January 2022 Newsletter

Hello everyone, 2022 is here and isn’t it exciting. After a slow start to the month and a bit of lockdown time due to Jayden getting COVID. I have been out in the world. It started with going to the Terrey Hills Tavern with the girls, then the big bash semi-final, Sixers versus Strikers and the State Library to see some of their exhibitions and go to the new rooftop bar. In other exciting news, the pool is looking amazing so I’ve been swimming too. I’ve also been reading, watching cricket, working and sewing.

Books, Books, Books

It has been a massive month of reading. 8 murder mysteries, 5 new authors.

A Pressing Engagement & As Death Draws Near

Continuation of the Lady Darby series by Anna Lee Huber. The characters are just so beautiful to hang out with. These were books 4.5 and 5 in the series.

A Dirty Death

This is one of the many series by Rebecca Tope. I have seen these in the library and selected them for the home library service. I thought I should give them a read. It wasn’t really for me. It was okay but I found it missed a lead character to relate to. With so many books available I won’t be heading back into the series

Murder at Morrington Hall

The first of the Stella and Lyndy series by Clara McKenna. Based in England in the 1900s, Stella an American Heiress arrives in England to deliver some horses to Viscount “Lyndy” Lyndhurst for his wedding. Little did she know, she was the one he was marrying, that is until the vicar is found dead. I enjoyed my time with Stella and Lyndy.

Color Me Murder

The first of the Pen & Ink Mysteries by Krista Davis. For a change-up based in the modern-day and Georgetown, Washington D.C. It follows the colouring book artist Florrie Fox who manages a bookshop. The bosses nephew is murdered and she has to solve the murder to free her boss from jail. There is also a cute copper who helps her solve the mystery.

Elementary, She Read

Another first in a series, this time it is set in a Sherlock Holmes bookshop in the modern-day, by Vicki Delany. Gemma Doyle, an Englishwoman, has moved to the quaint town of West London on Cape Cod to manage her Great Uncle Arthur’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium. Her sidekick is Jayne who runs the Mrs Hudson Tea Shop next door. They are heaps of fun.

A High-End Finish

Another American modern-day mystery. This time by Kate Carlisle. It follows Shannon Hammer, owner of Hammer Construction Company and an expert in Victorian home restoration and renovation. It starts with a terrible blind date who she ends up having to nail in the goolies. He turns up dead the next day and she is the prime suspect. She with her gang of girlfriends try and find the killer. Very much in the Stephanie Plum Style, especially the 2 very cute guys vying for her affections.

Murder at Half Moon Gate

Now back into Regency England. This book is the second of Andrea Penrose’s Wrexford and Sloane series. It was great to rejoin them with all their sidekicks. It investigated the murder of an inventor of a new type of steam engine with the backdrop of the industrial revolution and the treatment of workers. I love this series. I know I keep saying that but I enjoy spending time with them.

Sport

Cricket

So it was January so there is only one sport. That is cricket. I’m not going to write any more about it except it was a great Ashes win for both the ladies and gents. The Sixers had an amazing semi-final with a last-ball win. They lost the final but the Scorchers were just too good and the Sixers just too broken. There is some more amazing cricket coming up leading into the Women’s world cup in March.

Motorsport

Dakar

There was a little bit of motorsport. The Dakar kicked the year off. Unfortunately, Tody Price didn’t have a great one getting lost on stage 1B like a lot of the competitors did. Molly Taylor had a strong showing at her first Dakar with a top 20 finish in class. I love the coverage on SBS the highlights packages show such an insight into Saudi Arabia.

World Rally Championship

The first race of the World Rally Championship was in Monte Carlo. Sebastian Loeb won so I was very happy.

Volcano

The amazing eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai in Tonga. Fortunately, it happened on an uninhabited island that had only appeared in 2014 during the last eruption, check out this time-lapse of its creation. To find out more about the volcano and see some amazing footage from space check out the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab article, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration article or this youtube video by Simon Clark. It was amazing to watch the pressure wave travel around the earth and the tsunami that was formed off the Caribean caused by the meteotsunami that was caused by the volcano. Epic. The Australian Navy sent HMAS Adelaide with supplies and support. In McHales Navy style they have broken down and are stuck at the docks there. The only good thing is that they are still able to provide aerial support through the Armies Chinooks and were able to unload their cargo.

Maths

I know how much everyone loves maths. So I just have to share this beautiful video of ‘Finding X’. It is a lovely story and it even has a Hitchikers guide to the galaxy reference. Please please watch it.

Music

Eurovision

Azerbaijan!!!!!!!!! 2012 in LEGO

The Ed Sullivan Show

So Gene Kruper playing Sing, Sing, Sing came up in my feed on youtube (our song Jen). I then fell down the rabbit hole of Motown artists performing on the Ed Sullivan Show then back it up by watching the muppets as well.

Cuteness

To finish off the newsletter check out this porcupine eating corn. Yes, that is the sound it makes.

Next month

More cricket, more motorsport, more work, more outings then a trip to Tasmania for the whole month of March. I’m staying at this amazing house. So if you want to join me for a weekend let me know. I have rooms to spare. I’m going to be working during the week but going to concerts by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra on the weekend, visiting breweries, distilleries, cheese factories, chocolate makers, cider makers and maybe some wilderness as long as I make it back for happy hour.