Visitors

Nick's dad and step-mum, Scott and Jenice, arrive early December and we are trying, via skype conversations, to persuade them that they do not need to go to see the Pinnacles (below).

Whoever works for WA Tourism and has had the Pinnacles to promote has done a cracking job, second only to whoever has promoted Wave Rock (below).

Hundreds of overseas visitors planning their trips must read fascinating, flowing, glowing praise of the Pinnacles and decide they simply have to go there.

So the poor things head off through the sandy wastes north of Perth, full of happy anticipation, only to be confronted by the world's most boring and desolate tourist spectacle.

And when you think that this is what Nick's dad does for a living (that's him on the right in the orange, 50m up a giant redwood) ...

... wouldn't you try to save him?

Mauving

Pretty sure that's not a word, but it does come to mind when I look at the park from my back deck. Here's a close-up.

The two big trees in the park (above) are starting to flower, and the three in my next-door neighbours' gardens are still bare. It will all be something to see in a week or two — afternoon tea, anyone?

On the weekend, my best friend Dace saw the start of the jacaranda blooms and immediately said: "Must be TEE time."

Poor school kids, having to sweat through all that pressure when outdoors everything is spring at its most beautiful.

Pretty warm here this week — we had 31C (87.8F) yesterday and they're talking about 34 (93.2F) today. Windy, too.

Well, that's exciting stuff — talking about the weather.

Here's a not-very-inspiring shot of my brand-new vegie patch, just after planting.

I know it all looks a bit pathetic, but I'm pleased to report that everything is standing up firm and happy this morning. Tomatoes (heirloom, ordinary and cherries), capsicum, parsley, basil and two kinds of lettuce.

I'm putting in melons and pumpkins in a big space out the back, with little Lebanese cucumbers as well.

Paper-cutting later, work this arvo.

Reading

The book will never die or disappear.

But I've found a really great alternative.

For the past few months, I've been very happily reading books on my iPod Touch.

I love my iPod Touch. It has all my music and lots of my photos, and solitaire games. And Jamie Oliver's singularly excellent app of 20-minute recipes with videos, shopping lists, step-by-step photographs and the works.

But it is the connectedness the Touch offers that thrills me. We are never apart. In the mornings, with tea and toast in bed first thing, I pick it up and read my emails, and then bloglines to see what you've all been up to.

And now it delivers me great reading.

Both reading apps I discovered on the NY Times — there's an excellent app for that as well, which delivers links to stories in every section of the paper: news, politics, arts, movies, books, fashion & style and so on.

Don't you love that "updated moments ago" at the top of the screen (click on the pic for a bigger image). Gets me every time.

But I digress.

The NY Times led me to e-books and mentioned the wonderful app, Eucalyptus, which you can download to your iPod for about $12 and then use to download free books from Project Gutenberg.

PG is a brilliant and admirable initiative whose basic aim is to make all books in the public domain — those that are out of copyright — available to everyone through the internet. Free.

There are over 30,000 of them.

So I was able to download Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel, The Shuttle, which I'd been unable to find in bookstores here and in the US. And now I'm reading The Lost Prince.

I was a bit sceptical about my ability to read on the iPod screen, though the NY Times article reckoned the Eucalyptus screen was easy to read — far easier than Amazon's much-vaunted Kindle, which is available in Australia now.

I agree. With Eucalyptus you can pick the font size that's easy for you, and it's even easy to read in the dark.

You just swipe the screen to turn a page, and the page you were on flips over just like a real book.

When you turn the iPod off, Eucalyptus saves your page and opens there when you return.

Though you need wi-fi to connect and download, after that you can read anywhere.

I've read three books this way — it's brilliant. I heartily recommend it.

More recently, I read this NYT article, Serving Literature by the Tweet, about a young team in Brooklyn who have just launched Electric Literature, a magazine of writing that will be delivered exclusively in e-book form.

This (below) is the amazing cover artwork on the first edition.

I couldn't resist subscribing, and am loving the first edition so far. I'll keep you posted.

Girly

The last two babies in the family have been boys.

So it's nice to be contemplating a baby girl's arrival.

Only about 12 weeks to go now.

I'm just finishing the binding on this two-day cot quilt.

I literally threw this together for the pure enjoyment of total immersion in pink. Apart from measuring the squares, I eyeballed it, which is perhaps not a recommended technique for a slapdash quilter like me (I was very selective about the bits to show you).

I have a new walking foot for the Ancient Bernina which I was desperate to try out.

The result, I think, is pretty. And the busy, overall pinkness covers up any blues.

Lol

Lily showed me this yesterday — wonderful! DO click and watch this, it's a riot.

To market to market

I helped sell flowers at Subiaco's first farmers' market on Saturday morning, thanks to Shelley, who is one half of Australia's BEST flower business (Wayne Stubbs Flowers).

Farmers' markets are all the rage over here at present. There's been a really good one operating out of the the Graylands Primary School grounds on Saturday mornings, and last Saturday, Subiaco Primary held its first one.

All three of my kids went to this school, and the schools get funds from the market stall-holders, so it's all a good thing.

It also adds a bit of colour and energy to Subi on a Saturday morning — things have become very glossy and contented in that part of town recently, and the shopping's all a bit samey now that a lot of the smaller normal shops have given way to chain boutiques, coffee shops and jewellery stores.

So a casual, bustling market is just what the doctor ordered. And while this first one was a bit light on for fresh produce, with lots of artisan breads, olive oils, exotic cheeses and so on, this will soon right itself as the organisers attract more fruit and vegie sellers.

With Wayne and Shelley's amazing flowers and typical sense of flair and occasion, we turned our little patch of the school yard into a gorgeous and colourful explosion of flars.

It was very hot and dry, with big easterlies blowing in from the desert all morning, and the temperature quickly got to 37C and stuck (that's 98.6 F).

But there was an enthusiastic crowd, we had lots of laughs, and I saw so many familiar faces, which was brilliant.

I had so much fun with my best friends Deb and Shelley, and Iman and Isme — can't wait for next time!

The West Australian

How hideous it is. Every day.

Get a load of this article from this morning's paper (click on it for a bigger image):

Anna Jacobs is a best-selling, prize-winning, highly acclaimed, popular and successful writer.

So why do the heading and the intro par belittle her by referring to her as a gran and a grandmother?

Why not woman, or author, or writer, or novelist?

How is her being a grandmother relevant in any way? Is it because it's so untterly unthinkable that once someone's old enough to be a grandparent, he or she is not only disqualified from achievement, but also totally incapable?

The fact the writer of this piece, and/or the sub-editor, have no apparent knowledge of Jane Austen says everything.