summer loving

I'm loving summer. I love the smell of summer, the raspberries and cream taste of summer. The birds in the blue sky sound of summer. the slightly sunburnt, way too tired feel of summer, after a day at the beach.

I've loved having a couple of days in Melbourne with my two youngest girls and my eldest. I loved watching the girls play, together, running in the wind, holding hands, swinging, climbing high. I love the way they try to work things out, the simple joy of watching them having fun is so beautiful.

We had a crazy old, funny time at the beach. For my country girls it's such a huge adventure. One a little nervous but her sister helped her to find the courage to step in, go deeper.

I found a beat up old chair and plonked it in the sand next to an extremely tanned exotic dancer. She was amazing in her red bikini on a striped banana lounge. The girls skipped over waves, splashed, looked for shells, watching the beach police driving up and down, the groups of families, the gulls and the ships dotted on the horizon. They were amazed at the rubbish in the water and helped to drag a whole newspaper out. Eventually we had to go, we left the chair for someone else.

We got to do city things too. The Muppet movie was incredibly great! I loved it and so did they. We did a little bit of shopping and Rosie practised her escalator skills. They negotiated crowds, learning to walk so as not to bump into people, a tricky thing if you are never in a crowd.

We stared up at the roof of Melbourne Central with it's beautiful old shot tower, gracefully still standing amongst the endless shops and bustling throng.

We spent time with our beloved Char. When the girls were in bed she & I became detectives and hunted down lost family on Ancestry.com./

 So much fun, so addictive, so amazing. We found the ancestors of  dear William Henry Walker who died in a gold mine.  His grandfather, his brother, our relatives, our blood. Char found the shipping information for my parents trip to England in 1960 - their names crossed out as they jumped ship in Marseilles, hoping to hitch hike to London.

We went out for dinner, walking the hot & steamy  footpaths of Lygon Street where I had flashbacks from the 70's. There once was a pub on the corner of Lygon and Faraday and I went there often as a child, with my friend and her mum. Us kids looked for lost coins on the sticky carpet under the bar, and ate peanuts from a machine. All to the sounds of Skyhooks and The Stones and Bob Dylan on the jukebox.  It was such a different time, we did as we pleased really, as the adults drank and smoked and partied on. Hard to imagine now. What was that pub called?

I took the kids to  Ikea where we looked in all the rooms, picking our favourites and sitting on couches not wanting to ever get up.  I wonder if anyone has ever crawled into one of the beds for a nap and stayed the night. Imagine that.

We managed to sneak in a bit of op shopping too. The amazing oppie in Woodend had a half price sale, woo hoo! And a trip to Savers is always fun. We tried on dresses and skirts and found some ace treasures. 

We're home now and our summer holiday continues. I'm loving the looseness of time, the sleep ins and the freeness to do as we please. Although it was fun to be at school today for a working bee, nice to see old mates and give the grounds a tidy up.

What's happening in your world? Are you finding some simple things to make you smile? Hope so,

see you soon lovely ones xo

 Tagxedo by Sunday

all good things must come to an end...

The school holidays are coming to an end,  boo hoo!

Here are some photo's from the last two weeks....

beautiful chookie..

sun light through the trees..

happy girls..

pussy cat..

rosella in the front yard..

                                                               

 Woody & Rosie at ACMI..

black lambs at Glenlyon..

...and of course vegemite! A favourite food around these parts!

It's been a great couple of weeks, we've been to the city, to movies, played outside,

seen friends, baked heaps of delicious cakes & biccies,

been to op shops, parks, cafes, exhibitions, taken photo's, made things,

celebrated a birthday..phew..what else?

We've had Charlotte home with us, we've planned a new renovation (!),

we went to a wave pool, out to dinner and

we've talked about the possibility of going to the US next year (!),

there's been dancing, making, gardening, dog walking and some adventuring!

And today I"m so happy to say that we signed up to sponsor a child through World Vision. 

So it's been a full and fun time, have you been on school holidays too?

Hope the last few days are happy & relaxing,

and not too taxing..:)

See you soon lovely friends

xo

the holidays are over...

School holidays are coming to an end, finishing up with some glorious autumn weather,

sunny days and beautiful light. Today I started picking the apples, finally,

and Lucy helped to sweep up the piles of leaves that are falling quickly from our trees. Soon the branches will be bare and winter will be here.

It's been a busy few days, a happy few days. We had our garage sale which went really well, we got rid of lots of junk & some treasures too, met some new people, chatted to visitors to our town as well as neighbours & friends. It was a great day! 

Then yesterday our Charlotte came home. Finally! It's been two and a half months since she was last here. In that time we have all grown a bit older and the seasons have changed. Lots of changes but some things remain the same, 

 it always feels so right and good to be together! I have loved having the whole family here, I love to cook for them all, to make special food for Charlotte, to see them all interacting (sometimes this can be challenging!). 

As you know, I'm just crazy about my family.

We had an egg hunt and we met Char's friend Chris, who took some fantastic photo's of the gang,

including this beautiful shot of Rosie.

Being home over the holidays has been excellent, I've really loved it. A couple of short trips to the city provided a bit of variety but really autumn is the best time to be in Daylesford. The weather has been gorgeous and we've had a lot of fun & happy times. Hanging out & relaxing, playing guitar,

and eating way too much chocolate. Reading, de cluttering, being silly, seeing friends & family, watching the ducklings grow,

 birthdays, dinners out, time with Mum/Nan, dressing up, soft autumn light, 

watching the last episode of The Wire, cake & pudding, celebrating a Tiger win, blogging, playing Words with Friends, laying a wreath for school at the Anzac parade/ceremony today, cups of tea in bed, sleeping in...just some of the things I've enjoyed over the holidays. The best thing of course has been being together.

So as these holidays come to an end I'm already thinking about the next ones! It will be good to see our school friends again though, and a bit of routine and space for me will be nice too. Have you been on holidays? Did you enjoy them? I'm finding as the kids get older it's so much easier, I will miss them & Mark when they go back. Take care lovely friends, see you soon xo

Bits & bobs

Look at us, we're growing up!!  The ducklings are four and a half weeks old now, soon it will be time to find homes for them.

Because they are getting too big for their former home, the little red cubby house, they are now living with the chooks. Well one chook and two roosters. Not many eggs happening around here at the moment!

As for the silkies who live in the front yard, they are growing up too. Mama chook is still very loving and attentive and lets her babies snuggle up underneath her mountain of feathers at night. Lollypop has become part of the family and they are all so lovely to watch as we go in and out our front door.

Chook, chook!

Today I have been busy with a million little things. Framing up some photo's to give as presents, making cards from photo's too.

The girls have had friends over so there has been lots of girly things happening, 

Nail polish is definitely an our door activity! Actually they played a game where you have to spin the bottle and paint one nail the colour that the bottle points too. They all ended up with multi coloured nails, cool!

I'm still in decluttering mode so I've been getting things ready for a garage sale on Saturday. Will it or won't it rain? I can't decide whether to hold it indoors or out. I bet if I set up outside it will rain and if I do it inside it will be sunny! Fingers crossed for sunshine. It will be a busy weekend here in Daylesford so I hope we get lots of visitors. What are you up to for Easter? Hope it's a happy one, 

see you soon lovely friends xo

beach

Today was our last day, a bright blue day.

The girls don't get to the beach very often, there was a lot of excitement when they saw the sea as we headed down Kerford Road! 

Rosie has been a bit unwell over the last few days  but she has hung in there and managed to have a lot of fun anyway.

So, yes, there were beach wheels,

& sand angels,

and toes in the sand time,

shell collecting,

& some wonky camera angles. I couldn't really see what the hell I was doing, it was so bright! Hence the random shots. I also have a touch of what Rosie has had so I'm a bit peaky tonight. We are back home, which is lovely, and I'm already in bed & looking forward to an early night. I might just have to watch the final part of Paper Giants on ABC, did you watch it last night. LOVED all the 70's action, and how good is the actor playing Kerry Packer?!

  Gee it was fun to be away, we sure packed a lot in! So far I have LOVED these holidays, so lovely after a busy, busy first term.Are you on holidays? Have you been away? Wherever you are, hope it's been a happy Monday,

see you soon xo

ps: have you heard about Vic's Cushion Swap? It sounds like a lot of fun, pop over here for details x