another day another...

rain storm

bowl licked

batch of yo-yos baked

heap of dirty washing on the floor

table to be cleared

meal finished

dirty dish in the dishwasher

load of clean washing to be folded

pile of papers to be read for work

bucket of compost to be emptied

tumble of bibs on the floor

thing broken

drawing drawn and needing a home

milestone passed for a very proud girl

receipt for building materials to be added to the spreadsheet and filed

pair of muddy gumboots to be cleaned

afternoon without a sleep

step closer to a bathroom

pile of rubbish awaiting a skip

cat nap for a little boy

baby meal to prepare

disposable toy to accommodate

beam in
toy to put away

pair of abandoned shoes on the living room floor

homeknitted vest accidentally felted

homeknitted vest on the needles to replace the felted one

feather and fan cowl finally photographed up close

knitted cow to love

family birthday celebrated (and little girl all grown up)

detail only to a new photographer would bother to capture

Can you guess which photos are taken by the old hand and which ones by the new kid on the block?

run away

Overwhelmed by it all we ran off and stayed in town for a night. Amy commandeered the camera and would like to tell you all about it.

crumbling

Well the roof went on and that's a good thing. I have to keep telling myself about the good things because we've hit that bit where there are lots of bad things to talk about.

There's the filth and the scraping up of debris from the bath and so on.

Except I can't complain so much about that last bit anymore since the bath is now but a damaged memory. And since our shower used to be above the bath that's gone too.

Along with the ceiling and roof and then bit by bit both the walls and floor went too.

Bye bye.

Of course you can't get the new stuff without first losing the old, so I'm knowing this too will pass but that doesn't mean I HAVE TO LIKE IT.

And when we turned off the power today to stop the electrician frying himself in amongst our exposed wall studs and we forgot to first turn off the gas heating and then smelled some kind of strange molten plastic burning odour and realised that we had KILLED the heater I most certainly was not liking it. Oh no I was not.

And if you live in one of those parts of the world well familiar with snow and seriously freezing temperatures you may think I am a wimp to be so easily pushed over the edge, but when you get out of bed at 6.30am and it's 5 or 6 degrees and the only thing between you and the outside world is a curtain and a bad attitude, well it can be hard to see the lighter side of it. Especially when you and your children and your bed hair have to go out into said world to kindly neighbours for cleansing and then go to some other kindly friends to pass the time in a house where you can actually pee and feel the blood returning to your extremities and you haven't managed to go shopping for groceries in you can't remember how long and you can't find anywhere to put the next load of wet washing because there's already a clothes horse full of wet washing and the dirty washing is all over the living room floor and you and your partner are both so exhausted that you can't even remember what kind of take away food you had last night or why you agreed to be a volunteer on a management committee and you are so freaked out by how much money you are paying out to various suppliers and timber yards that you need a ready cash float in the tens of thousands and you find yourself taking an infant who really should be asleep in bed out in the cold and wet to schlep around to buy a bath which is a non-standard size and which you need TODAY and then a great big phone book size mound of paper arrives in the post for you to start the background reading for the new job you are supposed to start on Monday which you have no idea how you will fit into your life and both the plumber and electrician (who are both nice and reasonable people) answer the phone with a sigh when you call...

then it's OK to be a crabby old cow.

So it's somewhat shocking that despite it all I can do such a convincing impersonation of serenity. Let's hope this is what I remember.

meet me in melbourne today!

We'll be at the Flagstaff Gardens from 2pm near the corner of Peel, William and Franklin Streets. If the weather turns nasty, we'll all trundle down to the warmth of the food court at the Vic Market (which is just across the road from the park). But we're optimistic!

Come along!

less talk more action

A beret to match the cowl in the glorious Debbie Bliss Maya yarn. I used the same pattern as Amy's beret with a few fiddles - 6.5mm needles and a few less increases and a little I-chord top. I like it and haven't taken it or the cowl off since they came off the needles. It's COLD!

I finished Amy's feather and fan mohair cowl, but I can't get it off her long enough to show you the stitches. Like I said, it is COLD here.

Finally made the zip pouch to carry nappies and wipes.It was a huge challenge to cut into the fabric that gorgeous Ellen sent to me from Japan a while back. I have stared at it and fingered it for such a long time but since I don't believe in leaving something so lovely in the cupboard, snip it up I did.This way I get to see it pretty much everyday. Sigh. I'm rather fond of the spotty inside too. And pleased to use up a zip from my op shop odd zip haul (20 zips for $1!). It is the perfect colour for the job.

On the home front our property increasingly resembles a tip, and the interior is headed the same way. The entire contents of our bathroom now share the living room and kitchen in one great big junk heap covered in dust. What a delight.

I am almost getting to breaking point. Not quite, but I see it approaching in the not too distant future. Look out!
But focusing on the positive, the radially sawn weatherboards have arrived (oh looky here it's a TREE...) which is exciting and fascinating. Can't wait to see what happens when we top and tail the log and it all comes apart like so much Terry's chocolate orange.

Oh and the roof is going on as we speak. Loudly.

And because I agreed to get older, I got this (thanks D!) which is allowing me to look at a few nice things up close and personal. Sorry, out of time!