Storytime

One of the worst moments when reading a novel, or even a short story, is when you are pulled out of it. It may be because of a word or phrase and you think 'hmmm that so isn't the character..or the setting..or the time period.'  And once you are out of the story, with a touch of disbelief entering the world the author has created, it is so hard to get back in. To once again, trust the writer. And that is what we do, we trust the writer, we are willingly taken on a ride. Taken on a journey. But we have to believe. Have to totally be immersed in this world...whether it is our world right now, or a previous time...whether it's a futuristic or alien world...a fantastical imagination.  The author has to have created something that we willingly enter. This is why making sure you are using the right voice to tell your story is vitally important. The voice for an adult is totally different to that of a child. Everything is seen differently. From what is happening in t...

Another year, another Book Week...another excuse for us all to dress up. Not that many at my work place need an excuse. Frankly a 'It's Friday, dress up day' would suit the majority of us. (except for me, I don't work Fridays). But you get the idea. This year we had some fun celebrating the joy of Book Week.  There was an extravaganza with face painters and stories and scavenger hunts and book making. Each day there have been themes. Friday was Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Saturday, as you can see from the above picture, was anything. Monday and we were Dr Seuss (although I came as Little Red Riding Hood) Tuesday and we were fairies - as yet no group photo but... There were wings. A huge variety of wings. Can I say I had a bad case of wing envy. Some were AMAZING. Bit of a problem when coming too close to people, but they were beautiful. Huge part of Book Week (apart from the chance to have fun dressing up) is to celebrate books. We look at the ...

Lately I've done a lot of thinking and understanding about how I motivate myself. Or don't as I fear is the major factor. Through work we've had the opportunity lately for some workshops to discover what motivates us, and how we set goals. This of course, flows on into our personal life goals and ambitions as well. Not only have we looked at how we are motivated but also our values. Now this won't be a surprise to many but one of my top five values is tradition (it isn't my top value though). Actually one value stands out amongst the others - Universalism. For these particular workshops this equates to having an understanding, appreciation, tolerance and protection for the welfare of all people and for nature. Then the next three values- tradition- respect, commitment and acceptance of the customs and ideas provided by traditional culture or religion benevolence - preserving and enhancing the welfare of those with whom you are in frequent personal contact...

My dad is in hospital down in Geelong and I've become quite used to travelling back and forwards. And of course, when someone is in hospital, you tend to go to visit, then travel back home. You may have a spot of lunch or a cuppa somewhere while there but the reason you are a couple of hours away from home is to visit said sick/ ill person. Last weekend I travelled down with my sister, her hubby and daughter (so much better to travel with others than a solo drive) For an hour before we visited Dad, we played tourist. Now Geelong is no stranger, we lived there for a couple of years when I was a tween (grade six to year 8 or thereabouts). But walking along the waterfront, even in the cold grey day, dodging showers as best we could...was just what we needed. I just adore the Baywalk Bollards. We didn't walk past all of them, over 100 I hear, but we managed to stroll past quite a few. Just loved their quirky characters... and how they capture Geelong's ...

We recently celebrated a milestone, the first birthday of our gorgeous grand baby. It's amazing how quickly this time has gone. Honestly it just feels like last month we had Little Miss for the week, taking her to school, picking her up, visiting Mum, Dad and bubs in hospital each night.  But no, a huge amount of time has gone by. And of course in that time there has been a lot of firsts. Let's face it, for babies, there is nothing else but firsts. First smiles, first beginnings of speech. First time they roll over by themselves. First introduction to books and songs. First cuddles. First discover of their fingers and toes and other bits in between (just on nappy change time) First outfits... and first Christmases. Learning to crawl, to taste, those first tentative steps. So many discoveries...the world is simply amazing. And even though it has felt like all of this happened a second a go, it was really over one whole year. 12 months 4 s...