endings and beginnings

Christmas has come and gone. And after all the craziness and work and effort and family, it was so fantastic just to get home on Boxing Day. And after getting through the next day of work, it finally felt like I was on holiday.

This year I went to my parents' house for Christmas lunch with my own little family. And it was very poignant, and happy, and sad; for after forty years my parents are selling their home, the house in which I grew up, to move up the Coast and be near me.. which is exciting in itself..

 I just wanted to wander around the garden and feel the memories.. Always, when I think of my childhood, it's the garden I remember most vividly. For this is where I remember spending all of my time. I probably didn't. But it just felt like I did.

There were always packs of kids.  Swimming in the pool, playing Marco Polo, Pool Volleyball or Dive-y Across. Or belting around the garden playing Destroy the A and Tinny. Hanging upside-down on the old swing set, performing gymnastic feats. Or, in the case of my neighbour, knocking out her front (new) adult tooth. At night we would force my parents to make their coffee in the dark as we played Spotlight, squeezing into spider infested crannies behind the old shed and brick BBQ. Swimming some more. Sucking the honey out of the little red flowers around the pool. Walking around and around and around the house on home-made stilts. Riding our bikes up and down the driveway. Climbing trees and spending hours up there. Building cubby houses and digging ditches. We had fun...endless fun

So I ambled around the garden, and took some photos, for keepsakes. The garden has changed a bit now, since we kids grew up and moved out. My Mum was finally able to put in her fishpond, her rose garden and other grown up stuff. But to me, It'll always be the garden of my childhood. And for that, I'll always be grateful.

ice magic

Maybe it's my English blood, but Christmas doesn't really feel like Christmas until I have experienced a chill factor. So yesterday we took the kids and a bunch of friends to the ice skating rink. Last year we had such a good time and I wanted to relive those memories.

Well, at first it all felt like it was going horribly wrong. There were tears and falls, mashed fingers and some misunderstandings. I was beginning to feel like it was terrible idea. And then suddenly, everyone cheered up and started having fun. And then I started having a great time too.

I skated with my man, my girls, and everyone else's kids too. And as we skated, we talked and laughed and fell over and laughed some more. And then we won some prizes, skated some more, ate hot chips and drank green slushies and had photos taken with Santa. We disco danced and played silly games and won some more prizes. And at the end, two of us had band aids, one had a bruised knee, two had blisters and one had a sore behind. But all of us had smiles.

We'll be going again, I hope.

finally...holiday time

I've finally made it through the last 2 weeks. It's been a daze of work and frantic activity.
I've had to really focus on that "one day at a time" mentality. There's still so much to be done before Christmas, but at least now it's not complicated by having to head off to work for a ten hour stretch.

Tomorrow I have to:

-produce a plate of sushi and go watch my daughter sing in her school choir.
-re-enrol my youngest in gym...
-visit the library and put in our slip for the Green Sheep competition.
-locate our gingerbread houses and figure out how to assemble them (last year we made one from scratch but it was an altogether overly mighty experience. This year I'm taking a short cut)
-catch my dear friends for a coffee on our last child free day

Then I plan on spending some time with the family..

maybe doing this...

or this.....

and just enjoying some down time at home while we have the chance.

down on the farm

Every now and then, it's necessary to take a day out of one's hectic schedule and just chew the cud. Or watch someone else do it....

Saturday was one such day. We went to Imbil and just hung out.

We rode horses. Climbed tree houses. Bumped across the paddocks on the ute. Fed the calves. Checked out the ducklings and baby chicks. Swang. Ate. Drank cups of tea. Chatted and just watched the kids have fun.

 Drove home late; dirty, tired and happy.