Mini reviews-Anne, Aurora, Rental Person who Does Nothing

that feeling when you have a blog dedicated to books but you are not dedicated to it so you post book reviews on your non-book blog

Anne of Green Gables and nature writing

A few months ago, Shanti read me the start of Anne of Green Gables as a bedtime story. It reminded me how much I loved this childhood classic, and I sat down and read the whole thing the next afternoon.  I finished Anne of Avonlea then was sidetracked by other books.

One aspect of Anne that I really noticed upon rereading was how firmly rooted it is in place. It’s set in Prince Edward Island, which is far from anywhere I have ever been, but L.M. Montgomery’s love of her home island shines through every page*. Looking at the book with the lens of an ecologist and a person who finds solace in the outside world has given me a new appreciation for the book. At the same time, some parts of Anne seem ridiculously backward in their ideology. Here’s a few quotes I highlighted from Anne of Avonlea and my analyses of them, just to exercise my English muscles. I would have written more because I was feeling really inspired until I found out that Shanti’s friend did an entire Honour’s English thesis on this very topic and realised that I couldn’t do that much of a deep dive, so went for a shallow dive instead.

On rats (of the high-tech test variety)

Rapid Antigen Tests have put the science of medical testing into the hand of the consumer, giving us the power to detect our own disease, and respond accordingly (in line with government isolation requirements).

In the last few weeks my Messenger and Whatsapp feeds have been veritably inundated by pictures of positive RATs in the midst of New Zealand’s second wave. All the photos are essentially the same, and could be anyone’s; poor lighting, usually a table backdrop or some disembodied fingers holding it up, and two pink lines.

Here’s the thing: I don’t want to see them.

Fiordland experiences

I’m a big fan of the vast expanse that is Fiordland (that I have barely explored!), here are some of the things I saw when I was there the last few days.

the cheep of rock wren, their two green-yellow bodies hopping on the granite boulders in the Homer Cirque.

Clag pouring over Homer Saddle; patches of sun on the walls of Gertrude valley.

Icefall on the side of Mt. Crosscut, and on the side of Macpherson.

Wearing my green hat while driving through Southland, sheltering my eyes from the sun and listening to Underdog by Alicia Keys four times.

Post driving exhaustion; sleep ins at the iconic Homer Hut.

Curious kea hopping close to a 5m transect tape, just for a little taste.

Post-lunch blackberries by the shores of lake Te Anau.

The last rosy light on the tips of the mountains.

Pink mushroom; autumn is fungi time

My friend telling me there has been less snow on the glaciers each summer she’s in Fiordland.

Eggs in the stoat trap, a lovely final meal for the pest on Death Row.

Neela the car getting stuck on a rock on the dry riverbed, requiring digging to extract.

Snacking on juicy snowberries just as the kea are.

Rock extraction

Pale green leaf vein slug on the base of a cliff.

Leaf vein slug with hand for scale

A skinny dip in Black Lake after a solo scramble up Barrier.

Looking across to Milford Sound, down to Lake Adelaide & South America, over to Sabre, then Talbot. Mist revealing bits and obscuring others. I’m here, I want to be here, I get to be here. & there’s sun.

Scrambling and running down the valley, spending too much effort on avoiding a twisted ankle.

Stars above and the vastness of the Eglinton below; no cars on the road.

finding the patterns

We walked past spiky bushes studded with yellow, the blossoms scenting the air with toasted coconut. “Someone told me you could make gorse ice cream,” I said to Amanda, who I had convinced to come on a day walk with me. Suddenly, gorse ice-cream was all I could talk about. I brought it up that evening, looking up recipes. All the recipes were from blog with ridiculously British names—the “Dundee Courier”, “Never Mind the Burdocks”, “Great British Life”.

June Wrap Up

Shanti

June was sort of all over the place, as I had one week of uni, two weeks where I had stuff to do for uni but no classes, and one week of holiday. The best moment in the whole month was probably after I got back from a tramp a few weekends ago and had a bath and told myself that all I had to do for the rest of the day was go to bed, and I felt more relaxed than I have in MONTHS. I continue to possess little chill….

vitamin sea

city sunset

love me some wet trees

Other highlights: long walks with friends | taking a twitter break (actually super 50/50 on this, has it been good for me?) | ice cream consumption with friends | going to a ceilidh | walking places in the dark | getting new running shoes (several months over due, my running shoes were really making my feet hurt so the new ones are a relief) | going to lots of museums and art galleries with Shar and our grandmother | midwinter swims in cold ocean and icy river | lots of (literal) sunlight | Shar getting to see where I live! | orange juice consumption on the beach | hanging out with my cousins for a few days and staying at their house! | grandmothers in general

Hard things: the usual, as in, distraction, feelings of inadequacy, turning in assignments that were not my best work, my flat being coooold, angst over friendships.

Appliance of the month: my new (to me) sewing machine, which I haven’t properly tried out yet.

Shar

June has been a good month, mostly because I didn’t have any uni for the entire month. It started with a week of study leave, then four exams, then a HOLIDAY. I’m still on holiday for another week, and I’ve been all over the place–so far Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland.

evenings from up high

cliffs and walking

auckland beach

June highlights: Rock climbing//Staying with family friends aka not in my flat to study for a few days//Low amounts of exam stress//Going running in the snow// My friend from Christchurch visiting// Visiting my friend in Christchurch// Studying with people // Going to museums (see below) // Seeing Shanti (!) // Meeting Shanti’s friends // Seeing various family members // DOGS // Snow (just a bit on the hills, but I managed to enjoy it while I was there) // Midwinter swimming // Lots of good runs (admittedly, I went on a lot of very short runs because I was trying to study) // much more

fruits of the breadmaker

tree adventures

more beach

Lowlights: Exam stress (There wasn’t very much but every now and then I’d be like AHHH I KNOW NOTHING then revert to procrastinating and occasionally studying as usual)// Being cold (Luckily, the library is heated) // General life-organising panic // Not enough time with Shanti (but there is really never enough)

Appliance of the month: This goes to my newly acquired breadmaker, which I intend to use a lot, with a shoutout to my electric blanket as well.

Movies & Media : There have been two standouts for worst movie: Love, Rosie and The Hitman’s Bodyguard. Both of these are abysmal titles which I would not wish on anyone. Perhaps I will list out the reasons why Love, Rosie was so terrible at some point. The Hitman’s Bodyguard had gratuitous violence in the place of plot and tried to make up for its inadequacy with witty one-liners, and was also a cliche of pretty much every action movie ever. I also watched half of the Black Mirror episode Hated By the Nation with my flatmate, which was terrifying but fascinating, and which I fully intend to finish. Shanti and I watched various TV shows: The IT Crowd can be problematic but is also hilarious. I also really enjoyed the Bollywood movie Bharat, which I went to at the cinema. While overwrought at times and with a semi-political agenda, it was very nice to watch something in Hindi and enjoy the Bollywood drama and dance scenes.

how has your month been? weather conditions, moods, music? also ps we are trying to post more! there will be a post on Virtually Read soon for our loyal readers who follow us on two sides

September Roundup

September is over. In fact, September is long over. Shar has been harassing me to get this post up, sorry for the delay. But uni is almost over, I will have time to spend five minutes posting the posts I’ve had written for months, and you can expect more content from us. You know, if you even want it….