spring is for planting stuff.

Today, we went to Bunnings and bought
a lavender (it's called Boysenberry Ruffles); a pelargonium; a deep red geranium; some kind of pink daisy looking thing; sweet basil; and mint for my mojitos. Plus a shiny black ceramic pot for the red geranium (looks great) and various bags of compost, potting mix, and mulch. And gloves.
Then we dug and watered and planted and watered and mulched and watered and weeded and dragged pots around and re-potted and discovered that we have bindiis in the front yard.
NOT COOL!
So I'll be digging as many as I can out tomorrow, and then spraying the rest. We have a patch a few feet wide but I'm not sure if there are more.

P.S. For our non-Aussie friends, it's pronounced BINDY-EYE.

happy day....

K -- today is a Good Day. My MIL (who used to be a theatre nurse) reassured me strongly about The Princess's upcoming op. My Terror Index has dropped from Outright Panic to Quite Concerned If I Think About It.

Also -- it's my birthday! and my husband bought me cool presents and hid them in the house for me to find! and he rang me first thing this morning to wish me a happy birthday and tell me he loves me! and it's spring! and it's sunny and clear and perfect out! and my GF has told me to be at her house by 10:30 and not to ask any questions! and we're going decor shopping this afternoon!
Could the day get any better?
(maybe if the stupid popcorn kernel fell out of The Princess's ear by itself...)

Pics later -- trust me, you will want to see my presents from Fabio though -- go here and check out Judy Prossers' work. Fabio gave me Under a Dingo Moon; Dancers on the Claypan; and Desert Rap.
Aren't they a delight???

fear

You know how some things are just too big and scary to talk about? It's like the words and their meanings get jammed in your mouth and you can't quite spit them free.
Yeah. Having that trouble now.

I want to cry. I want to run a thousand miles away. I want to go to sleep and wake up and it's Wednesday morning and everything is fine.

Because on Tuesday, my tiny 5 year old Princess has to have a popcorn kernel removed from her ear under sedation and I don't know what's going to happen.
But I am imagining big.

I have kissed a child for the last time and left his body behind in a hospital before. Left with empty arms and broken heart.

And it isn't enough to say "Lots of kids have this done and they are fine" because I've had the freaky one-in-a-million chance of things going wrong before.

I am scared half out of my head and I don't know what to do.

send a man to the shops.....

... and you never know WHAT he might come home with.

One time, Fabio toddled off for a DVD and came home with THIS:



He met a guy in the street who was flying this thing to Perth, and he needed somewhere safe to keep it for the night -- so it wound up in our backyard. You should have seen my face when Fabio said "Look what I brought home!" though.

And then, this week he went shopping for MILK and BREAD and came home with a KAYAK!



We've been talking about doing this for ages, being so close to the beach and with lots of lovely creeks and rivers here. He canoed as a kid, growing up in a RiverTown, but I hadn't ever tried it till we holidayed on a houseboat. The kids love being out on the water, and MrNearly9 likes to try paddling on his own. Great exercise and great fun, even for a landlubber like me.

And yes, he DID remember the milk and bread :)

possum update

In an interesting twist of fate, I rang the mobile dog wash yesterday, as Dog is smelling a bit -- well, doggy -- and discovered it's run by the WILDLIFE WOMAN!
Now looking for another mobile dog wash.

Possum. A tragedy in three parts.

Our dog, who we generally refer to as 'painted on' for her complete lack of movement 99.9% of the day, morphed into a ferocious hunting animal the other night, while we were half-way through dinner.

We heard a tremendous (do you like that word? I do) tremendous kerfuffle and I ran out to see said Dog stalking around the yard with a large possum hanging out of her gob, very proud of herself, for catching this dangerous creature and Defending Her Family.

I did what any self-respecting woman of the 21st Century would do, and called for hubby, while yelling at the kiddies to STAY INSIDE!
As hubs came out, the Dog dropped her catch and it tried to run away, thus proving that possums really DO play dead. Anyway, after some more chasing and scuffling and yelling at the dog, the possum scrabbled up a tree, the Dog collapsed onto her bed, and the Family went back to dinner.

Next morning, as I faffed around at the kitchen sink, I glanced up into the tree, to see Ol' Poss hanging by it's tail from a branch, very clearly not merely playing dead this time, so after the kiddies went to school, Fabio knocked Ol' Poss down and went to bury the body.

Out in the driveway, huddled up next to the fence, he found a tiny baby possum.
AWWWW.
I rang the rescue person, who came out and -- get this -- had a go at us about our dog being out in the yard! Because Possums don't know that it's not safe to go into certain backyards. But apparently, Dogs ought to know that Possums are not for Playing With.
When I pointed out (defensively) that we RENT this freakin' house, and the dog is SUPPOSED to be outside, she PFFFTed and said that SHE rents, and HER dogs are supposed to be Outside Dogs too, but she lets them in anyway and doesn't tell the landlord. Because they are mastiffs and would eat the possums.
Nice. SO GLAD I am not her landlord.

Finally, she drove her self-righteous ass off with the baby possum, and weren't we glad to see her go!
Till we found the SECOND baby possum! Which we had to deliver to her, as she was waiting for something. And we got a second, thinly veiled lecture about our dog, before escaping to go home and hopefully not find any more possums.

Now I don't mind doing my bit for native wildlife, especially when it's cute like baby possums. But seriously, Wildlife Rescue Lady, if you want people to rescue animals, maybe save the self-righteous act for your nearest and dearest. If you have any.

a cherry on top....

I don't normally post twice in one day, but reading one of my fave blogs this morning, Maxabella Loves, I discovered this nice award waiting for me.

For the Cherry on Top award I need to answer this question: If you had the chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?

Oh BOY. You have no idea how many times I've wished I COULD do this! But it always comes down to the fact that if I did, I wouldn't have my oldest 3 kids. So IF I could go back in time and change one thing in my life AND STILL get Kids One, Two and Three, I would not sleep with that idiot loser who became my ex, and instead I would wait for Fabio and persuade him with my girly charms not to sleep with The Wicked Witch of the West, and we would instead get married many years earlier and avoid a LOT of trouble and heartache.
And yes, that all counts as One Thing.

Now to pass the award along....

Farmers' Wifey
Jadeluxe
Suger Coat It
A Day in the Wife

I know awards and their attendant questions aren't everyones' 'thing' -- so I'm not expecting any of you to pass the award along, but know that you all brighten my day. You're all funny, thoughtful, brave, creative girls who give great blog.

this is The Day

Today, Fabio finally comes home after 5 long weeks away overseas.

We're all so excited - the kids can't wait to see Daddy, partly I suspect because they know he's bringing presents. They also have a pile of gifts waiting here to give him (so happy he's coming home on Fathers' Day!!) and we have a pinata, and we made a big colourful banner that says WE LOVE YOU DAD. And there will be cake. MMMMMMM, cake...

And after the kiddies go to bed, there'll be LOTS and LOTS of 'Mummy and Daddy cuddles' going on. So don't expect to hear much from me in the next couple of days.

there's a SPRING in my step!

I heart September!

a) it is my birthday month -- and while I am not overly thrilled at the idea that I will be turning 45 in less than 3 weeks, my husband does give the COOLEST presents.

Plus -- you know, CAKE. MMMMMMMM, cake................



b) it's SPRING! and I can tell already because I'm warm! or at least, not freezing. And there're birds everywhere, and the rose bush that I hacked up a few weeks ago has produced at least one bud (with hopefully more to follow) and it's so beautiful living here.

c) I've changed my doona cover from the fake suede winter one, to the crisp white, pin-tucked and pleated spring/summer one.
I love dressing my bed for the seasons, and now I just have to persuade Fabio that it's perfectly acceptable to have 4 different doona covers. He struggles already with the number of so-called 'fripperies' on the bed (we have 2 pillows plus a boomerang pillow each, plus 5 cushions in white, taupe and black, which seems to me to be just the right amount)
Right now, I'm loving this one from Just Bedding



So how about you? do you love spring, or have any little bedroom rituals that you can discuss in polite company?