Book Review - 50 Shades of Grey

Well!

If you are an avid reader of a wide range of reading materials I recommend that you approach the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy with an open mind.  I am not talking open mind because of the sex (I'll get to that), but an open mind because of the quality of the writing.

50 Shades of Grey is in a nutshell badly written! The characters with Mills and Boon type names, Anastasia  Steele and Christian Gray, are annoying at best and E L James doesn't seem to be able to keep consistency with the personality traits of Anastasia and Christian.

The actual plot is basically a Mills and Boon type plot, the female character against her better wishes falls for the stereotypical handsome, charming, moody and incredibly wealthy male character who is hell bent on having her no matter what! There is much too-ing and fro-ing, should she, shouldn't she, she can't resist him, he can't resist her, they can't keep away from each other etc etc She battles with her conscience, he battles with his emotions!

The sex is well, it's just sex, repetitive sex, predictable responses from the characters, the bondage is well, as you would expect or imagine and frankly quite tame! And no I am not speaking from experience (haha) but I have seen a few doco's on 60 Minutes etc and E L James doesn't manage to make it seem all that thrilling, forbidden, illicit or whatever!

However! Let's give E L James the credit due to her, Her trilogy are best sellers that have taken the world by storm (there must be a lot of  innocent sheltered women out there!), she has sold the movie rights and is making millions!

Am I going to read Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed?

hell yes!

Why?

Because as poorly written as I think they are, E L James manages to create enough mystique around Christian that I want to know what happened in his past that makes him the flawed man he apparently is!

Enjoy!

Rachael xo

p.s. This book review is my opinion only, I respect that yours may differ!

New Zealand Roast Day

Yesterday was NZ Roast Day,

the Cowboy and I decided to do our own spin on the traditional roast dinner,

we had potato and kumera mash, spinach and a rolled shoulder of lamb we covered in Black Satin Glaze and roasted,

it was DIVINE!

Made even more divine with a yummy Nikau Point Syrah ,

and thanks to my friend Vicki a Trumpet Ice Cream for dessert!

Yummy Yummy

Rachael xo

Hello August

Where did July go?  It went way too fast for sure but I did get some stuff done on my "To DO List" - certainly not enough though!

My Kitchen GERANIUMs loved july

HOW DID I GO with My goals for July?

THE  JULY TO DO LIST   

• building a website - yet to start 
• writing a book -  no further progress 
• creating with fabric and paint -  yet to start but I have a lot of pins on Pinterest!
• selling, selling, selling - oh my goodness yes - I'm a Trade Me top seller again!
•  getting fit -  sorry what was the question?
• getting my ribs healed - ongoing
• stopping pain medication -  reduced to one to two tablets per day
• fun times with the Princess -  big tick
• fun times with the Cowboy   -  big tick
• reading a book for pleasure   big tick -50 Shades of Grey haha
• cooking new recipes   big tick
• buying contact lenses  not yet
• getting my hair cut  big tick
• and staying warm! - impossible
• blog daily -  failed

July was fun, people came to stay at the Castle, my best friend Mary Thistle and my Mummy for a crafting sleepover, the Princess and I love having people to stay!

We also had the Princess's best friend here for a sleepover, we had a special little 'adoption' ceremony to make her a lifelong daughter of our home!

I also started a 120 hour online course teaching English as a second language, I have 118 hours to go!

August is big,  I have got lots of medical stuff to do to finish the silly old rib healing, (it's now been a year), I also have to plan a couple of parties here at the castle, get cracking on the 118 hours left of my course, and carry on with the TO DO list, I really want to get my crafting mojo back on so have to add sort the craft room out to the list!

Best I get a move on!

Rachael xo

august TO DO LIST

• build a website 
• writing a book
• creating with fabric and paint 
• selling, selling, selling 
•  getting fit 
• getting my ribs healed 
• stopping pain medication 
• fun times with the Princess
• fun times with the Cowboy  
• reading a book for pleasure   
• cooking new recipes   
• buying contact lenses 
• getting my hair cut  
• and staying warm! 
• blog daily
• Online ESOL course
• Sort craft room out

That Furry Feeling!

I'm supposed to be saving money for stuff, stuff like a trip to Australia and some shares in a power company!

It's going really well (not),

and it's all down to visiting Op Shops (thrift or charity to some of you) and seeing stuff like this amazing, very, very heavy and very, very large faux fur throw.

It is so yummy and warm to sit on, leather in the Castle at this time of year is not cosy! More yummy was the price, $20! Bargain, bargain!

I know I need to change the cushions though, any ideas?

Rachael xo

Today will Be Amazing

image stolen from a friend's FB wall!

So will tomorrow!

Rachael xo

Happy and Sad

The Cowboy is sick so I have been playing nurse, slicing Kiwi Fruit and making lemon and honey drinks for him, he is so lucky! haha

Last week was good, busy and good, the Princess had her first week back at school after the holidays and back to normal routine of part week with her Daddy (Wasband) and the rest with me.

Lovely lovely things happened last week such as winning the Antipodes Serum, catching up with the Wasbands family, his grandmother kindly giving me petrol vouchers because she knows I am poor and my Mummy paying my doctors bill. Lucky me, blessed me!

My Mummy came for a sleepover on Saturday night, she brought with her Cornish Pastie which is made from my Granny's recipe, so so yummy, we ate the pastie, drunk red wine, crafted and laughed with the Princess... nice!

I got lots accomplished last week too, dealt with some yukky bills and stuff and made positive inroads into other stuff!

So while so good in my life so very sad to be reading about the Colorado tragedy, heartfelt sympathy to the families who have suffered loss.

Also...

so sad to hear of the passing of Margaret Mahy, amazing and inspirational New Zealand author of  many, many children's books.

There you have it, the happy and the sad!

Seize the moment!

Rachael xo

Antipodes

Oh my goodness!

I have won another competition, again from the gorgeous Ms Helene's blog, Pretty Beautiful!

Remember I recently won a yummy (already drunk) bottle of red wine from the Pretty Beautiful blog,

and now this!!!

My tired old winter skin is so looking forward to using this product, I'll be sure to come back and let you know how young and radiant I end up looking! ;-)

If you want to find out how the Hosanna Skin-Plumping serum works, read Helene's review here.

Be sure to subscribe to the Pretty Beautiful blog, not just for the great give-aways but  for the excellent and informative reviews on skin, hair and beauty products.

Thanks so much Helene and also Antipodes,

happy happy me!

Rachael xo