thank you all for stopping by to comment, i do appreciate it and i love your company but i'm not real wordy right now, hence the lack of replies.

i do sense a renewed gas-baggery coming soon so enjoy the peace :)

thanks #9

These are my boys with their new cousin.

and my girls with his sister

I can't make up my mind which aspect of this I am thankful for, the tenderness of the boys which is heartbreakingly sweet, the joie de vivre of the girls, my fondness for my own cousins.....

When her big toe hits the sand......

On the way home from our little jaunt yesterday I was recalling family trips to the very same spot. There were a couple of times when Mum sustained some kind of injury just before or on holidays. It's a common thing,holidays mean leaving familiar situations behind and with new situations come undreamed of hazards but I digress........
there would usually be a bit of consternation and Dad would say "As soon as her big toe hits the sand she'll be happy."
Now, I know that it was Mum's get-on-with-it attitude that got her through some of those times but I also know that Dad was right and yesterday I realised just how much I'm like Mum.

When we round a bend

or crest a hill

and the ocean is laid out before me,

sparkling ...

I am happy.

When I see my cherubs enjoying the sea,

scouring the shore for treasures

or playing in the waves....

I am happy

When I visit a seaside boutique and finger gorgeous fabrics

on beautiful clothes

with wonderful colours,

exquisite details

or a perfect cut....

I am happy.

When I look at the fabulous shapes of the branches overhead,

smell the bush,

feel the sun on my back....

I am happy.

a nostalgic trip

hi y'all

i've, i mean we've, just been away for a couple of days. we went to Port Stephens, the stomping ground of my youth

before i bore you all with holiday snaps i just want to say thanks for all your wonderful comments about my anniversary.

random, welcome to eclectica and come back soon

kooka, i had to think a little to remember "soul food", remember the mice all too well.....

suze, i often wonder what i've done with my life

now.......

don't you love photo sharing in this digital age?

you can scroll through people's holiday snaps until you find something interesting, rather than sit through a slide night (showing my age?)

you can look at the wedding or baby pics of some far distant cousin and not feel obliged to keep a photo of a child you'll never meet or a wedding you weren't invited to

Little Beach

this one is for suzanne

the steps down to the old marina, Little Beach

just near (south of?) Boat Harbour

i daresay i'll post a couple more times about this trip, right now i'm off to the land of nod before heading back to the saltmine tomorrow

here i am being boring....

it was a case of showing a picture or telling you how i'm desperate for chocolate but don't have any........

i like this photo, even though i was talking at the time, because it clearly shows that my forehead wrinkles occasionally smooth away.

it was taken at the district public schools music festival, where my cherubs danced.

hello everyone,

i'm still short of stuff to say.......i have a couple of posts floating in my brain but they're not very well formed and i'm too tired to pull it together.
the weekend has been quite pleasant and sociable. yesterday was a wonderful day for the washing and after weeks upon weeks of bad weather it was a relief to get everything washed and dried painlessly.
we went to Na & Luigi's place both yesterday and today, so i've seen lots of the babies and enjoyed Na's company, the boys had fun playing on the Wii with Luigi and the Bug had a ball with our girls.
apart from the smell of the sun in our clothes i haven't managed to get a whole lot of housework done, so it seems that i face another week of starting from behind.......i'm good at that.

i'm not commenting too much of late but be assured that i read you all and you might as well marvel at the silence, it's rare you know :)


i'll leave you with a shot of my mob with their new cousins. this weekend it has been an absolute joy for me to watch my boys in rapture over the new little people, the pic doesn't capture it but one day it will be a reminder of times past.....

on second thoughts, this photo does manage to capture some of the pride and affection that is so touching to this sentimental mum

I'm a bit short of words this week so just have a look at some more pics while I think of something to say

This one is a favourite of mine, the purple is so rich and has the added bonus of reminding me of some purple loving friends.......

It also reminds me of a funny saying of my brother's : "Purple is the colour of sexual frustration"

Make of that what you will !

The Winter Garden

I'm really enjoying the late winter garden

Pretty much everything is in flower

Take a look

This one (above) looks better if you enlarge it

Below is a close up of the one above. I love the delicacy of this one.

Impromptu Party

You might remember that young Dimples turned 12 a coupla weeks back.......

He organised a party for himself: he invited about15 mates to hang out at the park today. I promised to provide sausage sandwiches and a cake

Then the rain started.
It rained on Thursday.
It rained more on Friday.

Even if the rain stopped the park would resemble a lake.
A change of venue was in order.
Our place.

What do you do with a dozen 12 year old boys when it's raining?

Well, as it turns out, only five have turned up, with another 2 on the way (they're an hour and a half late so I wasn't expecting more but no mind)

We started with drinks

They're watching The Simpsons Movie as I write

And eating lolly kebabs

When the movie is over I'll give 'em all a hot dog

And a piece of donut cake

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIMPLES :)

TWELVE YEARS AGO TODAY THIS LITTLE CHARMER SLIPPED INTO THE WORLD.

THERE WAS A LITTLE GIRL

WHO HAD A LITTLE CURL

RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF HER FOREHEAD

WHEN SHE WAS GOOD SHE WAS VERY VERY GOOD

AND WHEN SHE WAS BAD SHE WAS HORRID!

Ok, so he's not a girl but the rest was written just for him!

Happy Birthday, Dimples!

we love you

XXXX

Why?

When I wander about my place I often wonder "What the....."

Why is this basketball abandoned in the front yard?

Everyone has scissors on the fence, right?

This branch "fell down" when someone swung on it.

The scooters are also gracing the front yard and I'm pretty sure there were three of them, not two......if I'm hallucinating is it any wonder? The third is probably at the top of the steps, one day I'll go A over.....

This, though, is nice. If only I could remember to put some new plants in it.

One down, One to go!

Easter Day

This is a tibouchina in our front yard, Sydney is resplendent with them at this time of year.
I associate them with Easter, so my Easter can last a good couple of months, the chocolate eggs are rather shorter lived !
The fantastic purple is a wonderful colour, I couldn't possibly pick a favourite colour but this would be close and it reminds me of some great people who love purple along with me.
So....
there's lots of good stuff encapsulated in this shot: good friends, lovely autumn days, the beauty of a terrific tree and the promise of Easter, life in all it's fullness.

The Hunted House On Nightmare Road

I have been delighted with the way that my precious ratbag bunch (that's a long way to say kids) have taken an interest in my blog and my readers. Dimples often has suggestions for posts so one day recently I offered him a guest post. He refused on the basis that he had nothing to say. That'd be a first.
A couple of years ago Dimples wrote a masterpiece. It took him quite some time and many, many pages. I thought I'd share a bit with you. I'm going to leave it unedited, I'm sure you'll enjoy the challenge of making sense of it.

I enter the house on nightmare road on a full moon then I creap along a hallway full of cobwebs. I open a door my heart thumping I hear a crack come from the floor. I open a wardrobe I'm terrified. A vampire pounces I shreak in horror dodge grab the chiar and smash it on his head stab him with the shap broken chiar leg while he's unconshesh. "That's the end of him" I say to myself. so i run.
I hear a witch crackling away. I hear footsteps coming from behind me I turn and grab a torch off the wall and and blind a one eyed freak while he swings his arms around I grab asword from a knights costume and duck take 2 steps jump and stab him
"one more story for the media" I say to myself.

Fun Times

This picture was taken at the same beach and on the same day as the others but I was saving this one for a specific post. School has been back a few days so you'll have to excuse me a little timing glitch but I want to mark the end of holidays.
I enjoy spending time with the young 'uns in the holidays. (Well, when I can get past the trivial annoyances that come from dealing with kids and sometimes I allow the trivial stuff to become major but you're getting my drift here...) Anyway, this is a favourite spot for us.
The building has a restaurant on the verandah and a more casual take-away inside. Sometimes we go there for lunch and then a wander on the beach or a swim. Sometimes the focus is the swim and then we get a milkshake or whatever happens to take our fancy.
The last time we were there it had been raining in the previous few days so the water was a bit murky and less attractive than usual. It was the perfect opportunity to hire a kayak, which we did, and the kids had fun paddling around the boats moored in the bay.
The boys like to explore the rocks at the end of the beach and I quite like to watch the tugs take the container ships out through the heads. (who knows why?)
Sydney's main port is just a short drive away and the oil refinery on the other side of the bay. All of that stuff is kind of ugly but I think it adds interest. I sit on the beach and marvel that we are on this pretty little beach near a major shipping terminal, with a disused fort only minutes walk away.
One of Sydney's bigger cemeteries is not too far away and we often stop there on the way home. There's quite a bit of historical value in the cemetery and we like to look at the family crypts as well as some of the headstones dating from the early days of colonial Sydney. Visiting there has sparked some interesting conversation about the afterlife, funerals, death and grief.
Anyway, I guess that what I'm saying is that I have had some good times here with my brood and I hope that we are building some good memories for them because we are for me.

The Princess and The Tomboy

A Day at The Beach

This is Dimples :)

Na

I have mentioned my sister here a couple of times and today I want to introduce her properly (or at least better). I once referred to her as "the Rolemodel", thats because the Tomboy wants to be just like her.

My sister has long been nicknamed "Na" but I have always avoided using it....it sounds like Nup, No, Nada and I don't think it's really too nice but now she is posting comments as "Na" ( nup, no, nada) so if it's good enough for her then it will need to be good enough for me .

The little person is my gorgeous adorable niece, who I call "the Bug" (oh yeah, she's Na's daughter, too) she calls me Kyee. Too cute.

Later:

Na says I can still call her the Rolemodel.....12 keystrokes compared to 2?

Not likely

Happy Birthday Gorgeous !

My treasured first born came into the world 13 years ago today. He was a big baby and a great eater from day one. He still eats well and he's still a big boy. He's also sweet and funny and sensible. A sportsman, artist and musician. What a kid.

Flowering Gum Summer Beauty