Mamalade

miles6bday

Frances found a wand for me to give Miles – one that works! “He means one that lights up,” Frances explained. She left 2-year-old Hayley with me while she did the shopping for both of us – a happy arrangement for all concerned.Hayley made a beeline for the books as soon as they arrived at my house. “Read a book, read a book, read a book,” she urged insistently.

“In a minute,” I promised. “We’ll say goodbye to Mummy, then we’ll read a book.”

Hayley grabbed Frances by the hand, led her out through the front door and slammed the screen door shut. “Bye Mummy,” she said. “Come on, Meemar, read a book!”

Miles had a party after school with some of his friends. I think 16 kids is really too many for a 6th birthday party – particularly when their ages range from 7 months to 7 years. I went along equipped with party games, but discovered it was impossible to organise this mob and had to assume the role of policewoman.

“Timmy didn’t mean to hurt you, it was an accident!”

“Stay in the yard, Dominique, if you go outside the little ones will too!”

“Come back in the yard, Hayley!”

“Get off the fence, Sam!”

“Don’t let the dog out – Nelson, come back in the yard!”

“Timmy didn’t mean to knock you over!”

“You might win a prize next time!”

“Olivia, don’t drink the dog’s water – I’ll get you some lemonade!”

“Miles, don’t run with your wand – you’ll poke it in your eye!”

“Timmy, put the bat down before you hurt anyone else!”

“Nelson doesn’t like to be sat on!”

“Liam got it first, you can’t take it off him!”

“You’ll get a turn in a minute!”

“Timmy, you mustn’t push the little ones!”

“Miles, let me hold your wand if you’re going to run!”

“Leave the candles on the cake while we sing Happy Birthday!”

“Timmy, stop that at once!!”

“Never again!” declared Frances when it was over. “The house is a wreck. Next time we’ll have it in a park!”

So… that’s the end of Summer – officially anyway. The 1st March is supposed to be the beginning of Autumn. And what a summer it was! The wettest January in 80 years, the hottest February, the worst power blackouts, and the wildest storms. Someone should print T shirts with the slogan, “I survived Summer 2004.”

The storms are still lurking. Last night, a wild storm wrecked a lot of houses in Murwillumbah, just over the N.S.W border. Now it’s on its way up North.

Our Jumble Sale early this month was a wash out – literally. Cyclone winds had been forecast and the radio stations were warning people to stay home if they didn’t really have to go out. Not very good publicity for a jumble sale! Some people ventured out, however, including the woman who was looking for a dress…

“Oh no, not that one!” she said when I found one in her size. “That would crush too easily. I always get dressed before I go to bed, to save time in the morning!”

Then there was the “poetry woman.” “Isn’t it a wet day!” she chirped. “I wrote a poem about the rain.” She bought a yellow bowl. “It’s such a beautiful colour. I’ve written a poem about Yellow.” No matter what she looked at, she’d written a poem about it!

The rain was only drizzly all morning, but by the time we packed up, it was really belting down. I got soaking wet while I was putting boxes of plants in the car. I changed into dry clothes when we got back to Mum’s and hung around most of the afternoon in case the weather got worse. ( I had this mad idea I might be able to prevent the water from getting in downstairs again.)

By 5 pm. the rain had eased a bit. “I don’t think anything is going to happen,” I said. “I might as well go home.”

It held off until I reached my own driveway, then bucketed down on me as I ran from the car to the house. That was the beginning of a wild night.

The Pine Tree flung its branches around and dropped a few small limbs on top of my pot plants. (I’m glad I had some branches lopped the week before!)

I phoned Mum to see if she needed any help. “There’s nothing we can do,” she said. “The water’s coming in from the back as well as the front. The road at the bottom of the hill is under water…”

The carpet man came next morning and got 12 gallons of water out of her carpet. For the next few days, we had four fans and a heater blowing on the carpet, trying to dry it out. It took a lot of work, but we had the room set up for our Trivia Morning the following Tuesday. The Trivia Mornings are very popular with our World Vision Club. They are easy to organise and a lot of fun.

Cast off

Miles got the cast off his arm this week. His arm has a bit of a bend in it, because the bones overlap, but the doctor thinks it will grow alright. I’m glad he got the cast off before his birthday. He’ll be six next week.

“What do you want for your birthday?” I asked him.

“How about a Harry Potter wand,” he suggested.

“I thought you had one,” I said.

“I’ve got three,” he said, “but they don’t work!”

He must think they are really magic! Can anyone tell me where I can buy a Harry Potter wand - that works?