Boo's Birthday

Our morning started early, with Granny, Papa and Grandma arriving at 7:30am for a birthday cup of tea. Then we trooped outside to watch as Boo discovered that a rocket ship had landed on the verandah during the night! Peeking in the windows, he discovered it was full of birthday gifts!

A big boy's bike (with training wheels) from Mummy and Daddy, three videos, and a hand-knitted cardigan and hat in tiger colours from Grandma.

Daddy took him to the skate park to practise on his bike, then off to preschool to tell all his friends about his morning.
At 11am Grandma and I arrived for a cupcake decorating morning to celebrate Boo's birthday with all the children. We took in 20 chocolate cupcakes, a bucket of green icing, 'monster' sprinkles and tiny chocolate easter eggs.


For the next half hour the littles slapped on icing, doused the tops with sprinkles, and devoured their creations.

Pink Things

On Saturday morning Boo set off excitedly for his special birthday treat: a weekend in the city to visit the zoo, with Granny and Papa.
I spent a leisurely morning at the markets, picking up bits and pieces for his party. When I arrived home Jumps told me that we had "lost one, and gained two". An hour later Gavin dropped off his two little girls to be babysat.
So we did 'pink things'.
First order of the day was dressing in tutus, and picking flowers.


A picnic in the garden, craft and jewellery making followed.

And in the evening Gavin and Clair arrived, and the children swam while we ate a barbecue by the pool.

Later today my big boy will be home -- and then I will be back to doing 'blue things'!

A Sittin' on the Gate

Perfect Day

Some days are simply delicious.

They're brightened with bouquets of sorbet coloured flowers ...

... taste like tempting morsels served on a cracked azure plate ...

.. and lightened by the cutest tub of grubby munchkins, paddling in a soapy tub of water on the lawn.

Not Feeling Like Ourselves

Jumps has gone down with the lurgy: he looks almost as green as 'Zippo' in the picture above, while Boo stayed home with a cold and constantly running nose. All that aside, we had a happy, peaceful day (mostly) at home, pottering and planning for Boo's nearly-here birthday.

He's chosen an alien and monster theme, which will be enormous fun, as Daddy has an alien mask to wear and plans to chase the children around the garden. 'Zippo' will be the cake, and today we busily and messily glued and newspapered the first layer of our monster-face pinata

To the Waterfall

This afternoon the three little boys and I slogged up the steep hill to the waterfall. Boo sat like a king in his pram, confidently assuring passersby that he would get to the top, since he was being pushed!

At the top we scoffed our picnic and enjoyed the view, then finally set off back downwards. The bigger boys raced off ahead, and waited for slow Boo and I at the visitor's centre. Such lovely, funny, energetic, high-spirited boys. If only I could keep up!

Preschool Printmaking

I can't remember where I found this idea (most likely on the Crafty Crow, which is one of the most fabulous kids' craft websites around), but it was a winner with Boo, took next-to-no-time to set up, and kept him interested for ages.
We simply glued several foam animal cut-outs to a piece of cardboard (which we had to retrieve from this morning's cardboard aeroplane, in which Boo ate breakfast bought to him by mummy the stewardess).
Boo squidged and rolled his new little paint roller through some paint blobs until it was well coated, then smeared the animals with paint. Next we placed pieces of paper over them and patted down.
Lift up and voila -- fabulous prints!

No-Fat Coriander Salsa

Finely dice 3 ripe tomatoes and a small red onion, add a handful of chopped coriander (cilantro), then sprinkle over cracked pepper and a touch of salt. Serve with rice crackers or plain biscuits, or as a summery side dish to meat.

Coming Home in the Afternoon

Boo, Grandma and I had a busy afternoon out and about ... is there anything nicer to come back than a cottage hidden in the greenery?

"Life is like Sanskrit read to a pony."

A grumpy day was made better after enjoying tea with friends, taking an afternoon walk to the park with Boo and Lexa, and seeing warm evening sunshine on a pony the fields.

Simple Woman's Daybook

Do visit Peggy's to see all the Daybook links this week.

Wednesday February 11, 2009 ...

Outside My Window... The first real autumn day of the year is ending, and the crisp evening is beginning to chase away the afternoon's warmth ...

I am thinking... of taking Boo's preschool hours down to one day a week ... I love being home, and so does he. It's unlikely I'll send him to school next year, so we can pick up another day then when he's ready for more socialising ...

I am thankful for... Boo's lovely temperament and kindness, which has made him such delightful company all day long...

From the kitchen... a huge saucepan of hot pumpkin soup, made from two fresh, sweet butternuts which I bought at the weekend for $1 each ...

I am wearing... black tracksuit pants, and an acqua top with small buttons down the front ...

I am creating... golden paper stars to hide for a game at Boo's party (it's an alien and outer-space theme)...

I am going... into our little village to take some soup and crusty bread to Grandma, who hasn't been feeling altogether well today ...

I am reading... The Hills is Lonely, by Lillian Beckworth, which is a rather charming account of an English woman's time in the Hebrides ... perhaps not the best-written book I've ever read, but quirky and endearing ...

One of my favorite things... is fetching still-warm eggs from the henhouse in the mornings ...

Here is a picture thought I am sharing ...

Breakfast ... golden french toast made from our own eggs -- three slices of which were gobbled down by Boo.

Sweet Tilda

The highlight of our happy, busy weekend was meeting this little girl, who has only been here for 3 weeks. She couldn't be more perfect ... or more adored.

In between dinners with family, a matinee of the musical Buddy, and visiting friends, I managed to fit in a mini photoshoot. I was awfully nervous, but she did everything right -- little darling -- and made it so easy to take some lovely shots.

At Toytown Harbour

After shopping, Boo and I often walk down to Toytown harbour to watch the boats come in.

Rainy days are a wonderful time to visit the harbour, and the promise of a waterside wander makes the idea of grocery shopping much more pleasant for Boo.

This time we saw fish jumping, pelicans flying overhead, and fishermen casting their lines. And Boo spent some time shouting "anchors away!"

A Guest for Morning Tea

Today we brought morning tea into the garden for Mother's Group.

The children played busily in the sandpit and cubbyhouse, coloured and crafted, went exploring, and picked bunches of beautiful pink and white cosmos.

Then Terese spotted this little fellow ambling contentedly over the lawn. I've never experienced such a fearless echidna: he munched on ants and strolled from one end of the garden to the other -- even with an audience of eight standing right beside him and exclaiming loudly and enthusiastically.

What a treat -- and in our own backyard!

A Mess of Pottage

This recipe comes from Davene at Life on Sylvan Drive. Her blog is a charming, thoughtful, loving view of her busy, happy family.

Below is Davene's recipe for lentil soup, which I'm jotting down as it's incredibly delicious and easy, and I don't want to lose it.

It took about 10 minutes -- tops -- to put together, since I popped the carrots, potatos, onion and celery in the food processor to chop, then simply dumped them in the pot with a bit of oil to fry up, before adding the rest of the ingredients.

2 cups dried lentils
7 cups water
3 slices uncooked bacon (or ham bone or bouillon)
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 medium onion, chopped
2 potatos
1/2 chopped celery
3 tbsp. minced parsley
1 garlic clove, crushed

Combine above ingredients, and heat to boiling in large saucepan. Simmer for 1 and 1/2 hours.

2 tins canned tomatoes
2 tbsp. vinegar
2 tbsp. sugar
1 T chopped fresh oregano
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Add, and simmer 30 minutes more.

PS: Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for "a mess of pottage": in other words, a bowl of lentil stew!

At Home

Boo would be happy to stay and play at home every day -- at least that's what he claims -- although I'm sure in reality we wouldn't last a week.
Today, however, he had his wish granted, and we pottered happily about the house. There were beds to be made, floors to vacuum, and washing to put out.
A picnic in the garden was also on the program, with a muffin-tin lunch for Boo, dog biscuits for the visiting Frodo, and lentil stew for me. Fluffy joined us on the blanket after lunch, as we read one of Boo's new Golden Books (Papa bought 25 for $2 at the book fair yesterday).

Later we made swirly biscuits, played cards, and built a robot out of bits from our craft box. Boo put together Lego vehicles (which he's really getting very good at), and I did a quick-n-dirty job of making a shirt to go with his pj trousers.
Then while Boo pushed his new friend Blink on the swing, I brought in and sorted the washing.

Now we're sipping hot chocolates, and considering making pizza and salad for dinner.
Maybe Boo's right. Perhaps we don't need to leave home ever, after all.

Sewing Bee

Yesterday's trip to the huge secondhand bring-and-buy market at Toytown yielded several swathes of nice fabric, for 50c a piece.
To feed my newly found sewing enthusiasm, I found this easy-peasy pants tutorial on YouTube, which took little more than an hour to complete, and even describes how to make the pattern.
Finally I sewed a cute fabric patch onto Boo's thrifted vest, and voila! -- sweet new pajamas for about 50c. And better than the price was the enthusiasm with which Boo wore these, and the number of times he told me he that loved them.
Now he wants a matching tshirt -- for that I think I'll need to call in expert help (my mother of course!).

Summer's Lease

We spent today enjoying the last tastes of summer, with plates piled high with ruby watermelon and sweet cantelope. Already the mornings are crisper, and the evening light much more golden. It's likely we'll still have some very hot days, but autumn is slowly creeping in. And I'm ready to embrace it with open arms.

Made with Love

Boo hasn't been altogether well today. His knee hurts, so he is hobbling around and groaning like a little old man. So we cancelled our shopping and haircutting excursion, and spent the day at home, watching movies and playing cards.
Once he'd tired of the usual quiet games, I brought out the sewing machine and together we made this little monster. Boo chose the fabric and thread colours, helped press the foot pedal (only for the long runs!), and stuffed with enthusiasm.
In his short life 'Fluffy' has been petted, hugged and talked to, and is now clutched in the crook of Boo's arm as he sleeps.

Movies at the Manor

Yesterday evening my parents invited us to their dinner-and-an-old-fashioned-movie night. There was a smorgasbord of finger food and tasty treats to devour, then we settled down on comfy sofas pulled up around Dad's wall projector.
The movie was Grand Hotel, a 1931 classic with the overly-dramatic Greta Garbo, and an exquisitely slender and young Joan Crawford.
Almost more fun than the movie was the compilation of newsreels from that year, which Dad showed before the main event. It brought that time into context, and was marvellous to see.

Hopefully the old-fashioned movie club will become a tradition at the manor.

Dinner Tonight

Thyme and white wine chicken with roasted red onions.

Waterlillies

Today when the boys took the canoe for a quick trip around the lake, I sent along a pair of shears, a plastic blue bucket, and a request for three white waterlillies.

Oh glory!

Wild Visitor

Boo's Daddy found this baby blue tongue lizard down by the office today, and popped it into a fish tank to await Boo's return from preschool.

Blue tongues are beautiful visitors to any garden. And the great thing is, they are useful too. These lizards will eat snails, slugs and caterpillars, and they quickly become used to people.
Why are their tongues blue? There are two reasons: the first is to scare predators -- the lizard sticks out its tongue and hisses at any threat; the second reason is that the lizard sticks out its tongue to 'smell' the air, and the blue colour is a natural sunscreen.

Field of Crocuses

Driving home, Boo and I stopped to admire this field of wild white crocuses beside Swamp Road. What a lovely sight!

Specimen Vases

I'd as soon have one perfect, unique, single flower than an overwhelmingly large bunch.
So I was delighted to find three different, small, long-necked bottles at the thrift store for 20c each. They're just right for displaying one stem, and only take a moment to fill, which makes it more likely I'll have flowers in the house. And if I'm on a walk and spot something unusual and lovely, I can pluck a single stem to take home and savour.