Loving the ebook

Okay seriously people.....I need an extra month before Christmas!  I'm totally not organised!  I'm overwhelmed!

33 days until Christmas!  No way!

When did THAT happen?

As I'm getting older, time is going quicker.  The days are rolling into weeks, and every milestone or appointment passes by without a second thought.

It's been a busy, at times stressful year but I am so excited for Christmas so I guess I just need to make some lists, check them twice! and get myself organised!

We are co living in The Money Pit and the shed, while we clean and get sorted, and we have started to move some things up to the house.  Next week we are buying the children new beds, as the ones they have are on rollers and we want solid beds on the timber polished floors.

And after the great bed throwing incident of 2010, Miss T's bed resembles a hammock and sags in the middle so when I lay with her at night I can't get out and I feel quite ridiculous!

Once the beds go in, we will be on the way! We will be cooking, eating, sleeping and showering in The Money Pit, washing away the trials of living in a shed for OVER four years!

The transition will take a few months, I guess.  And that is completely fine with me.

But guess what has me smiling this week?  I am lucky enough to have in my hot little hands a new ebook, courtesy of my bloggy mate Tork!

Now in the big sea of mummy bloggers we have Tork..the rose amongst the thorns...or the token daddy blogger.  He's cool, he's funny, and I like cool and funny!

This ebook is called The Very Best Dad Jokes and it is perfect for that pesky 9 year old..to add to the Christmas stocking perhaps!  It's full of short and funny "dad jokes", which are simply jokes that are so bad they are good!

My kids love it!  They shared the book on the way home from school in the car, and even my little one had a turn of reading!

And the best thing of all is this ebook is only $4.99 with $1.00 from each purchase going to the
Little Heros Foundation. See, I told you he was cool!

 

The Written Word

Do you read?

I'm not talking about trashy magazines....

I mean books. Hard cover. Soft cover.

Fiction or non fiction.

I am a reader. I love books.

To be swept away into a fantasy land by words on a page.

My bookshelf is full of books. If I see one that I like, it's not enough to borrow from the library. I must have it and own it and place it on my timber bookshelf.



My love of reading began when I was a child and I adored my Enid Blyton paperbacks. The Wishing Chair, The Magic Faraway Tree..The Book of Fairies..

I can still remember being taken away into this fantasy land of goblins and magical creatures....how I adored this!

The two books I remember clearly from my childhood are Tom's Midnight Garden and Z for Zachariah.

I've reread these two books as an adult, but they didn't have the same impact as they did looking through the pure eyes of a child.

I adore Stephen King. I love travel books about America.

Bill Bryson makes me laugh out loud.



I can easily read my favourite books more than once.

And I do.

I am halfway through The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris.

And I have this pile of books just waiting to be read.



What I have found, however, is that I prefer the book...rather than the movie.

Especially with Stephen King....to be able to understand a character in a book before visually seeing..it's very satisfying......

The power of the written word is undeniable.

What books do YOU  enjoy?

Writers Workshop

For this weeks Writers Workshop I have chosen prompt:-

2.) What book captured your heart? Write about why the first book you loved is the first book you loved.

I was a child reader. I loved the world of Enid Blyton and read her books over and over. I loved reading about fantasy and magic and faraway places, that possibly didn't even exist.

But the book I loved and still remember the most was Tom's Midnight Garden
by Philippa Pearce. A magical story with elements of gothic and mystery...it completely blew me away when I was a child.

I loved the thought of waking in the quite of the night, when all the world is asleep, and stumbling into this magical, adventure that Tom discovers. It is about the eerie hours that don't exist in the real world...in the grown up world. Of how you just want it to be night again, so you can revisit this ghostlike place.

Haunting and surreal at times, the real magic is in the friendship that Tom makes and how this relationship transcends time and space.

It entranced me. I wanted to live in the pages of the book and visit this garden and be part of it.

I am not going to watch the movie that is based on the book as I don't want the magic that I remember as a child to be tarnished. I am going to reread this book before passing it onto my 9 year old who is a true lover of literature as am I.

Book week = Headache

I received a note home from school yesterday and I groaned loudly. Yes, it's that time of year again - book week. Now I love books and reading and want my kids to enjoy the same, but there is one facet of book week that I would happily bury, and that is the fancy dress parade.

I think this is devised by teachers who sit up all night marking homework and who say "well if I can't watch Desperate Housewives, then you can't either" to the harassed parents who sew costumes at the eleventh hour before book week parade.

I mean, how many times can I dress my kid up as Peter Pan (well, we are at a new school so there's a thought...). And this year, the note says to dress your child in a character from a book (or a film). So I could dress my son as a transformer or my daughter as Miley Cyrus (she loved Hannah Montana).

Saying that, I am actually quite creative when it comes to making costumes, I mean when I have to. Last year Miss D went as Charlotte the spider from Charlottes Web. Now tell me how awesome she looks:-

Brilliant photography there too Farmers Wife. I really don't know what to do this year. The kids love it so I suppose I had better start thinking about it and stop being such a whiney bitch.

Twilight.. Again.

You may remember the issues I have with the "phenomenon" of Twilight, as discussed
here and here and also here.

And how I put it all away in favour of The Southern Vampire Mysteries.

Which may I say still rocks my world, as I am reading book 5 and am totally in lust with Vampire Eric *drool*.

Well something strange is overcoming me. I just watched the trailer for the upcoming second installment in the Twilight series - New Moon. And I have to say, I am looking forward to it! Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the character of Jacob plays a more noticeable role in this film.

He was one of the only characters I liked in the first film, and he gets a meatier role in this one. Apparently. The film features werewolves, here they are and I don't care if they have airbrushed abs:-

Now if they would only replace the two leads of Bella and Edward - Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, (which I don't see happening any time soon, lest a riot on our hands we will get), I may get the books out again and read them. Sincere apologies to the Twilight nutters out there, but these two annoy the crap outa me.

And while I am on this train of thought, Charlaine Harris (author of The Southern Vampire Mysteries) writes of vampires, werewolves, shapshifters and various creatures in her books, the first one being published in 2001. Twilight was published in 2005. Kinda makes me wonder where Stephenie Meyer (author of Twilight) got her ideas from. In both stories, the female lead character has a very close male friend who is in love with her, and who changes into a dog.... ummm hello.

Writers Workshop

Time again for Writers Workshop, courtesy of Mama Kat. I choose prompt 1 which is:-

1.) Who made you red hot this week?

Well I have been red hot most of the week, and I blush to admit that a good story has me all hot and bothered. As you may have read from a previous post, I am currently reading The Southern Vampire Mysteries and I am up to book 4.

The tv series Trueblood is based on the books and I have series 1 on dvd. Now you could easily say that I am obsessed as the written word has weaved its magic on me. Well that's a sign of a good story isn't it?

I love my vampire stories and my friends all know that I love scary movies with werewolves, vamps and zombies featured. I tried to get into Twilight, but it was just too clean and simple for me. Now this series I am reading could be described in single words, racy, edgy, sexy, hot, scary, thrilling, exciting, erotic, awesome (did I mention hot), hot, hot...

So thus I have been hot, bothered and turned on by the events in the story this week. It is set in places that I visited when I was in America - Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas so far, so I can identify and appreciate the references. (I know you are waiting for the sexy parts...)

But I won't go into detail, except to say that there is a bit of a love triangle happening between the female lead character and two vampires, one of which is Eric, played by Alexander Skarsgard who is my current obsession. I liked his character in the books before I saw the actor who plays him in the series and I would say that I am smitten.

So I am reading and reading and feeling like a teenager, and wondering if The Hubbster thinks he will get lucky tonight (as I have been reading passages from the book to him to which he comments (this is just soft porn). And hoping that Eric gets the girl, and wiping my brow..and feeling the warmth run through my body.. sorry gotta run and take a cold shower..

Over Facebook

I am over facebook. I think the desire to post everything about me there has faded. Not that I put alot of stuff on fb anyway but after a nasty facebook experience last weekend, which was my fault anyway, I have lost the interest in being obsessed about it.

I have deleted my photos, my information and basically everything else about me. If it wasn't such a great, easy way to keep in touch with friends, so much better than email, I would deactivate my account altogether. But I like to see what my friends are doing, I like to be able to "chat" to them online and make plans. So my profile is bare except for some games, gifts and other stuff that I really couldn't be bothered removing. I also culled my friends list from nearly 200 to 66, so you know who you are, my closest 66 friends!!

I have kept the vampires game application going though, as I am kinda obsessed at the moment. I will explain. As you remember, I am reading The Southern Vampire Mysteries, and have recently watched the series 1 of Trueblood. I am currently reading book 3 and it is awesome. I can't put these books down. They are..ahem... quite raunchy and I do admit to getting a bit turned on by all the goings on. The Hubbster thinks I have teenage syndrome and I am ridiculous, but I just say that he is just jeolous. Of my current obsession..who..is..Alexander Skarsgard, a swedish actor who plays Eric in Trueblood. Here he is, drool if you will..

And in his Trueblood character - Eric...

Currently in the story, he is the third wheel of the love triangle between the main female character - Sookie, and her vampire - Bill, who is another stunner. But I am betting that Eric and Sookie will get together, judging from the amount of sexual tension in the air between them. Now remember, I am reading this, and apparently things heat up in book 4. So if I don't blog for a while you will know that I am engrossed in book 4 of The Southern Vampire Mysteries and I won't come out until I am finished.

Totally hooked, gotta go read..

I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. My Southern Vampire Mystery books came in the mail last week and I am totally hooked. I haven't been able to put the first book down. It is heavenly.

Complete opposite to Twilight, I must say because I was literally forcing myself to read that book, but I am entranced by this story. And totally in love with the vampire Bill, he is intoxicating.

I am buying the tv series Trueblood this week when it comes out, but I want to finish the first book, which is the first series before I watch it. I want to really get to know the characters in the book before seeing them on the screen.

And I must say, this story is sultry, sexy and the way the vampire and Sookie, the main female character, are flirting, I would say there is going to be fireworks some time soon! It is SO good that the part I just read, will have to be reread again later because the kids were wrestling on the bed next to me and I couldn't take it all in. It's THAT good. Gotta go read, gotta go read......

Writers Workshop

Time again for Mama Kats writers workshop or brain scramble, or creative writing. I am answering all prompts this week which are:-

1.) Grab your current read. Let the book fall open to a random page and share two "teaser" sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

"As we left our clothes behind - and any chance of covering ourselves - we sauntered aimlessly through the park with our willies a-wiggling. After walking for ten minutes I noticed a lot of people with their clothes on, looking around I saw that no-one else had their clothes off - we'd walked out of the nude area into a normal part of the park. We were totally surrounded by nice and respectable families walking their dogs."

Brian Thacker - Rule No. 5: No Sex on the Bus (confessions of a tour leader)

2.) What do you aspire to be?

All I have ever wanted to be was a mother. And a wife. A stay at home one at that. I remember the exact moment in my life when I decided this is what I wanted to be. I was in high school, I was 14 years old and it was a sunny day. I was sitting outside during breaktime and I remember thinking "I can't wait to be a mum, stay at home and look after my family".

This moment is still clear as day to me, even after so many years. And here I am, doing just that, a stay at home mum of three. Do I feel fulfilled? Most days I do, but some days I feel like I suck at mothering, especially if I am stressed and I don't make the right decisions.

I am feeling quite unsettled that maybe my time of mothering my little ones is nearly over, they are growing up and things are changing. No more breastfeeding, no more nappies, no more newborn scents. It's not because I want this to change, it's more that I am forced into it because no matter what I do, this elusive 4th and last baby just doesn't seem to be on the horizon. And it breaks my heart to write that.

3.)Share a piece of unsolicited parenting advice...only I'm soliciting it.

Parenting advice, there's alot around. I would say enjoy EVERY moment because the way kids grow it's like, blink and you will miss it. Another thing I like to think about is when kids are acting up, being naughty and causing chaos, remember 1, it's only a stage and they will generally grow out of it and 2, they are not doing it to piss you off, per say, rather they are learning and growing and testing out boundaries. So suck it up and get on with it.

4.)Tell us about your blogline...how long have you been blogging, when did you start, what were/are your goals for your blog, etc.

Currently my blogline is "How to completely change your life without losing your mind" which reflects my current situation which is moving from suburbia to a farm, living in a shed and becoming somewhat feral. I want to document this stressful crazy time, and look back on it with nostalgia. I have been blogging for 4 months. But, stay tuned because I have an exciting new blog theme and tagline on the way which will be fabulous. So come back and check it out. You know you want to....

5.)If you had 5000 dollars to give away or donate to a charity...explain what you would do with it and why.

I would pass on some money to my mum, to treat herself as she doesn't get to do this so often. I would love her to have holiday somewhere and live it up a bit. I would also donate to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, which is a charity I follow. My cousin passed away from this and I support this cause greatly.

Yeah Twilight, whatever..

What have I done? I shudder at the thought of letting these words pass my lips. Dare I say them? Will courage find me:-

I'm putting Twilight away. *gasp* omfg you say. UNFINISHED.

And in it's place I have ordered these.

Yep. Books 1 - 7 of The Southern Vampire Mysteries. And I am super excited about it. Look, I have really tried to get into the whole Twilight, throw myself off the damn bridge for Edward show, but even after watching the movie again, I just...... don't want to continue reading the first book. And I really think it's because I saw the movie first, and that ruined the book for me.

So I have decided to put Twilight back on my bookshelf (for now) and will get back to it... later. Maybe after the second movie comes out which will again ruin the books for me. *sigh*

But I can't wait to read these new books I have ordered. And I most certainly will not watch the tv series Trueblood, based on the books until I have finished reading them.

The Twilight purests will want to kick my arse and run me out of town, but I don't care. And if I read about another Twilight quiz or a "Are you in love with Edward" thingy on facebook, I will certainly vomit.

Ahhh, I feel such a sense of relief, but at the same time, think, what the hell is wrong with me? I love my vampire stories, so why oh why is Twilight giving me such a freakin headache?

Twilight saga continued..

So I rewatched Twilight again last night. Trying to "get into it". I have now decided that:-

1 I liked it better the second time around. Although

2 There was not enough "fang" action for me

3 I'm warming up to Rob Pattinson, who plays Edward. I have decided that for this particular role, he is the pick. He is a bit brooding, his eyes are intense, I love how protective he is of Bella and I can't wait to see what he does in the next movie. But I'm still not "into him". Like I don't want to throw myself off a bridge for him, like countless others would.

4 The actress Kristen Stewart who plays Bella is super annoying and either can't act, or is overacting. Either way, her facial expressions were making me dizzy.

5 I loved the baseball scene.

6 I loved the music throughout the movie.

7 I need to get into these four Twilight books and finish them because I have my eye on The Southern Vampire Mysteries along with the tv series based on the books called Trueblood. I want to read these NOW but made a pact with myself to finish Twilight first. Well Farmerswife, you better get reading.....

Twilight - I don't get it..

You are probably aware of the Twilight phenomenon raging across the globe as we speak. Trouble is, I can't get into it. Now don't get me wrong, I love a good horror flick, just ask my friends. Vampires (From Dusk Til Dawn, 30 Days of Night), Zombies (28 Days Later, 28 Weeks later, Day of the Dead) or Werewolves (Dog Soldiers, Ginger Snaps) are what I am into. And it's even better when it's a cold and rainy night and The Hubbster is working night shift. So I have to put myself to bed. I'm strange like that.

So I watched the movie, and it was good. And I am reading the first book. And I am really trying to get into the groove, because I want to fall in love with Edward too. Some of my facebook friends post comments such as:-

- Bite me Edward
- I wish my husband was Edward
- I want to be Bella
- I wish my husband was a Vampire
- I wish I was a Vampire
- Dreaming of my Vampire lover

I think my indifference is coming from these facts:-


1) I can't get into Rob Pattison, who plays Edward. He's just not doing it for me.

Now if Edward was played by Josh Hartnett, who nearly makes me wet my pants, I would be totally hooked. Here he is. He played the lead in 30 Days of Night

And Again.

And in case you missed it.

2) There's not alot of "steam" in the story. Yes, yes I know the whole thing is directed at teenagers, but what about us housewives who like a bit of bodice ripping? I even joined Twilight Moms. I suppose the success of the story could just be the innocence and romance of it all. But I like my vampires with a hint of unbridled passion. I'm strange like that.

See, I'm really trying. So I am going to watch the movie again this week, keep reading the book, and try to connect with Edward. And I'll report back on my progress. Am I the only one that just doesn't get IT??