Join us for a cuppa...

It's a beautiful morning here today. Would you like to join me on the balcony for some morning tea? Wouldn't that be so nice? Well, I'm doing my very first Guest Post over at the lovely Greer's place today as part of her Very Bloggy Morning Tea so head on over there now and we can all join in together and you can read about my favourite morning tea ritual. 

I'm an avid reader of Greer's lovely Blog and couldn't wait to meet her when I found out she was attending the blogging workshop last weekend in Sydney. We both turned up wearing hand-knitted ripple scarves and sat next to each other and got along like a house on fire. She is the loveliest, most down--to-earth person and is hosting morning tea for all of us every day this week. She is raising money for the Cancer Council, a cause very dear to her and every day she shares some absolutely delicious morning tea recipes and is also hosting a fabulous giveaway that you don't want to miss. So grab a chocolate TimTam from the table here and I'll see you over there!

Sydney Weekend

I had such a lovely weekend away with Flynn in Sydney last weekend. It was the perfect combination of time spent catching up with family and friends as well as meeting some new faces at the Voices of 2013 Blog Events. I arrived home on Monday feeling absolutely exhausted but in the very best way - full of happy memories and inspiration on both the personal and blogging front. 

My first stop was to visit my lovely Grandpa so he could meet his latest Great-Grandson. It was an emotional visit as it's been 18 months since we left Sydney and I have not been back to visit him in that time. It was hard seeing him on his own in the same house he built 60 years ago without his beloved by his side. He was in remarkable spirits and in excellent health at the ripe old age of 95. I love this photo of him with Flynn above - the eldest and youngest in our clan. 

On Saturday I attended the Voices of 2013 Blogging Masterclass while my Cousin looked after Flynn. It was an informative and inspiring 3 hours, with a panel of professional bloggers answering questions on the ins and outs of blogging. The best part of the day was meeting some of my favourite bloggers for the first time as well as getting to know some new ones. It was not scary at all and unsurprisingly, the bloggers I met were really just as they appear on their blogs, even better in real life I would say. Just a really lovely friendly bunch of women. I don't want to leave anyone out but I really loved meeting Pip, Lexi, Ruth, Maxabella, Greer, Sonia, Tricia, Rachel, Pippa, Karen, Bron, Katrina, Tahnee, Vivian, Jen, Jodi, Stacey, and Carli among many many others.

It appears I am already a social media failure though as I don't have a single decent photo of the event as I was too busy chatting. I really wish there had been more time to meet people as I realised after the event that there were people there that I would dearly have loved to have met. 

There was a cocktail party in the evening where I managed to meet a few more bloggers. It was such a fun night and again, there was just not enough time to meet everyone. Here is the one and only photo taken of the evening with me in between these lovely ladies, Katrina on the left and Tahnee on the right. If you pop over to Tahnee's Blog, she has done a wrap-up Post of the events and has taken some fabulous photos. It goes without saying, I will not be entering the competition for best Wrap-Up Post.

There were some rather nice goodie bags, one for each event but both were fairly heavy on the baby items. 

On Sunday I spent the morning clearing out the cobwebs from the night before with a walk around Sydney Harbour taking in all the glorious sights.

I walked through the Botanic Gardens and then decided to check out the Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery. Flynn fell asleep at that point and I honestly can't remember the last time I could go to a gallery and just stop and look for as long as I wanted. Sheer bliss. No photos were allowed in the Archibald Exhibition but I snapped a few of my favourites in the main gallery. Do you have a favourite Artist or style? I can't find a common thread. I think I love Brett Whiteley's The Balcony 2 (1975)...

almost as much as my absolute favourite painting by Elioth Gruner's Spring Frost (1919).

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Pianoman had everything under control and pictures of domestic bliss and serenity were sent through to my phone. They enjoyed a spot of fishing on Sunday with George catching his very first fish - an Atlantic Salmon - and an absolute beauty!

I caught up with my brother and sister-in-law on Sunday afternoon for a meal in Stanmore and then headed back to the hotel to work out just how I was going to fit the two goodie bags into my carry-on luggage. Amazingly, Jetstar didn't have a hissy-fit when I declared one goodie bag was my handbag and the contents of the other bag were stuffed into my carry-on bag. This is all I had for the entire weekend plus the stroller that fit into a tiny backpack and went on board too.

The 4.30am wake-up call on Monday morning was a bit harsh but we had picture-perfect skies and the view of the Coal Valley as we descended into Hobart was rather breathtaking. You can actually see our place in this shot, just a little way up the river where the hills start on the left-hand side.

And that was my weekend.  I feel like I'm still playing catch-up after being away on the Road Trip and then again this past weekend. My Posts have been rather sporadic lately too but I'm hoping things will get back to normal now. One can dream can't they?

The Big Blind Blog Bash

You may have noticed the little badge in the not-so-discreet position at the top right corner of my blog recently. My little blog here is in the Top 25 Personal & Parenting Blogs in the Kidspot Voices of 2013 Awards. Trust me, no one was more surprised than me! I do hope there is a stronger emphasis on Personal rather than Parenting though. I'm the last one to be offering parenting advice. I'm just putting one foot in front of the other, occasionally sending a child to bed with a broken limb or losing a couple of them in Ikea :-)

So, some weeks ago I received an e-mail saying my Blog had been nominated for the awards, something I knew absolutely nothing about. The first e-mail actually went straight to my spam folder so I missed it completely. To whoever nominated me, thank you very very much. I would love to know who you are so I can thank you personally and buy you a drink or a coffee or whatever tickles your fancy. I really love my little Blog and blogging has brought a lot of joy and friendships to my life but to think that someone else likes it enough to nominate me is really something. 

A few weeks later I received another e-mail saying amongst 600 nominations the judges had picked my blog to be one of the 25 Blogs chosen in my category. There are 3 other categories to make up the Top 100 Bloggers and I am really really chuffed to be included amongst a lovely bunch of women.

There is going to be a bit of a shindig in Sydney this Saturday to celebrate the Top 100 Bloggers. There will be a workshop and then a launch party in the evening. So tomorrow morning I'll be heading to the airport bound for Sydney. There will be my Little Black Dress in a tiny carry-on bag full of nothing much else but nappies in one hand and Baby Flynn carried in the other. On my back will be a whizz-bang stroller that I borrowed from a friend which converts to a tiny backpack in the most impressive display of stroller origami I have ever seen. It's designed to go on-board which is importunity when you fly Jetstar and don't have a ticket with baggage allowance. It will be quite a spectacle when I have to go through security and hand Flynn to the formidable x-ray machine person while I take off boots and belts as well as assemble the stroller contraption and then crumple the octopus of a thing back into it's backpack formation.

This is my first blogging event and I'm really looking forward to meeting some fellow Bloggers, both those that I already "know" through their blogs as well as new bloggers. Have you been to a blog-related event before? I imagine it's a bit like a blind date and I'm starting to feel like a timid 12 year old on her first day of High School. I have never met or spoken to anyone attending so I'm feeling a little sheepish about the whole thing. Is this normal? Will any of you be there this weekend? I will be the slightly frazzled Mum who has just left the baby with her cousin and hoping there is no baby vomit left on my shoulder. 

I'm also looking forward to seeing my 96 year old Grandfather and showing off baby Flynn to all the relatives in Sydney.

Meanwhile, I've left the Pianoman in a bit of a pickle on the home front. Firstly, in an act of total brain fade, I forgot the little boys didn't have school on the Friday and booked my flight for Friday morning. He managed to cancel his meetings to work from home with the boys. Sadly, the one School Assembly I will miss is the one where the two older Kids will be receiving their Cross Country Awards and Charles is also playing a lead in a little class performance. But luckily, the Pianoman will be able to attend and the Kids have been excited about that all week. You would think absolutely nothing would prevent him from spending an hour at the School Assembly. But then this happened:

So, neither of us will be at the School Assembly. The Kids were disappointed but when they found out it was because the Boss of Australia is flying into town they understood. And just when I thought my weekend away at my own Cocktail Party was going to be upstaged by the Pianoman's dealings with the Prime Minister, the regular Head Lice notice from school came home this afternoon and for the very first time, I believe we have an offender amongst the ranks. Oh, how I'd love to help The Pianoman with all the linen washing, drying, shampooing and fine tooth-combing but unfortunately I'll be on a plane to Sydney. 

A Golden Weekend

I was completely spoiled yesterday. First, by Flynn who conveniently organised his morning feed to coincide with the most amazing Sunrise viewed from the comfort of my bed.

And then by the outpouring of love from the other 4 Kidlets as they climbed into bed for cuddles and to shower me with their handmade cards and gifts for Mother's Day.

I must have been a bit sadder than I thought about losing "Rose", one of my Indian Runner Ducks in the nasty events I wrote about in my last Post...

Because when I saw this wooden Indian Runner Duck I simply had to have her, as a gift to myself for Mother's Day. Isn't she sweet?

Remy has taken a fancy to her too. Or maybe his fetish for all things wooden is about to start up again. 

Either way, I think "Rose" will be safer up on the mantle.

I was further spoiled because we had our dear friends from Sydney staying with us over the weekend. It was absolutely wonderful spending time with them again after almost 18 months. Their boys are the same age as our Kids and went to School together so they had the best weekend spending time with their old mates, picking up where they left off, just as us adults did. 

We decided to spend Mother's Day in Richmond. The golden colours of Autumn put on spectacular display as we strolled along the river.

This is me and my lovely friend Alison.

And these are our offspring, minus baby Flynn who has not yet started to rock-climb.

The Kids enjoyed feeding the ducks, with one little boy unable to wait any longer for lunch so started feasting on stale duck bread.

It's tricky finding a nice spot to relax with 8 children but halfway between our home and Richmond, Puddleduck Vineyard ticks all of the boxes.

They have a "Reverse BYO" policy where you bring your own food but they supply the wine. They have a dedicated area specifically for Kids complete with toys and beanbags. 

Our cheese platter was meticulously shared between 7 kids and 4 adults making it more of a Tasting Plate but it was delicious all the same.

 As far as weekends go, this one was pure gold.

Bad Dog

It doesn't take long for the harsh realities of daily life to creep in after returning from a lovely holiday - there's the stack of Bills retrieved from the letterbox, the filthy car to clean out and the piles of laundry to attend to. What isn't expected is to come home and find most of your farm pets dead.

If you can picture a scene where 4 little children literally jump out of the car before the engine has even been turned off so they can race off to see their beloved pet sheep Rocco and Lulu, only to find that they have been mauled by stray dogs. It's a horrific scene for anyone, let alone little Kids who had no warning of what their eyes would see. They were all inconsolable the whole afternoon. We then searched for the rest of the menagerie and found half our flock of Chooks had been killed as well as one of my lovely Indian Runner ducks. This was all before we have even turned the house key into the front door. 

A frantic call to a neighbour who confirmed that the day after we left, 2 stray dogs went on a killing spree in our area. They killed one neighbours Pony. A Pony! Another neighbour had their Alpaca maimed and another neighbour lost their flock of chickens. The neighbour we called actually saw the dogs and tried to shoot them but missed the shot. His two mature Alpacas tired the dogs out and they fled. They have not been seen since but were sighted further down the Valley. The local Council know exactly where one of the dogs lives and a case is being built against the owner. We actually missed a call from our neighbour while we were away but he didn't leave a message so we thought we'd just call him back when we got home. Sometimes ignorance IS bliss.

I know these things happen but it was such a horrible way to arrive home. I feel terrible that we weren't here when it happened, but it probably would have happened anyway because all the other neighbours were home when the attacks occurred. And then there are the "what if's". What if I was outside with Flynn and left him for a moment to answer the phone and the dogs turned up? It doesn't really bare thinking about. I'm sad it's happened, angry at the dog owner and the senseless destruction of innocent animals but mostly heartbroken for the Kids. Rocco and Lulu were really part of our family. We hand-reared them as lambs and they were such characters and great pets for the Kids. The above photo was taken a week before we went away and is one of my absolute favourites because it was a completely impromptu photo of the Kids before they hopped in the car to go to their inaugural Winter Sport games. Lulu decided she would like to photo-bomb the photo and ran up to the kids and poked her head through the middle of the line up. This is not the first time she had stolen the limelight. We are really going to miss them.

Despite the sad tenure of this post we also look back on the joy these animals gave us and if there is a silver lining it is this - one of the hens happened to go broody for the first time while we were away and was sheltered from the attack as she was tucked up in her nest sitting on her clutch of eggs - a new generation of Chooks are already on their way!

The Road Home

There is a small amount of relief when one makes the journey to and from the Red Centre relatively unscathed. Although the highway is in great condition,  the road is dotted with perilous reminders of how isolated things are.

About a dozen abandoned cars lay on the side of the road like this. It's not the sort of place you want to have a breakdown or run out of petrol.

You need to have a good sense of humour to live in these parts.

At least!

It's not everyday you see a "Camel Train" with about 100 Camels on board all destined for the export market.

And it is a bit disconcerting having to show identification before filling your car up with petrol. The Petrol stations in The Northern Territory only sell Opal Petrol - it's apparently less toxic when you sniff it (ahem!)

With Roadhouses/Petrol Stations 250km apart, I had to regularly pull over to the side of the road in the middle of nowhere to breastfeed baby Flynn. 

We did see some amazing wildlife - Emus, a Dingo, Kites and Wedge-tailed eagles feasting on the animals hit by the Roadtrains at night. It's extremely dangerous driving at night for fear of hitting cattle and other animals so ordinary cars are best driving during the daytime.

Needless to say, we were all thrilled to arrive back at the Coast. We stayed along the great Ocean Road  and the scenery was truly spectacular and a complete contrast to the hot and dusty conditions of the week before.

We fell in love with Port Fairy, the quaint and historic seaside town. There were walks on the beach in the morning with the rare colony of Shearwater who have travel here each year from Alaska.

There was an abundance of birdlife including this unusual bird that looked like a white owl. Does anyone know what it is?

We then moved on to Apollo Bay, stopping to see the "London Bridge" - that has unfortunately fallen down.

And "The 12 Apostles" although these too are no longer 12.

We arrived in Melbourne on Saturday just in time for the boys to see an Aussie Rules Football Game - Essendon vs Great Western Sydney while Eleanor and I (and Flynn) enjoyed a few hours of shopping and eating in the City. We finally boarded the Ferry for the overnight voyage back to "our Island" as the boys call it, and arrived back home on the most glorious Autumn day you could imagine. We picked up the Whippet and everyone was so excited to be home again after such a wonderful trip. We entered the gates of the farm and made our way up the windy driveway, when it suddenly became apparent that all was not as it should be on the home front...

But that is for a future less uplifting post!