The story of Whistling Wind

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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.