Something Old, Something New discussion

Thanks Todd. Same to you. :)

So for the last couple of weeks I have been slowly moving all of my bookcases and books into the new office we have converted our garage into so that the old 'office' can become my son's new bedroom.
Wow, it's such a huge job and is probably taking me twice as long as it should because I am getting caught up in rediscovering a lot of books that I totally forgot I had.
It's been a little bit heartbreaking too because that old room is on the side of our house that doesn't get any sun so there was so much mould built up on a lot of my books and inside the bookcases that I didn't realise was practically ruining them all. It's such a shame as I've had so many of these books for over 25 years and to see them getting that awful yellow tinge on their pages now is just sad :-(
At least it's given me a great opportunity to clean them all up and refresh the way I had them all arranged on the shelves.

Michelle, like you, I've owned some of my books for many years and would be distressed if they got damaged. Over the years, I've passed on many more my books so that now, I only have a couple of shelves of the really special ones. I had to ask myself why I was saving them. I try to keep the ones that have a sentimental connection or that I believe I will read again or refer to for inspiration in my writing, and put the rest back into "circulation"

I do wonder why I am keeping some of them but I am hopeful that one day I might get enough time to do a re-read of some old favourites. Most of my special ones are large collections by an author such as Stephen King, Dean Koontz and James Patterson that have taken me years and years to collate. I keep those because I get a simple joy just by looking at them all lined up together on my shelves.
I'm also hopeful that I will be able to get my husband interested in reading a bit more one day and they would be a nice collection to pass down to my kids.

So has anyone else been affected by the storms in NSW this week?

We had a horrible couple of days with no electricity but luckily that was the only direct impact on our house. Some other people in our area were not so fortunate.

I never realised how much you take simple everyday things for granted like boiling a kettle and turning on a light when you don't have it. It was like the camping trip from hell for two whole days until our power came back on and trying to keep a 4 year old amused in those circumstances was not fun at all!

Some of our friends are still without power 4 days on and may not be getting any back until early next week depending on where they are. I really hope we don't see weather like that again for a very long time!

Wow! I have just noticed that our group has hit 101 members!
So, where are you all?
It would be so good to have some of you new members introduce yourself and start commenting on any of the discussions.
This group can only be as good as the participation of its members :-)

Ok guys, I have a huge apology to give everyone for being completely AWOL in this group lately and letting it fall behind.
I finally had my new bub on Monday and for the few weeks prior to that I was really unwell so couldn't do much at all except the necessities.
Hopefully now I can get back on track as we all settle down into our new routines and keep on top of things a bit better!