Baby Guineas....Day Two

The baby guineas are still gorgeous and fluffy and actually quite mischievous. All day long they have either layed in the sun or scratched around in the dirt, following their mummas lead. They dart here and there, fall over, scramble around, chase each other and are melting our hearts by the hour.

You can hear the kids fighting in the background here...which is not unusual....

Guinea Babies at Last!!

The most amazing thing happened this morning, something that will make you go "ohhh" and "ahhh" and "ohhh" again. It has given me thoughts of beautiful things, of nature, of motherhood and babies and will literally bring grown men to their knees. (Just ask our builder who helped me catch them!)


Our missing guinea fowl returned this morning (she has been away for nearly 2 weeks). We thought she was either taken by a fox or was sitting on a nest of eggs. Guess which one it is? Guess! Just guess!

I was out counting the guineas this morning and I noticed that our ninth missing girl was back. She hesitantly came out of the long grass followed by these:-


EIGHT STRIPY HEADED CUTE AS A BUTTON BABY GUINEA FOWL! By their size I would say they are only a day old. I can fit two in one hand.


I let them graze for the morning with the flock but decided to catch them and pop them in the cage with their mumma. This is what you have to do because they won't survive at this age free ranging - they would be eaten by a hungry snake, fox or hawk - whatever got to them first.



As The Hubbster was at work, our builder helped me catch them, which was hilarious and ridiculous at the same time. The flock shot off in the long grass followed by me with a hockey stick to ward away the cranky mumma bird, who was at this stage pissed off and trying to attack me.

I ran through the long grass with two babies in one hand, the hockey stick in the other and the builder laughing, waiting to take the guineas and pop them in the cage. I managed to catch seven babies and I let the other one find mumma bird and they grazed for the rest of the day - not straying far from the other babies.

I really hated taking them away from her, but in the end, mumma went into the cage and the babies nuzzled under her for the night. She was content.



I can't even explain how I feel about this. Well I'll try. It is the most amazingly, beautiful feeling to know that she brought her new babies home to us. They are so brand new, innocent and trusting and fluffy and gorgeous, and our guinea who we have had since she was 4 weeks old is now a mumma with her own babies. It's just nature at its glorious best, I suppose.

No explaining necessary

12 months in the shed

We have celebrated a milestone today - 12 months living in our shed. I didn't think I would be able to do it, but I have and might I say, I am a stronger person for it.

I remember feeling so scared and worried about moving from our comfortable home in the suburbs to a farm, a shed and a hell of a lot of unanswered questions. Just look at the expression on my face this time last year - I looked stressed!

Look at the same pic 12 months later, alot happier but with some damn tuckshop arms. WTF??

So where are we now? On the way to building our dream home (which by the way is getting more beautiful by the day, and I know I have to post some pics but give me time people).

We love living in the country, I love the space, looking over the rolling hills and the view of Awoonga Dam and of the mountains and the trees and of the birds singing in the morning and did I say the space.........


Look how relaxed and happy we look today!

I have proved that one can adapt and learn to love ones surroundings no matter how much you hate it in the beginning. I know that in years to come, when we are living in our house, the memories of being shed dwellers may fade, but they will remain as part of our journey - the good and bad times, and the crazy things that we went through that actually brought our family closer together.

And I know that I will miss them.

Miss D's award.....

My wonderful friend over at Woman in the Midst:Raw has most kindly awarded a special something to Miss D for her ballet concert this weekend. What a beautiful, caring thing to do and Miss D was so surprised and happy. Thank you my friend for being so kind.

Dance concert - spectacular

Ahhhhh...I can totally breath now. The dance concert is over, and it was amazing. From the little 2 and 3 year old ballerinas up to the seniors, they were so good. And my girl....whoa.....I was so proud of her.

The dance teacher had given her some extra dances to do, and she had the opportunity to dance with some seniors in a very dramatic piece. It was amazing. She also did her first flower ballet, which is pretty and dainty and true "ballet". She did 6 dances all up and I was exhausted from running from backstage to the theatre to see some of the concert.

And she did her special part, where she did a solo piece at the front of the stage, and I was not allowed to watch it in practice. So I helped her get dressed, ran around from backstage to the theatre and sat and enjoyed watching her. She danced by herself and I had tears in my eyes and a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I can only describe as surreal. My daughter, my baby up there dancing in front of the crowd. Me wanting to yell out "She's my daughter..right there!"

I wonder will this feeling of absolute pride, love and affection whilst watching Miss D dance, ever go away. Years from now, if she is still dancing, will I watch her and have tears in my eyes again? Probably, but seeing her for the first time, doing something she loves, and dancing solo, is a moment that is etched in my mind and my heart.

She also won a raffle prize of some gorgeous earings, so now we will think about getting her ears pierced. She has been asking about it for a while.

Now I can't wait for the DVD so I can watch it all over again...

So tired so tired so tired so tired

I have been a MIA blooger this week. Does that say blogger or booger, I am too tired to even know. This week has been the week from hell before Miss D's dance concert on Saturday (tommorrow). So our week has been as follows:-

Mon and Tue - dance practice at studio til 7.30pm with two extra kids in tow
Wed - dance practice
Thur - full run through at Entertainment Centre, home at 10.30pm
Frid - full dress rehearsal with hair and makeup, home tonight at 8.15pm

Add to that a 35 minute drive home.

All this is After School stuff, so I can't even remember what we ate for dinner this week. I think it was McDonalds most nights and I am wondering why one kid is having nightmares and the other is sleepwalking and I'm not even sure about the other one.

I am so tired, Miss D is tired and teary, nothing is done at home, God know if the chooks were fed today or if I have clean knickers to wear tommorrow (it could be a case of wearing The Hubbsters undies...again....but that's another post).

So please excuse my lack of comments to your lovely blogs, but I will be back in touch, once tommorrow is over. But might I say that Miss D is doing beautiful ballet, I am so so proud of her.


BTW Miss T (aged 4) and I went shopping last week and she wanted to know if we could

"go up in the alligator again".....meaning the elevator. I thought this was totally awesome.

You got that right.

Getting ready to go this morning.

Me: Mr C go and wash your face, it's dirty.

Mr C: aww Mum it's always dirty.

Touche.

This ALWAYS happens to us

What happens when you decide to have a leisurely lunch and play at Mcdonalds, and hope to be home by 1pm?

1. Mr C falls backwards in the play area and hits the back of his head on the edge of the opened door.

2. Blood everywhere from a split head.

3. Ambulance called.

4. 2 hour wait at hospital for head to be glued back together, with 3 energetic but bored kids in a confined space.

5. Home at 4.30pm. I think I held it together really well.

And for you sadists, here's the head.

5 days of chaos/bliss

We have been awake since 4.45am this morning. On a Saturday. There wasn't even any football to go to. Are we insane you ponder? Just slightly.

In fact we had to meet the plane and say goodbye to The Hubbster and his mum, who are visiting family for a few days and then seeing the doctor to have his foot checked after his surgery.

So I am home alone for 5 days with only the kids to drain the life out of me with their constant whinging, nagging, fighting and their general disagreeing. Is disagreeing even a word? Through my 4pm glass of stress wine I don't know and don't care even less.

So we had lots of things happen today so I will progress in point form.

1. We met the plane at a ridiculous hour of the morning and waved bye bye knowing that The Hubbster would have a nice time visiting relatives and lunching whilst I held down the fort at home.

2. We went to Mcdonalds for breakfast where I witnessed a pathetic display of bad parenting by a mother who thinks it is acceptable to scream abuse and hit her three kids helplessly strapped into their carseats. At 7.30 in the morning. Could life be so bad for her that she has to bash her kids so early before having a coffee? Thanks to her, I am now striving to be the best mother I can be.

3. Dropped Miss D at dancing and put the fear of God into the other two that if they misbehaved whilst shopping in Lincraft I would bleed them dry. Or take their toys away. (forget point 2 about being the best mother I can be). They were only okay. I still had to chase them around the craft isle. And in the dvd shop. And in the supermarket. Get my point?

4. Went home to do some chores, and to wait patiently for 4pm so I could have a glass of stress wine, while the kids teased, annoyed and had little fights over every little thing. Remembering that I am striving to be the best mother I can be, thanks to the scary mother at Mcdonalds, I stay calm, don't yell and I refuse to make the kids lunch or let them watch their dvd until their room was tidy and the clothes packed away. Didn't that bug them.

5. Let the dvd be a babysitter for the afternoon (yes me bad but whatever works for the moment) then we showered, made yummy pizzas and I am just about to get them into bed for an early night.

6. Then I will watch my dvd and eat my pizzas and drink my wine and wish I had hired the really scary movie I had wanted to instead of feeling like a sissy girl and getting the comedy.

Dad - 10 years

Today it has been 10 years since I lost my crazy, wickedly funny, infuriating at times but loved beyond words....Dad. I will never forget how I felt - like I had lost a part of what had made me, never to be revisited.

Today I had feelings in my belly like when you are on a rollercoaster....I thought of him and I would feel a whoosh of air heading up to my face and I had to blink away tears. I thought of how funny he was, how his sense of humour was legendary, and of how at his funeral, members of various bikies gangs came wearing their colours...then disappeared without a sound.

He didn't meet my children, or see our farm, but I was so blessed to have someone as loving and compassionate and understanding as he was, for as long as I did. He was not often serious, but when I needed him, he was there.

I had a bad car accident in my 20's and when I rang him from the hospital, I remember how calm he was, telling me he was coming to get me. I didn't, however, understand how emotionally frightening it would have been for him, as I can appreciate now as I am a parent.

When I am stressed, I dream about him. I have a cassette tape (how eighties!) of him singing as he had a beautiful voice. It was one night with a friend who played guitar, and they decided to sing and tape themselves. He is talking and laughing and I don't listen to it often. I can't. It's too confronting.

Wherever you are, Dad, I hope you are not causing too much trouble, as you are a bit of a rogue, but remember how much we love you, and miss you everyday.

Remembering....

Today is International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day....a subject close to my heart. Four times over.....but that's another post...

About last night

About last nights concert. It was amazing and excellent. Ian Moss was supported by Wes Carr who was the one I was looking forward to seeing. Wes won Australian Idol last year, and he is brilliant. He was so friendly after the show, signing autographs and I gave him a big hug and he gave me some guitar picks, to help me play better. If I could play guitar like he does, I would be more than happy.

Here's Wes and I, and he gives the best hugs....I thought "I'm there!".

Ian Moss, well couldn't HE play guitar! It brought home to me once again, how much I enjoy live music, remembering that I am seeing The Shadows play in February 2010.

Here's Ian Moss, from the legendary Aussie band Cold Chisel....and me!!!

Dentist Visit

I have had one of those days today when I have been super excited about something. But to get to this "something" I have had to pay penance first. It's kind of like when you are a child and you can't wait to eat the icecream, but first, you have to eat the brocoli.

The super thing is tonights concert I am going to. And the penance is the dentist. Yes I finally did it. I kept rescheduling my appointment by coming up with the following reasons:-

* hello, I have to reschedule because I have been so stressed about the dentist, that I now have a cold sore.

* hello, my cold sore still hasn't gone, so I will have to reschedule.

* hello, I forgot it was school holidays so I will have to reschedule.

* hello, my husband is working and I need a babysitter, so i will have to reschedule.

* hello, there was an earthquake in Vanuatu, and we are now expecting a Tsunami, so I will have to reschedule.

So today there was no holiday, or cold sore, or Tsunami and I had a babysitter so I went to the appointment. And I have a new dentist and he is awesome and the visit was not so bad afterall.

Instead of the dreaded root canal *shudder* treatment I was going to have, I am now having my problem tooth extracted *fucking shudder* and a tooth implant put in.

So does this mean I will have a bionic tooth able to chew through the toughest of steaks? Noooooooo, but at least I won't have a gap in my palate. It's actually a top tooth along the side, and when I smile you can just see it but as I am kind of vain and don't want a gappy smile, I am having an implant.

Apparently they are all the rage. So my next big issue was whether to have it pulled out in the dentist chair or in hospital. Local or general anesthetic? I had a horrific tooth extraction experience with my wisdom teeth that I just DO NOT WANT TO REVISIT.

I had the bottom two out in hospital, but the first one was extracted in the dentist chair, and I will never forget it. The lovely but possibly psychotic nurse held my head while the dentist pulled my tooth out, not unlike a scene from the movie "Saw".

So you can see my hesitation. But I have decided to brave it and just have it out with the dentist. And if he hurts me, I may well have it out with him for real.

Apparently as well as having the usual local needle to numb my mouth, I can have the laughing gas, so I shouldn't have a care in the world. Great. It sounds like a party.

Jared Padalecki = Eye Candy

I had a dream last night. And guess who was in it?? If you know my obsession with the show Supernatural, you will fully understand. He kinda looked like this too.


Here's another one if you missed the first.

Google Analytics

I've just studied my google analytics to see where I'm getting my blog hits from. What I find specifically interesting is the "keywords" that lead to my blog.

Here's a list of the ones I find amusing, remembering that most of the keywords are innocent, but alot involve the words fuck, suck or horny. Okayyyyy...

* farmers horny wife

* where's my eggs

* fuck wife with two big chook

* help, wife is obsessed with my friends list (hello facebook)

* i'm proud of your witness for christ

* the farmers sexy wife (I'm liking it!!!)

* visit farm house and fucked farmers wife (holy cow)

* wife stayed naked all day (sorry, not with the builders here)

* wife in charge (you got that right)

* farmers wife quote (what? for a new one?)

* desperate farmers wife

* excited wife suck in park (mmmkay...)

* why farmers are stupid

* proud of cross and jehovahs witness.......Well this is just getting ridiculous!

Skating Memories

I heard this song on the radio today, and it took me back a long long time ago to when I was 16 years old. Back in my hometown, the place to be for the teenage set was the local ten pin bowling/roller skating centre. My friends and I lived at this place. Friday nights, Saturday afternoons, Saturday nights and all day Sunday would be the norm.

We didn't go ten pin bowling but rather hung out in the skating centre. It was the place to be. We were also into underage drinking (yes me bad) so many times we would ask the older kids to buy alcohol for us, and we would get pissy and go skating.

There was the couples skate, the backwards speed skate, and the best fun of all was when 10 people held hands and skated and the person on the end was the one who went flying off the end.

The music came from an upstairs booth, and occasionally we were invited "to the booth" to watch over the rink, and if you were up there, you knew you had really made it. We were regulars and proud of it.

I remember this one guy who worked in the front of the centre, hiring out the skates. His nickname was Runner. To this day I don't even know what his real name was. He was older than my friends and I, perhaps around 22, and he always smelled oily - like he had spent the day underneath a car.

My friends and I would stand near his booth and chat to him, in between skating. I could skate really really well. In fact, I rocked! I could backward speedskate, and in itself that even sounds wicked and goofy, but dammit, I could do it.

I had some kind of attraction to Runner. Was it that he was older, or that he was a bad boy, or that he flirted with us? He was called "Runner" because..well..he was so good that he could run on skates. And if he came out of the booth to skate to a song, and he took one of us with him, it was magic. He WAS skating.

I want to go back and remember the giddy feelings, the joy and excitement of being a teenager, before life became so stressful. Before I grew up.

This song takes me back because it was regularly played in the centre, and life was so much easier back then. We had the best time when we were 16. I often wonder what happened to Runner. Is he even still alive? Does he have a family? Does he remember these times? Does he remember me.

Cheers to you mate, for giving me some wonderful memories...

You Tube classics

I love You Tube. I hate that I love it because it uses up all of our internet hours..but there are so many funny, clever, talented people out there..and it keeps me away from more mundane things like washing, cleaning and ironing. Here are some of my favourite videos, some may be old but they are awesome..

I won't describe what they are about...just watch and you will see...

You could watch ALL of the videos because I have used up a quarter of our monthly net allowance bringing these to you. Because I'm nice like that...

Pfftt!

When The Hubbster transfers money into my account, he labels it "Money Pit". I have No Idea what he is trying to say....

Totally random

This is a totally random gig because it's late, I'm tired, I've had wine, my fucking hand is sore and one guinea is missing....

* Mr C (aged 6) is allergic to bad squirrels. Righttt....So he says.

* Miss D (aged 8) and I went to a 4 hour birthday party today. Yes 4 hours. With a pool. And a jumping castle. And an 8 year old kid with a mobile phone..

* I watched the new movie Julie and Julia last week. And now I know for sure that Meryl Streep is the greatest actress of all time, and that I can't cook to save myself.

* I'm going to poke myself in the eye if I can't figure out how to get my music from limewire to Itunes.

* I'm also hoping that it doesn't rain for the next two weeks until we get the roof on this house. More about that tommorrow.

Awards again....

So there is this girl who totally rocks, is as funny as hell, swears like a trooper, she probably drinks too, so she would be awesome to go clubbing with, but she lives on the other side of the world which is too bad because I think if we got together we would cause some chaos.

Anyway here she is so check out her blog, cause she likes that. She has forwarded some awards to me, which I truly appreciate and I'm going to throw them across to my sidebar because I don't want people thinking I am getting a big head because people love me so much........

Award time

A gorgeous lady over at Woman in the Midst:Raw has kindly sent me an award, to which I grab with both hands, even my bad one! You should check her out, her blog is awesome....

The deal with this one is:-

1. you can only use ONE word!
2. pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers
3. alert them that you have given them this award!
4. have fun!

I have already given my clever, witty answers Here so I will just pass the award onto some awesome ladies, who blog and who rock!!!! And if these ladies already have this award, well take it again because you deserve it.....

Foursons
My Little Miracles
A Nut in a Nutshell
The Whole Omelette
Jeanie in Paradise
Crystal Jigsaw

Hello hand

Today I was going to whinge and moan about all the things I can't do with only one hand, but then I saw a one armed man in the supermarket and realised that my hand will work again and his won't. Because he hasn't got one....So I have changed this post to:-

The things I can do today that I couldn't do yesterday with one hand.... remembering that my stitches still hurt like hell, but I am hardening the f*uck up....

* hook my bra up
* cook spaghetti bolognaise for tea
* blog (slowly - so I promise to get to your blogs soon)
* pour a malibu and coke
* or a wine
* make a toasted sandwich
* clean the pool filter
* open the chook gate
* put deodorant under both arms

I still can't tie my shoelaces or open a jar of jam, or drive our truck, but that's why I am married.

Oh the pain...the pain...

I didnt think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. - Bart Simpson.

I'm hearing ya Bart.

Oh God, it was as bad as I thought it would be. My big 4 stitches hurt like hell. It's because they are on the back of my hand that I am having so much pain. Each time I move my fingers or my arm swings, it feels like someone is hitting my hand with a hammer, because I am using all the muscles in my fingers and my hand, and everything is stretching. This is the worst possible place to have a skin issue, besides the face of course.. But the thing I am focusing on is that the pathology came back clear, it's all gone. Thank you God...

It's day two and my hand throbbed all yesterday (once the anesthetic wore off, until then I couldn't feel a thing) so today I have my arm strapped up across my chest with my hand higher than my heart to stop the swelling. It's too late because my hand and fingers are swollen up in an ugly sight and thank God I didn't have my bling on...

I showed The Hubbster the stitches today, when I changed the dressing and I thought he was going to have a cow. He said:

"are you kidding me, those are baby stitches, how could that possibly hurt?

After bitch slapping him with my good hand I explained about the location of the stitches and how each time I moved blah blah blah as above. This is my first official wound (not counting the stitches in my who haa after childbirth) so to me, it's a big thing. He has had so many medical issues, this is a piece of cake to him. Let me name them for you:-

Two broken legs - different times

Nose reconstruction with cartilage taken from his chest to rebuild his nose

Numerous stitches in his foot and a steel pin in his toe just recently

Broken collerbone

Three trips to hospital with various foot gashes etc etc etc

So my one big trauma is not so big to him.. In saying that, he has been very helpful but for a man who can build or fix anything, he totally sux at putting the girls hair in ponytails, or putting the washing on the line quickly or in any sense of order. BUT I AM NOT COMPLAINING, I would be lost without him......

Complete with blood stain for effect...

Early bedtime tonight YIPEE

The kids went back to school today. Ahhhhhhhhhh. That's a sigh of relief, you know the one. Seriously, we had a great two weeks holiday, and as much as I love my little angels/devils, it's always good to SEND THEM BACK.

We had a few days just laying around home, playing all morning then watching dvds and eating popcorn in the hot afternoons. I think I played every sport imaginable with my son, baseball, tennis, handball and of course football.

We did lunch a couple of times, met some friends at the park twice, did the Mcdonalds thing with every other mother and child in town on this particular day, made pizzas for lunch several times and of course went to the movies. So I can say that all in all we had a great time.

So today when the kids came home from school it was as if they were raging animals or something had changed their DNA to frickin annoying. They were fiesty in the car, and when we got home, they basically trashed the bedroom, you know, the one space where I want peace and calm and comfort and unclutter.

No amount of calm yelling! would get them to behave. BEHAVE. I thought to myself "right, it will be dinner and early bedtime, you cretins"!

And to put the icing on the early bedtime cake, whilst The Hubbster and I were up on the house admiring the work done today, the buggers ate all the cooking choc bits left over from the lovingly made muffins I cooked today.

Now they are eating dinner and *snigger* they don't realise they will be going to bed at 6.30pm. This is my way of not having a mummy tantrum.

You should hear protests in about 14 minutes time.


It is now 6.45pm and the kids are in bed. And my plan backfired.

Miss T said "I'm tired, I wanna go to bed"

Mr C said "it's good to be in bed".

Miss D is reading quietly.

WTF? Now I just might have a mummy tantrum..... But at least I can have an early wine and some Trueblood.....

Going under the knife again

So I got my biopsy results back for the crappy spot on my hand, that came out of nowhere, and was sliced off last week, resulting in one (1) painful stitch that I have whinged about for days, getting no compassion from The Hubbster or the family whatsoever.

Breathe.

And it turns out that it is a moderately dysplastic solar keratosis and some features suspicious for early squamous cell carcinoma, margins appear clear. In other words, I am lucky to have had this checked and if I had left it, things could have turned bad.

So now I have to go in on Wednesday and have more sliced off resulting in about 5 or 6 stitches, and won't I be a ray of sunshine to be around then. But it has to be done.

I am vigilant with sunscreen and hats and protection, so I am a bit miffed that this one got away. I have regular skins checks but I will be going every 3 months from now on. They photograph your skin to check for any changes so it is very beneficial.

This scare has made me think about sunscreens and the issues relating to the chemicals therein. We have now changed to sunscreens with the only active ingredient being zinc oxide and with none of the crap like octyl methoxycinnamate which is found in most sunscreens and in itself sounds scary, having potential carcinogenic properties.

But where do you stop? I checked my makeup and skin care products and the list of ingredients goes on and on. Am I really putting this crap on my skin? I am now going to find some natural products that are safe to use without chemicals, then I am going to look at hair shampoo then I will probably go ape at all the money I am spending on organic products but at least I am doing my part in reducing the risk of cancer...