A trip to the zoo...

My niece turned three this week, and as instructed, we didn't forget.
To celebrate, we spent the day at the Open Range Zoo, which is always a fabulous experience.
There is nothing like a child's excited face or squeal of joy at seeing a favourite animal. We strolled, marvelled, ate cake and gasped at the lioness snarling and rumbling behind the cyclone fence.

The cheetahs were less active than the lioness, reclining in the shade of a tree. Clearly they aren't always as docile.  Front and centre of the display lay the evidence of what happens when rabbit (or perhaps two) stray into the enclosure. 

The kids were oblivious.

Debris and a cheetah, just visible by the tree trunk, top left. 

The Big Stuff

 Since reading a few years ago, about the benefits of focusing on gratitude, I've been keeping a gratitude diary.
Each night before I go to sleep, I list at least five things that I'm grateful for. Some days the list fills a page, other days reaching five can be a challenge. (You know the days!).
My diary is nothing flash - a spiral bound notebook - and the entries are often scrawled and are always simple.
So today I thought I'd list a few things I'm grateful for, in no particular order...

• Calls and messages from friends to say,'Thinking of you!'
• Our resident frog's song during the drizzle.
• My two year-old niece's comment 'It's my birthday next week. Don't forget!'
• My daughter's delightful laugh, nearly always provoked by my husband's sense of humour.
• My brother's hilarious Facebook posts.
• My nephew's delight at finding green and purple berries on a bush.
• Footy starts this week!!
• Ideas coming together on the page.
• Blue skies (just looked out my window)

For me, a pathological list keeper, a gratitude list helps me focus on the simple stuff - the important things in life. What are you grateful for?

First school visit for the year...

Yesterday I had my first 'author' visit for 2011. I worked with Year 5 and 6 students at St Aloysius, Redan on ways to make ideas flow and ways to then develop the ideas into stories. One of my favourite things about school visits is watching the students go from fearful and disinterested to buzzing with excitement. That is something special to see.
The students at Redan are a sensational, enthusiastic bunch who came up with such varied and clever ideas.
Can't wait to return in a few weeks
From now on the school bookings come thick and fast and I'm thrilled to have been asked to be part of the Melbourne Writer's Festival.