Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

I found some CDs at the Op-shop yesterday, while I had my 3 older kids out shopping for Christmas presents -> all done in one stop at the Salvos (Salvation Army thrift store, for my O/S readers :-). Back to the CDs. Only with my oldest, and next-to-youngest along, have I ever noticed the CD towers, over near the books. They are made from the same mold, those two kids - the kind of people who always stop to smell the roses, maybe take a picture, or render a quick sketch or watercolour of the roses. You know the type. And I have two of them.
So, I found the CDs. And bought... ... a synthesiser Bach compilation (because I like Bach so much, it will sound good to me, even on a synthesiser!); a Tchaikovsky ballet compilation, and an ABC (our version of your NBC, or CBC in Canada) disc compiled for dinner parties (Track 1 is Handel's "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" - must be one of the most beautiful pieces ever written).

Today I popped out to the stores to get the youngest two to have haircuts (before we lose Knox under his long blond hair), got some shortbread to give our neighbours on each side (yeah, yeah, I should bake, but then what if it tastes gosh-awful, and they'd never say? Plus I have a way of leaving out a key ingredient when I'm making things for special occasions). With that, I think I'm done with preparations for the holidays.

Oh. Except wrapping gifts. I wonder if it's quicker to sew little baggies for the gifts? Maybe, maybe. Hmm, TBA.

And so, I close today (if I can get blogger to co-operate) with some pictures of my very extravagant (3 strings of battery operated lights) light display at the front of my house.
xxx to you all, and I hope you are having a lovely time getting things ready for your special people.

That's Jacinta putting dinner (that she cooked) on the table, after she'd whizzed off on her bike to the store to get an ingredient she thought we were out of. It was in the cupboard all along, but for once, she had a "guy" look, and didn't find it. Precious daughter.

One Room Done

We cleaned, spirited toys away, and took a quick picture, before someone comes in with boots, another with a bike, shopping, newspapers...

You get the idea. The other rooms are also (a bit) tidier, but not really photo-worthy. Wait until I tidy the roof space and the laundry - I know you're just dying to see those, too :-). Just don't look too closely...

Because You Have To Start Somewhere.

A relatively normal backyard.

What a year it has been! Yep, it occasionally bothers me that I haven't posted a blog entry since February, but I wrote lots of posts in my head, just so you know. And I read lots and lots of other peoples', so in a way it's good. After all, blogging might help me clarify some things in my own mind, but it's still my own point of view, and a zillion times over, I'd rather be absorbing other peoples' thoughts, and assimilating those. I think a joke about being a thought whore probably belongs in here, but typing one-handed = it's too hard.

I don't think I can possibly catch up on a whole year. Might as well just start with now. Whoa, the house is messy. So many people crammed in, and getting up to stuff. No, we are not one of those households that keeps everything neat, stored, and looking like nobody lives there. We are most definitely here.

And so, to a photo essay (as much as I can figure out with Blogger), to explain why things look the way they do.

The herb patch, bolted to stems and seed with all the rain.

Can you say "Bicycle Shed"??? As in need one, now!

I included this photo, to show that depending on the angle and composition, you can make even the trashiest house look almost good enough for your favourite Mormon Mommy blog.

You are now entering the serious mess zone. Maybe a half dozen sewing tasks piled up on the right, storage tubs to contain the raw materials, vacuum cleaner (left out by teenage son after cleaning his car), shoes for the Op-shop and Planet Earth shoe recycling program that I forgot to take yesterday, and Grete's baby doll in her carrier. Oh, and two baskets of sorted laundry, and one to be hung outside (when I've finished blogging)

Kitchen, with handwash going on, and the bins needing doing (Knox, that's your job there sweetpea).

Kitchen table, with another sewing task laid out by Knox - "Can you widen these cut-offs for me, mum?"

Two maids-a-sleeping. Yes, we sleep on the floor. As a preference. Very Japanese of us.

Bissy's Lair - all of her stuff brought back from Uni last week, after 3 years as an undergrad. TBC...

And in no particular order, Grete's dollhouse shelf, the piano, the hopping ball that we have had since Jacinta was a toddler, tubs of toys waiting to be stored in the laundry again, and jumper and blanket from last night's run (literally) to the store with the Mountain Buggy.

The blackboard wall, waiting for some seasonal drawings to be added before Grete can add to her random spaceship works.

Rocking horse from Op-shop, futon because Daddy P slept over and has gone to work, the Barbie collection and storage tub for Barbies, the imitation feather Christmas tree, lost in the flotsam and jetsam.

And the Hallyway. Potty Central, plus stuff waiting to be stored in the roofspace for the summer. No, that is not a Stormtrooper costume, it's Knox's fullface helmet, for his serious Kamikaze stage of mountain biking. Fan, because Australian summer is meant to be hot (even though it's still cold at the moment).