Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

A good friend is like a tonic.

The other night my friend came over for a catch up, sleep over and dinner. She enjoys my kids which goes a long way in any mother’s affections.

We talked about what’s bin happnen. And in the course of dinner, bathing the kids, reading stories and kissing them to sleep we had a few wines and started to talk. We talked about loves gained and lost. We analyzed, argued, discussed and discoursed. The next day I woke with a smile on my face that stayed for the whole day. I felt invigorated by the company of someone, aside from my family, who knows, understands and loves me. She is someone whose opinion I respect and who I know will be honest with me. We have travelled together, sharing all of the times, good and bad. There is nothing between us that is about what we do or what we have or who we are hanging around with. Its only about that shared life experience, the gift of knowing someone well, of respecting them and they you. I can look in to her face and trust that I will be met and not judged. We talked for so long and with such abandon that even Andrew the night owl crawled off to bed, talking about needing to go to work the next day.

The next day at the market Ishika who makes bags said ‘I like your shoes’, and then laughed saying, ‘you know in Turkey we have a saying that a friend is looking at your face, while an enemy is looking at your shoes’.

I’ve tried to think of a way of explaining my actions that will make perfect sense, but I can’t. It was a dumb thing to do and that is all there is to it!

Even after I had had a good laugh at the complete surprise of the 3 year old with skirt around her ears I still didn’t think. I just looked forward to some relief from the stuffy heat of Coney Island.

And yes like a fool I didn’t think that the same thing would happen to me!

Cottage Nerd skirt around ears!

What a nong.

But in good company.

While in Sydney we treated the kids and ourselves to a trip to Luna Park. The ferry ride over was a thrill in itself because the day was hot and sticky, but the sea breeze on the ferry, with the view of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge from beneath was all the anticipation we needed for a great day. The kids loved the rides but I loved the artwork which has been restored in recent years so it is fresh and vibrant but in no way garish. Not a drop of fluro anywhere to be seen. I spent a lot of our time there soaking up the Harbour setting and the enormous Australian sky in its full sunny glory.

These tiny photos don’t really do it justice but you get the general drift.

The sale at GJ’s has me in serious trouble. Why? because I bought this fabric in a moment of passion and now I have to do something with it, in the middle of trying to ramp up for this weekend, as well as giving due time to end of year dancing concerts and school picnics and finishing a rug project for school and multiple social engagements. Not that I’m complaining about a busy life, its actually loads of fun, but I had to complicate it further by deciding that this was the time for something new and different! Maybe the creative juices flow better under pressure. We will see! The little sewing machine is my fabric weight. Gorgeous eh?

We went to the show today with the kids and it was a day full of surprises. For a start no-one cried! Well at least not in the first 3 hrs.

Our 8 year old hassled us sick for the show bags she had selected via the web site. She also hassled for rides……nothing has changed. And yet everything has changed. It was windy, nothing has changed, but we weren’t encrusted with dust! We found our way easily from one place and event to the other! We had sushi for lunch! It cost a fortune…..nothing has changed.

I also saw again the sight that fascinated and appalled me all those years ago when I went with my mother. The double pram loaded to the gills with show bags, all the expensive ones, being hauled around by a determined and satisfied looking father. An appalling amount of money spent on crap (as if we weren’t doing the same!) but you’ve got to admire the family that embraces the moment and goes all the way. Nothing by halves. All those years ago envy and nothing else twisted my innards.

The only thing I wanted was a cupie doll on a stick which I duly purchased, for myself. When I wanted to photograph the doll my 3 yr old  insisted on holding her aloft, thus the blue sky perspective.

We have a new love in the household. He has captured our hearts and now he is living a life of cuddles and play. Its nice for the toddler to have a companion while her big sister is at school or one of her many social engagements.

I’m not really into dogs partly because I’m allergic to them (I’m already scratching and sneezing) and partly because our childhood dog and I were natural enemies. I was the youngest of many and she was the dog. I took no prisoners in exacting my revenge of older brothers and sisters teasing and torture on the dog. As a consequence we tolerated each other at best.

But  it is a different day and my kids have nagged and whined so much that I can’t hear the promises I made long ago to never have a dog. Also they need to learn to nurture and care and take responsibility blah blah blah…..anyway we have a dog and he’s cute and I think I’m going to like him. His name is Jasper.