A little piece on haircuts (Piet's, not mine)

Piet's hair was in his eyes, so I grabbed a pair of scissors and took a little snip, and then another. Trying to salvage his fringe I made such a mess of it and have vowed never to touch it again. 

He looks like a Benedictine monk!

Despite this we've been out in public together (as per above photo) and am politely listening to strangers comments/suggestions on how to fix his hair.

Have you ever tried to cut someone's hair? It's seriously only for experts...

Spring farm images

Looking back on pictures I took two weeks ago when the sun spent an entire day in front of the clouds

...onions, oregano, leeks, broad beans, chives, artichokes, spinach, chard, garlic, almonds, poppies, snow peas, lavender...

The grass is just too long, the ride-on lawn mower has decided to take early retirement - bad timing with Summer and long grass a bad combination for the upcoming fire season.

And these guys, well, they are absolutely the laziest sheep ev-er! 

Are they having story time over in their nice little corner! 

Hey guys, thought about munching a few blades of grass at some stage??

Public holiday

But just another rainy and windy day here.  The rain has been coming in sideways! Sitting looking out the window waiting for a lull in the rain...once it appeared I grabbed Dizzy and we headed off to see the vege garden and the results of two full days of rain.

My bounty above.....these are on a platter...that's how big the poppy is - as big as my hand.

The rain doesn't seem so bad now, I have the gorgeous poppy as company just next to me while I write.  The broad beans will fill our tummys for dinner tonight.

Saturday shines sunny

Let me take a breath...ahhhhhhhh.......to unwind from the week.

We fought another tough battle against the germs and won.  Childcare, you have so many positives...and then you let us down.

But! Here we are Saturday morning and you rise and shine sunny and warm. Thankyou! Breakfast outside, despite a runny nose and the husky squeaky voice, little P is finally eating again AND sleeping through.

T and I took turns, this week, staying home to care for him.  How things have changed.  Ten, twenty years ago, would a man's workplace have allowed him to take carer's leave for the day giving his wife the chance to keep her job up-to-date? Probably not.  We've been watching the first series of Mad Men - set in the 60's - and gosh things were so sexist, I don't think I would have handled it too well.

This weekend will be fun and sun.  A friend from Melbourne is coming to stay the night;  I've planned a super dinner and said friend has promised to reciprocate by helping me in the vege garden tomorrow morning, following by moving sheep ready for shearing (neglected to tell her that last part).  To celebrate achieving these tasks we'll sneak out to a local winery for lunch.

Oh, by the way, while Piet was sick I still managed to complete my surprise...

SURPRISE!...(previously non-descript-coloured letter-box is now red)

Friday on my mind......

I've been looking forward to this Friday since, ahhh, I had Wednesday off work. There's a 'task' I'd like to do around the house and since I've made up my mind I just can't wait.  Today has arrived with sun! Bonus! But started a little earlier than expected.

Daylight savings has thrown little P's timing out; bed wasn't until after 8 last night so was sure he'd sleep in this morning, stupidly I stayed up reading til almost 11pm.  But, alas, I heard his yelling out about 6.45am.

So, here is the start to our daily breakfast when Child Care is not on the agenda.  One Weet-Bix each, plus water for P and a tea for me.

Little P also has a bowl of fruit and a piece of toast with either Vegemite or Peanut Butter.  Actually most of the toast ends up on the ground but he seems to have licked off the butter and toppings.  (Dizzy eats the scraps).

I was hoping for a sunny day today - to help me with the 'task' I plan to work on, however need to get P and I ready to go to the hardware store this morning.

Will keep you updated!

Oh boy...this kid!

This kid is just making my heart melt each and every time I look at him! I can't help staring and won't let him out of my sight - which means I'm NOT really getting much done on my days off. (He's sleeping at the moment)

Is this normal? I have no idea.  Actually, even though T, little P and I have been passing around a cold for the last 8 months, life is still pretty swell right now.

What things do I like the best, I hear you ask?

* Well for starters, each night I cook dinner while T gives Piet a bath - the sounds of laughter from both of them plus the splashing of water makes me feel smile from the inside out.

* I seem to have misplaced my 'procastination'...did I leave it in the hospital birthing suite? Because since I've had Piet, time has been limited, but I'm getting a helluva lot more done than I ever did.  The minute I arrive at work, I get stuck into the hardest task first and always leave the office having finished what I needed to.  Employee of the year, I say!

* Seeing Piet grow up right in front of my eyes is also pretty spectacular.  He plays with trucks now!! And dinosaurs!!...just what I'd always dreamed of (or maybe I'd dreamt of a little girl who played with trucks and dinosaurs..) but anyway..

* Dizzy slowly starting to accept that Piet is here to stay also puts my mind at ease.  Piet receives either a quick lick on the face or a nose nudge on the top of his head from Dizzy each morning, just a small acknowledgement that Dizzy's aware Piet is a person - and a potential ball thrower, dinner giver, walk taker(er).

* The work/life balance is slowly getting easier. The first few weeks I had Tony, Piet, Dizzy and myself planned minute by minute - no fun for anyone.  I've relaxed, lessened my stranglehold on what MUST happen and now go with the flow.  So what! if yesterday I arrived at Piet's childcare without his 'change of clothes' bag - at least I had his bottle of milk and home-made yoghurt.

* Having a healthy child is something for which we're so lucky.  Childcare sent out notices this week about the increase of kids allergic to eggs & nuts attending the centre. Therefore, no cake or nuts to enter - and all food to be checked at the door.  Ice-cream cake for all, I say!

* We're on the verge of starting to renovate our house...oh Lord...it's been awhile coming and the day its starts I'm going to sing the Hallelujah chorus from the roof when Tony's beloved shed is the first thing to be knocked down.

* This blog - has been behind for so long - but I made it a priority to get back up to speed now that little P is less attached to me by the hip.  Feels great to get some words out in the open (hint hint to my sister) and one day people may even read it :-)

* The warm weather is here - and we all made it through another Winter in an extremely cold house where you even put off going to the toilet to lessen the chance of frostbite.  The insects!? Well, I can give them a miss, but I guess they're just part of it.  Note: Piet's ear sticking out after being bitten by a mosquito - his entire ear almost doubled in size.

Ahhhh...Piet's awake..

Now, back to reality - today there's washing, vacuuming and a visit to the vet. But! Tonight! The babysitter arrives! And my husband and I go out for a romantic 3rd wedding anniversary dinner - just two weeks late - but still will be fun!

Sim x

Reflection

Ahhhh....it's Sunday night - after a horrendous week - and finally I can sit down to reflect. While all the events were unfolding one after the after I had a strange feeling that this was a learning experience.

On Wednesday we had crazy winds that brought the garage shed down; while cleaning the debris Piet was playing in an ants nest, (I didn't realise at the time) and was bitten all over his face and neck... the next morning he woke up with one eye almost closed and a swollen cheek - and i knew the day was going to be a little out of the ordinary.

So at 8am I called to make a doctors appointment - at 8.30am Dizzy decided to jump the damaged shed fence and wedged herself in the metal, howling.  So bleeding from head to paw I peeled her down and called the vet.

Half in pyjamas we arrived at the vet 20 minutes later; my hands covered in blood, Dizzy trailing blood behind her and Piet sporting two purple closed-up eyes.  What a sight we must have been!

Dizzy spent the night at the animal hospital,  Piet saw his own doctor and his grandparents came over so T and I managed to make it into Melbourne for the Carji Greeves Best & Fairest at the Crown Hotel.  We had a great night - however the make-up artist who did my make-up used something I reacted too - the next morning I woke up with a closed eye myself.

We stayed at the Crown Metrolple http://www.crownhotels.com.au/hotels/metropol-en.html that night (will do another post later in the week) and had a superb sleep in - the first in over a year!!! Oh how I miss them...!

This afternoon we took Piet to the pool - a beautiful way to end the weekend.  The minute he sees the water he just wants to be in it, so cute.

A roast chicken and paella for dinner, a chat to my sister on the phone, a few pieces of chocolate and I'm ready to put the week behind me and get stuck into an intense week at work and enjoying life with my two boys and 'stitched-up' puppy.

Gale force

Today is the third day of gale force winds...welcome to October! The highest winds in 5 years!  I've been feeling a little apprehensive about going outdoors with little P, and now I know why. The front of our garage blew off this morning - about 200 bricks.  Such a shock - huge noise.

Little P started crying and I had to save Dizzy who was frozen in fear in the backyard.  But if we have to get through this to reach Summer, then bring it on!

Being stuck inside calls for imagination in the form of simple games for Piet. This game involved hiding small objects, such as spoons and pegs inside an empty tissue box.  Kept a 13 month old busy for at least an hour...

And why is there an empty tissue box in the house? My hay fever, was not hay fever, but instead a cold which lead to a horrible chest infection.

Sure to feel better soon - we have big night out tomorrow night with work. Finally time to party!