What I see when I write

The gum trees that are valiantly struggling on despite two years of near drought
 Black Hill (looking more golden-brown as the sun sets)
Across the river

Some days (like today) it is a miracle I get any writing done, with all that to distract me.

Bookwormed!

I got tagged by Jen. I should be writing, but I'll count this as my warm-up. (g)

The idea is to pick the closest book to you, open up to page 56, copy down  the fifth sentence, then the next 2 - 5 sentences. Then, do the same with your own MS.

Here it is!

The book closest to hand is FIGURES IN SILK, by Vanora Bennett. Et voila, page 56 - 

"She'd hardly ever been in her own father's storeroom. It was his holiest of holies; too precious for children, he said. 

She padded down the corridor behind her mother-in-law, secretly impressed; willing Alice Claver, now fiddling with the keys at the door, to learn to like her.

Alice Claver's warehouse stretched all the way along the side of her house: a vast barn of a place, its high rafters lit up by slanting early sunlight from the window slits.

It took a few moments for Isabel's eyes to adjust. Then she gasped."

Ooh, cliff hanger!

 

Now, from my MS (and this will NOT be my page 56 when the thing is done - I have a whole new idea for how this book will open (funny about that (wry grin)) - but here it is, as it stands:-

"Lewis would be caught in a tangle of half-composed, addle-brained lies - or worse, would blurt the whole nasty truth - and then my darling father would know it was he, and no one else, who had caused it. 

My pulse ticked in my throat. I had to stop my brother. Now.

 

Dropping my bag to the floor, I gripped the woman's meaty shoulders  and shoved her through the door of the vacant compartment. Her shrieks drowned those of her parrot."

LOL. Sounds like something from an absurdist play! I swear it makes sense in context. (g)

Now, I tag Jenny, Nina, and Claire, if she's up to it.

Things to do when one is an invalid

Surfacing from a rotten bout of a rotten virus that's had my temp up and down like a yo-yo, and my throat feeling as if I'd swallowed a roll of barbed wire. Fun. Not.

All I've been capable of is looking at pretty things on the internet, like the pics on this wonderful blog, Paris Parfait.

Go have a look. It's nice and sparkly and shiny, and makes me feel a whole lot better just looking at it.

Submerging again,  to wallow in sickness like a Victorian spinster.

When I go to Paris ...

Note I said "when", not "if". (g)

I will get there, some day. But for now, I must content myself with wallowing in blogs about all things Parisian, all things French, like that of David Lebovitz , an acclaimed pastry chef who blogs about Paris and its food. 

Today's post is about chocolate; not just any chocolate, mind, but the chocolate made in the laboratory of Jacques Genin, "the most elusive chocolatier in Paris".

Excuse me while I wipe the drool from my keyboard ...

Time flies ...

I was tooling around with photos today, adding ones sent to me of Child #1's 1oth birthday, and it struck me - just when did my 9lb 10oz baby turn into this?

Christmas List

Tagged by Carol and Deniz; and I'm being highly original and tagging the rest of the M:A gang ...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. I like to watch others rip. 

2. Real tree or artificial? Fake, fake, fake. Like Deniz, we have a Christmas tree-scaling cat, and plastic tree = no mess.

3. When do you put up the tree? After my son's birthday, on 30th November. Haven't quite got there yet.

4. When do you take the tree down? It has been known to still be standing in February. Working on that.

5. What do you do with your tree after you take it down? Try to shove it back in the box from whence it came. NEVER fits.

6. Favourite gift ever received as a child? A shiny, lime-green bike. Hey, it was the '70s!

7. Hardest person to buy for? My brother. An electronic engineer who takes fussy to a whole new level. And I drew him again in our family Kris Kringle this year, dammit!

8. Easiest person to buy for? My daughter. She's four, and still loves anything that comes wrapped up with a bow.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, a ceramic one, which the children have hammered. Joseph's beard has snapped off, Mary will no longer walk without a limp, and none of the wise men have heads. Time for a new one, methinks.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, email, text message - whatever works!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A "Casey and the Sunshine Band" cassette tape. I still bear the scars.

12. Favourite Christmas movie? Home Alone.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? After Child #1's birthday. So any day now. Yikes!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope.

15. Favourite thing to eat at Christmas? Prawns with lemon juice and tartar sauce. Mmm.

16. Lights on the tree? No - my children would find a way to burn down the house with them in thirty seconds flat.

17. Favourite Christmas carol? Silent Night.

18. Travel at Christmas? Apart from two family members, all my family lives in the same city. "Travel" on Christmas day just involves suburb-hopping. Nice!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Not a chance!

20. Angel on the tree top or star? Does a porcelain cat, with gold wings, halo and harp, count as an angel?  (g)

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Since Father Christmas still visits our house, definitely the morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? I think the saying "you can choose your friends, but not your relatives" sums up my position on this quite nicely.

23. Favourite ornament theme or colour? Red, silver and white.

24. Favourite for Christmas dinner? Since it's usually way too hot for traditional Christmas fare Down Under, I look forward to fish - snapper rubbed with lemon butter and stuffed with wild rice is sooo good.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? New pyjamas so I no longer terrify the neighbours when I go out to collect the morning papers; and, of course, books. :-)