Windy Island

Feasting on Father's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 03:56:00 +0000

Yesterday it was Father's Day.

We all hopped out of bed, ate breakfast and got ready to go to Mass like we do every Sunday. But on the way back home from Mass we did something we don't normally do.

Dad parked the van outside the supermarket and then he and Mum walked into the shop to buy something special for lunch. They came back a few minutes later. Dad started the van and we drove home.

"Everybody out," Dad bellowed from the front of the van. We all piled out of the van, trotted down the driveway and into the house. Imogen started to unpack the lunch and I smiled as I saw a container of potato salad, a packet of cheese, a bag of rolls, followed by some peppercorn ham and pesto ham. We all tucked into a good lunch.

"Gemma-Rose, go to my bedroom. In my cupboard are some presents," Mum whispered to me after lunch. I dashed off to Mum's bedroom and soon came back out with a big bag of presents.

I chose a present from the bag and walked over to Dad. "Happy Father's Day," I said giving him a kind of square and squidgy parcel, and a big kiss.

Dad opened the present and a smile crept onto his face. "A pair of shorts. Thank you."

Sophie gave him the next present. "Socks! Groovy socks," cried Dad in delight.

"Here you go, Dad," said Charlotte, handing him another present.

"Ooh...arr...Um I can't get into this one," Dad admitted as everybody watched him struggling to get it open.

"Maybe I put just a little too much sticky tape on that," pondered Charlotte.

"Nuts! Yummy hot spicy nuts," exclaimed Dad when he finally got the present open.

"Another pair of shorts! Thank you Imogen," said Dad, taking the paper off another present.

One by one the presents got opened and oohs and arrs kept going round the room.

Mum handed Dad the keys to the car. "Go look in the boot of my car," she said with a mischievous grin.

Dad, Imogen and I headed out to the car. Dad opened the boot and inside was a huge cardboard box. He looked at the side of the box. "Ocean," he read,"You're giving me an ocean?"

"No, no," said Imogen as we plodded back into the house.

"Is it supposed to make all those click clacking sounds?" Dad asked.

"Yes," Mum reassured him.

Dad pulled out of the box lots of black pieces of plastic, then some black square plastic frames and four white plastic boxes.

"It all looks like giant Lego," said Charlotte.

"Does it have any instructions?" Mum asked.

"No. There's only lots of plastic," said Dad.

"I think this part goes here and this one here," Imogen said, helping Dad put up a rather tall tower.

"What is it?" Dad asked.

"Not telling," said Mum.

"Done," said Dad, standing back to view the masterpiece. "It's a cabinet with four drawers, isn't it?"

"Yes. It's for all your stuff that's lying on the table in the other room," said Mum.

After a relaxing afternoon we had dinner and ice cream. We did the dishes and then settled down to watch Oliver Twist. When we had finished that, Mum said, "Callum sent me a text message telling everybody not go to bed."

"Not go to bed?" I asked.

"Yes. We've all got to stay up till he gets home from work."

"Imogen, while we were at the supermarket I bought some crumpets. Do you want to cook some?" Dad asked.

Imogen walked into the kitchen and soon we could hear the kettle boiling and the toaster being placed on the kitchen bench.

We ate crumpets and talked until we heard the front door open and Callum walked into the family-room.

"Good. You are all still up," he said and with that, he walked into the kitchen.

Callum came back a few minutes later with a platter of salmon, olives, a orange dip, cheese and crackers. Everybody scrambled to the table and started filling plates high with cheese and crackers.

"I am full," said Dad as he polished off the last of his crackers.

"So am I," said Mum.

"But it was good," I said, getting up from the sofa.

"We better be getting to bed," said Sophie.

I toddled out of the room.

"Good night," said Mum as she bent down to give me a cuddle.

"See you in the morning ," I said drowsily.

Mum closed the door softly and padded off down the hall.

Everybody enjoyed Father's Day and the feast that came with it. But I was glad it was all over and I could go to sleep.

An Interesting Taste

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 04:22:00 +0000

"Gemma-Rose, I brought home some bananas from the shop so you can cook a new recipe I found," Mum said, handing me a piece of paper with a recipe written on it.

I read the recipe, then read it again. But how ever much I read the recipe it still clearly stated that I was supposed to put peanut butter and bananas in the same batch of biscuits, which I thought was strange. Would it taste weird?

"Er, Mum," I said uncertainly, "are you sure that I am supposed to put peanut butter and bananas into the same biscuits?"

Mum nodded, undaunted by the fact.

As Mum and the recipe had quite clearly decided that I was going to make this batch of biscuits with that strange combination, I plodded off to the kitchen to start cooking.

I grabbed the bunch of bananas, a packet of oats, the peanut butter and with much reluctance, put the chocolate on the kitchen bench without so much as taking a tiny nibble. Then I set to work chopping, measuring, mashing and stirring. A few minutes later a batch of unusual looking biscuits where thrown into the oven and I, feeling quite proud of myself and the biscuits despite the contents, started to clean up the kitchen.

"Mum, have they cooked for long enough?" I asked, peering through Mum's bedroom door.

"Not yet," answered Mum who had her eyes stuck to the screen of her computer, so clearly she wasn't paying much attention to me.

A few minutes later I was back. "Mum, should I take the biscuits out yet?" I asked anxiously.

"You should leave them in for a couple more minutes yet."

I poked my head round the door again. "Mum, are you certain they aren't burning?"

"Yes, I am quite certain. Go sit down for a few minutes and stop worrying," Mum said determinedly.

I slunk out of Mum's bedroom and sat down at the table with a good book.

"Gemma-Rose, they can come out now," called Mum.

I jerked my head out of my book and sprinted for the kitchen, questions bubbling up in my head.

"What if they were burnt?"

"If they were, would I have to make more?"`

"Would I get in trouble for burning them?"

"No I wouldn't get in trouble because I had asked Mum to tell me when they were done, hadn't I?"

I opened the oven door, and inside were some biscuits that weren't burnt at all. "What was I worrying about?" I asked myself.

"Mum, the biscuits still look squishy," I said, as I raced into Mum's bedroom.

"That is probably just the banana," Mum reassured.

The next day Mum asked, "Can I have one of your wonderful biscuits?"

I opened the lid of the container and placed one of the biscuits onto a plate. "Here you go, Mum," I said placing the plate on the table. Then I found myself a biscuit and sat down to eat.

"Interesting taste," Mum commented.

I bit into my own biscuit and had to agree it was an interesting flavour.

"Sophie, what do you think of my biscuits?" I asked.

"Interesting," Sophie answered.

I thought about the peanut butter and bananas I had put in them, and decided that even with those odd ingredients, they had turned out well.

If you want to brave the peanut butter and banana combination......

3 ripe bananas
1 cup of quick oats
Half a cup of chopped up dark chocolate
1 heaped dessertspoon of peanut butter

Mash up the three bananas in a bowl and add the oats.

Chop up the dark chocolate and put it in the bowl.

Take a dessertspoon and heap it with peanut butter, then plop it into the bowl.

Mix all together and then make small balls and place them on a tray lined with baking paper.

Cook for 15 minutes at 180 degrees C

Kind Hattie Big Sky

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 04:14:00 +0000

"Hattie Big Sky" is about a real American girl who moves out of Iowa to her dead Uncle's claim in Vida, Montana while her school friend fights in World War 1. She has just one year to prove up her claim.

In Vida, Hattie meets a lot of new people and makes heaps of friends, even a family with a German father.

Hattie arrives in the winter which is so cold that when she goes outside to pump water her hands stick to the pump. I don't think I would like to live in such cold weather. One of Hattie's friends, Rooster Jim, says that it is a very cold winter and it will be a very hot summer.

A man called Traff Martin is the head of the County Council of Defences and makes sure that everybody is supporting their country by buying Liberty Bonds especially the Germans that live in Vida Montana, even if they don't have the money.

Hattie learns to cook biscuits that are lighter then lead and to make quilts. She decides to make a quilt with her own pattern. It is hopefully going to look like the big sky and the prairie.

Hattie stands up against Traff Martin when he tries to accuse her German friends of being unpatriotic.

I think Hattie is very kind.

My Mermaid

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 04:04:00 +0000

"Mum, I think the parcel man is at the front door," Sophie cried.

"It is probably a parcel for Callum," Mum said, getting up and heading towards the door. In a few minutes she was back with a package in her hand.

I rushed over to Mum. "Who is it for?" I asked eagerly.

"It is the sewing book I ordered for you and the other girls," beamed Mum.

"Can I open it?" I asked impatiently.

"If you want to," Mum smiled.

I tore off the wrappings and inside was a sewing book called Fleecie Dolls. I started flicking through the book.

"That mermaid is so pretty," Imogen exclaimed.

"Look at her tail," sighed Mum. "It's covered in pretty sequins."

I found a needle, some thread and a piece of fleece and set to work making that pretty mermaid. I really enjoyed sewing the doll and soon the body and tail were finished.

"Mum, you marked the white fleece with a dark pen to show me where to sew the dart..." I started to say.

"Yes, what is wrong? Did the pen show through the fabric?" Mum asked. I nodded. "You had better give your doll a bath to get rid of the pen marks."

I grinned. I was about to give a mermaid a bath. Soon I was scrubbing the doll with a bar of soap. "Imogen, look! I am giving my doll a bath," I squealed.

A few days later I was ready to start putting sequins on my mermaid's tail. Mum showed me how to sew the sequins on and I was soon sewing them on all by myself. But then disaster! "Mum, I have lost the needle."

"What do you mean?" Mum asked getting up.

"When I was sewing my sequin on I lost the needle inside the mermaid," I spluttered, close to tears. Mum and Imogen searched the mermaid and the seat, and even Jenny the cat who a few minutes ago had been perched on my lap.

"I can't find it," announced Imogen.

"You can use my needle to finish sewing the sequins on," Charlotte offered.

"You will all have to watch your feet," Mum warned, "in case the missing needle is still on the floor."

"Mum, I am ready to sew my mermaid's hair on," I grinned. Mum handed me some wool and some orange fleece.

"Do you want me to help you with the hair?" Mum asked.

"Yes please," I thanked. Sewing the hair on was not as easy as I had anticipated and our fingers got frequently pricked.

On Sunday Charlotte drew the face on the doll with a fading pen so I knew where to sew it with a needle and some thread. After lunch I headed to the table all ready to sew the face on. "Mum, the face has faded and now I can't see it," I wailed.

"It has faded all ready?" Mum asked in surprise.

Charlotte patiently drew the face back on and I started to sew the eyes. After one eye I was already having trouble seeing the face. After both eyes I could not see the mouth at all. The pen marks were fading again. "Charlotte, can you please draw the mouth on one last time?" I asked. Finally the mouth was done and the only thing left to do was the bikini top.

Mum carefully measured out some ribbon to make a top, and then tried to fit it round my mermaid's waist. "She is too fat," Mum declared. "We will need to cut a bigger piece of ribbon."

"Mum, I have finished sewing the top," I announced happily. "Could I please have a button to sew on the ribbon?"

Mum opened up her button box and found a button that looked like a pearl. "Will this do?" she asked.

"Oh yes," I breathed. I sewed the button on. I'd finished the doll.

For the rest of the evening I went around showing everybody my wonderful doll. I love my mermaid.

Next I am going to make this doll called Florence.

Editing Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 03:35:00 +0000

I have been editing some flowers on Picmonkey and Befunky. It is a lot of fun.

"Gemma-Rose, what are you doing?" Mum asked, peering over my shoulder. "Editing a photo I downloaded," I answered.

"That is pretty," Mum smiled. "Do you like editing photos?"

"Yes, it is fun to play with different effects," I smiled back.

"What kind of photos have you been editing?" Mum asked.

"Flowers and leaves, maybe a fish," I said staring at the screen of my computer. I was only half listening to what Mum was saying.

"Crop it, put some sparkles on it, maybe I should try putting some shadows on," I mumbled happily away to myself.

"She really is enjoying herself," Mum said to Charlotte.

I love editing photos. Do you like editing photos?

Lots of Scones

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 06:41:00 +0000

On Sunday I decided to make scones so I sought out a very big and very, very old book and flicked to the dough covered page and checked that we had all the ingredients.

"Sieve the flour into the bowl, then rub in the butter,"I mumbled to myself as I checked the book.

I cut the dough into pieces and put them on the tray hoping that I had remembered all the ingredients.

While I waited for the tray of scones to cook, I decided to make another batch.

I plodded back to the kitchen counter and threw more flour, butter, and milk in.

"Now for the parsley and cheese," I announced. I looked on top of the counter, then I moved aside an empty flour bag, but the parsley and cheese weren't there! After awhile of searching it became evident that the two ingredients weren't anywhere on the counter.

I flew to the oven and peered through the door at some big white scones.

"Silly me, how could I have forgotten to put the cheese and parsley in the first batch of scones?" I chided myself. Grabbing the cheese fiercely, I started grating it to add to the second batch and finished making the scones.

Finally I wiped down the kitchen counter and rescued the second batch of scones from the oven. Finished.

"Mum, I made two batches of scones. One has parsley and cheese and the other doesn't," I said in an apologetic tone of voice.

"YUMMY," Mum shouted.

I grabbed a plate, cut a chunk of butter and a scone and arranged it all on a plate to be presented to Mum.

Today I decided to make more scones but this time I was determined not to forget the cheese and parsley. It all went well and now we have HEAPS of of scones.

It's Very Cold!

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Tue, 21 May 2013 02:46:00 +0000

"It is very warm for this time of year," Mum commented a few days ago.

"We better make the most of the good weather," said Imogen.

We ran outside at morning tea time because it was nice and warm at that time. I played outside without freezing to death and we were so warm we didn't need to wear coats every time we went out.

Then there was a change in the weather.

"Mum, it's VERY COLD out here," said Charlotte as she pegged a T-shirt onto the washing line.

We started to use the gas heater, put extra blankets on the beds, wear big warm coats and sleep with hot water bottles.

"Sammy climbed into my bed this morning," said Mum.

"He must be cold," said Imogen, stroking the cat.

"They all seem to want to sit on people now," said Sophie.

I looked down at Poppy and wondered how she could be cold under all that fur.

I think everybody hopes it will warm up soon.

Zumba Girls

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 23:19:00 +0000

Mum decided to learn Zumba so naturally all us girls decided to learn it too.

Charlotte and Imogen move the table to the side of the room. Mum puts the disk into the DVD player. "This is going to be fun," Mum encourages. I pull a big silly smile. A lady appears on the screen and starts shouting at us.

"Get your heart rate up there. The higher you get it, the more calories you burn. Come on, wiggle those hips. Walk like a crab," she shouts.

I take three steps to the right and then three steps to the left and end up on Charlotte's toes. I pant away. I never thought Zumba would be this hard.A few sore toes later we stop.

"I think that's plenty of Zumba for one day," smiles Mum.

"You have learnt Zumba, but before you start partying, I would like to introduce you to the creator of Zumba," shouts the lady.

"It is beyond me how the ladies get their hips all the way round like that," pants Charlotte.

I can move my hips but I keep stepping on Charlotte's toes.

We keep going back and doing this strange sport. Why? I have no idea. We have no coordination.

Finally it gets warm enough to run outside and we give up Zumba. Zumba is fun but we prefer running.

Yummy Cakes

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:40:00 +0000

We always celebrate a special day with a yummy cake.

My eighth birthday cake

Happy Anniversary cake

Epiphany Crown Cake

My 9th Birthday cake

Charlotte's First Holy Communion cake

Easter Egg Nest Cake

Pentecost Cake

Imogen's 18th Birthday Cake

Fathers Day Cake

Sophie's Confirmation Cake

Tomorrow we will be having another cake. It is Mummy's birthday!

X kisses, O hugs and letters

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 06:42:00 +0000

To Dear Grandmother Charlotta,

I am writing to tell you about our holiday. The beach house is lovely.

I am sharing a double bed with Susanna. It is very high and I have to take a run up and leap to get on it.

I have two lamps on my bedside table. One of the lamps has a switch. The other one gets lighter the more you touch it. Susanna has one lamp on her bedside table.

My bedside table has a cupboard attached to it. Susanna has a a wardrobe on the other end of the room. We both share a desk and chair.

Susanna and I did some colouring in.

Mum decided that we should go for a walk down to the beach. The beach was huge with lots of sand.

When we got back we had dinner.

I love you so very much.

From a very loving granddaughter, Mary-Rose.

XXXXOOO

Dear Mary-Rose,

I like the sound of your bedroom. Can you climb on the bed properly yet?

Have you been in the water? I hope you bring lots of shells home.

Are you enjoying yourself?

I am missing you.

I hope the weather stays good.

Does your house have a garden?

I did some cooking today and made huge biscuits. (It is a new secret recipe.) They are very chocolaty.

Lots of love from Grandmother.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Dear Grandmother Charlotta,

Yes, the house does have a garden. It is all mulch. Mum loves it. There are metal fishes hanging in the trees.

The biscuits sound yummy.

Yes, we did go in the water. Today we went down to the lake again and then to the park. It was fun.

We went home for morning tea and had hot chocolate with marshmallows and ate biscuits. We played some card games while we ate the biscuits (the biscuits that we ate I doubt are half as good as your biscuits.) Irene was on my team.

Dad helped us lower the seats on our bikes. Mum announced it was time for a bike ride. Mum, Susanna, Caroline and Irene sped along. Dad stayed behind and helped me. I am not very good at riding a bike and I kept riding into the gutter. I fell off the bike.

Mum took me to the beach and I made a huge sandcastle.

Love from Mary-Rose


XXXOOO

Dear Mary-Rose,

Our cat Scratchy has had three kittens. We called one Rosie after you. The other two are boys and they are always fighting. Their names are Trouble and Hero.

Trouble is very fluffy. He is light brown with a slightly darker face. Hero is sleeker than Trouble and is mostly dark with light brown socks.

Rosie likes to sit on people. She has a darker brown tip of her tail and dark ears and socks.

I hope you are enjoying yourself,

Love from Grandmother

Dear Grandmother Charlotta,

Today Dad decided that we should have a look at the canoe that lives in the shed of the holiday house. Dad and Irene dragged the canoe all the way to the beach on its wheels. Caroline and Dad were the first people in the canoe. Dad is teaching her to row. When Irene came back from her rowing lesson she had a big smile on her face.

After Irene had finished her lesson Dad said he and Caroline could take a passenger along. I got to be the passenger. I had to put on a bright yellow life jacket.

Caroline and Dad are good rowers. It was very peaceful in the canoe. Suddenly we felt ourselves rock back and forth in the canoe. One second we were in the canoe and the next we plunged into the cold water. Dad got us out of the water and back into the canoe, and Irene and Susanna pulled us to shore. Irene swam out and found the paddle.

love from Mary-Rose

XXXOOO

To my dear granddaughter,

It sounds like you are having a very exciting time.

Grandfather and I are wondering if you want Trouble. Trouble and Hero don't get on well at all. They are always fighting.

Rosie and Trouble are trying to eat King the budgie.

Today I planted a rose bush in the garden. It is going to have pink roses.

Grandfather and I hope you are coming home soon.

Love from Grandmother

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Dear Grandmother,

We are coming home tomorrow.

I asked Mum and Dad about having Trouble and after a lot of persuading, they agreed.

I love the sound of the rose bush.

Today we went to a flea market and I bought five dolls. Caroline bought a bracelet. We went to a shop where Susanna bought a little toy dog. Irene went back to the flea market and bought a bracelet like Caroline's.

I can't wait to be home.

Love from Mary-Rose

XXXOOOO

When We Went to the Moscow Circus

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 04:31:00 +0000

We went to the Moscow Circus a few years ago. It was very exciting. They had a huge tent. They were very good.

One of my favourite acts was the trapese artist. Don't you think it would be grand to hang up side down on a trapese? I also liked the juggling. You would have to be very talented not to drop anything.

Circuses go on for a long time but they are very interesting. I wonder what it would be like to be in a circus with everybody in the crowd cheering. I think I would be scared and fall off the trapese or drop balls and sticks on my head. No, I think I will stick to watching the circus and let everybody else do the work.

I like the circus. I hope to go again soon. We might even go next week to celebrate Mum's birthday, because the circus is back in town!

Vermeer

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:29:00 +0000

We have been learning about Vermeer. He was a Dutch artist. These are some of his paintings we looked at.

Young woman with a water pitcher

Young woman with a pearl necklace

The milkmaid

The girl with the pearl earring

I like all the paintings but I think my very favourite one is Young Woman with the Pearl Necklace. Which painting do you like best?

Uninvited Fleas

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 06:06:00 +0000

"Imogen, could you please give those cats a bath? I got bitten last night by a flea," says Mum.

Imogen sighs and turns to look for the first terror (bathing cats is hard work) .

"She is probably in the settee," calls out Charlotte.

Imogen grabs the first cat and hauls her out of the settee.

I try to clog up my ears and read my book at the same time but it is impossible with those cats yowling and hissing all the time.

Imogen throws Poppy out of the laundry after her bath. (Poppy is the worst cat in the bath.)

"I bathed the cats, Mum," says a VERY wet Imogen.

"Poppy tried to climb the wall," says mostly dry Charlotte, who has been helping.

"Thank you. Do you think it would be possible to look through the cats' fur?" says Mum.

Charlotte marches into the family room armed with a comb and a cup of hot water.

One after the other the fleas got plucked out of the cats' fur and into the hot water.

A few months later, Imogen makes a terrible discovery while hugging Sammy.

"Mum, I found a flea on Sammy."

Mum takes Sophie and me to the shops.

"We will see if we can find some flea shampoo and some flea collars."

We come home some time later with a yellow collar, a blue collar, a red collar and a bottle of flea shampoo.

Imogen starts putting the yellow flea collar on Jenny.

"That shade of yellow looks like the worming paste they get on their paws," I say.

"What if she chews through her collar like she did with the one Imogen got her for Christmas?" says Sophie.

"I doubt it tastes that nice," says Charlotte.

A few days later Imogen is out.

"Charlotte could you please go through the cats with a comb and see if there are any fleas?" asks Mum

Charlotte nods and picks up Poppy who is lying sprawled out on the floor in the sun.

Again in the family room, with a comb and a cup of water, Charlotte, Sophie and I sit down on the settee.

Charlotte holds the struggling animal who doesn't like anybody that close to its tummy while Sophie combs through the fur.

I have a cup of water all ready for the fleas but no fleas come.

We trudge off to Mum's bedroom.

"We couldn't find any," says Charlotte.

"Not a single one," concludes Sophie.

But Mum keeps getting bitten. There are fleas hiding somewhere.

Mum suddenly has a great idea.

Mum jumps into the car and we go off to buy flea bombs.

We come back home with eight flea bombs.

"What are we going to do with the cats?" asks Charlotte. The instructions say the house must be empty when the bombs go off. The house has to be empty for two hours.

"I don't know," says Mum.

The next day we put the cat question to Callum.

"Why don't you put them in one of my cars?" suggests Callum, after a lot of thinking.

"They will boil in the car for two hours."

Finally Mum has another one of her fantastic and strange ideas. "Why don't we take them down to the park."

To the park? We all look doubtful.

"People take dogs down to the park so why don't we take our cats?" says Mum

We all grin at the thought of us taking the cats for a walk.

Sophie, Charlotte and I hop into the van while Mum and Imogen get ready to set the flea bombs off. We have the cats in their carriers. Mum and Imogen come running out of the house.

"I set off all the flea bombs," says Imogen proudly.

Imogen and Charlotte are in the middle of the van with our cats Poppy and Jenny, while Sophie has to look after Sammy in the back.

Mum starts the van. I listen from the front of the van as the cats start meowing and yowling.

We finally reach the park. Sammy and Jenny stop yowling. They are fascinated by the ducks but Poppy doesn't like it at all. She starts trying to dig her way out of the pet carrier.

Lots of men with big dogs walk by and ladies with puppies. Two ladies stop to have a look at our cats.

"What have you here?" says two ladies.

"What an adorable cat you own," they say pointing to Poppy.

Mum reads part of a book to Sophie and me, while we are at the park. After a while Mum closes the book and I pick up my drawing.

"We can start heading home now," says Mum eventually.

We all get up and Imogen goes to find the cats' bowls which she fills with water, so she can give the cats a drink before their ride home.

Mum pulls in at the driveway. She goes into the house with Imogen and opens the door and all the windows. Imogen then returns to the van.

"Mum is airing the house. She told us to get ice-creams."

We walk up to the village shop and buy big ice-creams.

When we get home, Charlotte opens the front door and a terrible smell wafts up to our noses. Flea bombs smell awful.

I am glad it is all over. The fleas are gone and the house now smells okay.

The End

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 08:22:00 +0000

Part 2 of my Imaginary Story

"Hello have a seat."

They stood frozen to the spot.

"I said have a seat."

They obediently sat down.

Rain was the first person to speak.

"You must be Melon."

Lark couldn't believe that a fairy could make a room that cold.

"I would prefer to be called Melanie," said Melon.

"You like snakes I see," said Starry.

"No, I don't like snakes," said Melanie.

"Then why do you have so many?" said Bloom.

"Because they make good guards," said Melanie.

Then to everyone's surprise she started crying.

"What is the matter?" said Grove.

"Everything has gone wrong," cried Melanie.

"You might as well tell us how you came to be here," said Ruby.

"All right, I will tell you everything," said Melanie.

"Thank you," said Lark

"I was only about that female fairy's age when I came travelling here,' said Melanie, pointing at Lark. "Everything was so different here and I soon got lost. Then I found the mermaids. They seemed okay at the time. I was happy that there were some people that were friendly and I listened to all the bad things they said about these fairies. Then I got it into my head to help them. They were so happy that they decided to build me this palace and be my guards. They also caught these snakes but then I found out how nice the fairies were...." Her voice trailed off.

"You can come home with us and I will personally explain to the mermaids what happened," said Grove.

"Really?" said Melanie.

"Of course," said Ruby.

"You have been very kind. Do you want something to drink?"

They were served cake and tea by a dwarf, a fairy and a gnome. Finally they finished the cake and tea.

"Come along," said Melanie to the maids. She opened two big doors and inside was a majestic Pegasus horse.

"Hop on," said Melanie to the maids. Rain, Ruby, Bloom and Grove climbed onto their dragons. Lark and Starry flew into the air. They soon reached the cliff.

"Come on, we've got to explain to the mermaids," said Grove to Lark.

Together Lark and Grove jumped off the dragon into freezing cold water.

"What is this underneath me?" asked Lark.

"I am a mermaid and my name is Fishy."

"Take me to your king," spluttered Grove.

"You can talk to me. I am the Princess," said Fishy

Grove explained the long story.

"I will talk with my Father," said Fishy

She came back an hour later.

"Everybody agrees to let Melanie go," said Fishy.

Lark pestered her mother till she decided to let Melanie stay with them.

Swimming

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:02:00 +0000

I have swimming lessons. I go to the swimming pool every Saturday. It is a chlorine pool.

Mum got me a wonderful pink wet suit because the water there is very cold. I also have a rash shirt, a pink swimsuit and pink goggles. I like pink.

I go and play for five or ten minutes before my lesson. Then I have a half an hour swim lesson. I love my swim lessons. They are lots of fun and I soon warm up. I can do tumble turns, I can dive with a big splash and I am learning breast stroke. I think I am lucky to get swim lessons.

After my lesson, I play till Charlotte has finished swimming laps. Then we go and get changed into our clothes.

I was glad that Mum got me swim lessons when Dad, Charlotte and I capsized the canoe, while we were on holiday. We all fell into the freezing cold water. It was deep. I went down to the bottom of the lake. Then Charlotte grabbed me. We got back into the canoe and Dad towed us to shore.

Rather a Lot of Ideas for Blog Posts

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 08:12:00 +0000

I can't quite decide what to write about beginning with R. I could write about....

Room mates because I share my Room with Sophie.

Or I could write about Room cleaning because I spent all morning cleaning it.

Maybe I could write about the time it Rained and Rained and Rained until it flooded.

I could also write about Running, except I couldn't go for a Run today because it is Raining.

I thought maybe I could write a blog post about Restaurant dinners but Sophie got in first and wrote about them.

How about I write about Robust Rhinos? No, I don't have anything to say about those.

That is all I can say because I am Running out of time.

Queues

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 08:09:00 +0000

There are loads of different types of queues.

A long queue of buses and cars waiting at the traffic lights.

A queue of rich people ready to put copious amounts of money into the safe bank.

An orderly queue of Catholic people processing to receive Holy Communion.

A two-people-deep queue of hungry people at the busy restaurant.

A queue of smelly tired people, who've been for a run, waiting for a hot bath at home.

A straggly queue of curious people looking at interesting things in the old museum.

A short queue of nerdy people waiting to check out their huge piles of books at the library.

A very long queue of grumpy people at the check-out in the supermarket.

A wonky queue of chatty people wanting to post birthday cards at the local post office.

A queue of impatient children waiting to give Mum a hug.

Soon they will get too impatient and come running for a big group hug.

Pollys

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 06:55:00 +0000

I have loads of Pollys. Mum keeps buying them for my birthday, Christmas and Easter. I like collecting them.

These are some of my favourites.

Philippa

Jasmine

Lea

Rick

I like dressing my Pollys. I like setting up houses for them. I have some chairs, a table, a bed, some cars and an aeroplane. I have some cups and plates with food on them. I even have some handbags.

I have all the Pollys that used to belong to my sisters. I have lots of Pollys! I am very lucky.

Operetta

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 04:21:00 +0000

I like the Gilbert and Sullivan Operettas. My favourite ones are The Mikado and The Pirates of Penzance.

The names in The Mikado are funny. The heroine's name is Yum-Yum. One of my favourite songs from the Mikado is Three Little Maids From School Are We.

My favourite characters in The Pirates of Penzance are the Pirate King and the Major General. My favourite song out of The Pirates of Penzance is the Major General's I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General.

I hope you enjoy these songs!

Numbers

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 08:31:00 +0000

I was born in 2004.

I have 0 brains.

I am 9 years old.

I have 2 hands.

I have 8 fingers.

I have 2 thumbs.

I have 2 big feet.

I have 1 nose.

I have 3 brothers.

I have 4 sisters.

I have 1 Mum.

I have 1 Dad.

I have 23 teeth because I lost one.

(Just Joking about having 0 brains. Of course I have heaps of brains)

Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 03:40:00 +0000

Some of my favourite movies are...

Tangled.

Brave.

Muppet Treasure Island.

Tinkerbell and the Secret of the Wings.

The Incredibles.

Megamind

How to Train Your Dragon

I love having a movie night and watching one of my favourite movies. It is even more fun when Dad makes popcorn and everybody watches with me.

Legs

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 06:42:00 +0000

I have got legs. I have got long legs. I have got strong legs.

I can run for six kilometres on my legs. I have won races on my legs. I go for a run up big rocky hills on my legs, early in the morning, and in the afternoon I go outside and play on my legs.

At the end of my legs are my feet. They are rather large feet, just like a hobbit's. I have got a pair of hobbit socks. Duncan made them for me for Christmas.

Babies have short legs.

Giraffes have long legs.

Spiders have lots of hairy legs.

Emus have tall legs.

This bird has yellow legs.

Kittens have fluffy legs.

Tables and chairs have legs too.

Legs are very useful. I love my legs. What would I do without them?

Kangaroos

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 01:21:00 +0000

There is a lot of kangaroos in Australia.

When Charlotte was little, Mum and Dad lived on a 100 acre block and when they went walking in the bushy bits they could see lots of kangaroos.

At Penrose Park (monastery) we see heaps of kangaroos just dotted around the place.

We have seen kangaroos on our street as well. When we were saying morning prayers one day, Mum said, "Look there is a kangaroo."

I rushed to the window and there was a kangaroo happily hopping down the road.

We also saw a kangaroo when we were going running.We were walking up to the bush track in the early morning.

"Look, it's a kangaroo," said Imogen.

It sat there in the bush looking at us, then it hurried away as if it was late for something.

Dad hit a kangaroo late one night. I think the kangaroo did more damage to the car then the car did to it. Imogen was afraid that the kangaroo would go through the windscreen and it would sit in her lap. Dad managed to get the car home. Luckily for me I was not in the car but I did get to see the car afterwards. It had kangaroo fur on it. Both the kangaroo and the car ended up dying.

I like kangaroos and their big legs.

Jenny

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:20:00 +0000

Jenny is our cat. She is such a story-like cat. All she does is sleep, eat, sleep, eat and if she feels like it, she will curl up on your lap.

Jenny likes to lie down and stretch her chin out on the floor. It looks really uncomfortable but she seems to like it. She sits on anything from the arm of the chair to a shoe box to a bookmark on the floor. She thinks that she can catch a bug through a closed glass sliding door. It doesn't work. She is a bit dim.

Jenny is cross eyed and sometimes tries to thump my legs with her head but I think she gets the wrong image of me. I thinks she sees two of me.

We were watching "The Life of Birds" and Jenny got up from the arm of the chair and hopped onto the organ stool, which was closer to the TV, to investigate.

She kills toy mice for us and in the middle of the night she will start meowing, telling us to come look at the mouse she has killed.

Sammy (one of our other cats) and Jenny fight each other for a small rocking chair, sometimes both hopping on it and we can't tell one cat's paws from the other cat's.

I love Jenny even if she is not very clever.

Imaginary story

noreply@blogger.com (Gemma-Rose) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 06:43:00 +0000

Lark flew into the sky. Something was strange. Then Lark saw it. There was a load of dragons whizzing past her head.

"Get down," shouted Lark's mother. Lark flew down through all the dragons.

"Mum, what is going on?" Lark asked.

"It is okay. It's only some people riding on dragons."

Only some dragons, thought Lark. She fluttered her wings. She was a very inquisitive fairy.

Lark

"They are probably some fairies, elves and dwarves," said Mister Bird who was Lark's father.

"But what are they doing sitting on dragons, Mother?" said Parrot, who was Lark's brother.

"They are probably going to storm the evil fairy's palace," said Mister Bird.

"But isn't her palace under the water?" asked Parrot.

"Yes it is but most of the palace is dry," said Mrs Bird.

"How does it keep dry?" asked Parrot.

"It is only half under the water," said Mrs Bird.

"How does it manage that?" asked Parrot.

"It is on a island," said Mister Bird.

Lark went to bed in her house on a cloud. Her mind was racing. Maybe she could help. As soon as her mother and father had gone to bed, she got up and started to get her clothes on. She padded to the door and jumped out of it. She knew round about where the evil fairy's palace was. She flew for two hours straight and her wings were tired. A gust of wind swept her down. She started falling at a dramatic speed. Someone grabbed her hand. It was an elf.

"Sorry about making you fall," said the elf. "The wind was made by my dragon."

"It's okay," she said, climbing onto his purple dragon.

"My name is Grove. What is yours?" asked the elf.

"My name is Lark and I am trying to find the elves, the fairies and the dwarves. Do you know where to find them?" asked Lark.

"I'm one of them," said Grove.

"Can I come with you?" asked Lark.

"Certainly you can come with me," said Grove

Grove

There was heaps of dragons all over the big sea cliff.

"Right men, you can all go in teams. Every team will try to get into the palace and find Melon," said an old dwarf.

"Who is Melon?" asked Lark

"She is the evil fairy," said Grove.

In Grove's and Lark's team there were two dwarves called Rain and Ruby, a fairy called Starry and an elf called Bloom. Ruby and Bloom were girls like Lark. Starry and Lark flew alongside the four dragons.

"I can't see a window anywhere, and look in the water! There are guards," said Ruby

"They are mermaids," said Bloom.

"There are some birds there too," said Starry.

"I can see some loose spiky tiles," said Lark

Lark and Starry flew down to investigate. Starry threw one of the spiky tiles off the roof.

"Come on down!" shouted Lark

Rain, Ruby, Grove and Bloom tied their dragons to some pieces of rock that jutted out from the cliff. Rain jumped through the roof.

"I will see if it is safe down here," said Rain

Rain saw that there was a hall with a winding staircase. There was a huge grandfather clock that said the wrong time. Comfy armchairs with cushions lined the walls. On some gold stools there were snakes. Rain felt like screaming. There was snakes everywhere. They must be the inside guards, thought Rain.

"Can we come down?" said Bloom.

"Yes," said Rain.

"Those are a lot of snakes," said Ruby, swishing a mop of brown hair from her face.

Suddenly the room went cold and the door at the other side of the hall opened.

To be continued