Words. See them grow!

[a sneaky peeky at the upcoming project for Homespun magazine. Don't tell anyone!]

One of the things that I'm looking forward to about the Tasmania trip -- I mean, even apart from the cool weather, the lack of sensible bedtimes, the day trips, the walks, the old buildings, the bakeries, the reading, the explorations, the familyness (is your mouth watering yet?) -- is the chance to make amends for my utter failure to meet my 20,000 word goal in January.

To be sure, I hadn't expected that our home would explode with such a multitude of delightful people all one after the other. I struggled to make my bed most days, let alone sit and type for a few hours uninterrupted. So I have an excuse -- sort of -- but I also have an opportunity to redeem myself.

If anything, it might be harder to write, over there. There is nothing so very pressing to do, but all the delights of a new place distract and delight. Nevertheless, I will chain myself to the keyboard at least a little each day, and see what happens. I want to reacquaint myself with my writing projects, to begin to care about them again. To write, you have to care, at least in some small way, about the words or the characters or the story. I've been so long absent from my characters and stories that I've forgotten to care. I want to start caring again, and I hope the holiday will work for me.

Also: journalling. I very very much would like to start writing again. My brain needs it and I think my family would appreciate me pouring out my thoughts on paper before I launch the bombardment on them.

On a sort of slightly related note: would you like postcards? I'd certainly like to send them :). If you would like a postcard from the tiny little crooked island down south, send your mailing address to postcardsplease@gmail.com. The first fifteen people (I'm being ambitious) will get something in the mail! Oh, and even if you know that I know your address, send it anyway because it's nice to have everything in the one little place.

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conversations:

Caitlin -- We can't understand it all, but you are so right: God is definitely in control.

Two weeks of my life, briefly, in list format:

Last time I wrote, I said my cousin was coming to stay. I was wrong. My cousin came. My goddaughters came. And my sister and her babies came. It was, as predicted, a blur of joy.

+01. Apparently I not only possess the world's cutest niece and nephew, but I also have the world's squishiest. After five days of firsthand exposure, I am convinced that the fatter the cheeks, the better. I am also sure that blue eyes may just be the most heart-melting. And I am happy to be known to my little niece as the aunty with lots of pretty beads for wearing.

+02. It was enormous fun to hang out -- really hang out -- with my sister properly for the first time since she was married two and a half years ago. Other visits have always been much shorter and much busier, or devoted entirely to other things. This time, there were late nights for sitting and chatting, girly movies to watch, and shopping trips. We may just have come up with solutions to major world crises while we talked, too.

+03. My cousin Annie hadn't changed a bit, except that she's more fun, smart, and gorgeous than ever. It was "beyond huge" (to quote a movie we incessantly repeated while she was here) to get to show her around Brisbane, introduce her to our church homies, and catch up with mutual friends. When she left, I found myself more thankful for my awesome cousins than ever (and that's saying something).

+04. When the happy whirl came at last to a stop on Sunday, I re-entered earth's atmosphere and was shocked to hear of the carnage caused by the Victorian bushfires. Fire is an expected part of an Australian summer; the death of so many is not. There has been an eerie sense of watching a bleak history being written as I repeatedly visit ABCnews and watch the death toll rise. Authorities are calling it Australia's worst natural disaster. All I can do is pray.

+05. In the meantime, my own life goes on unstrangely (and unfairly) unaffected. As I write, the next issue of Whatsoever Magazine is being printed, and this morning I put the finishing touches on a project I've been commissioned to design for Homespun magazine. It's a beautiful publication and I last did some work for the team there about five years ago, so I'm excited to be involved again. I'm excited, too, to be doing some hand stitching; it feels like too long since I pulled the sewing basket out and experimented. I'll post a little sneak peek soon.

+06. I am generally a little hermit soul, but I'm getting all eager and bouncy about my upcoming trip to Tasmania with my family. Most of us fly out on Valentine's Day for two weeks, and I'm already having dreamy thoughts of cooler weather, glorious old buildings, not setting my alarm, reading out on the balcony, bakeries and cafes, and the gorgeous city park. Oh, and picture-taking, of course. It'll be delicious.

What can't you wait for just now?

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conversations:

Celeste -- so I'm not the only one who tried a little eyebrow break-dancing after watching that clip? :D

A blur of joy

I hope your Australia Day was all kinds of super. Mine was -- though I did get rather glaringly sunburnt (I've never turned quite that shade of hot pink before). However, even that seems very much in the spirit of Australia Day, and so I don't mind too much.

I have nothing earth-shattering to say, only my beloved cousin Annie whom I haven't seen in two and a half years is spontaneously catching a plane in my direction tomorrow and this means a) lots of excitement, and b) lots less blogging. But I will have pictures, when all is said and done :).

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conversations:

Caitlin -- thank you; I did have a great long weekend! I hope you did, too :).

Amanda -- I could watch those eyebrows over and over ;).

Melody -- Cadbury do come up with some good ones :D.

Carla -- love back at ya! xox

Anastasia -- Hi matee! (your Captcha thing is perfect)

Bethany -- Good question! You know, I have, er, dancy eyebrows. Wonder if I could train myself to do that?

Meaghan -- freaky is definitely a good word to describe it! Also strangely compelling and hilarious!

A little bit of quirk for your Saturday morning:

Have a great weekend, everyone! xox

Cuisinspiration

Summer foods enjoyed today:

[feta and potato cakes]

This basis for this recipe came from Bill Granger's Sydney Food, which is delicious for the pictures alone, even if one never made anything from it. But today I tried these potato cakes, and they were awesome. Peel and grate half a kilo of potatoes, and finely dice an onion. Let excess liquid drain in a colander for ten minutes, then mix with salt and pepper, finely chopped mint leaves, two eggs, and a quarter of a cup of plain flour. Shallow-fry until both sides are nicely browned. I had mine with an egg and lemon lime and bitters. So good.

[I made this up; what shall I call it?]

For a snack, I made these healthy yogurt, er, parfaits for the munchkin brother and myself. Organic natural yogurt layered with sliced banana, pure maple syrup, and crushed peanuts. Very summery and very yummy -- and it would work for breakfast, too.

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conversations:

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Amanda -- Andrew Murray is great :). I hope you're having a lovely week, too!

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Meaghan -- I haven't forgotten! I'm currently re-working some pieces of the novel... but maybe I should send you some anyway and you could give me tips for improvement? I don't know; suddenly I'm shy! :)

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Beth -- good travel writing is pure deliciousness. That book sounds awesome!

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Catherine -- so lovely to "meet" you ;). Please drop by again! I've never read The Tenant of Wildfell Fall but I really must. Do you recommend it?

Bedtime reading

[it really is]

My bedtime reading material lately has been this ex-library copy of Meet the Authors and Illustrators by Stephanie Nettell. Apart from the fact that the cover is gloriously and adorably filled with Quentin Blake's zany and colourful drawings, this book appeals to me because I'm obsessed with processes. Do you remember "Through the Windows" on Playschool, when you would be whisked through a window (only ever rarely the arch-shaped one) and into another world? My favourites were always the factory ones, when you could see crayons being made or eggs being processed or violins being crafted.

It's the same now, only the process I love to learn about the most is the making of books. That's why this one is so awesome; it's filled with interviews with sixty children's (my favourite genre) writers and illustrators, and the stories of how they launched into the writing world.

The accidental ones -- the stories of authors who fell into writing quite by mistake and sold something before they even realised they'd written it -- bug me a little bit. They make it seem all arty and ethereal and like if you've got it, you've got it, and if you haven't, then give up. The hard-work ones -- the tales of people who just really really wanted to be good with words and so they wrote their fingers off -- make me all happy and inspired. And the surprising, unexpected tales just make me feel warm and fuzzy.

The coolest thing of all, though, is when you see how words collide. Witness these facts:

01. I love C.S. Forester's Hornblower.
02. I also love Roald Dahl (in a purely literary sense, of course).
03. I love The Saturday Evening Post (mostly because Normal Rockwell did many of the covers)
04. I also love vintage movies and actors (Paul Newman among them).

That's why it was crazy to discover that the amazing C.S. Forester actually interviewed Roald Dahl -- before he was "Roald Dahl" -- about his wartime experiences. Dahl offered to write his answers to the questions, and when he sent them away, Forester wrote back with, "Did you know you were a writer?" and the Saturday Evening Post printed the reminiscences completely unchanged. Later in life, Dahl married actress Patricia Neal who went on to win and Oscar for her work alongside Paul Newman in Hud.

The world is tiny and getting ever smaller, I have to say. I love these kinds of stories.

What books are on your bedside table right now?

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conversations:

Staish -- I am here to remind you: DO NOT CUT YOUR HAIR. Also: Get Your Words Out *is* a Wonderfalls shout-out! That's where the community name came from :).

Amanda -- you went to that very Speedway? Now what was I just saying about the world being small? PS. I know; Sugar can be a sweetheart when he wants to be.

Rachael -- Carla does have a blog!

Arny -- Ah, I hate it when computers eat things they aren't supposed to! *hi back*!

Carla -- oh no, you're not out of touch! Bronzing balls are just bronzing powder (like blush, only... golden) molded into little balls. It's better for girls like me with less Victorian skin tonings and more... I-don't-know skin tonings. I like to think it's beachy and Australian.

Weekend XV :: sunshine and rain and motorbikes, oh my!

My entire Monday has consisted -- except for a few brief but happy interludes on the phone -- in pushing words and pictures around on the page as I prepare the mag for proofing. As a result of prolonged staring at a screen, all my words have evaporated, so I'll leave you instead with just a handful of them, along with pictures, from my weekend.

[I cleaned out my drawers -- and was so happy with the charming neatness that I took a picture.]

[I found money! (this never happens to me)]

[We went to the Gold Coast speedway. It was cold. And wet!]

[But there were bikes zooming at ridiculous speeds round a dirt track and just generally being dangerous and impossible to catch on film. Also meat pies and people wearing very Speedway-ish fashions and haircuts. Mullets a must.]

[I picked up six new-old Ellis Peters books at the Chandler Markets. These babies are hard to find so I'm very happy!]

[And it's my precious friend Meaghan's birthday today. There she is on the far right of the picture from long, long ago. I love you Meaghan!]

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conversations:

Amanda -- your comment cracked me up! Did you finish the chocolate and then start being nasty to sugar? ;)

Bethany -- you certainly must try some Elisabeth Elliot. Let me know what you think!

Carla -- will a virtual hug suffice? Here is one *0 hug 0*. I love you heaps. And I'm so happy you're blogging!

Meaghan -- aren't the shoes just so cheery? You are delightful. Happy birthday, lovely one! (It was so lovely chatting to you). xox