~ still from the week that was book week ~

 

1.  The coldest August morning for 40 years saw me snapping away in the garden for less than a minute before the camera froze!  These forget-me-nots looked so sweet edged in frosty lace.  My magnolia tree didn't like the heavy frost though - all the gorgeous creamy blossoms turned brown instantly.

2.  Daddy's birthday this week - he had to fly home to join us for dinner and then fly out again the next day but we spoiled him with pretty presents and orange cake.

3.  Book Week - my little Cat in the Hat, Katy (from "What Katy did") and Alice.   The school made a great effort with Book Week this year - teachers going from class to class sharing their favourite books, a big book quiz and the parade.  I converted an old Cinderella dress-up with some felt card shapes (still not believing that her size 3 dress up fits almost 11 year old her!) and tacked some fur onto a t-shirt - all within my limited skill set. (Mum made the bonnet - yay for her!)

4.  Daffodil day  - and a little present to myself.

5.  Roly-poly-ing down the hill at the park.  Such joy.

6. and 7.  Daisy chain making and wearing at the Botanical Gardens yesterday.  She's been begging for a picnic for weeks and at last the sun shone.  I loved how she used a fork to poke holes in the stems, and sent her slave brother to collect the daisies.  She was so focused.. and so pleased with the results.

8.  Irresistible.


I'm linking up with Em at the beetleshack to share some of the moments from our week.


♥

~ playing catch up ~

I'm playing catch-up with the 52 lists project today but I also feel like that's a bit like what my whole life is at the moment.

 - I fished not-very-dirty-but-definitely-not-clean soccer socks out of the laundry for Lil to wear to training today (I don't think I'm ever going to catch up on the washing until the weather clears).

 - I'm playing phone tag with a couple of friends whom I haven't spoken to in months (I probably will never catch up on their winter news).

 - I owe a couple of people snail mail  - a nice job but not high on the priority list.

 - the front path is still waiting for a make-over 4 years down the track of me promising to get onto it.

 - last years bulbs are still in the garage!!

 - let's face it ... I'm never going to get on top of editing/filing/sorting all my photos...unless I put down the camera for a year and dedicate myself to it full time that is.

How are you going?
Are you super-organised and on top of things?
Or playing a little catch up?

What are your favourite childhood books?

♥

~ this week in snippets ~

1.  A little surprise in the fridge - I just love seeing their faces when I do something silly like this and they find it unexpectedly.

2.  One of my all time favourite flowers - like frilly bloomers.  These were picked by small, loving hands and presented with ceremony.

3.  Guidebooks and maps for the big trip next year.  We booked the tickets today....exciting and scary all at the same time.

4.  Lemony, almondy Italian biscuits made at Grandma's house and devoured here.

5 and 6.  Lunch date with the Doc.  We went to the Shoebox Cafe in Elizabeth St - cool menu and fabulous duck pancakes.

7.  Connect 4 fun

8.  Daphne at $1 a bunch from the community market at school - the scent is divine.  I'm going to buy another bush to plant here this week and see if I can keep it alive.

9.  Teeny tiny books (the little book with the heart is full of IG photos and is magnetic - we are in love with them.  Find them here) and mini-mail (free printables from this lovely site) sitting in the window seat. 


We've had lots of changes to our routines this week - just to keep it interesting.  Some more paid work for me (immunising and examining) which has meant chaos in the laundry and in the mornings.  Its a bit more of the same this week with the Doc away, book week parades (I've got to come up with an Alice, a cat in the hat and a Katy (from "What Katy Did") by Friday) and more immunising.  I made a Thai green curry in the slow cooker last week - think we might be having that a few nights this week as well.

How is your week shaping up?
I'm linking up here with Em to share some of the moments from our week.

 ♥

~ grateful for ... living here ~

 

We've been talking about refugees in our house this week.
About equality.
And compassion.

I don't like the "boat people" policies that Tony and Kevin are promoting. 
I'm much more likely to nod along to this man's wise words and I've shared Judy Horacek's freebie card (above) with lots of people this week.

The freedom to disagree, to debate, to declare opinions without fear of retribution or persecution, to bring up my children in a safe country... I'm so grateful for that.

I'm linking up with Kylie and others here.

 ♥

~ a few things about me today ~

Making : slow headway in the "clean up the office" project

Cooking : butter chicken in the slow cooker and rhubarb compote for my porridge

Drinking : green tea with lemon

Reading: the best exotic Marigold hotel

Wanting: the red print dress from the new Country Road collection

Looking: at the rain outside and wondering if my washing will ever dry

Playing: snakes and ladders, uno, spotto

Wasting: time reading lovely blogs

Sewing : up a hole in a beloved stuffed toy

Wishing : I'd planted more tulips and grape hyacinths

Enjoying : Offspring on TV

Waiting : for bare legs weather again

Liking : my new blue dotted shirt

Wondering : how I can possibly have 13 odd socks in the wash this week

Loving: the cosiness of the wood fire Hoping : my leg is not too sore to play hockey this week

Marvelling : at the general lack of compassion for refugees from our politicians and media

Needing : time alone

Smelling : the daphne I "acquired" on a walk this week

Wearing : a woolly scarf, boots and a warm cardie

Following : my son as he scoots away on our walks to the post office

Noticing : the exciting beginnings of spring all around

Knowing : that I worry too much about things that don't matter

Thinking : about our big trip next year

Bookmarking :  I forget to bookmark - I take a snap on the ipad!

Opening : a bottle of wine tonight after the kids have gone to bed

Giggling : when my kids sing along to songs with all the wrong lyrics

Feeling : content

I saw this here at Pip's and then read Vanessa's as well - and thought what a great idea for a rainy Tuesday.

How are you travelling this week?

♥

~ our week in snippets ~

1.  Another blossom shot.  Because I can't walk past it without taking shot. And it makes me happy.

2.  He has to have the green striped bowl and the monkey spoon every morning.  Or else.

3.  Fejoias in our vegie box this week.  We've sampled a couple, not really sure what to do with the remainder.  Any great tips?

4.  Dippy eggs - a weekend staple.

5.  Pretty rainbow necklaces (from here)  - Catherine sent extras for the girls so they could be rainbow-y too.

6.  Playing minion run on an old phone that he has snaffled for his own purposes.  That tongue is still out!

7.  Happy cats.

8 and 9.   Today they tiny posies, bound them with washi tape and set up a flower stall - they have big plans for hitting the markets soon - I'm not sure my garden is up to it.

10.  We're planning a big trip next year.  I can hardly bear to think about it because I get too excited!

I've just got home from hockey - we had a 9pm game tonight - so late!  We won 4-2.  I'm not going to sleep for ages now...should be folding those mountains of washing.
Hope your week is fab

I'm linking up here - for lots more moments small and beautiful.


♥

~ 10 on 10 for August ~

 

 

1.  Mt Wellington first thing this morning as we headed out to soccer.  The girls played in sleet and then sunshine.  It was a typical Hobart 4 seasons in one day kind of day really.

2.  A grapefruit from our tree for breakfast this morning (you can't see all the sugar!)

3.  The post-soccer strip at the front door.

4.  A puppet show with "duck" the duck puppet he made yesterday in kinder.

5.  Nail art for 4 year olds

6.  Same mountain a little later in the day

7.  First anemone for the year - picked and adorning the kitchen table.

8.  Besties in spots and stripes on their way down the street.

9.  Afternoon tea at Ginger Brown - our fabulous local cafe.

10. Just before the clouds and rain came again.  I love these single blossoms.

This was our Saturday August 10, 2013
I'm joining in with 10 on 10 here.
What did your day look like?

♥

~ grateful for ... breastfeeding ~

This week was world breastfeeding week... and I've been inspired by some lovely celebratory stories of breastfeeding (especially Marian and Tahnee's) to share my own story.  

***************************

I finished 6 years at medical school without a single lecture or tutorial about breast feeding.  I then completed 6 years in the hospital system and, from recall, did not see a single breast-feeding mother as a patient.  Towards the end of this time I had decided on a career in general practice.  Nervous and very aware of my limitations I enrolled in some extra courses (obs&gynae and child health) to try and broaden my knowledge beyond the hospital style of medicine.
   
So, finally... some sessions on breastfeeding.  The practicalities of attachment, the potential barriers to feeding, a practical demonstration of feeding, tips and hints for dealing with breast feeding issues, personal stories of breast feeding successes and failures.  Already strongly pro-breast feeding,  I left those sessions far more confident about my role to support, educate and encourage women and families about breast feeding.  I was also very clear that for some mother/child teams breastfeeding was not going to work and my role in supporting them was also clear.

Then, first week into my new GP career  the huge divide between learning and real life hit me right in the face.  Questions about bleeding nipples, the right dummies to use to promote breast feeding, how to improve supply.... my lack of practical knowledge fully exposed.  Luckily, in the next consulting room was a very experienced GP who had just had her 6th child.  This baby accompanied her mum to work each day and was fed in the consulting room, often whilst she was consulting.  This lovely lady would sail in and answer their questions, reassure them and leave me wondering if I would ever be really equipped to deal with all of these issues. 

I became an avid questioner of new mums.  I asked them all about their experiences, their problems.  I acquired knowledge by proxy and became a far more useful resource to my patients.

Then my own baby.  
I was determined to breast feed.  
It felt like my only option.

Luckily I was blessed with a baby that really wanted to, and loved to, breastfeed right from her very first moments.  In the next few weeks we practised and refined this new skill together.  It wasn't smooth sailing .. there were tears and blocked ducts and its only looking back that I realise just how hard we struggled.  The Doc was super supportive but there were many other voices far less so - who suggested bottles and formula...to me they were simply saying I'd failed.  We persisted - and then at the 8 week mark it all fell into place...became automatic, like something we were born to do. 

I loved it... from very early on it was clear to me that while I was nourishing her little body I was also nourishing us - with skin contact, with cuddles, with time just to be together.  I always had plenty of milk, she thrived, I revelled in the fact of being so needed. 
Lily fed for about 20 months until one day she just didn't want to any more.  Maybe the milk tasted different (as I was pregnant again), maybe it was just her time.   I didn't really think about it too much - I was busy with a toddler who slept poorly, getting ready for our next baby and planning our move back to Tassie.

Gracie was next.  This time it really was a breeze.  I knew what to do, she learned quickly and we never looked back.  Almost 3 years later she was still feeding (cue much consternation from family members) until one day I realised we'd missed 2 night feeds and it was over.  I was bereft.  I missed the closeness, the sense of being needed.  I wasn't sure if we would be able to have another child and I felt like I'd missed marking the end of something momentous.

And then Jack.  Another easy, super-keen feeder.  Having thought I'd never be in that position again I relished it all.  Even the night feeds.  Especially the night feeds. Day feeds were often squeezed in, fitted around the rest of the family - I'd be listening to readers, answering questions, multi-tasking.  At night it was just the two of us - quiet moments of drinking each other in.

 ***************************

It was a really precious and beautiful time in my life.  A true everyday miracle.  
I know how lucky I was and am incredibly grateful for it.

I'm linking up with Kylie over here for weekly gratefuls (its been a while).

♥

~ kids were here [August] ~

From the minute you reach our front door there is no doubt that kids live here.

This project is about documenting lives with children - and I'm joining in monthly - sharing pictures without my children in them but brimming with evidence that they live and play here.
  
Art on the walls, the clutter and debris that defines childhood on the floors, soft toys tucked into beds, abandoned food, finished and unfinished projects, precious objects collected and then forgotten, cars and Lego always lurking underfoot. 

♥