102

Another day marked with a different posie from a different daughter.

101

A tiny posie from my smallest girl.

100

We don't have a computer room, we have a desk in our bedroom where our computer lives.

We don't have a studio or spare room, my sewing machine lives in the laundry cupboard and is used upon either the kitchen or the dining table.

We're currently in the process of some renovations. We're removing all our BIR's, making good the walls, removing a wall in one case, patching, replastering and repainting. We're then carpetting all the bedrooms and after that replacing all the BIR's. As part of this process our house is a shambles. I've emptied wardrobes to start dismantling and I've taken down all the dozens, literally, of framed photos from our bedroom wall, patched and readied for repainting.

We had a whole wall covered with similarly framed photos of Geoff and I and the girls at various points. These photos faced us as we lay in bed and they covered nearly a whole wall. I didn't want to take them down, but now they're down, it's so clean, so vast, I think we'll only put up a few, perhaps rotate them.

The new addition I think I'll have for our wall, over our computer desk, is a small noteboard, inspiration board, or whatever you like to call it. A place to pin the special cards, notes, pictures or ideas that come our way. I usually keep them in my purse, in one of the notebooks I always carry around with me, or my organiser. I don't generally display them on the mantlepiece, for me that's a place only for birthday or christmas cards.

I've started sending postcards, cards and letters again. Pre email, which yes, was in my adult lifetime, I would write multiple letters each week. From the time I turned 21 I lived overseas for extended periods and that meant someone I loved was always separated from me. I wrote love letters, many of them, sent postcards from dozens of locations and just "talked" to those far away. I got so much pleasure from the writing, perhaps even more so than from the receiving.

I got lazy, I stopped writing, I'd email instead. I've started again though and not suprisingly it's giving me so much pleasure. Freezing that moment in time to say to someone "I'm thinking of you", I'm ashamed that I let it go at all.

I'm lucky, there is another person who thinks the same way as me and today they brightened my day. For now their thoughts, their gesture, sits beside our keyboard, here as I type, but in only a few weeks, it will be on the board that will sit in front of me, one I can smile to, as I tap, tap, tap away.

99

A very small garden at my in-laws' house has a very bountiful supply of citrus fruits.

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My girls are both romantics and have been from a very early age. I believe in love, in going after what you want and I guess that's unintentionally rubbed off on them from an early age.

Being a household of girls we have mainly princess and prince play, a LOT of it, every day. We have Barbies and dolls who are all looking for their Prince Charming.

Only today Ella's "boyfriend", a male friend who has been her significant other since 3 year old kinder, gave her an engagement ring! I kid you not. You should have seen it, Ella all coy, the boy in question putting it on her finger. For the most part I go aww shucks, so cute, but lately I've thought hmmmm, this has been going on for 4 years, it's almost like she believes it!

Leila loves a boy in her 3 year old kinder class and keeps asking "why am I too young to get married?"

Then flowers are wedding flowers. A visit to Grandma and Grandpas meant picking a few poor mans roses and turning them into a bouquet.

Are my girls unique, or are others as into this whole partner dynamic, should I be worried? Are we not raising our girls to have independent spirits? I'm not seriously concerned but it starting to register more than just with a passing smile.

97

I remember someone taking a picture of me with a Polaroid, when I was a child. I remember the amazement of it. You pulled back the paper and waited. You just waited for the image to magically appear. I still don't know how it happens and honestly, I don't need to know, it just seems like magic to me.

When I finally decided that I wanted a Polaroid of my own, I mean really decided rather than it just being on a very long wish list, it was about 2 years ago. At that time the film was no longer being produced, out of date film was going for crazy prices and the cameras themselves were selling for "new prices".

A while ago we were at a friend's house and I noticed their son playing with two cameras, Polaroids, as toys. I curtailed the squeals and at a later date asked if they'd mind if I borrowed them to see if they work. I would add that it was a few years later so it's not like I was stealing their child's favourite play thing.

So, now I have in my possession to try two Polaroid cameras. I'll have to figure out if they work (how would I know?) and get myself some film. Can't wait!

96

I'm not generally an Op Shop person. I admire the things that others find, in fact I am often amazed at the things others have found and wonder, "how" and think "I should definitely do that". There's something about the smell of them though. I know that sounds awful, but the one closest to us smells more than a little musty and skanky and it's just not my thing.

I make frequent deliveries to the Op Shop, but aside from buttons generally don't even look. Today, however, for some reason, I did.

I'm also not generally a 70's fabric girl. Again it's not because I dislike them, just don't generally find myself drawn to them, or imagining what I could do with them. Another first though, today I was. I came out with 5 pillowcases, all of which remind me of my youff. I see in them a summer picnic quilt, a la Amanda Soule. Not sure there's enough yardage in these babies to make it up though, so I yet may have to search for more riches!

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The weekends fly by and it's easy to get caught up in stuff, things you need to do rather than just being together. I can't believe holidays are over and in fact am dreading returning to the routine every day.

Today we decided we need plenty of fresh air and a good run around. We went to the hills and I thought to a place I'd been years before, when I was suggesting where we should go, but it wasn't the same place. Geoff thinks perhaps I was thinking of Kardinia Reservoir - can you run down a hill to a lake at the bottom there?

So we climbed, Leila ran so fast around the trail that I really had to work it to keep up. We went to the lookout and thanks to Jo, had an afternoon tea with a view to finish things off.

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Nicknames can be strange things. My dear husband has many friends with nicknames, not all of them able to be easily explained. There is a Johnno that is fairly typical, in fact that's the only one that is relatively normal, given his surname is Johnstone.

When we first started going out I remember him introducing me to a good friend of his whose name is Stephen, but I was introduced to him as Puss, which is what everyone calls him. It's a play on his surname, but I found it (and still do) really challenging to call him by anything other than his "real" name.

There is also a Blossom, a very tall masculine man whose name is actually Cameron - another long story. My brother in law is called Flatty but his name is really Paul. When he was very small he broke his nose, hence the nickname. I'm not sure I've ever called him Paul.

Then there is Dick, Geoff's best mate, who is actually Michael. It's his story so I won't share it here, but it's a pretty good one so far as nickname origins so. Dick joined my age rankings very recently and although he's very low key on such things we had dinner and a low key acknowledgement of his significant birthday. I brought dessert and his penchant is for all things chocolate, est voila, a chocolate mocha tart.

I'm confident in the kitchen and in following recipes I have enough knowledge to adjust as I feel necessary (larger pan than specified, modify to make more filling), nothing groundbreaking. This recipe, one of Gordon's, was easy but mine doesn't look like the one in the picture and I have absolutely no idea why. I honestly think there's been a little bit of manipulation on Gordon's part, for I have no idea how his stayed so fluid and smooth where mine was so much firmer and crustlike. Chocolate desserts aren't my thing, but I'm told it was pretty good.