Can't win

Okay, about 2 minutes after I posted the last entry what happens?  I get a background image to actually load!  So it's not the one I really wanted, but for the moment it'll do.  I just can't understand why the one I want is the only one that doesn't seem to be working.  I'm just about to nick off to my other blog and try loading on a new background and see what happens.... whew, I'm back.  Turns out that apart from taking a god awful amount of time to load, it works just fine.  If I was a drinking person this would send me to the liquor cabinet, but I'm not so a cup of tea will have to suffice.  What a day.

Shabby where?



I've been trying all day to get the bloody background up and running again.  I love the Shabby Blogs backgrounds, but am having a devil of a time getting any of the codes to work at the moment.  Once the page loads I get a message that says "Done, but with some errors", and a little box up in the top left corner that looks like this...

The rest of the elements load perfectly.  Right background colour, correct text area... just the background image fails to upload.  GRRRRRR ... Beautiful Dreamer's image, the usual background pic on this blog, seems to be m.i.a.  Okay try once more - visit Shabby Blogs website, go to backgrounds, pick out ideal look, 'get code'.  Copy code and paste into blogs design area (click edit html/javascript gadget).  Paste into content area and save....

Results... NOTHING!

{totally fuming in front of monitor}

 

I'm truly hoping it's a problem on Photobuckets end cause this could drive me nuts pretty quickly.  I'll give it a few more tries and hopefully I'll have some background up ASAP.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

P.S - Aqua Butterfly, a beautiful lineart on a textured aqua background, is totally gone from their catalogue.  I think they've retired it!  Now I'll have to find something else appropriate for my other blog.  Darn it.

Surprise in Mail

I got a surprise in the mail yesterday... a business sized envelope from the US.  Really light, with no pages?  I didn't remember writing to any of the cousins there, but they only ever email anyway.

Turning over the envelope I carefully slit the edge and pulled out.... drumroll please....

A personalised and signed bookplate from Anne Bishop!

my name blurred :P

Woohoo!

I'd totally forgotten that I'd even emailed to her when she asked online if anyone wanted signed bookplates - duh!  I feel like an idiot :)  So now I have a signed bookplate.  I think I'm just going to stick it in my scrapbook album for the moment.  I'll think of someway to display it later.

Heaven to Wudang

Just found out recently that the final book in the Journey to Wudang trilogy, Heaven to Wudang, is out this June.  {skipping around desk... doin' a little Shen dance}  I love this series.  Kylie Chan has done a fabulous job of weaving Chinese mythology into a contemporary setting.  I got lost in the story, and didn't find it odd at all that this celestial world existed underneath the everyday.

Emma Donahoe is a Aussie ex-pat working in Hong Kong when she takes a full time nanny position for the mega rich Mr. John Chen.  She loves his little girl Simone, and gets along great with the bodyguard Leo.  But things keep happening that cause her to get suspicious.  Emma's nobody's fool, and in the end unearths the big secret surrounding the Chen household.  It takes most of book one for Emma to be let in on the secret, but the pace of the book doesn't suffer for this wait.  The backstory is built up nicely, and you need to know this for Emma's early interactions with those in Hong Kong come back into play in later books.

While this is the final book in the trilogy, it has been confirmed that there is a final trilogy to come.  Yes... three more books of Xuan Wu and Emma.  I hope that we see more of Xuan Wu in this final book.  For those who have already read the books, the ending of Hell to Heaven left me wondering why Xuan Wu didn't just locate Emma with his celestial spidey senses.  Hopefully that will be explained in the new book.  I didn't want to give away anything for those of you who haven't read it yet so sorry about the cryptic wording.

In regards to the new book, I don't know if Kylie will be doing any book signings north of Brisbane yet, but will keep fingers crossed.  I can't put a pic of the dust jacket up yet as they haven't released the artwork yet, but as soon as I find a pic I'll shove it up here.

At the moment, there are no audiobooks of this series that I could locate, but I would love to get one if they ever release it.  Not sure who you'd have reading it, but an Aussie is a must. 

If you want to find out more about this truly excellent series, just go to http://www.kyliechan.com/  There is a forum link as well if you want to check out the boards.  Just look for the Dark Heavens forum link on the homepage, up the top under the links.

New Books on the Way

I've been busy online shopping the last few weeks.  With all this rain there's nothing better than curling up on the couch or snuggling amongst my doona on the bed, and reading a great book.  There are so many good books out these days, and buying online I can get titles sooner (and a hell of a lot cheaper) than I can in Australia.

So what do I have in the post you ask?  Well... I can't stay away from a few of the trashy para-romances.  I have to have my Patricia Briggs fix so "River Marked" is definitely on the list.  I should be picking up Eileen Wilkes new offering in her Lupi series today as the nice postman put a parcel delivery notice in my letterbox.  This should keep me occupied this afternoon.  Next to arrive should be "Archangel's Consort" by Nalini Singh.  Now I usually avoid the whole Angel genre, but I was drawn in by her characters.  She makes you just want to reach into the book and give Raphael either a kick in the butt or a hug.  Illium is wonderful and the angel that's fascinated with humans, and Elena sometimes breaks your heart as she struggles to embrace her new immortal life.  Darn, I've just made myself want to read it now.  Have to hold on till next week.

Then yesterday, I caved in and bought 3 - count them three - omnibuses ladies and gentlemen.  I had to have the Aurora Teagarden Omnibus (Vol 1 & 2).  PS - If your reading this in Australia DON'T get them from the major booksellers for $35.99.  Head over to Book Depository for Vol. 2 at $16.95, and Amazon UK for the other volume which with P&H works out to just over $20.  I also bought the Lily Bard Omnibus at Amazon for about £8.40!  That's dirt cheap compared to Aussie bookshops.  I mean what is a bookshelf without these wonderful books by Charlaine Harris?  And since I'm studying to become a librarian, I have to have a least one series with a mystery solving librarian at it's heart now don't I.

I did find one series that may take a little reading to get into.  Phryne Fisher is an independent wealthy woman (28) who solves murders in the late 1920's in Melbourne.  She's a gun totting, alcohol loving lady who seems to find more cases than Miss Marple.  I've got 2 of the books so far.  They seem okay, but I think I'll have to get the first one 'Cocaine Blues' before I truly decide that this is a new series to get.  Kerry Greenwood writes well, and you do loose yourself in the world of 1920's Melbourne.  One of the audio books I borrowed from the local library included an interview with her.  It turns out that these books are researched for about 4 months and only written in about 2-3 weeks!  I wish I  could do that.

So that's the end of my little buying spree.  I've got my next list up and running.  I'm over the paranormal hump and settling quite nicely into the police thrillers.  I've been following the Karen Rose books.  I absolutely loves "I'm Watching You".  I have read it about 10 times now, and it was the first book of hers that I bought.  If you like a little bit of archaeology thrown in with your detective work, then try the first of her trilogy "Die for Me".  The most of the characters found in the series end up with a book of their own.  The Reagan brothers (both detectives), the Ciccotelli's (Vito and Tessa), and co-workers of theirs.  They are wonderful books, gritty and the author is not afraid to make her characters vulnerable.  The next book out "You Belong to Me" should be great.  I'm waiting - not patiently either - for this to come out in mass market paperback (UK cover thanks) before I read it.  Wish me luck.

January Round-Up

January has been a bitch of a month here.  By early January it seemed like the rain would never stop.  There was no sunshine, no birds, just rain and wind.  Now, I love all that wet weather, but I found that even I have my limits on how wet it should be.  We've were housebound for a week.  The ground was so saturated that even walking on it was like walking on mud.  There was no way the cars were coming out of the shed.
As you would have seen on the news, January 10, 2011 was a horror day for Queensland.  I was at home watching the news when the wall of water swept through Toowoomba and down the Lochyer Valley towards Brisbane.  Unfortunately this coincided with more water released from Wivenhoe Dam (which was sitting at 192% capacity) and king tides to ensure that Brisbane would see it's first major flooding event since 1974.  Now, my mum lived through '74.  She lost everything but her cat, and I'm so thankful that we were nowhere near those areas.  I don't think mum could have gone through it again. 

heading south - on route to shopping centre

local shopping centre - shops actually built on raised ground!

Up till the 19th, we'd measured over 19 inches of rain.  That doesn't include the deluge we've had since November last year, or the storms since the 19th.  This is the wettest month that I can remember. If it continues like this everything will be damp and mouldy.... eww.  And to top it all off there is a cyclone - a hurricane to those in the US - that is set to hit around Townsville on Monday, and another forming off Fiji that should also head our way.   We just can't seem to get a break at the moment.  If it's not flooding here, and in Victoria, then it's bushfires in Western Australia and heatwaves in Adelaide!

Over the last week it seemed like the clouds had finally run out of water to dump on us.  It's been hot and muggy (thanks to the ground being waterlogged), but it was nice to have the sun on your face.  Now today, the 30th, seems to be a reminder that the weather can so easily change.  It was sunny this morning, now it's overcast and looks like more rain!  Geez, what am I.... a duck!

It's So Wet... and I'm SO Tired

Well, it's 2 days after Christmas... Merry Christmas!.... and the rain is just bucketing down.  It's been raining for the last 2 weeks, with only 2 days where it didn't rain.  The other night we ended up with 4 inches!  I think I should have asked Santa for a snorkel set this year - I could sure use it now.

Last night I had the worst nights sleep.  There was a party down the road (teenagers) and they were out wandering the street until nearly 1.30am!  I had hoped that the rain would just bucket down and douse their alcohol infused Boxing Day cheer, but alas it only sprinkled.  Still it was enough to make them head indoors.  Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to drown out the dance music.  Pity one of the people living next door didn't call the police.  So here I sit, trying to put two words together, with only about 4 hours sleep.  I shudder to think what they'll do on New Years Eve!

But today, the rain is just streaming down.  The ex-cyclone has now down-graded into a depression, and is heading down the Queensland coast.  So it looks like I'm housebound until Thursday at the earliest.  It's a good thing I was planning a quiet night in this New Years.  Maybe I'll just cuddle up with my Christmas pressie, a copy of Jane Eyre.

On top of that, I'll be studying for the foreseeable future.  No rest for the wicked is there :D

Waking up to this!

Well, it's one of the stranger ways to be woken up in the morning.  The other day, the first truly sunny day we've had in quite a while, there was some weird birds calling during the night... all night.  Then at about 6am, blurry eyed and with the hair from hell, a knock on the door and a barely caught "... come out and have a look at what's out back!" had me struggling to untangle myself from the covers. 

This was what greeted me...

Who would have thought not one, but 4 of these crested mooks would be wandering the streets?  They wandered down towards the shed at the back of the yard, jumping the neighbours fence.  I lured them back with little pieces of toast crust... ole blue above liked it.  The others were stuffing their faces on Nasturtium leaves.  Then, just when I tried to get some more pics of them (they are skittish and totally idiotic) the female flew off across the street, landing on the 2 storey house across the road.  She gave a honking cry... et, voila.  All 3 of her handsome men took off like a shot.

Just another day at the zoo here :D

O Happy Day. I've got books, books.... more books

They're all here... my precious books.  Okay, enough channelling of Gollum :D, but yes, my new order of books from oversea's arrived yesterday.  I'd been told about a great UK site Book Depository and decided to give it a go.  And I'll do it again as soon as I finish reading these.

• Styx's Storm
• The Darkest Hour
• Twice Bitten
• Cast in Chaos
• Midnight Crystal

I've already ploughed through Midnight Crystal (only so-so... read from library first), and Twice Bitten - Go Merit!.  Today I'll tackle Styx's Storm, you've gotta love those Breeds, and Cast in Chaos is already a work in progress.

So, as I've finished reading Midnight Crystal, I've gotta say that I was disappointed with it.  It's the final of an Arcane Society trilogy, and is listed under the Arcane Society series.  What I really wanted was a good olde fashioned dust bunny of a good time.  It was all set within the futuristic J&J (Jones & Jones for the uninitiated) and Arcane society.  The council was mentioned, and a little bit of the previous Ghost Hunter story has been included, you meet Lyra and Cruz, and find out what happened to Gloria Ray and her Guild Hunter squease and his co-baddies.  But all in all, it wasn't up to the same standard as the usual 'Harmony' titles.   My advice to you... if you choose to accept it, is to read it from your local library.

Okay, now onto something a bit more fun... Twice Bitten.

Now, I've been following the Chicagoland Vampires since the beginning.  I love the character of Merit, and how she's not just some kick-ass woman who doesn't care what's going on around her and manages to sleep with her guy before the first 4 chapters are up.  Merit was a scholar until she got attacked in the park at night while heading home from the Uni library... I know, it gives libraries a bad rep doesn't it ;) Now she's one of the most powerful vamps in her house, and she's half in lust with her Master.  Add some shapeshifter politics and you've got a good read that will keep you thoroughly entertained.

I've found some more upcoming titles that I want... you know, to ask Santa for :P

• Archangel's Consort - Nalini Singh
• Blood Challenge - Eileen Wilks
• Cast in Ruins - Michelle Sagara
• Magic Bleeds - Ilona Andrews
• Navarro's Promise - Lora Leigh
• Twilight's Dawn - Anne Bishop
• Silver Zombie - Carole Nelson Douglas

Well I think if Santa can arrange for these in the future I'll be a happy camper indeed.

Still raining... raining... raining....

The last few day has seen us just about washed out by a torrential downpour here.  The BOM (Bureau of Meteorology) has advised of Severe Storms... yeah, the actually got it right for once.  We had over 4 inches in 12 hours, and it's been raining heavily on and off since Saturday.

Monday was the first day that I'd been able to get to the car, let alone get out... not that this didn't present troubles of it's own.  It's been so wet that the driveway is now boggy and the car slips and slides around - not for the faint of heart!  So to take advantage of my moment of freedom, or just being able to go outside, I took some photo from the jetty about 800m down the road from us.
 

looking towards Bribie Island

This has actually been great reading weather.  I've managed to plough through my Anne Bishop "Black Jewels" again, and indulged in some guilty pleasures like Archangel's Consort (#2 Guild Hunters) and one of my favourites, the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews.  You just can't go past a good Alpha can you :P

Although, I have been distracted by the Commonwealth Games coverage on TV.... we're kickin butt! :D

Aussie!, Aussie!, Aussie!

But today, miracle of miracles, there is actually sunshine!  It may only last for half an hour, but I'm going to enjoy it while it's here.  I'll have to check out my roses after getting off the computer.  My ferns were just about flooded out of the greenhouse... I tipped out the large concrete dish twice and put my more fragile ferns up on bricks to keep their feet out of the cold water... hopefully they won't turn up their toes.  There are one or two of them that have actually sent up new fronds!

 

What the....!

Yesterday a bloody great big B double tanker comes down our quiet little street.  It then tried to reverse into the cul-de-sac that veers off in front of our house.  It didn't work.  So he tried again and as he turned his funky truck and dogs to back up the street he turned and dug up the bituman in front of our driveway.

Just look what he did!.....

 

That's what you get for having the local council insist that everyone use the sewerage that they are putting in town.... stupid council

Look out! Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's...

SUPER LIBRARIAN!

This is the blog that I found while trolling the net.  I just had to giggle at the great banner she's got.  It's great to see some fantastic, funny, witty librarian blogs on the net.  Now everyone can see that we're not mouldy old seniors with fuzzy hair in a bun! :P

So head on over to view the complete Misadventures of... Super Librarian, you won't regret it.

Election 2010: The morning after...

Well, Election 2010 has come and gone.  Unfortunately, the people of this electorate have decided to back a guy that looks like he should still be in high school (he's 20 for goodness sakes!), and the country has a hung parliament for the first time in 70 years.

There is talk about maybe having another-go-round, but seriously, if you wasted your vote the first time, why should you deserve another shot?  If they do decide to have another ballot it should be as simple as:

Which party do vote for

LABOUR   LIBERAL

tick a box

That way there would be no second guessing, no preferentials, no anything else.  It would be done and dusted.  Now, I'm not too fanatical about a faction.  I'm not a hard-core Labour follower, or a terminal Liberal.  All I want is a person who can do their job competently and look after the people in their electorate.  Is that too much to ask for?

I'm just worried that a 20 year old won't have the experience, knowledge or leadership to fulfill the job requirements.  How will he manage an office, as well as everything else?  Will people really listen to a kid?  There should be a minimum job requirement attached to these things.  Yes, you can toss your tiara into the ring if you've....
a) been working for a council for a minimum of ? years,
b) taken local government or political science courses, or
c) if you can demonstrate an excellent understanding of government and have demonstrated leadership qualities.

I don't know what the future holds (I wish), but I can tell you now that I'm not at all confident that this will have a happy ending.  Only time will tell, but keep you're fingers crossed for us... our future is in the hands of a 20 year old!

Searching...

Well.  It's been one of those weeks so far.  My desktop's new modem is acting up so I'm back on the laptop... God bless the laptop, and have decided that I'm not going to stress out about it.  Instead, I bought myself a copy of the newest offering by Nora Roberts, made myself a nest in my comfy bed, and blocked out the world for a few hours.

Okay, back again after checking what the postie had brought me.  Nothing of great interest.  We've be inundated with Election 2010 crap.  I can't wait for this Saturday.  We'll vote and then it'll be done except for the obligatory gloating by the winner.  Watching them on the campaign trail, during question time, etc., I just can't get over the fact that these back-biting, schoolyard taunting 'adults' - and I use the term adults loosely, are helping to shape this country.  If a high school student council meeting ran in the same way as our country's leaders run theirs, then we would have been repremanded and given a 'time out' by the teachers!

 

"It's been a few years since Fiona Bristow has moved to Orcas Island. Within the small, tight-knit island community she's built up her business, a canine rescue centre that trains dogs to track missing persons. Whether they are lonely travellers on a hiking trip gone wrong or disappearances of a more sinister nature, more than once Fiona has been the last hope for those lost in Washington's vast wilderness. Other than her work, Fiona doesn't ask for much: the peace of the landscape, the companionship of her dogs, the safe haven of friends and family. Romantic entanglements are very far down on her list - and certainly not with Simon Doyle, an artist newly arrived from the mainland. Impossible rude, and impossibly handsome, he suddenly seems to be around an awful lot. But he doesn't know that Fiona harbours a terrible secret, and as her past unexpectedly catches up with her, she has to decide whether past grief will keep her from ever loving again..."

Anyway, back to "The Search" by Nora Roberts.  This book is a little different from her usual fare.  Fiona, a leggy ex-athlete, is a dog trainer on small Island.  She is tough, smart, troubled and has a past that pops up to haunt her.  Simon on the other hand is a wood-artist who moves to Orcas Island from Seattle.  He's stubborn, arrogant, intelligent, driven, selfish.... I could go on.  They don't sizzle up the pages when they first meet, but are more reluctantly drawn to each other.  They are both proud people, who are able to stand alone and take care of themselves.

It took a little while to get used to these characters as they are more stand-offish to each other than other books by Ms Roberts, but there is just something compelling about them.  The baddie doesn't really get a look in, and seems to be for plot more than anything else.  It's not her absolute best work, but it's an enjoyable read with Fiona and Simon's characters drawing you into their story.  While not in Eve Dallas' league, I found it as enjoyable as "Black Hills", and looking back, the males in these stories are almost cut from the same mold.

If you're looking for a way to pass a few hours - or even days :D, then I would recommend this title.

Going Potty

Had a great time yesterday scoping out the plants at our local Bunnings Warehouse.  Found the most gorgeous Camellia (R.L Wheeler) that had a single flower the size of a bread and butter plate!  It was a dark pinky red, and blew my mother away.  She desperately wanted one, but with all her other plants, she couldn't afford it then and there.  I think I'll be sneaking back to Bunnings later to get it for her.... aren't I a good daughter :P

All I managed to buy was potting mix, and more potting mix.  Mostly to repot my ferns, but my new roses were in want of bigger pots.  So I spent about 2 hours yesterday mixing potting mix, sand, and other stuff to get the right type of consistency.  We get a huge amount of rain here at times and just plain potting mixture can kill off my ferns quite easily.  I find that cutting it with just plain old white sand helps immensely.  So now all my leafy babies are snug in their new beds, and have been rearranged to get the maximum sunlight available in the courtyard.

Then I chatted with my mum while she was re-potting some of her African Violets and other cuttings she's got growing.  We were interrupted when her chocolate Burmese decided to help.  I couldn't help it, I had to run in and get the camera.  He decided his contribution would be to quality control officer for the potting mix.  He's such a dag!

On a happy note - I finally got my computer back yesterday from the repair guy.  I nearly had 2 fits this morning when I went to get online because it didn't even register that I had a modem!  After much searching and frustration, I seem to have stumbled upon the device.  I was actually able to get online using this computer for the first time in a month!  Thank God!  Maybe now I can get some studying done... but am seriously considering a laptop with wi-fi for study use.

So I will say goodbye for now.  Much to do.  Still more re-potting to do this afternoon.  Wish me luck