"Although I speak from my own experience, I feel that no one has the right to impose his or her beliefs on another person. I will not propose to you that my way is best. The decision is up to you. If you find some point which may be suitable for you, then you can carry out experiments for yourself. If you find that it is off no use, then you can discard it." Dalai Lama...

Monday 10 January 2011

Railway Children, days away, Lovely Bones, and Stories...

I woke late this morning and enjoyed the luxury of being able to lie in bed and allow my mind to wander. I love not having to rush up on a morning - some of my best ideas are formulated in the quiet and comfortable moments before rising...

We returned late yesterday afternoon from a short break to stay with friends over in the Northeast.
New (ish) friends, made over the inter-net, courtesy of Facebook:-) We have met a few times, but this was our first visit to their neck of the woods.
Milly was a star.She was anxious and we had some hairy moments to work through but she did it and the 45 minute train journey was probably just about the right length for her.
Off the train to be greeted warmly:-)

A very professional Am Dram performance of the Railway Children in the evening and an invite to the after show wrap party where the children had great fun playing tag on the set and in the runs behind the scenes.

We were treated to brunch and play the next morning. Charlie the dog stole our hearts:-)
We were sad to leave mid afternoon.
The train journey home was awful - not Milly and any anxieties - just me  - feeling travel sick :-(
She did a very good job of caring for me and allowing me to just sit with a cold water bottle held to my head. Very glad to see Alan when we got off the train.
Not a good journey, but it hasn't dampened my memories of a wonderful visit!

Today has been an at home day. We watched The Lovely Bones. Milly saw the trailer at the Cinema quite a while ago and was keen to watch it. I thought it best to wait til it came out on DVD - at least that way she could choose to turn it off or fast forward if she wanted to. I put it on our Love film list and it came last week. Obviously the subject matter is distressing, but it is a topic she has been questioning lately as she listens to reports on the news when we are in the car. There were parts where she had the pillow hugged tight and there were parts where she cried, but when I asked if she wanted to turn it off or have a break, she said no. Having read some of the reviews I was expecting a worse film. I have not read the book, although, from what I have read about it, it does go into much more detail. I thought -  as a film for Emily to watch - it managed to convey the story well, it got across the horror of the situation, and the evil of the killer, without in depth details/images about the deaths.

We then took Beauty on a rainy windy walk, whilst Milly told me her new Story. Walks are not complete without a good story from Milly :-)

  She is tapping away on her laptop now. She counted up and has over 200 stories she has saved on her Laptop. The vast majority of them are the bare bones of stories, beginning chapters and may include - alongside the Books Title - character names or chapter titles. She has many book titles, some of them amazing and evocative, she records them all for later use. She seems to have very little problem thinking up an idea for a story, and is inspired by many different sources.

 I could worry that she will never finish a whole story, but I don't.
Her vocabulary is growing and some of the imagery she uses is fabulous. Her humour is also showing through in her stories. Milly works through things in stages. Her drawing is the same. The figures she creates have now evolved and importantly they have evolved into her own work - no step by step how to draw for her - she likes to do things her own way. The best thing about that is the end product is individual and unique - just like her:-)

3 comments:

Michelle said...

i still have nightmare thoughts having read that book years and years ago.

Lynn said...

Yes, the little I have read about it made me glad we saw the film rather than read the book!I know Emily is not me and may have had a different reaction to it but I think that for her where she is at the moment the film was enough, we didn't need the added details you get with the book.
I may read the book, then I know what is coming if she decides to read it. xx

Michelle said...

i wish i hadnt read it :-(. Far too disturbing.