The ballad of Desmond Kale by Roger McDonald

This is an historical novel set in the early years of white settlement in NSW. Matthew Stanton, who seems to have elements of the Rev. Samuel Marsden in his character, is an Anglican minister, magistrate and sheep farmer. His aim is to grow the finest wool in NSW. In this his rival is the convict Desmond Kale, formerly assigned to Stanton but now on the run. Kale was daringly sprung from captivity and is rumoured to be doing his own sheep farming in the bush, beyond the area known and mapped by the white men. Kale becomes an hero and the subject of a ballad amongst the Irish convicts.

This book won the Miles Franklin Award (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/milesfranklin/) and was chosen by someone else in my book group. I approached it with some trepidation as I usually find award winning goes hand in hand with being impenetrable where literature is concerned. Added to that, it is a big book, 636 pages long. So it was with delight that I found myself being sucked in to the story and wanting to get back to it. Roger McDonald started out writing poetry and it shows, the writing is not always easy, sometimes obscure but is beautiful and uses some of the expressions the first settlers may have used - duck mole for platypus for example.

All back to normal - or at least what passes for it round here

The boys went back to school at last today. They are starting Year 10. At the end of the year they will (hopefully) get the School Certificate.
Jamie says he has the coolest History teacher in the history of History teaching - because she knows when the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima (!?).
Robbie has two new boys in his group and has been buddied up with a boy called Mark who has come from Germany. His mother is Australian and decided after 25 years away she wanted to come back apparently.
Ishbel went back to school yesterday. Over the weekend and the few days in the run up to going back she had begun to speculate about who her teacher might be. She was hoping for a Mrs Dalkeith who is Scottish and hoping not to get Miss T. Initially the children go back to the classes they were in at the end of the previous year. Sometimes it can take a day or two for the school to arrange the classes, depending on last minute enrolments, leavers, etc. This time they sorted them out very quickly and Ishbel came back saying she was in Miss T's class and she was very nice.
Emails have been going round my group of Faulco mums, checking who is in which class. None of us are terribly au fait with who is who on staff and the question was posed, "what does Miss T look like?". One answer was that she was "the spinsterish looking one with the bad hair".
"Nah, that didn't help, need more info, that only eliminated (the glamourous) Anthea Lundqvist-Hayes."
Anyway, it's nice to be back in to some sort of routine and the children, while they are grumbling about having to go to school, have a good time with their mates and with something to keep them busy.
I'm looking forward to the silence in the house when I come home for lunch.

Australia Day Public Holiday

I got fuller today than I did on Christmas Day! All went as anticipated, we were 17 at lunch eating haggis, tatties in several guises, sauerkraut, haloumi, chocolate mouse, several tonnes of icecream and ricotta tart.
Just one more day till school resumes. Hip hip hooray!

Australia Day

As you'll maybe know the 26th is Australia Day here. We didn't do any Australia Day stuff this year, saving ourselves till tomorrow, and we are also busy painting our hallway.

Because Australia Day fell on the weekend this year we are having the public holiday on Monday. Like last year we are having haggis and kangaroo with friends, Kim and Graham Walker. We are being joined by the Birkners - Klaus is German and Mary is an Ukrainian Aussie. She has threatened us with stuffed cows udders!!! Karen and the gang are coming too (I may have omitted the cow udders bit when talking to Karen so shhhhhhhhhh).

The Birkners had haggis with us a couple of years ago when Klaus' brother Michael was out on holiday. Michael is back again this summer and Mary requested we do it all again. As she ate the haggis last time she sat saying, "this is so Ukrainian, this is so Ukrainian". She said when she was young they always had a pig fattening in the garden. She said her father would love that pig and make sure it had the best of everything until slaughter time. She said they used every part of the pig - even the snout!

We did go and have dinner with my friend Joanne and her four children. I made a yummy chocolate mousse which I will have another go at for tomorrow although yesterday I thought it was going to be a disaster. The recipe said to melt the chocolate which I did beautifully but then the recipe called for water to be added to the chocolate - as soon as I did so the chocolate went all stiff. I managed to beat it a bit softer but expected it to be a bit lumpen. I never noticed the lumps and it tasted great.

Camping Trip to WRS - Day 3 - Tuesday 22 January

Another night of no sleep - if I don't get sleep tonight when we are back home I will be murdering someone!
Again the horse came rumaging - this time we were ready and had put all things edible away in the eskies. Ha!
At one point we were invaded by two cattle dogs who came tearing along the field. We tried to scramble to pick Bella up but the dogs were all too quick for us. Mindy went off to hide but Bella faced up to the two big dogs and they were soon having a great game of chasies round the camp site. The cattle dogs were called Bob and Cindy so when we called Bella, Bob would come running up and when we called Mindy, Cindy would come too!
This morning the mist and rain was cleared and, although cool, sunny. After breakfast the children got into their swimming gear, lathered themselves in sunscreen and got in the water. But none of them lasted very long, even the youngest three - despite the sunshine the water was colder, or felt it.
The Laurences and Colquhouns were all leaving for home today - Holly has work tomorrow and we are expecting Jamie back from Japan - so we spent the late morning pottering about taking the tents down and packing the cars up again. Mindy tried to stow away, spending most of the morning in our car.
Our tent is the one Ian and I bought for going on holiday in Queensland my first Christmas here (20 years ago) and has definitely seen better days. The ease with which the new tents go up and down, and the much lighter weights has me convinced we need to get a new one. Ian is convinced he'll be able to sell it on EBay. I am to be convinced we could even GIVE it away!
Just before going I dosed Ben, Bella and myself up with travel sickness pills. Bella spent most of the time on the dirt track out leaning out of the window and was quite happy with her nose in the wind. Ben fell asleep. In short we all got home without chucking so I was quite happy.

Camping Trip to WRS - Day 2 - Monday 21 January

I had an awful night. The airbed Ian and I were sharing started out OK, but deflated as the night went on. I woke at whatever time it was, dark, with my hips touching the ground and needing a wee but not wanting to go outside by myself. There were lots of noises in the dark, including the sound of things entering the water - crocs maybe? I certainly didn't want to go to the camp ground toilets which were nothing short of revolting. I woke Ian up and did a "picnic wee" while he stood guard with Bella and the torch.
The day really started though with the horse rumaging through our kitchen. By the time Sharon shooed it off it had eaten all the fruit in the fruitbowl and had a go at the couscous box! There was horsey-appley slobber all over the kitchen table and the chairs.
We got up to a cloudy day that didn't get any better. It rained on and off all day. Despite that the kids all had a swim. Ben, Georgia and Ishbel, especially had a good day. Apart from a walk we all went on (except Ian who had hurt his back) they spent almost all day on the water. When we weren't pottering about taking walks, we collected wood for the fire or sat around eating and nursing the fire.
There wasn't much wood to be had. We collected all we could everytime we went for a walk and Steven took the trailer back up the track towards Mittagong and got a little bit. On one of our walks we launched a commando raid on one of the camp fires on the other side of the river - complete with commando face paint (will post picture later).

Camping Trip to Wollondilly River Station - Day 1 - Sunday 20 January

Today we went to Wollondilly River Station (WRS) between Mittagong and the Wombeyan Caves on a camping trip with the Addisons (Steven, Janet, Kate and Georgia), the Laurences (Sharon and Holly), Ian, Robbie, Ishbel, Heidi and Ben.
We were up early (relatively anyway; this holidays the children have turned into vampires, going to bed late and rising late also) and starting to pack. We borrowed a trailer from our neighbour, Bev, and loaded up tent, tables, chairs, clothing, food, etc.
At around 10am Karen came over with Ben and had a cuppa with me while Ian did fiddly things to the car and trailer like check tyre pressure. At 11ish we headed over to rendez-vous at Steven and Janet's but it was about 11:30-11:45 before we got on the road.
WRS allows pets to camp too so, while Karen was organised to come and feed the cat, we were able to take Bella with us. I wasn't very confident about how well she would travel, she winges the whole 1 1/2 km from Springwood home and I wasn't disappointed - she must've vomited about 10 times between home and WRS.
Ben also has a history of travel sickness, especially on bumpy, winding dirt tracks such as could be expected between Mittagong and WRS. When we stopped at Mittagong for lunch I got some travel sickness tablets and made him take one, by then Bella had chucked six times and I really wouldn't have coped with anyone else chucking up in the car. I gave Bella 1/4 tablet too but it didn't seem to make much difference.
Camping with the Addisons is quite an experience! We had a HUGE tarpaulin kitchen/dining area complete with kitchen sink and massive chest esky. We had 6 tents between us - Robbie is in his new cocoon tent (gives me claustrophobia just to look at), Kate and Holly are sharing, Sharon has her own tent as does Ben, Ian, Ish and I are in our big tent and Janet, Steven and Georgia are in their tent.
Now it is dark. We have a flashing collar on the Addison's dog, Mindy, a lovely fire going, citronella torches going and we are just waiting for Sharon to have her shower before we tuck in to marshmallows. Steven is distributing sparklers to the children.
But before that, during the HOURS it took us to set all this gear and tents up - someone likened it to playing cubby houses, quite aptly I think - the kids got themselves organised for a swim in the river. It is flowing well after the rains and is a smooth, 20m approx. band of brown.
There is a horse that wanders about the paddock we are camped in, much to Ishbel's delight, although she is worried it is too skinny. Bella and Mindy are able to roam freely - an absolute delight for our Bella who is usually either confined within the house or in a small pound in the garden. Mindy on the other hand isn't the back-to-nature type and has spent the afternoon firstly in the Addison's boot, then in Sharon's driver's seat and finally in the back of our station wagon!
A couple of ducks have also visited us this evening - almost had roast duck for dinner.

Jane Boleyn: the infamous Lady Rochford by Julia Fox

Jane Parker arrived at the court of Henry VIII as a teenager to serve Katherine of Aragon. She married well, to George Boleyn, brother of Mary and Anne Boleyn who both caught the king's eye. While Mary became the king's mistress for a brief time before dropping off into relative obscurity, Anne held out for marriage and became one factor leading to the Reformation in England.
Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, serves her new queen and sister-in-law until Anne fails to give the King a son, falls from favour and is accused of adultery with several men and of incest with her brother. Anne and George go to the block but, miraculously it might seem, Jane manages to evade serious punishment.
After a period of exile from court Jane returns to serve (briefly) Anne of Cleves and then Catherine Howard. You would think Jane would have learnt to be wary but no, she wholeheartedly connives with Queen Catherine to smuggle her lover(s) into the palaces. This time when the Queen's head rolls so does Janes.
Jane Boleyn has had a bad press; she has been portrayed as the woman whose testimony sent her husband and sister-in-law to their deaths through malice and jealousy. Julia Fox attempts to rehabiliate her name. Not much is documented about Jane Boleyn's life, especially the early years, so much of this book is speculative: "Jane must have . . . " and ends up being another Lives and Times of Henry VIII and his court type book. I'm not convinced the author achieves her aim, but this is an accessible book and I did enjoy it.
A good fiction book to read would be The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

I'd seen this one quite frequently while cataloguing and knew how popular it was from the number of requests our borrowers were placing but I probably wouldn't have read it had Gillian not suggested it. And it was quite enjoyable.

On a winter night in 1964, Dr. David Henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy. Yet when his daughter is born, he sees immediately that she has Down syndrome. Knowing the pain of a child with severe medical needs and a reduced life expectancy from his own childhood and wanting Norah , his wife, he makes a split second decision that will alter all of their lives forever. He asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution and never to reveal the secret. But Caroline, the nurse, cannot leave the infant. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child herself.

So begins this story that unfolds over a quarter of a century in which these two families are bound by David Henrys fateful decision that long-ago winter night.

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

This is a delightful little book that celebrates the pleasures of reading.
Chasing the errant corgis one day, the Queen stumbles upon a mobile library. She goes into the van to apologise for the fuss caused by the dogs and having done so, she feels duty bound to borrow a book. Though the book she borrows isn't very good, her upbringing binds her to finish it and when she returns it to the library next week takes another book so as not to appear rude. This second book is a much better choice and awakens a passion for reading in the Queen.
Aided by Norman, a young man from the palace kitchen who frequents the library, the Queen’s undergoes quite a transformation as she discovers the liberating pleasures of the written word. She becomes so consumed by her reading that her usual meticulous attention to her public duties suffer and her staff do their best to put her off and distract her.
"I htink of literature", she wrote, "as a vast country to the far borders of which I am journeying but cannot possibly reach. And I have started too late. I will never catch up."