Another quick post

I was going to upload lots of photos but that seems to have ground to a halt. There are definitely gremlins in our computer at present - time to call the boys at Supergeek to come out in their Supergeek van and fix our IT woes for $80. (Sigh!)

Anyway...it's all been happening here at Hester's Garden. E and my husband had birthdays this week so it's been a crazy happy mess of new toys, clothes, and much too much cake and chocolate. Here is G helping out with E's new princess puzzle.


E also got some groovy new felt pens which smell like the appropriate fruit (ie strawberry for pink, you get the idea) and a sketch pad so she soon busied herself doing a portrait of Kipper. Kip, as you can see, still spends the night in the laundry behind baby bars. Em still gets up at 6am if not before. Then it is a cascade effect...she wakes Kipper....who wants to go outside....so a parent gets up....and the other members of the family soon follow. Why can't our dog sleep outside like a proper dog????? (ie - the one we had when I was a kid)

Finally, I took a break from making patchwork quilts to try my hand at applique to make a square for a baby quilt for the beautiful Jo, about to have her third baby. Her clever friend, Melissa, is organising a group effort for the quilt and I think it is going to look beautiful. I did a crash course on the internet by googling "How to applique" and bought some of that sticky iron on glue netting stuff which has made a slight mess of my ironing board. (Sorry, Scott, about the glue on your work shirts!). I also had to remind myself how to do a proper stem stitch and blanket stitch but worked it out eventually, again with help from the internet. How did we ever live without it? I did a lot of the embroidery on the train going to work and back which made me feel like an old woman in her dotage. Never mind....it got done and that's the main thing. We could decorate our square however we liked with something significant for Jo. Her firstborn came to our house when his little sister was being born at home just a few houses away from us and got busy in our sandpit with E. Hence the significance of the bucket and spade.

I have started my patchwork quilting class which was exciting but a little daunting. I thought my new quarter inch sewing foot on my machine would magically make all my patchwork seams perfect...but no.....there is still lots of room for error. I will post photos of my lovely fabric I'm using in the class when the camera returns from a work jaunt with Scott and his youngest daughter to Redcliffe.

Dog day afternoon

Despite my best efforts to stay calm and positive in the face of constant mess at the moment, it all became too much two days ago when the puppy started pooing OFF the newspaper in the laundry where he lives (until we get the bloody fence built!). The first time it happened and he walked around with little pooey footprints, I thought "Oh well....a little accident. How revolting but never mind". I dutifully cleaned up with the mop and bucket. Then, after school, I found one small head louse on my daughter's head so did the requisite combing with conditioner and fine toothed comb. This involved much protesting and bribing with leftover smarties from her sixth birthday party on Saturday. (We had two birthdays and two parties this week as E. was born two days after her Daddy's birthday. I think this contributed to my current state of lack of coping ability). Just when the hair combing was over, I discovered a fresh deposit with footprints on the laundry floor. I lost it and thinking "I have had a gutful of children and puppies", I started cleaning up again while dissolving into pathetic tears. I'm not sure it's good for my daughters to watch their mother stamping about with a bucket and mop while sobbing and saying unkind things to a small dog, but I was at least comforted by their supportive attitude. G. (only two years old, god bless her) brought handfuls of tissues to the childproof/puppyproof gate in the laundry doorway and said "Here Mummy....here Mummy". Afterwards, E. cuddled me on the couch and said soothingly (and a little accusingly, I might add) "He's only a baby, Mum. He doesn't know".

Not such a disastrous day compared to those who are dealing with war, famine or life threatening illnesses, but we ex-nurses have our standards and they don't involve head lice or dog poo on the laundry floor!

Here's a photo of my big girl with her puppy on her birthday, and the cakes she proudly decorated to take to school....and the treasure hunt for chocolate coins in the garden at her party.

Birthday bliss

I wasn't actually looking forward to today's birthday - my 43rd. I feel much better about it after getting my eyelashes and eyebrows tinted and putting a colour in my hair to cover the greys (you know - just those seven that have been getting me down). I usually (as my mother loves to mention every year) manage to spin my birthday out to encompass as many outings and treats as possible - a family get-together, morning tea with my girlfriends, a solo shopping trip or a massage. But this year... I just couldn't get enthusiastic about it. However, the day dawned (early, as it does with a breastfeeding toddler and a five year old who hates to sleep in and miss anything) and it was a beautiful spring day. After a couple of hours of secret present wrapping and card making, I was presented with some lovely clothes and truly touching works of art and kind words in shaky writing. Then we watered the garden and I started to enjoy myself.

The highlight came when my family returned from shopping with a huge bunch of flowers (chosen by E aged 5) and two helium balloons (G aged 2 chose one with ducks which says "Baby girl"). E handed me a soft parcel wrapped in tissue paper and said with great excitement "Happy Birthday Mummy. It's a dress". My girl had taken her Daddy shopping to buy me a dress and chose one she thought I would like because "it is cream and that's your favourite colour, it has flowers and lots of other colours, it has frills on the sleeves and a sash AND a petticoat!". What could a mother say but "It's beautiful Darling. I love it!". So I wore it out for my date this afternoon with her father with the memory of her shining face still with me. The nice thing was.....the girl in the icecream shop who served me a gelato (two scoops - blood orange and papaya) said "I love your dress!".