McArdle-Carrington

Housekeeping

2009-09-05T09:49:00.003+10:00

I've moved! Over here. Still deciding where to put the couch, and need to find matching curtains, but I'm back! Whether it's with a bang or a whimper, time will tell.

Step 1

2009-01-03T17:42:00.002+11:00

So. It looks like this is going to be a DIY/Home Improvement blog for a while. You're thrilled, I can tell.

Day one - first coat of paint on one end wall. Many more walls to go. Can we fit five feature walls in our tiny, tiny house? You just watch us try.

PS: All our Birthdays/Christmas/New Years were lovely, thank you. Hope you're having a wonderful holiday too.

Smile!

2008-12-02T18:47:00.002+11:00

Can I Just Say....

2008-11-05T16:56:00.002+11:00

Yes We Can! Congratulations America!

(Image via barackobama.com)

There is a lot of laughter in this house today; and tears of joy. The champagne will be flowing tonight.

Like, totally random dude... whatever

2008-10-07T17:57:00.002+11:00

Ok, they say you should, like, write every day so that your writing doesn't, like, totally suck right? Dude, I sooo ain't been doing that, but hey what's the prob? It's not like my wicked style has gone totally whacked or anything.

Me and the bitchin' Shakespeare bro, like, total rock the hood.

Whatever dude.

Random.

Why, Hello!

2008-09-17T09:25:00.003+10:00

So. It's been, how long? Who knows. We're just emerging from six weeks of the flu! And a birthday! And bronchitis! And a little bit of work! And Sinusitis! And, and.... stuff.

And yes, lots of documented happy times of course. Settle in people, let me rifle through some photos. Here are some snapshots from the past 6 or so weeks. Look how happy and well we look! Incredible.

With Spring peeking in over our garden every now and then, we're hoping for a lot more inspiration, better health, and quite a lot of time spent in the sun. And hopefully, of course, a bit more blogging.

...and counting...

2008-07-27T12:44:00.005+10:00

James left for Singapore four nights ago for the ISEA2008 conference. He'll be back in five days. He's having a fantastic time, and we're doing pretty well, despite fever, my wakeful little night owls, and the house-binding rainy weather. We miss him, but I'm genuinely excited and happy that he's having such a good time.

Home and Away

2008-07-26T14:42:00.003+10:00

James is in Singapore for a week. According to the timestamps on our cameras, we took these two photographs exactly eight seconds apart.

snap

2008-06-11T08:55:00.002+10:00

Some photos to get you by.

The Letter

2008-05-10T13:45:00.003+10:00

Well, I've finished the short story (1st draft), and as I promised to show it to you, here it is, in its entirety.

Dear M,

I don’t know how to start this letter. The whispers; sombre conspiratorial mouths half hidden behind cupped hands, say you are dying. It can’t be true. You were so full of life - I know, it’s a cliche - that it’s impossible to believe the rumours. They talk of your visits to hospital, but I can’t believe them. M, are they lying? Mistaken? Are they talking of another M? I try to think of you, pinned under waffle blankets on a shifting metal bed; cold, labeled, all fluorescent green. Your faint freckles would stand out in that light, the flush on your cheeks would flare a hot red. But if you are ill, maybe your cheeks are pale, drawn; your eyes dull, your mouth pulling down at the corners with the gravity of your condition.

No! It’s impossible. I can only see you dancing, your face flushed with effort and delight, your eyes and mouth wide open and laughing. Oh, my M. I loved you. That night, all those years ago, I first saw you dancing alone and glowing with cheap ruby wine. In another life I would have thought to myself, “I’m going to marry that girl. Sweep her off her feet and dance her to bed.” It was impossible. That night I could not even speak to you. I was trapped at that stern table, with K and that other couple. Who were they? The Kingstons? The Bartlets? I don’t know. I only saw you. Then you were gone my darling. As you walked out the door, with friends I think, still laughing, it was as though all the colour in the room had wound around you while you danced and when you left, you pulled it all out of the door behind you.

The next day, I asked F about you. He said you were staying up at the convent, which startled me, but no, he said it had been converted into a hotel some years ago. I can't remember how I managed to get up there; what excuse I used. I spent all afternoon in the lobby, drinking coffee after coffee, trying not to look too conspicuous, waiting for a glimpse of you. I thought I saw you a couple of times, but was always caught out by a different face, darker or sharper or more pronounced, and never yours. I finally gave up. It was days before I saw you again. Agonising days. I looked for you in every woman I saw. It was only when the vivid shock of your beauty was fading, and believe me I scrambled to keep you clear in my mind, that I saw you again. I was sitting alone in a tea shop, pretending to focus on my case notes and wishing my English Breakfast was whiskey. You walked past and I jumped half out of my seat. You must have caught the sudden movement out of the corner of your eye, because you turned and looked at me. Right at me. Then you stumbled a little, endearingly, and walked on into the sunshine, your arms and skirt swinging in rhythm. I jumped up, threw too much money on the table and, I’m ashamed to say, followed you. You never knew this, but I stayed behind you all the way up High Street. When you stopped to gaze in a shop window I stopped two shops down and gazed too, at balls of bright fleecy wool, then a confusing array of kitchen gadgets. When you reached the edge of town and kept walking, I had to let you go. Of course, I would find you again. I had to know who you were and what made your dress swing like that. And to do that I would have to get you alone at a small table with nothing but new conversation and a bottle of B’s finest champagne.

It took a week of interrogations, chasing, waiting and lurking in lobbies, but finally I got you. Do you remember? It didn’t happen how I’d planned. You ran into me as I was skulking into the lobby of your hotel for the third time. You let out a little noise and dropped your purse. I was stunned. If I hadn’t gained those few seconds near your ankles, I would have let you by, open mouthed and gawping at the lost opportunity. Instead, I rose with your purse, asked to walk you to town and within two minutes had you blushing and agreeing to dinner that night. It seemed too easy. I raced to the office and rang B’s Hotel. I booked us his best table and, optimistically, a room upstairs. And then the call to K. Another night late at the office, yes, I know, again. Oh, yes a shame. Dreadfully sorry old dear but that’s how it goes. Busy time of year. Don’t wait up. Cheerio. And a dash to G’s to pick up the new suit a day early.

I was at our table twenty minutes before time. As I’d imagined so many times that past fortnight, I looked up as you walked in, perfect, your cheeks flushed from the walk down from your hotel, pink and bright in a way that department store rouge could never fake. I don’t know how I made it to my feet. That buzz from the first drink of the evening had just risen through me and then there you were! Headily, I pulled out a chair for you and blurted out all the right compliments; they must have been, as I saw you blush that little bit more. That thrilled me. And then M, we talked. Do you remember how we talked? There was a moment there darling when I almost forgot all about wanting to slide those pleated straps from your shoulders, almost, and we felt that hot spotlight on us; our little table was the brightest, the concentrated point where we discovered ourselves, formed and moulded that first idea of us.

That conversation swept us up the stairs; it made us innocent. We tripped and laughed and tumbled into the room, and then with a decisive click, the door closed. I expected us to fall on each hungrily, but we just looked at each other, you and I, then you reached out and took my hand. It was a awkward gesture, but warm. That night you rose above me, wreathed in dusty light and told me that I had brought you to life. You felt as though you had wings and your blood coursed through you like it never had before. I had animated you with a reverse Midas touch. It seemed true. Your skin, at first cool and pale as ivory, warmed and softened under my hands. Even your your cries of ecstasy were like a newborn’s; startled and wild.

If we had known how little time we had, we may have clung to each other more feverishly in those first days, but in our desperation we would have missed so much. Instead we explored each other slowly, with a quiet wonder. It was only a matter of weeks before we were torn away from one another, but I know you kept that life we discovered together. And now, an eternity has passed and that life we unfurled is being stolen away. It ebbs from you into the air, soaks into ill-coloured sheets. You’re fighting to keep it. I know you are. You don’t want your life pulled slowly, wretchedly out from under you. There must be many loved ones fussing around you, all wishing there was some way they could help you. They are arranging pillows and flowers, and bringing you hearty soup that you wish you had the strength to eat. They watch you fade; your skin is washing back to a ghostly white, while your blood thins and slows.

They are helpless. They can’t free you, but darling, I can. You said I gave you life, taught you to live it. You loved that new life - you were thrilled and awed by it, but now my M, it must tire you. The pain. The slow relentless fear. If you let me, I can help you. We can have one more night alone, just like the first, and you can fly again. A painless release M, I grew to specialise in them, in all those years since you.

My darling M, say yes. I know you will.

Yours,
E.

Google What?

2008-04-29T16:44:00.002+10:00

Guess what people are searching for when they end up here? Erudite, intelligent lady-about-town? Mrs Clever Pants? No.... They're Googling "Naughty Blogger" and end up right here. That's right.

Go on, spank me.

How Many Words Did I Write Today? Day 7 or 8

2008-04-27T20:57:00.002+10:00

How many days is it? Something like that. Anyway, I'm finished. Did I do my 500 words a day, or 3500 in total? Nowhere near it. 2376 in fact. What I did do was start two short stories, and develop an idea for a new project.

So. This week, the challenge is to write four publishable articles of 400 words each. I won't be checking in every day (Phew, I hear you say) but rest assured I'll be squirreling away at the keyboard.

Thanks for tuning in! And, do stay tuned for the next installment of the short story. You know I won't leave you hanging.

How Many Words Did I Write Today? Day 6

2008-04-26T15:15:00.002+10:00

Did you miss me yesterday? Here are 370 words. More later I hope. God, it's scary putting up a very fresh first draft for all to see.

~~~~~~~

The next day, I asked F about you. He said you were staying up at the convent, which startled me no end, but he was quick to point out that it had been converted into a hotel some years ago. I can't remember how I managed to get up there; what excuse I used. I spent all afternoon in the lobby, drinking coffee after coffee, trying not to look too conspicuous, waiting for a glimpse of you. I thought I saw you a couple of times, but was always caught out by a different face, darker or sharper or more pronounced, and never yours. I finally gave up. It was days before I saw you again. Agonising days. I looked for you in every woman I saw. It was only when the vivid shock of your beauty was fading, and believe me I scrambed to keep you clear in my mind, that I saw you again. I was sitting alone in a tea shop, pretending to write in my note book and wishing my english breakfast was whiskey. You walked past and I jumped half out of my seat. You must have caught the sudden movement out of the corner of your eye, because you turned and looked at me. Right at me. You must have lost sight of where you were going because you stumbled a little, endearingly, and walked on into the sunshine, your arms and skirt swinging in rhythm. I jumped up, threw too much money on the table and, I’m ashamed to say, followed you. You never knew this, but I stayed behind you all the way up High Street. When you stopped to gaze in a shop window I stopped two shops down and gazed too, usually at balls of bright fleecy wool, or a confusing array of kitchen gadgets. When you reached the edge of town and kept walking, I had to let you go. Of course, I would find you again. I had to know who you were and what made your dress swing like that. And to do that I would have to get you alone at a small table with nothing but new conversation and a bottle of B’s finest champagne.

How Many Words Did I Write Today? Day 5

2008-04-24T22:15:00.004+10:00

Today? Only 299 words. But that's not bad considering I've been out of the house all day. And it may add up to more by midnight tonight. I'm heading off to bed right now with my notebook and hot water bottle. I feel a bit like I'm cheating by not posting any of this writing, but they are all the draftiest of drafts. There are gaping holes and loud, creaking, faulty sentences. I can't even bring myself to show my own partner or mother.

I'm not that foolhardy. You'll just have to wait.

~~~~~~~
Update: Damn. I had nearly turned off the computer, but I could hear that little voice in my head hissing coward...! Ok, this little bit is the first two paragraphs of a short story I started today. This afternoon. A couple of hours ago. It's rough and it's corny, I know, but I hope it will lead somewhere else.

Copy/Paste/Publish. *cringe*
~~~~~~~

Dear M,

I don’t know how to start this letter. You were so full of life - I know, it’s a cliche - that it’s impossible to believe the rumours. Whispers, sombre conspiratorial mouths half hidden behind cupped hands. They say you are dying. It can’t be true. They talk of your visits to hospital, but I can’t believe them. M, are they lying? Mistaken? Are they talking of another M? I try to think of you, pinned under waffle blankets on a shifting metal bed; cold, labeled, all fluorescent green. Your faint freckles would stand out in that light, the flush on your cheeks would flare a hot red. But if you are ill, maybe your cheeks are pale, drawn; your eyes dull, your mouth pulling down at the corners with the gravity of your condition.

No! It’s impossible. I can only see you dancing, your face flushed with effort and delight, your eyes and mouth wide open and laughing. Oh, my M. I loved you. That night, all those years ago, I first saw you dancing alone and glowing with cheap ruby wine. In another life I would have thought to myself, “I’m going to marry that girl. Sweep her off her feet and dance her to bed.” It was impossible. That night I could not even speak to you. I was trapped at that sombre table, with K and that other couple. Who were they? The Kingstons? The Bartlets? I don’t know. I only saw you. Then you were gone my darling. As you walked out the door, with friends I think, still laughing, it was as though all the colour in the room had wound around you while you danced and when you left, you pulled it all out of the door behind you.

How Many Words Did I Write Today? Day 4

2008-04-23T23:19:00.003+10:00

Like a synopsis of what I'd be writing if I was writing out of my own experience this week??

"Mummeeeeeee, mummeeeeee. Watch meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!*SHRIEEEEEEEK* She's chasing meeeeeeee!!! AAIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!! And then a short, overly poetic, late-night musing on the beauty of bubbles in a champagne glass."

But today, I managed 519 real words, and there's not an exclamation point to be found among them.

How Many Words Did I Write Today? Day 3

2008-04-22T22:11:00.002+10:00

What's the currency exchange like nowadays? Is a picture still worth a thousand words?

Really though? 80 words.

How Many Words Did I Write Today? Day 2

2008-04-21T21:18:00.002+10:00

Note to self: Don't try and make up the last 200 words by writing a sex scene. It's harder than it looks. And no, I didn't just use that sentence in the story.

545 words.

How Many Words Did I Write Today? Day 1 (result)

2008-04-21T10:46:00.002+10:00

Boy, am I glad I made that adjustment to the word count. After typing in an extra page I scribbled in my notebook last night, yesterday's total came up to (drum roll please...) 554 words; the first chapter of a short story (possibly novella). Phew.

Right. Chapter 2. Wish me luck.

How Many Words Did I Write Today? Day 1.

2008-04-20T13:54:00.004+10:00

I'm going to try and write 1000 words a day (emails don't count) for the next week and will document progress here. I won't promise to show you all those words here (Are you kidding? No way!) but I promise you a word count.

You, dear readers (hi mum!), are holding the firecrackers under my chair. Light them as you will.

~~~

Update: Do you know how long 1000 words is?? Make that 500. Between 500 and 1000.

Essential Reading

2008-04-19T22:05:00.003+10:00

101 Best Books

(thanks to the Speakeasy blog)

(bleep)

2008-03-27T10:13:00.004+11:00

(I started out with an intention to be a bit more flippant about this, but just couldn't do it. Here it is, written last week and unedited.)

I’ve been feeling more and more edgy about the state of the world lately, and how we as a society aren’t doing enough backpedalling to get us out of this dirty big hole we’re heading towards. I’ve been trying to express this view to a few people lately but all that seems to come out of my mouth is something along the lines of “Oh My God. We’re (bleep)ing (bleep)ed. We’ve (bleep)ed it up (bleep)ing big time and now it’s too (bleep)ing late. (Bleep).”

I realise I probably could have expressed myself a little more succinctly, so I have called in expert help. Please welcome guest Blogger Dr Imina Rainshadow, head of research at the College of Wilde (Conjecture). Over to you Imina.

Thank you Lorena, it’s a pleasure to be here. Well, I have to say, you’re not far off the mark with your somewhat, uh, expressive views. Every generation (usually in their youth) feels that they’re on the brink of World collapse. The first and second World Wars, Vietnam, Nuclear threats, Cold War, the Ozone Layer, all gave cause to a sense of mass panic. The elder generations would look down and nod their heads in sympathy, but knew that the human race would sort itself out in the end. There would be a little blip perhaps, but we’d adapt, as we always do and life would get back to normal. And it has, for the most part. And this is pretty much how I’ve been feeling about our future - we’d get wise about the environment, sort it out, install a water tank, buy a solar powered car and get on with it.

Until recently. This time, I see convergence of events that on their own would be bad, but we’d probably sort them out and go on to cure cancer and populate the Moon. Whatever. But they’re happening together, they’re connected, and they’re going to culminate together.

As an expert at the College of Wilde (Conjecture), here are just a few of my predictions for the future.

There will be food shortages due to lack of water (drought) or an excess of it (damaging floods) depending on where you are. What food is produced will be prohibitively expensive, not only because of falling productivity, but because of rising fuel prices thanks to our overuse and depletion of the old “black gold” and America’s insane propensity for going to war with nations who have it, spending trillions of dollars on these wars and plunging themselves and the rest of the world into recession.

Fuel prices are already skyrocketing and will continue to do so. Once again, travel will become something only the rich can do. The golden age of cheap and easy travel is close to an end and it won’t be long until you won’t even be able to afford the drive to the airport. Due to the rising cost of fuel and subsequently freight, it won’t be viable to fly, or even truck, goods for great distances. I see a return to local, seasonal produce. Something that now is a fashionable lifestyle choice will become a necessity. We’ll see a real return to Village communities. We’ll farm what we can, and eat food that comes from within a close radius. We won’t often venture far afield. Rationing will become a necessity; water, food, fuel, will become more and more scarce.

The disregard we have for our world will catch up with us. Big business will continue to put money over anything else, of course they will, until we stop them. This must happen both from the bottom up, and the top down. Government must act. With recent and current election activity this is looking a little more likely, but we must push them to force real change. Business and industry must not be allowed to simply self regulate. We must make them make a change. This might inconvenience us in the short term (What? No more cheap baby-soft-rainforest-produced toilet paper??) but may just save our baby-soft arses in the end.

The threat now is not of blowing ourselves up with a nuclear explosion but a suddenly decline into famine and world financial depression with the added increase of natural disasters, extreme climate and rising sea levels. And that’s just the beginning.

Uh, thanks Imina. I’m off to pour a big glass of wine from a local winery and pull a carrot out of the ground for dinner. Maybe next week we can look at some options... solar, wind, etc... Imina?...

Excuses!

2008-03-03T13:15:00.002+11:00

Dear James,

This is why I didn't vacuum the ceiling today.

I'm now off to deliver this to the Kinder.

Love
Lorena.

PS: I do smell very nicely of lavender though!

Parental Control: A Guide for Children. (Chapter 1.)

2008-02-24T09:55:00.002+11:00

Welcome to a new series aimed at children, by guest blogger Uma S. Lavé. Uma is Director of the N.A.P. Institute, and consultant to the current Effective Tantrums study at Princess-Fairy-Land University. This series looks at the all important subject of keeping the balance of power in you child/parent relationship.

Chapter One: Sleep

An exhausted parent is a weak parent; a parent easily broken by demands. There are two simple methods of control through sleep.

The first is the consistent disturbance method, whereupon you wake at the exact same time every night, without fail. It will only take a few weeks to see a dramatic reduction of resilience in your parent. They are guaranteed to begin doubting their own sanity, when they wake to your frantic calls and the clock once again sits at 2:47am.

The second method is the random disturbance method. Here takes a little more effort on your part, usually requiring more than one wake-up during the night. Your sleep pattern must differ as much as possible from the night before. This will leave your parents confused and disorientated. Here you may “sleep through” for one, sometimes even two nights, but the following night will be a busy one for you, as it requires at least four frenzied wake-ups.

If you feel confident with the two above methods, you may attempt this last ‘icing on the cake’ as it were. It requires at least two siblings: One, the wakeful younger child, and two, the older child who has graduated from night time control to the more sophisticated daytime methods outlined in future chapters.

I must stress that a strict roster is vital for the following method. The younger child will have been using one of the above methods until the parents seem nearly at breaking point. Then one night, he or she will sleep like never before. Twelve straight blissful hours. This particular night, older child, it is your night to shine. You may have slept through every night for months on end, but tonight... Tonight my child you wake. And you scream. And whimper that you need to sleep with mummy. At any attempt to return you to your own bed, or indeed use any form of what parents call ‘reasoning’, you scream. The terror that you’ll wake your younger, usually wakeful, sibling will have your parent stumbling back to their warm bed with you in their arms. Blissful as this may seem, your work is not done. You must kick and thrash out at the first sign of either of them slipping back to sleep. A combination of a well placed jab of the foot, and the fear that the younger sibling will be waking at any time, will make them putty in your little hands by morning.

And here I leave you, my sweet children, until our next chapter.

Goodnight, and good luck!

Uma S. Lavé.

Yes, I'm one of THOSE parents

2008-02-20T15:02:00.002+11:00

I know my child is an artistic genius, because even though she can paint Figuratively very well, sometimes she chooses to paint Abstract just because she can.

Inside day

2008-02-20T13:28:00.002+11:00

We're having a lazy, cozy, inside day today. We've made, and are icing, gingerbread people. We've set up the easel and made paintings. We've watched a digger excavate the empty block across the road. I've had a nice long phone conversation with a very good friend. The girls have played nicely and wrapped 'birthday' presents for each other. Mari is eating long noodles with a spoon (hilarious). Rosa is have a shower/bath in the middle of the day.

We may wander down and get some fish later. Or we may not. It's that kind of day.

LookyBooky

2008-02-20T12:00:00.001+11:00

I love this site LookyBook, where you can look through entire picture books. Like this:

Oh, yes, you again

2008-02-19T16:25:00.005+11:00

(I seem to writing a lot of these sorts of posts, but there you go. That's life and all that... I also seem to be taking too much inspiration from Eeyore. Anyway...)

Feel free to fill in the blanks...

ME: Hey, Hi! How are you?
YOU:
ME: We're great! Busy. Kids, Kinder, House, Work, all the usual. You?
YOU:
ME: Yep, getting some work done here too. Doing some freelance writing lately. Trying to find a balance between the photography and writing. Picture and words. Incredibly hard to keep both going at the same time. But plugging away.
YOU:
ME: The kids are great. Beautiful, clever, kind, talented... But you knew that already didn't you?
YOU:
ME: Anyway.
YOU:
ME: Looks like there's some rain on the way...
YOU:
ME: Ok, gotta run. Nearly time for the kindergarten picnic. Love to the Family!
YOU:
ME: Thanks. You look fantastic by the way - love the new haircut! Toodle-oo!
YOU:

Goodness

2008-02-04T12:46:00.000+11:00

Mari is at her first day of big kinder. How did that happen??

I've got company!

2008-02-01T20:19:00.000+11:00

James has a blog too!

I gotta get more cerebral here.

Tilted

2008-01-26T21:40:00.000+11:00

One of several pics we did this arvo, with the d200 and old 50mm lens, unattached and held at an angle. Have a look at the Flickr Set here.

Any Internet Volunteers Out There?

2008-01-22T16:03:00.000+11:00

I'm writing an article on "Internet Volunteers and the Advancement of Free Knowledge" (working title!). Do you, or does anyone you know, contribute to free (legal!) content distribution, such as Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, etc? I particularly need some local people to photograph.

Anyone?

Oohhh-kay....

2008-01-15T08:42:00.000+11:00

Mari: "Mama, you're heart is pure!" *hug* "I love you."

Either she wants something or she's been snorting disney princess fairy dust while I'm not looking...

While I'm on a Roll...

2008-01-12T22:58:00.000+11:00

Feeling very in touch with my inner bloke today. Have been painting the bathroom all day, then settled in for a beer or two.

Other than that, feeling very embedded in Web 2.0. Yup, all signed up to Facebook, Bloglines, Blogger (hello!), Twitter, flickr, youTube, you name it. Just add a .com to any of those and come join me. Feeling particularly lonely at Twitter. I have one very lovely twittering friend, but only one! Don't you people know it's the "NEXT BIG THING"?

Note to Self :: A Lesson in Parenting

2008-01-12T10:53:00.000+11:00

When child is sobbing and throwing stuff around all over the wrong colour t-shirt (or feel free to insert any wacky pre-schooler behavior), instead of standing over her and monotoning blah-blah-rules-blah-blah-don't-be-so-irrational-blah-bloody-blah, try just getting down and pulling her into a hug. She may just bury her face in your shoulder and tell you "my bones are banging on the eardrums in my head." You can then give her a drink of water and peace will be restored.

A Mere Trifle

2008-01-10T16:40:00.000+11:00

The copy of Clive James' Cultural Amnesia I ordered for James before Christmas finally arrived at the book shop today. I made a point of getting it all wrapped up and presenting it to him along with a new set of champagne glasses and a bottle of french bubbly. His birthday is three days after Christmas and is usually a bit of a let down for him. So why not extend it a bit? Anyway, I've been flicking through the 800 odd pages, and got my usual urge to get all literary and astound you with witty prose and incisive yet delicate cultural observations.

Instead I'm going to show you the trifle I made yesterday, and go have a beer. Maybe tomorrow for the wit, yes?

Resolutions

2008-01-09T22:01:00.000+11:00

You know how it goes - when you've got time to blog, there's nothing to blog about, then when it's Christmas and there are parties and wine and food and people and laughter and sleepovers and holiday, well, who has the time or energy to blog?! So, it was a lovely christmas and new years. We did all that up in the first sentence there, which was lovely thank you.

So we've started a new year, and the resolutions are still fresh... Art-wise, I'd like to focus more on, well, everything actually. I've been slowly working away on two photo series over a year or so, and I want to get them both up to a point where I can start to exhibit them. The first is a collection of portraits, using multiple, overlaid exposures. The second is a series of abstract studies done by throwing the focus way out and creating form by letting an object cast shadows through the lens elements of the camera.

Work, money style.... It's still a long way before I'll have enough child-free time to start really working - they're not both in school until 2011, and I don't want to use child care. I have nothing against it, but I made the choice to be home with the girls for the first 5 years of their lives and by gads I'm gonna stick with it. So, what time I get now is snatched - five minutes here, and ten there. It's how I use those few minutes that counts now. Time to start laying out the groundwork for a rejuvenated business; rebuild the website, start advertising, and train myself up a bit more for the design side of the business.

And the kids? I need to be more adventurous. Start doing more of the things I imagined I would when I had kids, all the stuff I loved. Build more box castles, get our hands dirty, blow stuff up with bi-carb & vinegar, make books together, go fruit picking, exploring... all the fun stuff. You, know we do all that already, but enjoy it more. Play. Laugh.

And the usual; make house beautiful, eat less cheese, be generally perfect, blah, blah, blah.

What about you? Any resolutions?

Quote of the Day no.621

2007-12-29T09:00:00.000+11:00

"Look! It's so dirty there are worms!"

Asleep

2007-12-21T15:56:00.001+11:00

DSCF0961.JPG
Originally uploaded by Lorena_C.

Never, ever in my 4+ years of parenting, has this EVER happened. I cannot emphasise this enough!

Oh, hi!

2007-12-09T09:50:00.000+11:00

Gosh, is that the time already? I meant to write earlier, really, I did. But, you know how time gets away, with all the... you know.... busy stuff...

So anyway. Christmas. Again! What are you doing this year?

I finally started the christmas shopping yesterday. It involved a trip to the nine circle of hell (or Kmart) which I admittedly did child-free, which explains the tiny amount of actual fire and brimstone and screaming involved. It was good. I spent money we don't have, but at least it was on COOL stuff! I hope. Instead of wasting rivers of cash on decorations, we're making all our decorations, cards etc over the next couple weeks in the lead up to the (drumroll) Big Day.

And guess what I'm making today?

Clouds

2007-11-27T14:37:00.000+11:00

Playing again with the timelapse on the camera. Just need to increase the frame rate next time.

Happy Birthday Rosa

2007-11-27T08:56:00.000+11:00

A little belated blogwise, but Happy Birthday our darling Rosa.

It was a weekend of double celebration. I've had little threads of political commentary running through my head for the past couple days. Now I seem to have lost them all. How about "yay!" and "hoorah!" and "about bloody time!" That's all it boiled down to anyway. So I save a few brain cells, and you save valuable reading time that you can now use to go look at the clouds instead.

Which leads me through a beautiful segue.... Have you been to the Cloud Appreciation Society website?

Northern Lights

2007-11-12T22:02:00.001+11:00

Ah yes, Northern Exposure... I think I've hinted to enough people how much I would love to unwrap a certain dvd for my birthday on wednesday.

This was fun

2007-10-29T14:04:00.000+11:00

One frame every minute, over one and a half hours...

Adventurous Parenting

2007-10-22T09:11:00.000+10:00

You have Erroll Flynn to thank for this post. It was the man himself, or rather a dubious documentary, who made me sit back and think... and this is the conversation I had in my head:
'Have I starred in several hollywood films, sailed the world, or "popped over to have a look at the civil war"?'
'No, but you've go kids.'
'Yes, but...'
'Would you take the girls to "pop over to have a look at the civil war"?'
'No, but....'
'So. Q.E.D.'
'But wait. You yourself. Myself. Whatever. You/I/we have just been lamenting your lack of spontaneity, guilt about not giving the kids enough stimulating activities, frustration about every day being the same. Why not do some adventurous parenting? Get out there! Give your children some decent childhood memories! More yes, less no!'
'...'
'Well?'
'Okay, but you have to start cleaning the house properly too.'
'Fine.... Hang on, you want perfect now? Creatively and intellectually stimulated kids, a daily sense of adventure AND a tidy house?!'
'Oh, baby, yes!'
'...Fine.'

I think I need to drink less of coffee. But, I do have a point. It's too easy to stay home and let the day slip away. And that in itself, with two young children, is the hardest way to spend a day. It's wearying, frustrating and frankly boring. I'm not sure I'll be starting the Erroll Flynn Memorial School of Adventurous Parenting, incorporating the Martha Stewart School of Sparking Surfaces, but when I look at the things I'm most dissatisfied with, I realise they're my own issues that only I can solve. (Oh this is fun isn't it?)
-Stuck at home? Get out more!
-Untidy house? Organise! Throw out! Mop!
-Want to work again, preferably in a creative way? That time will come. Do what you can and lay the groundwork now; be ready when the kids start school.

And, of course, what all of this requires is for me to get up and do it. More yes, less no!

Any ideas? Living away from a buzzing metropolis means that a trip to the zoo or museum means 3-4 hours total travel. I'm not THAT adventurous on a weekday!

Mari's Blog

2007-10-21T22:02:00.000+10:00

Until I get something into writing (it's drifting around in my head), have you had a look at Mari's photo blog recently?

For now, I'll be hiding under a rock until I get over the horror of seeing my words in print (for real!) for the first time in ages. WHY OH WHY didn't I see that misplaced comma before?!

Carotene Love

2007-10-17T16:10:00.000+10:00

There are people out there who would baulk at blogging about carrots. Not me. I have no shame. We pulled this up from Mari's carrot patch this morning. Beautiful is it not? You know, for two carrots.

... Two carrots, locked in a beautiful, doomed embrace as their gastronomic fate looms nearer.

Port Fairy

2007-10-15T21:16:00.000+10:00

We ventured down to Port Fairy over the weekend to catch their Spring music festival. It was all very lovely, and we had a lovely time, I heard some lovely music, bought some lovely clothes, and ate some lovely food. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Which, unfortunately, probably makes for a pretty boring blog post. But, I'll plow on regardless. I caught two performances. The first was by Roger Cui, a recklessly talented 18 year old pianist. He blitzed his way through some Mozart (Sonata in A major), Chopin (Andante Spianato & Grand Polinaise brillante) and Liszt (Hungarian Rhapsody No.6, which I'm still humming and waving my arms around a lot to, in imaginary conductoring). The second was a Schubert Special (woo!). Merlyn Quaiffe warbled fabulously through some Leider translations, and then a quintet moved in like a tuxedoed string-swinging mafia to give us his Trout Concerto.

All, lovely, lovely, lovely. Photos (kids, beach, etc, irrevocably out of order for some reason) here. Remind me to tell you about the great company of friends, rollicking beach visits, and shrieking bull ant encounter when I've had a bit of kip. Goodnight.

Let me whisper in your ear...

2007-10-09T20:55:00.000+10:00

Remember the great laryngitis affliction of 2006? Well, repeat. Verbatim. Ad Nauseam. Etc.

Now for something completely different (I'm going all monty pythonesque on you now), here's a picture of a duck. It was taken amidst many cute pictures of the girls at the park. I figure you've seen plenty of cute pictures of my kids (again, ad nauseam) so I give you; an extraordinarily winsome duck.

Run for your lives...

2007-10-08T09:36:00.000+10:00

The invasion has begun.

Car Conversation

2007-10-04T15:20:00.000+10:00

Mari: Blah blah blah (Lorena not paying attention until:) ...and a lion bit her hand off!
Lorena: Who? What? Who had their hand bitten off?
M: The lion bit my mummy's hand off.
L: Oh!
M: She got it stitched back on again!
L: Is she ok?
M: No. It keeps falling off.
L: ...
M: And then she died.

Lorena is...

2007-10-03T09:33:00.000+10:00

... a little obsessed with facebook at the moment.

Normal programming will hopefully resume when she gets over the instant gratification that "social networking" gives her.

For the time-being there are some new photos on her Flickr page. Or, come be my facebook friend!

The start of something good

2007-09-22T14:30:00.000+10:00

Anyone who knows me, also knows how passionate I am about food, particularly (and obviously) good food. Sourcing it, cooking it, and (again, obviously) eating it. So it was a moment of great pleasure when Mari asked me about making her own cake. All by herself. And could she, she asked with the thrill of danger and excitement, even... put it in the oven herself? Of course! Lets go! And she did. Every bit. She's an eggspert ("No daddy, it's EXpert!" Nice try.) at cracking eggs from way back, and I made sure the butter was on the point of melting so she could mix it all together by hand without any trouble. And she did it! It was a breeze.

And the cake? Really , truly, delicious!

You can see (nearly) the complete process here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14876769@N00/tags/cake/

Falling Water

2007-09-13T15:22:00.000+10:00

Feeling much, much better after a good night's sleep.

Have a look at this beautiful computer graphic movie, Falling Water. It takes you on a flying tour of a digitally recreated version of the Frank Lloyd Wright House.

Bad, naughty blogger

2007-09-12T16:37:00.000+10:00

Yes, that's me. Neglectful. Flashing you a photo here and there. The blogging equivalent of sending you a bunch of flowers because I haven't called for two weeks.

So. Hi! How are you? Good? I'm ok. Been sick. Kids sick. Everyone sick. But coming out of it now. Enjoying spring weather. Drinking more coffee than ever but still needing more. Tired. Rosa waking up at 3am-ish and staying awake for a couple of hours. Two nights in a row now. That's a trend. I don't like it. We're bleary and wading through the day. Hence the coffee. Never make it to bed early though. Facebook partly to blame. New fad. New way to avoid the dishes. My children have decided that fighting is the new fun. Want that toy? Scream! Wrong colour cup? Collapse to the floor in writhing mess. Sibling looks at you? Headbutt! Can you feel the love too?
...
What's that you say? You have to go? To wash your hair? And take out the garbage? Oh. Ok. Well, call again soon, yeah? Lovely to chat! Look out for the bunch of carnations I sent... Yep, ok, byeeeee!

Rebel

2007-09-03T11:05:00.000+10:00

I sometimes worry (not too much, but a little) about what it will be like to have two teenage daughters. Will they rebel? Will they drink vodka cruisers and have inappropriate boyfriends? Will they have a penchant for death metal and piercings? I'm sure the answer will be varying degrees of yes for at least several of these possibilities.
But then, I just looked out the kitchen window, suspicious that Mari had been a little too quiet outside for the past few minutes. But no, she wasn't setting fire to the pear tree or torturing gold fish.

She was windex-ing the outside table.

I'm good for a few more years at least.

Eclipse

2007-08-29T14:15:00.000+10:00

This sequence would never have been possible without the patient child-putting-to-bed skills of my dear James. I had the easy job of standing out in the quiet darkness, leaping for the shutter every time the moon ducked from behind a cloud, and poking my head inside every now and then to say "Sure you don't need a hand?". Thank-you darling.

Spring!

2007-08-27T15:41:00.001+10:00

It's time for the annual first blossom of the year photo. There are some more Joy-of-Spring photos here. I went a little crazy with the camera on the weekend.

DSC_2148.JPG
Originally uploaded by Lorena_C.

I'm Happy!

2007-08-23T21:34:00.000+10:00

I think this is our new family catch phrase.

Party!

2007-08-18T17:39:00.000+10:00

Blog, shmog. Pass me a glass.
Click here, on this text, for more photos.

Happy Birthday Mari!

2007-08-16T21:51:00.001+10:00

Snow Trip

2007-08-13T08:49:00.001+10:00

Excellent

2007-08-09T09:52:00.000+10:00

Goodbye Wolfgang. 1913-2007

2007-08-09T09:34:00.000+10:00

You were one of the best. You'll be missed.

Hmm...

2007-08-06T15:18:00.000+10:00

You know it's time for a spring clean when you find a croquet mallet in the back of your wardrobe.

Anyone for a game?

Hey! Hi!

2007-07-31T08:04:00.000+10:00

I've been to life drawing classes!

I think maybe I was a little enthusiastic. This is a not-too-exaggerated transcript of my several conversations of the night.

ME: Hi!
Innocent Bystander: Um, hi.
ME: My name's Lorena! What's your name!
IB: Um...
ME: Hey! Great! Do you live near by?
IB: Um...
ME: Hey! Me too!
IB: Oh. Good.
ME: Isn't this great! I haven't done the for eight years! You know, life drawing! On big paper! And look, I'm out without my kids! They're lovely (insert diatribe on the loveliness of my kids, their names, ages, likes dislikes etc). But hey! They're at home. And me? I'm out!
IB: Um, I think the break might be fin-
ME: Oh, hey, did I tell you about my Uni days? Oh, those halcyon days... Hey! Wait! Where are you going? WILL YOU BE MY FRIEND?!

The Transformation

2007-07-16T13:16:00.001+10:00

Did I mention James has a peg leg to get around on? Life is much more fun now...

(Thanks to Chris A. for finding this)

Our Second Life

2007-07-02T22:49:00.000+10:00

Because we're always ready to jump on a technological bandwagon, although usually too late to be innovative, and just in time to battle the crowds doing the same, we've been exploring Second Life ("SL" to those in the know). Call it research. If you meet us in the ether, please call us by our real SL names Kantor and Nena Klees.

Thank you.

Oh, and we galavant in the sky. Together. *sigh*

Catch-up

2007-07-01T15:47:00.000+10:00

Well, James is getting around ok on his plastered leg, my gold ring turned up, the coffee machine is being fixed under warranty, and I'm sculpting a new vital bit out of araldite for the food processor as I type. Maybe whoever-it-is is finally pulling the pins out of that doll.

And I can't stop looking at this photo of the girls skillfully (ahem) merged in photoshop.

All the Love you can 'Bear'

2007-06-22T22:37:00.000+10:00

My old bear has had a lot of hugs over 20+ years. He's been washed and pegged on the line by his ears countless times, and partially restuffed once. His fur is scruffy, and he has a little bald patch on his bottom. But, even after all that wear, Bloomies is still the only bear that Mari will cuddle at night.

Voodoo Curse Pt. 2 (The photo edition)

2007-06-17T13:59:00.000+10:00

The naked hand.
The vital 2mm.
The embossed kangaroo.
The break.
The long, long morning.
The sniffles.
The flood.

Okay, ha ha, very funny.

2007-06-17T09:03:00.000+10:00

Whoever it is out there, you can put the voodoo doll away now. Yes, you. Really, it's just not funny anymore.

First, it didn't start too badly. Two weeks ago, I lost the gold ring that James bought me nearly six years ago, but I'm fairly certain it's around here somewhere. Then our food processor lost 2mm off a vital piece of plastic which rendered the whole thing useless. Yes, annoying (I use that thing a lot), but not devastating. Then what was it? Oh yes, the car. Want to argue with a kangaroo at 80km an hour? Sure you'll probably win, but you'll be limping. New bonnet and grill? $1000 thanks. Then the bad one, the really bad one. I feel bad making light of it really. It probably deserves it's own paragraph at least, but here we go. Last sunday, unrelated to the kangaroo incident, James completely ruptured his achilles tendon. Yes, you may wince. It hurt. It still hurts. A lot. I won't even go into the medical saga (that's another blog entry and tempting law suit entirely), but lets just say it took five days to get him operated on, and the recovery period is, well, impressive. Nine months before he can use that foot. Nine months. On crutches. And then it'll need continuing physio and support. So that's the big one, but that's not all, oh no. The morning after we got him home from hospital, after all the stuff that goes along with surgery and hospital stays, and oh yes, a night sharing the bed with Mari, coughing, and struggling to breathe through a cold, I stumbled out to the kitchen to make coffee. Now, our espresso machine has been a little noisy lately, but I was okay with that. It hadn't woken any children or taken off on a spontanious trip to Mars via our kitchen ceiling. But that morning, of all mornings, it made a bigger noise, followed by a pop, a hiss of steam, and a cascade of water out of the front panel. ... "So, your coffee maker died, at least it's under warranty, right?" you might ask. Let me just remind you; this is me, Lorena, you know, me? That stuff running through my veins? It's caffeinated. Permanently. And my only source of decent coffee exploded. Don't get me started on the sequence of events that ruled out the percolator (stale embedded coffee stains), plunger (broken), and god forbid instant (mysteriously tastes like mushrooms).

So now, just as the icing on the cake, along with James in plaster, and Mari with a hacking cough and snot galore, we have Rosa (we can't forget her can we?) with raging gastro. You knew there had to be a kicker didn't you?

So. Not funny. Stop it now, please.

Sincerely,
Lorena

Why I Love the ABC...

2007-06-07T17:03:00.000+10:00

As heard on Playschool radio. You know, for kids under 5.

Humpty Dumpty, Mary had a Little Lamb, Baa Baa Black Sheep... etc.

Then, "Something or other in a clapped out kombie with stoned zombies (or something like that) ... where women blow and men chunder." Ahem.

Something about cute fluffy ducks, then...

"The first pub we come to, it's there we'll have a spree,
And everyone that comes along it's 'Come and drink with me!'"

Fluffy animals!

And something about sexy macarana on the dancefloor.. No wait let me give you the full lyrics.

When I dance they call me macarena
and the boys they say that I´m buena
they all want me, they can´t have me
So they all come and dance beside me
move with me jam with me
and if your good i take you home with me
A la tuhuelpa legria macarena
Que tuhuelce paralla legria cosabuena
A la tuhuelpa legria macarena Eeeh, macarena
A-Hai 2x
Now don´t you worry ´bout my boy friend
the boy who´s name is Nicorino
I don´t want him, ´cause sent him
he was no good so I - hahaaaa
Now, come on, what was I supposed to do ?
He was outta town and his two friends were soooo fine
Ref. 2x
Claps Ahai Ahai
Keys
Ref. 2x
Lach
Come and find me, my name is Macarena
always at the party,
´cause the chicos think I´m buena
come join me, dance with me
and all your fellows cat hello with me
Ref. 5x

But lets face it, I'd play my kids death metal backwards if they danced to it.

Niger

2007-06-04T21:23:00.000+10:00

Look here. You must.
Photo essay by our good friend Jim McFarlane.

Rosa's a Photographer Now

2007-05-28T20:16:00.001+10:00

Do I have to start up a blog for her too?

Quiz

2007-05-28T20:09:00.000+10:00

Go and play my Quiz if the inspiration strikes you. I didn't write the questions - it's a different theme each day of the week.

Sideways

2007-05-21T21:46:00.000+10:00

Well, this clip really illustrates two salient points about me. One; I'm too much of an ~~idiot~~ photographer to remember to film video horizontally. And two; I'm too cheap to spend $3.95 on the plug-in that could turn it round.

But it is cute though. If you just tilt your head a bit.... and ignore the tear away at the end.

They were actually listening to the Macarana (don't even ask how that came about) but I didn't want to inflict that on you, gentle reader.

Now That Was a Good Weekend.

2007-05-20T16:15:00.000+10:00

It's cold and drizzly but that's ok. We've had a lovely two days. Saturday morning, we heading down to the market. First stop was the Albion for mushrooms on toast and the best coffee and hot chocolate in town. It's run by a wonderful couple who greet every patron like an old friend, and really do know half of their customers by name. Mari and I sat in the warmth and, well looked at an anatomy book actually, while James and Rosa ducked in the swarming market for some fruit & vegies. After that, I went shopping in peace, then in the afternoon we did some gardening and tidied up before our very good friends Dan & Melinda arrived for dinner with Dan's sons Ambriel and Zephyr, two of the most charming and polite lads I've even met. They're 13 and 11 (I think) and if I had boys would want them to grow up just like that. So, after unwrapping some cheese and cracking a bottle or two, we sank in to a lovely evening of food and wine.

Sunday morning James took the girls to the park for a hour or so, while I spent some time being unashamedly lazy. They returned keen for more adventure so off we went to a nearby pine forest - such wonderful colour after all this rain, and mushroom and toadstools everywhere! We found what must be a scout outpost, complete with climbing web. After a winnie-the-pooh like expotition, we scavenged a bag of pine cones and headed home for an unexpected nap (for me!) which inspired me to cook up a batch of wintry minestrone and chive flat bread. The house was full of warmth and the smell of soup.

Glorious Rain!

2007-05-19T10:47:00.001+10:00

Aren't Friends Wonderful?

2007-05-15T15:03:00.000+10:00

Good girl.

2007-05-14T21:44:00.000+10:00

She humours her mother.

Thank goodness.

2007-05-12T18:39:00.000+10:00

We're back. Hi! Fully visual again. Bought a tiny fujifilm f20 for snaps. Very nice little beast.

It does this.

And this.

It actually takes a very snappy little video. Hard to tell from the massively compressed youtube verson, but much better than the video camera that we bought for (ahem) a lot more, just a few years ago. And it takes the same size images (6 megapixel) as our (admittedly 5 year old) ex pro nikon. Don't know whether to get very excited about the wonders of technology, or just get very depressed that it only takes a couple of years for equipment that cost thousands (and thousands!) of dollars can now all be done by a tiny little silver bullet for a couple hundred.

I'm going with happy.

nocturnal bovine

2007-05-08T09:06:00.000+10:00

"What do cows say Rosa?"

"...Mooooonnn!"

Now try to get the image of a paddock full of cows baying at the night sky out of your head. Just try. I can't.

Rain!

2007-05-03T16:13:00.001+10:00

For all those who live nearby - did you see that?! The rain! The storm! The wind! The RAIN!

The puddles!

Apologies for my camera work. Must work on that.

Getting my fix

2007-05-02T18:55:00.000+10:00

Some photos Mari took with MaJenny's camera on her blog.

RIP

2007-04-30T09:42:00.000+10:00

Possible the last photo our camera will ever take... Waiting for Dorothy.

And then:

We think it might be worse than a dodgy spring. It has started making an odd noise. Kind of a grating, scraping noise. The mirror's all floppy. And the aperture keeps getting stuck shut. Well, at least it's probably mechanical. So maybe it can be fixed for less than the cost of a 2nd hand porsche.

Oh, those Italians!

2007-04-29T18:20:00.000+10:00

Remember Tangrams? I need a set of these shelves.

Well.

2007-04-28T18:03:00.000+10:00

I should be showing you pictures of the Dorothy the Dinosaur concert we were at today; pictures of the girls dancing, laughing, petting farm animals; picture of an overzealous presenter and a hapless soul in a green wrinkled dino costume singing Wiggles songs; pictures of gaiety and carefree fun, but we've suffered a sad loss, a tragic departure of this world. I can hardly say it. The mirror in our camera has a dodgy spring and we only get a line a few pixels high across the frame with each photograph. Our camera is (oh god please only temporarily) dead.

*sigh*

Rargh!

2007-04-22T21:01:00.000+10:00

Guess where we went on the weekend?

Mari has been enveloped in a dinosaur obsession lately, something we're encouraging with enthusiasm. Princesses and fairies are all very nice, but when something comes along with teeth and history and lots of ROARING I'm all for it. Last week she set up a dinosaur museum in the backyard, complete with the only impressive bone we could find, a cow's knee. I tried to help her jazz it up a bit with an old glass medicine bottle and shard of willow pattern plate, which she accepted somewhat reluctantly. So. It was looking like a museum trip was in order. Come the weekend, we woke up, said why not, and up and went, with just enough time to make sandwiches and pack nappies. A good day.

And yes, that's a live spider down there, and yes it's as big as it looks.

Long trip home on the train.

Wow.

2007-04-20T08:11:00.001+10:00

Lifted
Originally uploaded by SouleMama.

The aftermath of a storm in Portland, Maine, usa.

Photo by Amanda Soule of SouleMama fame.

Painting, painting....

2007-04-16T21:33:00.000+10:00

Getting there...

Mari's Blog

2007-04-15T13:39:00.000+10:00

One more to add to the blogosphere. Mari has had a keen interest in taking photos lately. Of course she has. And she's been interested in sharing them. So. Ta Da! The World According to Mari.

She'd love it if you left her a comment or dropped her a line at mari.carrington@gmail.com

New Family Member

2007-04-15T11:27:00.000+10:00

Meet Cecil, the miracle fish. We found him in the wheelbarrow, and we love him.

Happy Easter!

2007-04-08T10:53:00.000+10:00

Hope you all have (had) a fabulous, safe Easter and ate chocolate until you hallucinated.

More Festival Highlights

2007-04-04T21:21:00.000+10:00

Yes, I'm a woman of few words lately. Normal programming will resume soon! A few more pics of the festival in the meantime.

Me!

2007-04-03T08:08:00.000+10:00

Ever noticed how a baby's first words are never "Ta!" or "Please!". Here, we had "No!", "Mine!", and "Meeee!", the only words a toddler really needs for the next year. And yes, the exclamation mark are self-inclusive. First sentence; "My Dog!", in reference to a finger puppet, accompanied by a flourish of ownership, and a pressing of the aforementioned puppet to her heart. Not sadly, "Dearest Mummy, if you would allow, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to you for the past year of selfless sacrifice, your sleepless nights and your removal of suspicious substances from my nether regions without pulling too much of a face."

Not even a "Ta Mum". Exclamation.

It's only Rock 'n' Roll...

2007-03-31T22:58:00.000+10:00

...but I like it.

Hooray!

2007-03-31T15:06:00.000+10:00

It's Festival time!

New Bath!

2007-03-30T21:20:00.000+10:00

Look!

elephant

2007-03-29T12:06:00.000+10:00

ah....

2007-03-28T07:44:00.000+10:00

Hoorah hoorah! A mostly functional bathroom. Still waiting to use the shower, but the rest is good. Now it's mostly the prettifying left to do; grout, paint, doorknobs, electricity, etc.

I rearranged the girls bedroom yesterday. Sick and tired of edging past the end of Mari's bed to get in the door, we decided to risk having a yawning abyss on both sides of her bed... Last night she asked to be tucked in tighter.... Tighter!
Rosa's cot is just to the left of frame.