Friday, March 30, 2007

the book post

Bold the ones you’ve read
Italicize the ones you want to read
Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.

I'm gonna add something different to mine. In the case of books I've read, I'll add a comment about whether it was great or it sucked or something similar.


1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown) (well and truly over it by the last page)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
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) Another one I love.

9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling) And the fuss about that one was....?
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) Love him!
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) Definitely in my top 3
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) (holy crap can anyone write about sex for seven whole pages except Jean???? Boy I want Jondolar’s phone number)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. The Bible (Bits and pieces)
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) Yes!!! Love it!
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling) (Am I the only person on the planet who doesn't give a shit about Potter or Rowling???? Greatest con job of all time.
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)
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 Traveling 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)

72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje) 75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett) Yes!!!
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay) my favourite three books of all time, still cry every time at Kevin *sigh*
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According to Garp (John Irving)
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) Started three or four times ….. oh so ho hum
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) So bloody traumatic.
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)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

OK, now some of my secret book fettishes are revealed. :)

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Monday, March 26, 2007

ufo canberra


ufo canberra
Originally uploaded by Gemma_Anne.
So I went to the Nation's capital a couple of weekends ago, and saw this UFO, so I had to take a photo. Pretty cool eh?

I also went to the botanical gardens and saw an echidna up close, which has never happened to me before. (ps the photos of the echidna and lizards were of course too dark/not zoomed since I only have a small polaroid camera, not some uber digital to play with) but they are good enough because I know whats in the photos.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Warning, danger Will Robinson ...........

I was about to play with my dog about 6.30 this morning, walking under the clothes line to fetch the ball to throw, when right in my face was this enormous spider. Right where I was going to walk, right where it was going to jump on me and bite me and eat me and then I would disappear and never be heard from again. It was that kind of spider. Lucky for me I saw it silhouetted against the lightening sky, and so was saved. I hate spiders,I know they have a place in nature, and eat the mozzies and flies etc that bug me, but if they just live in trees, or out of my way I would be really grateful.

My ISE4 scarf is officially 30cms long, its starting to look more like something real now.

Its 35 degrees and far too hot to knit, but I have done the housework and now I am so bored with vacuuming and cleaning, so I want to do something nice for a while. I will just have to turn on the air con.

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Friday, March 23, 2007

Knitting Cat...and a Yarn Harlot


Knitting Cat...
Originally uploaded by Gemma_Anne.
This is me enjoying the Harlot Happening in Manuka Starbucks by watching the photos and comments appear on Bell's Blog. The Grumpy cat was ok with watching until I took him off the table, then he spun out completely.

The knitting is the scarf for my scarf buddy in the ISE4 swap. My kids think I will need a year to knit this, but 4" in one day after work is not too bad I think.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Thank heavens for pets, kids and all those unexpected things that bring a smile to your face.

That tail belongs to Whisper the wonder cat. This is the cat that climbs in the bed and sleeps under the quilt, blankets and sheets (the more the better). She has been known to burrow to the bottom of the dirty linen basket, and sleep happily amongst the boys' sport socks and cricket clothes. Must have no sense of smell!

Have begun my scarf for my scarf buddy .... photos will follow on weekend.

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Sunday, March 18, 2007

To complete a perfect overcast/rainy Sunday, my lovely Lizzy has completed her most recent project, a forest green scarf in an increasing/decreasing ladder pattern. Its only about the third thing she has ever made. Now she has started a scrap yarn, crocheted rug in half circles.

The youngest son had a go at cutting off his middle finger yesterday, and is out of action for a while. (If he really hated washing up and cleaning that much he should have just said so!)

Knitting...


Knitting...
Originally uploaded by Gemma_Anne.
Its Sunday afternoon, rather a lazy one at that. I have been watching the Australian F1 Grand Prix from Melbourne on the teev, and knitting my lace scarf. Its just a little challenging, but with the second pattern repeat I feel more confident and am actually enjoying the challenge of 2ply lace weight.

When I took a break I saw my new photos had been loaded on the computer by my Kat, and here finally is a shot of my second ever pair of socks (colour not particularly accurate, but close).

Thursday, March 15, 2007

I can't believe myself. I have just placed two bid on wool on ebay, although it is by my absolute favourite yarn artist. Hopefully when I win (fingers crossed) I can post some spectacular photos of her yarn in my design.

Meanwhile back on the ranch, we now have no roof over the verandah because the builders took down the old one, started putting up the new one and found they had ordered the wrong material. Off they went and ordered more stuff, and when it came it was wrong too!!!! Duh, and just in time for some last fling of hot summer sun on the lounge room. Temperature hot, temper hot, need to knit, must knit.

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Tuesday, March 13, 2007


How exciting.
I really need one of my brilliant children to add this button properly in the side bar, but, hey later.

Madly knitting swatches of new patterns, trying out different stitches and combos because of course I want to make the perfect scarf for my scarf pal.

Meanwhile I have a roof in my back yard, a fence in my drive way and the dog is chasing the cats again. One son has shifted his day time to 12pm to 12am as a normal day, and the other is spending half his life at the chiropracter repairing the damage from the other half of his life, spent at Cricket. Thank God for girls is all I can say! Both the girls are joyous at present! So life is full of excitment.

Friday, March 09, 2007

Gemma's Green Scarf


Gemma's Green Scarf
Originally uploaded by Gemma_Anne.
This"spectactular" green number is from the most recent dying batch. Knitted and then crocheted! what a process.