It's A Good Drying Day ...

as my Mum used to say. We are enjoying a never ending summer here in Sydney. Taking advantage of this, I have washed this pair of lovelies that I picked up at a local op shop over a year ago. They were still in their original packaging unopened and screaming out for someone to take them home. Cruelly perhaps, I am going to use them for reinventing purposes. I envisage some new kitchen aprons for starters.

This little pinky purple pillowcase will most likely become a new dress for Miss O.

Introducing ...

just briefly, my family. As much as I do not want this blog to be a rambling of my everyday chores and events, in itself a series of details, I have reached the conclusion that it will be unavoidable to not include those who are so much a part of my life, that in fact they are my life.

I have been married to Mr CC for a long time and we have two beautiful children. I know everyone says that - but they really, really are! Mr T is steaming towards adolescence as I write, turning 13 this year. Our lives are intertwined through his multitude of sports activities. His current aim is to play American Football, in fact he would like to be American right now. A lot of mine and Mr Spunky's time is spent on the road ferrying Mr T to his various sports commitments. I have morphed from a complete sports virgin, into a mother who dances with joy from the sideline when his team wins. I do not claim to understand any of the rules, but I do get when there has been a goal. I should mention my season as Orange Girl during his final year participating in primary school inter-school competition (which they won). He has a heart of gold and has always considered others. He is my Beautiful Boy.

Then there is Miss O, who holds her own as Number Two Child, turning 7 this year. She lives in a world of creating, dancing, tulle, reading and climbing trees (wearing a tutu). I enjoy living alongside her. She is not afraid to stand her ground on ANYTHING and must always have the last word. I do hear from playdate mums that she is a delight, so at least she saves all her obstinacy for the privacy of our family. She is very up on what should and shouldn't, and this is what drives her to look after others in her own special way. She makes me crazy, but she is needed by the world and I love her for all of that.

Mr Spunky ... we met, it was love, we knew, we married. 18 years later and here we are. It's been a curvy road, we have learnt much along the way, most of all we have learnt we have each other. Mr Spunky, I need to mention works in the armed forces. I need to mention this as I feel it will be relevant for future posts. This has meant long periods of absence and me being alone and just getting on with it. I have always done this with gusto. Perhaps not so much so after my first baby came along, but I got there. Because of this I believe I have sought out wonderful women to surround myself with and these will probably come up in future posts too. I consider myself lucky to have met the people I have in my life.

An Autumn in London

Whenever we visit London, a visit to Garsons Farm remains firmly on the top of the list. Located a short drive from my Dad's house, just outside the west of London, we are always delighted with the chance to get down and dirty, and laden with the fruits of our labours, return home for a feast of freshness and deliciousness. So of course on our family trip to London last October, one of the first outings was to this favourite destination. At that time London was enjoying a particularly warm autumn and fortunately for us the strawberry patch still had plenty of fruit for us to enjoy.

Blessed as I am to now live in beautiful Sydney, by the sea and enjoy all our colours, I was amazed to revisit the colours of autumn in good ol' blighty. They took my breath away. During these sunny, crisp days I could smell the promise of winter in the air, all of nature seemed to be preparing itself. One last flourish before what was to be a harsh winter.

The pumpkin patch basking in its glory.

These migrating geese took us by surprise. I was not prepared and screamed out 'Duck!' to my Miss O, who thought that was the biggest joke of all time.

Learning to shuck your own corn ready to pop in the pot when we get home is real living.

Beginnings ...

Cannot believe I have just done this. Opened my own blog. Inspired by reading others' adventures, dreams, inspirations, aspirations and wonderings for over a year now, I have in the space of 5 minutes made the decision, and gone through the technicalities of starting this. At this point I am not even sure what I will post here. How will I use it? Maybe having a space to report to will prompt me to throw procrastination in the rubbish bin, and finally get on with creating so I can post the end results here.

Even now I am intrigued to see what this post will look like once published.

What will this lead to? I wonder ...

Carmel