FOR OUR BOY AND JACK (16 down)

(Here we are sharing/counting UP Forty Days and Forty Nights of our lives, our last on the inner-west side of town and, eventually, some of our first on the other (far) side of town, where we envisage some big changes coming our way. Thanks for joining us as we remember, celebrate and experience gratitude for our time here, and sometimes feel completely overwhelmed and exhausted by the changes underway!)

This is 'Jack' and he's taken up poll position on our dining table from where he'll have the pleasure of watching the kids enjoy their first Halloween experience, or at least talking about it. We celebrated Halloween once when Elsa was a wee thing but she doesn't recall. And, of course, we celebrated many times pre-children but, only in Canada from where dear D hails. We plan to wander to the front doors of few neighbours within our townhouse complex and use that well-known phrase of 'Trick or Treat' - even Australians/traditionally non-Halloween practising people know that one. Elsa is hoping that no-one opts for the 'Trick'! On top of all else, it will be a nice way to say hello to our neighbours, all of them friendly people, perhaps one last time before moving.

And a little birthday-related sharing on this his first full day in the land of 'two' (he's sleeping off the party! And the sugar!).



Such a happy boy! And very grateful for his cake decorated by his sister and cousins



A cuddly owl by his aunt and cousins and a digger bag!



This years addition to his birthday crown, a wooden button

Perhaps the biggest hit of all; a Fagus digger! I can't say enough good things
about the simplicity, pracitcality, beauty and sturdiness of this brand



Some new books that he is already loving:

• The Littlest Owl;
• Owls;
• Pip the Gnome.



Time to play!



TWO (14 and 15 down)

(Here we are sharing/counting UP Forty Days and Forty Nights of our lives, our last on the inner-west side of town and, eventually, some of our first on the other (far) side of town, where we envisage some big changes coming our way. Thanks for joining us as we remember, celebrate and experience gratitude for our time here, and sometimes feel completely overwhelmed and exhausted by the changes underway!)

We've had a busy birthday weekend so I'm cutting myself some slack and combining two days in this count 'up'. It's been a wonderful celebration of all things Rafael, where owls and diggers featured heavily, along with cake and cuddles, of course! After a morning at home sharing a special breakfast and some gift opening, we ventured to my sister's where we spent a wonderful day with family.

And tonight when the birthday lad and his doting sister were tucked in bed and sound asleep, their Dada and I sat and looked back through photos of Rafa's first days, read the little midwife summary of his delivery (4.335 kg - goodness me!), looked over his special birth book and felt very grateful for his arrival in our world. What a blessing.

So much to share of wonderful home-made gifts but for now, at the end of this fun-filled weekend, I need sleep so, see you on Halloween! (our pumpkin carving began today!).

GIRL FRIDAY (13 down)

(Here we are sharing/counting UP Forty Days and Forty Nights of our lives, our last on the inner-west side of town and, eventually, some of our first on the other (far) side of town, where we envisage some big changes coming our way. Thanks for joining us as we remember, celebrate and experience gratitude for our time here, and sometimes feel completely overwhelmed and exhausted by the changes underway!)

Girl Friday I am not but, I sure felt like her today as we prepared the house for another showing and completed a range of other home-related tasks. Ah, life admin! There were some deep sighs at the end of the day and take-away for dinner from another place we're likely to miss. We just learnt that one has opened in Collingwood and, though we're not moving to Collingwood, it's closer to the new house than Yarraville!

And look what I picked up here today. This dress from here is on its way for Elsa and I'm hoping one of these doilies will do the job. Popped in here today also; I wasn't overly impressed but the chai was good and they seem to have a good kid's area out the back. We opted for a nearby park!

HOUSE WIVES, CUTTING & DIGGERS (12 down)

(Here we are sharing/counting UP Forty Days and Forty Nights of our lives, our last on the inner-west side of town and, eventually, some of our first on the other (far) side of town, where we envisage some big changes coming our way. Thanks for joining us as we remember, celebrate and experience gratitude for our time here, and sometimes feel completely overwhelmed and exhausted by the changes underway!)

Reads like the title of a chain-saw masacre-like film, no? I have an image of crazed housewives, cutting away at their kill then digging massive holes in the backyard to dispose of them. Or is it just me? Shouldn't I have shared that inner thought!?! No crazed housewife here, well if I am it's only the house sale that's got me this way! Or more to the point, the cleaning in preparations for house-showings.

But my reference to housewives relates to one of our favourite local cafes (just around the corner actually) where the kids and I escaped the chaos yesterday. Hausfrau (of the Germanic kind) offers a great selection of sweet treats, and some tasty savoury lunch options too like delicious bagets with all sorts of fillings and great pies. And they sell a good range of breads. In my last pregnancy, I was partial to the avocado, chicken salad bagette. But the chai is a constant for me and the kids enjoy the babychinos, preferrably with a tart or cupcake on the side!

But yesterday, we had choc-chip cookies awaiting us at home. We used a great recipe from here, where my love (the biggest one) selected a fun kid's chocolate cookbook "The Chocolate Lovers" that you can find details of here (I can't find any better link!). And the triple batch of cookies will serve us well when we celebrating Rafael's 2nd birthday with his cousins (well, a few of them) this weekend. For now, I baked only one roll in an attempt to minimise our cooking-eating until the birthday! If I filled the biscuit jar, it would be that way for long - we all love chocolate. For these cookies, I used some lovely organic choc-chips from Plump. I like to roll the dough into these shapes for freexing. They can then easily be taken from the freezer, sliced and popped in the oven - presto!

Other than local outings, I'm cutting out sewing patterns at every opportunity. I've found that it's impossible to get any 'tidy' sewing done around here and since we really do need to keep the house as presentable as possible in case of any impromptu viewing, I've opted for tracing and cutting out (sometimes just the pattern, sometimes the whole garment) and now have a significant collection of garments 'waiting in the wings'. I hope that opening night isn't too delayed!

And the diggers? Well, who can resist the allure of a village full of diggers? Some nearby roadworks have the kids mesmerised, particularly Rafael who's exhibiting all those stereotypical boy traits so far as wheels and engines are concerned, though his sister occassionally enjoys them too.

His favourite phrase must be "dig, dig, dig, DIG". (And, from what I could see, no bodies are being disposed of, just some roadwork underway!).

Homebound for iceblocks - they worked well and are being enjoyed and enjoyed and...

AROUND HERE (11 down)

(Here we are sharing/counting UP Forty Days and Forty Nights of our lives, our last on the inner-west side of town and, eventually, some of our first on the other (far) side of town, where we envisage some big changes coming our way. Thanks for joining us as we remember, celebrate and experience gratitude for our time here, and sometimes feel completely overwhelmed and exhausted by the changes underway!)


I know, I know it's getting a little predictable isn't it. I mean, we all know eleven comes after ten and we all know that these posts focus on the experiences of a little family in an itsy sliver of a small corner of the world. And you know now that a 'packing Lala' living in limbo between two homes can't find it within herself to start or complete any sewing, knitting or general crafting projects (well, not many) so, I'm not offering much but, nevertheless, I'm compelled to continue with this 'count up'. On top of other things, this is a great distraction from the more mundane chores of change. Moving house is riddled with boring 'life admin' tasks isn't it.

I forge on and today, in my quest to do so, we didn't forge at all but stayed as still as possible. Just a simple day spent mostly at home with little distraction and, remarkably, not too many of the before-complained-about tasks. It's nice to stop to smell the roses, yes? Even when they're not roses at all and your toddler and small one don't really ever 'stop'!!

Our closest corner shop where we grab the occasional Freddo; today was a Freddo day!

After taking a walk along our street to collect flowers and smell plenty, some flower-pressing was in order using this press, from here (it's not the $55 one but a $10 version they are selling, which is not on the website). With the nature table packed away, my thinking is that this activity might help bring a little more nature to the household. I realise cardboard boxes are technically 'nature', being paper/tree and all but, it's not cutting it for us!

With the weather warming up, it was time to bring out these new ice-block moulds, bake a cake (before it gets too warm to bother), paint and well, play, which is hardly weather dependent!

At their ice-cream shop waiting for customers, or so I'm told. An upturned doll's cradle makes a great shop counter it seems!

HOOT, HOOT, HOOOOOT (10 down)

(Here we are sharing/counting UP Forty Days and Forty Nights of our lives, our last on the inner-west side of town and, eventually, some of our first on the other (far) side of town, where we envisage some big changes coming our way. Thanks for joining us as we remember, celebrate and experience gratitude for our time here, and sometimes feel completely overwhelmed and exhausted by the changes underway!)

We're into the double digits! Woohoo, or should I say, wooohoooot....forgive me but it's all about owls around here of late. I'm not sure how it all started but, they are clearly Raf's favourite living thing in the world (non-human that is!). So, we're in for a very 'owly' birthday celebration next week. I've just completed this cross-stitch for Rafael and am considering how best to frame/present it.

And, since our household is part-Canadian (dear husband/Dada) and part-prior-Canadian resident (moi!), we felt justified in buying this pumpkin today, and at Costco too, making it a truly North-American pursuit! Not that having a hybrid-household (!) is a prerequisite for embarking on such things; it seems that the popularity of Halloween is generally growing in Australia, even amongst non-Canadian/U.S. 'infected' (ha!) households. I don't have stats on such trends but  plenty of anicdotal evidence. Certainly no one I knew would have thought of celebrating Halloween some ten years ago but these days, I see all kinds of Halloween  paraphernalia littering the shops and media. It must be a fact! It will be no time before little trick-or-treaters are roaming the streets! And our kids may join in the fun this year as, among other things, a way to touch base with our immediate neighbours another time before we leave.

Now, I don't dislike the idea of Halloween, in fact I always loved celebrating it when we lived in Canada but, I'm a little discouraged by the sometimes commerical nature of it. For instance, personally, I don't need to spend silly amounts of money on Halloween costumes for the kids and prefer the idea of a home-grown costume. Still, I do understand the attraction of a resonably priced, store-bought costume that 'fits the bill' when other options are not available or possible. I'm sounding very Jane Austin-ish today don't you think; i.e. oh so opionated on social ettique and 'proper' behavior. I don't mean to sound so moralistic and I promise, I don't plan to disown friends who might pop into their local Gap and spend $50 on a Halloween costume for their kids! Really, I won't. I blame it on A Truth Universally Acknowledged, which I can't put down.

Back to the pumpkin. Yesterday, special Vancouverite friends of ours sent us some photos of their outing to a pumpkin sale (field! -what's the proper term for these large pumpkin 'stores'!?!). Those photos were what encouraged me to go our and buy a pumpkin today. Based on their photos and D's own experience of visiting many such places (and one visit of my own), this pumpkin is a baby! Hopefully, that will make it easy to carve. I've only carved a halloween pumpkin a few times in my life and only here when we've tried celebrating the tradition at home but, I'm assured that this pumpkin is the real thing and much easier to carve than the style of pumpkin I've previously tried to adapt to the tradition.

Sitting next to our pumpkin on the side-board is a vase full of these flowers serving as a reminder of our Spring and providing quite the juxtaposition next to the very autumal looking pumpkin, a vistor from Autumm (Fall!) days in the north. We're happy to have you here 'little' pumpkin, now let's see what will become of you!

And, for something completely unrelated, a magazine that I am currently loving.

TELL ME WHY... (9 down)

(Here we are sharing/counting UP Forty Days and Forty Nights of our lives, our last on the inner-west side of town and, eventually, some of our first on the other (far) side of town, where we envisage some big changes coming our way. Thanks for joining us as we remember, celebrate and experience gratitude for our time here, and sometimes feel completely overwhelmed and exhausted by the changes underway!)

...I didn't like Mondays. Because now, I quite enjoy them. For me, it's a day to take stock of house, the cleaning, the washing, the cooking and baking, a day to consider the week ahead and slowly begin all of the beforementioned household tasks, which I seem able to do with a relaxed approach because the week hasn't quite picked up pace yet. The rain today has only added to the subdued nature of this Monday.

And today, I've been thinking about the beauty of having made such wonderful local friendships over the past four and a half years living here in this village. Yesterday we shared a lovely morning tea with friends who live just around the corner, followed by a quick drop-in to others and afternoon tea at home with another lovely batch. Yesterday was one of those times that we turned to each other and looked for reminders of why exactly we're leaving. Thankfully the reasons didn't need to be spoken but, having enjoyed a Sunday such as yesterday did bolster our committment to staying in touch with all the great friends we've met on this side of town.

I find it amazing to think that some of these friendships I'm referring to blossomed from the community 'mother's group' that I joined following Elsa's birth. You see, here (and all over Australia I believe), the hospital and/or midwife sends the contact details of all new mothers to the relevant (usually the closest) 'maternal and child health centre' and the nurse at that centre contacts the new mum to arrange a home visit and invitation to attend a local 'mother's groups'. It sounds a little institutionalised but really, it's a great local service provided by the State Governement and administered through the local municipality. Our local nurse is a wonderful,caring, non-judgemental women and I've often felt very grateful for her advice and interest.

Initially, I baulked at the idea of a 'mothers group' which I imagined would feel completely contrived and ingenuine and though I found it awkward at first, I quickly began to look forward to our weekly gatherings. We were perfect strangers, 'thrown' together with seemingly little in common beyond our new parenting status but those initial series of meetings established by the nurse somehow morphed into years of self-directed, meaningful, supportive and enjoyable interactions and from that has come some lovely friendships which are definitely worth celebrating! So many memories worthy of an abundance of gratitude. And a reminder that perhaps us humans have more in common with our neighbours (both locally and in every other sense) that we realise. We certainly have the ability to look past the differences; it would be nice to see more of it at a global scale.

And if anyone's interested, 'Elsa's Newspaper' is forecasting hail and rain for today but sunshine tomorrow.

We made it through the rain today to share some lunch from Heather Dell, a local institution.

NANAS TOO (8 down)

(Here we are sharing (and counting UP through) Forty Days and Forty Nights of our lives, our last on the inner-west side of town and, eventually, some of our first on the other (far) side of town, where we envisage some big changes coming our way. Thanks for joining us as we remember, celebrate and experience gratitude for our time here, and sometimes feel completely overwhelmed and exhausted by the changes underway!)

I often think of family on Sunday so today, being a Sunday, seems a good time to share some photos of our recent trip to Sydney, where the vast majority of my nine siblings and their families live.  When at Mum's, we always find ourselves immersed in family and I truly mean immersed. This last visit occured at the end of Autumn and early days of Spring and there were plenty of opportunities for shared family time in the garden. I found it difficult to chose from the my photos of the trip so, my apologies, this post is laden with snapshots.

Off to see the horse with Nana

I'd rather not say how often we devoured chocolate oatmeal cake!

Down the garden and through this gate lies a range of bushwalking tracks where I spent a chunk of my childhood walking, collecting, riding my bike, hiding and generally playing! (and in my teenage years, smoking with friends!). It was wonderful to be able to share these tracks with my kids and to watch them experience the freedom of taking off for a stroll all 'alone' in the bush. Rafa was the bravest of all wandering away  happily oblivious to his Mama's prescence, seemingly in his own little bush wonderland.

These pants get around!

Nana's much-enjoyed fire pit; one night we sat around a bonfire here until late into the night enjoying the quiet chatter and laughing children until the children gradually found laps to cuddle into and, in many cases, fell asleep, all to the light of the fire and the sounds of their parents, aunts and uncles. I recall many a night spent this way in my childhood and was so happy to be able to share this fire-pit with my kids.

Some of my littlest nephews/nieces (cousins to my kids!) enjoyed playing at a local pool following a ceremony to rename the aquatic centre in my dad's honour. It was a moving day and a lovely chance for the kids to remember and celebrate their Poppa. Here are six of his youngest grandchildren. Sadly, Rafa is the only one of his 28 grandchildren who never met their Poppa but, we'll make sure he knows much of him.

The fact that we live in another city far away (relatively speaking!) from my Mum and the majority of my siblings (and their families) is no indication of the value we place on family. For me, looking back on these photos is a good reminder of some of the most significant motivators behind our upcoming move.  You see, we will be living oh so close to one of my sisters and her family and I'm looking forward to seeing them all more regularly. Elsa is very, very excited about this aspect of the move, among others!