Rainy Sunday

My girlfriends joke that we should have a trophy made up to be awarded at our monthly dinners for Mother of the Year. A ferry ride in the rain to the city might get me a nod. So too might this ridiculously rich chocolaty afternoon tea that we had here (yes, those are my children's fingers poking into the melted chocolate). But I think what really won the award today was the spew that we stood next as we fooled around taking these pictures while we waited for Tools to pick us up.

I can hear Missy coughing upstairs right now. Do you think falling asleep in the pram as it rained on her head would cause her to catch a cold? It couldn't happen that fast, could it?

Pirates and Scoundrels

My two fight. I am utterly exhausted by their bickering, particularly when we get in the car. They screech and scream at each other like a pair of banshees. Missy is not asleep in this shot. She is pretending. Its her new weapon in the fight against her brother. He wanted the car. She had it. So she closed her eyes, hand protecting the prize in her side pocket, and zoned him out. He had no comeback to this very simple manipulation.

If only he could summon his inner pirate and swindle her with his treacherous ways. Maybe then they would be on an even playing field.

I love our front door. I love that it has a rapper rather than a door bell. It is almost always draped in a few cobwebs and even though our house is a "shoes on" kind of home, it almost always has a collection of boots beside it. It's a quiet door that doesn't creak or squeak or get stuck as you close it, meaning that it can be closed noiselessly. Very important when transferring sleeping children into the house late at night.
I love how it opens into our ridiculously large entry. The previous owners were generous with their proportions when they renovated and our entry is bigger than our bathroom. As such we treat it like a room. It is one of my favourite corners in our home. We have filled this space with a collection of treasures, each one with a story of it's own.

There's our telephone table, once teak with an orange vinyl seat cover, rescued from a council cleanup in the inner west about 7 years ago.
Sitting above it is this sweet set of shelves that my father built for my nursery. I am almost too scared to say that they are nearly 40 years old. I guess they could be classified as vintage. They have moved with me from room to room and house to house. They are the perfect fit for this little wall and house all my special pieces that I have accumulated in my travels.
A mirror from Balmain markets from uni days sits above an old washstand. That's a goldfish bowl marking space 'till just the right bowl and jug finds its way to me. Orchids from my garden and my African water bearer, one of the best surprise birthday gifts my mother ever bought me.

Another two-for-one Eyespy Sunday here at glass halfful. Life has been pretty full on, so much so that there seems to be too much to blog and so little time to do it. Thanks to Cindy and Karin for the themes. More doors and favourite places over there.

Here we go 'round the mulberry bush

Down in the bottom corner of Nonna's back garden is the most enormous mulberry tree. Heaving with mulberries, I could only just reach the lower branches to collect perfect, ripe berries for our morning tea. Stained lips, stained fingers, Missy could not resist. The Rooster was apprehensive but was determined not too miss out. I think this sums up how my two approach life, one with gusto and with level headed caution.

In bloom

I am enjoying this springtime. There are freesias sprouting on the side of the road, their scent heady in the afternoon sun. The blossoms and magnolias, lilies and camellia's are in full bloom. So too are many of my friends and family.

I love how a woman blossoms with her pregnancy, how carrying something so precious and important gives a woman a glow of self assurance that is rarely seen at any other time of her life. I love how a woman's face fills out and that unmistakable glow takes over her whole being. How it connects her to the women before her, who have carried and birthed and to our great earth mother. I loved the secret feeling of carrying my babes, of feeling their movements and their cycles. It gave me a spring in my step knowing that I was growing a tiny human being as I went about my daily business. Growing babies was something I could do with relative ease. My heart aches for those mama's whose pregnancies are trial, who awake to sickness almost everyday of their 9 months. It surely taints the joy when you feel poorly for most of the day. My sister in law, way over in Canada is pregnant and I feel just a teeny bit sad that I will miss this part of her life when she blossoms and blooms into a mother. I will miss seeing my brother be a first time father. I have watched him play with his godchildren, my two little super heroes. He has buckets of patience and an abundance of knowledge. Too boot, he really is just a big kid at heart. I will miss witnessing him guide his babe into the world.

More blooming marvellous things here.

PS Another ridiculously late Eyespy Sunday but this one was sitting in my draft box just waiting for me to hit publish

Red (and something to try)

I am ridiculously late in posting this Eye-spy Sunday. What, with a party, a birthday, a trip into the city, 3 days of work, two other 4 year old birthday parties (I tell you my social life is a whirlwind!), a 20 year school reunion....there didn't seem to be a smidge of time to breathe, let alone blog.
But I really wanted to post this one. A few months ago I dropped into Mathilda's markets to visit a special somebody over at bugandpop. She had blogged about this gorgeous cape and when I clapped eyes on it, I knew it was just the cape to match this one.

There is something very special about a little girl walking around in a little red cape. She wears it almost daily and the comments we receive as we wander down the street are just amazing.

My friend has a twenty-something son who recently applied for a job in children's television. His CV stated that he is waiting patiently for the day when capes will make a comeback.

Missy is not waiting for any comebacks. She and the Rooster think their capes are the bomb. Just today, the Rooster was marvelling at how his cape was blowing in the wind, just like a real superhero.

The joy.

Imagine if we all threw caution to the wind and donned our capes. I think that I'd like to try that just for a day. It could transport me back to simpler times when a cape and a heartbeat was all I needed for a great adventure.

More punctual posts here. Thanks to Ellieboo and Kimono Reincarnate for their great themes. Quite by accident, I have managed to combine the themes. That would make me almost on time.

Bunny Pigs

It seems our Missy is born to love all creatures great and small. I suspect she will be the little girl bringing home the strays and imploring us to keep it.

Today she came face to face with this little creature. Having discovered rabbits a few weeks back, she immediately thought she had met another.

"Bunny Mama".
No. A guinea pig.
Ahh...."Bunny pig"
There was no convincing her. And so the bunny pig was born

Our little friend, a true Bindi Irwin and wildlife warrior in the making, had Missy entranced.
Already she loves the bigger girls couldn't help but mimic all the actions of her older friend.

How she would have loved to have taken this critter home and patted him to sleep, all the while singing, nina nana, till his little eyes shut.