March 1, 2011 11:01pm

Ok day two of writing practice, again an attempt to write without over thinking or analysing the words. Feeling dead tired at the moment but would like to set aside this time slot daily for writing.

Commented earlier this evening that one of my favourite things growing up was to visit my grandparents house.  Was reading to my nephew at the time, and recalled that I looked forward to their book collection every school holiday. There were kids books and teenage to young adult fiction for all age groups, books that belonged to older cousins, uncles and aunts, books that my mother read in primary school and as a teenager, even books my grandmother read when newlywed at age fifteen.

 My mama’s prized comic book collection of Phantom, Archies, Josie and the Pussycats, Tinitin and Asterix. My mother’s Nancy Drew and Famous Five collection. Mausi was fond of Agatha Christie and PG Wodehouse. Nanu let me read her leather-bound Charles Dickens, Barbara Cartland and Mills and Boons collections. The M&B books were the old-fashioned ones printed in the 50’s or 60’s. There were fabulous older books that I loved as a child, like Noddy (the ones where Big ears and Noddy could share a bed and hot cocoa), Amelia Jane, the Bobbsey Twins, the Secret Seven, the Mallory Towers series and Trixie Belden novels.

There were also many picture books that I read when I was younger, and continued to revisit when older and looking at the artwork or reading to younger siblings. Some of them cannot even recall the names, as they have been lent, lost or misplaced since, but I can remember the story lines and illustrations. There was a picture book about a giraffe with a really sore throat who visits a Hippo doctor in Limpopo to get the correct medication. Another beloved book was about a famous sweet maker, who is able to concoct and construct entire cities with his confectionary.

My daughter was sorting out her books over the weekend into piles; ones she could donate, those she loved and would keep, and others which she would love to share with her cousins. She has just completed primary school, so there are books for toddlers, pre-schoolers, young readers, and novels. The books she wants to keep, we are moving to my mother’s house to add to the collection of our books as children, so the tradition continues with Samarvijay my little 2 year old nephew who will read some of the books his big sister and Mausi’s loved.