Sweet sixteen

My baby is 16 today.  I know lots of people say it, but, WHERE DID THAT TIME GO?????

Here he is just 5 days old and our first day home from the hospital.  In the arms of his cousin, Madeleine, who turns 21 this year.

Christmas day with his big brother Tom.  We don't have a lot of baby photos of Michael as Tom (who could climb anything, any time) found three rolls of film on top of the cupboard and pull them all out.  You can imagine my tears when I found him having fun.

My three favourite boys.  Michael was a blondie as a little boy and now look at him...

 

Happy birthday baby.  Let's hope the next 16 don't quite go as quick. 

Feeling like a slug

What a slow, long week and I must admit I've been feeling a bit like a slug.  Just can't be bothered with anything. The only difference is that you can actually see where a slug has been because of the beautiful silver trail it leaves behind.  Can't say I've been leaving silver trails anywhere - only messy ones.

Bookclub was at my house on Thursday night and I even cheated and bought dessert.  We've been meeting now once a month for over 5 years and I've never bought dessert.  It was very delicious and given my lack of enthusiasm for cooking anything, well worth the trip to the bakery.

Off to watch Michael play football this morning and then this afternoon I think I will have an old fashioned nap on the couch make Michael a birthday cake for tomorrow.  Should probably think about a card and present too.

I enjoyed reading My French Country Home's blog post  this morning, you might too.

One week until school holidays - Alleluia.

Winter Wednesday - 5

Brrrr...we had a very cold start to the day this morning.  If we were lucky it was a chilly 1 degree.  There was a beautiful frost - although I'm sure the plants wouldn't agree.

But you know, there's nothing better than a cold winter's night.  After tea and tidying up I love getting into my pj's and settling down on the couch.  Sometimes I read, sometimes watch tv and sometimes, just sometimes, I watch the inside of my eyelids.

When I was little I'd have nighties cause that's what mum bought - she was a nightie sort of girl.  I couldn't stand them - twisting and riding up all night.

In my early twenties I went through a all-in-one pj phase.  Not very practical and bloody stupid when I moved to the cold hills.  Going to the loo in the middle of the night was a very nippy affair because you'd have to unzip it and expose all your bits to cold.

These days I'm much more concerned with warmth than anything else, so it's pj's for me.  I love the soft feel of the flannelette and then you put on your bed socks and you're all ready for a cosy night.

Yes I do love winter...pop over to Hazel's and see what she loves about winter.

Meet Gilbert

I bought a little piece of furniture today.

This is Gilbert.

I haven't quite worked out where I will put Gilbert yet.  He's little, only 110cm high, so that means I'll  be able to put "stuff" on top of him too.

The next question of course is, what will I display on the shelves?  I'm wondering if my blue and white chinamen will fit on the bottom shelf? I suppose what goes inside will depend on where I put him.

One of the Kindergym mums and her friend have started a facebook business called Foundabout.    

 'At Foundabout we pride ourselves on bringing you beautiful, unique "they don't make them like this anymore" pieces.'

They only started last week and I'm looking forward to popping back and checking out what new items they add.  An empty cupboard is a good excuse to look for some new china. 

Hope you have a happy week.  xx 

A little bit of action in the vege garden

Finally the veges have realised that their job is to grow.

The cauliflower has grown just a smidgen more but now

has a faint tinge of purple to it's colour.

Potato leaves are getting bigger.  Am I meant to be putting dirt or

something on top of them?

The brussel sprouts which I had forgotten were brussel sprouts

are growing too.  Murphy's law says that they'll grow the best

because no-one else but me will eat them.

Snow peas

Red cabbage - yummy coleslaw

and green cabbage too.

We're expecting a warmish weekend - well it won't be

freezing cold, so they could just keep growing more.

And

I'm also happily reading my friend's book.

"Prohibited zone"

by

Alastair Sarre

Winter Wednesday - 4

Winter Wednesday is on again today with Hazel.

I love winter, especially now the boys are bigger and less inclined to go jumping in puddles and mud - one would hope so at 15 and 17 years.

I don't think that there are many things more beautiful than a rainbow after a winter rain.

www.horizontalimage.net

www.missouriskies.org

www.cartoondollemporium.com

www.planetpals.com

Why wouldn't you love winter when you get to see rainbows more often.

(Sorry I couldn't find my photo disc with photos of rainbows I've taken but I hope these are pretty enough.)

Wild and windy

We're expecting a wild and windy night.  Tom says that the CFS warning is for 120km winds, thunderstorms and hail.

In the garden the Chinese Elm is still hanging onto some of it's leaves.

I wonder how many leaves will be left in the morning?

I thought I should pack away all the bits and pieces before the wind got too bad.  While wandering around the garden I noticed the rain water tank had sprung another leak.

We've plugged up previous leaks with magnets but I think that maybe this beauty is coming to the end of it's life as a water storage unit.