Get Talking - Eating Out

Food ... it can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your ability to eat only what you need and not overeat, or on the way it reacts with your body, like with allergies and intolerances.
You've guessed it, this week's question is, in fact, about food.

What's your favourite restaurant and what dish would you recommend?

I don't often go out to eat. It's no fun going on your own and it can be really hard finding things that you can eat when you have unusual food allergies and intolerances like I do. Most of the times I eat out it's for meetings. I think my friends gave up on inviting me places because it was getting hard for me to find something on the menu of the restaurant they wanted to go to.

Get Talking - Inspiration

How are you going with these questions? Are you finding it easy or are you struggling. For me it is a mixture. This weeks question is hard because it can flow from many different things.

Who inspires you?

The answer to this question is not simple. It can be multiple people depending on what part of your life you are thinking of.
In my walk with God?
In my career?
In my family?
In my creativity?
In my cooking?
In ministry?
...

So many areas, so many possible people.
This is such a vague question, that I'm not sure I really have an answer. It would be easier to mention the people who have influenced me in these areas, but that's not the question.
I even tried looking up the dictionary to see if I could work out what 'inspire' really means, but there are so many different contexts - both positive and negative.

So to be honest with  you, I don't have an answer for this question (at least at the moment).
Do you have an answer?

Get Talking - Food

This weeks question is all about food, not just any food, but the food that you prepare yourself.

What's your signature dish?

The funny thing is that I was just thinking about this, and I hadn't even taken a sneak-peek at the card (I confess that sometimes I do, so that I have time to think about what I want to write).
I don't actually do a lot of cooking. Mostly I cook up a big batch of something during the school holidays and freeze it so that I can eat it during the term. At the moment, one would have to be Cauliflower Cheese Soup. I have tweaked the recipe that is linked here due to dietary issues, but I love it. If you do make it, don't forget that hint of nutmeg. This soup really does taste amazing.

ACRBA Tour - Twice Stolen by Susanne Timpani

4 - 8 April

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

is introducing

Twice Stolen

(Armour Books, 14 February 2016)

Susanne Timpani

About the Book:

After the death of his grandmother, Dimitri finds he's been lied to most of his life. His journey into the Outback to unravel the mystery of his identity leads to an encounter with Leah, a nurse with a tragic secret.

About the Author

Susanne is married, has four beautiful children and works as a community nurse with children and families. Themes of her work and her faith appear in her writing. 

Susanne is the author of the blog, 10 Minute Daily Retreat. These twice weekly reflections on scripture can be read via:

http://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au/ 
https://www.facebook.com/10MinuteDailyRetreat

Her first novel, Twice Stolen, was released in February 2016. It fits the genre of Inspirational Fiction, has Australian Aboriginal themes and is flavoured with a sprinkling of Medical Romance.

Twice stolen won the CALEB prize for an unpublished manuscript.  The book is published by Armour Books

My Thoughts:

I wasn't sure about this book when I first picked it up. I didn't know if I would like it, and the blurb certainly doesn't give much away. However, I found it to be a very interesting look at the issue of the Stolen Generation. While I knew of the existence of this crazy practice and unforgivable (to some people) act of tearing children away from parents, it was not something that I had really spent a lot of time thinking about, particularly as it relates to the next generation (and those to follow) who are now in search of their cultural identity.
Susanne says that she is an outsider looking in, and I think she has very respectfully brought awareness of the issues relating to the children who were stolen and their descendants.
One of the things I really liked was the way the Aboriginal Elders who have embraced faith in God still also recognise their Aboriginal culture and draw parallels between the things they have been taught orally and what they have read in the Bible.

Get Talking - Parents

Hello everyone! It's time for another conversation question.

What traits did you inherit from your mother/father?

From my Dad, I inherited a good sense of direction. I can work out which way to go to get to where I need to be without a map (most of the time). He also taught me how to read maps and navigate, so I have not trouble planning a route to take. I'm still using maps today - no GPS for me (at least not yet).

From my Mum, there are many things - a love of craft and sewing; the desire to care for others.

From both parents - faith in God, which I have now made my own; love for family; and a love of reading.

Thank you, Mum and Dad.

Reading Challenges 2016 - Update 2

I guess you think I've forgotten about my reading challenges for this year ... but you would be wrong. I've made a little progress or a lot depending on the challenge, but haven't really had the time to blog about it. Plus I'm in the middle of changing over computers, and I have not yet been able to transfer over files.

So, here are the updates so far.

I did actually start the next 2 books in the Anne series before the end of the month, but finished them in the correct month. So I've finished:

• Anne of Green Gables
• Anne of Avonlea
• Anne of the Island

I was talking about this challenge with a new friend, and I decided to read as many books by L M Montgomery as I could this year, not just limiting myself to the Anne books and the ones I listed when I first posted about my reading, so I have also read:

• The Blue Castle

So there you have it. I'm going well, in fact, you could say that I am ahead of things, having already finished 4 books. I'm in the middle of another series at the moment, but the next book I read will be Anne of Windy Willows (or Poplars, depending on which edition you happen to have).

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I've been updating my Alphabet Soup page on my blog, so you may already know that I am already 50% through this challenge, with books for 13 letters read. The ones in bold I added since my first update.

A - Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery
B - Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson
C - Crime Scene Jerusalem By Alton Gansky
D - The Director's Cut by Janice Thompson
E - Every Storm by Lori Wick
F - Falling Like Snowflakes by Denise Hunter
G - Greetings From the Flipside by Rene Gutteridge and Cheryl McKay
H - A House Divided by Robert Whitlow
P - The Pounamu Prophecy by Cindy Williams
S - Seaside Blessings by Irene Hannon
T - Twice Stolen by Susanne Timpani
U - Undetected by Dee Henderson
W - Water's Edge by Robert Whitlow

Unlike a lot of people participating in this challenge, I am not planning ahead of time what books I will read for each letter. As I read a book that fits a letter that I haven't done yet, I add it to my list. I may need to plan a little for Q, X and Z, but so far I'm not having much trouble finding books. The book I'm currently reading will add another letter.

It's pretty good to be halfway through already and only be a third of the way through the year.

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Finally, the Bethany House 2016 Reading Challenge.

This one is a little harder to find books to fit the categories, I think, than their challenge last year. However, I have got 6 of the 12 squares crossed off, so I am also up to 50% on this challenge too.

The corresponding books for this challenge are:

• You haven't read since you were a teenager - The Blue Castle by L M Montgomery
• Is set in a place you'd like to visit - Anne of Avonlea by L M Montgomery (yes, I know Avonlea is not a real place, but I would like to visit Prince Edward Island)
• Has an animal as a significant character - Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne
• Another author recommends - Against All Odds by Irene Hannon (recommended by Dee Henderson)
• Ends a series - Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes by Robin Jones Gunn

That rounds out the books to date. I have a plan for the book found at a yard sale or a thrift store - I actually have 2 to choose from. My Mum keeps suggesting books for one that is at least 100 years old, but I haven't made up my mind which of her suggestions to take up (if any).

And that is the end of my update.

Happy reading!