at the moment I am...

eating...

Meredith Dairy Goat Cheese with sliced pear and lavosh bites - the best morning tea (or afternoon tea, or lunch).

watching...

Nurse Jackie series one which is making me laugh out loud.

sitting...

in the back garden on the arbour seat, happily bewitched by the clematis which exploded into bloom while I was away.

and...

totally avoiding writing reports for my Year 9 kids - I will get to it. Eventually. I haven't yet completely unpacked my bag from last week either so that goes on the procrastination list.

the reading bug has struck us all

I am reading for hours (actual hours - at least two !) each day. A magnificent by-product of holidays, happily independent kids, and the rearrangement of the front sitting room into a place I want to retreat, eat lunch, drink a cup of tea and sink into the armchair with a book (hitherto the front room has been the 'formal' sitting room - ie, we never used it). As you can see, it is a mix of stories and pictures (with captions) but going from a mad old Jewish woman to the very restrained world of a Scottish philosopher to a Sydney Stylist and then over to a NYC design blogger has been very, very satisfying. 

lazy day

I have bribed the kids with the promise of an outing with friends late this afternoon if they relax and play together (ie - not directed by me) for the morning. So far, so good. Sam has been reading Magic Ponies to Milly, she borrowed it from the library and has been "reading" it on her own. Today Sam took pity on our poor illiterate 4 year old and read aloud to her.

road trip day two

A whole lot of this kind of thing, then a whole lot of winding roads through gorgeous scenery - no photos of said scenery as talking and laughing, interspersed with my white knuckles on steep descents meant the camera didn't come out.

feels like an adelaide morning

 

 

The kids have been up for an hour and a half and it is not yet 6:45. If it is too early for you to do the maths - they woke at 5:20 this morning. Horrifying. Sam made a train track yesterday that weaves and wanders through the lounge room and apparently it was calling to him as he lay in bed. Emily followed quickly, trotting out wearing her new pink apple shoes. Apparently the day had begun.

I lay in bed reading the news via twitter, debating the merits of going for a walk along the river versus rolling to sleep again over versus getting up and yelling at the kids to go back to bed. Michael had no such dilemma and is currently fast asleep.

In the end a noisy barny over the Golden Train got me up and then I was inspired to use the very early morning light to wander through the garden with the camera. Lots of loveliness - the mossie net reading tent on the verandah, self seeded Queen Anne's Lace already tall and ready to flower, the side path with irridescent light shining through the leaves of the maples.

Sam summed it up when he stood on the back verandah and declared "This feels like an Adelaide morning" - it's going to be warm today. And we will be able to enjoy every moment of the remaining 11 and a half hours 'til bedtime - it's going to be a long one.

spring is here, where's the pimms?

Last week's Brisbane sunshine was a welcome tonic, but today's afternoon sun on the verandah watching the kids "wash" the car makes me think spring has arrived in the south.  I have a rule about not drinking until Michael gets home from work but a glass of icey Pimms would have made this perfection.

Tomorrow - we take the car to the carwash, I don't recommend yesterday's mop bucket water for car washing.

road trip

On Tuesday we got up early and headed to Northern NSW to explore - the waking up early bit comes easily in Brisbane where the crazy avian wildlife and accompanying screeching wakes me at dawn every day. We packed bags for an overnight motel stay ending up in Mullumbimby but started the day with breakfast in Newrybar, 90 minutes south of Brisbane. This light streaming in on the vast verandah of the cafe is captured at 8:30 in the morning.

monty's chocolates

I didn't post about Brisbane after the first day last week so I thought I would post about the trip with a retrospective, this time last week flavour.

On Monday afternoon we slipped into Monty's Chocolates in Paddington for afternoon tea. Chocolate Milkshakes and truffles to help recuperate after trawling through the Paddington Antiques Centre. The highlight was the cranberry truffle which tasted amazing (think acidity after the initial chocolate hit) and looked like the dustier twin of Amber's felt pom pom ring.

breakfast

This is where I ate breakfast last week. A shuttered verandah with sunlight streaming in. A view of blue skies and palm trees can be had from the deckchair to the extreme right (the one an arm's reach from a 4 foot pile of interiors magazines). Breakfast bliss.

can't be good at everything

It has become apparent that we of the Jansen family may be ARE the worst slime makers in the world. The instructions were simple, there was video. The ingredients were hard to source, but a word in the ear of the science lab assistant at school and the Borax was ours. Add water, dissolve. Put aside. In separate bowl combine water and glue, add food colouring. Combine - hey presto, voila et al.... slime.

Apparently not.

We did it twice. First we tried adding the glue mix to the borax solution. We changed it up and added the borax solution to the glue. Both times the result was a whey-ish, chunderish lumpen solid. Nothing slime like at all.

For the US citizens who read this blog (a small group) who may also be chemists or who can read the label of their (apparently to be found in every home, school adn corner shop) bottle of Elmer's Glue -  I would love the answer to the question - what is the polymer compound in this glue? In Australia we don't have Elmer, nor his glue. Every recipe I find has this as the active ingredient which bonds with the boax to form the slime. We have PVA which has polyvinyl acetate. Is this why the kids and I are cursed? I am struggling to believe it is our method. One of the (many) videos we watched had a preschooler making it.

Tomorrow we try it with clear school glue. Again, we don't have Elmer's. we will be using UHU. Fingers crossed, smocks donned, intent science experiment faces on, we will try it again. In the meantime - any suggestions would be welcome.

We are sincerely hoping that the remaining activities on our school holiday list are more successful than this foray into slime. Two glorious weeks, we are so excited that even this failure has not dampened our spirits, tomorrow we make a 20 metre alfoil canal down the side of the house, weather permitting.

day 1 - Stradbroke Island

The unbridled joy of being a kid on holiday. Humpback Whale and her calf. Reading on the clifftops.

slump

With two days to go (one of them at work) I am overwhelmed. The list of things to do before I go away is not shrinking despite me whirling around the house dervish style for the past four hours. My departure seems too far away and I am at the "There is too much work to do in order to go away. I should just bloody stay home" bah humbug point of proceedings.

I am reminding myself of a few things:

I do this before every trip.
The list is self imposed.
The more I organise the house, the more disappointed I am to walk back into the mess on my return (this is not disparaging of Michael at all - my single parent dwelling aesthetic is also crack den).
It will be 28 degrees in Brisbane on Sunday.
This whirling dervish, misery guts self is the manifestation of a teeny bit of guilt at the self indulgence of going away on my own. 
 

And: It does not help anyone.

So Milly and I are off for a walk to the oppie on the corner. When we return I will vacuum, then wrap Michael's birthday presents. But I will not mop, strip the beds, clean the laundry trough of paint splatters, sweep the verandah and clean outdoor furniture or anything else on the ridiculous list to which I have enslaved myself for the past four hours. 

(photo (more yellow!) from compaiblog.com via pinterest)

busy

Dealing with the end of the school term. Preparing for Michael's birthday. Getting ready for my trip. Acknowledging (and then acting upon) the reality that the garden needs attention right NOW if it is to be glorious in 6-8 weeks. Returning almost overdue library books. Lying awake long after everyone else is asleep. Washing, hanging, folding laundry then starting all over again. Being locked out of email access for work and subsequent inane conversations with IT guys. Cooking dinners that get a ho hum response before they are eaten.

That has been my week so far. Instead of focussing on that I am enjoying the pops of yellow I see all over the house. Must be spring: Birthday tulips from a lovely friend, found on my doorstep after work Monday. Bitossi horses which I never tire of looking at. Lemons waiting to be made into curd (they'll be waiting until after the 22nd because my pre-holiday to do list can not stretch to include them).

lavender

Hidden away in a corner behind the kids' raised vegetable bed, between the apple and lemon trees is an old galvanised bucket planted with lavender. I squeezed in there this morning to see if it needed any last minute pre-spring attention. Apparently not, it is beautifully poised to flower in the next few weeks. I do love finding surprises in the faraway corners of my garden.

is it holidays yet?

We started our holiday list this week and yesterday we decided to jump the gun on one of the challenges we set ourselves - the tinfoil canal. Ultimately (ie - when it is not freezing cold) we want to make one down the side of the house which is about 20 metres long, has a gentle slope and can be drip fed by the front garden hose rather than a handheld watering can. Yesterday we ran one down the back steps. And it was remarkably fun. Of course, the kids are now itching for school holidays and Sam has started his countdown. A paltry ten (school)days to go.

tiles and terrazzo

collections - vintage stationery

www.cafecartolina.blogspot.com

www.kateneckel.blogspot.com

mykindafiarytalee.tumblr.com

I have been collecting stationery for a while. I have all tape dispensers, sharpeners and hole punches from every material from bakelite, metal, plastic and timber. I stopped looking for it once my cabinet in the study was full. It does still catch my eye though and lately I have been looking at packets of crayons. They are as lovely to hold (and smell) as they are to look at. In primary school I used the Crayola Gold Medal, they are labeled - School Crayons for Educational Colour Work. That's some serious business, no all purpose, general colouring in for these.

holiday on the horizon

In two weeks I will be back in Brisbane. The plan is to catch up with Amber and Russell, relax, read some books, poke around Brisbane a road trip south to never before visited parts of the world. Basically, an escape. Can't wait. Can't wait.

Just walking in the front door at Coronet Flats makes me happy. A third floor verandah with shutters that let the breeze in with views into people's gardens. I love the contrast between looking down into the garden of the old bungalow toward the river with its galv chook sheds and the multimillion dollar Queenslander next door with its enormous return verandah, swimming pool and hundred year old palm trees. Look out the front windows and be mesmerised by the green of the bowls club or wait 'til nightfall and get giddy with the twinkle of the city lights and Story Bridge.

bright

(from signepling.blogspot via pinterest)

treasure

A while ago Sam told me he had buried some treasure in the back garden.We both promptly forgot about it. At some point a water bottle was retrieved (not sure by whom - Michael? Russell?) from the garden beds and put on the bench to be washed. When I washed it I discovered the treasure within.