Storytime

It's school holidays. A lot of folks will be enjoying this time spent with their little (and not so little) ones. Whether the whole two weeks or a few days snatched here and there. For some of us we work through and for those in library land, the holidays are full on  busy. For the holidays we always have special programs. And these are no different, and for the first time I ran a Tinies Dance and Play session. We had bubble wrap (LOVED walking and rolling on this), hula hoops, balloons, beach balls, toys and bubbles. We had music and songs and much much laughter. It was amazing to see how much the toddlers (and mums...one dad and three grandparents...)enjoyed themselves. For a lot of people we think of libraries of being full of books. And they are. We associate any program run by libraries to be focused on books. I won't lie, the majority are. But children also learn by play. Especially babies and toddlers. Watching as babies and toddlers tried to catc...

I rarely give up on books. Partly I think, because I realise how hard those damned things are to get published...therefore a LOT of people have had faith in the work. Believed in it so much that it was in fact put out in print. But last night, after half way through, I just couldn't go on. I had no idea what the story was about. There were generations involved..okay....there was some time slipping into various unknown universes, perhaps parallel...who knows. But then there was this thing, well actually two of them and they lived in this place.  As you can tell I had NO IDEA WHATSOEVER what was going on. Perhaps I was reading too much into it  reading it wrong. But how can you? Surely it's up to the writer to take me, the reader, on a journey. Last weekend my girl turned 30 (do children know that the older they get, the older it makes us!). For her shindig she wanted a relaxed boho Moroccan inspired event. Relaxed...with my girl this means spreadsheets and days, wee...

On the weekend, hubby and I did a cheese making course. A beginners one. On the day we made some Greek style yoghurt, mascarpone and feta. It was interesting learning about this art...or is it a craft? Which ever it is, there is definitely a talent involved. And sometimes, a lot of luck. You begin with the same ingredient...milk. That is the one integral ingredient. Then you add some bacteria, some culture and rennet. Add some heat, or a lot of heat. Before you know it you have curds and whey. And no matter how strictly you follow the instructions the end product will vary. Sometimes only a little, sometimes a lot. It all depends on the day you make your cheese...too hot, too cold. Too moist and damp, too humid? Did another type of bacteria enter during the process? Were you too active in cutting the curds (yes that was a term used)? And of course it all depends on the season when the cows were milked ...too much grass, too little. I never knew that so much could affect ...

I've mentioned before that one of my childhood memories is Dad reading fairytales to us kids. They were from this big book of Grimm's Fairytales (wonder where that book went?) and they were the traditional style tales. Full of cutting feet to fit into shoes and people being killed. We would take turns whose room we were in when these stories were read, and many a night my sister and I would RUN from the boy's room and jump into our beds at the end of a story session. Too afraid of what...or who...was in the dark waiting for us. But the point I'm making is, that this is one of my strongest childhood memories (we'll talk about fishing and mushrooming and caravanning another time). I have quite a few dads that join us for Tinies Time, some with mum, even a few grandfathers that come along to our sessions. Two fathers come every second week, sit in 'Dad's corner' as they've named it, with their two little boys. They sing, not that loud, but they ...