lopeanha Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Love the motivational thoughts Happy reading in 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 Never mind that Poppyshake, do you have a sister? Haha ... I do and we are as unalike as night and day .. which is greatly to her advantage. Great reading blog, you have given me many ideas for my genre challenge Good Your blog is inspiring me also, I love the idea of your genre challenge and look forward to seeing how it all pans out .. you have definitely got a year of interesting reading ahead of you. Haha. Poor Poppyshake and her family. She's probably worrying that a whole lot of us are going to turn up on her doorstep one day demanding that she match-make us with her family members. Is that a sound proposal to pitch to the dragons? what would my cash flow projections be for the next five years? I don't want to look an idiot on national TV Poppy Everyone wants to hook up with your relatives. Most of them want to hook up with Alan's relatives in the hopes that they'll get someone equally considerate and generous in the book buying department.. like it's that simple! No-one knows the effort I've put in It's not easy simmering toads when three out of your four gas burners aren't working I'm already married,so not searching for a husband,but do you have any rich great uncles ? Just joking --- I wouldn't know what to do with him if I had him . I would! I'd march him straight round to Waterstones and start pointing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 Oh my goodness, that's a little bit too tempting. (Note to self: don't!). I don't see anything wrong with returning the books unread. It's only like taking a jumper back that you don't like when you get it home. I hate those stickers - like you I usually try to remove them immediately. One I took off last year (or maybe the year before) removed some of the gloss of the cover. I was not a happy bunny! I've done that countless times and boy do I get annoyed. So many of the shops put unpeelable stickers on their books. The charity shops are the worst but you can't really say anything .. it wouldn't be charitable Just out of interest, did you make a resolution to wear more black this year? I'm being cryptic really - I don't mean in dress sense, but you used to always post blue and now you've gone black. I liked the blue - see, I'm emulating it! Aww bless you for noticing The problem was, my font was corrupting everyone elses which was probably more to do with my computer than anything. It's been playing up for a while now and does all sorts of weird things when I post on forums. I figured that if I wrote in black then it would be marginally less annoying than turning everyone else's font blue (in their replies) Also the blue, my favourite blue, disappeared during the makeover .. it was sort of like this one but brighter only not quite as bright as this one. I have some posts in blue here ... I look better in colour Oh, and I don't want to marry a sibling of yours or an uncle. I just want to be your lodger! Hehe .... that's a relief. But I must tell you, I have designs on your Uncle Alan now after seeing the lovely book trough he made you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Great list poppyshake, I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of 'The Blind Assassin' by Margaret Atwood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 Great list poppyshake, I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of 'The Blind Assassin' by Margaret Atwood Thanks Paula It's been on my shelf for a while but Giulia (I think it was) told me it was a bit of a slog and ultimately unrewarding and so I keep putting it off. I will read it though because Atwood is a writer that intrigues me. I'm quite interested in 'The Handmaid's Tale' ... that will do nicely for my 'read more sci-fi' challenge. Love the motivational thoughts Happy reading in 2012 Thank you lopeanha Happy 2012 to you too. Laugh, love, read and be merry I've had his on my wish list for a while, thanks for the review I mght have to see if I can pick a copy of this up over the weekend. You're welcome Brian hope you enjoy it. Do you do any running at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charm Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Wow poppyshake, what a busy blog! Happy Reading for 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 Wow poppyshake, what a busy blog! Happy Reading for 2012 You too Charm Hope you have a great reading year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 ... well directly after I've stopped swearing about the fact that they're on there in the first place. This sounds very familiar. In all fairness you did right taking them back unread, and going for the other deal which is fantastic - I'd order myself but already own quite a lot of the Roald Dahl books. Also, you're quite free from me, I'm not going to try steal any of your relatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 (edited) The charity shops are the worst but you can't really say anything .. it wouldn't be charitable No, I guess not! Still irritating though! Aww bless you for noticing The problem was, my font was corrupting everyone elses which was probably more to do with my computer than anything. It's been playing up for a while now and does all sorts of weird things when I post on forums. I figured that if I wrote in black then it would be marginally less annoying than turning everyone else's font blue (in their replies) Also the blue, my favourite blue, disappeared during the makeover .. it was sort of like this one but brighter only not quite as bright as this one. I have some posts in blue here ... I look better in colour I like coloured posts too. I tend to highlight books in colour, but not the random waffle that I waffle! I like this colour of the new colours, especially when it's in bold! It's become my new colour of choice. Previously a slightly darker version of this one was my favourite! I wonder if one can use colours not listed? [colour=#FFB6C1]test[/color] test test darkblue ETA: No, you can't - it used to be possible to use code (like the first 'test' above) and it would use that pretty colour, but now it only seems to use those available in the palette. That one should have been lightpink! Hehe .... that's a relief. But I must tell you, I have designs on your Uncle Alan now after seeing the lovely book trough he made you He's amazing, isn't he! I have quite a few Uncle-Alan's™ in my home - a coffee table, several footstools, an oak coat rack... and he made Luke and Abi's christening presents - Luke's is a lorry made of about 20 different kinds of woods, and Abi's was a butterfly mounted in a frame, also made of different types of wood. I have another bookshelf upstairs too (a bigger one) but I'm waiting for it to be put up for me. I must nag remind Peter! Sadly his arthritis means that my book rack was the last thing and he doesn't think he can do any more carpentry, which is so sad. Edited January 7, 2012 by Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 In all fairness you did right taking them back unread, and going for the other deal which is fantastic - I'd order myself but already own quite a lot of the Roald Dahl books. Aww thanks Ben .. I feel better now It's a great deal for me because I only owned one (Boy) before buying the two from Smiths .. I hope it's not going to start me off on a life of crime though Also, you're quite free from me, I'm not going to try steal any of your relatives. That is a comfort though I think they're more likely to steal my books than my relatives. I'm thinking of getting padlocks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 I like coloured posts too. I tend to highlight books in colour, but not the random waffle that I waffle! I like this colour of the new colours, especially when it's in bold! It's become my new colour of choice. Previously a slightly darker version of this one was my favourite! I wonder if one can use colours not listed? [colour=#FFB6C1]test[/color] test test darkblue ETA: No, you can't - it used to be possible to use code (like the first 'test' above) and it would use that pretty colour, but now it only seems to use those available in the palette. That one should have been lightpink! I like your experiment Janet that is my favourite colour out of the new colours too .. what would you call it .. teal? He's amazing, isn't he! I have quite a few Uncle-Alan's™ in my home - a coffee table, several footstools, an oak coat rack... and he made Luke and Abi's christening presents - Luke's is a lorry made of about 20 different kinds of woods, and Abi's was a butterfly mounted in a frame, also made of different types of wood. I have another bookshelf upstairs too (a bigger one) but I'm waiting for it to be put up for me. I must nag remind Peter! Sadly his arthritis means that my book rack was the last thing and he doesn't think he can do any more carpentry, which is so sad. Ah that's a shame. I love having things around the house that relatives have made, my Uncle Bill was an artist and I have several of his drawings and paintings and my Auntie Alice used to design her own needlework pictures (by co-incidence) and I have a few of them framed and on the wall. Alan paints a lot and is very good with his hands ( ) so we have lot's of stuff up of his and I have a tapestry up that I did of a William Morris design. Strangely I have none of my cross stitch pictures up at all .. they're are all framed because I use them in craft shows and exhibitions and stuff but they're packed in crates. I might put some up in here (laughably called my office but resembling a dumping ground as much as anything else) when it's decorated. My Mum used to be an avid knitter until arthritis made her thumbs and fingers too painful .. it's so sad because she enjoyed it so much but then my Dad has even more to put up with. He used to make everything, bookshelves, cabinets, dressers etc .. he once made a garden gate and arch for me. When he was younger he used to work at Shepperton film studios (and Pinewood) in the scenery/set construction dept. He loved it, but often we would have mad things done to our house. In the 1970's he painted our bathroom purple and had a four foot dolphin jumping (or so it seemed) out of the bath We had a garden pond too with a six foot long concrete crocodile beside it He is confined to a wheelchair now (he has cerebellar ataxia ... it ripped through the family affecting all but one of his six siblings ) It's hard when you see someone who was once so creative not only unable to do the things they once loved but reduced to using a trainer mug, wearing a bib and having velcro shoes etc Inside though he is still the same old Dad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I like your experiment Janet that is my favourite colour out of the new colours too .. what would you call it .. teal? Yes, teal is exactly what I'd call it! We've just tidied our study. I've seen bits of carpet I haven't seen for years! We had so much paperwork and Peter had four guitars and a full-sized keyboard crammed in here. We had a blitz this week and it's so satisfying looking at our lovely tidy room - and my lovely tidy desk which has all this brown coloured stuff on it that I haven't seen for ages! We made 5 trips to the recycling centre! You're obviously a very creative family. Your childhood home sounds amazing, especially the crocodile! It is hard watching someone you love deteriorate. My Dad had Parkinson's disease and it was horrible to watch him go downhill. He was a very clever man and his brain was as sharp as anything right up to the end of his life, but it was awful watching him trying to do simple things like get up out of his chair. Towards the end of his life he fell over such a lot and found it impossible to stand without crawling to a chair to pull himself up. You are right - they're the same people inside but it is hard watching someone you love struggling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Hi Poppy So sorry to hear of your parent's failing health . It sounds like your dad was so very creative .I know it's really hard to see family members get so ill like that. You feel very helpless like you want to do something about it,but nothing you can . I'm glad that your dad was able to make so many neat things for you in the past,so you will always have those memories . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 Yes, teal is exactly what I'd call it! We've just tidied our study. I've seen bits of carpet I haven't seen for years! We had so much paperwork and Peter had four guitars and a full-sized keyboard crammed in here. We had a blitz this week and it's so satisfying looking at our lovely tidy room - and my lovely tidy desk which has all this brown coloured stuff on it that I haven't seen for ages! We made 5 trips to the recycling centre! It is hard watching someone you love deteriorate. My Dad had Parkinson's disease and it was horrible to watch him go downhill. He was a very clever man and his brain was as sharp as anything right up to the end of his life, but it was awful watching him trying to do simple things like get up out of his chair. Towards the end of his life he fell over such a lot and found it impossible to stand without crawling to a chair to pull himself up. You are right - they're the same people inside but it is hard watching someone you love struggling. What my Dad has is very similar to Parkinson's so I know just how you felt Janet his brain is as sharp as ever but he has hardly any control over his body and has slurred speech etc. Although he can't walk at all, just to see him transfer from chair to wheelchair will put your heart in your mouth .. he practically has to throw himself at it. He's fallen a lot too and cannot get up. He has a red button for if that happens (because he's not little and Mum could never get him up) but more often than not good neighbours come in and help. He's very philosophical though .. he says he has no regrets and that he's enjoyed his life. I wouldn't say he never complains but he never complains about his illness or feeling ill. He's an inspiration to me on how to deal with troubles and Alan absolutely idolises him. Dad learnt (despite all his co-ordination problems) to play chess a few years ago and Alan and he have a very long, slow game via email (with mum and me notifying them of moves). Sometimes they have a face to face game, and he used to play with a neighbour too but he says he knocks the pieces over too much now so he prefers to plan his moves out more slowly. Actually Alan used to thrash him but he's won the last few games Hi Poppy So sorry to hear of your parent's failing health . It sounds like your dad was so very creative .I know it's really hard to see family members get so ill like that. You feel very helpless like you want to do something about it,but nothing you can . I'm glad that your dad was able to make so many neat things for you in the past,so you will always have those memories . Thank you Julie, bless you Dad has made me so many lovely things over the years, especially out of wood. I also, as silly as it sounds, have the last birthday card he was ever able to write to me .. just seeing the simple Love Dad x in his own writing is enough to set me off ... I'll treasure it always Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inver Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 (edited) Dad sounds lovely bringing tears to my eyes reading those posts.... Edited January 10, 2012 by Inver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 Dad sounds lovely bringing tears to my eyes reading those posts.... Thanks Diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 Well it's been a rubbish week for reading, a rubbish week for doing anything other than crying. As most of you know we had to have our cat Oscar put down on Tuesday .. he only showed signs of being ill on Saturday and though we took him to the vets and they did try a couple of things he couldn't be saved So reading has been slow and practically non existent .. I have tried to pick up my book but keep wandering off. When it happened I was reading Running with Scissors and though I'm enjoying it a lot, I found I just couldn't read it in my current mood. I can't sleep either and last night I started wandering the house looking for a book that just might take my mind off things and I settled on The Midwich Cuckoos of all strange books to go with and so far it has worked .. it's taken me out of myself and I'm quite hooked on the story though I have only managed a couple of chapters. I will go back to Running with Scissors soon but in the meantime, I'm in Midwich wondering what on earth is going on. Also Alan and I were reading Death Comes to Pemberley to each other but that has ceased for the time being. Alan was a little frustrated at it to begin with because PD James starts off by giving us a lot of backstory taken directly from Pride & Prejudice but as I said to him, not everyone that reads this will have read P&P. However it had just started to weave off on a path of it's own (and a really interesting path) when all this happened and we've abandoned for now. I had to go to the library today to take books back and was looking for something to fit the mood I was in and came home with Louis de Bernieres Red Dog which is a fictionalised account of a legendary Australian dog who had a bronze statue erected to him ... I suppose I wanted a sentimental animal story. It will probably make me howl but it's what I need and I liked the fact that in the foreward Louis apologises to his cat for writing it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 I'm so sorry to hear about your puddy cat, Kay I think it's absolutely lovely that you and your husband read to each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Thank you Julie, bless you Dad has made me so many lovely things over the years, especially out of wood. I also, as silly as it sounds, have the last birthday card he was ever able to write to me .. just seeing the simple Love Dad x in his own writing is enough to set me off ... I'll treasure it always Poppy I don't think it's silly at all that you kept the last card your dad wrote you before he got so ill. I have the last card my grandma sent me (about 30 years ago ), the last card my aunt sent me when our first baby was born,the last card my favorite cousin sent me before she died of cancer age 50 ,and am keeping the last cards that my aunt ,uncle and an elderly cousin of mine who is a grumpy old man,but also one of the neatest and funniest grumps I have ever known. I know they are all old and won't be with me much longer,so I hold onto those items to have one last thing from them. Nothing in the world can replace those items . So if YOU are silly, then so am I ,and proud ot be among someone as sentimental and caring as you are . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 (edited) Hi Poppy very sorry to hear about Oscar, At least he is not in any pain now and is running around in Cat heaven. Or, if you believe in my theory, has been beamed back up to his home planet to report. Edited January 14, 2012 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 I'm so sorry to hear about your puddy cat, Kay I think it's absolutely lovely that you and your husband read to each other. Thanks poppy x Alan and I have always read to each other, we started off with The Hobbit many, many moons ago and have read all sorts since then. We read the last few Harry Potter's to each other because neither of us could bear to wait their turn (though I suppose we could have bought two books but having more time I would have read faster than him and probably dropped veiled hints.) It nearly killed me because Alan had some extra long work shifts in the middle of us reading The Deathly Hallows and I had to be patient and not read on by myself. I don't know how I did it now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 (edited) Poppy I don't think it's silly at all that you kept the last card your dad wrote you before he got so ill. I have the last card my grandma sent me (about 30 years ago ), the last card my aunt sent me when our first baby was born,the last card my favorite cousin sent me before she died of cancer age 50 ,and am keeping the last cards that my aunt ,uncle and an elderly cousin of mine who is a grumpy old man,but also one of the neatest and funniest grumps I have ever known. I know they are all old and won't be with me much longer,so I hold onto those items to have one last thing from them. Nothing in the world can replace those items . So if YOU are silly, then so am I ,and proud ot be among someone as sentimental and caring as you are . Yes, let's be silly together I have a big memorabilia trunk which I keep all sorts of sentimental nonsense in. To most people it would look like rubbish but to me it's treasure. I've got a curl from my Dad's head (I didn't quite have to bribe a maid .. a neighbour was cutting his hair and I rescued it from the dustpan!) and lot's of old sweet wrappers which Alan was in the habit of dissecting and writing secret messages in to surprise me. There's a mountain of tickets/receipts/napkins/cards/photo's etc and every now and then it all comes out and I sit and wallow in it Edited January 15, 2012 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 Hi Poppy very sorry to hear about Oscar, At least he is not in any pain now and is running around in Cat heaven. Or, if you believe in my theory, has been beamed back up to his home planet to report. Thanks James I dread to think what he's reporting I reckon he's telling them that the food we feed cats on is not half as good as the food we feed ourselves on. He loved all human food and didn't think much of cat food but for his own sake was made to bear it. If he could have lived on cheese he would have, but then he would've been lucky to get to four let alone fourteen. He was a great hoover upper of crumbs though and a licker of empty ice cream tubs .. he got his head stuck in a Haagen Dazs tub once Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Yes, let's be silly together I have a big memorabilia trunk which I keep all sorts of sentimental nonsense in. To most people it would look like rubbish but to me it's treasure. I've got a curl from my Dad's head (I didn't quite have to bribe a maid .. a neighbour was cutting his hair and I rescued it from the dustpan!) and lot's of old sweet wrappers which Alan was in the habit of dissecting and writing secret messages in to surprise me. There's a mountain of tickets/receipts/napkins/cards/photo's etc and every now and then it all comes out and I sit and wallow in it Miss Poppy I have all the cards I got from our wedding shower 35 plus years ago, a dish towel that all my co-workers signed for me at my wedding shower from work . I have a babydoll quilt (totally worn out ) that my mom's friend made me when I was 5 . I have an old boyfriend's picture he wrote me in senior year , my old girl scout sash with all my badges still attached and my old nurse's hat that everyone signed when we graduated school . So I'm a sentimental old person myself about certain items . I'm not a hoarder and hate clutter,but I keep all this in a big tupperware tub in the closet. It'll be passed along to my grandson when I go DOWNSTAIRS to my final resting place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 (edited) I have a large case of sentimental things too! The first ever National Lottery draw took place the Saturday after my son was born (he was 6 weeks early!) and my Uncle had bought a ticket. It wasn't a winner, but I kept it anyway in my treasure box - some people might say that was a bit mad! Hope you're okay. ETA: I see you share a birthday with my late Dad. What a great day to be born on! Edited January 16, 2012 by Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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