Piano Delight

I walked into my piano lesson. I couldn't wait to see what I would be doing.

The first thing my piano teacher said was, "Let's choose an exam piece to learn."

I stared. Had I heard her right? Did she say exam piece? Even though Imogen and Charlotte have done lots of exams, I have never done one in my life!

It seemed that I had heard her right. My teacher opened up a music book and sat down on the stool to play some pieces for me to choose from. I listened eagerly. I couldn't believe that I was going to do an exam.

As my teacher finished the last piece she turned to me. "Which did you like best?" she asked.

I thought about it and then turned the pages over to my favourite piece. My teacher played the first bit to make sure it was the right piece and then turned back to me. "Your turn."

I sat down at the piano and started to play. The piece was much easier than I had thought it would be and soon I had finished the first page.

After my lesson I ran over to the car where Mum was waiting. "I am going to take an exam," I called, jumping in.

She smiled. "I bet you can't wait."

When I got home I told everyone else my news. They were all very impressed.

"I told you Christine would want you to do an exam, didn't I," Imogen said. I grinned. I hadn't believed her at the time.

Mum  is right, I can't wait. It will be a lot of work, but it will be worth it. This is what I have always wanted.

Visiting London and Making Postcards

Today we went to London. We saw the London Eye, Big Ben and learnt heaps. It was so much fun. The best thing about it was we didn't even have to leave our family room. It was all on Mum's computer.

Mum has found all these videos about different countries and cities on YouTube. We go on a different trip each week. Gemma-Rose and I really enjoy it.

When we came back from our adventuring on YouTube today, Mum had a brilliant idea. Why don't we make our own post cards about London?

I grabbed my computer and raced to Morguefile to find some pictures to do with London. I found plenty of photos of Big Ben, heaps of pictures of the London Eye and some of the Beefeaters.

Once I had all the pictures I wanted, I went to Picmonkey and started to turn them into postcards. I couldn't believe how good they looked.

Gemma-Rose and I spent ages playing with photos, turning them into postcards and finding good words to go onto them.

After a while we had to stop for lunch. I didn't really want to stop, it was so exciting. I will have to make some more later.

I  am going to make postcards to go with every country we learn about. I sure I can find good photos for countries like Vietnam or New Zealand.

Mum is all buzzing with new ideas. I can't wait to try out some of her other ideas like making movie posters.

Do you like my postcards? Which is your favourite? Mine is the one of the London Eye.

Lunch Time, Movie Time

"Would anyone like to watch a movie?" Mum asked one day. We all nodded.

"Should we watch Shakespeare?" someone suggested.

"Or a Gilbert and Sullivan?" someone else asked.

"What about a Jane Austen or a Charles Dickens?" Imogen offered. My head went up. I had never watched a Jane Austen or a Charles Dickens. I had always been too young.

"Jane Austen," Gemma-Rose begged. We all agreed.

I only knew the story line to Pride and Prejudice. I was excited because I was going to find out what all the other Jane Austens were about.

We settled for watching Persuasion. It was a good movie and we all enjoyed it. We enjoyed it so much that we decided to watch another Jane Austen after it, and then another favourite mini-series of the big girls', North and South. 

One day when we had just finished watching an episode of North and South, Mum turned and looked at Gemma-Rose with a funny expression. "What are you doing watching these movies? Aren't children your age supposed to like watching Barbie?" she asked. Gemma-Rose just grinned. She likes to do what older people do.

Mum doesn't mind Gemma-Rose watching with us at all really, she was just wondering why she likes all these movies for older people.

We have taken to watching an episode of a mini-series at lunch time each day. When we had had enough of Jane Austen we started on Charles Dickens. They are also very good. I really enjoy watching them.

At the moment we are watching Bleak House. My favourite character is Mr Guppy. He is very funny. You can't help but laugh at him. 

We are watching the mini-series one episode at a time. It leaves me wondering what is going to happen next? How will the mystery be solved? It is hard to wait for the next lunch time to find out. 

Do you like watching period dramas? Which is your favourite? 

I am going to have to read all of the books. I have a lot of fun ahead of me.

The Thief of the Quiet Princess

The cover I made for my book

I am sitting at my computer writing. It is the last sprint. I only have five hundred words to go before I have finished my novel and Camp NaNoWriMo. 

I put down my computer and shout, "I have done it! I have written a fifty thousand word novel!"

Mum comes to have a look. She congratulates me and claps. I feel all warm and pleased with myself. Not many girls my age can write a fifty thousand word novel.

My novel still has a lot of work to be done on it, but the first draft is finished.

In my story there is a thief who has stolen a prized yacht. The two detectives, Bella and Dianne must work out who the thief is and get the yacht back.

It isn't easy for them. The thief seems to always be one step ahead of them, and it takes all their skill and a bit of help from some friends to catch him. Things are not made any easier by the fact that their boss has just gone overseas on a holiday.

What do you think? Is it a good story line?

The novel's name is The Thief of The Quiet Princess. Imogen thought it up for me when I had no ideas.

I am planning a second book. I am stilling working out the story line at the moment, but it sounds like it is going to be a lot of fun. I will have to make sure I edit the novel I have just finished though.

Do you like novel writing? What kinds of novels do you like to write?

Squeebles Maths

Gemma-Rose with a toy she made

Gemma-Rose used to dislike maths. She used to be really reluctant to do any. Funny enough I used to be like that too until Mum found this wonderful maths book full of fun ways to do multiplication. I now love maths.

Mum decided to find a fun way to teach Gemma-Rose her multiplications tables too. She is a bit young for my favourite maths books so Mum went looking on the internet and found this game called Squeebles and she downloaded an app for it onto her tablet! Gemma-Rose loves it.  You can't get her off it.

I think Gemma-Rose is going to be a maths fan like me. I adore maths. I love finding new ways to do big equations. Gemma-Rose isn't quite up to doing big maths problems yet, but at the rate she is going she will better than me soon.

After a bit of hunting, Mum found a few other Squeebles games. Gemma-Rose was delighted. She plays her maths games just for fun now.

Gemma-Rose lets all of us have a go at her games. Seeing if we can break her high scores, which we hardly ever do, and having fun with her. 

It is funny how one fun maths game can make you adore maths. I can hardly believe she used to be so reluctant to have a bit of fun playing with numbers.

Soon Gemma-Rose and I will be racing each other to work out maths problems. I wonder if I will be able to beat her or if she will be too good for me.

Hattie Big Sky

Mum has just finished reading Hattie Big Sky to me and Gemma-Rose. It was really good.

It is about a sixteen year old girl who gets left a claim of land by her uncle when he dies. She can't wait to prove up on it. But proving up doesn't turn out to be as easy as she thinks. 

The book is set in the First World War. Hattie's claim of land is in Vida Montana. We have never read a book about the World War that is set in the USA before.

My favourite bit in the story is when Hattie is being chased by some wild horses and, not being able to outrun them, she takes off her skirt and starts waving it at them. It was very funny.

Rooster Jim would have to be my favourite character. He is a very comical character and his ways of sorting out problems are hilarious. His way to make a chicken lay eggs made me laugh. 

I never really thought about how much work it would be to run a farm. Hattie had to get up at the crack of dawn, see to all her animals, get breakfast and start working on her fields. She would also have to cook, clean and wash clothes. Life sounds so hard back then.

To earn money Hattie wrote her stories of what she was doing and sent them to a newspaper. I was very surprised to find that she liked writing like me. 

The book is based on the author's great grandmother's life, though it isn't quite the same. It is hard to believe that some of the things that happened in the book might have really happened to a real person.

I really enjoyed listening to the book. I can't wait for Mum to read the sequel. 

Picnic at the Park

"Shall we get some rolls and fillings and go down to the park for a picnic?" Mum asked.

"Oh yes please," we all cried.

We all hopped into the car and Mum drove us to the shopping centre.

We walked around trying to find what we wanted to eat.

"How about ham and potato salad?" Mum asked us. We all agreed it was a wonderful idea.

We found the potato salad, meat and rolls.

We also got some yoghurt and honey to eat after the rolls.

We went down to the park. It was mostly empty so we could sit at our favourite bench.

 Imogen and Mum served out the rolls and we all started to eat.

The rolls were scrumptious. We were all hungry.

After the rolls Imogen found the yoghurt. We didn't have any bowls to eat out of so we put the yoghurt in disposable cups and poured honey on top of it.

The yoghurt even though eaten in such a strange way was very delicious. I decided that yoghurt tastes nicest out of disposable cups.

It was a wonderful picnic.

When we went back home we were very full. I couldn't eat another bite.. We had the best picnic ever.