Harry Potter - 'tis done.

Armed with a sleeping bag and sustenance, my daughter went to the midnight screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. She is a massive Harry Potter fan, having read the books about 'twenty times each' she thinks, and watched each of the movies about the same number of times. She came home from the film both sad and thrilled. Sad that the story had come to an end, but thrilled with the final film.

So, last night I trundled off to watch it myself, filled with a little trepidation for two reasons. One, I had cried buckets when I read the book (the Snape bit and when Harry is about to enter the Forbidden Forest) - how was I going to cope with the film? And  two, I was worried the film wouldn't live up to all the hype.
I needn't have worried. I loved the film and yes, I cried at the same spots  (I'm being cryptic just in case you've managed to avoid all spoilers).
After the movie, I've reflected on not only the film makers', actors' etc skill, but again at the imagination and talent of JK Rowling. What an amazing story filled with tremendous characters.
Harry Potter and co will stay with us for generations not only in film, but most importantly, in books.
My daughter is going to make her kids read the whole series - before they see the DVDs. Children are a long way off in her grand plan, so I'm going to hold her to that assertion!

Tousle Me Gently Dog.

 Milly the Cavoodle pads into the family room. I reach down to pat her.
'Milly feels soft.'
'Hmmm,' agrees husband. 'Soft and tousled.'
Dog snuffles to daughter and leaps onto her lap. 'Milly actually smells good. What did you wash her with?'
Husband/father shrugs and offers a 'durrr' face. 'Shampoo.'
'Thought we were out of dog shampoo,' says daughter.
Husband wiggles eyebrows.
In the shower this morning, I reached for the shampoo. The Tousle Me Gently bottle is empty. Apparently it works on dog's too!

A favourite...

A recent visit from my niece and nephew had me rummaging through my 17 year-old's bulging bookshelf for a book to read to them. Wedged between Alison Lester and Mem Fox was The Grumpalump.
The sight of it filled me with memories.
Before  my daughter started school, this was her favourite book. She insisted we read and read and re-read it night after night, to the point my husband I could, and probably still can, recite it. Even now we use  'the bear stared' ( a repeated line throughout the story) as part of our family's vocabulary.
 So it was like visiting an old friend when I read it to my niece and nephew. I  was thrilled to discover I still loved reading it as much as I did all those years ago, and even better, the kids enjoyed it too.

A few days later, I saw a quiz or question, possibly on Facebook - 'What is your favourite book to read aloud?'
For me, it's The Grumpalump, hands down. ...And the gnu flew...
What is your favourite book to read aloud?

From Butterflies to Jemima

My daughter turns 17 today. While icing her birthday cake this morning, I got to thinking about the changes and constants over those fantastic 17 years.


Her love of worms has vanished, completely.

Hi5, Elmo and Barbies have been replaced with Florence and The Machine,  Flights of the Concord and Taylor Lautner.

Dale Thomas is still 'the best', I'm still not funny, can't sing or dance and her dad still has the ability to reduce her to a giggling mess with a word.
And the biggest thing that hasn't changed is how much we both love her, more than we ever thought possible.

The other thing I pondered while icing was how I could track her develop via the cakes I've made.
A number one, a caterpillar, a stage complete with ballerinas, Jemima (my personal favourite and triumph!) butterfly, teddy, whale, mermaid, Tweety, ice cream cake (x2) and a run of 'piniata' cakes (they drove me insane!).
So what does a 17 yo request?
A carrot cake.
Yep she's a young lady now.