A Picnic with Jane

Another lovely day, another picnic. Northshore is a lovely place to sit under the shade and read for hours on end. Mum, Mel and I drove up on Saturday for the second time this month to have a beautiful, relaxing picnic by the shore. I just love the sound of the waves lapping against the sand and the grass waving gently in the breeze. We have our own little spot to sit now and it's a really relaxing and lovely thing to do on a Saturday afternoon. We just sat there for hours; reading, listening to music and munching on my own homemade chocolate cake. I hope to have more of these precious moments, where we are all together, happy and relaxed. I think that people make too much of the big 'in your face' moments, and don't cherish enough the 'boring' ones; the ones that don't shout 'I'm so amazing!'. The ones that pass you by without you even really noticing they had even taken place. Or when you just think too much about the little negative things and don't focus on the big picture. I mean, I will probably cherish this moment right now in about 50 years time. And all the times I've walked to school with my sister in the morning, which now appear to me such a chore, will probably seem so pleasant and lovely to me in the future.

Jane Eyre; a fantastic novel by a wonderful author. I went to see the movie on the weekend. I must say I was a little disappointed by it. I mean, I didn't really like it as much as I thought I would and ... get this ... I didn't even CRY!!!! IT'S A MIRACLE!!! I cry in EVERYTHING. But, it was almost as if it didn't give me enough time to work up an emotion and tear up. The moments moved by so swiftly that I found myself getting rather annoyed. I wanted to feel more emotion and attachment to the characters. But I just couldn't! I don't really think it was a movie for people who had not read the book or did not know the story because it wasn't exactly very clear. I read the book about two months ago and absolutely loved it but the movie didn't quite exceed my expectations. The characters were portrayed poorly I must say and I just didn't buy it. It's really a great shame, because I wanted to be able to say how amazing and enthralling it was. But I speak only my opinion, the rest of my family thought it was great. So I shall just leave it at that then. I am seeing it again this weekend anyway, so hopefully I will grow to like it more the second time.

I just bought the Julia Child 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' two book set! I'm so happy! Ever since I saw the movie Julie and Julia I have been just itching to buy the cookbooks. I suppose now this means I shall have to be more inventive with my cooking and broaden my horizons to something more advanced than spaghetti bolognese and chocolate cake. Well, bring it on I say!

I now have a lovely two day holiday ahead of me and I am exceedingly glad of it. I think I needed a holiday, which is an absurd thing to say as, compared to most adults, I have far too many. But still, I am very happy about it and shall relish in the much needed rest!

Much love,
Miss Aalyn xx

Curious Imaginings

Last night I had a dream. Not a particularly good dream, but not a bad one. I was running. Somewhere in the countryside, probably in England. Hills were surrounding me. I was running with another person. It was my future husband. I never saw his face (woe is me). We were running across the countryside and then through a great mound of snow and under a bridge. We came to a pile of material. Plastic mainly; huge sheets of it. They were all different sizes. Most of them were probably as big as a small tree and as wide as two cars. Massive! There were two other people there also. It was another couple. For some reason we were trying to steal the sheets of plastic and glass off them. It was materials for a house. We wanted them for our house but they had got to them first so we tried to steal as much as we could. It was kind of a race to see who could get the most material. But before we could haul the first sheet, the image faded and another segment of the dream took place. All I remember from this is a mountain and a huge house, and a lot of running and snow. But the snow wasn't cold. It was just ... there. I also remember vaguely something to do with a cup of tea. But that is all. Very strange indeed.

Miss Aalyn xx

Stuff and Nonsense

10 reasons why I love food:
-It satisfies hunger
-It comforts one when in times of trial
-You don't need to have a reason to eat it
-It is highly enjoyable to prepare
-It relieves tension during an awkward moment
-It is different where ever you go but, at the same time, never changes
-It provides a topic to blog about
-To prepare it requires love and attention
-It tastes good!
-It draws people together

Yes, as you can probably guess, I LOVE IT!!! I mean, really, I absolutely adore it. But I hate it at the same time. Isn't that funny? Well, talking about food, tonight I cooked a most delicious Chinese dish called 'Garlic and Ginger Chicken'. Yummo! I also prepared some of my 'famous brownies' for a birthday party this Sunday. They were even better than usual, if I do say so myself. I'm sure my cousins will most enjoy them. Well, that is, if they actually eat anything, which is seldom the case, with two of them at least.

I am determined to learn French. Just putting it out there, not that you will care most likely. But I do so love it and wish more than anything to be able to speak it. Sigh, imagine speaking in French! How I would love to babble away to someone in French and for them to not understand a single word I was saying. As it is, I can hardly say a single word myself. Well, apart from bonjour and au revoir. But, then again, who can't?

Au revoir pour l'instant, mes chers!
Mademoiselle Aalyn xx

ps. And yes, I did use google translate. So nobody correct me if there is anything wrong with what I have said. Goodness, translator does do strange things to phrases. Once I typed in 'best friend' and it translated back into English as 'fluffy duck'! How my best friend must have laughed when she read it!

Adorableness

I came across the most adorable video the other day. It is located on the abc iview website under 'All Programs' and then click 'Drama'. It is called 'Ten Minute Tales; Deep and Crisp and Even'. Here is the link for ABC iView:

http://www.iinet.net.au/my/media/abc/index.html

It is the sweetest and most beautiful thing you ever did see. It only goes for about ten minutes, as the title suggests, so it doesn't take up too much time. But its definitely worth a watch!
Aalyn xx

Sorrows, Plays and A Bickering Family

Dearest readers,
Well, that's it. I shall not see my father now until Christmas, maybe not even then, if things don't work out. I'm glad he's gone in one way, because now I can probably have a white Christmas, or at least a cold one, in a cottage in the Scottish countryside. But, on the other hand, my dad has just moved half way across the world and I will not be able to see him very often at all or talk face to face! Sigh, that moment when we said goodbye was not the happiest of times. He looked so incredibly sad. Almost as sad as when he told us that he and mum were seperating. His eyes looked as if they were going to roll off his face and onto the floor, they were so wet with tears. And his lips were trembling, he could hardly talk. But, then again, he did much better than either Mel or I could. We were hopeless. We couldn't utter a single word. We just stood there, tears rolling down our cheeks, lips trembling. I could hardly stop myself from bursting out with sobs. But I couldn't say anything. There were so many things I wanted to say, things that would have made the situation lighter and less awful, things that I would have been very glad to have said. But no, I couldn't even speak. I regret that now, not being able to say what I wanted to. I shall probably keep looking back on that moment and kicking myself for not being able to form the words. I just kept thinking 'Don't cry, don't cry, you silly girl! Do you want to make things harder for dad than they already are? Do you want his last memory of you to be a blubbery mess? How do you think he'll feel, leaving you like that?' But, anyhow, that moment has passed now and I shall just have to move on I suppose. Anyway, now I have someone to write letters to and I'll be able to use my wax seal and beautiful new pens and paper.

School is slowly droning on in the background of my life. I am glad of the subjects I have chosen to undertake, but that does not stop them from being incredibly 'schoolish' and uninteresting. Why can't they think of interesting things to do? Things we will actually enjoy doing? I mean, there are plenty of ways to make learning fun. School just doesn't seem to quite get that concept. For me anyway. I had drama today; a generally good subject. We are studying a play called 'Juice'. It is basically a fairly dated play about a group of teenagers in Grade 10 who are celebrating the 'end of childood and the beginning of adulthood' by having a party. It involves lots of alcohol, stupid dares and, strangely enough, a dead canary. Very strange indeed! I am not really looking forward to performing it, to be honest. I just couldn't think of anything more boring; a play about a stupid teeanage party! I hope I can get an interesting charactert to play. I think we can choose whether to video it or to play it live to the audience. I know which one I will choose! Most definetely the former. I hate performing! I know that's kind of strange, as I'm doing drama, but I really think I need to get over this fear and face up to it if I want to be successful in life. So that is one of the reasons I chose drama. But also because I do enjoy acting, just not performing for a live audience! Filming is fine, and so is voice recording. But actual live performing kind of freaks me out!

I am becoming incredibly snappy toward my close family. This is a horrible thing, and the feeling is also very unpleasant. I just can't seem to stop myself. It's strange, whenever they ask me about my day or something completely innocent and friendly, I just get really annoyed and I simply cannot talk. I eventually manage to mutter something very short and sharp, and that only succeeds in making them angry. It's so silly of me to get angry but, I can't describe it. It's like I'm angry at them for not knowing. Or that I'm angry at them for daring to ask. I'll quite happily just tell them things about my day, but if they just ask, the words refuse to form. Like, tonight, mum asked if I had had drama today. I said that I had and that we were studying 'juice'. She politely asked me questions about it but I could only answer in short, very unexplanatory sentences. And when she continued to ask questions, I got angrier and angrier. She began to get angry too, until we were both bickering away like old ladies. This has begun to happen more and more, but I can't seem to stop it. Another example; I will be on my way to go and do the dishwasher or tidy my room, and mum will ask me to go and do them. Suddenly, I don't feel like doing them at all. It's like I'm angry at her for not knowing that I was just about to do them. It's utterly stupid. Or when I will be thinking something and almost say it out loud but decide not to, and then Mel says it, I get really angry. It's like she stole my idea or my thought and made it her own. Urghh, I cannot stand how annoying I am sometimes! I must be a nightmare to live with!

Goodness, this is getting very long. So I shall say goodbye.
Ta-ta!
Miss Aalyn xx

Poems and Wax Seals

For the past few days, as you know, I have spent my time at home. I have mainly spent it on the computer recording things into the microphone or watching Upstairs Downstairs (which I am now absolutely obsessed with). But I have been doing something particularly special for my cousin Rueben. I have been recording A.A Milne poems through the microphone and onto the computer. I did around 30 of them, it took me quite a while to perfect them all. Once I thought I had done one correctly, I would listen through it again and realise that there was a noise in the background like a plate clinking or something like that; very annoying! But, anyhow, it's all done now and we dropped the finished CD off tonight and listened to a few with him. I think he enjoyed it very much. I even did up a cover and a list of the tracks on the back. Hopefully he listens to it. I think he will. He's having an operation tomorrow to pull his tooth out and put a fake one in its place. I'm not entirely sure why, but hopefully the CD will cheer him up.

Today I received a parcel in the mail. I had been expecting it, but that didn't stop me from being absolutely thrilled when it arrived. It was a wax seal with the letter 'A' on it. You see, my father is going away to Scotland to live and we thought it would be nice if we could write to him whilst he was there, every month or so. Letters are so much nicer to receive than emails, don't you think? And, yesterday, he took us out to 'The Pen Shoppe' to buy some letter paper, envelopes, two fountain pens (each), a wax seal and red wax. We did want to buy a letter opener also, but they didn't have any particularly nice ones. But dad says that he will send us each one over from Edinburgh, which will be very lovely indeed to receive in the mail. Anyhow, they didn't have any 'A' wax seals left, so the lovely lady at the counter promised she would send me one in the mail, express style. And it has arrived, just as she said it would. It is beautiful. I couldn't have asked for anything nicer! To think, my own wax seal. Ahhh, its just too lovely for words!

I had better be popping off now, though, as mum is calling me up to bed.
Farewell, faithful readers.
Miss Aalyn xx

Man Hands

Today I enjoy nearly a full week off school. Not because I am sick or because I am on holidays, but because my whole grade is going away to camp. Many people have asked me "Why didn't you go?" and I reply simply "Well, I guess it's because of the people. If I were going with a really close group of friends or with my family, then I may enjoy it, but not with a bunch of strangers and a couple of friends dotted here and there". So, this week, I am spending my time cleaning, cooking, reading, singing, writing and listening to music, maybe watching a few movies in between. I shall rather enjoy it. And my father might be dropping around to take me shopping. No, not clothes shopping. Shopping for a quill, ink, letter writing paper, envelopes, stamps, wax seal (eeeeeeeee!!!!) and wax. Maybe also a few 'drippy' candles for my wine bottles.

Although I do love and relish the time spent away from school and on holidays, I can't help feeling rather 'fat'. You see, most of the time I spend on the computer or reading or watching a movie (which are, as you can guess, all done sitting/lying down) and I begin to feel very tired, lazy and fat. It's really not a very nice feeling. But then, when I'm asked to get out of the house to walk the dogs, I don't want to go. I don't know, I guess being cooped up all day makes you tired and so you don't feel like exercising. But I'm very glad and grateful of the break, school can be very grueling and tiresome.

Last night, my mum went to the hospital. Not because she was ill, but because of her 'man hand'. You see, a few days ago, she was in the park. Walking along. Minding her own business. When something drops onto her head. Thinking it a leaf, she brushes it carelessly away with her hand. Suddenly, there is a sharp pain in her right pinkie and she stops in her tracks. A bee falls to the ground, dead. She stares at her hand and nurses it as it starts to swell. She remembers that she is allergic to bees. Finishing up the walk, she calls the dogs and takes them home again. Reaching home, the swelling is spreading. In a day or so, her hand is puffed up like a balloon and she can barely move it. It is very painful. So she takes it to the doctors and she gives her some medication. She sternly recommends that, if the swelling does not die down within a few hours, she must go to the hospital, as she could have an infection that may worsen. The swelling increases steadily and she decides to call a friend to take her to the hospital. They wait ... and they wait. For hours they sit, bored stupid, in the waiting room. Finally, a nurse sees her. She takes her to a doctor. She is then put on a drip and advised to stay the night, until the swelling dies down. And so she is in hospital. Everyone is calling it her 'man hand', as that it exactly what it looks like. Although, if I ever met a guy with hands like that, I think I'd run for the hills without a moment's notice. Hopefully, she will be back again sometime today. Last night, we stayed with some family friends and now Mel and I are at home, as Mel took the day off.
Here is a picture of mum's hands. The one on the left is the swollen one (just in case you couldn't tell).

What a bore! I have an English analytical essay to write on 'nationality'. It's so incredibly tedious and boring that I cannot think how I shall survive it. I think I'm going to do the English nationality, but I'm not really sure what my points will be. Most people will likely do Australian and some American, but I think I shall be different and do English. We basically have to pick one picture, one literary source and one non literary source. We then have to talk about each of them and discuss what relevance they have to the nationality we've chosen and how they may be similar. Well, at least we don't have to write an essay on the government. I think I'd rather die. I don't really see how we will use essays in real life, except maybe if you're working for a magazine company or something, even then. Then again, there are many things we are taught in school which we will never need to actually use in real life, and there are things they don't teach which we will. I'm just glad I have such fabulous parents who teach me pretty much everything I need to know and more.

Well, chaps, toodle oo then, for now!
Fondest affections,
Miss Aalyn xx