Just Nicky

Tired, tired, tired … January 31, 2007

We are three tired little poppets this evening. And it’s not a particularly good combination.

Mark is tired due to a lack of sleep last night and his first 2 full days at school (no teaching yet though). I am tired due to being 33 and a half weeks pregnant and spending the day being run ragged by an incredibly busy 3 year old. And Finn is tired due to being an incredibly busy 3 year old.

This business of Mark going off and being the breadwinner and me staying home being the housewifely person - the traditional nuclear family - is a new gig for us. And I think it’s going to take some getting used to. Yes, we did it during Mark’s teaching rounds last year, but I wasn’t quite so round at that point (in fact I wasn’t round at all) and my roundness is having a huge effect.

We will adjust though and get the balance sorted. It just might be a little bumpy along the way…

All the pretty flowers January 28, 2007

The Lone Chook by Nicky P

I just took some photos of the back part of our yard and added them to my Backyard Progress set on Flickr.

It’s lovely to see how much everything has grown and how lovely and leafy it all is. I’m really glad we finally got around to fixing that area up.

41 years ago today…

Zero by Nicky P

So today is my birthday. Thank you to Mark, Jelly, Kristen and Rad & Andy so far for the birthday wishes.

I’m not one for a big fuss on my birthday and today is no exception - especially so because I feel a bit crappy. We’ve been for an amble around the zoo this morning, which helped clear my head a bit. Mark and I were going to go out for dinner and a movie while Finn spent the evening with Danny, Aunty Fee and Uncle Fig, but I think about all I’m up to tonight is a DVD on the telly and an early night. We’ll take Fig & Fee up on their lovely offer another time.

I love all my presents. Mark and Finn gave me a portable DVD player, which might be good for hospital (if I can keep it reasonably secure) and will definitely be a godsend for late night feeds and other times when I find myself sleepless. My sister gave me a lovely leather and cotton (?) necklace when I was at my parents’ on Friday. And The Mavis has promised me some money when I’m ready to go clothes shopping after Leila is born.

While I would like to be feeling healthier today (I’m not sick. It’s just sinusitis, combined with the usual pregnancy-related stuff that comes and goes), I’m certainly feeling happier and more positive about the world than I have on recent birthdays and that will do me fine. I always feel like my year doesn’t really begin until my birthday and this year it’s quite true. When Mark starts work on Tuesday a new chapter of our life begins, so our year is really only just beginning. That makes this quite an exciting birthday for me.

Half-imagined dreaming January 26, 2007

I had composed a fantastic blog entry while I was dozing in bed this morning. When I woke up properly, though, it was completely gone. I can’t even remember what the subject matter was. It’s terribly frustrating because I was certain it was great and would be really interesting.

This is what happens with most of my dreams. They are vivid, detailed and fascinating. Yet when I wake up they are gone. Sometimes I’ll remember the feelings associated with them - I’m usually annoyed by something and trying to sort it out. If I’m really, really lucky I just might recall the subject matter, or who was in it. There’s always this sense that the details are just beyond my grasp.

I slept late this morning after last night’s poker-fest. Mark valiantly got up when Finn came to see us at 7am and even took the boy out to the zoo to give me more time to snooze. How much more loveable could the man be?

He’s now snoozing a bit himself before we head over to my parents’ to see Audrey. Finn particularly requested that we go and see her today so I figured we should. He’s still a bit concerned about the fact that Audrey isn’t here and why. Hopefully he’ll be happy when he can actually see that she’s at Grandma’s.

Having a Big Yellow Taxi moment January 25, 2007

P1000556.jpg by Nicky P

Mark & I took the dogs down to Avalon this morning for what will probably be the last time for a while. Certainly the last time we can go down on a week day until the next school holidays (by which time there’ll be another person to consider).

It was just lovely down there. Avalon itself is not an attractive beach. Like lots of spots on the west side of the bay it’s been largely ignored but, of course, that’s the major part of its attraction for us. The only people you tend to see down there are fishermen - or at least their cars and trailers and there were lots of those today - and birdwatchers, with the occasional parkers thrown in to make things interesting.

Today it was still and gloriously sunny. The air was coolish but we could feel the warmth of the sun on our backs. The water had a lovely clean briney smell to it and looked pretty good too. I could almost imagine swimming in it. The dogs didn’t need to imagine. They did a lot of swimming.

Days like this are one of the things I will miss about Mark’s return to the world of the fulltime worker. It makes me realise how lucky we’ve been to have the last few months away from the rat race and how little I’ve appreciated the freedom it’s afforded us.

Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

DC is on the telly tonight

Deborah Conway rang just after Mark left for work to let him know that she and her band are performing in the Australia Day Live ‘07 concert being televised on Channel 10 tonight. They’ll be on at about 9.30pm.

Unfortunately Mark is at work until 6 tonight without access to a computer, so he can’t put anything on the DC site or post to the email list. Neither can I. I’m hoping that someone who might subscribe to the list (Sarah???) could post something there.

If not, no matter. It will just have to wait until Mark gets home.

Good News January 24, 2007

In The Age this morning: End of El Nino’s big dry… damper times ahead

The Bureau of Meteorology’s seasonal rainfall and temperature outlooks for the next three months, released yesterday, say there is a greater-than-even chance of above-normal rainfalls and below-normal temperatures for the south and west of the country.

I might get through this pregnancy without turning into a grease spot.

Single Brown Chook January 23, 2007

Lola on the job by Nicky P

As I was taking Audrey away yesterday Lola was not at all happy about it. By the time I got home last night, though, she appeared completely unconcerned. Of course, it’s just about impossible to know what’s going on in that pea sized brain of hers - she might be miserable. If she is, she’s doing a very good job of hiding it.

Audrey was much the same when she arrived at my parents’ house. Once out of her box (cat carrier) and put on the ground she behaved as if this had always been her spot. The ex-vegie garden she’s living in is actually a little piece of chook heaven. There are fruit trees in there, so she’ll have some shade all through the day and fallen fruit to munch on, and some remnant vegies that it will take her no time to devour. The stated plan is that she’ll stay in there all the time, but I expect that rule will be relaxed over time and she’ll get to help Dad with planting stuff, turning the compost and other garden duties.

There was some angst when the new cat, Flossie, thought she’d stalk Audrey (Flossie, being young, has not yet realised the foolishness of chasing something bigger than you - she’ll learn). Audrey did circuits of the vegie garden, clucking indignantly, while Floss went from being a complete predator to a very confused young cat.

The Mavis was hoping that Audrey would have a go at Floss and teach her a lesson. Lola would, but Audrey wouldn’t unless she was under direct threat and a cat 6 feet away was not direct enough for her. In the end Floss was removed and Dad stayed outside for a while supervising and impressing upon Floss that she wasn’t to think of going near the chook. For all the good that will do.

I have a strong feeling that this is going to be a permanent arrangement. Even though Dad has been a bit down lately and complaining that he no longer has the ability to keep up with everything around the place, he still needs and likes to have stuff to potter with. The effort he went to preparing for Audrey’s arrival was not small and, although he was obviously tired, I think he enjoyed it. I also think that one little chook around the yard will give him a lot of pleasure.

Audrey’s Going on Holiday January 22, 2007

Audrey goes a hunting by Nicky P

Mark & I had agreed that, if Lola kept pecking at Audrey’s back, we’d need to rehome one of the chooks. I thought my parents would be a good option. They’ve had chooks before and liked having them.

I spoke to The Mavis yesterday because they were going to throw out the bins they had kept their chook food in and wanted to know if we wanted them. I floated the idea of sending Audrey to stay with them. She seems the best candidate for their house because she’s the most friendly and placid of the two.

The Mavis was a bit dubious about the idea because Dad has, apparently, got a bit of thing at the moment about wanting to sell up and live somewhere that requires less maintenance. It’s just a bit of mood he’s got into because the heat had them both housebound for most of the last week and their garden does require a certain amount of daily attention to keep it under control. After a bit of cooler weather and a chance to catch up on stuff he’ll be singing a different tune. In any case, The Mavis said she’d talk to Dad when he’d calmed down and see what he thought.

She rang me back about 10 minutes later to say that Audrey could come for at least as long as it took for her feathers to grow back and it could be permanent if Dad was coping with the work of looking after her. So today Audrey will be travelling across town to stay with my parents. She’ll be living mainly in the area that has been Dad’s vegie garden because he’s decided to let that go (he’ll change his mind about that too eventually).

I’ll be sorry to send her away because, if I’m honest, she’s my favourite and I think she likes me a lot too. But I really do think Audrey’s got the best temperament for living with my folks. Lola is more feisty. She picks fights with the dogs (through the fence) and chases the cats. She’s not really interested in people at all - although that may change when she doesn’t have Audrey for company.

I hope I don’t cry when I leave Audrey…

Down came the rain and washed … January 21, 2007

Rain washed pane by WebSphinx

It seems that we’ve had our share of the rain, judging by the weather radar. We’ve nothing to complain about, though, since we got about 21mm yesterday - more than most of Melbourne. This is unusual because we are in the Werribee rain shadow, which means our area is pretty dry compared to the other side of town.

One of the things I love about a good downpour after a long dry spell is how clean and fresh everything looks. It can’t be replicated by hosing things over. It only comes from the kind of consistent washing that rain provides. The leaves and flowers on the plants are particularly beautiful at these times. They almost seem luminous.

The potted succulents which live on our front verandah weren’t exactly suffering, since the hot weather is their element and they’ve been getting water from my shower. I put them out in the rain yesterday and this morning they all look so much fresher and more alive than they did.

And the air is cool and has a clean scent to it (except near the cat run which is a disgusting mess). This is what I’ve been missing.