Brand New Ending

Eye-candy

2011-01-28T02:37:00.000+11:00

An improbable flash of purple on green - a kingfisher darts to the dam.

Summer

2011-01-27T02:36:00.000+11:00

UV so strong that even the sunflowers turn their faces away.

The HOTTEST day of the year

2011-01-26T02:35:00.000+11:00

Frozen raspberries melt to a mouthful of sweetness and seeds.

Parked in the sun

2011-01-25T02:32:00.001+11:00

Air radiates from the dash, too hot to breathe. I drive with only my fingernails touching the wheel.

Court House

2011-01-24T02:31:00.000+11:00

Old wood, dust and leather combine with the musty scent of ancient paper.

Out of our element

2011-01-23T02:29:00.000+11:00

He clutches me, giggling, every muscle tensed to resist the surging suck and swell of the surf.

Raucous

2011-01-22T09:47:00.000+11:00

The screech of a sulphur crested cockatoo scrapes across the dawning sky.

Sanctuary

2011-01-21T07:19:00.002+11:00

I stop to pick blackberries after my run. A fingernail-sized frog scuttles for shelter amidst the thorns.

Sunbathing

2011-01-21T07:17:00.001+11:00

Again the Jacky lizard, sprawled over a sunny pot, too comfortable to move. We sit and watch each other.

Patch of sunlight

2011-01-20T06:10:00.001+11:00

A Jacky lizard raises one arm as if asking permission, then flattens its pale belly on the warm wood.

Dandelions

2011-01-18T17:25:00.001+11:00

Soft, feathery fringed petals stroke my skin. "Mummy, I is painting you yellow!"

Life

2011-01-17T18:01:00.001+11:00

In a shallow, sunwarmed puddle, a glittering, squirming larval swarm.

Nesting

2011-01-16T07:16:00.000+11:00

Glossy Black Cockatoos, sillhouettes against the bright sky. One carries a beakful of twigs and soft bark.

Ripples

2011-01-15T16:52:00.001+11:00

The river's surface is wrinkled like old skin. Two ducks create smile lines. The white wound of a speedboat leaves a scar.

Morning breath of the bush

2011-01-14T09:44:00.001+11:00

Bouquet of pine, eucalypt and turpentine. Undertones of damp earth and fungus enhanced by the aromatic high note of ziera.

Clover Blossom

2011-01-13T18:51:00.001+11:00

Eighty-one white winged angels dancing on a slender green pin. The bees dance too.

Silvereye

2011-01-12T08:02:00.001+11:00

Less than a handful of damp fluff and feathers, intently gleaning breakfast under the sodden leaves.

Still raining

2011-01-11T20:02:00.001+11:00

White curtains of water veil the trees in the valley. A bare branch becomes a crystal chandelier.

Respite.

2011-01-10T08:58:00.000+11:00

Fingertips of glory thread a rainbow through the clouds. Kookaburras chuckle in the glistening trees. The rain returns.

Late afternoon

2011-01-09T18:05:00.001+11:00

Thistledown parachutes drift on breaths of air, seeking safe landfall.

Serenade.

2011-01-08T15:45:00.001+11:00

Cicadas shrill a chorus to whisper song of leaf and breeze.

Dawn

2011-01-07T09:04:00.000+11:00

Molten gold ignites the horizon; white fire lights the sky as I run.

Sunshower

2011-01-06T17:57:00.001+11:00

Asphalt steams in travel-scented dreams.

Storm

2011-01-05T16:47:00.001+11:00

Sky grumbles, heavy and dark with imminent tantrum. I know how it feels.

Clouds

2011-01-04T20:13:00.000+11:00

Through a filigree of leaves, glimpses of a silvered sky.

Rain

2011-01-03T22:22:00.003+11:00

Jewel drops glisten on a silken web, the invisible revealed.

Tending tomato plants

2011-01-03T06:01:00.003+11:00

Staking softly furred stems. Sticky, pungent sap perfumes my hands.

New Year's fireworks

2011-01-01T09:17:00.001+11:00

Cool, clear morning. Flashes and sparkles of birdsong welcome a new day and a new year.

Morning run

2010-12-31T09:45:00.004+11:00

Layer of red cloud hovers above the trees - the city's looming aura.

A glorious day

2010-12-22T07:33:00.001+11:00

Wild rabbits skip aside as I run in the golden dawn.

Getting an early start...

2010-12-20T17:05:00.004+11:00

Stroked by the wind, long grass pulls at its roots, eager to romp.

A river of stones...

2010-12-13T06:36:00.002+11:00

"a small stone is a polished moment of paying proper attention"

The small stone project collects people from around the world to write a small stone every day during the month of January.

You can do it TOO!

I would write more but I have an insane amount of things to do right now and no way to catch this blog up on all that has happened this year, starting with my leg snapping in two most unexpectedly. So I shall borrow a FLyLady principle and jump straight in instead of trying to catch up. Tis time to start from now and make a brand new ending :D

Watch out for falling pebbles!

Turn, turn, turn

2010-03-24T08:20:00.001+11:00

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.

1848 Shaker song. Listen - it is beautiful!

I started Lent with a bucketful of high hopes - all the positive changes I was going to make, all the good things I was going to do... but being human, they have dribbled away and dribbled away until I am left carefully balancing that last teaspoonful and praying that I won't spill it too.

First the dripping trail:

- clean like the Lord is coming to visit: one and a half weeks out of 4. I've kept climbing Mt Washmore (the laundry) though, and the dishes twice a day... let's say 35%.

- exercise every day: it seems worse, but it's really only this week that I've slacked off... started with TOM & high humidity, but coincided with anniversary & birthday celebrations to add to the cumulative blah effect... I'll be generous... 75%

- take advantage of study time... again I was doing reasonably well and then somewhere around the middle of last week I allowed the distractions to creep in and take control of my time again. Comparing what I need to do with what I have actually done... 65%

That gives me a grand score of 58%. PHEW! I just scraped in with a pass... but you know me - scraping in is never satisfactory. I'm an over achiever. I want high distinctions to be happy. I NEED to zoom home with flying colours. Well, the special celebrations (excuses for being naughty) are out of the way and Lent is not over yet. There are still 11 days until Easter - and 11 is my lucky number. Hmmmmmm.

Okay, here's the plan. Start by celebrating 11 successes, then set 11 goals to speed me through the next 11 days. Let's refill the bucket!!!

CELEBRATE SUCCESS:

1. I bought a pair of shorts on special for my gym wear - $11.
2. They only had size 14 & smaller left on the rack. I took a pair of size 14 home without trying them on first - and they fit fine!!! (not that many months ago size 20 was a squeeze!)
3. I found a pair of generic orthotic insoles at Woolworths for $21 and they seem to help the pain when I walk, giving me hope I am on the right track.
4. The jade and pearl jewellery that Yeti bought me for our anniversary arrived and is very beautiful. I shall feel like a queen when I wear it.
5. I found FREEMIND - the mindmap program that I have been raving about. It is revolutionising my note taking and is so much fun to use that it makes me WANT to work.
6. There are clean sheets on the beds.
7. I have only missed saying the rosary on 3 days. If I skipped my exercise, I still did the rosary while I hung the washing or did other tasks.
8. So far so good on the don't weigh yourself commitment. Yup, I gave up my scale for lent lol... I couldn't think of any material thing I was inordinately attached to... then I thought of how often I weigh and measure myself and what a sacrifice it would be NOT TO KNOW!!! So I gave it up. And I don't know... and I'm not going to weigh myself until Easter Sunday - hence the desperate desire to turn this train around and ensure a pleasant surprise when I do :P
9. One of our cats, Sweety Follow (named by Wombat, can't you guess?) was bitten by a red belly black snake. I found him lying paralysed out in the yard. We brought him in and cared for him and thanks be after five days he has fully recovered and is back to being a happy 'uncle' cat playing with his 4 kitten siblings. We have seen two more snakes since - but thankfully the boys seem to make enough noise to keep them away.
10. I have started reading the Magic Pudding to Wombat and he is loving it ( a bit above his comprehension level, but he gets the jokes and the songs are fun to sing).
11. We (I) finished the labryinth! There's a little clearing down in the bush. Last year, Wombat and I collected loose stones and built a double spiral. This month I got more ambitious. We now have a full labyrinth next to our double spiral. Wooohoooooo! The boys seemed to find playing down in the bush every day to be more positive than playing around the house, too. I also counted an hour of rock carrying on my exercise ticker several times lol.

And now the TO DO list:

1. Take your iron tonic twice a day.
2. Find your water bottle counter - or make a new one if necessary - and DRINK your water.
3. Exercise for at least 30 minutes EVERY day - the free gym trial is coming up... this should be easy!
4. 10 minutes of parenting reading each day.
5. Keep saying the rosary.
6. Clean your desk - give your workspace a fresh SPARKle.
7. Declutter - find 11 items to throw away and 11 items to give away.
8. At least 2 days of processed food detox - starting today.
9. At least 30 minutes each day of solid study.
10. At least one small item off your cleaning list each day.
11. Eat clean until Easter - no more treats! That includes letting Wombat and the others finish the birthday cake lol. One slice is enough for you. (Don't complain - you shouldn't have gulped down spoonfuls of frosting just because you made too much. The boys were sensible enough not to take your offer - what made you think you needed to overload your system with margarine, icing sugar and cocoa??? It also includes jellybeans and block chocolate. NO MORE UNTIL EASTER - you hear me???) [Sorry for shouting... just need to make sure the lecture sank in... see what kind of a nagging mother I am? but my inner child is getting too spoilt lately... 11 days of no indulging - and all tantrums will be ignored.]

There... that should do it! I was going to post a pic of the labyrinth but my graphics program froze... I'll do a photo entry some time next week instead :D

I'm off to listen to my favourite turn-me-around song again :) Hope you liked it!

PS. just reading through this and noticed the interesting psychological point that i celebrate "MY" success but then I tell myself what "YOU" will do. I'm not going to rewrite it, but next time, I must remember to commit myself and say "I WILL" instead of hiding behind the fiction of an external authority telling me what to do (ie thus avoiding personal responsibility for my choices).

Celebrating self worth

2010-03-10T15:02:00.001+11:00

One of my favourite places for occasional procrastination is the Ordinary Courage blog written by Brené Brown. She is currently publicising the release of her new DVD: 'The Hustle for Worthiness' - a filmed lecture on her "new research on love, belonging, and the power of being enough." She is hosting a "week of worthiness" in the blogging community.

I just happened to follow a link to an interview with Brené, and was inspired to answer the questions myself. At first, they seemed easy, but when I thought more about it, I found myself answering "I don't know" to most of them. It actually took quite a lot of soul searching and worthy contemplation to get to this point... and then it seemed a shame to throw my answers away, so I decided to share them with you!

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Being in the creative zone - whether it be sewing, writing, exercise (creating a new me), housecleaning (making dull things shiny) - anything that transforms the mundane into the magical, requires my body to be occupied and allows my mind to soar free. A bit like this song clip, really... (if you don't have time to listen to the whole song, at least fast forward to near the end so you can see what she makes!)

2. What is your greatest fear?

Being unloved and misunderstood, hurting people and not being able to make amends.

3. Which living person do you most admire?

Truthfully? Myself. *Blush* I know... isn't that awful? But no, it is not. I am proud of my resilience, my ability to keep trying, to pick myself up from the depths and start again, to stare my faults in the face (and they are myriad) and to do daily combat with them, knowing that win or lose I will show up again tomorrow to fight the good fight once more. Don't you think it is important to admire the person you know best in all the world? Or perhaps I just have a greater tolerance for my own weakness than I do for that of others :P

4. What trait do you most deplore in yourself?

I too often and too easily make my children suffer for my frustrations. I am a bully.

5. What trait do you most deplore in others?

Sitting on your high horse and judging others (unfortunately, this is also the second trait I most deplore in myself)...

6. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Know what? I don't think any virtue is overrated lol... I even read through the Wikipedia article on virtue - very interesting and informative - searching for one virtue I could single out, and instead emerged inspired to cultivate even more virtues in my life. Honestly, I feel that the whole concept of virtue is so UNDERrated by modern society that the structure needs support, and I would be ashamed to throw another stone at it.

7. What or who is the greatest love of your life?

Yeti :D We were married on the anniversary of our first kiss, so on March 20th we shall celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary, and our 18th year of life together. Since I will be 36 in August, that means that as of this year I have spent half my life with Yeti! When we met, I was 18 and he was 37. I was a catholic schoolgirl, he was a Harley riding biker. I thumb my nose at all those who said we would never last, and hope and pray for many many many many more years.

8. Which talent would you most like to have?

Oooohhhhhhh.... I want to be able to freeze time or stre-e-e-e-e-e-etch it... or maybe just move at super speed, that would do it.....

9. What is your current state of mind?

Anticipatory, eager, a little anxious... actually, there's a bright blue sky of bravery, a burning sun of determination, plenty of soaring birds of ambition.... but way down below there's a tiny little darkness under a rock that is s***scared.

10. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Motherhood... it's also my greatest challenge (see 6) and at times my greatest failure (see 4)

11. What is your most treasured possession?

Ok... I have now mentally reviewed my boxes of clutter, my shinies and my sentimental specials... yes, there are lots... but for the here and now the answer is my mp3 player / ebook reader (cheap chinese) and my Bang & Olufsen (chinese copy) headphones... at the moment I am getting in at least 30 minutes on the cross trainer each morning because I have loaded a scriptural rosary onto it so I can double guilt myself into getting out there to pray and exercise at the same time... then if I get the chance at naptime, I rush out for another 30 minutes of exercise so I can listen to Dickens' The Curiosity Shop which I have loaded as an audiobook. Sad but true :P

12. What is your superpower?

Ahahahahahaahaaaaa. I have the power to enter your mind riding a flood of words that lift you up and carry you away on fantastical journeys, all without opening my mouth or leaving my desk. As a recent experiment has shown, my kryptonite is being confined to one word lol.

13. What is your motto?

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending." (Carl Bard)

I have a book full of them, though... Some of my other favourites include:

"Even a dead lion scares the sheep." (Anonymous radio announcer)

"Bad weather always looks worse through a window." (Tom Lehrer)

"You are on first name terms with lucidity. I have to call it 'Mr Lucidity'." (The Tick)

"Rest and be kind. You don't have to prove anything." (Jack Kerouac)

14. What do you most value in your friends?

Honesty, humour, acceptance of my foibles.

15. Which word or phrase do you most overuse?

"No."

16. What is your greatest extravagance?

Ebay

17. What is the quality you most like in a woman?

Loyalty

18. What is the quality you most like in a man?

Commitment

19. On what occasion do you feel the most authentic?

When I am writing - and not always about myself lol.

The elves did it - Playful parenting success #1

2010-02-02T10:39:00.000+11:00

While Wombat screamed in fury, I peered into his mouth and pretended to see a whole city of elves doing fun things inside him... he was soon giggling so much he forgot all about the tantrum. You can bet I'm going to remember this tactic and use it again... and again... and again!!!

Later... it worked for brushing teeth too! I said I could hear the elves complaining that the little white rocks at their entrance were all yellow and dull instead of bright and shiny. He saw the toothbrush in my hand, caught on immediately and voluntarily did a great job of brushing (normally meets with stubborn resistance.)

I'm loving this! Woohoooo!

Heart Smart

2010-01-31T15:21:00.003+11:00

Bet you thought from the title this entry was going to be about my fitness goals?

Nup. My week took a huge dippity-dive into the abyss and I feel very blessed to have emerged on the other side of it with just a few bruises. There were times when I truly thought that my world was ending. Partly hormonal, partly a huge volcano load of stress erupting from me and Yeti and blowing (as Wombat says instead of lava) 'blubber' everywhere... I won't go into painful details.

Suffice to say we worked through it, we survived, and we have a plan to go on with. Smart goals for a happy heart.

Last week, I gave the impression that getting baby ready was all about the house (and the habits that go with it.) Actually, there's another string to that bow, and concentrating on it is largely responsible for saving my sanity this week. It can also be summed up in a quote (I can't find a source for it, but I'm sure I read it on a blog somewhere and it always stuck with me):

"A mother's smile is the heart of the home."

We have been disconnecting with each other. Heading into the war of all against all. A constant battle where all are the losers. Not much to smile about there. But what is that rainbow through the tears? Of course! It's a SMILE!

A book arrived. One I had purchased from England and had been waiting for... Leonard Cohen's 'PLAYFUL PARENTING'. It gets my vote as the BEST parenting book ever.

A random internet link led me to a forum of mothers who were speaking the language I needed to hear: www.mothering.com.

Nothing is ever smooth sailing. The waves still come over the sides, but now I feel like I have a bigger bucket and a better bailing technique. Plus the sun just came out and I'm smiling at the rainbow.

"Peace begins with a smile." ~Mother Teresa

I couldn't find a calendar I liked this year, so I've been making my own using creative commons photos from Flickr, quotes from St Teresa of Avila (my confirmation saint) and a calendar template from WinCalendar.com.

Here is my inspiration for February.

Smile!

Here comes the sun

2010-01-24T15:16:00.002+11:00

It is Sunday, so here I am! I lost 400 grams this week, down to 78.6 kgs so I have earned my blogging day - though I won't get as much of it as I deserve due to this nasty toothache! I finally got to sleep at 4am this morning. That meant getting up at 5am - even for the temptation of blogging - just wasn't going to fly lol. However, the boys went sweetly off to sleep for me this afternoon (after a few minor tempests) and my tooth is giving me a momentary respite (which I should probably be taking advantage of by catching up on some sleep, but anyway...) HERE I AM!

And now for the promised explanation of my plans for 2010 and what I am up to :D

You remember my 3 critical happy factors - the three things I must achieve to count 2010 as a success?

1. Reach my goal weight.
2. Qualify as a barrister.
3. Become 'baby ready'.

Well, I've sat myself down and I've worked out why I want them and what I have to do to achieve them. Some were easier than others. Actually, the hardest was number 3 - baby ready - so I'll deal with that first.

The reason this was so hard to quantify and plan for is because it is so ambiguous (what does baby ready mean? Before my first son, Wombat, we sat down, had a serious discussion, decided we couldn't possibly afford to have a baby, and conceived him that night. Now there is planning for you!)

There's also the problem that this goal is dependant on achieving goal 1 (losing weight & getting fit) and in almost complete conflict with goal 2 (becoming a barrister). What to do? What to do?

So I forced myself to break down my desire, my vague yearning, into its base components, and then I broke those down and broke the results down until I reached rock bottom and had some clearly defined, achievable, positive steps to take that I could start on right away and would assist me in being baby-ready without needing to know when the actual baby might theoretically arrive.

It all eventually came down to one quote:

Like the sun rising
over the mountains of the Lord
is the beauty of a good wife
in a well-kept home.
(Ecclesiasticus 26:15-16)

At first my feminist hackles bristled, but no matter how I squirmed, I kept coming back to it. That is what I want. It is what I want for my children (both present and future), for my husband, for myself. Even for my 88 year old mother-in-law who rubs me the wrong way, damn it. I want to be that glorious sunrise. That is what being baby-ready means to me!

And so I have dusted off my Home Control Journal (those of you who are FlyLady fans will know what I mean). I have taken to heart the motto I pasted on its spine: "Time is the most valuable thing one can spend." (Theophrastus) I try to get dressed and lace up my shoes as soon as I get out of bed. I start the day with my chores - feeding the pets, hanging the washing (I do several loads the day before and hang them out in the dawn), shining my sink and my little daily adventure in whatever zone I am in today (as per FlyLady's suggestions, I have divided my house into zones, and listed 6 tasks for each zone - one per day, except Sunday - starting at the ceiling on Monday and working down to the floor on Saturday).

It all takes up about an hour of my precious morning alone-time, but it is paying off. Already I can see the changes around me. I am ABSOLUTELY NOT a natural housekeeper. I am the absent-minded professor type who can live in the midst of relative squalor while focussing on the intellectual task at hand and neglecting all else. It is taking a real effort of will to change those habits, but I am doing it, and I am proud of it.

On days like yesterday and today - when I slept in thanks to this toothache keeping me up all night, or when the boys wake up before dawn and won't go back to sleep - I really feel lost because my list hasn't been touched. I don't demand perfection of myself - the idea is babysteps - I just have to make a determined effort on each new day...

Actually, now I've gotten this far, I might end this entry and discuss the other goals next week... the bathroom floor really does need the scheduled scrubbing it didn't get yesterday... and I can hear the chooks squawking as I never did get around to feeding them this morning.

This new-found sense of responsibility is both a blessing and a curse to my procrastinating soul, but you know what - I LOVE IT & I'm not going back!

Happy Happy

2010-01-14T15:25:00.000+11:00

I'm really loving the way my 2010 plans are becoming habits - but more about that later... still early days, don't want to jinx it :)

More importantly, I'm REALLY loving being told how healthy I look at the moment... Here's a pic my Dad took of me and the boys earlier this week.

9 kgs down... 14 kgs to go! WOOHOOOOO :D

My hip is still hurting, but I have an appointment with the Physio on Tuesday.

In the windmills of my mind

2009-12-01T05:18:00.002+11:00

(Fractal: 'I sleep only to dream of you' by longan drink)

Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning
On an ever-spinning reel

It is 4am. I woke up to go potty two hours ago. I should have gone back to bed but the seductive glowing screen called to me from the darkness. I should go back to sleep now, but something has been turning in my head for days... I must risk greeting the dawn with a yawn again because I want to share it with you - to record it for myself - to make it real - and this is the only time that I have.

Like a snowball down a mountain
Or a carnival balloon
Like a carousel that’s turning
Running rings around the moon
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes on its face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space

I started week 4 of the podrunner series this morning. I was so stiff and my hip hurt. Even after 5 minutes marching on the spot to warm up and 5 minutes stretching, I was limping when I started the first walk interval. I told myself "Just give it a go. You can stop if you need to." Then came the chime for the first jogging interval. My body started to move. Running is still slower than walking, but there's this magic that happens in my head. Once my feet start pounding, my thoughts roam free. Maybe it's the extra blood flow to the brain, maybe the endorphins streaming through my system, whatever it is - I think better - think clearer - than at any other time.

Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind

I love spirals. I've always loved spirals. Beautiful fractal coils, endlessly spinning around themselves.

Like a tunnel that you follow
To a tunnel of its own
Down a hollow to a cavern
Where the sun has never shone
Like a door that keeps revolving
In a half-forgotten dream
Like the ripples from a pebble
Someone tosses in a stream

As I run, I think. I think about spirals. I think about spirals as a metaphor of my life and suddenly I feel something click. Back in August, on my 36th birthday I first felt this peculiar, invigorating click inside me.

That was the moment I changed from someone sedentary to someone active. From someone who was drifting with the flow and getting fatter and flabbier with every moment to someone willing to swim upstream against the flow of time... someone with the determination and drive to get up before the babies wake and learn to run, someone who voluntarily teaches their body to move in new ways. In July, if you had said to me that by December I would be running, doing situps and pushups, I might have laughed. If you insisted that I could be that someone, I might have cried. But here I am. I am doing it. This is me!

Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes on its face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind

Back to the spirals and that second inspiring click I felt last week while running.

Life as a spiral. Always spinning inward, inward, inward into the center. Searching for that mote of perfection inside myself. If I could just find it. If I could just polish it bright enough then it would shine so radiantly. Everyone would recognize my brilliance. Everyone would love me. I would have all the answers. Failure would no longer frighten me. I know it is there, somewhere inside me. If only I could find it.

Academic achievements, two university degrees with first class honours. Nope. Not there. Self indulge the study stress, the relationship stress. Stop eating, not consciously, blame it on illness. Psychosomatic. In my mid 20s I weighed 53 kilos. That's 10 kgs less than the ideal weight I am aiming for now. Maybe if I faded away to a shadow that brilliance would shine through. Didn't work. Marriage. Children. Still not it. Still seeking, searching, spiralling inwards.

Keys that jingle in your pocket
Words that jangle in your head
Why did summer go so quickly?
Was it something that I said?
Lovers walk along a shore
And leave their footprints in the sand
Was the sound of distant drumming
Just the fingers of your hand?

Thinking all of this. Running. Hearing the birdsong behind the beat of the music. Watching the sunrise gild the treetops... turn the sky from grey to blue. Thinking of the boys and my husband, my darlings, asleep inside the silent house. Thinking of lists of things to do. CLICK. Suddenly the spiral turns.

Suddenly it is no longer spiralling inwards. Suddenly I can feel the potential of energy spiralling outwards. A quiet, shining, spinning pool of light in my centre sparking out into the universe. In that moment I feel immense, tremendous, powerful, capable of anything, not the meagre, pinching tightness of the old inward spiral. This is something new. Something amazing. It's a feeling I am trying desperately to hang on to. To remember. To put into action. But the old habits of thought and action are so strong.

Pictures hanging in a hallway
Or the fragment of a song
Half-remembered names and faces
But to whom do they belong?
When you knew that it was over
Were you suddenly aware
That the autumn leaves were turning
To the colour of her hair?

I do not need to search any more. My perfect self is not elusive. It is not hiding in some dark inner crevice awaiting my discovery. It is me. The me that is here and now, with these hands, with these feet. This flesh is at my service and I have the will to put it into action, to use it for good. To make a difference.

I have to start small. Baby steps.

I have dusted off my flylady control journal. For three days now I have kept the bedroom (where the boys and I co-sleep) and the playroom (a gated off section of the loungeroom) clean and tidy. Neither the boys nor I eat nor go to bed nor go outside until I can see the floor and everything is in its proper place. New rules. New beginnings.

To put this in perspective, housework is my anathema. I was raised in a mess (despite my busy mother's best efforts) and I just don't notice the clutter even when it hits me in the face. If I am going to spiral out and change the world I need to first start by changing my own environment. The internal changes are working. New habits are forming. I am fitter. I am stronger. I can do more. Be more. That click of the spiral is shifting my focus outwards, showing me that it is possible. I CAN do more. I can be that person. I can have it all.

Three months ago I was a person who didn't "do" exercise. Now I am a person who does. It is a deliberatly chosen way of life that I want to maintain for the rest of my life. Three months ago when I started moving for 30 minutes a day on my mini trampoline I honestly could not imagine the possibility of learning to run, of logging over 100 exercise minutes in a day and feeling it wasn't quite enough. It has made such an incredible difference to my life. If I can hold onto this feeling, this awareness, this energy - if I can channel it outwards - what a difference can I make to the lives of my loved ones? Already I see an improvement in the boys' behaviour, in their ability to settle and concentrate. Can I keep it up?

I've been through stages like this before, and always I can find something to blame for sabotaging my efforts. I slide back into the old ways so easily. But this time... I want to believe in that spiral. I want to flow outward, not inward any more.

My mother-in-law returns from holidays tomorrow. That is my first challenge. When it's just us, when I am responsible for the house running smoothly, it is easy for me to take charge, take control. When she is here I have to share the space. I slip into negative interactions, hide in my shell, let her do the work or clash with her efforts. I don't share easily, not when the spiral is running inwards, when it is all about me. I wonder if I can change that too. Plenty to think about. Plenty to act on. I have my baby steps planned for tomorrow - oops - for today. If I do my pilates now, I can get the area around the computer tidied up before the boys wake up. I'm already awake and I can always join them for naptime after lunch.

Happy start of December! Have a blessed day :D

Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning
On an ever-spinning reel
As the images unwind
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind

Possum's Problem

2009-11-05T06:24:00.005+11:00

Tomorrow I have to hand in my last two assignments and I am nowhere near ready... I got up at 4am to work on them, but instead...

I recently obtained an ex-library-copy of Anne Pellowski's The Story Telling Handbook. The boys love the story of 'The Noisy Gecko', and ever since reading it another story has been clamoring in my brain...

This morning I found I could ignore it no longer, so...

A first draft:

Possum's Problem

It was early one morning. The pale moon and the stars were still hanging in the sky, waiting for the first light of the sun to come twinkling over the treetops.

Wombat finished her dinner of sweet juicy grass and yawned. "Time for bed!" she said. But instead of curling up quiet and cozy in her burrow, Wombat decided that today she would like to try sleeping outside.

She snuggled down in a pile of leaves underneath a big eucalyptus tree and soon she was asleep, dreaming happy wombat dreams.

High up in the branches of the tree, Possum was sleeping too. Suddenly, the tree started to shake! Possum hid his little pink nose beneath his brushy tail and tried to ignore it, but it didn't work. Blinking in the bright morning sunlight, he clambered down the trunk to find out what was happening.

At the bottom of the tree he found Wombat, scruffling and scratching and wriggling and squiggling. "I can't sleep!" she complained to Possum. "Could you please ask Ant to stop crawling on my fur? She is tickling me terribly."

Possum went to see Ant. "Ant," he said, "why are you crawling on Wombat's fur? You are tickling her terribly, so she is scruffling and scratching and wriggling and squiggling at the bottom of my tree, and I want to go to sleep!"

Ant said, "I am scurrying around searching for food for my family because I heard Currawong calling 'We've got rain! We've got rain!' I must make sure there is enough for everyone to eat before the storm gets here."

So Possum went to see Currawong. "Currawong," he said. "Why are you calling out 'We've got rain! We've got rain!'? Ant heard you and is scurrying around searching for food for her family. She is tickling Wombat terribly so Wombat is scruffling and scratching and wriggling and squiggling at the bottom of my tree, and I can't sleep!"

Currawong said, "I heard Frog crying out 'Kek-kek-kek, Kek-kek-kek!' I thought she was warning everyone that the sky was going to fall, so I was just passing on the message."

So Possum went to see Frog. "Frog," he said. "Why are you crying out 'Kek-kek-kek, Kek-kek-kek!'? Currawong thinks you are warning everyone that the sky is going to fall, so he is passing on the message. Ant hears Currawong calling out 'We've got rain! We've got rain!' and is scurrying around searching for food for her family. She is tickling Wombat terribly so Wombat is scruffling and scratching and wriggling and squiggling at the bottom of my tree, and I can't sleep!"

Frog said, "I heard Wattlebird yelling 'Ker-klonk, ker-klonk!' I thought there must be a snake in the grass and I was telling my friends to hide."

So Possum went to see Wattlebird. "Wattlebird," he said, "why are you yelling 'Ker-klonk, ker-klonk!'? Frog thinks there must be a snake in the grass and is telling her friends to hide. Currawong hears Frog crying out 'Kek-kek-kek, Kek-kek-kek!' and thinks it's a warning that the sky is going to fall, so he is passing on the message. Ant hears Currawong calling out 'We've got rain! We've got rain!' and is scurrying around searching for food for her family. She is tickling Wombat terribly so Wombat is scruffling and scratching and wriggling and squiggling at the bottom of my tree, and I just want to go to sleep!"

Wattlebird said, "I was angry because I heard Whipbird calling 'Coooo-whip! Coooo-whip!' I know that he thinks his babies are prettier than mine!"

So Possum went to see Whipbird. "Whipbird," he said, "why are you calling 'Coooo-whip! Coooo-whip!'? Wattlebird thinks you are boasting that your babies are prettier than hers, so she is yelling 'Ker-klonk, ker-klonk!' Frog hears Wattlebird and thinks there must be a snake in the grass, so she is telling her friends to hide. Currawong hears Frog crying out 'Kek-kek-kek, Kek-kek-kek!' and thinks it's a warning that the sky is going to fall, and he must pass on the message. Ant hears Currawong calling out 'We've got rain! We've got rain!' so she is scurrying around searching for food for her family. She is tickling Wombat terribly so Wombat is scruffling and scratching and wriggling and squiggling at the bottom of my tree, and I can't sleep!"

Whipbird said, "Can't you hear Kookaburra laughing 'Kookoookakakakaka'? She's been laughing all morning and I want to know what the joke is!"

So Possum went to see Kookaburra. "Kookaburra," he said, "why have you been laughing 'Kookoookakakakaka' all morning? Whipbird wants to know what the joke is. Wattlebird hears Whipbird calling 'Coooo-whip! Coooo-whip!' and thinks he is boasting that his babies are prettier than hers, so she is yelling 'Ker-klonk, ker-klonk!' Frog hears Wattlebird and thinks there must be a snake in the grass, so she is telling her friends to hide. Currawong hears Frog crying out 'Kek-kek-kek, Kek-kek-kek!' and thinks it's a warning that the sky is going to fall, and so he is passing on the message. Ant hears Currawong calling out 'We've got rain! We've got rain!' which sends her scurrying around searching for food for her family. She is tickling Wombat terribly so Wombat is scruffling and scratching and wriggling and squiggling at the bottom of my tree, and I am not getting any sleep!"

Kookaburra laughed and said, "I am happy because it is such a lovely day, and the sun is shining so beautifully and brightly."

So Possum went to see Sun. "Sun," he said, "could you please stop shining so beautifully and brightly? It is making Kookaburra happy, so she is laughing 'Kookoookakakakaka'. Whipbird is calling 'Coooo-whip! Coooo-whip!' because he wants to know what the joke is. Wattlebird hears Whipbird and is angry at him boasting that his babies are prettier than hers. Frog hears Wattlebird yelling 'Ker-klonk, ker-klonk!' and thinks there must be a snake in the grass, so she is telling her friends to hide. Currawong hears Frog crying out 'Kek-kek-kek, Kek-kek-kek!' and thinks it's a warning that the sky is going to fall, and so he is passing on the message. Ant hears Currawong calling out 'We've got rain! We've got rain!' which sends her scurrying around searching for food for her family. She is tickling Wombat terribly so Wombat is scruffling and scratching and wriggling and squiggling at the bottom of my tree, and I need to get some sleep!"

Sun shone warmly down on the tired little Possum. "There now," he said, "You just go back and tell Wombat that if I didn't shine so brightly, the grass wouldn't grow and she would have nothing to eat for her dinner. If Ant is annoying her, she should go and curl up quiet and cozy in her own dark burrow instead of complaining."

Possum beamed at Sun, and went back to see Wombat. "Wombat," he said, "everyone is doing just what they think is best. It would be wrong to try to stop them. I suggest you go and curl up quiet and cozy in your burrow where you won't disturb me, because now I am going to sleep."

Wombat looked surprised. Then she nodded, yawned and shuffled off to her peaceful burrow. Possum climbed to his favourite branch, curled his brushy tail around his little pink nose, listened for a moment to the sounds of the bush, and Possum

went

straight

to

sleep.

One woman's rubbish is another woman's treasure

2009-10-22T03:10:00.003+11:00

Final exams start next Monday... studying like fury and also trying desperately to keep up with my new goal of daily exercise...

At first I thought yesterday was going to be something of a failure. It took forever to get the boys dressed and outside, then the moment I started cardio, they headed off in opposite directions, and that was the end of that! By nap time the temperature had soared to 33 degrees, so when Yeti volunteered to take Wombat off my hands, I chose the more sensible option and grabbed a few hours study time. When they woke up I got busy rearranging the lounge/play room so we could fit the portable air-conditioner back in. Suddenly it was 5pm and no exercise done...

I wrestled the boys back into their clothes, popped Munchkin in the stroller and told them we were going for a walk down the street. I figured it was better than just sitting still, and I'd count it as my cardio - the stroller's tyres are in dire need of pumping up, so it's harder to steer than a shopping trolley :P and besides, it's council clean-up time, and who knew what treasures the neighbours' might throw away...

Halfway down the street, we found it! Reclining on a pile of polystyrene packaging, a grand old lady who had seen better days... underneath the dirt and cobwebs I could dimly see the words "Malvern Star Superstar". I hopped in the high saddle for a glorious moment of freedom. She whispered that her name was Daisy. Then I wheeled her home (stroller and all lol). She is dark green (I think, under all the dust) with a 'lady' frame (I've never enjoyed riding a man's/racing/straight frame) and cruiser handlebars. She has a head & taillight, and an original toolkit! She's dusty, rusty, her tyres are perished, but in the 30 seconds I rode her for, I could feel her potential and knew we would be best of friends.

Luckily Yeti knows quite a bit about bikes and has agreed to help me get her back into working order :P At the moment her seat is too high, but other than that she is the perfect size for me. (She had a companion, a gold Bennet with a straight/racing frame and racing handlebars - way too tall for me and not my style, but I went back and got him too, for spare parts or in case Yeti wants to fix him up for himself...)

By the time I had made two trips up and back, pushing stroller and bikes, I figured I'd had my workout :P I finished up with the 10 min bootcamp routine after dinner. Other goals - eating healthy, study, posture, parenting are more or less on track. Wombat woke me at 1am to say he had a sore tummy, but I got him back to sleep. Munchkin woke me at 2am by falling out of bed... after I got him back to sleep I discovered I was wide awake and thinking about Daisy, so I decided to get up early and tell you about her before getting on with my study.

Have a great day! I'll take some before and after pics when I wash Daisy tomorrow.

Breakdown

2009-10-07T05:14:00.005+11:00

Arrgghhhh... Telstra recently decided to stop hosting free home pages. That means my site is gone, and with it, all the background & header images I had linked from various blogs and everything is in a mess.

Don't panic. I haven't lost anything - I've even got my own domain now (WOOHOOO): Fractalmyth.com! I found free hosting for the domain at 50webs.com, but they don't allow external linking of images, so I am left with a pile of broken links and no time to fix them. I've wasted half an hour just trying to get the image back on my header here... I've uploaded it over and over again, it appears successfully in the edit header widget, so why is it not showing??? *sob*

As I'm sure you know by now, EVERYTHING is on hold until the end of October. I shouldn't even be here now, I should be writing notes on Due Diligence in Commercial and Corporate Law... but... but... my blogggggggssssss need me (I hope you can hear the anguish in that cry!)

I haven't posted a daily photo at Fleeting Reality for months, but I am going to catch up, I promise... I've still been taking photos, so look forward to a massive retrospective life-dump in the near future...

My last review at What, Wombat? was in January, so there is another huge backlog there... and Baby Wombat is a guilt trip writ large - will Munchkin be forever traumatised because I never recorded his milestones in the loving detail lavished on his big brother?

As for Scheherezade, well, I'm not sure why the Sultan hasn't cut my head off yet...

However... I will be finishing my exams just in time for November, and we all know what November means: NANOWRIMO!

Since I am on a roll when it comes to long term goals at the moment, I am determined that this will be the year when I finish The Seven Ravens. I can hear you sniggering back there behind your screen. You don't think I can do it, do you? Hah! Just watch me. (lol, yes, I am talking to myself...)

Just right now, though... many trees have given their lives for me, and I must dutifully honour their sacrifice by decorating their compressed corpses with multicoloured scrawls and magical formulas designed to protect me in the ordeal that looms ever nearer.

Shalom. I need it!

Once upon a time...

2009-07-02T06:54:00.005+10:00

I recently discovered a blog by a most awesome and inspiring author - Sarah Beth Durst. She writes young adult fantasy novels with a fairytale theme.

Imagine - Rapunzel's daughter Julie, living in the everyday world. There's a talking mirror on the wall, her mum wears makeup to look old, and The Wild lives under her bed... and steals things... and converts them into magical objects...

You can read the first chapter of Into the Wild here! (There is also a sequel, Out of the Wild.

Or imagine - you live in Alaska and you suddenly find that the mother you believed long-dead is actually being held captive by trolls. How do you find out? A polar bear speaks to you on your 18th birthday, and promises to help you rescue her... IF you will be his bride!

That is ICE!

I love the premises of these books, their lively humour and commitment to true fairytale romance...

I first found Sarah's blog by following a link to her collection of obscure fairy tales, and I am very glad I did.

I was a bit bored with my attempted rewrite of Sleeping Beauty, and after reading around Sarah's blog, I scrapped what I had and started again. I think you're going to like it... but since I can't enter the contest (US residents only) I will wait until entries are closed before I post it.

I was, however, able to enter Sarah Beth Durst's competition for an advance reader copy of Ice. Don't enter - I've got enough competition there already lol!

I have an ulterior motive for mentioning it... Sarah called for her readers to name their favourite kick-ass female heroines (I chose Polgara) and as a result, the comments are full of books that I now MUST READ.

So this whole post (other than being an outpouring of admiration) is really just a link to a ~~comment~~ treasure box. I can foresee a trip to the library in my very near future!!!

Dollies and a Booby

2009-06-12T14:26:00.010+10:00

I think the thing I like most about blogging - other than the chance to get my writing out of my head and into a space where someone else might read it - is the opportunity it gives me to communicate with people I would otherwise be isolated from. My sister is in that category - if it wasn't for blogging, we would not know each other in the way we do now.

Another person I am very grateful to have met through blogging is Farida from Saints and Spinners. Although we have never met in person (and most likely never will, living on opposite sides of the world) I count Farida among my dearest friends. I have been fascinated by my glimpses into her life, from the first time I stumbled across her blog and was captivated by the image of her daughter dancing with the dust fairies, through the gradual expansion of her storytelling business, to her recent successful venture into the world of doll making.

You can see Farida's dolls at her etsy store: Alkelda

So far, Farida has been concentrating on nature dolls and elementals. A collection of saints is also planned and I can't wait to see what she comes up with! They are sweetly detailed little creations, just right to hold in your hand or inspire you from windowsill or tabletop - and I am lucky enough to own two of them.

It all started when Farida mentioned - possibly as a joke - making a doll to represent the heroine from The Seven Ravens fairytale. I immediately started thinking how I could a) coerce her into making this dream come true and b) make it mine! (My favourite long-term writing project - and the one I am most determined to finally finish one day - is turning the Seven Ravens into a novel.)

Thinking back, I remembered Farida once expressing a wish for a Blue-footed Booby puppet, and so a trade was proposed and accepted.

Here she is - my lovely Seven Ravens girl. She sits atop my computer monitor and nags me ceaselessly, as all good muses should. Her cloak is embroidered with the sun, the moon, a sprinkle of stars and a track of raven footprints. She is independent, impatient, anxious about her siblings, and in her minds-eye, already far from home having marvellous adventures. I love her!

Seven Ravens Girl

Seeking her brothers,
she has crossed oceans to be
my inspiration.

Then, when Farida opened her etsy store, I went window shopping, knowing that I could not afford to indulge myself by buying dolls, no matter how beautifully made. I fell in love with one, in particular.

Dressed in cobalt blue, with embroidered dragonflies skimming her skirt, standing tall and elegant with her staff topped with delicate blooms in blue and pink... I immediately wrote to Farida, intending only to express my sincere admiration for her creation (and my intention of 'stealing' her dragonfly embroidery design). In an incredibly act of friendship and generosity, Farida decided I should have her, and now she stands beside Seven Ravens' girl, as my totem of love, hope and courage! Sweet Borage is cosy and stay-by-my-side, ready to light my way through the darkness with her starflowers, and inspire my dreams with her flitting dragonflies.

Borage: Starflower, Herb of Courage

A kindred spirit
one mother to another
lighting the darkness.

It has taken me many weeks to finally, publicly acknowledge these lovely creations - partly I wanted to keep them to myself and enjoy their company, partly I was waiting for sunshine so I could photograph them as they deserved, and mostly, I was waiting until I FINALLY finished my part of the bargain. With two small boys constantly demanding my attention, it seemed to take forever. I have been stitching seated on a toddler-sized wooden chair in the playroom, I have been stitching out in the grass watching the acrobatics, I have been stitching under pine trees (and lost my needle).

Starting with nothing but a blank sheet of paper, a bag of felt and fabric scraps and a lot of imagination, I amazed myself by creating a blue-footed booby that I am actually really happy with! (Wombat loved it too, so I am crafting a second one for him - he was really disappointed that I wouldn't let him play with the first one!) I would love to share it with you, but I want it to be a surprise for Farida when she opens the box...

Oh, all right - just a sneak peek then!

Although I would dearly love to follow Farida's example and begin my own etsy store, I have way too many irons in the fire and could not justify the neglect of my children which would necessarily follow me indulging my obsession with making things. I have no self-control when it comes to such matters... and so I live vicariously, enjoying her adventures, and counting myself incredibly lucky to be gifted with such companions on life's journey :D

Oh what a beautiful morning!

2009-06-10T07:41:00.000+10:00

I wished I'd had my camera this morning - I went out at 7am to rescue the washing on the line from an icy gale force wind. The full moon was still shining white in the bright blue sky, and the rising sun was making the treetops glow. Then a flock of about 50 sulfur crested cockatoos took off into the wind, they were all spread out like a huge flag as the wind caught them, and the sunrise was colouring them, gold and pink. Really beautiful! My camera would never have captured the picture in the same way I saw it. One of my favourite photography quotes is:

"Often while travelling with a camera we arrive just as the sun slips over the horizon of a moment, too late to expose film, only time enough to expose our hearts." (Minor White)

That always consoles me on those times when I see something really wonderful but can't take its picture :P I am chilled to the bone now, but it was worth it to see that!

A message for my father

2009-06-09T03:17:00.003+10:00

Dear Dad,

I think it is great that Steff is getting you involved with our side of the internet- facebook and blogging. However, I wish she had warned me first.

This particular site - Brand New Ending - is my personal space, and if you find it, I would ask you to respect my privacy and not read any further. I am not going to remove all links to it from my name, as I do not wish to sever my connection to other internet friends.

There is nothing here of any great importance, but that is beside the point. I have had this space for many years and it means a lot to me. This is my sanctuary. Please do not violate it.

You are, however, extremely welcome at my photograph blog site. I believe I invited you when it was first set up - Fleeting Reality.

I trust you to understand how I feel.

Thank you.

Absolutely hilarious!

2009-06-04T04:50:00.002+10:00

I mean it!

With lots of thanks to Sarah Beth Durst. She said: "If you grew up in the 80s watching music videos, or even if you didn't, you are going to piss yourself laughing when you watch this."

I did... and I did!

Winning the battle - from the inside out

2009-05-25T02:35:00.003+10:00

As you know, I've been reading a number of things lately which have been helping me become a better parent - not perfect in any way or by any means, but at least I feel more like a positive work-in-progress.

Today I read an article from one of my favourite new resources, and I wanted to a) share it and b) make sure I remembered where to find it, so I could read it again and again. I will post it here in full - The Battlefield of the Mind: Anger and Parenting:

If we create a battlefield in our mind against our children, then all is lost. By battlefield, I mean the minute we begin thinking, “My child is doing this on purpose!” “My child is out to get me and make me miserable!” “My child knew what they were doing and planned this!” “My child is just wanting to push each and every one of the buttons I have!” Keep reading to find out the implications of what I mean by that!

Mamas, I have been there and done that and I would like to share something with you that I have learned: If we create a us versus them mentality in our mind and in our attitude before we even open our mouths, then we have lost.

We have lost the opportunity to warmly hold the space for our children, we have lost the moment to guide in peaceful energy the behavior we would like our child to show, we have lost the connection between us and our child.

For those of you who follow this blog who believe that childhood development unfolds according to seven-year cycles, the things we think in the moment of anger are then not even logical according to this framework! To a Waldorf parent, a child under the age of 7 does not view themselves as even separate yet; they cannot at this point “do” something to “you” because that separation from you does not yet exist. To a Waldorf parent, a child under the age of 7 is truly not logical, does not pre-meditate and pre-plan. Yes, they do test boundaries. But it is most likely more spur of the moment rather than pre-planned!

For those of you who follow this blog who are attachment parenting, to you I would say that one of the foundations of loving guidance is putting respect and empathy at the core of your parenting. Look at the situation and your child’s needs through your more experienced life lenses ( and no, you do not have to use words to ASK them all this! You are the wonderful, smart, intelligent adult who can figure this out without asking them!) What did they need in that moment where they were doing something different than what you expected or wanted? Did they need food, a break, something to do, guidance as to what was acceptable in the house or not, your attention, sleep?

And most importantly, once this occurs and we are feeling angry, can we step back and find our needs underneath the anger? Why are we so darned angry anyway? Maybe we need respect, peace, quiet, a chance to sit down?

Can you take a breath and change the scenery? Can the child make restitution, make a “healing action” to make the situation right again after everyone has calmed down? Restitution is a very important part of parenting. It shows the child that we all can make mistakes, but it is what we do with the mistake that is most important.

Most of all, no guilt trips on the child. They don’t understand the extent of the emotions you are feeling, they really don’t understand all the words you are using, and all they feel is your anger. Less words, more breathing, more warmth, more action toward the positive.

For you to meditate on is this concept of POSITIVE INTENT. What could possibly be the positive intent behind this situation, behind this interaction? Can I see it this way?

Because if you continue to play out the battlefield in your mind, the last person standing will be you with all the children around you out of the connection in the game.

Enjoy your children, find the joy. You can do this!

This was written by Carrie at The Parenting Passageway. This blog is written from a Waldorf homeschooling / attachment parenting point of view, but for great parenting advice, I have not found anything like it.

These questions come from another of her posts - Making Yourself a Priority in the Parenting Equation. I have written them out and taped them to the wall in our bedroom, where I can be sure to read them several times a day!

Ask yourself, “Is this establishing connection and trust with my child?” “Is this a respectful way to treat my child?” Ask yourself, “Is this a short-term solution that has really bad long-term consequences?” Ask yourself “Is this about my inner balance? My own stuff?”

Other posts I want and need to bookmark for myself at this moment are:

Kindness in your home, and
Stop Talking!

Many many thanks to Farida (Saints and Spinners) for suggesting I take a look at The Parenting Passageway, and a huge thank you to Carrie for writing such fantastic, thought-provoking guidance. My boys thank you too!

Yay for the Duckman!

2009-05-21T07:25:00.000+10:00

The Magic Circle

2009-05-19T03:22:00.011+10:00

In a fit of early morning procrastination, I decided to catch up on some blog-reading and found myself inspired by a challenge over at Diamonds and Toads. (I have saved a few other challenges for future posts.)

It is funny, the deeper I get into law study, the more I feel the urge to write fiction. But then, in not-so-idle musing, it occurred to me that being a good lawyer really means being a good storyteller - especially in court. Much of my nervousness surrounding the upcoming presentations I must make at the residential school has vanished with this realisation. Advocacy may make me wobble in my socks but storytelling? That I can do. Then there is the whole 'parenting = storytelling' paradigm that I am experimenting with.

So, in an attempt to render my procrastination productive and possibly even entertaining, I present the "What's happening here?" challenge.

The story spirals from a visual inspiration:

Painting by J.W. Waterhouse
The Magic Circle
Date: 1886
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 183 x 127 cm
Location: Tate Britain, London, UK

And then a name:

Your fairy is called Columbine Iceshimmer
She is a bone chilling bringer of justice for the vulnerable.
She lives in mushroom fields and quiet meadows.
She is only seen when the first flowers begin to blossom.
She wears lilac and purple like columbine flowers. She has icy blue butterfly wings.
Get your free fairy name here!

And so it begins:

All winter they searched... a desperate, barren winter and a desperate quest with no end in sight. Frozen grass crackled under hoof and the only other sound outside themselves was the harsh cry of ravens, lurking in the neverending rows of cypress trees that bordered the empty paddocks. Then came the rain. Bitter, unrelenting rain, scouring the rocks, rutting the path so that they stumbled and fell in the mud, blinding them with stinging sleet. Still they travelled and at last, blinking in disbelief, they emerged from a dark forest into the gentle warmth of a sunlit meadow. The air was fragrant with crushed herbs, and everywhere the two travellers looked, tiny fairy-rings of red, white and gold spotted mushrooms were sprouting.

In the middle of the meadow stood a cloaked and hooded figure, harvesting herbs with a golden sickle. She moved amongst the flowers on bare feet, flitting like a butterfly from plant to plant, tucking little bunches into the brown girdle tied at her waist. Glancing up at the weary travellers, she smiled.

"I've been expecting you," she said.

"We have come that you may perform what you have promised." Looking into her dark eyes, the travellers felt ashamed to disturb such a peaceful existence, but she was now their only hope. They blurted out their story, their words tumbling over each other, hardly knowing who spoke what. "The old king is dying; the prince has no wife and is tortured by self doubt; day and night his stepmother whispers to him that he is unlovable, that no maiden would want him for anything other than his wealth and power; she tempts him constantly to come to her bed for she has long lusted after him and nothing means more to her than retaining her position as queen; he resists, clinging to the vision his mother gave him on her deathbed - the vision of you; he fears you to be no more than fantasy, Columbine Iceshimmer. He fears that, even if you are real, the sacrifice required of you is too great. He fears that his stepmother speaks the truth and his head swims with the effort of resisting her enticements. She overwhelms his senses with perfumed incense and rich food, hoping to trick him into succumbing but while he languishes in that luxury, the people suffer. The queen is greedy, she strips the land to supply her table and furnish her palace. She insists that nobody laugh or sing or dance on pain of death, for always she suspects that they are laughing at her. The walls of the city are festooned with the heads of merrimakers, many of them children."

Here they broke off. One sobbed, and the other comforted him with a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Once we were parents. Once we delighted in the joy of our children, but the queen has stolen them from us. Our only hope is the prince and his dream, and so we come to you, Columbine Iceshimmer. We ask of you an impossible task. The old queen trusted us. Before she died, she asked us to protect her son, to give everything we had to keep him safe. We have done that, we have nothing left. But she also told us of you. She said: "When all else is gone, when all hope is fled, when joy no longer dares to sing, find Columbine Iceshimmer and tell her of your need. She will know what to do."

The young woman listened in silence, then she turned, eyeing the raven who flew cawing overhead. With a finger on her lips she led them through the meadow which ended abruptly in a steep cliff. She vanished over the edge, following a narrow path that wound along a perilous ledge. The travellers hobbled their horses in a patch of lush grass and followed her, helping each other over the rough ground. When they reached the bottom, Columbine ushered them into a dry, comfortable cave, furnished with a little wooden chair and table, and a simple wooden platform for a bed. The walls were hung with drying herbs. Speaking softly, she bid them hide themselves and no matter what they saw, not to interrupt her.

"The ravens are spies for the queen," she whispered. "They will not be able to see once I complete the magic circle. You must remain here. Only approach when the coals of my fire are cold and nothing but ash remains. Dig through the ash and carry what you find, unopened, to the prince. Tell him it is a gift for his wife from his mother, but do not delay on your journey. The old king is dead and the prince has agreed to marry his stepmother in one month's time. He must give her the gift on their wedding night or else all is lost. Now rest. We must start at dawn."

At first light, Columbine walked alone into the clearing. Ignoring the cries of the ravens gathering along the edge of the rocks, she carefully built a fire of elder and hazelwood, throwing in bunches of basil, thyme, and honeysuckle. On a tripod over the coals she placed a golden cauldron that had been polished until it blazed. Drawing a glowing stick from the embers she carved a protective circle in the dust, starting from the east, with her eyes fixed on the rising sun. Ravens circled in the clear dawn air, landed, clustering along the rim of the circle, cawing and rubbing their beaks in the dust as though blinded by the smoke.

Chanting under her breath, Columbine removed her cloak of heavy purple wool. The travellers gasped to see icy blue butterfly wings unfolding from her shoulders. She pulled from her girdle the golden sickle, curved like the new moon which still hung in the brightening sky and with one swift motion she severed her wings and cast them into the heated cauldron. A pillar of white smoke billowed up as they burnt; she threw her sickle in too, and bunches of lavender, dandelion and clover, as she walked around and around the fire constantly tracing and renewing the circle with her smoking stick. They could hear her chanting as her tears dripped and sizzled on the nearly molten metal. Then she bent and grasped the glowing bowl in her hands, shaping it into a square casket, without removing it from the flames. Suddenly dropping the stick, she leapt inside and the lid of the casket clicked down to cover her.

As soon as the smoke from the circle died down, the ravens moved in, but the wind from their wings fanned the coals and they were driven back again and again by the heat. Eventually evening fell and the huge black birds flew off to their roosts in the cypress trees.

The next morning, the travellers emerged from the cave in the chilly predawn. They stepped around an ancient human skull, buried up to its eyesockets just outside the circle and with trembling hands they sifted through the cold ashes, listening intently for the sound of the ravens returning. Finding the small golden casket, one hid it under his cloak and together they ran up the narrow path to their patiently waiting horses.

Day and night they galloped, stopping only to change their steeds at the waystations, eating in the saddle, fighting the urge to sleep. After a week they reached the coast where the prince's ship was docked. It took three weeks for the ship to reach the city, and the whole time they paced the decks, trying to fill the sails with an endless effort of will; when the sailors managed to convince them to lie down, their restless sleep was haunted by the cry of ravens.

At last they arrived, to find the city preparing for the prince's wedding, but with no rejoicing or celebration. Everywhere there were signs of mourning for the old king, and a black bunting of ravens clustered on the soaring turrets of the palace. Inside the palace, however, the rooms were overflowing with priceless tapestries and jewelled dishes; a riot of colour that contrasted sadly with the grey faces of those that moved amongst the treasure.

The travellers followed the dawdling servants and found the queen and her cronies drinking golden liquor from crystal goblets, clothed in sumptuous silks, with painted faces and nails, their hair piled in elaborate curls... but the prince was nowhere in sight. Finally they located him, alone in the chapel, lying naked on the stone floor near his mother's memorial, his gaudy wedding clothes folded neatly on a pew. They handed him the casket and repeated Columbine's instructions. He rose as if in a dream and donned the clothes laid out for him. Making no other acknowledgment of their presence or the successful completion of their mission, he carried the casket to the queen. She looked up in surprise, but spying the gold in his hands she bit off her sarcastic comment and her eyes gleamed. She grabbed the casket from him, greedily tearing it open. Inside she found a golden chain suspending an ice-blue shimmering star. She eagerly insisted the prince place it around her neck. His fingers were clumsy and she tugged at the necklace impatiently as she yearned towards the full length mirror that spanned the wall.

The moment the jewel touched her throat, the chain began to shrink. It pulled tighter and tighter, choking the queen, until her elaborately coiffured head rolled off and landed at the feet of her shrieking friends. Within moments the room was empty, except for the prince. Still moving like a sleepwalker, he lifted the delicate chain from the dead queen's body and returned it to the casket. As he did so, he noticed a tiny cocoon attached to one side of the golden box. His brow wrinkled as he stroked the cocoon gently with his fingertip. Instantly it split and a pale blue smoke emerged, filling the room with the sweet scent of herbs and banishing the queen's overpowering perfume.

When the smoke cleared, the prince saw first that the queen's body had vanished. Then he noticed a young maiden standing by the window. She was not beautiful. Her dusky lilac dress was crushed, its embroidered hem tattered and stained. Her feet, bare, dusty and coated in ash, her long black hair wild and tangled. But she looked the prince in the eye and smiled. Blinking, and shaking his head, he smiled back. With quick steps he crossed the room and looped the shining star jewel around her neck. She touched it fondly and tucked his arm around her waist. Together they stood by the window, talking in low voices. As they watched, they could see the ravens feasting on something brightly coloured, in the distance, beyond the city walls.

The story of Whistling Wind

2009-04-25T13:45:00.013+10:00

I'm on a roll with the parenting books at the moment. I know I said I was going to talk about the Faber and Mazlish books I mentioned last entry - and I still am, but I have something else to share today. The boys are both sick and sleeping in the middle of the day - I am three weeks into my course and already a week behind... should be using this time to catch up... but...

I scored a great book on ebay last week - one I have been really hoping to get at a reasonable price: Susan Perrow's Healing Stories for Challenging Behaviour. Basically, it shows in a very practical way how to nudge children towards better behaviour by telling them a story! There are lots of different stories there - for almost every situation you can imagine - and best of all there is advice and ideas for creating your own stories - even if you are not a creative person to start with.

I love it! I'm only half way through, but when I sat down to study this afternoon, I found myself writing a story for Wombat instead. Being sick is really getting him down. He won't take any medicine - even refuses a spoonful of honey - and when I got him to eat a banana this morning, it came straight back up again. The only treatment he will accept is hugs - and he wants them constantly - "Hug me forever, Mummy!" You can imagine that with Munchkin sick too, that is rather difficult for me to do!

So I wrote this story:

Once upon a time, when stories were real and dreams still came true, there was a wind. A mischievous little wind who liked to make other people feel sad, and her name was Whistling wind.

Whistling wind had a song she liked to sing. It went like this:

"Blow, blow, worry and woe
slow, slow, soft and low
Down your cheeks the tears will flow."

I don't know why Whistling wind liked to make other people feel miserable, but everywhere she went, she sang her mournful song.

One day Whistling wind was blowing through the long grass in a field when she saw a little mouse. He was lying on his back, looking up at the clouds and the daisies waving above him, and he seemed to be very contented.

"Hmmmm," thought Whistling wind. "Goody! Here is someone that I can sing my song too!"

So she did.

"Blow, blow, worry and woe
slow, slow, soft and low
Down your cheeks the tears will flow."

Little mouse heard the song, but he didn't know who was singing it. "What a strange song," he thought. "It makes me feel a little bit unhappy!" And he pulled his eyebrows together into a tiny frown.

"Aha!" thought Whistling wind. "It's working. I'll sing my song and blow even harder now!"

So she did.

Looking up at the clouds, Little Mouse heard Whistling Wind's song. Suddenly, he saw a cloud that looked a little bit like his Mummy Mouse. Normally that would have made him feel very happy, but not while Whistling Wind's song was in his ears.

"Blow, blow,
worry and woe
slow, slow, soft and low
Down your cheeks the tears will flow."

Little Mouse started to cry.

"Mummy's always so busy. She's always running around cleaning the mousehole, or collecting seeds for us to eat, or looking after the baby mice..." (Little Mouse had
lots of little brothers and sisters.) "Mummy Mouse never has time for me anymore," sobbed Little Mouse. "I don't think she loves me like she used to when I was a baby
mouse."

Well, Whistling wind felt very proud of herself for having made Little Mouse feels so sad, so she danced a little whirling windy dance to herself, down among the grasses and then up up up into the clouds. While she was dancing among the clouds, she whirled one of them around into her dance. It just happened to be the cloud that looked like Mummy Mouse, and it had been covering the sun. As soon as the cloud moved to join Whistling Wind in her dance, the sun popped out with a warm happy "peekaboo!"

Little Mouse looked up with tears streaming down his cheeks. He was still feeling very sad and lonely but the warm glow of the sun started to make him feel much better. He remembered how warm and lovely it felt when Mummy Mouse smiled at him. He remembered how good he felt when he did something kind and helpful and Mummy Mouse said thank you. He remembered that even though Mummy Mouse sometimes got a little bit grumpy if he did something wrong, she always forgave him when he said he was sorry.

Suddenly, Little Mouse jumped up with a big smile on his face. "I know what I am going to do," he thought.

Creeping through the grass, Little Mouse made his way quietly back to the mousehole.

Whistling Wind looked down from the sky, feeling a bit confused. She didn't know what was happening, so she decided to watch carefully and see.

There was Mummy Mouse, sweeping and swooshing the dust out of the mousehole. She looked very busy and very tired. Behind her, Whistling Wind could hear all the little baby mice crying and calling.

"I don't need to do anything here," thought Whistling Wind. "Mummy Mouse looks like she's going to start crying soon too, without any help from me!"

Then Whistling Wind saw Little Mouse creeping through the door.

"Oh good, thought Whistling Wind. "He's going to start complaining too. That will definitely make Mummy Mouse start to cry." But Little Mouse didn't.

On soft little mousey feet, Little Mouse crept over to the baby mice. "Shhhhhhh," he whispered. "Mummy's busy, but I am here. Now what's the matter?"

The baby mice were so surprised to see their big brother mouse that they all stopped crying.

"We want Mummy!" they squeaked.

Little Mouse thought. Then he had a good idea. He cuddled up next to the baby mice and said "I know I'm not Mummy, but maybe if I tell you a story, it will make the time go quicker while she finishes her jobs. Is that ok?"

"Yes please!" squeaked the baby mice, "and could you sing us a song as well?"

"Of course," said Little Mouse.

So he did.

When Mummy Mouse finished sweeping, she came inside wondering why all the baby mice
were being so quiet and good. She saw Little Mouse with all his baby brothers and sisters curled up around him, snuggling together as they listened to his story.

"Thank you, darling Little Mouse," said Mummy Mouse, and she gave him the biggest, warmest most loving hug that he could imagine.

"Little Mouse looked after us!" said the baby mice.

"I know," said Mummy Mouse, "and that makes me very very happy."

Well, you can imagine how disappointed Whistling Wind was when she heard that! She took a deep breath and got ready to sing her sad song.

But then, she looked again at the little mousehole with all the happy baby mice clustered around their Mummy and she saw Little Mouse, with a big smile on his whiskers, and she thought "Hmmmmm. I'm tired of making everyone feel sad. I think it's time I sang a different song."

So she did.

"Laugh and be happy,
it's no fun to be sad.
Smile and be cheerful
and you'll make others glad!"

As she sang, Whistling Wind started to feel a little tickle at the corners of her mouth, so she sang her new song again.

"Laugh and be happy,
it's no fun to be sad.
Smile and be cheerful
and you'll make others glad!"

This time, the tickle turned into a giggle and before she knew it, Whistling Wind was
roaring with laughter. The sun started to smile too, and all the clouds did their best to make happy shapes as they swam across the sky.

"Hey," thought Whistling Wind. "That feels REALLY good! I don't think I am going to
sing my old sad song ever again. From now on, I am only going to sing my wonderful new song, and wherever I blow, I am going to make everyone feel happy."

So she did.

+++++++++++++++++

They both just woke up, so my apologies for any rough areas... it was written really quickly... but you get the idea. I'll let you know how it goes! Right now, I'd better go see if I can tempt them with some lunch :D

++++++++++++++++++

Quick notes based on first telling:

too much negativity in first part - only sing the sad song twice - three times is too much; sing the happy song three times!
middle line of sad song is uneccessary; works better without it!
too much detail in Little Mouse's introspection; cut back & make less obviously self-referential
Also more detail in middle part - have Little Mouse help a few other people before his mum - say a turned-over beetle and a bent flower stem?
Put more details into the story and song Little Mouse tells to his siblings - and make them happy magical sparkling details. Remember aim of story is cheering up, with secondary idea of being helpful to make others happy too, so increase balance of positive to negative otherwise it's a bit of a downer and too transparent in its efforts to get the child onside.
Things that worked? the sun - particularly the 'peekaboo'... Mummy Mouse's hug... and the happy song... but the ending fell a little flat - too obviously didactic?
So Whistling wind whooshed off hither and thither and everyone who heard her song danced through their day with a happy heart - show, don't tell!

====================

Final conclusions?

Too moralistic (lecturing)... instead, needs to be moral (inspiring)...

Really two stories here - Whistling Wind Changes Her Tune and Little Mouse Learns To Help. Separate them and each one will become stronger. Introduce more surprising/unexpected moments. Work at keeping the tone light and upbeat, even in the 'sad' parts.

It was

2009-04-19T06:35:00.004+10:00

THAT kind of a day :(

Here's just a 5 second snippet. I won't subject you to more...

Added incentive to perservere with my new books: 'How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk' and 'Siblings without rivalry' both by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish.

Everywhere I went on the net where child (and parent) behaviour was discussed, these books kept popping up as the number one recommendation. I figured, if the Catholic homeschoolers, the Montessori mamas and the Charlotte Mason devotees ALL loved these books, they HAD to be good. I was right! They are just common sense, but sometimes it helps to have things written out as a plan. They work for all relationships too :) I'm even putting them into practice with Yeti lol...

I wasn't taught much about communicating when I was little. I can't handle anger - my own or other peoples - effectively at all. If someone criticizes me (for anything, no matter how small and trivial) I burst into tears. What is worse, I am teaching those bad habits to Wombat. What you can hear above is him screaming "Hug me, mummy... please hug me... just hug me" with the desperate broken-heartedness of a 3 year old who has just gotten into trouble and consequently his world is ending. But this is happening constantly - everytime he doesn't get his way... everytime I am busy with Munchkin (who is also screaming in the video. He's a very sweet-natured baby, but BOY does he get furious when he has a problem. Not just a little bit angry but absolutely off his little rocker. Gets over it quickly though - much like his daddy in temperment... Wombat is more like me and can make himself sick with crying and stress.) That's the thing... I find myself using all the negative comments that made me what I am and which I vowed never to use - "stop crying, you'll make yourself sick" - I realise now my mother was perfectly genuine (and in some ways justified) in her response and I find myself feeling that same coldness and lack of empathy - but I KNOW it doesn't work, so I went looking for an alternative method that suited me. (ps. I am not picking on my mum - the older Wombat gets, the more I sympathize with her - and pity my younger self lol - I just don't want to use the same methods and repeat the cycle for another generation.)

Just don't fall into the trap of congratulating yourself on how well you are doing with communication now and how there are fewer tantrums in the house and the problem is solved... otherwise you will end up with a day like today! A number of the reviewers on Amazon said they read from this book every day! That sounds like a good idea. Reminder to self: it's a work in progress and will continue for the rest of your life :D THERE IS A LONG WAY TO GO!!!

You will probably be hearing about these books (and others) again - there are exercises for the parent to do... I'll post mine here for my own record and the amusement of others...

Pay it forward

2009-04-15T20:45:00.000+10:00

I will make a handmade gift for the first 3 interested people who comment on this post. I have 365 days to do it in...

What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise!

The catch is that you must participate as well: you must have a blog and before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going.
(just cut and paste this one if you like!)

I was wandering around following links from here and there when I ended up at Beyond Pink and Blue. I noticed there was still an opening in her 'pay it forward' game, so I left a comment, and now it is my turn to play!

I am having fun with the craftiness at the moment, and have plenty of photos to share, but I will put them in another post so as to leave this one uncluttered. I wonder if anyone is out there??? First in first served, and anyone is welcome to play, whether you are family, a rare and regular commenter, a lurker, or just someone passing by on the great rabbit trail of blog-links :D

Snail drop number two

2009-04-02T08:24:00.002+11:00

Dropped: Camden, NSW
Number of toys: 1
Made by: Schelle
Dropped by: Schelle & family
When: 28 March 2009

And: I had hoped to leave this snail riding the ferris wheel, but the queue was a mile long and she whispered to me that she was afraid of heights. We rode the spinning teacups instead. She was a bit dizzy after that, so I left her to have a rest on the fence between the teacup ride and the playground, where she could watch lots of children enjoying the show. It will take a keen eye to spot her against all that colour and movement! I wish I could have stayed to see what happened :D

Not quite where I wanted to drop her, but the boys were hot and tired and it was either leave her here or take her home with me again and I didn't want to do that :)

(I do know she was gone the next morning when they were packing up the show.)

A slippery snail drop

2009-03-28T10:11:00.002+11:00

The snails I made for Wombat's birthday turned out beautifully. I will post a pic of them when I am finished making their mat to race on (my sewing machine has not been cooperating, so I have only been able to finish things which could be done by hand.)

I couldn't find any felted wool jumpers that I was happy with, so I ended up crocheting the shells. This was a trial and error process, so I had a number which were good but not exactly what I wanted. Yay!!! That meant more snails for toy drops :P

Steff, recognise the body fabric on this little guy? It's the waistband from the maternity jeans she passed down to me after her first pregnancy. I wore them for two pregnancies and most of the time in between, until the denim part was full of holes... and now they live again lol

Dropped: Camden, NSW

Number of toys: 1

Made by: Schelle

Dropped by: Schelle & family

When: 27 March 2009

And: When I left, this friendly fellow was happily admiring the magnificent steam engines on display at Camden Show.

I have another snail to drop this morning - I am hoping to leave her riding the ferris wheel :D

I have won Yeti's approval for this now so I am sure you will see more drops from me in the future - probably not as many as some as I don't get far from home very often - but every chance I get! Yeti likes the street art aspect - that's what got him on side :D

The bird is the word

2009-03-16T01:46:00.003+11:00

Yup, the bird is out - in more ways than one :)

First, YIPPEEEE! My birdies were found!

The Toy Society website is back up - the birdies are drop #153. If you don't have time to click on over, here is what the finder said:

Found safe and sound, Friday 13th March, one pair of cute little twins. They were hanging out in bushes at Austinmer beach enjoying the view of the ocean and eagerly waiting for the sun to rise. The twins will take up residence this weekend at Berowra Heights when I visit my grandchildren. They will have a good home and be well looked after.

Thank you for the beautiful work

Sandra

Isn't that nice?

Also, I don'tneed to worry about Yeti finding out lol... he was looking through the photos I took at the beach - and I forgot to delete the birdie photos. His comment:

"Why are they hanging in a tree????"

So I explained all about the Toy Society (his comment: "sounds weird")... with the proviso that I was planning to make a set for the boys (true) and I wanted to test the pattern out (true), and had found some things I wanted to do differently (true) and just decided to give away my first attempt rather than keeping them as clutter (true)... I didn't tell him I was doing it because it was FUN! and EXCITING! He might have thought I was even weirder (he knows how weird I am but he still married me lol).

I left up The Toy Society website later in the day so he could see it was all legit... he had a quick look, shrugged and said "all right..." in an "I still think it's completely weird but I'm prepared to humour her this time" kind-of-way. Hey, he didn't say no, so I am going to take it in a "yay, you go girl - within limits" kind-of-way lol.

Next on the agenda - Wombat has requested a cuddly snail for his birthday, so I am going to make him this racing snails game. I will need to make a test-snail first, of course.........

His birthday is less than a week away so I had better get a wiggle on - just having trouble getting Yeti to part with some old felted jumpers - he's only got two wardrobes full of clothes he never opens lol... but when I pulled out some candidate jumpers (felted, way too small, and full of moth-holes) he got a little offended, so now I must gently nudge him to choose some himself. (I showed him the snails, and he likes them... and if he won't do it for me, he WILL do it for Wombat lol). I'd use some of my own jumpers but I shoved everything that didn't fit in a bag and took it to St Vinnies lol (dratted decluttering... I knew I would need them someday...) {ROFL @ Yeti's tongue-in-cheek suggestion: "Can't you find some old felted jumpers on eBay?"}

Two little lovebirds sitting in a tree.

2009-03-12T20:54:00.000+11:00

I made my second drop for the Toy Society today! I am blogging about it this time, because it was nowhere near home :)

Although I know someone took my bunny home, no-one has contacted the Toy Society to say they found it. That's not surprising - I'd say that was true for the majority of toys that get dropped. It doesn't alter the addictiveness of the experience lol - it just adds to the excitement of wondering where your toy is now :D

I had so much fun with this one - I wonder if someone has found it already - though the Toy Society blog hasn't been updated since Monday. Very unusual... I guess Bianca, the brains behind it all, has a real life as well lol! I hope it comes back soon - I love watching what other people make and where they drop them - and especially reading about toys that are found :D

Dropped: Corrimal Beach, NSW, Australia

It was a BEAUTIFUL day for the beach. We were on our way to pick up an eBay purchase from a nearby suburb, so we gave the boys a treat after the long drive.

Number of toys: 2

I did think about making two separate drops, but they looked SO sad when I tried to put them in different baggies... I couldn't bear to keep them apart! (Plus, it is our 17th anniversary next week, and I'm feeling romantic.)

Made by: Schelle

Sitting at the computer at midnight, I suddenly realised we were going to the beach today... and it would be the perfect place to drop a toy... and I DIDN'T HAVE ONE READY! I grabbed the first piece of fabric I found in my craft cupboard, a handful of embroidery threads... and a few hours later these little lovebirds were hatched.

Dropped by: Schelle

I am keeping my toy-dropping a bit of a secret lol... otherwise Wombat would claim every toy I make as his own! I am also not entirely sure how Yeti would feel about it - he's a bit sensitive about time management at the moment, and me getting enough sleep. Staying up late to make toys for strangers may (or may not) fit in with his idea of priorities. It also makes things more exciting!!! I waited until Wombat and Yeti went off to explore the rockpools, and I snuck around behind a great big bush, while Munchkin watched from the picnic mat.

When: 12 March 2009

I sat with Munchkin for about an hour, during which time a number of people walked past from the car park and went up the steps to the road. They didn't see the bag - you would have to be walking down the steps to see it. I was worried about Wombat spotting it while he was running around - but I told him he had to be careful not to scare the real birds ----->

And: This 'tweet' pair of lovebirds should be right at home on this bush while they wait for their new nest-owner to find them - there was a family of Superb Blue Wrens bouncing around them!

My camera is great for many things, but it is just hopeless at photographing birds! Anyway, this gives you the idea :) and shows the steps down which the birdies' new owner will have walked.

Out for the duration

2009-03-04T08:43:00.003+11:00

The boys aren't that sick, just enough to be demanding extra attention (there's a voice in my ear right now - "Mummy, you have to make lots of cars. Lots and lots of lego cars!")...

and my home journal planning is finished & being put into practice, so the housecleaning has started and is going well (yesterday I washed the velvet curtains in the loungeroom - for the first time in two years!!!)...

and Munchkin is getting more mobile (I was filling Wombat's bath last night, sure that Munchkin was still snoozing soundly in my bed... he heard the water running - loves his bath - and tried to crawl out to us landing nose first on the wooden floor OUCH!)...

and I have to re-enroll at the College of Law this month, which means getting all my notes in order...

and Wombat's birthday is coming up, so any computer time is vanishing into the search for perfect presents (for a little boy already so spoilt by eBay that he expects something new every other day)...

and the posts I wanted to write are piling up behind me in an avalanche of "shoulds"...

and the doctor tells me my insulin resistance and blood pressure are too high as a result of the extra weight I am still carrying from the pregnancies...

and I have decided to go back to drinking full cream milk as breastmilk is still an important part of Munchkin's diet and he is very obviously craving fats to build that growing brain. I was cutting all fat out of my diet in the hope that my body would burn some of the extra I was carrying to feed Munchkin, but it's just not working that way, and I refuse to compromise his development. The change is obvious - he is instantly sleeping for longer periods and is more settled. I used to notice the same thing with Wombat whenever I started drinking lite milk while feeding him. I was just being stubborn about it, but oh well... I have cut out all sugar from my diet, and the only other answer is more exercise... which takes time I would otherwise spend at the computer....

so I am declaring a time out :D I won't be writing or opening my Google Reader, so please excuse my absence. I'll probably be back after Easter. In the meantime, I will still try to keep up with my daily photos at Fleeting Reality - I am taking photos every day, and just getting them up onto the internet when I can squeeze in a few moments for myself, so they tend to appear in clumps rather than one at a time - yay for being able to backdate posts!

See you soon... I'll miss you... but a mama's gotta do what a mama's gotta do!!!

G is for... great expectations

2009-02-27T07:33:00.003+11:00

I am having trouble with Tricia's blog - The Miss Rumphius Effect - every time I go there my browser crashes and I have to restart the computer. I can't even leave her a comment to say it is happening (or to let her know about my poetry stretching lol. This one wasn't that good an effort, but I did like my sijo(s)?).

As a result, I am not linking directly to this week's poetry stretch instructions, because I have finally got my computer stable enough to post my poem (I hope)! This week's challenge was to write macaronic verse - a poem that uses one or more languages, usually for comic effect. Here's mine (nowhere near as good as the other offerings she received!) but my brain is not working at its best, for obvious reasons :P

The boys are cranky.
They are sick.
Sniffling, snuffling, sneezing.
I am sick too.
Ich bin krank.
Gezundheit.
God Bless You.
Amen!

You don't want a photo of us in this condition (trust me!) so here is some gorgeous, gentle green instead.

Can you see the little froggy hiding in the centre of the pumpkin leaf? We counted 5 green frogs on the pumpkin vine yesterday :D

It is still too early here for the Poetry Friday roundup. I shall try to locate the host and do the link later.

Simple Woman's Daybook

2009-02-24T08:23:00.004+11:00

FOR TODAY (Tuesday 24 February 2009 )...

Outside My Window... last night's thunderstorm has left everything clean and freshly washed. The sky is now blue and it's looking like a nice warm day ahead.

I am thankful for... my new bluepearl earrings - a valentine's day present that arrived a little late :)

I am thinking... about all the things I need to catch up on.

From the learning room... lots of lego.

From the kitchen... mmmmm pancakes today - tomorrow is Ash Wednesday.

I am wearing... more striped flannelette pyjamas shades of blue this time.

I am creating... still working on the home journal and the button book.

I am going... to get Wombat dressed before breakfast.

I am reading... this nice idea for prayer during Lent - Lenten Lights.

I am hoping... to get lots of washing dried and put away today.

I am hearing... Wombat sitting on my lap and chatting about a playdough elephant he has made.

Around the house... the bugs have hatched out in the humidity caused by all the rain, so we are all itchy again. Lots of washing and vacuuming to do.

One of my favorite things... Wombat's imagination.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

try to get to Mass tomorrow

continue building my home journal

battle the bugs

decluttering

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

Munchkin - soon to be on the move...

This snippet of my life brought to you courtesy of the Simple Woman's Daybook. If you would like to join in too, you will find all the details here. Thanks, Peggy!

Come to the water

2009-02-22T08:00:00.001+11:00

I am behind on everything this week... so I will backdate this to Sunday lol... Steff found me the words to the hymn I was looking for (THANK YOU!!!) - no music this week, sorry. If I get the chance I will sing it for you sometime this week :P

Come to the water

Come to the water, you who are thirsty
Though you have nothing I bid you come
And be filled with the goodness I have to offer
Come, listen, live.

Why spend your money on what cannot fill
The emptiness deep in your heart
Listen to my word and you will enjoy
Goodness and peace in your heart. (ref)

Just as the heavens are high above earth
My ways and thoughts beyond you
Call me your father and know I am near
I will be Father to you. (ref)

Just as the rain falls to water the earth
Just as the seed becomes bread
My word upon you can never return
Until my longing is filled. (ref)

F is for fantastic fun!

2009-02-20T14:45:00.005+11:00

This week's poetry stretch was so much fun - I couldn't stop at just one! Tricia, from The Miss Rumphius Effect, challenged us to write a sijo! This is Korea's answer to the haiku. I'll leave you to check out the rules over at her blog - and even if you don't want to know how to write one, you should read the example she posted by Linda Sue Park - I will never look at a storm in the same way again!

Here is my first one:

-----------------------------
An Amphibian's Nightmare

A tiny frog balances delicately on a blade of grass.
It trembles under his weight as he peers at his own reflection...

He jumps - startled! For a moment, he feared he saw a handsome prince!

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

Here is another...

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

Treasure

Fluffy yellow wattle flowers cluster thickly together,
branches drooping under an avalanche of perfumed pompoms --

a buzzing bandit flees, saddlebags overloaded with gold.

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

And another (a true story lol)...

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

Lessons in forgiveness

A little boy takes the papers his mother has measured and cut
with careful precision and pours his glass of water over them.

As she starts to yell, he smiles... says "Mummy, thank you for having me!"

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

And the last one (for now - I am sure this is a form I will return to! Thanks, Tricia - I love it - though I don't know how successful these will sound to others!) Wombat was playing outside, getting bored with my preoccupation (I was composing the above). He said - "Tell me a story about DIRT, Mummy!" So here it is:

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

For thousands of years, this soil
has been forming: from broken trees
and mountains eroding
into tiny particles of dust...

for God, in his wisdom, knew
that little boys need dirt to play in!

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

I had my camera ready - this is Wombat's smile when I got to the punchline :D (note the state of his clothes lol)

This week's Poetry Friday is graciously hosted at The Holly and The Ivy. For some reason my internet connection drops out whenever I try to open that page, so I hope I get the chance to put my entry in before it is too late!

I did it - finally!

2009-02-19T08:08:00.001+11:00

For several months I have had a handmade toy bunny packed in my bag waiting to be 'dropped' for the Toy Society. Today...

I finally managed it!

Go on - click that link and see what I'm talking about!

(I could have linked to my blog or flickr account, but since both have lots of photos of the boys and the toy was dropped at a local shopping centre, I suddenly felt all protective and didn't want them being recognized at the shops lol)

Now to get sewing on the next toy!

The veggie patch

2009-02-18T16:28:00.007+11:00

It is almost exactly a month since I first wrote about the raised garden bed which Wombat and I revived as a veggie patch, and since I have lots more photos of it I thought I'd do an update.

Shortly after the last post, an unknown predator chomped the top off all our lovely bean plants! There are a number of likely culprits - wallaby, wombat (the four-legged ones) or one of the feral deer that roam our bush.

We replanted, and after a little searching around, I gathered enough pieces to build a rather functional fence. I was quite pleased with myself as it actually looks quite tidy. I slid the piece at the back (to the right of the photo) over the star stake, so it opens like a gate. Wombat loves it as it gives him more places to climb :P

The bean seeds seemed to approve as well - especially after Wombat and I raided the old chicken pen and scraped up all the loose straw to use as mulch (with a pram and/or shopping in the boot of the car whenever we go out, it has been quite a while since I last managed to get a bale of straw home lol)

Everything started to look a bit sick when we had weeks of extreme heat, but a little more searching under the house revealed some rolls of shadecloth. Problem solved (and more fun for Wombat).

When the rain started last week we were instantly faced with fungus problems (gotta love this place!!!) so I removed the shadecloth (storing it nearby so it would be quick to rehang when necessary). The sun and breeze made short work of the fungus. It was a good thing I hadn't wired the shadecloth on as I originally planned! It was so hot when I hung it that I just tied it with a bit of string and anchored it with clothespegs from the washing line! Turns out that was a very practical solution as it can be removed and replaced according to the weather.

We moved a nice egg tomato from a pot (where it wasn't getting enough water) into the garden, and at Wombat's insistence we planted corn (seedling emerging below). Corn technically should be planted at the start of summer, not the end, so we shall see what happens.
Here are the bean seedlings now - Wombat is waiting anxiously for them to get tall enough to be twined around the wire! A hint for gardening with toddlers - you can't keep them out of the garden, so add stepping stones! It took a few weeks practice, but Wombat is now very good at only walking on the tiles (and the bean pole and fences) and not treading on the soil.

This is the whole setup - beans at left back, tomato mid-right, two patches of corn (5 seeds in each patch) at front left and pumpkin/melon at front right. Not sure what it is as it popped up from the compost we spread as we were restarting the garden. The compost came from kitchen scraps, so it will be interesting to see what fruit develops. There seems to be two plants, as there are two different types of flower - a big orange flower which I think is a pumpkin and a small yellow flower which might be a melon.

If you are wondering how I plan to grow both a pumpkin and a melon (as well as everything else) in such a small patch (just over 1.5 metres square) the seedlings popped up right in the corner, and I just trained the vine out over the edge. I left a gap for it to creep under when I built the fence Now the 'pumpkin' is sprawling to the left and the smaller melon is trailing to the right, all providing nice shade for the soil and helping to trap moisture in the surroundings.

I will do another update in the future to show how things are developing.

Simple Woman's Daybook

2009-02-17T08:08:00.000+11:00

FOR TODAY (Tuesday 17 February 2009 )...

Outside My Window... still raining - hasn't stopped all week!

I am thankful for... My car passing its rego inspection with no repairs needed.

I am thinking... about where I might find my missing earring - I think it may have gone flying when I was dashing around changing the sheets on Sunday.

From the learning room... lots of fun free printable matching games from childcareland.com

From the kitchen... food pyramids stuck on the fridge and cupboards as I attempt to explain to Wombat why he needs to eat his meat and veggies for dinner... and why chocolate is NOT on the breakfast menu! Here's a nice printable food guide and eating plan for young children - it's a pdf file. I'm going to make up a similar chart for myself!

I am wearing... purple and blue striped flannelette pyjamas

I am creating... a home journal / log book / control journal - whatever you want to call it! Attempting to get more organized, anyway...

I am going... to do some shopping with the boys today - get them out of the house at least!

I am reading... about washing my hair with bicarb and apple-cider vinegar. I tried it - and it's great! The best explanation I have found for why? is here.

I am hoping... for a little bit of sunshine to dry the washing!

I am hearing... Munchkin gurgling and singing and 'talking' on my lap as he tries to work out how to eat everything on my desk, including the keyboard and mousemat.

Around the house... everyone eles is just starting to wake up.

One of my favorite things... getting a great deal on ebay for something I need.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

continue building my home journal

sort the lego

decluttering

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

Blue-eyed Wombat, listening to the wind...

(The overalls are one of the ebay bargains referred to above - $50 Oshkosh for $18 - yay!) Wombat is needing new trousers!

This snippet of my life brought to you courtesy of the Simple Woman's Daybook. If you would like to join in too, you will find all the details here. Thanks, Peggy!

Unplug your kids - wrinkle

2009-02-16T08:22:00.000+11:00

After being stuck inside for weeks due to extreme heat and then having to cope with another week of solid rain, Wombat really wasn't in the mood for much this week. We even bought him the DVD of Wall-E and allowed him to watch it during the daytime! But before you revoke my unplugged-mama status - when the inevitable demands for merchandising began, I redeemed myself by making a cardboard Wall-E, a (homemade) playdough Eve and a lego cockroach lol (I suggested making the cockroach out of pipecleaners, but I was overruled :P)

The only 'wrinkle' project we managed inside was when Wombat glued a picture of a puppy from a magazine onto a balloon. A few days later the balloon popped and Wombat said "The puppy is all wrinkled!" and then burst into tears! (May be a fun project to do with an older / less sensitive kid lol) No photos, as I had to quickly dispose of the evidence!

When we did finally manage to get outside, I tried to incorporate as many 'wrinkly' ideas as I could find. For example, we talked about how the pumpkin flowers were all wrinkled up tight in their buds, before stretching their petals out and unwrinkling!

And we sat for a while and watched the wind "wrinkling" the surface of the water on the dam.

Wombat was inspired to join in, and made a few 'wrinkles' of his own, with a long stick.

Meanwhile, Munchkin watched from the safety of the chinese babycarrier. The sudden cold change is really making his growing teeth painful, so he is not sleeping much at all, and much of my night is spent cuddling a screaming baby. Perhaps he was just joining in this week's project - seeing how many new wrinkles he could give his mother lol.

Can you believe these boys were running around naked for most of the past few weeks - and this week we have had the heater on every day!

You can join in the Unplugged Projects too, or just visit the other participants and see what great ideas they have! Next week's project is clothing!

Hosea

2009-02-15T08:00:00.002+11:00

I really enjoyed the challenge of learning a completely new hymn last week - though the words were much easier to get into my mind than the tune! I suspect the version I am now singing is more my own tune than the right one, so I will have to come back to the Canticle of the Sun again over time. This week, though, back to the tried and true.

It has been raining constantly for the last week (ever since I made the mistake of mentioning fire and praying for rain lol) so for this week's hymn I wanted "Come to the Water (you who are thirsty, though you have nothing, I bid you come...)" but I couldn't fnd the lyrics anywhere on the internet, and I can't remember the words to some of the verses, and with the sky falling and a public warning out for a whooping cough epidemic, Yeti vetoed taking Munchkin to Mass (where I could have looked them up in hymn book), so that one will have to wait!

Instead, I am looking forward to another favourite...

Hosea

Come back to me with all your heart,
don't let fear keep us apart.
Trees do bend, tho' straight and tall;
so must we to others' call.

Long have I waited for your coming
home to me and living deeply our new life.

The wilderness will lead you
to your heart where I will speak.
Integrity and justice
with tenderness you shall know.

Long have I waited for your coming
home to me and living deeply our new life.

You shall sleep secure with peace;
faithfulness will be your joy.

Long have I waited for your coming
home to me and living deeply our new life.

Stay on the bus!

2009-02-13T14:48:00.010+11:00

The poem and photo for "F" will have to wait for next week. I've been sideswiped by this week's poetry stretch. Tricia challenged us to write a love poem without using any terms of endearment or soppy lovetalk. Yeti and I will have been together for 16 years this March, making tomorrow our fifteenth Valentine's Day together. I still have never written a love poem for him. The time for that poem has come!

First, a few words of explanation. Yeti turned 55 last month, so he is a dyed-in-the-wool original hippy. (At 35, I'm forever destined to be a rainbow-coloured-wannabe LOL.) One of Yeti's heroes is Neal Cassady. He drove Furthur, the Merry Prankster's Magic Bus, and when he wasn't driving, he liked to play throw-and-catch with a sledgehammer. Neal is no stranger to poetry - he is the "secret hero" in Howl! I'm certainly no Ginsberg, but when I started trying to write a non-traditional love poem for Yeti, these were the things my mind revolved around. I was even inspired to buy a poster of Further - as she looks now - for Yeti's anniversary present (see photo below). I asked Zane Kesey (Ken Kesey's son) to write one of his father's quotes on the poster: "People think love is an emotion. Love is good sense."

("Furthur" is the motto of our relationship. For our wedding, we had an owl and pussycat cake, and the name on the pea-green boat was "Furthur". The sign on the back of the original bus read "Caution: Weird load." lol I guess that applies too!)

And now for my poem. I am going to keep it to give to him on our anniversary, partly because I want my present to be a real surprise, and partly so I have time to let it sit and think about whether I want to change anything. I'd love any advice! Please note - the Beat Generation were into experimental creativity in all its forms. This poem is not in reference to any mind-altering substance - except love, of course!

I'm still searching for a title. I'm thinking something with "aura" in it, but I just can't get it... maybe I'm looking in the wrong direction... I'd use 'Furthur', but it's already an acrostic!

Flipping a sledgehammer, working a rhyme,
Using our dreams to keep grasping the real.
Round the free will we go, turning the wheel.
Trip to the metaphor, skip through the time,
Hold onto happiness, stronger than steel -
Under the rust is a rainbow's appeal.
Riding the merry bus: love is sublime.

Pictures by Zane Kesey.

And to finish, something from "my" era that gives me the same peaceful-happy feeling that I mean by "aura" :D

Poetry Friday this week is over at Big A little a. See you there!

Unplug your kids - float

2009-02-12T05:57:00.005+11:00

We did three different activities for float, spread out over the whole week.

First, one very hot afternoon, I half-filled a tub with water and brought out Wombat's bowl of magnetic/non-magnetic objects. He did a little bit of sorting into floats/sinks but was much more interested in "sink" lol...

Then I showed him how some of the objects he had classified as 'sink' (a shell and a metal bell) would actually float if placed carefully on the surface of the water.

Other interesting explorations involved trying to sink something 'unsinkable' - the plastic shower curtain ring, which floated to the top each time it was sunk; trying to float something 'unfloatable' - the heavy spring, which floated in its jar-lid boat; and the half-and-half - the fuzzy yarn which floated until it got waterlogged and then sank.

The next 'float' activity involved a little preparation. I used some plastic packaging from a tray of custard tarts, and froze some very diluted watercolour paint.

Here are the frozen colours...

We then played with floating them in our tub of water and watching them melt.

I must admit, I probably found them more fascinating than Wombat - the way the colour had formed tree-like rings as it froze was very pretty...

Wombat had some fun swirling them and trying to sink them, and generally playing floating iceberg games...

for about five minutes... and then they were all melted away lol... (it was another VERY HOT afternoon)

On Monday we had a cool change, with a little rain, providing the perfect chance to get outside after more than a week of being cooped up by the heat. I wanted to make sure Wombat burned off as much energy as possible, so I 'floated' some balloons around the yard, tying them to trees and clotheslines with pipecleaners.

We played 'bop the balloon' with me yelling out "Bop the red balloon" etc. This gave us a chance to work on colour recognition too. Wombat is really good with his colours, but he tends to mix up blue/purple and pink/white so we will be working on those a bit more.

I tried to vary things a bit by suggesting jump, skip, walk backwards etc, but he wasn't interested in stepping outside his comfort zone, so I 'ordered' myself to do those things to show him what I meant. I didn't think he'd enjoyed the game all that much as he stopped following directions after a little while. I got him to direct me for a bit and then the game ended. When I took the balloons down, though, he insisted that he wanted to play again, so I think this is an activity we will keep and grow with over time.

You can see more great unplugged interpretations of float over at Unplug your Kids. Next week's project is: wrinkle.

Simple Woman's Daybook

2009-02-10T07:13:00.007+11:00

FOR TODAY (Tuesday 10 February 2009 )...

Outside My Window... rain! Blessed, gentle, soaking rain!

I am thankful for... answered prayers! The change in the weather and the chance to get the boys outside yesterday.

I am thinking... about the families in Victoria whose lives and homes have been destroyed by fire. I am so grateful we have not had any real threat here this year!

In the past (before kids) my role in our fire-fighting plans was to stay inside the house with a hose and soak the carpets and curtains, watching for sparks while Yeti battled the blaze outside.

Now, the boys are too young and MIL too old to risk their lives, so my job is to drive them to safety and care for them while Yeti stays to fight alone. He is well equipped to do so - we have the only really large water supply in the street and this year we have spent as much as we could afford on two diesel pumps and firefighting hoses.

Once upon a time everyone in the street thought the same way and would have co-ordinated their response. Now they are all city-dwellers and hobby farmers who have moved out here for a "tree-change" and they pile into their cars and leave at the first whiff of smoke. The rural fire service is tiny, staffed by volunteers and can't possibly be everywhere at once. Yeti has more than once put out small spot fires that would have blazed to major infernos if left to burn.

He is smart, resourceful and experienced but I am endlessly grateful that in the 16 years I've been here, the major bushfires have skirted around us and our plans have never been needed for more than a grass fire. As he gets older, the stress and worry of this time of year is getting worse.

Yeti is spending a lot of time studying the changing climate patterns and trying to locate our new home. We have decided we will be leaving here. The only (minor) questions are when, and where we will go. I am praying he finds the perfect solution soon (and drooling over the huge houses and beautiful properties he shows me on Domain.com lol)

From the learning room... We have been cooped up inside due to the heat so much lately, but it has given me a chance to try some new activities. This is one of them.

I gave Wombat a tray of flour, getting him used to the idea of copying letters. He had no interest in copying what I showed him, but did spent a happy hour drawing his own tracks - moving from the tray, to his own table, and then onto the floor. After a bit of persuasion, I even got him to help me sweep up afterwards!

(While this was going on, Munchkin was on a mat in the middle of the kitchen floor, learning to crawl. I didn't take any photos for you, as he was wearing even less than Wombat :P)

From the kitchen... cheese scones for Wombat, rusks for Munchkin, muesli for me.

I am wearing... purple wrap-around skirt, white top, bare feet.

I am creating... lots of origami boxes (masu) for storing phonics objects. I'll do a full post about them when they are finished.

I am going... to do lots of vacuuming today when Yeti takes Wombat shopping.

I am reading... blogs lol.

I am hoping... that the rain stays for a while!

I am hearing... the silence! I am so used to the constant buzz of the portable air conditioner we bought for the playroom, it seems strange not to have it on.

Around the house... MIL is going away for a few days so we will have the place to ourselves :D

One of my favorite things... the tea mug my nieces made me for Christmas - it holds just the right amount for a good cuppa.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

plant some sweetcorn
get some sleep
take some macro photos

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

A contemplative Wombat, eating a pear under a gum tree...

"Mummy, tell me about the tree's blood."

This snippet of my life brought to you courtesy of the Simple Woman's Daybook. If you would like to join in too, you will find all the details here. Thanks, Peggy!

SMILE!

2009-02-09T03:47:00.004+11:00

Found this over at The Lazy Organizer - and just HAD to share it :D Hope it makes you smile too - because you are great!

Canticle of the Sun

2009-02-08T13:45:00.000+11:00

I have by no means reached the end of favourite hymns that I want to learn properly, but this week I felt like trying something new. St Francis is a huge favourite of mine, and it is SO sunny here - so I have chosen The Canticle of the Sun.

We spent today fire-prepping (clearing away all loose flammable materials, running the pumps to water the walls and surrounding grass/trees, packing bags in case we need to evacuate the boys). We have been incredibly lucky so far this year, not even a whiff of smoke on the horizon. But with daily temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius (that's 104F) everything is tinderbox dry. All we need is a spark to light it.

Victoria, where my sister lives, has not been so fortunate. So far there are more than 100 suspected deaths - 96 confirmed. It's quite horrific. For once I am glad my sister and her family live in the big city! and in case you are wondering - I'm keeping those bags I mentioned packed and ready for the rest of the summer - just in case!

Canticle of the Sun

Refrain:
The heavens are telling the glory of God,
and all creation is shouting for joy.
Come, dance in the forest, come, play in the field,
and sing, sing to the glory of the Lord.

1. Praise for the sun, the bringer of day,
he carries the light of the Lord in his rays;
the moon and the stars who light up the way
unto your throne.

2. Praise for the wind that blows through the trees,
the seas' mighty storms, the gentlest breeze;
they blow where they will, they blow where they please
to please the Lord.

3. Praise for the rain that waters our fields,
and blesses our crops so all the earth yields;
from death unto life her mystery revealed
springs forth in joy.

4. Praise for the fire who gives us his light,
the warmth of the sun to brighten our night;
he dances with joy, his spirit so bright,
he sings of you.

5. Praise for the earth who makes life to grow,
the creatures you made to let your life show;
the flowers and trees that help us to know
the heart of love.

6. Praise for our death that makes our life real,
the knowledge of loss that helps us to feel;
the gift of your self, your presence revealed
to bring us home.

E is for ... exciting!

2009-02-07T03:47:00.004+11:00

I couldn't seem to do anything with this week's poetry stretch at The Miss Rumphius Effect. My diminishing rhymes refused to cooperate. So, I returned to another difficult poetic form which I have tried and abandoned many times over the past few months - the ballade - and this time, it worked! Yippee! It also gave me a poem about Eucalypts - something I have found very difficult to write about because of this poem, which I have posted for a previous Poetry Friday and which for me, describes the bush so perfectly that any attempt I make always suffers from the comparison. Hmmm... my computer is really playing up tonight, so if I manage to get this posted before Saturday dawns, will you buy me breakfast at Milliways? I guess not - unless I can manage three more impossible things - like catching up with the backlog in Google Reader, answering an email from an old friend, and getting Wombat dressed without tears... somehow I doubt it :)

The Eucalypts

The cocky's perch, the sly goanna's lair,
the hangout where the fruitbats fuss and tease,
a shelter for the shy koala-bear,
the acrobatic possum's high trapeze.
Above the whispered swaying of the breeze
a piercing song the shrill cicada thrums:
the music of the bushland's towering trees.
My heart will always live amongst the gums.

A blue haze rises in the hot sun's glare
as oil exudes from eucalyptus leaves
and shimmers in the overheated air:
a breath of freshness 'midst the city's wheeze;
a cure-all antiseptic for disease;
a favourite of all dinkum aussie mums;
a remedy for sniffle, cough and sneeze.
My heart will always live amongst the gums.

An aromatic scent beyond compare
as blossom-heavy branches seek to please
the lorikeets; a pair of gang-gangs, rare,
return each year for gumnuts, and the bees
with pollen-laden bags and golden knees
are gathering their loot with honeyed hums.
No substitute could compensate for these:
my heart will always live amongst the gums.

Oh royal eucalypts, your majesties
give blessings beyond reckoning or sums.
Though I may travel far across the seas,
my heart will always live amongst the gums.

Our host for Poetry Friday this week is Elaine from Wild Rose Reader.

Small Successes

2009-02-05T17:17:00.008+11:00

This is something new I am trying.

"It’s important for moms to recognize that all the small successes in our days can add up to one big triumph. So on Thursday of each week, we’ll do exactly that."

Why not join in? Can you think of three things that have gone right for you this week?

1. Getting Wombat to nap almost every day this week by setting the timer for 30 minutes and lying down with him on the playroom floor. There has only been one day when he hasn't fallen asleep before the beeps (I turn off the timer as soon as he is asleep lol)!

2. Decluttering my Christmas cards by allowing them to be cut up instead of trying to save them for posterity.

3. Munchkin pooping in the potty the first time I sat him on it.

Unplug your kids - colour

2009-02-04T16:12:00.001+11:00

For colour, I started with the bright idea of making up the thicker powdered milk paint I mentioned last week, putting the three primary colours in bags and letting Wombat experiment with mixing them. Here he is mixing up the red. (Unfortunately, the thicker milk paint resulted in the same pastel effect that I get from cornflower, though it did have a great texture. I've still got a few more ideas on different things to try.)

The problem was, I didn't have any ziplock bags of a suitable size... so I used plastic lunchbags... and they broke, almost immediately.

Not to worry - we were prepared for a mess! We went ahead and mixed the blue and yellow the same way.

Then, we started to swirl on the newspaper. I showed Wombat how blue + yellow made green, blue + red made purple and red + yellow made orange.

"Great!" he said. "But I want to make brown!" So he did... and painted a wombat with pawprints all around it.

Wombat was ready to stop there, but I reminded him that all the paint we had mixed was going straight in the bin with the newspaper unless he wanted to use some more of it to do pictures with. Thus inspired, he went on to do some nice colourful swirly-whirling.

It has been super-hot this week, and we have been spending a lot of time inside, so our colour-projects didn't stop there.

We had recently taken the Christmas cards down from their ribbon in the kitchen and they were sitting in a pile on my desk. Normally, I keep them with the vague intention of sticking them in a scrapbook, which means I have many guilt-inducing boxes and bags of old cards lying around. In a moment of decluttering freedom, I handed them to Wombat with a pair of scissors to practice his cutting. He spent a lovely THREE hours, cutting them into little pieces. When I noticed how careful he was being, selecting and cutting around particular images, I decided to take the project one step further. I gave him an A4 size piece of contact (adhesive) plastic to stick them on. When he finally got tired of cutting and arranging his pieces (making sure none of them touched each other) I finished off the project by cutting little tiny pieces to fill in any gaps, making a very colourful tiled mosaic. (Wombat and I had fun working out the 'jigsaw' puzzle of where the little pieces fit best.) When we were satisfied that we couldn't fit anymore in, I stuck another piece of contact paper over the top and we taped it to the window where the sun could shine through it.

You'll have to excuse the lack of photos of the making of this masterpiece as the primary artist was enjoying working in the nude!

And no, we didn't stop there... we also got very colourful playing with the kaleidoscope Wombat got for Christmas. I was amazed to find that I could take photos by lining my camera up with the eyepiece. Here are some of my pics arranged in a (very quick) montage!

Next week's unplugged project is float.

Simple Woman's Daybook

2009-02-03T03:39:00.000+11:00

FOR TODAY (Tuesday 3 February 2009 )...

Outside My Window... dark and quiet, except for the very fat brush-tailed possum raiding the compost bucket and snacking on catfood on the verandah...

I am thankful for... rare moments of peace and quiet.

I am thinking... that hanging four loads of washing on the line at 2am, wearing only a thin cotton nightie and gumboots, with lightning flashing all around, was probably not the most sensible thing to do - but that I really enjoyed it - and at least I didn't get sunburnt!

From the learning room... I purchased a bead threading set on eBay which has been extremely popular when combined with a packet of ~~pipecleaners~~ chenille stems lol. I thought it was just the plain coloured beads so the little face beads were a lovely surprise in the box. Wombat has been combining them with other beads and buttons from my stash and the holey shells we gathered recently at the beach.

(Wombat tells me the blue fellow is nakey because he is going swimming!)

From the kitchen... water, water and more water... I am feeling seriously dehydrated lately.

I am wearing... just a nightie. I took off the gumboots, lol.

I am creating... one of these lovely ideas for Wombat. He is ready to start learning buttons, but I haven't had the chance to make him a button frame yet... this looks like a fun way to start - and less work for me means more chance of it getting done!

I am going... to take the boys out for their monthly playdate after breakfast.

I am reading... about anger management.

I am hoping... that I can get Wombat dressed in less than the three hours it took me yesterday... also, that I can wash my hair and get some sleep before we have to go out!

I am hearing... Munchkin whimpering as he sleeps in my arms. He is not having a good night.

Around the house... I pace, rocking a ten-kilo baby, until he falls asleep and I can sit down again to type with one hand.

One of my favorite things... Sacred Space.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

book the car for rego inspection
check re-enrolment date for the College of Law

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

A freshly washed hairy-bear hanging by his toes...

all fluffy and dry and back where he belongs!

This snippet of my life brought to you courtesy of the Simple Woman's Daybook. If you would like to join in too, you will find all the details here. Thanks, Peggy!

Come as you are

2009-02-01T14:56:00.012+11:00

Of all the hymns ever composed, this has to be one of the most tender and comforting expressions of God's love I have ever heard.

Come as you are

Come as you are, that's how I want you.
Come as you are, feel quite at home.
Close to my heart, loved and forgiven;
come as you are, why stand alone?

No need to fear, love sets no limits.
No need to fear, love never ends.
Don't run away, shamed and disheartened.
Rest in my love, trust me again.

I came to call sinners, not just the virtuous.
I came to bring peace, not to condemn.
Each time you fail to live by my promise,
why do you think I'd love you the less?

Come as you are, that's how I love you.
Come as you are, trust me again.
Nothing can change the love that I bear you.
All will be well, just come as you are.

(composed by Deidre Browne)

When I first started posting these hymns, my sister asked why I didn't check out some of the other Christian churches in the area. It has taken me a long time to answer her because I felt it was a very important question, not least because she chose me to be godmother to her daughters. I have started writing any number of emails in response, but in the end I have decided to post my reasons here for all to read.

I won't go into all the historical reasons for the separation of all the other denominations from the Catholic church. If you are interested, I am told (by my favourite internet nun) that Protestantism for Dummies, and The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Catholic Church are good resources. Leaving all those bygones in the past, there are two main differences between the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations today.

The first is The Real Presence. As Catholics, we believe that when the priest consecrates the bread and wine at the altar, they actually become the body and blood of Jesus, including his soul and his divinity, as he intended us to receive them at the Last Supper. Words can't express how special that is.

One of the things I love about being a Catholic, is that we don't try to rationalise and explain how this happens. We accept that it is a mystery - a miracle in which we personally can participate every time we go to Mass. Other churches don't seem to have the same belief in God's loving generosity and ability to perform the impossible. For them, the Eucharist is simply a symbolic recreation of the Last Supper. In other words, instead of a holy sacrament, communion becomes just a show put on by humans with no direct participation from God. I prefer the awesomeness of trying to contemplate Christ's physical presence on the altar and inside me!

The other big difference between the Catholic church and other Christian denominations is the primacy of the Pope. We believe there is an unbroken line of succession from Peter ("on this rock I build my church") to Pope Benedict. Other Christian churches tend to be run by committees. To quote one Anglican Bishop: "Unlike the Church of Rome, with its admirable clarity of decision-making, the Anglican churches are messy and often disagree with each other." Due to this authority structure, the Catholic church doesn't change quickly to meet modern ideas, and can seem out of touch and old fashioned. However, when it comes to choosing a solid place on which to stand while building a self and a family, the Catholic church offers a guaranteed stability.

Catholics are often accused of being hypocritical, or uncaring, or unfriendly or any number of other things and there is sometimes a lot of truth in that - but it is the people, not the church - I think you would find the same wherever you went and if anything it is our responsibility to change such perceptions through our own behaviour. One small pebble can create a landslide, after all. Priests are human and often have their problems, but I have found, even with the ones I can't really relate to, very often God surprises me by putting words in their mouths that I needed to hear.

I am by no means a perfect wife. I have my faults, my bad days and I know for a fact there are times when I am just plain unlovable. Despite this, my husband constantly forgives me and delights in our relationship. In the same way, the Catholic church is the bride of Christ. Would we really want Him to forsake her for a younger model?

Ok, I am stepping down from my soapbox now - but before I go... I couldn't find any music for this week's hymn, and since I was being brave and putting my heart out on my sleeve anyway, I decided to go one step further! I hope you like it :)

Come as you are - from our kitchen at 2:30am, with a little help from Munchkin.

Thanks to my sister, Steff, Sister Mary Martha and the mothers of the 4 Real Forum, for challenging me to put my faith into words. I appreciate it!

D is for ... decorative

2009-01-30T05:45:00.011+11:00

This week, Tricia from The Miss Rumphius Effect proposed writing a lipogram. Basically, this is a piece of writing "that avoids one or more letters of the alphabet." It is also defined as "a work written within a constraint" (though this definition would apply to most poetic forms, would it not?) As my poetry stre-e-e-e-tch, I decided to write a reverse lipogram, in which every word of the poem had to contain the letter "d".

I liked the result. The lack of connectives made it difficult, but the two-words per line rhythm that emerged seemed to echo the erratic zip-zip-zip flight of the subject. It also challenged me to come up with new descriptions, as most of the words which first came to mind had to be discarded because they were "d-less".

In the end I had a lot more words brainstormed which felt perfect but which I decided not to use - as I added more, the effect started to fade, and it started to feel like just a list of jumbled words. It was difficult to get a balance that felt right and still seemed to carry some meaning. Where and how and even whether to punctuate also took some time and thought. Did I get it right?

Dragonfly

Delicate winged
darter, dipping,
dashing, diving.
Splendid, suspended
unfolding dream.

Diligent endeavour;
dynamic adventure.

Deeper delight
untangled serendipity -
uncomplicated desire;
confident dignity.

Endless gratitude.

The photo can't do justice to the amazing colour of these creatures. This one has an almost lavender shimmer over a silvery sky blue.

Today's Poetry Friday is hosted by Suzanne from Adventures in Daily Living.

Unplug your kids - ball

2009-01-29T08:18:00.007+11:00

For this week's unplugged project, we combined a couple of activities I'd been reading about in the blogosphere - milk powder paint and marble painting.

I like using Stockmar watercolour paint which needs to be mixed for different colours, and diluted (the little bottles will stretch for ages if you do). In the past I have used just water, and a water & cornflour mix (this gives a great texture for fingerpainting, but really makes the colours pastel when they dry). I am always looking for something new to try, so this was a good experiment.

To make milk powder paint, mix equal amounts of skim milk powder and water, then add your colour. I used 1/2 cup of each, which made too much paint - it doesn't keep very well - you need a sealed jar in the fridge, so next time I will make less. Also, I am using a liquid paint instead of a powdered one, so it was a bit runnier than I wanted (why does a Monty Python skit suddenly start playing in my head? lol). Next time I will use a little less water as well. Other than that it turned out perfectly!

The red, blue and yellow are my basic colours; we mix them to make purple, green and orange as well. Wombat asked for two yellows. My paint palette is an old plastic microwave muffin 'tin'.

I lined a box with newspaper, put some A4 paper in and we splotted colour on with a spoon.

Then we added a marble (the ball for our project) and rolled it around.

One marble wasn't enough for Wombat, he threw in a few more and did some finger swirling for good measure.

All in all, a fun activity, though Wombat only wanted to do one picture (I think I was 'over-controlling' again... gotta learn to step back and let him experiment more.)

The paint dried well with a slightly glossy finish, and clean up was a breeze - the brushes and the palette washed clean really quickly - much easier than just the paint by itself lol.

Next week's Unplugged Project is : colour.

Where did the time go?

2009-01-27T22:52:00.001+11:00

My little Munchkin is 6 months old today! Hooray for the happiest, most patient, most wonderful little boy a mother could ever wish for! It is really amazing watching him grow. He seems so much more aware than Wombat did at this age. Maybe it's just me who is more aware and observing more closely lol :D

He has started 'talking' in a big way and it is just the cutest thing you can imagine... I know I am overloading on the superlatives here, so I'll show you instead.

I love the purposeful way Munchkin goes after what he wants. (That's Wombat rolling around saying "Roly oly pumpkin numpkin" at the head of the bed - and his foot at the end of the video.)

We went for a walk today and I used the chinese carrier - Munchkin is growing to like it now his neck is getting strong enough to support his heavy head. He still prefers the sling, but this is easier on me, especially if I wear it on my back (which I want to start trying more often).

It had been raining, and I had to point out the shining droplets clustered along the she-oak needles to Wombat - he was more interested in stomping on the ant nests lol. A few minutes later I had stopped near another wet she-oak when Munchkin started reaching out for it. I moved closer and he spent a good 10 minutes studying the droplets, touching them and sucking the rainwater off his fist. He was an observant baby from the moment he was born and his fascination with his surroundings is awesome to watch, especially as he becomes more able to interact with the world.

And now for something (almost) completely different. There was an exciting message in my inbox today! Elizabeth Pantley, the author of the 'No Cry' parenting books, is offering a chance to win two sets of her books if you mention her latest book - the “The No-Cry Nap Solution: Guaranteed Gentle Ways to Solve All Your Naptime Problems” - on your blog or website.

I have subscribed to her emails for a while now, but have been unable to find her books at our local (sadly understocked) library, and my book buying budget at the moment is stretched to the limit keeping up with my wishlist for the boys' reading. Hence my excitement :)

There are five books in the set:

The No-Cry Nap Solution *NEW*
The No-Cry Sleep Solution
The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers & Preschoolers
The No-Cry Potty Training Solution
The No-Cry Discipline Solution

We generally do ok with sleeping at night, since we co-sleep. We have pushed our queen bed and Wombat's king-single together to make one big bed (Wombat's is slightly lower, so he still feels he has his own space) and this is really working well for us. Potty training is also pretty much under control. Wombat is totally nappy free, and my only difficulty is convincing him that he needs to go in the toilet and not out on the grass - but since we don't have any close neighbours, that's really not so much of a problem. He knows where he is supposed to go. He just likes to experiment lol.

We have the most interesting comments as his awareness of bodily functions and feelings develops. The other morning I asked if he wanted to come to the toilet with me (I find this works better than asking if he wants to go...) He said "no". A few minutes later he appeared at the door of the loo saying "I didn't know what my weewee was telling me!" He sat down, did his business and then said "My weewee has stopped talking to me now." ROFL. This morning the conversation was about the "tank" behind his weewee which needed to be emptied because it was all full of the water he had been drinking. He came up with the metaphor himself and I think it's a pretty good one! Not hard to tell he's a country boy lol :D

None of which is to say that I wouldn't read the sleep and potty books with avid interest as there is always more to learn. I have started sitting Munchkin on the potty already, and he is getting the idea as well. I want to do some more reading on elimination communication when I get the chance, just so I can interpret his commands more clearly. At the moment, nappy free time is resulting in a lot of cleaning for me, especially now he has started solids.

The books I REALLY want to read are the Nap Solution and Discipline ones. I need as many different tactics in the discipline area as I can get because each day brings new challenges that I often struggle to meet - and as for naps...................

Wombat decided he didn't need to nap anymore about 5 months ago. At first I started to fight him over it, then I read Maria Montessori's comment about treating our kids like slaves and forcing them to sleep, which made me feel guilty, so I just let him go. That resulted in total chaos, so I tried enforcing a head-on-pillow time ("You don't have to sleep but you do have to lie quietly until the music ends.") Now when I put music on during the day he panics because he thinks it means I will make him lie down lol. I am REALLY looking forward to some new ideas in this area, because the following excerpt from Pantley's book is all too familiar:

As the day progresses, and the sleep pressure builds, a child becomes fussier, whinier, and less flexible. He has more crying spells, more tantrums, and less patience. He loses concentration and the ability to learn and retain new information. The scientific term for this process is “homeostatic sleep pressure” or “homeostatic sleep drive” . . . I call it The Volcano Effect. ... The Volcano Effect is not something reserved only for children! This biological process affects adults as well. Understanding this can help you interpret what is really going on in your home at the end of a long day, when children are fussy and parents are grumpy – resulting in a whole mountain range of volcanoes.
[This is a copyrighted excerpt from The No-Cry Nap Solution: Guaranteed Gentle Ways to Solve All Your Naptime Problems by Elizabeth Pantley. (McGraw-Hill, December 2008). ]

Interestingly, the foreword to the Nap Solution book is written by Tim Selden, President of The Montessori Foundation and Chair of the International Montessori Council. I have his book "How to Raise an Amazing Child".

Today, Wombat passed out on the playroom floor while he waited for me to finish an important email. I normally try not to get on the computer while he is awake (I save that for the middle of the night, thus creating more volcanoes and discipline issues due to my own sleep-deprivation lol) but he was really involved in the activity he had chosen (threading beads onto pipecleaners) so I made a deal with him - he would play quietly while I had a cup of tea and finished the email, and then we would walk down to the dam to see the waterlilies we had noticed this morning. (I had Munchkin in the carrier then, so couldn't go 'bush-bashing' to get to where they were). He soon finished his project, came looking for my attention, was reminded of our deal, yawned once and zonk! He only slept for 15 minutes but even that little moment was refreshing for both of us. (His first thought on waking was that he had missed out on the waterlilies lol... that boy LOVES to be outside!)

Munchkin, on the other hand, has a very recognisable sleep window, and if you pop him in the pram with a little rocking and singing, he falls asleep very quickly. He has one longish nap in the morning, and then only a short catnap in the afternoon. Wombat used to sleep a LOT more at this age. He also has a radar that tells him when Wombat goes to sleep during the day, which becomes his cue to wake up instantly and get some one-on-one Mummy time. I think maybe he just can't sleep when it's quiet lol. The biggest problem is that he is outgrowing the bassinet part of the pram pretty quickly. I have already had to rig up an elastic strap to stop him going over the side! I am definitely going to need some "gentle, sensitive, loving solutions" to set up a new routine for him very soon.

He still wakes to feed every 2 or 3 hours at night - if I am not in bed lol... if I am cuddled up with him he generally sleeps through. There may be a message for me in that lol...

You can read more excerpts at Elizabeth Pantley's website. If you are reading this, why don't you blog about the new book too -and if you win, you can give ME the spare set lol! I would be happy to forward you the email with all the entry details and information about the books.

Simple Woman's Daybook

2009-01-26T04:51:00.010+11:00

FOR TODAY (Monday 26 January 2009 )...

Outside My Window... a golden dawn shining through leaves of sunwashed green. Happy Australia Day!

I am thankful for... life and love.

I am thinking... of to-do lists and control journals and home-made laundry powder.

From the learning room... Wombat has started keeping a nature journal in which I write at his dictation and label his illustrations as instructed. It started out daily but then we missed a few days. My perfectionism wants it to be a regular activity, but I am trying hard not to push it - there are many years ahead of us :)

From the kitchen... a cup of tea and a hot cross bun. Can you believe they already have hot cross buns in the supermarket? It's not even Lent yet, let alone Easter! Talk about commercialism ruining the significance of traditions. Personally, I would boycott them, but my MIL is not so picky... and they sure are tempting once you've got them in the house. I wonder why plain old fruit buns don't taste as good?

I am wearing... a blue button-front nightie and my pink dressing gown. My bare toes are cold.

I am creating... a new blog - lol! I take so many photos that never get seen by anyone outside my computer. I don't have time to do the photo challenges that I used to enjoy, so I have decided to join the 365 days crowd and post a photo every day. You can follow along at Fleeting Reality. In another fit of ~~procrastination~~ ~~perfectionism~~ *ahem* lets-not-label-it-ism I have gone through my pictures directory and uploaded a photo taken on each day of the year so far (can't start out by being behind, now, can I???)

I am going... to fold three baskets of washing, and change the sheets on all the beds today.

I am reading... Charlotte Mason, still.

I am hoping... that my car won't be too expensive to register. I was hoping to take the boys into town for the last day of the Impressionist Exhibition at the NSW Art Gallery, but the cars are being unco-operative.

I am hearing... the hungry whine of an elusive mosquito.

Around the house... lego... lego everywhere.

One of my favorite things... 'Google Reader' lol.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

Yeti's birthday on Wednesday

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

Me and my munchkin!

This snippet of my life brought to you courtesy of the Simple Woman's Daybook. If you would like to join in too, you will find all the details here. Thanks, Peggy!

Be Not Afraid

2009-01-25T15:33:00.003+11:00

We didn't get to Mass this week, despite our best-laid plans. Yeti's car is out of rego and needs some rust-spots repaired before it can pass inspection. The filler for the rust gives you 6 minutes to do the job at 20C. It has been over 30C every day this week except for a thunderstorm lol... so the job has to wait for the right conditions. There is my car - but when we went to start it, not only was the battery flat, it was completely dead! It has to go for its rego inspection next week, so I will buy a new battery for it then - when the mechanic can also check for electrical faults that may be causing the problem.

Oh well, at least Wombat LOVES his new bible - I finally found a children's bible with text I can bear to read as it gives some life and detail to the stories instead of just a sentence or two. He has been demanding at least a half-hour reading from it every day :) Funny story about that - it was delivered during one of those awful hot days when nobody felt like walking to the mailbox. Then the thunderstorm came and it rained all night. When we checked the next morning, the box of books was sitting in a PUDDLE of water, totally sodden. There was no plastic wrapping around the books, just the sopping cardboard box - and the books were completely undamaged! Perfect condition! Guess he was meant to have them!!!

Still enjoying working my way through hymns where I love the chorus but don't remember all the verses. This week's hymn is:

Be Not Afraid

You shall cross the barren desert,
but you shall not die of thirst.
You shall wander far in safety,
though you do not know the way.
You shall speak your words in foreign lands,
and all will understand,
You shall see the face of God and live.

Be not afraid,
I go before you always,
Come follow Me,
and I shall give you rest.

If you pass through raging waters
in the sea, you shall not drown.
If you walk amidst the burning flames,
you shall not be harmed.
If you stand before the pow’r of hell
and death is at your side,
know that I am with you, through it all

Be not afraid,
I go before you always,
Come follow Me,
and I shall give you rest.

Blessed are your poor,
for the Kingdom shall be theirs.
Blest are you that weep and mourn,
for one day you shall laugh.
And if wicked men insult and hate you,
all because of Me,
blessed, blessed are you!

Be not afraid,
I go before you always,
Come follow Me,
and I shall give you rest.

C is for... creation

2009-01-24T17:42:00.007+11:00

I am so late with posting this that I don't think I can still claim that it is Friday anywhere in the world! What can I say? The babies wouldn't let me blog :P

Better make this quick as there is a nappy to change and breakfast to provide (lol... Yeti always comments when I combine things like that in a sentence - NO, they are consecutive, not concurrent events, and one will not provide the ingredients for the other lol)

Way back on Monday, Tricia from The Miss Rumphius Effect suggested writing an Oulipo for a poetry stretch. This is a snowball Oulipo, in which every line has one letter more than the one before.

In
the
dark
quiet
leaves,
mystery
cocooned:
chrysalis.
Miraculous.

Wombat and I spied this cocoon outside our toilet window last week. We have been watching it anxiously and yesterday we decided to bring it inside out of the extreme heat, so we could watch it hatch. We researched it on the internet, prepared the old fish tank and then as the last step, we cut the branch.

What disappointment to find it empty and dry with a tiny hole in its side! It had been parasitised by a wasp or something of that nature, long before it came to our attention. (Click for the larger picture and the hole is quite visible.) Oh well. I have promised Wombat that we will look out for one of these...

and try again!

Poetry Friday was hosted this week by Laura Salas.

Unplug your kids - balance

2009-01-22T07:03:00.004+11:00

The theme for this week's Unplug your Kids project was balance.

I had originally wondered about making our own set of scales, like this. However, that project was a bit beyond Wombat, and I think I will save it until he is older. We do have a set of balance scales, and I may get them out for some (carefully supervised) experimenting sometime this week. He loves to put an object on our kitchen scales and tell me that it weighs 58 kgs!

But back to balancing... while ~~digging~~ hunting for worms in the garden, Wombat kept frustrating me by walking along the brick edge. Each time he did it, a loose brick would overturn, hurting his foot and as a result I spent more time comforting him and rebuilding the edge than I did weeding! Finally, I decided, if you can't beat him, join him!

I found 16 clean bricks and two (almost) straight planks of wood lying around the yard, and with a bit of improvisation, we built a balance beam. It is just high enough off the ground to be a little challenging, but not enough to cause injury should he fall. I actually find it quite enjoyable to do the exercise myself (disregarding MIL's comment about walking the plank lol). The slight warp in the beams makes it a little more tricky, but I propped a few pieces of soft bark under the highest contact points to minimize wobbling. Wombat is really into building obstacle courses lately (after I built one for him on a whim a few months ago) so we are going to leave this set up and see what other ideas we can think of to add to it.

Wombat also came up with his own balance experiment - eating grapes from a bowl "just like a pussycat"!

Next week's unplugged topic is "ball".

I'm a crunchy mama!

2009-01-20T07:11:00.001+11:00

My post on how to build a no-dig-garden was featured on the new Crunchy Mama blog! Hmmm... I do believe that this is the first award this blog has ever received. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :D

Click the button to head on over to Crunchy Mama, where you will find more ideas for good living!

A Simple Woman's Daybook

2009-01-20T04:29:00.005+11:00

FOR TODAY (Tuesday 20 January 2009 )...

Outside My Window... when I started writing this, the black silhouettes of the trees were outlined starkly against the first grey light of pre-dawn. Then Munchkin called me in to feed him, and Wombat woke and insisted I stay, so I lay watching the myriad shades of green gradually emerge. Now golden sunlight is hopping from leaf to leaf and the sky is a freshly polished blue.

I am thankful for... blessings beyond number.

I am thinking... that I really look forward all week to writing this daybook! It is a joyous idea - thank you Peggy!

From the learning room... Wombat has suddenly started stacking his nesting blocks into a proper tower, then unstacking them, nesting them and putting them away (this is a huge improvement over kicking them across the room!)

From the kitchen... another batch of Anzac bikkies are needed. I have been revising my recipe (which originally comes from Flo Bjelke-Peterson - Australians will recognise her as the inventor of the famous pumpkin scone!) Each time I make this recipe I have been adding less sugar and more interesting titbits, and I think we have finally got it perfect. It is SO easy for Wombat and I to make together, and they are healthy enough for me to leave accessible as a snack he can help himself to whenever he wants. They are not as dry as traditional Anzac biscuits, which, being invented for soldiers, were able to be used in hand to hand combat lol. The recipe is very forgiving - add any extras you like, change it around, see what you can create! For example, last time we made them Wombat insisted on cracking the egg himself - half the shell went in the dough and half the egg went on the floor. No problem! Pick out the shell, clean the floor, add another small egg and they turned out as nice as ever!

Wombat's Anzac bikkies

125g butter or margarine
1 dessertspoon golden syrup (Wombat's favourite ingredient and real reason for agreeing so readily to help make these - he gets to lick the spoon - and ask for a second helping lol; if you don't have golden syrup where you are, try honey or treacle!)
1 heaped teaspoon baking soda (don't make a mistake and use bicarb like I did once - the bikkies were still edible, but they really tingled on the tongue!!!)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup self-raising flour
1/4 cup sugar (the original recipe used a whole cup - you don't need it - they are still sweet with 1/4 of that)
1 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 cup chopped nuts (here is where I get creative; we hardly ever have enough chopped nuts on hand, so I add extras - sultanas, dried fruit, puffed rice, chocolate chips, whatever takes your fancy and you have in the pantry)
pinch salt
1 egg

Put all dry ingredients in a big bowl. (Wombat likes to sift the flour.) Melt together butter, syrup and baking soda (very low heat and watch so it doesn't bubble). Add melted ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well. Finally, mix in unbeaten egg. Knead mixture for about 5 minutes. (Wombat and I both knead together in the bowl - that's why it needs to be a big one lol). Roll into small balls (I use about a teaspoon of mixture so we get lots of small snacks lol) and place on a greased biscuit tray (we use baking paper on the trays instead) or alternatively, press all of the mixture into a large biscuit tray. Bake in a moderate oven (180-200C) for 10-15 minutes (when you can smell them, they are done)!

I am wearing... a thin pink cotton nightie that was a hand-me-down from my mother, who wore it when she was breastfeeding me, and my pink cotton dressing gown. Nightclothes are the only times I ever wear pink lol

I am creating... a mess as projects pile up waiting for me to get a chance to use my sewing machine.

I am going... to make another cup of tea ;D (same as last week, lol)

I am reading... more about unschooling, and deciding that this eclectic approach suits me better than concentrating on either Montessori or Charlotte Mason, as it inspires me to "strew the path" with the best of all worlds.

I am hoping... that I get the chance to vacuum sometime today.

I am hearing... Munchkin gurgling on my lap as he shoves a fistful of my hair into his mouth.

Around the house... trying to restart the habit of 15 minutes decluttering every day.

One of my favorite things... online book shopping.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

look back at the plans I have made over the past two weeks and ACTUALLY DO THEM!!!

Still working on that, lol...

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

When Wombat, Munchkin and I went to check the mail yesterday, we spotted this BEAUTIFUL huge moth on the trunk of a young Cootamundra wattle. I am in love with the irridescent blue on its shoulders!

One of the concerns about unschooling is that parents may not be able to provide an environment rich enough to ensure that a child fully engages with their world. I don't think I have to worry about that while we live here! There is always another miracle to explore :D

This snippet of my life brought to you courtesy of the Simple Woman's Daybook. If you would like to join in too, you will find all the details here.

Unplug your kids - square

2009-01-19T03:10:00.008+11:00

My attempts to find a 'square' project that would interest Wombat were remarkably unsuccessful, and then I had a brainwave!

One of our most popular activities lately has been restarting a tiny raised-bed veggie garden. Several years ago, well before Wombat was born, Yeti and I built a number of large raised beds for growing our own produce. We had some wood left over, so Yeti put together this little SQUARE bed, right down the back. While the bigger beds were very productive, this one was used just for potatoes.

Then life intervened and gardening took a back seat for a while. The big beds became (and remain) hopelessly overgrown with kikuyu grass. Being down the back, almost in the bush, the little potato bed was below the kikuyu line and escaped the invasion. There it sat until Wombat and I decided to make it our own. We weeded, and spread a load of homemade compost. The pumpkin plant you can see in the front corner was a self-starter, from seeds in the compost.

In honour of the square project, I lugged the old welded-pipe frame down and Wombat and I gleefully planted blue lake runner beans. We also planted nasturtiums in the the other front corner. So far, we have three little bean seedlings. I shall be sure to post more pictures of them, once they are grown.

The raised-bed idea comes from the 'no-dig' gardening philosophy. It can even be used to create a garden on a concrete surface. In fact, beneath the bed you see in these photos there is a solid sheet of sandstone rock! As far as I know, the concept was pioneered by an Australian lady, Esther Dean, in the late 1970s. It is particularly effective in areas with low soil fertility and erosion problems. Instead of turning the soil to remove weeds (thus burying the weed seeds and perpetuating the problem), you simply smother them with layers of paper and straw, thus inviting the worms and other beneficial micro-organisms to aerate the soil and do the digging for you!

For a good-sized garden, you will need a frame, a bale of lucerne hay, a bale of straw, a bag of organic fertilizer or dry poultry manure, and some well-rotted compost.

The first step is to build a frame of some sort - you can use wood, as we have, or bricks (this is how my flower beds are built) or even recycle a frame from an old bed or table. The possibilities are endless. With a bit of imagination, you can even lift your raised bed up off the ground, making it accessible for those in wheelchairs or with other disabilities (Esther Dean does this by building a frame around an old bedstead and lining it with plastic before proceeding to the next step).

Once your frame is in place, you build the soil in layers. To construct a garden on hard rocky ground, first put down a three to four inch layer of old leaves, small sticks and bits if seaweed. If you are building your garden over an existing lawn or garden bed, you can omit this step and go straight to the newspaper.

Cover this with a layer of newspaper. (Avoid glossy advertising pages or thick cardboard as these will not break down properly.) It helps if you wet this layer before proceeding. The layer needs to be about quarter of an inch thick and make sure the newspaper is well overlapped to prevent any weeds popping through.

Cover the newspaper with pads of lucerne and sprinkle this lightly with the fertilizer. Next, add a layer of loose straw, about eight inches deep, with another sprinkle of fertilizer on top. Finally, spread a patch of compost about four inches deep and eighteen inches across where you plan to plant your seeds. Water after planting, and then as needed to keep the straw just damp.

Ms Dean suggests starting out with summer vegetables, such as zucchini, squash and pumpkin, at one end of the bed, and tucking some potatoes under the straw at the other end. This sets you up ready to rotate your crops by alternating a leafy vegetable with a root vegetable.

By the time your first crop is harvested, the straw will have broken down to form a lovely rich soil. To plant your next crop, just add a new layer of compost and off you go! (This is the stage Wombat and I are at with our square bed - there were only a few weeds that needed to be pulled out, then we added our compost layer and started planting. To recover the big beds, however, I am going to have to start again at the beginning.) Have fun and happy harvesting!

You can find more weekly inspiration over at Unplug Your Kids! The next challenge is "balance".

Here I am, Lord

2009-01-18T05:56:00.005+11:00

I was talking to Yeti about my church-going dilemma, and he came up with a brilliant solution! Out of the blue, he offered to start taking us to evening mass on Saturday nights in the big church - the one with all the singing. Evening mass is less crowded and there are less disruptive children, so I have more chance of keeping Munchkin healthy and Wombat focussed, especially if we can get there early and find a seat up the front :) It is a great time of year to start making this a habit, as it is still light until about 8pm (Mass is from 6:00 - 7:00pm).

We went for the first time today. Monday is predicted to be another scorcher with extreme fire danger, so Yeti had to get the pumps on and the sprinklers going before we left. This took longer than expected, so we were about 15 minutes late - but baby steps - at least we got there! Yeti didn't come in with us this time - he hadn't had time to shower before racing out the door, so didn't feel comfortable about it. I am praying that as time goes on, he will join us.

Munchkin was perfectly behaved the whole time - awake, but lying quite still and listening like the little angel he is. Wombat, however... well, for a two-year-old, he was pretty well-behaved. I had to pick him up and hold him on my lap to get his attention, and there was a bit of arm pulling and rolling around on the floor (him, not me). For the first 20 minutes he kept saying. "It's finished now. All done. Let's go!" but he really loved the sign of peace (shaking hands with everyone in sight) and going up to communion with me was a highlight for him. I think he'll do much better next time, especially if he can see more (since we were late I sat towards the back of the church and there were too many other people to look at instead of what was going on up at the altar)!

I also had a good week enjoying my singing a new song :D For this week's hymn I am choosing one of my all time favourites - another one where I know the chorus off by heart but never remember the verses - there are lots of them, so it should be good for rocking Munchkin off to sleep. This one was actually set as the entrance hymn for today's Mass, but since we got there late, I didn't get to sing it. I'll make up for it by singing it all week!

Here I am, Lord

I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard my people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin,
My hand will save.

Chorus:
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

I, who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?

Chorus

I, the Lord of snow and rain,
I have borne my people’s pain.
I have wept for love of them.
They turn away.

Chorus

I will break their hearts of stone,
Give them hearts for love alone.
Who will speak my words to them?
Whom shall I send?

Chorus

I, the Lord of wind and flame,
I will send the poor and lame.
I will set a feast for them.
My hand will save.

Chorus

Finest bread I will provide,
'Til their hearts be satisfied.
I will give my life to them.
Whom shall I send?

Chorus

If you want to sing along with me, you can listen to the music here.

B is for... beautiful

2009-01-17T03:19:00.004+11:00

Well, folks, Friday is here again. Time for my combined poetry and photo challenge :) If you are here just for the photo, scroll to the bottom of the post.

This week has been quite an exciting one for me, as my best friend from high school - whom I have not seen or heard from in over eighteen years - discovered my website and sent me an email.

I have said before that I have trouble writing poems for people I love, but I really wanted to celebrate this special occasion, so today's poem is a series of rondolets for my friend. It's sappy and sentimental, and a bit bewildered, but you'll have to forgive me, because right now, that's how I feel!

For Vivienne

Isn't it strange?
I close my eyes and think of you.
Isn't it strange
how passing years can rearrange
our hopes and dreams, but as we grew
our hearts remembered friendship true?
Isn't it strange?

Isn't it strange?
I close my eyes and feel your hands.
Isn't it strange
to wonder what we each would change;
to feel the pull of new demands
and know the other understands?
Isn't it strange?

Isn't it strange?
I close my eyes and hear your voice.
Isn't it strange?
As full-grown women we exchange
our teenage hearts and still rejoice
in love that makes a timeless choice!
Isn't it strange?

And now for this week's photo inspired by the letter 'B'! A little beauty for your viewing pleasure - a butterfly, and a rose in bloom.

Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by Karen Edmisten.

For more ABSee photos, visit The Homeschool Blog.

A Simple Woman's Daybook

2009-01-13T04:16:00.015+11:00

FOR TODAY (Tuesday 13 January 2009 )...

Outside My Window... a cool mist hovers amongst the trees and the grass is wet with dew. The sun is just rising, welcomed by the chiming of bellbirds. It is going to be hot again, and I am hoping for a rainstorm later in the day as the tanks are almost empty and there are (as always) nappies to wash - not to mention Wombat's (and my) muddy gardening clothes.

I am thankful for... a long-lost friend contacting me out of the blue.

I am thinking... that the 40-day Love Dare Challenge sounds like a great idea.

From the learning room... we are working on replacing a bad habit with a good habit. Also, the letter "B", and hunting for worms and millipedes.

From the kitchen... look at this lovable little face covered in banana!

Munchkin is continuing to delight in discovering solid food. So far he has tried banana, sweet potato and rice cereal. I'm planning to introduce stewed apple this week. He is very independent and insists on feeding himself! As soon as the spoon comes towards him he grabs it, checks what's on it with his fingers and then puts it happily in his mouth. No spoon-feeding for this lad! I'm thinking I need to make him an eating-smock as bibs - and even an old nappy tied around his neck - just aren't doing the job! Either that or give him another bath and clean clothes AFTER dinner, lol. BTW, none of this has decreased his interest in breastfeeding as often as he can possibly manage ;P Munchkin by name, Munchkin by nature!

I am wearing... a red t-shirt, khaki trousers and my chinese phoenix-embroidered mary-janes.

I am creating... little bags and pouches in which to store toys.

I am going... to make another cup of tea ;D

I am reading... Charlotte Mason. I am ecstatic to have finally found a free source for her books in text format that I can load onto my ebook reader (the replacement Yeti bought for me has just arrived.) I think Wombat is really going to respond to the Charlotte Mason philosophy of education - with her emphasis on being outdoors, and on narrative, which he loves - much better than he has to Montessori (though I will still be making Montessori-inspired materials for him).

I am hoping... that the boys sleep in just a little bit longer.

I am hearing... the clock ticking and the chickens clucking.

Around the house... MIL is returning from one of her short trips away today, so I must put on my housewife hat and do what the FlyLady calls a crisis clean. It's not that bad, but Wombat has been wandering around leaving trails behind him (have I told you I also call him Captain Chaos?) I do need to kickstart my control journal again, and get back into the habit of a little bit every day.

One of my favorite things... baby and toddler huggles.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

look back at the plans I have made over the past two weeks and ACTUALLY DO THEM!!!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

Mum gave Wombat a 'touchable' bubble blower for Christmas. They smell a bit chemical-y so I recommend using them outside - plus they leave a slime like a snail trail when they do pop... but they are lots of fun. They hang in the air and move slower than normal bubbles, and they stick when they land, so you can 'decorate' your trees with them lol. Wombat loves that they wait around for him to come stomp them.

Here's a 'popped' one - such a pretty rainbow sheen!

This snippet of my life brought to you courtesy of the Simple Woman's Daybook. If you would like to join in too, you will find all the details here.

Unplug your kids - orange and wrapping paper

2009-01-12T05:32:00.007+11:00

Monday is here again and although we have been doing the unplugged projects, I just haven't had the chance to upload the photos yet. I'll have to play catch-up.

Shhh, Joe, don't crow... "Yon light is not day-light, I know it, I..."

cue gratuitous Rooster pic:

I've done it again - but somehow, after staying up till 3am talking to Yeti and then trying to check email and blogs in between feeding Munchkin every other hour, and knowing that Wombat is going to wake up before 7am it just seems easier not to sleep at all :P

Enough sidetracking...

Last week's project was orange. I started with this sun idea from No Time for Flash Cards. (Since it's summer here, it's actually seasonally appropriate for us, which is a relief from all the snow projects.)

First, I traced Wombat's hand as many times as I could fit on a piece of orange construction paper. While I was cutting them out, I gave him all his orange markers, pencils and crayons and asked him to colour in the plate until there was no white showing.

When he got bored with that I gave him a piece of white paper so he could 'draw a picture' with the same orange colours. Then together we cut & ripped the leftover orange paper into small pieces and searched through a newspaper for orange. We I glued these pieces randomly onto another piece of white paper.

About this stage he got bored and wandered off to annoy Daddy, so I finished by tracing one of the orange handprints I'd already cut out onto the two decorated white sheets, cut out more handprints and glued them around the outside of the plate. When Wombat came back, I asked him to help me glue and sprinkle glitter on the plate.

We added a string, I took down our curly decoration and packed it away with the Christmas stuff, and we hung the orange sun in its place.

This is the back (and our overcrowded play area) - I had an orange handprint leftover, so I wrote Wombat's name and the date on it.

It's actually very bright and cheery - looks much better in person than it does in the pictures.

Wombat is hassling me to get him dressed and start the day, so I will let the wrapping paper project tell it's own story in pictures...

Now I'd better hurry up and think of something 'square' to do today!

Sing a new song

2009-01-11T17:29:00.008+11:00

I am ashamed to confess it, but it is getting to be a long time since I last went to Mass - I didn't even get to a Christmas service. Towards the end of the pregnancy, when I could no longer lift Wombat, it just got too difficult, then I wasn't allowed to drive for six weeks after the caesarean, and there were any number of other excuses, even with a baby as easy-going and well-behaved as Munchkin. Even today, the boys' car seats are in Yeti's car, which I am not comfortable driving. The excuses are sounding pretty hollow, even to myself, so next week I am going to make a proper effort to get there regardless.

That leads me to another dilemma. There are two churches I can go to - both half-an-hour's drive away but in opposite directions. One is small, with a grumpy old priest and no music. The other is huge and crowded, with glorious music - singing most of the Mass - but also lots of misbehaving kids and coughing adults. Call me paranoid, but I am just not comfortable making a new baby sit amongst sick people for an hour, and Wombat watches the naughty kids and copies, so my joy in being there is outweighed by these distractions.

As a result, the choice is easy. I will be going back to the small church. But I do so love singing hymns. When I was pregnant with Wombat, Yeti sent me for a retreat at the local Schoenstatt shrine. One afternoon when there was no-one else around, I sat by myself with a hymnal and sang every song I knew. It was one of those moments which provides "life and food / For future years" (to quote my favourite Wordsworth poem). So what am I to do?

Around Christmas, Playing with Legos came up with the idea of posting a song a week. I quite enjoyed the concept of singing the same song for a week, thus teaching it to the boys - and surprisingly, I learnt that Felize Navidad and Auld Lang Syne make great lullabies - at least, Munchkin thinks so. When Wombat was born, I surrounded him with music. I had Mozart and other classical music playing almost every minute of the day. With Munchkin, I hardly ever even remember to put on a lullaby cd! I feel like I am sadly neglecting him.

Rolling all these issues into one big ball, I have decided that every Sunday I will choose a hymn to sing for that week, and I will sing it at every opportunity. This is a simple idea that makes me feel really happy and will hopefully benefit the boys as well! If nothing else, it gives me an alternative to grouching. When I find myself starting to respond with irritation, I sing instead. Surprisingly effective. Also, it piques Wombat's curiousity, so we talk about what I'm singing, why I'm singing it, what the words mean... and before I know it Wombat is singing his own little lalala songs as well. It adds harmony to our lives.

In the future I hope to extend this idea to encompass new hymns that I would like to learn, but to start with, I am going to choose some old favourites that I love - often I have the chorus by heart, and one or two verses, but it would be nice to have the whole song. This one, for example, I know well, but still often get the verses mixed up, or substitute lines from other hymns and the third verse is almost always forgotten.

Sing a New Song

Sing a new song unto the Lord
Let your song be sung from mountains high.
Sing a new song unto the Lord
Singing alleluia.

Yahweh's people dance for joy.
Oh come before the Lord.
Play for him on glad tambourines,
And let your trumpet sound.

Sing a new song unto the Lord
Let your song be sung from mountains high.
Sing a new song unto the Lord
Singing alleluia.

Rise oh chidren from your sleep.
Your Savior now has come.
He has turned your sorrow to joy,
And filled your soul with song.

Sing a new song unto the Lord
Let your song be sung from mountains high.
Sing a new song unto the Lord
Singing alleluia.

Glad my soul for I have seen
the glory of the Lord.
The trumpet sounds; the dead shall be raised.
I know my Savior lives.

Sing a new song unto the Lord
Let your song be sung from mountains high.
Sing a new song unto the Lord
Singing alleluia.

I have been reading a bit about choosing (or being chosen by) a patron saint for the year, and thinking it was a lovely idea. I guess mine has chosen me - welcome to a Brand New Ending, St Cecilia!

Cluck cluck!

2009-01-11T04:31:00.004+11:00

One of my favourite recent finds in the blogosphere - Rhonda, from Down to Earth - is hosting a 'kitchen table discussion' on the art of keeping chooks, and has asked for contributions from her readers. I really want to join in, but it is already terribly late (or early, depending on how you look at it) and I have vowed that I will not let the dawn find me sitting at the computer again this week! Also, most of my chicken photos are stuck on the hard drive of my old computer and currently inaccessible unless I trawl through stacks of cd archives (see previous comment about lack of time ;P)

As a result I am, with profound apologies, going to do this the easy way by *blush* linking to my own previous posts on this topic. My experiences with raising chickens are somewhat unconventional, and may be helpful to others who find themselves dealing with the unexpected. Follow the links for lots of drama and photos!

First, we have my happy happy joy joy post about welcoming eight Rhode Island Red Bantams, including the glorious rooster, Rufous, and his brave and daring harem leader, Ruby, into our lives.

Then comes tragedy, as Rufous leaves us, one cold morning. Yeti suspects that he probably died happy - from his experience working on a chicken farm, he has explained that roosters often have weak hearts and tendency to 'overexert' themselves, if you know what I mean *wink wink nudge nudge*.

All is not lost though, and in a comedy of clucky competitiveness, Ruby and Rosie save the day by ensuring that Rufous will live on in his children.

In the next long, rambling chook update, I am pregnant, working three days a week, and suddenly have to deal with predation by a stray cat we had adopted. Four chickens beheaded and the remainder of our flock brought 'inside' for safekeeping.

(PS. The environmental law case mentioned in that entry had quite a different outcome from my original optimistic expectations. On further research, I advised my solicitor friend that virgin excavated natural material was still classified as waste for the purposes of environmental planning laws, and that if the clients had not lodged a development application with council, then they were breaking the law and had no available defence. The end result was that they had to pay a hefty fine - but nowhere near as much as they would if the material dumped had included household rubbish or building materials.)

(lol... Munchkin called me in for a feed, then Wombat insisted "You stay in your bed, Mummy" so I am now finishing this before breakfast with a wriggling Wombat on my lap!)

While not technically about chickens, this entry shows the 'parrot' cage which is providing emergency housing for the chooks on our verandah (and introduces you to Mitch, my Corella, for whom the cage was originally built).

Now Wombat wants my company for breakfast, Munchkin is awake and asking for a clean nappy... blogging must wait - don't these children have any sense of priorities? oh... um... yeah... I'll be back.

OK, Munchkin is having nappy-free time and I gave Wombat a handful of pipecleaners and raided my button stash for interesting things to thread on them - that should give me a few minutes to finish this post.

Following on from the last recorded episode in the chook saga - the chooks lived in the parrot palace for a while, then we got rid of the cat who was causing the trouble and I very happily released them again... three days later, another fatality! This time, a hawk had decided to get in on the action. I tried everything I could think of to scare him off, but he perched in a tree above the pen and waited. We had cut down many of the trees within the pen (it is a large area, about 6metres square - used to be a dog run, with really high fences) to deny access to the cat, but unfortunately that gave the hawk a clear run.

Totally discouraged and busy getting ready for a baby, we moved all the chooks back onto the verandah - and there they have lived ever since. I gave them a crisper from an old fridge which I fill with dirt (and a few extra worms and bugs) for scratching. They get grain and their water is changed twice daily (I need to get them a proper waterer that they can't walk in as it gets so dirty.) We also give them a big handful of grass whenever Yeti is mowing or I am weeding. Whenever they start to get too grotty I scrape out all the material from their cage and give them fresh straw or dried grass (which they promptly kick out all over the floor.) It is SO much more work having them here, but at least they are safe - and surprisingly happy!

Towards the end of last year we had a hatching. I moved Mama hen (pretty sure it is either Ruby or Rosie, but no idea which - just know it is a very old hen) and the eggs into a smaller cage next door to the big one, and a few weeks later we had three baby chicks.

See the little one swimming in the water dish? Chicks are pretty silly. They need a big, wide, shallow dish for water that they can easily reach into but still climb out of if they fall in.

Disclaimer - don't read this paragraph while eating breakfast! I left the chicks for Mama hen to teach them how to peck and scratch, but I really should have moved them out a little sooner, as the remaining 10 eggs were mistreated - Mama hen ended up cracking a number of them open and feeding the babies on their unborn siblings.

The weather turned very cold (in November, in Australia!!!) so I brought the babies inside and lodged them in an old fish tank, with a wheat pillow for warmth (not having a suitable lamp.) This needed rewarming twice a day but was otherwise quite effective - I wrapped it in old towel that could be easily changed for washing.

They lived there for about a month. When they got too big (and the weather improved) they were moved back into the little cage and Mama hen was returned to the flock. She was immediately attacked by her companions, who seemed to feel she had been getting a better deal. Yeti said I should have completely changed everything in the cage (fresh straw, fresh food, clean dishes, new nestbox etc) and then the reintroduction would have gone unnoticed in the confusion.

I am not happy about all of this - I never expected to have chooks living IN the house! but we did what was needed to keep them alive. Although I know they don't have lice - I have checked carefully - I do know the dust and dirt they throw around is a major factor in contributing to our rodent and bug problem. Now our circumstances have settled down somewhat, Yeti has promised that their new quarters are top of his list and he is building them a tractor arrangement which NOTHING can get into! (Hope we can still collect the eggs :P) They have never been big layers (lol, being bantams!!) but we get between 3 and 5 pretty little brown eggs each week, which is enough to ensure that Wombat eats fresh, and that was my main concern as I don't want him getting commercial hormones.

Now the boys are clamouring for my attention and the chooks and parrot are squawking for their food, so I had better stop here... maybe I had better put a word limit on my future contributions to such discussions :P

A is for... anno Domini

2009-01-10T03:33:00.007+11:00

Today, I start combining Poetry Friday and the A B See photo meme.

I had planned a ballade about ants, but the combination of scorching weather and grumpy children was not conducive to a complicated composition.

Then Rocks in My Dryer hijacked me with a haiku challenge. Free stuff! I had to enter :D Needless to say, I wasn't one of the finalists (or you would have heard me whooping and hollering from wherever in the world you are reading from!)

It seems my New Year's Resolutions are pretty much the same as the other respondents to her challenge - less of me in the physical dimension, more of me in the spiritual dimension and don't forget, be nice to the babies. I started thinking about how far I was already falling below my own expectations in such matters - and we're not even halfway through January yet. The haiku which resulted from this self-examination evolved into a tanka.

New Year's Resolutions

One day at a time.

Relax! Be kind to yourself.

God will see you through.

More of HIM, less of you. The

little ones need loving too.

I obviously couldn't team this poem with a photo of an ant, so instead, here is an ANGEL!

I had a bright idea - photograph the angel with a bunch of agapanthus. I was arranging them on the old exercise trampoline which sits in our yard when Wombat had a bright idea too... let's make the angel dance!

This week's Poetry Friday is hosted by Anastasia at Picture Book of the Day. (Yes, yes, I know. It is already Saturday where I am, but as far as I am concerned, it's never a new day until after I have been to bed! Been burning the midnight oil far too much lately... another resolution in need of a revolution!)

Also, amble over to The Homeschool Post for more A B See photo fun :D

Simple Woman's Daybook

2009-01-07T01:26:00.011+11:00

FOR TODAY (Wednesday 7 January 2009 )... at 2am

Outside My Window... darkness brings a blessed coolness and relief from a sweltering day. The UV index yesterday was at 12 - on a scale of 1 - 10! Today is going to be another scorcher.

I am thankful for... catching up with my mother and brother for a post-Christmas picnic.

From the learning room... I am going to teach Wombat how to play "Go Fish" with the set of Cars cards we gave him for Christmas. I started with SNAP but it was a bad idea - the point of the game was lost in the boyish joy of running around hitting things and yelling SNAP! Fish should help with matching skills, concentration, taking turns and manual dexterity in manipulating a hand of cards.

From the kitchen... very tasty (NOT!) a new batch of playdough is needed.

1 cup of flour ; 1 cup of warm water; 2 teaspoons cream of tartar; 1 teaspoon of oil; 1/4 cup of salt. Mix all ingredients. Stir over medium heat until thick (I keep stirring until I can hardly move the spoon). Remove from pan and knead on a floured board until smooth. Add colourings if desired and extra flour if it becomes sticky (I have used watercolour paints, food colouring and chalk in the past for specific projects, but since it all becomes a uniform grey or brown within minutes of Wombat getting his hands on my pretty rainbows, for everyday play I leave it plain). Place in airtight container.

I used this same playdough recipe to make saltdough ornaments for Christmas. We cut out Christmas trees with a cookie cutter, brushed them with water, sprinkled green glitter, and pressed beads into them for decorations. Worked beautifully just left to air dry for a week.

I am wearing... a loose tunic dress I made when pregnant with Wombat, and an oversize striped t-shirt. I want to make more of these dresses, and some light, long-sleeved peasant blouses to go under them, as they are so comfortable for summer.

I am creating... softies, still. Here are the pictures I promised last week. Meet Bounce (the bunny) and Pounce (the kitten).

I am going... to sneak outside when I finish this post and hang the five loads of washing I did today. It feels so wonderful to be out in the cool and the quiet when everyone is asleep, just me (and the possums, wombats and wallabies) under the glorious starlight.

I am reading... about 'Emotional Freedom Techniques'. Though sceptical at first, I have been trying out this method of do-it-yourself acupuncture without needles and am becoming more and more impressed with it. I really want to share it with my Mum as I think there is a good chance it will help her manage her back pain which is becoming increasingly resistant to medication.

I am hoping... and praying for lasting peace in Gaza. I keep thinking of all the children there, and of how truly lucky my family is to be free from such strife.

Around the house... the heat has brought rats in from the bush to shelter in our roof and walls. The rats drop lice eggs which hatch into invisible itchy-bitey-bugs. So, lots of washing, vacuuming, baiting traps and airing the house until I get rid of them again.

One of my favorite things... the trust of Wombat's hand in mine - and the joyful grimace on Munchkin's face when he first tastes sweet potato.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

battle the bugs

re-enrol at the College of Law to finish my graduate diploma

print out this beautiful calendar

write a ballade about ants by Friday

Here is picture thought I am sharing... our picnic with Mum was at 7 Mile Beach. The picnic area was quite nice, shady, very clean free BBQs (though we hadn't bought anything to cook this time) and Wombat even got to have a good conversation with a friendly kookaburra (see him sitting in the branch at the very top of the pic?).

The beach, however, was another matter - so windy that we were being sandblasted the whole time we were there. Munchkin fell asleep immediately in his pram, swathed safely under a mossie net and sunshade (Yeti had a great hint for getting a pram over sand - PULL, don't push!) Mum and Peter didn't like the wind much, so stayed with Munchkin and turned their back to the gale. It doesn't look at all windy in the pics, but you can just see the streaks of blown sand near the water's edge. Trust me, it was a rather blustery day, as Piglet would say.

We wanted to make sure Wombat brought home some good memories after driving for hours to get there, so Yeti launched the kite and I did a little bit of paddling, after showing Wombat the shells we had promised him he could collect.

Wombat took to shell collecting immediately, and only when his bucket was full to the brim did he give in to personal comfort and decide "It's time to go home, NOW!"

This snippet of my life brought to you courtesy of the Simple Woman's Daybook. If you would like to join in too, you will find all the details here.

ABSee

2009-01-06T16:56:00.003+11:00

Long time readers and those who know me will remember that in Wombat's early years (when I first bought a decent digital camera) I became a photo-challenge junky. It's a long time since I last indulged myself with such things, but this ABSee challenge looks like so much fun.

Since the challenge is to be posted on Fridays, I will try to link the photo in with my Poetry Friday creation as well.

Of course, as soon as I started typing both boys woke from the blessed relief of an afternoon nap (it is stinking hot - over 40 degrees C) so we will see where my good intentions lead... Now, I'm off to dispense breast milk and iced water as required...

It's that time again...

2009-01-01T16:40:00.003+11:00

My New Year's Resolution is to lose 20 kgs by this time next year.

I am going to accomplish this by eating less sugar and less salt (the latter on doctor's orders as my blood pressure still hasn't settled down after Munchkin's birth), more fruit and more raw veggies. I will limit my indulgence food (chocolate, biscuits or cake) to one small serving per day. I will at the very least do a no-excuse workout every day, adding an interval workout whenever I get the chance - aiming for at least once a week. Also drinking more water - as a first step, having a big drink whenever I find myself reaching for a snack.

The overall goal sounded immense at first, then I realised, all I have to do is lose 2 kgs a month, or 500g a week. That sounds quite realistic! I'll be tracking my progress over at Kookaburra Canyon.

Simple Woman's Daybook

2008-12-30T07:19:00.006+11:00

FOR TODAY (Tuesday 30 December 2008)...

Outside My Window... a cool, clear, bright morning which is forcasted to become hot and humid again with a chance of thunderstorms.

I am thinking... better get out early with the boys to hang the washing as the UV has been a real killer this year so we need to get our daily running around time before the sun really kicks in (ie before 9am!).

I am thankful for... Munchkin FINALLY sleeping through the night!!! (after weeks of feeding EVERY HOUR!) and Wombat having a week of dry nights :D

From the learning rooms... reading our Christmas books - especially the new one which arrived yesterday - Room for a Little One. The pictures are absolutely gorgeous, and I don't think I've read a Martin Waddell book that I haven't liked. He is one of my Wombat's favourite authors (Snow Bears, Can't you sleep, Little Bear?, Owl Babies)

From the kitchen... I wanted to make some more cookies with Wombat - the last batch of Anzac biscuits were pretty good, despite using bicarb instead of baking soda and too much of it, so they had a strange slightly fizzy taste... but it's been too hot to use the oven during the day.

I am wearing... Stripy pjs and bare feet.

I am creating... Softies - for a friend's daughter and for the Toy Society. Will post pics of the ones I made for the boys' Christmas presents in the near future. They are hanging on the washing line at the moment - popular enough to have needed a bath already!

I am going... shopping today, if it's not too hot. Munchkin has outgrown his size 0s! and I need some 'baby clothing' in size 1 as all I have is suited for an older child. Wombat also desperately needs new shoes. The last lot fell apart about a week after buying. Only problem is that Big W is only stocking sandals and thongs for summer which isn't much use when there are funnel web spiders and red-belly black snakes in our yard.

I am reading... Elizabeth Hainstock's 'Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Preschool Years'. I was also reading Rabelais' Gargantua & Pantagruel on my ebook reader at night while breastfeeding... but the other night it red-screened and died on me ;( I hadn't realized how dependent I had become on having it! (It was a birth present from Munchkin... as soon as Yeti realized he couldn't fix it, he searched eBay and bought me another one - I love that man!)

I am hoping... that I can do a better job of keeping my patience with the boys today.

I am hearing... Wombat running back and forth to show his Cars collection to Daddy and Nanna in the kitchen, and Munchkin gurgling to his toys in the bedroom while he waits for me to come and dress him.

Around the house... chaos and clutter, as usual.

One of my favorite things... "Munchkin's gurgling happy" says Wombat - brotherly love! The first thing Wombat does when he wakes up in the morning is check where Munchkin is and he is always concerned to tell me if Munchkin is crying or poopy... I have had to set up the portacot for Munchkin to play in, though, as he was getting accidentally trodden on occasionally...

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

Chat to MIL about Yeti's cousins so I can work out who is who when I'm sending Christmas cards next year.
Finish the bear classification cards for Wombat.
Plan a post-Christmas picnic with my mum and brother.
Post my brother-in-law's present which has finally arrived.
Find photos of Wombat and get my 'family album' blog up to date.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

I want to thank Tricia Rennea for the beautiful bird sillhouettes.

When my brother-in-law's present (a book) hadn't arrived in time for Christmas, I wanted to make a bookmark in a hurry so we had 'a placeholder' to give him. I grabbed some white cardboard (packing from a pack of singlets), traced the birds off the screen onto plain white computer paper and cut them out, cut two small squares of Wombat's favourite Christmas wrapping paper, searched through the old phonebook where Wombat and I press flowers and found some May flowers and buds, a sprig of spring growth from the Cedrella and one of the pretty, small blue flowers that grow as weeds in our grass. (A weed is just a flower in disguise.) Finally, I grabbed an unused Christmas card with an appropriate message and snipped out the words. I used small dabs from a glue stick to hold everything in place, covered it with clear contact and snipped around the edge with pinking shears.

I don't know if BIL liked it - was too busy supervising the boys to watch his expression, but I was really pleased with how it looked and am thinking of making another for Yeti's birthday... and one for myself... and one for my brother... lol :D Thanks for the inspiration, Tricia - I love your blog!

This is my first time joining in with the Simple Woman's Daybook. If you would like to join in too, you will find all the details here.

Unplug your kids - curly

2008-12-17T01:02:00.006+11:00

This week's Unplug your Kids project theme was "curly". Wombat and I borrowed an idea I had seen on My Montessori Journey for Christmas Tree Spirals and made it our own.

We didn't have any green plates, but we did have a paper plate that Wombat had covered during our painting fun a few days ago.

(We had been painting our salt dough christmas ornaments using a mix of flour, water, glitter and watercolour paint. I buy my Stockmar Watercolour paint from Spiral Garden. How appropriate! LOL!)

This is what we started with. *Note - when drawing the spiral on the back of the plate, don't run the lines too close together! I made that mistake with the second plate - the one where you can see the spiral - and it just didn't work out as nice. Also, note that the top side of the plate - the side you put food on - will be the underside of the spiral. I hadn't realised this, but as you will see, it worked out for the best...

Don't you love the Cars collection watching the work? The wooden tea box is our crayon storage.

After cutting along the spiral lines, turn the plate over and glue small pompoms or other decorations along the outside. Wombat found that he didn't quite have the cutting skills needed to follow the spiral lines, and that the pompoms needed patience to get them to stick properly, so at about this point he wandered off to fill his various trucks up with baby pompoms... I finished the sticky bits, and then looked around for something to hang it with.

Earlier in the day, Wombat had gotten into a big box full of packing peanuts. In an attempt to prevent them being spread all over the floor (yeah, right...) I handed Wombat a big blunt darning needle and some wool, showing him how to thread them. He hadn't been particularly interested in that activity either, but I did have a short strand lying around afterwards. I added a few more packing peanuts, poked a hole in the centre of the plate and voila! A very curly spiral Christmas bell (hanging here in front of my home made nativity scene)!

Lest you think I was disappointed in Wombat's lack of interest, I wasn't - because as an unexpected benefit I found that Munchkin LOVED it. He sat underneath and watched it spinning in absolute fascination. Even Wombat stopped loading his trucks to watch for a while. It does make a great mobile...

And it turned out that the painted surface being on the inside of the bell was a good idea too! The pompoms provided enough interest on the top surface, and here is a Munchkin-eye-view of the painted surface underneath.

Thanks to Unplug Your Kids and My Montessori Journey for the inspiration. If you are not familiar with these blogs, check them out! HEAPS of great activities and ideas for kids. Most are a little too advanced for Wombat, but I am reading and learning lots!

Poetry Friday - Cockatoo AU

2008-12-13T02:50:00.005+11:00

It's no longer Friday here, but I've been entertaining a rain-bound Wombat all day, so haven't had a chance to polish the poem or post until now. Luckily, it's still early for the rest of the world!

When I began this week, I thought I was writing a ballade, which mutated into a ballad, and finally ended up, of all things, as an acrostic Franken-sonnet* with a trochaic metre!

Cockatoo AU

Cocky wanna rule the world?
Or, perhaps, the universe?
Cocky shrieks a strident curse!
Keen defiance, crest unfurled,
Armaments in claws, tight-curled.
Treetops dance as troops disperse
Overhead, with aim diverse.
Orbit once, then missiles hurled.
Aggravated damage done.
Undefeated! Triumph won!

[Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) on Scotland Island, near Sydney, New South Wales, Australia taken in June 2004 by Arthur Chapman.]

*Franken-sonnet = it's got the abbaabba pattern of an Italian sonnet, combined with the couplet ending of an English sonnet, but it's missing a quatrain, so really doesn't deserve the name at all! Hopefully it won't hunt me down some dark night and demand retribution for its misshapen form!

This week's Poetry Friday is hosted by Wild Rose Reader. Enjoy!