Update - Books, Sheep, Packing, etc

Books finished:

WREDE, PATRICIA C.
-----------------------
Searching for Dragons - book 2 - The Enchanted Forest Chronicles

Books currently reading:

PRATCHETT, Terry
---------------------
Going Postal

LEWIS, C.S.
-------------
The Magician's Nephew

Not a whole lot else going on. Last I saw, the ewe was still alive (Wednesday morning), having spent the night in Dad's house yard, after hiding behind the chook pens while Dad was putting the other sheep away. Dad decided to let her stay the night there, as she was relatively safe with a german shepherd and a labrador for company and protection. But it was rather sweet watching her stamp her little foot at the labrador (and me!)

I'm currently back at my old house doing some bits and pieces that need doing before I go back down to Dad's in a few days time. Hopefully it will be dry enough soon to be able to start working the greyhounds again. Dad had hoped to have a couple of them racing by Christmas, but the constant rain has put that on hold now.

Anyway, stuff to do....

Things I have accomplished today :(

Sadly, the lamb died in the night, but the ewe is still with us (at the moment), although also still being transported from sheep yard to sheep yard via wheelbarrow.

We managed to worm only 4 of the sheep (one lamb, one ewe, two rams, I believe). But we discovered that at least one of the ewes is pregnant, which will mean an early lambing season for us around March/April.

I learnt I am not a very good sheepdog, having only two feet, not very sharp hearing, and the inability to NOT cry at the death of a small sweet lamb. I also cannot run very fast in gum boots (wellington boots).

But this blog today is supposed to be about things I have accomplished. So here goes:

1. I managed to pat two rams, a ewe, and a lamb.

2. The horse lets me regularly pat and handle his head and neck, but only lets Dad touch his neck (which annoys Dad somewhat as he can't understand why I am allowed but he's not).

3. I made fast and firm friends with another of Dad's greyhounds (who previously used to growl at me and shake visibly in my presence, at my presence), while letting the others come and sniff me and get used to me. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have been terrified of dogs all my life, but especially greyhounds, so volunteering to go into the puppy kennels is a big deal for me, and finding I am not frightened so much by them anymore is an even bigger accomplishment.

4. I had to step over the dead lamb to get something for Dad - not something I can normally do.

5. After the lamb episode, I went and consoled myself in the company of the dogs and the horse. Dad thinks I'm weird for doing so, but it helps....

Book Challenge (and sheep update)

Books finished:

WREDE, PATRICIA C.
-----------------------
Dragonsbane (aka Dealing with Dragons) - book 1 - The Enchanted Forest Chronicles


Books currently reading:

WREDE, PATRICIA C.
-----------------------
Searching for Dragons - book 2 - The Enchanted Forest Chronicles

PRATCHETT, Terry
---------------------
Going Postal

LEWIS, C.S.
-------------
The Magician's Nephew

Sheep news:

Dad says because of the excess rain we've been having recently, the ewes are coming on season, so today we are seperating the rams from the ewes, and the lambs from everyone else. We are also supposed to be worming the flock, as we had two down yesterday (one lamb, one ewe), that had to be carried home from the paddock, and given preferential treatment over the rest (they got wormed early, in other words). It was rather cool in a way, pushing a ewe on her back in a wheelbarrow across a field and into her pen, despite the reason she was in the wheelbarrow in the first place. It was also just a little bit funny when the lamb wee'd down the back of Dad's shirt as he carried her into one of the sheds to sleep the night in warmth and safety.

Here's hoping today goes well!

Book Challenge

Books finished:

PETERS, Ellis
---------------
The Hermit of Eyton Forest - a Mediaeval Whodunnit - the 14th chronicle of Brother Cadfael

(I would happily read more in this series - I quite enjoyed the book!)

Books begun (as of bedtime tonight, anyway):

PRATCHETT, Terry
---------------------
Going Postal

Stuff to do before bed though!

My Book Challenge - update

Of course, when I said I would read EVERY book in my collection, I wasn't talking about the textbooks, encyclopaedias, dictionaries, and travel books.....not necessarily, anyway. I was talking more along the lines of the novels - fiction mostly, but there is a handful of non-fiction and biographies in there too.

Also, given I have already read a great number of my books, if I choose to read them again, I will admit to having read them before, like with the C.S. Lewis books (Chronicles of Narnia). I have read each and every single one of those books in that series a good many times over the decades that I have been alive. Probably in the number of around 10 times each? Purely because they are such good books, I choose to read them again. Much as I will never say 'enough is enough' when it comes to re-reading Tolkein or Feist.

So there you go.

Now, because I have a very long train ride home to my soon-to-be-old house, and the Narnia books come with two or three books per hardback, I have chosen another book to use for the train ride (also because the Pratchetts I listed yesterday are actually at my old place and not at my new one yet so I cannot read them on the train ride home, if you get my drift).

So my book for the train ride/sleeping over at Mum's/needing a break from packing is:

PETERS, Ellis
---------------
The Hermit of Eyton Forest - a Mediaeval Whodunnit - the 14th chronicle of Brother Cadfael

I am reading this one because I think it is the ONLY Brother Cadfael book I own, plus it isn't terribly thick, which means it is light and slim enough to fit into my handbag.

I will let you know how I get on!

Bookishness should not be thought of as a crime....

I'm in the process of moving house at the moment. Partly it's because my health isn't so great these days, with longer and longer bouts of illness happening, and partly it's because I'm struggling to keep up with all the little things that need to be done on a house, like gardening, and keeping the gutters clean, getting things fixed when they break, etc.

So I'm moving down to Dad's place. He's got farm animals and everything! It's a totally different kind of lifestyle down there, and much MUCH better than where I am moving from in a lot of ways. I will miss the ability to walk out my front door and onto a train or bus, or up to the shops, but I won't miss the annoying teenagers whose idea of a fun Friday-Sunday night/s is to smash up everyone's mail box, break the fences, and scream foul language and abuse at each other, the dogs in the street, anyone else they come across, cars going down the road, etc.

But anyway.....I've decided, in order to keep certain members of my family happy, and so that I can explain why I have way too many books, I am going to attempt to read each and every single book I own over the next year. I also plan on trying to watch every single DVD I own (for much the same reasons).

So here goes. Since I started this move a month ago, I have read the following books from my library:

PRATCHETT, Terry
---------------------
Wintersmith
A Hat Full of Sky
I Shall Wear Midnight

I am currently in the middle of:

LEWIS, C.S.
-------------
The Magician's Nephew

The C.S. Lewis one is in a set of three books, that hold the whole Narnia series, the Magician's Newphew being book one of that series.

Also, I will be soon starting (I always have at least two books on the go at any one time):

PRATCHETT, Terry
---------------------
Going Postal
Making Money

Being as they have yet to be packed and I found them this morning when I was pulling apart my single bed for moving down to my Dad's place.

That's me for now.....Will update when I've read more books!

Happy Spring!

It's the first day of September here, which also makes it the first day of Spring. Unlike the rest of the world, our seasons are exactly three months in duration, starting on the first of the month and finishing on the last day of the month, three months later. For me, having grown up in this system, it all makes sense. For others (who haven't), it makes no sense at all, having arbitrary seasons, but I prefer it to having to take a guess at when the season will start!

So for all the Aussies out there - Happy Spring!

I woke up before dawn this morning (and if truth be told, dawn is only just happening as I write this, around 6am), and it just felt like spring.

I suddenly have this big urge to go and drink cuppas on my deck and watch the world wake up; go for long morning walks with the dog (an almost impossible occurence, given the way he plays up on the lead), and have all the windows and doors flung open, the curtains drawn back, and the music turned on!

IT --- IS --- SPRING --- !!!

It's been a long and cold Winter for us this year, so Spring is extra special, as it means that it will start to warm up soon, and we can start putting the jumpers and extra blankets away. Normally I love Winter - it's the time to be cozy, but this year it just seemed to never end (not made any better by three bouts of the flu either!), so Spring is a very welcome friend just now! I'm not so looking forward to Summer, though, unless it's not our usual hot sort :-)

Time for a Spring Clean, me thinks!

:-)