R.A.O.K.

Today was an interesting day…
My Littlest Bean is getting taller. This means we need to get new clothes (including shoes) for him… if we can get things at Lifeline etc, it’s better. We watched a couple of shows this week about globalisation, especially the problems with cheap fashion – we can’t really afford fair trade clothing, but prefer to recycle rather than buy cheap.
Today we found some good shoes for him at Lifeline. A bit lived in, need a bit of a clean, but good treads and comfortable. There was a man looking around the shop while we were there, apparently… we didn’t notice him, but Littlest Bean remembered seeing him.
We did the rest of our shopping, went to Aldi for the last bit, leaving Little Bean sitting on a bench outside, watching the bags. As we went through the checkout, we saw him chatting to a young woman, who was showing him a pair of shoes… when we got outside, she said that a man had bought them for him at the sports shop next door (I gather she worked there) and asked her to give them to him. He didn’t get to say thanks to the man, but he had had a chat while we were in Aldi. He recognised him as the same man he’d seen at Lifeline, and said they’d had a chat about his “new” shoes and what size his feet were…
So now he has a brand new pair of shoes! (They’re very comfortable, apparently πŸ˜‰ )
We would have liked to say thank you face to face… but we are thankful – and pleased, and flabbergasted…

Here’s the new shoes.

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Sweet Bean said “Do you think God had anything to do with it?”
Yes, my darling. Yes, I think that’s quite likely… πŸ™‚

Published in: on August 1, 2015 at 9:33 pm  Comments (1)  
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It’s The End Of The Week As We Know It

A while back I wrote about a game called “Exquisite Corpse”, where different people take it in turns to do a round robin of drawing or writing, on the same piece of paper, without seeing the work of the previous person.
They tend to be quite funny in the end…
Today, we did another writing piece – here it is! πŸ˜‰

I was walkingΒ down the lane on a cold and windy morning. I was unhappy, for the sun did not shine down on me as I would have liked it to. Cupcakes are very sweet, so I think everyone should have a chance to try them. My thoughts turn towards partying and celebration – perhaps there should be fireworks?
At the very least, a great bouquet of sunflowers! After all they were his favourite food. Of course he could always eat a bunch of grass. It is obvious that he had a strange diet. He would drive to the shopping centre to get some milk for breakfast the next morning.
He ran into an old friend who was waiting for the New Year. There are some that consider that a party is not a party without a karaoke machine but I, myself, would prefer cake, coffee and lots of chocolate. With the possibility of a tiara for each guest, and lots of sparkles.
Bat-a-bing bat-a-boom – we had a party.Β Everyone was required to have a pompadour and bring a plate of food. I should have been more specific because I said to “bring a plate”. Unfortunately this meant that most people just brought a plate.
Suddenly the cake exploded. In a rush I decided to go and explore space. The question was, where do I start? I could explore Mars. I could explore Jupiter. I could explore the planet of the chickens or just stay on Earth and play video games, but I am more for adventure so why don’t I go to space or I could even dance the tango, or perform a slow, sedate pavane. Waltzing is optional, but everyone must employ their fans frequently in a complicated series of signals and responses.
Also, there should be lemonade. But that had probably been blown up too. It was a great mess I had gotten myself into but I was happy to have gotten out of it.
Well, I’m off to find some beer.

Published in: on July 31, 2015 at 4:23 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Say Cheese :)

Cheesecake Day today!

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Got the boys to make the simplest of cheesecakes (cream cheese, sugar, milk, lemon juice, vanilla extract and an egg mixed together, on a base of crushed ginger biscuits mixed with melted butter). I whipped up some strawberries with a bit of sugar to make it a bit syrupy, and we had a sweet afternoon tea…

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Yum! πŸ™‚

Published in: on July 30, 2015 at 5:54 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Garfield Would Be Pleased…

Apparently, today is Lasagne Day (possibly only in the U.S.)…
We usually do some cooking with the boys on Wednesday, so –

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πŸ™‚

Tomorrow is Cheesecake Day…

Published in: on July 29, 2015 at 8:21 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Running Fine

…or walking!
Yesterday I was able to get to Park to Park, and even did the Family Challenge (walk). I paid for it a bit in the afternoon, but doing OK today…

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Last week, both the boys were sick, so we didn’t think we’d get there yesterday. We all did, although Biggest Boy is still a little fragile today. School last week was either sporadic or non-existent (Little Bean was better overall, if still sniffly and grumpy). Today we managed a fairly full day. Here’s to a productive week! πŸ™‚

Published in: on July 27, 2015 at 3:56 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Morning Tea

…for a cold, blustery day.

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Because I’m worth it!
*nonchalantly tosses hair in silky manner*

Published in: on July 17, 2015 at 3:56 pm  Leave a Comment  

Brightly In The Clouds

It’s been cold, hasn’t it?
Sunshine, mostly, but with a bit of gloom as well… Here’s some flowers to brighten things up a bit.

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School’s back – we’ve been doing our reading, riting and ‘rithmatic, and I’ve been reading aloud to the boys. We’re going through Charles and Mary Lamb’s Tales From Shakespeare. So far I’ve read them summaries of The Winter’s Tale, Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It. There’s a fair bit of giggling so far, as well as disbelief of the storylines (biggest boy’s frequent refrain is, “But things just don’t happen like that!”) but they’re enjoying it.
I’m studying again – Western Herbalism – and equal parts excited and terrified. Lots to learn…
I just wish I could get my toes warm at some point during the day – it’s a bit distracting to have constant iceblocks!
Warm days are coming again, and the sun will shine on us all… πŸ™‚

Published in: on July 16, 2015 at 7:31 pm  Leave a Comment  
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The Cases Are In!

πŸ™‚

The boys finished the bookcases before term finished, but it’s taken this long to get them in place because our house is… not exactly level…
They measured exactly – but just on one side of the shelf the bookcases were going under. The shelf (or perhaps the floor?) is not as level as we thought. No problem – Dad to the rescue! He deconstructed the tops and shave a few mm off. πŸ™‚
Here they are. I’ve relocated some of our most used books, and will fine tune the redistribution soon…

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Published in: on July 8, 2015 at 11:48 pm  Leave a Comment  

Going For Goal!

Whatever your level.
Whatever the distance.
Keep moving forward –
Go for your goal! πŸ™‚

Published in: on July 5, 2015 at 8:08 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Appreciating Mr Curly

I’ve just finished reading a Michael LeunigΒ book (“Musings from the Inner Duck”), a collection of recent cartoons.
Mr Curly is a recurring character; a gentle, wise, quiet person who lives in Curly Flat. I’ve always loved Mr Curly. πŸ™‚

Here’s some snapshots from his life…

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Sorry about the image quality – click on the image if you want to see it bigger. πŸ™‚

…and, just because I’ve been hearing about the dangers of excessive technology…

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(Not Mr Curly. Still cool.)

Published in: on June 24, 2015 at 6:49 pm  Leave a Comment  
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