Dawn of 2010

The dawn of a new year is something we all look forward to. Let all readers be blessed
with peace, joy and happiness in abundance.

Am back at work today because in Sri Lanka we believe that it is important to start work
on the first of the year as this is our main source of income. Children are encouraged to even
sit at their books for a few minutes and read something, farmers will definitely tend to their
fields and all trades people would like to do even a few minutes of work before going off to
spend time with family and friends.

I hope that I will be able to get back to my quilting which has taken a back seat for the last
two months. I have taken the quilt that I started for my daughter out and hopefully should
finish the hand quilting soon. At home things are slowing down - our eldest daughter left for
Melbourne on the 28th and though she is the quietest in the family, her absence seems huge
our son leaves on Monday and then it is only our second daughter who is with us till the 13th.
Once she goes back, we are back to only my husband and me and the quiet of an empty nest!

The quilting and book bloggers have saved my sanity and I just love reading the blogs on both
subjects as they are so varied and interesting. I am glad that I took up quilting again as it makes
me feel so rested and the end results are appreciated very much. The book bloggers have opened a beautiful world of books of every genre possible, and even though I cannot possibly buy all I would like to buy, I can certainly read excerpts, and reviews and try to get what I really
really want to have. I have been lucky with giveaways and contests as well and have won several books all of which have come through safely in the post. Lots to be appreciative about.

I do hope all my readers would have had a merry Christmas. May your new year be blessed with an abundance of joy, hope and happiness not just for you but for your families as well.

Going Home

After a very pleasant stay am going back home on Tuesday with a
stop over in singapore for just one day. That is going to be fun - as my
younger daughter is a confirmed shopaholic and I know she will want
to shop for the entire 16 hours we are there. Mustafa's a shopping mall
which is always open for 24 hours will be her first port of call and I can
see an exhausting though interesting day ahead.

My son is also travelling back with us but he will be leaving us on an
earlier flight and he certainly is not the shopping kind other than for the barbecued pork from the chinese food shops which is his only request from
Singapore!

I am sad to leave my library which has contributed so very much to my enjoyment of my visit. Having the facility of unlimited books available, all
the very latest as well as the older books as well as able to get books from neighbouring libraries is a luxury that I did not take for granted. I have also read so many "new" authors and enjoyed their books tremendously. I am truly grateful for this opportunity.

I will write again once I am back in Sri Lanka - looking very much forward to going home and seeing my husband, our extended family, the dogs and having a really good Christmas with all three children home for the holidays.

More books

My holiday in Melbourne is sadly coming to an end but it has been a
very nice holiday specially since all three children are returning home for Christmas. Getting back to Sri Lanka and getting ready for christmas is now the next thing on the list. Strangely enough, despite the shops here in Melbourne being full of christmassy stuff, I dont feel very christmassy yet.
I think one of the things I miss is the carols. Other than church having christmas carol services, I havent heard carols being played in shops and shopping malls yet. Maybe because of the multi cultural society Melbourne does not like to upset other communities?? I thought this was strange because back at home where Christians are a very, very small minority christmas carols and the message of christmas is very much evident. Here its only shopping, shopping and more shopping.

I dont want to sound rabid but the message of christmas is completely absent in Melbourne - there are appeals for help for the homeless, for aid to families and its nice that people do these things but these are big organisations helping people but individuals doing anything specific is not there. The entire emphasis seems to be on food (huge), the bbq (also huge) and how you could do it easily and better than anyone else, and of course gifts and more gifts and how to get the perfect gift for everyone. I havent seen advertisements or notices for church services, for nativity plays (dont schools do nativity plays at the end of the year) for carol services. With the hosts of facilities and talent available, I thought these would be commonplace. Maybe I am not looking in the correct places???

Enough of my rant! Getting back to books, I have just finished Cleopatra's Daughter which I loved. I have also gone back to Georgette Heyer and read a couple of them plus a couple of Agatha Christie which I always loved and love to read again and again!!! I have also been able to read so many books on my book list and for this I am very grateful. I was also able to read Love Marriage by Ganeshananthan which was recommended on a book blog - chasing bawa - which I also liked very much. Thanks to all the book bloggers who recommended such lovely reading material.

In the meantime I have also won two books - one a seasonal one with a Christmassy theme and the other was The Barbarian Earl and hopefully when I get back I would have received both of them. Thank you Ioanna and Janna.