It's a Classical Life

  Doing word searches and cross words is one of my favourite past times. I find them really relaxing and I know there are those of you who do too. I've also realised that I actually really like making  word searches. Today I have one for you based on the Golden Age of Hollywood. I mentioned here that I've been enjoying watching film noir movies and others from the 1930s-1950s so was inspired to make one based around that time.  Downloading the word search is simple. Either click on the jpeg image above and print it, or you can click on the pdf link below. The Golden Age of Hollywood Word Search If you're interested, you can find the other word searches that I have created  here . I hope you enjoy doing these as much as I'm enjoying creating them. Have a lovely and relaxing weekend.

  In her book, Cosy: The British Art of Comfort , writer Laura Weir says: "In my daily life, I am surrounded by noise and opinion, and over the past few years I have found myself seeking comfort from politically dark winters and the relentlessly bleak news cycle. My instinct has evolved and become an undeniable urge to hide away and find solitude. Rather than swipe and scroll my way through life, I want to feel protected and nurtured. I don't just want to drink a warm cup of tea, I want my emotional state to mirror that cuppa too - warm, predictable, reassuring. Perhaps I'm just getting old, but I want to swap toxic politics and anxieties induced by social media for reliability and kindness. I want to feel more cosy." Oh my, yes please! Count me in! She goes on to explain that cosy is what you do when no-one is watching - it's your definition of cosy, not one that is being prescribed by current trends or marketing techniques. This book really made me think. In Aus...

SOURCE   It's been a while since I've written a Saturday matinee post but when I watched the film The Blue Dahlia  (1946), written by Raymond Chandler and starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake I knew I had to share it with you. I loved this film so much, and even weeks after watching it I keep thinking back on it. The great thing is, you can watch online too here . The Blue Dahlia  is considered one of the original film noir movies. If you've never heard of the term before, film noir it refers to a particular style of movie, made popular in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. Elements of this particular style include dark lighting aspects, a crime or mystery to be solved (they often included detectives or private investigators) and a moral lesson to be learnt. Post WWII films made also included some of the challenges that society faced after the end of the war. The Blue Dahlia does this rather poignantly through the scenes of the character Buzz Wanchek (William Bendix) who s...

"Self-sufficiency is the greatest of all wealth." ~ Epicurius   As February has come to an end I wanted to take the time to reflect a bit on what's been going on in garden. As I watch floods, cyclones and other extreme weather events lashing our country and others, I give thanks for the relatively mild weather we have been having. Most of February was hot though - as in over 30 degrees celsius. We have been watering the grass by attaching a hose to the washing machine and allow the grey water to go onto the grass rather than down the drain. You can see just how dry the grass still is despite this! Honestly I think the soil has become a bit hydrophobic and the water just sort of puddles. Still we are trying to recycle the water and also create a greener yard. This snake-like thing has been a great source of entertainment to Norman, our new Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, who has been my constant companion. There is something so precious about having an animal that shadows y...

This January has been a bit atypical in the garden. November and December were very hot here in south-east Australia and a lot of the grass died off earlier than usual. January, however, has been peppered with cooler days and rain. Generally it is the time that we get some of our worst thunderstorms which have arrived this week. The days have been 30*C plus and then there are storms at night. We even had hail this week, but thankfully they were only tiny pieces and didn't do any damage.  Spending time in the garden is always a relaxing and therapeutic activity for me. This year I have decided I'd like to cultivate more flowers in the garden; something that I find even more enjoyable and less strenuous than vegetable growing! Last year when I dropped my bundle I spent very little time in the garden - and I'm beginning to think that one may have been affected by the other. There is something so mindful, grateful and grounding about working with soil, plants, animals and natur...

  If you have not read Mary Shelley's classic novel, Frankenstein , let me assure you that it touches on some of those most important issues of our time - even though it was first published in 1818. Ethics, morality, human suffering, the importance of nature - all of these are addressed in a meaningful way and can contribute to the way we view our own lives today.  This quote demonstrates something that we have talked about quite a lot here on the blog, and that is the idea of how we choose to spend our time. In understanding ourselves, what is best for our minds and bodies, how to use our time wisely, then we are already steps ahead in enjoying a life of contentment and overall satisfaction. It is easy to 'study' the lives of others, make comparisons, waste time, criticise or judge, and generally work to 'destroy your taste for the simple pleasures,' - in fact our society makes it really easy for us! We have the choice to decide who we study, who we go to for inspi...

LEISURE What is this life, if full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. No time to stand beneath the boughs And stare as long as sheep or cows. No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass. No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like stars at night. No time to turn at Beauty; glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance. No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began. A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.                              W.H. Davies  This stirring poem by Welsh poet W.H. Davies was first published in 1911 yet its message, I believe, is still just as important today. I have talked about past-times on the blog before but having read Sense and Sensibility last month, I wanted to look in a bit more detail at some of the leisure activities that these early Victorian women got ...