Thursday 9 June 2016

Good Morning Everyone....

Thursday 9 June, 2016

I quite like this letter type format. I miss old fashioned letters.  Yesterday was the day the Domain Writer Group met. There are about 7 of us that meet each Wednesday from 12:00 to 2:00 pm on Wednesday. We have a day off on the third Wednesday of the month. In the second half of my 60's I am the second youngest. Our oldest is 91. These are very active women and I love being around them. 

This is the fountain in the  middle of the square.
We meet at Salamanca. Salamanca is an old section of Hobart in the Battery Point area. I won't say much about it because Google can tell you more about it than I ever could. I consider Google a good friend.

It was a very sunny day. After all of the rain we have had, including the worst floods in the north of the state in more than a century, the sunshine seemed a welcome relief. The floods were terrible with three people being swept to their deaths as they went about their work or tried to rescue their livestock. 

I thought I would share the area with you that is behind Salamanca. It was developed into a square several years ago and there are two book shops in the area.  One is a new book shop of which I don't shop in. I have heard the woman who works there make fun of customers and what they read. I left when I saw the eye rolling and what she said and have not bought a book from them since. How dare she judge what people read. I hate that. I am happy they are reading. Sometimes people get a little bit too trendy for their own good and this is a very trendy shop. She even wears a very trendy geometrical hair style (oops...cat claws)   She needs to drop her boots as she has become too big for them.
Deja Vu book shop

Inside one of the market alcoves there is a wonderful secondhand bookshop that has been there for several years. It is called Deja Vu. (They don't use computers so you can't visit it online.)
There is a good selection of Penguins but the prices are generally more than I will pay for them. However they are in very good condition and are lovely. Once in awhile if I find a hard to get vintage Penguins I will get one. After all you can read these books, not just collect them.

Our writing sessions have grammar nazis in it. I learn so much about the grammar taught to these older women when they were in school in the 1930's and 40's. Wow, they knew their grammar.  They can spot a split infinitive a mile away but of course that isn't such a crime nowadays. 

Our group has a topic each week that is optional. One lady is writing her memoirs of growing up in Holland and teaching school. She regularly updates us with her latest piece. Another lady, her sister who had tragedy in her life only writes about pleasant things now. She does not want to visit the past.

Someone else is writing a mystery. She loves all things crime history, horror and dark events. The discussions often become quite philosophical. 
View of the square from the other end. Upstairs are ritzy apartments.
Downstairs are all of the coffee shops.  The sun is quite low in late
afternoon as it is winter here.

We recently wrote on the topic of children. Two of us are childless by choice. The others are not and dote on their grandchildren now. That was an interesting discussion.  One woman who has children wishes his life was cut short.  If she had known how depressed and unhappy he would have been she would not have had him.  Topics come out of left field much of the time. I love the perspectives of the older women. I love their integrity, kindness and devotion to whatever they are doing at the time. They are the best role models I have ever had in my life. 

Grizzy waiting for me to begin my new book last night.
He likes to watch me read.
After the group meets we adjourn to one of the coffee shops in the square to continue our discussions.  Then we are not focused too much on the form and content of the writing but the discussion of the philosophy behind it. When the sun is out we sit outdoors and enjoy watching people enjoy the central fountain.  When it is cold we go inside and ask the management to please turn down the music as many are hearing impaired and cannot hear the conversation when it is on. The owners do so happily. It is very beautiful in the square.  I always go home buoyed and look forward to getting back to my desk.  

As an older person myself I love the stimulation to my brain. I need all the help I can get on some days. I am sure some of you understand.  What do you do to stimulate your brains, besides reading of course. 

My next post will tell you about the book Grizzy and I began last night. We are really enjoying it.






The penguin has a night cap. I have a night cat.

20 comments:

  1. Sounds like a wonderful group. It is so important to be with like minded people who can inspire you. It takes us a long way!

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    1. Truer words were never spoken and that isn't even counting the laughs!

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  2. grammar nazis!! instant recall of being called to the board to parse a sentence, with the teacher waiting expectantly with ruler in hand... sounds like a successful and fun group; one can learn a lot in those kinds of situations. too bad about the "chic" person. it's easy to get kidnapped, when young, by the "now" culture. i think it was Mark Twain who said he didn't think humans really grew up until they were 80. no, it was someone else... can't remember... anyway, glad you weathered the storm, it must have been a real doozy, as we say here in the nw. tx for the interesting and informative post and say hello to the kitties...

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    1. I had not heard of 'parse'. Looked it up. We diagrammed sentences not parsed them. Thank you for the new word. I am sure both blackboard tasks were equally harrowing.

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  3. There's nothing worse than a judgemental bookseller. I'd stay away too.

    I hope to visit Salamanca markets one day....

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    1. If you visit I will be more than happy to show you around. Would be fun and I can point out that silly woman in the book shop. Haha

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    2. If you visit I will be more than happy to show you around. Would be fun and I can point out that silly woman in the book shop. Haha

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  4. I can't believe the woman in the bookshop makes derogatory comments about her customers' choices - that is terrible. At the Oxfam shop where I volunteer we are just happy that people buy books, even if we don't like those books. We're happy if they are happy, and everyone has different tastes and we respect that. But we occasionally have literary discussions with some of our regular customers, when each of us tries to tell the other about the merits of a book they may lot like, and we end up agreeing to disagree! My Snapshot is at https://thebooktrunkblog.wordpress.com/

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    1. Some people just don't get it. I always give rudeness a wide berth. Thanks for stopping by Christine.

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  5. What fun! I really love that secondhand bookshop....and going home to kitty. Thanks for sharing, and here's MY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT POST

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    1. Thanks for that Laurel. Going home to three kitties is always an adventure. Thanks for stopping by.

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  6. So sad that the floods took lives. I think I'd stay away from that bookshop too! With her attitude I'm surprised it's still open.

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    1. Yes, the floods were sad. There is too much sadness in the world which is why we need to always try to see good things in each day. Good to hear from you Vicki.

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  7. You are truly blessed to have such a group!

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    1. Yes, I don't ever forget it either. We have lots of fun.

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  8. Your writing group sounds lovely. I've been to Salamanca markets a few years ago. I think I went to that bookshop around the corner, but can't remember if I bought anything (although it seems highly likely- I was in a bookshop after all). I didn't find Deja Vu though, I'll have to get to it when I visit Hobart next (currently unplanned and unlikely, but one can always hope).

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  9. It's always interesting and informative when you get a group of people together on the same topic! Sounds like a great group!

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    1. Yes it is. We have some interesting times for sure.

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  10. I have had this open in a tab on my laptop for a couple of weeks, and have only just found time to read it. Hopeless, hopeless! And, it's a great post. Having a mother who went to school in the 1930s and 40s (she was born in 1929) I know about grammar nazis. Actually, I know about them closer to home too, because hubby born in the early 50s claims to have passed English through his schooling on grammar. That plus his German studies over the years have made sure that his grammar is excellent too. Trouble is, he's not always comfortable about breaking rules and that's one of the pleasures of knowing them - knowing when you can break them.

    Loved your discussion of women and children. Such honesty. I am not one of those who believes you must have children - and I am not now hankering for grandchildren. Of course it would be nice, I'm sure, if they came along but life has so many wonderful things to do - and children do bring pain as well as pleasure.

    So, what are you writing? (I hope you didn't say and I missed it?). I can understand the buzz you have after such a group. I get that frequently from my reading group - different I'm sure - but I think I can understand some of your feeling.

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  11. I am not a serious writer.I prefer reading to writing. We have topics we choose most weeks and we write short pieces. I like to write memoirs of the funny things we did as kids in the 50s. Much like Bill Bryson. The memories and stories still make me laugh. It is just such a lovely group that it is nice to attend.

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