Local art.

Around our property there is some scrap metal and left over stuff from previous owners. Some of it I'd love to clear but that would include heaps of work primarily done by not me. There is this old container which is rusty and leaks. Not very good for storing much. But I thought it made a dramatic photo.

Wood fired pizza

Does it count if you put Pauly's pizza on top of the wood fire?

Travelling by train

Today I took the train to work. I've been looking forward to this for a few weeks now since I learned we were moving our office further into Sydney. For the past 3-4 years I've been driving down to Sydney for one day a week. It's been alright. Just for the that one day. When I first moved here 8 years ago I had full time work in Sydney. That lasted for about 9 months because I just didn't feel safe driving on the F3. Driving can be so dangerous and I've had a few close calls where my guardian angel has had to work overtime. So now I have to go a bit further in but I get to rest and relax. I can read, stitch, sleep, eat, people watch, gaze out the window and not have to worry about crazy drivers. I hope to do this for a little while as I'm finding it rather peaceful. I"m not sure I could hack it everyday but for my 1-2 days a week it will be a blessing.

Playmates

Today I got to pretend I had 3 little boys. Benny had Jasper and Rain as playmates and we made a mess of someone else's house (sorry Jo!). The boys shared waterbottles and each ate about half their sandwiches. The ball in the car was a huge hit as were playing cars on the tiles. Benny kept dumping the crayons on the floor as well as the books in the front lounge room and Jasper kept saying "Not funny". Especially since he was interested in doing some colouring but Benny kept wanting to drop them on the floor. Benny had only 2 attempts at letting Rain he was bigger and stronger (sorry Jo!). They both learned to take turn riding the bike and both listened quite well to being relatively quiet when Rain was sleeping ( and that little boy is one easy baby to put to sleep!). I'm hoping in the weeks to come we can get some nice warm weather to explore the outside!

27 months

Today Benzen is 2 years and 3 months old. Growing, maturing, learning, talking, adapting and loving. He is so keen to explore and learn and sometimes I feel a little inadequate to be the one to get to walk beside through his life. What happens if I miss to teach him instruction or forget to let him learn on his own? What if he is not doing enough drawing or reading or outdoor play? I know that kids are resilient and part of my job is to allow him to explore as much as he can. I also don't want him to be overwhelmed with what I think he should be doing. Motherhood is so rewarding and I really like being a Mom. More than just loving Benzen, I actually like him. He's fun. He's challenging. He's my son.

The new activity that Benny likes doing this week is pushing the bar stools around and getting up to see what's going on. This photo he pushed the chair into the pantry and had to yell out "Mommy help me". And you know what he wanted? Fruity bix. He wanted dried cereal as a snack. He then proceeded later that night, to pass on my hot cooked me for dried Fruity bix. I wasn't the least bit insulted!!



Part of bedtime ritual is brushing teeth. I bought this cute little doggie where Benny's toothbrush can hang. It's just low enough so he can reach by himself. I think he'd be happy to brush his teeth all day as long as he had the toothpaste in his other hand!


The last few nights Benny has been climbing out of his cot. He did this a couple of months ago and then stopped. I think he was happy just knowing he could if he wanted to. Now he's back at it. But he's happy and doesn't make a big fuss. He'll push all his blankets and stuff animals out of his cot first and then climb out. He'll then knock on the door and let us know he's out or push his books under the door. Subtle. So, yesterday, to avoid a broken neck, we took off the side and put the lower bar on. I felt quite handy, even though it was only a couple of screws I had to put in. But rewarding nonetheless!

I made the quilt on the bed when Benzen was born and the next quilt will be for his single size bed. It will be a surf theme, hence the shark stuffed animal.

And this morning Benny called for me "Mommy, wake up!!". (Still not sure if he's telling me HE has woken up or telling ME to wake up!)

Home grown adventures.

Benzen loves to get outside. We try and get out every day and explore our surroundings. Because it's winter it also means we need to gather twigs to start our fire. We walk down our drive to check the mail and pick up sticks. A must is to inspect the oranges. Benny relishes his oranges. I like that he knows where oranges come from and can even pick his own. He still occasionally eats the skin as he learns to peel a mandarin himself. Most of the time as we head to go out to the car to run an errand he'll head down the hill to get himself an orange. Sometimes I wonder if he's eating too many oranges but as long as they are in season how can I say no.


We also have lemon and grapefruit trees that bear fruit. A couple of years ago Colin was given a guava tree from my Grandma and a cherry tree from my parents. This year I gave him a blueberry bush. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they take off and we get some fruit.

Last summer I had a small vegie patch and I think I'll plant some more this year. I've seen a great planters box that used corrugated iron on the sides and since we have some lying around on our property I'm rather tempted to give it a go. I'll post some pictures if that eventuates!

10km fun run.

Today was the Hunter Valley running festival that includes a marathon, half marathon, 10km, 6km and children's marathon. My friends Delena and Dale signed up ages ago and I kept putting off registering for the even. I went to the website this week to register and I saw that the price had gone up and I wouldn't get a t-shirt. So, being the thrifty person I am, opted not to register! But we didn't want to miss out on supporting fine runners so we still planned to go. Then yesterday I met up with Delena's brother in law Bill who said that he wasn't going to run the race so I could use his bib! Which meant at 7am this morning we left Cooranbong to drive to the beautiful Hunter Valley in considerable thick fog. It was very cold and we got there in plenty of time. We ended up waiting in the car for an hour or so keeping warm. You can see in the first photo the dense fog.





About 20 minutes prior to our 10km run the fog lifted and sun came out and everthing warmed up! The scenery was picturesque as we ran through the Hunter Valley Gardens, vineyards and quieter back streets. There was a few hundred people in the race and quite a steep, long hill in the first half of the run. Took me about an hour to do the run and I felt good. A little stiff now but nothing a few more days in my hot tub won't cure!


Colin and Benny came along and hung out for the morning. I love that about my husband. He supports me unconditionally. He looks after Benny so that I can do a run or triathlon or go shopping with the girls or clean the house. He doesn't begrudge me or guilt me. Colin wants me to be happy and content and he is amazing.

I like that both Colin and I want to lead healthy, active lives so we can pass this on to our son. We both know the benefits of being fit, being strong and enjoying movement of our bodies. We want Benny to be happy moving his body in ways that benefit him and surprise him! And what better way to lead by example. My Mom and Dad lead active lives and lead by example and believed in sport and this has lead me to believe in exercise too.

Benny holding my medal.

Dreadock update:
Today was hair washing day!! What sweet relief! I was amazed that my head didn't start to feel itchy until yesterday. The recommendations that i had read was to leave my dreads for a week or two before washing. So I waited as long as possible and today I got to wash. I have dread shampoo which really is shampoo without a lot of additives. I'm not to condition as this will make my dreads harder to lock up! My dreads have started to loosen a bit so they are a longer which I rather like. There are about 2 dreads at the back that are quite loose and I'm waiting patiently for my loctitians to return from the snow to fix them up!! I"m still loving them. I feel a lot less like I have to "do" my hair and just leave it the way it is. Most reactions have been positive and no one has said anything negative to me. I've noticed some not so sure facial reactions and that's fine. It's been interesting and lot less "out there" than I thought. After all, it really is only a hairstyle!

Giggles and Laughs.

My son enjoys laughing. He's learning to laugh at things we find funny. There is this particular part in the movie 'Cars' that Colin and I find particularly humourous. The part where Lightening is in the last race and has to have his wheels changed. The little wheel changing car does it really fast and the other teams are flabbergasted. Really not that funny but Pixal does a good job! And since we've watched this movie a couple of times (plus 10) Benny has learned to laugh at that part too. It's kind of a forced laugh and it seems he wants to laugh with us so we know he gets it! I find that funny! Benny also has a very contagious deep laugh as well when he's tickled, chased, playing hide and seek and pretending he doesn't want to go to bed.

Yeah, this kid is cute.

We're in!

We received our Big Camp 2010 applicant approval today. Very exciting and a relief. You see, not everyone gets in. Big Camp is such a highlight and such a demand that the conference has had to limit applications. From my understanding it's due to council regulations and it's such a shame. I would like to see Big Camp available to anyone who wants to go.

Big Camp is a pretty important place for me. My first Big Camp was in 1998. It's the place I met the man I fell in love with and would later marry. I met him on my 20th birthday to be exact. He certainly made an impression on me and we still talk about those days.

After we married we went back up for a weekend and stayed in the parking lot (we were kind of cheap back then and didn't want to pay to stay in our van!). What am I talking about? - we're still kind of cheap!! We were so cozy. We had the Mitsubishi L300 and had a mattress in the back with curtains around the windows. When the wind came up and flapped all the tent flaps we were as snug as a bug in a rug.

We went up again in 2007 when i was 13 weeks pregnant with Benny. Not quite over all the morning sickness but had such a good time with friends. The next year we took Philip, Heather, Carter and Madeline and Benny was 6 months old. We stayed in old canvas tents and had a blast. I enjoyed early runs on the beach and ate too many chocolate mint slice biscuits. ( and I hope P,H,C & M come again!)

This year we have a new Coleman tent and a 2 1/2 year old. I am looking forward to just hanging at the beach and enjoying the kids program. We'll see how the evening meeting attendance will go.

I love catching up with friends. I love sitting around with hot drinks. I love the walk down to the beach and seeing dolphins play in the surf. I love the music. I love good speakers. I love camping. I love being at Big Camp. I love the significance Big Camp has played in my life and hope Benzen finds it as great as I have.

Dreadies

I've change my hair do. Nothing too surprising. I am not someone who is intimating tied to my hair. In fact I've never been to worried about it. I never learned to do anything fancy with my hair besides change the colour of my pony tail holder. I've dramatically cut my long hair to a very short "duck's arse" hair style (the flip out at the back!). I've coloured and not coloured.

But lately I wanted something a little more different. Something that is easy but stylish. Dreadlocks came to mind. I've always wanted tiny braids. Back in grade 10 I went to Costa Rica with my school and so wanted to get my whole head done in braids. But I didn't want to give away a day at the beach to get them done. So I never did. But now I thought let's do it.

I had a few my favourite girlfriends come around one night and have a go. I had purchased a 'starter's kit' from www.dreadhq.com and thought that would be the way I wanted to go. My friends painstakingly backcombed, twisted, waxed and tied tiny little elastics to my hair. Took about 6 hours the first night. I was nervous, excited, ready and a little apprehensive. But I enjoyed the outcome.
The next morning I was a little bit overwhelmed with the tackiness of the wax and how much work it was going to take. I wanted something simple. But I also understood that it would take some time for dreads to lock up and have that final look. I had a really good chat with my friend who continued to support me and encouraged me to just give it a go. Then I went and saw my other friends who had started the process and told them that I could have crocheted the dreads as well. That got them thinking and now the dreads are all crocheted! Amazing to think that hair can be crocheted. Now they are very tight, short and spunky. And I don't need to use the wax.

These are now Day 8 and are definitely easy to maintain! I have yet to wash them. As the crochet process took some time to complete I thought I'd wait as long as possible before washing. My head is a little bit itchy but not too bad!
With my dreads I hope to become more tolerant of others - their dress and hair choices, religious view points, political standpoints and opinions. I want to be more aware of my environment and be more considerate of recycling, reusing, making what I can, reducing my carbon footprint. I want to be more earthy. I would love for us to be self sufficient on our property. We already use tank water for drinking and showering and use dam water for flushing and watering. To be energy self sufficient is our plan one day. And I plan to have a big garden too. To grow my own vegetables is so gratifying and I would love to have fresh vegetables everyday!

So although there are some deeper thoughts into a hairstyle it still comes back to "it's just hair". I could just as easily take them out tomorrow and return to smooth, silky hair. We'll see. But I also think it's kind of cool for my grandkids to say "Yeah my Granny had dreads". I can have this hairstyle just because I can.

My writing.

Magnolia tree from my front yard that has since expired. Canon 350d


I so wish I could be dedicated to writing on this blog everyday. I stalk quite a few blogs and thoroughly enjoy reading what other people are up to. I get inspired by activities, photos, crafts, projects and lifestyle choices. So I figure other people wouldn't mind reading about me. However, I have never been good at keeping a journal. I can't count how many journals or diaries I have started and then petered out by the fifth day. I can't explain it. Maybe I get bored. Maybe I get distracted. Maybe I just forget. But nevertheless there isn't any regularity to my record keeping.

Maybe one thing is that I think no one will care about reading my diaries in years to come. But I would love to read my Grandmas' or my Mom's diary of what she was thinking when she was my age. Perhaps my children or grandchildren may find what I've written of some interest. Maybe I'll find it interesting in 20 years from now! But I'll never know if I never keep a record of my life! So I might as well keep this going as much as possible.

My good friend Jo has been updated her blog a bit more regularly and got me thinking about mine. I've had this blog since 2006 (4 years!!). I really want to keep a more regular record of whats going on in my life. So this is my attempt. I won't promise to write every day. I won't set myself up for unrealistic expectations of myself. But I will try. Because I can.

Dad's retirement.

My dad retired a few months ago and his work is having a party for him in a couple of days. We are so excited for him and wish him many years of health and happiness. Here is a little video to be shown at his party:

Red sky in the morning . . .

Well I don't think the sailor would care about this red sky. Yesterday we had incredible winds (90km/h plus) that in turn has brought in the red dust from the outback! The photos are untouched! Eery lighting when I woke at 6 am. On windy, windy days Canberra becomes engulfed with dust. I think this is the first time it's been this bad here. Even the inside of our house smells dusty and that's with the windows closed. Incredible. I just checked my facebook account and it's what everyone is saying on their status updates. One of my friends' kids said "there's something weird happening in the sky. I thought Jesus was coming". If only!

Down our road:Driving down College Dr in to the college grounds:

Near the boom gate:

One thing that makes me happy is when there is quiteness in the house and I find Benny 'reading' his books. This particular book is about trucks -happily left by his cousin Carter. Benny just went and finds his own books and reads them. I have a couple of 'singing' books - books that ae songs, such as Old Macdonald, The Wheels On The Bus, He's Got The Whole World In His Hands. If I don't sing read them Benny looks up and points to my mouth - like I should be singing to him. I'm so pleased he hasn't realized that I may be a bit tone deaf!!

Today we're off to a ABA (australian breastfeeding association) meeting. I've just joined this recently when I needed to ring a breastfeeding counselor. She was extremely helpful and encouraging and I joined the group so I could support others. Breastfeeding is something that I believe in and I want to encourage others to do the best they can. This group provides free counseling and puts out a really good magazine every other month. So that's our plan for this morning. Then a trip to the grocery store and a pot of curry and rice to make.

UFO's (unfinished objects)

Mr Santa has been a project that Delena and I started 2 years ago. Between have a baby, moving house and just the busyness of life Mr Santa got put aside. We decided this year he'd get finished and proudly hung on our walls. We've improvised a bit and Rudy the Reindeer (over the shoulder of Santa) had no pants and in fact has no legs. But since you can't tell from the photos it really doesn't matter.


Another project I've been wanting to do for awhile is give a makeover to the dogs rooms. So I found some old jeans, cut them up and sewed them back together again to make new beds. I even added velcro closures so i can remove them and wash them every so often. I was a little concerned that the dogs may not want to lie on them but they didnt' disappoint me. I even found Leah lying on her bed in the middle of the day (unusual for her!).


This project I started almost 4 years ago. My dear friend Amber was getting married and I wanted to make her a quilt. But then she moved to India for awhile and I got distracted so the quilt sat in the closet - unfinished. They decided to come out for a visit so I had to get it done. I love the finished look. It is something that is designed to be thrown in the car to be used on picnics etc. And I put their names on it so they can't give it away!!

I think I've got 3 projects that are needing to be completed at my leisure. One may be a Christmas present and one is for me and one is for Benny for when he is a little older. So with Christmas coming (yes, there are decorations in the store now!) I might have to get busy and get it finished. Or I may just take up crocheting and start a whole bunch of new projects.

Side note: I'm loving the concept of cloth nappies. We had a trial day yesterday and not too bad I must say. Benny is bigger than I think he is and the nappies aren't the best fit so I've ordered some different types. It's just a matter of finding the right fit and size for him. I'm sure I can handle it!

17 months.

My life has been so much more complete in the past 17 months due to this gorgeous little boy. He gives me direction, purpose and fills my soul with goodness. Much more than I ever thought. In the past few days he has learned to kiss and I love how his hands frame my face to kiss me. He tells me all about the cars, trucks and motorbikes we see on the road and is so excited to see Leah when we get home. He's learning to become my helped by passing me clothes to put in the washer and turns off his heater and puts his pillow back in his bed. He likes to say hi now at the appropriate time and of course blows kisses at goodbye. Today I watched as he took 2 different pairs of shoes outside so Leah would have something to chew on!! He's a quick learner!

I am so grateful for the past 17 months. I am a lucky woman.

Caves Beach Sunday Sept 20,2009.

Go the Cats! and Avondale Fun Day

For the third year in a row the Geelong Cats have reached the Grand Final in the AFL. Colin was born in Geelong so it's the team the family goes for by default!! (Otherwise it would be the Sydney Swans who just happen to be red & white!) Last night it was the game between Collingwood and Geelong - a long standing rival for Colin and Rod. The Cats smashed the Magpies and pizza and friends were good!

Sunday was the annual Funday at Avondale School - the school we plan to send Benny when he is of age! It's a good effort with lots of rides, stalls, food and of course the petting zoo. Benny got right into it and loved it!

I think summer weather has finally arrived so the rest of the day will just be relaxing and maybe give the pool a good clean. My nappies are out drying on the line and I plan to use later today and tomorrow. I'm so hoping they work well!