A quick Blog Update

Craft, Family, Opinion and Other Random Things One comment

It’s been a little quiet around here over the last week – typical of those times when I’ve piled my plate full!

We went away on holiday for a week, which was wonderful, but definitely launched me into holiday mode – which is not always conducive for blogging. Then Squirm suddenly got a whole lot more mobile, which means I spend a lot of my time launching across the room looking for objects which he’s about to try to eat!

I ran into a road block with the Australian Women Writer’s challenge when it came to reviewing Mazin Grace by Dylan Coleman. This is a stunning, amazing book, but a very difficult one, and I’m finding it very hard to review effectively. I’ll think on it more during the week, and attempt to catch up!

Then there’s the crochet. The week away really sparked my creative bones, and I love to share that on the blog. The only problem is that the crocheting (and the pattern writing) is taking up time that I might use to write! But I’ll soon have some pretty patterns to share – and look out for some Downton Abbey inspired creations soon!

Finally, the Coursera course I’ve been taking is really ramping up (and I’m loving it so much) and there’s a renewed love of Angry Birds, plus all that AWW reading . . .well if I could just get a couple more hours in my day, I’d be fine!

What keeps you from blogging at the moment?

A crochet project sneak peek!

A crochet project sneak peek!

 

Crochet – Grouchy Oscar Coin Purse

Craft, View all 2 comments

While I was on my holiday, I was playing around with some stitches and different colour yarns. When I got back I thought I’d play a little more and ended up with an Oscar the Grouch-esque coin purse. This one isn’t completely finished – I haven’t been able to buy a zipper to fasten it – but it has been crocheted a couple of times by me, and I’m pretty confident that the pattern will work. I’d be thrilled with any feedback and feel free to share this patter around as well.

Note – At the moment, I only have US terminology for the pattern (that’s what I crochet in). If enough people are interested, I’d be willing to ‘translate’ a UK terminology pattern.

Downloadable Pattern

.

Online Pattern

Grouchy Oscar Crochet: Adventures of a Subversive Reader

WHAT DO YOU NEED?

Yarns – small amounts of green, light brown, white and black. I used acrylics
Hooks – 5mm and 3mm
Other stuff – scissors, yarn needle, zipper or other fastening, small piece of material for lining (optional), sewing needle and thread (optional)

Grouchy Oscar Crochet: Adventures of a Subversive Reader

CROCHET (US terminology)

Purse

Use green yarn and 5mm hook

Foundation – Chain 21
Row 1 – sc into second chain from the hook, sc into each chain in the row (20)
Row 2 – (crochet in back loop only) chain 2, hdc into 2nd stitch from hook, hdc in each stitch in the row (19)
Row 3 – (crochet in back loop only) chain 1, sc in each stitch finishing in the chain from the previous row, change to brown in the last stitch (20)
Row 4 – (crochet in back loop only) chain 1, sc in each stitch, change to green in the last stitch (20)
Row 5 – (crochet in back loop only) chain 1, sc in each stitch, (20)
Rows 6 – 9 – Repeat rows 2-5
Row 10 – 15 – (crochet in both loops) ch 1, sc in each (20)
Row 16 – 19 – Repeat rows 2-5
Row 20 – 23 – Repeat rows 2-5 without changing colour
Row 24 – (crochet in both loops) ch 1, sc in each (20), tie off

In green yarn, sc around the whole rectangle
Oscar Crochet Instructions1

Eyes (make 2)

Use black yarn and 3mm hook

Row 1- Make a magic circle, crochet 6 stitches into it, ss to close circle (6)
Row 2 – Inc in each stitch, ss to close circle and fasten off (12)
Row 3 – Use white yarn. Inc, sc around circle, ss to close circle (18)
Row 4 – Inc, sc, sc around circle, ss to close circle (24) Fasten off

Crochet (using sc) the two eyes together (about three sc)
Grouchy Oscar Crochet: Adventures of a Subversive Reader

Eyebrows

Use brown yarn and 3mm hook.

Attach brown yarn on the outer side of one of the eyes

Row 1 – sc in each across the top of the eye, in the joining sc and to the side of the other (25)
Row 2 – ch 1, ss 3, sc 3, hdc 4, ss 5, hdc 4, sc 3, ss 3, fasten off

Grouchy Oscar Crochet: Adventures of a Subversive Reader

Putting it all together

Place the ‘purse’ so that the two brown stripes are towards the bottom. Use white yarn to sew the eyes onto the top. (Sew only around the eyes, not the eyebrows)

Grouchy Oscar Crochet: Adventures of a Subversive Reader

Sew lining to the inside of the purse if you’re including it (I’ve used red felt)
Fold the purse in half and sew up the sides as far up as you want
Add a fastener of some sort. I intend to add a zip when I buy one! You could also add a snap fastener, a button or velcro

Grouchy Oscar Crochet: Adventures of a Subversive Reader

The Great Library Tour: Elanora Library

Library Tour, , , Leave a comment
Adventures of a Subversive Reader: Elanora Library

The Great Library Tour

Since we were holidaying at the Gold Coast, and Elanora Library was right nearby (and right next to the local shopping centre) it made perfect sense to include it in the library tour. Even more sense when we were given a rather wet and windy week – not all that conducive to a beach holiday!

Like Logan North, Logan Central and Caboolture, Elanora is quite a new library. Opened in 2007, it is situated above shops and is a wide, mostly open plan library. There’s a meeting room and a large space filled with computers, along with rows and rows and rows of books.

The children’s section is situated in the back corner of the library. Unfortunately, there’s a fire escape right in the middle of the children’s section. This meant that the section felt broken up, with readers forced to search around the fire escape to find the picture books. There was no large sitting area for children and no room to fit in a couch for reading – all the seating was individual, which was hard enough for Mr Pilot with Squirm – it would have been impossible to sit and read with a bigger child. The fire escape would have also made it difficult to watch children on the other side of it – you would need to have your child right next to you all the time

There was a big display of ‘fact’ books available for readers, several low shelves of board books, and lots of picture books in lovely animal shelving. I also loved the fact that the audio books were shelved amongst the junior novels. The books were very new looking, and there were several that immediately drew my eye – I’m sure there would have been many more if I’d been there for longer.

There was one big poster, created by children on the wall, but the other posters were advertising (including advertising for a movie.) It really felt like there was something missing in the kids section, like it had been relegated a secondary status by whoever designed the building (situating the kids section around a fire escape is ludicrous – and since it was a ‘designated’ space, the staff would have had to just go with it. However, I can’t help but think of the amazing Logan North Library, and the way they brought magic into otherwise ordinary parts of their library – the tiny reading nook in a corner, a wall and attached table used as a wall for forgotten books. Elanora could have used some of that magic.

The Young Adult section was also a bit strange. In most libraries, the Young Adult section tends to be near the Children’s – very useful when you’ve got those 11-13 year old readers who read from both areas. Here the Young Adult section was a good distance from the Children’s, right in the front of the library. It was very much ‘on view’ – I don’t know if there have been problems with teenagers in libraries previously, but it felt like there might have been and all teenagers were on notice that they were being watched. It didn’t make for a particularly cosy area, and I think I would have given it a miss as a teenager myself.

The Elanora Library felt very much like an exercise in lost opportunities. It is a gorgeous big space, with a huge up to date book collection. There are some great book displays and an obviously friendly and hard working staff. But it could have easily have been made more child and teenager friendly and become a space for them to love and enjoy – building another generation of library fans.

The best parts of Elanora Library

  • The massive book collection
  • The audio books in with the regular books
  • The friendly staff
  • Lovely lighting in the library
Adventures of a Subversive Reader: Elanora Library Adventures of a Subversive Reader: Elanora Library

Important Information about Elanora Library

The Pines Shopping Centre
Guineas Creek Road
Elanora 4221

Website

Open Monday to Saturday

Parking available

Seven Months Old: A Letter to Squirm

Family, , , , View all 10 comments
Adventures of a Subversive Reader: Seven Month Squirm

Dear Squirm,

This is a slightly belated letter, since we spent your seven month ‘birthday’ on holidays. We took you to the beach for a week, just like your Grandma and Grandpa used to take your Daddy and Uncle to the beach. You did lots of walking with us, and when the weather finally cleared you sat on the sand, and finally enjoyed it! The last day we took you to the water, you enjoyed crawling into it – Daddy had to rescue you from the waves a couple of times!

You’re eating so well at the moment. Less of the food is ending up on the floor (though Daddy and I must look like Jack in the Boxes sometimes, with all the bending down to pick food up). You’re starting to get the hang of meat when we give you little strips, you love vegetables and fruit and cheese, and we’re noticing less and less food left over at the end of the meals. It’s so amazing to watch you feed yourself, and how you assess the food and work out how best to approach it.

This time last month, you weren’t really crawling. Now, you’ve perfected it, scooting around any and all surfaces. You can crawl really, really quietly when you want to, and you love crawling down to the bathroom when Daddy has his showers in the morning. You’ve also worked out how to pull yourself up onto your feet using furniture (or walls or doors) and you’re beginning to use the furniture to walk a bit. You’re still working on getting down from standing, though – there was a big celebration when you worked out how to fall on your bottom rather than your head. There’s also times when you need to be reminded to hold on!

You went a little backwards with your naps over the last month, needing to be near me to sleep again. It makes some things a lot harder, but it really is lovely to share those moments with you. Most nights you end up in bed with us, but we think that’s because you’re having some separation anxiety and really want us nearby. You always sleep better when you’re not going through big developmental stages.

You’ve also sprouted three new teeth during the last month – all at the same time. That’s left you extremely uncomfortable and a bit cranky at times, but its made eating easier for you and made your little grin even cheekier.

Your favourite toys at the moment are things that you can knock down or things that you can take out and put back. I bought you some stacking cups which you love. I’ll put them into a couple of stacks and you’ll carefully take a top cup off . . . then use it to knock all the other cups down. I’ve also given you a ‘drawer’ of things to play with – mostly household things – in the trolley in the kitchen. When I’m cooking or washing up, you’ll come over and pull things out to play with.

You’re also ‘talking’ a lot at the moment. Mamamama and Dadadadada are very popular phrases with you, though you’re still working to connect them to the right people. You’ve worked out a whole lot of other sounds, including an incredibly cute clicking sound that you love to make at us.

We can’t believe how much you’ve grown in the last month! You continuously amaze us and we love you so very, very much.

Love

Mum

Read more letters to Squirm here

Guest Post: Storytime Fun by Ann from Help! I’m Stuck!

Books and Reading, Craft, Libraries, , Leave a comment

A couple of weeks ago, I put out a call for guest posts to fill the gaps while I gallivanted away on holidays. Ann from Help! I’m Stuck! put her hand up and wrote this fabulous post about Storytime at her local library – if you’ve ever wondered what happens at Storytime, here’s one example!

~

For the last few months every second Wednesday has seen myself,  the big one (nearly 4) and the baby (just turned 2) head to our local library for story time.  It is 45 minutes of fun!!  30 minutes of stories and songs and then a fun craft to do with the theme of the day.  This year it is just myself and the baby as the big one is at preschool on a Wednesday

Today’s theme was food and the wonderfully friendly and patient librarian read some really funny books including

Adventures of a Subversive Reader: Guest Post: Help! I'm StuckAdventures of a Subversive Reader: Guest Post: Help! I'm StuckAdventures of a Subversive Reader: Guest Post: Help! I'm Stuck

We sang some songs including 5 fat sausages and jelly on a plate!!

Then we did some craft

Picture

Not bad for a 2 year old!!

I love story time  Not only is it a local, close by activity but it is free and the kids can go crazy with craft with no clean up afterwards!!  Our library runs it once a fortnight and it is aimed at the 3-5 age group however they have no problem with younger ones being there.  Bigger libraries in our area run different programs for the younger age groups however for me that involves travel and a short walk once a fortnight is perfect for us!!  I love the fact we can read different books without the risky business of borrowing them.

I totally recommend giving this a go if your local library runs something similar.  I would check your local council or library website.  Plus did you know that libraries now have computers to use, DVDs, magazines and CDs to borrow?  Also for those with older kids who do not need supervision it is a great opportunity to browse and peruse, something I am excited about!!

My name is Ann and I have a little blog Help!! I’m Stuck!!.  I am the mumma to 2 boys and a jelly bean who is due at the end of July.  I love reading although these days the only books I read are children’s ones!!
 
Thanks to Adventures of a Subversive Reader for having me over!!

Squirm’s Book Reviews: The Beautiful Nature Edition

Books and Reading, , , , , Leave a comment

Each week I review books we’ve read with Squirm. Find other reviews here

Hunwick’s Egg by Mem Fox

Adventures of a Subversive Reader: Hunwick's Egg

(AWW 2013 Squirm Challenge: Book 26)

Hunwick the bilby lives in the desert. One day he finds a beautiful egg and he promises to look after it. Except the egg never changes, not even when Hunwick confesses the fact that he really loves the egg.

This is a simple, but very sweet story which was one of the Courier/Sunday Mail books. Surprisingly, I hadn’t come across it before, but I really loved the rich story, the way that different animals were used

, not to mention the stunning illustrations which seemed to slide, crawl and hop off the page – even in a reduced size book. The message of the book is beautiful – even if something isn’t what you originally thought it was, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t beautiful and precious in its own right.

You could definitely use this book to spend some time looking at central Australia, and other parts of our country which are less populated. There are some amazing animals in those areas which lots of people don’t know about. You could also spend some time looking at different gem stones which can be found in Australia and other parts of the world.

 

When Elephants Lived in the Sea by Jane Godwin

Adventures of a Subversive Reader: When Elephants Lived in the Sea

(AWW 2013 Squirm Challenge: Book 33)

This is  book about elephants of long ago, elephants who swam in the ocean like whales and dugongs. But as the world got older and changed, the elephants moved towards the place where the water met the land. How will they change with the world?

This is a visually beautiful book, which simply, and with beautiful expressive language, tells the story of how elephants evolved from water bound animals to the animals we are more used to today. It was a dream to read aloud, filled with plump similes and rich descriptive language  – in fact, if I was teaching descriptive language this would have to be a model text. The art work is as lush as the words, moving from the dark blues of the water to the rich oranges and reds of the land.

Of course, this is a brilliant book for looking at elephants, especially with an extensive page of information at the end of the book. It’s also a great way to introduce the concept of evolution, and easily leads to conversations about how other animals may have evolved over years. You could also spend a bit of time examining how different animals live in the water, and what adaptations they have to allow them to live in such different conditions. There’s also the descriptive language that would allow a lot of examples for good English lessons.

The Great Library Tour: Bulimba Library

Library Tour, , , One comment

Adventures of a Subversive Reader: Bulimba Library

The Great Library Tour

Bulimba Library is situated on the edge of the popular Oxford Street. It had a lovely community feel to it, with community rooms available underneath, and plenty of room for people to read, study and enjoy the library upstairs. The people we ran into at the library were lovely, very friendly and happy to enjoy the time in the library with their children.

The children’s section was really lovely, with several nods to the nearby river and the popular ferry terminal. On one side of the wall there was a ‘cubby’ designed to look like the ferry, a style that was reproduced in a little book nook on the opposite wall. (The book nook carried series books – it was great to see them collected together like that). There was also a lovely painting above the children’s novels, showing the river in a similar style to the way the painting in Grange Library showed the Kedron Brook.

There was a lovely airy feel to the kids section, with windows highlighting the trees outside and pot plants adding to that on the inside. Along with the cubby and nook, there was some fantastic book displays, low book shelves with lots and lots of picture books and a extensive collection of children’s fiction. Right next to the kids area was a slightly separated Young Adults section, including a games table with games available for people to play. There’s a cosy sofa for curling up in as well as a seat in the cubby for reading on.

The staff seemed friendly and happy to be there and the patrons were definitely very friendly. It was a great trip out, and I was really glad that we made it. Now for Squirm to stay awake long enough to play at the playground at nearby Memorial Park!

Adventures of a Subversive Reader: Bulimba Library Adventures of a Subversive Reader: Bulimba Library

The best parts of Bulimba Library

  • The cubby and the painting
  • A gorgeous collection of books
  • The cosy, happy feel of the library
Adventures of a Subversive Reader: Bulimba Library Adventures of a Subversive Reader: Bulimba Library

Important Information about Bulimba Library

Cnr Riding Rd & Oxford St, Bulimba 4171

Website

Open Tuesday to Saturday

Parking available

Adventures of a Subversive Reader: Bulimba Library Adventures of a Subversive Reader: Bulimba Library

AWW Challenge: Week Seven and Eight

Books and Reading, Leave a comment

Follow my journey through the AWW 2013 challenge here

I’ve fallen into the challenge pretty hard now, heading quickly past 30 books for both Squirm’s challenge and my own. I think my obsession with the Our Australian Girls series is pretty clear, but it’s been interesting to look at other books in the children’s and young adult’s categories – and I have quite a few more lined up for the future. I also discovered my copies of Fair Dinkum Histories among my teaching books, and was pleased to find out that they were as good as I remembered.

When it comes to Squirm’s books, I’ve discovered a couple of firm new favourite authors including Frances Watts. We also enjoyed the $2 books which came with the Courier and Sunday Mail, which included two Australian Women Writers among them (with a total of four books).

There are times, though, when I feel like I might be getting too wrapped up in the challenge, and reading so many books by Australian Women Writers is leaving me with no time to read any other books – or a guilty feeling when I do read other books. I’m not sure if that’s a personal quirk of mine – getting so wrapped up in the challenge – or something that other people also feel.

Adventures of a Subversive Reader: Salt Rain

Subversive Reader Books

Adventures of a Subversive Reader: A Rat in a Stripy Sock

Squirm’s Books

Subversive Reader Reviews: Alice of Peppermint Grove (AWW2013)

Books and Reading, , , Leave a comment

Book reviews and AWW posts can be found here.

AWW2013 – Book 30

Alice of Peppermint Grove

Adventures of a Subversive Reader:Alice of Peppermint Grove

Davina Bell
Children’s Historical Fiction

Library Book, Moreton Bay Regional Libraries

~

The war is over, the men are coming home and Alice and her community are coming to terms with what the world is like now that the war is no longer the centre of their attention. Alice and Jilly are friends again, but Alice’s mother has lost her job at the bank and Alice’s brother, Teddy, has come back more affected than they ever expected.

This was probably the slowest of the three books I’ve read so far – at times it felt like the same things were happening, and it dragged a little. I still really like Alice and her family, but it felt like this book was a bit of a lead in to the finale, rather than a complete book of its own. The big question is about Alice’s ballet – will she ever pick it up again and what would give her the opportunity to do so?

In some ways I feel that a quiet book was needed, that there was a feeling of inertia after the war, a feeling that things should be changing and then everything coming to a halt – especially for women who had taken on so much during the war years. The era of the two world wars and the time in between is probably my favourite in historical fictions, and this idea of stasis is one I see in a lot of books. I’m really interested to see how it all plays out for Alice.

 

awwbadge_2013

Subversive Reader Reviews: Sophie Scott Goes South (AWW2013)

Books and Reading, , , Leave a comment

Book reviews and AWW posts can be found here.

AWW2013 – Book 29

Sophie Scott Goes South

Adventures of a Subversive Reader: Sophie Scott Goes South

Alison Lester
Children’s Picture Book (5-12)

Library Book, Moreton Bay Regional Libraries

~

Sophie Scott is heading out on the trip of a lifetime. Her father is the captain of the Antarctica boud ship, Aurora Australis and she’s been allowed to accompany him on a journey from Hobart to Antarctica. She goes through storms on the way down, storms while she’s there, traveling around Antarctica and, of course, spotting penguins! Along the way we learn more about the Aurora Australis, more about the crew who work on her and more about the people who work in Antarctica.

This is a gorgeous book which I’ve wanted to read for quite a long time. Alison Lester was an Antarctic Arts Fellow and herself traveled to Antarctica on the Aurora Australis. While she was there, she communicated with students from different schools, who then created artworks – some of which are featured in the book. While Sophie is a fictional character, the experiences are very real, and it’s a fascinating insight into the Antarctic world.

I would have adored this book when I was in primary school, and I believe that is the ideal audience for it. There’s a high level of detail in the words and in the illustrations which would definitely appeal to the fact hungry child I was. It would be an ideal book to accompany an Antarctic unit (if any schools are still able to do that under the national curriculum) and shines some light on a magical part of the world.

 

awwbadge_2013