make my week - sashiko

A new skill I was taught at the CWA (country women's association!!! I know! in the city though so okay for me!)

This is a Japanese style of stitching that is all about precision, which I of course have not demonstrated. In the real version one should have exactly the same number of stitches for every inch and at points where stitches meet or cross there are strict rules for that too.

The CWA ladies were impressed with my speed - which I pointed out was due to my blatant disregard for the rules (which was what I was supposed to be learning!).

So perhaps I haven't really learnt or done sashiko, but you can follow the look rather than the law - as I have done - right?

I love the blue and white together. Another time (when it's finished) I'll show you the quilt I am going to make around them.

 and I am here


love you more than a slap dash approach (to stitching and photography!) xxx

What We're Reading - Rescue on Nim's Island

Thanks to Allen and Unwin for this review copy. My boys loved having this story read to them - it was our first discovery of Nim and her island but we have since discovered there are more of them and a movie too!

The more we got into it the more I was begged for 'another chapter puuuuulllleeease!' Which I almost never resist and led to an hour and half reading marathon towards the end of this book.

The wonderful author Wendy Orr agreed to answers some questions for us. Of course when you ask an 8 year old and a 5 year old what questions they want to ask the author you are opening the door somewhat!

These were the questions we sent and the responses we got back.

Bounce -

Have you ever ridden on a sea lion?

What does a sea lion's fur feel like?

Wendy sent this gorgeous photo in answer to these rather funny questions!

Flip- 

Was the cake actually poisoned? What with?

It was actually poisoned. They used juice from rhubarb leaves, because that makes you very sick but probably wouldn't kill you.

Why was there a passage where Tiffany's foot got stuck?

Why was the hole joined to the bat's cave?

All the passages, tunnels and caves were formed in the mountain by water dripping or running through the limestone rock, and gradually dissolving it, so that bigger passages, tunnels and caves were formed. Of course this took many thousands of years! Also, any small earthquakes or rumbling through the mountain when the volcano erupted made new faults and cracks, so the water dripped down those and continued to erode the new holes in the tunnel or passage.

Wendy also sent through some links to websites about cave formations etc.

My questions - 

As an author how vivid is the setting of Nim's Island for you and it is based mainly on imagination or travel/photos etc?

It’s extremely vivid. It comes mostly from my imagination but of course my imagination is fed from scenes that I’ve seen myself, seen pictures of, or even just imagined from books. However I also have to actively plan it so that different parts of the island make sense with each other, so I draw a lot of maps.  For this book, I also added the pool with the cliffs and bat cave, that were filmed in Return to Nim’s Island. I used pictures from the film, and photographs of the real site (the Natural Bridge in Mt Tamborine.) I placed this in the middle of the rain forest, and to make sure it made sense in every direction, with the tunnels and caves through it, I made a 3 d model – ie, a huge map, covering mixing bowls and vases, that filled up my dining table for a few weeks!

the 3-d model

Do you have plans for further Nim's Island books?

Not at the moment. I’ve just become involved with a very different girl who’s been waiting patiently for several years.

We see that there has been a movie made from your earlier Nim tales - as an author what were the highlights and challenges of seeing your work translated into a new genre?

The two films, Nim’s Island, starring Jodie Foster, Abigail Breslin and Gerard Butler, and then Return to Nim’s Island, based on Nim at Sea, starring Bindi Irwin, Toby Wallace, John Waters and Matthew Lillard, were very different as far as how closely they stuck to the book, but they were both fantastic experiences. At all times I was aware of the respect for the story, and understood the logic when things had to change to be successfully translated to film.

One of the main highlights of being offered a film contract is simply knowing that someone cares about your story enough to invest years of their lives in it. However nothing compares with the first moment of seeing your characters and their story come to life on a giant screen. It is unbelievably moving. The only thing I can compare it to is seeing one of your children doing something extraordinary, and thinking, ‘How did this amazing person come from me?’

And of course having ticker tape blown down Hollywood Boulevard, and walking the red carpet of Graumann’s Chinese Theatre was quite fun too!  

How long does it take you from idea to completed manuscript and then how long again from acceptance to book in hand?

Often I keep ideas in my head for many years before I actually start writing them, but from start to finish of the manuscript is usually about a year for a Nim book. Because I’m working with the same publisher and editor, the editing starts during that time, but the main editing would be for several months after I’m finished. In this case it was about 5 months, and the book appeared a month after my last read-through and changes with the copy editor.

Thank you so much Wendy for answering our questions. We so enjoyed reading Rescue on Nim's Island and would recommend it to anyone who wants a fantastic outdoorsy tale where there are a good range of characters and solid values.

Details - Allen and Unwin July 2014, RRP $14.99 also available as an ebook.

love you more than a strange question delicately answered xxx

Hello Yellow

So I organised my first ever swap a while ago and had fun putting names together except when it came to mine.

As the swap was anonymous (until receiving) I felt bad for whoever got me.

Turns out I was the lucky one! Leonie from Kiwi at Heart got the short straw and received me to give to.

With the slowness of post I think her hopes were dwindling that my parcel was ever going to arrive, but lo and behold it arrived yesterday.

Hello Yellow!!

Leonie chose yellow and absolutely crammed my box with yellow treats  of all kinds. I unwrapped them with my boys who duly ohh-ed and ahh-ed over each item.

There is so much it's hard to know where to start so I hope the pictures will tell the proper story. We used the new washi tape immediately to hang up this delicious rainbow garland.

We had to have toast straight away as well and Bounce said, 'Things like that, (toast) that have smiley faces really want to get eaten.' So cute.

I love the patterns that Leonie sent too, which came from the previous owner of their house - so me!

Then there was a Mother Teresa quote magnet, a bible verse magnet, handmade cotton dishcloth, stationery treats and yummy kiwi foodie treats too.

I'm sure I haven't even described each item properly but I was truly thrilled and delighted by my warm yellow colour hug. Thanks so much to Leonie and to each of the swap participants who invested such beautiful time and thought into their parcels.

love you more than an inspiring quote xxx

Learning Together - Out of Sight, Out of Mind

So this isn't an activity so much as an encouragement about how things look at your place.

How about setting up a library for the day? We have, so many picture books but we can go too long without picking them up because they are out of sight. (We had a lot more in NZ and just brought a few over but I've added to the collection here - review books, new books, second hand - everything is welcome in our collection).

The books are kept carefully in a bookshelf, but the appeal in them, the invitation in them is in their visual-in-your-face-ness. Point in fact, the library books (which all sit in a shelf together because I can't bear having to find them from everywhere else) largely ignored. I got them out to return something and they were in a stack by the shoes - suddenly they are being flicked through and laughed over together.

So, how about for a day, week, forever - you put some inviting stacks of well loved books that have been out of sight - in sight. Pile them up on coffee tables, display a couple on the end of the dining table, how about a couple on the pillow? - any places that will catch the eye and remind you all to down tools and read together.

I set this stack up one night when the boys were sleeping and the next morning Bounce said to me, 'mama it's a book pool.' Since then they have been picked up, read, practiced on, flicked through and in use - win. :o)

I personally love the idea of displaying picture books in guttering attached to the walls but I think the landlord may not approve here... In my opinion we are never too old for picture books The Atlas will still spend an evening laughing aloud while immersed in Calvin and Hobbes and I have many old friends I return to again and again.

As a variation on this we also have had the revolving book bucket in our house.

You could also do the same with some card games - when the kids get home they may discover a stack of these on the table and a challenge to pick one and challenge a family member.

Don't discount picture books as great reading material - they can have complex concepts, great language features and complex visual language which is also an important 'reading' skill. Older children can delight younger children with reading these to them (all reading is good reading!) and they can also identify words from their own sight words/spelling words lists in the book.

Of course if they are really well known you can think about expression or even a 'can you remember the next line?' competition - get everyone's brain working!

Learning Together a series for primary aged children and their parents - activities that break up homework monotony, promote skills and create positive experiences together.

love you more than a book reading marathon xxx 

28/52

During a little chefs class at the local market - oh so sweet and focussed.

love you more than Moroccan Soup xxx

On Being Accidentally Nonchalant

So it's Friday and The Atlas managed to get an afternoon off and we went to the central markets for lunch - with everyone else in Adelaide.

So the tables are scarce

and there is a man sitting eating on his own with 4 empty chairs around him

and The Atlas is suggesting we just go out and sit on a bench somewhere together but I want a table

so I wander over to the man and smile politely

'would you mind if we join you at your table?'

'not at all he smiles, I'm almost finished'

'oh don't let us scare you off,' I laugh. we all sit down around him and smile politely, saying our thank yous.

He makes a cute comment to Bounce about the size of his hot dog, finishes his mouthful and leaves. We thank him again and get on with the mess of consuming hotdogs.

Another market eater comes up and asks us how we knew that man.... we didn't we say, we just asked to share his table. The man gushes that was actually Charles Dance - although he could only remember his GoT name - Tywin Lannister (I think he was working up courage to go over and say hi, ask for an autograph, photo.... when we joined him and he thought we must have been family!).

Turns out friendly, polite man is also Game of Thrones actor Charles Dance and in Adelaide for the filming of Gallipoli.

So we were totally nonchalant and barged in on his table. Oops. You know us kiwis quite happy to share a table with anyone. If we were more hip and up with pop culture we might have known that ourselves - ahh well you can't win them all!

love you more than celebrity spotting xxxx

Double the Fun

As we know life sometimes throws a curve ball and renders us unable to complete things we wanted to. One of the lovely swappers in the colour swap had one of those sucky situations so I had the fun of taking on her partner too.

Lovely Lauren had blue as one of her favourite colours so I had some fun collecting bits and pieces with her in mind. Lauren strikes me as someone who is very organised so I went with that kind of theme - chalkboard stickers, pens and a super set of post it style pieces.

I did some more making as well.

Even better Lauren's parcel arrived on a day when she was a little glum - don't you love that sort of timing?

She blogged about it over here. Hopefully the post fairy will have done her work on most of you by now or she will arrive soon. Do take a moment to flick your partner an email I'm sure they'll be holding their breath until they know it landed.

love you more than a parcel in the post xxx