racing glory

Michael came second in his race on Sunday. The guys work like dogs, raising a sweat and fretting over tactical decisions. Every now and again Michael is able to arrive home in a haze of glory having skippered the yacht to a win (or second place). Much cursing of handicappers is done if they cross the line first yet finish seventh on handicap (a common occurrence).

Some time ago the trophies were glasses etched with the Yacht Club logo, now Michael and the crew toil in adverse conditions and bring home a daggy baseball cap with the local chandlery logo on it. Here the kids model the spoils of victory....

artist sam

Sam had an art exhibition at Kinder today. They have been working on sculptures, paintings and 'recycled cardboard installation pieces' for a few weeks.

When we arrived the kids were all seated next to their chosen exhibition piece. Sam had selected one of his (many) sculptures titled "Snow". An abstract piece inspired by the current investigation topic of Seasons intermingled with his side interest in aliens and space travel.

The kids all stayed with their art work as the parents moved around the 'gallery' asking them questions. He was very intense chatting to the parents about his piece, explaining the nuances of colour and form. Margaret came to the opening and he was really chuffed to be able to tell her all about it.

Every time he does something like this I am struck by how amazing he is.

new love

I think my new obsession might be vintage stationery. I bought a heavy duty date stamp a while ago and today I found this set of index cards in their metal box. I have them on my new cupboard with my old typewriter and my pencils and extension ruler from Amber. Anyone have any old staplers, wooden rulers, school bench mounted pencil sharpeners? Send them my way.

smelly shops

Lately I have been foraging around in op. shops. The kids are endlessly patient and are actually starting to enjoy it. I give them a task (eg find me a pair of blue knitting needles) and they plonk themselves down happily with a tub sorting through it until the find them. Last Friday Milly and I dropped Sam at kinder and took off on our op. shop trawl. I pulled up outside the first one and she looked at me and said "Going in smelly shop?" You bet little girl.

Here are the treasures I bought: A split cane chair for the hallway (this was the big splash for the day at $20); a bunch of knitting needles (as pretty as flowers); large bottle (not sure what to put in this yet); trivets; a vinyl stool; candle holders (they need some paintwork) and some large spools of thread. I think this is much more purposeful than endlessly buying furniture (I have such a weakness for CHAIRS) as there is a limit to the amount of furniture a home can have. Trawling through op. shops looking for lovely old things to display is much more satisfying (and so much cheaper) and I can rotate my displays ("vignettes" to the trained stylist). Amber has suggested I store them in a 'props cupboard' - a great idea.

welcome home

For a while now I have been ogling photos of interiors with bold, intense colours, all the time knowing that I would not want to sit in anything other than the calming, soft grey 'calfskin' of my lounge room. Still the allure of colour remained. Solution - a hallway transformation. Two tester pots and a decision was made - Glazier Green.

I was determined that this particular home decorating episode should take no physical toll on Michael, in other words, I did it all while he sat and watched tv. Last Friday night it took me three hours to get the first coat on. Listening to the Ricky Gervais Show podcast may have made it more difficult as my steady hand was compromised by shaking with laughter. The second coat went on on Saturday in less than two hours.

Result - complete transformation. Now it is a happy place. It is really bright, in both hue and attitude and I love the impact when I come home. I have also reorganised it so it is bigger and has more space. The split cane chair and vinyl stool were the fruits of last week's op shopping. The table with the bamboo legs is Kate's and will be transported over to Adelaide next week - my next task will be to find a similar one for that space as it is much more open than the hall table Michael made that was there.

All that is left is to replace the front door (and paint it red).

And in case you have forgotten - here is the 'before':

frustration

Sam sometimes ignores Milly when she is talking to him, he does it because she yabbers nonsense almost incessantly. Usually he is tolerant but every now and then he has had enough. He ignores her and she just repeats exactly the same sentence (today it was - "look, my teddy has backpack") over and over and over again until she gets a response (say that sentence five times without pausing and you will get an idea of how annoying it is). Today I asked him to acknowledge her and said "It must be very frustrating for her when you don't listen to her". Sam's reply - "Well Mum, sometimes it is very frustrating for me when I do listen to her". Hard to disagree.

wonderful #20

I made pikelets for the kids and they loved them. Mum did not bake much when we were kids but she did make pikelets. I love them when they are still warm slathered in butter. I also love the look of my red enamel pouring decanter thingy next to my kettle.

~Carol

Around the corner of the courtyard, hidden behind a water tank is the most beautiful camellia tree that has been blooming for decades. I was astonished to find it festooned with the most wonderful, tightly petaled (sic) flowers of the most delicate pink. And of course the buds promise more to come.

~Amber

wonderful #19

For some time now Dad has been making a sign for Emily's room. I bought it home when we returned from Adelaide. It is beautiful, he made it from flat bar, bending and welding it into shape. I love the dot of the 'i' and the swirls of the 'E'. I love it because it looks so beautiful but also because it represents Dad's skill and his perfectionism. He has made it so it sits completely flush against the wall and used millimetre perfect measurements. It is more lovely than I imagined it could be.

days with the kids

This morning I had an experience that pretty much sums up my life with the kids: While was in the shower Sam called out that he and Milly had made a surprise for me. I emerged from my shower to find my bedside table had been showered with pretty butterflies. Lately the kids have been making them using a punch whenever they do craft. They had carefully put them into one of the small bottles on my table and sprinkled some around on the table top. I was full of love and appreciation for my delightful offspring and walked to their bedrooms to find them and shower them with love.

Walking through the kitchen I was instantly met with the view of the remnants of their fun with a tub of slime. It had been left upturned on the kitchen table, oozing onto a chair in a sticky, radioactively orange mess.

What to do - stop and clean it up? Go and thank them for the butterflies then talk to them about the mess? Yell at them for the mess and then throw in a 'thanks for the butterflies'? Turn around and climb back into the shower and hope that by the time I get out they have aged fifteen years and left home for university?

Sam and Milly bring joy and horror in equal measures and I have learned that while it is easy to react and deal with the horror I have to stop and revel in the joy or it will be swamped and forgotten by the negatives.

and the post script - I told the kids how much I loved the butterflies, then rallied them to come and help clean up the slime. Whereupon Emily promptly smeared some into her hair, screamed like a banshee when I tried to get it out and ended up needing to have her hair washed to remove it. Joy and horror.

a girl's handbag is the window to her soul...

Emily spent the morning carrying her her bag over her elbow. Toting it from one room to another, taking it with her when we dropped Sam at kinder. When Sam and I asked what was in it she told us "precious stuff" and would not let us see inside. She hung it carefully on her hook in the hallway when she went to bed, I could not resist and had to look in it.

It is unclear to me what deep insight into her psyche it gives but her essentials were...

'Anna' her Polly Pocket doll, a dinosaur, car and mobile phone

new babies

On Saturday Brad and Nicole had a baby girl - Imogen Grace - and it started me thinking about the day we met our baby girl. I started looking at photos and was overwhelmed by them. I love the shots of Sam meeting Milly for the first time, I love his littleness and his happiness. I am trying to edit because there are at least thirty photos I could post here that all take my breath away.

This last photo is taken day on two - I love this because it is a reminder of the first few months with her. For so much of it she was asleep and I would wrap her up tightly and stroke her incredibly soft fluffy hair and rhythmically pat her bum before I put her in the cot to sleep undisturbed. I know it is part of my OCD-ness, but I used to love wrapping her and seeing the 'V' of the blanket wrap across her shoulders and down her body. I knew she was tight and snuggled and not going anywhere - a compact, content little baby.

sam

For the past few weeks I have been thinking about the fact that Sam is going to be 5 in a few months. His birthday in October and then school in January. I can't believe it. It is a reminder to enjoys days like this where he is being a dag and kicking the footy and yacking at me about all sorts of stuff while I weed and prune and plant.

tea break

We worked like demons in the garden today. It was the type of day which is becoming more regular: where I can do the things I want to do and the kids entertain themselves and each other in the cubbyhouse, the trampoline, playing games and running around. It was a stunning day for winter, warm and almost balmy, we celebrated the warm weather by wearing short sleeves and eating ice blocks for afternoon tea on the back verandah .

safety first

Today Sam decided he wanted to climb the locut tree. He surveyed it from various angles, perused his options for footholds and made a couple of attempts at supporting his own weight by hanging from branches. Then he declared that he needed his "crash helmet" and ran off to put on his bike helmet. It cracked me up. I used to tease Michael and call him Captain Sensible, he approaches adventures in the most cautious and careful way. Obviously Sam has inherited it from him. Safety issues aside, the tree climbing was a resounding success for a first effort.

auction results

I must have a good sense of what is gorgeous because at the auction yesterday the sofa and chairs were sold for vastly grander sums than I was prepared to pay. Even the horses went for more than twice my highest bid. BUT - Kate and Paul have magnificently decided to give them to me for my birthday. I am agog with their loveliness (Paul and Kate's, not the horses although they are spectacular), it is such a generous gift in every way. Kate has been sending me photos of them and they are amazing, I can not wait to see them and hold them and have them.

sofa

This is lot in the auction that I did not post about on Friday night. I have been mulling over it for a couple of days and have now decided I need to have it. I think that with some of Michael's magical RM Williams leather treatment it would give it back some of its lustre. Kate is going to check it out for me and I am hoping there are no really big cracks or holes in it. I would love to replace the blue freedom sofa in the lounge, initially I worried about having too many scruffy chairs in the lounge but I think I can make it work. It also fits Michael's desire to have what Jonathon Adler calls 'mantiques' in the house, if Michael had his way we would have leather chesterfields.

wonderful #18

This afternoon I managed an hour of peace, reading a library book in the afternoon sun on the front verandah. Wonderful.

-Carol

I nearly fell off my chair when I came acorss this image on the thisisglamorous blog. Imagine seeing a giant digger sculpture made of lace. Too divine, you know how mad I am for diggers. Those fabulously mad Belgians.

-Amber

a holiday

Michael has booked me a flight to Brisbane to see Amber (and Russell). It is a 'sorry you are deaf and need a hearing aid' present. Departing in three weeks on a Thursday afternoon and returning on Monday evening. I am SO excited...

auction 389 - TREASURES

It is late on Friday night and the auction house in Adelaide has posted its lot list online. Kate and I are poring over it and I have my wish list. These are my top three things...

This chair is listed at between $30-60. I love the lines of the frame. I can see it in my mind, reupholstered in a natural linen fabric in a soft colour (taupe) and it is amazing.

This chair and footstool I love as they are. It is compact and would be beautiful in our bedroom. The muted blue velvet is gorgeous. It is listed at between $30-60 as well, I love the timber arms which lead into the legs.

And these babies are my absolute favourite. I love the colour, shape, the funky traditional meets kitsch and that there are two of them. I imagine them to be weighty and cool in my hand. They are listed for between $30-60 which seems to be the auction house's way of saying they have no idea what they will go for but they don't think many people will bid.

There is a problem with these and that is that Kate loves them as well. We are going to have to sort out a system of dealing with this when it happens. We are texting each other tonight but will thrash it out tomorrow. We have a history of managing things like this very poorly so we definitely need to deal with it. I have a feeling the fairest way is that if it is in South Australia Kate gets first dibs, if it is in Victoria I get first option. I think that removes any variables. I also know that two yellow horses (or whatever the equivalent might be on any given day) are not worth resentment. I will indulge myself in some soppiness and reflect that this post is titled TREASURES and without doubt my friendship with Kate is most definitely a treasure beyond what I will find in a dusty old auction house.

Off to bed now with a head full of lovely stuff.

new rule

We have had to instigate and enforce a new rule in the house. Cannonballs on Mum and Dad's bed are allowed UNTIL the bed is made. Once the bed is made - cannon ball free zone. The kids have been going into our room, dragging all the linen and pillows to the end of the bed in an effort to make a soft landing space and then embarking on a frenzy of leaping and bouncing.

This series of photos goes from the kids frozen in the spotlight when I first walked in the door (keep in mind that when I left the bedroom 20 minutes earlier the bed was perfectly made) to their last ditch frenzy before I made the bed again and the cannonballs end for the day...

wonderful #17

Dandelions (or Father Christmases as we call them) are a cliched thing to photograph but Emily and Sam love them. In our house the ritual is to find one growing in the garden, walk (without losing any petals) to wherever your brother or sister is, then count to three together, shut your eyes and blow. Making a wish, of course. This one made it into the house for a photograph which is unprecedented in terms of quiet, slow movement for Sam. (AND I have impressed myself with my photography skills here!!!)

- Carol

A local mosaic mural made from old tiles and crockery. The mosaic’s colour and sparkle lifts my spirits just as the shopping haulage is beginning to sag my tired, unfit body on the way home from the village.

- Amber

Breakfast with Emily

Milly wakes up every morning and has breakfast with Sam on the couch: "Jammy Bread". When Michael gets out of the shower and eats his breakfast she has her second course of cereal. Cereal with her Dad is her favourite serving of breakfast because he has Weet-Bix with sugar and puts a miniscule amount of sugar on her cereal as well. Every few days she wakes up extra hungry and has a third serving of breakfast with me, either eggs on toast or another bowl of cereals, which she pronounces "cere-ere-als".

baking saturday

On Saturday last week we spent almost all day baking. We made Tim's birthday cake - a double decker chocolate cake, pikelets for the boys to have after their race on Sunday and coconut cake for morning tea with Paul and Kate. Sam is becoming quite adept at measuring, sifting and pouring. Emily helped set the table for morning tea by picking the flowers and "arranging" them in the blue jug.