Book Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This is a book review of The Book Thief by Australian author Markus Zusak

This book was recommended by a very dear friend of mine and I have in turn now recommended it to many people - it has got to be one of the most incredible books I have ever read. Yes a big statement I know but I just couldn't turn the pages quick enough.

The book is narrated by Death aka the Grim Reaper, now before you think it must be ghastly and dark, in actual fact Death uses a bit of humour and keeps the details simple and to the point.

The story is about a young girl Liesel who is taken to a foster family, set back in the 1930s in Nazi Germany when Hitler was in the forefront of everyone's minds and in the midst of World War 11.

  

This was such an intriguing read I just couldn't put it down.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a bit of history, it would suit all ages it is written in very plain english. I could actually see this book being turned into a movie it was so good. I urge you to go and check it out of the library today!

I give this book 5 stars out of 5

Jarrah Jungle's Star Rating:

1 Bad - I'd rather eat brussel sprouts topped with anchovies than read this again
2 Not Good - I'd rather watch paint dry than read this again
3 Ok - I'm sitting on the fence - its not great but not terrible either
4 Good - I'd give up a bottle of the worlds best champagne for this read
5 Great - I'd pass up a date with Johnny Depp for this read

[Image via here]

Around The Tree Garden

I popped into my parents farm over the weekend while they are away on holidays and it didn't take long for my bargain hunting eyes to notice they had a garden full of flowers growing in abundance, and they had the same flowers I was going to buy in Bunnings to do the garden in my backyard. You can guess what happened next ... armed with a shovel and a big garbage bag I dug up a dozen or so plants and took them home with me to plant. Ummmmah I know a bit naughty but it's not stealing, it's lending me a helping hand!

So the next day the plants looked something like this ...

These monsterous weeds around the ghost gum tree were pulled out

 

And I planted the flowers around the tree and moved some limestone rocks that were around the front of the house and made a garden bed edging. A bit of mulch and lots of water and they aren't looking to bad.

We still need about 20 rolls of lawn to finish where you can see dirt, and the top left corner which is weeds (although mowed back it nearly passes as lawn in these photos!). But the rest of the backyard is looking green and the lawn has taken and is growing pretty well.

The backyard is all set for some serious ping pong action this weekend!

Playing along with linky party Savvy Southern Style, why don't you pop on over to see what everyone else has been up to

Don't Mind Me

I'll be over here

watching the sun go down

and the stars come out

by candle light

sigh

I REALLY need a holiday!

I hope everyone is having a relaxing week so far

[Image via Pinterest]

Got Da Roof Tiles

It wasn't all fun and games over the weekend there was a bit of manual labour for the house which involved loading, unloading and stacking over 250+ roof tiles. Did wonders for my hangover though I barely had time to notice it!

I haven't talked a lot about the garage extension we're doing as I didn't want to jinx the Council who still haven't given building approval for the extension yet and it has been almost a year. But not to be deterred I still want to be organised and get all the things we need like tiles and builders so as soon as we get the ok we can go ahead with it. Believe it or not we've been searching GumTree for 6 months for these darn roof tiles and this is the first time there was a match and the quantity we needed - Bristol Straight line tiles they were selling for $1 each and talked them down to 60c each which worked out to $150 for the lot. They're in pretty good condition and we're going to pressure clean and paint over them so the colour won't matter.

Drove around to the sellers house and loaded the tiles 2 at a time into the back of the ute. I saw at least 4 spiders and 6 little geckos hiding in the tiles, I'm so glad I had my gloves on or I would've been a real girl about it! The tyres sank down under the weight it was a slow and steady drive home. Then unloaded them using a trolley about 20 trips later they were all stacked out the back ready until we need them.

Fingers crossed we get the Council's approval before Christmas so we can give ourselves an early Chrissy pressie of having a new garage.

Themed Party: Childhood Memories

As mentioned I recently went to a Childhood Memories Fancy Dress Party on Saturday night and thought I'd share some happy snaps with you. This was a great theme and there were so many options for outfits it was a really easy theme to dress to.

Here I am as a cabbage patch doll with the Birthday girl as Barbie!

There was a My Little Pony Birthday Cake for the Birthday girl

Barbie and her Pink Convertable (all DIY-ed by the Birthday girl)

 

Me attempting to dress like a Cabbage Patch Doll ... yes I even had the authentic signature written on my butt!

Everyone dressed up in their favourite childhood memory and we had some awesome outfits .... 

Care Bear, Bugs Bunny, Spice Girls, Alladan, Indiana Jones, Punky Brewster, Areal, The Little Mermaid, Horse Rider, James Bond, Lego, Star Trooper, Basketballer to name a few!

I love fancy dress parties!

Do you go all out when it comes to fancy dress parties? Dressing up and playing the character?

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[All images my own]

Yes, Weekend

I'm so glad it's the weekend ...

Friday night I had a girls night in with my book club girls we watched Bridget Jones Diary: The Edge Of Reason and laughed harder than I have in such a long time. Perfect girly movie to watch and drool over Colin Firth and Hugh Grant.

Indulged in a few glasses of Chandon Champagne one of the nicest champers I've ever tasted

This morning a much needed sleep in followed by cup of coffee outside looking at my freshly laid lawn still wet from last nights rain

Spent a few few hours wandering the shops buying Birthday presents for 2 girlfriends who are throwing a party tonight. I also managed to buy a few early Christmas presents so I'm not running around shopping last minute this year!

Off to a fancy dress Birthday party tonight with the theme Childhood Memories - I'm going as a doll a Cabbage Patch Doll to be exact! There's rumours of a unicorn birthday cake too. Just goes to show being 25 doesn't mean your grown up at all!

What are you up to this weekend?

[Images via Pinterest]

Book Review: The Lost Recipe For Happiness By Barbara O'Neal



My Book Club's bonus read (for the nerds like me that keep reading too quickly!) was The Lost Recipe For Happiness By Barbara O'Neal

This book takes you on the life journey of a middle aged female chef Elena. Elena struggles with running a kitchen in a man’s world and is haunted by the ghosts of her past after a terrible accident of which she was the only survivor. The book takes you through losing a first love and then finding love again.

I didn't particularly like the main character - I wanted to shake her and hug her all at the same time! But in the end I warmed to her and it was an easy book to read. A bit sad in parts with a few sexy times thrown in. The recipes at the start of each chapter were a clever idea and made me crave some traditional Mexican food.

I would recommend this book as an easy to read chick fiction. A good one to take on your next pool side summer holiday.

[Image via here]

The Epic Lawn Laying Day

We don’t want to do anything too permanent in the backyard or spend a lot of money as we plan to subdivide and build on it in the future. But there’s no excuse for it to look like a forgotten woodland either! Tidying up the back fence garden with transplanted dietes and coloured solar lights was a start, then planting the herb and vegetable gardens. Now to do something about the dead forgotten lawn which is now sand and weeds – that’s when the epic lawn laying day comes in!

Time to go weeds

 We got a phone call from a landscaper friend at 5pm on Friday who had 70 rolls of Sir Walter Buffalo Lawn leftover and we could have it for $2 a roll (usually $12) so of course we jumped at the opportunity and all up paid $150 for about 70 m2.

There goes my relaxing weekend plans!

We kept the lawn wet and watered until Sunday morning when we were ready to lay it. Then the shovels and wheelbarrow came out and the top layer of weeds and sand was shovelled up, the ground flattened and sprinkled with some dynamic lifter. Then the lawn was rolled out bit by bit. Tucking it in like a blanket around each piece so you can’t even notice its roll on. Lastly a really good soaking of water to settle it in so the roots take to the ground.

1 of 2 tray loads of roll on lawn

Digging out the weeds ... go guys!

Raking the sand flat and sprinkling with dynamic lifter

Rolling the lawn on and cutting to size

Progress

More progress

We got half way through the backyard and needed some more grass to do around the clothesline to the back fence. A drive to pick up more lawn then we had less than 2 hours of sunlight left and we worked our butts off and got the last of the lawn down just as the moon was coming up. I even handled the shovel for a while until I got a blister then it was back to the weeding!

Half way done from the patio steps outwards

Giving it a good water in

We need a bit more lawn to get to the back fence on the left side of the ghost gum tree. But it will do for now I’m really not ready to dig and weed for another week or so thanks very much! Next job is to set up reticulation and sprinklers so we don’t have to remember to water it (I’m never any good at that!).

There’s now lush green grass from the back patio all the way down to the clothes line and it feels so good to have that squishy cool green grass underfoot.

Ikea Me Up!

The new Ikea catalogue landed in my mail box the other day and is now covered in post it notes with all the things I've got my eye on

Plus Ikeas running a promotion to sign up for rent cheques which I've done and they've already sent me my first which is a $15 voucher to use if I spend $100

I've got my eye on these Skurar plant pots they would look gorgeous in the study holding pens and the hanging pots for under the patio

I like the idea of the cylinder vase set of 3 and the Jattebra plant pot on a window sill so the light catches the glass

For the powder room renovation I want to install a hand basin like this compact Lillangen wash basin with a little cupboard door for storage it would be the perfect fit

For the bathroom renovation I've got my eye on a double vanity with drawers like this Godmorgon/Braviken wash stand. To have my own basin would be such bliss!

I can't wait to go instore and check out the new products!

Is there anything you've got your eye on?

[Images from Lasoo and Ikea]

Sweetest Blog Awards

I am so chuffed that the gorgeous Claudia creator of the inspiring blog Wish You Were Here has given me a sweetest blog award! Owwww thanks so much Claudia xxx

Now I need to share 7 things about myself that you might not know :

1. I'm covered in freckles from head to toe and I absolutely hated them when I was young but once I hit my 20s I realised they make me unique and make me me!
2. I'm a city girl with a country heart I grew up on a farm but bought my first place in the big smoke city and I've worked in the city since I was 17.
3. I absolutely love Japanese food and could eat sushi rolls every single day.
4. I'm an all night groover once my hips start moving to the music you can't get me off the dance floor for hours.
5. I love to travel and on my 24 birthday I made a promise to myself that I would travel overseas or at the very least interstate every year.
6. I'm a real scardy cat and can't watch horror movies or anything scary, but give me a psychopathic book and I can read it without being afraid.
7. I've got a real eye for a bargain no matter what it is clothes, jewellery, presents, I always seem to find what I want at a fraction of the original cost.

Now to pass this award onto the 10 blogs I just can't get enough of and love to read :

Silver Threads of Happiness

One Perfect Room

Isla Jacobs

Pride of Place

Blythe + Life

Homely One

Raine and Sage

Tea and Vegemite Toast

Deep Fried Fruit

My First Little Place

Congrats ladies! To keep this award going just link back to this post, share 7 things about yourself and pass the award onto 10 blogs you love to read. Enjoy :)

Spring Is Here

In the bedroom I've packed away the heavy winter doona and have made the bed with crisp white 1000 thread count sheets and my new butterfly doona and matching cushion that I just couldn't resist on my latest Target venture.

In the kitchen is a bowl of spring fruits persimmons and lemons (no they're not grown from my tree just yet!)

In the bathroom a vase of fresh flowers make it feel fresh and spring like



Have you embraced Spring at home?