Ode....to grey marl

Oh grey marl

so very grey and usually

Soft; though light breaks through yonder window,

I know you represent time, time stopped not passing

Time to sit about aimlessly, tv glare upon my face;

face aglow though pale in the lazy haze of laptop screen illumination.

Oh bitter depths (of grey), oh white stitching,

Raglan sleeves make easy work; put it on, pull it off...

Will the cheering reds and brilliant blues, will the killer black and pristine whites

Ever know it's you I dream of. Grey Marl. Like an anchovy blistered in the sun.

A long weekend...still stretching.

PS. to hell with a proper Ode format...!

The 'Do' list

Again another inspiration from The Sagacious Friend....why have a 'To Do' list when you can have a 'Do' list!

I find 'To Do' lists irksome, especially when nothing seems to move off your list because you spend time doing the things that pop up and are not even worth the time to pop on the 'To Do' list. I've tried to stop checking email when it comes, rather check it 2 or 3 times a day trick. I've tried turning the 'To Do' list into tasks that take 5 minutes or less, around 15 minutes or more than that and fitting them in when I can...I've tried doing all the things I don't want to do first...just grin and bare it!

Anyhow I'm going to see if a change of name for my list is as good as holiday. Ahhh more blogging is now higher up on my 'Do' list...wish it was on my 'Done' list.

Time: ALL TIME 100 NOVELS

Ok, I usually hate things like this, but it's Time mag so I suppose it has some credibility. I'm doing abysmal with only 13 out of 100, but I have time I suppose to catch up. Happy reading!

The ALL TIME 100 NOVELS

TIME critics Lev Grossman and Richard Lacayo pick the 100 best English-Language novels from 1923 to the present. Read more

On ruralising 'River Cottage' style

I've got it bad. All this work at home by myself has me dipping into other obsessions, namely kitchen gardens. I'm currently planning away when I can next attack the very small yard out the back of the terrace and put in my summer/autumn plantings, a task spurred on by too much watching of River Cottage and The Wild Gourmets, both on the ABC and then streaming some episodes online as er, a reward and much needed study breaks.

I do have a history of kitchen gardens in the family, my mother's father was a keen gardener with a small plot in their inner city backyard as she grew up. His father and mother up near Mudgee in the northern part of the Central West (makes sense oui?) also had kitchen gardens, with orchards on neighbour's property over the hill. What I long for is one of those glorious French or English kitchen gardens, with rolling hills and pastures in the background...(kind of Central West but more green, less bush!). Lush woodlands, forest foraging, otters (yes I'll stop now!)...ahhh yes too much River Cottage for me.