Storytime

Goals are these nefarious things that seem such a great idea at the time then turn into dark shadows that loom overhead. Well they do for me (so don't want to review my goals for this year- I'm already feeling a failure, don't want to see it in black and white). However there are people out there that not only make goals, they focus on them and with much hard work (and often blood, sweat and tears) they are achieved in all their glory. My friend Kim is one that not only kicks her goals out of the park, she then sets more. Making them harder. Higher. She is truly inspirational and on Saturday we went to help her celebrate her latest success. One of her goals that she has been working on for several years... MET fitness - her own training studio. Kim attributes achieving this dream to 'the support of some amazing clients, some good luck, more than a bit of self-belief and a lot of damn hard work.' It's the lot of damn hard work that resonates. Kim d...

Last weekend we had the fun of babysitting...although technically they are not babies. We had Miss T - all of nine years and eagerly heading into the adult- like double digits, and Master N- seven years and a mind that works in the most amazing way. We took delivery of our charges and with them telling their father to go now, you must leave, they were with us. Our first venture was to see Tilly, AKA the Wonder Horse. Miss T had visited Tilly before but this was Master N's first visit...and I had forgotten how repetitive we do sound. N stay away from the horse's rear end. Yes they can kick. Yes it will hurt. That is horse poo. Because horses poo wherever they are. Yes that is also horse poo. Yes and so is that. No that is not Tilly's. Because she didn't poo just then. I don't know whose poo that is.  They loved the experience...  and both want horses....especially Miss T. We then made home made pizzas. We went to the supermarket and bought all their favo...

Preparation is boring.  Plain and simple...boring. Recently I've been painting walls, and frankly all I wanted to do was whip some colour on those said walls. End of story. Job done. But what quality of job? So of course, we do the prep work...cleaning walls, then other-half skim coated the walls and sanded them down...then came the fun of sweeping them clean of dust...then the undercoat...then finally...and yes finally because all of this prep work took weeks of weekends...finally the painting. But of course there was the first coat, then wait to dry, then the second. Making sure to be very careful, no paint anywhere it shouldn't be, to avoid the skirting boards, window frames and ceilings. Now the walls are painted, and a good job done by all. But it wasn't a quick job. It's a lot like writing. Sometimes you just want to put it down. Want that page filled, that screen to be a row of black letters marching along. But without any preparation, without thi...

Three years ago I decided to start blogging about my thoughts, my whinges and yeah moments to do with this thing called writing. Hard to believe it has been three years. Some times it feels as though I began to put down ideas a few months ago, other times it feels as though I have been doing this forever. I have discovered that I write about everything and anything. As a friend has said, she knows what I've been up to via my blog. And I do add a bit of this, a bit of that...sometimes I write about hard dark moments, other times it is fun and light and dare I say fluffy. Most I think have a verge of fluffyness to them. A lot has happened in three years---- the house has gained people, lost people, we kept a niece locked up in the garret for a year, then we released her to the wilds, another niece rocks up every now and then for a night or two, one time for three weeks, but mostly the two of us rattle around the house with a rumpled cat who definitely has senior moments. W...

I must admit I'm biased. I read and love to read. Can't imagine a day when I don't read. A big part of my job is to read to children but also to ensure they come to love being read to and then, hopefully, come to love reading and of course books.  The excitement on a child's face when I am ready to turn the page and they are waiting....just waiting...to see what happens next in the story....that is priceless. But apart from all the fun, there is the serious side to all this. Research after research shows that those years from birth to five are vital. These are the years when the literacy building blocks are developed. Children are sponges, they soak up all that they hear and watch...sometimes surprising those around them with what they take in. ( I remember at one Storytime when a carer was telling me quietly that a child's father wasn't at home- the little boy looked at me as said 'Daddy's in jail, again.' The child had not been told, no...

There is a saying that a weed is merely a plant growing in the wrong place. In that case I have quite a few growing in the wrong place in my garden and it is a constant battle to try to, if not eradicate them, to tame them into some kind of mutual existence. But they are still beautiful in their own way. They have their moments when I stop to admire some part of them. Summer is the time for eating blackberries. Instantly I'm transformed to my childhood. Those days of wandering, buckets in hand, gum boots and long sleeves essential garb, carrying planks of wood to place across so we can reach those temptingly out of reach. There is nothing like a sun warmed wild blackberry. Dandelion clocks are another childhood favourite. Yes another weed. Meant to be eradicated, removed, destroyed.  And often I do. Well I do my best (we do have a big yard). It's more difficult when it comes to your hard worked words.  Weeds are often harder to find, especially if you are to...

All it takes is a hint of sunshine, the temperature to rise and flowers to bloom....and anything appears possible. That is what spring is all about. Renewal. Rejuvenation. Coming into the light after a term of darkness. And even though here in Melbourne, it won't last long....the weekend is looking cold and wet - yet again- spring does offer the hope of new beginnings. Time to dust off those sneakers and begin to walk again. The lawn mowers make a reappearance- garden beds are tamed and controlled- people begin to sit out and simply enjoying being there. I find I'm out in the garden more, enjoying simply pottering around, being out amongst the flourish of flowers and the delicate new greenery beginning to thread the trees. And my writing changes. Goals are more specific. I become focused. Especially with those reminders of how close the end of the year is (don't you love those 'It's only XXXX days to Christmas') I find it easier to look back on my...