Monday at The Block

It's raining, it's pouring
it's getting somewhat boring
we mustn't complain
about the rain
even in school holidays and hey at least we got out on Monday and anyway the kids have been taking it in turns to succumb to some fever sore throat thing and lie on the couch lah dee dah something ending with 'oring'.

Yes. At least we got out on Monday to my parents' block!

 My dad recently had this huge fire pit thing fashioned by an engineer.

 Fungi aplenty in various shapes and colours.

 My favourites, the sundews.

 Echidna diggings - there was a heap along one of the paths, perhaps they like the soft ground after lots of rain. Look, nose holes!

 Clem making a strange face (this hardly looks like him) but he thought these hakea nuts looked like ducks.

 'Bug words' inside bark. (Clem said they are writing 'yum'.)

 Can you spot the red, red robin below?

 Clem and Grandpa found this old jar.

 Cleaned up a bit, it had cup and pint measurements on the sides. (Can't be too old since I assume that is metric cups, but it felt like treasure.)

We had sausages and potatoes and damper for lunch and spent a lot of time wandering about picking up fallen branches and putting them on the fire to help reduce the summer bushfire risk. Honestly I can look at the world with a vastly improved attitude after a day like this. And I'm trying to hang onto that feeling this grey, grey week! Is it grey where you are?

- Jane x

Wintry days and a new 12 year old

It's been cold and indoorsy here lately. Clem is on a big tent-making thing and has been sleeping in this construction on his bedroom floor for about a week. Andy actually moved Clem's mattress down there for him so it's really very comfy. However, we currently have no chairs around our dining table a.k.a. my sewing table. Am perching on various stools. Dust/fluff level in Clem's room high and rising.

 For a short time this tent below meant we had to climb in order to get into our lounge area. The construction slowly incorporated just about everything Clem could lay his hands on in our back room and spread in a trail off to the right of this picture. (And pegs - argh - where do all my pegs go??)

 One morning Jasper found a silverfish crawling on the floor in the general vicinity of this masterpiece, which gave me the creeps. After the boys had left for school Andy and I packed it up and thoroughly cleared and cleaned the area. It took Clem an hour after school to remember the tent and ask where it had gone. I think you can't do these things by halves. Clean slate. I told him it was because of the silverfish and also so he had a nice clear space to do some more making. And he industriously set about making a new mess with cardboard, scissors and stickytape. He's in a big stickytape phase as well as tent phase it seems. I have to admit I am quite fond of the stickytape phase.

Clem has become much more confident about making things with his hands lately. He surprised me by wanting to stitch a felt creature by himself. In fact he did quite a decent job and did not get too frustrated.

 As our youngest child I suspect we (maybe just I) have been too willing to jump in and offer help, or respond to his requests. I have been trying to more consciously encourage him to give things a go, persist and think of his own solutions. Mind you - speaking of persistence - we haven't finished this little project yet, despite his pestering me about it. Must get back to that. Before the silverfish do, urgh.

 The ring around his neck is an old one I gave to Andy many years ago and Clem recently found down the back of his couch, after it had been lost for years. What treasure!

Jasper turned twelve. He's not taller than me yet but he's not far off. He had some friends over for pizzas and then out to the movies to see How To Train Your Dragon 2, which he'd been plotting and planning about ever since he found out - some months ago - it would be released close to his birthday. Here he is with Clem and a couple of his mates, very interested in some books... about Minecraft, haha. (Computer game where you build stuff out of redstone and lava and spawn zombies and cows, or something.)

 Clem gets very excitable in the company of a bunch of older boys.

 (I think the facial expression above is pretty funny.)

Meat seems to be the favourite pizza topping for boys. Pile on the meat.

 And then, more Eton Mess.

 Twelve candles on a meringue.

 And after all that excitement, a nice quiet day around home today.

The sun came out after some torrential overnight rain and a generally grey and cold week. The front yard is overflowing with weeds and we gently herded / terrified a few of the chooks up there to have a good scratch around. I think they were struggling to believe their luck once they got there.

School holidays have started which frankly around here mostly means even more juggling of responsibilities than usual. Deep breath. Onwards!

- Jane x

a little creepy, quite fascinating

We've had our eye on two fat Wanderer caterpillars in our front yard for a few days now. Today, Clem went to check on them and found one in the very act of shedding its skin and revealing the chrysalis. You don't think it's a bit creepy? Picture it wiggling - nay, writhing - to get that skin off. Happened within the span of a minute or two. Kept wiggling somewhat after the entire skin was gone. But isn't it cool how you can see where the wings are already beginning to form at the end there?

- Jane x

things we did not invite

That's a chicken louse being identified under a microscope. I realised the chooks had mites (red poultry mites) after seeing some on my hands after reaching into nests, and on eggs. And after cleaning out the chookyard and beginning treatments, I found this uninvited guest almost down my cleavage. Ack! Double parasitic whammy!

The girls are fortunately still looking in fine heath, although one has been laying on the ground rather than in the nest which is probably because the mites lie there in waiting. Little creeps.

I've started with a big cleanout of the yard and chookhouse. It's not very thorough however because the floors are just the earth. One reason the bugs have taken hold may be that it's been so wet and muddy, it has been hard for the girls to find a place to dust-bath.

Treatment so far has been:

• Spraying nest boxes and all timber inside chookhouse, with special attention to the perches, with a mixture of water with cedarwood, peppermint and eucalyptus essential oils. Smells great!
• Put wood ash from our fire in the yard for them to dust-bath in (they haven't touched it so far - it's meant to suffocate the mites - but at least I know what to do with our wood ash now).
• Dusting of nest boxes with Pestene, which doesn't sound too completely evil.
• Dusting a patch of chookhouse floor where the girls were dust-bathing with Pestene.
• When the girls go to sleep tonight we will creep in and give them a dusting too.

I have ordered some Diatomaceous Earth which could well be 'the new coconut oil' if its many claims are to be believed. I aim to dust that around judiciously - and not inhale - too.

This is something else uninvited. It's chickweed and it's everywhere in our garden at this time of year. But thanks to Tricia at Little Eco Footprints, I view it with new appreciation because it's quite a tasty delicate little green and meant to be very nutritious too. I've been munching little pieces here and there and even tried this recipe for chickweed pesto.

The verdict? Not bad, very 'grassy' which I quite like although I don't think the kids would go for it. Feeling very River Cottage with this little wild harvest!

The garden feels like it's beginning to 'wake up' from winter.

Charlie helped me with some pruning (climbing a tree and chopping at it? fun!). He's keen to cook more and made some Anzac biscuits with almost no assistance.

And I've done a wee bit of sewing. Clem wanted to make a pillowcase for his new big bed. His choice of fabric made my eyes cringe and my heart melt simultaneously. And he insisted on the buttons, which he selected with great care. He sat on my lap while I sewed.

He loves it. Therefore, so do I.

- Jane x

Can you make mine next? Is that mine?

Those sort of words make for a happy (if slightly hurried) sewing mama.

Charlie directing the photo shoot, telling Jasper to take the ChupaChup out of his mouth

It was a Spoonflower t-shirt-a-thon last Friday night and Saturday morning. Once I was on a roll these really didn't take too long.

There was enough left from a yard of the caravans to make the front of Clem's, because he wanted caravans just like Charlie. Jasper requested the 'Science Alphabet' as soon as he laid eyes on it.

I can't rave enough about how lovely this organic cotton knit is. The base colour is natural/unbleached and the colours all come out just a little soft and faded-looking (although the print definition is sharp). It's just so nice for garments.

Clem seems to have a standard set of moves now for photo shoots, which involves a lot of hands on hips and wiggling about. Oh yes and he's still wearing those pyjama pants (and often the pink top) 90% of the time!

I'm a bit peeved that the twin-needle stitching on the hem of Charlie's t-shirt has already started coming undone. I thought I'd mastered it with the combination of Singer 348, twin stretch needle and polyester thread. Bugger.

If this doesn't work out, I'm seriously going to think about investing in a coverstitch machine. It's no fun when something you're so happy with is coming apart before the first wash. If anyone has any words of advice on coverstitch machines, I'm all ears.

Well all ears apart from maybe a couple of nits up there too. EW! Yes I found a couple of head lice on me. Scrub comb scrub comb potions lotions hot wash towels and sheets imagining creepy scalp feelings... big boys are all clear, Clem is on 'maintenance', Andy has taken the cue to go No.2 on the clippers and I'm almost wanting to do the same! Yickity yick yuck bletch.

- Jane x