Happy Mothers' Day

My boys, both big and small outdid themselves to show how very much I am loved and appreciated. 

Although very tired the night before and with my earnest wishes for him to sleep in, alas it was not to be - Little Tree was up at 5.45am. Sigh. (I did manage to get back  to bed a little later for a quiet cuppa.) He took great delight in opening my presents for me - a clay pot and flower he had made at kids' club and a lovely pair of bead earrings in just my colour which, of course, I had to wear all day (and probably will have to all week). 

Mr I cooked up a magnificent breakfast and by the time Grandmama arrived, midmorning, he was just pulling a batch of apple and cinnamon muffins out of the oven...... mmmmm.  Mr I packed up the car and drove us all out to Never Never Creek for morning tea.  Unfortunately, I lack the both the talent and vocabulary to do justice to the beauty, peace and serenity of this place so I'll have to make do with photos - very poor substitute for the real thing.

We returned home for an Indian banquet lunch which included my favourite dish of saag bhaji with lots of crispy pappadums.

I received a months worth of hugs and kisses from Little Tree. Those of you who know about autism will recognise just how special this is.

I hope all of you, mums and others had a lovely weekend and that someone close to you made you feel loved and appreciated.

Gretel was right. Good neighbours make a world of difference. Our second day we were welcomed by Laura next door with delicious gluten free (yeah) chocolate brownies - yum.  Maureen is quiet and likes her privacy so we hardly see or hear her and the two young men who moved in on the other side a week after us have, so far, been so quiet I've sometimes wondered if they were home.

 

We are slowing becoming accustomed to waking up in new rooms, glasses and plates in the "wrong" cupboards, new sounds and discovering what we have growing in the corners of our garden. Gradually we are making friends with the house and it with us. I love the sound of rain on the tin roof, I love the sun pouring into my upstairs bedroom window in the morning.  I'd spend all day up there if I could - gazing across the valley over rooftops to the fields beyond.  I love the sound of the neighbour's rooster reminding me of my childhood home - even if it's 2am!!!! We have coastal casuarinas planted along the driveway so we are visited regularly by the gorgeous yellowtailed black cockatoos Calyptorhynchus funereus  whose cries herald wet weather. These huge birds are truly magnificent in flight. I love being able to walk to the growers market down the bottom of the hill and maybe meet up with friends for a chai and brunch before arranging with them to go out to Never Never Creek for a swim (brrrrr but worth it) which we did a couple of weekends ago (I wonder how much longer we'll be able to do that before autumn turns really chilly).

Do I need to say I am not missing the dysfunctional neighbours we left behind, or the rowdy swimming pool crowds, or the noise from the playing fields, or the constant traffic drone from the main road through town? No, I thought not *smile*.

Cyberspace Withdrawal

Revel by Autumns Goddess aka Jena DellaGrottaglia 

Tomorrow we lose broadband so my morning ritual of checking into my favourite blogs will cease until after we move and are reconnected with a new carrier.

I will miss contact with the wider world but I will also be busy with packing so hopefully I won't miss it too much.

In the meantime, may you all be blessed with happiness.

Moving House II

This week has been spent sorting and throwing out.  How can three people manage to accumulate so much stuff in under six years? 

Having to move to a smaller house has certainly made me look at all our things and seriously consider whether we want/need the particular item in question and whether we really can be bothered to lug it to the next place. So as we are clearly  not going to have another child (excluding one helluvan accident) I will be selling cot, playpen, portacot and child's desk that Little Tree has outgrown.

Mum has given us a stack of empty animal feed bags and we have filled all of them with rubbish to either be burned or go to the tip.  We have a couple of bags  several bags of clothes to go to op shops plus toys that are no longer interesting enough to play with. We were thinking of having a garage sale but have run out of time so I will be putting up a list on the notice boards in town and hoping that it all sells. And I am definitely not lugging them to the new house.

Since starting this post I have sorted through every cupboard and every drawer and thrown out so much it's obscene.  It feels fantastic to have pared down everything. It's now time to pack and I am now impatient to be on our way.

Gratitude II

I've said this before but I still find it wonderfull and surprising to find exactly what I need just when I need it. Some would call it serindipitous, some coincidence and some synchronicity. Visiting blogs this morning, the first three each had something to say to me.

This too shall pass.

On this path no effort is wasted.

What seemed like drudgery yesterday is a gift to me today.

Blessings to these people for sharing their thoughts and reminding me of these truths.

Moving House

 gate into vegie and fruit garden

We are moving. Finally, we have found a house that I think we can live in happily. Phew! Of all the houses we looked at this is the only one I did not walk away from in tears.

Since this is such a pretty little town there are very few rental properties and high demand. The house we have found is a long term rental - the owner has stated he has no intentions of ever living there so we shouldn't find ourselves in the same situation we're in now. 

Our new house is so different from our present one. It is on the other side of the river for a start and further to walk to the shops (I may have to go out and buy that bike I keep telling myself about). It has been designed to be ecologically friendly and passive solar so it should be more comfortable in the really hot weather. Having said that, there is also airconditioning and a gas heater so I suppose we will have to wait and see. There are two bedrooms upstairs whereas now we only have a single level home. There are two loos so there'll be no more hasty exits to make way for Little Tree. It is on a battleaxe block so it is away from the road - not that it is a busy one anyway. According to all reports the neighbours are quiet. I will not miss our domestic violent neighbours, whose arguments Little Tree is starting to mimic.  Or the noise from the public swimming pool close by (lots of loud happy children, aqua aerobic classes with dreadful music, midnight swims by squealing teenagers - you get the picture). The big drawback is that it only has a postage stamp garden, albeit very private, so I'll have to be very inventive in growing herbs and vegies.

 

vegie garden august 2009

There are some things I am heartsore at leaving. I will miss the garden here, my vegie plot, the reserve below us and the trees beyond. All of which has been balm for my soul.  I suppose I'll get used to having less space, at least I hope so, as I don't want to be moving again soon - unless it is to a house we own, then watch just how fast I can move!!!  So I may well have to resort to more visits to the beach and walks in the bush to get my fix of open spaces and trees, respectively. The other thing that I don't particularly like is that there are no doors on the built in wardrobes. It looks very messy and is unhelpful feng shui.  This may be quite deliberate, given the humidity we experience - with greater airflow around garments maybe there will be less mould. Still, I will be investing in some screens to keep me calm.

visitors in the reserve

 

The other big hassle is that our communications carrier no longer can provide service to us. It's a long story about line rentals and new cabling blah blah blah and I won't bore you with it. Suffice to say we have to transfer our phone and broadband to another carrier but keep a dialup arrangement going with our current carrier for 12 months. We may be without both phone and internet (how will I cope without blogsphere?!!!) for a couple of days over the move - thank goodnes for mobile phones.

This all sounds quite melancholy, which in part is true but I am also excited. I will have a lot of fun setting up the new house and rehabilitating the neglected garden, replacing dead herbs and putting in some flowers as well as sorting out where to place all our pot plants, which include a cumquat and a couple of frangipani trees.

We will hire a truck for the day and a number of able bodied friends have volunteered to help. In turn we will reward them with a hearty meal for lunch and a few beers at the end of the day. Not too many for us though since we'll have to go back and clean this house and I really don't fancy doing that with a hangover.

climbing rose in the courtyard

Our landlord sounds unique in that he, quite sensibly, is happy to spend money fixing things sooner rather than later. In addition, he also seems quite open to discussions about any improvements to the property. I am sorry to say that I find I'm reluctant to believe this.

Since starting this post, I've discovered that there is a community garden within walking distance, so maybe my gardening at the new house will be reduced to herbs and flowers.

Now that we know where we are moving to, I have made up a social story for Little Tree about moving with photos of the new house, a map and calendar so we can countdown to moving day. He is very anxious about it at the moment but by the time moving day comes, having read the social story everyday,  hopefully he will know what is going to happen, his role in it and that everything will be alright.

coffee tree

Today we will start the process of sorting and throwing out before we start packing. I can hear the whip being cracked as I write.

Gratitude

Today I'm feeling blessed, humble and so grateful for friends both in blogspere and elsewhere. I'm feeling so lucky to have so many supportive people in my life at this point in time. We've had offers of help in moving and friends are keeping their eyes and ears open for anywhere appropriate.

Thank you especially to Bo for his blessings - hugs and wishes for abundant happiness. Also to Adam Goddard who went to a lot of trouble digging around for a piece of music I'd requested. Adam, I have had the piece on repeat all morning - may your week be filled with wonderful, blissful surprises.

Apologies if this gushing is too much.