Swinging in the new year

After spending the first few days of our post Christmas coma on the beach, in and out of the fridge eating left overs, on and off the lounge reading new books and watching new DVDs, constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing Lego, and playing with the favourite toy - the dreaded water pistol, we decided we needed to get active.........and within one day we made a trip to the local fauna world, put up a swing for the boys, erected the bird house that was made the first week we arrived and Myles put on a play for us all. Oh how good that swing is and how much I giggle every time I get on it.....quite possibly I love it more than kids.

The new year has started out beautifully, with a unexpected late night (3am) up talking with dad about the benefits of organic farming (and no I'm sure I wasn't on my soap box). I spent most of new years day lounging about and eating. Thankfully Dan was very active and constructed a new enclosure for the coming arrival of our new geese and a house for them to sleep in at night. He is so very, very clever and made them both out of recycled materials found on the property.

I'm feeling really excited about the New Year and all it is to bring......

Chrsitmas Cheer

This Christmas would rate for me as one of the best yet.

Christmas Eve with Mum and Dad and Dan's parents and grandparents. A most beautiful meal, a most beautiful Christmas morning breakfast.

Christmas Day with Dan's family begun under the Pecan tree with the opening of gifts, cricket and drinks....followed by dinner in the candlelight, home-made bon-bons made beautifully by Auntie Jack (aka the Kwong) and many more drinks, George Michael impersonation's and discussions late into the night with promised jogs around the farm in the morning, met by some and not others (including myself who made it 50 paces, until feeling faint - mind you I haven't jogged since the 80's) and ended with those that couldn't fit in the house retiring to their tents - aka tent city.

After the frenzy of Christmas unwrapping of new undies, new toys, new gadgets to be explored, built and rebuilt and goodies to be eaten over the next week...still be devoured by yours truly as we speak, I'm feeling the need for a daily nap - the joy of holidays spent on the beach in the early mornings, eating fish and chips for lunch and lounging around with cricket in the background, a new book on the lap, frequent visits to the fridge to nibble on leftovers (again) - fat bellies and brown, sandy skin continue.....

Magic.......

I love Christmas and it is no secret.

I love the decoration, the excitement, the carols, the dancing on bench tops to Jingle Bells that's been a bit of regular thing around here lately, the lights, the summer weather and the anticipation of the big day. Mostly I love the gathering of family and the sharing of beautiful fresh food, recipes from old that only come out Christmas...like mums shortbread and Cathy's (Dan's mum) casata.

I love the anticipation of the day, the night before, where Santa tip toes through the house, whilst we're all asleep, leaving behind his snowy footprints throughout the house and the reindeer's have eaten all the grass and carrots that were left for them. The magic of it all...the smiles and the joy and the sharing, laughing and togetherness that Christmas brings.

May the magic of Christmas touch us all.

This moment in time

Dan and the kids are in bed, the room lit by the soft hues of the Christmas lanterns hanging from our tree that was plucked freshly from the yard, crickets and frogs noisily chitter chatter amongst themselves, a lone owl hoots somewhere in the darkness within the branches of a tree -me and them the only ones awake.

The beauty of this place, it sounds, its rhythms, its colours have captured my heart and each day I'm here I grow more in love with it and feel more inspired, more grounded than ever.

The natural bushland that surrounds me is my ashram and it is there I feel at peace - my meditating spot amongst the trees, trees older than me, birds I have never seen before, so many unknowns, so many new places to explore and discover.

Lately I dream I'm flying. The last time I dreamt I was flying was a time in my life that brought a positive shift in my life. I realise when waking that I'm finally living a dream that I have had for so long and I thank the universe for letting me experience it.

I'm officially a farm girl.

Apart from the usual unpacking, sorting and throwing days have been filled with morning wanderings around the property getting to know the land, lots of rides on tractors, mud fights, planning and planting of the future vege patch, drinks on the verandah when the kids go to bed, bird watching and squatting of flies. Apart from the fear that one of the huge ibis will fly away with one of the kids in their beak, all is well and will write more once I settle in and hopefully get an Internet connection up and going.

Busy busy busy

We have been very busy around here at the moment, preparing for the upcoming market, but still managing to play.

Myles (equipped with some sort of contraption on his head that either shoots or flies you some place grand), super-mum (decked out in her super girl cape for catching baddies that like to hit/pinch/scratch/pull hair/taunt one another whilst she isn't looking), and Fynn ( well...looking funny) in chalk.

For Sale:

A one bedroom fully furnished house (including a flat screen TV and hat rack), with kitchen, spacious living/dining area, decorative features, easy care outdoor area and swimming pool with diving board cleverly accessed from the roof of the house that allows you to dive over the double garage (that has plenty of room for your spaceship, mail delivery truck, motorbike, helicopter etc.....)

The perfect bachelor pad for three single Lego men.

Oh seriously this little house was so much fun to make and Myles has had such a crafty burst lately wanting to invent, make and craft with me....wooohoooo. We have seemed to of gotten over the angst that went along with doing craft for a while (more than likely brought on from me trying to hard to get him to do things he wasn't interested in to often) and since letting go of the idea that my kids would LOVE doing craft just as much as me, and doing things more tailored to his construction interests he/we are now enjoying the special time we have together in the day when Fynn is sleeping and he is actually asking to do craft - I wont say no to that and take this change of heart while I can no matter how much else I have to do.

Two Today

I love this beautiful little soul, each and every day he makes me smile. He is like a ray of sunshine when I wake each morning in my usual slow waking, grumpy way. We went round the table tonight and everyone had to say one word that described Fynn and everyone wanted to say funny or cute. And it's true he is just so funny and so cute. So cute I believe he gets away with so much more than he should at times - those eyes, those lips and that smile get me every time.

i love the way he says 'mumma'

i love his smile that puts a smile on every ones face

i love the way he moves my head to one side so he can put his head on my shoulder

i love the way he brings the sling to me when he's tired and wants a rest on my chest

i love the way he cuddles in to me when he is in the sling

i love to wake up in the morning and surprisingly find him in our bed after he has crawled out of his cot and navigated his way to our bed in the dark

i love the way he says 'uppy' when he wants to be held

i love his fearlessness and natural inquisitiveness

i love the way he says 'luv you to'

He is absolutely happiest out doors pottering around in the garden, riding his 'cooter' and playing with Myles, doing and saying everything that Myles does.

Tonight for his second birthday we had his favourite food for dinner - pasta and for dessert chocolate brownies with chocolate ice cream.

No matter how insane reality can be sometimes, my boys make the world feel delightful and beautiful.

to shop or not to shop

The other day whilst shopping I thought about how much I hate shopping with the kids, actually I hate it with a passion and will avoid it at all cost and try to be accompanied by another adult if possible or do it alone - the supermarkets set parents up for bad shopping experiences with their fluro lights and to easy to reach candy and matchbox cars. After being in the supermarket for 5 or 30minutes (time doesn't seem to matter) me giving in and giving the boys an entire box of crackers to devour, racing through the aisles not even looking at the specials grabbing anything off the shelves and not getting anything on the list that is either at the bottom of my bag never to be found again or left on the kitchen bench - I reach the checkout, red faced, flustered, heart palpitating and looking anxiously around for a sympathetic face but only seeing those older ladies giving me that look that clearly says "all that child needs is a good smack" I reach for the lollipops- feeling like the worst mother in the world- there is preservative number 128, 103 and 1111 getting licked up in a happy, yet quiet 5 minutes - just long enough to get to the car. The one consolation at our local supermarket which seems to make the shopping experience all worth it at the end is the huge super duper ramp you have to go down to get to the car park - it is perfect for trolley cart riding at extreme speeds, perfect just after a sugar high. The 6 year old comes out in me, I tell the kids to hold on tight, put all body parts in the trolley, pull my feet up and hold on tight whilst we take off down the ramp, manoeuvring the trolley past the shoppers coming up the ramp and making sure I brake in time before we hit the glass doors at the bottom. Giggles, laughter and screams of excitement block out the last 30 minutes and all that is remembered of the shopping experience is the trolley ride down the ramp.

this boy loves to build

Myles - He loves to build, to construct, and invent - he is happiest with a hammer and drill in his little hand (that can just hold on to them) and building something. Today he built an aeroplane from scraps of wood - very impressive, the other day it was a packing, picking and pruning machine. He has so many ideas and plans I thought a special book to draw all these was just the right thing for him at the moment - so he now has his own construction journal to draw all his plans and ideas in - and he is loving it. All he wanted from the library this week was a book on building, recycling and leaves. Somehow, with the help of the librarian whom he bravely asked for help we found one on leaves and recycling. However, for building I grabbed a few architecture books I had at work and we have been going through them looking at the different ways buildings are constructed and he has been drawing his own buildings from that - A "dinosaur castle" inspired by Gaudi and "Elmo's World" inspired by yep...Elmo.

A great weekend

Friday - Saturday

The 'long' weekend began with a 'long' Friday night getting anxiously prepared for the local handmade market where Tracie and I were selling our craftbags. The late night was well worth it and I enjoyed every moment staying up getting all the small details ready. There is something that happens to time when you do something you love - you loose it. Anyway, the market with its beautiful atmosphere set off by musicians, beautiful handmade goods and local produce was a great success and something that has been needed in Newcastle for such a long time. It has given us the encouragement, inspiration and motivation to keep on going with our ideas for the bags and more!

Sunday

On Sunday we ventured to the farm again to finish the last of the pruning and fire a list of questions to Richard (the current owner). I couldn't help but think how the place has changed since we have been going there. There is so much activity in the air - beetles, bees, butterfly's and other insects zooming around busily feeding and foraging amongst the sudden bloom of bursting buds and new growth all around. The photos I have taken from the house of nearly the same location in the beginning on the year to this weekend show the change in season and thus the change in colour perfectly.

JanuaryOctober

Monday

A rainy day spent indoors in our pajama's all day, cooking, sewing and trying to think of activities to keep the kids happy - so out came the bowls, the flour, out of date herbs, sugar and water and thus a glorious mess was made, covering every ones clothes, the entire back deck and tiptoed through the house several times to get more ingredients - because really who can make cupcakes with just flour and water - a lovely day.

Some Holly Hobby Sheets I had as a kid made into pajama pants for Fynn the glorious mess begins to evolve

Pushy bike ridin

Our car is broken, so today the kids and I were on the push bikes around town, having milkshakes, playing in the park and doing a couple of 'drop in's' on people - it was so much fun and Myles was so good on his bike.

On the bike you get to feel, see and experience the day in a different way- the colours, the smells, the temperature aren't blurred by window tinting, air conditioning and pine scented air fresheners. It was "such a beautiful day" in the sunshine under a bright blue sky, as Myles kept reminding me periodically throughout the day.

However, Ive got to say the slap on the cheek from a minor bird I received and the swooping magpies were not taken well - actually screaming and constant flinching at shadows followed and many,many questions about why they would do such a thing.

I felt at one point that I didn't want the car to be fixed and that I could get about on bike all the time - until reality set in and I started think about the rain, running late, tired bubbu's and the need to be somewhere that is greater than 10 kilometres away. However, the bikes are going to get some use this year as long as the magpies stop swooping us.

favourite ted's/dolls were along for the ride as well

Fear of what lies beyond

We have trying to get to the farm every weekend before the settlement date to learn as much as possible from the current owner before we dive deeply into the unknown. The learning curve is huge and if we think about it to much it could stop us from doing anything.

I suppose from the beginning we have been thinking that - if we don't give this farm a go we will never know and life is to short to sit and wonder, to sit and dream or contemplate the risks and really if we did calculate the risks we probably wouldn't have done it, but we would have been forever wondering 'what if we did', 'what would have it been like' and possibly we would have regretted not having a go. It could all bugger up and we could potentially kill 700 avocado trees, 170 macadamia trees and 60 olive trees, but the first farmers of this world began somewhere, they started from the beginning, made mistakes and learnt from them and then tried again and I think that's exactly what we will be doing - making lots of mistakes, learning and trying again.

I just feel that if I sit back and never give anything a go due to fear my life will become stale and everything will stay the same and nothing will ever change. The unknown is frightening, but at the same time its exciting and invigorating and has spurred my inner being into searching, discovering and learning again about something so foreign to me.

The philosophy is 'be brave, be bold and soak up as much knowledge as possible'. I have no illusions - I know its going to be hard and that there are going to be huge adjustments to my little family but if there is one thing I have learnt lately its that the best things can come during the hardest times of your life and by taking risks and leaping into the unknown.

It is so beautiful there at the moment, and with the change in season the colour of the place has changed. The trees are now more yellow and there is a carpet of yellow and brown leaves between each row, that just makes you pick up hand fulls of leaves, toss them in the air and watch them float to the ground. New blooms are covered in an enormous, actually frighteningly large amount of bees busily working away pollinating each flower. It is amazing to think that as we work away picking the last of this seasons avocados that the bees are working away to start the process of fruiting all over again - creating avocados for next season. It was a little sad to see the last load of avocados we picked go off to the markets for the year, as we would have to wait another year till the flurry of picking, packing and pruning begins again.

The kids love being there, and Myles in particular is making my heart burst with love, he is absolutely in his element, being the very grown up big brother helping with the picking, packing and pruning (the three p's as pop puts it), riding on the mower, and climbing trees. Seeing them there enjoying it so much and wanting to go back each weekend has put my mind at ease somewhat about the effects of moving there on them. I'm brimming with excitement now and cant wait to get there.

figuratively speaking

Ive locked myself in the study, figuratively speaking because the door actually doesn't have a lock, to make an attempt to do something, anything, anything at all really,anything that doesn't involve me having to look or hear the football that has made its appearance on the TV for the second night running. I cant even begin to describe my passionate hate for the football, the droning noise of the commentators and beefy men circling, running into one another, one train wreck after another of bloody faces and noses pancaked across faces. So Ive turned on the tunes and try to wipe out the trace of all the other days of the week by immersing myself or at least my mind and hands into some clay, something to loose my mind and thoughts in for the evening, put some heart in this Saturday night. Ive been so consumed lately that I haven't made the time to do anything creative for myself, its time for all those ideas that have been swimming around in my mind for months to materialise. I begin with the clay and feel awkward, as if I cant even begin to create the images from my mind, my fingers are stumbling and so I just start playing with it and the more I manipulate it the more things I begin to see in the clay, a face, a person wrapped in a blanket, a bird, an old mans face.......and all of a sudden i turn and everyone has gone to bed, the lights are all out and I'm left with three hours gone, immersed in clay.

Teeeeeea pleeeeease

Fynn grabs my hand walks me into the playroom and points up at the top shelf of the bookcase and yells, TEEEEA, TEAAAA, several times before I give in and get it down for him and we have a tea party. We love tea parties around here at the moment.

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.

the after party dancing

OK so I figure this is the only way to dance with two boys who both want to dance with me at the same time. The alternative is to dance with one and have the other hanging precariously from my leg crying and screaming - "pick me up" , "up", "my turn" etc..... Oh I love to dance with them, it fills my soul with such happiness and lightens the darkness of a crappy day. However, not always but most of the time it ends in tears.

concert time

Putting on a show on a rainy day.

you know its winter when...

The kids have a constant stream of snot coming from there noses

and

The leaves and flowers fall from the Frangappani tree...

What is to be....

So, I was thinking today about why the hell the kids couldn't occupy themselves for longer than 30seconds whilst I made frigging vegetable soup attempting to be the good house wife and have dinner cooked by 9.30am, keep the new house spotless in case anyone dropped in to check it out and try to keep the kids from scratching the 'new floor', and lastly keep unpacking and cleaning some more. I have been so pre-occupied with getting organised and getting this house done I have lost my connection to whats important, to what makes my heart sing. Bugger it all - they are kids they want to push their matchbox cars along a floor (who wouldn't) and they want me to play (who wouldn't). I have to get back down to their level, to my level - back on the floor let them crawl all over me , tickle them till they scream with delight and abandon those unrealistic expectations that aren't really mine but someone else's before me that said that to have a clean house was important and scratches on the floor wont sell a house, and dirty clothes means your a freak and not clean. I have two kids, unless I tie them up each day or lock them in t he playroom they are going to make mess - and why not it is so much fun. I say kids with dirty clothes at the end of the day are kids that have had fun all day - they have dug in the dirt, eaten mud pies, splashed in puddles , discovered that sandpits are actually full of cat poo, and have brought the worm they found in the garden inside. Time to get back to reality - my reality.

Hanging Out

Friends.

Gypsies

Yes for the past six to eight weeks we have moved around again from house to house thanks to family and friends who have kindly put us up or lent us their house, we have been able to 'squat' and keep some sense of routine and family life through the chaos of this renovation. After nearly finishing this renovation I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is all beginning to feel like it has been worth it. So many times I have questioned the worth of it all to us emotionally and to the kids and I probably will always wonder what if we didn't, what if we did it differently, however we did it and we stuck to a plan and have seen it through. I think if it wasn't this going on it would be something else. Somehow I have this idea in my mind that moving up to the farm will slow the pace of my life down and things will be vastly different. I know in many ways it will be different - I will have a place to put our roots down, put holes in the walls and not worry and to dig holes in the ground and know that I can plant a vege patch and it wont be destroyed within months to make way for landscaping or a new house, to bake in a working oven and have space for the kids to run and run and run. It's nearly over.

The farm

Ok so I have been holding off writing anything about the avocado farm for ages, partly because it hasn't felt real and it is four months until we move there. The first time we went there I knew straight away it was I wanted to do - the abundance of flora and fauna and the amount of space for the kids to run around in sold me straight away - it just felt right. However, since visiting the property a couple of weeks ago to get shown around some more and generally be given some lessons in "avocado farming" by the current owner my anxiety level grew somewhat. The reality that we have several hundred avocado trees, 170 macadamia trees, 60 olive trees and a few citrus trees to take care of and give some love truly hit home. After about ten minutes of walking through the rows of avocados I began to feel slightly concerned about what we had gotten ourselves into in - how on earth was I going to tell the seven varieties of avocados apart, how exactly do you know when to pick them, prune them, water them, mulch them, fertilise them? This is going to be a huge learning curve, lifestyle change and the best of all a big new adventure that I hope to be able to detail through this blog every now and then.

farm girls

I have been sketching again lately and really enjoying it: drifting off into another world, dreaming of simple things.

in a funk

there's something in that coffee stain

PANTS

Pants

They cover you

They warm you

They hug you and hide you

They sleep with you

They dance with you

They walk and they run with you.

Long, short, puffy or tight

They come in every colour

But they shouldn't come in white.

Last night I thought I was going to go mad attempting to make Myles a pair of cords, flared at the bottom and trimmed with some vintage fabric - sounded good in theory and the image in my head was even better. However, in the wee hours of the night, after several re-sews and a few pins in the fingers I was ready to give up sewing FOREVER. I just couldn't get them right, something had drastically gone wrong somewhere and I couldn't figure it out. However, I managed to finish them resulting in this funky number below:

Something to play in and something to dance in......these funky little pants were not well received by their intended owner, as he has all of a sudden become quite fashion conscious and refuses to wear long pants - even in the freezing cold weather we have had lately.

After being somewhat upset by his response to my funky pants and sulking for a while and doing the "why do I bother thing" - I got over myself and decided I would just make him shorts next time - something he likes:

Some pants that will make him roar,

Some pants that will make him soar,

chase down baddies and

battle with a dinosaur.

back in action

OK I have been out of action for over a month now and loads has happened.

In short the last month has consisted of a holiday to Victoria, purchasing an Avocado farm, starting a small business with a friend and moving house twice.

The holiday was great, Melbourne was fantastic, however, Dan and I have vowed to go back there alone without the kids and experience the little coffee shop/restaurant lane ways, shopping and galleries without the kids. I don't really care what anyone says but taking my two boys for coffee and shopping is just not that enjoyable and they weren't particularly interested in the 18th century art at the gallery either. However, I must give a memorable mention to the excellent playground equipment at the galley that kept them amused for ages. All they wanted was parks, large areas to run and shout and all mummy wanted was a trip to the shops without a shop assistant having a mild anxiety attack about my kids getting behind the "precious clothes". So thankfully, after a day we set out from the city and hit the country to visit Daniel's brother who lives about three hours from Melbourne. It was so nice to get into the country, have loads of space for the kids to play, go four wheel driving around a farm, see koalas three feet away, pat a sheep, a rabbit, and a horse and run in paddocks with other kids - and just be wild. Also it was so nice for Dan and I to be a bit wild and catch up with his brother and partner - who are inspirational in so many ways. They are "life is to short to just sit around and think" type of people and I admire them so much for that. We had such a great time and even the cold weather was so nice, we had a fire going every night and snuggled under rugs in front of the fire each night. I was so inspired whilst I was there I even started a joint painting with Lisa (a masterpiece waiting to be finished I'm sure) and have begun painting again since we came back.

OK so piccy's for this month are as follows:

Melbourne (just before we venture into the art gallery)

a glimpse of 'the farm'

some new pants for my boys

And so much more......