#150

The tree dahlias are here! Tree dahlias against a vivid blue sky - another brilliant sign that winter is well and truly on its way.

#149

I have always had a problem with slugs. Only animal in the world I can't stand. With Yeti, however, it is leeches. This has been something of a wet year, and I guess in a strange tribute to global warming (brrrr, yeah right) the leeches have been moving south. We have always had ticks here. Now we have leeches too. I have to check the kids really carefully at bath time - not to mention myself as well...



Wombat and I went for a walk during a break in the rain and spotted this huge fellow down near the little dam. It's the biggest leech I've ever seen! As soon as it scented our warmth and blood, it started nosing around over the rocks trying to find us.



Bleurgh. Wombat thought it was pretty, and it was, in a disgusting sort of way, quite fascinating. Yeti won't look at its picture though :P

#148

Well, the ice is here, with frosts every night... it's raining almost every day... the holly bush is covered in shiny red berries... and people are starting to talk about holidays in the snow.

So when's Christmas again??? (That's what Wombat wants to know!)

#147

Whoever coined the term "needle in a haystack" never dropped a needle while sitting in a forest of sheoak and pine trees. Trying to sew while watching the boys play - I never did find my needle.

#146

Munchkin finally gets his hands on one of Wombat's toys!

Munchkin tries to follow Wombat and the toy, and learns about barbed wire. (Actually, when he was following Wombat, he went underneath it like Wombat did and hardly noticed it was there. This was when he was trying to get back to me...)

#145

Cheeky monkey in a tree...




More autumn fun!

#144

Wombat has been going through a picky-eating stage lately, so I have been trying to make his meals a little more interesting. It all started when I arranged his noodles, cheese and tomato to make a flower...
He said it was so pretty, he couldn't eat it. So I offered to take it's photo - then he could eat his lunch and keep it too :P He agreed that was a fine idea. Since then, almost every breakfast and lunch has to be photographed before it can be eaten - and he wants me to print the pics for him! (Yeti suggested making them into a menu so he can 'order' what he wants - I think that's a good idea & am going to try it.)

Even the Marmite toast has to be arranged into a star, and if I am slow getting the camera, Wombat will keep rearranging it after each bite to make sure I get that all-important photo!



This was probably the most creative we have gotten so far - a lunchtime 'Olwin' - his favourite train from Chuggingtons.

Can you guess that cheese and tomato are among his favourite foods at present?

#143

Had a lovely picnic today with my sister and her in-laws (for her father-in-law's 60th birthday). It was great to see her and my nieces, and we also got to catch up with both of my parents (who hardly ever get a chance to see my boys). I was so busy chasing Wombat or carrying Munchkin in the sling, my camera spent most of the time in my bag - I only took two photos! Luckily lots of other people were snapping away so I should get some great pics of my family from the day.

This is one of the two I took - my mum holding Munchkin. I just wish I'd gotten one of my dad, crawling around on the grass with him! As for Wombat, I think he only sat still enough to be photographed once - Dad had his camera and I was sitting with Munchkin & my nieces, so we got a rare chance to photograph all the cousins together. One of my sister's in-laws was with the girls (Steff was busy being hostess) - I really should have grabbed her because I don't think we have any pics of the two of us with all our kids together... I'm kicking myself for missing that opportunity too :P

#142

Way back in early January I posted a photo of young Cheepy - Wombat's new rooster. He has grown up a lot since then (as has Wombat!) Here they are together.

Thankfully, Cheepy has grown up to be an extremely patient, good-natured, easy-going rooster. I am especially grateful for this after a week of rain when Wombat has been cooped up indoors a lot.

Now how's that for patient???

#141

Seed pod on the native rain iris.

#140

Little green spider - with red bottom. He's on my jumper - you can see how small he is from how big the knit looks!

#139

Wet wet wet!

#138

At our neighbour's house yesterday, Wombat and his friends were picking lilly-pillies off their hedge. I remembered planting a lilly-pilly at home, so we decided to see if it had berries - and it did!

This is the lilly-pilly flower:

The berries:
You don't eat the seed - it is slightly bitter. The flesh has a sweet, tart taste and a flavour that is almost impossible to describe. My friend and I were discussing it and decided the nearest we could come was "Australian - and sort of eucalyptus-y"! They are really nice, but they don't last off the tree - the ones we brought inside went wrinkled the next day. Maybe next year I will plan a lilly-pilly picnic :D

#137

Wombat trying out his balance bike. He has lots of bikes and trikes, but because we have no cement, there is really nowhere to ride them (it's frustrating on the grass / bumpy driveway - and we never remember to take them if we are going to the park etc which we always have to drive to.) This time he thought he would ride down the street to his friend's house as they have an asphalt driveway. He rode it very stubbornly up to the top of the hill, but as soon as he got the flat/down bit, he hopped off and told me to carry it lol... that was better than his trike which got left at the letter box when we tried it! Maybe next time :P

#136

More Autumn colour - the 'early' liquid ambar, from inside the 'late' one.

#135

Wombat was playing over near the veggie patch when he suddenly looked up and squealed "It's autumn! Autumn is here!"



He and Munchkin had fun collecting the first autumn leaves for the year... and I finally got a new profile pic that I am happy with!

#134

Now that's what you call a safe place to sleep!

Frogs in the cactus.

#133

Munchkin on the move... (I think that jagular game is contagious :P)

#132

Another of Wombat's lego creations - this one reminds me of a viking longship... or a swan!

#131

My car has been sadly neglected, these last few months - parked under a black wattle (remember that sap Wombat was playing with a while ago???)



We decided to give "Mummy Car" a belated mother's day present, and wash her. She came up surprisingly clean! The funniest thing, though, was what crawled out to see the new look!

A fuzzywuzzy caterpillar...



leaving a trail of dirty footprints behind him :P



and the lumpy bumpy frog who lives permanently in Mummy Car's boot.

#130

Yesterday was mother's day, but I didn't get a chance to load the pics off my camera until today... We had a quiet day - Yeti took us to church, and then to a local park.

Munchkin was enjoying a swing - until Wombat dropped a handful of pinebark on his head. (I had stopped to fix Munchkin's socks, and Wombat wanted my attention.)



Here is my attempt to get my annual mother's day photograph...



Wombat was being a "jagular" and wanted to be off roaming... see that angelic smile? If you enlarge the next pic (by clicking on it) you might notice that the jagular is making off with... one of Munchkin's socks!!!

#129

I am so tired of having the chooks living on the verandah - I splurged and bought them a proper house! Unfortunately, it is only really big enough for four chickens (good thing they are bantams lol) and we have eight - so Yeti needs to use this as a base and expand on it before we can actually get them outside... but I have high hopes that it will eventually happen... and even if it didn't work straight from the box, isn't this the cutest hen house you've ever seen??? (Wombat insisted on filling the house with straw so it would be warm and ready for them.)

#128

It is also a good time of year for the African Daisies. Originally, I had the bright white ones and the deep purple ones, but the bees have been buzzing between them and they have been self-seeding, so now I have these gorgeous pale shades as well.

#127

Unlike the dahlia, these yellow chrysanthemums love this time of year - the tiny seedlings I transplanted from the front last year are now more than waist high and covered in flowers. So very cheerful!

#126

It is official - that dahlia bud is never going to open! The frosts are here, and it has given up the fight. Of all the buds, only one flower ever opened, just in time to grace our Easter prayer table.

#125

It's starting to feel like we have been sick forever and will be sick forever more - though I am sure there must be light at the end of the tunnel!

Lego has been a real sanity saver over the last few weeks. I came up with the bright idea of sorting different colours into ziploc bags - Wombat "got" this - he didn't understand when I tried to sort into different types of block. It makes clean-up so much quicker, and he has also "got" the idea of using a mat (Here an oversize towel, but I also tore an old white sheet into quarters. He spreads a mat out and dumps out one or two colours, then sits there for hours making "friends".)
The friends don't last for more than a day before being recycled into new ones, but Wombat gave me permission to pose this group for a photo.

#124

Pretty, pale sky-blue plumbago.

#123

Munchkin, watching and waiting - very impatiently too, I might add.

#122

Munchkin - extremely happy to be out in the sunshine, and just about inhaling this pear!

#121

Still watching my dahlia, but no change yet - I am starting to wonder if this bud is ever going to open!

#120

Remember Wombat's Wall-E boots? They're flowering :)

(The Aloe didn't make it, so we replaced it with another violet since that was doing so well.)