Garden Ramble

The boys and I have been wandering in our sorry soggy garden


and found some treasures hiding in amongst the mud and weeds

There are some amazing fungi growing at the moment
~these ones are growing out of palm tree logs we are using as garden edges.

A few lovely ripe capsicums Mr10 has grown

Mr5s Sage

My Favourite- the Italian Parsley

Some Lemon Basil

Some 'volunteer' cherry tomatoes

Our fig tree is bravely fruiting like mad in all of the rain


The Paw Paw is loving all the wet and growing lots of delicious fruits

And Mr5 harvested the tomatoes for
'a tomato sandwich'


I think he might get a few!

A Break in the Weather

Last weekend, the weather was wet and rainy but the boys all had cabin fever and needed to get out, I stayed home to do some art work and they headed up to Lismore to do some jobs and visit The House with No Steps waterpark.

The day was cold and rainy but they got lucky with a break in the weather and had a ball anyway.

Underwater Art

This is what the boys did this morning.


Mr5's view from the bottom of the sea.


Mr10's ancient ruins

C is for ... CREATIVITY

Things have been very busy around here lately.
We have been doing school work, especially focussing on getting Mr10s maths up to date and teaching Mr5 his letters and starting phonics/ reading with him.

For history we have been learing about nomad and early civilisation
so Mr5 was inspired to create a hut~

Both boys and a cheeky parrot worked together to create new toys for Emerald



and we have now hung them all down in front of a full legth glass window so she has lots of light and fresh air and a clear view of the outside. I have hung a sheet in front so they photograph more clearly.



We are recovering from a wild fortnight of flooding rains, strong winds, terrific storms and a leaking roof, so the boys have been getting rather creative with the mud, and creating me a mountain of very dirty washing.

B is for ..... Ball

Here is our lovely Meg~
She is super keen to play ball any time of the night or day.
She just loves to chase and fetch and Mr5 loves to chase her and throw the ball.

The boys thought we should post more pics of Emerald as a bathing beauty or maybe just pics of the boys but I thought it was time for Meg.

Parrot Toys

I love the fact that having a new pet to love
brings so many learning opportunities for the boys and for me.
They have observed parrots, in the wild and in books, and at the pet shops.
They have researched diet and behaviour, training and what will make Emerald happy.

They pick her special flowers and share their fruit with her, and if we see something she might like, they apply all of their persuasive powers to encourage me to see the necessity of Emerald having that item- lol.

.A few shots of her having a bath

In our cyber researching we have come across a couple of outstanding parrot resources.
The first one is The Parrot Rescue Centre These people are simply fabulous.

The Parrot Rescue Centre is dedicated in improving the lives of suffering, abused and unwanted pet parrots by providing an appropriate environment for their individual needs. One of our main aims is to educate as many people as possible on the correct diet, housing, enrichment and training of parrot

And the other great site is a super friendly and so informative bird forum - Smileys Birds Australia

With all of this inspirational research we have been inspired to make Emerald some new toys and have just placed an order for some nice bits and pieces from the Parrot Rescue Centre and will be on the look out for safe things to use.

A is for Absolutely Airborne

I have been pondering my blog a lot lately,
but life has been so busy that is all I have been doing with it!
I have been doing a lot of art - painting, drawing, sewing, toy making- busy busy busy.

I have also been looking around our local town to rent some studio space.
A good friend and I are really excited about this and trying to make it happen.

In the mean time I have an art and craft market coming up at the art club,
and that is why I have been so productive.

Anyway back to my blogging contemplations,
as I was driving home this morning I was thinking about what
I could photograph for my A is for... post
and look what I found when I got home!



Active adorable Aussies-
agile, acrobatic and also adventurous, apparently achieving amusing actions.

I just found out about a great photo meme at The Homeschool Post

Now when I figure it all out I will put the link in my side bar but in the meantime I will be posting photo's for all the letters of the alphabet, so keep an eye out for my
A is for ..... post

Now the Year Really Starts for Us.

Daddy started back at uni last week :-(

This will be his 4th and final year of his degree!
He has done so well at Uni, and when I remember how uncertain he was about starting, all of his doubts and questions- we are all very proud of Daddy.
We have been reminiscing, when he started Mr 10 was just 7 and our little Mr5 was only 2.
It is hard for us all with Daddy away Monday to Friday in the university term and especially for the boys, so last week Daddy took Mr5 up to Lismore with him for the first week of Uni and Mr10 is going tomorrow.

This is such a different experience for us all. Daddy rarely has the boys alone~ and never for long.


Mr5 had a fabulous time, Daddy is doing a science degree so Mr5 got to go into labs and look through microscopes and explore the wonderful library, he met lots of lovely people and saw things that amazed him but most of all he got to have Daddy - all to himself. They were together all day everyday just Mr5 and his idol. It was very special and Mr5 thinks He might like to do it again soon- but Daddy is thinking he needs to be studying not playing at the park.

It was lovely for me to have that time with Mr10 one on one as well.
He decided to camp in my room and sleep in my bed, it usually has the other three members of his family in it so he wanted to try it out for himself.

The first night we were here alone, we had an irate bull going berserk at the back fence for hours through the night and we were both terrified so it was lovely to be able to whisper to each other in the dark whilst we were wondering if that bull was going to come crashing into our home! We ended up being awake for hours and getting up for a cup of chai and just talking. We also went out for dinner one night for a lovely Thai meal and that was very special as well. We got lots of school work done, I have already forgotten how easy it is to just homeschool one. We both enjoyed our week very much.

Now I am looking forward to my week with Mr5.
Mr10 is so excited to be going away just with Daddy and to be able to go to uni.
I think we will have to find other opportunities for our boys to have this special time alone with Mum and Dad though, I have really seen how important it is for all of us.