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......

crazy about fairy house building

I love building fairy houses with the kids and love seeing how much they get out of it. I really wanted to share this with other kids and parents and decided to approach my preschool to see if they were interested in holding a fairy house building event.

The school loved the idea and ran with it, making it a focus for the following week. They began talking about it with the kids the week before and getting them to do little activities. They started by brainstorming and discussing ideas for the fairy, gnome and elf house project with the children and had the kids look through various books which had natural outside materials in them. They then went on a hunt outside to find some natural materials, which could be used to build their houses. The kids then did some drawing plans of what they would like their house to look like. We decided to get parents to bring in some natural building materials and I also took in some extras to kick it off.

The kids and parents loved it - with everyone participating and bringing in loads of things to build with. Fairy, gnome, elf houses soon turned into mansions, cities with ponds, pebbled paths, magical fairy flower lights, soft petal beds for a fairy to rest in, shells used as plates for a fairy to eat from and seed pods used for sipping fairy tea.

Ever since they had this at Myles' school, he has gone fairy house building crazy, collecting things constantly to take home to build a house. I love the way this activity gets him using his imagination but he also gets to learn about the things he is using to build the houses with - like the texture of different barks, types of seed pods, shells, types of flowers etc....

getting our hands dirty

'billy goat, car, dinosaur, shell and one coin'

I decided today whilst the plasters were here (yes we finally have walls) that it was a good time to attempt to make the plaster relief I saw on Irene's beautiful blog with Myles. I had never used plaster before and was surprised at how easy it was. I was very grateful for some tips from the plasterer about the thickness (it should be like thickened cream) and the amount of time for setting (45-60 minutes depending on the thickness).

It was as messy as hell, but so much fun. We used the left over clay to make pinch pots and things got even messier, with Myles literally covered from head to toe in clay - I think he was trying to turn himself into a clay sculpture.

parties, organisation and ramblings

This weekend we went to a beautiful fairy party for our niece - Ava. Whilst leaving the house in our usual fashion - in a mad rush, with Daniel deciding he needs to go to the toilet just as we are about to get in the car, Myles not finding his shoes (because he's to busy kicking a ball), Fynn following me from room to room wanting to be picked up and share the toothbrush that is hanging out of my mouth as I attempt to pack a bag and at the same time yell at everyone "where's the sticky tape", I realised how disorganised I was. Once again I had left the present shopping to the last minute and we had to stop on the way to pick up a gift - hence the need for the sticky tape in the car. As much as I try and think about getting organised I just seem to get distracted by other things. However, this weekend in the car with tension mounting we decided to just accept that this is what happens, accept we were going to be late and hence we all relaxed and the tension between us all fell away. So I'm going to accept that I'm a disorganised person and see what the universe does.

Anyway, whilst getting the kids dressed for this fairy party it reminded me of a fairy party Myles went to when he was one and the huge effort Dan and I went to to make Myles a elf costume. We sat up till the wee hours of the night and hand sewed him a little costume with buttons, pockets, bells and all. He looked so cute. Unfortunately there was no late night costume making this year - just sleep catch up.

The sewing machine emerges

Last weekend, my sewing machine emerged from the deep dark depths of my wardrobe, a place where life hasn't been in some time, a thick layer of dust covering everything and forgotten goodies rediscovered by exploring little fingers. A couple of hours later and a lot of deliberation about material selection my beautiful nieces and I have sewed two little bags to take on their journey to a new home in Dubai. Filled with their cameras, journals and pencils to record new magical places, people and adventures, they set off on Wednesday with their mum (my sister) and little brother (bags over shoulders).

A day of mixed emotions - lots of tears and many thoughts reminding myself it wont be forever.

getting crafty

I have been collecting boxes, toilet rolls, butter containers, bottles, etc... for craft for a while now and they all go into the one cupboard. This cupboard hasn't been used for a few weeks and was beginning to spill into other cupboards and every time it was opened the contents went spilling all over the floor. So in an attempt to reduce the collection we had a massive day constructing stuff with cardboard boxes, egg cartons, straws loads of masking tape and lots of imagination. Myles got right into the car making and even had a his car books out trying to figure out where the suspension was supposed to go. We both had a go at the making the cash register and although neither were particularly related they got great usage today.

A Crazy Week

This past week has seen the wheels well and truly fall off. I love this photo of Dan whilst he was doing some crazy dancing with the kids - his face so perfectly sums up what a crazzzzy week we have had. Myles is not recovering well from the Scarlett Fever, (which has sent me into a mild panic with my imagination working over time as to whats wrong with him), we have all had the dreaded cold that seems to be gradually spreading through everyone I know and Dan has been working weekends on the house for what feels like an eternity. So in an attempt to get some colour back into Myles' face and get him and myself outdoors and off the lounge we set about picking the fresh beans our beautiful bean vine has given us this season.

Whenever the wheels fall off I seem to retreat to the garden for some time out. I can lose time in the garden, the ramblings of my mind get dug into the garden and all I think about is our mini vege garden and try and work out why some plants grow better in one spot and not so good in another, water beading on leaves, how a pumpkin leaf looks just like a huge funnel, and watch the bugs do their thing as they pollinate our flowers.

Fynn has managed to keep us all smiling with his recent toothbrush, shoe and hat obsessions. He has such a great sense of humour, is so cheeky and such a comedian.

I decided to take on Tracie's tag challenge and write 7 weird facts about myself - so here goes:

1. I love eating ice cream in a cup with a tea spoon and have a love of ice magic (that delicious chocolaty stuff that goes hard on your ice cream);
2. I love to sleep in late;
3. If there is a candle burning in front of me I 'have to' play with the melting wax;
4. I wish I had been an entomologist (someone that studies insects);
5. I hate cleaning with a passion - ironing infuriates me, come to think of it I actually I don't even know where my iron is;
6. I wish I could make more time to paint, do craft, garden, paint my toe nails, do my hair (actually some days I forget to brush it and it goes straight up in a pony tail), get a massage, do yoga, and meditate everyday;
7. I cant sit at my desk with my feet on the floor. Either one or both legs has to to be tucked up under my bum.

An eggy kind of week

More eggplants from the garden today.

This week we all tried to get back into the routine of things after the past couple of weeks of sickness. I attempted to be a 'domestic goddess' in my half of a house that seemed to have a steady flow of workers through it, tools laying all over the place, and tiles falling through roof as a new roof was put on. However, after asking Dan if it was safe to stay inside and being told sarcastically "yeah honey you and the kids just sit under the dining room table for the rest of the day" - I knew I would have to abandon the goddess within - the cleaning could wait (hooray), cookies would be bought rather than baked, and instead settle for a week in parks, at mums and at any ones house that would have us.

Fynn decided this week that he would like to begin his day at around 1am. After attempting to persuade him otherwise and miserably failing to get him to sleep after 2 hours last night I contemplated starting my day at 3am, blogging, reading the rest of my book, maybe cook some pancakes or even take the dog for a walk why not even wash her I thought. It all seemed quite do-able at the time until I started to think about the very long day ahead...dealing with Myles' crazy Saturday mood, dance class, a 5 years old party I had to go to, Myles' after party sugar highs and lows, and a very tired Fynn. So I just decided to give in and give him more milk and get some more sleep. Thankfully he went back to sleep and so did I for an hour or so until I was awoken with what I thought sounded like someone whipper-snipping the edges of our lawn at 4am. I nearly got up to investigate who the hell would be doing such a thing at that time of the morning (perhaps another mum with a child that doesn't like to sleep) until I realised it was actually Dan snoring.

I think I'm just staying up late tonight because I'm scared about the night ahead, I know it doesn't make any sense to stay up late and I should be getting all the sleep I can before he wakes up but I seem to get a second wind at about 7pm and get motivated to do all the things I cant in the day and nothing ever makes much sense when your sleep deprived.

So if I have to start the day at some ridiculous time tomorrow morning I think I'll look up some eggplant recipes - "how to cook eggplant seven different ways".

EGGS.....WE HAVE EGGS.........FINALLY

Finally, the girls have pulled through, after the loss of a couple of friends to our pet dog Kooly, lice infestation from the visiting minor birds, numerous threats of being made dinner if they didn't start laying, a few pep talks and more importantly a change in diet and bedding we are getting eggs daily. What a wonderful surprise it was to come home from hospital with Myles and lift the door open and see two beautiful eggs. We now have a new mid morning ritual - collecting the eggs and don't forget to always thank the girls.

todays a new day

this week has been........,well, eventful - going from mediocre...... to bad.......to frightening.....some personal fears were dragged from the fearful depths of my mind in to reality when Myles was rushed to hospital and after an extremely anxious wait we were told he had Scarlet Fever and thus spent the next two nights sleepless in hospital, anxiously checking he was breathing every five minutes, seeing if his temperature had finally gone down and the red blotches had in any way subsided. Its been a week that I could say I would rather leave behind, but I think after everything that has happened this week, I'm taking away from it the fragility of my precious little life, and how much bigger it could be, how a mothers intuition should never be ignored, how very deeply I love my family and how today is a new day that needs to be filled with joy.

following the trail

Today, after being cooped up inside for a couple of days with sickness and beginning to feel sorry for myself , I sought refuge at my mums . After Fynn attempted to destroy her house, touch, open, push and prod every thing he knew he couldn't I decided it was a good idea if we got outdoors for some fresh air and a stroll. It didn't take long for Fynn to find a mass of ants to lay in and closely observe as they crawled all over his hands and up his pants. Myles and I decided to find out where these ants were coming from and where they were so busily going. We began with the mass of ants Fynn had found at the front gate and followed their trail over and under trees, through tunnels so small only an ant could clearly fit through, up a branch of a tree, along the edge of the fence, down a crevice of bricks and finally we reach it.......their palace...their castle....their home. then the questions began - How have they built it, how do they get it to stick to the wall, what are they carrying in there, what do they eat?

I love to get down to the kids level and see the world as they see it, a small tiny busy world of ants building their own castles, cities, and towns, to shelter in, to store food in, a place to have and shelter their future generations. Ah....the imagination can wild in place like this.

Lessons

Thanks to my little helpers in the garden and lots of chicken wire erected to keep those pecky chooks out, we finally picked our first eggplant and watermelon on the weekend. We were all extremely excited by the watermelon and there was much anticipation as Daniel cut it open. I had plans to go outside and have a seed spitting contest, much laughter....pink faces dripping with watermelon juice. I had been wondering when to pick it and by the size and colour of it I thought it was definitely ready for eating, however, from the look on Dan's face once he had made the first cut and his little sigh....I knew it wasn't ready. It had only just started to go pink in the middle. I'm going to have to get the books out and find out when to pick them.

So to get over the disappointment Dan decided to make pizza bases with Myles whilst I had a shower. I left them happily weighing out the flour and talking about what toppings they were going to have. Little did I know that when I left this happy little father son cooking adventure I would return to a kitchen that looked like a pizza dough oven had exploded - water all over the floor, pizza dough on the walls and floors and a large pile of goo on the table - apparently pizza dough. (I'm still finding bits of pizza dough around the kitchen). I'm not going in to details, but it involved a temper tantrum, some bad instruction and lots of paper towel. However, miraculously, the pizza dough was salvaged and we had delicious pizzas for dinner and will try again next week.