Victorian Bushfire Disaster

February 8, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized

I cannot comprehend it. I doubt anyone can. The worst disaster in Australian history takes place before my eyes, and I find myself glued to the tv, crying as I watch hundreds of people stand around waiting for a bus to come that caries survivors. One of them was praying that his wife and three children is on the bus. I can’t tell you how much my heart goes with him. I can’t tell you how much I am praying that the bus is overflowing, that there is more than one, that everyone who does not know the fate of their loved ones has their prayers fulfilled.

The fate of Marysville hits me. I spend my holidays their twice a year. I remember the hotel where we stayed, with the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen, filled with trees and birds. I remember the lolly shop, and the people, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

The town has been levelled; it might as well not exist. Marysville will never be the same, and neither will Victoria. I have just seen images of it on the television. It is difficult to believe that the rubble and burnt shells of trees is the town where I spent my holidays. It might be rebuilt, but how can you replace historical buildings, age old trees and lost lives.

Yesterday was meant to be a celebration, my mother’s birthday party. But how could we celebrate when this disaster overshadows our every action, the bbq is off limits for fear of sparking a fire, and the phone rings constantly as a family member who is in the fire zone is packed and waiting to escape, trying to keep in contact. The radio was playing the whole day, updating us  on the death toll, 26, 36, 49, 50… it kept increasing. It’s up to 108 now, and I don’t doubt that it will keep rising.
In the end, we ended up sitting around the TV sharing our horror as we remembered friends who live in the effected area, and wondered if we should call.

Hundreds of people have lost their homes, their jobs, their loved ones and friends. Communities have been devastated, Victoria sits in mourning, we pray for rain.

The amazing bravery and generosity of volunteers and fire-fighters who save lives and houses. Who provide food, shelter, counselling, medical care, every service that you could imagine. They are amazing, we can never thank you enough.

The TV presenter is crying. She just heard that the man’s wife and children went back to their house, and that it was caught in the fire. The man’s name is Sam, and I cannot imagine what he is going through.

It was meant to have come 48 minutes ago and the bus still hasn’t arrived. More bodies have been found, a woman discovers her five children are safe, and one of them has rescued her goat, fire-fighters move out to battle the fires that still rage in the Marysville area. Every minute there is a new message.  I feel so helpless, I’ve never wanted to donate blood, I know I am not eligible to and for the first time find myself hating that. I want to do something, and know there is nothing I can do except to donate to the fund that has been set up to assist survivors, and pray.

I give all effected by this disaster my prayers and hope.

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Horse the Elephant

January 25, 2009 · Filed under Knitting · Tagged , , , ,

I haven’t written a post in a while, which is really very bad of me. Especially as I have been doing rather a lot of knitting, but I’m posing now and that is all that counts, right?
 
Since I last posted I have been making toys, and my latest project is a very small elephant.  Instead of using yarn called for by the pattern, or even substitute yarn of the same weight, I decided to use up some of the sock yarn I have in my (rather measly) stash. It also called for double pointed needles, which I have never used before.

Well apart from some initial looseness in the changeover between needles, it’s going pretty well. The thing I’m having difficulty with now is that the pattern uses measurement rather than telling me how many rows to knit, so I’m working by eye and guess work on how much to knit before moving on to the next stage. The other problem I have is that I’ve already broken one of my brand new needles. It’s the first time I’ve used bamboo needles of any type, and I was being so careful with them. I’m absolutely certain, that when I put them away on my shelf before going to bed, all needles where in tact, yet when I get up, one is split down the middle, and tangled in some loose wool. I blame the ghosts that haunt my house. It’s rather disappointing, as I was looking forward to working on another project after this that used the came needles, and instead of using 4 like this project, requires all five. Ah well, I suppose I will have to replace them.

And just to explain the name of the post, the elephant, less than half knitted, has been named ‘Horse’ for no reason I can work out. It popped into my head and stuck there, so that’s the little guys name.

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Strange Appearances

December 6, 2008 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , , ,

You know how sometimes you just get something stuck in your head? You don’t even know what triggered the thought, but it’s there and you can’t shake it. Well right now I have the sneaking suspicion that my high school laptop bag (and I cannot believe I am saying this) has some type of funky connection to the time space continuum that breaks reality and causes random objects to appear in it.

I would love to know why this thought has decided to turn up and drive me crazy now, but its here and I think it’s going to stick around for a while. This my friends is a blog post which, if you are not in the mood for reminiscence and ranting is not one you should read.

As a female, I expect strange items that I had forgotten I owned to turn up in my bags. Packets of fruit loops, pretty feathers and friend’s homework have all been known to appear in my laptop bag without explanation. Most of it can probably be explained by my friends seeing my bag as a great place to dump the stuff they can’t be bothered carrying around. However there was one item which to this day, I cannot explain the appearance of.

It was a copy, brand new and unopened of the movie 28 Days Later. It appeared in my bag sometime between me packing it in the morning and me arriving home that night.

The thing is, I have never owned a copy of the said movie. I went to the most obvious place first; but no, my friends had not put it in my bag. Neither had my mum, grandparents, dog, schoolmates, or any of my teachers. I asked around for suggestions as to how the said movie could have ended up in my bag. I got suggestions ranging from ‘you where shop lifting’ (apparently without noticing I was doing so. Dream thieving anyone?) to ‘your bags just awesome.’ None of them were very helpful. None of them helped me track down the owner of the DVD.

Six months later still with no idea how the movie had entered my bag, I opened it up, watched it once, then donated it to my local Library.

So here’s what my mind has been sticking on. What if someone gave it to me as a gift, like a secret gift, from a secret admirer, one who mistakenly believed I was into zombie flicks. Maybe someone put it in my bag my mistake, and will now spend the rest of their lives searching their living room for a DVD that is, in fact, now circulating our local public libraries. Maybe the bag, is not a bag, but some freakish, conveniently portable rift in the fabric of time and space.

Maybe I’m just going crazy because it’s midnight, and I need some serious sleep.

Whatever the reason, the DVD is on my mind. If anyone out there is missing a brand new copy of 28 Days Later, they may need to get the FBI or Torchwood or someone to come and investigate their shopping bags. If anyone has any other theories on the magically appearing DVD then I would love to here them.

By the way, did I mention that it is midnight?

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The 1 Million Word Challenge

December 2, 2008 · Filed under Writing · Tagged , , , , ,

I consider myself to be a creative person. I’m a writer; it is a fundamental part of me. I have dozens of ideas buzzing around in my head waiting to be turned into novels, driving me half crazy with plot ideas and rampaging characters demanding to be written. It seems that every night I wake up with another idea, an endless tide that never seems to stop.

Despite this, I don’t seem to write. It is something I always seem to put off,  it is just so much easier to watch TV, or read a book. I’ve written stories, but it doesn’t seem to be something I can do consistently.

And then two things happened that stuck the seeds of an idea in my head.

The first was signing up to, and winning Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) for the second time. When November rolled around, I had a deadline, I had a goal, and writing had never seemed so easy! I couldn’t understand why I didn’t write more. All I could think of was how much I was enjoying myself, and how much I was getting written. And I wrote a fair deal. I got to just over 70,000 words in 30 days, a hell of an achievement. But that’s not what felt so great. It was getting one of those infuriating plot ideas down on paper and out of my head. It was finishing the story, and writing The End. I had achieved something marvellous; pulling a Novel out of thin air.

The second seed had been sitting in my head for a while. It appeared when I met someone I very much admire, Trudi Canavan, an absolutely amazing author. During our conversation she told me that she believed part of the reason her books had been published was because she had already written a million words.

So these two seeds mulled around in my head for a while. I needed to write a million words. I needed a goal, and I needed a deadline. But most of all I needed to write.

And so the 1 Million Word Challenge popped into being.

The goal is simple: Write a million words of fiction in 4 years. It works out to less than 700 words a day. But it gives a solid goal, something that has to be met, and it gives a deadline.

Now I need the final ingredient. The fear of failure.

So here it is. I’m putting this idea out into the world wide web, and telling the world that I am going to write 1 million words in 4 years.

I’m a crazy, crazy person.

If there is anyone else out there who somehow stumbles onto this post, and decides to join me, then go ahead. Tell me that I’m not alone. Join me in the insanity, and I will see you in 4 years, 1,000,000 words richer.

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5 Fun (and slightly educational) things to do with Oobleck

October 25, 2008 · Filed under education · Tagged , , , ,

I have been playing with Obleck since I was in primary school, and I was pretty sure that everyone knew about this amazing substance, but recently in one of my science tutes I discovered this was not the case.

And so here it is, a list of fun things that you can do with Oobleck, it’s great stuff for an afternoon of fun with the kids, and has the advantage that, no matter how messy it may look, its easy to clean up (it dries into dust that can be shaken/brushed away, and comes out of clothes easily).

First the recipe: 2 cups cornflower (real cornflower, not wheat cornflower) to 1 cup water. Mix together. Yup it’s that simple. You may have to adjust the ratio a bit to get the consistency you want (I like my Oobleck thicker so I use 3 cups cornflower to one cup water)

And now the list of fun (and slightly educational) things to do with Oobleck.

1: Challenge your kids to work out what this mystery substance is made of.

Make up a bowl of it, and challenge a group of kids to work out what it is made of. I’d advise not using food dye with this one, to give them a better chance of working it out. While your at it, ask them if they think it is a solid, liquid or gas. Can lead to some interesting discussion.

2: Build Oobleck ships
You want a reasonable amount of Oobleck for this one, and perhaps dye it blue or green. Give the kids a whole lot of cardboard boxes, and other craft materials (and perhaps some gladwrap) and ask them what kind of properties would a vehicle need to stay afloat in Oobleck. Once they come up with some ideas get them to build an Obleck ship out of the cardboard and craft materials and test it out.

3: Paint with Oobleck

You’ll want a few containers for this one. One big one filled with undyed Obleck, and a few smaller containers of Obleck dyed in different colours. You’ll also need some newspaper a couple of pages thick. Dip a paintbrush (or finger) in Oobleck, put it above the newspaper and draw patterns with the Oobleck that drips down. The newspaper absorbs the water and turns the Oobleck semi solid. Once you get bored of that, do the same with the colours over the undyed Obleck. The result is a wibbly wobbly picture, that is almost liquid.

4: Read Bartholomew and the Oobleck

Read Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss with them, then let them loose on the stuff. They will be entertained for at least a half an hour, and that’s half an hour away from the tv. Oh and if you want to add a little maths to the day, tell them about the ratio, and get them to mix up the Obleck themselves. After they have had their fun, suggest that they write a story about their own adventures with Oobleck.

5: Fill a swimming pool with Oobleck, and then run across.

Speaks for itself.

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Teeny Tiny Plot Bunny

October 24, 2008 · Filed under Knitting · Tagged , , , ,

I’m doing Nanowrimo this year, and wanted to make myself a little plot bunny. He turned out ok, although I don’t have any double pointed needles with which to make his arms and legs, so unfortunately, this little plot bunny doesn’t stand much of a chance against my dogs, who seem to be determined to eat him.

He was a quick knit (took me about forty minutes, and I’m a pretty slow knitter) and turned out okay. He was very difficult to photograph, as he is very small, the size of my thumb. Also he has a bow and jingles, which I think are always bonuses. Anything in the world can be improved by a bow and a bell.

The pattern is here if anyone wants to make a little plot bunny of their own. If you have a look you will notice that mine looks nothing like the original. That’s just a talent I have.

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Life lessons; Sex education

October 24, 2008 · Filed under education · Tagged , , ,

I have a feeling that this is going to become a hot topic… again. It seems every few years we go through this again, a government holds a review and decides to make sex education compulsory, and a family group or two and some concerned parents oppose the move.

This time it’s the British government, and even all the way in little old Aus the discussion starts raging. Should we, or should we not have sex education in primary schools?

Firstly, Sex education is probably not the best term to use, it may be appropriate for high schools but it doesn’t reflect the type of lessons given in primary schools. I’ve always liked the term life education, so let’s stick with that for now. The reason sex education doesn’t fit is because no one is planning to sit down and tell a seven year old, “This is sex. Here’s a diagram.” It might sound ridiculous, but already today (and it’s still only eleven o’clock) I’ve seen one mother tell a news team that, “Schools shouldn’t be teaching them what to do…” I completely agree; any teacher who is teaching them what to do should probably lose their teaching licence, if not be thrown in a cell for a very long time.

What the British government is talking about is introducing life education. A teacher of a class of five year olds might ask their class, “What types of relationships are there?” and get answers ranging from ‘friends’, to ‘mummy and daddy’ one child might say ‘boy friend and girlfriend’ and another might say that mummies and daddies have to be married, another might point out that their parents aren’t so that can’t be right. At this age, it’s all about getting children to talk about the different kinds of relationship there are in the world. As they age, the talk starts turning to what makes a healthy relationship. There might not even be a distinction between romantic relationships and friendship in these discussions, they are all about giving children tools they can draw on later in life.

As they get older a teacher might talk about pregnancy, and the idea that there are ways to stop from becoming pregnant. The conversations get closer and closer to the big topic; sex.

And I suppose that’s the real concern, what people are worried about. Their kids aren’t ready! They will become sexualised too early!

People underestimate children and what they can deal with. Even parents do. Children can deal with a lot more than we give them credit for, and even if they can’t it’s my experience that they have a lovely little filter in their head that says “I don’t think your ready for that JUST yet, so why don’t you just assume that they are talking about kissing?” kids don’t absorb what they are not ready to know.

As for sexualising kids too early? Teachers are the last people who should be blamed for this. All you need to do is watch the tv for a couple of hours, or sit in a shopping centre food court and count the number of three year olds in mini skirts to realise that kids are already becoming sexualised.

It’s not an issue anyone has an answer to. How can you fight something when there are so many pressures, magazines, tv, movies, music, peer pressure. All of these are prodding children towards becoming sexualised.

My final point on the matter? No one wants 13 year olds to be having sex, but they are. No one wants a girl to have her first child at 15, but it happens, every single day. And these are 15 year olds, 13 year olds, who went through a school system without compulsory sex ed. If these things are happening already, shouldn’t we try to do something, anything, to prevent it? And what better time to try and prevent it than in primary school. Unfortunately, in high school, it’s probably already too late.

Prevention is better than cure, because when it comes to teenaged sex, the cure isn’t making anyone happy.

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Little Green Monster

October 23, 2008 · Filed under Knitting · Tagged , ,

Knitting is a relatively new hobby for me. I mean, I learnt to knit when I was a child, about eight years old, and then I stopped. I don’t know why, I don’t even think there was a particular reason; I just stopped.

I’ve rediscovered the hobby now, and I adore it. However there comes a time when you have to move beyond the basics of scarves and knit stitch. And so I attempted this little project, a little monster. It had it all, decreases and stockinette, and *gasp* the horror of having to actually stitch something together. I know your laughing at me by now, but hey, I’m a beginner here. It even had a perfect excuse; I was making it for a friend’s daughter’s first birthday. And here he is, the little green monster.

He turned out pretty well, soft, squishy and very cute. Oh, if your wondering about the pattern, he is a Little Monster Toy  from Usborne ART ideas: How to Knit. Although, he ended up a little different, he was knitted on 3.75mm needles, not 4.5, I doubled the pattern (or was it quadrupled?), and made a few other changes. I’m pretty happy with the end result.

The hardest part of knitting this little guy was giving him away. I had become rather attached to his smile, and was used to seeing him sitting on the coffee table next to the TV. It was all I could do not to snatch him out of the birthday girl’s hands. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that if I had done that, she would have started crying.  Instead, I sat down, brought out the wool, and started knitting another one.

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A Diary of Obsessions

October 22, 2008 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged

I’ve had blogs before. I’ve had several in fact, but I’ve never looked upon them seriously. They are a way to keep in touch, to share photo’s or ideas within my little community. I adore them, I post all the time. And then I looked at one.

And I realised that it could be more.

I had logged out and looked at my blog as a stranger might, and suddenly saw it as it was, a mess. Don’t get me wrong, I still adore the blog, it’s great for its purpose, keeping in touch with family and friends, but it was all over the place. Snippets of this, snippets of that. A knitting project here, a rant about the state of T.V there, a post with several pictures of weasel…. A lot of it, I’m ashamed to say, I had the urge to delete rather a lot of it. So instead of going on a deleting spree and throwing those rather terrible posts into the nether regions of the internet, I created a new one.

Who knows what will end up turning up on these pages? I have the suspicion that it will be a collection of knitting projects, thoughts on writing, and some posts about education (Did I mention I’m a pre-service teacher?) and maybe just occasionally a random post or two. The main aim is to use this blog as a tool to get my thoughts out there, into the wide world.

Fly my little idea monkeys, fly! And take over the world!

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