Take a rubber band. Stretch it. Now place it over an empty toilet paper roll. Staple it there all the way around. Now try to stretch the rubber band. This simple experiment would have helped me last night before I sewed the ruffle on the elastic neck of Elsie's Book Week Parade costume. Three weeks … Continue reading Leaving things til the last minute
And the gold medal goes to…
I was really bad at running cross country at school. It made me sick with anxiety. It was a cruel thing to do to kids; make them leave the warmth of the classroom where they were learning good lessons about the placement of the apostrophe and 'it's' vs 'its', to go out into the bush … Continue reading And the gold medal goes to…
When your tank is overflowing…
When you put a lukewarm cup of coffee in the microwave, it's quicker to press Start and let it start cooking on high for one minute, than it is to press the '1' then the '5' and then Start. I'll just stand here and watch and I'll stop it after 10 or 15 seconds. I've … Continue reading When your tank is overflowing…
I’m sorry I haven’t called
It's cool how there are some friends you don't speak to very often , but when you do, it's as if you'd just had a coffee yesterday. Or a laugh in a shop fitting room earlier that morning. (Don't get me wrong, talk-more-often-than-that-friends, you're cool too.) Sometimes when you get together with don't-talk-very-often-friends, you each … Continue reading I’m sorry I haven’t called
Taking an idea and making it your own
I had a picture in my mind of how it would turn out. Actually the picture in my mind was compliments of Pinterest: Source I gave Elsie and Maeve a canvas each, showed them this picture on the computer and waited for the announcement that they wanted to make one exactly the same. 'That's cool!' … Continue reading Taking an idea and making it your own
Book proposal
In a shop yesterday Elsie fell in love with a turtle hand puppet. When I suggested we write to Santa and ask for a turtle hand puppet, her shoulders raised slightly then slumped forward and down with great force. Her mouth formed a perfect upside-down smile. I reminded her that it wasn't long until Christmas … Continue reading Book proposal
Free money
Today we collected the girls' pavilion entries following yesterday's local show. It was the first year that I'd sourced a schedule and read through to see if there were any categories that the girls might like to enter. We were a little stuck for time. We learned that you could (and should) have faxed or … Continue reading Free money
What to worry about when you have nothing to worry about
Elsie reinforced for me tonight how good our lives are. How lucky we are. I've been seeing it in a lot of places lately. Like when the really big deal in our shire recently was the introduction of a recycling bin and the downsizing of the other wheelie bin and whether our rubbish would be … Continue reading What to worry about when you have nothing to worry about
Worried about book week costumes? Meh.
If she'd wanted to dress as something that involved a papier-mâché creation, I'd have made it. Or if she'd wanted an elaborate costume covered in hand-sewn sequins, I'd have made that too (well...). But as it was, when I asked Elsie which book character she'd like to dress up as for the Book Week Parade … Continue reading Worried about book week costumes? Meh.
Writing by Larissa Patton 