My November

This month has been quite difficult. Work has been very stressful. I've had to say goodbye to two colleagues that I considered friends, so it's been a sad time too. Consequently, I haven't had much time or motivation for making things, however, I made sure to take care of myself by buying some relaxing essential oils and getting another massage. It sounds so decadent, but I get a 65% discount on massages with my health insurance, so the indulgence is more in taking the time for myself rather than the cost.

What I've been playing ...
At the start of the month I went to PAX AUS, a huge computer-gaming and tabletop-gaming expo. I've never been to anything like it before, and it was a real eye-opener. I was amazed by all the people, games, cosplayers and things to do. I was too dazzled to take any photos at the time, but I did buy some games. Most of them were from an Australian indie game design company called Make and Rule. I'm already working on a review!

What I've been watching ...
Towards the end of the month, I started watching a series called British Gardens Through Time. The first episode focussed on Great Dixter. This eclectic garden surrounds a Mediaeval hall renovated in Arts and Crafts style, and was shaped by the diverse tastes of its owners. Roses are juxtaposed with semi-tropical palms, and strictly-shaped topiaries are dotted about an unmowed meadow filled with wild flowers. When the narrator was talking about the meadow section of the garden, I said to Husband, "our lawn is like a meadow!". And the orchard: "we have an orchard, too!". And the section that was designed to look like nothing had been done to it: "our garden looks like nothing has been done to it, too!" I enjoyed it very much and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the series. It's renewed my desire to visit some of the open gardens in Melbourne, and to start making some plans for my own.

{Picture Source}

What I've been reading ...
A strange set of coincidences has led me back to a hobby that I haven't practiced for over 10 years. I started reading a new blog a few weeks ago, and the writer mentioned that she does BookCrossing. Last week, I was Christmas shopping at Melbourne Central and came across the Little Library, which I'd heard of about a year ago and forgotten about. It's a small shop front set aside as a book exchange space. A few days ago, I went op-shopping and found that the shop nearest my work now has a flat rate of $1 for all books.
These discoveries solved all of the issues I'd had with BookCrossing originally, and the reasons why I'd given it up. I was worried that the books would be damaged or discarded -- the Little Library is a safe place to put them for fellow book-minded people. I thought that the books might be discovered by people who didn't understand or weren't interested in trackable books, and their journey wouldn't be logged. The BookCrossing website shows that books are dropped off at the Little Library regularly, so there must be people who are interested in it. And my concerns about not wanting to part with books for financial reasons are solved too -- $1 per item is vastly cheaper than many other hobbies I've looked into!
So, it looks like I'm doing BookCrossing again. Well, as long as I have time to finish reading the books I bought.....

What else I've been doing ...
As I mentioned before, I haven't done very much noteworthy this month, and forgot to write a few things down too, I'm sure. In the end, my list consisted mostly of new computer games (Neko Atsume, SimCity, The Sims) that I started playing after I bought my new ipad mini. I furthered my 101 Things in 1,001 Days List by bathing in rose petals, and experimenting with eating gluten-free.