My Week Away 1

Last week I was in Perth. I was down at a school camp, as mentioned in the last post, and got braces. I left after my netball game on Saturday. My mum and I only got to the nearby city later that night. We stayed the night there at my dad’s house. He was coming with us but we left my older sister behind because she is in year 12 and she needed to study.

We got up early the next morning (it was only early for me) to drive to Perth. We arrived around 12ish in the afternoon. I needed a bed for my room at my dads house so we went to IKEA. My dad had never been before and I really like IKEA but my mum hates it. I got a Nic bed and we bought a bookshelf for my sister. After that we visited a family friend and stayed at their house for a while. Then we drove to a Thai restaurant to meet up with one of mum’s uni friends for dinner. They have older children, who are at uni themselves, but one of them still came to see us. The food was absolutely amazing. I have never really liked Thai food very much but now I love it. We all ordered different dishes but we agree to share them. So I got to taste all of the food. I like the dish I ordered the best but there also was a nice yellow curry. I tasted a red chicken curry and I think it may have been the worst mistake of my life. I am not very good with spicy foods and this red curry was the spiciest thing you could order. Let’s just say I drank a lot of water that night. After we left we had to drive quite far to get to my uncles house, where we were staying that night. We got there at almost 10 o’clock that night and by then the temperature had dropped quite a bit. It was absolutely freezing according to someone used to 40 degree weather. There was a fire going and I sat in front of it to warm up. I was pretty tired and I went to bed about 11.

The next morning I woke up and remembered that the day was Monday. Today I would get to see all of my GATE friends again.  When I went out to get breakfast I found Isabelle in the dining room. She does GATE and is from the same school as me but is in the year above mine. We went out for a bit of shopping and I bought this fluffy blue throw for my bed. I also got earphones and a water bottle from my favourite shop, Typo. Mum and dad took Isabelle and I to the camp at 12 because it would take us an hour and we needed to be there by 1. I was the first one of all my friends there so I got first dibs on the beds. My mum and dad said goodbye to me and they left then two of my friends arrived. One was in my room, Sascha, but the other one, Indigo, was in year 8 so she was in one of the other dorms. I saw Sascha’s science poster in her bag and realised I had left mine in the car. The car that my mum and dad had just left in!

Week 5

Next week I will not be able to post before Thursday so I am doing a quick post now.

This weekend I am driving to Perth. I have a school related camp and on Tuesday, I am getting braces. There are two camps every year and I get to see all of my friends that live all around the state. I am very excited and I just have to finish the week, play netball on Saturday and then on Sunday I am driving down to Perth with my mum and dad.

On Monday before the camp I am going bed shopping, for a bed to go in my new room, in my new house. On Tuesday my mum is going to pick me up at 7 in the morning and we are going to drive into the city and have breakfast. Then at 10 I am going to the dental place to get braces. After that I am going back to camp and then on Friday my family will drive back to our house. Sorry for the short blog post but I will write all about my camp when I get home.

My DIY project

I recently decided to embark on a DIY project for my new room at my new house. I have been putting together designs of how I want my room to look and I can visualise it with a massive dream catcher. Not just a normal dream catcher but one made out of doilies. Doilies are crochet table cloths or table runners. They are very pretty and unique and intricate designs. Doilies can be simple, complicated, can have solid centers, can be small, large, round, square or rectangular.

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My sister has made dream catchers and it doesn’t seem that hard. Her dream catchers were all the original idea, with the weaving in the middle. On almost any site, if you search how to make a dream catcher, you will find detailed, step by step instructions. I want mine a little different though. I had first seen the idea on Pinterest (yes, I know) and I love the way they looked. They have a different type of beauty about them and I love it.

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I started my project by trying to find something that I could use as the ring. I needed a solid, not flimsy, medium sized, metal ring to use as the outside, round bit. I ended up making the ring out of wire. The wire was not very strong and it was flimsy. It was completely opposite of what I was looking for but it worked okay. If I had made a smaller dream catcher the wire would have worked perfectly.  The wire I used was about 2mm thick and was jewellery wire.  I made a circle of wire the size I wanted my dream catcher and then wrapped more wire around it, making a kind of braided circular wire piece. It was not as strong as I had hoped but I thought after I had wrapped it in string or fabric it would hold its shape a lot better.

My sister had recently bought twine that was very rustic looking and I wanted to use it as the wrap. She had plenty (75m!) and so I cut off about a metre and started to wrap. I had planned on only wrapping it twice but I ended up doing about five layers, having to attach more twine when I ran out. When I had finished the ring was a lot stronger and thicker, almost exactly how I wanted it.

I had to find a doily to use as the center piece. I was going to ask my grandma but decided against it because she would be the type of person to not give them away. I ended up going to the local op shop in hope of finding one there. Luckily there was an entire box full of doilies. I didn’t find a perfect round one but I found a rectangular one that was still very nice. I also bought a round one with a solid center but it was too small.

Between the time I bought the doily and the time I finished my dream catcher was a while, probably a few weeks. I got back into my project last weekend, attaching the doily and making the finishing touches. I had to cut the doily to make it fit inside my ring. I then sewed it onto the ring using an over stitch. I only sewed 1/3 of the way along so I could attach the decorations at the bottom. I used leftover strips of doily, some strips of old jeans and some of the twine I had used for the ring. I braided some of the twine and twisted others to add a bit of texture to the final look. Here is a picture of the final look.

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More Good Books

I have started the I am number four series. I found the first book in the library and read it in about a day. I really liked it. I think there are 6 books in the series so far and I’m reading the fifth at the moment. The first book is I am Number Four, then The Power of Six, The Fall of Five, The Revenge of Seven and The Fate of Ten. The seventh book has yet to be released but it is going on sale on the 28/06/2016. It is called United as One.

The series is based on an alien species, the Lorien, that have left their home planet after it was invaded by the Mogadorians, another alien race. There were 18 all together, 9 Garde and 9 Cêpans, the Gardes guardians. The Garde were all young, under the age of six, when they left.  They are named in numbers, from One through to Nine. It took a year to travel to the planet they are now on, Earth.  They were sent away from one another to different countries, told to always move around and wait until the time was right to come out of hiding and begin the fight back. It has been 11 years since the ship landed but they are being hunted by the Mogadorians, who followed them to Earth. The aliens look just like normal teenagers but they are not. Around 15 is when they begin to develop their Legacies, special powers that they wield. They are connected by a charm, cast on them when they left their planet. They can only be killed in the order of their numbers. Number One was killed in Malaysia, Number Two in England and Number Three in Kenya. Number Four knows he is next.

The first book is about Number Four, next on the hunted list. When Four moves to a small town, Paradise, Ohio, he makes friends and becomes attached. Ready to leave at a moment’s notice was his one and only rule, set by his Cêpan. Four also meets a girl there who seems to like him. The book is all about the beginning of his journey.

I really enjoyed the first 4 books that I’ve read and am liking the 5th. It has an interesting storyline and if you like sci-fi/ fantasy books I would recommend reading them.

P.S Thanks to Kayden who happened to have all of the books (except one) that I could steal and read. Sorry about that. I promise I will give them back soon. Maybe.

Chewy Chocolate Coconut Slice

This is a good recipe that I cook a lot to put in my lunch box. I have gotten it from the Women’s Weekly kids party food cookbook page 53.

Chewy Chocolate Coconut Slice

Ingredients

125g of butter, melted

1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar (I normally use less, leave fluffy instead of packing it in)

1 egg

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

1/2 cup of plain flour

1/4 cup of self raising flour

2 tablespoons of cocoa powder

1/2 cup of dessicated coconut

chocolate icing

1 cup of icing sugar

2 tablespoons of cocoa powder

10g of butter melted

1 1/2 tablespoons of hot water

 

Method

  1. Grease a 19x29cm slice pan and line with baking paper.
  2. Conbine butter, sugar, egg and vanilla essence in a medium bowl.
  3. Stir in sifted flours, cocoa and coconut.
  4. Spread over base of prepared pan.
  5. Bake in a moderate oven for 30 mins or until firm.
  6. For the chocolate icing: sift icing sugar and cocoainto a small bowl, add butter and water and stir until smooth.
  7. Spread hot slice with icing.
  8. Sprinkle with extra coconut and enjoy hot or cold.

The slice will last for up to a week if kept in an airtight container.

 

The book I read!

I have read the best book in the world! It is definitely my new favourite. The Host by Stephenie Myer is the most amazing, thought provoking, thrilling book.

It follows Melanie, a person who has had a soul inserted into her. The souls name is Wanderer because of how many planets she has been to. A soul would go to 2 or 3 planets before finding a favourite and living there forever, swapping hosts when one reaches the end of its life span. But Wanderer has been to nine planets, having nine different lives. The souls are a race of aliens that invade planets that are in trouble and help to fix them.  They control a person through their brain and body. Souls are very calm, non-violent race and they believe that they make a planet better.  Most planets they invade are very passive and accepting. But humans are different. They are not going down without a fight.

Normally when a soul takes over a host, the host‘s conscious  disappears. However Melanie has survived the insertion and talks to Wanderer. When this happens, though rarely, souls and hosts can communicated through their brains. Wanderer is watched 24/7 because of the strange ability she possesses.

Melanie starts to show Wanderer her life before insertion. Melanie was looking after her younger brother (Jamie) and had met another human called Jared. They lived together in a house that Jared‘s father built. Melanie had gone looking for one of her cousins in hope she was still human. That was when she was caught.

I highly recommend reading this book it is amazing.

Look what I found!

I found a really interesting article somewhere that was titled: 15 book series to read if you enjoyed “The Hunger Games.” I have read four of the series in the list but found a few I wanted to read in future. It looks good because they are all under the futuristic genre which I love. I have just put the name of the first book or the name of the series, the author and what I think about them to keep it short. The list is:

1. Unwind, Neal Shusterman

This looks like a super creepy book series but I still want to read it.

 

2. Divergent, Veronica Roth

I have read this series and feel like it is against the laws of books. It is also being made into a movie series, they are making the last one.

 

3. Matched, Ally Condie

These books sound a little bit similar to ACID. I want to see if this in in the library.

 

4. The Maze Runner, James Dashner

Also being made into a movie series, these books are really good. I borrowed these from a family friend and read all three in a week.

 

5. Gracling, Kristen Cashore

I am not sure if I want to read these but they look pretty cool so if I find them I will.

 

6. The Mortal Instruments, Cassandra Clare

My sister has been trying to get me to read these for 3 years, without success. They sound cool but come from a supernatural direction so I’m also not sure about them yet.

 

7. The Lunar Chronicles, Marissa Meyer 

I have read these and they stand as my favourite series of all time. See my last post for more information about them.

 

8. Gone, Michael Grant

I have seen these books in the library but also are supernatural based so maybe not.

 

9. Delirium, Lauren Oliver

This series is a romance so if I can find it, I will read it and post a review.

 

10. Legend, Marie Lu

The blurb mentions fearless boy and bad boys so it has made me interested.

 

11. Uglies, Scott Westerfeld

This is the last series I have read in the list. I read it when I was about 11 I think. It is a futuristic series and a little bit like Divergent. I can’t remember what happens at the end so I might re-read it.

 

12. Partials, Dan Wells

What I picked up from the blurb was that it is like Divergent and Cinder and The Maze Runner  rolled into one. This series looks good so I will begin my hunt.

 

13. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card

This is supposedly a classic and looking like it was written a while ago. However it is a New York Time Bestseller so it might be worth a quick read.

 

14. The Last Survivors, Susan Beth Pfeffer

I think I have just started this series. I have. I’m sorry I didn’t really read the whole list properly before I started this and I have just discovered that one of the books I got from the library is the first book of the series. I have only read the first two chapters and love it! Already a meteoroid has hit the moon and knocked it off its orbit causing all the tides to go crazy. Anywhere within 100kms of the coast has been submerged. It is causing widespread panic and THIS IS ALL IN THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS!!! This is a definite recommendation.

 

15. The Dwellers, David Estes 

This sounds like a really good book. The main character shares the same name as my sister too. I want to read this one soon.

 

I hope this was helpful to anyone looking for some books because it definitely was for me. Some of my favourite books are also in the list so I think I will enjoy most of the books here. Happy Reading!

My Favourite Type of Book

I have a few types of books that I love. I think my favourite is fairy tales. However I don’t read just normal fairy tales. I read books that are based on fairy tales but with modern twists.

I read a series called the Lunar Chronicles with four books in the series. They are called Cinder, Scarlet, Cress and Winter. As you can guess Cinder is about Cinderella, Scarlet is about Red Riding Hood, Cress about Rapunzel and Winter about Snow White. I really love these books and would recommend them for anyone who wants to read fairy tales but not the normal ones.

I also like future books. The last book I read was ACID and it was a futuristic book. It was set in 2113 and Britain had been taken over by ACID, the most brutal police force in history, after the government fell. I really liked it because it had so much story but there was only one book. It starts with the main character, Jenna Strong, and her life, and why she is, in jail. I won’t say anything else but if you want to, read the book.

The other genre that I read a lot is fantasy. I am in the middle of reading the Waterfire Saga. Jennifer Donnelly,the author, has not finished the saga yet. It really is slowly killing me. Three of the books are finished and I have read and own all of them. The Saga is about six mermaids who have been called by the river witches to save the ocean. Sera must find all of the mermaids destined to save the oceans from falling into a war of the seas.

These books are my favourite from each genre to date. I hope you enjoyed this post.

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My First Post!!

Hi my name is Meg and this is my new blog. This is a class assignment that a few people in my class, and I, and have been set to do. I was a bit stuck on what my blog would be about but I have kind of decided to have it about my life and things I like to do. My first page is called my bookshelf which will be about books that I have read and books I want to read. I will put up photos and reviews if I can be bothered.

I would like to mention a book that I read recently. It is called Carry On and it is one of those books. You know, those books that make you give up on your life for a few days while you read it. I was on holidays down in Perth and my sister bought it. She read the entire book in four hours. She immediately found me and made me read it.

Carry On is a little bit like Harry Potter. I read the first few chapters and was so amazed at how a book could be so similar but also so different at the same time. However, as it progressed I realized it was not at all like Harry Potter. If it was Harry Potter then it would be about Harry and Draco.

Here is the blurb.

Carry On Rainbow Rowell

Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen.

That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.

Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters.

 

I have not read any other books by Rainbow Rowell but I am looking for them at my local library. I hope that this is an interesting first blog post.