It has been awhile since we have had a good road trip. Maybe two years or so. It was long overdue.

Our plans were quite simple,  nothing like that time when we drove across the  whole country. Still we were definitely excited and really looking forward to it. There was no snickering at our impending 5 hour trip, lets put it that way. And since it was also going to be a celebration of Miss B’s birthday…well, things were in a different dimension.

We piled an impressive amount of stuff for a quick 4 day trip. The boot was full. Not only that, but there were things under the back seats and under the front one too. The important part was that the girls had their own bags “on wheels” and they packed them themselves with great enthusiasm. I miss those times when things like that used to bring fizz in my day.

And we were off. Its a road trip, so be prepared for a few…road snaps.

The day was wonderful, not a cloud in the sky. Quite promising for us to enjoy one of our favorite beaches in the whole world.

The boy in the back was finding his own entertainment, while I was trying to find a spot for my head, so I can get a doze.
I always get sleepy in the car.

Since the school holidays were over and people had gone back to their jobs and daily lives, the roads were empty.

Except this guy:

4.5 hours and a stop for a snack and to stretch out the old limbs we were off the road and into the bush, on our way to the blueberry farm.

We love berries. But they are so incredibly, unreasonably expensive that we can mostly have them in small quantities.

Unless, that is,

we pick them ourselves.

And this is what we do down here. We pick a huge pile of blueberries and eat them by the handful.

While some were productive

Others just kept on digging in the dirt and not only that, but throwing it in my bucket!

I managed to clean it up a bit and fill it nicely with the blue fellas.

We were so fast! It was our fastest pick up ever.

On the way out of the area for picking, it happened.

It did.

I had started to hope it will never happen.

But it did.

I saw my first…

..wild snake.

Just like that, it scurried past, in front of us.

Miss Fab was with me, or I would have caused a scene. Ran around like a maniac or something.
But no, I had to be the responsible parent and be calm.

I dont know if that was the reason, or just there is nothing so freaky about the creatures, but I didnt really find it that scary. The snake just passed by, quite quickly. Maybe I didnt have time to react the way I always thought I would. Maybe I was just shocked. Who knows.

Anyway, I survived.  But I am definitely, absolutely positively not interested in repeating the experience.

After we loaded with berries we made our way to the place we rented.

The kids went wild.

Up and down the stairs, carefully placed all the contents of their bags around their room and in the wardrobe and drawers.

The place was nice and spacious.

We relaxed and I whipped up a quick pasta meal.

Which we enjoyed on the outside table.

Later on a shower and some impressively soft sheets ensured a lovely sleep, which prepared us for the next day.

(to be continued)

Steaming!

Out of my ears, that is.

We got back tonight from our trip and I grabbed my coffee and ice water and blissfully sat down on my desk. My relaxed finger pressed the power button of my computer and I had a sip of my drink and awaited the awakening of the beast.

Awaited…

The black screen slapped me with an error. Cannot start whatever…missing file…crap!…black screen…error. I pressed Enter in hope that its a fluke or just a random warning…nothing. Error and black screen.

For the next two hours I was running between Mr.Blab’s computer and reading on solutions and mine. Digging through boxes of software and CDs, drivers and pulling my hair. My coffee got cold, the ice water was warm and the dreaded machine started. I got in.

The monitor is gobbely gook looking, half the things dont work, but I am in. The verdict? My hard disk has decided to go half dead on me. So I need a new one. Its all fine and dandy, but that means I need to install all my things back on – software, drivers, settings, emails…you get the sad, cold coffee picture.

So now instead of a post about the trip you get my steaming ears. But dont you dare complain, because I will eat you with your clothes. Dont mess with me, see the ears!

So long, my relaxing night back home. So long my Friday.

See the crocodile tears?

Why ME?! Uaaa…waaaa…..waaaaah

(disappears in a cloud of self pity)

Here are the things that have kept me busy the last week or so. Miss Fab and I have been creative to bits, working on making some surprises for Little B’s birthday. It has been fun and I have learned a few new things too. So I will share, cause I am nice that way.

I will start with KravA-pA! This is the name the birthday girl gave to one of the dolls in my handmade toys book. Not just that. The girls would say the name, after looking at the page, and then crack up like there is nothing funnier out there. And then again…KravA-pA! Muahahahaha.

So, I had to make her.

Big sister joined in too. She weaved two friendship bracelets.

She made these two lovely fellas.
She chose the fabrics, the colours. She stitched up on the machine and did the hand stitch on the faces too.

The packaging too, of course.

I have been discovering crocheting. I have never done it before, even though it seemed interesting and I think I enjoyed the idea of  its versatility. I don tknow why, but I thought it will be a good idea to delve into it now.

It was not hard at all. In a night I had a grasp of it. And the second night I crocheted half a hat. Not planned that way, but my wool ran out, so it ended up a tiny little hat. I finished it up with a handle, cause I thought it will look nice as a soft basket of some kind. Then I left it around until I figure out if I want to keep it or not.

Next I was ready to follow a pattern. You think there is nothing to it, but I beg to differ. Patterns look like alien language in code and then scrambled with eggs.

But yours truly did it without a hitch. Thank you, thank you:

What am I doing with this beauty? With these wonderfully fancy stitches?
I am eliminating them, thats what I am doing.

I am felting, babeeey!

I stitched two of those squares and a big thread and the whole thing went in the washing machine.

And then I had a beautiful fluffy puffy bag (and the gift wrapping for it)

I was hooked!

Hooked I tell ya. Even Mr.Blab was impressed.

My eyes were scanning anything in my field of vision that will be suitable for felting.

Voila! My half hat turns into a basket:

This one went into  a simple paper wrap, but I made a custom bow for it.

Those are wonderful. Next time I will try the recycling version
(if you are keen, get the instructions from How About Orange)

Just in case our newly five year old is not impressed with our handicrafts, we had Mr.Blab get her a scooter and he ordered her a bunch of “Lego guys”, the latest being the favorite play buddies lately.

Now to the most anticipated part – the cake.

The order went something like that:
Chocolate cake with hmmm…white top…colorful, rainbow frosting!

Right.

Luckily I had some volunteering help:

I admit, I was not excited when she expressed enthusiasm to “help” me, but I handed her the tools and held my breath. Maybe even my eyes were closed, I am not sure.

She did the flowers.

She did not disappoint. Not even a bit.

The swoosh is just a defect in the way the cake baked. It is a wonky cake.

At first I thought we will make a hilly cake, then while we were working, we thought we will make a path in the big crack…then Miss Fab suggested bushes. I did bushes and then decided to just fill it up with grass.

And we ended up with 5 fairies somehow.

Couldnt have been more perfect.

Ok, I am tired now.

And I am getting a cold.

And we are off to celebrate a birthday…

I want a tree like this in my backyard. They are absolutely wonderful for shade, climbing or tree riding (sitting on those branches and bouncing on them). Its a little corner of our favorite park lately. Just beautiful.

So, I am alive, if you have been wondering. Not very bloggy chatty, but fine otherwise. The weather – isnt that the topic one chooses when they dont know what to talk about? – has been quite hot, so the water fountains at the park are quite welcomed and a perfect place to play.

I am busy preparing.

Busy thinking up and organizing activities for the first term of “school”. Not ours, but all activities run according to the official school terms, so we have to follow them as well. I get heaps of emails and information from homeschooling happenings. Then I keep an eye out for other happenings. Then I think of more happenings on my own and then go on to look information for them. Its impossible.

So far we have heaps of sports this term. Miss Fab didnt want to do gym anymore, so we will do some easy going gymnastics, a group of kids will do a few hours of different sports every week. Acting. Writing with the author. Tennis.  Little B is the dancer, so she will do ballet and swimming. So exciting!

Where is the learning? Right there

Ok, I have also ordered the next chapter of Story of the World. Lovely CD collection of the history of the world from the very beginning to modern times. We listen to it when driving to and fro. I am learning so much from it, quite handy. Then this term we will try Math-u-See to keep up the math awakening that is happening with the big girl. From math hater, she is turning into a math dont minder. There is hope, I tell you. Maybe its not a lost cause. So we will try that program and her sister is interested too.

Now that little one is so open to learning. I am curious to see if this will stay so with no school to dampen that. Only time will tell.

I am busy preparing.

I am also working on the gifts and preparations for Miss B’s birthday. Handmade gifts, wrapping, bows… Cake. Cake transportation. That last one is needed as we are off on a trip for a few days and since I have an order for cake, it needs to be transported there safely.

And in the midst of all this, I have to endure long afternoons in the park, with glorious trees and water fountains…

Phew!

Trip means lots of photos! Excited?

For me this started on the two days before the actual birth at 10:40pm when I lost some of the plug. I know it usually doesn’t mean much, but it has now proven to be a very good sign for me. A very good one for impending labour indeed.

That night I was having some regular contractions, but nothing too painful, just enough to be noticed. I thought things might be happening, so got up after trying to sleep for awhile. They were coming about every 4-6 min but weren’t convincing enough, so I went back to bed.

Next Day

The day started as normal. I went with Miss Fab to our usual coffee and hot chocolate outing.

I had more contracting during the day. Again, nothing major, but just that much more intense than normal Braxton hicks.

Lost more plug at 2:50pm.

We went to a parent meeting for Miss Fab’s preschool that night and I remember one of the teachers gesturing at me – asking me if I am in labour, jokingly. I have been moving around my chair trying to get comfortable during the contractions and she must have sensed me. Near the end I stood up to walk around a little bit and another of the teachers came to me and said its ok if I leave. I said I am fine, but they basically kicked me out with care, plus Dad was getting bored and didn’t complain at all.

We got home at around 8:30pm, had a quick dinner and while Mr.Blab  put future big sister to bed I went for a walk around the block.

Later on, while talking to my mom for an hour I started writing down the contraction’s timings out of curiosity. Mr.Blab came by to check what I was doing and his face went pale and he pointed at the times I had written down on the paper (every 5-10 min) and asked “what is this?” with big anxious eyes. I said “don’t worry, nothing yet, been having them since last night”. I had everything under control and didn’t need his worries to burden me and I think that is why I had been keeping quiet.

I did a few things around the house. At 10:50pm decided to send a message to my friend, who was going to be my daughter’s support person during the birth, and tell her that there is a possibility of something happening soon, but definitely not anything certain. It was getting late and I wanted her to be prepared for a rude awakening some time in the night.

10:55pm more plug out.

I went to have a shower.

My friend called and Mr.Blab  brought the phone in the bathroom. She was getting excited, but since I really wasn’t sure if the birth is imminent I was trying to dampen her enthusiasm and didn’t want her to be keeping awake in anticipation. It was nice to talk to her though, and her excitement was lovely and made me giddy as well.  After getting off the phone, I had my shower, which felt wonderful. The water running down that ripe body is something not to be missed.

11:40pm I made myself a quick dark rye and hummus sandwich.

Mr.Blab asked me if I still wanted my bath, as we talked about earlier in the day. Sure!

(more…)

Here is what happens if you leave the grocery bags on the floor for a little bit longer. I saw him playing with the avocado, but thought to myself “its alright, he cant do too much damage with this firm fruit”.

I was wrong.

Notice the hair mask! The wiping on the shirt. Lovely movements.

And some went in the mouth too, surprisingly enough.

But really, the trick is in the rapid movements.

Smash, smash, poke, poke, squish ( you should have heard the noises!).

The bench got some long needed treatment.

But he is a thoughtful boy. And cheerfully helped me clean up afterwords.

I wasnt allowed to do the wiping at all.

So, dont leave avocados around unless your wood furniture needs to be refreshed.

I have a lot of dreams. One of them is of me enjoying a big studio in the house, where I spend lovely hours designing fabrics, meters and meters of them, then printing them and sorting them out to send to my extremely (of course) happy and satisfied customers. In my dream I am very good at it and the room is abundant in colorful graphic fabrics and big working tables.

Now back to reality, in which I have never done any such thing, short of doing hand prints with the kids on a t-shirt for Mr.Blab for fathers day.  The kids have been asking for aprons, ever since I said I had thought of giving them some as Christmas presents.  Cause they would not get that idea from just watching me. I seem to have no problem with the  wiping of food and gunk on my clothes while cooking. And I wipe a lot. Kind of in a daze. Maybe that is why they asked for aprons…to save themselves from ending up like me! With gunky pants.

Then I found this calico fabric, which seemed perfect for some printing play. And we went for it. We started doing the fabric making.

The kids chose their designs. Ms.Fab wanted to do cherries, so she cut off two circles on one stencil and the stems on another. Then she chose the colors and off she went.

Little B wanted an elephant. I was all prepared to draw this lovely specimen we have on a growth chart, but she insisted on doing it herself. So she did. And she drew the best elephant I have ever seen. I shall call him Elvis Elephant, as he looks like he has some wild stylish hair, dude.  I cut up the stencil and off she went.

Then the fabric dries for entirely too long according to a child’s time perceptions.

And here comes my part, just in case you thought I am just a lowly photographer in this story, not an actual contributor to beauty and aesthetics. I whipped out the sawing machine and turned the fabric the girls created into aprons. With frills!

I am no great sawing goddess. I dont use patterns and/or plans. It all happens in some sort of a creative mind blur. I have a general idea of what I am trying to do and then hope it works in practice as it perfectly does in my head. It rarely does, but I get close.

And there you have it.

It was so much fun, I want to do it again. But this time I want to be making the printing and designing.

I wonder what can I make out of the fabric…new pants probably?

I decided to show you how cute someone can be eating a piece of nectarine.

So I snapped him.

He saw me.

He did.

He felt my snapping self.

He got all curious.

The fruit lowered down.

The eyebrows went up.

And there was no more eating.

Never mind, I can show you how cute someone can be just, being.
Ignore the black mark on his face, which was a remnant of his parents attempt to test his development.
We marked him and then lifted him up to the mirror to see if he will try to wipe it off..or something.

He was not impressed by the mark.

Ok, so he doesnt know who he is, but we do.

And he is cute eating fruit or not, with random marks on his face or without.

Dont you ever say anything contrary.

Reading the paper the other day, I was reminded of how fucked up the image of a woman is in our society. The story is about a new plastic sek5 ¹ doll. Its in the World section of the paper and amongst stories about Israel, migrant riots in Italy and prisoner abuse in Iran.

What is it, this new invention?

She is a companion. She has a personality. She hears you. She listens to you. She speaks. She feels your touch. She goes to sleep. We are trying to replicate the personality of a person

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What personality are we talking about? Something interesting, I am sure. Some wonderful conversations, late in the night. Right?

cannot walk and its reactions are built into “the three inputs”

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But here is the jest of it, here  is what distinguishes this lump of open inputs plastic from a real woman:

She can’t vacuum, she can’t cook but she can do almost anything else, if you know what I mean

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So there you have it, my lovely sisters.  I hope your vacuuming and cooking is bloody good, because for the starting price of $US7,000 you can be replaced without anyone noticing.

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The following events unfolded about 3 weeks ago…

He is just chilling after lunch in his favorite position – foot on the table, usually placed there with the fanfare and care of a goblet full of liquid gold. Here it is – my foot! Plonk. Stare for reactions of awe in the public.

Looks serious and like some deep thoughts are running through his sweaty head. What are they?…

(Pause for philosophical mind boggles)

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Just kidding!

But seriously,

look what I can do, Mama!

And after you have put water everywhere, tried to eat the table and cooled your hot nether regions,

you follow with a special move, like this:

…

I cant believe you just blogged about this!