Gold Bunny...

Gold Bunny on Monday morning...

Tuesday morning...

& today.

I have been waiting weeks to see this rose bloom, ever since the first bud appeared in August, and I just had to share her radiant prettiness (has a lovely scent too). This is the sole surviving rose bush in our garden, after a standard and another bush (Queen Elizabeth) died over winter, but there are, of course, plans to plant more next season (now we know that we can grow them!).

Monday Mail Out: The Postal Service.

Unused postage stamps & handmade envelopes.

"In an age like ours, which is not given to letter-writing, we forget what an important part it used to play in people's lives".

~ Anatole Broyard 

A busy weekend pottering about the garden, baking in the kitchen and finishing household chores meant I only had the time to write two letters on Sunday: On Monday morning when I'm at the post office I'm always slightly disappointed if I'm posting anything less than three - almost as if I am letting an undetermined someone down.

Finding the inspiration for correspondence week in and week out can be a struggle sometimes, I'll admit it: I forget that half the joy of letter-writing is simply its arrival. I shouldn't worry about what news (or lack thereof) I have to share, as the content is quite often irrelevent - even just the shortest note reminds us that we are not forgotton, and the smallest gesture can make a big difference to a person's day.

Part of my inspiration for letter-writing comes from my fascination with the postal service. I make no secret of the fact that one of my greatest desires is to sort the mail at the post office - to cancel the stamps and send the mail on its journey. When I was at the post office the other week purchasing stamps and sending a few letters, the postal clerk hand-cancelled the stamps on my mail! Can you even remember the last time you saw a clerk hand-cancel mail? It simply isn't something the postal service does these days: Most letters are processed in a machine that cancels the stamps (with ugly, blotchy ink) and it's just not the same.

Which brings me to another point: Postage stamps. When I was a teenager the local post office was filled with countless rows of stamp issues and stationery supplies - critical necessities for a letter-writer. There would be a wide range of postage stamps, limited edition envelopes and first-day covers, aerogrammes and postage paid. These days, however, I find the variety limited and repetitive: Australia Post does still make regular stamp issues for domestic mail, but international stamp issues generally only occur with an increase in the price of postage. First-day covers are a rarity; the limited edition envelopes are, well, limited; and the aerogrammes and postage paid haven't changed in years. Stamp issues can be purchased online from Australia Post, but it's just not the same as going to the post office to browse, consider and select. The countless rows of stamp issues and stationery supplies has dwindled to a mere six, which have been pushed back into the far corner to make way for irrelevent (and often tacky) giftware.

Are our consumerist demands so blinding that we no longer have appreciation for the simple things in life, such as writing and receiving mail? I miss those days when I would walk into the post office and breathe in the smell of paper and ink (the smell of mail), gaze with admiration at the postal clerk as they handed me my postage stamps, who would then hand-cancel the mail, and when the postal service provided just that: A postal service.

Written correspondence has been a hobby of mine for such a long time, & Monday Mail Out is a weekly feature whereby I can share my love for the lost art of letter writing. I hope my experiences will encourage others to send out letters on Monday too, and have them rediscover the joy of sending and receiving mail. If you have a blog, feel free to join in.

On my mind: Business Ventures...

After much discussion and deliberation, SJ has decided to start his own business. Having found himself recently unemployed due to company downsizing, he's struggled to find full-time work elsewhere.

So, he's decided that he might as well go with what he knows (and which he also happens to be very good at) and work for himself, running a business from home. It's scary and exciting at the same time!

There's been stressful moments, but as each week draws to a close SJ finds himself one step closer to becoming a sole trader in the field he enjoys. The simple thought of it makes him smile, which (for now, at least) makes the stressful moments worth it.

**~**~**~**~**

This is a Friday photo feature from Down to Earth that anyone with a blog can join. It opens the door to us sharing our lives through these photos and gives us all a new way to discover each other, and maybe form new friendships. Your photo should show something at home that you're thinking about TODAY.

To take part, all you have to do is post a photo, write a short caption explaining it, and link it back to Down to Earth. Please write a new post, don't link to an older one. When your photo is published, go to Down to Earth and add a comment , with a link to your blog photo.

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory (+ a giveaway).

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Red Queen is the second novel in Philippa Gregory's Cousin's War series, and tells the story of the Wars of the Roses from the perspective of Margaret Beaufort, Lancaster heiress and cousin the mentally unstable King Henry VI.

The novel covers the same period as Gregory's first in the series, The White Queen. However, Margaret Beaufort is a completely different character to Elizabeth Woodville: Gregory's story of Elizabeth is one of magic, intrigue and grace, whilst her portrayal of Margaret is a bundle of contradictions. On one hand, Margaret's a religious fanatic, so pious that she can spend days and weeks fasting and at prayer. However, at the same time she is a bitter, scheming, compassionless woman who will willingly sacrifice innocent lives to achieve her greatest desire: To see her son, Henry Tudor, on the English throne.

Margaret isn't a particularly likeable character, and her belief that she is chosen by God for great things feels strained and desperate, as if the author knows this story fails to hold the mystical allure found in The White Queen. The Red Queen isn't historically accurate either, which can lead to immense frustration for those readers familiar with this period of English history. In addition to that, it seems highly unlikely that Margaret would have risked not only her goals but also her neck by disclosing her scheming ways through written correspondence - she strikes as being far more conniving and clever than that.

Margaret's life isn't as exciting as Elizabeth Woodville's either: She spends most of her time locked away, either by her husbands or her King, and as such nothing much ever seems to happen, aside from a lot of hoping, praying, and wanting. This also makes the story feel very repetitive, and often I found myself hoping, praying and wanting just for something exciting to happen.

The Red Queen does have redeeming moments, such as Margaret's marriage to Henry Stafford, and her volatile opinion of her rivals, which brought smiles and the odd chuckle, but it simply isn't as good as the beautifully written The White Queen.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Since I offered up a giveaway for The White Queen, I thought I would do the same for The Red Queen.

All you have to do to enter the draw is to leave a comment on this post. Entries will be taken until midnight (Australian Central Standard Time) on Sunday, 23 October 2011, with the winner being announced the morning of Monday, 24 October 2011.

Giveaway is open to everyone, on the condition that the Book Depository ships free to your country.

The winner will receive this paperback copy of The Red Queen.

Best of luck!

View all my reviews

In the Garden: Early morning admiration...

Armeria: Pretty in pink...

See that gravel? SJ did it. All of it. I am full of admiration and gratitude: It must have nearly killed him. It would have me!

Look closely: It's corn!

No, really. It is.

New lawn: Apparently fertilizer works wonders.

Who knew?

Out the front: See that gravel? SJ did that too.

Isn't it just so neat and tidy?

I love neat and tidy.

Okay, so it's a patch of dirt, but hopefully there will be lawn soon.

But there are no weeds and no dead leaves and it's neat, at least.

I also planted kangaroo paw at the corners (if you squint you might be able to see one).

And finally: A yellow rose.

My favourite.

I can't wait to see it in full bloom.

Monday Mail Out: Life's simple pleasures.

A selection of letters sent with today's post.

"The one good thing about not seeing you is that I can write you letters". ~Svetlana Alliluyeva 

Sunday has always been the day I allocate one or two hours in the afternoon to catching up on mail, each and every week. I've been writing letters for almost as long as I can remember, and yet I still get excited when first thing on a Monday morning I head to the post office with my pile of correspondence and pop it in the post.

Then as the day draws to a close the anticipation grows of letters waiting for me when I return home. When we lived in the city, Monday and Tuesday were the best mail days, so I always expected to have at least one letter waiting for me on both days, and if there wasn't I would think something had gone terribly wrong! Now that we're living rural, I've noticed the best mail days are Monday and Friday instead; I wonder why that is?

But whatever the day, for me one of life's most simple pleasures is to receive a letter in the post from a friend. I hope the friends I write with feel the same way when they receive a letter from me.

Since written correspondence has been a hobby of mine for such a long time, Monday Mail Out will be a weekly feature whereby I can share my love for the lost art of letter writing. I hope my experiences will encourage others to send out letters on Monday too, and have them rediscover the joy of sending and receiving mail. If you have a blog, feel free to join in.

In the Garden: Working in a dustbowl.

[Veggie seedlings amongst the peastraw mulch]

It's been a few months now since we've had a decent rainstorm. The last big wet came at the end of summer, around February when La Nina was providing her Grand Finale. Since then the months have become increasingly, worryingly dry.

[Teeny-weeny apricot tree & tomatoes in ground]

Over the past few weeks we have been busy in the garden, planting flower and vegetable seedlings, and noticed just how dry and parched the soil is - soil that at the same time last year was still soggy from frequent downpours. Now our yard is almost a dustbowl: There is no subsoil moisture and any water soaks away and disappears within minutes.

[Lettuce in pots and newly mulched agapanthus, lillies and alyssum]

We spent last weekend trying to work against this dry spell, planting lettuce in pots rather than in the ground, and mulching the flowerbeds and veggie patch. In the past we've not needed to mulch until late-spring, around November, right before the really hot weather arrives, but not this year: Winter is only just over (we are still getting the occasional light frost at night) and the ground is just so dry.

[Attempting to grow lawn - and a peacherine tree - in a dustbowl]

We're having to water far more often than usual for this time of year also. We've planted more lawn seed in those patches that simply didn't take last year, and of course the soil needs to be kept damp in order for the seed to germinate, which is almost impossible considering how quickly water is being absorbed, so it will be interesting to see how successful we are!

Next to Love by Ellen Feldman.

Next to Love by Ellen Feldman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"Only the dead have seen the end of the war."

- George Santayana

Next to Love is a WWII/post-WWII novel set in the USA around the lives of three women (Millie, Grace and Babe) whose husbands are sent off to fight in the war. Friends since childhood, the women turn to each other for support and comfort as they are left to face the reality of their husbands never returning home.

The story takes place between 1941 and 1964, and details the effects that war has on Millie, Grace, Babe, their children, their families, their town and their country. It is a story of those who were left to man the home-front whilst husbands and sons were fighting the war in Europe and the Asia-Pacific. Set during a time of major social and political change, the events that unfold not only define these women, who they are and what they will become, but also that of their children and their country as a whole.

At around 250 pages, Next to Love is not a novel filled with descriptions of the war effort itself, but instead considers the personal lives of those who did not fight in the war but were still directly and adversely affected by it.

A quick, easy, enjoyable read.

View all my reviews

On my mind: Weekend tasks.

"If you've never experienced the joy of accomplishing more than you can imagine, plant a garden." ~ Robert Brault

Yes! Gardening is on my mind this Friday! How could it not be? The weather continues to be glorious and perfect for spending time outdoors.

Our first task for the weekend is to finish the raised garden beds (pictured above). SJ made the first one earlier this week and is hoping to knock-up a second today. We are making these ones out of old sheets of iron and steel posts cut to size. If they prove suitable we will build more. We are using deep beds in an attempt to combat weeds, and will plant a selection of tomatoes, corn, lettuce, cauliflower, silverbeet, capsicum and cucumber for this season.

The second task is to start laying crusher-dust on those areas of the yard currently not being used for garden space. The purpose of this is to keep the weeds under control and to make snakes and lizards visible during the warmer months.

**~**~**~**~**

This is a Friday photo feature from Down to Earth that anyone with a blog can join. It opens the door to us sharing our lives through these photos and gives us all a new way to discover each other, and maybe form new friendships. Your photo should show something at home that you're thinking about TODAY.

To take part, all you have to do is post a photo, write a short caption explaining it, and link it back to Down to Earth. Please write a new post, don't link to an older one. When your photo is published, go to Down to Earth and add a comment , with a link to your blog photo.