A park is a wonderful place to have a party. There were 25 children at Miles’ birthday party. About a dozen toddlers from playgroup, a few babies and assorted cousins.
There were lots of people in the park because it was the day they have miniature steam train rides. The Lions Club organises it once a month. They had also put up a tent for our party and gave all the kids a free train ticket.
It was a great day.
I’m exhausted!
Life ambition
If anyone asks me what my life ambition is, I usually say, “To get my bedroom tidied before I die.”
I do achieve it sometimes - but not for long. It’s all very well having “a place for everything and everything in its place”, but so many objects just can’t categorized into places.
But the main problem is …books. You see, I’m a dipper. I read mostly non fiction and whatever I read, it makes me want to refer to another book - and another…and since I like to read in bed, they have to be within easy reach for dipping into. Hence the piles of books on the bedside table, the shelves and the floor - not to mention the books that have tumbled down between the bed and the wall!
Well, last night I got stuck into it and sorted out the mess. The surface items have been stashed away (I only hope I can find them again.) The books have been either returned to their shelves or made into neater piles. If only I could refrain from buying more books…..
Council election
Today was Election Day. Looks like the Labor Party won again so Jim Soorley will still be our Lord Mayor.
I took my neighbour up to the school to vote. It’s quite a social outing. We always meet someone we know, and the school usually has cake stalls and raffles. On the way home we stopped at a Garage Sale. My neighbour was thrilled to find a set of canisters for $2. I bought a board a game, some wooden beads that I have plans for and….shhhhh…..more books.
“Tell Meemar how old you are,” says Frances.
“Doo,” says Miles.
That’s right, he is two years old today. Mum and I went around to give him his presents this morning. Mum had bought him a big floor mat with roads and shops etc. on it. He’ll have such fun playing on it with his little cars.
When Joel and Ben were small I drew roads with marking pens on an old blanket. They played with it for years.
I gave Miles a “tune-up Station” for matchbox cars. Joel will have fun setting it up for him.
He is having a party on Sunday.
Mum’s brother was down from Maryborough last week. He was showing us photos of his family. Little Miles clambered up to the small cupboard where there was a framed photo of himself. He took it down and placed in my uncle’s lap.
Babies learn so much in their first two years.
Miles seems to be talking and understanding more and more each day. When he went home yesterday, I felt limp from laughing at his antics. He’s a born entertainer.
He’s grasped the concept of big and little. He kept pointing to the large chunk of icecream in his bowl and saying “big” in a deep “father bear” voice. Then he’d point to the little piece that had broken off and say “tweeny weeny” in a little squeaky voice.
Heads and shoulders, knees and toes
“Where are your knees?” asked Frances.
Miles stood up and pointed to his knees.
“Where are your elbows?”
Miles pointed to his elbows, then to all his other body parts as his mother named them.
Then Frances asked, “Where are your heels?”
Miles put his head between his legs, lifted his foot to point to his heel….and fell flat on his face!
Ooh, I wish I’d had a video camera!
The church was packed. Mum and I were a bit late and had to sit on a couple of the extra seats hat had been put up near the door. Somehow, you don’t seem to have the same feeling of involvement when you sit at the back - it’s easier to become just an observer. Maybe that’s why some people prefer the back seat!
I couldn’t see past the tall man in front of me. There were a lot of distractions and I couldn’t concentrate on the sermon. I can’t even tell you what it was about!
But I’m glad I sat at the back, because I learned a valuable lesson.
Half way through the service, a woman I haven’t seen before got up and walked out. She seemed upset. As she brushed past us - I think I heard right - she uttered a four-letter word.
I just let her go past me.
But another woman sitting in front of me quietly rose and went out after her. She must have caught her up because outside I could faintly hear their voices talking quietly for a long time.
And I remembered a poem I had once read a long time ago - I wish I had kept it - called “I Sit by the Door”.
It was about someone who sat just inside the door of the church and made others feel welcome as they entered and ensured that no one slipped out feeling unwanted. It also had a deeper meaning - about caring for those who were new to the faith and watching that they didn’t slip away.
I think every church, every organisation, every family needs someone who “sits by the door.”
The morning sun is lower on the horizon at this time of year. It slants through my bedroom window and shines in my eyes while I am still thinking about getting up. Sometimes I block it with a large book on the windowsill and lie in a bit longer. I’m not a morning person. That old proverb “The early bird catches the worm” is okay for the birds, but if you are a worm it’s better to lie low till later.
Late yesterday morning, I noticed the sun was shining into the birdcage next door. The neighbours behind me have a pink and grey galah. It’s cage is usually shaded by nearby shrubs, but yesterday (and I suppose for the last week or so) the poor bird had only his head in the shade and the rest of him was in the sun.
The neighbours were out and I daren’t go in the yard because of their vicious German Shepherd dog. I managed to climb up, reach over the fence and tie a large golf umbrella in the tree. (My antics must be a continual source of entertainment to any neighbours looking out their window) It still only shaded his tail feathers.
I phoned my neighbour last night and told her, so the bird will be alright now. They are nice people and they do look after him.
Lying in bed this morning (still thinking about getting up), I listened to all the different birdcalls - crows, magpies, peewees, butcherbirds, doves, sparrows, noisy miners and lots more I couldn’t identify. I wonder how a caged bird feels when he hears other birds calling from the treetops and sees them soaring free in the sky!
Our Toastmasters meeting this week had an Irish theme. Some of us wore green and the Toastmaster for the evening interspersed snippets of Irish history and trivia with his introductions.
Pancakes
I don’t know what made me think Shrove Tuesday was this week. No one set me straight when I suggested that our World Vision Club celebrate Pancake Day on the 14th, but it didn’t really matter. We had a fun morning eating pancakes, tossing pancakes (it’s harder than it looks) and telling silly jokes. I didn’t realise we were a week late till someone mentioned they’d had pancakes for morning tea at work - last week!
I made some pancakes with spicy ginger coconut filling. They are quite easy - I’ve put up the recipe for you in my new recipe section. Anything I can make is pretty foolproof!
Booksale
Today we had a bookstall in the shopping centre. I didn’t think we’d have enough books, but when they heard about it, a lot of people brought along books. It was quite successful and didn’t take much setting up.
Of course I couldn’t resist buying more books to read. I came home with:
I wish I had time to read them!
I’ve just been reading “A Cat’s Little Instruction Book” by Leigh Rutledge. It’s a small book, but packed with good advice for cats, some of which could be applied to humans.
I hope it doesn’t breach copyright if I share just a little with you:
“When depressed or confused, try lying on your back with your legs in the air. Sometimes the world just looks better upside down.
Learn the difference between idleness and repose. One wastes time. The other luxuriates in it.Let sleeping dogs lie - literally.
Learn to watch everything, even with your eyes closed.
Try not to sit around with your tongue sticking half out of your mouth. It looks ridiculous.
Avoid shoving your private parts in people’s faces, no matter how well you think you know them.
Make the world your scratching post.
Become someone’s friend for life.”
I’ve just come home from church.
Remember how formal churches used to be? How we wore our Sunday-best - women in hats and gloves, men in suits and ties? And we sat stiffly in rows on wooden pews in a hushed silence……
It’s nothing like that now.
Not in our church, anyway. The atmosphere is very informal and friendly. And there are lots of young people, especially in the evening service. Teenagers in the band, playing drums, keyboards, horns, flutes, etc. Teenagers up front in the singing group, leading the service, controlling the sound system and lighting…..
Some people clap along with the singing. Others raise their hands. We’ve even had people dance in the aisles on a couple of occasions. I’ve never been able to lose myself enough to do any of these things. I just absorb it all quietly.
At the end of each service we are usually invited to respond in some way. Tonight the message was on unity - showing love for one another. We were invited to each take a small communion glass with a little bit of oil in the bottom - not to drink, but to anoint one another with a blessing. I didn’t feel comfortable enough to do that, but several people came and blessed me. I came home with a greasy forehead and a sense of wonder.
Frogs
Yuk! I looked at the water I’d left by the front door for the cats. It was green! I emptied the container onto a nearby plant, carried it inside and proceed to wash it in hot soapy water. Suddenly, there was this large green frog hopping all over my sink! Cutlery clattered and dishes rattled until I finally caught and relocated it amongst the plants in the backyard. No wonder the water had looked green!
It’s a long time since I’ve seen such a large green frog. There used to a lot about, but now the cane toads have taken over.
I’ve always liked frogs. When I was small, a large frog lived in our letterbox. Just after I started school, I took it in a jar for my teacher, but she kindly let me bring it home again.
They seem to like letterboxes. We always had a frog in our letterbox when my kids were little. Everyday I had to lift Ben up to look at the frog. One day, some neighbourhood kids were fooling around our letterbox so I called out, “Don’t take our frog. We like frogs.” The next day there were five frogs in our letterbox!
Then there was the frog that took up residence under the rim in the toilet bowl in the hall where we hold our Jumble Sales. He eluded capture for a long time and quite a few of the women preferred to walk down the road to the public toilets than to risk an intimate encounter!
Before you meet a handsome prince….
And now frogs have almost disappeared and we have big ugly cane toads everywhere. I’ve had more than my share of toads.
When Ben was in High School, he once needed a toad for science class. (I don’t want to think what they did with them!) Big-hearted Ben decided he’d find toads not only for himself, but also for the entire class.
“I know where I can get some big ones,” he said, as he grabbed a hessian sack and set off on his bike.
He came back beaming with a sackful of toads.
“But how are you going to take them to school on the train?” I asked.
“No problem,” he said, “I’ll put them in ice cream containers.”
But the toads simply knocked the lids off the plastic ice cream containers and escaped, as did the rest of the toads still in the sack.
I was cooking dinner when I heard Ben shout, “Mum, come quick!”
I went out and stood transfixed as an army of toads hopped toward me.
“Don’t just stand there,” yelled Ben. “Catch them!”
I stood my ground. “The duties of a mother,” I informed him, “do not extend to catching cane toads in her bare hands.”
I did manage to upend a bucket over one of them, but when I lifted the bucket the toad had disappeared. It must have gone down into the ground
They say that toads can’t jump, but late one night a very large ugly toad managed to climb up the stairs and come into the house. He evaded the broom I was wielding, made his way into my bedroom, and bunkered down under a small cupboard. It was nearly midnight. I had an important appointment next morning and just had to get some sleep.
So I used heavy boxes of books to block off all his escape routes and went to bed thinking I had him imprisoned. I could deal with the problem in the morning.
Several hours later, I was wakened by scraping noises, then a steady plop, plop, plop! I turned on the bedside light. The toad had pushed aside a box of books and was coming toward my bed.
Plop, plop, plop!
I jumped out, grabbed an empty ice cream container, threw it over him and tossed him out into the yard.
The next day, when I told my neighbour about it, she said, “How do you know it wasn’t a handsome prince in disguise?”
“At that time of night,” I replied, ” it was easier to deal with a toad than a strange man in my bedroom!”
Someone once said, “Before you meet a handsome prince, you have to kiss a lot of toads!”
