Ten yr olds and cell phones????

So......

My almost ten year old (in SEVEN days) told me recently that she is the only kid in her class to not have a cell phone. She tried to convince me that 27 of the 28 students have them. Whatever......!!!!!!

..........or do they????

Good grief! Am I really that out of touch with today's youth? I simply looked at her and said no. Explaining that cellphones required money to purchase and maintain and why would she need one yet anyway. It's not like she's going to to parties and needing to call me to come and help her escape some drunk teenage git..........yet.

A few days after this complaint and request from her I allowed a mate of hers to come and play. Geez, I am out of touch. Ten year olds don't play afterschool anymore. They surf the net, chat to each other on facebook and then talk about nail polish colour and the movies they will 'catch' in the holidays. Anyway.....when I greeted the girls at the end of the day, here was the friend chatting on her cell phone to her mum.

Mmmmm got me thinking............maybe I'm missing out on some mother daughter bonding stuff here. Is this the new method of communication between child and parent? Well, not in my house, but maybe I should try and remain open minded!!!

Thankfully my VERY NEARLY ten year old still talks to me, most of the time, and is beginning to understand the concept of working for your luxuries. Which is exactly what I consider a cell phone to be at her age. Me? until about five years ago I hated cell phones. I had one, but rarely used it on a daily basis. My biggest annoyance was the fact that anyone could suddenly find me where ever I was. Sneaking around the shops was not an activity of privacy anymore!!

Now, especially after moving away from many family and friends I wouldn't be without it! Leaving my profession for a while for my other job; mum at home, has meant the cell phone is a lifeline to the outside world. The ADULT world................Not the R18 world, just the everyday contact that a 18month old just can't provide.

So there will be no cellphone until much later, which I'm sure then we will appreciate as we sit in the lounge, curlers in hair and shot gun on shoulder. Waiting for the 'boyfriend' to bring her home from that dreaded party.

xx

Itchy inspiration!

Monsieur Mossie'

As night draws near and the lights dim, Monsieur Mosquito bows.

'Mossie' as he is known for short, slips into bedrooms across towns.

He comes to dance you see, among the curtains and nets.

He performs his ballet above softly breathing heads.

On his head sits a beret, the colour of Merlot.

Round his neck swings a locket with his mother’s wing and left toe.

But on his feet he has slippers……des pantoufles to be exact.

Look closely you’ll spot the Loui Vuitton mark underneath the tag.

It is his voice that he’s better known for, rather his slippered toes.

Not the tenor required for Carmen, but a soprano of higher tones.

His trebles are truly falsetto and particularly enticing to Papillon.

But Chien are not the problem, it is the sleepy, ignorant human!

Monsieur is faced with trouble as he begins his evening rounds.

He clears his throat and begins his song, three octaves above the ground.

Monsieur Mossie quite simply believes that an opera must be shared.

Imagine! Waking in the morning with a voice that much revered!!!

You see a bite from le femme mossie’ is simply just survival.

Without a solid, bloody meal she will never become maternal.

But the nip from Monsieur Maestro is quite simply a musical feat.

To bless others with his vocal talent is his intention, gift and treat.

Alas! Monsieur may come to blows with backs of hands. Intention? Kill!

Yet his LV brand slippers allow him permission to pirouette across on the sill.

You may not be aware of his performance or flying through la masion.

But you will hear his hum as he warms up for his harmonic song.

So, this evening as you lay your weary head below the window.

Enjoy the breeze that whispers in and makes the curtains billow.

Watch the shadows choreograph themselves across your painted ceiling.

And if you hear a faint cough………..followed by treble humming,

Smile and sleep assured you will be a soprano by the morning.

(Who says Facebook conversations are a waste of our time?!! Cheers for the inspiration Scott.)

xx

Phoebe goes shopping!

Logging in for the day.

Right baby let's do some shopping!

I love your dress baby.........it's a bit like mine!!

Oh no baby!! You have food on your face.

Don't worry baby, I'll clean it off!!

Just a minute baby, I've seen pair of goggles I wanna buy!

Right baby, let's pay for these.

Punching in the total.......

Hate it when the keys get stuck!!!

xx

Rapunzel, Rapunzel........

The Auckland Skytower.

So Saturday was forecasted to be clear, until lunchtime at least and we thought it was about time us Cantabs' did the touristy thing. The Skytower was the next thing on our list and the kids were REALLY excited.
I was determined to go up. One, because it seemed important to have it crossed off the list for us as a family but it was certainly a personal achievement for 2010. You see, I am am terrified of heights. I hide it well, easy really, just avoid every possible activity that might take me beyond the height of my own shoulders. The subject of heights and my fear has not even been the topic of conversation between myself and family or friends. I have kept this one to myself.

Anyway, much earlier in the year I did write a post about setting myself goals for 2010. Feeling the fear, and doing it anyway has become one of them. :-)

Phoebe sitting on glass floor

The platform you can choose to walk on if you wish!!! Outside, with a harness on. OMG!!

Fear...........it's a funny thing. Not funny 'ha ha' but funny as in you think you have the fear under wraps and then it jumps out and bites you where it really hurts. I managed to climb the Eiffel Tower years ago at the age of 19 but I was with friends, backpacking and had the 'post tower beer' in mind to keep me going. I braved the tower ...........and I won!

I did the Blackpool Roller Coaster, very reluctantly. which was described to me as the highest and fastest in all of Europe, possibly the world......at that time. This was kindly told to me while I was standing in line about to crawl into the darn thing. But I did it, got the crazy 'eyes closed, hair standing on end' photo to prove it. I fought the coaster.....and I won again.

I have been back on a plane several times, avoiding looking out the window and shoving my nose in a book each time in a desperate act of escapism. I braved the air....and I won once again!

So then we bought a beautiful Villa with 12ft ceilings, with decroative trims that I loved but were stained and in a poor state at the time we purchsed the property. Hubby was travelling quite a bit for his job at the time so I got up the biggest ladder I have ever seen and painted the entire ceiling myself. I braved the ...........etc etc you know how it goes.

Phoebe and Molly were quite taken by the fountains on the bottom floor.

So. I did the Skytower. Couldn't manage the very top level, but Mark and the kids did and they loved it. I didn't walk on the glass floor, but the kids did that also. Even Phoebe eventually convinced herself she wasn't going to fall and sat on the stuff. MAD!!!!!

This little sign I think was intended to provide comfort. But I was still looking around for a paper bag to breathe into as I bent down to read it.

I am amazed that FEAR, which is essentially an emotion generated in our brains can manifest itself in the physical form. I literally freeze on the spot, my lungs need jumper leads to get started again and get this primal urge to run, jump, anything to get away. Frozen yet wanting to dash. The fight or flight instinct possibly???

BUT I DID IT

In my 'glass half full' attitude which I prefer to live life by I can confidently say that I'm pleased that I did. The view was awesome, thank very much Auckland City. (Thank you also to some very clever engineers that got me down in one piece in an extremely efficient and speedy lift).

More awards for the Treacy family!

Molly has settled into school famously and is even asking me eagerly on a Saturday night if there is school in the morning.

I watched her at assembly this week receive her first certificate and participate in the announcing on the 'teacher's mic' as she calls it.

What a buzz. I remember the feeling of watching Caitlin on various occasions. Assemblies, Cricket award days, prize-givings and I'm excited that it is just as thrilling with the second child. I was chatting to Caitlin (my eldest) earlier about how interesting it will be to watch them all grow and see how similar or different they become. Not that I'm a fan of comparing children, siblings or not, but it will be interesting, from a sociological point of view.

The certificate she received...........made me giggle....................for 'excellent timing in music'. I would expect nothing less from my girl!!! So all that crazy dancing and singing I did with her in the lounge on those long maternity leave days was worth it.

This week seemed to fly. Yet the days felt LONG. I have a long list of new achievements for the next two months so I'll keep you updated on that front. Next week's plan is to take a car-boot load of bits to the local hospice shop and hopefully come back with a brand new (if not retro) wardrobe.

I have mastered a couple of delicious recipes recently. The kids are enjoying the lunchbox treats and I have nearly finished my long term project; an album of my late Grandmother's life and photographic story.

I'll leave you all with a gorgeous pic of the youngest inhabitant of Treacy Island.

It seems that dressing up (or down) is the key to contentment!!!

BOO!!!!

A garden of sculpture anyone??

I had a book land in my lap last week, literally. I am amazed at the passing accuracy (and speed) of the local delivery couriers. On receiving a package it is a ballet of knock, sign, pass, catch (possibly) and reversing van hurriedly down my driveway. The whole performance leaves you stunned and wondering what actually happened!!!!!!

I digress...........the book I received last week and have now read, four times I think, is a beautiful summary of an artist's/sculptor's life and work. I had a sneaky suspicion I might get to read it this year as the author is my cousin, currently residing in Australia. We have been back in touch after many years. We were tiny tots on our last encounter and over the past few months I had heard he was writing.

So the book arrived, I had no idea what to expect and know not my cousin's writing style or the artist of subject. The title: Bruno's Art & Sculpture Garden ~ Sculpture & Paintings by Bruno Torfs ~ Written by Andrew Kade.

To my delight the book contains much about two topics dear to me. Sculpture and gardens, and it is simply delicious to look at. On first glance and a skim-read I am reminded of the Renaissance Art text books I insisted on purchasing while at University (one of the reasons I am still paying back the student loan debt!!!). I am drawn to the sculpture photos in particular, and enthralled by the way they appear to emerge from their medium, much like the way Italian Renaissance Sculpture seems to climb from within a block of marble. I'm surprised at this connection, as the environment and style is so different from that of Italian art.

If books about art interest you, you will enjoy this book, but if you are also interested in the journeys and lives of other people and the process of discovering themselves as people you will love it.

The book describes the life of artist Bruno Torf who creates in a variety of mediums and genre, not just sculpture. It shares a peek into his childhood, and journey into adulthood as the artist travels and experiments with his art. The biography continues to show us his family and other aspects of the artist's life that are of importance to him.

The writing is light and reflects the humour of the artist and his many humorous works. The book has a lovely balance of commentary and photography. In some places I would have liked more description about the works and photos, but then others will be content to create their own interpretations and monologue. The writing does not distract from the poignant photography and I can tell the design and layout has allowed several pages to be completely dialogue free, which I appreciated.

After reading the book for the fourth time I think it is possibly even two books combined into one. The life and journey of an artist, and the incrediably life changing experience of the Australian bush fires, 2009. In particular the destruction of the artist's current home town, Marysville, Victoria.

The last third of the book describes the destruction, (or maybe rebirth? Renaissance?) of Bruno's Sculpture Garden in the fires now always remembered in Australian history as 'Black Saturday'. The post fire photos are very moving, yet beautiful. The photography reveals the heartbreaking destruction of beautiful Australian forest and the amazing survival of many of Bruce's garden sculptures, despite the fiercest, inferno imaginable. The writing suggests it was a time of extreme emotion but also a lesson in love and hope.

It's not often that I read a book four times in the duration of a week. Partly it was because I was very proud to read the writing of someone I know and love, but also because some books that land in your lap have a quality that's difficult to let go. I am left after the fourth read wanting to visit these amazing sculpture gardens, rekindle the relationship with my talented cousin and with the hope that one day soon I will read about the rebuild of an artist's life and dream.

To Bruno; your family, Andrew and Iris. A job well done. A beautiful result. xx