This week the girls and I were lucky enough to spend a couple of days at a beautiful beach house for my dear friends birthday week. We had to leave the baby-daddy behind to work but thoroughly enjoyed our little break from daily routines.
It's amazing how even a small break can be a breath of fresh air into your life, especially when spent in good company.
Munchkins on beach patrol. Man in background is the pied piper.
Dork on a swing
View from the deck. Nice.
Looking with intent!
A moment later Willow was in the pool, instinctively dog paddling but underwater. No photo to show it as I dropped camera in a flash to fish her out (fast as lightning automatic mum response)! Gratefully (me grateful) she recovered quickly and was fine but geez I'm going to have to watch that one. I suspect she's responsible for the missing Christmas tree decorations from the lower branches of the tree. Anyone else having that problem with their littles?
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
We've dusted off the old fakey and put up the decorations to the dulcit tones of Bing Crosby.
Somewhat of a tradition now if I think back to last year.
I never imagined I'd use a fake Christmas tree, and I never imagined I'd enjoy Bing singing Christmas carols in such a big way. Maybe my tiny house elves are inspiring my mood. There's one above with a magnified eyeball. And one below in a basket.
Recent baking adventures inspired by the beautiful photography and recipes of M.E
Ooh hello dear neglected blog. It seems the drudgery of life has gotten in the way of my posts to you....
To get me kick started I think I'll indulge in a little of loobylu's what's hot/not game. (But I'm gonna start with the nots so I can end on a positive note).
Not. *Well it's not all drudgery but I do feel up to my neck in domestics and fire plans. Every time I hear the CFA siren go off my stomach flips a little. I've had to pack bags twice already but at least those times have been a good practise run.
*And why did we buy a house without a bath????????????
*Creepy relatives-out-law imposing themselves on our Christmas day. Am I just not getting into the Christmas spirit? Bah - humbug!
*Those bloody deer. Yes the war is on already and the need for very tall fencing has just moved up the priority list. I saw a couple at the bottom of the driveway today so I know for sure we don't just get very tall possums at night and although they are truly beautiful beasts but will somebody tell them to please stop munching on anything that's new in the garden?! (Otherwise we may include venison on the Christmas menu). ((Not really! - I couldn't go there.))
*Wonky hips discovered on smallest householder involving trips to professional peeps with opinions. More opinions to come.
Hot
*A planned mid-week getaway for next week to this place for a special friend's birthday.
*Tickets to the circus on the weekend. It's the people circus not the caged animal circus so we'll get to see flexible folks in fancy costumes doing amazing things with their bodies. We likey. Ribbon stick and hula hoop sessions are currently commencing daily around here in anticipation for the Saturday spectacle put on by the NICA almost-pros.
*This beautiful run of mild, sunny days dotted with enough rain to stop the forest from drying up. Just a little longer please.....all these bushfire meetings and pamphlets on 'is your home ready to withstand a raging bushfire at the bottom of your garden' are freaking. me. out.
*Where the Wild Things Are is finally here! And my friend is inside one of those Wild Things suits. I can't wait to see it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NOkQ4dYVaM
*An upgrade on the kinder teacher for next year.
*Also hot is this sandy playground.
We graced it with our presence on a recent sleepover to my sisters lovely seaside abode.
The littles haven't yet kicked their city habits.
Contrary to Willow's opinion I thought the coffee was quite good. (Don't worry Mum, hers was all milk).
And finally, please excuse the blurry photo but this scene of sisters hugging voluntarily must be enough to warm the cockles of any mothers heart - well mine anyway. My favourite one year old has been busting out much spontaneous affection in the form of bear hugs lately. Mama likey.
Perhaps it's against my better judgement, but for little gems like these I think it's occasionally worth it to turn a blind eye when the camera falls into the hands of a just-turned four year old.
Yesterday, on the most gloriously sunny Tuesday, I visited Heronswood at Dromana with my beautiful Mum and the littles. Mum bought me a Diggers membership for my birthday last week to help kickstart my plans to turn our garden into a largely edible one.
The grounds of Heronswood are so beautiful with inspiration galore for novice gardeners (like me!).
I found the organic and sustainable approach particularly inspiring. The archways above are that steel that you see on building sites to reinforce concrete. They are perfect for growing climbers but I reckon they'd also keep the deer off the vegie patch.
I have a thing for ginkgo that harks back to my Herbal Medicine days. And that view! I'd trade my mountain for it. How fickle am I!
And of course we had to have a bit of beach time seeing as we were so close to it.
Thanks for the awesome present Mum, as well as your kid wrangling assistance and your excellent company. Let's go again in Autumn and go crazy on heirloom vegie seedlings...
Today was the second anniversary of the death of a little friend of ours. He would have turned ten next month. I can't help but think how fundamentally altered his parents lives are from losing him. Two years must still feel so raw.
My eldest girl who was so tuned in to his mum's feelings around the time of his death has recently proclaimed her favourite colour to be yellow. Until now, she has never wavered from pink. She doesn't know it but it was his favourite too.
The daffodils in our garden are blooming splendidly. Perhaps they know too.
There's a space under our house which I call 'the cave'. When I first went in there the rich, earthy smell evoked thoughts of the delicious fruits of the earth that would grow and thrive there.
Several weeks ago we went to St. Andrews market and picked up a mushroom kit to get our little funghi crop started.
Everything we needed was contained in the kit. All we needed to provide was a dark space and a daily spray of water. At that point I ditched the plans to grow our 'shrooms in the cave and for lack of better judgment put the box in the linen cupboard.
Within days, tiny white spots began to appear in the soil.
Black spots appeared throughout the linen cupboard.
I re-housed the mushroom box to a spot under the kitchen sink and washed my towels and sheets.
And we've had a plentiful supply of fresh, buttery swiss brown and white mushrooms ever since!
For now the cave remains empty, but may well come in handy when I can get my hands on some shiitakes.
Sorry about the daggy formatting but here's some snaps of what's been popping up in my garden since the sun decided to shine a little with the change of season. The palette of blooms appears to mainly be pinks and reds, not my first choice for flowers, but I will embrace wholeheartedly and add my favourite blues and whites, and silvery foliage as I go. The the ususal mountains suspects - Camellias a'plenty, the ubiquitous Rhody and Azalias - all of which I've never grown before.
Grape Hyacinth
Hellebores 'Ruffled Lady' (I only know that because I saw them a t the nursery)
Azalea
Azalea
Rhododendron
Camellia
Not quite sure
Snow drops - not onion weed
Camellia bud
Lavender Camellia
The first day of Spring involved a first trip to the 'famous' lolly shop up the road. It was aimed to be a minor celebration of Spring but also a bribe to the the elder of the two littles out for a walk. So much wet and cold weather and indoor days had led to a bit of a stand off regarding outdoor activity and use of the legs. Said oldest little was given $2 to choose something in the shop and I was so curious to see where she'd go with that.
The little sweetheart chose the most modest and plain little lollypop for 50 cents and was quite happy to pay and leave it at that. It was she giving me the hurry up once her treat had been selected as I was nostalgically sniffing in the scent of musk sticks and wine gums and sherbets and all sorts of sugary goodness that once cost about a cent per sweet - or less. (For some beautiful and colourful photos of confectionary have a look at what Shula's been up to over at Poppalina).
The previously sweet-treat deprived small child carried her "ollypop" in it's wrapping all the way home and devoured it in the Spring sunshine once we got home.
This week the girls and I were lucky enough to spend a couple of days at a beautiful beach house for my dear friends birthday week. We had to leave the baby-daddy behind to work but thoroughly enjoyed our little break from daily routines.
Munchkins on beach patrol. Man in background is the pied piper.
Dork on a swing
View from the deck. Nice.
Looking with intent!
A moment later Willow was in the pool, instinctively dog paddling but underwater. No photo to show it as I dropped camera in a flash to fish her out (fast as lightning automatic mum response)!
