Some finished Knits to Show

This my little girl wearing her Anouk, a pattern from Knitty. It was knit out of a cotton/bamboo blend. But I can't remember which. I made this while she was still in the tummy. It was the smallest size, but I made it a bit longer.

The front, little poser!



This one is my most recent FO, it is the One Skein Wonder Shrug from Glampyre Knits. I used Cleckheaton Country Naturals and the smallest size. It is going to stretch I think, so it will fit for a Looooong time :)

PLEASE NOTE: THE CAMERA WAS ON ZOOM

See that tiny red dot in the distance, barely! We were busy putting the baby shoes, onto baby feet and my son said he was just going to have a little look at the grapes. we realised they were a long way away and so said, sure just go down the hill a little way and come back (We were going to visit a local winery) and when we called out he didn't answer! My heart sunk in my chest and I ran so fast I probably looked like an athlete! (Ha! I wish) And he had gotten 1/2 a kilometer away in the time it took me to lace her shoes.

Isn't that a scary thought!

To Game or Not to game...

I was just reading a post on Happy Families blog about whether to let kids have gaming consoles, or not. I find this really interesting, as we have recently gotten a Nintendo Wii.

I am not in favour of defending gaming simply because I have allowed my child to play, but because I find the topic really interesting.


Imaginative play is important, the most important sort of play that children need. But a balance between imaginative play and electronic play is still healthy, in my opinion.



Every generation feels nostalgic about the games and toys; the stories and the fantasies of their own childhoods. I certainly do; She-Ra dolls and Strawberry Shortcake, skipping ropes and elastics. But play needs to include popular culture as well, to prepare children for the world ahead of them. I think that the conventions of gaming play are as important today, as the conventions of family storytelling around the fire was, pre-television and radio. While we do sit around, as a family, and read aloud often -we also go hell for leather on the Wii sports games, and slouch in front of the T.V on cold winter days with popcorn.

I don't think that we have really found the balance yet, we still have dramas about the amount of time allowed on the games machine and computer, but on the other hand he has begun to understand some of the conventions of fantasy gaming. I say fantasy gaming, because I think that adventure and world play is more constructive for kids than 'kill 'em and smash 'em' games (although I do let him play these on occasion too) He will search through the landscape for objects before moving into a new landscape and try different objects through the worlds - summing up for me what he thinks will happen and what he needs to find to activate the next part of the game. Wall-e has been quite a good one - it has lots of puzzle and problem solving tasks. He is learning the game terminology, and about caring for disks and electronic equipment and even about using menus to save games and change chapters.


Popular culture is filled with the skills and lessons that a child of the period needs for their life. So, we have chosen to go for a balance - it is sometime fraught with tears and tantrums when mummy says no games machine right now. But I think, in the end it has been worth it.

A little bit of good news....for me

Much to my delight, my little girl has decided that she likes sleeping in her own bed. A blessing for my back; which has been feeling rather crooked of late. All of a sudden, at 14 months, she has begun to sleep quite happily for two hours each afternoon as well! Quite amazing!!

While I feel ready, to now separate from her during the night, I am often surprised at how opinionated other parents are about the choices that mothers and fathers make about other children's bedtime routines.

I feel strongly that 'freedom of choice' is of paramount importance; and how long a baby shares the parental bed is a very personal and individual choice. I understand why people feel strongly about it though, ones sleep is crucial and I know quite well how exhausting little ones can be. But that shouldn't negate 'my' choice to have baby in my bed, if that is what I feel is best for baby and me.

For the first three months of her life, she slept lying on my chest all night. And no! She didn't fall off, I didn't squash her and I didn't wake up tired and sleep deprived. I loved it, not for everyone

I completely understand; but it was for me and it is a memory that I could not have deprived myself of. All of the little things; her sweet milky scent, her tiny snuffling noises and her cheeks like the slightly fluffy skin of a warm, squashy peach.

I daresay that I will not be sending her back during the night when she wakes for her 2am milk. In fact, I have - as I am typing at this very moment, one perfect little foot resting on the side of my laptop...but at least we have made the first steps toward bedtime independence: that’s a good thing.

An Epiphany...

A PHOTO I TOOK RECENTLY AT THE ILLAWARRA FLY.

NB: HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH POST, POSTED FOR AESTHETIC PURPOSES ONLY.

Sometimes I feel like I'm doing the wrong thing by my characters.

I change tack while I am writing and try to move the storyline in a different direction to avoid my character having to suffer.

But I think this is the mistake I have been making over and over.

It isn't my job to protect them. It is my job to let the story evolve without judgement - (my role of course depends whose point/s of view the story is coming from)

And so those 'safe' novels get dumped. Booted out into the 'major problem basket'. But this novel I started a month ago is NOT safe - And it is working out so much better. I am already up to 5000 words.

Some of the short stories I have written, I have been less worried about protecting my characters. And some of them, I think might be worth sending away....

One of my characters (although not the main character) that I am currently working on, has experienced a great loss. And I find the writing sometimes exhausting and really difficult emotionally - I think I have been protecting myself from that with other pieces I have written. While I feel 'good' about this epiphany, I also feel a bit annoyed that it has taken me 4 lots of 20,000 or 30,000 words and buckets full of bits a pieces, to work it out.

A Meme .... Can't remember where I pinched it from!

My unread Blog lines list is enormous!!!! So I have no idea who I pinched this from,
but it seemed a snazzy little meme, so here goes....


Make a list of things you can see without getting up:
1) The laptop
2) The fan, the air conditioner is broken aragggg
3) My sleeping baby


What were you like when you were five?
Goodness, that is a stretch. My twin and I were serious Strawberry Shortcake fans!

What color is your bedroom?
Boring cream I have to admit, but the cedar blinds are nice.


What was the last thing you bought?
Japanese take away, my son who refuses to eat his vegetables is happy to down a dozen cucumber sushi (no fish) rolls wrapped in seaweed, go figure?


What are you listening to right now?
The fan. It is too loud! And my poor little pumpkin has a cough.

What is your favorite color, and has it always been your favorite color?
Army green, I have never really been drawn to this colour before. I have always been a red and black girl, although black will always be my staple wardrobe colour. (it's slimming)

What song are you currently listening to a lot? Jason Mraz - I'm Yours. I love this song, It has been the inspiration for the novel I'm working on and I just listen to it over and over.

If you could have any super power, what would it be? Oh easy, I would be a Vampire - I realise that isn't really a super power, more a creature with super powers, but hell I'm gonna bend the question to suit.

What was the last reality TV show you watched? Oh I'm embarrassed (Americas Next Top Model)

What is your most challenging goal right now? To finish my novel but the end of 2009.

If you could have a house–totally paid for, fully furnished–anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be? It would be a toss up between The Greek Islands or something overlooking a Piazza in Italy, preferably in the middle somewhere.


Favorite vacation spot? That depends on the weather. Winter - has to be mountains, knitting and hot chocolate. Summer - Noosa - a frozen daiquiri, a banana chair and my husband.

What is your favorite children’s book? That is really tough, I have so many! Peepo is right up there and The pimpernel Seed, I have looked everywhere for this book...and can't find it.

Name one thing you just can’t resist no matter how bad it is for you: Fresh marinated curd cheese ( I don't eat dairy by the way) Italian bread rubbed with garlic and sprinkled with sea salt, drizzled with olive oil and lightly grilled. Then more olive oil and Balsamic vinegar to dip, slabs of Parmesan and an ridiculous amount of dark chocolate. I think I might need a midnight snack :)

If you could meet anyone famous - dead or alive - who would it be? Alfred Hitchcock and Edgar Allen Poe.

If you could have any job in the world, what would it be? Gosh, as daggy as is really sounds, I like what I am doing now- being a mum and writing. Except in this daydream I would have more time to write and would be snapped up by a publisher in a wink :)

Right Brain .... Left Brain?

This is really interesting little video.
It is an optical illusion video, that claims to suggest that the viewer is either right or left brain dominant, depending on which direction you see the dancer spinning.
Have a look then scroll down to see what I saw.....



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I saw her spin only left to right, clockwise. Hmmmm, I did Bachelor of Creative Arts at uni in visual arts. and I am very, very bad at maths.
Try as I might I was not able to spin her the other direction.

However, my Network Engineer husband also saw her turn clockwise only.
My Son, 4 and 1/2 years old, saw clockwise too.

Not sure what I think of the claim, but it is interesting.

A POST FOR PINTER...

Harold Pinter passed away on Christmas Eve, this year, 2008.

I was shocked when I heard the news the other night. I have always loved Pinter's plays, and read a few of them at Uni as well.

I saw a student production of 'The Caretaker' at university when I was in my 1st year and it left a huge impression on me. His plays are characterised by awkward, as well as profoundly poignant silences, these absences of character speech were aptly coined "Pinter Pause". They brim with tension and anxiety, making the ordinary seem almost treacherous.

I right this post as my own small tribute to Harold Pinter and the enormous contribution that he has left to the world stage...PAUSE...

Alas... My Word count was an embarrassing 3,586

NaNoWriMo has come and gone, unfortunately it did not sweep me into the winners bucket, and I have no one to blame but myself - and perhaps my children! LOL While I joke, it is true. My son is at preschool three days a week, but my little girt is only 10 months. Writing with little people is really difficult for two reason. Excuses, excuses I hear you say!

But I am going to tell you anyway...

1. The most obvious one is a major lack of time, and a lack of brain clarity.

AND

2. When a small round face looks up at you; gums glistening with chewy dribble, gibberish that makes you melt with pride and eyes lashes to kill for, who isn't going to be distracted?

So, in light of that I have decided to say:

"Oh well"

At least I didn't miss out on my daughters 9th month

I have not given up though! Plod on, I will.....

Research...

My favorite part of writing, beside the actual writing I suppose, is research. But it can also be a huge time devil. What I enjoy the most is creating a character, moulded and shaped by social and historical context. Then there is the puzzle; the character needs to curl themselves around the world within the book, and with the creation of their world, or the world that the invade, comes the research of places; times, ideas, whatever is relevant. What bar was the most popular for the men during the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge? What do squashed bees smell like? How did women in the 1700 hundreds go to the toilet with those huge dresses on? ........


1700's Court Dress

(image from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/h2/h2_C.I.65.13.1a-c.jpg )

NaNoWriMo upate....

With only 7 NaNo days left to go, I am clearly not on my road to victory. November has managed to throw me a few domestic curve balls and a couple of snotty nosed little ones, who are looking spritely and well now, at the end of November:)
Although I feel disappointed that my word count wasn't higher at this point, I have not by any means given up! I still write like the wind whenever time permits.

And I am really enjoying the story as well.

I began fresh for NaNoWriMo, with no preconceived idea at all! At the end of week one I thought - "man this is shit!" Yet I pushed on, past the dialogue that sounded all wrong and that odd switch to 1st person voice in the middle. (Which I was compelled to fix and did shhh) By the second week I realised the word count was unachievable with a wakeful baby in tow, but continued anyway- this week I feel really good about the story. It is falling into place nicely at the moment and ideas a plentiful (touch wood)

42 Words...

LOL I am up to 42 words so far. This is going to be a long month :)
I realise that I am not going to make the word count, but I will do my best. I was too busy playing dollies and little people this morning.... but I still have 8 hours and forty minutes until this day is over, let's see how long baby naps for.

I realise that NaNoRiMo is about getting as many words down on the page as possible until an idea comes full circle. I think this is really going to help my writing, weather what I end up producing is any good or not.

A busy month ahead...

I have decided to take the challenge and put my hand up for NaNoRiMo. (National Novel Writing Month) I realize full well that I will not make the quota of 50,000 words in a month! Hey, you think I'm superwoman, I have two kids! But I will write like a demon anyway. I have some ripe, and hopefully juicy ideas to run with, so NaNoRiMo here I come!