Taking stock.. (week 1)

Meet me at Mikes is one of my favourite blogs. Pip Lincolne is seriously clever and crafty, and comes up with some great ideas for her blog. She started the idea of 'TakingStock' and I thought I would give it a go - giving you an idea of what we have been up to since my last post, in a more interesting format. 

Here we go ...

Taking: Many a photo with my instagram account. Are you following me yet?

Cooking : The Healthy Chef's Blueberry muffins. I also made the The Healthy chef's Banana Bread (gluten free). No photos of either - eaten far too quickly.

Drinking : Coffee.. Far.too.much.coffee.

Reading: (read) Alexandra Cameron's 'The Gift' - It was great! Otherwise have been immersing myself in this months Inside Out, Home Beautiful and Real Living magazine's.

Wanting: So many things from Gorman's spring collection - the colours and fabrics are amazing. This is a purchase I will definitely be making. This Bohemian Traders skirt and dress are a must purchase too.

Looking: Blonde again thanks to my buddy Nadine from Cheveux Design and espresso, here in Brisbane. An afternoon with Nadsy is truly therapeutic and you come away looking pretty sharp too - love your work Nadsy ;)

Playing: Puzzles... lots of freakin puzzles, over and over and over again. We have now mastered 24 piece puzzles at the ripe and old age of 3.5!

Deciding: Our plans for early intervention for Dominic next year. 

Wishing: For a holiday on a beach... preferably Fiji. Imagine the cocktails and the serenity...

Enjoying: Time to myself.. when I actually have it, I savor it.

Waiting: For a certain someone to have their afternoon sleep.

Wondering: When I plant my veggie patch, will the possums or bush turkeys get to it first? :)       

             

Loving: My new Saltwaters and Basket from Larkstore.

Considering: My breakfast options this week.. thinking this idea could be a cracker! The Green Kitchen Stories still remains one of my favourite blogs and cookbook.

Watching: Wonderland.... I am a bit hooked. Don't think less of me. I am also loving Jimmy Fallon on iview.

Making : Decisions, lots of decisions and lots of healthy snacks.

Hoping: To shave my legs in the not too distant future.

Marvelling: At all the beautiful gardens we pass on our daily walk.

Needing: More hours in the day - preferably for sleep and reading.

Smelling: Jasmine when we go for our daily walks.

Wearing: skirts... lots of skirts and dresses this spring/summer.

Following: Styling You... I love Nikki's blog. She has great ideas on creating your own sense of style.. something I feel I have lost lately.

Noticing: Flowering Jacaranda trees. I found one lone purple flower on our back deck early last week, looked up and their she is - our Jacaranda Tree flowering in all her glory!

Knowing: A little bit more about Mental Illness after watching 'Changing Minds' on the ABC this week. Did you watch it? Yes, we did watch Jack's story too and were equally amazed :) Such is the power of early intervention for children with Autism.

Thinking: Probably too much... as usual :)

Feeling: Positive and eager all mixed together.

Sorting: Out my piles of paperwork. I am so disorganised it is a disgrace!

Buying: Or should I say paying, for a root canal - I am getting so old, even my teeth are dying :)

Getting: Excited about Christmas and having a little bit of time off - bliss.

Disliking: Blogs that are preaching about dietary changes and becoming sugar free. I am a big believer in healthy eating but 'hello'! I love Pete Evans cookbook but he plummeted in my estimations earlier this month when he commented that following a Paleo Diet would reduce the occurrence of ASD. What the? No doubt that a healthy, additive and preservative free diet for children is ideal. Read this article for the story.

Opening: Bills.... blah.

Giggling: At the funny little things my little mate says...

Snacking: Nuts and home made yoghurt.

Wishing: I could find my sunglasses.

Helping: Clean up the garden.

Hearing: Little Butcher Birds chirping from a nest outside. 

Covetting: One of these (below). You will be mine Lovestar vase. The perfect birthday present.. hint.. hint.. :)

x

Image from Pinterest click on photo for link.

Past weeks ...

So, where are we at. We now have a certain diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Not provisional as we first thought. We found out Wednesday. I cried. It wasn't as if it was a shock, or something we did not already suspect but hearing it from Dom's Developmental Paediatrician who is renowned for being very conservative and cautious in diagnosing children, let alone our darling little three year old with a life long disability (Autism), it seemed awfully final. The Paediatrician apologised. With most illnesses you can pop a pill, take antibiotics and the illness and symptoms in time subside. Early intervention will no doubt help Dom considerably (we hope), but Autism will be with us forever. Having said that, we are actually doing pretty well and my little mate is as happy as ever.

Dom needs determined people to advocate for him and he has found those people in our family, particularly in me - I am fiery at the best of times! We are determined to take early intervention 'by the horns' and not let Autism take over our lives or the happiness of our family. Autism will not define Dominic, but will know doubt provide him with ample challenges.

A friend suggested that I write a post about the signs and symptoms of Dom's Autism and when I first realised something wasn't quite right. I can't really put my finger on it, and having said that there is a lot of normal 2-3 year old behaviours that can potentially be 'red flags' for ASD.

I certainly have had considerable concerns about Dom's behaviour since he turned two and overtime as he has matured, these concerns have only intensified.

Yes, in retrospect I feel like an idiot. I am a Child Health Nurse and Midwife. How could I not have noticed the signs earlier? I have thought long and hard about this. Not in a critical way - I can't turn back time and I know that I am a good mum. But I honestly think that we have been (and still are) so consumed in the perfection of our little boy, that we just unconditionally accepted/accept his 'quirks'.

So, where to start. Dom has never liked to be cuddled. As a baby he would almost balance

when you held him as opposed to leaning in and snuggling. I am pleased to say that we have worked hard on this and he will now 'allow' me to give him cuddles. I say 'allow' because he will rarely seek them from me. I think it is fair to say that Dom 'tolerates' the cuddles and kisses demanded by his needy Parents and Grandparents on a daily basis :)

Dom rarely cries (except in the early days when he cried all of the time!). We justified this with comments like, 'he just doesn't like a fuss'. His eye contact although improving greatly, was always poor and at best, brief. He has always played obsessively with toys - repeating the same action over and over again and he does no imaginative play. I am sure he thinks to himself when he sees other kids pretending to feed a doll, 'don't those kids know that dolls don't eat food?'

Dom never waved or pointed to things - an absolute 'red flag' for Autism. It is only in the last month that we have taught him how to wave - it is a completely un-natural thing for him, although he clearly loves the cheers and laughter he gets in response to his wave which is more like a flap :)

He will now point at things that he is counting or wants to show you, but we have had to teach him to do this. All these things for him, are not instinctive.

One significant behaviour that has distressed me greatly is Dom's inability to let us comfort him when he has hurt himself or is in pain. It always seemed that we were causing him more distress when

trying to comfort him. This would inevitably lead to melt-downs (far, far more intense than your average tantrum) where he would scream, throw things and at times become violent, hitting us repeatedly.

Earlier warning signs from when he was a baby was his (continued) obsession with the front loader washing machine, (at 9 months he would sit in front of the washing machine for an entire cycle -
depending on how many loads we needed to do, this could go on for a long time!) his obsession
 with the vacuum cleaner (spinning the wheels for hours on end and crying inconsolably if it was put away!) and ceiling fans. My goodness ceiling fans have been a MASSIVE obsession. As has the
DVD, coffee machine.... Should I go on? :) He has also always loved red lights. Dom loves numbers
and would sit in front of the stove and call out the red numbers on the digital clock while I cooked dinner. His knowledge of numbers is phenomenal, as is his memory.

Things finally came to a head about 3 months ago when we became considerably more concerned

about his tantrums and outbursts at home. Although he doesn't hit other children or his kindy

teacher's (thank goodness), he does hit those who love him most. Yes, even my beautiful Dad has copped a few bops on his bald head. Thankfully Dom's wonderful kindy teachers did their homework, expressed concerns about the fact that Dom doesn't socialise with other children, plays obsessively with toys as well as countless other concerns, and the rest my friends is history.

Dom can speak and what he can say, he says really well. You should hear him sing - he has a beautiful singing voice! He does not however, make conversation. He only communicates needs and wants. If I ask him how his day was at kindy, I am always met with silence. I cannot wait for him to have conversations with me. Having said that, he has a smile that can melt your heart and other ways that he communicates with you. You can tell when he has had a good day because his beautiful blue eyes are clear and sparkly - like when you hop out of a pool. On days where he is overwhelmed his eyes are heavy and almost cloudy, giving nothing away at all - deep in thought and troubled.

I could not write this post however, without also making comment on the wrong things to say to someone who has had a child diagnosed with ASD. I don't mean this to sound nasty, ungrateful or unkind but things have been said to me over the past couple of months that have caused me considerable frustration, often from well meaning people who have simply know idea what to say. 

Allow me if you will, to provide some feedback.

Making comments like, 'we are all on the spectrum though aren't we?' is not helpful. This comment
has been made in jest I get that, but there is a considerable difference between having little quirks that cause you no interruption to your daily life, compared to the enormity of and the undeniable distress of having Autism. It is beyond heartbreaking to see you child so upset and not be able to do a thing to help them.

This is similar to comments like, 'it could be so much worse'. We realise that but at this point in time, this provides me with little comfort.
Someone has even said to me, 'he could have cancer!' We are obviously beyond grateful that this is not the case, but again comments like these deny parents an opportunity to appropriately express their grief and sadness. My best friends response was perfect. She told me she was sorry. She didn't try to make it better, she allowed me to talk. I am yet (thankfully) to have anyone comment on whether I am concerned that immunising Dom, caused his Autism. 

So, there we go. We are ok. We will start intervention and eventually adjust to this diagnosis. I wonder how long it will take me to become completely comfortable with Dom's diagnosis, but remain beyond grateful to my Mum and Dad, family and wonderful friends who have shown me (us) such genuine love and concern over the past couple of months.
We are definitely a very lucky little family and so blessed to have such a beautiful little boy.

Apologies for the crazy formatting on this post, but I wanted to publish this regardless. Once again, Blogger seems to be full of gremlins :) .....

Busy weeks and baking...

My little friend attends childcare on Monday and Friday.

If I am not recovering from night shift, I usually spend the day rushing around tidying, washing, vacuuming and trying to do a little baking. Like all mums, there is no 'down time,' but I always feel like I have had a productive day. I must confess today, I did however put my feet up momentarily to watch Wonderland - regrettable I know. :)

So, our week ahead is going to be full. I am working three shifts and we have 2 important appointments scheduled for Dominic. Both appointments are related to the outcome of his assessment for ASD and early intervention that needs to be commenced. I am feeling a mixture of emotions, but mostly positive and just eager to find out what the experts think we need to do. Lots of work ahead and decisions to be made.

In the spirit of positive thinking, I decided that I should make us a big fat chocolate cake. Although I still predominantly cook healthier foods, one should always make exceptions for treats don't you think? 

I got this recipe from BabyMac. If you haven't checked Beth's blog out, you really should.
The cake is called "Anne" (check her blog out for the reasons why), and according to Beth, is the 'perfect' chocolate cake.

Here is a photo of my version of 'Anne'. It was delicious - the perfect accompaniment to my pre-night shift coffee and will undoubtedly put spring into my step for what should be a very productive week.

Happy Tuesday lovely readers!

Don't forget to check out my instagram account http://instagram.com/homeandfreesias

Life changes....

Lovely readers.......

So, I have been missing in action for sometime. I have deliberated long and hard about writing this post.

Do I need to even explain to you why I haven't written for so long? I do feel like I owe you an explanation though. I love this blog. I have missed this blog but there may be a few things that I mention from time to time now, that are new. That I haven't mentioned before. Quite a few things, life changing things have happened in our family since I last wrote.

I don't want to go into too much detail. It would take me days to write all the things that have happened in our little family over the past 6 weeks. Hopefully, by letting people know where we are at, they will understand why at the moment things that may be so easy for some families, like having a BBQ in the park, are just that little bit harder for ours. I hope that by letting people know about Dom's ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder), you won't feel sorry for me/us - we are the lucky ones to have such a beautiful little boy after all. I just want you to be aware and maybe on the odd occasion, just let me 'vent' - through this little blog.

I will have some friends who read this post today, who I have not spoken to about Dominic. 

I am sorry that I haven't called you and told you personally. It is not the easiest conversation to have with people - 'Gee, the weather has been great hasn't it? Did I mention that Dom has ASD?' See what I mean? 

It does feel strange to even have the word 'Autism' feature in my conversations with people. I am still not a fan of this word. Hopefully in time I will feel differently. Nor am I a fan of the word 'disability'. If anything, I feel like being on the spectrum has the potential to 'en-able' Dominic in ways that you and I can only imagine.

We have had tremendous input from health care professionals so far, and a lot of care and support provided by our family and friends and for me, particularly my brilliant friends at work. 

Dominic is three, the greatest age to begin early intervention for ASD. 

Dominic talks - mostly when he wants something or has something that he wants to share with you. 

In our situation this is usually to talk about numbers ('1,3 and 5 are odd Mummy!) or trains. Boy, do we love trains - and home appliances :)

 The difference for Dom, unlike some children with ASD, is he is trying so hard to engage with us and people, particularly other children around him. He loves Montessori (we love his teachers too!) and he wants to be part of his little community. He is making that very clear to us and the health care professionals that have met him during his assessment process. This is tremendously reassuring. 

We have good reason to believe that with early intervention, he will thrive. Just to be able to ask him how his day has been and for him to answer us and smile, will be the most unbelievably brilliant day. For him to wave me off to work will be amazing! Dominic did wave when he was 9 months old. This soon stopped, never to be done again - in retrospect, one of our early warning signs.

We are not sure what early intervention will involve at this stage. I will keep you posted. 

In the meantime, I am back. 

I still love decorating, photography, baking and gardening except now, I am also the mother of a gorgeous little boy with ASD.

x

This photo was taken at the Kindy Disco a few weeks back. We did dance together but the disco lights were far more appealing :)

Grain Free Chocolate Granola (Paleo) ...

My friend Julie-Anne has generously shared some healthy Paleo recipes with me. Although I am not strictly following a Paleo diet, I am certainly still eating really well and have enjoyed so many of the Paleo recipes shared with me by Julie-Anne, with many others I have found on the net. 

This Grain Free Chocolate Granola (Paleo) recipe shared with me by Julie-Anne, originating from the Delighted Momma blog (click on this link for the recipe), is a winner and guaranteed to put a little bit of spring in your step. Especially on a Monday morning :)

I usually just blitz any of the nuts I have in the fridge (almonds, sunflower seeds, pepitas and chia seeds) in my food processor, and then follow the recipe - yummy!

I eat this Granola with yoghurt and strawberries, but in typical Monday morning style, we have devoured all the strawberries in the fridge over the weekend. No matter. It is Monday. The sun is shining. I have had my yummy bowl of crunchy chocolatey goodness and am off to do a heap of washing :)

Here's to a happy week friends.

x

comfort food...

What a week. The rain, although greatly needed for the poor garden, has brought with it many parenting challenges. The tantrums have been coming thick and fast, highlighted of course with the odd funny story or impromptu cuddle, making you still realise things are ok. I am so glad that we don't live somewhere cold, where it rains all of the time. Dominic wouldn't cope! Nor would we for that matter :) 

My boy is an outdoors boy through and through.

I have found myself this morning in the need of a little comfort, in the form of food. Homebaked, sugar filled food. Namely, delicious Apple Cake.

Kate Berry from the Lunchlady (I love Kate's blog which features her photography and other projects too), featured this recipe during the week. It looked amazing and my word, it is scrumptious. I have already had two pieces and as I listen to the pouring rain on our tin roof and the coughing and spluttering of Dominic in the background (of course we are sick again!), for a brief moment there is peace in the world. 

Such is the power of baking. 

Admittedly, I could find the same comfort from a romantic comedy or a good decorating magazine, but homemade cake is just so good for the soul :)

Hope you have had a good weekend. 

Go make yourself an indulgent homemade cake and enjoy a warm cup of tea in this miserable weather.

x

Kate Berry has two websites, one called the Lunchlady and another separate website for her photography and other projects. She is super talented. Both links are provided in this post - enjoy!

A nasty case of blogger envy...

Every now and then in the land called 'Blog', you come across a blogger that is so completely amazing that you are left feeling well, a little mediocre. Possibly even worse :)
This is especially so if the blogger is french, hot and lives in a gorgeous part of the french country side with her beautiful children, husband and dogs. I don't mean to sound dramatic, but once you become acquainted with the blogger Mimi Thorisson and her blog Manger, you too will feel my pain. This blog without sounding dramatic, is divine - in every sense of the word.

My friend Catherine from Farmhouse Home got me onto this blog (thanks Catherine - I am in love with your new blog design too by the way!) and quite simply I have been left agasp. The outfits worn by Mimi as she casually cooks in her kitchen are divine. There is even some shots on her blog of Mimi meandering threw a field with her beautiful daughter at her feet picking berries. But wait, she is wearing a three quarter length shoe string strap dress and gumboots! Her recipes are delicious and 'homely' and the photography included throughout the blog is equally amazing. Her husband Oddur Thorrison is a photographer. Need I say anymore.

I am beginning to sound neurotic or at best, a little loopy.

Just check out her blog and you will see exactly what I mean.

Here is the most beautiful video of her cooking too - found on Youtube.
A word of warning, if you a feeling hormonal or having one of those 'ugly days,' I suggest you watch this another time or with a glass of red and chocolate. You may be left feeling just a little depressed.  Do you know what is even more suckful, (yes, in the land of A Little Home with Freesia's this is a word) chances are in real life, Mimi is not only gorgeous and obviously talented, but nice too! ;)

I will say no more. Look at the blog, weep at the video and let me know whether you have been left feeling just a tad mediocre.

On that note dear friends, Happy Friday!

March ...how can it be?

Well, we are officially into March. I remain quite confused as to where the last three months have gone.

We have settled into childcare and I am finally beginning to find my feet managing work, childcare, family, housework etc. I am crap with change, but eventually pull through - never without a drama or funny story to tell.

I have spent the morning trying to catch up on my favourite blogs and housework, while playing and providing entertainment. I believe Oprah calls it multi-tasking. I call it living in chaos :)
I have also been taking the odd photo. There are so many beautiful photos on my favourite blogs at the moment. People are so talented - it's ridiculous!

I was at a loss to what to write about today. I thought I could tell you about how I lost my iPhone at New Farm Park last Thursday. You heard it. My iPhone. 1000 photos and all, to then have it found by a total stranger. He went to great lengths to contact me, finally returning my phone on Friday. My photos have since been downloaded safely onto our computer and I remain very grateful for the honesty and kindness that is still very much alive in my community. I figured that the phone would be gone forever!

I then thought I could do a post on the trials and tribulations of toilet training the modern day three year old - but figured that would be boring and potentially over sharing :)  

Instead, I have opted to post some photos that I have taken of the house this morning. These photos are not necessarily of my favourite spaces, but where we seem to spend a great deal of our time.....

This photo represents how I would like you to think that we live - 'Home sweet, home'.

If you look carefully you can see yoghurt stains from little toddler paws on my favourite        
Aunty Cookie cushion. 

This photo represents the chaos behind the shot. I have had to dig my old quilt out of storage to cover the Vegemite stains all over the couch. The whole couch can't be shown cause of the washing I need to fold which is in the right hand corner. Not to mention the toilet training .... little puddles popping up everywhere. Even on the couch.... not the greatest of days.

I don't need to say anymore do I? :)

Hope you are all having a good week. Thank you so much to the new people that have started following my blog recently. I am also really excited to announce that I have been nominated for the Kidspot 'Voices of 2014' Top blogger award. Big hugs to friends and readers that took time out to vote for me.

x

My Valentine

No Valentine's around here friends, but I was smothered in kisses by a very handsome little man this morning. My ever thoughtful mother sent Dominic this Valentine's Day card in the mail.

On the inside it read: 'Dom, we love you every day, not just on Valentine's Day!'

I could have cried :)

Happy Valentine's Day lovely friends. Make sure you have an extra fun weekend.

x

I promised a certain someone that I would update this post. I did receive a beautiful card from my Valentine on Valentine's Day evening :)...It was in fact me who was disorganised without a card to give!

Foot photos

I will let you in on a secret.

I am pretty easily amused in fact, very easily amused. Particularly after a night shift. For some reason lots of random things are really funny after a night shift. Obviously this may not always be the case, one can also be quite fragile after a night shift but today, everything is very amusing.

Dominic I am ashamed to say, remains very iPhone savvy. Do you remember my 'Techno Turkey' post?
He can have your phone speaking Japanese, can lock you out of your phone indefinitely and even hang up on your boss (repeatedly) when she calls you to do an extra shift (that was an awkward moment)!

Nothing however, has been so bizarre as Dom's random 'foot shots' that keep appearing on my phone. Every couple of days these delicious little feet keep popping up in unexpected photos.

Needless to say, these photos have given us a good laugh. I found a few more random shots this morning and felt that I had to share... :)

Exhibit (a) - Little trotters casually kicking back on toddler day bed. Is that Chris' foot in the background?
I do believe it is ..... delightful.

Exhibit (b) - Yes, on the toilet. Don't judge me for giving him the iPhone to get him to sit still on the loo! 

Of course, this will be a problem when he drops the iPhone in the toilet, which will undoubtedly happen. Maybe I will stop doing that....  

Exhibit (c) - Little feet casually resting on the back of the passenger seat in the car.

Have you ever had funny photos taken by children pop up on your phone, or is this strictly a Dominic phenomena? He is pretty out there....
Where would I be without my funny little boy :)

x

January .... where did you go?

We have been busy. We have started childcare again. It is a Montessori childcare, it is beyond beautiful and the girls who work there, I could bottle up and bring home with me. My little mate, although dreadfully enthusiastic about attending and seeing 'the kids', is struggling a little with adjusting. The girls say that he has been sad and that he misses me dreadfully. Needless to say that has been met with tears (from us both). Loving the childcare centre as much as I do, has made me feel a lot stronger through this process, but my goodness motherhood is hard sometimes isn't it? 

So, true to my New Years resolution of paying particular attention to my 'self care' in 2014, I have been eating really well, treating myself to daily juices, practicing gratitude (yes, I proudly still maintain my journal) and enjoying the great outdoors with our daily walk and even just hanging out together in our backyard. Chris and I kicked a ball around the backyard the other day. Those who know me would be having a bit of a chuckle at this, I am not known for my co-ordination, but it was such a good laugh!

I have otherwise been sorting through my magazines ( I desperately need to throw out my magazines from last year!) and cutting out pictures for inspiration and making an effort where possible to be creative. 

This is a process I truly love - imagining the little things I want to do with our home and recording it in my decorating journal.  

Seeing Stephanie Alexander's house feature on her blog today and on realestate.com.au (have you got a spare million?) also got my imagination going crazy. Imagine having a garden like this! 

Stephanie has created the most wonderful home for her family. It pretty much sums up exactly everything we want for our little house - homeliness and warmth surrounded by books, photos and sentimental belongings. 

Stephanie if I had the cash, I would buy your house in a heart beat. I would love so much to navigate my way through this garden and tend daily to the veggie patch. Of course this would be a full-time job, so I wouldn't be able to work. What a shame that would be ;) 

What creative projects have you been embarking on recently?

Hope you are all well.

x

The common crow ...

I will let you in on a secret friends. You may not agree, but I really don't like birds. Especially crows. 

In fact, I can't stand them. That horrible 'aaaaarrrrkkkk' sound they make irritates me more than words can say, and the fact we seem to have a community of them living in our Jacaranda tree, is not impressing me. Not. At. All. The fact that one shat on me the other day as I pushed Dominic on his swing for the twenty billionth time, also did not please me. It did however, seem to amuse my little friend as I swore loudly :)

Maybe it goes back to my childhood. Crows would attempt to steal our tuckshop lunches at school and would always be hovering around the bins. I remember laughing hysterically (my laugh has been described by some as raucous), when my bestie was commenting on how loud and distracting the crows were, while we were trying to concentrate during our exams. She joked that maybe the crows outside were calling out 'faaaarrrkkkk', cause let's face it as we sat that English exam, that was exactly what we were thinking - 'faaaarrrrrrkkkk' :)

By coincidence (or was it?) in that same year, the bestie fell victim to what she described as a vicious and intentional attack by pigeons in the Queen Street Mall. This event left her falling to her knees during lunchtime rush hour, commando rolling past Hungry Jacks! She hasn't been the same since. 

Even as adults, I have been in situations with the bestie where we have been walking, talking animatedly about what is undoubtedly a very important social issue, when suddenly she will drop to her knees, hands over her head screaming 'Birds..... I hate freaking birds'. Without a joke, she has even accused a butcher bird of swooping her! Ok that may be a lie but my point is, I have a history with birds - especially the common crow.

Anyway, over the last couple of weeks at home we have noticed this...

Excuse the photo quality, it is hard to make a water feature look pretty.

Yes beloved readers, that is bread floating in our water feature. This happens daily. I know. Completely random. At first I thought it might be kids(?), although I appreciate there is little logic in this theory. I then came across the offending crow. I have tried to get a photo of him, but he is smarter and a lot quicker than me. This morning I watched him drop, yes drop, one single piece of bread into our water feature. He then yelled 'faarrrkkkk' and flew away. He returned an hour or so later and collected the now soggy bread, which he gobbled up in a few quick bites. How bazaar is that? Can you believe it? Crows have been intentionally dropping bread into our water feature to soften it to eat! 

Maybe after all this time, I have underestimated the common crow. I still hate them, but one has to admire such multi-tasking :)

Do you have any strange bird stories? You don't do you. I didn't think so. 

These strange things after all, could only happen to me :)

FYI ..I did not consult the bestie in the publication of this post. Being the clever lass that she is, she gave birth to her second baby a gorgeous little boy, this week. We are so proud of them both and I thought that this post might give her a bit of a laugh. x

A new year....Tintin.

I promised a post about my New Years resolutions didn't I?

I wrote a very long-winded post (unlike me I know), on all the things I would like to achieve this year.
It was boring. In short, my 2014 is about self care and continuing to eat well. I am feeling so good for eating more wholefoods and now I have a juicer! Crazy times ahead ;) Juicing is deliciously addictive. Who would have thought that carrot and beetroot could taste so damn good!

I have also started keeping a gratitude journal. Given the amount of time I devote to my iPhone and iPad, it seemed appropriate that I download an app for such a thing. Gratitude 365 people. It is fabulously easy and you can attach photos from your day too. Love it.

In the meantime, I have been daydreaming about the many things I want to do with Dom's room. I have long been a fan of vintage posters but alas, my budget does not allow for the purchase of the same.
One day I will have the perfect Baly poster.
In the meantime, I have been eyeing off Tintin posters for Dominic's room.
Surely if I can't have a vintage poster he can? ;)
I have been searching high and low for inspiration and found the perfect Tintin poster at the Wooloongabba Antique Centre. It is the same as the picture below.

What do you think?
Are these posters not gorgeous?
Tintin, I am thinking you may just find yourself on my little boys bedroom wall.

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A Christmas Day Story (to remember)....

Friends, I do not know where to start. Christmas Day was perfectly, imperfect. There was lots of fun, tears from overtired toddlers (namely ours), baked goods consumed in excess (by me), Pims at nightfall (with cucumber and mint - sensational!), swims in a beautiful pool with a very cool blow up slide, more slides and swings, presents given and received, ham consumed but not so much so that I found myself wanting to roll in mud 'Peppa Pig' style, and many laughs.

 

I have decided that Christmas is a bit like getting married though, don't you think?

We get so excited. We plan. Spend money, eat, drink and buy presents and then all of the sudden, it is over.

 

Our Christmas Day will however, always be remembered because of a town called Inglewood - 40 km's from Goondiwindi. We had driven through Warwick, knew we needed more petrol prior to getting to Goondiwindi, but decided (stupidly) that we would get petrol in Inglewood.

Inglewood isn't a small country town. There is a main street, Queensland Government Offices, a Post Office etc - you get the picture. With 25km's of petrol on the clock, we pulled into the Shell Service Station at Inglewood, keen to refuel quickly and get to my sisters to see my family and celebrate.

As I went to refuel, I noticed the pumps were locked but there were still customers in the actual petrol station. I approached the attendant and was told abruptly: 'We are now closed. The petrol pumps have been zeroed'.

I explained our predicament, that we hardly had any petrol left in the tank, had a toddler in the car and that it was Christmas Day - surely she could help me out and serve me? I even cried, people who know me won't be surprised by this :) The attendant still refused to sell me petrol, obviously keen to close up and commence her own Christmas Day celebrations.  In fact, the attendant couldn't even tell me where the next petrol station was! Funny, the next petrol station was at our destination - Goondiwindi.

So we set off in the 35 degree heat, somewhat shocked. How could someone be so unkind on Christmas Day? In short, we drove until we ran out of petrol and ended up in a sleepy town called Yelarbon. We parked under a tree opposite this very lonely looking petrol station which was, clearly closed :) - but, of course. 

We then as grown adults had to suffer the humiliation of calling in for back up, which came in the form of my beautiful Brother in law and Father. If you could have only seen my Brother in law hop out of his Ute smirking when they arrived with petrol: 'You lot run into some trouble?', he said in his best Australian accent (his is pretty good). He had a cowboy hat on and black RayBan's. I should have taken a pic for instagram - he is quite the modern day country boy.

Anyway, we made it to Christmas Day lunch. Fun was had and needless to say, will NEVER purchase petrol from Shell again.

 

On a positive note, while we waited for an hour for help, I was able to carefully consider my New Years resolutions. I am sure that you are keen to hear about what I have planned for 2014. All this and more will be provided in a post later in the week :)

 

How was your Christmas Day? Come on, try and out do my family drama... I dare you :)

 

Great to be back friends....

 

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