I've done it before and I'm doing it again. I am giving up the news. For one whole month. This means no reading the print newspapers, no googling, no taking just a few seconds to head to a news website online to check out the headlines, no watching the news on the tv. (Yes, we are a household where the daily news still gets turned on.) What has precipitated this? A number of things I happened upon this book a few years back. I thought the author made some good points, especially how much time we spend reading the news (which is a created thing, after all, by companies who want to sell papers or advertising or whatever they are offering.) And I figured, after reading Cal Newport's book, that I am as guilty as anybody of having a few minutes to spare and googling (which is inevitably a news site.) So I'm giving it up for September. No News September. It would sound better if it was No News November but I'm not waiting. I will report back on this interesting experiment...

  Currently reading: Deep Work by Cal Newport. Taking notes about Deep Work I can’t remember where I saw this book mentioned but I am reading this now and I am absolutely loving this book. I’ve also got his more recent book Digital Minimalism .  Deep Work is really about the work we do which we don’t focus intently enough on, and the other kind of work which is ‘shallow’ work. Often we do more of the shallow work and we neglect the deep work. One reason is because we are just so distracted we fail to work with concentration and intensity (and thus get the best out of ourselves with the work we do.) I can attest. Ten minutes at the laptop, check the phone, get a coffee, another fifteen minutes, remember to do something else… My mind often goes down that path but what I am learning is to be aware of it, and not give into that urge but to keep on going, and keep being focused on the work, which is for me, the writing. I am loving this book so much I am taking notes. Anoth...

I do love a Large Print book. I discovered fairly recently that if there is a popular book at the library and there is a long wait in the queue for it, you can often place a hold/request on the Large Print version and get it sooner. I also noticed recently that some romance novels I wanted to read were only available as e-book and Large Print, and while I am quite keen on e-books, I also do like print. And let’s face it, at night, in bad lighting, large print is pretty useful.

  A rose from the garden I managed some gardening yesterday. It involved weedkiller and giant thistles. "Somebody" thought it would be nice to grow a thistle with its purple flowers. A Scotch thistle. To be fair, it did look nice-ish. Somebody clearly did not, however,  realise that these things have seeds that spread like the devil and sprout. I found one in a corner of the garden, disguised, and huge. So huge. There was no way on this earth I was tackling it, so out came the weedkiller. This thing was massive. By the time I'd generously doused the thing, I felt that was enough, really. I'd done my dash. So that was pretty much my gardening endeavours over the weekend.

I have enjoyed the Olympics, as I always do, but I am also looking forward to all the time I will now have when I have not been taken up with other peoples' sporting achievements, and some amazing achievements they have been. Some wonderful moments. I've watched bits of the golf, the swimming, the gymnastics, rowing and kayaking and canoeing, the athletics, of course, and so much more. There is still cycling and the women's marathon to go. But it will be over, and normal viewing shall return. Its like being on holiday, when its topsy turvy, and then you come back home to normal. Currently reading: The Women by Kirstin Hannah.  Boy, oh boy, what a book this is proving to be so far. I'll do a review on GoodReads when its finished but so far, wow. It's about a young nurse heading to the war in Vietnam, and being plunged into the hellhole war is, and that particular war was. That time in American history is so tragic and interesting - I did a history paper on the count...

Do you fancy a sweet romance that has dashes of humour? Try The Gabardi Baby. He's the charming boss with no idea how to atone for his life choices. She's been jilted and now, all her careful planning is out the window.   Here's an excerpt, and Amazon buy links follow! Enjoy! She leant against the bench, facing the lounge and, of course, just off to the right, the door to her bedroom. The last place she wanted to go into was her bedroom. She set her glass in the sink, then took her watering can off the shelf. She filled it with water and did the rounds of the flat, watering her plants. They were well-tended and she loved them. Loved watching them grow and flourish and if they produced stem flowers, she loved arranging them in vases. In fact, right now, there was a lovely arrangement in her bedroom. She inhaled sharply, put the watering can back, and studied the door. She was going to have to go in there some time and face up to it. She massaged the spot on her forehead that...