This week

By Vita Forest

This week I have been

READING

• The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
• Tom Appleby Convict Boy by Jacki French with my class

RETURNING to school after the holidays

DECORATING the back wall of my classroom with a forest of multicoloured trees and hand- drawn ships of the First Fleet

GETTING the kids in the performance group to try on some of the costumes

WATCHING The Handmaid’s Tale Series 2

ATTENDING my Writers Circle and discussing a chapter of my novel

PICNICKING at Cremorne Point with Sui-Sui and Alessandro

WAKING early on Sunday morning and painting a drawing ifThe Grounds of the City with watercolours

VISITING Barangaroo with Molly and Pippi for The Finders Keepers Market

DISCUSSING with an artist at the market how you have to be bold and brave to use watercolour (she was!)

SITTING with the sun on my back on the sandstone slabs of Barangaroo and

TAKING a photo for some young lovers as they posed on the Rocks with Sydney Harbour Bridge as a backdrop

THINKING about a new poem

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

By Vita Forest

A glimpse of the harbour pool at Cremorne Point

This week I have been

READING Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (but not very much just yet)

WRITING Lapping (my last Kiama past from the last trip)

LISTENING to the wonderful ACO at the Tognetti, Tchailovsky, Brahms concert at the City Recital Hall and letting the music just wash over me!

SWIMMING and SKETCHING at Cremorne Point

CATCHING up with Gemma and Vastra and Saskia (how lovely!)

MAKING a fantastic collaborative artwork with my class – photos next week?

CELEBRATING my niece Pippi’s 8th Birthday

Fish and chips with a view before seeing the ACO

 

This week

By Vita Forest

This week I have been

READING

• When Rosie met Jim by Melina Marchetta
• Ferragost by Melina Marchetta

ATTENDING a school art show (those Kindy artists are amazing)

CLIMBING down stone stairs and a metal ladder and rock scrambling to go

SKETCHING at the level of the harbour at Cremorne Point and

FEELING the worries of the week wash away in the sun and the wind and the sound of the waves

WATCHING

• Rice by Michelle Lee at Griffin Theatre (intriguing theatre – go and see it!)
• some great teaching at my school during Teacher Observation sessions

PICNICKING on a crunchy baguette and goats cheese in the local park with Lucy

 

This week

By Vita Forest

This week I have been

WRITING

• chapters of my novel and
• Lizzie and the bath

READING Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

WATCHING Dance Academy Season 3 (Aaah!)

WALKING with Saskia and Rowdy from Neutral Bay to Mosman Bay around the headlands and

SEEING this sign at Kurraba St Wharf and

VISITING the pool at Cremorne Point (alas not for a swim) and

ADMIRING the banksia flowers along the path and

SEEING this winsome little creature in the Lex and Ruby Graham Gardens at Cremorne

PICNICKING at Clive Park in Northbridge with some bookish friends and

ADMIRING the view (friends, food, books and beautiful places!) and

CELEBRATING the good life.