Masha du Toit

Cape Town Central Station is getting a huge face lift.   I’ve been taking pictures of the old and the new faces of the Station.  Because my cell phone camera is not great, I’ve used some heavy Photoshop manipulation:

A view of the old tiles at the turnstile:

The new white skin of the station, covering the old tiles: More

I’ve been doing some more work on our so-called garden.  One of the reasons I’ve been neglecting it is this:

Apparently when this place was built, there was a fair amount of rubbish dumped in our back yard.  Whoever did the landscaping (if you can call it that) simply covered it over with a thin layer of soil, and the occasional pool of old cement.

Whenever I plant anything my garden fork gets tangled up in rubbish.  Ive found a bra,  socks, many pairs of stockings,  broken bottles, and the eternal, ubiquitous plastic packet.  The dogs erode the soil, and so we have bits of this rubbish sprouting above the surface everywhere.

I’ve been systematically digging it out.  Some of it is not bad – bits of tile and lumps of brick.  But mostly its just yucky.

Continuing with the program of the Book Bloggers Appreciation Week – today everyone is answering these questions. So here goes:

*Edit – whoops, I didn’t notice that I was supposed to answer in as few words as possible…oh well*

Do you snack while you read?

Yes.  Sometimes to the point where if I have a particularly tasty snack, I wander around my house looking for a good book to read with it.  When I get like that, I can’t eat unless I’m reading.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
I cannot bear to write in a book.  Even to correct mistakes, as I often see done in library books.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
I  used to lay books on their faces, but this horrifies my husband.  Now I’ve just developed a knack for finding the right place by flipping through.

Hard copy or audiobooks?
I like listening to audiobooks while I’m doing creative work.  Otherwise its the standard old paper book.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point?
Not always my choice. “Maaashaaa DINNERS READY NOW”. Or “Oops. Lights out. You can go on reading in the dark if you like” 😀 More

I recently decided that I wont continue with my present job past the end of this year.  Well, actually I’ve decided that quite a while ago, but I finally got around to doing something about it.

I’m not following all those  excellent rules about how to quit – I don’t have a new job lined up yet and I have no idea what I will be doing next.

It took me a very long time to realise that although my reasons for leaving might not seem sensible to most people, they make sense to me.

I have five more months to tie up all my loose ends and then…who knows?

I am hereby proudly launching my new teaching blog:  Bravemouse

Its the product of my three weeks research leave. More

I’ve been tagged by Pilarcat 🙂  from http://pilarcat.blogspot.com/

I’ve not played this game before

Here are the rules:
-answer the questions
-replace a question that you don`t like, with one by your choice
-add one more question
-tag 8 people to continue the game of tagging 🙂

Not sure if I am going to tag anyone myself – but here goes with the questions:

What is the thing that makes you happy? More

I’ve been making a list of my  “book prejudices”. You know, those things that sub-consciously put you off  when browsing in the library or book shop.   Now I’m not talking about avoiding specific genre’s, but about those barely examined opinions that inform my choice.

I find the following judgements floating about in my sub-conscious mind:

1. Written by more than one author is a very bad sign. More

Another book published in the year of my birth – 1972.  I think Pat Hutchins goes very nicely with Ellen Raskin – a bit quieter, but lovely too.

The drawings remind me of those patterned red enamel pots one used to get in the 70’s.    The print style is similar to that in the Ellen Raskin book with areas of flat colour overprinted, but here the darkest colour is a deep blue-green: More

I’ve found yet another book sale, and have thrown caution to the winds:

I’m supposed to be working on a research project (and I am, I am) but have to take a break every now and then…

I’ve been neglecting this blog somewhat. I have been working on some other projects.  But I’ve just returned from a book sale, and will soon be writing some more book reviews…   🙂