Bushwalker Who?
Sorry I’ve been a bit scarce of late. B works from home these days in the study and though we have several computers, I haven’t fallen back into the habit of daily blogging… albeit hen pecking with one hand while Dahlia sleeps on the other. I’ve composed so much stuff in my head so I suppose all you’ll get is the condensed version of our news…
The real headliner being that Hamish broke his leg (tibia - main calf bone). He either climbed or pulled onto him a shelf made out of iron ploughs with exposed bolts which threw him down upon a tiled, hard floor. Basically we are so lucky that he didn’t die. 2006 was such a bastard of a year for me that really it was no surprise that it ended with yet another attack upon my children’s mortality (pneumonia, asthma attack that I’m told had Kahlil an hour away from death, Hamish nearly getting run over..). I myself fell prey to mastisis and the fever that wouldn't sweat away. Bad enough but made much worse by the necessity of mothering. No rest is had to the strains of, "Mum-my I hun-gry!" This was the year I lit candles for the grace bestowed by salbutamol, penicillin, miconazole, codeine and acidophillus cultures. Their scientific nature and cost make their salvation no less miraculous. We are in a better place than at the start of the year but I’m hoping for no repeats like 2006.
We haven’t holidayed yet - what with hospital trips and Christmas preparations - and have really been in recovery mode. As much as you can recover building high precision lego castles with toddler egoes and whinging babies... lego and puzzles are quite therapeutic for all that! But we are planning to go to Sydney soon, Adelaide in March (the regular WOMAD pilgrimage) and Hobart in April. I shall be taking my Mum along to Hobart as B will be at a conference for half the trip and I really am not up to wrangling 3 small kids in a strange location. Having another adult to divvy it up with makes the concept so much more palatable.
In smaller news, Kahlil starts school - and Hamish 3yo kinder - in just over 2 weeks. Am so looking forward to shopping without Hamish… although having a broken leg has made things easier on that front! :op Dahlia is about to start solids, is rolling and learning to sit.
Then there’s the house! We went on a renovation frenzy before Christmas - I had hoped it would all be over before we moved in, naïve that I am, but we are mostly done. Take the tour:
Windows: Timber Venetians and opaque panel curtains in main living area/ small rooms.
Floors: Ceramic tiles through the living space (variegated to hide the dirt) and wool sisal carpet (rubber underlay) in the bedrooms/study.
Doors: New stainless steel door handles. Pivot handles for room doors, long strip handles for cupboards and novelty cats, stars, rabbits for kids rooms.
Kitchen/Bathrooms: Retiled with a stone stripe (think giraffe neck) in the showers and mosaic glass stripe in the kitchen. New taps with modern “cross” handles. Clear glass shower screens.
Walls: Feature walls though house of beige/chocolate brown to break up existing tea green and so goes the colour scheme… quite earthy although the green is rather clear and ethereal.
Lounge: Plasma is wall mounted and we bought a new red leather chaise lounge of generous proportion.
We have taken ourselves so seriously that we even over invested in a designer toaster (sexy red) and bought new stainless steel rubbish bins. We lust after new stainless steel appliances for the kitchen but will have to content our selves with white goods until the coffers can be replenished. I have to say I am impressed with our spacious modern house and all the features it offers: walk in robes, ensuites, down lights, no hallway, open hostess kitchen, easy clean slab base for the shower and god damn roominess.
I’m off to the garden consultant for our Japanese themed, drought tolerant garden ever thankful for the trees (blue green cedar, flowering cherry and cypresses- plus this mystery yellow flowering tree that I love- at the front with ash, willow, pittosporums, eucalypt and a feijoa and an olive tree at the back!) that are so hard to establish in these water restriction times. We also have established flowering shrubs - lilac, hebe, bottlebrush, abelia, Mexican Orange blossom, sacred bamboo, wisteria and privet. I can’t wait to see how the final design design will look although it will take time to create. Until then I labour with buckets from showers and a container that gathers all the laundry water to nurture the garden through summer. It’s too late for the lawn though and I wouldn’t even remove the weeds now or else all I’d have is bare dirt. Needless to say, grass is passé in Melbourne.
The real headliner being that Hamish broke his leg (tibia - main calf bone). He either climbed or pulled onto him a shelf made out of iron ploughs with exposed bolts which threw him down upon a tiled, hard floor. Basically we are so lucky that he didn’t die. 2006 was such a bastard of a year for me that really it was no surprise that it ended with yet another attack upon my children’s mortality (pneumonia, asthma attack that I’m told had Kahlil an hour away from death, Hamish nearly getting run over..). I myself fell prey to mastisis and the fever that wouldn't sweat away. Bad enough but made much worse by the necessity of mothering. No rest is had to the strains of, "Mum-my I hun-gry!" This was the year I lit candles for the grace bestowed by salbutamol, penicillin, miconazole, codeine and acidophillus cultures. Their scientific nature and cost make their salvation no less miraculous. We are in a better place than at the start of the year but I’m hoping for no repeats like 2006.
We haven’t holidayed yet - what with hospital trips and Christmas preparations - and have really been in recovery mode. As much as you can recover building high precision lego castles with toddler egoes and whinging babies... lego and puzzles are quite therapeutic for all that! But we are planning to go to Sydney soon, Adelaide in March (the regular WOMAD pilgrimage) and Hobart in April. I shall be taking my Mum along to Hobart as B will be at a conference for half the trip and I really am not up to wrangling 3 small kids in a strange location. Having another adult to divvy it up with makes the concept so much more palatable.
In smaller news, Kahlil starts school - and Hamish 3yo kinder - in just over 2 weeks. Am so looking forward to shopping without Hamish… although having a broken leg has made things easier on that front! :op Dahlia is about to start solids, is rolling and learning to sit.
Then there’s the house! We went on a renovation frenzy before Christmas - I had hoped it would all be over before we moved in, naïve that I am, but we are mostly done. Take the tour:
Windows: Timber Venetians and opaque panel curtains in main living area/ small rooms.
Floors: Ceramic tiles through the living space (variegated to hide the dirt) and wool sisal carpet (rubber underlay) in the bedrooms/study.
Doors: New stainless steel door handles. Pivot handles for room doors, long strip handles for cupboards and novelty cats, stars, rabbits for kids rooms.
Kitchen/Bathrooms: Retiled with a stone stripe (think giraffe neck) in the showers and mosaic glass stripe in the kitchen. New taps with modern “cross” handles. Clear glass shower screens.
Walls: Feature walls though house of beige/chocolate brown to break up existing tea green and so goes the colour scheme… quite earthy although the green is rather clear and ethereal.
Lounge: Plasma is wall mounted and we bought a new red leather chaise lounge of generous proportion.
We have taken ourselves so seriously that we even over invested in a designer toaster (sexy red) and bought new stainless steel rubbish bins. We lust after new stainless steel appliances for the kitchen but will have to content our selves with white goods until the coffers can be replenished. I have to say I am impressed with our spacious modern house and all the features it offers: walk in robes, ensuites, down lights, no hallway, open hostess kitchen, easy clean slab base for the shower and god damn roominess.
I’m off to the garden consultant for our Japanese themed, drought tolerant garden ever thankful for the trees (blue green cedar, flowering cherry and cypresses- plus this mystery yellow flowering tree that I love- at the front with ash, willow, pittosporums, eucalypt and a feijoa and an olive tree at the back!) that are so hard to establish in these water restriction times. We also have established flowering shrubs - lilac, hebe, bottlebrush, abelia, Mexican Orange blossom, sacred bamboo, wisteria and privet. I can’t wait to see how the final design design will look although it will take time to create. Until then I labour with buckets from showers and a container that gathers all the laundry water to nurture the garden through summer. It’s too late for the lawn though and I wouldn’t even remove the weeds now or else all I’d have is bare dirt. Needless to say, grass is passé in Melbourne.