For a Laugh

I am sitting here reading my blogroll with the sun warming my back, the fire crackling beside me and rows of simple knitting being worked and I feel contentment wash over me.  Needle in.  This is my life now. Round goes the wool.  I set my own pace.  Slip the stitch off. I take breaks when I want them (Ginger permitting - she currently naps).  A row forms.  I make the measure of my day. 

Trips away - seeing how others live - sometimes breeds discontentment (sometimes it enhances contentment too but that is a story for another day!).  Ingratitude has been my week.  Normally I am grateful for the possibilities my life has given me, but sometimes that little green monster rises - I wish?  I want?

Two days at home centering and I feel at peace again.  Gratitude for what I do have - faith, family and shelter.  'Things' slowly lose their appeal.  This is my life and I am determined to be present and satisfied.

*Please excuse my absence for the last few weeks they have been hectic with cross country travel.  Over 8500 km travelled in the space of 5 days with a 14 month old.

**I just had to share this animation from playschool.  It has been shown a couple of times this week and has had me in hysterics - I love the purple frog falling off the lillypad.  Ginger sings the "da de das" along which is too cute.  It is an oldie but a goodie - made in the mid 1990s. You may need to follow the link as I can't get the picture any bigger.

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

Joining Like Mother, Like Daughter's link-up

{Pretty}

Blooms on the back patio.

{Happy}

Family days spent at the art gallery, treating ourselves to indian food and sweets, and attending a war-bird and vintage car festival.  Something for everyone.

{Funny}

Please excuse the lighting, this hot pink yeti was my daughter at 4:30am this morning - see the bright eyes!  Both Mama and daughter needed a little rocket fuel in the form of bananas.

{Real}

Mould is a chronic problem here.  Here are all our belongings from the shed drying on the lawn after being treated with diluted bleach for their mould growth. 

The next sunny day DH is home they will need further treatment because a pop down to the shed today revealed that the mould is still hanging on. 

In the Swing

Ginger and I popped into town to attend a free concert in the grounds of St Luke's yesterday.

Photo courtesy of The Chronicle

The US Navy's Seventh Fleet Band was in town to lift spirits in the wake of January's floods, and to commemorate the 69th anniversary of the battle of the Coral Sea.  The echo of my history teacher's voice is in my ear with that moment "turning the tide of the war".

The rain threatened the whole time, but thankfully held off until the end of the set.  Literally the heaven's opened and it poured and hailed just as the last piece was played.  Ginger and I had to wait for it to pass to drive home, as we couldn't even see the road markings.

Ginger enjoyed herself.  She found another little playmate and they shared their toys and food, and generally followed each other around.

I was a little bit wierded out by the homeless man (I do cast aspersions here but he was unkept and had a bag of newspapers) who took my plastic seat (kindly delivered by one of the parishners) right next to the pram and sat down, while I was chasing Ginger, and then continued to hover around the pram even when I moved it and then kept going into Ginger's personal space.  Suppose we were safe enough, there was a whole collection of veterans right near us proudly displaying their medals, enjoying the music and laughing at Ginger's dancing.  I am sure someone would have intervened had I needed help.  I suspect some of the band members also realised I was rather uncomfortable as they seemed to be keeping a close eye on the gentleman.  It was a pity because it was a lovely event.

The kettle doth sing...

I was going to title this post Monday Miscellany but then, I realised it was Tuesday and I had just been thrown out by yet another Monday public holiday!

Ginger was up bright and early today as her Daddy made a rather large amount of noise trying to sneak out of the house at 4:30 this morning.  He is out field for the next couple of weeks.  I did the sums this morning - at 4:30 while I lay in bed with Ginger crawling all over me.  By the end of this exercise DH will have been away for 5 months of Ginger's 13 months of life.  Not for anything as exciting (or at least fiscally rewarding) as a deployment but just for run of the mill exercises and courses.  Sometimes it feels like he misses so much.

Incidentally, those overalls were mine as a bub

In other news I just took a huge swath of paint off the side of our car parking in our garage.  So, I think most of Ginger's nap - once I finish this - will be spent on the phone to touch-up paint contractors.  This is the second time I have done it in 4 months.  At least it was the same spot, and we hadn't had the first incident repaired yet.

Ginger has crashed after swimming this morning.  She does love her swimming.  Mama also feels exhausted between that, the early start and the two wake-ups in the night.  I was going to post a picture of her swimming but realise they also feature me, so that is not going to happen.

In the interest of actually providing something worth reading to those have persevered this far, I present a round-up of some blog posts I have enjoyed in the last couple of days:

Maker Mama's interview with Anneliese of Aesthetic Nest
The importance of order for young children
Soule Mama's May Table
The Sacred in the Ordinary

Now away, to wash bathers, and hang towels to dry!