A week of negotiation

Richard and I have been negotiating all week.  Wish I could say it was for something exciting like my dream house but it wasn't.

It's clean up time.  Family are coming for Tom's 18th birthday lunch next weekend and we need to tidy up.

So as I wrote in the title it has been a week of negotiation..."I'll get rid of this, if you get rid of that".

The skip arrived on Thursday and Richard took a day off work.  I must admit to being a little concerned about what would find it's way to the bottom of the skip before I got home from work.  It was all ok tho. nothing was hidden and I could see exactly what was in there.

When Michael got home from school he had a "smashing good time".  Who would of thought a three seater lounge (no it could not be recycled) and the base of a queen size ensemble could be demolished so easily.

I didn't get to do much of the filling up of the skip because just as I got up to go out, the phone rang...I had the joy of spending the afternoon waiting at the dentist as  had Tom dislodged/knocked out his tooth while playing Touch footy during PE.  The dentist literally shoved it back in - Tom jumped 6 feet into the air - then he glued it to the teeth either side and now we get to wait a week to see if it survived...love ya Tom.

No sport this weekend so the skip will continue to be filled.

A family walk

Our football league held their grand finals today at our local oval.  While Michael's team didn't make it, two of our junior teams did so we made plans to head up and watch them.

As parking is first come, best dressed, we drove one of the cars up last night (before they locked the gates) so we could have a "prime spot".

"We'll all walk up together in the morning", I said.  "Yep" the boys agreed. 

Obviously my definition of walking together is completely different to the boys....

Can you hear what I hear?

Ssshh are you listening?

I hope you can hear what I'm hearing.

No, don't turn up your volume.  I haven't added music to my blog.

It's just the gentle hum of the garden.

...half the time I don't even notice it but today....aahhh....it's blissful.

Thursday is my short day at work only 3 sessions -

75 children +

a parent or two per child +

some baby siblings +

some grandmas.

As you can imagine it does get noisy and most of the time I don't even notice but today it was

LOUD 

Fortunately it was all happy noises - no tantrums or crying just lots of laughter and chatter.   Isn't it amazing what a bit of sunshine can do to improve everyone's demeanour.

As happy as the noise was, I was more than ready to leave at 12.30 and come home to the quiet hum of my garden.

It really is quite perfect.

Wish you could smell this.

We get to read some great things on other people's blogs and see some wonderful photos but I really wish you could smell what I can smell.

I could smell it the minute Richard pulled up in the driveway and it was divine.  One minute our garden beds looked like this

and then after a bit of work, they looked like this

No matter how drab a garden bed is, it always looks better when it's been mulched. 

And the best thing about this beautiful mulch was the fact that it was free.  Our local council dumped a huge pile of it at the local oval with a "free mulch" sign.  Richard couldn't believe his luck. 

Naughty Lulu

We celebrated my niece's 21st birthday last night.  She organised a party at a pub in North Adelaide.  I've spent a lot of time trying to buy something new to wear and finally last shop yesterday afternoon I found it.

It was a good night out and I felt nice in my new clothes - nothing too exciting - had to be practical, you know dress it up or dress it down.  So I left the shop with a new top, trousers and of course some bling.

So why the naughty Lulu title?

Obviously you have to wear shoes when you go out and to finish my look last night I slipped on my all time favourite Italian sandals. 

I love these shoes, pretty little heel, love the flower shape of the straps and they look sweet on.  I bought them from a little boutique down the main street. Lulu obviously loved them too this morning.

Somehow I think I wore them for the last time last night.

Lulu hasn't chewed any shoes for agesssssss.  Why these ones?  Why not my $30 slip ons?  Needless to say a certain little dog is in the bad books.



No football on Saturday

Sadly for Michael and the rest of his team last Saturday they were beaten in the second elimination final.

http://www.hahndorffc.com.au/

http://www.hahndorffc.com.au/

The boys played so well and only lost by just one point in the last few minutes of the game.  They should be very proud of their efforts as they weren't expected to make the finals at all.  This year they had a lot of first year "Senior Colt" players - Michael included. 

While I'm sad for them that they didn't win and progress to the next round, I'm looking forward to hanging around at home on Saturday. 

Cricket training started last Wednesday so I'll enjoy my Saturday while I can.

Tea cosy

Suzanne from Enchanted Moments has invited us to show her our cosy. 

I did have a moment of panic as I initially read it as "Show us your cozy",  you know cozzie, bathers, swimmers, one piece, bikini, two piece whatever you like to call them.

Not only is it too cold to put the "old cozzie" on but really...I would need some serious winter defuzzing and you'd need dark sunglasses on to block out the dazzling white skin.

Fortunately a picture is worth a thousand words and I realised that this what I was meant to be posting.

My sister made my tea cosy for my birthday this year.  I just happened to buy the book with the tea cosy in it for her Christmas present.  Luckily for me, my sister obliged when I asked for a tea cosy for my birthday. 

"Olive Kitteridge" by Elizabeth Strout

Picked up the next book for bookclub today.  I love it when I can borrow it from the library, although sometimes I wish I had bought it so I could keep it.

This month's book is - "Olive Kitteridge" by Elizabeth Strout.

Back cover says:

"Olive Kitteridge:  indomitable, compassionate and often unpredictable.  A retired schoolteacher in a small coastal town in Maine, struggling to make sense of the changes in her life as she grows older.  She is a woman who sees into the hearts of other, discerning their triumphs and tragedies.

We meet her stoic husband, bound to her in a marriage both broken and strong, and a young man who aches for the mother he lost - and whom Olive comforts by her mere presence, while her own son feels tyrannized by her overbearing sensitivities.

A penetrating, vibrant exploration of the human soul in need, Olive Kitteridge will make you laugh, nod in recognition, wince in pain and shed a tear or two."

Apparently the book is a collection of 13 connected stories about Olive and her immediate family and friends so it will be interesting to see how it flows as I read it.

It has been published under another name as well "On the Coast of Maine". It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2009, and was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award.

As usual I'm looking forward to reading it but...the print size is really small and while I don't have glasses yet sometimes I think the time is getting near when I will need them.

No words necessary