Chickens, vegetable patches, lots of work

Houses we liked, the last house we rented or even the house we currently live in all have one thing in common - a large backyard.

It is no surprise that our new house has just that. There are several vegetable patches, 4 citrus trees and a chicken coop in the backyard. There are wired frames for tomatoes to climb everywhere you see and lots of strawberries in summer according to the real estate agent. The vendor will leave the 2 chickens currently living there so we will also have 2 pet chickens. The thought of fresh eggs every morning is very appealing (whether the chickens will lay any eggs with a dog around is another matter). Hopefully Zebadee and the chickens will learn to be friends!

There are lots of work to do both inside and outside of the hosue. But it's all very exciting.


Nice day to play in the garden.

ps I'm reading Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal, vegetable, miracle" at the moment. This book is about the year Barbara and her family living on a farm and only buy food raised in their own neighbourhood, grow it themselves or learn to live without it. We have no green thumbs and will be extremely happy if we manage not to kill all the existing vegetables growing in the new house!

Two and a half!

Talking to a two-and-a-half-year-old can be very entertaining. Here are some of the things Lara says:

"Lara reading... no talking, ok?" - Lara holding and reading a book
"Of course you can, Mummy" when I asked if I could share her biscuits or toys.
"Don't touch it!"
"I'm up...set" with pouty lips.
"Mattew crying... Mattew bump head" when Lara tells me of her day in daycare. She told me "Kyan sick. Kyan home" the other day when Kyan didn't come to daycare.
We only have a short ride home from daycare but I try to ask Lara what she did that day and who was there during the day. She's able to tell me more and more every day.
"Maybe Liz help" when I couldn't open the door to daycare.

Lara knows the names of most kids at daycare. She pointed to a Mum and a girl the other day and told me it was Ryan's Mum. I thought maybe she was confused when the lady turned to me and said she is Ryan's Mum and Ryan was at home that day. When Lara saw people she didn't know, she would ask me who they are. For example, she would point to the check-out girl at Wollies and asked me "Who's that?".

Lara's not toilet trained yet but she loves to sit on the toilet before bath and would sometimes tell me when she's weeing (on nappy). We just haven't timed it right so that she does the act of wee sitting on the toilet. It will happen soon I'm sure.

Blueberry pancakes

I made Nigella Lawson's "Ritz chicken" the other night. The chicken meat was extremely tender after they were marinated in buttermilk overnight. I made these pancakes using the rest of the buttermilk that weekend.
I prefer a "savory" breakfast, but it's nice to have something different for a change when we all sit down leisurely to have the first meal of the weekend without rushing.

Feeling guilty

At the beginning of June, Lara had a small cold. Like other cold she had, it startd with a bit of running nose and coughing. It could go either way from there - it could develope into a full-blown cold like she had many times last year or she could get better. Her cold seemed to go towards the second way this year thank god. She had a temperature on Monady night so I fully anticipated not being able to go to work and had warned work so. That week was a very busy one with a tight testing schedule of a project and a colleague on holiday. On Tuesday morning, Lara miraculously didn't have a temperature so I deicded to take the risk of taking her into daycare. Lara had watery eyes and generally didn't feel great so I was half waiting for a phone call to go and pick her up at midday but reasoned that I would have done some work by then. I didn't get the call and by Tuesday night, she looked a lot better but it didn't lessen my guilt of sending her to daycare ill.

I try to pick Lara up well before the daycare close time of 6pm. I often get there at arond 5.30pm but Lara is usually the last 2 or 3 remaining. I was the last one again the other week. When I arrived, Lara was reading "the baby owl" book with Liz. I flipped through the book to see what it is - it's about these baby owls waiting for Mummy to come home. And the sentence "Mummy always come back" is repeated again and again in the book. Liz told me they had been reading that book for at least 15 times in the last 20 minutes! Talking about feeling guilty, this one is definitely up there. I have to try to leave work even earlier....

Eventful week

A lot happened in the last week and a half ....

The week didn't start too well. Our (only) oil-filled radiator broke suddenly mid-week. It was extremetly cold living in this house with no heating. We considered holding off the purchase of heaters as our future house might have under-floor or ducted heating. At the end, we decided that comfort, even if only for a short period of time, is important so that weekend we spent over a thousand dollars and bought 2 heaters (Rinnai convection gas heater and Delonghi oil heater) in 1/2 hour.

At the same time, Zeb was limping. She had limped and got better before, but this time it looked bad-Zeb not putting any weight on the leg. We decided to bring forward the operation (was going to wait until we find a house fisrt but as it turned out Zeb would be recovering in the new house anyway). We booked the vet hospital on Friday, dropped Zeb off for surgery on Monday morning. Vet called at 11am to say Zeb just woke up, surgery was successful and Zeb doing well. We picked her up on Wednesday night and need to take her back to remove the stitches a forthnight later. The surgery cost nearly $2000. Our second big expense that week.

In the midst of these, we suddenly got a call from the real estate agent about the house we made an offer on some time ago. She said the vendor decided to sell and wanted us to put in a best offer. To make a long story short, after lots of phone calls, waiting, thinking and speculating, we got the hosue! The vendor wanted a short settlement because he bought elsewhere so we will be moving soon! Finally!

I had an one-hour massage, my 2nd one this year, at the first chance I got to recover from all that had happened. We had a busy week but all is good.

Craft show 12-June-2009

It was a last-minute decision to go to the craft show. You know how it is when you contemplate going somewhere different with a little one - your head is swamped with reasons why you might not enjoy it so you stop yourself going before you even leave. Well, I'm glad that Sarah asked and we went. I got to have a quick look at what was on offer at the show and Lara had fun at the park afterwards all on such a beautiful sunny winter day.

The train rides were hassle-free. The walk from Town Hall station (via Town Hall square, Bathurst st and the pedestrian overpass) to Darling Harbour was extremely flat and easy thanks to the excellent direction given by a helpful postie. The worst part, unexpectedly, turned out to be pushing the pram inside the exhibition centre. Our 3-wheeled pram is not the easiest to maneuver around people in tight places. I hurt my left wrist and couldn't use it at all that weekend. The situation improved slowly before going back to work on Tuesday. But all these typing at work made it worst again. It has been 2 weeks now and I still feel pain in my wrist if I turn it at certain angles or use it too quickly.

Both Sarah and I have inspirations of making our very own patchwork quilts one day. We are starting with something small - pin cushions (I just started tracing the patterns) & Easter wall hangings before we move on to bigger, more exciting projects.


There wasn't a lot of time to look at all these beautiful quilts. I quite like the red pattern on this quilt.

I got an idea

Lara likes to raise her index finger and says "I got an idea" recently - her phrase of the day. When I enquire, there is usually no idea following but she looks very cute doing it.

We walked to the car after coming back on the train from Darling Harbour on Friday. Lara said "I got an idea" after we passed a pizza place. I asked Lara what the idea was and was quite surprised when she said "Pizza is yummy. I love pizza". And that gave me an idea.

Thanks to Lara, we had Crust Gourmat pizzas that night. Garlic prawn pizza is pictured below.

Resolutions and old friends

Over 10 years ago, in what I would imagine a regular get-together of four high school friends, they wrote down their new year resolutions on a piece of paper. And this is what they wrote: (Names removed to protect the innocent but you know who you are!!)

Rresolutions 1995:
(1) Prepare for paino grade 8 exams.
(2) Go overseas. Pass all papers.
(3) Go to gym twice a week. Be more flirtatious. Be more tolerant and easy going. Learn stained glass.
(4) Decrease swearing. Think before speaking. Lost weight and look good in a pink dress. Be sweeter. Go overseas. Learn to drive.

These four friends finished uni and found jobs. They live in different parts of the world so they don't see one another very often. They try to keep in touch via email but they are all so busy. Then one day 10 years later(2007), one friend was tidying up her room and found the old piece of paper on which the original resolutions were written and emailed it to share with the other friends (otherwise who would remember such a trivial thing that happened so long ago?)

They decided to do this resolution thing again. This time they wrote their dreams and hopes via exchanges of emails.

Resoultions 2007:
(1)Publish at least one paper at work. Visit friend overseas. Buy a hosue. Pick up piano again.
(2) Buy a house(at a good price). Learn to cook and be a good housewife(no nagging. Work in another country. Travel(eg Europe/Beijing). Make CV look more marketable. Maybe kids. Save more.
(3) Learn to paint. More travelling locally and overseas. Keep a diary. Sell a house. Kids next year. Live in another city/country for a year.
(4) (not written down)

These email exchanges were discovered again recently. I am writting them down here for safe-keeping. How sweet are these old memories with dear old friends?

Long weekend

It was Steve's birhtday on the long weekend. We bought a nice chocolate mud cake for the occasion. We wanted to cheer him up a little as he is going through some major changes in life at the moment. Lara insisted that it was her birthday. We did slot in a quiet '...and lara' when we sang 'happy birthday to Uncle Steve'.

My amazon books arrived just before the long weekend for me to try the bread in 'Artisan bread in five minutes a day' after reading so much about it. We took a nice long walk in the morning while the dough rested. It came out of the oven smelling great and looking like a shop-bought bread. The crust got a little softer when the bread cooled. I think it was a little undercooked so I did a second loaf that afternoon. (You make up enough dough for 4 or 5 loaves in the fridge and just rest and cook one loaf every time - that's why it only takes 5 minues (of active efforts) a day thus the name of the book)

We had the second loaf as lunch on Tuesday. It was much nicer. I still need to improve on the crust at the bottom(a little hard). Maybe I'm just a little too ambitious trying to bake bread in this basic oven where the temperature at the bottom is a lot higher than that at the top of the oven. I'm trying a bread with a softer crust next and am definitly going to get an oven themometer to work out the real temperature of this oven!


(First loaf - I like this simple 3-line pattern better)


(Second loaf - trying a different pattern)

House stories

Our little unit in the city received a mention in the Sunday paper a couple of months ago to demonstrate how the first homeowner's grant was making the inner city housing market crazy. Our unit was on the market on a Monday. Agent said she would take a couple of people to see it on Wednesday night. 7 groups of people turned up, and by 9pm on Wednesday, we had 5 offers, 2 willing to pay over the advertised price. We exchanged contract on the Friday, all these happened before the first open-for-inspection. That was crazy! We felt quite sad to say good-bye. It was a long time ago, but the fond memory of walking leisurely to QVB to have afternoon tea from the unit on sunny weekends was still fresh in our minds. I guess if we have decided to sell, then it's better to have it sold quickly. This was the best result we could expect.

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Another house story Simon heard from his colleague A.

A's neighbours were getting a divorce and they couldn't decide on the settlement so they decided to sell the family home (this was early 2000, maybe 2002). The wife bought the house back at auction for $1.3M and did a minor renovation (nothing structural- just paint, new bathroom/kitchen that sort of thing). She sold it recently for nearly $2.5M! I wondered what the ex-husband think if he hears about this?

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Our home is very cold. It feels colder inside than outside, especially when the sun is out. I don't know if this is a contributing factor but despite still having 10 months lease left to go, we made an offer on a house three weeks ago. The house itself is basic and in 'original' condition but we think it has great potential. We waited patiently and for a while we thought we would be moving again. The real estate agent finally got back to us after over a week. The vendor wanted more than what we were willing to pay so... the hunt continues...

Something blue

I made some blue playdough last week as requested. I let Lara watch while I made it. She found it fasinating that it felt hot to touch when we rolled it on the table.

Her obsession with the colour "blue" continues. She wants to drink milk from her blue bottle all the time (we only have one blue bottle), not her pink or purple or green bottles. If I stand my ground and have a take-it-or-leave-it attitude (usually when time is not an issue), Lara would eventually drink from any colour bottles. To save time in the morning though, I make sure we use the blue bottle.

For nappies she wants pink(Huggies), not blue ones(Mammia from Aldi). I guess she doesn't care the blue nappies are more absorbent, she has less leaky accidents in them and cheaper. For breakfast, it's weetbix (or fruit'bix) with colourful loops. Yes you guessed it, blue loops are her favorite.

Everyone from the kindergym instructor to Lara's daycare teachers all know Lara's favorite colour. Brook from daycare told me a girl from her last year's class (2-3s) also obsessed with the colour blue. She exclaimed 'it's always girls and blue'! Funny, isn't it?

When you are a two-year-old, the colour of things is very very important. Luckily , there is a big bottle of blue colouring in the cupboard to keep this particular two-year-old happy.

Kindergym

The first time Lara visited Kindergym, she didn't want to go (even though she didn't know what it was). But once she got there and had lots of fun, she didn't want to leave when the class was finished. It took me almost 10 minutes to "convince" her we would come back but she still cried and cried when I dragged her out.


I call this "foam pool". Lara is never tired of jumping in again and againa and that was pretty much what she did on the first day.

The seond time we went, Lara couldn't wait to get in and play. I dragged her out as soon as the class was finished -she still cried and was the only one in class who cried. By the thrid visit, she must have realised that there was no use crying and that Mummy did keep her word about coming back, she left happily and willingly when it was time to go.




Lara was more adventurous and tried the trampoline and beam on subsequent visits.

We love kindergym on Fridays very very much!

[2 years 4 months] Mummy's little friend

(Hat ware is a must even before going to bed)

Frequently-used words: "wait", "not yet", "do it like this", "great idea".
Lara critics my driving, saying "not very good" if I had to go forward and backward a couple of times to back the car into driveway. When we are on the road, Lara tells me to 'be careful' or 'watch for cars mommy'.

Lara has a very good memory. If I say she could have yoghurt pop when we get home, Lara always remember to remind me. She also reminds me to take keys before we leave home. She knows the difference between "me" and "you" and uses more "I" and "me". We were running in the backyard the other day. I shouted "Wait for me Zeb". Lara also said "Wait for me Zeb", but added afterwards "Wait for Lara me!" Lara is my little friend and a great company!


(Loves to look at photos in camera)

Lara does a lot of pretend-play. She likes her 'Wiggly Safari' dvd, an Easter present and she loves Steve Irwin. She looks very cute doing the dingo dance. Lara saw her old baby rocker and said "Lara not baby, Lara big girl". She tells me "good girl" when I do things 'right' by her. And she knows the difference between boys and girls most of the time - "Lara not boy, Lara (is a) girl", "Da-da boy".

Lara likes to do things by herself in her own time. She's most unhappy when I intervene or interrupt her. Getting out of the door in a reasonable time was a challenge in some mornings. I try to forewarn or prompt her about what we are going to do next to speed things up.





Lara started playing golf (hitting one object with another object in the golf pose) after a 'Pokoyo' episode. Now she plays with a club. Even though Lara has an indoor toy golf club, she prefers the real thing on the grass. Grand-dad had an old left-handed golf club's handle cut and made it Lara's size - Lara is most definitely left-handed. We hope Lara likes golf - she has already shown the traits of famous golfers - getting frustrated and throwing clubs when the ball rolls off or doesn't go where she wants it to go.

Books Jan-Apr 2009

Persuasion by Jane Austen
I like "The Jane Austen book club" movie and after watching it decided to read all the Jane Austen novels again. I enjoyed this book a lot - I couldn't put it down when I got to my stop in the morning. The plot was swimming in my head during the day and I couldn't wait to read it again on the way home.

Digging to America by Anne Tyler

The Magician's Way by William Whitecloud
Subtitle: "A story about what it really takes to find your treasure". The book is a little "out there" compared to other 'self-development' books. The main thing I got from this book is to focus on the end results, not what you have to do to get there. And sometimes, be relaxed about things and not trying too hard actually achieves more.

Morality for Beautiful Girls
The Full Cupboard of Life
Tears of the Giraffe
by Alexander McCall Smith
I read "The no1 ladies detective agency" and "the Kalahari typing school for men" a couple of years ago, but they did not make as a great impreesion on me as now. I don't believe you have to read the books in the proper order to enjoy these simple warming stories. The descriptions of the vast land and cattles in Bostwana, the leisurly pace and traditional values all had a very calming effect on me. It reminded me of what is really important in life. I am reading the 6th book in the series "In the company of cheerful ladies".

Brunch in Surry Hills

Branch at Fifi Foveaux's with PY & husband.
The great company made the yummy cooked breakfast and coffee even more enjoyable.
Why don't we have a cafe like this closer?

No more monkeys jumping on the bed

Lara loves "monkeys jumping on the bed" nursery rhyme. She put legos on her fingers and used them as monkeys sometimes. I bought her a book on this nursery rhyme, she loves it. Here is a short video of her reading the book.

Father-in-law's roast

MIL had a major operation about 3 weeks ago. Before the operation, we were speculating on how FIL would handle this situation. Being a very traditional man who doesn't have many "chances" to be in the kitchen, we didn't think he know how to prepare food. Therefore, we were really surprised to find a whole roast dinner (nice lamb racks) when we arrived last weekend. Next to the food on the kitchen counter were some neatly written notes about the preparation and cooking of the meal.

It's never too late to learn!

Easter show at work

I decided to take Lara to the mini Easter show work organises every year. I told Lara we were going to see sheeps, rabbits, cows and piggies at the kindie farm at work. Lara listened carefully and asked "How about elephant?" No Lara, I don't think elephant would be there this time.

After I parked the car near station (didn't want to drive into the city and get lost in the city street maze) and put Lara into the pram, I found one of the pram wheels deflated. I tried pumping it up but it got flat again very quickly - there must be a puncture. Lara looked very disappointed and didn't want to get off the pram when I told her we were going home. We nearly didn't make it if I didn't drive to a friend's house closeby and borrowed their stroller.

Lara was very excited on the train, turning her head to see the door open and close at every station. She didn't sleep at all on the train as I hoped, and must be quite tired when we arrived just before 3pm. I showed Lara my desk at work and we said hi to a few colleauges before we went one floor up to where the fun was.

The noises around was a little overwhelming. Lara managed to pat some of the animals and ate half a gingerbread biscuit. She liked the Easter bunny the best and gave him several big cuddles. We also queued up for face painting. Lara wanted to be a cat but when it was finally our turn, she refused to have her face, arm or any part of her body painted. She told me on the way home that she didin't want to get her face 'dirty'.

We left at around 4.30pm before Lara had time to get too tired. She fell asleep fairly quickly on the train back. It was definitely an exciting afternoon for little Lara.

Do you want any help?

It was 6pm the most chaotic time in our household when I ran around in the kitchen getting dinner ready. I saw this little face on top of the safey gate, a pair of little hands holding onto the sides of the gate. A little voice, slightly unsure, asked me "Mummy, (do you want) any help?"

How nice it is to be asked if I want any help!

I started to ask Lara's help in doing simple things - like standing on the step chair and putting books in the return shute for me in the libray or putting the pegs back in the container when I got the clothes in.

Oh how Lara loves to help mummy!

Sunday morning walks

We decide to observe the neighbourhood on foot to get to know the area better. We set off after breakfast every Sunday before the heat sets in. We choose a different route each time and enjoy looking at the houses and commenting to each other on what we like or don't like about certain houses or streets.



We usually stop at a park for Lara to have a short play before we turn back home. Zeb is always very excited on these walks too, stopping and sniffing at every other tree and saying hi to every dog that walks past.



We hope the fine weather continues for our little walks on the weekend.