Entertainment.

I have declared a moratorium on costly children's holiday activities. We have been skating, out to lunch, shopping, to the Taste Festival x 3 and......$250 later, to the Great Moscow Circus:

I find the culture of children's entertainment expectation hard work. I want my children to be able to make their own fun. I want them to cultivate what Roald Dahl called 'imaginitis'....before it's too late. So, this week we are attempting to see if we can amuse ourselves.....this is a big ask now that we are well and truly enmeshed in the middle of the school holidays. Trust me, it would be easier to cheat and just dump them at the movies or at an indoor play centre or even at home in front of the TV, yet I'm going to persevere.

We are lamenting the fact that the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery is closed while they complete their renovation....this would be the entire family's destination of choice however at the moment it's a no go zone. So, this week we have been hanging out at the State Library of Tasmania, at various parks around town and at home. Today, we ventured up to North Hobart and took a turn around the new exhibition at the Bett Gallery before ending up at the State Cinema Bookshop, where we all loitered for quite some time:

I had no choice other than to bring this home:

I'm desperate to start reading it as soon as I finish typing this, yet am sure that it will be sad as poor old Nancy really was very unlucky in love.

I found this book under the Christmas tree:

I could not put it down....it made my husband peevish to see me reading while stirring the custard for the Christmas pudding.....at the same time. The author really threw himself into an extreme Bikram Yoga journey of discovery.....at a time when he'd let himself go so far that he could no longer see a particular part of his anatomy. Next thing you know, he's completed the three month intensive teacher training course and is working on competing in the American national championships. It's a personal story of a yoga obsession which also explores the science behind the practice from an open and fair minded perspective....he even subjects his best friend to classes and charts the results. After reading this book, I couldn't resist the opportunity and have booked a ticket to Rajashree Choudhury's Bikram Yoga seminar in Melbourne next month. Exciting.

Don't panic.....the last couple of weeks hasn't all been about weirdo yoga books, I've also been working my way through the Wallander series, which makes me ache to visit Sweden, and Rosemary Verey's gardening books, which make me wish I worked harder in my garden.

Yet, the most popular Christmas present book by far was this:

Which was wrapped up for the just turned two year old yet yet it's proved to be a hit with the whole family. Can you believe that it tells the story in 12 words and 12 needle felted pictures? Yes, really. Just four pages in you get this:

And then 8 pages later, this:

The conversation that it elicits is fabulous...it's P & P for all ages....even my husband has had numerous attempts at recounting the entire complex plot to children who are hanging on his every word.

Look at what I made on Monday:

I had charge of four extra children, which swelled the numbers to 8, yet ironically managed to find some time to get out the hot glue gun and cover this lamp shade to match the front door. I don't usually do craft yet when I was struggling to find shades for my chandelier last year, I made my own:

When they turned out so well I became carried away and made more to match the 'Imperial Trellis' wallpaper in the library:

Now I'm eyeing off the two nude chandeliers in the living room:

And I'm seriously thinking of sacrificing the skirt of the Matron of Honour ensemble that I wore to my friend's wedding ten long years ago......even though it has recently had an outing:

 The silk dupion is the exact shade of the pink glass detail in the window....could I?

Now to get stuck into that book.

Rx