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

I love wordle, don't you? If you haven't had a play with wordle, go check it out at http://www.wordle.net/

I am very fond of a wordle I did for 1 Corinthians 13. I have it hanging in my kitchen. But I have some long term plans to make something long lasting and crafty using it. Wait and see.

Here is one I made with my blog.

You can see the original one here. <a href="http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3977979/bananaquilts2"

English teachers just LOVE this stuff.

In other news, I have made my first maternity dress, and despite not being even slightly pregnant, have modelled it for my bananaorangeapple shop. Yes, how embarrassing. When I tried it on, the Pickle said "Mum, what are you wearing??" as only a ten year old can.
Go and see for yourself!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/80759702/maternity-dress-or-muumuu-teal-green-and


The Pickle and I watched "Beauty and the Beast" today for the first time. Can you believe she has made it through a whole decade of her life(and I have made it through a few more) without seeing this movie?
Oh well, we are not a totally sold out to Disney sort of family, I guess.
We had seen the stage show with our friend Sally in the holidays, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked the play best. Pickle liked the movie best. Here's a lovely Anne Anderson illustration.

Movie Review: Jane Eyre

Hi folks, on Saturday night I stopped reading and went to the flicks. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law came too. Since it was a girly night, we went to see "Jane Eyre". I know this book pretty well, and was interested to see what the movie version would be like.

In short, even though they jumped around a bit rather than going in chronological order, it was a wonderful adaptation. I was glad that I knew the story for three reasons. Firstly, it helped with all that jumping. The story began with a distraught Jane running away from Thornfield Hall. We don't know who she is, what she is running from or why (Well, I did, but the "viewer" is left to guess). When Jane reaches the safety of St John's house she falls into a swoon and when she revives, begins to tell her life story, cue flashbacks to her childhood at Gateshead and her experiences at school.

The second reason I was glad I knew what was happening was because it was scary. I jumped several times. But I was not too scared, because I remembered there are no ghosts or supernatural activity in the story and that nothing happens to Jane that she can't eventually come to terms with.

The third reason is that I enjoy the superior feeling that comes from knowing there are certain plot elements left out. I am one of those people who would sit through a five hour version of the novel that was more faithful to the author's vision. Many of the characters were totally left out.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie adaptation. I got totally involved with Jane's emotions and carried away with the romantic moments. I even shed a little tear. The main actress, Mia Wasikowska is a Canberra girl and she has done us all proud. I gave it five stars.

Preview available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8J6Cjn06kA

In slightly related news, I would like to direct you to a blog offering a giveaway of a Lizzy Bennett/Mr Darcy brooch, featuring text from that loveliest of love stories, Pride and Prejudice. Please go and have a look if you are interesting in such things.
http://twocheekymonkeysdesigns.blogspot.com/2011/08/excitement-plus-pride-and-prejudice.html

Book review: Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

This is a book I have been meaning to read for a while. Whenever a book is made into a movie, I feel honour bound to read the book first. Otherwise I would probably never bother reading the book.
PRN won a Newberry medal for this book, so I thought it would be a nice story. I wasn't disappointed. The book is about a boy named Marty who reminded me a lot of Jesse in Bridge to Terabithia. Marty is eleven, has two younger siblings, has a family who are short of cash and seem very busy just making ends meet. Both stories are set in a poor rural area. And like BTT, this story is a real tear-jerker. The characters in Shiloh speak in West Virginia slang, which takes some getting used to.
A scruffy, underfed beagle follows Marty home one day. Marty knows who owns it, but can't bear the thought of returning the dog to a home where it is unloved and unappreciated. He knows the owner, Judd,  has already shot one of his dogs in the head. Marty hides the dog, who he names Shiloh, in a run up behind his house. He needs to lie to his parents and steal food to feed it. Shiloh is the perfect pet, being fully appreciative of Marty's efforts. Sadly, one night another dog gets in to Shiloh's run and savages him. Marty has no choice but to reveal Shiloh and take him to the local doctor who stitches him up. The whole family end up falling in love with the pup.
When Shiloh's owner finds out, Marty has to work out a plan to buy Shiloh. He sets out on his own to bargain with the red neck and finds him armed and dangerous.
I enjoyed reading this book. I liked the way it dealt with the issue of telling the truth. Is it always the right thing to tell the truth? What if telling the truth results in loss of life? Is it worth it to lie to save someone you love? I also really liked Marty who was such an animal lover that he couldn't eat his dinner unless he knew it had died quickly.
Shiloh is recommended for lovers of sad dog stories, aged ten up.