Hippies at the Beach

So 'I haven't written for a while' would be kind of an understatement. Yes, I do realize that I have been neglecting you all for quite some time. I still have my queries as to whether anyone ever actually genuinely reads this ... well if you are, then people must. But who are you? Where do you come from? Do I know you? I suppose I will never know.

So since you have gone to all the trouble of reading this far, I suppose I had better tell you what's been going on in my life recently. Well, let's start with everything that has happened (everything major that is ... I don't expect you to be interested in every minute of my life as that would just be sad and kind of creepy) since I last wrote. Let's see, well I went to see Jane Eyre again and ... well, let's just say it wasn't really much better the second time. Oh, and the Julia Child cookbooks arrived and they are AMAZING!! I haven't actually read through them yet but I have flicked through the pages and they look simply divine.

Two weeks ago I had the flu ... yughhkk! It was absolutely hideous and I spent the whole week in bed, coughing like a honking duck and crying shamelessly. I also managed to read a whole book in that time. I am now slightly tired of Harry Potter. A week of reading it non stop has kind of exhausted my 'Harry Potter Meter'. I also watched hours of terrible lifestyle shows which were highly amusing. Mostly they were about weddings or fashion or renovation. Oh yes, I went there.

At the end of that week I felt much better and managed to heave myself out of bed long enough to undergo a barista course with my best friend. It was TERRIFIC fun and I even managed to be the only one in the class to utterly make a fool of myself by spraying milk all over the floor and myself, much to the horror of the young assistant yelling at me to 'turn the mixer off, switch it OFF!'. By the end of the 3 hours however I was rather exhausted and I couldn't hold off my 'inner duck' for much longer. Almost as soon as we exited the building I burst into a major bout of honking and spluttering ... oh dear.

Anyway, the next day I went to Northshore again. Remember that place I told you about? Where we go and have picnics? Well, as it was father's day, we thought it would be nice to take my mum's dad along with his wife and other daughter (my aunt) with her husband and sons for a picnic. It was a lovely outing, and the boys enjoyed it thoroughly. My youngest cousin (around 1 and a half), was absolutely fascinated by the beach and the sand and consequently spent most of the time buried knee deep in dirty brown sand, smiling broadly. The elder brother (5 and a half) managed to find himself a 'follower'; a beautiful little girl with lovely blonde hair who ran after him wherever he went. I went up to check on them at one point and shortly found myself playing 'horsey' and galloping around wildly, 'running away from Indians' and eating apples until I was quite breathless and mum called me in, slightly startled that I should be gallivanting around like that so soon after being sick. Seeing her logic, I politely quitted the game, shortly followed by my disappointed cousin.

Last week, I was invited (via facebook) to a friend's 18th birthday party. I was rather touched that she should think to invite me and so immediately agreed to attend. I was also enthralled to discover that my best friend would be attending also. Reading the invitation further, I discovered that the party would be 'hippie themed'. Having absolutely no hippie clothes currently in my wardrobe, I invited my best friend to come along on a shopping trip with me. I was thoroughly pleased by the end of the experience (which is rare) as I had bought everything needed to transform myself momentarily into a 'modern hippie'. I purchased; a long tan skirt (short to the knees at the front and long to the ankles at the back), a white formal shirt that could be tucked into the skirt, two sets of gold bangles, medium sized gold hoop earrings, a brown and lace small handbag, a thin cotton headband and a pair of 5-inch tan heels. Okay, so I went a little overboard with the accessories, but hey, it is hippie! I was so excited with the success of my purchases that I completely forgot who I was shopping for; myself. Ah, yes ... a 15 year old girl with a single mum ... oops! You can imagine the shock on my mother's poor face as I reached into the shopping bag and pulled out the 5-inch heeled shoes. She would probably have crashed the car if we hadn't been pulled up at a set of lights. Actually, I think she was so shocked, she found it slightly amusing. So now I am forced to show them off to anyone who comes over, only to be pelted with a torrent of disapproving 'tut-tut's' and 'oh dear's' and 'goodness gracious''. But graced with my mother's good nature, I have been allowed to keep the shoes and even wear them to the party! I guess that comes from being such a good child (cough, cough).

Well, this is becoming rather long my dears so I think I shall have to leave you there for now.
Toodle-oo!
Miss Aalyn xx

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