Magic Square @ 4 weeks

clothes shopping in a wheelchair

I don't like taking the kids clothes shopping. As Catherine gets older it's becoming a little easier, but I still avoid it as much as possible. It's time to dust off my soapbox and clamber up for a rant about wheelchairs and shopping centres. First of all, the width of the aisles is not terribly helpful when Christopher's arms and hands have a life of their own. For some mysterious reason kids' clothes racks tend to be particularly squashed together. Finding a safe place to park him while Catherine and I make dashes up and down the aisles is always an interesting challenge.

Having found several armfuls (armsful?) of clothes that look okay, we grit our teeth and head into the hell of the changing rooms. At least nowadays there is such a thing as a disabled change room, which - as you might be able to spot in the photo - is in the female section. Fabulous fun for a teenage boy..... NOT!

Once the disabled change room has been vacated by the previous customer (an able-bodied young woman), Christopher and I head inside while Catherine scoots into an empty stall nearby. I sweep the used tissue, clothes hanger and clothes tags onto the floor so I can lift him onto the change bed. Interesting design. At least this change room has a bed - on previous occasions our only option has been the floor, which does not bear thinking about.

We eventually emerge from the change rooms looking a bit frazzled (at least, that's my excuse for the hair-do, and I'm sticking to it). Frozen yoghurt with mango or wild berry topping time. Catherine spots a sign "The Dress to Impress" in a shop window and quips "I don't know how you'd impress a dress, anyway". Christopher wonders whether I will pay him to use his photograph on my blog. I love these kids! We eat maccas in the car at the beach and watch another dust storm approach in the far distance. Time to head home and rejoice that clothes shopping is over for another six months.

Bonaro W. Overstreet

Never heard of her? Here's a snippet of her poetry:

You say the little efforts that I make will do no good:
they never will prevail to tip the hovering scale
where justice hangs in balance.
I don't think I ever thought they would.
But I am prejudiced beyond debate
in favor of my right to choose which side shall feel
the stubborn ounces of my weight.

Newstyle sibling communication

The kids have discovered windows instant messenger, and on the first day of the school holidays spent a good couple of hours talking to each other from their separate bedrooms. They established a system of codes and call signs (christopher is fox leader, catherine is wolf cub). Code red means "come here", code yellow is "wait" etc. I haven't yet discovered which code means "Be careful! Mum is in the room and can hear us". They also play games and share video clips with each other.

If you know Christopher, you'll realise how lovely it is when he finds a new way to communicate, and a new activity that keeps him busy for hours on end. So - seeing as we're not going anywhere special these holidays - the kids each got their own webcam to add to the experience. Christopher has already used his webcam to create little video greetings - much much faster than typing with a switch! Catherine has been using hers to take countless creative photos of herself (sample above). I think it's a good investment all 'round.

splashup

I love photoshop. Unfortunately it's a little more expensive than I can afford, just to play around with my digital photos. So I am chuffed to have discovered a little web-based program called splashup. It lets you create layers and play with filters just like photoshop. Well, ok, not JUST like photoshop, but near enough. The fact that it doesn't take up space on my hard drive is a bonus, too. The above is an example of what can be done with a few minutes of playing around. Kinda fun!

Oops... I nearly forgot to say it's free :)

What happens when you can't choose...

....between orange or blue fingernail polish?

Catherine set up business in her bedroom on the weekend... a massage and manicure shop, open from 3-4pm (very civilised working hours if you ask me). I ventured in, to be greeted by a very professional manicurist, who had prepared the work environment with a great deal of thought... right down to providing a coaster if customers had brought their own drink along.

The half hour manicure consisted of a fingernail trim (quite scary for said customer), a choice of orange or blue fingernail polish, and a hand massage with a scrummy almond moisturiser. As it was late Sunday afternoon, I found myself unable to cope with decisions regarding nail colours and therefore ended up with alternating colours. In the spirit of things, I wore my matching skirt today:

The dark side...

.... of making savoury pancake stacks on a beautiful Saturday morning :(

Hmmm, I need upbeat music. I think "The Big Chill" soundtrack fits perfectly. Any other suggestions for music that makes cleaning up a kitchen more fun?

Breakfast, anyone....?

Savoury pancake stacks:

Catherine approves:

Miss Hermione thinks the king parrots are ho-hum:

New addition

Replacing the faithful old starwagon is this cute little 2003 honda jazz. Already smitten! The boys took a LOT of photos, very likely at Christopher's instigation. Suffice it to say "She's silver and she drives like a dream". Took me all of 20 mins to decide to do errands, drive to the village, visit post office, drive to IGA, buy laundry powder, drive around corner, drop off tax info, drive home.... ta-da! I love living here, I love my Jazz, I HAVE A JOB for next year.

Magic Square @ 2 weeks

Two weeks since planting, and things are growing well. The nasturtium seeds have sprouted in this large green pot. Dead-headed marigold flowers are going straight into the garden. It takes one watering can to maintain adequate moisture at the moment, and I've only had to water four times. That's thanks to some nice rain over the last two weeks. I add a heap of kitchen scraps every few days and shovel on a scoop of mulch - which takes care of the composting side of things.


Leisa asked about pest management. So far the biggest pest has been Miss Hermione. The kitchen scrap smells draw her to the compost daily, and she was seen eating from it one day - and subsequently vomiting. Cats! I manage that by making sure I cover the tasty bits with extra mulch. I am going to start harvesting this coming week... just a few leaves here and there for sandwiches.