Cheeky - clever possum (Ruminations on motherhood)

My favourite seven-year-old and I were walking along the other day having a lovely chat about things. Where does electricity come from? What's inside lightning? You may also have had these conversations. I realise how little I know of the world when they occur. I also realise what a wonderful mind my little man has, so inquisitive and interested in learning. It's truly pleasurable spending time with him.

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As we walked and chatted, we passed a group of Mums out for coffee. They looked at me with a smile. As we came level, Master 7 suddenly exclaimed: "When can I get my very own mobile phone?"

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All adults gave a little laugh. I was rather astonished, as I am not into technology and children. Once a month he might get ten minutes on the computer, if that.

"When you have a job and can pay for your calls!" I replied.

Master 7 then floored me with: "But you don't have a job Mum and you have a phone?!"

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The mums were laughing hard now, and I was in awe of the mind of the child, and the literal mind of the Aspergers' mind.

I am so grateful that he has an inquiring mind, that he has such a quick mind. I love his sense of humour.

Being a mother has not always been a joyful time for me. I sometimes wonder how I got here. I am certainly aware of the amazing gift that has been given to me, and I adore my kids. But what does it take to be a mother?

Once I knew I was pregnant, I considered myself a mother. I was growing a life. We bonded immediately. The dreams you have as a potential parent begin. You visualise your child, your famil. You long to meet them.

I ache at this time of the year for all the women who have lost a child. Friends who have "angel babies" are also mothers. A local church had a vigil service last night for all women who have had children, lost children, been unable to have children. It was an opportunity to reflect, listen to music, look at artworks, and meditate. I will be lighting a candle tonight for those friends who have carried a life, some brief, some to term, and have had to say goodbye. It's a tough time for them. They are mothers too.

I will not see my mother, as she is in Victoria, however I will call her and try and have a cup 0f tea with her over the phone. She's a great role model and a friend as well as a Mum. I know she will be thinking of her Mum.

I hope to go to a local park tomorrow for a Mothers' Day party in the park with an Abba cover band. Pop in to Glebe Park if you are in Canberra and be a Dancing Queen with me!

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Happy Mothers' Day to you - high five to all mums - we all do our best with the tools that we have. Take care,

J

You can't get much for five dollars these days...

Or so the ladies in the Rotary Op-Shop in Rosebud mused. It was a cold morning, rain was trying to become horizontal, and Mother-In-Law and I braved the conditions to make a dent on the 7 and counting op-shops in the Rosebud area.

I went straight to the haberdashery section. Totally disorganised, zips with knitting needles, buttons scattered everywhere, and patterns and magazines piled in a corner. It was an Aladdin's cave. Judging by the dust and moth carcasses it had been some time since the area was excavated.

Under a pile of magazines was a lovely tin. It reminded me of some Willow brand tin canisters I had passed by in Mont Albert the day before. Labelled $5, I thought it battered and a little rusty, but certainly a lovely tin.


I picked it up - well, I tried to. H E A V Y T I N. Hmm, getting better I thought! Upon opening it, I discovered the mother load of thread, wooden cotton reels, delicious colours so rich that I possibly drooled on it! It needs airing, being rather musty, but is beautiful in the endless possibilities.


All for $5. Happy.

Add a 50c Golden Hands bonus, and I was content with the haul. So much thread, so little time...


Thank you so much for the comments and thoughts about Mr BB. He really gave us a scare, but is certainly improving daily.

Take care,

J

It's been a long time, been a long time, been a long.....

It really has been a long time since I blogged. Unintentionally. After a few weeks, my bloglines stand at 533 and I may have to clear them and start again. Easter has come and gone. School holidays came and went. Sewing made a regular appearance on my to-do list. I had a lovely evening whipping up presents for littlies.

A top for Pops from Sew Hip - she looks super-cute in lemon and turned 2 this week.

Jonty turned 2 and got a pair of pants that over time will become shorts (the beauty of the draw-string waist).

Russian dollies for Miss 2 and Pops to cuddle and play with.

A skirt for K who just turned 3. K loves pink, her mum prefers black, skulls, etc. Here thanks to Spotlight they can both be happy!

We had a week in Melbourne during which I had some time to myself in the beautiful city, saw friends and family, celebrated Mr BB's 40th birthday, and made it back up the Hume to Canberra.

Mr BB then fell ill with meningitis and spent some days in hospital. Scary time. What do you do when a Dr says to you: "He'll either be better in 24 hours or he'll be dead" ????? I did very little. I kept it together around the kids. I catastrophised when they were at school. I envisaged the kids and I living in a caravan in rural Victoria. Without an annex. I swore that Life Insurance was something we should spend on. I prayed. I cried. I knitted feverishly.

I visited The Man I Have Loved for 15 years who was residing in isolation. After donning a mask, gloves and a yellow gown I sat with him. He oscillated between sleep and hallucinations. Morphine for pain. I sat there in the "dress-ups" that were supposedly to prevent me becoming infected. It seemed pointless really. The night before I had sat with him for hours in emergency. Holding his hand, kissing his forehead, pretty much rolling in any germs to be had.

Thankfully, he's now home, and very much on the improve. Time will bring good health and strength. The knitting has continued and I have immersed myself in my sock. I began this sock years ago. It has been unpicked, re-worked, thrown aside, and fiddled with. I spent an age working out how to knit in the round. Then I paused a few months to work out how to turn the heel. Then again it lay waiting for me to work out how to pick up stitches and do the foot. I was so worried about Mr BB that I didn't even pause to worry about how to graft a toe. If craft is therapy, then it has really been a wonderful way to get through the week.



One down, one to go! I wore it last night though and loved the feel of my first hand-knitted sock. Maybe I can do the second one in a shorter time frame.

Pics and words following later in the week of happy op-shoppiness of the past month.

Take care,

J.

Crafternoon

Easter was fun here, and rather low-key. Lots of jobs around the house, time as a family, day trips in the car and so on. The Easter bunny delivered Turkish Delight, dark chocolate, and a cup of tea which was wonderful!

We have had strange wet stuff falling steadily from the sky. It will rejuvenate and regenerate gardens in a very real example to the kids of 'new life' as this holiday weekend is about. It's been such a rare event, as we have now had three days in a row of rain, so the garden has readily drank it up. Birds are singing and bugs are emerging. A friend's children were out in the rain in bathers earlier today - so rare and exciting is precipitation! Note to self (and Mr BB!!) must clean out gutters - unexpectedly over-flowing.

As we are forced to stay indoors, we have gone to the family favourites of construction (new roll of tape to celebrate hols!), drawing, and of course story-writing for Master 7.

Master 7 loves stapling pieces of paper together to make "a book". He comes up with a title, number pages, names chapters, does a sentence or two, then abandons it in favour of thenext idea. He is truly an ideas man, rather than a do-er. We have created a special box for WIP for him, in case he wants to return to anything at a later date. As yet he hasn't!

I have more sewing on the go, and after re-arranging the bookshelf, have a mountain of books ready for the bed-side table.

I am slowly formulating a time-share approach to the family room. The family only use the lounge room (carpet and tv), and I tend to use the family room. So as from the weekend, I will have a craft and sewing space, and the toys will again be halved. Will they even notice? No, I think not.

We are off to Melbourne for a week on Saturday, so I also have to sort out some car craft. Must buy felt! The school fair is not until October, but I want to do lots for the craft stall. What are top sellers at your school fair? I was going to do pencil toppers which double as cake toppers, as well as little bags for treasure and pencil rolls.

I also want to get my sewing and knitting badges done - so the school hols will be very busy! Sadly I have pharyngitis, so my energy levels are flat, but the ideas are flowing, if only I can catch them and put them on the calender.

J
x

Bestest Easter Craft by Far!

I wish I understood German. Maybe the pattern is self-explanatory, unsure if it's easy or not though. Rather gorgeous egg-tote anyhow! Check it out here. May try my hand at it today.

Lots of do-able downloadable (free) crafts as usual at Crayola dot com (Ramadan, Diwali, many festivals covered here), and lovely Easter templates at the Powerhouse Museum see www.play.powerhousemuseum.com which helped me make this Easter top for Miss 2!

Cheats tute for last-minute Easter outfit for last day of school:

Take the template and trace onto iron-on interfacing. Iron it on!

Select your fabric from the stash...

Cut out your shape and peel off the backing, iron it in place over stain/s that won't budge.

Sit in front of the telly watching your favourite show and handstitch in place with a decorative stitch. If you are in a rush, use the Janome or similar.

Ta da!

Pair with tiered skirt by JustJess and there is your own cute little Easter Bunny!

Last day of Term One here and we are all rather excited. Easter crafts all afternoon will be done and lots of Hot Cross Buns consumed over the next few days. YUM.

Taking the kids to church on Sunday for an introduction to an Easter service... Fingers crossed. Determined that Easter means more to them than chocolate and buns, so they can make up their own minds as they grow.

xx

Happy Weekend

I had a lovely Sunday with great friends, at an estate auction. Apart from some items that are in the wash, I did VERY well.

$5 lot purchased for this (residual of lot gone to Salvos)

I have wanted one of these for ages for sewing purposes, when a seam needs a quick press, etc. Super little beauty may have been used but unlikely.

Also another $5 lot which was BOXES of crockery. I gave all but three matching pyrex lovelies to Salvos:

(Rotate you little bugger!!!)

More to come... retro beach umbrella and banana lounge also $5 for the lot, more folk table cloths, and a peaceful satisfaction that these items are going to be loved and used!

xx

World Champions!

Pooh had just come to the bridge; and not looking where he was going, he tripped over something, and the fir-cone jerked out of his paw into the river. 'Bother,' said Pooh, as it floated slowly under the bridge, and he went back to get another fir-cone which had a rhyme to it. But then he thought that he would just look at the river instead, because it was a peaceful sort of day, so he lay down and looked at it, and it slipped slowly away beneath him, and suddenly, there was his fir-cone slipping away too.

That's funny,' said Pooh. 'I dropped it on the other side,' said Pooh, 'and it came out on this side! I wonder if it would do it again?' And he went back for some more fir-cones. It did. It kept on doing it. Then he dropped two in at once, and leant over the bridge to see which of them would come out first; and one of them did; but as they were both the same size, he didn't know if it was the one which he wanted to win, or the other one. So the next time he dropped one big one and one little one, and the big one came out first, which was what he had said it would do, and the little one came out last, which was what he had said it would do, so he had won twice ... and when he went home for tea, he had won thirty-six and lost twenty-eight, which meant that he was - that he had - well, you take twenty-eight from thirty-six, and that's what he was. Instead of the other way round.

And that was the beginning of the game called Poohsticks, which Pooh invented, and which he and his friends used to play on the edge of the Forest. But they played with sticks instead of fir-cones, because they were easier to mark.'

As noted in The Canberra Times this week, to Canberrans have taken out the World Poohsticks Championship in Oxfordshire. 2,000 people turned up to watch 800 competitors battle it out in team and individual events.

Now this is REAL news people! The prize? A trophy and HONEY!

xx