#blogjune 2013 Day 23: In which I make some fingerless gloves

Finished off these today.

Black and grey merino with silk caps I dyed and some silk chiffon.

Teal merino with silk tussah and silk caps I dyed, some silk chiffon embedded as well.

#blogjune 2013 Day 22: In which I don't write much

Tired.

Took kids swimming. Miss6 swam half a length with breathing. Put DH's name down as person who would be interested in adult swimming lessons. Told him when I got home. Heheheh.

Changed sheets on the bed.

Took family to mall to see about getting Mr9's frames for his Irlen lenses. Fortunately Specsavers at Henderson were happy to assist and it wasn't too hideous a price. Also to library to return overdue books and get new.

Endless laundry... Still not at the bottom of the basket.

Laid out wool for two lots of fingerless handwarmers.  

Rushed around to vege shop to get fresh ginger. Discovered they had purple carrots and locally grown walnuts too.

Munted wrist chopping wood for the fire because DH out shooting birds with his big lens.  Lit fire anyway because it was cold.

Spent ages in the kitchen cooking 3 curries and puris for dinner.

The fire is warm. Nice fire.

#blogjune 2013 Day 21: Five things Friday

Heeeeey we're on the home stretch!

1. Shifting sands - was relevant to my interests today as I pondered some stuff happening around me. Also this one on disruptive education.

2. I've bitten the bullet and signed up to My Food Bag.  You can see what we'll be eating next week.

3. Am engrossed in Game of Thrones series. Have ideas about "epic" video for promoting library services which led to searching Jamendo for dramatic orchestral music as a sound track. You see how my mind works...

4. These wind sculptures are cool.  Probably not so suitable for my Wellington friends right now...


and

5. (For the believers and because I needed this today)

#blogjune 2013 Day 20: In which I reveal my crochet attempts

So far....



Not as neat and tidy as Tony's!  But still quite fun to do.  Haven't finished it yet as it's not really square.

#blogjune 2013 Day 19: In which I photo blog

Golden moths, fallen
Summer's shade no longer
Ephemeral wings

#blogjune 2013 Day 18: In which I get spicey

What is in your spice cupboard?

Some time ago (2007) I published a list of spices I have in mine.  Here is the current line up:

Star anise (whole)
Baharat (home made)
ground chillies
ground cardamom
dried marjarom
curry powder
dill seeds
dried sage
juniper berries
asafoetida
gr. black pepper
fenugreek seeds
mixed spice
brown & yellow mustard seeds
belacan
black peppercorns (whole)
caraway seeds
dry mango powder
poppy seeds
chinese 5 spice
tamarind
lemon pepper
cinnamon quills
kalonji seeds (nigella seeds)
smoked paprika (hot & sweet)
ground turmeric
celery seeds
gr. coriander
gr. cayenne
gr. nutmeg
whole nutmeg
gr. cumin
gr. cinnamon
paprika
cumin seeds
prickly ash/Sichuan pepper
dried oregano
dried tarragon
dried galangal
gr. ginger
saffron
dried chillies (birds eye)
gr. Kashmiri chilli
cloves (whole)
mace
vanilla pods
all spice
coriander seeds
panch phoran
sesame seeds
fennel seeds
cardamon (whole)
ras el hanout (home made)
rose water
garlic powder
brown cardamon pods

I frequently use spices in cooking.  Some of my favourite ones are the more familiar ones like cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.  I sometimes use them as a medicinal thing too - rather crudely perhaps but studies have shown benefits of a number of spices listed above.  For example, fenugreek appears to have a glucose lowering effect, turmeric apparently has anti-cancer properties and so on.  (You can do the literature searches yourself). I have used fenugreek as an anthelmintic and turmeric as an anti-viral against the common cold, both properties of which have been reported.

I love the history, mystery and exotic "romance" of spice.

#blogjune 2013 Day 17: In which I sacrifice my potato ricer on the altar of learning

In an attempt to make learning some spelling words more "kinesthetic" and "visual-spacial" for Mr9 I made play dough.  It's been a while since I made this for the kids.  In fact, in a fit of declutter fever I'd moved on a bunch of baby toys including the play dough tools to Miss6's old day care. 

My theory was that by forming the words with something tactile and manipulative it may help Mr9's brain to store the information in a way useful to him.  I have no idea if this is good pedagogy but he seemed to enjoy it. I remember a colleague of mine telling me about her son who has microcephaly and how she spent a lot of time making him feel textures and saying words about them to help him learn to associate the word with the sensation. Now obviously Mr9 is not severely disabled with microcephaly but I have always remembered my colleague's devotion and conviction that it was helpful as a learning tool.

Having discovered I had given away the "worm maker" to daycare, Mr9 was indignantly upset so in order to allow him the joy of creating words out of worms, I let him use my potato ricer. It works a treat actually and fortunately the play dough is a good recipe and is easily cleaned off while soft.

Naturally Miss6 was soon in on the action, making pizza and cookies and taniwha. Mint green, peppermint scented taniwha... the best kind. :-D

#blogjune 2013 Day 14: Five things Friday

1. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! Look out for ... the comfy chair!



2. Jelly beans and lists... two good things



3. Tart cherry juice from http://www.cherryvite.co.nz/ is my current obsession. The freeze dried cherries are awesome too. I think it may be helping me sleep, or maybe it's placebo but in any case it tastes good.  It is supposed to be full of Good Things.

4. What is your preferred potato chip flavour? Mine is salt & vinegar.  DH likes plain or those new sour cream and Kaitaia Fire ones. 

5. Spent the evening shopping for birthday presents for other people's children. Not sure what it is about October, but it seems like it's a good month for making babies! (As well as Christmas and New Year... We have 4 family birthdays in September).

#blogjune 2013 Day 13: In which I display my cookbook collection

This Cookbooks are possibly my guilty pleasure.  I read them like novels. I try and be restrained in my collection but I sometimes succumb to a new one!

This is the bottom shelf. I need to weed those magazines. The two big tomes on the right are The Joy of Cooking & Mrs Beeton's Household Management. I use the books and folders on this shelf a lot. The magazines not so much.

This shelf I use a lot too.  The Hummingbird Cafe Cookbook is being hidden by some of the thinner books but it is a current baking favorite along with Ladies a Plate.

The things on the top shelf I don't use very often.  They tend to be more for reference but the Anne Willan French one and the Thai Food one do get consulted from time to time.

Do you have a cookbook collection?

#blogjune 2013 Day 12: In which I bare my insecurities.

The following may indicate my ignorance but I always say, if you don't ask the question you just remain ignorant...

A while back I did a "self-awareness" course which was about becoming self-aware.  (As you might imagine).

For me, it is an uncomfortable and confronting thing to realise how my behaviour affects others' perception of myself.  One of the things the course looked at was "transactional analysis" and the kinds of states one goes to during interactions.  Based on the observations he made of me during the 3 hour course, the facilitator told me I move into the "free child" state a lot.

"The Natural Child is largely un-self aware and is characterized by the non-speech noises they make (yahoo, whee, etc.). They like playing and are open and vulnerable.
The ... Little Professor is the curious and exploring Child who is always trying out new stuff (often much to their Controlling Parent's annoyance). Together with the Natural Child they make up the Free Child." ~ from Transactional Analysis [my emboldening]

I took from his [the facilitator] attitude that this state is not the one to be in if you want to be a leader or considered a rational adult member of staff.  In my defence, I would like to add that on that particular day I was emotionally vulnerable owing to a number of things happening both at work and home.

The questions I find myself asking are these.  In an environment where we are exhorted to be creative, innovative and disruptive in our approach to librarianship, what is the role of the free child?  What is the role of Adult in this environment?

"the Adult in us is the 'grown up' rational person who talks reasonably and assertively, neither trying to control nor reacting aggressively towards others. The Adult is comfortable with themself and is, for many of us, our 'ideal self'." ~ from Transactional Analysis

Or am I reading too much into this?  Are these things unrelated? Have I taken it out of context?

Yesterday someone tweeted this blog entry:

"The antidote to consumption is play: physically and mentally. We have stripped many of our institutions of play as we became heavier with the burden of information to pass on. It is inevitable. But play is not what happens at ‘recess’ or ‘lunch’. Play is not mindless, in the same way not all information is mindless. Compelling information coupled with playful experimentation, helps us create meaning and improve processes." - Consumption Mentality

 While coming from a different perspective, the part about play not being a mindless activity but rather helping us build meaning and improve processes intrigued me.

There is a part of me that wants to justify allowing the creative side of myself to appear in the work environment - this I freely admit. But I do wonder if I'm shooting myself in the foot to let it do so if I wish to be seen as "professional" and having worthy leadership qualities.

On the other hand, I see a real risk of librarians stagnating into starchy, un-interesting creatures with no flexibility if we do not provide a space for playfulness.  Or perhaps I'm just equating "professional" as boring... certainly the times I've been accused of being "not very professional" is when I have been expressing humour or playfulness.

This is very deep. I am interested in your opinion.

#blogjune 2013 Day 10: in which I reveal my first attempts at crochet

A couple of worm like things that I hope will end up as a kind of dish cloth!  I had some difficulty holding the bits but I think I have that sorted now. My mum also showed me I was doing something working with where I was inserting the hook too - something I didn't actually realize I was doing having watched some videos.  Is this an instance where face to face teaching is better? Or did I just not choose the best videos? :-) 

#blogjune2013 Day 9: In which I meet some unexpected issues

A few posts back I mentioned Mr9's tentative diagnosis of dyspraxia. Since then we have been trying to move forward with testing and finding ways to help him.

We have been helped by the SPELD association who gave him a comprehensive test that revealed some strengths and weaknesses. He now has a SPELD tutor who works with him once a week.

A friend has screened him for Irlen and we see a diagnostician this week.

I am still trying to find an OT for him that will help him and hopefully give a definitive diagnosis. The closest one is too busy - too many ACC cases.  Another recommended one has yet to get back to me so I fear the same will hold true of her also. I may yet have to find someone myself. As this is one of the key things he needs I am feeling frustrated!

It has not been cheap either and he doesn't qualify for any funding.  It worries me that it will be difficult for us to get assistance like reader-writers when his condition is not considered "severe" enough.

One good thing is that the school have been very helpful and co-operative.  His teacher has a 2 other students with learning difficulties so she is open to exploring ideas and ways to deal with this.  Additionally, she is trying to incorporate some elearning into the class which is a challenge in a small school with limited funding.  She approached us about the possibility of purchasing Mr9 an iPad as she has found some of the apps useful in assisting her to teach her students with learning difficulties - the other 2 in her class have them.

We were hardly a "hard sell" given the geekiness of our family so we agreed and today Mr9 got an iPad2 (wifi only).  It will live at school most of the time, locked away in a secure place when not in use. It can come home when he wants to bring it home though.

Here he is "unboxing" his iPad.

We needed to set an email for him as some of the work he will do on the device will be emailed to his teacher rather than submitted on paper.  We assumed a gmail would be fine, but we discovered he is too young for one!  We went back and forth about options and in the end we found Yahoo! allows a child account if you set up a "family account" arrangement.

I am just hoping we'll be able to find a similar thing for gmail because I suspect he will need to use some of the Google apps like docs.  Perhaps the school has Google for schools?  I don't know but will have to find a way to work around this.  In the meantime, the Yahoo! address will have to do.

One of the apps I installed for him is the Overdrive one for borrowing library ebooks and audiobooks.  Of course, it needs to have an Adobe ID.  Mine has been used on too many devices so I had to make one for him as well. 

It both amuses and alarms me that Mr9's digital footprint is already growing as a result of this purchase we've made.

Here are my loves heading out to this morning's fellowship. Miss6 is not impressed she didn't get an iPad.  Mostly because she wants to play Fruit Ninja.

#blogjune 2013 Day 8: In which I fall back on a bullet point post

Because I am tired and sad.

1. Saturday is a day for the kids to have swimming lessons.

2. A friend in Japan died yesterday - she fought cancer for 3 years, 8 months. Far too young to go, she leaves a son and daughter my age. Cancer sucks.

3. Spent some time helping DH chainsaw up a tree for firewood for my sister and ourselves.

4. Went out to Muriwai so DH could take photos of kingfishers and sunsets.

5. Made home made fish and chips.

In memory of Reiko:

In blossom today, then scattered;
Life is so like a delicate flower.
How can one expect the fragrance to last forever?
Admiral Takajiro Onishi

#blogjune 2013 Day 7: Five things Friday

1. Good to see the recycling bins are up at MPOW.

2. Hot pink slugs - awesome.  If you had to be a slug, this is the colour to be.

3. It takes a library: It is time to change the tone of the conversation about the future of libraries - agree 100%.

4. I watched a film on dyslexia today.  I sure wish there was as much awareness of dyspraxia as there is of dyslexia.

5. I tried some new food related things this week. I made a coffee and walnut cloud cake.  It's based on the angel food cake idea but I don't have a tube pan so I made two cakes instead.  It was delicious but I'll only be making it on special occasions as it's quite a bit of work.




I tried some buffalo sausages from the Whangapiro Buffalo Cheese co. Also delicious!  I think it's marvellous that we can get things like this here.

#blogjune 2013 Day 6: In which I share a Hamster powered machine

Hamster powered machine a video by pdugmore2001 on Flickr.

Made by Mr9 using his sister's Zhuzhu pet. Miss6 can be heard exhorting me to put it on Facebook in the background. Also in the background is DH playing the piano.

#blogjune 2013 Day 5: In which I present one of my bookshelves

Someone mentioned recently the sadness they felt when visiting a home without bookshelves.  This is a feeling I share.  One of the first things we got when moving into our house was a shelf for our books. Admittedly I don't have quite the number that some people have - looking at my Dad here... But I have a limited amount of room so I need to keep the collection smallish. 

 I dream of a house where I could have a "library". I'm sort of embarrassed to admit it because it seems I am, once more, a living cliche.

Top two shelves featuring a mixture of mine and husband's choices. Plus some kid ones that gave ended up there because of lack of room on their shelves. 

Next shelf contains taller books. Asterix and Tintin to the left - they get a beating these days - they originally belonged to DH and now the children are at a stage to enjoy them. This shelf also includes some gardening and craft books.  These tend to be crafts I am currently not pursuing, like stump work and marbling.

 The next shelf down is mostly DH's stuff.  Bill Bryson, "Day walks" series. 

The bottom two shelves are devoted to photography books, photo albums, dictionaries and atlases.  I have a weakness (inherited from my Dad) for dictionaries and other classic reference books.

I have to admit I don't buy so many books these days. If I do, it will be books I intend to re-read or they are harder to find non-fiction books.  I do buy ebook fiction and DH buys ezines though.

You will note there is a singular lack of "classification" happening here. That is because the shelf height dictate what goes where for the most part. I did try and alphabetise the fiction a bit.

What's on your bookshelf?

#blogjune 2013 Day 4: In which I begin my Drupal course online

I logged on to begin my online course in Drupal today.  The LMS is a familiar interface - the same we use at MPOW.  Looks like my colleagues and I are the only participants outside of the US/Canada.

I first heard about Drupal back in 2009 or so when we were reviewing our website, looking for a suitable CMS to manage our pages. In 2010 I went to VALA (a library conference in Melbourne) where there were quite a few presentations/workshops related to Drupal.

I really like the flexibility and open nature of the beast.

So far the course has been easy to work through and I'm looking forward to mucking about under the hood of my sample website.

Hi, my name is Penny and I'm a geek that finds this stuff fun.

Also, thanks to Claire...

Penny's Dewey Decimal Section:
699 [Unassigned]
Penny = 65445 = 654+45 = 699

Class:
600 Technology

Contains:
Health, agriculture, management, public relations, buildings.

What it says about you:
You are creative and inspired to make the world a better place. You can work hard on something when it catches your interest. Your friends have unique interests in common with you.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

#blogjune 2013 Day 3: Monday Menu plan

Last week's menu plan

Monday - roast beef in the crockpot, Yorkshire pudding, beans
Tuesday - mini meat loaves, slater potatoes, broccoli
Wednesday - Fish with Spanish potatoes peas and chorizo (recipe from My Food Bag)
Thursday - Spinach, ricotta canelloni with tomato sauce with a rocket, pear, walnut, blue cheese salad
Friday - Chilli with tortillas, salsa
Saturday - Chicken Nasi Goreng with peanut sauce and prawn crackers, Croissant orange and cranberry bread and butter pudding for zert. *

Nasi Goreng

This week's menu plan

Sunday - pizza and Minestrone soup
Monday (Queen's birthday) - gnocchi and tomato sauce with sauteed spinach, lamb steaks, steamed carrots
Tuesday - pork chops with garlicky spinach & mash
Wednesday - Pasta puttenesca
Thursday -Tom Yum soup
Friday - chicken cacciatore
Saturday - fish and chips (homemade)

Has anyone tried My Food Bag before?  My colleagues and I were looking at it last week.  It looks interesting.

Bread and butter pudding made with croissants

* Croissant orange and cranberry bread and butter pudding

3-4 croissants cut into slices (or enough to fill your dish)
1/4 cup sugar
zest of an orange
juice of an orange
3 eggs
2 cups milk
cinnamon
dried cranberries (as many as you think are good, probably about 1/2 cup)

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C.
Grease an ovenproof dish and arrange the slices of croissants in it. Sprinkle over orange zest and juice and allow juice to soak into the croissants. Sprinkle over sugar and cranberries.
Beat eggs and milk together briefly then pour over the croissants.  Spinkle with cinnamon.
Cook in the middle of the oven until custard is just cooked (it will be very slightly jiggly).
Serve with cream.

#blogjune Day 2: In which I discuss 10 rules for winter fashion

Okay, so this isn't strictly in my "theme" list but who cares?  The newspaper had an article last week announcing 10 rules for winter fashion.  I thought it would be interesting to see what people thought about these rules.  My opinions are included below.

1. Thou shalt wear more than a skirt and a tshirt

Well doh. It's cold so yes, long sleeves are a must. But skirts are fine, especially with tights.

The original article referenced "showing off assets" and "flaunting" feminine shapes which can be done without the need for skin showing.

One style that I can't get behind is short shorts with tights and ugg boots. Euuw!  Not for me. 

2. Thou shalt wear leather

Yeah nah.  Not for me.  Except for shoes, belts and handbags, leather has never been of interest to me to actually wear.

3. Thou shalt wear something snuggly to bed

The original article suggests onesies as an option.  Horror!  I do have flannel jammies though. 

4. Thou shalt keep the noggin warm

Beanies, felt hats... yes I will wear that.  I'm hoping to make a few more this winter.


 
5. Thou shalt wear boots

Yes.  I would like some MOAR boots.  I need ones with wider calf width though.  Do you think ankle boots look ok with skirts?  I think they look a bit meh, but I wear them all the same.

6. Thou shalt own a decent coat

Working on it, working on it.  I have a pattern, just need time and fabric.  In the meantime I've ordered a duffle coat.

7. Thou shalt wear black

Really?  REALLY?  No. I'll wear whatever colour I like.



8. Thou shalt dress for a decadent 1920s party

This referred to "jewelling" and "lavish trimming".  Not sure I'm into the OTT stuff but some is ok.  Like this bag I embellished.



9. Thou shalt wear cosy jumpers

Chunky knits are "on trend" at the moment.  Times like these I wish I could knit.

10. Thou shalt wear wide leg trousers

As someone with wide legs I could get behind this one.  But not so wide I catch them on my shoes and trip over.

My favourite winter fashion things are my felted scarfs, hats and coloured tights.  What about you?

#blogjune 2013 June 1: In which I set the scene for the month

Once again, I have set myself the challenge of blogging every day of June.  You can read about this exercise over at Flexnib.  If you'd like to join in please do!  The only requirement is that you have a blog.  The subject matter and topics of blogging are entirely up to you.  There is a list of participants if you would like to follow along.

I didn't participate last year because of reasons, but I missed the fun, the pressure, the sense of community around the event.  This year I am going to give myself a few themes to focus on so I have some impetus to blog.

The themes for this year's Blogjune at Walking Upside Down will be:

1. Food - including menu plans, recipes, trying some new things
2. Crafts - which will include me learning how to crochet
3. Reading
4. Reflections on doing an online course to learn Drupal
5. Five things Friday
6. I will attempt to blog over at Diligent Room for some days
7. Photos of things

Speaking of which...

These are things which make me happy