Sunday 3 January 2010

Sunday Salon - the first of the year.



Oh my! It feels like months since I wrote a Sunday Salon post. I just didn't have time with the run up to Christmas, but now that Christmas has been packed away into various boxes and put away into the dark hidden places, I feel that I have a new kind of freedom, to restart the things I enjoy doing.

I have spent most of the day tidying the house and now it feels spacious and clean. I feel like the air can finally run smoothly around the house. I have sorted the girls out ready for school tomorrow and finished all my ironing, so hopefully some quality reading time will occur after dinner.

I stayed up really late last night to finish reading Ruined by Paula Morris, which left me with a thirst for more books about New Orleans, so any recommendations would be lovely. I just feel at home when I read books about New Orleans and I have never been there. Is that kind of weird?

I am a quarter way through reading The Seance by John Harwood which will go towards my Victorian Challenge. I started reading The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Now this is a huge book at over a thousand pages, so I figured I would try and read a chapter a day, so that it wouldn't feel so daunting. It will take me half a year to read it, but that is better than leaving it sitting there, due to being constantly put off by the size of it. I also started reading The Stonewalkers by Vivien Alcock, which will go towards the Take A Chance challenge; the first challenge is to read a book by someone with the same name as me.

I hope to start a new scrapbooking challenge which will require me to make a page a week for the next 52 weeks. The challenge is run by Scrapdolly and it is a challenge that requires you to look back at the last 1o years of your life and write about them. If you are interested in joining in, then you will find it here.

Well, I am now off to finish making my shepherd's pie which is cooking nicely in the slow cooker. I hope you all have a great week of reading.


17 comments:

  1. I loved the Mists of Avalon and am sure you'll enjoy it. Hope you'll visit my Sunday Salon.

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  2. Sounds like you are having a great day Viv. The Seance was good, but Ghostwritten was still my favorite by Harwood....enjoy

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  3. Ahhhhhh....The Mists of Avalon. I could get lost in that book again. Enjoy.

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  4. Hi Viv, It sounds like you are all ready to start the New Year. Great idea about reading a chapter a day of The Mists of Avalon. I need to do that on a few of mine. Have a great 2010.

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  5. Tragic Magic by Laura Childs is a cozy mystery set in New Orleans and the main character runs her own scrapbooking shop. This is tailor made for you, Vivienne.

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  6. The first book that came to mind when you said New Orleans was A Confederacy of Dunces, but that book's not for everyone. Happy New Year!

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  7. Book Dillettente - I visited your blog and loved it. Now on my google reader.

    Diane - I have Ghostwritten down on my TBR list.

    Wisteria - I am enjoying Mists of Avalon so far. I can see myself getting wrapped up in it and wanting to read it all at once.

    Kristy - it makes those big books look more approachable.

    Kaye - I shall add it to my list. Your right, it does sound like it was made for me.

    Bermudaonion - I will give it a try.

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  8. I'd talk to Chris about New Orleans books. He knows quite a few.

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  9. I look forward to your thoughts on The Seance! Mists IS huge, but it's also awesome and doesn't feel as long as it is :D

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  10. I think it is great that you can read several books at one time! I tend to be too singularly focused.

    I will definitely check out the scrapbook contest. I will probably not be able to do it this year, but I think it is a great idea for the future.

    Have a wonderful week!

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  11. Oh, it's good to get back into the routines, isn't it? Holiday stuff packed away, etc.

    My Sunday Salon post:

    http://laurel-rainsnowsaccidentallife.blogspot.com/2010/01/sunday-salon.html

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  12. Reading this post made me feel as if I were enjoying a cup of tea and chat with a friend. :)

    Isn't it wonderful how reading can take us to other places. Perhaps you must plan a trip to New Orleans someday.

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  13. Enjoy, Viv!

    I'm starting off the new year with a joint-reading with a good blogger friend in the US. We're reading BED OF ROSES by Nora Roberts.

    Have a great day!

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  14. (1) Cannot wait to hear your thoughts on The Seance

    (2) What is your Shepards Pie recipe for the slow cooker??? I'm dying to get that started! :P

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  15. I can't wait to hear what you have to say about The Seance. I read it last year but I won't say what I thought about it either way so as not to color your reading. Will look for the review.

    I love Shepherd's Pie! Yum!

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  16. Good luck with your scrapping challenge! I'm hoping to get a better handle on the cleaning and other household chores this week when everyone's schedule gets back to normal. I liked having everyone at home, but it will be nice to have my routine back.

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  17. I haven't had a chance to post a Sunday Salon post in ages! I hope I can start doing some this year.

    And, I'd love to see some of your scrapbooking challenge projects. I hope you'll share some of those with us. I used to do a lot of scrapbooking but sort of got out of that and went more in the journaling direction.

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Hiya, thanks for stopping by, it is always nice to hear what you have to say, so do leave a comment if you have time.
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