Nothing to Report so here we all are with varying degrees of success with the timer

so i survived my parent helper day at pre-school. being a bit of a third wheel, i covered some books which took me right back to covering my school books with brown paper and how crap i was at it then and how nothing much has changed. some pre-schooler's gonna get a fright when he or she opens up their library book! the rest of the day consisted of wandering around offering to help and doing a LOT of washing up after the esp after the play dough making session. then mummy, sorry, i mean Zara picked me up and we tootled back to hers where it seemed like we had our own little pre-school going on with Zara's kids (jacob and matilda), Alicia (Zara's sister)'s kids (lachlan and brodie), Amber(a neighbour)'s kid (kayleigh) and of course Caitlin, all running around. Jacob has recently acquired a trampoline for his birthday so there were a few turf wars being fought, with Zara acting as a peace envoy. i think i am possibly more worn out than Caitlin.

All is now quiet in the house with Caitlin limply struggling to pretend she is not exhausted, but this will be the quietest bath all week which is a giveaway.

James is relaxing by our roaring fire which is being powered by the blocks of wood he manfully hewed on his return from work. i have never seen anyone as excited as James when we finally invested in a wood splitting axe. Sun was back out today and it is predicted sunny and warm for the weekend, thank god, i've had enough already of this grey nonsense. i suspect i may be eating my words come november.

As you can see, an uneventful day and the weekend hopefully will be the same. Mik has threatened to take his kids to some junior rodeo...i have a feeling that shopping at Bi-Lo for our groceries may take precedence.

Jacob's Pirate Party!

Jacob turned 5 this week so Mik and Zara threw him a big pirate party at Zara's folks house!



in line: Jake (janelle's son) Malea, Caitlin, Spenser, Lachlan and Talissa



The pirate cake!!! Hand made by Zara with support from yours truly.( recipe and internet coaching)



Caitlin and her partner in crime, Matilda, in the 3 legged race
given C's natural athleticism, it was a tough call if she needed
a partner



oo-aar, cap'n Jacob!

adventures in crafting: phase 2

cold yukky day today here so curled up with the heaters on and watched finding nemo for the nth time. i say watched, what i really mean is that i answered a non stop flow of questions about the film from my constantly fidgeting daughter (stop smirking mum and dad). this experience was much like the experience when we went to see shrek 3 at the local cinema, much endearing me to the cinematic aspect of life with Caitlin. after that and heartening bowl of lentil soup, we finished off the salt dough creations. needless to say, Caitlin once again showed off her wide knowledge of modern art and put me to shame with her rothko inspired painting. i was so enthralled i handed over my butterfly from yesterday so as not to interrupt the artist in full flow. tomorrow is my 'parent-helper' day at the pre-school and i have already been promised lots of cleaning as it is the last day of term. oh joy!

more adventures in crafting:phase 1

slightly busier day overall, managed to clean the kitchen and sweep the floors with Caitlin's 'help' of course so we rewarded ourselves with some salt dough modelling. this is pre baking and there will be the next exciting installment tomorrow when we graduate to painting! assuming they survive the baking process. sun back out today after three days of torrential rain, much akin to what's happening in the dear ole uk. so worked on the tan inbetween all this frenzy of activity during which time Caitlin played some game involving piling up all the toys in the living room, taking photos of them on daddy's carelessly forgotten mobile before they all went to the dentist, then school, then bed under the mozzie nets on the floor in the living room. i too was subjected to a dental examination with keyrings,mobile phone battery and a pen. and on a tangent, Cillit Bang is called Easy Off Bam here (and no Barry Scott). the mind boggles.

Craft Corner

a running feature may be the things i make whilst attempting to motivate myself to study for my driving licence!
so here is the first installment!

Caitlin proudly painted herself a coaster and table mat following the school of fauvism,so talented for one so young!
I've turned into Mrs Beeton and will soon be opening my very own village fete to sell jams, preserves and chutneys...pictured are lemon marmalade; mandarin marmalade; preserved lemons and spicy cherry tomato chutney. all made from produce from this garden or friends'/neighbours' gardens!

i include these 2 at the insistence of the artist..still life with Boo and the upcoming publicity still for said artist

last of the birds

kookaburra kookaburra on the old power wires....

you still like birds

an ibis and some rainbow lorikeets

you like birds

you seen rod?

Yamba

these are some shots around Yamba beach. it's the nearest town and quite funky.
there is a strong surfer/hippy vibe and it's expanding quite rapidly. house prices there are a little higher
and you get less for your money! but as you can see it's a pretty nice spot!

A few beach shots

James as a monster, Caitlin as Lily Allen...what more can i say? we have been exploring the beaches around here. i'm not a huge lover of beaches (why am i here then, eh?) but the beaches here are clean, empty and beautiful. we especially like Angourie Beach - Spookys - and we are told it's one of the best in australia for surfing.

James has been trying his hand at boogy boarding/surfing. he is loving it but not so keen on being 'dumped' into the sand and always landing on the same shoulder. i've not had a go so far, due to a combination of laziness, embarrasment and lack of a decent set of 'swimmers'. this is in hand and i am awaiting delivery from uk of something i can go out in public in and not frighten the children.

Caitlin is ever so gradually getting over her terror of waves, helped by the fearlessness of Jacob. They seem to play a game a lot which involves chucking sand into the sea to 'kill' it then running away screaming.

not yet had a barbie at the beach with snags and a tinny but rest assured it will happen and i will stick photos here when it does!

view from the House #2

so here i am trying to be good and set up a regular blog..thoe of you familiar with us will know that i'm great at starting things but less committed to following them through when i get a little bored. bear with me, i'll try to stick at it. so anyway, this is the view from our front verandah. i think james made it his badge of honour that for the first 5-6 weeks he had hs breakfast outside on the verandah. however, as the mornings got chillier and the rain set in, he admitted defeat and beat a retreat indoors. not that that actually made him warmer, only drier. this house is a draughty old farmhouse and is really better designed at keeping you cool in the infernal height of summer, rather than warming your toes in the slight bite in the depths of winter. i mean, it's fallen all the way to 5 at one point at night (although it prob tends to hover around 11). lacking proper insulation or a properly sealed house or central heating, we have been heavily reliant on the wood burning stove in the evenings. daytimes are still warm and reminiscent of a british summer/spring but it's certainly got cooler from when we arrived at the end of april and we were basking in temps of over 30.

anyway, that's enough weather chit chat for now...i need to get myself and Caitlin organised for a trip into Maclean with Zara and her two kids, Jacob and Matilda. it's raining and grey today (aarggh more weather chit chat) so we are all rugging up. back with more excitement later. TTFN.

View from the House #1