School Holidays

I was listening to Nigel Latta on the radio this morning, talking about the school holidays. He's a great believer in stepping back and letting kids learn to entertain themselves some of the time, rather than be constantly entertained, supervised and chaperoned into worthy activities. I like him because he's down to earth and often says things that make me feel better about my often quite lazy parenting. He points out the guilt we often quietly flagellate ourselves with and how pointless it is. I sometimes think I should be organising many more crafty activities, doing more communal baking, and be setting off on exciting adventure trips that L will remember when he is old and sitting by the fire in his slippers. I also feel like this when I have been reading too many blogs where life with the kids seems perfect, artistic and conflict-free, or when someone asks me what I have planned for the holidays and I say (guiltily), "Nothing much." For the first few days, L wants to be attached to me like a  limpet, and there's a constant litany of "What are we doing NOW." We then slowly descend into pyjama-wearing until lunchtime and letting the day (apart from work things) unfold. There are many Nigel Latta opponents, by the way. Here's a feisty discussion about him on Brian Edward's blog. Now it's time for afternoon tea and getting back into those pyjamas again...

Acrobat

This week's Illustration Friday theme is 'acrobat'. I haven't done any of the challenges for the past few weeks and know that the longer I leave it the harder it is to get back into it. So getting back into it I am - once again!

Storm

There's a wild storm out there tonight. Yesterday I overheard a woman talking to her friend at the mall. She said she was going down to the plastic shop to buy boxes for her Civil Defense emergency supplies. The storm was coming from Tasmania, she said, and it was 'the size of half of Australia.' I didn't believe it, but now I do, and I'm even a little bit scared. It's thrashing around the house and pushing its way in through all the cracks. There have been huge crashes of thunder, and the lights are flickering on and off. I can hear things smashing outside. Neil is cowering under my bed. Home is absolutely the best place to be, right at this very moment. I might go and cower under the bed too.

Let the Sunshine In

“Sunlight is like a good champagne,” wrote Sir Henry Gauvain, an eminent British surgeon in the 1920s. He was a great believer in the use of fresh air and sunlight in medicine. And so am I. When the sun comes out, people start smiling again. Now sing along with me (preferably while wearing a little flowery apron and hanging the washing out in a happy spring-like way)...

So let the sun shine in

Face it with a grin

Smilers never lose

And frowners never win

So let the sun shine in

Face it with a grin

Open up your heart

And let the sun shine in. 

(Written by Stuart Hamblen; Copyright 1953 by Hamblen Music Company)

Something Bright

Something bright for this wet and windy Saturday, and because it's been a funny weird week, with earthquakes and incessant rain and flu bugs and more teeth falling out (not mine, thank goodness). Today is a day for appreciating the little things, like the bright pink miniature camellia flowers that have somehow migrated from their bush and are growing on the front lawn!

Aftershocks

Fire on Worcester St by Mike Campbell

It's only now that the shock seems to be setting in, and filtering up to where we are at the top of the country. At first there was relief that nobody was killed. Now Christchurch is being rocked by violent aftershocks - there have been about 150 since Saturday, and one huge one early this morning. It must be nerve-wracking to be there and not know when it's going to happen again. My friend Jenny lives in Lyttleton, just outside Christchurch City. She said it has been terrifying, 'apocalyptic.' Vicious. L has seen bits and pieces about the earthquake; heard about it at school. He's worried that it will happen here. I'm keeping the news off when he's around; he worries about so many things these days, usually about disasters that might happen to people. Volcanoes, earthquakes and tidal waves are high on the list of worrying items,  and he has started a sleepwalking habit that I'm sure is connected to his new disaster obsessions. At least the sun is out today - we have been covered in a blanket of rain for what seems like weeks, which has been making us all a bit gloomy.

Earthquake

Earthquake, originally uploaded by digitalsadhu

A big earthquake hit Christchurch yesterday in the dark early hours of the morning. Nobody died, which is (as everyone is saying) amazing. There are so many brick buildings in Christchurch, and from the photos I've been looking at, lots of them are now rubble. Growing up in Wellington, earthquakes were a spooky and threatening reality. We did earthquake drills at school, jumping under our desks and giggling. The real thing was more scary. "It's earthquake weather," Mum would say, on any particularly still and warm day. She was often right - a strange silence before the earth began to jolt and shudder. I remember being at school the day after a big one, and seeing a giant crack in the concrete wall where the building had shifted several feet off its foundations. Wellington has always been the focus of earthquake attention. I never heard anyone mention the possibility of Christchurch. We get so used to the idea of what and where is safe, I suppose. I can't imagine Auckland being rocked by an earthquake, but you never know. Those precarious childhood memories never completely disappear, even if they seem illogical and unlikely.

First Sale Ever

I am so excited to have sold this smiling bunny print on Zazzle - it's my first sale ever. Recently I've been wondering if all the work I've been doing would ever be worth it. You know, a few gloomy moments of silly self-pity and doubt. To know that someone out there likes my work enough to buy it - it's a pretty special feeling!