voila!

lemon curd...
tonight D is making lemon tarts and i'd also like to preserve some lemons for our next Moroccan feast!!

and speaking of creating things - we thought we'd make a leaf mobile like the ones at the playgroup N attends. here he is:

collecting the leaves...

gathering his other materials...

making the holes...

attempting to thread them (i helped here)...

very proud of his achievement...

...and hanging in his room!!

cooking

this is our lemon tree. the yellow is gorgeous. we have tonnes of lemons now, so i will venture into lemon butter / lemon curd territory. i'll report on that at a later date. ;-)
i'm really excited, as my aunt in Sydney is sending me a cook book i have been oggling for a couple of years now. and all it will cost me is a cup of coffee next time she is in town! here is an interview with the author. i think she has Greek/Cyprus heritage (if that's how you say it) but her approach to food reminds me of all of those wonderful cultures where families grow up, literally, around the kitchen table.

that's my kind of cooking - the hearty, flavoursome home cooked type stuff. if only i was a natural... that can be my challenge - cook from the book and then report on my progress!

i tend to go through phases where i read a heap of Indian based novels - A Fine balance, A Suitable Boy, Interpreter of Maladies; Chinese based novels - The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, and South American novels - Like Water for Chocolate, Swift as Love, The House of Spirits and One Hundred Years of Solitude. often food is found mentioned in their stories.

last night N was so cute. we had a late night visit from D's mother, aunt and cousin. n was in bed but heard them here and wanted them to come and see his room. he was sitting in his bed and pointing out everything in his room. "there's my sunglasses. i wear them so the sun isn't in my eyes." "there's the little man" (a toilet roll man with pipe cleaner arms and legs and cotton wool hair!) "there's my bible."
then he got out of bed and picked up his top. i loved listening him demonstrate its use to his nan:
"you do this" (pushing the handle up and down)
"then it goes round and round" (spinning his hand around as he watches it spin)
"then it does this!" as the top stops and falls on its side. :-)

i'm counting down the days and my baby is three!! D's sister is in hospital at the moment, possibly having a cesarean today. the anticipation of waiting for a new baby to arrive makes me clucky. actually, i don't know if it is clucky, or just that i can remember so clearly the arrival of my babies, and the feeling of being alone with them in my hospital room, safely behind a closed door, away from the rest of the world. the strange feeling as you leave the hospital and everything feels bigger than you.
today are off shopping for some party things. fun, fun, fun...

i just saw Ali Edwards new book... i love mini books. they are my favourite. i may have to put this on my list of "what to buy now i am back at work!"
i am also waiting on this one. its projects are what i'll use to teach myself to sew. then i can start on the clothes patterns i have for A.

speaking of counting down days, work is getting closer. what i'm looking forward to is...

• sitting for a few moments lost in my own thoughts with a hot cup of coffee!


• earning a little more money to help with our commitments (and a bit to spend for me too???)
• reading!!

what i'm not looking forward to:

• being away from my kids, particularly my new little Pea, whom i haven't been away from yet! :-( what will i do without her in my arms all day???


• having to change N's swimming lesson to another day, and thereby change his teacher, who he is always excited to see. (on swimming, N is loving it at the moment, and has gained a lot of confidence. on that regard i spoke to his teacher about him possibly staying in the same class level. i just see that i need to go gently, gently for him to continue loving it. and as he knows everything he needs to do we could spend the term focusing on putting his head under the water!)


• N not being able to attend playgroup, which he is also loving. i am thinking of doing a fortnightly roster at work - Mon, Tues, Weds; Mon, Tues, Thurs - so that i can take him once a fortnight.

i have some recent pics to share...

if you ask N to smile, this is what you get!!

also on my mind this week: Romans 12:2 "...but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

distraction or procrastination??

very bad. children are asleep and i have returned to a job application i am making my way through. can i help it if my mind needs a refresher? a quick scan of some of my favourite blogs should do the trick. :-) problem is, there are a few of them! these days, depending on my mood i scan them more in relation to their subject. some days it is a catch up on what friends and family are doing - what daily joys or trials their littlies are experiencing. other days it is a craft blog day - and even this has subcatagories. paper craft. knitting. patchwork and sewing. other blogs are more the deep thinker type - that analyse life in a way i tend to not have the time or the brainpower for!
the problem with blogs, is that there are always good ones. note to self: when you find one you like, don't check out their favourite links or you'll find ten more! just kidding, i do love to find more!
the problem with having a blog, is that the entries in my personal written journal have longer and longer gaps between them. i like having a written journal, and that is where i do write the more deeper thoughts i have on my life and the way i see it.
major news though, A finally drank 60ml from a bottle last night. and i was pleased because she took it from me. the boys were outside feeding the chooks and i sat myself beside the fire and gave her the bottle. she chewed on the teat for bit and then sucked. this was about my fourth attempt. the nice thing was that as she drank she just looked up at me like always. a nice moment, for me. :-)
ok, now back to this application. my blogs haven't inspired a really creative way to discuss my capacity for "conceptual thinking"!!??

"Dwell in possibility." ~ Emily Dickinson

where my heart wanders

wow. look at the time and i am already on the computer. i don't know quite what else to do - the smart thing would be to go o bed and get some glorious sleep!
N has been packed up and sent off with his dad this morning for a day with his nan and pa. it is really strange when he is away from me - i realise how much of my day revolves around him and his activities. while a day to get a few other things done, and some quality time spent alone with Pea is really inviting, when the time comes, i don't like his leaving. even kissing his ruffled head this morning to gently wake him up. i started missing him, :-) he says to me: "lie next to me mama" and we get to snuggle for a few minutes before i wrap him in his red blanket and carry him to the car. he asks "the sun up now?"
he is growing up too quickly - someone please tell him to slow down!
i'm off shopping for his birthday party today, so that will be fun as i will be able to take my time at the shops - something unheard of with a baby and a toddler in tow.
i used this quote in N's scrapbook album once:
"having a baby is a momentous occasion - it is deciding to forever have your heart walking outside your body". that must be why i feel like something is missing when he is gone, even for a day. who knows how i will be when i am at work - i think i'll feel a little lost to begin with!
speaking of work, we went out to dinner tonight and i discovered that a colleague has applied for another job. well, he had actually told me he was applying, but i know he will get it. we have worked closely on all projects for eight years another colleague then sprung it on me that he is taking up a six month job offer in Stockholm at the end of the year. so how am i going to tell my boss i am looking for another job too??! he'll have a heart attack. all the skills learnt, all the knowledge of the work gone in a year...

from my bedside table books...

tuesday night was First Tuesday Bookclub night. i've given up trying to keep up with the books they read - that is what my bus rides to work will be fore - except that Action have cancelled the morning express bus that took me all the way from my home to my office door. :-( no one long trip to read - it will be broken by a bus change.

anyway, they reviewed Tim Winton's latest novel, Breath. he is one of my favourite Australian authors - The Riders and Cloudstreet are two of my favourites. when D and i were first married, Tim Winton gave a reading at the art gallery from one of his novels so i got to meet him and ask a couple of questions about my favourite of his books.

tonight (thursday) we are going out with my work colleagues for dinner. we have four staff based in Melbourne, so whenever they come to Canberra for planning meetings etc we go out. it is a funny section as we are all really good friends as well work colleagues. it makes for an enjoyable work place! hmm -i haven't said anything to anyone about my plans to move on though. i think i'll wait until i find another job first!

people often wonder what it is exactly that i do. the BRIDGE website helps. it is a project that has been delivered all over the world - Africa, the Pacific, the United States, the Baltic Region... it is inspiring and enjoyable.

this is also inspiring on a different level - from The Creative Family:

"as difficult as it may be to shift your thinking from that of adult responsibilities such as cleaning up, try a hard as you can to think a bit differently about your children's "messes". When your child stomps through a mud puddle, soaking his clothes and boots, try to think of the experience gained - the sensation of the water squishing between his toes. When your child slips her hands right into that puddle, think of the way she is touching the earth..."

and from The Mission of Motherhood:

"God's design provides a completeness to the circle of life. Our family is a vital piece of the puzzle of his design that was intended to give all children the opportunity to be lovingly nurtured so they could live their own lives well."

my blessings:

• that N loves spending time with his grandparents
• that this enables me to have one on one time with A
• cold days bring inside activity and force me to do the ironing!!
• i finished another cross stitch panel on A's blanket

it's here... fun, fun, fun!

yay! the book has arrived. no doubt i'll quote things that inspire (inspire me, anyway) here in days to come.

happy birthday to... who??

saturday we went bowling for a nephews 9th birthday. N loved it! a must with my whole family i think. i can't wait until my other nephews are a bit older - we'll have some great times. ;-)

N then enjoyed a grown up outing with a "babyccino" at a cafe with mum and dad.

saturday night we went to a friend's place to celebrate her 35th birthday. and sunday lunch was extra special with another nephews 1st birthday. a busy weekend, but filled with family and friends, so a good weekend.

and just because, here is "Pea".