Love, bubs and life on our little farm

Its a constant battle in our house to get the weekends right. We need to balance swimming lessons, farm work, gardening, kids parties, social outings, horse events, cooking, shopping and little gifts and splurges of family time. I can tell you what doesn;t fit in there - sleep or rest! We aren't the sort of family to have late mornings, watch tv or laze around with no plans - most probably because that is not the sort of person I am and I think everyone else follows my example.

But regardless, the weekends are recharging, rewarding and full of laughs.

This weekend was a good one - we watched Elka swim in a full set of clothes for Swim Safety week, we made our backs ache as we sanded and stained two french doors for our lounge room, we mowed and tidied the gardens preparing for the new growth of spring that is promised in the warmth of the sun. We cooked slices, muffins, creamy soup and pasta dotted with fresh herbs from the garden. We took the girls walking through the paddocks searching for wallabies and koalas as we measured up and planned new gates for our road entrance. We laughed at the horse galloping away from me with a loaded syringe of medicine. We ate out for lunch and smiled at the girls licking ice cream cones in happy silence. We took the girls strawberry picking in the golden sunshine and laughed at Bronte stealing huge strawberries from the basket to gnaw on like apples. And we delighted in finally getting some welcome rain to green the grass and fill our tanks, even if it came as the first storm of the season complete with hail, overflowing gutters and a shrieking overexcited three year old. We also had nights of work to do - Jase found me asleep sitting up with my hands in typing position on the laptop keyboard late one night. Oh how I can't wait to finish my uni lecturing for this semester -taking on a second job right at the moment was not my best plan.






Busy as we might always be, I wouldn't change it for the world (hmm OK I would throw a few sleep-ins in!)

Hope your weekend was brimming full of good stuff xo

As a mum with a career (hehe I go to great lengths to use any term other than working mother - I mean what mother doesn't work day-in day-out regardless of whether she is at a paying job or not!), life is a bit of a squeeze. I try to fit in all that I can. And for my little ones, this might mean that work days have less play and more go-go but Jase and I still try to make sure there is time to colour and learn letters and laugh and sing in there.

I think a lot of busy mums juggling jobs have those little "things" that they prioritise, things that make them feel like they are still cherishing and nourishing their children despite probably working themselves to the bone in the meanwhile. That act that when everything is exhausting and stressful, makes you feel like you are still doing alright...

For me, it is important that my kids go to daycare with home cooked food. Not only that but food I have cooked with them, so their lunch is all wrapped up with nice memories. So Sunday afternoons Elka teeters on a foot stool next to me as we measure and stir and pour. She is a brilliant cook after literally years of helping me - she can measure out a full cup of flour, she can roll out balls of biscuit dough, she loves to brush egg on pastry and she did a great job of crumbing chicken tenderloins the other night.

This past weekend, we cooked fat fluffy pikelets, Bronte leant down out of my arms and carefully flipped the pikelets over with her egg-flip whilst Elka carefully moved the cooked ones out onto a plate. We grated zucchini and carrot and cracked our home-laid eggs to cook a zucchini slice for their lunchboxes. And that makes me smile when I tiredly divy up little containers of food at night, mentally counting up to make sure they each have enough food packed for the next day.

Elka's favourite recipe at the moment are these jam drops - this mix is quite shortbready, keeps really well and are delicious hot and sticky out of the oven. Plus rolling the mix and spooning in the teaspoons of jam is just great for little hands.


Do you have a thing? Something that you like to make sure gets done, that makes you feel like all your ducks are still in a row and that you are coping with it all?

Its getting springlike and I feel the need to move out of all of my stockings and knee high boots. I am instead liking the thoughts of dresses, short full skirts and pencil cropped pants - all of which are already sitting in my cupboard just waiting to be worn in this golden warm air. But of course they need some cute shoes to keep the look fresh.

And what else but wedges? I have been on the look out for nice ones but it seems most stores are still desperately trying to discount and sell their winter shoe lines first... but I was at the checkout of Kmart the other day, buying Elka socks and undies - glamorous right?! The cutely dressed girl in front of me handed over some wedges to pay for. One - they were super hot wedges and Two - they were all of $25. Well I couldn't have reversed that pram out of that checkout line faster and I hot footed over to the shoe section where I found a heap of choices. There is nothing I love more than paying bottom dollar for a fashion trend that will be out as quickly as it's in.

Even better I scored a little black dress with pleated details on the way out discounted to $12. And both my cheapo purchases got jazzed up with a blazer, belt and statement necklace for a lovely girls day out at a High Tea today. The wedges were super comfy and I only fell off them once which I was quite happy with as they are pretty high!

These aren't the ones I bought - I am too lazy to get a picture of them and Kmart hasn't obliged by having them in their latest catalogue. But hey these are cute too!


On my wish list is also a pair of cute tan wedges for wearing with floral skirts and dresses and denim shorts. I like the casual feel of these from Wittner and even better they are currently on sale!

X-rays on my horse - that is how I spent the afternoon. Almost as expensive as Bronte's GA and CT scan. Sam has been showing a mild lameness for the last month or so and since it wasn't improving, we decided to get it checked so I can decide if I continue with him or put him back in the paddock to be a lawnmower slash pet.

In good news - his lameness is most likely treatable, in bad news it is his hooves. So I have moved from one horse that had problem hooves to another. Thoroughbreds are renowned for terrible feet and my last two horses have been prime examples of this.

Oh well - at least I am already seeing the therapeutic farrier as my normal farrier, he has the x-rays emailed to him and we can only do our best to fix Sam.

Fingers crossed he is back in work in a month or so, as according to the dressage instructor and the vet, he is worth the effort...

is anything that involves your little one and hospital. Today we had to take Bronte in for a CT scan on her head to check her ear structure in light of her permanant hearing loss. The trick being at her age, she has to have the scan under general anaesthetic.

It was a tricky day, I had been dreading the logistics of it for weeks - we had to be at a hospital that is 45 mins away by 6.45am and it was nil by mouth for Bronte. It was too early to take Elka to daycare so she came along. So... we dressed them and threw them in the car by 5.45am and due to not wanting to torture Bronte by consuming food or drink infront of her, we all had to fast. Yes even Elka! But getting there was only half the battle - despite being private,we still were warned we had a pretty big wait in front of us. And wait we did, in no less than four different waiting rooms as we were shunted along the production line.

But my beautiful girls were angels, playing quietly and never once whinging about hunger or thirst despite having been awake for over four hours without anything.

I got to take Bronte into the scan and help hold her down while they put her under. I handled all that OK but having to walk out without her carrying her little shoes and socks and her beloved bunny, was painful and my chest burnt with pain and my eyes were welling. And she was under for a lot longer than they had expected so the wait was extra tough. I couldnt walk any faster to get back in there when they said she was in recovery and seeing her wailing and thrashing with her eyes still heavy could only be dealt with by sweeping her up with big cuddles despite the cords. Fortunately, they have great policies for little ones, and I got to hold her on the hospital bed for the next 1.5 hours whilst she recovered - good for her and me!

They had to keep her under for so much longer as they had to take 10mL of blood and it took five different sites on her body to get it, poor little thing was covered in cotton wool and tape,as well as the bandage for the canula.



Much to the nurses shock, Bronte recovered her (large) appetite instantly and sqawked and gobbled herself through a huge yoghurt, a full cup of water, a vegemite sandwich, some homemade savoury muffins, a cup of milk and a couple of packets of snak jatz crackers! She certainly bounced back!

We rewarded our well behaved little girls with a trip to a big nearby park and a well deserved fast breaking lunch out.

I hadn't realised how tense I must have been until this afternoon when I almost crashed from exhaustion. So glad it is all over and now to wait for the results...

Hot

My new hair - loving being a redhead again! And its so short it naturally goes wavy which means I can get away with going to bed with it wet and then not brushing it and it looks styled. Score.

Work - am just loving my new expanded team of scientists. I finally have the capability to achieve so many of my dream projects. The flipside is that as their manager I am now snowed under with admin tasks and research management to keep the lab running so I don't get as much bench time as I would like. Oh and I over reached and agreed to take on two masters students at the same time - whoops, there goes any free time I did have!

My new reading glasses - I got two pairs and they are cats eye shapes which are so cute. COnsidering my last pair of glasses were bought in my first year of my PhD 9 years ago, I think an updated frame was well overdue!

Looking forward to having a gorgeous high tea with some of my fave friends this coming weekend. I love any excuse to dress up and drink champagne!

The days are getting longer!! So excited about this - soon I may not have to feed the animals and rug the horse in pitch black under floodlights. Something to be said about the light coming early in the morning and late in the evenings.


Not

My poor bubba Bronte having to have a general anaesthetic in hospital for a CT scan on Thursday. I am dreading it - not only because of the risks of the GA and the heartbreak of putting her through that and having to see her being taken away but because they want us at the hospital at 6.45am (its a 45 min drive for us to get there also) but its then a "cattle call" where we all wait in the waiting room and get called in by age order.... so she could have a long wait or a short wait depending on the ages of the other kids. Oh and did I mention she is nil by mouth from the night before - she is going to LOVE being stuck in a waiting room with no milk, water or breakfast. Hmm maybe I will be glad to see her taken away for the procedure after that!

My horse situation - I just can't adjust to only having one horse. I have never owned just one - they are a herd animal and I love having two keeping each other company. Sam seems OK with being alone - he is a bit stoic and aloof at the best of times. But it feels weird. AND Sam has developed a lameness at the trot. The dressage instructor I was riding with this past weekend is ever so hopeful that it is bridle lameness (caused by his inexperience - which his continuing training would rectify) but I am not so confident. So I have the equine vet booked in for Friday to come and assess him - she is packing the X ray machine, so hopefully we can get to the bottom of it (sounds cheap right!? Got to love horses sigh). I am tipping an old racing injury that has probably re-emerged with the hard training he has been in since I started work on him. Competition work is too demanding for an unsound horse so alas this could be the end for him as my comp horse. WHich sends me back to the drawing board - namely shopping for a new horse (uurgh so stressful and daunting)

Why oh why did I agree to take on extra lecturing this semester. Its a horrible course (ie they want lots from me rather than just letting me turn up and talk) and the extra lectures are not even in my field of expertise. So I get to spend nights when I am normally getting extra work done for my job, juggling research for these new lectures. Forehead slap for me and my urge to always take on any career opportunity.

The fact that Jase and I just cannot get our work diaries to align so that we can take a few days off kids free to have a mini-holiday. My parents are ready to babysit, we just can;t find any days for the next few months that don't have one or the other of us commited. Sigh, romance is a tight squeeze in the life of two workaholic professionals it seems.

Life is just stupid busy as always - Jase and I have our tag team parenting down pat. We compare our diaries and bargain for late nights at work or work trips interstate versus picking up the girls from daycare and putting the animals down for the night. We sit next to each other keeping each other company as we tap away on our laptops until late in the night getting extra work done, so much less of a chore when you have company. We order our groceries online, have a cleaner to help keep the house sparkly and swap weekend minding duties so that we can enjoy our own time for me to horseride, see friends or have beauty treatments and for Jase to work on the gardens, read the newspaper and so on. Its a great balance and we have it sorted.

But.... every now and then, the wheels can fall off the wagon. For me it has been over my best friend. We talk once a week on a Thursday evening - well, I have gotten to Saturday and all of a sudden realised that Thursday has been and gone and I have not phoned my friend, totally forgotten her in fact. Urrghh, not great. But not the end of the world, right? Well I have done it three weeks in a row. Each time assuring her that I will ring. Bad friend badge for me please.

It is quite a sickening feeling, when you realise you are so busy that you have lost track of two days of the week and all of a sudden Thursday lunchtime has become Saturday. Not only that, but you have totally forgotten someone dear to you.

So I remind myself that life is rich and full and every minute is packed with learning, laughs and challenges and dropping the ball is only human. I would take my busy life over the inanities of a hundrum quiet life anyday so its all worth it. Now to set my phone alarm for next Thursday....

Change was in the air in the last few days, or so it seems. All of a sudden, the days are getting longer, the air is warmer and I can feel the winter gloom lifting.

Both Elka and I seperately decided it was time to for a style update.

Elka's came first - she spotted a hairdresser whilst we were at the shops and she demanded a haircut. A short haircut. Now she has the most stunning long hair - tresses that people never fail to comment on, so thick and so long it reaches right down her back. Admittedly it is a nightmare to care for and she hates having to stay still while I tend to the knots and food caught in it and try to tame it into something presentable. I hesitated, does a three year old have the say over what her hairtyle should be? As her mother, I loathed the idea of cutting of her gorgeous hair, but was it my decision? She picks her clothes,her shoes and how her hair is worn every day anyway...

I decided that it was her call and we headed into the salon. Even the hairdresser was sad to have to cut such lovely hair. But Elka was adament and sat perfectly still for the 15 minutes it took. She loves it and hasn't complained once since. I must admit, after her swimming lesson today, there was no snagged long hair to brush out and she looks tidy and groomed.









Not to be left out, I decided for a change today when I got a few hours of pampering. My wonderful hairdresser who has spent the last few visits patiently lightening my hair from chocolate brown to honey brown, managed not to look put out when I said I wanted to do an about face and make my hair red. And did a wonderful job. Alas the picture doesn't do the cut or colour justice but you get the jist. I love a new hair colour, all your clothes look different and you embrace different colours!

Jase is acting in a pretty important position for work currently - so he spent Sunday morning in the office. The girls and I tagged along for a free trip to the city and we spent Sunday morning in Myer ;)

Made me feel a bit like a kept woman really - him working, me spending. Except as anyone would know that reads this blog - I also plug away hard at my career and in fact had only arrived home late Friday night from a work trip to Sydney. But anyway I lived the fantasy for a few hours.

It was close to a perfect shopping experience - the girls were angels in the double pram, happily sitting for two hours whilst I did circuits, the sales were incredible and I found clothes that I wanted and even better in my size! I had spent a long plane trip pouring over my latest Shop Till You Drop magazine so I had some strong ideas of looks I wanted to achieve for this transeasonal time (Sorry colder parts of Australia but here in Qld I am already moving into my late-winter,early-spring mood).

Some of my inspiration currently is drawn from the dancer trend

The skater style shirt skirt worn with oversized knitted see through jumpers is something that I wanted to try.... and I found the perfect jumper in a lovely dusky pink. I saw plenty of skirts too but none that were quite right yet.

I grabbed a great navy and white striped cotton scarf with a bow pattern printed over it - I am such a sucker for bows! Very classic but a little cute too. I got a great thin material bomber style jacket in dove grey and splurged on a really elegant chocolate brown blouse for work as I have a talk to present on Tuesday and thought it would look great with my black pencil skirt for a bit of a confidence boost. And I finished by uhming and aahing over a Wayne Cooper race back satin singlet in plum - it fell beautifully but does draw attention to the fact that I am yes slim but no not *cough* blessed with any womanly curves. But I decided at that sale price I could work that out later!

But the clothes will come in handy in the next few weeks as I have quite a few things on such as High Tea and a girls night out..

This has been the view from my apartment for the last week. Tough hey?! I have been in Hobart for the annual national Microbiology Conference. Fascinating and inspiring, sometimes daunting and discouraging but a great meeting of the minds and very useful for networking. I have more meetings, potential collaborations and possible research students now than I will ever have time to balance!

It was my first time to Hobart and I loved it. I spent seven years in Canberra so I am some what accustomed to cold (but still detest it). But it couldn't have been a colder time to be there according to the locals and as you can see by the snow, we really got to see the town at its most wintery. However, the devine stone restaurants harbouring log fires and live music and perfect wine and food were made so much the nicer for the fierce snow winds outside.

I enjoyed my time away from my little ones - there was no washing to do, no cleaning of yoghurt off hands and floors, no rushing them out the door before 7am and the ability to have a few glasses of wine and "sleep in" until 7.30am in the morning! Bliss! But of course I was moping and missing them by the end and gazing longingly at sweet toddling babies and cute little girls by the time I was waiting at the airport. The big cuddles and huge smiles and giggles I got when I picked them up from daycare was one of the best parts of the whole week.

And now.... I am trying to get my head around our next couple of weeks. Jase is acting in his bosses position, which without much detail as he won't like that ;) is pretty umm *cough* high up and the type of role where you are required 24/7 - I won't be getting any help with the kids for the next few weeks, let alone seeing him much as he will pretty much be coming home to just grab 6 hours sleep and get up and go again. So proud of him but at the same time - uurggh! Add in the fact that my parents are still overseas so I am still minding their horses and cat on top of all our animals, that my job is only getting more and more demanding with work trips/research students/lecturing and a lot of stress with deadlines, that Bronte has a heap of medical appointments that I have to take time off for (including a CT scan under general anaesthetic that I am DREADING) and I have a number of horse comps with my new competition horse who is totally green coming up the next few weekends.... well I can't shake that uneasy feeling that this month is not going to be very fun... am hoping to be proven wrong.

Oh how I can't wait until my parents return and they shower me with gifts from America ;) and offer to take the girls for a weekend so Jase and I can have a few precious moments. That is my light at the end of the tunnel at the moment...

Bound to irritate a lot of people but its been on my mind. I think I missed out on some Mummy genes. Time and time again, my real life Mummy friends and online Mummy friends all do things that just don't register on my radar and I find myself wondering how I missed that page in the Mummy manual...

- I just don't get the mania over the toy sales. I don't even look at the catalogues and I couldn't think of anything worse than piling into the shops with millions of other parents to rummage around plastic fantastic toys. I dont get shopping for Christmas when its not all nice and Christmassy and how am I meant to know what my kids would like 6 months out? I don't know what I want 6 months out, let alone the changeable fickle beasts that are kids! I also have never laybuyed a thing in my life... no not quite true, I laybuyed a saddle once as a 16yr old and convinced my mum to pay it off within two weeks so I could ride in it. But cue this time of year and all I see on facebook is Mums posting excitedly that it is toy sale time!? Yep definitely missed out on the Mummy gene for that one!

- I don't get parents that make their little kids hug and kiss everyone goodbye. I like your kid but I don't want to get his snotty nose rubbed on my cheek, thanks. As an infectious disease scientist I am not a fan of unnecessary close contact, particularly in Winter! (sound like a ball of fun don't I!) I also feel for the little kids that are reluctantly pushed over to all these almost strangers and conjoled into giving them kisses. But this is probably more my issue - I don't tend to give my babies/kids to others to hold etc unless they ask so maybe I am just more standoffish than most?

- I don't get making facebook status updates about every inane detail of your kids toilet training etc - but thankfully I am not the only one there - STFU Parents is one of my fave blogs as it makes me feel less alone!

- I don't get spending ridiculous amounts of money on your kids clothes or the time and effort some Mums put into dressing their kids. Sure I love spending ridiculous amounts of money on my clothes hehe but I don't tend to smear food on them, roll in dirt or finger paint as much as the average toddler. I don't do brand names for kids, in fact half their clothes are hand me downs from my best friend. Maybe its living on a farm, maybe its the fact I have better things to do than sit on the internet looking at kids clothing websites (boooring) but meh I do a trip to Target every couple of months, buy some staples, grab some shoes and Mum makes them some cute party dresses... done. Elka invariably picks her own clothes which are guaranteed to be the oldest most hideous items in her wardrobe. Every time I have bought her something a bit fancier she has flat out refused to wear it to the chosen event, demanding her $10 fairy skirt or a pair of satin boxer shorts that somehow made it into her drawer and I keep forgetting to sneak out again instead...

and last but not least - I completely missed out on the pram gene. I have owned one pram, zero strollers and have no desire for anything else. I did my research, found a pram that would accomodate two kids because I knew we would be having two in close age and that could negotiate paddocks and our gravel driveway and bought it, it cost more than what I thought a pram really should but was still way less than most of the fancy pants ones. Job done. I am constantly amazed at how many prams other parents go through and the money that they cost. And most of those people just want it to push it on flat concreted ground at the shops! Am sure everyone has their reasonings but I always wonder why as someone that loves shopping and fashion I am so uninterested in what my pram looks like...

That is my list - what Mummy things do you find that you are immune to?

Big thanks to Mamamia for doing a spread on Kate Moss due to her wedding. I have adored her and her fashion sense for so long.
She just has a nack for looking boho and super cool whilst also looking elegant and never try-hardy. Looking through the collection of photos on the website, I can't help but notice she doesn't wear alot of jewellery - she really lets the clothes or hat or belt or shoes do the talking....

Some of my fave looks of hers:

Its been one of those weeks - where you burn the candle at both ends. I have been flat out at work, we have been preparing for Jase to take on a new acting position which will mean he is incredibly busy and won't be around at all and we have had some of our dearest friends visit from interstate with their little ones. Unfortunately, both Jase and I couldn't entirely step away from work for their visit, so Jase was attached to his Blackberry all the way around Australia Zoo and I was chained to the computer every night desperately crunching data for my conference presentation. We are existing on 6 hours sleep a night lately and life is just whizzing by - I couldnt believe a week had passed when I realised we had to buy groceries again. We have started ordering the groceries online and having them delivered - its been very useful. I still insist that we buy our fresh food from a greengrocer but that is a pleasant task that can be squeezed in. Oh the bliss of being able to put the kids to bed, cook dinner and chat whilst having our groceries dropped to the door so that we can have them put away without having to leave the house.

I leave for a week in Hobart for a work conference next Monday,looking forward to it as I have booked a gorgeous waterfront apartment. It will be SO cold but so nice. And sleep ins for the mornings and cocktail receptions and conference balls in the evenings - a nice change to the normal 5.30am pitch black starts and nights of freezing under floodlights rugging horses and juggling kids! I have a work trip the week after that too and Jase will basically be absent for those weeks also. We have a family holiday booked for September and Jase and I are planning a kid free weekend in August - I find the busy times are so much easier to get through when you have treats to look forward to.

I also love going away because I LOVE coming home again - I adore seeing my little ones faces after an absence. When I can't drink them up enough or can't hear their sweet voices too much. Miss Bronte has gotten so big all of a sudden - she plays with dolls, putting them to bed in blankets and pushing them around in strollers with Elka. All of a sudden, I have two little girls, not a toddler and a baby!

The girls loved our old friends visiting with their two little girls in close age. It was a strange feeling - our old dear uni friends,the ones we have done so many fun, crazy things with, were still just the same, like we see each other weekly not yearly like it is now but with our kids playing together?? wow when did that happen. But it was good strange - pretty special really.

And well that is life at the moment.... I am trying to fit in time to train Sam, my other (and now only!) horse. He is a diamond in the rough, needs a lot of work but I think we will get there, but that can be for another post..

And for now, I think sleep is the priority! xo

So a horsey forum I read had this as a topic.

Sometimes its the little things that make you feel so damn awesome isn't it!

For me - my new Bates jumping saddle, I have waited 16 years for this saddle and instead of getting it second hand, I bought it new! That makes me feel like a million bucks.

The other day the thing that made me feel like life couldn't get much better - my Friday off, the kids slept in and I got out of bed in my beautiful new master bedroom, threw open the curtains and looked out on my amazing horse paddocks with the sun rising through the mist over the dam, twinkling through the snow gum tree trunks. I had a real "wow" moment - we worked hard for all of this but at the same time I sometimes want to pinch myself - to achieve my dream home and property by the time I was 30 is pretty amazing. Now to find some new goals!

And finally, a real mum moment - today Elka was asleep in her car seat when Bronte grabbed up her hand and sat there holding Elka's hand beaming with pride and happiness. Oh how I love my girls and how they love each other.

Would love to hear your millionaire moments.

It has been over 6 months since we moved into our house extension. In some ways we can't remember not having the rooms and the deck (oh the deck how I adore it!) but other times, I still marvel at how blessed I feel surrounded by my beautiful new house.

But we all know that it is not the architecture and shiny new paint that is the most loved part of a house but the little things we do to to the rooms to make them homely.

Our parents retreat lounge room has come along way from an empty echoey chamber that we simply used as a passageway out onto the deck. It is now cosy and comfortable with cushions,accessories and tables. I love curling up on the Ottoman side of the lounge with a warm drink gazing out across the deck into the acres of gum trees and sparkling dams that lie outside.

I am hoping to get some curtain rods sorted this weekend so I can finally hang the curtains for the double sliding doors as the expanse of glass can suck the warmth out of the house at night. Then the room will truly feel complete. (I am ignoring the fact that we still havent stained the french sliding doors into the study, it is well and truly on my list to get completed, otherwise they will become one of those things that never get done!)