Stuff

There's not much going on to blog about I am afraid. DD had a birthday, and I made her a special birthday banner. You should see the appliqued Totoro I made for it pop up in my instagram photo slideshow over there on the right. Totoro is from a Japanese kids' movie called "my neighbour Totoro", and he is a gigantic, friendly, mostly mute creature who shows up when the little girls in the story need him most.  DD just loves Totoro and is trying to convince us to take her to Japan for a holiday so she can meet him. Well, I would love to visit Japan, but mainly so I can see this breathtaking sight (is that a road sign at the bottom?) Click to go through to the original on Flickr.







In fact, sometimes when I get bored or am stuck on a bus or whatever I have a debate with myself about whether to visit Japan in springtime for the sakura - cherry blossoms or in autumn for the turning leaves.




Speaking of leaves, here is a pretty treasury I made on the theme of Katherine Paterson's novel 'Bridge to Terabithia'. This book has been a favourite of English teachers for many years. It was a classic when I was in high school and we are still making kids read it today. The themes include
* bullying
* acceptance
* friendship
* not feeling 'understood' by your parents
* sibling rivalry
* worrying about finances
* Jesus, God, the Bible, religion and Hell
* teachers and their humanity
* art, literature and creativity
* love and death
* grief and how we react to horrible situations

That is an awful lot of themes for a novel about two ten year olds! The movie I can take or leave, but I do like to watch it with my class. I do think the actors did a good job, and it is nice to see a movie that is filmed in New Zealand, but the CGI is rather groanworthy.

I tried to do the novel justice in my selection of 16 items, but there were a few things that Etsy just does not have.

If you have read the book, or seen the film I would love to read what you thought about it.

'Bridge to Terabithia' by bananaorangeapple

Garden photography, cottage ... GardenHomeArt $25.00	Alde - Baby Troll Gemstone G... gypsyrosecreat... $90.00	The Wonderworld Readiness - ... wonderdiva $15.00	TV card venerate $4.00
Jarvis the Zombie - creepy a... DollsAfterDark $41.00	Bridge to Terabithia CheshireWood $19.00	Handmade Medieval Queens Cro... sparklybitsjew... $275.00	Fruit Orchid House Digital C... CollectiveCrea... $3.60
Crabapple Tree Jack Russell ... ToddYoungArt $12.00	Vintage Childrens Paintbox, ... keepsies $8.00	The New Dawn ACEO Signed Pri... KarenHull $6.00	Perfect day - Hand painted ... misterstiltski... $19.00
Counted Cross stitch Pattern... CharlotteAlexa... $4.00	Additional Rope for Peg and ... PegandAwl $20.00	Lost in reminiscence, dark a... shashamane $14.99	Vintage Bridge to Terabithia... enchantedbookr... $2.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Book review: Elizabeth Honey

Hi there everyone. I would like to tell you about one of my favourite Aussie kids' authors, Elizabeth Honey. I love her name for starters, and she is a brilliant writer. As for favourite Aussie children's authors, I have quite a few and it would be hard to narrow it down to a top one hundred let alone a top ten, but if I had to, she'd be up there at the top!


Last year, I read Elizabeth Honey's book "45 and 47 Stella Street and Everything that Happened." It is narrated by the heroine, an engaging girl named Henni Octon. She is tall and very funny and the story is written as if it is her book. There is a cast of family and friends who live in this close knit community, including Henni's irepressible little sister Danielle and electifying best friend Zev. They are all so believable and totally lovable.

The trouble starts when a friendly old lady dies and some new neighbours move in to her house. The kids soon come to call these strangers "the phonies" and all sorts of adventures ensue. It is like a funny, modern, Aussie version of the Famous Five. Almost all of the pages contain cute illustrations drawn by Henni.

After I had read it, I got hold of the audio book from the library, and played it in the car so my daughter could enjoy it too. Well, the nine year old absolutely LOVED it. She couldn't wait to hear some more, and asked me every time we got in if I could start the CD. The part she loved the most I think was the dog, Briquette, who has a bad habit of going through people's garbage and thus inadvertantly plays a part in unmasking the phonies. The audio book is read by Rebecca Smart, of "The Shiralee" fame, I remember watching her in Heartbreak High. She does a great job.

In conclusion, it is a funny story about ordinary kids in an ordinary street who have an adventure and prove that they are not so ordinary after all. Parents and kids of kids in year 3 up will really enjoy it. It definitely should be made into a movie, and it features in "1001 kids books to read before you grow up"

Since then, we have listened to the third Henni Octon story, "The Ballad of Cauldron Bay" and we are currently reading the second one "Fiddleback" at bedtime. More about this later.

Other Elizabeth Honey books to look out for are:
"What do you Think, Feezal?" This book is about a girl named Bean whose rich parents mostly leave her alone. She finds out she is going to be kidnapped by reading a book, which strangely enough is another Elizabeth Honey book. Tom Stoppard, eat your heart out! I really really enjoyed this exciting story, but the Pickle (that's DD) thought it was a bit scary. The "Feezal" in the title is a little doll made out of sticks who the main character talks to throughout the story.



"The Cherry Dress" When the Pickle was little, we saw this read on Playschool. A lovely story about a girl whose favourite dress gets smaller and smaller until it no longer fits. We both really liked this story, and it brought back memories of a cherry dress I had as a preschooler, which was actually a nightie. It lived in the dress up box for a long time after I grew out of it!



"Don't Pat the Wombat!" is a gross story about kids on year 6 camp. I think year 6 kids would like this one a lot. I did not let the Pickle read it as it has toilet humour and the kids don't respect their teachers. It is rather like Morris Gleitzman or Paul Jennings in style. There are black and white photos as well as line drawings. It is pretty much exactly what year 6 camp is like...and I oughta know, I've been on about a hundred of them.




"Princess Beatrice and the Rotten Robber" another picture book. The Pickle didn't like this one much. The Princess is kidnapped by the robber, but she tricks him and ends up making him polish her jewels. This is the book Bean is reading in "What do you think, Feezal?" and it helps her outwit her kidnapper. Cool!

Some sewing book reviews amongst other things.

As I write this, I am eating a new desert I just invented. It is Cafe Grande icecream, which contains choc covered scorched almonds, and grande marnier flavour, with Caramel Crown biscuits. Mmm. I thought it up for hubby but I tried some too.
At the same time, I am watching this crazy cool program on tv about two guys who visit hoarders and check out what's in their sheds. It is incredible! What an eye-opener. I have to overcome my hoarding instincts lest I end up on this show. I have found out (by pressing the right button on the remote) that it is called "American Pickers". I would love to see an Aussie version of this show, they could start with my Pa!


I borrowed "1000 clever sewing shortcuts and tips", by Deepika Prakash of patternreview.com fame. Unfortunately, it is time to return it to the library and I have not been able to try out the tips! Someone else has requested it, grrr.
There are tips to help you organise your sewing room, cut out patterns, cut fabric, sew nicely, deal with different fabric types, choose the right pattern and make it fit your particular body shape..you name it, there is a tip for it. All of these tips have been submitted by the loyal readers of patternreview.com.
I am a member of this site, but so far I have not managed to post a review. I do like to read peoples' recommendations though, and my favourite part is where people submit photographs of their finished designs. This is so much better and more accurate than looking at the photos on the pattern envelope.

If I had to submit some tips for the book they would be:
1.don't pin when you can tin instead. (this means, weigh the pattern down with tin cans whilst cutting out the fabric...doesn't work when you're sewing it!)
2. If things go wrong, don't worry, Mum can fix it

I really enjoyed learning from the wisdom of other sewers, and I will be requesting this book again so that when the next person's finished it, it will come straight back to me. The other item I have to take back that I am not ready to part with yet is Paul Kelly's greatest hits albumn, "Songs from the South", it rocks!




"The Handiest Things in the World" by Andrew Clements, is a sweet photo picture book about hands.
The frontispiece shows a collage of photographs of hands, holding, touching ,scooping, spraying, scooping, tying...pretty much anything your hands can do is depicted here. It is so bright and colourful, an eyecatching way to start the book. The text is a poem that runs throughout the book, each double page on a separate subject. The photos by Raquel Jaramillo are clear and full of activity. I am sure this book would be a great hit with pre-schoolers. I really liked it.


I recently picked up a second hand copy of "The Seventh Pebble" by Eleanor Spence. It has a stamp on the title page that says "Village Creek Primary School Library" but it does not appear to be a library book - no creases, no jam stains, no marks where sticky stuff has been ripped off. Hmm. Maybe they didn't read any books at that school?

I am sure I have read this before, in high school, and after I've read it again I will write you a review. I don't think it is in 1001 kids books to read before you grow up, but it probably should be in 1001 Australian kids books to read!


"Sew Eco" by Ruth Singer is a great little sewing book. For starters, hasn't she got a great name for a sewing author?
She starts by explaining what is eco sewing, and provides useful information about how to source fabrics and supplies that don't use lots of chemicals, come from far away or create problems for the environment. Then she writes about how to take care of old fabrics, and re-use garments and other fabric items to make new things. Finally the book has instructions for making chair covers, pin cushions, a corsage and even a skirt.

I have read a great many sewing books about reusing materials, you know, all of that "shabby chic s**t", but this is the first one that has explained in great detail about how to find earth friendly fabrics and what to do with them when you do find them. Truly a great resource and a reference book.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves to sew and who hates to see good fabric go to waste (that's me!)
http://www.seweco.blogspot.com/

If you have a minute, check out my own recycled curtain skirt, for sale on my etsy site here:http://www.etsy.com/listing/78589511/handmade-hang-glider-skirt-womens-ladies

Quilted Yellow Box, and another book review

So I decided to make an "art quilt". If you look at it cross-eyed, it looks like a tree! Here is the actual tree that I drew on graph paper to make the pattern. That's Maggie the Kelpie bounding off to find me a stick.

After I had charted the tree, I began making HSTs in various shades of green.
Then I purchased $3.50 worth of white fabric for the background.
It was hard work matching up the corners of the squares. I sewed them into rows, with white fabric at either end. Some of the HSTs were half white and half green to give an uneven shape to the tree.

I quilted the green section with a U shape, which I hoped gave the appearance of leaves. I was aiming for this sort of leaves (modelled here by James May for some reason)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1jWs13xUSg I used brown thread, a spool of Molnycke that is probably a collector's item now.

The white background I quilted with wavy lines, in some sunset coloured variegated thread. It is not the best machine quilting ever...I did have a glass of sherry before I began to help relax!
I used green bias binding around the edge.

For the label I wrote on a strip of fabric and fused it onto the back. The back BTW is a sheet I scored at St Vinnies recently, pure cotton. It would make a nice sheet, but people around here are rather fond of matching sets, and besides, it now has a large rectangle cut out of it.
The label went diagonally across the corner of the quilt, next time I will leave a bit more room at either end of the writing, as I have sewn the binding onto it obscuring the capital E.

Here is one last shot of the quilt with the yellow boxes in the background

 I am really quite pleased with it, and am planning on giving it to a random Craftster in a pass-the-parcel swap going on at the moment. Check it out here http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=380729.0

Now for the book review: The Sterkarm Handshake by Susan Price.
This was a gripping yarn! I have no fingernails left after reading this book. It reminded me of Diana Wynne Jones' multi-dimensional story, Hexwood. It had a lot in common with the Owl Service, by Alan Garner. In this story a 21st C company sets up a time tunnel to go back to the 16th century. Their purposes are to exploit the vicious tribal people they find there, living on the border between Scotland and England. An anthropologist is sent back to live with the Sterkarms and to find out more about them. Trouble is, she falls in love with the beautiful Per, son of the head of the clan. If he was around today, he'd be a metrosexual.
I thoroughly enjoyed this time-travelling yarn. It was full of suspense and danger. The 21st century entrepreneurs underestimated the Sterkarms, who may not have the technology but are wise enough to stick up for themselves. There is also the added romantic element of Andrea and Per, who make a lovely couple. The 16th C was described so vividly I could almost smell it as I read the book. One thing puzzled me was the book's categorisation as a kids book. There are no kids in it. It is scary. There are sexual elements to it. I think it is a book for young adults, or for older readers. I am about to start the sequel, A Sterkarm Kiss. Highly recommended.

In other news, I recently arrived home from work on Sunday to find my darling daughter had cooked me a cake. She even cleaned up the kitchen, so that there was not a trace of the cooking except for the final product. Her father helped her to light the oven but apart from that it was all her own work. Not bad for a nine year old!

The coffee pot in the photo is one of my favourite Vinnies purchases. It is a Corningware percolator from the seventies, in mint condition. I got the feeling it was a wedding present that had never been used, and kept in a cupboard all this time. It certainly gets a good workout in my house! Here are some more gratuitous photos of my coffee pot. The design (my friend google tells me) is "country festival"

Here's a photo of sunset on the Snowy River at Dalgety, where I went on an outing to find some platypuses whilst on Staff Retreat at Jindabyne in May. No furry friends were forthcoming, but I did find some enormous wombat holes down by the river. I stomped my way through blackberry bushes, bullrushes and past the wombat holes to get to what I thought was a platypus, but I found out on closer inspection it was a rock. Dalgety was a lovely quaint hamlet and I wish to return and spend some more time poking around there.

book review: The Naming of Tishkin Silk

The naming of Tishkin Silk by Glenda Millard is another tear-jerker. In Griffin's family everything has been turned upside down by grief. Griffin has to attend school for the first time because his mother, who has home-schooled him thus far, has not come home after the birth of his little sister. It is not a happy experience for him, but he meets a friend, Layla, while investigating the ditchwater on the way home. This is such a sad story, but a happy one too. Layla helps Griffin to understand what is happening to the family and they work out a way to celebrate Tishkin and move on through the grieving process. This would be a good book for kids who have experienced loss to read, and I would recommend it for ages 11 up.

I have also read Glenda Millard's A small free kiss in the dark. This was much darker, kind of like Cormac McCarthy's The road  for children. It made me think of how little we need to survive, and how much hope plays a part in keeping us alive. It was about how people who have nothing left at all can overcome the bleakest of situations if they team up and love each other. I especially liked the part in this book where the children take refuge in the state library...can you think of a better place to shelter? I really don't like reading post-apocalyptic fiction, or even stories set in war-ravaged countries. I think I overdosed on them as a teenager. A small free kiss was wonderfully written, but because of its harrowing subject matter should really only be read by older teenagers.