Jo's Old Site

On Wednesday mum told me to watch out for the post as she was expecting a parcel, and said that I might have to sign for it. But the post lady didn’t come till later that day. And when I got up from the seat under the tree out the front I noticed that there was a red bucket that was full of water. And there was also a big cane toad swimming in it. So I just left it there and went back to my room as I don’t really like them. Then the next time I went out I had another look at this cane toad, as it was still there.

But this time the cane toad wasn’t swimming, it was still. And it did come across my mind that perhaps the cane toad was trying to get out of the bucket the first time that I noticed it. And when I told mum about it she said she thought so too originally, and then she told me that it was floating. Then hearing about the toad she went to check if it was still there.

As I didn’t know until after I told her that she had told dad about it earlier that morning, and wanted him to get it out.

A short time after I sat down on the seat outside my room, I noticed some insect that was crawling along the fencing. And as it came nearer I realized that it was an ant. It was rather fascinating to watch as I was trying to work out what it was trying to do. As it was going backwards and forwards and across then it turned around and went the other way, and then as the ant came closer to where I was sitting I began to realize that it was trying to get down on the ground. But it walked the entire length of the fence before it started to go down.

This book is a continuation of The Spiderwick Chronicles and is called “Beyond The Spiderwick Chronicles.” And the book is published by Simon and Schuster Books For Young Readers. Also its ISBN is -13: 978-0-689-87131-3 and ISBN-10: 0-689-87131-7.

This isn’t another Grace children adventure, although Jared Grace does make an appearance and helps the Varcas children with a problem with a fire breathing giant. This is a book about changes too as Nick Varcas had to give up his room to his step sister, and his dad and step mother also expects Nick to show Laurie around and being nice to her, while his surf loving older brother is free to do what he likes. Like talking on the phone to his girlfriend and playing video games. But this is a book about Fairies, and Nick had to stay with Laurie so that she wouldn’t get lost while she went hunting for fairies. And while she is doing this she tells Nick what he should look for and one of the things she told him to look for was a four leaf clover. And he found a four leaf clover but at that time he doesn’t know what it does. Then as he discovers that his step sister is headstrong he returns back to his house and then shortly after he looks out of the window and sees a body lying on the ground.

And as he tells Laurie about it, who is angry with him Nick then discovers as Laurie finding out about the four leaf clover he found then tells him that the body is a nixie which is a type of fairie.

Also the reason why she can see it is because she now has the four leaf clover. And he can see this being as he had the four leaf clover. The nixie they found is named Taloa, and she gave Laurie and Nick “The Sight” because they returned her to the water and she wants them to find her sisters.

I made a comment to my mother yesterday about having looked at Ilse’s teeth that morning and found them in good condition. I then told her that I think the reason is because I feed her dry dog food straight. And I also said she doesn’t gobble her food down like some dogs as Ilse really crunches on her food.

And then another thing I do is don’t add water to her food as this makes the food mushy, and I think dogs benefit more from food that is crunchy. As if Ilse does want water I always make sure she has it available in a separate bowl. Also dogs that gobble their food down seem to have more problems with tartar building up on their teeth when compared to dogs that really chew their food.

Today mum told me that her friend Erica has called off the Fun Day she has organized for Irish Terriers. As they have predicted stormy weather. And as we were having our tea tonight mum told me that a singer had his concert at Suncorp Stadium last night. But she then told me that this concert was postponed for an hour, and this was because of the weather conditions.

Dad then told us that when this singer came out on stage to sing he had a sense of humour because he sang “Singing In The Rain.” Then after a few seconds I said “and his second song was Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.”

My brother Pete and my sister in law named Jody came for a visit yesterday, and as dad had a birthday recently they gave him a coffee plunger. And last night dad was proudly showing me how this plunger  worked as it separated the coffee granules from the hot water and you end up with coffee in the water without the granules. I then told him that the King’s Rangers in the Ranger’s Apprentice books I read all drink coffee, and that Halt, Gilan, and Will put honey in it. Mum then told me that she heard of people putting honey in tea as a sugar replacement but not in coffee.

Last night at dinner my dad made a comment about how reading a book multiple times improves memory. As a reader will find some details that they haven’t remembered on the first reading.  And I agreed as I have read books multiple times and found this to be true. I also added that sometimes when I read a page I start guessing the next word on the next. I also think that my writing has improved since I started reading more and perhaps my interest in reading improved since I started writing. As one of the things I had to do is read my own writing. I also wished that I did these two activities a lot more when I was a kid as I think that I would have done better at school.

Anyway after dinner last night I decided to look up information on the benefits of reading, and found that it is an activity that people with mental health problems are encouraged to do as experts have discovered that reading regularly reduces anxiety and stress. I also read a lovely story on the internet about an old lady in a nursing home as I read that she likes reading novels and reads one a week. She also enjoys reading as it is one of the things she can do independently and it is also a social activity for her as a person visits her each week bringing her a new novel to read and this gives her a chance to talk about them as well. I also read on the internet that reading benefits everyone and we should all try to read a book a week. And here’s a interesting personal development web site that explains the benefits of doing that:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/02/read-a-book-a-week/