Is This Thing Still On?

Sheesh - I think my blog might have expired. I haven't been near it in so long!

As you can see I haven't been able to post about my "secret project" yet due to circumstances beyond my control - but I am told it will be ready on the 9th, so I am keeping my fingers crossed!

In the mean time I hope to placate my readers - if there are any still out there - with this sweet photo of Indy.



We weren't sure that we were going to be able to keep her at first but of course the longer we dithered over that decision the more we became attached to her. She is a real sweetie pie. I think she is the most likely to learn to talk of the three of our parrots. We finally bought her a proper cage of her own a few weeks ago. She was so happy she immediately jumped into her water dish and took a bath! Plus she seems to have finally discovered her pellets and makes a ruckus crunching them with gusto.

I hope I don't jinx it but we have been very lucky with our birds. They are all quiet and well mannered for the most part. They rarely have screaming fits - even when we play Rock Band at high volume late into the night. In fact the only time they ever make a fuss is when Hubby gets up late on the weekends and their food isn't delivered as early as they are used to. But even then they kindly give him a good three hours before they start to protest.

Other than playing Rock Band and keeping this family fed, clothed and bathed I have been working on some needlepoint and reading.

Recently I read Patrick Mcgrath's Asylum which I thought was very good. Not super brilliant but good enough that I stayed up late reading when I should have gone to bed! I tend to like stories about crazy people though. Especially crazy psychiatrists. :) I liked this book in the same way that I like Ian McEwan if that makes any sense.

Also read John MacLachlan Gray's White Stone Day. It is a sequel to his other novel The Fiend in Human which I enjoyed. White Stone Day is a Victorian crime story which uses Lewis Carroll as a main character and a journalist in place of a detective - a good start but unfortunately I thought the plot was a but scattered and rather struggled to come together. If you haven't read the first novel I think you would be quite lost trying to get through this one. But his characters are very interesting so overall I enjoyed it and will probably read something else of his. I will definitely read another Macgrath.

Summer Snoozes

Clemmie is dog tired. Me too sistah!

Doesn't her little nose look like one of those fake plastic ones that some teddy bears have? :)

I've been devouring books at an amazing speed lately - here are some recommendations:

The Observations by Jane Harris - reminds me mostly of Slammerkin with a bit of The Crimson Petal and The White and Vanity Fair thrown in. Great read & great main character. Ghosts, mysterious people with mysterious pasts, and revenge all in a wonderful period setting.

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier - the movie was okay (if you can stand Nicole Kidman) but the book is fantastic. Frazier is a REAL writer. He comes up with descriptions that are not at all obvious until he mentions them. I love that. I tend to have a immediate negative reaction to the "Southern American Novel". It's just SO cliche to me. Not so with Cold Mountain. Nothing is forced or formulaic about Frazier's writing. And the story deviates quite abit from the movie so if you've seen the movie you haven't read the book.

Enduring Love by Ian McEwan - again a great writer & a story that is significantly different than the movie. Obsession, paranoia, guilt = great story. I loved Attonement too so at this point I'm pretty sure everything by McEwan is worth reading.