For the Love of Norton - Peter Gethers

For the Love of Norton - Peter Gethers (1993)

I was sucked in by the repackaging of this book to thinking it was new, and not published in 1993. However I didn't actually realise until the last page that it was not a new story, but an older one in a new cover. The chapter about the difficulty getting fax machines into France should have been a give away to me, but it was a slow weekend.

Never the less, I did actually enjoy the stories about Norton and his owner Peter, who with girlfriend Janis, decide to leave their corporate jobs and go and live in Provence for a year. Norton, a Scottish Fold pussy cat, takes it all in his stride and travels easily with his owner, travelling to exotic restaurants and hotels, sampling local French and Italian cuisine.

Cute without being cheesy, it made me wonder how my own Poppy Q would tolerate a life of adventure. I think she is happy climbing up on her usual sleepy spots, and wouldn't tolerate being carried around in a fabric shoulder bag. Her dislike of people food would also make dining time much less interesting than Nortons nights out.

3/5 - a nice read and a good idea for a read for the pet lover, especially those that enjoyed Marley and Dewey.

The Vitner's Luck - DVD

The Vitner's Luck - DVD (2009)

I loved the book this story is based on, and was saddened that the movie received such poor reviews, but knew that it would be a hard story to adapt. Set in 19th centuary France, a poor peasant winemaker, Sobran finds the secret to making a good wine with the assistance of an angel Xas. In the book they share so much together, and upon getting married Xas promises to return to meet up with Sobran each year.

The movie was sumptuous, the shots of the vineyard and chateau, the peasants home and plants and bugs were beautiful. However it seemed to lack a soul, the main characters seemed to speak the words and act passionately, but it never seemed to flow or make sense. I was distracted seeing Keish Castle-Hughes, who although was looking beautiful was definately a maori girl in the wrong period film. In the book, the story spans the years of Sobrans life, yet his wife looked 19 throughout, and was not aged at all.

In total, a 2/5 for although lovely to look at, this movie failed to capture the magic of the book or turn into a different, but better version.

Anything For Her

Anything for Her (2008)

I guess this one came out in 2008, was shown at the 2009 film fest, and now is on slow rotation at the cinema. It was a wild and woolly afternoon, and the best thing was to be bundled up warm at the movies. My friends asked me what it was about, and I said I thought there was a murder, a breakout, a gun, a man looking stern and his wife in a trench coat.

That description was pretty true, this little French action film bounced around quite quickly showing us how a woman ends up in prison for a murder she says she didn't commit, and how much her husband loves her, and tries to get her free.

4/5 for this one, as the action/thriller genre that Hollywood has forgotten how to do. I think American movies have got so involved in showing the 15 minute car chase smash a 100 cars up, and a shoot fest with 20 bad boys dying to appeal to the twenty year old audience, that they have forgotten about the story.

This movie is action with a story, and a genuine believable love story. The tension builds and although you can guess what is going to happen, you are never quite sure. So good, that I almost forgot about the subtitles and believed I could understand all the French.

The Long Song - Andrea Levy

The Long Song - Andrea Levy (2010)

July is bought up on a plantation in Jamaica at the time of the abolition of slavery. This book tells the story of her life, her mother and her children in a time that seems almost unreal to us. When children and adults are bought and sold like cattle, where children are taken from their parents and made to work with no education and nobody is paid for their work.

I enjoyed the sing song voice of the protagonist and the way that it switched between her own telling of her story and her sons views. I found that I was engaged in the story and wanting to know what happened next, rushing to bed on these coolish nights was made more pleasant by having a good book to read.

I also appreciated its editing, by not being a 600 page monster of a book, it felt just the right length to tell the story. A very solid 4/5 for this gem.

Grey Love- Dream shopping on ETSY

Love the bag - layered pleat bag


Oh how perfect for winter - Smoky Quartz Druzy Necklace

Oh this little jewel is pretty - SALE EC Blizzard ring

Ohhhh and how nice is this one? - necklace with gray lavender ocean jasper cabochon oxidized sterling silver

Dig this girl -Organic Girl


I love me some ETSY shopping. If I win LOTTO, I'm going to snap all these grey goodies up.

Books

Don't you love all the letters in this dining room? Hmmmm I like this idea. I think this picture came from Design Sponge, and I've saved it in my faves file.

Claire, you asked if I had read Magpie Hall by Rachel King. In fact I bought the book on TradeMe about 6 months ago, but have not read it yet. I am afraid that I seldom read New Zealand books, as I have been disapointed by so many. I was hoping that you were going to tell me how good it was and recommend it.

Several years ago I decided that I would not continue with books I was bored with or not enjoying. I now seldom persist if I know we are not a good fit, in fact I disgarded Frances Mayes last book, as 5 pages in I was losing interest. Life is too short, and there are so many good books out there.

The book I am reading at the moment is The Long Song by Andrea Levy.

Music Monday - Jack Johnson - You and Your Heart

I haven't had a music monday clip in a while, and this is the new CD that I bought at the weekend, Jack Johnsons latest. Oh, and I bought tickets to see him live in November too!!

Nice to have something to look forward to.

Grocery Money

Lucky the freezer is full, look at what the Grocery money bought this week. Whitcoulls had a half price sale off all fiction this weekend. I managed to snag the last copy of the Passage in the store.

So, no buying lunch this week, it will be soup and toast every day.

Genova

Genova (2008)

2008 - this movie is old, but has only been released at the arthouse cinemas this year. I had a nice lunch at a friends six year old birthday party, and once all the lego was cleared away and the dishes done, I was able to meet a good friend for Saturday treats.

On Saturday, we often head to Sweet Mothers Kitchen, here in Wellington for their fantastic curly fries, a real coke and for me a chicken burrito. How exciting is my weekend!!! Well it gets better, as Whitcoulls had half price off all fiction books, so I bought three huge ones to add to my pile, and had a decedent caramel ice cream from the gelato shop. Then to make it more thrilling, I went to the supermarket for more bread and fruit juice, so I can have a nice lazy Sunday brekkie.

So back to the movie, - tragic car accident, mother dies, girls grieve, dad decides to take them to Italy, little girl cries a lot, big girl rebels a lot, old girlfriend pines a lot, new young student flicks hair a lot, Colin Firth begins to relax, also takes shirt off, everyone sweats, lots of walks through little streets, only ever eat past, girl walks home, mother seems to pop up a lot and cars have a fender bender (I hope I haven't given the story away).

Oh, and the man behind us - please buy some tissues, vicks nasal sniffer stuff and breathe through your nose. We know you have a cold, you breathed like you were on a respirator, and we thought it painful to sit in front of you for a long movie.

So the movie, it was a bit slow and predictable so 2/5, we only saw you because Grand Designs was a repeat tonight.

Daughters of the Witching Hill - Mary Sharratt

Daughters of the Witching Hill - Mary Sharratt (2010)

You know you think you have read so much on a subject, that any new book seems to rehash stories you have heard before. You know, like how you've read eleventy books on vampires, angels, serial killers, the Plague, Tudors and all other popular genres. Well witches, and witch trials have all been retold a thousand times, that is hard to find a fresh voice.

Daughters of the Witching Hill tells the tale of both Bess Southerns and her granddaughter Alizon, living in the Pendle forest in the UK. Bess starts having visions, and uses her spirit and her Catholic past, to guide her in healing and treating neighbours. However, some use their ablilites to harm others and all too soon rumours of witchcraft fly through the countryside.

Based on a true even of 13 bought to trial for witchcraft, this was one story I was unable to put down and was pleased to turn in at night and read more pages. It's focus was more on the womans stories with only a small amount of pages allocated to the trial, which is just the way I like my novels. To much of lawyer/court speeches and I am quickly bored and skipping pages.

I think I may even need to give this one a 4/5, for I am at a loss to find fault with it, and would happily recommend to all as a great read. I liked the characters and could sympathise with them, what would you do if you were widowed and poor in the same time period? How would you feed your family and survive? What skills would you use?

Have a lovely weekend.