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Tuesday 21 December 2010

Fiddler on the Roof

On Monday afternoon I came home from Broken Hill after having been there for four or so days.

I had an awesome time! :)


The play-























-was fantastic!




I watched it three times and I would have gone back for more if I could have :)




It was really great.




And apart from that it was also really good to hang around with old friends and also with some new ones...






















Tuesday 14 December 2010

Wednesday 8 December 2010

Flood Photos

As promised, here a couple of photos that I took of the flood when it was only medium bad. But for some of the worser ones, when the waters were really high check out this link, it's pretty awesome-http://www.dailyliberal.com.au/multimedia/18499/154460/central-west-rain-and-floods.aspx?Start=0&page=1



Sunday 5 December 2010

Muster!

The other news from this week/weekend, apart from the Dubbo flood, was Muster. Muster is a Cornerstone gathering that happens once a year, and I've loved going for the past couple of years because you get to see so many people (some that you don't see all too often.)

It started Saturday at 9:00. At the Christian School. Em and I were both pretty alert looking out for 'our girls'.


This wasn't all of us. There were more. But this is just one picture out of many.

Will, Cherry, Georgie, Angela, Jo, Emily...

I cropped myself out because I look really miserable.

I wasn't.

I had a great time.

Anyway. Saturday.

Some of the day was spent wandering around, taking photos, talking, ect. We played Laser Tag for about two hours which was fun. I won. I'm good with a gun.

Then, in the afternoon, we ate, played basketball, played hand-ball, messed around, ect.

That night was the concert. There was lots of talent. Emily got up and sang one of her own songs, which, strangely, made me cry.

Then I got up with all (or most, a few may have been missing) the other Dunn Swamp ( http://jrebekkah-itslife97.blogspot.com/2010/10/dunn-swamp.html) kids and we sang a song together. It was pretty good :).

Sunday Emily and I sat in for a session. The guy talking was a Kiwi who talked really fast and was possibly a little hard to understand at times, but it was still okay.

That afternoon we played a Wide Game with noodles. Possibly this is why my shoulders are so terribly sore today. Because I wielded my noodle so viciously.

Then that afternoon, Muster finished for most. A few stuck around. We swam. And played Mud Volleyball.

I'm still picking grains of sand and dirt out of my hair. It was awesome though.

Good times, good times...

Dubbo Flood

Dubbo has had lots of rain in the past week. Heaps and heaps.

Roads have been closed, shops have been closed, and I've never seen the water come up so high. Our backyard has had it's own little pool.

It's kind of a local attraction at the moment. People go and sit on the bridge and take photos.

We went down to have at look ourselves on Thursday. The next day where we had been standing was covered in water. I was honestly thinking about going for a swim in the football oval.

It's a little bit scary, but it's also very awesome.

Photos soon.

Friday 26 November 2010

School Report on Henry VIII

Introduction:

This report is on the lives of the six women that married Henry VIII. It goes back to their past, into their marriage, and, if they made it that far, into their lives after Henry.
The wives of Henry VIII were all very different kinds of women. Gentle, unattractive Anne of Cleves was not at all like enticing, flirtatious Catherine Howard. The one thing that they had in common was having Henry as their husband, a rather unfortunate thing to share, it turns out.


Part 1. Before They Met Henry

Catherine of Aragon

Catherine (also spelt Katherine or Katharine) was born 16th December 1485. She was the youngest daughter of King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Castile.
Catharine was described as short, with long golden-auburn hair, blue eyes, a round face, and a fair complexion.
As a Princess of Castile, she was quite learned. She learned to speak, read and write in Spanish and Latin, and also spoke French and Greek. She was also taught domestic skills, such as needlepoint, lace-making, embroidery, music and dancing.
She also seemed to be very pious, much like her mother.
Catherine was sent to England in 1501 to marry Arthur, firstborn of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, heir to the throne of England. Arthur was the older brother of Henry VIII.
Almost a year after they were married, they both became sick, possibly from the sweating sickness. Catherine recovered, but Arthur died.

Anne Boleyn

Anne was born c.1501/1507, the daughter of Thomas Boleyn, an earl, and Elizabeth Boleyn, the Countess of Wiltshire.
Anne was described as having dark olive skin, thick, dark brown hair, and dark eyes, sometimes described as black.


Anne had two siblings, George and Mary.
Mary and Anne both spent their teenage years in France as ladies-in-waiting to Henry VIII’s sister, Mary, the French Queen. When Queen Mary died, Anne’s sister Mary went home where she later became the mistress of King Henry.
Anne stayed where she was and served the new French Queen, Claude.
Because of where she lived for the earlier years of her life, Anne learned to speak French fluently and is known for loving the French fashions.
Her plans of returning to England and marrying her Irish cousin failed and instead, when she returned to England, she was placed as maid of honour to Queen Catherine, also known as Catherine of Aragon.
As a maid of honour, Anne is also known to have had two other suitors, a rich heir, Henry Percy and a poet, Sir Thomas Wyatt. These were not long in lasting.

Jane Seymour

Jane was born in the year 1508. She was the daughter of Sir John Wentworth and Margery Wentworth of Wiltshire.
While Henry VIII’s first wives had impressive educations, Jane was skilled in the ways of a housewife. She was good at things such as household management and needlework, things which were not necessary to a Queen.
Jane became maid-of-honour to both Queen Catherine of Aragon, and Queen Anne Boleyn.
It is unusual though that Henry would fall in love with her because she was not handsome. She was described as pale and blonde. According to an Imperial Ambassador, Jane was of middling stature, very pale, and not much of a beauty. Several documents mentioned that her figure was difficult on the eyes.
Two men, however, did report that she was ‘the fairest of all the King’s wives’ and that she was ‘a woman of utmost charm in both character and appearance.’.

Anne of Cleves

Anne was born 22nd of September, 1515 near Düsseldorff. She was the second daughter of John III, duke of Julich, Cleves. When John died, Anne’s older brother William became the new duke, his nickname being ‘The Rich.’ Her elder sister Sybille was married to the Elector of Saxony, John Frederick.
Anne was described as dark haired, of middling beauty, a swarthy complexion and old for her age.
When she was twelve-years-old, Anne was betrothed to Francis, the son and heir of the Duke of Lorraine. Anne was two years his superior. Later, when it suited the people at hand, the betrothal was considered unofficial and was cancelled.

Catherine Howard

Catherine, also spelt Katherine or Katheryn, was born in the year c. 1521 (Catherine’s exact birth place and birth date are unknown)
. She was the fourth child of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpepper. Catherine was niece to Elizabeth Howard, the mother of Anne Boleyn, so as has happened before in this story, she was related to her husband’s ex wife.
Although he had a large title, Lord Edmund was quite poor and often begged handouts from their richer relatives. Because of their lack of money, Catherine’s step-grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, took her in.
The Dowager Duchess was an older lady who often took in young relatives whose family could not support them. She was not much interested in their upbringing though so Catherine did not receive much of an education apart from learning how to read and write.
When she was between the age of eleven and sixteen, her music teacher Henry Manox and herself had an affair. During their adultery trial she admitted that they had sexual contact without intercourse. This adolescent affair ended when she was pursued by a secretary in her step-grandmother’s household. They became lovers and addressed each other as ‘husband’ and ‘wife.’
When the Duchess caught wind of it she ended it promptly by beating them both soundly and sending Francis, the secretary, away to Ireland. It is told that he went into piracy and was later killed.
Catherine then went to Henry’s court and became a lady-in-waiting to his new German wife, Queen Anne (Anne of Cleves).

Katherine Parr
Katherine was born c. 1512/ 11th November 1512 at Kendal Castle in Westmorland, North West England. She was the eldest child of Sir Thomas

Parr and Maud Green(e). She had a younger brother, William, and sister, Anne.
Sir Thomas was the Sheriff of Northamptonshire, and her mother was an attendant of Catherine of Aragon.
When Katherine was seven, she married Edward Borough, but when he died in 1533, she married John Neville, 3rd baron Latymer (Latimer), of Snape, North Yorkshire.This was in 1534, but in 1536 during the Pilgrimage of Grace, Katherine was held hostage by northern rebels along with her two stepchildren and husband.
John was eventually able to secure their freedom but died in 1543. She was thirty-one at this time and was serving in Henry’s VIII court. The widow did begin a relationship was Sir Thomas Seymour (Jane Seymour’s brother) but accepted the marriage proposal of the King when he took a liking to her.


Part 2. The Marriages

Catherine of Aragon

Seven years after the death of Arthur, during which she was practically a prisoner in Durham House, London, Catherine married Henry, the new heir of England and six years her junior.
They were married for twenty-four years and during those times, Catherine gave birth six to eight times. All but one died, were stillborn, or were miscarriages.
The one child that survived was an unhealthy girl named Mary, who was later called Bloody Mary for the many people she had put to death.
Henry had two mistresses during his marriage to Catherine and they were Elizabeth (Bessie) Blount and Mary Boleyn. There is a great probability that there were other mistresses that are not known of.
After so many of their children had died, Henry began to believe that his marriage to Catherine was cursed. He sought the Bible for help and came to the books of Leviticus where it is written that a man should not take his brother’s wife or he will remain childless.
This may have been what prompted him to hurry in annulling his marriage to Catherine.


Anne Boleyn

When Anne was noticed by the King, she quickly made up her mind to not become a discarded mistress as her sister had become and so she denied him all sexual pleasure.
Henry was a Roman Catholic and although he was the King of England, the Roman Catholic Church refused to let him divorce Catherine. Between 1527 and 1530, Henry did all he could to end his marriage. All attempts failed.

Finally, in 1530, Henry decided that he would have to break away from Rome. In three years it was done, he had created the Church of England and he was finally able to divorce Catherine.
She refused to attend the divorce case, but it was done without her. The Roman Catholic Church still refused to recognize the legality of the divorce, but Henry had already married Anne Boleyn.
Anne became pregnant before they were married and preparations were made to celebrate her child. Everyone was certain that it would be a boy, but to everyone’s surprise, it was a little girl. The named her Elizabeth and Henry was pleased with her, even though she was not a boy.
She became pregnant two more times after this but one was a miscarriage and one was a stillborn.
It was after the second baby’s death that Henry noticed Jane Seymour, Anne’s lady-in-waiting.

Jane Seymour
It is not known how Jane felt about becoming the King’s wife. Some stories report that she was nervous and other say that she flaunted her new position, even in front of Anne while she was still Queen.
Jane became pregnant in early 1537. Her every whim was indulged by Henry who was convinced that he would get a boy at last. He was not disappointed when young Edward VI was born.
Mary, Catherine of Aragon’s daughter, was the young prince’s godmother. Elizabeth also took part in the ceremony.
Jane became very sick after the birth of her son.


Anne of Cleves


An artist was sent to paint portraits of Anne and her younger sister Amelia, both who Henry was considering as his fourth wife.
Henry required that the artist be as accurate as possible. Negotiations were in full swing by March, 1539 and a marriage treaty was signed on the 4th of October between Anne and Henry.
She was described as dark haired, middling beauty, a swarthy complexion and old for her age.
Henry was very impatient to see his future bride; he went to meet her at Rochester. Some stories say that he went disguised as a man of the palace to escort her to the King and was extremely disappointed.
He felt very misled and urged Thomas Cromwell, his advisor, to find a way to avoid the marriage, but this was impossible without endangering the new alliance between the Germans and the English.
They were married on the 6th January, 1540.
“God send me well to keep” was engraved on Anne’s wedding ring.
Anne was not suited for life at the English court. She did not like the English customs or music. She was also brought up, like Jane, more for domestic skills, not literature and music.
Henry did not find her attractive and is said to have called her a “Flanders Mare.”
As well as his personal feelings for not wanting her, political feelings were not well between the Germans and the English, who had not had a very good relationship of late.
Henry had also come to notice Catherine Howard, a spirited lady-in-waiting to the Queen.
Catherine Howard
Catherine was a very attractive, young lady and caught the eye of the King after living in the Palace only a short time. It was only months after her arrival that he began to bestow expensive gifts upon her.
After he divorced Anne it was not long before Henry and Catherine were married. Catherine was rumoured to have been pregnant and this may have been the reason for the sudden rush to be married.

Henry was 30 years her senior and it was said that he truly loved her. He gave her much wealth, jewels, land, and outrageously expensive gifts.

Katherine Parr

Katherine was very close to her three stepchildren and was personally involved in the education of the younger two. She liked art and music and her achievements academically were impressive. She was also the first Queen to have a book published.
There was one point during their marriage in which Catherine got into trouble by stirring up some arguments with Henry’s religion. This was almost the end of her, but when someone close to her notified her of the king’s rage she was able to save herself by vowing that she had only argued religion with him to take his mind off his own pain (He had had an ulcerous leg for quite a while, it was hurting terribly at this time.)

Part 3. Divorce, Death, Survival?

Catherine of Aragon: Divorced

By 1526 Henry had begun to separate from Catherine because he had fallen in love with Anne Boleyn, sister of his mistress Mary.
In 1531 Catherine was banished from court and Anne was given her room.
Until the end of her life Catherine called herself the rightful Queen and her faithful servants honoured her by doing so as well.
Catherine was not allowed to correspond with her daughter Mary, but some pitying people did deliver and send secret letters between them. Henry later offered them better quarters and each others company if they would acknowledge Anne as his new Queen but neither of them would.
In 1535 she was transferred to the decaying and remote Kimbolton Castle. She confined herself to one room, leaving it only to attend Mass. She fasted most of the time and wore the hair shirt of the Order of St. Francis.
In late December 1535, sensing death was near, she made her will and wrote to her nephew, the Emperor Charles V, asking him to protect her daughter. She then penned one final letter to Henry, her "most dear lord and husband".
She was buried in Peterborough with a ceremony due to a Princess of Wales, not a queen. Henry did not attend the funeral and refused to allow Mary to attend either.

Anne Boleyn: Beheaded

Anne had enemies at the court and they began to plot against her. Cromwell persuaded the King to sign a document calling for an investigation that would possible result in charges of treason.
In April, 1536, Anne’s good friend Mark Smeaton was arrested and most likely tortured into making revelations about the Queen.
Sir Henry Norris was also arrested and taken to the Tower of London. The Queen’s brother was also arrested.
On May 2 Anne was informed that she was charged of adultery, incest, and plotting to murder the King.
Several men were also charged with adultery with the Queen. They were not allowed to defend themselves as they were found guilty, hanged, cut down while still living, disembowelled and then quartered.
At her trial, Anne denied everything that they charged her with, nevertheless she was found guilty and told that she would either be beheaded or burned at the stake.
It was to be the former, and her only comfort was that they had hired an expert swordsman who would separate her from her neck in one clean chop.
After a short speech Anne knelt down and was blindfolded. The swordsman took pity on her and said loudly “Where is my sword?” so that she would not be expecting the swish of the sword as it came down.

Jane Seymour: Died
Jane died only two weeks after her son was born. She was buried in a grave that Henry had prepared for himself. She was the only wife that was to be buried with him.
Anne of Cleves: Divorced
Anne did not protest at Henry’s wanting to annul the marriage and she testified that the match had not been consummated and that her previous engagement to the young Duke of Lorraine had not been broken properly. Anne moved out of the castle and was given property as well as the title “King’s Sister.”

She lived away from court quietly until 1557 and is buried in Westminster Abbey.
Catherine Howard: Beheaded
Catherine and Henry were not married much longer than two years when Henry got wind that Catherine was involved with some young men. He believed these suspicions and Catherine was arrested under the charge of adultery. Her pleas to see her husband were ignored and her title of Queen was stripped from her.
It is said that the night before her execution she practiced many times how she would walk up to the block and how she would lay her head upon it.
Katherine Parr: Survived
Henry VIII died in January 1547 and Katherine did not take up the expected role in regency but secretly married Thomas Seymour, an earlier ‘boyfriend.’
After three previous marriages, Katherine was thirty-seven and pregnant for the first time. She gave birth to a daughter named Mary but soon after she fell ill with puerperal fever and died in the early morning of September 5.
She was buried near Sudely Chapel.

Part 4. Who Were the Wives of Henry VIII?

Catherine of Aragon was a pious princess, the daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Her arranged marriage to the heir of England was very short, and she must have been terrified for the seven years she was kept prisoner in England, pondering her fate.
Henry VIII was an appealing husband, young and handsome. She was faithful to him, even when he was not, even after their divorce and he was married to another woman.
She remained determined that she was the rightful Queen, right up to the minute she died.

Anne Boleyn is known for being a beautiful seducer. While Henry VIII would have been happy with her simply being his mistress, she would take nothing but being his wife, and the Queen of his country.
There are many stories about her being a witch, and indeed it is known that she had six fingers on one hand. But other stories, such as her having
three breasts, are probably spiteful stories made by the people who she ruled, who, it is known, did not like her.
Jane Seymour was plain and gentle. She was also the most loved of all his wives, the only one to be buried with him. She was loved because she gave him what he wanted most in the world, a son.
Anne of Cleves was part of an arranged marriage to make England and Germany unite. She was also a ‘Flanders Mare’ according to Henry VIII.
She must have had the worst marriage out of all his wives. Henry was disgusted with her, the people hated their new, foreign Queen, and she did not speak English and could not, therefore, understand a single thing that went on around her.
But she quietly accepted Henry’s desire to annul their marriage, possibly knowing of the fate that had betook those who hadn’t, and lived a quiet life away from Palace life.
Catherine Howard was small, dark, and pretty. Perhaps even more a seducer than Anne was, she used Henry’s attraction to her to make herself into a Queen. But she was a flirtatious, young woman who found that Henry, no longer strong and handsome, did not satisfy her, and went looking for other men, and so secured their, and her own, doom.
Katherine Parr was the last of Henry’s wives and this probably made her fear for her life on more than one occasion. She had been married twice before Henry and might have been again, had not he proposed.
She was wise and also gentle, nursing Henry on his deathbed.

Conclusion:
Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.
One thing is utterly certain of Henry VIII- he would do anything to get his way. Even if it meant breaking away from the church of Rome, or having an innocent woman falsely accused and beheaded.

The women he married had a specific duty to which they were obligated to complete. If they wanted to become Queen, they had to produce a child, a boy child.
But these women must have been brave, especially after seeing what had happened to Henry’s previous wife. They had to be careful and smart, otherwise they found their lady-in-waiting prancing around with their husband, and their own heads on the chopping block.

Bibliography

Websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Aragon
http://tudorhistory.org/wives/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Boleyn
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/anne_boleyn_01.shtml
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/catherine_of_aragon.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Seymour#Early_life
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Cleves
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Howard
http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/aboutCatherineHoward.htm
http://www.britroyals.com/tudor.asp?id=catherine_howard
http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/aboutCatherineParr.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Parr


Books:

The Six Wives of Henry VIII, By Paul Rival
Tudor, By Simon Adams

Friday 12 November 2010

I have been very lousy at blogging lately. Personally I blame Facebook. Most of the time though I can't think of anything to say, but after a month or so of not writing...I should have something.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, my parents, Emily, and I left for the Sunshine Coast. We visited my grandparents and then my other grandfather. From there, we left for Diamond Beach, Seashells Resort, where we stayed for a week.

It was a really nice spot. The beach was really close (although whenever we walked on it we found dead crows/blackbirds all scattered up on the beach...weird...) and we used that to our advantage by walking on it and also flying kites on it. I would like to note here that I was the Master at kite flying, undisputedly...

Apart from the beach, there was a boiling, hot, bubbling spa! We spent heaps of time in it, probably really annoyed all the other holiday-ers because we kept bagging all the times..good fun...

And now we're back home. Back to school. And chores (which I should be doing now). And also Youth. Last night was a 70's night. I came home with three pet rocks. They are very cute. I named them Rachel, Franky...and the other is yet to be named...Barnabas?

But, taht's really all I have to write at the moment...so....ta-ta :)

Tuesday 12 October 2010

Dunn Swamp

Because I posted most of my photos on Facebook, I won't post any on this blog...

But I will do a blog..a short one...let's say...5 things about Dunn Swamp.

(FYI: Dunn Swamp was a camp that Emily and I went on with some other Cornerstone teenagers...it was awesome!)

  1. I slept in a tent with Emily, Annabelle, Jo, and Jessie. Poor Annabelle got in the middle of a few ghost stories one night, but she wasn't the only one who got a little freaked out, uh..actually...there was a fair bit of screaming (sorry, fellow campers!), when Jessie (who was telling a story with the torch) suddenly appeared to have a devil-cat (!) lurking over her head! Actually it was just her hair in the shadow but it freaked me out.
  2. We went canoeing! It was probably the first time in ages for me and my arms were sore after, but it was still cool. Emily, Hannah. S, and I rowed and sang 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat' in three parts... :D.
  3. Right after the former episode...our canoe landed upon a strange unknown rock (right after we have rowed into the weeds for the dozenth time) and we got out...along with everybody else. And we went to the highest peak of rock...where the crazies jumped into the water. those crazies are so crazy and I vowed not to be like them...but in the end, after a fair bit of peer pressure, I did it too! Scariest moment of my life watching that water come up to meet me. NEVER AGAIN!
  4. Hiking. Ugh. I felt so unfit being dragged up that mountain...Wellll...it was more like a big rock...but it was still tough...I was reminded of my six-year-old self bounding up Ayes Rock and I start to wonder what's happened to me since then.
  5. And now I'll just sum the rest of it up in one line. Or two. Drying, soaking wet towels in front of the fire, lighting up our hands with a box of matches and deoderant (weell, I only did it once), dancing around with glowsticks, MAFIA (that was so much fun), and, of course, open mike night (Thanks for attending, scouts-who-camped-next-to-us!).

So, yep, it was an awesome time...Can't wait for it and Blackstump next year! :D

Thursday 30 September 2010

Happy 1st Day of October

I have been so terrible at blogging regularly lately, and I know I should have a good reason for this but I don't. Except that I have been busy lately. And that Facebook takes up lots of computer time.

But anyway, I'm blogging now, and I'll go through some things that I've been doing lately. But very quickly, because I don't have much time...and only three...yes, three..don't be selfish....


  • From Saturday to Tuesday I was a volunteer chef at Cricket Camp, which is a cricket camp for boys. And boys eat a lot. So I broke a lot of records. I think I cut more potatoes, buttered more bread, served more meals, and ordered more pizza than I ever have before in my life. But it was a good time, I miss all those wild, cricket-crazy boys already.

  • Tommorow Emily and I are leaving for Dunn Swamp, near Sydney! It's because Blackstump is cancelled so that's what's on instead for Cornerstone teenagers! Yay!

  • I am getting an awesome pair of converse! I just don't know which ones yet...

Monday 13 September 2010

I went to the Sunshine Coast and took...well...what I took doesn't matter, it's what I brought back (an excessively filled bag and a massive phobia)

After a week of total relaxation and complete laziness (well, not completely, Mum made us take SOME schoolwork), we are back from holidays. So, now for a blogpost, a few photos included...

To begin, we got there (meaning the Sunshine coast, my grandparent's house) a little after seven, I think. We'd just gotten the news that my brother was engaged (YES!) and my eyes were still a little red from crying, no, sobbing. (Yes, I cried, I can't believe it either. If that's what I'm like for the engagement, imagine the wedding!)

But anyway, we had dinner with the relatives and it was good and I was tired and I flopped into bed and stayed there for the next...many hours...

But it was a nice, relaxing week...We did a LOT of shopping and I got a LOT of new clothes,(Thank you Op-Shop that had fill-a-bag for $5!) which is why I found my bag very, very full for the trip back.

And I got this red, ValleyGirl dress which I like a lot because everyone says it looks good.


And that, that there behind me....That is a bathroom..........................................................
And I think that it was maybe the second or third day when I summed up all my courage and decided to go on the canoe/surfski. Now listen up people, I am only going to say this once, it took a LOT of courage to go on that surfski. A LOT! (Note the capital L people.)
The reason for all that courage is because I kept going for long walks around the canal and seeing THESE!

These ugly flapping things that freak me out SO much! I'm just innocently walking around the canal and then I see one of these....Near the shore...staring at me...Out of it's beady eyes....And it's little lung holes (that sit directly beside their eyes) flap in and out, in and out.
You wanna mess with me, girl? Eh? Eh?


And I say in a small voice, "No."
Yeah, well, watch it or I'll get you....With my flapping lung holes!


And this is no small threat...Because those lung holes are SCARY!

That is why, when I went on this-

-I was shaking all over and not daring to look down at the water, not ONCE!
Honestly, my legs, arms, and feet were shaking...And if I looked at the water I felt sick.

I think I have rayphobia...or maybe it's stingphobia...some kind of phobia anyway...

But apart from that, and the creepy, tattooed, pierced guy that sat behind me at the doctor's, (Who was not so creepy when I heard him singing "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift, lol) I had a good holiday!


Thursday 19 August 2010

Quick Summing Up

It's been a while since I last wrote, like I've mentioned previously, I have some busy times ahead.
I was actually camping last week out at Bourke with some friends. I had a pretty good time and would love to share photos, but by a very annoying twist of fate all my photos were deleted.
So I'll just remember three things...
  • We climbed Mount Gundabooka on the first day. It was terrible! But only because it was such a hard climb. I felt like I was crawling up a vertical wall.
  • On the last day I had a few good centimetres of mud/clay on the bottom of my shoe because of a night's good rain.
  • I visited Gidgee Lake, my old home. It was so sad. All those memories. But the lake, it was BEAUTIFUL!

That doesn't really sum it all up but I have to go....So, that'll have to do.... :D




Tuesday 3 August 2010

Some Photography...


We have this friend that has this really mad camera that is really awesome...I was allowed to use it the other day. I just wandered around the backyard taking pictures...these are just a few...



Also, I want to enter into this Photography competition that ends this August. I have no ideas whatsoever! The theme is drought or flooding. Ideas would be SO welcome :)



Sunday 1 August 2010

icannotthinkofaname

Things have been busy.

And, that's not actually going to change for a while...
August, PIANO EXAMS, and I'm going camping in Bourke.
September, at the start of the month some of us are going up to the Sunshine Coast and at the end of the month I'm helping out at Cricket Camp.
October is Blackstump and camping at Dunn Swamp.
These things are just like the 'bigger' events of the month. I highly doubt they will be all we actually do.
And then, I will bombard you with photos....mwahaha....

and did I mention PIANO EXAMS are on Thursday week! Argh...



Sunday 25 July 2010

Crazy Hair

Youth Group on Friday was titled...crazy hair....


The picture doesn't show how bad it was, but it was so teased, coloured, and by the end of the night, an absolute terror to brush out (Thanks a lot, JENNA!)
Our hairdressers grew creative though. We had target hair, mohawks, mermaids, mullets, beard...and other various strange styles.

Tuesday 20 July 2010

July Weekend

Dad and I went to the Mudgee Farmer's Market last weekend.
It was pretty good.
We walked around, drinking hot chocolate and coffee, while looking at different things.
I really liked the animals. I saw the hugest roosters, the furriest llamas, ate the nicest ice-cream, and also some really good nachos.
But that llama! Honestly, it had soft, fluffy hair that was as deep as my hand is long.
There was also a strange cow that had lots of curly hair and a humongous wet, slimy nose. (Nice description?)
And in the animals nursery we saw this baby llama:

And this tiny foal...
And these cute puppies:

It was pretty good...;D


Oh, and Happy 20th Birthday, Tom

Thursday 15 July 2010

'Mudding'...

m Well, as my previous post said we would, we went to Bourke on Tuesday. We got back yesterday afternoon and I'm happy now to do a slight retelling.

Tuesday night we watched a movie with friends. The name escapes me but it was pretty okay, corny, yet funny.
The next day, after seeing the results of the previous day's rain, we decided to go 'mudding'. This included getting into our oldest clothes and throwing mud at each other. Mudballs, if you like. And not just each other, either. In fact, the Fort Bourke sign can no longer be seen because it is covered in our world-class 'mudballs'.
We did have a photo of us covered in mud, but my eyes are closed in it, so I'll not post it.
That night we had friends over again and made our own pizza. Delish. So good. I could sell it and made a mint.
Then we made an attempt at playing a game, but it failed, so we went for a walk instead. It was very dark and very cold and I was the only person who was not wearing shoes. So I made my way through the prickles and was unable to escape the wrath of the deadly mud puddles (meaning I stepped on lots of burrs and nearly fell into many piles of mud so that my feet were not only sore but wet and dirty when we arrived home).
Even so, it was good. We left the next day, so we weren't there very long. I still had a good time.

I love Bourke.




Thursday 1 July 2010

Graffiti-ing The Street

I feel so busy lately...always a week, or two, between each blog post.
So now I'll sum it up.
The Shakespeare production was awesome. It was really funny and so fantastic. I wish I could see it again.
We got this week off school, on holidays one week early because Hannah and Angela came to stay.

There has been a lot of laughing...















Especially when we went swimming...if you can call it swimming. It was really a jump in and leap out. It has been really cold here lately and so the pool was worst than really cold. It was unbelievably freezing. I don't know what came over me.
Some pictures,
































































































































The strange thing was that when we actually got out of the pool, it was kind of nice because we were so numb and the air around us was a lot warmer than the pool had been.
We decided to graffiti the road. People were so nice, they kept purposely driving around all our drawings.


















I've also been working on my blog this morning. It's not finished yet, but I've been so busy I'm not sure when I'll get to finish it. I'll work on finding some time...

Oh, and I'll just say that I read a really good book last week and wrote a book review about it. I've posted it in the book review section so you should check it out and then try to find a copy to read. I really liked it.