Unbelievably beautiful.

I just went in to have a look at all the glorious flowers and sniff around, taking in the beauty.

But somehow, these delightful flowers ended up in my hands, all wrapped up and ready to go home... I couldn't help myself... They were just TOO beautiful. I had to have them...

Sometimes it is like that... I can't contain myself, I just have to have things... mostly it is flowers... but sometimes it is fabric and other times it is wool, and also fleece... oh, and I guess it is also spinning wheels, and ...

A gift...

Someone gave me a gift. A little gift. A delightful gift. A precious gift. A gift that showed thoughtfulness and care. A gift that was much appreciated and really loved.

This little gift was presented to me in a zip lock plastic bag, plucked from the handbag in the middle of a coffee session. This little gift made me smile VERY hard because this little gift showed me that someone loves me and thinks about me even when she's miles from home.

This little gift is full of colour and love, full of memories and history. It symbolises for me a visit to my grandmother and the treasures that are found in her drawers. Some things are coveted and wanted, but can be replaced with little gifts that mean the world.

Thankyou.

Another one

Dropped another toy yesterday. On our way to weaving and we drove inland deeper and deeper into the middle of the suburb. Found this dear little bridge and the beautiful bouganvillea just screamed out to be included.

I did all the work of course, it was too exciting for Mama. She was a bit nervous, so protected the car (which I had parked on a roundabout to secure the perfect spot - oooh aaah).

Anyway, happy with this little drop although I am beginning to wonder if any Australians who find the good will of others will ever feel the urge to say thankyou. Or perhaps I am just dropping in the wrong places... But where is right and where is wrong... you would think that all places and all people would be grateful and happy to have found a magical gift for free... a little peice of some else's goodness...

Interesting isn't it? how different we all are... I would be on the computer thanking joyfully... others have said not a word... hmmmm.... the world sure is an interesting place.

I wish...

They were at it again this morning...

Somehow, someone pushed someone else and then they pushed back and then the back of the T-shirt was grabbed and pulled, the back of the neck was then squeezed and then pushed, with head onto car... then lots of screaming and shouting, a bit of hyperventilation and then as we sit on the steps breaking it down, doing the slow motion dissection of each and every moment, Little Man says:
"I hate my life! I wish I was a dead ant on the ground!"
Then glaring at Middle Man, he shouts
"And I wish you were a piece of paper RIPPED in half!"

WOW! what venom!

When I grow up...

Today on the way to school, the little men in my life were discussing what kinds of things you might HAVE to do for sport when you are in high school. After much to-ing and fro-ing and consideration between them, Little Man piped up and said,
"If they have skipping, I'll choose that!"
And that was the end of the conversation... If only life were that simple...

I now have a visual of a 16 year old boy skipping along to his next class... he'll be so popular with the girls?

And more love...

Gotta be happy when EVERYONE in the house is getting along well...

Our dear little mice love each other too... Look at their tails! So cute...

Either in LOVE or scared to death!

We have only 2 mice left now.... one (Blackie II) who has a serious tail injury and is in the nursing section of the house, probably with a belly full of babies as well, and Wild Mouse who ran wild around the house for a period of months before we recaptured him. The rest of them (about 30) all found homes somewhere or other... various places around the joint... read between the lines here people... pet shops, great Mouse House in the Sky etc.

And as if I didn't have enough to cope with, here we go again with another batch. I am a sucker for punishment... particularly when you think that Blossom the Guinea Pig is probably up the duff too. We'll soon know... 2 months gestation, so another 5 weeks and she'll probably be bursting...

By then I will be all oohing and aahing over the excitement of it all and the tiny size of the mini GP's, and the thousands of mice that will be again running all over the mouse house (which is a rather large bird cage). So long as not many of them eat each other this time, it should be good... that is terribly distressing for the kids. They don't cope well with that... and then Army Marm comes in with invitations to the Mouse House in the Sky. Good Old Mum to the rescue again!

Sleepovers

And then last night when I went in to check, I found this.

We wondered where the dogs were last night...

Middle Man came in and said
"Huge sleepover in my room last night!"
"Really, who slept with you?"
"Both dogs of course," he says.

Little Man had claimed the very same thing...

But I'm not going to bring that up... it will just cause yet another argument...

Arguing

My goodness! They argue ALL THE TIME!

"Muuuummmm!"

It drives me crazy. I sometimes feel like my head will explode and my body will just go poof! and disappear. How did my mother take this stuff for 20 years? My Goodness, I give my parents Merit Awards and Stickers on their collars for putting up with this stuff so silently for all those years...

And then...

I go into their bedrooms to kiss them goodnight (and pull up their covers and turn their fans off that are on as fast as they can go!) and I find this... this beautiful beautiful image of two little boys, legs entwined, sleeping together, loving one another...

Pass me a tissue please... it brings a momentary tear to my eye.
(And then it's morning and they are at it again!)

Article in "THE AGE" Melbourne

Gifts of love left for whoever finds
by Yasmin Mitchell, March 10, 2009

WHEN most people think of street art, spray cans and stencils come to mind. Not so for Bianca Brownlow. While the founder of the Toy Society may be sneaking through Melbourne's darkest laneways, she's hiding handmade toys, not tagging.

The aim of the Toy Society, Ms Brownlow explains, is a "something-for-nothing experience". Participants make painstakingly detailed toys, such as miniature monkeys, frowning ghosts and patchwork chickens, , leaving them on street corners, park benches and other public spaces for others to find.

A label attached to each toy invites the finder to take them home but also to let the Toy Society know they have been found, via a blog....

...Despite the overwhelmingly positive response from toy-finders, Ms Dunston and Ms Brownlow get nervous about actually hiding toys on the street. "It's quite strange," Ms Dunston admits. "It's like being a spy with toys. You're always jumpy and nervy … you have to do it with a lot of confidence, like you're meant to be there."

Similarly, even after spending a year participating in toy drops, Ms Brownlow is still nervous about being caught in the act. "I like to do it incognito. I don't like to be seen. Actually, I dropped one in (Sydney's) Surry Hills a few weeks ago and someone saw me. I didn't know what to do. I went and hid."

While she laughs that she's much too busy for world domination, she has quite a few projects in the pipeline. She's working on a couple of themed toy drops for Melbourne, including a street full of trees where each tree has a bird in it, probably on Northcote's High Street. Another project that has been playing on her mind is "a night thing with ghosts in sneaky ghost-like places in the city". Her personal goal, getting the project to 100 toy drops by April, has almost been accomplished, thanks to the worldwide Christmas drop.

Oh dear!

I bought a loom on the weekend.

"YOU WHAT?!" asks the Biggest Man. "WHAT FOR?!"

Well... I don't have enough hobbies, and another one will just add to the mulitude of unfinished items gathering dust in all the corners of the house. I mean, come on, a woman needs a new hubby... oops, HOBBY... every so often... keeps her mind busy and active... that cleaning and cooking, and washing and sweeping and weeding and and and... gets you down sometimes.

Anyhow, I bought it from a lady who also gave me the fleece (YEP, another one!!!) of her sheep Blackie... from NZ. It was her pet sheep. I feel so privileged. I shall makee her a hot pot holder or something so that she has a little of Blackie in her life. So exciting... Now I have ... um is it 6 fleeces in the shed! Oh dear!

So, Mum and I are off to Brisbane this morning to learn how to use a loom. Huh! Fancy that... it can be so easy if you want it to be...

I said to Mum that we should wear a different pair of shoes to mark the ocassion, but she is going to kill me when I pick her up as I still have on the old faithfuls. I just can't wear a different pair of shoes, learn a new craft and join a group of 8 other women all in one day... too much for this mumma to cope with today.

Gotta go... kids are eating each other and have to take them to school for their own learning experiences... later

P.S. Also bought another spinning wheel from this lovely lady... Can't wait to use it, might start on the alpaca...

My little MerMen

Here are my babies again having fun in water. This is such a beautiful photo I would love to get it blown up really big for the wall.

Isn't it funny though how kids hate each other with a passion one minute and then love each other to death in another minute. They were having such fun together under the water, but as soon as they surfaced they were at it again!

The mind boggles.

Gotta love kids...

We went skiing with friends on the weekend. In the past, both of the Little Men have been hesitant and nervous. This time it was on... couldn't wait to give it a go...

I was so happy for them and proud of their bravery and focus. Wonderful effort from both of them. I had the BIGGEST smile on my face... the biggest I have had for a long time.


I think it was because I was letting go a little and letting them live without curbing them in fear of accidents etc. Scary, but really energising too in that I was able to watch them shine.

me

I like to Barter

Today... (not really today, last week, but it sounds better if I say 'today') so... today I swapped one dozen of my prized eggs for the fleece of one white alpaca by the name of Snowy.

That's what the picture is all about... that's Snowy's hair there, still dirty and reeking of Mother Nature, and there are my dear little eggs all pristine and perfect. I was getting a pedicure and the owner of the shop was telling me all about her alpacas. Then I just HAD to mention that I spin and felt and whatnot and then it all just happened. Before long she said she would bring in a fleece for me and within a week, I was off to the shops to collect.

Now I have one white and one pure black alpaca fleece to spin, felt or weave. So... that's 2 alpaca fleeces and maybe about 5 sheep - 3 white merino and 2 chocolate brown... delicious.

Now all I need is the time to create with them.

Wish me luck... everyone knows mothers have no time.

Pancakes...

Have you ever had something sooooo good that you JUST HAVE to lick the plate?

This photo was taken a long time ago, but it still has the same magical quality to it for me... this young man absolutely loved his pancakes!!! He asked very politely if he could lick his plate... how could I resist?

I actually remember as a kid licking my plate as well... but usually it was after a baked dinner... all that yummy gravy...

Recipes

Today I received the latest newsletter of GOOP... Gwyneth Paltrow's interesting BLOG. It had recipes in it... I am so amazed. Literally yesterday as I was eating my lunch at the tuckshop (yes, I am a tuckshop mum) I was discussing how I would like to make flat breads, but didn't know a recipe and would need to play around with it to get it right...

Lo and behold, the newsletter arrives this morning... So excited. I will make it on the weekend. Can't wait.

But it prompted me to share a recipe that I love and that is SO EASY it is ridiculous... even the boys make it (and they are successful). In fact Little Big Man said "I didn't know I was such a good cook."

CRAP

Just as I was typing those two last posts, out of the corner of my eye I saw a black thing run past my door....

On closer inspection I discover two fat spiders.

Suffering SEVER ARACHNOPHOBIA I run for the spray (husband is not home and children are snoring).

OH MY GOD! Their backs explode as I spray them and hundreds of tiny spiders spill off onto the floor. I cannot take a photo, I cannot stand the carnage. It is hideous. I want to be sick... but I know I will have to clean that up as well as the spiders...

No... in fact, I will cover them up and leave them for husband to deal with when he gets home (tomorrow night). I know he will understand.

HE HAS TO!

Modesty

Do you ever remember being all embarrassed because someone 'might see you'.

Oh my God, someone might see me? Who? Who cares? Does it really matter? Will they remember?

It is so beautiful when that modesty kicks in and they think that the garden, house, car, bathroom, EVERYWHERE is full of Big Brother cameras. I love it... And I love their beautiful attempts at covering up. Like I haven't seen it a million times before...

"Wahoo! I just saw his privates for the 685,456th time! Wahoo!"

Little darlings...

I've done it again...

Two more drops!

This time aided by a friend. We were full of coffee and excited. The adrenalin rushed through us as we planned 'the drop'. The excitement of it all pushed us over the edge. We had to sit down.

Too much... Too many drops all at once... need to pull back... do one at a time...

Do I still love my husband...

...after seeing him in his knickers and long black socks dancing and prancing around the room as he jigs to some daggy radio music.... ? (or wearing my hat at he plays cricket with the kids).

You betcha!

It endears him to me even more... somehow, just seeing him in this vulnerable state, puts into perspective how vulnerable we all are. Even at my weakest moment... chubby and hot and cranky... there is still someone else in my life who is equally vulnerable... skinny, lanky and groovy!

You go boy! Dance for your life!

The new me!

I got doodling last night as I sat on the couch watching the telly (dancers all doing amaaaaaaaazing things... and I can't dance). My body was twitching and jiggling and grooving as I watched them (hence me thinking I had ants in my pants! (see previous post)) I must have subconsciously thought I better do something that I CAN actually do, and so I started to doodle.

Everyone can doodle! It's fun. It's never wrong. It's pointless, it's engaging, it's mind numbing, it's hypnotising, it's creative, it's... it's... well... it's just doodling!

I have always been WREN with a drawing of my cat Heather. She has been there forever. She was my best friend in the whole wide world for soooo long. She kept me sane, she kept me coming home each night to see her, she was my darling. Well, she passed on just before Christmas... at nearly a grand old 20 years old. The poor old darling. I miss her a lot. We made her a cross and put it in the garden when she used to sun herself. I'm sure she knows how much I loved her.

Anyway, I have always wanted to have a little birdy for my 'thing' and last night it came to me... as I doodled it appeared and I am so happy with it... well... for the time being anyway.

Do you like it?

I am feeling another drop coming on...

My fingers are tingling, I can't keep still, I have ants in my pants.

Another drop is imminent. I put the box of toys in my car in preparation... I think this afternoon is it...