It’s like someone tapped into our family consciousness and made us the perfect film.
Who does she think she is?
The other day I was on my way to buy groceries for dinner, but got caught up talking in a bookshop to a new friend about her art. She is a ceramist and a mother. It was the quickest of conversations, one of those new friend conversations, establishing our potted life histories and the work we do – but we found ourselves dipping into talk about motherhood and feminism and art - how challenging it can be but how motherhood also informs the work we do (you know the conversation). Needless to say, it was soon time to pick up Lily from preschool and the groceries didn’t get bought but I was so glad to have the conversation. I am so grateful to be living in a community which respects motherhood and art for the important things they are.
I came across this movie trailer online this morning (via Multicrafty, whose neck warmer hat I was admiring) and thought it was definitely worth sharing. Who Does She Think She Is?
I hope one day I will get to see the entire film. I have just emailed the link to our local film festival group so I have my fingers crossed.
And hopefully we can all move towards naming (at least) 5 women artists off the top of our heads.
Nurse Matilda and her very big tooth
Have you read Nurse Matilda?
Have you read it out loud? Because if you haven’t you really should get along to the library or favourite book store and nab yourself a copy and then make yourself a cup of tea (or even some of that insane butterbeer I linked to the other day, which I am still yet to make and actually feel a little dubious about that ever happening) and then open it up and clear your throat a little and get right into it.
Read it to your children, your friend’s children, your nephews and neices or your partner, cat, parent or friend… Here is a book with lots of scope for wonderful expression – funny voices, raising (and waggling) of eyebrows and suspense filled pauses… but then watch as their eyes light up around about page 19 or 20 when whoever you are reading it to gasps and then says “It’s Nanny McPhee!” and it is! But it isn’t – because Nurse Matilda is just that much different that you can read and it enjoy it as something completely new but with a lovely familiar feel. She still has an enormous protruding tooth and a big stick – and you can still do your best Nanny McPhee voice to read all her dialogue… but there are big differences so please don’t buy it expecting it to be the story of the movie.
Mrs Brown is alive and well, so while we have only completed chapter two, I am imagining that there will be no central love story between Mr Brown and Evangaline, and there are so many children that they seem to only get mentioned once or twice (and we have counted 15 of them so far) so perhaps we won’t get the chance to get attached to any of them and watch them blossom under the care of Nurse Matilda… but so far both my girls are well entertained and were begging for just one more chapter at lights out.
Written by Christinana Brand and illustrated by one of my favourites (her cousin!) Edward Ardizzone.
We have made this delicious chicken recipe from Jamie Oliver twice now on our BBQ – I am sure the deliciousness depends entirely on the quality of the bbq sauce… but it’s very easy and very yum. I am trying to think of some kind of adaptation of this for Thanksgiving (What hey? That’s right! We will have a house full of family for Thanksgiving come October 11 so it’s time to get up to speed).
I bought a sewing machine – The first ever time I have bought a machine as I inherited my last three from my Grandmothers. These I had to leave behind in Melbourne due to the merry wattage dance, so I seized this opportunity (and my Australian credit card) and bought a beauty. I got it seriously reduced but it still caused me to have a dizzying spell of buyer’s remorse in the sewing centre’s parking lot. I am about to open the box and break out the manual and learn to love it through the guilt.
<3 Happy Anniversary to my Phil. We’ve been married for 9 years today, and it just keeps on getting better.
5.30 am is treating me fine
I so wanted to watch Vicky Cristina Barcelona tonight, but it’s not out on dvd here yet. Instead Phil brought home Burn After Reading which is still something I have been looking forward to seeing almost as much. Before we begin I thought I should do a super quick update on the Every Day in May project. Lots of writing.
Day Three (yesterday): I wasn’t going to get up early because it was Sunday, but was awake around 5am anyway and started thinking about the plot, so got up and wrote 500 words. Kids have totally cottoned-on to me being awake early and were up and banging on the door at 5.45am and then lay on the floor to moan at me through the gap under the door. Fortunately I also found time to work on the plot on and off throughout the day. This Every Day thing is working a treat. It’s all in my head again.
Day Four: Amelia was up at 4am and then on and off for the following hour. There was no way I was then going to get up at 5.30am to write. Instead I sat in a waiting room for 45 minutes during the morning and read my Plot & Structure book and it was pretty inspiring . I kept going through my bag to try and find a pencil to jot down ideas in the margins to no avail. V. useful for me was the idea that our minds naturally jump to clichés when coming up with ideas for scenes. The book suggests consciously jotting down several alternative possibilities for these otherwise clichéd scenes and then choosing the idea that seems right but also fresh. At the moment I have many, many scenes making me internally groan with boredom each time I open the files, so going back and asking myself “what else could happen here instead?” is kind of entertaining. Found time later in the day and wrote 761 words – worked on a scene I have had in my head since September 2007. It was one of my original ideas when I first started telling the story in my head. At the end of it I started feeling like it was a bit of a yawn so asked the “what else could happen” question and have started to twist it around a little. I will pick it up from there again tomorrow.
Snails Step Out
Home made bug catcher
Lots of lovely rain last night meant lots of snails. The the excitement surrounding the pillbugs has worn off a little but snails are the new “It” creature around here. There’s nothing more thrilling for the junior entomologists than watching a snail devour a lettuce leaf – just as was enthusiastically theorised. So I thought they might enjoy watching a little of the BBC’s My Family and Other Animals
I really liked the movie – it’s charming with its quirky characters, deliciously decaying Greek villas, 1930s textiles and clothes and, of course, (as Alicia pointed out to me when I suggested it for her ultimate list of movies to watch for the interiors) there’s Matthew Goode.
So now Amelia is talking about hermit crabs, and the resurrection of the old fish tank as well as all the little creatures which scurry out from the undergrowth as I weed garden beds. What she’d really like (she keeps telling me) is a dog and a tortoise – just like the young Gerald Durrell – and that other great animal lover, Eloise.
Meanwhile, as the builders standing on top of the structure next door staple-gun with abandon and sing along to Bon Jovi’s Dead or Alive, I will continue to dream of swanning around on Corfu (pre-World War 2, particularly).