Every cloud and all that.

I've not been very well these past few days. It's been a great chance to lie down and catch up on sleep. That, and I've finally done a bit more on this.

Remy's gone to stay at the farm with my parents. I've only had two texts so far. The first asked when in god's good name would the child have his daytime nap because my mother needed a break; and the second asked when the hell he would wake up because the puppy was bored and needed Remy to entertain him.

So, yes, I think I can conclude that all's well at the farm.

I'm working on getting better and will report back to y'all on what else has been happening in the van Rose household.

10: Things Remy did while naked this week

1. Gardening.
2. Dancing.
3. Stood in front of the open freezer.
4. Rode the rocking horse.
5. Rode his bike.
6. Read stories.
7. Watched telly.
8. Greeted visitors.
9. Ate dinner.
10. Ran around the lounge like a maniac.

Outside the box

Two of Remy's favourite things are stealing my mascara to apply to wherever/whatever he pleases, and cleaning his ears.

This week, he killed two birds with one stone by using the mascara wand to clean his ears.

 

What a genius.

Walking on broken glass (specifically, what was previously a pyrex roasting dish).

Small things that totally got my goat today

1. Our fire is pouring smoke into the kitchen and lounge, the bathroom floor is still just exposed wood (because the lino was ripped out), the fridge door is broken and the dishwasher is a nightmare to use - all of this because our landlord is one lazy SOB that likes taking the rent money but not taking care of the property.

2. There are people who insist on asking me when I am going to have another child.

3. In terms of levels of annoyance, they are followed closely by people who ask me if I'm pregnant.

4. There is someone in our house who eats all the good chocolates from the selection box. His name starts with J and ends with ULES.

(No actual goats were harmed in the making of this post).

Today is my birthday*

*if 'today' was actually last Sunday then this statement would be totally, totally not a lie.

All my life I have reminded people of my big day about 11 months in advance. All my life.

And this year, I go and forget that it's my birthday until 9am ON THE DAY. What the hell is wrong with me? Is 31 the new memory loss drug?

So, please forgive me for trying to trick you with the title. It's just that I also forgot to blog about it and let everyone in the whole wide world** know that I had a birthday this year.

** Another small lie - as my stats will attest, the whole wide world does not read my blog. Sigh.

5ives: Things I don't really understand

1. The dark side of the moon.

2. Geography.

3. How to parellel park.

4. Microwaves.

5. MMP.

The universe told me to. That's why.

I love this time of year. All chilly but sometimes gloriously sunny and not so dark that I feel like hiding under the duvet for the rest of my life.

And, I don't know why, but Autumn is my time of year for sorting out my goals and my life in general. I feel positive, uplifted and like I can do anything.

So, after seeing the words "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" twice in one sitting in front of the laptop, I have determined that my winter is best spent watching every single episode of Buffy ever made.

How will you be spending your winter?

Treasures from our nature walk

I'm not much into the outdoors. Or exercise. I usually find everything I need and want in the comfort of the indoors.

But I know that it's important for Remy to get plenty of exposure to different things and he needs a whole lotta running around everyday to get his wiggles out.

So we've started going for little adventures together. Sometimes we both walk, but Remy really likes riding his bike on the footpath next to me. We take a bag with us so we can collect treasures.

These are our treasures from today. They make the house smell like Christmas - YUM!

The day my carpet regretted

Painting these postcards with Remy was ... an experience? a disaster? a lesson?

He spent most of the time eating the paint (it was non-toxic, but still), and telling me "don't!", whenever I said that the paint was for the paper, not his mouth.

I like the cards, and doing arty crafty stuff together is great fun, but man it was hard and messy work. We won't be attempting this again for a while!

An hour of my life wasted here:

 

Believe it or not, this is actually folded washing. It just doesn't look it.

(WARNING: Due to the nature of housework, this post may reappear everyday for ever and ever).

In the garden this week...

The silver lining of planting late, like, really late.

 

 

 

Smiling with his eyes

I love this little guy with all my heart, but I do wish that he would leave some things alone. Like, for example, my mascara:

 

Communing with nature

 

 

 

 

Memories

Isn't it funny how sometimes memories come back out of the blue?

Two for today:

1. The first time I was pretty sure I was pregnant with Remy was when I threw up in the street on my way to work.

2. The only time ever that I have been awake to witness the changing of the time between daylight savings and, um, normal time was last autumn.

My baby had his first haircut

 

Suffering for my art

I watch too much TV. Specifically, I watch faaaaaaaaar too much 'reality' TV. I just don't know why I do this to myself.

Watching this crap gets me sooooo freaking mad. The people, oh lord, the people. The people drive me crazy.

Like, right now, I'm watching Bridezillas. (I know. Once again, why on earth do I subject myself to this rot?). There is a woman on here who refers to herself in the third person. She also calls herself a queen. Not in that fun Oooo-look-at-me-I'm-a-flighty-fun-drama-queen way; she calls herself a queen because she believes she deserves to be treated like royalty. Why? Because she says so.

Too much. Just too, too much.

So why do I watch it? Is there some lovely chemical reaction in my brain? Am I relieved to find that there are people far harder to live with than myself?

Let's have some quiet time and try and forget about this.

Thrifting through life

I had a magical thrifting day last week.

There are some things that make my heart skip a beat in a thrift store - Enid Gilchrist books are one of those things. There is nothing this woman doesn't know about sewing, and practically nothing she isn't prepared to say about style (in quite a cranky tone. How I love her).

 

And another handy book on technique:

 

Because I use vintage patterns almost exclusivly, I need books like this to explain some of the steps that are missing on the pattern's instructions. Everyone used to sew, which means that pattern makers didn't have to write down every step. People like me need EVERY step. EVERY step.

I pick up a board game for my darling (practically-just-get-married-already) sister-in-law's birthday:

 

And the reason I get up in the morning to thrift - a beautiful, immaculate typewriter for an unspeakably good price.

 

I've wanted a typewriter for a very long time. My great Grandmother used to type her letters which I always thought was the height of sophistication. I love real mail, I love love love it, so I send a lot of it. Now I'm going to type it. Just as soon as I get a company to start making again the ribbons I need...