Blog to book!

I have a little secret.

Blurb.

No, I did not just burp electronically.

Blurb.com has created the software BookSmart which I am using to create my very own blog book!  It's actually very, very fun although checking for typos and re-sizing fonts can get a little tiresome.
Maybe that's just because I've tried to multi-task by editing while babysitting.  There are a lot of smudgy fingerprints on my screen right now.

The idea of having the Mouse Files in hard copy on our coffee table is exciting.  But it's also a little sad in a way because it means I have reached the end of one of my projects.

When I started the Mouse Files I always intended it to become a blog book one day, so I could have an interesting record of a few years of my life.  And because I thought Blurb was a really cool website and I couldn't wait to create a book.

Years later, it's time to say goodbye to the Mouse Files for a while.  Don't worry, I'm not deleting or closing anything!  (No way!)
I'm just seeing this as one of my very last Mouse Files posts.

I want to keep blogging though.  Cooking With Nonna is an ongoing project.  And for the last few months I've had all kinds of interesting blog/social networking ideas bubbling in my brain threatening to boil over into all kinds of bizarre and creative projects.

This is one project that has come to an end, though.

Thank you for reading and commenting.  You have all been so lovely and funny and supportive.  I'm blessed to know most of you personally and know I'll see you all soon :)

Ye olde title banner 2010

Improvement on ye olde title banner

And then I stopped lying on the ground to take photos

 

What does CWN stand for?

Capable Winter Nanny?

Can Write Novels?

Clownish Word Nonsense?

The title of my new blog.

Which you can visit at  http://startcookingwithnonna.blogspot.com

I didn't really plan to start another official blog when The Mouse Files is so fun to have on its own (and since it's so neglected - I think logic says don't have another blog).

But since Cooking With Nonna is a project, and since it involves lots of photos and lots of hard work, I thought a blog might be just the thing to keep me going.

If you've read through some of my past posts you'll probably have noticed Nonna and her cooking have featured on The Mouse Files occasionally.

We once made lasagna.  And also some pumpkin gnocchi.


So if you like cooking, and even more importantly, if you like food (and large photos of food), you had better become familiar with what CWN stands for.

Hello Home

It's nice to be back on good, old, dusty and often-dry Australian soil.  Where the gumtrees shed their red bark, and the chocolate lillies grow.  That same soil where the kangaroos leave their compostable deposits, and the bull ants build invisible nests... just in the place where I'm about to stop and stand... barefoot in my thongs... looking through a camera lens rather than at the ground... 

Yeah, I love Australia.

But New Zealand was pretty awesome too.

I have grandparents over there!  And there are no snakes!  What more could you ask for?

By the way, the mysterious and disturbing photo was taken in the Auckland Art Gallery.  I guess you could say I'm standing in the middle of a piece of art.  My Grandad is in that shot too, except I've only captured his reflections - the first of about 50 billion that is.

It was a trippy piece of art!

I took 991 photos and right now I'm deciding which ones will go in the album.

Here are a few which won't be getting printed or immortalised in my photo album.

A photo of New Zealand's first ever McDonalds (and just to make the picture even cooler, there's my Grandad's ear on the right).

Here is an excellent action shot of an ant bungee jumping off Sky Tower right in the middle of Auckland.  I considered trying it myself ... for all of three seconds (and then I found better things to do, like walking through the art gallery and watching paint peel).

Here is a photo of part of my favourite painting in the gallery - I like to call it 'The Expression On His Face Is A Masterpiece".

Here is another photo which won't be in the album.  No matter how many ways there are to look at this shot, I will always think that my foot is coming out of my head.  It was a pretty amazing lake though.

And then there is the Ambitious Shot in which I try to stand in the same place Peter, Edmond, Susan and Lucy stood when the train station disappeared and Narnia was suddenly there (Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian).

I promise, that mysterious shadow is me.

He, he.

No matter how many photos I cram into the album, I won't be able to capture everything New Zealand showed me... the awe I felt when I stood in front of God's own natural masterpieces, the fun of exploring new cities, the joy of being spoilt by grandparents you've missed, and then that feeling you get when you walk back into your old bedroom with a new sense of how blessed you really are.

:)

It's been a while... [a squeak from overseas]

I was tempted to get right on with my next post like I hadn't stopped blogging for several months.  But that would ruin the flow of my future blog book (which was apparently one of the first reasons I started blogging in the first place.  I recall that another reason was to keep myself writing, and another was to keep my camera snapping.)

Here is a snap from the mysterious location I'm in at the moment.  Clue:  It's not Australia.

Actually the location of that photo is definitely too mysterious and disturbing, so maybe I'll try again?

I'm in a place where...

The trees hug the rocks (it's a friendly place).

The sand is black (it's an explosive place).

The bicycles are parked (it's a cheeky place).

The sheep like to chill on the beach (there are a lot of sheep).

Pools of boiling water seem to occur naturally (watch your step).

Sometimes the tunnels seem to lead into a place which looks like Narnia.

And I guess the horizons could be a little crooked.

Blogging is not the only thing I've been taking a break from lately.  My degree is finished, I'm a BA like Anne of Green Gables, I'm still run around after small children and I still take a crazy amount of photos and write creative things on small bits of paper.  But for the first part of this year I'm letting my brain recharge, giving myself time to smell the roses and the sea air and try new things or pull out old hobbies and interests which have been collecting dust over the last three years.

I have an exciting new project on my mind at the moment which includes a whole new blog and lots of cooking, and plenty of Nonna appearances.  (I know, you're thinking 'she's going to try keep ANOTHER blog going?').

Yes ;)

Beach Mouse [still movie]

A while ago I did this when I had a random collection of photos from a trip which I couldn't be bothered writing about.

Starring

...

Mother

Loony Brother

Mouse with Pink Toes

WWW: Inimitable

Exhibit A: My younger brother pretending that I'm not taking photos of him at the train station.

(Today is his birthday.  He's turning 20.  Twenty.) 


Exhibit B: My younger brother testing out the photobooth.

(Apparently it's his birthday today and he's turning 20.  I'm having trouble grasping this concept.)


Exhibit C:  My extremely old younger brother's natural facial features.

Today's Wonderful Word of the Week is dedicated to the birthday boy.

Adventures in Omelette: Herb & Cheese

Today I was prowling around the garden trying to get some sunshine on my sun-starved winter skin, and I noticed all the herbs growing in our courtyard.

Time for another omelette adventure.

We didn't have much else in the fridge so I decided to keep it simple and herby.  They key here is using two different types of cheese.  Tasty cheddar for the taste and mozzarella for the creamy texture.  Trust me, The Mouse knows her cheese.

Wednesday to Friday (and The Pincushion)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  So, theoretically, if I don't have a picture for Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, I could just give you three thousand carefully crafted words to form a mental picture?

Three thousand words is a decent sized academic essay, and usually by the end of one I'm a nervous wreck. A very informed, well cited nervous wreck.  Recovery usually involves a lot of sleeping, and then eating, and then more sleeping, and several animated movies.

On Wednesday I was going to take another photo of my laptop and then decided not (you're welcome).  Thursday is a blur because I was finishing a paper, and then on Friday morning I was running out to the car when I realised I didn't have my camera with me.  I looked at my watch.  I looked at the car.  I looked back at the house.  I looked down at my nice boot which was slowly sinking into the mud.

I didn't go back for the camera, so no shots of what I did on Friday morning.  That's the morning I work at the library, so just picture rows and rows of bookshelves.  In between all these rows is a girl with a trolley, and she's frantically trying to remember her alphabet while creatively re-arranging the fiction so she can fit about 275 new books on the shelf.  (That girl is me.)

On Saturday I took some photos of the nice things I do when I'm stuck at home studying, in an effort to stay sane.

I like to think I'm scrapbooking.  I've started several scrapbooks but I think I'm going to actually finish this one!  I'm enjoying using up all the ink in my gel pens from primary school.  I knew they'd come in handy one day.

I also pretend to play the piano.  I'm not going to talk anymore about that.

Sometimes I even use my sewing machine (gasp).  Here you can see that I'm making something with a tail and if you're really good you might notice what it is.

Monday & Tuesday (and The Cow)

Before I rashly decided to take a photo of 'wherever I am' and 'whatever I'm doing' this week, I should have looked at my diary and calender.

What was I thinking?  That I could take a photo of my laptop from a different angle each day?  I'm an online university student.  My laptop is my window into the world.  How depressing.

On Tuesday my window into the world told me that spring is definitely in the air.

Check this out:  my 'window into the world' actually reflects the real window into the outside world which sits just behind me when I'm in front of the computer.

Same picture as above but focused differently.

You can probably tell that I'm scratching around for things to take photos of here.  I did leave the house for a haircut yesterday, and stopped off at Nonna's for morning tea, but I didn't bring my camera.  ON PURPOSE.  Because I didn't want to distress the hairdresser.  You should never distress the hairdresser when they are using scissors on your hair.  A lot of people seem to get distressed when I start using my camera around them (and I'm still not sure why).

The Weekend

In honour of Collingwood's win I have ruthlessly used a black and white filter on these photos.

(This also sort of hides the blurriness)

And suddenly it's Spring...

I have to say that the first day of spring has lived up to all of my very high expectations.

Look... I even got to stand barefoot in the grass without my feet turning blue:

Notice how blindingly white these feet are.  This is a symptom of a long, cold, and very wet winter.

I just rushed outside half an hour ago to take these photos while I was checking to see if my camera still works after months of disuse.  The poor thing has been sitting in its camera bag under my desk, getting dusty and dented.  After my 21st birthday party I ran out of things to take photos of, besides salami.

Winter Perspective

It's one of those clear cold days.

And I'm in a vegetable garden.

It belongs to my Nonno and Nonna, and they grow vegetables because that's what you do when you have space in your garden.  Supermarket?  Why would we buy vegetables at the supermarket?

Nonna is getting together a box of vegetables for me to take home.

Today's box is full of winter vegetables.  I know these are winter vegetables because they are growing in winter (booyah!).  Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce...

Now I am in the shed.

It also belongs to my Nonno and Nonna, and this is where they hang the salami in winter.  That's what you do when you have an empty shed, and the need for a year's supply of homemade salami. 

Now I am standing by the barbecue.

I'm going to stand here for a while because it's nice and warm.

And it smells really, really good.

I'm going to go inside and have some of that winter salami and some of those winter vegetables for lunch now.


- - - - - - - - - - - - -

(Sorry about the bizarre narration.  I'm in a strange mood after finishing a major essay on public policy failures and government implementation plans.  I thought I'd post about the 'normal' winter things I experience because I'm pretty sure not everyone has grandparents who feed you fresh homemade salami and cabbage for lunch.  Grandparents are the best.)