A New School

It's been a rollercoaster week and a half.

I feel I should report in about our first (half) week back at school especially given that there have been some changes here at Clan EasternMax.

First, after a rollercoaster week and a half, Padawan Learner started at a new school. We were offered a place at this school on Monday 19th, accepted it on Tuesday the 20th and then spent the rest of the week organising uniforms, booklists, visiting the school, meeting the teacher and then breaking the news to PL's friends.

So, why a new school? Until this year PL has gone to our local public school. A fabulous school that Blossom still attends. However, I'm a firm believer in recognising the individual needs of each child and I am not afraid to differentiate between them if I judge it to be in their best interest. While our local school has been an amazing place for Blossom it hasn't been the same experience for PL.

Our local school has increased by 200 students in the last five years and is bursting at the seams. Blossom thrives in this environment, PL does not. In addition PL needs considerable Occupational Therapy intervention which has been difficult to integrate into his normal day. The new school is smaller, has on site OT and has great pastoral care.

I'm fortunate to have a choice.

While PL misses his old friends (as you would expect with a change of school) he has a sparkle in his eyes that I haven't seen for about TWO YEARS. He is motivated and he now even has his own blog where he is recording his thoughts about his new environment (sorry, it's a private authors-only blog).

Meanwhile all is good at Blossom's school. She loves her new teacher who she says is a "medium-level happy-dancey" type. She is with her friends and she has met some new girls who arrived at the school this year. Smiles all 'round. The only thing she's cross about his that PL gets four more weeks holiday than she does! (it's the Pay.More.Get.Less system of the private schools).

So that's been my week. Two schools. Two drop-offs. Two Pickups. I must be completely out of my mind.

O Hai, I haz Auzi LOLHymn for Straya Day

Palm Beach, Sydney January 2009

Happy Australia Day!

This is the day we celebrate sand in our bathers, vegemite on toast and the correct pronunciation of Australia - STRAYA.

In the celebration of the young, hip nation that we are I present you with something I wrote for fun some time back in another blog - our national anthem in LOLcat (what's this? nb: it's different from sms/texting shorthand).

Auzi Hym

All Auzi cmon hav fun

Coz we yung an we can has wot we want

We can has gud home and can has dollarz if wrk hard

Auzi home does has watr all round

Auzi home does has much gud stuff

We iz lucky

Invisible Histry guru wud sai

Go Auzi Go Auzi

Cmon sing loud

Go Auzi Go Auzi

Under cool starz

We can do hrd wrk and thnk gud thingz

An mak r home

Well known all over

Fur visible guys want come from other landz

We can has sharing wiv u

So be brav an come, an sing

Go Auzi Go Auzi

Cmon sing

Go Auzi Go Auzi

For a translation click here *

Kthxbye!

PS. I've translated the 1st and 3rd verses as are traditionally sung

Pool's empty but nobody cares

I truly believe I am slowly melting here in Sydney at the moment. Summer has finally hit and the humidity has arrived.

My resolve to shun (ie. not install) air-conditioning is tested on days like this. Luckily we are 10 mins walk from a free local pool.

This is what our local harbour pool looks like on a normal January day. It's a magnet for the locals and has great views.

This is what it looked like today.

Once a week this pool, which is fed by filtered harbour water, is cleaned and re-filled. It's the cleanest day of the week to swim here.

The kids love playing in the water as the pool slowly re-fills. Today we took down the surf mats and the kids skidded from the shallow to the deep end.

Bliss.

What shall I knit?

A lovely friend gave me these two gorgeous skeins of Noro Gisha yarn in colour 108 as a New Year gift.

The question is, what am I going to knit with it? I'm hoping you clever crafty knitting people out there might be able to make a suggestion.

Cycling in Parramatta

Parramatta Regional Park is National Heritage Listed and contains Australia's oldest surviving Government house. The park, formerly known as Governor's Domain, was laid out in the late 1700s not long after European settlement.

The park has a 3.5km bike track and was the location of this weekend's family bike ride.

We rode past Old Government House (built 1799) but declined the $18 family fee to look through. The kids weren't interested.

We rode past the site of Parramatta's first ever European building.

And we walked our bikes over the Parramatta River.

I took heed of Fairlie's excellent information about the colour accent feature of my camera and gave it a go. The idea is you choose one colour and the rest of the picture will be in B&W. I chose to highlight red. I see that it not only picked up the bright red shades but also the ochre ones as well.

An unexpected trip to Perth

My grandmother, known to us as Carnie, died on Wed 7th January. She was 91 years old and one of the lucky ones to die simply and of old age. So while we were saddened to lose a lady who meant so much to us I was happy that I was at a funeral that really was a celebration of a life.

My 5 yo nephew certainly lightened up the proceedings when he looked in the window of the hearse then turned around and announced to us all:

"Carnie's in a box!"

Being Western Australian by birth, the kids and I flew back for a week to attend the funeral and catch up with family. While there for the funeral we were not going to let the opportunity pass to bask in the sunshine.

We noted that the ban on climbing the pylon at Cottesloe is now official.

We had fun playing with our cousins and even more fun discovering that we had many more cousins (second, once-removed, etc) - such is the nature of family funerals.

And of course we couldn't let the week pass without eating a burnt Hawaiian Chelsea Pizza (it's sent through the oven twice) washed down with a glass of Mann Champagne while sitting with friends at the Dinosaur Park (in Kings Park).

Cycling again, a Manly thing to do

Manly Beach, 12 noon

The kids aren't playing a summer sport this year so we've decided that we'll organise a family cycling day each Saturday instead. Today's cycle was along the off-road bike path which wends its way from Baringa Ave, Seaforth to the Manly beachfront.

Queenscliff Surf Lifesaving Club Carnival

Cycling along these paths takes you places not reachable by car. We cycled past Manly Lagoon, saw a circus tent, found playgrounds we didn't know existed and saw backyards full of traditional hills hoists. Once we reached the Manly beachfront we saw that Queenscliff SLSC was holding a life-saving carnival. Sausage sizzles abounded.

PS. we are off on an unexpected trip interstate tomorrow for a family funeral . I'll be back in a week.

Holidays can be hard graft

Hanging at the beach is entertaining until someone gets sand where they don't want it.

Hanging with girlfriends is okay. But they eventually have to go home.

Forget cultural experiences. Only one half of this duo enjoyed the Monet Exhibition. The other half feigned sore legs and tiredness and could only recline on the viewing benches and moan for his $12 entry fee.

But a mission inflatable? Hours of fun and I get to read a book.

Cat Commandment #4: Thou must find the most annoying place to sleep

A cat seeking a place to recline in the afternoon will naturally gravitate to the jigsaw puzzle.

His half-sister, seeing that the jigsaw puzzle is taken, will decide that the box containing the remaining puzzle pieces is more than comfortable, thank you.

Sigh.

Books of the Year 2008

A quick flip through my bookcase this morning reminded me which books I got the most out of in 2008.


In Defence of Food by Michael Pollan - After reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver in 2007 and then seeing Michael Pollan at the Sydney Writers Festival in early 2008 I started getting interested in real food books. This was the first I picked up in 2008. I challenge you to pick up another Yoghurt Gogurt tube from the supermarket after reading this book.

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan - again, a real food book. Looking at food from the plant's point of view. I don't think I could eat a mass-produced Idaho Potato ever again.

The 100-mile diet by Alisa Smith and J B MacKinnon - yes, more food books. Drawing on the theme that we are best to eat things that come from close to where we live. Also debunks some of the rubbish being touted about the exactness of the 100 mile/160km radius requirement. This was an experiment, not a mantra.

The Secret River by Kate Grenville - didn't like the last book I read by Kate (The Idea of Perfection), all too small town for me. However, this book, set in early NSW was fabulous. The story of fictional convict William Thornhill and his family making a life for themselves on the Hawkesbury River.

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks - I find Geraldine a dependable read. Story of a book conservator that reveals the history of a book while repairing it. That this is in my top 9 books (or series) for 2008 is more a reflection on the quality of the books I read this year rather than the quality of this book in particular. Do like the story premise 'though.

A Sense of the World by Jason Roberts - the story of the Blind Traveller, James Holman, a naval lieutenant who went blind at 25 but continued to travel the world 'seeing' it with his feet, his ears, his nose and his sense of taste. Amazing story.

Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke - a truly fabulous book that at 1000 pages should probably be attempted while on holiday. I am a sucker for the sort of fantasy which creates alternative realities within the very real world we live in. This book goes further than that by creating a fantasy world within 19th century England (and Europe).

The His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullmann - as I said above I am a sucker for Fantasy novels involving alternate realities. As much as I loved this trilogy, the first book was the best and got a little weird towards the end. I'm not keen on being told what to think in a book (hence my detestation of Blindness by Jose Saramago) and I think Mr Pullmann gets a little preachy towards the end.

The Twilight series by Stephenie Myer - simply the best series for teenage girls I have read. This book is engaging enough for adults (female only I suspect) because it reminds us what it is like to be a teenager as well as creating an alternate reality (which I'm a sucker for). This is Harry Potter for teenage girls. I seem to be one of the few who believe it is a shame to read this book too early. I'm sure the average 10-11 year old will get something from the series but I can't see that they will feel the emotional pull as a 12-18 year old would and that is the magic and the fantasy of the book. I have told my 10yo that I don't mind if she reads the series (it is certainly very moral and chaste - to a point (lots of sexual tension) - until the fourth book) but I have said that if she waits until she is 12 she will get so.much.more from it.

How about you? What have you read in 2008 that is worth sharing?

A glowing start to the New Year

The glow sticks were handed out

and put on

some walked to the point to watch up close

and some of us stayed upstairs and decided the view wasn't so bad from (slightly) afar.

Happy New Year!