christchurch nights knitting by the fire. Or huddled by the heater during the day.

Neil Diamond, September Song.

I just flatly refuse to discuss politics today! heheh.

Loot!

Here is my pitifully inadequate photo of the true Full Moon, taken this evening around 5.30pm. It is taken facing East, just as the moon is rising on our horizon, & includes some pink from the setting sun. I know it is pollution, which gives the pink hue, but I cant help but like it.

And this next pic is of today's seriously great haul of fabric loot! Look at all this fabric I got for very little dosh! In the Oz vernacular, I got it for bugger all!

The night light photo does not do it justice, & there are some large yardages, which will be great for backing as well as "Eye Spy" quilts. And it is all pure cotton! Yay!

There are also 2 books there that I could not resist. One is Crimes that shocked Australia. The second is a Nicholas Sparks. I have read The Notebook & enjoyed it, so hope this is a good one too. It is The Wedding.

I also got a Cookie Barrel for my daughter, which I will have to take a pic to show. It is a huge cob of corn, with wheels, & the lid is a Pig in Goggles, who is the 'driver' of the corn cob. Our daughter loves pigs, & she also happens to love Cookie Barrels, so what else could I do?? I had to buy it for her. She told me she just loves it, & SG filled it with bikkies already.

Daughter J, & SIL have gone down into the City Limits to stay with our Son B to attend a party, so hope they all have fun for the evening.

GOM is wallowing in Footy on the Teev, & I am thinking I might just read some of the 'shocking crimes', in the comfort of my bed!

It is cold, but nice & cosy in our house with the benefit of the Airconditioner.

Hope you all have a nice weekend.

Odd little gripes...

Just a few odd little gripes today.
I have been doing my best to avoid the Televisual crap we are fed.
The so-called news, which is mostly utter rot. The 'Current affairs' which are just free advertising...or maybe it is not free?? Whatever, they try to pass it off an 'news.'

GOM likes his sport, which sees me vanish from the room. I dont mind if he enjoys watching it, & I can always either read or find something else to occupy myself. Or, I can always fall asleep!

But I was trapped watching a new series on the idiot box. A fresh variation on an old story. Gorgeous looking young things, male & female, dressed to the nines in wonderfully authentic looking period custumes. And swanning about in wonderfully authentic looking medieval sets, complete with animals, & old Oak trees, and ancient dwellings, ancient tools, ancient weapons.

And then they speak. The dialogue was obviously written by some clot who has no real knowledge of how language was spoken back in the period. Phrases such as "You owe me one!" "OK, Let's go!"

While I dont expect them to use the Shakespearian mode of speech, I also dont expect them to use modern, American slang terms. Especially when it is an English story, & English production. Nit picking? Maybe. But they lost my viewer interest. I just found it incongruous, & downright irritating, in spite of all the other visual treats.

******
You probably know by now, GOM & I like to visit garage sales. I search for fabrics for the stash. And the odd neglected bear, which calls my name. GOM seeks out books, as he reads about 4-5 a week, which can get very expensive.

I find it very interesting to look at the books. I read quite different books to GOM, I like non fiction more than he does. I like to look at the type of books, and compare the people selling them. I am surprised when there are a lot of meditation, spiritual type books, & the vendors, are the rough & ready 'salt of the earth types'. I wonder if the books had been gifts. Or had they had a shift of consciousness, that didnt last? Intriguing always.

Yesterday we went to a sale that had a large table of excellent books, hardbacks, soft covers, large small. All 50cents each. Most of the books were in pristine condition. All were clean & had obviously been well kept, indoors.

I noticed a lot of them were for 'self improvement'. A lot of diet books, how to eat healthy, how to keep fit. How meditate, how to get the most out of life. I sneaked looks at the vendors. They did look quite fit, slim, & healthy. So perhaps they no longer needed the advice dispensed in the books.

There were also lots of novels, & GOM came away with a nice stash to read. We met a fellow Kiwi, who has promised to come & visit us. He really made us laugh, & his lovely Aussie partner seems nice also. He asked me if I was a Hori*. I laughed, & shook my head. He is, & proud to be so. And he speaks a language we can understand. They live close to us, so I hope they call in to visit.

I had to laugh when he asked if I was Hori. I am not really dark in colouring, & dont know that my features would indicate Maori ancestors. But strangely enough I have often been asked the same question. Our Great Grandmother, who was said to be Irish had quite a dark complexion, & we have often wondered if there is a dark blooded connection. It would be interesting to have one of those DNA tests, to determine if we have. My Beloved Brother keeps threatening to have it done. I think perhaps cost might prohibit him actually going ahead. haha.

*****
I am off out to a Doll Bear & Quilt show today. It has been moved to a Racecourse, which promises more space, so it will be very interesting to see if there are more traders than there were last year. I am stocking the wallet, just in case.


*Hori, pronounced haw-ry, is a slang term for Maori. It is a long time since I had heard it used & it made me laugh. The nice young man, who used the term, is a Maori.

Brain has a 'holiday'.

I got this from Blue Moon Girl, & my brain is out of gear today, so I thought I would 'take a holiday' & do this.

*Look at the list of books below.
*Bold the ones you’ve read.
*Italicize the ones you want to read.
*leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.
*If you are reading this, tag your it.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)- seen the movie, a powerful story.
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)- I watched the movie more than once!
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True(Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible -most of it.
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)- I dont think I finished it..
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)-movie
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje) ? does the movie count?
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)- one of my alltime favourite books
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind) -
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)- again -the movie
93. The Good Earth(Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)- I feel I might have read this, but not sure.
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)



I cheated a little here, as I have seen movies, & not always read the books. I usually find I prefer the book, as opposed to the movie, where I have read & watched. Exceptions to this were The Great Gatsby, which I enjoyed both the book & the movie. And The World According to Garp, as I did enjoy the movie almost as much as the book, though they were different.