Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Storm Brewing.....

I was tempted to post this watercolour I did a couple of years ago because Robyn "puss-in-boots' posted a pic on her blog which reminded me so much of my painting, although the colours are different.

The wind is still blowing a gale up here at the moment. I spent the afternoon at the local RSPCA 'Op Shop' terrorising the customers! It's always a bit of fun and I end up coming home with lots of goodies! Today, however, I limited my spending to some children's books, a martini glass and a pair of white slacks for myself. The books are for my nephew's 15th month old little girl. Children can never have enough books to my mind. When I was young, every birthday and every Christmas I received many books as part of my presents. I used to love the smell of new books...still do, though these days I buy them second-hand more than I do buy them new. There is an excellent second-hand bookshop up here on the mountain, which donates a percentage of their takings to Landcare. The quality of the books available is excellent as is the range.

I love books and I love bookshops. I can wander around studying the titles for hours, wishing I had an unlimited bank balance! My many bookcases here at home groan under the weight of my books. I have more books than the shelves can hold. My bedside chest of drawers presently holds a dozen or more...ready to be read.

Between browsing through bookstores, kitchenware stores and good food stores I could easily fill a day...oh...add music stores to that list, as well!

11 comments:

  1. Hahaha...my cats tried to do that to me, but I bought them a copy of "Puss In Boots", so now they are avid readers, too! ;)

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  2. I remember how excited I'd be when I'd get a new book for Christmas or my birthday...I loved to read and as a young teen remember sneaking some of my mom's Harlequin Romance books to read! lol My oldest son Shawn has a love of books and he's got quite the collection...he's easy to buy for...a gift certificate for his favourite bookstore! lol

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  3. I think we all had sneaky reads of our mother's books! Tsk! Tsk! lol

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  4. Those colours would go great in my Flat. It does look very similar to 'Puss-in-Boots'
    I too love book stores and never get rid of ANY. I could lose everything else but never my books. My music at the moment is very diverse with Il Divo (my current favs) down to Casey Chambers country ramblings.

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  5. Hi Lee,

    I have a blog called Lady Jan's Library. I too love books and I dream one day of having a house that has one room that I can change into a actualy library.

    And I like your painting, nice water color.

    Janice~

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  6. Hi Scorpy and Janice,

    Nice to see you both. Books are special. I never get rid of any of mine either, Scorpy. And I hate loaning books. I only loan to one couple who are very good friends of mine who understand my feelings towards books and the loaning of them!

    I'm glad you like my painting, Janice. Thanks. :)

    Was that a hint, Scorpy? ;)

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  7. Talking about music, scorpy...which we kinda were...my taste is very diverse, too..from classical, opera to country (not Slim Dusty!!)blues, rock and all in between, but not rap or punk...and not hip/hop much either!

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  8. I agree, your painting is somewhat reminiscent of the picture I had on my post.

    Yes, I'm an avid reader also, but I don't buy novels - Mum does that and sends them to me. I buy reference books pertaining to whatever I'm interested in at the time. I also have the full volume of Shakespeare's works, a very thick book of Australian poetry and short stories, books on cats, books on crystals, books on wildlife and so on. I cannot go into a book store without buying a book and I can't stay out of bookstores, especially Mary Ryan's in Park Road, Milton!

    And my music is fairly diverse too. From classical (love Il Divo!) to Robbie Williams, the Jets etc. I've put out the word for Shannon Noll's CD for Christmas, lol. Don't know if I'll get it, though.

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  9. I read a lot of autobiographies and biographies, factual stuff, few novels but they have to be 'good' ones not 'airport' junk...poetry and all pretty similar to your list of reading, Robyn, including the complete works of Shakespeare and the list goes on....it's a bit like a library here! ;)

    I'm a huge fan of Maria Callas...and of course, Pavarotti, Domingo, Carreras and Bocelli...as well as Pink Floyd, Queen, Bowie, Lynryd Skynryd, Reo, Deep Purple, Gram Parsons, The Byrds, Flying Burritos et al....the list goes on forever and ever and a few more years! ;) Where does one start or end? The Mary Ryan Bookshops are wonderful. I used to frequent the one in Townsville when I lived up there and also the one in Noosa when I lived in Gympie prior to moving to the mountain. I could easily set up camp in those stores! ;)

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  10. n a used book shop in Galveston, one of my favorite day trips, I found a copy of Barbara Tuchman's biography of Joe Stilwell. Her writing is such a pleasure to read, I bought the book. Fascinating read, she was actually in China during those years and a primary source for many of the events. Vinegar Joe and the Burma theater are largely forgotten here, but I wonder how he is remembered down there. The Chindits and Raiders were either ill used by him, or the only troops he had to use until they were gone.

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  11. Hi gtotracker, I myself don't know a lot about Joseph Stilwell but a good friend of mine who collects and reads a lot of books on the second World War, in particular, would know a lot about him, I'm sure. I will mention to him that book by Barbara Tuchman, if he hasn't already got it, as he would be very interested in reading it. A lot is known and still remembered about the Burma campaign.

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