Here in our town, for most of the year, we complain about the weather. It's a local pastime. A not entirely unwarranted one, however, if this year's transition to Spring is anything to go by. Until two weeks ago, we were pretty consistently still getting very cold nights, and rainy, grey days. We got back from sunny Queensland in the school holidays and were disappointed to be considering the need to light the fire! Two weeks on, however, and yesterday we reached 40 degrees celsius, with hot days forecast for the next week, at least. The air has changed, the cicadas are out (as are the blowflies and mozzies, with a vengeance!) and Summer is definitely here. We really only have two seasons here - bloody cold and bloody hot.
However, the mornings are beautiful. Nath and I have been getting up at six most mornings, and it's such a lovely way to start the day - before the kids get up, soaking up some early morning sun on the front deck with the birds singing in the garden (and Bella bellowing at us for her morning milk!).
The arrival of what is promising to be a long, hot summer means we have to get a few things in order. We have been working on getting the retic set up in the backyard for all the vegie beds to minimise need for hand watering. We received a decent amount of dripline retic from someone on Freecycle a while ago so Nath has been engineering that into a workable system. The front yard is on an automated retic system but as it is sprinkler based we would like to get someone out to talk us through converting it into something a little more waterwise.
We are also buying a self filling cement water trough for the goat pen. At the moment they just have buckets of water but two rambunctious kids means lots of tipped buckets and on these hotter days their water requirements are quite substantial. It means buying 'new', and I feel like we've done a bit of that lately, with fencing equipment and feed tubs and beekeeping equipment and so forth, but I think it is the best decision for the health of the goats.
Also, in not very eco-friendly news, we have decided to get our backyard pool up and running. As we don't use air conditioners, the pool would be a lovely way to spend the hottest days, and a local pool pass for the family costs $250. We can get our pool functional for far less than that. We have recently learned from a friend that we can run the pool for far fewer hours than we thought so we will trial it for the Summer and see what difference it makes to our energy usage.
I really do love Summer. I love the lead up to Christmas, and all the plans for crafting and gifting, and driving around looking for Christmas lights, and taking the kids into the city to see the Christmas displays, and soaking up their wide-eyed wonderment at being allowed up so late and being in the city and going on a train! I love Christmas carols and getting geared up for Christmas camping, and choosing the Christmas menu, and cooking a roast in the Weber in forty degree heat, then not feeling like eating it because it's too hot and eating prawns instead. I love Pimms, and trips to the wineries and breweries and cideries and distilleries. I love TV cricket and backyard cricket and BBQs at the beach and lazy days swimming at the local lake with friends. I love seafood, and mangoes and berries, and salads. So many salads. And shorts and singlets and summer dresses, and bare feet, and beer at the pub on sunny Sundays. I love thinking that I love fishing, and then complaining when Nath wants to take his fishing gear everywhere we go, then, once all the hard work of setting rods up and those first few awkward casts into the water (and around jetty legs and into each others' lines) are over and done with, realising that I actually do love fishing after all. Until I get bored. I love the noise of the cicadas and frogs, the cry of young magpies, and running away from swooping, cranky, mama magpies while waving my arms around my head like a lunatic. I love longer days, with the house all opened up overnight to try and cool it down before another hot day, and evening drinks on the deck, while a bare-chested pack of kids runs hollering around the garden but doesn't come too close to the house in case they get sent to bed. I love Vacswim, and spending days sitting by the pool, or floating in the pool, counting kids' heads and meeting half the town around the splash pool. I love hanging the 'swimming bag' near the back door, where it is needed on a daily basis, and wriggling into wet bathers that we forgot to hang to dry the day before, and frantically searching for thongs, kickboards and towels when a spontaneous swim is announced. I love the constant slightly panicked neighbourhood talk of snakes, of learning again to walk with our eyes to the ground, and keeping a tally of all the snakes that have been sighted so far, and how far they are from our house, and what kind, as if to determine how close we were to actual danger. I love Christmas beetles, and Christmas spiders. I love watching my skin turn from milky white, to cream, to the colour of sand, and finally, to the golden bronze it settles on after a couple of weeks in the sun. I love the smell of suncream and salt and chlorine. I love that my hair colour wavers between the whitest sunbleached white to slightly green, pool tinged blonde, and that the kids all end up looking like little surfie dudes, all long legs and bleached, windswept hair and brown skin.
How are your plans for the festive season shaping up? Do you love Summer, too, or does it make you want to hibernate with iceblocks on your belly and an airconditioner pointed straight at you?
Showing posts with label play. Show all posts
Showing posts with label play. Show all posts
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
The Play Patch
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| A little doll I made for my lovely niece. |
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| Taggie Ball |
Introducing The Play Patch. This casual little venture will see me sewing up lots of 'play resources'.... toys, games, dress ups, playroom decorations, toy storage bags and the like. I have enjoyed making some of these things for my own kids and their friends over the last couple of years, and would love to spread some imagination and fun onto other families too! Most of what I make will be from upcycled or thrifted fabrics, and all a bit one of a kind.
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| Simple Princess Tutu |
My first stall will be on February the 16th, so I will be very busy getting my stock together before then. I am only doing markets this year, not orders, just in case I find it hard to fit it all in. I don't want to disappoint people by not meeting order deadlines.
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| Wishing Hearts |
Some more pics of the types of things I will be making:
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| Playroom/Garden Bunting |
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| Peek-a-Boo Bags |
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| Fabric Travel Chalkboards |
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| Capes |
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| Fairy Wings |
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| Soft Toys |
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| Doll's Nappies |
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| Fairy Crowns |
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| Lego Bag/Mat |
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| Lego Bag/Mat |
If you live in WA, you will find The Play Patch at the Bakers Hill Swap Meet on February the 16th. Come and say hi!
Monday, January 7, 2013
Keep Your Cool
We are already a week into 2013, and I hadn't intended on being away from the blog for so long. Sometimes, though, it's nice to take a break from all the things we think we should be doing, and instead spend time on things we actually should do more of.
We have been camping, and swimming (lots of swimming!), and playing cricket, and frisbee, and having water pistol and water balloon fights. We've been bike riding, and scooter riding, and kite flying, and going to the beach, and sand castle making, and kayaking, and searching for fresh water mussels in the river. We have been to wineries, and breweries, and distilleries, and ice-creameries. We've been through a giant maze, and four wheel driving through a giant forest. We have been spending time with lovely friends, and lovely family, from near and far. Nath and I went to see Katie Noonan, Mia Dyson and Wendy Matthews, playing an intimate acoustic gig at my favourite hotel in the Hills. Miya learned to swim in the river near where we were camping, and now she is like a little fish, so full of confidence. A very happy sight, from my girl who screamed whenever we took her close to water when she was younger. She was the oldest of the eleven children we were camping with, and took to the role of pack leader with reckless abandon. Our little tribe of barefoot, grubby little campers became independent explorers and friend-makers, and were right at home among the tents and caravans.
What a lovely holiday.
Too soon, though, it is over, and we are back amidst washing and work and weekly routines. It was very hard to drop Nath at work this morning. I told him it felt like he was a book I had borrowed from the library, and now had to return. Like he doesn't fully belong to us anymore.
Nevertheless, this is where we are at and our days are largely about coping with the heat right now. While the news stories focus on heatwaves happening right across the Eastern Seaboard, our little town in the West quietly goes about it's business of enduring strings of days of 40-degrees-plus. Tomorrow, it is expected to be 45 degrees with a possible thunderstorm (which usually means no rain but bloody muggy!) and as I type at 7pm it is still 37 degrees.
Despite the heat, we have managed to avoid using the air conditioner (apart from a very short spell one afternoon, when Nath's brother and his wife were staying with us from the UK. Nath's brother was unwell for a day or so and definitely needed some cool air! They coped extraordinarily well for the rest of the time!), and we even handled the weather okay whilst camping when nearly every day was above 40. We are acclimatising to the heat again, this being the first year we have chosen not to use air-conditioning, and are finding other ways of 'keeping our cool'.
We get up early to do the things that it is just too hot to do later in the day, such as hanging washing, feeding and watering the chooks, or going for a run. We use the ceiling and pedestal fans and have the windows and doors open in the evening, overnight, and in the early morning, shutting the house up and drawing blinds and curtains at about 9am. We then try to do very little in the heat of the day, to keep as cool as possible. We drink loads of water and have a thirty second cold shower if we need it. That's usually enough to manage the heat. In the evenings, we put the kids to bed, then utilise the rest of the light to do some more of the labour-intensive or 'hot' work, like cooking or gardening.
It has been surprisingly easy to get used to. In some ways, it is almost easier than having the air-con running all day, because it can be hard to acclimatise to the outdoor heat when your house is a constant 18 degrees. I often wonder at people who have their house so cool, that they need to wear warmer clothing! Some days are harder than others (I don't cope as well with the humid weather) but none have been unendurable.
We have chosen to do this for frugality and environmental responsibility, but I definitely do not think this is the right thing for everyone. We are young and fit and healthy, and used to the warmer climate, and are able to keep hydrated. People who are elderly, or unwell, or not in good physical health or families with very young babies should definitely use the air conditioner in extreme heat. Hot weather can be dangerous for some.
So, how do you keep your cool?
We have been camping, and swimming (lots of swimming!), and playing cricket, and frisbee, and having water pistol and water balloon fights. We've been bike riding, and scooter riding, and kite flying, and going to the beach, and sand castle making, and kayaking, and searching for fresh water mussels in the river. We have been to wineries, and breweries, and distilleries, and ice-creameries. We've been through a giant maze, and four wheel driving through a giant forest. We have been spending time with lovely friends, and lovely family, from near and far. Nath and I went to see Katie Noonan, Mia Dyson and Wendy Matthews, playing an intimate acoustic gig at my favourite hotel in the Hills. Miya learned to swim in the river near where we were camping, and now she is like a little fish, so full of confidence. A very happy sight, from my girl who screamed whenever we took her close to water when she was younger. She was the oldest of the eleven children we were camping with, and took to the role of pack leader with reckless abandon. Our little tribe of barefoot, grubby little campers became independent explorers and friend-makers, and were right at home among the tents and caravans.
What a lovely holiday.
Too soon, though, it is over, and we are back amidst washing and work and weekly routines. It was very hard to drop Nath at work this morning. I told him it felt like he was a book I had borrowed from the library, and now had to return. Like he doesn't fully belong to us anymore.
Nevertheless, this is where we are at and our days are largely about coping with the heat right now. While the news stories focus on heatwaves happening right across the Eastern Seaboard, our little town in the West quietly goes about it's business of enduring strings of days of 40-degrees-plus. Tomorrow, it is expected to be 45 degrees with a possible thunderstorm (which usually means no rain but bloody muggy!) and as I type at 7pm it is still 37 degrees.
Despite the heat, we have managed to avoid using the air conditioner (apart from a very short spell one afternoon, when Nath's brother and his wife were staying with us from the UK. Nath's brother was unwell for a day or so and definitely needed some cool air! They coped extraordinarily well for the rest of the time!), and we even handled the weather okay whilst camping when nearly every day was above 40. We are acclimatising to the heat again, this being the first year we have chosen not to use air-conditioning, and are finding other ways of 'keeping our cool'.
We get up early to do the things that it is just too hot to do later in the day, such as hanging washing, feeding and watering the chooks, or going for a run. We use the ceiling and pedestal fans and have the windows and doors open in the evening, overnight, and in the early morning, shutting the house up and drawing blinds and curtains at about 9am. We then try to do very little in the heat of the day, to keep as cool as possible. We drink loads of water and have a thirty second cold shower if we need it. That's usually enough to manage the heat. In the evenings, we put the kids to bed, then utilise the rest of the light to do some more of the labour-intensive or 'hot' work, like cooking or gardening.
It has been surprisingly easy to get used to. In some ways, it is almost easier than having the air-con running all day, because it can be hard to acclimatise to the outdoor heat when your house is a constant 18 degrees. I often wonder at people who have their house so cool, that they need to wear warmer clothing! Some days are harder than others (I don't cope as well with the humid weather) but none have been unendurable.
We have chosen to do this for frugality and environmental responsibility, but I definitely do not think this is the right thing for everyone. We are young and fit and healthy, and used to the warmer climate, and are able to keep hydrated. People who are elderly, or unwell, or not in good physical health or families with very young babies should definitely use the air conditioner in extreme heat. Hot weather can be dangerous for some.
So, how do you keep your cool?
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Karijini and Homeward Bound
I must admit, since we left Broome, I've struggled a bit. I think we have all struggled a bit. The dirt is seeping into everything; our things are no longer neatly packed in the trailer, instead they are strewn all through it; the kids are tired; the same five DVDs we bought with us have been replayed time and time again, and are setting our teeth on edge; we are all suffering from too much convenience food; and we have been lacking space and alone time.
The day we left Broome, we drove all day until we got to Port Hedland, where we had McDonalds for dinner. Miya had a belly ache, I was resenting eating more junk food, and Eden was swinging between performing Fairies' tunes to the diners, and melting down under the table. We dressed the kids in their pjs, piled them back into the car, and decided to keep driving to a rest area the map promised was 50km Newman side of Port Hedland.
Fifty km, sixty km, seventy km, and still no rest area. Meanwhile, an orange glow that started on the horizon was becoming larger and larger, and there was no way I was camping within burning reach of a scrub fire. We kept driving until we were well out of reach of the fire, and at about 9:30pm we pulled up in the scrub behind a truck assembly bay. Up went the tent, and we all piled in together, exhausted.
The next morning, we woke early, and packed up camp. I was so tired of travelling, I could easily have driven straight to Northam and been done with it. I was snappy, the kids were crabby, Nath was trying to keep things ticking over. The destination for the day was Karijini.
I had forgotten the magic of Karijini. It has always been a magical place for me. So hard to put into words, the majesty of this place is unrivaled. We took the kids down into one gorge, and they were captivated.
Some pics from our time in Karijini:
We are homeward bound tomorrow, and very much looking forward to it. I am craving a simple life again. While we have enjoyed the excesses of holidays, excesses are only enjoyable if they are just that - excesses. Not the norm.
See you on the simple side!
The day we left Broome, we drove all day until we got to Port Hedland, where we had McDonalds for dinner. Miya had a belly ache, I was resenting eating more junk food, and Eden was swinging between performing Fairies' tunes to the diners, and melting down under the table. We dressed the kids in their pjs, piled them back into the car, and decided to keep driving to a rest area the map promised was 50km Newman side of Port Hedland.
Fifty km, sixty km, seventy km, and still no rest area. Meanwhile, an orange glow that started on the horizon was becoming larger and larger, and there was no way I was camping within burning reach of a scrub fire. We kept driving until we were well out of reach of the fire, and at about 9:30pm we pulled up in the scrub behind a truck assembly bay. Up went the tent, and we all piled in together, exhausted.
The next morning, we woke early, and packed up camp. I was so tired of travelling, I could easily have driven straight to Northam and been done with it. I was snappy, the kids were crabby, Nath was trying to keep things ticking over. The destination for the day was Karijini.
I had forgotten the magic of Karijini. It has always been a magical place for me. So hard to put into words, the majesty of this place is unrivaled. We took the kids down into one gorge, and they were captivated.
Some pics from our time in Karijini:
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| Our scrub camp - morning light. |
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| Karijini camp - Dales Gorge campsite. |
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| Brannen is crawling now!! |
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| Happy boy on Dad's back. |
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| Ready for the hike down into Dales Gorge. |
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| Miya became quite the adventurer. |
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| Walking through the gorge. |
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| Looking down into Dales Gorge. |
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| Fortescue Falls. |
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| Brannen enjoying the walk. |
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| One of the amazing trees in the gorge. |
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| The roots seeking out the water tricking down the rocks. |
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| Fortescue Falls. |
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| Fern Pool. So worth the swim out to under the waterfalls. |
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| When the dirt gets too much - embrace it by having a red dirt fight! |
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| Grubby Edie. |
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| I got 'got'! |
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| Afternoon light across the ranges. |
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| I love how the sun catches all the Earthy colours. |
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| Sunset. |
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| Dinner - nice and easy. |
See you on the simple side!
Monday, August 13, 2012
Cape Leveque (Kooljaman Eco Resort), One Arm Point and Beagle Bay.
We are back from a very eventful weekend on the Dampier Peninsula, north of Broome. We left at Thursday lunchtime, planning to arrive at Kooljaman mid to late afternoon. The Cape Leveque road is notorious for being incredibly corrugated, sandy, poorly maintained and costly for tourists. We tossed up whether or not to attempt towing the (on-road) trailer in, but decided to as we were not able to fit much camping gear in our car with the kids and the camping fridge in there. We lightened the load of the trailer and drove carefully. As it happened the road was actually a lot better than we had imagined it would be - heavily corrugated in parts but the Terracan handled it very well. Unfortunately, the trailer did not. Ten kilometres from the end of the unsealed road (and with no phone reception and about twenty kilometres from the nearest community), the suspension on the trailer snapped.
Towing would cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars from where we were. Leaving our trailer on the side of the road to drive back to town would undoubtedly result in the contents of it being stripped before it being torched (there were a few burnt out shells of cars along the way testament to this). The only option for us was to 'bush mechanic' it. Nath cut down a young tree and used the trunk as a new 'spring' and straightened the axle up by levering it with a rope and tying it off to the drawbar. It was an impressive display of bush mechanics that saw us good for another 300 kilometres (into Kooljaman and back to Broome a few days later) and saw him become the talk of the campground.
Some highlights from the weekend:
Bush Mechanics
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| Pulled up on the dirt road with the sapling ready to be stripped. |
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| The tyre was hitting the wheel arch - we wouldn't have gotten far! |
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| The new 'spring'. |
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| The axle tied off to the drawbar. |
Camping
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| The girls drying the dishes for Nath. |
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| Our messy camp. |
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| Our 'all in' tent - a taste of co-sleeping!! |
Stunning Beaches
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| Brannen has had a healthy diet of sand and saltwater. |
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| Crystal clear, turquoise waters. |
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| White sands and private beaches. |
One Arm Point
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| Local men polishing up Trochus shells for sale. |
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| The Aquaculture hatchery.... this little dude is 15 days old. Cute! |
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| Eden getting up close and personal with a turtle. |
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| Beagle Bay Sacred Heart Church - built early 1900s for the Beagle Bay Catholic Mission. |
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| Fantastic pearl shell-decorated altar. |
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| Stark and imposing on this red landscape. |
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| Picnic in the church grounds. |
Wildlife
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| A baani (goanna) wandered through our camp. |
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| A shell-less crab wandering the beach. |
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| A friendly green tree frog. |
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| Wildlife that 'once was' - Miya found a clam shell. |
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