Sshh .... from Big Sister

Wet

Cold

Saturday

Reports written

Study finished

G'tar Man and Bookworm on a bus adventure to the mall

Mr A and Bloss shopping too

K9 perched on 'lookout couch'

Big Sister HOME ALONE ...

The possibilities are endless ...

Might start with coffee ...

I hope you can all find a

moment 

of 

silence 

in your

busy lives!

xo Big Sister

Sister-in-between

Our forced week at the beach has now been extended to two!

Every cloud has a silver lining . . .

and for me this is the rest much needed.

I have even read books!

And so to answer Big Sister's question . . .

Here are the books I have read!

A story from Taiwan

A story from Ethiopia

A story from Vietnam

xxx

Sister-in-bewtween

Sister-in-between #3

The saga continues . . .

Disaster on a mega scale hits the big

city in which we live

Water

Cubic metre after cubic metre of water

from the North descends

slowly at first 

people panic

supermarket shelves are empty.

stress.

moving furniture upstairs

buying supplies just in case

torches candles crackers and peanut butter

bottled water.

life jackets up stairs

then

 evacuation

on the back of a truck

Decisions

To the seaside.

safety security sunshine and serenity!

We are the lucky ones with options,

a car

 money

and the resources to find a haven. 

xxx

Sister-in-between

Sister-in-between # 2

Adding to the tears and tulmultuous times

was Mr Capable!

Heading out on his bicycle the week before work began seemed like a good idea.

Until he was hit from behind by a motorcylclist.

Thankfully his helmet protected his head.

He did however land heavily on his back

fracturing a verebra.

A week in hospital.

6 weeks in a brace.

3 months later and today he was given the all clear.

The doctor mentioned that he could also now take part in contact sports.

I am not so sure!

xxx

Sister-in-between

Sister-in-between . . .

Absence makes the heart grow fonder . . .

and how I have missed my little bit of 'me' time sharing my thoughts!

It has been some time since I

have posted on our blog.

Infact it was during our summer adventure to our homeland that I last logged in!

So much has happenned since then and it is only now during our 'forced'week at the beach

that I have the head space to contemplate doing so.

I will endeavour to fill in the gaps in installments!

August saw the beginning of the new academic year and a new position of Leadership for me.

All good in theory.

In reality it has been

tumultuous

tedious

and full of tears

infact

bucket loads

of

tears!

I do believe that I have indeed become

The Little Red Hen!

xxx

Sister-in-between

What are you reading?

I am reading 'Swallows and Amazons' by Arthur Ransome - makes one want to be 10 again

- and living in the Lake District!! 

It happens to contain one of my favourite quotes too. When the children ask their absent navy commander Father if they might sail their boat and camp on a deserted island further down the lake he replies by telegram thus:

BETTER DROWNED THAN DUFFERS IF NOT DUFFERS WONT DROWN

Priceless!

Have also just finished 'Four Seasons in Rome' by Anthony Doerr. 

On the cover it says 'On twins, insomnia, and the biggest funeral in the history of the world'. 

A really good read that has certainly wet my appetite for my trip!

This afternoon we all went for a swim, 

tonight we are going to watch 'The King's Speech', 

tomorrow afternoon a hit of tennis ... 

and then on Monday it all begins again!!!! 

Hooray, school lunches!!!!

Hope you are all having a happy weekend!

xo Big Sister

Big Sister's musings

Bloom where you are planted... or in this case, just happen to pop up!!!

Two weeks of school holidays ahead of us ... hooray!

Mr Bookworm took me to a coffee shop for a Birthday afternoon tea! 

What a lucky Mum I am  :) 

We shared a chocolate brownie with walnuts! 

xo Big Sister

1 more sleep...

Tomorrow night the kids and I jump on the overnight train to go and visit Sister-in-between for a few days in the Big City. We are very excited!

We're looking forward to:

chatting over cups of tea

nerf fights

an amusement park

eating at McDonalds

playing with the cousins

chocolate

crochet

laughing

playing games

reading magazines

swimming

shopping

sleeping on the train (and hopefully waking up in time to disembark!)

just being together

Only 1 more sleep...and those darn suitcases to pack!

Little Sister

Yarning at Little Sister's

Coughs and colds have meant a couple of quiet days at home. The kids have been bitten by the 'yarn' bug - here's a look at what they have been creating...

Mr Energy has been working furiously on some french knitting. He toyed with the idea of trying to beat the world record for the longest piece of french knitting, but when he discovered that the record was 11km he settled for making one longer than his big brother's!

Mr Sport has been learning to knit. Unfortunately his mother is not as good as fixing mistakes as her mother is! He's been very persistent and has enjoyed knitting in front of the footy this afternoon.

Miss Creative is working on this lovely rainbow piece of knitting. It's going to be a bag for her drawing pencils.

I've been dabbling in dishcloths and little flowers and made my first ball of t-shirt yarn too (terrible photo!). I scoured the local markets for a large crochet hook to use with it but came away disappointed. Train tickets are booked to take the kids to visit Sister-in-between in a couple of weeks and I am dreaming of hook and yarn shopping - and so are the kids!

Sweet packages

The local people here are unfailingly hospitable and generous. Miss Creative and I popped into the local tailor this morning to pick up some tops we'd had made for her, and also came home with these little packages.

They are made from sticky rice, flavoured with banana and a kind of bean, and steamed in their banana leaf wrapping. Cute, sweet and tasty! They're disappearing fast.

Today is a festival where the local people honour the dead. They make these wrapped rice treats and visit the local temples and sites of their ancestors' remains. Every family seems to have their own special recipe for making these treats and the tailor was delighted to share some with us.

Little Sister

Little Brother on Safari

Little Bro has been on safari.... Here's a few photos to savor.

Every day started before sunrise

Somalisa means place of Elephant....Every day the elephants came to the plunge pool at the lodge to grab a cold drink and to say hello to the guests.

We saw LOTS of elephants.

Even baby elephants taking their first plunge....

The occasional Zebra

and lots of stunning scenery...

This is Shumba, King of the Jungle. We spotted a pride of 20 lions about 500 metres from our camp. 

In between game drives we rested in our luxury tents

Or did some reading in the library...

and finally, for middle sister, some toe-nail painting... Who said elephants didn't like red toe nails?? Special thanks to my red toe-nail modeling, photographing friend...

New office, new couch and new opportunities!

 A new office and a new couch to help celebrate the 1st anniversary of my new job! You're welcome to drop in for a chat on the couch and a cafe latte!

Little bro.

Little Sister

This morning I was struck by how GREEN everything in my part of the world is at the moment! 

These little guys are loving it...

and so am I.

Admittedly, there's a lot of BROWN around too, causing lots of this...

I'm choosing to keep my eyes on the GREEN :)

Sister-in-between travelling

We have now been travelling for five weeks and have reached our most northern destination. 

How lovely to stay put for the next few weeks as we catch up with dear friends and family.

Looking back we have had such glorious experiences 

in the city, at the snow and then the seaside.

How lovely to spend time with Big Sister and her family.

Beautiful sunny days at the seaside . . . tee hee, I am the freezing one in beanie, jacket and jeans!

Precious times together chatting, watching the cousins hang out and playing games of Dominion!

xxx

Sister-in-between

Holidaying with Big Sister

As our holidays draw to a close
it is fun to reflect on what we have been up to.

Gardening ...

Making...

Spending time with family (my how the cousins have grown!!) ...

Pyjama days ... baking ...reading ... catching up with friends ...

It is going to be hard to hit reality next week 

BUT we all have a bit more energy than we did three weeks ago!

xo Big Sister

Sister-in-between travelling!

View from our window

exhausting and exhilarating days

finishing off with a little tea tonic!

xxx

Sister-in-between

Sister-in-between travelling!

I am 

loving

all things

Australian

xxx

Sister-in-between

Sister-in-between travelling!

Happy Birthday To Me!

The big

40!

A wonderful day 

filled with surprises

yummy food

and phone calls from family!

xxx

Sister-in-between

Happy Birthday

Happy 40th Birthday

Sister-in-between!!!

We hope you have a FABULOUS celebration!

Love Little Sister and family XOXOX

Sister-in-between

Today

I am

thirty nine

and

three hundred

and

sixty four

days old!

I wonder

what tomorrow

will bring!

xxx

Sister-in-between

Down the garden path with Big Sister

 Have had a lovely afternoon in the garden ... I am getting ready for overseas visitors!

Come and meet some of the personalities
that live here...

This is Violet.

She quietly whispers happy memories of Ruth and Nan.

This is Camellia.

She always appears before I expect her to, often when the cold weather first arrives. She can be bold and brash ...

... or she can be quite demure.

This is Daphne.

Daphne is a remarkably hardy soul, blooming when winter is at its harshest. Her heady perfume fills the air when she flowers. This may be Daphne's last year in our garden as change and progress take over - will have to  take a tiny snippet and see if I make her bloom and grow again.

This is Iris...

And here is Ivy, not always such a welcome visitor!!

Rosemary likes nothing better than a lamb roast or baked potatoes...

And our pride and joy is Fig. He looks rather bare here but he promises us that he will yield a large crop of delicious fruit next season!!

And then there is Leaf.

He and his gazillion friends visit every evening - he really needs to learn to use social networks more safely - the parties are becoming all too much, and the mess he leaves behind is abominable!!!

I hope you have enjoyed your little meander through 'our patch' - before we know it Spring will be here with even more personalities popping in to say hello!

xo Big Sister