Hello bloggy friends,

I'm afraid I am having trouble being inspired to blog at the moment. Mostly because another virus has laid our household low so there is little of interest to report (or photograph). Also...I feel sometimes that I have run out of things to say. I haven't been sewing or cooking up a storm or doing anything too exciting with the girls. I have been concentrating on surviving each day as it comes lately, and trying to be calm and healthy and a little more assertive about the things I need or the things that bother me. So...a bit of a learning curve as I try and sort myself out. But....I have been really enjoying reading all of your blogs and also searching for new ones that I can relate to. I love seeing glimpses into other people's (usually women and mothers) lives.

As I have no new photos to post and don't like to leave the page blank and boring.....here is a photo from a few years ago. It was taken before we bought the house we live in now, when we were renting a little house a few suburbs away. Queensland was having a terrible drought - you can see how brown the grass was getting. By the time we moved out, it was completely dead! Anyway....Scott took Gret out for a lot of walk when she was a baby to give me a sleep in, and this must have been a morning when Em decided to go with them. It brings back really happy memories.

Hope you are all having a great week.

How does my garden grow?

After a bout of green thumbery in her garden with her girls, CT recently asked how my garden is going. The answer is that it has been sadly neglected lately, but nevertheless has managed to chug along on its own. Isn't Mother Nature awesome? I thought these white sweet alyssum had had their day in my little rock garden, but they must have self seeded or just come good with the recent rain as here they are, blooming away. If you look closely you can see that Kipper has been burying his latest bone in the back. This is one reason why I don't invest TOO much time and energy in my garden anymore. Even my vege patches have to be dog proof or he wanders about in them.

Did I mention a few posts back that my "old" vege garden which I was about to restart with fresh layers of compost etc and a good weeding has surprised me with lots and lots of little coriander and eggplant seedlings? (I initially thought they were weeds).This has made me feel amazingly happy. Little miracles in my own backyard - growing with no help from me whatsover. And they are growing at a rate of knots. I'm sure they have doubled in the last week. I can't wait to add some coriander to my next omelette or scrambled eggs and hopefully, in a few months, Scott will be able to grill homegrown eggplant to put on his home made gluten free pizza.

Here are the baby eggplants. I think I'm supposed to thin them out a bit as it's going to get crowded in there soon, but I haven't had the heart to pull out too many.

There aren't many flowers happening in Hester's Garden at the moment, but this lovely old ordinary geranium keeps flowering away. She always looks a bit down at heel and frowsy with the weeds around her ankles but I love her for providing a little patch of beauty amongst the weeds which want to take over everything in our subtropical climate. Nestled behind her is my little lavender bush which hasn't flowered for ages but I'm still hoping. She will get more sun now that the big passionfruit vine which used to shade the garden is dying off.

When I came around the corner of the house I saw our sweet doggy dog holding his bone between his front paws and basking on the green grass in the sunshine. Doesn't he look contented?

Speaking of sunshine, I won't be seeing much for the next few weeks as I have started a three week treatment for the sunspots on my forehead which will make the area inflamed, itchy, sore and sensitive to light for a few weeks. I'm not allowed to put any moisturiser, makeup or sunscreen on or expose the area to sunlight so I'll be trying to stay indoors and wearing a hat pulled way down when I have to go outside. I've peeked at photos of the results of this treatment (Effudix) online and it ain't pretty. Still, I'm sure I'll survive. If I'm feeling brave, maybe I'll post some before, during and after photos. This guy did, and I was really thankful for his honesty. I'm hoping my reaction will be milder. (Don't look unless you have a strong stomach)

Back to the garden tour.....here is my second no dig garden vege patch. (Click here if you'd like to see what it looked like when it was brand new and ready for planting). As you can see, the weeds and grass have won the war we have been waging and have made a lot of headway into the garden. I had to pull my silverbeet out as it was past its best and being eaten into green lace by little grubs that left tiny black poos all over it. Next time I plant it, I'll get organised and spray them with a garlic solution as I hear real gardeners do. In the meantime, I still have basil and shallots to enjoy.

This shot shows the amazing passionfruit vine that a neighbour planted over a year ago. It has been so lush and just grown like Topsy all along the fence. Sort of like an instant hedge. The original vines near the ground are now thicker than my thumb but most of the vine has died off. But at either end, it is still powering along with lush greenness. How amazing it can suck all the goodness of the soil all the way along the fence.

Last, but not least, my faithful little pink geranium that my mother (Queen of the Green Thumbs) gave me. It is the ONLY flower in the whole front garden. Never mind. I'll get back to it after this skin treatment is finished.

Our household is still being visited by the Gastro Fairy who has been bestowing fevers and other unpleasant symptoms on the girls and me. Scott has gone away for work until tomorrow so it might be a tough night. I hope not. Usually in these circumstances, I do the cosleeping, comforting and cuddling and he handles the cleaning up and washing of laundry but this time it is up to me. I've been feeling a bit glum and fed up this week - resentful of the same old routine and chores and mess but when my girls are sick, of course I am reminded of what is really important and all I can feel is love and gratitude for them and for my life. Today, I've stopped trying to do housework and my part time historian's job from home, and cancelled all dentist appointments, social engagements etc. I'm concentrating on cuddling my girls (and wiping the house with Pine-o-cleen). So.....I'd better stop blogging and get back to them. My big girl is on the mend after 5 days and asking for a banana.

Hope you and yours are staying well.

Kippy Boy

Just found this photo of Kipper (snuggling up to my little girl) on the old camera and couldn't resist sharing it. Scott put him up on an old chair in the study. Kipper's not normally allowed on chairs so he thought he was in seventh heaven. I have just taken the covers off the chair and washed them as they were covered in white cavalier hair. I'm hoping the covers don't fall apart in the machine as they are pretty old. I knew there was a reason Kipper is an outside dog.

trying out the new camera

One of the reasons I haven't blogged much lately is that my trusty old camera was tending towards the blurry side and I couldn't get nice clear photos. Then it came good and I took it out with me for a lunch with my old nursing buddies (not that we are THAT old). Then a few days later, I couldn't find it and starting ringing the restaurant and hunting around but it didn't turn up.I thought I had lost it for good so Scott and I decided to buy a new camera that would also take decent videos. Then the old one turned up but we bought a new one anyway as we were going for a weekend in the country as part of the Farm Day scheme that runs once a year across the nation. Then my big girl came down with vomiting and a fever so we had to cancel our exciting weekend plans amidst quite a few tears from the sick girl. So ANYWAY.....last night, we tried out the new camera at home. No photos of the big girl though as she was too sick to face a camera.


I'm quite happy with the new camera. It has a touch screen which has assuaged my desire for an ipad. The photos are nice and clear but the colours are quite intense. Makes things look a bit surreal.

I like this photo of my little girl as it captures the little details of her lovely face - the lone freckle on her nose, the last vestiges of her chubby baby cheeks and the dimple in her chin that she inherited from her Dad.

PS Em is now on the mend and playing the Wii.

An award to pass on to CT and the joy of new snockings

Finally.....I have got myself organised enough to acknowledge this happy sunshiney award kindly given to me by Miss Prudence. Thanks for thinking of me! I have a very small band of bloggy friends, however, and cannot think of 12 people to bestow it upon so I am simply awarding it to CT at wee hour stitches who is worth her weight in blog awards. It sounds corny but a hello from CT on my blog really does feel like a little burst of sunlight in my day.

I have managed to coax a few more photos out of our temperamental camera. My little Curly Whirl Girl has a thing for stockings, or "snockings" as we prefer to call them. She is well and truly in the developmental stage of assserting her independance and will ONLY wear clothes that she chooses to wear. She doesn't care much for wearing her big sister's hand-me-downs (except for some reason for the really really shabby ones!) so I decided to let her choose a couple of new long sleeved shirts at Target. It's getting quite chilly here now that it is almost winter and she usually refuses point blank to wear a long sleeved shirt because she "doesn't like any of them". So...she chose a shirt and then wanted to go to Pumpkin Patch to look at "snockings". After much deliberation she chose these two pairs. I wish I could get them in my size. "The snowflake ones will be really really good for Christmas" she told me earnestly. I didn't like to point out that it will be warmish here in December. Funny how Australian kids grow up expecting things to be like they are in fairy tales and kids cartoons from the BBC in England.

My little girl is quite challenging at the moment. Adorable and loving, yes, but SO SO stubborn and mischievous. She is literally at times completely out of my control and I find myself either giving up trying to get her to stop doing something she shouldn't be doing or do something she should be doing, losing my temper and yelling and stomping about , or this week, just sitting and crying tears of frustration and tiredness. This at first made her laugh, but then she realised that I actually was sad and gently stroked my arm and said "It's ok, Mummy". I don't believe in smacking (although I have done it several times in the midst of losing my temper) and my back is a bit dodgy which prevents me picking her up or dragging her to her room or a "thinking chair". I've tried getting down on my knees and trying to get her to look at me while I explain in a firm voice what she needs to do (eg stop hitting her sister) but nothing seems to work. I've tried counting to three and then threatening to remove privileges eg TV but she couldn't care less about such things. Occasionally, I can bribe her with a Yakult or something but that doesn't seem like the right thing to do. Is there something I am forgetting? Any suggestions are very very welcome. I love her so much but she is truly driving me to distraction at the moment.

PS I have tried reward charts before but right now, she seems to be having too much fun misbehaving in the moment to think about future rewards.

Here she is again - my cheeky pixie!!!

Passing on bloggy award

Oh I'm such a slack blogger sometimes! I have not yet passed on the blog award from CT or started doing the other one she gave me or the one from Miss Prudence.

So.....here goes.....I'm passing this one, the Circle of Friends award to the following:

Le at Third on the Right who is a true pal - stalwart in times of trouble, has a sensible head on her shoulders, can tackle any job or situation unfazed, and loving mother and spouse to boot, not to forget fellow chocolate addict and always up for a giggle about the funny side of marriage.

Miss Prudence....my newest bloggy mate who brightened my day by answering my emails and having a good chat about life. NEW PARAGRAPH HERE - WHAT IS WRONG WITH BLOGGER TODAY? IT WON'T LET ME LEAVE SPACES!

Feel free not to join in if it's not your thing! I totally understand.

If you don't want to play - say five things you love to do and pass it along. My five favourite things were a couple of posts back if you want to see them. Mostly to do with chocolate and sleep from memory.

CT - you lovely girl - thank you for the "Over The Top" award. Is it ok if I skive off answering the questions and passing this one on? I can't find the energy for such intensive blogging homework today.....

Miss Prudence - I'm still working on the award you gave me. Thanks for your patience!

My beloved digital camera has obviously been played with and dropped once too many times by my girls and no longer wants to focus. So....my posts will be bereft of illustrations (new ones that is - I may have to trawl through my archives and bore you all with old ones) until I get organised and buy a new camera.

"Our " creative space

Oops! I just popped over to Beck's Dandelion blog and realised I missed "My Creative Space" yesterday after only joining in for the first time last week.

Usually, my girls love being involved when I sew something and particularly like playing with the fabric and pushing the sewing machine pedal thingy. But I thought my big girl was big enough now to actually try and sew something herself. One morning when she woke up early (as usual!) I suggested sewing instead of computer/tv and she was very keen. So she chose some strips of fabric and sewed some straight seams and made her first patchwork square (well...it will be square when I trim it). It was a beautiful sight seeing her concentrating at my machine in the morning sunlight. She wants to make some more squares and then sew them together to make a pillow case (not that I know how to make a pillow case but I'm sure I'll find a tutorial).
Here she is with her first sewing and her beautiful gappy smile.

Love you, Poss Poss xxxxxxx