Little monkeys

They say: never work with children or animals...

It had been along time between photos of my kids with their cousins. While happily playing in the playground on Easter Sunday, I thought I would grab the perfect photo opportunity. I asked the kids to come in close and smile.

After standing there for 10 minutes, enduring fits of the giggles, this was the best I could get. 

This morning I wonder if perhaps these are the better photos after all. I can still hear their laughter and it's making me smile.

Day Two: Making muffins

Everyday of this last week has been spent with our little cousins. Some who live close by, some who live far away and some who live very far away.



With so many hungry mouths to feed, the kids and I have been baking. A chocolate cake and batches of muffins: orange and chocolate muffins, strawberry muffins and this morning we baked our favourite blueberry muffins when more little friends came for morning tea.

As it was school holidays the kids were much more hands on than usual. I allocated more time for the task and turned a blind eye when more flour ended up on the floor than into the mixing bowl. It was messy, but, oh my, it was so much fun.

Take a look here to see who else is participating in blogtoberfest.

I'm grateful for...

(lining up for yummy dessert at my aunts house - pear, sticky date and chocolate pudding)

Today I am grateful for the last few days that we have spent with our cousins.

My cousin and her little ones having been visiting this week. It is not often that they get to come and hang out at our house, so it was nice. Lots of tea and chatting, although not nearly enough crafty chat, as we had intended.

On Thursday, I gave my kids the day off school and we hung out at home: playing, dressing up and making a 'good pure fun' mess. It is so beautiful to see the next generation of our family forming loving bonds, just as we did at their age.

Running, laughing, scheming, creating, laughing, tackling, jumping, laughing, squealing, singing, dancing, laughing.

Go over to 'maxabella loves' for more gratitude posts.

And then the sun came out.....

On New Years Eve the rain stopped, and since then, it has been very much, summer holidays at this house.

We have been spending long days at the beach, at the pool, at the river, at the rock pools, fishing, at the scooter park, at the playground and sometimes just at home. Breakfasts have been late, lunch has been casual and for dinner, easy barbecue's. We are loving eating all of our meals outdoors. The trampoline has been erected, the wadding pool has been filled and our cousins have arrived from up north to hang out with us. Lots of holiday fun in the sun.







We enjoyed a quiet New Years Eve at home. After spending the day at the beach, the evening started slowly. Plans for a gourmet barbecue went out the window with my new, I'm on holidays attitude. At 6 o'clock the kids were doing the usual "Mum, I'm hungry" thing. I told them, "Go outside and play, tonight we would be having party food, as it was New Year's Eve." I was pretty happy with what I found hiding in our fridge. There was a feast. The kids loved it.

There was champagne, music, sparklers, dancing, good conversation and much laughter. Who knew you could have so much fun with a four and a five year old!



It's a pity it was all over by 9 o'clock, when our tiny dinner guests finally fell into bed.

(don't worry, that is only water in the little ikea wine glasses)

Just like a big hug!

I have just had one of the loveliest weeks.

My cousin came up for a visit for a few days with her three little girls (ages 1, 2 and 4) Her husband and older children were left at home to go to school and to work.





We mostly hung out at my place, which was a nice change. On Monday my aunt (her mum) and my mum came for lunch. I asked my cousin to bring a loaf of bread and mum to bring some ham. As usual with my family, we ended up with a feast. Please note our feast included freshly boiled and farm fresh bantam eggs and homemade feta cheese. Thanks Karen. We happily chatted the day away with our four little girls playing around us. Day turned into night and it was all into the bath, make-shift pajama's and a quick spaghetti bolognese for dinner.

Read more about this day in someone else's words, here.





Other things we did:

• Karen taught me how to make homemade feta cheese, however, I think there was to much talking and tea drinking to take any real notice of the steps involved.
• We took Spunky Monkey out of school one day and spent the morning at the beach. Picnics and sandcastles.
• Karen came along with me to my Craft Night and was very productive with her advent calender pockets.

But most of all, this woman (my very special cousin) gives me wings. My spirit soars in her presence. Like I said before, one of the loveliest weeks.

But, it doesn't stop there.... Last night, my other favourite cousin rang from far away, I hadn't spoken to her in a while. It was so nice to fall back into the soft cushions of my couch and chat away to her for hours. Wouldn't it have been nice, if she could have visited for the second half of the week.

And....

Then there is my Mum.

My wonderful mum, who canceled her hair appointment today and came over to sew up a dress we had cut out (I was suppose to be learning to sew - that's another story) I decided, just yesterday, it would be the perfect dress for an outing on the weekend.

I love you Mum xx Thank-you so very much!

DON'T FORGET MY GIVEAWAY - DRAWN TOMORROW NIGHT!!!

Dreams for sale

Don't ask me why I was looking on this website at 6:20am this morning, I just was and this what I found.

This property for sale. This property is the farm where my mother grew up and where my some of happiest memories were formed. It is the farm that I have often referred too, and I know that I will do so again in the future.



I was not looking for this farm, so when the images came unexpectedly onto the screen, I cried and cried. Why? I'm not sure. For a lost time perhaps, for something that is gone forever. And for my Nana, who, at times, I miss desperately. The last time I saw these houses and this farm, was well over 20 years ago.

My Nana often passed this house as a girl, when she would go along with her parents, in a horse drawn buggy, to take their butter into town. She would look up at this house on the hill and tell her mother: "One day I'm going to live in that house". She made her dreams come true. She did it. Her and my grandfather, along with two of Nana's brothers bought the farm sometime during the 1950's. Eventually as the children came along my Nana and Grandad bought them out.

She then lived there for the next 40 years of her life.

The house in the top picture is the main farmhouse. Oh, the love between those walls. That house has such a hold over my heart, I can't even explain it. But Nana only lived there until I was about three years old. When my grandfather got sick, they moved up the hill to the cottage. That is the house in the second picture.

The cottage was actually where I spent all of my school holidays and where my our whole family came together every Sunday night for Nana's roast chicken dinner. It was here that I watched old movies and put on concerts with my cousins. Our cubbie houses were out the back of the cottage, ours (the three younger cousins) had a cubbie in the old dunnie and the boys (the two older cousins) had a cubbie in the old chicken coop. How Nana put up with all five of us at once, I'll never know. We laughed, we cried, we fought. We played a lot of cards and a lot of matchbox cars. There was often a green frog in the toilet and we had to reuse all of the wash water for Nana's rose garden. We are all very lucky to have experienced this kind of childhood.

Yes, those time are gone, and the house remains, but what I am looking for is no longer at that farm, it's in me.