2.43 Narelle McRobbie, Who's that Jumbum in the Log? (1996)

2.43 Narelle McRobbie, Who's that Jumbum in the Log? (1996), illustrated by Grace Fielding

It's a Magabala Book, so you know it will be a good quality picture book. It is the story of a witchetty grub who has to move out of her log and find a new home.

I thought, frankly, my daughter might be a bit put off by the illustrations of the two central characters (both puffy white grubs) but she liked the book.

The book was written by Narelle McRobbie, who is of Pacific Island and Aboriginal descent and grew up in far north Queensland. It was illustrated by Grace Fielding who grew up at the Wandering Mission in Western Australia and whose artwork combines traditional dot art with contemporary images.

Plans

I am feeling very tired at the moment, perhaps because between them Pearl and Ruby had me up from nine til one and then four til four thirty last night.

Perhaps because I am in the middle of a major change to my life. I have decided that this home reorganisation is as important to me as moving house - it is the equivalent in my mind.

As soon as I get the TV cabinet out of the lounge, I will be able to begin the fun, actually cleaning up part of things. So far I have made more and more mess and cannot begin to clear it away.

After that, I need to organise getting a water-proof shed (and arranging a concrete base for it to sit on).

Then the upstairs part needs to be done too - I just really want to have it completed. I find this waiting for step by step so frustrating.

I have decided that I have to focus on the positive of staying here. I get to work fewer hours and spend more time with my kids, which is what I want. I am lucky that I am not locked into a large mortgage on some McMansion. (Though, you know, my house is about a quarter of the size that the ABS says is average, so it could be doubled and still not be a McMansion.)

So, advantages of decluttering:

1, It will make my house seem larger.
2, It will hand on things I don't want to charity.
3, I have made nearly $80 selling things I don't want on Ebay. Hooray! (Though I have also spent $113 on baskets to store things in, so not cost neutral yet.)
4, The kids will have more room for playing.
5, I get to spend more time with the kids.
6, We get to keep living close to my parents.

2011 Books

I read 279 books last year, 140 for the first time, the rest rereads. As usual they were mostly novels and non fiction with a smattering of poetry and art books and art and parenting magazines.

4 from 1810s, 1 from 1840s, 5 from 1850s, 1 from 1860s, 1 from 1880s, 3 from 1890s, 2 from 1900s, 1 from 1910s, 10 from 1920s, 14 from 1930s, 7 from 1940s, 4 from 1950s, 3 from 1960s, 2 from 1970s, 11 from 1980s, 109 from 2000s, and 61 from 2010s, plus an outlier from 380.

This is the same pattern as usual - a few from the nineteenth century, quite a lot from the 1920s and 30s, then a big dip with very little from the next few decades, and then a big rise starting in the 1990s, with most from the 2000s and 2010s.

I am fascinated that I read so little from the mid-century. I get that there was little publishing in the 1940s because of the war but I wonder why I like so little from the 1950s, 60s and 70s? Can think of very few authors who I really like who were active in that period - only Rosemary Sutcliff really.