This week

By Vita Forest

Autumn and Winter from our collaborative artwork on the Four Seasons

This week I have been

READING Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

FINISHING our fantastic Four Season display in the classroom

MEETING the parents of the children in my new class

HOLDING another dance audition… (I think everyone has had their chance now)

SLEEPING in on the weekend after a huge week

SWIMMING at Balmoral and Cremorne Point

A busy afternoon at MacCallum Pool, Cremorne

CELEBRATING Briony’s birthday where we were

EATING sponge cake with caramel icing (a combination from our childhood)

Walking around Cremorne Point towards Neutral Bay

This week (or so)

By Vita Forest

This week I have been

WRITING Holiday at home

READING

• Quiet by Susan Cain
• The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

SWIMMING in the waters of Balmoral Beach

SKETCHING at the Art Gallery of NSW on day too wet to sit outside

WATCHING many, many episodes of The Bureau (C’est formidable!)

MAKING Jules Clancy’s chocolate and pecan tart (spectacular)

MEETING Sui-Sui and Alessandro  for a long lunch full of good company, good food, good chatting and cat-patting!

PERCOLATING lots of ideas for writing, teaching and general creative endeavours in the year to come.

This week

By Vita Forest

This week I have been

WRITING Through the wardrobe

READING Thomas Appleby Convict Boy by Jackie French (getting ready for next year’s history topic).

SAYING farewell to students and teachers and other staff who are leaving the school.

CLEANING the classroom

WATCHING the excellent Year 6 musical

PERFORMING a surprise teachers Christmas dance for the students (we felt like rockstars!)

SEEING some old pals at our Christmas party

SKETCHING a witch’s house at Annandale

EATING fish and chips at Balmoral Beach with Vastra then seeing a movie

PUTTING up the Christmas decorations at last

This week

By Vita Forest

This week I have been

• READING All the Light we cannot see by Anthony Doerr (quite astonishing).
• WRITING Grateful
• MAKING
  • a papermache hull for my Ann Wood ship using strips of text cut out of an old novel (more on that another time).
  • that cowl for Lucy… (mentioned weeks ago).
• BUMPING into one of my old students and her family (at least it was in a book shop).
• SWIMMING one kilometre in the salty waters of Balmoral Beach.
• VISITING my friend Fleur in Bowral.
• WATCHING a preview of Jasper Jones at Belvoir Street Theatre.
• LISTENING to lots of fab interviews on Radio National Amanda Palmer, Liz Gilbert…