M A N D A M A D E

Momentum

2012-01-28T16:41:00.004+11:00

since we got back from Tasmania I seem to be possessed by a strange new energy
I see everything around me in a different light
Every time my farmer boy comes inside he finds me doing something out of the ordinary.
I hope I can sustain this strange space I'm in. I'm enjoying it.
Today I spontaneously started pruning a wattle tree in the back yard which led me to the melaleuca and then the bottle brushes around the corner. With a bunch of little cuttings in water in pink glasses on my window sill in the kitchen, I then drove into town and bought seed raising mix and cutting powder to help the roots grow. And now in our bath!! sits a tray of miniature trees in pots, which will hopefully grow and be the beginning of the forest I want our farm to be.
And that was after picking up my Mum (down the driveway) to go to a garage sale at 7.45am. The garage sale was pretty pathetic but the drive with my Mum was nice.
Now my bigger girl is in the kitchen cooking tea for us all, with her friend. Taylor Swift is singing along with them. Not in person of course.

Tasmania

2012-01-26T20:37:00.009+11:00

cruising around in a motorhome was a great way to see Tasmania. the roads are so narrow and winding, it was hairy scary, but the nature surrounding us was worth the panic attacks i was having at each bend. it feels like an untouched paradise. theres not a lot of people, or development and the roads are only just big enough for vehicles. nature feels like it is more important there. i wish that were the truth. im not talking about hobart, but up the east coast to the bay of fires. we found this beach called Dora Point, and it was like our private little paradise. with only one other family there we played with the sea for a few hours of pure joy. we then walked up the path to our motorhome and slept beside the sea.

oh how i love to wake up and look out the window to see the sea. and to lie in bed at night and hear the waves. love.

Tasmania

2012-01-25T07:12:00.002+11:00

oh we do love to be beside the seaside.

kitchen wall beginnings

2012-01-10T13:49:00.011+11:00

the kitchen is where it all happens
the food of course
but the sharing the playing the meltdowns the passing conversations as farmer boy drops in and out the telephone calls the painting the plotting the making the fire in winter to keep the whole house warm the in and out of the back door of cats 1 2 3 4 of them and also children off to bounce the energy out of their bodies onto the trampoline

one wall in our kitchen is lily pad green...we have lived with it for years and years....but im having the urge to paint it blue. im not sure why. farmer boy will not like the idea i know already
and finding just the right shade to live with and love is a tricky thing. maybe i just feel like painting. not walls but pictures. maybe.

and now in the middle of the kitchen sits a table of games for us to play, and dodge on our journey through the kitchen well maybe not journey..the kitchen is not so big at all
first it was snooker and now its little men playing soccer
i wish i had another space for it ..it was cute to have it in the middle of everything for about a week, maybe two....but now im starting to curse when i bang into it and i need to find a space
i dont want it to be out of sight ie..in my back room...because it wont get played with. hmmm. will have to rearrange somewhere.

but anyway...on my kitchen wall right now are my drawings that will come to life this year. i promise myself. im thinking colouring book but have greater plans for them
for now, before we head off to tasmania, i get to see them everyday, thinking..dreaming.. they would make such cool wallpaper.

nice.

2012-01-07T15:13:00.004+11:00

sitting in the cool of my cooler
when i went to water my mums garden earlier, the car told me it was 41 degrees outside- ouch.
on the way home-down the driveway i noticed her dog had decided to come for a visit to our place
mum told me her dog Bebe doesnt like water. well she currently looks like a wet, muddy rat. Rosie peer pressure got to her i guess.
this morning we went to a garage sale after a drive across the countryside to a place we have never been. just me and amelie. nobody else wanted to get out of bed at 7am. it was garage sale heaven. im guessing the lady was once an art teacher. there must have been 100 boxes to rummage through. i giggled in delight. we got games, old cute ones like bingo and cuisinaire blocks and beautiful jigsaw puzzles and a paper recycling kit-i loved that find. its new! and ive been wanting to make paper with the kids. ....... oh it was a fun time. we got 4 boxes full of stuff. fun stuff. now i guess i should go find 4 boxes of stuff to get rid of. it was a nice drive home. me and ammie ate nice food, and i drank a nice coffee, and a nice man asked if i was okay after i bumped my head putting the boxes in the car. and then ammie told me i keep saying nice nice nice.
it looks like its going to rain now. that would be sticky. but nice. ha ha.
im waiting for blogger to upload photos....it takes forever because my photo files are huge.. i should adjust that one day.
amelie is playing with christmas decorations we got at the sale, and apparently we need to build a new house for the dolls because they dont fit in our wooden doll house. amelie loves wreaths and wants to hang one on her doll Tinky's front door.
Veda is writing. she spends most of her days writing. we dont see her alot. She cant help but to write. and Sindri is trying to draw pictures of his fighting fish, but the fish wont stay still. Muzz is having an afternoon nap....a nice thought, but i think i might go do some more colouring. Im on a mission to make a colouring book. its a work in progress, currently stuck all over my kitchen wall. at odd hours of the day and night you will find me under a pile of textas.
We were going to a movie tonight but i really cant be bothered. Maybe I will get an energy burst at 5pm. kids are now playing bingo = holidays love. they are fighting like cats and dogs but its still nice.

2012

2012-01-01T06:03:00.002+11:00

good morning new year!

wishes for good health, lots of laughter, happy days, dreams coming true and peace all around.

saying sayonara

2011-12-30T21:12:00.003+11:00

the year is almost over

today i drove to echuca

it was a hell trip

i was so relieved to be home again. i wont go into more details....they are miserable.

going out into the wider world these days feels like visiting some remote crazy made up jungle

it leaves me feeling happy and happier to be living on our farm

if we were self sufficient i would be a lot more peaceful

but youve got to have things to strive for yes?

farmer boy is sitting next to me laughing at a stupid movie he borrowed

weve been having a movie fest each night for the last few nights

tonight he chose and hes borrowed a movie with ashton kutcher who is a little dopey in my opinion...or he plays dopey well.

tonight my same lovely boy walked in with a bunch of flowering fluoro orange gum blossoms

i asked him to marry me there and then

he knows how to make me happy

im happy a new year is starting very very soon

it feels like we get to try again, do more of all the things we like and less of the crappy bits

but really i think we dont have a lot of say in the end.

well i might go join my boy in laughing at this silliness.....natalie portman is in it too and shes fun to watch....otherwise the christmas tree is still twinkling in the corner for one more night.... i can look at it.

dreamy days

2011-12-27T22:35:00.009+11:00

warm sleepy summer days

perfect days

playing, sleeping, eating, playing, sleeping, lazing and dreaming.

colour me happy

2011-12-15T22:37:00.005+11:00

i love that christmas brings (even more) colour and sparkle and different smells into our home.

today we made the pinata for the family christmas party. initially it was going to be white with red sequins and a big bow. it ended up being more our style.

the other day i made caramel fudge and almond bread for the first time. the almond bread is delicious and i really liked making it. the fudge...was more painful (so much stirring/and so much sugar) and it turned out too soft for me...though my farmer boy loves it, as does sindri-sweet tooth.

today amelie threaded pom pom after pom pom onto thread. it was a nice way to spend a day, making necklaces and lengths of colourful sparkly pom poms that match our pinata perfectly. christmas party jewellery i think .

the weekend

2011-11-27T19:55:00.001+11:00

berry girl

2011-11-24T07:26:00.005+11:00

in case you were wondering.....

im either picking berries, eating berries, making jam from berries, walking around my garden, colouring in my babushka drawings, to make a colouring book hopefully.....

i did some printing of fabric for a swap i did with some nice girls via leslie's handprinted fabric swap. getting surprises in the mail is much fun. ive been buying more junk-nice junk of course...while trying to get rid of stuff at a faster rate. not sure that plan is working.

ive been picking lavender and have bunches hanging here and there. not sure what i will stuff it in ...im watching my tomatoes grow. i love the smell of tomato bushes. oh and i have a new laptop .. a mac. i love it. now i just need to learn how to use it. im dreaming of my book, of painting my making room out in the garden and i am totally in love with my two bouganvilleas.

in the garden

2011-10-14T13:46:00.004+11:00

our beautiful little Rosie has grown into a rascal-ly dog. she's either lazing around the garden flat out asleep. or she is off with the boys chasing cows. or she has run down the driveway-almost a kilometre, to play with my mums dog and cause havoc in my mums garden. or she is chewing up something and scattering it all over the lawn like confetti. the grass hasnt been just green for a long time. or shes on the trampoline with the kids-we are hoping she learns to jump and somersault one day soon so we can win funniest home videos. or , at abour 5pm she is barking like a lunatic dog whilst doing laps of our house..and will continue to do that all night if i dont tie her up and put her in bed. ahhh rosie. you are a beautiful girl.

little miss cream puff is just super sweetness in cat form. she either smooches up to your legs or attacks them as you walk past. depending on her mood i guess. and she has an eating disorder.not really..but god she loves to eat. all day and night.

its a perfect spring day here today. i cant wear ugg boots around the garden any longer. and so my white toes are squinting at the sunshine that they havent seen for many months.

my garden is very busy. everything keeps changing with or without me out there. this morning i noticed::

::the raspberries are flowering and the bees are busy making the flowers into baby berries..yipppeeeee

:orange blossom is scenting the air so sweetly

::the strawberries have a million sstrawberries on them-today i picked one that was just a bit ripe and ate it. mmmmm warm sweet strawberry off the plant. it was at that moment i decided to dedicate myself to the mission of getting the strawberries to grow BIG and RED and to save them from any animals that may get to them before i do. i wonder if i can do it.

:: i wonder because it seems a possum had a midnight feast on my apple tree and ate every single blossom that was there. unbelievable and so annoying.

luckily i have more apple trees but thats not the point ,right? ..and i guess they arent safe either.

hmmm it seems my garden is under attack actually now that i think about it.

:: the snails are also enjoying nightly feastings on my peas. i really dont like snails. i caught about 100 the other night but im sure theres a million more hiding out there. amelie and hana on the other hand like to play snail games. i wont use snail bait so i dont really know how to get rid of them. any ideas?

::today the kids and i put a tent up in the backyard just for fun. i doubt any of us will sleep in there considering we have caught 4 snakes on the farm already. i havent seen a live one slithering around thank fully. i hope it stays that way until winter.

:: today i planted a handfull of sunflower seeds, zucchini and corn.

:: the peach trees are covered in little peaches. y u m.

:: the chooks are laying eggs but the crows are stealing them if they beat us to them. the willy wagtails chase the crows but that doesnt affect the egg stealing going on.

:: the sweet peas are flowering as is miss gorgeous bouganvillea(above) ...chamomile is on her way to, her leaves are so delicate, no wonder she makes a nice tea.

:: i dug up some baby potatoes- i couldnt wait. next time ill try to resist the urge.

:: i moved an old metal calf feeder that is going to become a herb garden..sindri wants to help-i think that will be his garden.

::hmmm yes its a busy time out there....

13

2011-10-10T06:27:00.003+11:00

our little baby girl is now 13 and as big as me. her spirit shines bright. she is gentle and strong and making her way into the world. bit by bit. she makes me laugh and cry. i probably do the same to her. i couldnt love her more. but somehow each day i do.

M

2011-09-22T06:41:00.002+10:00

amelie decided to snitch all the extra bits of wood from her daddys shed, bring them to our front verandah, sit there all day, one sunny spring day, and hammer to her hearts content, until she had mastered hammering nails.

i went out in the afternoon and came home to find she had made me a M. i really love so many things about it.

this morning rosie woke me at 5am with her protective barking antics. which would be fine if there was actually something out there to bark at other than cows. or possums.

i decided to stay awake, which i may think was a bad decision by about lunch time.

i got to see the morning wake up and at one moment i looked up and saw the golden light shining on my M.

soon my three sleeping kids will wander out into the morning. two more days and we are on holidays. now that is a happy thought.

spring has sprung

2011-09-21T07:57:00.003+10:00

more dolly making, garden-wandering::peas sprouting everywhere and flowers are colouring in the garden..but the indecisive weather is not helping my mental moods, and i've been given some beautiful old baskets..which i do like alot but i am really running out of space.

dolly

2011-09-16T07:43:00.003+10:00

making dolls + planting seeds = making happy

darkness and light

2011-09-15T11:28:00.001+10:00

Haruna

2011-08-25T13:45:00.006+10:00

this last week has been as sweet as the plum tree blossoming in our garden.

we have had the joy and excitement of a beautiful japanese exchange student -Haruna- staying with our family as part of a school visit with Veda's high school.

in one week we have come to love this sweet girl who has come from a culture so different to our own. she had much to giggle about and think/say what the? like sindri smothering his rice in butter....i was thinking of her family and especially her mother, sending her daughter to a far away unknown place...she's only 13 years old. she really did become part of our family in that short time. i think it was meant to be. we all learnt so much. we spoke a funny blend of japanese/english/sign language filled with much laughter in between. She swooned over the cats and ended up sleeping with one miss coco cat, despite our initial worries that she said she was allergic to animal hair! and dust!!

today she left for the long journey home... there were many many tears. the japanese students didnt want to leave. and we didnt want her to leave so soon. i hope she returns to japan knowing how much we loved having her in our home. and i hope this is a beginning of something new for each of us. a seed planted.

i feel a little lost now. full of love. a bit of sad. a knowing that we are all connected. i totally believe in fate. or destiny.

last night an angel saved me in the dark of the night. on the way home from the farewell party in farm land... he literally appeared out of nowhere and changed my flat tyre for me. it made me feel like a guardian angel is travelling life with me. i like that feeling. and then at midnight we taught Haruna how to knit. in around under off. over and over. and first thing this morning i find her in bed doing just that. lets hope she remembers when she gets home.

so now its just us 5 again....hmmm...whats next i wonder.

** i wrote this yesterday..today kids are all home re-energising and Haruna will be back with her family by now :)

pop

2011-08-13T07:14:00.003+10:00

i recently had my tarot cards read and my palms also

it was really great

like a mirror being held to my soul so i could see into its essence a little more clearly

the words have been swirling around my heart ..they havent left me since actually

i see my days from a slightly different angle now

and possibilities now seem a little more possible

and whats real and what isnt real is so very much clearer

we have an exchange student coming to stay with us next week

we are all very excited to meet her...i wonder how she is feeling

im so happy its the weekend

the day is looking more winter than spring

how pretty is the blossom ?

one by one the trees are starting to pop like popcorn...the hot pink ones my favourite.

beautiful girls

2011-07-30T07:35:00.003+10:00

its such a tricky time when you are in between

shes so much happier when shes free to play

today veda stayed home

she organised a coronation ceremony

it was awesome colourful and magical

little hana became queen

such a perfect beautiful spring feeling kind of day

on saturday

2011-07-24T00:22:00.002+10:00

i woke up at around 10am grumpy because i slept all spaz because amelie was in my bed all night again. she owes me a hundred neck massages my sweet little bed hopping brat.
a strong coffee and a phone call from my big girls friend asking if she wanted to come over fixed my bad start to the morning a little.
a walk outside into the sunshine and a big deep breath of that crispy morning air helped too.
and a good morning from our rosie puppy who is almost a one year old. i guess shes a dog. not a pup. shes a big sweetie pie. ive never known a sweet dog. only little vicious ones.
the sunshine kept me outside most of the day. i mowed lawn and pulled weeds and chopped plants and tied some up and rediscovered my garden. i havent done this for a long time. she was happy i was out there loving her.
then i made a fire. how i love a fire on a saturday afternoon.
the kids cooked marshmallows and the dogs and cats and calves mooed and meowed and ran around crazy . rosie smoooched up with melinda. cuteness.
later i picked up the big girl , and some chinese takeaway for dinner. and then i wasted two hours trying to get my computer to behave because she is being such a pain in the butt lately. . . freezing screens on me left right and centre. .. sometimes i hear myself speak and i wonder where did i learn to speak like that.
anyway,.. i shouldnt be speaking i should be sleeping.
i'll go read some more of my book in bed....animal vegetable miracle.... i skip over bits of it and in the other bits i dream a little more about how i want my garden to grow and then i get itchy feet thinking i dont want to live on this speck on earth....surely theres other places... grass is greener over there type thoughts....and then i have our baby girl in our bed from midnight onwards and i wake up with a stiff neck.
oh gosh. maybe i should have a pandadol before bed. or a shot of whisky :-O and thats right, waiting for the chinese food i snuck into the supermarket and they had a little tree sale....so i have 15 little natives to plant tomorrow and the kids are going to help me. with dragging feet probably. nothing a fire and marshmallows cant fix.
goodnight . i hope you wake up refreshed and happy :-)

spots and blobs and flowers

2011-07-06T21:16:00.005+10:00

while the kids are making and playing lego

and my bookworm has found some new books to worm her way through

and the chill of outside tries to get in

i can be found sitting on my kitchen floor

with hammer, flowers, blueberries and confetti.

making marks on fabric

and getting so lost in it,

i also made holes.

and i ate the blueberries too.

happiness.

flower fabric

2011-07-02T22:27:00.003+10:00

it all started when amelie came inside with a little bunch of geraniums for me. i asked her if i smack just a few into some fabric. noooo mummy. oh come on am, just some? ok...just one. ahem.....well one led to another which led to the whole bunch which led me outside to pick more flowers and leaves, again and again, and then my farmer boy came home with some more flowers picked from the side of the road...here try these out. it is so exciting...and since i was pounding them onto eucalyptus dyed fabric, the colours were doing strange things, like the purple pansies turned fluoro blue. i smacked my finger as well as the flowers and oh my god that made me swear. each time i look at the fabric it makes me want to do more.

winter sunshine

2011-06-15T22:29:00.003+10:00

i try to imagine sometimes how it would feel to be little in a big world.

hmmmm, and you should smell it. delightful.

lake weeroona, bendigo on a sunny winters day. felt so nice to be outside. and away.

growing

2011-06-14T14:14:00.004+10:00

planting trees makes me happy.
we planted this weekend : : :
nectarine < plum > almond < apples > apricot < cherry > and some crepe myrtles for their blossom :)
i can't wait for spring.
i do like the warm fires of winter. and the bare branches of the trees at night in the moonlight. i like having a burning hot water bottle on my feet in bed. and i like that i can drink hot coffees to make me feel warm. and i only take my ugg boots off to go to bed.. and to have a shower. i like that i can see the birds on the bare branches. and i like the warm sun with the frosty air.
but i look forward to spring and the sprouting it will bring.
imagine* a photo of my hyacinth bulb that is miraculously flowering after being in water for only a few weeks. not sure how that happened...magic on my kitchen windowsill.
you have to imagine because im out of time.
manda x

meow

2011-06-08T10:49:00.003+10:00

its a lot of fun to cut up jumpers that people have decided they dont like or need anymore. its also a lot of fun to be searching for the elusive soft,furry, perfectly coloured jumpers with my sister while our girls rummage for toys(junk).

while waiting for tea to cook i sew their bits together.

with eucalyptus dyed fabric with clover prints i make little clothes.

and now there are three more cats in the house. because if you cant beat them, join them. or something like that.

fabric + eucalyptus leaves

2011-05-29T06:30:00.004+10:00

more hocus pocus going on in my kitchen. the next brew will have to be outside i think. i have not much idea about what im doing, but i was excited today when in my big aluminium pot, bright green colours appeared....and then later those cooked gum leaves started dripping red dye everywhere. so exciting! i have absolutely no patience and have already unwrapped two bundles. there was no amazing pattern- which is giving me more patience for the next bundles. there was dyed cloth though. i giggled at myself yesterday as i rummaged around in muzz's shed looking for rusty bits. there is a whole world of rust on our farm waiting to be wrapped up in fabric and boiled.

flower power

2011-05-24T15:07:00.003+10:00

red gum flowers

red gum petals on eucalyptus dyed fabric. nasturtium print.

violas ? and wattle

flowers and leaves found in my garden.

im listening to Seeker Lover Keeper ...you should go listen too.....beautiful girls and my favourite, Sarah Blasko's lovely voice. Her music holds lots of memories in my heart. . over at Triple J...you can listen to the the album now, ..to be released soon.

i found my camera card. it was jammed into a DS ? how i found it i do not know. and i found my ipod too, under a pile of books. happy me.

today

2011-05-23T22:01:00.003+10:00

i have to write this so i remember it one day in the future. sindri makes me smile , like this did, most days. i boiled a pot full of eucalyptus leaves and then dunked some pieces of fabric in it, hoping for some magic. the kids didnt like the smell so much, i wondered at times whether i was poisoning us all, ....then tonight sindri comes to see whats happening in the pot as i stirred and poked it. i picked up a brownish piece of fabric from the eucalyptus soup with some tongs. sindri says..."do you like that colour? it looks like coke a cola. thats a shame after all your hard work. you dont even like coke a cola. " maybe overnight some more magic will happen and in the morning i will find a more interesting colour in my pot than coke a cola.

ive spent the day trying to find my camera memory card and i still cant find it and its a pain. so i resorted to taking photos with my ipod. but i cant find it either.- amelie usually hijacks it. but its missing too. and so i cant show you the fun ive been having with a hammer, flowers and fabric. so much fun. sindri said " its good you found a new hobby" . you know when kids have a fever or are really sick,.. when they get better they seem like they have changed in some way? well thats what we have noticed. well something has shifted in sindri. he seems to be shining through a little clearer/brighter. maybe the fever unblocked something in him? maybe im overanalysing or have a big imagination that im not using enough.. no but really...i think its true.
anyway. see you tomorrow, hopefully with some photos.
x

t e n.

2011-05-21T11:43:00.005+10:00

today our middle loveheart Sindri is TEN! unfortunately he's still sick...or sick again... and is in bed building lego. i wish i could make him well again. i wish he didnt get sick on his birthdays...often. we are saving the birthday celebrating for another day. his skate ramp, a big fire, yummy food, his best friend, and everyone who loves him will all wait until he's better again.

when he spoke on the phone to his pa today, he told him he got star wars lego and mini skateboards and his happy family for his birthday. gosh i couldnt love him more.

nearly ten and home again

2011-05-19T07:11:00.005+10:00

in two more sleeps Sindri will be ten years old. double digits. a light saber and a perfect circle. thats his cake. maybe a big donut and a light saber for my star wars / lego loving boy. its a very strange thing that last friday he woke up so very sick and ended up in hospital that night. we then spent the weekend in there. listening to machines beeping. nurses scuffling in and out and around the place. and watching fluids drip into Sindri hoping he was going to get well quickly so he could get out of that place quickly. he said the drip machine sounded like his cat coco purring...thats how he managed to sleep with it beside him the whole time i think.

i had a lot of time to think. whilst watching my boy sleep :: i really admire nurses. i love night time and being awake at night. i think i would like a night shift job. i actually like hospitals for some reason i havent gotten to yet... because really, that doesnt make sense. i was a little frustrated that i couldnt feed him some proper food, although that frustration continued at home when he kept squinching up his nose at my attempts at a half healthy soup. brat. i had to strain it and he drank the liquid. i like to believe that soup holds the essence of what was cooking in there.

and so now we are home. its truely autumn, almost winter. my house smells so eucalyptussy its delicious. Sindri has kindly passed the bug onto Amelie. Hes feeling much better and Amelie is feeling a little worse but shes fighting it. Ive woken with a blocked nose, and Veda...shes the biggest and strongest of us all. Alot like her Dad...in so many different ways.

I have no idea where the card is out of my camera. It was on the couch before i went to hospital....and now its gone. A kitten may have eaten it. who knows. speaking of the furry creatures. I really need to get at least two of them out of my house this week. they are insane. and insanity is contagious.

today im going to try to empty sindris room and do the makeover i often do when its their birthdays. he and amelie can lay like broccoli on the couch...or maybe i will lay with them.

.............

2011-05-09T21:57:00.001+10:00

jammin...

2011-05-09T17:20:00.005+10:00

me in my new ugg boots that are luxurious compared to my old ones... and my hiding honeybunch boy at the market

raspberry jam mmmmm

beautiful coloured quince jelly

im not sure what has happened to me, but i find myself cooking all sorts of things i have never cooked or made. and not only that, but i get really excited about it. it started with quince jelly , then i managed to find a cup and a half of raspberries on the bushes that we hadnt eaten, so i googled a jam recipe...and about ten minutes later i had the most delicious jar of raspberry jam. i was so excited i rang my mum. then on the weekend i went and picked three lemons and made a lemon tart. it wasnt the most perfect lemon tart ive ever tasted....but still yum. and then i had frozen strawberries from summer in the freezer so i made some strawberry icecream! i dont get excited about cooking dinner because my three kids all have different tastes and two are fussssy...and by dinner time i cant be bothered.....

so this kind of cooking is fun cooking....and picking food out of the garden and then making something delicious, oh its a cool thing.

mothers day was a beautiful autumn day spent at the local farmers market with my sisters and mum and kids and my farmer boy. that was nice. i have a new appreciation for the jam makers there and i have a little dream in my head about doubling my raspberry crop next summer and making lots of jam and having a cute little stall. that would be fun. i have lots of dreams though.

today i planted lots of garlic and the kids stayed home from school so that we could have a long weekend because two days just isnt long enough.

i have piles of fabric ready to make a quilt for my bed and we have lots of trees ready to plant on the farm and im getting excited about the fruit trees we will plant when its time. today i considered buying a pine nut tree so i can make pesto all summer with my basil. oh yum. and pine nuts are so craazy expensive.

i wish i was rich enough to solar power our whole farm right now. but thats something thats going to have to wait. call me crazy but im thinking we need a big greenhouse so that nasty things like pesticides from surrounding farms and who knows...one day it could be radiation, falling on on our vegies. ive been reading a whole lot of scary stuff....

..and now i must go attempt to feed the kids some delicious lentils. what is their problem, or more to the point, what have i created.

.and then i will try to relax in front of the warm fire whilst 5 kittens prance around the place like its their palace. they are very entertaining but are getting bigger and more at home each day. i really didnt want 5 more cats!

kiki in the autumn

2011-04-30T16:06:00.003+10:00

today i turned strange yellow quinces into beautiful red jelly. for the first time . magic in the kitchen. none of us really love eating the jelly....but it was fun...and maybe it will taste better on , or with something other than bread?

and here is my dress-well not mine but kiki's..my little doll, made from beautiful autumny umbrella prints trimmings. i left it very very late....but i think i squeezed my entry in just in time.

once i find the flickr group i'll put up a link.

happy autumn days to you x

april...really?

2011-04-14T10:53:00.003+10:00

so the autumn leaves are coming, the kids are walking around wrapped in blankets, the kittens are forever being snuggled in someones arms-they are irresistible, the kittens run around the house kind of like playful kids...just tiny fluffy ones, the heater needs wood and we dont have a pile ready, the farm has water and mud everywhere making life difficult for my farmer boy-the cows and for our trip in and out -down that crazy slippery dip driveway, our days are all the more sweeter with melinda and hana still here and not in japan. hana is the little sister amelie never got but now has, and melinda and me often speak the same words at the same time. japan is still shaking and the radiation keeps silently slipping into the atmosphere. its so worrying.

but we did get to celebrate melindas birthday with her for the first time in a long time...and easter is soon so i wont have to send easter eggs across the oceans and hope they get there...remember last year? ..and its holidays, which means we now officially dont have to anything or go anywhere. ... . aaaahh so nice. although next week we will go to melbourne to play with cousins and have a city adventure...oh and amelie-our 7 year old plus one day girl..wants to go ice skating desperately. she forgets when she was about 4 and we went. . so we'll try do that too. the garden is calling me to plant some vegies..the felt i have is calling me to stitch it, the mice scuffling around are calling me to catch them,,, and the couch is calling me to sit on it. first i must go find some wood. .. . x x-

hidden treasure

2011-03-28T14:31:00.002+11:00

at the sunday party i spoke to a wonderful 91 year old lady, i found out that our kids grandparents' grandparents were Swiss...making them a bit Swiss...meaning we really should visit Switzerland ;-) , and we found this hidden magical place at the end of the garden.

you never know what you might find around the corner do you....

sunday

2011-03-27T08:56:00.004+11:00

ive written a few blog stories....but theyve all ended up saved in drafts. they really belong in my diary which i dont write any more...life has been a little crazy lately. crazy probably not the right word, but just intense. my sister came home from japan safely, my mums blood pressure was ready to shoot up to the stars and maybe im feeling earths energy. japan leaves me so sad and worried each time i read or see or think about it. . . but yesterday was a nice saturday. i saw two of my favourite girls, melinda and hana-who are here with us, which is very very nice... and then my mum popped over to see the 6!! kittens we have rescued and are loving and will hopefully find homes for if the kids (and me) can ever let them go.....annnd then last night veda cooked us dinner as a project for her cooking class at school. she made bruschetta and ricotta gnocchi and apple crumble and oh my gosh it was delicious! really it was the best gnocchi we have ever eaten! she was so happy with herself ,which is a relief because oh my god the rollercoaster of being 12......and then last night i lay in bed with the kids watching a movie while a kitten snuggled with us...little black gigi ..yes we have a favourite and possible new member of the clan.... and then in the middle of the night amelie returned to our bed really scared that someone was going to steal her. poor ammie. so anyway...im happy its sunday and its sunny and im a little scared of the garden because melinda saw a snake in the tomato patch the other day which was so funny but freakkkky too. we have to go to a lunch time party today which i cant be bothered but we will go because we probably should. blah. and then i would like to return to my cosy warm bed. but im probably dreaming about that bit. bye x

today

2011-03-13T15:37:00.003+11:00

my sister is in tokyo. i'll be really happily relieved in a few days time, when shes standing on our not shaky, but a little muddy ground.

today i picked a skirt full of tomatoes and made delicious lasagne, which 2 out of 3 kids didnt eat.

today is a little sweeter knowing that tomorrow is a public holiday. perfect.

home

2011-03-12T13:53:00.005+11:00

phew

2011-03-11T14:55:00.003+11:00

it feels like ive just got a moment now to take a breath

since gallavanting in melbourne, there was then birthday anticipation and then my actual birthday ...39! gulp.. which involved orange cake for breakfast with my mum and little amelie, lunch where i wasnt hungry with my two lovable friends, and dinner at home with my sweethearts....and my sis joined us on skype from tokyo

my house felt like a jungle with all of my beautiful flowers and plants that i was given. so so nice.

id like to always have plants inside everywhere. it feels so good.

and so another birthday was lived...and then the next day our friends came to play and stay. meanwhile my mums blood pressure went through the roof again and i had to go teach a doctor how to be a responsible caring doctor rather than a useless one. mumma mia. i was so mad with him...i wondered if he would treat his mother the same way. jerk. grr. anyway. mum is okay for now and is off having a lovely relaxing weekend i hope. we are minding her dog which is fun for our rosie. she likes to have a partner in crime.

and now we are back to just us here. and im breathing out. getting ready for friday afternoon ballet craziness. at least my farmer boy is here to help this time. i cant tell you how i dont like driving my car. its a bit difficult not to though...considering we live in the middle of nowhere. a horse and carriage is the only other option.

id better go dress the ballerina. eat some chocolate. and keep on moving.

and then the weekend will be here.. if only i can avoid all of my kids social plans i may be able to relax and not get in the car for two days :-)

grow

2011-03-07T22:57:00.002+11:00

id much rather pick than buy. on the weekend we went to melbourne and walked at the pace of the shopping people. it was quite strange. im happy that i see it from the outside and dont do it too often or we would have no money left. and im even more happy that we are home again and i have cherry tomatoes that i pick and eat each time i pass the bush outside my kitchen window.

today sindri was excited after school to tell me about the indian girls in his class that came back to school after a holiday (to india?) with henna on their hands. have i told you how much i love sindri. and how i would love to visit india again.

tomorrow is my birthday. i love birthdays. i had better go to sleep so that the tooth fairy can come and collect amelies little tooth in the glass of water in the kitchen and so i can open my eyes at 7am when my three little and one big lovehearts smother me in birthday kisses.

my kind of days

2011-03-02T12:23:00.002+11:00

crispy autumn mornings and breezy sunny days are here.

today ammie and i went shopping.

sweet pea seeds, lots of poppy seedlings, a pink chinese lantern plant to replace the yellow dead one, more thyme to plant...im loving thyme, hmm what else...oh some presents for amelie's birthday girl friend. amelie wanted to get her a plant...pink cyclamen. sweetness.

and now we are home again thankgoodness. im such a home body.

ive been playing with amelies new paints and some paper and scissors. not quite what i imagined.....but im going to keep trying.

happy day to you too.

my little kids are not so little anymore

2011-03-01T17:52:00.004+11:00

last night i got onto our other computer because my cord on my laptop finally died after being sticky taped together for a long time. i went to pictures, and found all of our photos dating from 2006! 5 years of photos! oh our babies, and all of those memories. how they have grown. how much we have lived and loved and laughed and enjoyed together. how we (me and muzz) have aged!

ive backed up the photos onto a usb and the next job is to get some photos printed. we all love to look in photo albums and have a good giggle. silly digital cameras. good. but not good .

two dollars

2011-02-24T17:58:00.003+11:00

fairies....

2011-02-22T12:13:00.005+11:00

i made amelie a butterfly dress . and necklace. i could be addicted to making paper stars at night. meditation. her dress went down to her toes and she looked like a flower fairy that had stepped out of the garden.

veda brought herself an old red case. im sure she has plans for it. i hope they involve me too.

ive been candle decorating, patchwork card making, dress sewing, luckystar folding, necklace threading, cooking, not sleeping, not gardening..its a jungle out there, garden collecting though, and now today im getting things ready for veda to pack for camp tomorrow. oh i dont like when shes gone....i cant breathe properly until shes home again. thats probably ridiculous but it is what it is. weve been so busy we havent given this camp much thought..which is good i guess.

we celebrated the christening of our friends two beautiful girls on the weekend. little clover blossom is my god child. or fairy friend forever :-) depends what you believe in. she is so cute, she makes me clucky.(but its not going to happen).. it was a big. happy. day.

coming out

2011-02-14T16:34:00.003+11:00

...of my head that is...

its a bit like a tangled sticky colourful cobweb in there....with the odd dragonfly stuck in it too.

we went to perth and it was delightful staying a night or three with my brother and his family. i love brothers. its different to sister love. we then ventured south to busselton. the beach...ohh the beach. the first swim we had amelie got stung by stingers on her face and arms. that was horrific. but could have been worse (in hindsight) . we then found a more beautiful beach hangout. meelup beach. we went there every day. and i breathed the air in as deeply as i could. the smiles on our faces were different to all the other smiles we normally have. and im not imagining that. im on a mission to get us a house near a beautiful beach.

back at home school has started. my big veda girl has jumped into high school with all of her amazingness. she loves it and is ready for anything and everything. this year she is a teenager. far out. how did that happen so quickly. amelie is staying home for the year....and probably beyond ... she is super happy. it just seems right for her. and sindri my honey bunch boy in the middle, had a few days of -school is crap... and had me ready to say lets homeschool with you too .....but i didnt tell him that.....but he seems to have passed through that and hes happy now.

but that week...last week...nearly had me hiding myself in a dark cave somewhere ! i am so intensely tuned into my kids that its probably not good...for me or them. anyway....

today amelie and i hung out in my room-which i cleaned up a little the other day. im liking that room more and more. we made secret things for our little friend clover who is being christened this weekend, and then i made ammie her new doll. . . she called her kiki summer :-)

she squealed when she met her, and i am determined to get better at making dolls. i do love it. its like making people. fun. ..

the farm. ehh. its annoying me. and understandably i reckon. im just tired of it being hard. im not sure it will ever be easy. is anything worthwhile easy? apart from the farm....i do love my garden still...as wild as it is. i have tomatoes coming out of my ears and a weed jungle surrounds me. but i persist...yesterday i planted some more little bottlebrush plants. i love them.. and i need to find a spot for my mango tree.

anyway...i am here and around .....just thinking more than talking these days...i hope your day was FULL of love today

manda x

sunday moments

2011-01-23T14:51:00.004+11:00

pretty seeds from my garden. i tried to follow the stem to the ground....carrot seeds i believe. wow they are so pretty. amelie couldnt believe they were real. not sure what that means.

poor coco. she is rosie's plaything. she didnt come home for a whole day and night. i started to panic especially after mum caught a big brown snake on her back verandah last night. but coco returned home for some more harassment. luckily the kids make up for it in love. how they adore her. and she is so snobby too.

my angel and her hula hoop. i would love to be inside her head for a day. we are homeschooling this year. im excited and a tiny bit nervous at the same time. but peaceful too.

the family has grown over the summer holidays. father christmas brought amelie her genevieve and veda her izzy and then pixie and jethro got married and had a baby called daisy syrup and the my girl olive finally got a face ad some hair and joined the family. they are a happy little clan arent they :-)

and what else is going on?......

im making space on my camera for beach photos to come
washing folding washing folding clothes

new shorts needed

sewing new shorts

stop for a coffee

see ripe bananas that wont survive much longer

banana bread recipe needed

not found yet because here i am talking to you

then distracted by the photos

life captured for split seconds

the word split gives me goosebumps now after vedas accident with the pool

shivers

coffee has gone cold

the cooler is saving us from the heat of summer that is here now finally

though the cooler costs in other ways

its a balancing act life

saw a letterpress made from lego on linked on loobylus twitter. it was cool.

and im too lazy to link links

angus and julia are on repeat. again. they really are just perfect.

hurry up and load photos

they are taking forever

maybe because there were 600 of them

and now the photos have loaded....off i should go.

my auction ends tonight (scroll down to find it ) ..it seems i'll be taking my picture off to perth to its new home, unless somebody has more money than my sweet brother to help the people in QLD , who need it more than we can imagine. victoria is also being flooded as we speak. its happening over a longer space of time but is causing a lot of heart break on its journey across the state. . . im thinking of the farmers who have struggled through drought and now find their farms completely under water. it gives me goosebumps as i type it.

aaah life.

hope your day is a sunny happy one.

lovemanda

today

2011-01-19T23:09:00.004+11:00

today started off like every other school holiday morning....slow and sweet. even sweeter with my sister and her husband sleeping over .

today ended like i never imagined it would. with my beautiful girl Veda lying in bed with stitches in the top of her head. ouch. yes. she did a backward somersault off the edge of our friends swimming pool and smack! hit her head on the side. horrible horrible ..... it was meant to be a happy afternoon playing with our friends we havent seen for what seems like ages (but isnt really)

Veda so bravely let the doctor at the hospital stitch it back together. so very brave and beautiful she is.

and so as i sit in bed eating fruit and nut i chocolate, i love my kids a little bit more than ever before and i have been reminded today that we really have no idea what the next moment is going to be.

now i should sleep because i have a feeling i may be woken by my girl with a sore head in the middle of the night.

p.s scroll down to find my auction...and there are many many more auctions helping QLD here

flood auction begins today!

2011-01-14T10:28:00.003+11:00

good morning :-)

today is the day to start my auction to help the queensland people suffering so terribly in the floods.

i know this is only one tiny effort, but put together with lots of other tiny efforts...we can all help together. my heart is sending them love. and now i want to send them as much money as i can to help them rebuild their homes. so here is my auction::

i drew this picture especially for this auction with coloured pencils on nice 220g paper

i like to think that she is an angel who protects home. she was drawn straight from my heart with the queensland people and mother nature on my mind

the drawing measures approx 27x28 cm with space around it to frame as you wish.

the starting price is $20

the auction begins now and will run until midnight sunday january 23rd 2011.

it is open to the whole world to bid.

postage will be covered by me.

at the end of the auction i will contact the winning bidder. he or she will pay the winning amount into the premiers flood appeal and contact me with proof of payment..then i will send my drawing off to them.

good luck and thankyou xx

and also wander over to Toni's blog where on Sunday you will find a whole list of wonderful bloggers who are doing their best to help too.

love manda

oh and p.s if ive forgotten anything or you have questions....just ask :-)

drawing to help

2011-01-13T13:22:00.003+11:00

last night i stayed up very late and into the morning drawing , whilst watching the unbelievable devastating muddy water that is almost drowning queensland right now. its so very sad for so many people.

today i will put some finishing touches to the drawing and then put it up for auction , to hopefully raise some money to help somebody in queensland. my blog is a quiet little corner, so if you can help spread the word about my auction, that would be so great....it may help me raise more money to help. you could post the picture on your blog or put a link to my blog.....

i'll post the final photo of my drawing tomorrow.

stay cool...(or warm?) sweet people..

manda

:-)

floods

2011-01-12T10:09:00.002+11:00

oh my gosh. mother nature is speaking loud.

the images on tv are devastating and unimaginable.

today im going to make something beautiful and hopefully i can raise some money to help in some tiny way.

Toni is organising an auction. ..like handmade help helped the bushfire victims. . . do you want help too?

her blog is tonicorward.blogspot.com

heart

2011-01-10T19:44:00.002+11:00

amelie called out....muuuum theres a loveheart in the bathroom....sindri ran to see and then took a photo of it.

my favourite moment of our recent trip to nagambie , in crazy heat , to stay in a caravan for the night, was finding loveheart icecreams in the local milkbar. it took me straight back to my dad buying one for our mum and us getting lemonade ones when we were little people. he did special little things like that for her that i have remembered all of these years later.

our holidays are dreamily soaking into us. todays grey rainy weather made me happier still-im really not a summer person without a beach.

today i ate the first peach off our tree. oh my god. i need to plant more trees.

one perfect raspberry

2011-01-05T08:09:00.002+11:00

our days are perfect right now

new moon yesterday brought conversations about plans and ideas for change

i like those conversations

the kids are so happy playing together and apart

the girls planning and staging doll weddings..the costumes are so great

the boy following his new passion into bowling cricket balls into a net or daddy every time he walks in the door

me, im there in the background, tying knots in thread for amelie, picking the basil and berries and making it into delicious food that my kids wont eat,

im in my garden tying up the tomato plants and inhaling their divine smell

and im planning in my head some sewing to do in my back room

i want some new clothes and can never find any i like..lets see if i can make some

i need to make the kids some easy summer shorts etc.,. because we are soon off to the beach.hooray! and it involves an aeroplane ride to perth, and i'll get to play with my big brother while we are there . happy times ahead.

now i need to go back to the mattress on sindris floor so that when he wakes up he knows that yes i did sleep there all night next to him as he needed me to :-)

bye bye year

2010-12-31T15:55:00.003+11:00

we are in holiday bliss land. i hope you are too. lets hope the new year is a wonder-full one.. ..
see you on the flipside x

magic

2010-12-20T11:14:00.003+11:00

me and my mum :l:o:v:e:

my beautiful ballerina girl

the night glowed with fire, the moon, colour and firework explosions

lovely lazy monday

the skies cant make up their mind

the kids are so quiet im not sure if they are here

their happily tired bodies are in beds, on couches,

angus and julia stone are singing me their beautiful melodies

the colourful mess from our family christmas party reminds me of the fun we had on the weekend

a sadness hovers as someone had a car crash and died on our corner road this morning

magnifying how lucky we are here and now and how precious life is

christmas feels like it has come already. ive definitely eaten all the chrsitmas food....trifle and pudding and i still have a whole cheesecake in my fridge. its my favourite. the kids have eaten way to many lollies....im hoping their christmas stocking gets filled with fruit but i doubt it.

the next few days will be slow ones before father christmas visits

theres been so much magic in the last few weeks

we are exhausted and daily i mention the word beach to my farmer boy

hopefully in january we'll get there for some sea splashing

time now to make some parcels for great nannas and friends and maybe eat some dessert for lunch

manda xx

happy

2010-12-12T17:50:00.005+11:00

it was Kate's happy idea and now

heres a list of my happy.

my biggest fattest happy is my three kids. three healthy cool sweet hearted funny interesting delightful and gorgeous kids. and my farmer boy muzz. biggest sweetheart ever.

without that happy all other happys wouldnt be so happy, i dont think. i cant imagine.

my mum living 2 minutes down my driveway.

going outside tonight and pulling a carrot out of the earth to eat with tea.

hearing my veda say she wants to have a garden just like ours when she has her own house.

the beautiful sunflowers smiling at me in that garden.

tonight, eating rice makes me happy. and garlic. love it. and even happier mums friend john grew some whopper garlic for them and us. yum.

when my kids are lost in their own world together makes me really really happy.

the beach makes me happy.

my sisters make me happy. i love them.

so does my little brother.

hmmm chocolate makes me happy and so does perfect watermelon and pineapple and mango. fruit actually. and potatoes.

old people make me happy. they remind me of my dad. their hands. the way they walk. their voices.

old things too. i love old things...way nicer than new things (most of the time)

birds singing,

planting seeds,

sleeping,

quiet,

funny people,

people being nice to each other,

being at home all together, ohh school holidays make me soooo happy.

zip over to Kates for some more happiness .

sweetness

2010-12-08T14:10:00.003+11:00

do you grow your own strawberries? for smell and taste i highly recommend it. oh my gosh. is it possible to overdose on berries? if it is... im on my way there.

i also recommend visiting op shops to find the cutest old christmas decorations, if you're lucky- which i was. amelie also scored a madeline christmas book. lucky lucky.

today

2010-12-07T11:35:00.005+11:00

here is where i am, filled with the love and colour and happiness of my beautiful little family whilst in awe of nature. and the resilience of farmers. and the heartbreak they endure, over and over.

the locusts arrived. landed. laid eggs. dont know how much they ate. at least they didnt eat the cows ;-) now we are going to have to spray the land. i cant bare the thought of toxic sprays. hoping there will be an alternative.

my biggest girl has gone off to her new high school today. most of the kids were there with their groups, my girl on her own. i was so nervous for her i almost felt sick. a horse riding friend came up to her and offered to stay with her, because i had to take my other two honeys to school. this morning i needed two of me.

i called into mums and smelled her christmas cake in progress. mmmmmmm

im trying not to spend my day cleaning, but im thinking i need to go bake something for the kids. the ballerinas have concert rehearsal tonight right through tea time. last night rosie graduated from puppy school. she really should have been expelled. she is a juvenile delinquent and only wanted to sniff and run. not sit and stay. she is a farm dog after all. just a cheeky, pretty one.

one by one im mentally crossing things off the have to do list. it will be nice to throw that list in the recycling.

ohh i hope my kids are having a good day at their schools.

i wish it would be cold and pour rain today. instead its grey, warm and windy.

oh i could babble on. but i really should get off the couch, do something. cook something. make something.

today i gave a man at the petrol station 5 cents as he was rummaging madly through his pockets for it, and god knows my purse is full of them. as he left he said ..thanks, i hope you win tattslotto.

i'd better get a ticket just in case.

see ya x

edited to add....what a silly wish-that it would pour rain ! what was i thinking? it did in fact just pour rain and the thunder sounded like the earth exploded. it actually needs to stop raining for awhile because it is flooding all over the place and making a big mess for farmers and families.

so please. no rain for awhile :-)

lovely december

2010-12-04T11:36:00.003+11:00

sticky saturday morning

it feels like im living in tropical queensland, without the beach

the house is looking very sparkly and smelling of pine after yesterdays christmas decorating

reindeer games are being played

the kids are waiting for their friends to come play

and amelie is waiting to go to her friends birthday party

i have slowed down into holiday mode before the holidays have begun and i love it

christmas is in the air

speaking of things in the air, locusts locusts everywhere. driving becomes like you are playing mario cart dodging flying things

oh...someones here....off i go ....

words and weather

2010-11-29T23:18:00.002+11:00

late night
should go to bed
head full of thoughts
body tired
noisy blah blah television
noisy blah blah thoughts in my head
crazy weather
crazy happenings here there and everywhere
so much rain
wild winds
battered garden
but still, picking baby spinach and bowl-fulls of strawberries and bunches of flowers and eating raspberries one by one while flicking those little bugs off my plants
as wild as my garden is right now (and always) its my happy place
i need to make little nooks for the kids to play in.....
id like a hill for them to roll down and run over
it wouldnt be so hard to make a hill with my boys tractor
one day i will learn to drive that big yellow tonka truck scooper
and now that my head is this many words emptier, i will go to bed.
goodnight x

hello rain

2010-11-25T06:49:00.007+11:00

7.30 pm last night, the kids and murray start watching a new japanese animation...it looks a bit scary so me and ammie wander off to my , or should i say our (me muzz and ammies) bed. we try to get the computer to play games with us but its so slow we crack it with the computer and decide to draw pictures together instead. amelie loves drawing with oil pastels and is still drawing cute icecream sundaes with cherries on top. she taught me how to do that and then we snuggled into bed. we had our nightly conversation about how much she doesnt like school and all the things that upset her while shes there. she is so insightful and wise and sensitive. i think i fell asleep just after i felt her little fingers fall from my hand.

i woke at midnight and ate some cold canneloni. damn i made delicious canneloni last night...spinach and ricotta mmmm...... then i went back to sleep. i then had some crazy canneloni induced dreams about cats with strings of crystals around their necks ..and then i woke when my boy went off to milk cows at around 5am.

then at 6.30 i really woke to the sound of pouring rain and grey skies, thinking what a bad idea it may have been to plan a garage sale for this weekend.

now its 7.30 and im thinking it would be nice for the kids to be home on this rainy day. but they stayed home yesterday and ammie only went on monday. hmmm....maybe they should go today. i torment myself like this most mornings....but hooray because theres only 15 more of them left this year.

today im gonna find some solar powered fairy lights for my garden. and something to make the mozzies go away....like a giant lizard that will stick out his sticky tongue and eat them all. sindri would like that.

my creative space

2010-11-18T16:51:00.004+11:00

on my fridge::from my garden::by my side::from my travels::on my windows

more spaces at Kirstys :-)

2010-11-13T19:41:00.004+11:00

today has been one of those happiest of days. a day out in bendigo with just my big girl Veda and our two friends. and then home again to my two little sweethearts and one big one. feeling so lucky.

p.s i need a scarecrow

2010-11-08T12:32:00.003+11:00

mum and i found our way across the countryside to a little hall filled with lots of old stuff. people paid astonishing prices for old metal signs and cameras and oil bottles and anything else that was old. there wasn't much that made me go "ooohhhh i want that" and especially not since everything was so expensive. but yes, i had to have some bidding fun. the kids love the record player. i do too. now i'll be on the lookout for records to groove to on my opshoppin expeditions.

spring flowers

2010-11-06T10:44:00.004+11:00

flowers picked from my garden for my mum. it was her 73rd birthday yesterday. she had 9 children and mothered another 4 little ones from my dads previous marriage. she really is an amazing lady. last night we went out and had a delicious dinner together. she really deserves all the magic and love in the world.

today im pottering around thinking i love saturdays. the kids and i decided that school should be two days a week and weekends five days. dont you think?

and today what is making me happy is the jacaranda and the silver princess that i planted awhile ago, that have both lost all their leaves and look like dead sticks, ....well i have been living in hope that they are just resting ....they have sprouted new little leaves. hooray for all the magic rain we have had.

theres a clearing sale in toolern vale tomorrow that im tempted to go to. last night i found a listing for the 600! lots that will be auctioned. could be fun.

i'll let you know what i find, if i go :-)

my creative space

2010-11-04T13:44:00.003+11:00

today i took the kids to school, came home, made a coffee, grabbed the orange woollen? fabric i picked up at savers yesterday, ignored the kitchen with dishes almost hitting the roof, and went outside to my room. aaaah bliss. determined to make something cute for a child that i dont know, but who might like something cute to snuggle or play with.

and ta da...as amelie likes to say, ....here is miss or mr pussycat. she...i think shes a she , is off to pips for softies for mirabel. i hope her new friend likes her.

its nice to be back making. think i might ignore the dishes more often. i just went inside to grab my camera and the dishes are gone. now that, i like.

heres to ignoring dishes and heres to making toys for beautiful kids.

off to here to see some more making . see ya.

november here i come.

2010-11-01T12:35:00.005+11:00

aahhh these perfect spring days....even the spring rain came at a perfect time, ...my garden is calling me outside.. closer and closer. every day there is something new that has burst. little peaches and broccoli and sweet chamomile flowers. (and a million nettles that like to prick my fingers if im not careful)

my studio is evolving into somewhere i want to be. soon i will have power and music. rosie has made herself a bed next to my sewing table. outside i can spy on strawberries. if im quick enough i might even beat the crows to the juiciest red ones.

the kids are having a great time with their cousins today. they went trick or treating last night, have covered themselves, their bikes, and rosie in mud. they have bounced and giggled themselves silly and are now flopped in the lounge watching princess mononoke-veda's favourite movie.

im off to play some more in my room. i've even had my gocco out and my sewing machine chugging along. maybe im finding my groove again. its only taken almost a year!

here's Rosie

2010-10-15T17:20:00.003+11:00

newest member of the family, Rosie. complete cuteness. and rascal-ness. her favourite past time. chewing. everything. shes so very soft and so very sweet. oh look at that face!

12

2010-10-11T14:09:00.000+11:00

2010-10-11T10:24:00.004+11:00

our weekend was colourful. a new roly poly puppy called Rosie, our big girl celebrated her 12th birthday with lots of dancing and chocolate and little sleep, and then we said bye to my sis and little Hana..off they go back to japan.

today all the kids are back at school again, Rosie is howling at the back door for me to go play with her and apart from that noise, it all just got a little quiet here again.

2010-10-07T22:39:00.003+11:00

today i picked amelie up from school early. she is still not so well...we're up to week 5 now. shes not really sick apart from a cough that wont completely go. shes just not sparkly.not herself. and wants and loves me more than ever. school is exhausting for her. and really, she doesnt need to be there. so i picked her up before lunch and off we went to see some pups we have been spying on for a little while. the cutest english setter pups i have ever seen. we have been talking about the yays and nays of whether we want a dog in our family, having always been a cat only family. and i think the time had come. and today was the day. so in a rather spontaneous manner, amelie and i not only went to see the pups, but we chose one and brought her home with us. she sat on amelies knee in the car and amelie was happy in a way i havent seen her before. she couldnt believe what had just happened.
she then wanted to stay home because she felt like she wasnt alone and her pup would protect her! while i went to get the kids. luckily farmer boy was nearby so that worked. i managed to not say a word or a clue about any wonderful surprise waiting at home to the kids. number one on vedas birthday wish list (she'll be 12 on the weekend ) is a dog. it has been for years....since she was probably 5. the kids got to the front door, muzz opened it and told them they might want to put their bags and stuff down...and sindri said oh you got a dog didnt you...and out walked amelie with puppy. oh the look on their faces was one i will remember forever. veda danced and jumped with excitement. pure joy.
we are all in love with her already. the cats...not so much in love with her. poor coco....her tail bushed up and she did the arched back jump across the floor when she saw her. that was so hilarious. poor coco. hopefully they will all become friends soon.
how i am going to get the kids to school tomorrow i dont know .... and the birthday on the weekend will be puppy centred i think.
somehow i have deleted photos of her off my camera...there will be more tomorrow im guessing..
goodnight. lets hope she sleeps all night :-)

2010-10-07T21:46:00.000+11:00

what day is it.....

2010-09-30T07:26:00.002+10:00

i love when it doesnt matter what day it is. thats my kind of world.

we've been indigo tie dyeing, bouncing alot-kids not me, fixing the garden after 40 cows destroyed it, sob sob- they are in my bad books forever now.. , loving the flowers popping open each day now, skate ramp building for the skater boy, walking around in pjs and ugg boots for a lot of the day, venturing out for a good coffee here and there and maybe some book shopping or junk rummaging.

2010-09-16T21:47:00.002+10:00

monday

2010-09-13T10:20:00.002+10:00

shes been home for over a week now from school and is still cough a cough a coughing. theres only this week to go but i really dont want her sick on the holidays. its looking like shes having a huge break from school...which isnt so bad is it. shes 6 for goodness sake. and its prep.

and how cute her mouth is looking with teeth missing here and there and a mixture of big and little teeth. cuuute.

my farmer boy and i escaped to melbourne to see angus and julia stone play at the beautiful palais in st kilda. we were alone for the first time in a long time. it was so fun and so strange. a fleeting moment. going to the city now feels like visiting another world after living in the country for around 14 years. and coming back to the farm felt like returning to the wilderness...especially because the grass has grown wild with the perfect growing weather that has been. and it smells of the earth. unlike the city.

melinda and i zipped over to shepparton the other day and found a complete gocco set with so many extras for...wait for it... $20. it was waiting for us of course. it was labelled as a card making set and the people in the op shop had no idea what it was. we laughed. we already have two each. but we couldnt not buy it.....even just for all of the globes and screens and inks in it. fun times.

amelie and i made delicious cookies with a recipe from ecomilf... i finally got some molasses to make them. and the kids love them . and thankgoodness. i wish i could spoon some straight iron into their little bodies....its hard with them not eating red meat and being on the fussy side of life. they are excited about watching junior masterchef...hopefully they will be inspired in some way. the ads in between drive us all crazy though.

well its a beautiful spring day...im off to plant some seeds and pull some weeds.......

seeya x

hi

2010-09-07T12:50:00.002+10:00

oh finally blogger....you let me post a picture. thankyou! or maybe its because my internet just got fast(er) again. amelies new dress. id like some more of that fabric. i wish i could find some nani iro in an op shop . not likely hehe..
well im sitting here with my amelie home with a wicked sounding cough. and i have my dear little niece hana here keeping ammie company, while my sister goes shopping with my mum. this is really really nice. if i could just delete the cough it would be perfect.
we havent been flooded by the rain thankgoodness...the paddocks are certainly sloppy though. and the grass in my garden has grown wildly overnight. today its a perfectly sunny spring day again.
i made honey joys last night...mmm mmm mmmm. think i might need one and a coffee .
x

2010-09-01T14:21:00.000+10:00

blogger wont let me post photos. you're no fun blogger.

happy spring

2010-09-01T12:02:00.004+10:00

well lets just pretend it looks and feels like spring outside. the birds are definitely chirping their heads off-not that i would call a crow a bird. each morning when the crows are squaking and banging on my windows at 6am i tell myself if i had a gun i would shoot them . of course i couldnt. but seriously....do they have to?

the other day i borrowed a trailer to go pick up a couch for my room. when it was time to drop the trailer off it was pouring rain, my mum was inside sick, and it was almost pick up kids time. so in a crazy im a superwoman moment i tried with all of my might to lift the trailer up off the tow ball and something went keeek in my lower back. oh no. ive done my back. we then got a wheel thing and sensibly got wet in the rain and wound the trailer up off my car. and then off i went with my broken back. silly me.

a week or so later and i think its getting better and im half getting used to moving in the right way so i dont hurt. my lesson this week is im not superwoman. and i need to look after myself. i think it was just yesterday i said i felt like i was 50 and farmer boy said oh well theres not much difference between 40 and 50. and then i howled im not even 40 yet! im still in my 30s (just) !

he was annoying me. so off i went to my sewing room.

and i should have know better than to go and sew after not sewing for a long time, in a grumpy mood. i got fabric jammed in my overlocker while trying to make Amelie a dress. i then pulled some of it apart and cant fit it back together. and i think i bent something. i have to laugh.

i almost finished the dress which possible looks like an adult dress? maybe not with some polka dot additions to the outfit :-)

meanwhile Veda has been rehearsing for what seems like forever for the school production of Alice in Wonderland. its on this thursday and friday night. i cant wait to see it. i could watch Veda sing and dance forever .

and finally my sister Melinda and her sweetness Hana are coming this weekend from Japan. for a month. happy happy us. im hoping spring will give us some sunny days together.

now off i go to drink some coffee and hem Ammies dress and ignore some mess. hope you are having a happy day.

X manda

saturday night

2010-08-28T19:22:00.003+10:00

mmmm....

2010-08-20T17:31:00.003+10:00

mmmm i smell cannelloni cooking in the oven. sindri just declared that tonight he's going to try some cannelloni because it smells yum. yay! go sindri. its only taken 9 years for me to hear him say im going to try something ..lets hope it tastes yum too ( i forgot to put egg yolks in.) woops.
im excited about tomorrows election. which is strange. but im really hoping that the greens give the major parties a good kicking up the behind and get some more say.
im slowly collecting seeds to plant. ive been ordering off the internet late at night and then i forget what ive ordered. i thought i had carrot seeds coming, but so far ive got giant sunflowers, sweet capsicum and hot thai chilli. funny combination. clearly i need to do some more seed collecting.
id better go check the oven.
x

taking you for a walk

2010-08-17T14:07:00.002+10:00

making me smile:::

kids covered in mud

flowers about to pop

the garden inviting me outside

my studio also inviting me outside

the kids drawings stuck here there and everywhere

sweet people

angus and julia stone music in my ears..and the possibility of surprising farmer boy with birthday tickets to their melbourne show on his birthday

and the sun shining whilst there is mud under my feet

friday night

2010-08-13T23:44:00.003+10:00

these two couldnt be any more in love with each other. Sindri and Coco. every night they snuggle up together(all night) and then during the day Coco may or may not give someone else in the house some of her attention....it depends what mood she's in, the brat cat.
my mum is slowing feeling better :-) we arent sure what it was..or if it is gone. she doesnt like doctors, which makes it hard to get an idea of what it was. she had one night in hospital which freaked the pants off all of us kids...and her too, because the next day she was out of there no matter what. im hoping and wishing that she just keeps getting stronger and sparklier. this morning she was looking more like herself with her fluffy white hair that drives her crazy :-)
today i was a couch potato most of the day....after i got the kids to school an HOUR late. ohhh its hard some days to get out of my warm bed...and to get the kids out of theirs... today was one of those days. my energy is drained. and i need a massage on my stiff shoulders. amelie gave me some squeezes with her little 6 year old hands but it didnt quite do it, even though i loved it. so im happy its friday night. im happy that today i found some really beautiful old library books at the op shop for 50 cents each. beautiful ones that were waiting for me im sure. and for amelie my little book worm. i love having three book worms in our house. and i love the way amelie sticks pictures on the walls in random places. she also decided to draw me a picture on my bedroom wall the other day. when i later found it i told her i LOVED it....there amongst the kids other pictures and creations. its only a wall after all. i love that our home lets the kids and us be free. the mess annoys me of course....but im good at not seeing it.
anyway i could chatter on some more but i should get some sleep. my sister is coming up to visit mum and us tomorrow. i hope she wears her gumboots-not that she would own gumboots :-) love 2 u x x x

love your mum

2010-08-11T18:00:00.003+10:00

two of the biggest loves in my life, my mum and my farmer boy muzz. my mum isnt feeling well right now....my world will return to normal when shes feeling better. p.s my farmer boy is probably gonna hate me for putting him out into the internet universe. but i love him. you cant hate love.

these days

2010-08-08T22:16:00.003+10:00

oh, poor Pixie.

Amelie is happy with scissors and paper in her hands.

::we've been playing more in the garden because the sun is out there to warm us up a little. . me planting, the kids bouncing and somersaulting . how some sunshine can brighten your day :-)

::there's usually someone in our house bandaged. thankfully not for real, but for play....its one of their favourite things to do. this time , Pixie hurt her arm.

::the kids had a stall at the farmers market today selling strawberry plants that we grew (rather than strawberries unfortunately!!) over summer. it was so cute. and so great for them. veda started off a little shy...more happy to be the gardener i think, sindri was the friendly salesboy and amelie hoola hooped in the background. that was until mum and co. arrived with their new puppy....then it was cuddle puppy time. happy days. and tomorrow the kids have a day off school...a perfect way to start the week.

late nite blah blah

2010-08-02T23:05:00.003+10:00

the truth is i really dont know what to do with my days.still! there is lots i could be doing but nothing that makes me want to do it. is it me who has to make me do it...not the something? i found some very cute waldorf ish dolls on etsy tonight. almost as cute as amelies Tinky. that made me want to try to make some more dolls. but generally i have just blah blahed my days away for alot of this year. thats bad isnt it. i guess i have my new room (which is looking rather cool and rather messy after veda and her friend played in it on the weekend) but i still havent unpacked the piles and piles of fabric. and paper. . . . ohhhhh,,......
i think i need some more sunshiney days. i helped amelie and sindri make pom poms tonight. i like pom poms a lot. id like a pom pom door hanging to keep the damn swallows out of my room, pooping everywhere. why am i always surrounded by poop is another question i have ?
and i also need to see angus and julia play in melbourne in september except they are sold out. and i need to just get past tomorrow because im going to the dentist and if you knew me you would know that its probably my least favourite place in the world that i know of. luckily my mum is coming home from holidays tomorrow so at least i have some happy to look forward to after visiting hell. im so tempted to chicken out but im not. good girl manda.
the wattles are so so beautiful right now. our giant one in our front garden is GLOWING. i have vegies to plant but my goodness...so much rain and hail, we are surrounded by mud. which we cant complain about because then we would be whingeing farmers ;-)
anyway. i have to get some sleep, tomorrow theres about 50 things going on and im not ready for them and im wishing i did bake those banana muffins i was thinking about this arvo . and i wonder where amelies ballet shoes are.........

bunny is here

2010-07-28T14:14:00.003+10:00

as soon as she got here she hopped into our bloomingly beautiful wattle tree.

she is quite adorable and is being welcomed with a lotta love. amelie has named her rosie and has claimed her as her new friend. i admit i did steal her one night to cuddle.

and in case you didnt know who makes these cute bunnies...its sweet Beck. go see :-)

my knight

2010-07-22T14:05:00.004+10:00

Today i went shopping and I couldnt get Sindris amazing drawings and fascination with knights out of my head as I wondered around. I found an old record (top) -turn your head sideways ;-)

and a beautiful old Pinocchio book.

Since i got Sindri a new pen yesterday, he has gone into another world with it...until so late at night and this morning in the 5 minutes it took for his porridge to cook , he raced to his room to do a quick drawing. I love that he loves new pens like i do. Next time he wants me to buy him a refillable one. Good idea my honey bunch.

Today we got to school 15 minutes late. As the week goes on we seem to get later and later. Funny. Then as we walk into school I say to Veda...why are you late Veda ? in a grumpy teachers voice and she says... my parents lost to the key to my cage. or... the government has sworn me to secrecy. or Sindri says my parents locked me in the garbage bin. And we all have a good giggle before I smooch them goodbye until the afternoon.

And now it is afternoon, so off i will go back down the slippery slide..which has dried up a little so now its more a bumpity ride.. to pick up the kids and bring them home again.

and p.s my bunny from Beck is finished...I will show you when she arrives :-)

embrace the cold manda

2010-07-20T13:47:00.003+10:00

slipsliding down our driveway to get home. who has to slide down their driveway-almost 1km long, to get home? me. some days its funny , other days not so much.
my bones are frozen....so much so that i went into the local travel agent and walked out with travel brochures, dreaming and plotting an exotic sunny overseas holiday.
subsequent investigating on the australian government website amongst others, scared me off the idea of visiting thailand...and overseas in general..
now we are thinking of closer to home.... darwin-katherine-broome-ningaloo-monkey mia-perth-south to the beautiful karri forests-esperance-back to perth and -home.
how cool would that be.
i know. so cool.
its so fun to dream. and plan. i hope i can make this real.

(drawing by Amelie :-)

ballerinas

2010-07-15T07:40:00.003+10:00

last night we went out to see some real ballerinas. beautiful, fun and inspiring, for the kids and for us. to be able to dance like that must feel so good.

moving in

2010-07-14T07:21:00.004+10:00

the kids first day back at school yesterday. i distracted my self from the silence by getting some fruit boxes from a kind lady at the supermarket and packing some of my previously mentioned stuff in them and moving into my room.

the floor is not perfect but its going to get sploshed in paint and knowing me i will probably print patterns on it too.. as long as we dont get splinters==i did an average job at sanding. i may need more mats.

school. amelie wants to stay home after one day. that says it all doesnt it. come on universe...help me !! i have the room now :-)

last night it poured rain so heavily that i was worried i was going to see my room floating past the windows. i may need some oars to get out of our driveway this morning. its ironic that it is so wet that muzz cant put the cows in the paddock to eat the grass because its so wet they will trash the ground (because they are so big and fat!) . its a shame they arent pigs....they would be in heaven in our driveway.

today is here so off i go to get my warm kids out of their beds and try to get them to school slowly and happily.

happy day to you x

a story about saturday

2010-07-11T08:08:00.003+10:00

woke myself up at 6am, farmer boy woke himself up at 4am so he could milk the cows and be home in time. in time for ? a little trip over to rushworth to this deceased estate garage sale.

i got the kids up..it was still dark and they were so cute and excited...

on the way veda cracked it with her daddys choice of music in the car and then he cracked it with her because he puts up with AND sings along to all of her music choices. then i remembered how i like to drive alone peacefully through the countryside ;-) anyway that moment passed and driving through the ironbark forests...so beautiful ...i love rushworth.

we get to the garage sale. we are 30 minutes early and there are a couple of people walking out with books! hey! i run inside ..the kids and muzz follow... and ohhh...this lady was an artist. a cat lover. a book lover . a dress maker.

but the most wonderful thing was, there was this beautiful old lady bringing all of this stuff outside for the sale. and she tells me that about this lady that has died. and that she misses her dearly . it was her friend.

they were even selling all of her photo albums. the kids had a great time looking through them. she took a lot of photos of cats. im imagining that she didnt have any family alive now..but she did have dear friends. we left with some treasures, some fabric and buttons and a box of cat books. i got some cute shelves for my room too :-) for the rest of the day we were hoping for that old lady that it didnt rain on their sale. going to a deceased estate sale makes you think......the kids decided they didnt want any strangers having any of their stuff when they died. i imagined people rummaging through all of my stuff. stuff .stuff .stuff.

after the sale we went to the bakery and ate warm delicious food and we dreamt of buying the amazing old building in the main street.

we got home and veda decides lets go pick up that parcel from the post office- because we guessed it was the doll making supplies i had ordered from winterwood. so back in the car we jumped again, me and veda.

and for the rest of the day..right up until tea time.. in our house there was me and veda trying to work out how to make a waldorf type doll.....with about 5 websites open at once....then i decided to just make it up.... and sindri and amelie decided they were going to be absolutely wild. muzz had to work because his worker decided not to turn up to work.ever again. time to find someone new and fingers crossed, wonderful. but a pain for this weekend.

its a wonder the doll doesnt look more like a werewolf heehee.....

the kids had a giant pillow fight in the lounge (veda joined them) and then i got them to clean up while i worked out how to make doll hair.

by tea time i was standing at the kitchen bench scrambling eggs...quite appropriate really....while sewing doll hair on.

veda made her some clothes and here she is ..Pixie. new little sister to amelies Tinkie.

she has a definite personality and veda looooves her.

the end.

books books books everywhere you look.

2010-07-08T08:01:00.002+10:00

we went to melbourne and did a lot of eating and book looking and shopping and maybe a little bit of shoe shopping too ;-)

back home again and today the kids will play at their grandparents and we will sand the floor in my room. its getting very close to me being able to move all my things in. our house is about to get a lot more spacious. i have stuff everywhere you look...

but that doesnt stop me from being excited about a deceased estate garage sale on saturday....advertised for sale...fabric craft and 1,500 books! i guess i cant miss that one.

love

2010-07-07T21:49:00.003+10:00

i love how when sindri is so sad, like today when he was jumping with his sisters and (wild) cousin with sleeping bags on the trampoline and fell off the trampoline-first time ever.. and really really cried - more from the shock than hurt, that after all my hugging (and me having a silent panic attack that he had hurt his back or broken a shoulder) , he asked for coco (our cat and his best friend) and he got into my bed with her. that was his feel better remedy. oh how they love our bed.
i also love that when sindri was on the ground crying, amelie started sobbing her eyes out because she completely adores her brother and is such a sensitive big sweetheart. if anyone she loves is hurt it almost literally breaks her heart.
do i need to tell you again how much i love having them home? so much.
they do refuse to go to sleep until wayyy too late though. right now- amelie and sindri in my bed chattering. 10.02 pm. oh goodness...somehow i need to get us all up and out the door by 9am tomorrow. not sure how im going to do it. an alarm may be needed.
but now im off to give my attention to Pretty Woman on t.v , one of my all time fave movies. i still know most of the words and richard gere ooh la la heheeeee........

tonight

2010-07-03T22:04:00.003+10:00

my hands are so dry from doing rough work with them. i was feeling like they needed some love. so tonight i loved them with some henna. (and all the other hands in the house too).

every time i do it i wonder why i dont do it more often. i love henna. and drawing on my hands. and drawing on little hands like my kids soft sweet hands is twice the fun. they love it too :-) amelie usually uses texta... i need to equip her with some henna ...imagine !

2010-07-03T08:16:00.000+10:00

happy being

2010-07-01T16:52:00.004+10:00

monday

2010-06-28T21:46:00.003+10:00

painting and hulahooping to blackeyed peas tunes all day

got holes in roof fixed

trapped the ducks in their pen all day until they escaped at 6pm felt guilty that they were trapped in the first place..but do you know how much ducks poo? a very lot. and they have to do it near my back door. not funny. but when they are standing at the back door looking at me through the glass....they are so cute, making me forgive them for all their pooping.

wore two layers of wool so that i didnt freeze to death

loved that the kids were still asleep at 9am

found more video of our kids when they were much littler

decided tomorrow is THe day to make movies with the kids

how could you not love holidays?

holidays

2010-06-27T21:44:00.002+10:00

school holidays are here. im off playing with the kids, fixing up my new room and not moving too far from our warm fire.

oh yeah baby

2010-06-23T07:28:00.003+10:00

its here! monday foggy morning after talking to mother nature all weekend asking her to put the rain somewhere else (sorry about that melbourne ;-) .. i thought the fog was going to stop us...but nope! she arrived in two pieces on two big trucks and with an awesome crane that lifted it up , and with a lot of twisting and turning and holding my breathe.....we put her where we wanted to. yay! we are not sure what to call my new room...not classroom please!! we have enough of that every day already! art room? play room? not studio. . mummys room? just in case they have any ideas of taking it over- which they do!

it needs alot of making it nice. but i feel so happy when i walk inside.

today a man is coming to do new guttering so if it rains it doesnt sink into mud, although muzz suggested we could just tie cherry barrels to it and it can float off into the dam. a houseboat would be nice :-)

i need to re -line some of the walls which i might do today if i can shake this cold....though im feeling worse and dont think i can ignore it much longer...time to double the echinacea dose.

and it has nice floorboards. and no power yet. need to investigate how much for solar power.

i wish i had more physical strength. i tried to eat like my farmer boy does at lunch time yesterday. that was funny. i left half behind. and then he told me the kids take after me. hahahaha...

lucky them :-)

not really!

time to go get my warm little people out of bed..oh i dont want to but its just 3 more days of having to go somewhere on a freezing cold morning.

happy day to you and to me x

p.s Swimmy by Leo Lionni. iloveit.

friday

2010-06-18T16:42:00.004+10:00

7.30am i went outside to do the mud test. i stepped onto the site....and my feet slipped a little and sunk a little. drats. a truck would make a big mess. no classroom today either. monday hopefully. fingers crossed for no rain this weekend ..even though i feel guilty for even considering wishing rain away. my impatience.

this tree in our backyard has perfectly red berry type fruits on it. they look delicious but taste of nothing. inside is yellow and mushy. i need to find out what this tree is.

it has dropped red dots all over the green grass. beautiful.

millie our cat has decided, i think, that shes going to join us in being human since her brother spotty cat died. she jumps onto tables and talks to us in a new language that sounds like her attempt at english. im not imagining it. poor milly.

i love friday night. it feels like i should be eating fish n chips. a childhood ritual. instead im going to cook some cauliflower and broccoli, a craving i had at 3pm.