The long slide

The long Christmas holidays aren't exactly the virtually endless joy they were when I was a child (or uni student) but I do like the fact that I can slowly ease myself into the busyness of regular life. After three and a half glorious weeks off I was the first to head back to work, last Monday. Being natural night owls, Andrew and I have been going to bed late and sleeping late too, so getting up early has been a bit rough but I have not had to make five lunches or, indeed, do anything at all for the rest of the family as they were all fast asleep until after I had left for work on my bike.

I coped perfectly well with the ride in and a ten hour day but at the end of my first day Andrew rang to say that he and the kids had taken fish and chips to the Botanic Gardens and that I could ride there, rather than home. It is awfully hilly on the way to the Botanic Gardens and, as I hadn't ridden since before the flood, I am significantly less fit and, for the first time, had to hop off my bike and push. At least I didn't give in to temptation and ring Andrew begging him to pick me up from the side of the road.

On Saturday we had dinner with our good friends, Steve and Jane. They used to live at the end of our street and have been away at Bible College for four years. Now they are back, not at the end of our street but still in our suburb and have two lovely children. I made Nigella's Malteser cake for old times' sake as I made it years ago to celebrate Toby and Steve's January birthdays. It looked rather nicer than it tasted, I'm afraid.

It was Liz' birthday on Sunday and I made her this card. I spent so long on the jolly thing (not being creative it takes me ages to come up with something if I am not copying) that I still gave it to her despite the fact that my final touch of shimmer paint was frightfully smudged on the top two flowers. Imperfections are how you know it's homemade, or so I keep telling myself. I used the flower stamp from the Elements of Style set, which I borrowed from Liz.

I finally finished the little project I have been working on. It is a box containing nine cards with matching envelopes.

The stamp set is Birthday Bakery (cakes and stamping - the perfect combination) and each note card has a cake and says either "If you are what you eat, eat something cute" or "This is no day for just a sliver". I made it specifically for someone and sent it yesterday. I hope it's OK to give someone something that is very much me. I do hope it's a little bit her as well.

And so, to what I have been reading and watching. Sorry to those who already know about it because I do tend to tweet about reading. Anyone who wants to can join a Twitter reading group called Read It 2011. There is a different theme each month and you tweet about your books using the hashtag #readit2011 and the different monthly ones. January's theme is Scare Up a Good Book, which is also the theme for the summer reading club. We are reading scary books and I chose Nineteen Eighty-Four. It isn't horror because I don't enjoy horror (I did, however, read every Stephen King book available until I was nineteen. It wasn't the horror I enjoyed but the characters and the settings) but I thought dystopia was scary enough to make it fit. I absolutely loved it. Clearly, I don't need my books to be happy or even hopeful. It seems to me that, in the end, Orwell was saying that society is heading in an ominous direction and no matter how hard you resist, you will eventually give in. I can think of lots of books and films that are dystopian, I suppose it is a fascinating topic to explore, but which books are utopian? Even  the impossibly beautiful and quaint world of Anne of Green Gables had its share of messes and relational problems and the idealised 1950s America of the Donna Parker books (my step-mother owned these and I loved to read them when I visited) always had obstacles to be overcome. No obstacles, no journey, no book!

Now I am reading The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I have already had to write down a quote about the power of literature. I can tell that I am going to enjoy this book a lot. I'll have time in the evenings to read it because we have finished watching the third Series of Ashes to Ashes on DVD. I adored Life on Mars and thoroughly enjoyed the first two series of Ashes to Ashes. The fashions and music were more exciting as I remember the eighties very well but I was more attached to Sam Tyler than Alex Drake and found the political incorrectness funnier in Life on Mars. I was so looking forward to having all the questions answered and I wasn't disappointed. The whole series was fabulous and the ending was satisfying and heartwarming. I have moved on to re-watching the Forsyte Saga when Andrew is either out or busy. He was very good to watch it with me the first time around but he'll never do it again! I love the costumes, the scenery, the time and the characters. I love old Jolyon Forsyte. Why does no-one use that name anymore? Jolyon Heap?


Happy Australia Day to everyone. Especially happy as it it a holiday in the middle of the week! Here is Bethany's Australia Day tattoo which, sadly, did not survive the bath.

I'm going to sleep in. Are you doing anything special for Australia Day?