My Interests:

My interests include chatting on my computer with all my wonderful friends around the world, playing trivia quizzes on the internet, music (listening not performing), reading, gardening, home renovation & garden remodelling programmes on TV, designing my own jewellery and Cashies Crawling - for those of you not familiar with that term - Cashies is Cash Coverters - a chain of pawn shops which abound in Australia and are also, I believe, spread worldwide.

I have a 'thing' for jewellery - diamonds in particular - and occasionally have a tour around the chosen Cash Converters of the day, looking for bargains which I then have remodelled by a local jeweller who is very open to different ideas and designs.  I have bought quite a few old fashioned rings with fairly good stones, and now have a collection of rather original and unique rings and other items of jewellery, most of which have cost me very little compared with prices in regular jewellery stores.

I was introduced by my "internet sister" Carol, to Jewellery Auction sites on the net and have become addicted to two in particular, Bidz and eBay (see links on first page), which allow me to indulge my passion for beautiful jewellery.  Hubby remonstrates with me occasionally, reminding me that I only wear rings on four of my ten fingers, but he's happy to let me 'treat myself' from time to time and increase the 'collection'.

My taste in music is a tad varied.  I enjoy most classical music, some opera, but I also like a lot of ballads and rock, preferring the older stuff released during the 60s to 80s.  I tend to be drawn to songs that have an 'emotional feel' about them, where the artist gives his or her all, but of course, the melody itself is very important to me - if it doesn't 'touch me' it doesn't get into my play lists,

My preferred reading matter runs to Sci Fi, Fantasy, Ancient History or good fiction.  One of my favourite authors is Anne McCaffrey, who is responsible for the wonderful Pern Series, among others.  Some of my other favourites include Marion Zimmer Bradley, Barbara Erskine, Diana Gabaldon and Mercedes Lackey together with Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Larry Niven and his long term writing partner, Jerry Pournelle. 

I also enjoy reading about ancient civilisations like the Incas, Mayans, Aztecs, Egyptians - even the fabled Atlanteans and have several books by Colin Wilson, Adrian Gilbert, Maurice Cotterell, Robert Bauval and Graham Hancock on these subjects.  Alastair McLean, Jack Higgins, Colin Falconer (a local Western Australian author) and Ken Follett are also writers whose books I thoroughly enjoy.  I am also an ardent fan of Dan Brown's writing and am eagerly awaiting the release of his next novel.

I am a spasmodic gardener - mainly because I feel guilty spending time outside in the garden when there are always household chores indoors that require attention.  I feel like I am 'slacking' if I go outside to do gardening as I don't consider it work.  My husband and I are currently in the midst of remodelling the garden and renovating our home, but as he works away a lot, it's sometimes difficult for me to get the jobs done on my own, particularly the heavy ones.  In 2006 I joined a great bunch of folks who formed an International Gardening Buddies Group, and we all try to combine knowledge and expertise in our attempts to develop a beautiful garden.