re-immersion

Been low lately.

Time to re-focus.

Might start with a walk on the beach tomorrow morning. I'm going to immerse myself in making me a better person, a better mum, educating myself and focusing on what makes my heart sing again.

new finds

Today was a day of new finds. Myles has finally found his bush walking legs and went the entire walk with out wanting to be carried. It was such a beautiful day in the bush with the kids today I felt like we were in a bubble and all we could hear were the birds, the running river and the trees blowing in the wind.

We also came across the threatened plant species tetratheca juncea that is flowering at the moment. Since I began trying to identify plants I think I'm becoming a bit of a plant nerd and loving it. This plant is normally really hard to identify out of the flowering season because its usually a leafless shrub with clumps of stems to 1 m or more in length with deep lilac-pink flowers. When present, the narrow leaves are about 2 cm long and lack a stalk.

I also caught this rare moment of my boys sitting quietly entranced by the water together until Fynn threw his water bottle in and we had to fish it out.

Attempting to be positive this afternoon

When you let love in, joy comes too. When you live in love you are fearless. When you love what you do, you can do no wrong. When you surround yourself with love you are safe. When you love who you are, you are giving the world the best gift there is.

(From something I read recently)

hmmm.

I realised today that I very rarely have a whinge on this blog or say how fucking crap things are. Its like I save it for only the good times when only good things happen. Well today I want to know where the frigging pause button is on the kids, when the snotty noses will end and when the fuck will I get my sanity back. I was thinking today how I thought my patience level has grown, but then I actually realised I think Im just way better at tunning out than I used to be. Yesterday the bathroom was flooding and I could here Myles telling Fynn that "Its not funny" and then yelling out to me something. I thought they were merely having another tiff again and thought I would let them sort it out. Then Myles starts yelling that there is a mess, so I ignore him and tell him to turn the tap off I could here running. Really it should have clicked at that point - but for some reason it didn't - I think I was enjoying the fact they were playing so nicely for once together. He tells me he can't and is still yelling about something - so I drag myself from the coffee cup and paper and walk into the bathroom where I find Fynn having a jolly good time splashing around in the pool of water gathering in the bathroom. Mess - there just seems to be one mess after another. Life just seems like one mess after another sometimes. I want someone to clean it up for me - to understand whats going on in my head, file and orgainse my thoughts, interpret them for me and give me all the right answers.

Avocado picking 101

Well, Avo picking is hard work but simple, peaceful and joyful work that makes you feel like you have truly achieved something at the end of the day. So during our lunch break in which time I put my feet up for a few minutes and lay in the sun, I soon realised that I could have easily gone to to sleep, so I got up put one foot in front of the other and decided to go for a wander by myself on the farm and explore the wonders of this world.

Time to pause, be still, reflect and observe without being in a hurry to go anywhere. Watch the light filter through leaves and the see the colours of this world.

Collect specimens for my Herbarium, and check out the natives.

Something little

Handmade little pots to hold precious little items found on wanderings through nature. I love making these little pots. The big one I rolled in sand and it made the most beautiful effect.

cubby fever

THE CUBBY:

Gather all the blankets from the cupboards and beds, all the cushions from the lounge and pillows from every ones beds and drape them over a couple of chairs and a table/bed and VOILA you now have your very own bears cave, knights castle, pirate ship, lions den, refuge from mum, a place to sit and eat the goodies you snuck from the kitchen cupboard and drink cordial you know your not usually allowed, a place to rest, a place to tuck your teddies in to bed and hide from the world.

It must be dark, it must have multiple levels and entries, windows, doors, beds, tables and chairs to eat from and most importantly mum can not possibly be allowed to see in. The only time she is allowed to enter 'the cubby' is when she brings snacks and drinks.

Each day the cubbies in our house are getting more and more elaborate, the last one had a slippery slid an entry for dragons and consumed three quarters of Myles' bedroom. I LOVE IT.

little red in the hood on a monday afternoon

Myles and I spent the quiet two hours we had alone today (whilst Fynn slept) and decided to make some finger puppets which lead us to creating an entire puppet show with props and backdrops. We used my friend Tracie's finger puppet drawings for Little Red Riding Hood and the Hunter and made a Big Bad Wolf and Grandma from the same template. We had to make a couple of accessories for our characters including a special axe for the Hunter to kill the Wolf and a basket of goodies for Little Red to take to Granny's house which apparently consisted of a 'carrot, sausage and apple'.

We made a forest and granny's house backdrop and Myles picked some flowers (actually nearly all the flowers we have in the yard) for Little Red to pick on her way to Granny's house. Of course we had to familiarise ourselves with the story and have a read of the book before we commenced and then a discussion of who was going to be who . It was so much fun with Myles as the Hunter and Wolf and me as Little Red and Granny - he got right into it and was so excited to put on a show for dad when he got home. All in all a good day at home.

How to pack an Avocado 101

So last week we went to the farm to learn how to sort and pack avocados. (I missed "How to pick a Avocado the previous week because I was in Melbourne with friends) .

I really didn't get a lot of packing lessons in as I spent the majority of the time chasing the kids round the place and watching Fynn fascinated by the moss under the trees (He loved the feeling of it in his little fingers -such a tactile little man) and him and Myles pick up avocados from the ground that had been blown off from the wind - which we got to bring home.

The process is rather simple. You take the avocados that you picked and....

put them in a sorting machine, which also brushes any dirt off, sort them again as they go through and then pack them in boxes according to their size, put a sticker on them and send them off to market. All in all a good day, much learnt and lots of fun had by all. This weekend its pruning avocados trees 101.