Settling in

Life in this new place...

> Spring in the air, sipping coffee outside, picnics on the long grass, appreciating the sun.

> Drinking way more tea and coffee than I have for a while!

> The legacy of those before us - these poppies, along with the rest of the house and garden...

> Reading Otherways, to try and wrap my head around what homeschooling might look like for us.

> Multiple trips to the grocery store and health food store to stock up.

> Enjoying this blog, and Soulemama, as ever.

> Numerous loads of washing on the Hills Hoist! Back to cloth nappies!

> More wildlife and animals - the cockatoo who visits the front yard, the kookaburras that cackle on the powerlines, the chooks and goats at Gembrook retreat, the king parrot that came and hung out for at least two minutes one time when I was hanging out the washing. He walked right up to where I was - he was about two or three feet away! That felt pretty special...

> Two kids sick with colds!

> Waratahs in my loungeroom.

Life feels good...

New house

Okay, okay, enough of the 'beautiful nieces and nephews'! Sharon's sick of that! So would I be... Anyway, finally getting around to posting a few pics of the new place, so you can check out the mess!

The kitchen: biggest complaints are, there's hardly any bench space, and the benches/sink in general are very low... not that this is going to be a whinge-fest! Oh yes, must add, floors are frigid!

One corner of the loungeroom, which we have adopted as an eating area, probably to avoid the tiles in the one other place the table could go!

Unpacking...

Can you spot the girl amidst the chaos??

Backyard blitz!

Weeding manic... so is my Dad! Between the two of them, they've almost put in a full days work on the weeds already!

Looking back at the house from the top corner of the back yard. I love all this space! Will be great when the mower's fixed and we can get the grass down a bit - it's hard for Jasper to walk in it at the moment!

We almost have a view in the front yard, if it weren't for the trees and powerlines! We put wild bird seed on the stand and birds have been coming already, including a resident cockatoo.

Beautiful view between our place and Jane and Steve's. Potatoes going in here? This photo doesn't do it justice...

So going well, but unpacking is slow. Dreams for customising the house are exciting, but we have to be patient about them too, which feels good, actually. Like good things come to those who wait, or whatever that addage is.

Thanks for thinking of us, and I hope to post again much sooner! Love Bec

House Owners in Gembrook!

Well, as of today, we are proud houseowners! Feels kinda unreal, given we haven't stepped foot in the place, but it's also very exciting, something we've talked about doing for a while. Exciting to try out living more rural, exciting to live close to our friends Jane, Steve, Caleb and Miri. Anyway, here's what Barry Plant had to say about it:

24 BEENAK EAST ROAD GEMBROOK
This is the ideal opportunity to enter the property market or extend your investment portfolio! Located in a great position with sealed road access, this brick home offers 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, large lounge, separate dining area, plus single garage under roof line (ideal to extend to make another living room). Outside the 1672m2 block enjoys plenty of sun & a lovely outlook over the fields of gembrook. Water tanks provide plenty of water for the thriving veggie garden at the rear. Walking distance to town, transport & the school, this home could be your perfect start in the market, call us & inspect today! 54km to Melbourne (direct line)

Here's a few pics of our brick-box house!

Floor plan thanks to Jane and my dad. We don't know the exact measurements of the house - this info isn't provided to purchasers in Australia (not like in Canada) - but I'm sure we'll fit!
The view from the front yard, looking down the valley (were it not for the trees!). Lurve those wires!





Side of the house.

My favourite shot, of the massive backyard. Vege garden, here we come!

Looking forward to having a housewarming when we get back!

Musings...

Have been having a bit of a conversation with Sharon, Gord's sister, about transcontinental communication, or, more to the point, our inter-family communication. It's made me look again at my desire to give gifts, and acknowledge that a part of it feels like necessity/compulsion, in the sense that I worry how others will feel if I don't give anything. It's highlighted by the fact that gift-giving hardly registers on Gord's radar. He calls his family a bit, perhaps emails, but pretty much, until we're in Canada, there's not much interaction. He hasn't hardly spoken to lots of the people he/we'll no doubt hang out with a lot while we're over there. And it doesn't seem to affect the relationships negatively - he just picks them up when we're in the country.

So Christmas is coming, and I've been making lists of family and friends, and thinking of gifts I can make for them, and this is an enjoyable process. But for one thing, it takes a lot of energy to make a range of gifts (even though it's fun) so I don't think my lists are entirely realistic. But more importantly, I hate how it feels like a one-woman show. It'd be cool if Gord and I chose to buy/make gifts together, but this just isn't going to happen. Just like it'd be cool if Gord and I both updated this blog.

So I have a choice here. Gord is obviously free to do whatever he likes, and I can either get pissed off at what can seem like a lack of contribution to elements of life that I value. Or, I can cut myself some slack and choose to let the blog fall behind, and not have hand-made, or any, gifts to give, without worrying how other people will feel. This makes space to ask myself what I actually want to do, as opposed to feeling like I need to make a gift or be writing here. Cos often I hate how the computer sucks so much energy. It makes space to just climb into bed, which is probably what I should be doing right now.

However, I find it really hard to switch off from how other people might feel. I don't ring that many people in Canada, so if I stop even putting stuff up on this blog, won't they think I'm not interested in them? And if I come empty-handed to Christmas lunch, because I don't necessarily want to buy stuff for the sake of it, won't everyone feel pissed off?

Just processing out loud here - still working it out...

So how do you do gift-giving in your family?

Betta but some photos up here to keep this blog interesting!

Here's Gord and Jas at Miri's 3rd birthday party at Gembrook (same as Jas and I, above).

Anna came round for tea on Monday, wanting to shave her head as an act of solidarity for a friend of her's at work who's having chemo. I did the honours, and I reckon she looks good! It's something you have to do once in your life, anyway... Love to all... And please don't take my lack of blogging personally! Chances are, I'm just nourishing myself by reading a book in bed, or something!

Painful conversations like pulling teeth!

So what's new?

Well, I'm having my wisdom teeth removed this coming Tuesday, part of getting ready to go to Canada. I don't want to have to think about my teeth while over there! They played up when I was six weeks pregnant with Jasper, so I couldn't do much about them then. I met the oral surgeon on Tuesday - seemed like a really nice guy. The thing I'm most stressed about it having to wear a hospital gown - it's such a symbolic stripping of oneself and one's autonomy. But yeah, I'm not too stressed about that, it'll just be new, my first time in hospital. I'm hoping the aftermath won't be too bad. I'm madly trying to EXPRESS myself so that Jasper doesn't dose up on my anaesthesia!

And...

I fell off my bike. So predictable. I was coming down a bit of Punt Rd (a majorly busy road), despite trying to avoid it - I was trying to get to the bike path by the river. Anyway, I had this big arse truck bearing down on me and I thought I should get out of the way. Decided to pull into a petrol station, but my bike tyre didn't handle the slight kerb very well. Slid off - could see it coming about 2 seconds before it actually happened. The damage wasn't as bad as I thought - the worst bit was a very grazed forearm. I got up straight away and didn't even feel like shedding a tear! It just added to the feeling that I was having a very bizarre day...

In the process, I scratched up my wedding ring. Showed it to Gord and he said it was symbolic of the scars we inflict on each other, which was quite meaningful, given we were kind of mid-argument. An unresolved conversation anyway. It's a bit more resolved now, but God, it's painful, when marriage functions as a mirror, as our wedding preacher said. Where the other person reflects back to you your own hurts and shortcomings. Yeah...

Other than that, I had a most lovely day yesterday. Jane, Caleb, Miri, Piper, Jas and I headed off to the Collingwood Children's Farm. Spent five hours there - talking, holding a baby, knitting, eating, drinking coffee - while the kids ran around. It's not like they totally amuse themselves, but it's so much easier when they can bounce off each other's energy. Well, easier except for when they crap on the grass! (thankfully it wasn't Piper!) I really enjoyed talking to Jane, enjoyed a woman's perspective on my unresolved conversation with my husband. I don't mean that negatively, that we bitched about Gord at all. It was just sooo nice to hear her musings on a whole range of topics, cos really, men and women think so differently about stuff. I went home feeling relieved - that was my dominant emotion - relieved that someone had understood and listened. (This is not to say that Gord hasn't been doing this!)

Dunno if I should rave on about all this, given the rather abstract nature of my ramblings, but the bottom line is, it's all good, cos this is really old stuff that I'm really glad to process, but like I said, in the moment, it's bloody painful.

But hey, I meant all that to sound positive. Hopefully it does! On a different positive note, I talked to Gord's sister today in Canada and was glad to touch base. And on another funny note, I've been cleaning out old memory boxes - basically the social paperwork (invitations, letters, etc) of previous years, and found some valentines some little girls wrote to my little brother ages ago. Too cute - I'm going to send them to him!

This is how the kids travel lately, if I need to take a pram and if Jasper doesn't need to sleep (in the sling). I love how their sibling relationship is developing- it's a joy to watch...

Great weekend

Well, we just had a beeeg weekend!

On Friday, I had people over for a craft space, from 3 to 10pm ish. Enjoyed chatting with Mum and Dad at the end of the evening. When they left, Pete, our house guest got home from his job on a film set (a psychological thriller called Break In - look out for it!), so we talked for a while - I was rather hyped! That's what social spaces do to me! Then right when I was heading off to bed, Gord and Jesse got home. I hadn't seen Jesse for a while - it was great to see him... finally got to bed at 1am! With a few wake ups thoughout the night, of course, and two kids who decided 7am was a good time to get up (others would say this is a sleep in!), I didn't get much sleep.

So Saturday, we had a fantastic brunch at Choi's (our old place, actually), with Samara too. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, to welcome the first day of spring, and that house was always beautiful in sunnyweather. From there, we headed to Mum and Dad's. They looked after the two kids (Jasper for the first time) while we headed off to the movies. Saw the Bourne Ultimatum, which was satisfyingly entertaining. Said hello to my bro, Daniel, at the italian restaurant in Greensy where he works, and had a coffee a few doors up. Had tea with Mum and Dad, and then drove rather blearily to Gembrook, arriving around 9.30pm (not that you really care!).

At around 6.30am, Jasper decided he was done sleeping, after having listened to the kids stomping around upstairs for a bit. I was psyching up to get up, cos I was feeling tired but not grumpy, and I knew Gord was tired AND grumpy (having, of his own volition, slept squished next to Piper the steam engine in a single bed. Why? you ask. Well, he didn't want to be bounced around next to me while I was changing Jas's nappy in the middle of the night! He told me at one point last night he jumped out of bed absolutely fuming because Piper was snoring, the blankets weren't covering them both well enough and he was cold, and he felt like he hadn't slept yet! He paced around for a while, calmed down, and re-did the blankets, but yeah, why woulldya?? He didn't get much sympathy from me - he just made me laugh instead - in the morning when he told me!)

Anyway, what I meant to say was that I was psyching up to get up, but then Jane offered to take Jas. Later Gord got up, and between the two of them, I was able to sleep in til 10.30am, with one feed in there - that felt SOOOO pleasant! Hasn't happened in quite a while...

We were at Gembrook cos there was a stack of wood to be cut up and stacked. An arborist had come along and trimmed a whole lot of trees along one edge of the property, and we were there to do our best to clear the timber off the neighbour's land. I love hauling wood - enjoyed throwing and stacking it while Gord sawed with a chain (or is that chainsawed?). Lovely weather to be outside.

Got back home just in time to hear Samara preach at church - it was really ace to hear what she had to say. Piper was TOTALLY baked, after a whole weekend of full on play, but she got to bed okay, without cracking it.

We just watch Idol (whoo! I'm really enjoying it!) and chatted to Pete. He and Jotara just bought a one-bedroom apartment in Northcote, so that's pretty exciting. I love this sense of relationships developing - makes our life all the richer... And here I am on the couch with my laptop, enjoying having a bit of a rave here. It was a really good weekend, that's why I wanted to write about it. We don't usually plan our weekends this full, but even though it was busy and we missed our relaxed coffee space at the market on Sunday morning, it was still a really satisfying weekend.

Soayeah... betta wind it up... love to all

P.S. This is Jas this morning - check out his perfectly Canadian t-shirt, a hand-me-down from Ilsa and Liam...

Waiting...with a new camera!

Hello all,

(Wrote this a couple of days ago but the slow internet connection made it veritably impossible to upload! Anyway, here it is...)

Have been meaning to communicate for at least week and upload some pics, but it's taken me this long to get the new camera
software onto my computer. Yes, so did we say we lashed out on a digital SLR?? (second hand of course- thanks ebay) We had planned (vaguely) to buy a video camera, but we came to the realisation that we both probably wouldn't use it that much - we both get off more on framing shots and stuff. So we've been relatively trigger happy this week - will put a
few up here (or in the next posts).

Anyway, the other news is that there's no news! On the baby that is... It's still wriggling around in me, despite the due date passing as on Wed 25th. But when I think about it, if I was the baby, I'd make the most of the cosy space it's in while I could! We haven't at all started stressing yet (I might in a week!), but it's a really wierd waiting space. Piper was a day early, and we'd been so busy before that, that waiting never entered into it. With this kiddo, there's been things to finish and get done, but they are largely done and it's all bonus time now... We've been doing lots of socialising - had something on almost every night last week...

Last weekend we were up at Gembrook - I was so
glad we went up, cos at first I didn't want to, in case I had to sit in the car for an hour all the way home if I went into labour. However, when the weekend came round, we just decided to go, and while I was there, it felt so good to be there, like there was nowhere else I'd rather be right then - a really lovely feeling. The main task for the working bee was to clear the fenceline along one of the boundary roads, so we can get a new fence put in. I love burning off, and did my bit while Jane looked after the kids, even if I was a bit slow and had to take a few rests! I remembered that two weeks before Piper was born, we were up at Gembrook too, cutting down a massive tree with John and Anne, Gord's parents, and stacking up a big woodpile. Felt good to be engaged with the land, and it doesn't seem to bring labour on! Anyway, I was proud of my blackberry scratches!

Anyway, will finish this post here and see it it will upload this time!

Love Bec

P.S. The first photo is of Jane and the kids with the very sick wombat who hangs around the property. For one thing, it wouldn't normally be out during the day, and you'd usually never get that close it it. It's almost blind, I think, and is very sick with mange.... But still, great to see one up close...

Piper's third birthday @ Puffing Billy

Thought I should finally blog about Piper's birthday, seeing as I've been meaning to do so since it happened! On her actual birthday (Tuesday 6th March), we had a quiet celebration with my Mum and cousin Michelle at my parents' house. Then, on the following Saturday, we headed to Emerald Lake to catch the steam train, Puffing Billy, to Gembrook. This plan was hatched more than a year ago with Jane and Steve, seeing as their son, Caleb, shares the same birthday as Piper, (he's one year older) and they live so close to Puffing Billy. We finally managed to get a decent family snap - they're hard to come by!


All aboard! Piper and Anja.

Anja, Piper and Ellen.



Gord, Jane and Trisha waiting on the platform.



The view round the bend!



Steve explaining the rules of Pass the Parcel, to a rapt audience!


The moment for candle-blowing!


I ended up making two cakes, although the original plan was to make some fandangled fish-shaped cake using two baked cakes. That seemed too difficult, when I thought a bit harder about it, so in the end I made a Nemo cake for Piper and a Puffing Billy cake for Caleb. And I was very pleased with how they turned out (if I do say so myself), given that I really didn't want to use food colouring. The only unhealthy thing on them was the licorice (other than the sugar, of course!). Even the jelly beans were politcally correct, containing no artificial colours or flavours! Nemo ended up being made out of sliced mango!

Old blog, new tricks

That's the question, can you teach an old blog new tricks? Or should that be an old blogger?? (Yes, I've had a birthday, but no I don't feel old at all!) As you can see, we've moved our ravings to a Google blog format, because they've made such communication as simple as possible, simpler even than the handy, customised website Gord created for our blog in years past. We're thinking this will make adding simpler, shorter entries easier, and hence, that we might do them more often! Probably, however, none of our friends are checking this url anymore! Oh well...

We are well. Watching the men's final of the Australian Open with a friend at the moment. Yes, it's a Sunday night, but honestly, this is the first time Gord and I have had our laptops out together for ages! And don't worry about us being anti-social to our friend - Gord's showing him Google earth (is there anything Google can't do??). The tennis game is actually getting boring because OF COURSE Roger Federer, the 25-y-o swiss master, is winning. Will the Chilean take a set, that's the biggest question, given Federer hasn't lost a set the entire tournament!

We just spent the weekend at Gembrook - amazingly we haven't been up there since the beginning of October. It was actually quite cold, given the higher altitude, and Gord hadn't brought any long-sleeved clothing! We also managed to forget the bag of Piper's clothes, which she wasn't all that impressed about - for whatever reason, she wasn't keen to borrow clothes off Miri... Anyway, she has nummies for parents for forgetting that bag, but we always forget something, and hopefully next time it will be something different! Like the food or something! Or our undies!

Anyway, I might wind it up here. Hello to anyone who checks this site! Especially our friends! We love you!