Good morning! I have been home now for 5 days. The weekend was me doing pretty much nothing. The time change had us all goofed up… staying up until 1 am and then sleeping until 8 or 9 (so not like me – I am an early riser!) Then… I would spend afternoons reading or online while sitting in the recliner and then falling asleep in the chair.
The motto of Princess Cruises is “Come Back New”, and as much as I wanted that to be true… I did not want “new” to mean…. lazy. 😉
My hubby Al (left) riding while our friend Ray drives (right). This is opposite of how we drive in the states.
Then finally Monday came… and it was like my brain turned on. I made a to-do list. I started working out. I bought the groceries we needed, made the phone calls I needed, and took a couple of freelance jobs. *whew* I think I am coming back!
Yesterday I started looking for our Wine and Words authors for 2015. I sent out emails, and hope to have a few yes’s before our Friends Of The Library Annual Meeting next Monday. I like the mystery reveal of it all. At this writing…. I have two yes’. YEAH. Three more to go.
Today, I listen to audio and have some things to work on for that annual meeting. I am starting to get my mojo back. I am still a little tired but getting back to the norm…
and yes,
I think I came back new.
I think this is the day after I burned my bottom lip (before it was really bad) but that… is another story. 😉
Good morning! The weekend is fully over! I was so tired and didn’t do much all weekend and then it hit me… with the time change from New Zealand to Minnesota we actually went through January 22nd twice. That means I had an 8 day week! No wonder I was tired!
Over the weekend I took part in the best audiobooks of 2014 hop and giveaway. It was a lot of fun to see what people said were the best audiobooks and I made myself a list to work off of. I was giving away an audiobook from audible or a $15 gift card to Amazon…. my winner is (using random.org)
And now for the dinner… while in New Zealand one of our excursions included a lunch at a private home. The home was beautiful and we were served by the owners. I wish I would have taken more pictures of their back deck area, they must have had seating for 50! Anyway, here are some of the pictures of that event I wanted to share today:
The back deck area where we ate. What a view!I love this – it is an old iron footed coffee table turned upside down and a roof put on it. WALA! Bird feeder.
I wish my blog was scratch and sniff. These were wonderful!
The desert was this hard ice cream in an ice bowl! It was served with a warm fruit sauce. Mmmmmm
This statue was at the end of a small pool.
My husband and my friend Wendy looking over the wine and water. Guess what I chose? It starts with a “w”.
In the house was this magazine featuring… yup, the house we were in. They were featured in New Zealand Home and Garden Magazine.
Today I am having coffee with a friend, a meeting in the afternoon, and some work to do in the home office. I am feeling back to myself again, getting energized and ready to roll! 🙂
Good morning! Happy Sunday! It’s ME! Home and catching up on sleep and laundry, loving on my dogs, and just LOVING it!
I want to take a couple of minutes here and thank all the awesome blog sitters that popped in while I was gone and chatted up books here. I loved all the posts and had a great time reading them and the comments while in Australia and New Zealand. If you missed any of these great discussions, here are the links:
This is a group of great bloggers that I have had thee chance to get to know on-line, through books, and some even in person. It was fun to reminisce how we met and what books they love. If you have not had a chance to check out their blogs, they are linked on their posts and I hope you explore what they are writing about. 🙂
And now…. the books.
I slowed down on making requests before I left and I was pleased to see when I came home that I was not overloaded:
Today, I think I will be reading Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire. I think our readalong posts go up yet this month (I need to check) and I have a ways to go. 🙂 * Just checked – I am late on posting! LOL The link to add your posts is now up.
Many of you know I just returned this Thursday from a 17 day trip to Australia and New Zealand. Fair warning: I am sure I will be talking about this trip and posting pictures for weeks to come.
Today, for Saturday Snapshot, I thought it would be fun to share with you my husband and my trip to Middle Earth, the bookish tour we were able to take part in New Zealand…. yes,
Hobbiton.
I absolutely would not be me if I did not take the opportunity to get my geek on. We were not the only ones… 1,500 people a day, seven days a week, on average visit this site. At $75 a person… that’s a lot of “cha-ching”.
When you first walk in, this is what you see…. a few Hobbit holes. The tree to the left is 100% fabricated. Over 10,000 artificial leaves were hand stitched for this tree and sent to the set from Taiwan where they were then individually wired on to the tree.
We were lucky enough to have out tour guide be a nephew of the owners of the property the Hobbiton movie set and tour is on. The story of how this came to be the permanent movie and tour set is an interesting one.
39 Hobbit holes are on the property.
When Director Peter Jackson was flying over New Zealand looking for a potential spot to shoot parts of the film, The Hobbit, he could not believe his luck when he seen a piece of property that had the makings of covering the Hobbit Village. The property is owned by a family named The Alexander’s and when Peter Jackson came knocking on their door with their idea they pretty much told him they were busy and shut the door. Peter Jackson showed up the next day with more people and more money…. and so it began.
The project was a BIG secret. Peter Jackson even had the air space above the property as a “no fly zone” to keep what was happening under wraps. The New Zealand Army brought the set up to the property in army trucks and if people asked questions, they were told it was exercises for the NZ Army.
Note: During filming two pilots did fly over the set. They were tracked down, made to give up any cameras, film, and memory cards they had that could carry pictures of the top-secret set. These pilots also lost their licenses to fly in New Zealand forever. It was that serious.
Initially the set was to be built, filmed, and then tore down restoring the land to its natural state. When it came time to tear it down, New Zealand was experiencing extreme weather conditions and the project was delayed by three weeks. During this time a few of the people on their tear down team went into town to a pub and proceeded to drink a little too much ( true story!). While in this pub they said a little too much about the filming of the movie on the property. Neighbors went nuts wanting to see the set, demanding to see the property and initially it was opened up a tour only for those who lived around the area.
The most famous Hobbit home of all… Bilbo Baggins.
Then, a different idea came to be. With the potential of future movies being made, the set was rebuilt using sturdier materials and this time built as a permanent set. The windows to the hobbit houses were real glass heated to give the wavy “aged” look they have. Thatched roofs were built on some, the hobbit homes were painted and then sprayed with vinegar purchased at the local stores to give it the worn and aged look.
As seen above in the movie clip, Al and I walked on the bridge to the Hobbit Village where we had a snack along with special made beverages made only for the Hobbiton Village. I tried the cider beer and Al tried an Ale, both were very good.
This picture was taken from the bridge.
This was a great tour! If you are ever in Matamata New Zealand I highly recommend you experience this village. I can only imagine how blown away JR Tolkien would be.
The Party Tree in Hobbiton Village… considered to be one of the most famous trees in the world. Bilbo made one of his long speeches under this tree.
A closer look at the trees. The fake one (left) and a very real one (right)
Hobbiton – The Lord Of The Rings Movie Set in New Zealand
Good morning! IT is late morning here but I had to post! I am back! Back in my home as of about 2 am this morning. It was a LONG travel day(s) home. We left the cruise ship in New Zealand at 6:30 am on Thursday the 22nd. We went on an excursion to the Glow Worm Caves and then delivered tot he airport at 4:30 pm. Our flight of 12 hours and 15 minutes left at 10:45 pm so we had 6 hours in the airport. After traveling through the night we arrived in LA California at 2:00 pm on the 22nd (again) as we lost a day in the time zones. We boarded our flight for Minneapolis at 10: 45 pm (again) and arrived in the cities (our time) 3 1/2 hours later at 11:09 pm. We then drove to Brainerd and arrived around 2:00 am on the 23rd. Today.
*whew* All that time travel!
I did read and I have reviews to write yet. Internet was 50 cents a minute for us to use so I was on very little, much less than I thought I would be. Of course, that is not a bad thing as instead of being on line I was out and about EMERGING (my word for 2015) myself in the trip of a lifetime.
Audio was a no go. I had shut the data off on my phone and was unable to listen to audible without it. I have not listened to audio in 18 days. CRAZY for someone who listens to books every day. LOTS of catching up to do.
As you can imagine I have TONS to do. Without the data I was unable to upload pictures and between myself and the group I was with – we have a TON of pictures to play with.
I am planning on laying low through the weekend. I feel good now but expect jet lag to set in at some point. I had the most amazing time but am so glad to be back home with my pups, in my own bed and unlimited internet 🙂
Stay tune for the pics – I am sure it will take me weeks of posts to get them up and organized but tomorrow for Saturday Snapshot I will be ready to start sharing. 🙂
Stacy here from The Novel Life! Hello!!! Ahhh, morning meanderings reminds me of a confiding stroll through Central Park on a warm Spring day. An outside brunch with my best girlfriend. Meeting for drinks in a quaint coffee-house or even better, a quaint coffee-house filled with books! For as long as I’ve known Sheila the Morning Meanderings has been a brief look into the life of a dedicated wife, reader and friend. Now, as she is touring Australia, I get an opportunity to try to fill her shoes {not that that feat is possible, but it’s fun to try nonetheless}.
In this unique and crazy world of book blogging it’s fascinating how we connect with others to the point we’d call them a close friend. I “met” Sheila several years ago when we were both newish blogs. We would comment on each other’s posts and in general became good acquaintances. Then we met at BEA ‘2010, and I can attest to the fact that Sheila is just as friendly in-real-life as she is on Book Journey! I interviewed Sheila for my blog’s feature “Sunday Serenade” in 2010 and then Sheila became one of my go-to experts in 2014 for “Ask the Bloggers.” Her advice is always spot-on! I know I can count on Sheila for encouragement, advice, and a good laugh or two!
In poking around Book Journey I’m reminded of the books we’ve both agreed were fabulous and touched us in meaningful ways ~ like Sheila, I listened to the audio {all 30+ hours!} of 11-22-63. In my mind the narrator Craig Wasson will forever be the voice of Jake Epping. That book was my introduction to Stephen King, and man, was I blown away. {see my review here}.
One book that we differed on was Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. My bookclub read it {my review here} and enjoyed the controversial plot discussion, but I felt this particular Moyes novel was more along the lines of a Nicholas Sparks kind-of read. Sheila loved it, giving it 5 stars although she does not even give star ratings! Funny how that works, right?
Having friends like Sheila is what truly makes book blogging the love that it has become. I feel with Sheila that there is such a sense of camaraderie and true friendship. I’m so thankful to have met Sheila, both in-real-life and through our book blogs. Thank you Sheila for inviting me to poke around Book Journey and to do a bit of meandering myself! Now hurry up and get back from that ah-ah-ah-mazing journey you are on and tell us all about it! Missing you dear friend!
Elizabeth from Silver’s Reviews here, checking in on the blog again while Sheila is away. Sheila and I both loved THE HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET, and Sheila in her usual style went way over the top on her book review by adding videos, photos, and background information.
Click here for Sheila’s review
My review of this wonderful book was when I first started blogging so it isn’t as thorough as my reviews are now, but regardless, THE HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET is a book you don’t want to miss reading.
Wouldn’t you agree that Sheila and I both have awesome tastes in books? 🙂
Oh, hello! This is Sue from Book by Book. Sheila asked me to help blog-sit while she is enjoying her vacation in Australia, so I just stopped by to water her plants and feed her cat errr…. dogs.
While I’m here, I might as well check out her books – don’t you just love looking at other people’s bookshelves? Oooh…Sheila has an amazing collection, with so much variety! Let’s see…read it, read it, read it, oh, want it!
Ah, here’s one that’s a favorite at our house: The Passage by Justin Cronin. My husband and I both read it a few years ago, but I just gave it to my father for Christmas and my 20-year old son finally took our advice and started reading it this week – I know they will both love it. Despite its big splash when first published, this is a book that stands up over time.
I just re-read Sheila’s review (one of many that made me want to read the book), and I agree with everything she’s said here.
If you are one of the few – like my son – who hasn’t read it yet, here’s a quick overview. The Passage is an epic post-apocalyptic thriller, covering over 100 years and several generations of people. You may have heard that it’s about vampires, but I’m not normally a fan of vampire books, and I loved it. The creatures in the novel are not traditional vampires of fictional lore but more a government experiment to create super-soldiers with a virus that went terribly wrong. Here’s my review, from 2011.
I see that Sheila also read and reviewed The Twelve, the sequel to The Passage. I agree with her review – that The Twelve is a good follow-up but is a lot more complicated and well, more everything. Here’s my review, too (no spoilers in any of our reviews).
So, if you are looking for some high-octane post-apocalyptic action, check out this unique and thrilling trilogy. Book 3, The City of Mirrors, is due out sometime this year – can’t wait! And word is that there is a movie adaptation of The Passage in the works – wow, that will be something to see.
I just know that my son and father will both love this book. Thanks to Sheila for reigniting my interest in it!
Well, I better let myself out now and lock up. See you soon!
Good morning all! This is Laura from iRead Book Tours hanging out at Book Journey. Going through Sheila’s review archive brought me back to the beginnings of my book blogging days. You see, Sheila and I started blogging around the same time, around 2008, I think it was? I had just published my novel Daughter of Mine and was getting to know more about book blogging. When I requested book reviews on Book Blogs, Sheila contacted me through that community and she reviewed my book!
So began my relationship with Sheila. I then visited Sheila’s blog more often and enjoyed her reviews and read many of the same books she did. Thank you, Sheila! One of them was Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. She read it in 2010 and her review sparked my interest to the point where this became one of my book club choices and I read it in 2011, almost a year after she did.
Sheila said in her review of Fahrenheit 451, “I really was impressed by this reading and was surprised really how much I enjoyed the story line. I have never been one for sci-fi or futuristic reads but have to make an exception in this case. For as old as this book is (originally published as The Fireman in 1951), it is almost spooky how it speaks of censorship.”
I too am not one for sci-fi or futuristic reads, so I thought if she liked this classic, I should give it a try.
I’m so glad I did because it developed in me a love for dystopian books that had been tainted by 1984, a book I had once read in school and had not liked. When Sheila hosted the Read Dystopia Challenge 2012, I eagerly signed up.
Books like Fahrenheit 451 sparked my taste for different genres and for reading banned books. Sheila helped me discover new books through Book Journey and she is also responsible for my growing love of audio books. It quickly became clear that Sheila was a mover and a shaker, my kind of gal. Since she’s Christian, I can also rely on her mentioning content in her book reviews which I always appreciate.
So I’m going to continue to snoop around Sheila’s review archive (which reminds me I have to update mine!) while Sheila is off with her hubby enjoying her Australian adventure. I’m sure I’ll come across a few more books I read in the past, which will have me reminiscing again, and reminding me why I love book blogging and the work that I do.
Good morning Book Journey readers! This is Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness. While Sheila is off having a fabulous time in Australia, I’m helping hold down the fort in uber-cold Minnesota (seriously, it is frigid around here in January).
Even though we’re from the same state, Sheila and I met for the first time in New York City in 2010 when we both attended Book Expo America. I decided to go to BEA at the last minute, and was so lucky that Sheila had some space in the room she had booked. Bring from the Midwest, neither of us realized how small hotel rooms in New York actually were – Sheila and I, plus our roommates, Care (Care’s Online Book Club) and Esme (Chocolate and Croissants), were pretty squished together! It was such a fun experience, though, and Sheila and I have been blogging friends ever since.
I know Sheila starts her mornings with coffee, but I’m a tea girl myself. I tend to be an early bird, so most mornings you’ll find me up and going a few hours before I need to be at work. I make a cup of tea and breakfast (usually eggs and fruit), then settle in on my couch to read or catch up on some television. This year I’m trying to incorporate exercise or other more “productive’ activities into my mornings, with mixed success.
I’m known, mostly, for reading and reviewing nonfiction. I love to try and convince readers that nonfiction can be as wonderful to read as fiction, if you take the time to find a great book. I know that Sheila has started to read more nonfiction lately and has some great titles to recommend from her archive – Columbine by Dave Cullen (so sad, but so worth reading), Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace (on my TBR list), The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson (creepy historical true crime), and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (science, history and race – I told Sheila this book was a “must read” and I’m so glad she loved it!).
So that’s what I’d love to chat about today – Do you read nonfiction? What are some of your favorite recommendations? Can I help recommend a great nonfiction read?
Book Journey 