What's worse?

What's worse than weeing in the bath?

What's worse than pooing in the bath?

What's worse than anything at all in the bath?

Popping a fish oil capsule in the bath (by accident) and smelling like a fish (for a long long time).

The Little Man just happened to do this last night whilst in the bath with Mr Purple. Of course, Mr Purple has a THING about seafood and now ironically he smells like a fish. I immediately took The Little Man to the shower, washed his hair, shampooed his body in an effort to eradicate the smell. But still his face smelt like fish. On with the aftershave and it was a bit better... thank heavens for swimming lessons and chlorine filled pools. He will come home smelling like My Little Man  this afternoon! Wonderful.

But still the problem of the bathroom. It REEKS! All the towels, everything, stinks like fish...

Oh well,... I didn't have plans for today anyway.

Rosy

Rosy is very happy. She is in a loving home and she is happy. I miss her still but I am OK now with it. Here is a recent photo of Rosy in her new home. By the way, her name is now Fable.

Look at that belly. She is one bappy little piggy.

Tis the season

I do so love The Big Man. He is a little boy of contrasts. He is charming and thoughtful and then all of a sudden he is spiteful and greedy. He is funny, and then he is not funny at all. He is clean sometimes, and other times he is very yukky and dirty. He is messy messy messy all ze time.

This week he has said two very beautiful things to me:

We were practicing looking up things in the dictionary with The Little Man too, and as they were looking at the second and third letters of the words, they were reciting the alphabet to themselves. The Big Man looked up at me with all innocence and said, "Do you know all your ABC's yet?" I was very respectful and did not smile on the outside. I said very slowly to contain myself "Yes, I do know my ABC's."

The next thing that he said that was very charming was about my period. The boys both know about the period, about how it is an egg that is leaving my body, and that it happens on a regular basis. That is about the limit of their knowledge at the moment. They are fine with that. We are on a need to know basis here.

Often times the boys have a bath together and more often than not, Mr Purple hops into the bath with them. Of course they would love me to hop in too, but I am too chubby for the bath and it is not my idea of a nice cup of tea, and so I confessed to The Big Man that even though he always asks me, it is not always that I don;t want to hop in, but that I cannot because of the process that is happening to me.

And so, yesterday he asked me: "Is it the right season for you to be having a bath Mum?"

God love his little soul.

For my birzday

Please note: for some vewy strange reason I am talking to myzelf in zome kind of accent today, and it seems fitting to be translating zat to my blog. Of course, the translation is not rrreally coming zthrough, but it is vewy funnee to be me today.

Look at zese gorgeous pottery mushrooms that a vewy dear fwiend gave me for my birsthday. So pretty sitting in the garden.

 Zey make me smile when I look at zem, so imagine how I felt when I came outside and saw zis...

a dear little visitor sat for hours upon ze mushroom, before she flew off to finish her life somevhere else.

YAY! YAHOO!! WHOOOPP!!!

Got it back again... so happy!

Beautiful colours

I have some very beautiful sari silk which I just don't know what to do with...I have had it for years, and so I have decided to weave it up and see if it speaks to me... These two pieces are destined to be handbags, somehow, somewhere...

Boys? Has anyone seen my pin cushion?

Ahh, there it is...

The latest craze in our home

Yep... Go-Go's Crazy Bones I think they are called. They are taking over our lives. Here they are pictured lined up on the edge of the bath... in a rainbow line. Each day they are doing something else. I guess it is better than watching the telly or playing on the computer, but sometimes these Go-Go's send me mad.

A few of my favourites...

So disappointing

I SOOOOOO loved my latest background. I really really did, but it has been deleted. I couldn't find it!

So I had to start the hunt again for a new one... hate that hunt... it takes forever. Still I am not 100% happy, but it is better than nothing...

POO BUM WEE!

Not happy Jan!

I had my birthday

I spent it at Fingal and Kingscliffe. We had fish n chips, flew kites, had coffee and cake. I finished the day with a Birthday Baileys. Thanks Dad.

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."

Anatole France

Cute

Cours Toujours - animation short film from Cours Toujours Team on Vimeo.

What's for Lunch?

Last night we got Chinese for dinner (sweet and sour pork) The Big Man's choice as it was his birthday.

They just came in and asked me what was for lunch.

"Chinese from last night."

"Oh," said The Big Man. "He wants African today."

African food? They went outside to ride skateboards and scooters and came inside wanting African... go figure.

Really?

I just had a shower and because it's really cold tonight, I put on long jarmies and powdered up. I like the old powder, but as I kissed The Little Man goodnight, he said:

"'Night. Oh... you smell like dust!"

11 today!

A marble cake for The Big Man decorated lovingly by The Little Man. Pink and Brown and White. Yummo! We enjoyed half of it with my parents and the other half tonight with Daddy. A hotted up scooter, a rip-stick, toy suction cup guns, some more Go-Go Crazy Bones and money money money. He is one happy little vegemite.

Fast asleep

Rosy Rose has gone now. This is her last night with us before she went on the aeroplane to Sydney. Such a sad little story, but I vow to one day own another pig. I will be 'the old lady with the pig' that children in the future will talk about... perhaps on some property in the middle of nowhere... scrounging in the vegie patch along with my pet pig.

Little Tiny Feet

Autumn in my garden

There is no autumn in Queensland. Everything is green or brown. But one tiny tree has given me the colours of autumn... It is bright red now, beautiful, a reminder that things change, seasons come and seasons go, everything changes.

Beach Shadows

Ava

A different way

The stuff of life is making me sad. And so I have decided to try images instead... Perhaps somehow the simple things in life, the things I can see and touch will lead me to appreciate the world at the moment.

My little Christmas Pig

Little Miss Rosy has grown. Oh yes... she has. She has outgrown her little pink jumper. So I made her this new rosey red velvet gown. She looks like a Christmas Pig to me.

In fact I think I can even see a tiny hint of a smile in the corner of her mouth there in the bottom pic... can you?

In the garden

My tomatoes are huge, but not blushing at all.., perhaps not enough sunlight, perhaps some weird breed of green tomatoes... but that's OK, they are still beautiful and I still enjoy visiting them every day just in case they have begun to ripen.

So excited that my garlic has come up! FInally. I had all but given up on it. I planted two different types, and they are both up. A friend recently told me that with garlic you plant it on the Shortest Day of the year and harvest on the Longest Day of the year. I didn't plant on the shortest, but I must remember that for next time.

Reaching Out

Every Monday I get a Monday Morning Motivator from a friend, who owns a business and it is part of that. But I like it. It is surprisingly relevant to what is happening in my life and I often pass it on.

Over the past week or I so, I have intermittently been attaching pics of all my pets to the emails that I send. I now find that the interest is great. There is a little buzz about what pic each other got and I have even seen a bit of screensaver happening!

I think that I will make a new thing... a weekly instalment for those who are so interested in the lives of my babies... hmmm ... yep, I think I will... Maybe even add a quotation too to reflect something or other...

I'll keep you posted!

Night Flights

We have a moth the size of a small pelican in our bedroom. Of course it disappears by morning and I forget all about it for the day. Then, right on cue, just as I get all snuggled in and begin to digest the latest read, out he comes and glides across the room to introduce himself. But it is not that easy... a glide here, a glide there... noooo.... we have to bang and crash against the ceiling, against the walls, hell yeah! Let's even make clanging sounds on the fan!

Yep... love those pelicans.

Food for thought

" ... All of them knew Freeman was conducting lobotomies on children. Sometimes they protested after the fact, [...]. But why wasn't anyone taking steps to ensure Freeman wasn't operating on any more children? Why was this allowed to continue?

And has anything changed today? Where are the authorities now? How come any regular M.D. or paediatrician is allowed to diagnose depression or bipolar illness or ADD in children, and prescribe medications, without a second opinion? How many children are taking powerful brain medications now simply because their parents find them too difficult to handle? How many of those boys and girls are having their childhoods taken away from them, the way mine was taken away from me?"

messing with my head - The shocking true story of my lobotomy
Howard Dully and Charles Fleming

A Must Read

I borrowed this book on a whim, grabbing books off the shelf willy nilly (how do you spell that?).

I am so glad that I picked it up. Oh my goodness. It was impossible to put it down. Mostly because I needed it to be over, I needed to know that it was OK in the end, and also because I needed it to end. I didn't want this sad sad story 'messing with my head' for too long. I needed to read it and NOW.

I was shocked, I was speechless, I cried, I was indignant, I was gobsmacked. I was in disbelief and I was amazed. I couldn't put it down.

A must read definitely.

The Back In

It was a long long time ago and a friend of mine had taken The Little Man and his mate to the Drive In to see a movie. The Big Man had been away for the night and when he got back he was so out of sorts because he had missed out on the adventure.

We all did our best to describe the event... telling him about the cars in rows with the speaker in the window, or tune in on the radio and if we went in our car we would 'back in' and sit in the back of the ute on mattresses with pillows and blankets and watch the movie in the open air.

That stuck! From then on he called it "The Back In".

So, on our way to pick the girls up today, I said to The Big Man "We'll be going past the Back In in a minute, it will be on your side."
He was all eyes ready to see THE place...
"Which place Mum?" asked The Little Man.
"Oh you know, the Back Up!" said The Big Man with all sincerity.

Again Mr Purple and I smiled on the inside (and a little smile in the corners of our mouths).

And... it was a bit disappointing too seeing it in the daylight is not nearly as exciting as the night time.

Mississippi

Whilst travelling recently in the car, the boys were chatting in the back when I hear The Little Man singing :

"One Missus Shippy, Two Missus Shippy..."

The Big Man (in typical Big Man way) says: "That's not how you say it! It's Missus Hippy!" Like DER!

Mr Purple and I just looked at each other out of the corner of our eyes and smiled... I reached out and touched his leg and said "Now that's..." and he said "... bloggable!"

I am in love

I have always wondered...

When little boys get their little hands on cameras,

what do they take photos of? 

The Big Man takes photos like this:

random shots while in bed (his disco light)

environmentally aware shots like this (at camp recently).

While The Little Man takes shots like this:

as you do when you have a camera and your mouth is there,

Rosy from all angles (I love this one).

There are many many photos on the camera that they took, but I cannot share them all...

FOUND!

Ah yes... we were looking all over the yard for my jacket. But there it was in The Big Man's bed, tucked under his pillow! Hmmm... must have come off when I was burrowing for a snuggle.

Lost!

My new pink jacket!

Where: At home in the yard somewhere.

When: Sunday afternoon while I was enjoying the sun.

Why: because Mr Purple was looking after me and he forgot to care!

Please, if you find my jacket return it to me, Rosy. I have this new thing that is way too big and has velcro spots stapled on it! ooohhh Mum, geez!

Zzz...

Oh, I am sooooo sleepy. I fell asleep balancing on my snout and then my legs just folded up underneath me and I am here, fast asleep in the kitchen while Mum makes dinner.

What a cute little piggy.

Oh my goodness

I have just booked the girls in to a dog training school to try and knock this howling on the head.

Too many complaints and it is doing my head in. They are naughty naughty naughty girls. I feel a little anxious about taking them and leaving them, but it would be one stress that would just go completely away and it would make our lives so much easier if it works.

It better work! I am sure it will. The man was very confident. I did ask him if he is a Pig Whisperer too, but he is not, alas. Not to worry, the little one is doing very well now that I am not playing the "Respond Immediately To Pig Squealing" game.

I don't like that game. It is not fun.

STINKY

Stink bugs STINK!

I just got one caught up in my hair and when I pulled it out it did the Stink Thing. Man! It reeks! Urrrgh!

Interesting Pig Point

There are curly pigs!

The Faerie House

One day we were visiting with my mum and The Big Man (many years ago now, but I just came across the photo) decided to build a house for the faeries. This is it. The finished product.

The little path leading in, all the brick and tile bits are mortared together with mud, there are walls and spaces for doorways (how did he know to do this at age 4-5?) There are windows for fresh air and even a welcoming meal on the table for the first faerie to move in. That's a teeny weeny cheese grater on the table.. I wonder if he remembers it... I will ask him.

Height

 A very dear friend of mine has been going to the gym madly having decided to commit (loony toons!) to a 12 week challenge! This entails lots of early morning sessions, group sessions, massive walks, boot camps etc. At the six week mark, she weighed in and got measured. She then came to our house and said :

"I am so disappointed. I haven't lost any weight. I have lost 12cms which is great and I can feel it around my wrists (wahoo!) but I really wanted to have lost weight not cms."

The Big Man's brain started to tick... I watched it... and then he said in complete honesty and innocence:

"Wow! You shouldn't be losing anything off your height!" with such concern on his face, almost worry in fact. We both burst out laughing and hugged him so hard...  they are so funny sometimes.

What I love about...

The Big Man?

Wow. I love that he is fearless. He will do anything, go anywhere (almost) for a thrill... so opposite to me. It scares me to death, but it is so admirable too. I have to admit though I have got to the stage where I just let him do the crazy stuff, and know that I will be there to pick up the pieces when he falls, crashes or lands badly. Very hard to do, but its either that or The Big Man will end up hating me for stopping all his fun... I hope the accident is a little one... just enough to let him realise that stuff hurts and bodies take time to heal, bla bla bla ....

"Yeah right, Mum!" I can hear him now...

Two dogs and a pig

Thankyou

I  got a thankyou email today and this photo was attached. It is The Little Man when he wass very little. I gasped when I saw it, because I had forgotten how little and helpless he was... It doesn't take much to put things back into perspective for us, does it?

Crying

I found myself crying this morning as I watched the clip below.

First it was smiles, then goosebumps and then the tears... I could watch it all day. I have videos of AUSLAN training and have studied them for hours, but this was just so joyous. I love it. It is beautiful. I can imagine Deaf people, all crowded round the speaker, feeling the beat and the sound waves, just enjoying...

OMG! This is AMAZING!

Little Boys

I just love this photo...

Every little boy needs a little mate to play with... in long grass, in mud, in water, in the sand. There is nothing better than a friend to 'get into stuff' with.

Inspiration

Eggs

The chookies are not really laying many eggs at the moment, we are lucky to be getting one or two a day. We go through phases of eating heaps and heaps and heaps and then I forget about them, and we don't eat an egg for weeks.

But I do have this dear little woven nest that I made one day, which The Little Man has carted all over the garden to share with the faeries and the birds, and it is finally back at the front door. If only Mr Purple liked aubuergines I would have hit the jackpot... purple 'eggs' for Mr Purple. How good would that be? Except he won't eat them and I end up giving them away... often... it is such a prolific plant... it has not yet stopped producing... the Vegie Lady is happy with them... it is my thankyou to her for all the little treats she pops in my order!

Welcome

On the wall in the entry way, I have a rusty iron plaque that says 'WELCOME'. I love it. It makes me feel that my house is open to everyone. It is. I lve to have a full house... it isn't very often, but when it is I love it.

And so I always like to have a nice welcome pot too... it doesn't always work as I most times forget to water it and the dear vegie lady tells me off for that poor poor flower out the front. What would I do without my vegie lady. They are indispensable creatures really.

BEd Bug

My goodness. She loves to sleep. I know she is a baby, but she just loves her bed! It is gorgeous.

At night, I put her hot water botttle in her basket, pop her on top, and she stands there rocking to and fro as her darling little trotters get the feel of the warmth. Then as she really gets into it, she sinks down, legs collapsing and she snuggles in, eyes close and she is off... fast asleep, dreaming piggy dreams till about 7 in the morning. She is better than a 'uman babe, sleeping right through the night first up.

This morning, the alarm went off at 7. Immediately I said "Bags not doing the wee thing this morning!" which meant that Mr Purple had the honours of taking her out into the cold, waiting on the wet grass for her to snuffle and find the perfect place to wee. He stumbled into the bathroom, both of us expecting her to be frantic for some attention, yet she just looked up at us, yawned and snuggled back in. It took her a good 10 minutes before she decided to hop out of bed.

She ran around for a while after that, had brekky (in the bath - it's easier to clean up) and then at 8.20, she's back in bed for another sleep!

Bruises

I love Rosy. She is gorgeous. She snuffles and noses us because she still has the suckling instinct. But it's a bit bad when my back is covered in bruises because of it. I was astounded really when I saw it... goodness me... I knew she was pushing hard and I even got up and said "This hurts!" At least now Mr Purple must understand HOW much it hurt.

Something is going on?

This afternoon, the three girls and I (Ava, Ruby and Rosy) went and say out in the back yard to enjoy the sun and to let Rosy have a snuffle in the grass. Next thing I know, there are two Butcher Birds sitting very close to us and watching us like Butcher Birds do.

It was very off putting. Then a magpie swooped out of a tree overhead and landed in the carport on top of my car... the Butcher Birds were still on duty.

I didn't really like it, got a bit nervous and so went up to give some wheat to the chickens. The Butcher Birds followed us! Bizarro! They hopped up the driveway behind us...

They obviously know something that I don't know... it's definitely not chick season so it's not a nest they are protecting...?

So much to tell...

I have so much news it's not funny!

I also have a bad bad cold and I have lost my voice. The (new) Big Man is off on school camp tomorrow and we have discovered nits The Little Man's curls! So, I am a tad busy and can't write, but man oh man, has it been exciting? YES!

First up, my dear friend Mrs B and I went to Townsville to visit another dear friend of ours... Mrs Reed. It was so lovely to see her. Having relocated with her hubby and kids they are leading a most glorious life! I am envious, but still very happy with my lot! More news about it all later, but I do have these photos to share... (Mrs B became the resident Blog Photographer over the weekend) so I am waiting for the pics to arrive in my inbox before I share more.

That's Mrs B and Mrs Reed settling in for a good old chick flick!

Off to a girly movie the night we arrived... and look at the style in which we enjoyed it! OMG! It was gorgeous... beautiful brocade upholstery, velvet curtains all over the place, mint patties, coconut rough, good friends and a bottle of water each... what more could we want? Nothing except a snuggly pashmina to keep out the air conditioning chill.... ooohhhh and chandeliers! Gorgeous gorgeous chandeliers!