reading
I’ve been reading a book by Pip Williams which I have really enjoyed. Amazing memories of time spent in Italy are well and truly stirred up by her latest book One Italian Summer. Pip Williams is the author of the best selling books The Dictionary of Lost Words and The Bookbinder of Jericho.
One Italian Summer tells the story of Pip, her husband and two young sons moving from Sydney to the Adelaide Hills. Still feeling overwhelmed by work commitments they sign up for the WWOOFers (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms ) program. This is when farmers provide accommodation and food in return for work. The family goes to Italy. WWOOers stay for short periods of time then move to another farm, travel or go back to their home. The accommodation provided varies in this case from a woodshed with no facilities to an apartment.
Doesn’t matter how often or in what intensitivy of light I photograph, the title of ONE ITALIAN SUMMER is difficult to read.
In between work commitments the family explores nearby towns and architectural remnants of times gone by. They can’t afford a hire car so travel on trains and walk. There’s a little home schooling and lots of eating and exploration.
I’ve also been reading another Lisa See book, Peony in Love. Really enjoying it. She writes historically correct stories about traditional high ranking Chinese communities, often set in towns I know or have lived in, in China. I borrowed another book of hers from the library and took it back almost unread. It didn’t resonate at all. Seems I preferred her books about ancient China, not modern America!
The ability to read is a bit of a hot topic at the moment. Reading skills in some developed countries are declining. Philip Womack (https:www.spectator.co.uk/magazine) refers to a recent American study called ‘They Don’t Read Very Well’ which analysed the reading comprehension skills of English Literature students in two mid-western universities.
The students were asked to read aloud the first paragraph of Charles Dicken’s ‘Bleak House’. Most of the students didn’t recognize common punctuation and were unable to understand the paragraph. Intrigued, I looked it up. The punctuation makes it easy to read although some of the text would be called ‘old fashioned.’
The article goes on to say many children can hardly read. Their ‘tech blinded parents’ don’t read to them or encourage reading. Their teachers don’t have the resources nor support or are of similar age of the parents. The article states that ‘many think that making students read difficult books is elitist.’ Not very encouraging.
painting
I have painted botannicals for years. I’ve done classes, I’ve worked under a painting master in China for three years and I’ve painted at home. Usually I paint on the dining room table which is handy to all the other things I do such as cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing and so on. All major painting disruptors. Eventually I packed up all my painting things and put them away. Sad moment but we had other commitments for some months.
Then this week I needed to paint. I gathered up my equipment and settled to paining a rose at the dining room table. A camellia followed the rose . Then some tulips and another rose. Now I am waiting for a Abraham Darcy rose to bloom so I can paint that next. I’ve just read a book about old roses grown by Vita Sackville West and I think that’s what prompted the rose paintings. Really enjoying painting again.
cooking
Regular readers know I’m a fan of www.recipetineats.com. So, lacking inspiration after weeks of putting curry in everything, I got the ingredients ready to make the Recipetineats version of Ginger Chicken Rice.
Used the only mushrooms I had, but would buy oyster mushrooms to make this again.
Quick (I bought chopped chicken) and tasty, this made two dinners for two people. I’ll make it again.