Top Ten Tuesday – The Collected Works of Elza Reads

Posted November 3, 2020 by elzaread in Top Ten Tuesday / 44 Comments

 Greetings all you beautiful human beings! I am so excited about today’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt. Today we get to share all the stuff we do that are non-bookish. Let’s get to know each other! What do you do that does not involve books or reading? Don’t you just feel like breaking out in song – “Getting to know you, getting to like you….”? If you are anything like my Daddy, you cringe now. But if you are like me or my Mommy, you will most probably watch The King and I tonight. 

Yes, all of us here on the Bookish Blogosphere live and breath books. But we are so much more than just the books we read – we are all a collected work, just like The collected works of A.J. Fikry. I love that. So let’s have a look at what the content is of my and my Mommy’s collected works. 

1. Educating children to lead the generations of tomorrow

This heading is the motto of the school where my Mommy works. Yes, maybe work isn’t a hobby. But if you love your job as much as my Mommy, it’s more than a job or a hobby. She’s a teacher/librarian and although we miss her so much during the day, she normally comes home with a contented smile. We have visited of course. Stinkie went to school with Mommy for a whole week after his accident (you can see him on the photo with the kids on the staircase. They took such good care of him). I was only there for one day, apparently I am too distracting. The price of beauty and adorableness…

2. Ballet/Barre 

Please make sure that you read ‘barre’ with the added ‘r’ and ‘e’. Otherwise you might think my Mommy goes to the bar after school. Twice weekly, my Mommy attends a ballet barre class. She’s not the world’s most gracious dancer, but it is good exercise and helps her to stay in shape. Sort of. During the Lock Down period, these classes continued via Zoom. I loved participating and tried to do everything with her. Think I did a much better job than she did. She is more like the girl on the right. 
3. EARTH without ART, is just EH

Once a week, my Mommy attends an art class. It’s presented by the art and play therapist at school and I believe that is exactly what they do there. Even as an adult, you need to play a bit and we all need therapy in some or other form. I used to go with when I could still fit in the basket, but now Teacher Wendy’s dogs think I am the entertainment for the night, so I rather stay at home and wait for Mommy to bring back the pretty paintings. 
Being the Domestic Goddess:

4. Cooking and Baking
5. Knitting
6. Gardening

As I am sure most of you are well aware, no household runs itself. Might as well enjoy it and turn it into a hobby or two. I guess my Mommy is kind of a good cook, because Daddy always says her food are better than any restaurant and they never order take-aways. I know that she doesn’t always enjoy cooking, but she loves to bake. Daddy has a very big sweet-tooth and apparently there is a saying that the path to a man’s heart is through his stomach. What a silly expression. But there usually is something nice and sweet for Daddy in the fridge or the cupboard. 
Mommy also loves knitting, as long as it’s an easy enough pattern. If you have any nice and easy ones, please send it to us! We all love spending time in the garden. When they moved to Jeffreys Bay 3 years ago, there was an extra van just for all my Mommy’s plants that she couldn’t leave behind. 
7. Playing house-house 

Holidays and weekends are for decorating and moving things around. My Mommy has this wonderful friend who is an amazing Artist and Interior Decorator. Our house is oldish with big rooms and lots of space. This house is better than The Never Ending Story. There is always some new idea Mommy and Elaine wants to try. We have a hallway with a painted photo-tree and a kitchen with a seriously red wall. The best feature of all, we have a bookish staircase! I love that staircase. I run up and down it about 100 times per day. 
8. Diamond-Dot-Painting

I can’t wait to see if anybody else does this? Gosh this is fun! Especially if I manage to tip that little container with all the drills in. Mommy has completed a few of these already and if you love some sparkle in your life, do get yourself a kit or two. It’s rather time consuming yes, but it really is very relaxing and the end results are always beautiful. 
9. Querkles

What a quirky word, but don’t be fooled. These coloring books are anything but quirky. They are the greatest coloring books every designed. My Mommy has them all and they provide hours of fun. The results are always gorgeous. You don’t have to be artistic at all for these. The trickiest part is selecting your 5 colors. And when you become a bit more skilled, you can work with different sets of 5 colors for a completely different design. 
10. The Games people play 

Daddy plays a lot of computer games. Especially over weekends. This is our bonding time. You know that staircase I talked about? I would run down it, jump on Daddy’s lap, push a few buttons on the keyboard and start moving things around on his desk. He then picks me up, carries me back up the staircase and dumps me in Mommy’s lap. And then the game starts all over again. It’s the greatest fun ever! Mommy doesn’t play any games on the computer or even her cellphone. She just reads. Both of them love board games however. Cluedo, Rummikub, 30 Seconds, Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit and I can’t think of what else. They normally take a couple of board games with when they go on holiday. If they play with friends at home, I get locked up in the bedroom. Yes, you can phone the SPCA. I also see it as animal cruelty. I can really be an asset to the game, if they only let me play. 
Do you think you know me and my Mommy a bit better now? I’m sure you’ve loved me from the first glance. A big thank you to Jenna @ That Artsy Reader Girl for always hosting TTT with such fun and clever prompts. 
So what can you tell me about yourself? 
Lots of Love,

Elza 


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44 responses to “Top Ten Tuesday – The Collected Works of Elza Reads

  1. whoah this blog is wonderful i really like reading your articles. Keep up the great paintings! You realize, a lot of people are hunting round for this info, you could help them greatly.

  2. I have read so many posts about the blogger lovers however this post is really a good piece of writing, keep it up

    • I also love my bookish staircase! We've done quite a bit of renovations in and on our house, but the staircase is by far my favorite!

      I've skipped the barre class this morning to finish my book….

  3. *Most* of the time I enjoy baking. Depends on whether or not what I'm baking turns out. 😉 Thanks so much for the Finding Wonderland visit.

    • That's very true Rissi! There are only a few things more horrible than baking for hours and then it's a complete flop. I once baked a whole cake with icing sugar instead of flour. It wasn't a complete flop, but not a cake at all….

    • Hi Dedra! I only saw now that I've missed a couple of comments. How dreadfully rude of me. Querkles are the greatest of fun! I need to do another one real soon or I might forget how to…!

  4. Omg your house! Those stairs, that wall, ah may zing!!

    Liquorice all sorts on a cake, I swear we must have been related in a past life! My mother in law loves diamond dots, I’ve never tried as I probably lose the dots, she has got me enjoying making rag wreaths which are great fun.

    • Heather!!! I won't be surprised if there isn't an ancestral line somewhere. Even my hair… Not red, but strawberry blond.

      I have lost one packet of dots once and I have a wooden floor…. They all went hiding in the little slits. No I keep all my packets nicely closed when I work.

      So glad you could stop by!

  5. I love the design of your blog! It's so bright and cute.
    I also tried diamond painting a few months ago, and I got obsessed with it but as I was planning to buy more pieces to do, I switched jobs so I didn't have time for other activities.

    • Hi there Abigail! Thank you so much! I love this blog, Elza's "voice" really is a lovely escape from reality and I'm glad you enjoy it.

      I also don't have enough time to do my Diamond Painting, I have about 5 in the cupboard at the moment, but no time to start…!

  6. Oh Elza, you are a riot! I loved getting to know you better through this post. You and Mommy are super creative. I loved looking at your art work. Those Querkles caught my attention. I just started doing some coloring and enjoying it.

    • Hi there Laura! What a lovely compliment! I appreciate it so much. I love this blog and it really is a great escape from reality. I love Elza's "quirky" voice.

      Querkles are great fun and really easy to do!

      Thanks for visiting us Laura.

    • Wha ha ha!! I believe most men are like that… Depending on what we play though. My husband is HORRIBLE with Scrabble and then he always wants to argue with me.

      Thanks for stopping by!

  7. We have a lot in common. Love reading, baking, playing games, doing art, and I am a retired teacher. Education is a passion of mine as well. Never heard of querkles but the pieces shared are lovely. Love to play scrabble, trivial pursuit, scattegories, cribbage, euchre.

    • They are a lot of fun, Cindy. You must Google Thomas Pavitte. He has a few fun activities. Querkles, Spyroglyphics, Dot-to-dot… Lots of fun! But can be addictive. Beware!!

    • Hi Debs! So glad you enjoyed it! I loved typing this post. Elza was lying here the whole time as well (for a change, she's a real teenager at this stage).

      I love the barre class. I actually took a full-on ballet class about 3 years ago for 2 years. Loved it. Never looked better!! LOL!! But with my school work, I can't get an adult class with hours that will work. So I do the Barre class.

    • Hi there Deanna! I have made one into a tray and I am busy with another one. I've framed two of the partial prints and they look STUNNING!!

      Very relaxing hobby.

      Thanks for stopping by!

  8. Oh I'll bet Stinkie had fun at school! And "goes to the bar after school" that made me laugh. 🙂

    That bookish staircase (and the tree) are awesome!!!!!

  9. I dragged my sister to one barre class and our feet hurt so much afterward, she refused to go back! I went to a couple of more but the place I went was pretty far off my path between work and home so I gave it up.

    I've never heard of Querkles or Diamond Dot Painting but they look like fun!

    I wanted to do a tree with family pictures on one wall at home but we never got around to doing it and now we're renting out that house while we're traveling. I didn't have a staircase but I was dying to do the book stairs. Yours all look great! I love your barn door too.

    We do have quite a lot in common!

    • We sure do Jen and that is why we also enjoy chatting to each other. The Barre classes can sometimes be a bit tough, but I still enjoy it!

      I love my photo tree and constantly add new photos. I have a little Instax mini and those photos are just perfect for the wall.

      Save travels!