Having a lazy day today, as Sweet Bean is on his very first school camp! He’s been on Youth camps before – just never for school…
He got his cast off on Tuesday. Still has it strapped up, and has to do exercises to try to get the muscles stretching properly again…it’ll be better, though.
Here’s his favourite of the photos I took of him ready for camp…
😀
Here’s mine…
We’ll see tomorrow how it all went. Lots of possible adventures to be had!
Beautiful day! Bright but a bit chilly, the right combination of work to leisure… it’s a day to relax into! We’ve already been out today, Singing With Friends (because some things need capitals). Sweet Bean is doing his school work, then we’ll go shopping this arvo for a few bits he needs for camp tomorrow. His arm’s out of the cast – still strapped, but at least he can get his arm wet with no dire consequences…
Some days, everything just feels like it’s falling in to place. Today feels like one of those days. Look – I’m even wearing an appropriate uniform!
Leaping tall buildings in a single bound!
(Or sorting through the linen cupboard to find the warm sleeping bag. Whatever.)
I’ve had a bit of a flurry of organisation this week. Not to the extent of actually finishing it all, of course, but it’s a start.
We’ve even started another herb garden.
Historically, we’ve tried the herbs-in-pots routine for a bit, until the heat fries them or the “forgetting to water” dries them. This time around it’s not too hot, and we’re a bit more regular with the watering.
I’ve got a good feeling about this!
At some point it would be nice to get more flowering plants. Until then, here’s some I saw at Bunnings, on the way to the potting mix…
😀
A combination of looking through old family photos, Mothers’ Day coming up next week, and reading this blog post has had me feeling a bit sad and nostalgic lately.
My beautiful boys are tall, strong young men now. I am so proud of them, and love being round them and watching them become the people they are meant to be… but sometimes, I miss my little boys.
These were photos taken at a long ago family photo shoot – such a fun day! That was when daily life for my giggly sweet beans revolved around our family unit, when we spent most of our time together. When trusting little hands would hold mine when we had to cross the road, or walk through the shopping centre, because Mummy was there to look after them. When I read them books at morning tea, with cuddles and funny voices. I sometimes still come across a little hand written note saying “I lov you mumy”
❤
It’s a sweet sort of sadness, this looking back.
This Mothers’ Day I will have journeyed through just over twenty years of motherhood. No little boy cuddles now, but there will be awkward but loving man hugs, deep voiced laughter and time spent together discussing fandoms and telling silly jokes. I am blessed with the company of two wonderful human beans… I may miss the early years, but I’m glad I haven’t missed the years that came after.
I love looking at old photos. It’s important to look back and remember.
I love, even more, looking at what I see now, and remembering to be grateful for all that’s in front of me.
We watched this last week, so I revisited it today…
Have you had a bad day?
Here’s Baby Groot dancing!
Enjoy! 🙂
Today.
Anzac Day
When we remember –
not to glorify war,
or some version of nationalism,
but to honour sacrifice.
To remember love.
A quiet roar
one
he lays his left hand along the beam
hand that moulded clay into fluttering birds
hand that cupped wild flowers to learn their peace
hand that stroked the bee’s soft back and touched death’s sting
two
he stretches his right hand across the grain
hand that blessed a dead corpse quick
hand that smeared blind spittle into sight
hand that burgeoned bread, smoothed down the rumpled sea
three
he stands laborious
sagging, split,
homo erectus, poor bare forked thing
hung on nails like a picture
he is not beautiful
blood sweats from him in rain
far off where we are lost, desert dry
thunder begins its quiet roar
the first drops startle us alive
the cloud no bigger
than a man’s hand
Had a couple of days this week when I just had to vacate normal life for a bit – go off on my own and eat/spend money. I had every intention of throwing cash around, but in the end I got a DVD set that had been marked down to half price, a thrift shop CD, a half price craft set, and a random assortment of cups, plates and a teacup, which set me back just under $5… it seems I don’t do hedonism very well.
Aren’t my new plates pretty, though!
I ate lunch out two days running – I normally only have coffee and perhaps some sort of cake…
A house melt…
…and a bacon and egg muffin.
I wasn’t going for low calorie.
I had planned to have a day out on my own this holidays, but not really starting from a point of irritation and overwhelm. Makes it harder to get in to the mood I was hoping for, but I did eventually reach serenity to some degree. I walked more than I have done in a while… here’s a frangipani I picked up on the way.
Not sure why the top petals are that shape? I’ve never seen that before. Still smelled sweet, though.
I needed the break from everyday for a bit. Not long till we’re back into school term – not sure I feel quite that ready!
Here’s some flowers I got last Sunday, still brightening up our home 🙂
Bed soon – early start in the morning!
Twenty-five years ago I travelled through Europe, ending up in Paris before going back to the U.K., where I was living.
I remember going to see Notre Dame. It was a hot summer, Paris was crowded and dirty, with what I took to be smog rising into the atmosphere. Still felt the romance – it’s a beautiful city.
The cathedral seemed apart from the bustle, even though there were many tourists passing through – it’s on its own little island in the river Seine. The interior was quiet, with light shining through stained glass and illuminating stone. A peaceful oasis – majestic and beautiful.
Today I woke up to the news that it was burning, and the spire had already fallen. Nobody knew at that stage what would remain once the flames were finally extinguished. At this point, there is still structure left, and the possibility of rebuilding. Artworks and artifacts have been rescued. And thankfully, no-one died.
I am grateful to have been able to have seen it all those years ago. I’m not French – I only visited briefly in 1994 – but I feel a sense of loss, and can only imagine what Parisiens are feeling today. It’s always terrible when history is destroyed, and I imagine there is also a sense of national identity involved as well.
Hopefully, what is important will be recovered and rebuilt, as has happened with other monuments and landmarks over the years. Perhaps someday I will take my sons, or even grandchildren, to see what rises from the ashes…
Spent the morning with Sweet Bean, finally getting an x-ray so we could see what’s going on with his elbow.
It’s a minor fracture (a small non-displaced avulsion fracture of the radial neck), but is still painful and needs to be immobilised so it can heal properly and return to full function… puts a crimp in his holiday plans, but on the plus side – no dishes to do for 2-4 weeks! 😀
We picked up a chiller for him after all the doctory stuff – it took a lot longer than we’d thought to get it all done (x-ray, waiting for an available doctor, then getting the plaster cast put on), and he was tired and achey by the end. Now to figure out fun things he can do for the next few weeks!
Yesterday was the first day of the holidays, and Sweet Bean went skating for his Youth Group breakup. He hasn’t done much skating at all, and unfortunately gravity did its thing…
There didn’t seem to be swelling or bruising, but after a night of little sleep from pain we decided to go get him checked at the Medical Centre… the likelihood is that it’s not a major thing, but he’ll be x-rayed on Monday to check. Not the start he was hoping for today!
He did manage to get some sleep/rest this morning, so we were able to go to the markets – some good bargains to be had!
A whole box of nectarines for a fiver 😀
Some of these are for eating, and some are being stewed and frozen for later use.
There’s always the possibility of amazing pastries at the markets, although we don’t normally get them. This morning we had a tired, grumpy Bean to cheer up, so we got a couple of different pastries… the plan was that he would have one and we would share the other. It was too hard to choose, so we all had a bit of each.
Almond croissant and raspberry crumble brioche – enough to cheer anyone up! It’s been a day of reading and watching cheerful TV.
Hopefully we’ll all get a full night’s sleep tonight…
a bit of creativity, a bit of eco consciousness, a bit of inspiration.... hopefully not a lot of pompousness and blathering :D
i'm not entirely sure what's going on here... let's travel along and see...
