A visit to City Farm

Well....the school holidays are over and we are back into the swing of normal life. We get two weeks here mid-year in the winter time and it's a good chance to snuggle up together or get out and about. On the first Monday, we set off to a local community City Farm to wander about in the sunshine, say hello to the chickens, and admire the vege gardens.


It was practically deserted so the girls had the tyre swing and little play area with a stage all to themselves. I guess Monday mornings are not their busy time! On Sunday mornings they have a market selling lots of organic produce and other yummy and interesting things so we'll have to go and check it out. The only disappointing thing about our visit was the bunch of people hanging out at the little cafe puffing away on their cigarettes. It was such a crisp beautiful day that breathing in all that smoke was revolting amidst such a beautiful setting aimed at creating a healthy way of life and a sustainable environment. Oh well.

The chickens had been moved to a new home at the other end of the "farm" so we followed a path through the bush looking for them until we came to a river. It's actually a creek but such a big one that it looks like a river. The girls and I spent ages just watching the reflections and a clan of ducks floating by.

There were a lot of plaques giving historical information about the area - both European and Indigenous - and lots of lovely artwork. Here are the girls sitting on a giant goanna decorated with Aboriginal artwork.

We loved wandering through the gardens admiring all the lush crops of veges and herbs. I was inspired to get back into my own garden and have been busy weeding and buying new plants and putting them in. I bought flowers for my shady side garden but will try and buy some new veges seedlings too.

I hope everyone else in this part of the world enjoyed the break from school. Such a lovely chance to slow down and smell the coriander.

Birthday girl

My Curly Whirl Girl was born four years ago today. She woke up this morning and emerged warm, rumpled and rosy cheeked, reminding me of the solemn little babe with pink chubby cheeks who was plucked from my belly on a freezing July morning. We've had a busy day which started with a visit to my parents' house for a birthday morning tea with Gret's Auntie Gina and little cousin. Here she is with my Dad. In my view, he's one of the most amazing men on the planet. And looking pretty good for 80, don't you reckon? (I always think he looks a bit like Alan Alda)

Then it was time to jump on a train and visit Dad at work in the city. We had an impromptu picnic lunch on the back steps of Brisbane's oldest church. It is thought to have been designed by Pugin and dates from the 1840s. Pretty old for our neck of the woods as European settlement only commenced in 1824 when the convict outpost was established. This little church is special to Scott and I (despite the fact that we are not Catholic) as we used to light a candle here to remember the baby we lost when I was 10 weeks pregnant. Anyway, the girls had a lovely time chasing Daddy around on the grass.

Then time to take two tired girls home. Here they are on the train reading their new Little Miss books.

I put Playschool on TV in our bedroom in the afternoon for my birthday girl to watch and then went in to what I thought was an empty room later and turned the TV off. A little voice said "Why did you turn it off, Mummy?". There she was, lying quietly in a makeshift bed amongst the clothes waiting to be folded.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

I've decided to only blog when I feel inspired to say something and celebrating my wee girl's four years in the world was too special not to mention. Thanks to all of you lovely girls who left such supportive comments after my last post. Life is seeming easier but man.....it takes some effort to stay on top of it all!