Meet the Little Birdies

The little birides which yesterday were just a scribble on a scrap of paper became a flock of  fabric birdies last night.

I love them!

Later this afternoon my Pete and I will board a plane and fly 3000km south, all the way to Melbourne. We are heading to the Australian Quilt Convention. More importantly we are meeting some lovely bloggers. If you are blog-hopping over the next few days you might find us.

We are both really looking forward to this weekend. I’ll be back in a few days, full of inspiration.

Little Birdies

I have been drawing little birdies on pages printed from a sudoku website. My Pete says they look like love chickens – whatever they may be, but I really like them. These are the sort of birds that would never swoop at you when you are walking and they would never squawk loudly at four in the morning. I think they need to live on a quilt very soon.

Sixth…

Melody has tagged me to reveal the sixth photo in the sixth folder on my computer.

My sixth folder comes from 2004. When I hear that number it seems like it was very recent, not too long ago at all.  However, when I see the photo I realise how much time has passed since it was taken.

Here is the photo:

It was taken in the middle of our backyard at the height of winter – hence Declan’s jumper. Ashleigh is 14 years old, Declan is four and Chelsea is three. Ashleigh is painting their faces, just for fun. There must be someone, probably my Pete, with a tennis ball off to the left hand side because Thomas is looking very alert in the background.

Ashy is the most amazing cousin. She is so good to the little ones and they adore her. Later in the day she indulgently allowed this to happen:

What do the painting skills of a three year old get you? Nothing pretty!

Later in the day Ashleigh made a cake. The little ones all love it when Ashy bakes. In fact, they all expect to find some home baked goodness every time they visit. On that day Chelsea and Declan had a treat even better than home baking…

I don’t believe there is anything better than sitting on the front step with one of the beaters to lick. You don’t have to be a kid to think that is great!

Thanks, Melody. This was fun. If I had been blogging in 2004 I probably would have used these photos to write a post. I need to tag others now, so if you are reading this and have not completed this meme, then it is yours. Please let me know in the comments if you plan to do it too, so I can come to visit and see your photo.

The List

Pip: We have no cordial. Can we go and get some?

Me (because we live about three minutes’ walk from a supermarket): You can walk to the shop to get some if you would like to.

Pip: OK. I will.

Me (whipping out a pen and paper): Oh good. Can you pick up a few things for dinnner too?

After an explanation about what chicken tenderloins are, I sent him on his way.

Fifteen minutes later he returned with this:

He impulsively decided to purchase a chocolate-y breakfast treat. It took him a little while to locate the chicken tenderloin, but he eventually decided to go to the deli counter and wait to be served. Next time our pre-shopping discussion will include the way to select a ripe avocado.

Pretty good effort! My Pete and I are building a beautiful man. I love having grown up children and watching each little step towards adulthood. Plus, if I train him really well, I may never have to shop again…

Have Stationery, Will Study

New folders have been purchased…

and colour co-ordinated with the post-it notes.

Diaries, organisers, pens and highlighters, all brand new and ready to be used.

Tomorrow Ashleigh starts university.

We are all very excited for her. It means a new beginning, an end to waiting.

Oh… and she has organised her toga, for the orientation week toga party.

A girl has to have priorities.

He is Skinny…

Me: (reading my blog stats) Hey! Someone found my blog doing a search for “skinny fool”.

Pip: Oh. They were probably looking for me.

Yes, I’m certain that’s what they were doing.

Highly Evolved…

Today is Darwin Day. It is 200 years since the birth of Charles Darwin.

Last year our Prime Minister spoke about creativity as something that did not belong exclusively to the arts. That creativity of thought and mind should exist within all elements of our society, especially the sciences.

 We celebrate our opposable thumbs, used so well by our highly valued sports people, but this is not what separates us from the other species of our planet. It is our ability to imagine, to daydream, to ponder, to wonder, to problem solve and articulate. These are the very qualities of the creative mind. Charles Darwin was a creative man. He thought well outside the socially acceptable, or even scientifically acceptable, norm. He made a radical proposition about the origins of the species, he backed his argument with the interpretation of evidence.

So today, as I do most days, I will sit down and have a daydream, let my mind wander in creative thought. Wonder about something I see, find my way to a creative solution. I will do it all in honour of a creative thinker, a man of science.

A lot can happen in ninety seconds, just use your imagination…

A Bit Blue

Finally today, after an interminably long time, I looked up to see this.

The sky is a bit blue.

The kind of blue that makes me feel good.

I hope that your sky is a bit blue. I know lots of people need it right now.

A Little Pampering

My sister Peta: Joseph, it’s nearly your birthday.

Joseph: Yeah.

Peta: What do you want to do for your birthday?

Joseph: Jojo get haircut.

Peta: You want to get a haircut for your birthday?

Joseph: Yeah.

So he did.

Everyone likes a bit of pampering on their special day, even if they’re only three.

Slightly Obsessive

The cyclone that threatened our shores earlier this week has moved on. While we did not experience any of the winds that can come with such a tropical storm, we did get an enormous amount of rain. We are very fortunate to live in an area that drains quickly, so flooding has been very limited in Townsville. Areas to the north have not been so fortunate. Many places have had more than 1000mm of rain in a week. That’s more than 40 inches.

Would you believe that one consequence of the rain was that a man driving down our main street (remember this is a town of 160 000 people) received two blown out tyres when he struck a crocodile. The crocodile was crossing the road to get out of the quickly rising waters of the river. It walked through a school grounds and was heading towards homes. I would not like to explain THAT to the insurance company!

Percy, my slightly obsessive dog, has nominated himself to be responsible to catch every rain drop that drips from our gutters. He has been standing in wait for each drop for the past two weeks.

He has created enormous muddy patches as he leaps to catch each drip.

His feet are permanently muddy and he is completely exhausted from his own diligence.

Tonight I see that there is a chance for another cyclone to form before the weekend. The poor dog will get no respite!