quietly clean carpets

I LOVE my new carpet sweeper for wee ones.

It is actually a proper grown up carpet sweeper in its action etc but can have it's handle lengthened and shortened according to the sweepers height.

My carpets are cleaner than they have ever been and even after a few weeks we still (all four of us) occasionally squabble about using it.

It is a bissel swift sweep.

oh yes, if you have a patch of carpet...

you should enjoy the pleasure of quiet cleaning.

Just listen...

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chickens

squark?


squaark.




squark!


squarksquarksquarksquark!

SQUARK SQUARK SQUARKSQUARK!

flap

rustlerustleflap

FLAPFLAPFLAPFLAP!

Squark SQUARK flap FLAP!





rustle

flap



SQUARK SQUARK SQUARK!!!


yep.
politics.
insinuation...
misinterpretation...
reaction...

hmm

bit like life really.

I hope the sun is shining on you warmly.
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a million billion mothers

I remembered one of the reasons I blog today.

We are a million mothers getting it right.
We are a million mothers getting it wrong.
We are a million mothers moving in the right direction.
We are a million mothers moving in the wrong direction.
We are a million mothers all alone.
We are a million mothers all together.
We are a million mothers holding on.
We are a million mothers letting go.
We are a million mothers teary.
We are a million mothers laughing.
We are a million mothers laughing and teary all at once.

We are new to it.
We do it over and over again.
And we are still new to it.

We are a million mothers who are the only ones in the world who know what a difficult job it is.
We are a million mothers feeling guillty.
We are a million mothers refusing to feel the weight of a future that is not the business of today.
We are a million mothers who forget the water bottle.
We are a million mothers who find the lost treasure.
We are a million mothers who accept going to bed an hour earlier would have made it a better day.
We are a million mothers who don't care and love that we stayed up doing something of that mattered to us.
We are a million mothers who wonder how each day will unfold.
We are a million mothers who need just one more cup of tea.
We are a million mothers who would like it a bit quieter, a bit tidier and a bit more peaceful.
We are a million mothers laughing crazily and rolling on the carpet.
We are a million mothers who sometimes want to just lie down.
We are a million mothers who would like someone to push us on the swing.
We are a million mothers who feel the weight of the future and the weight of our past.
We are a million mothers who are trying desperately to live in the moment.
We are a million mothers of a million kisses and a million cuddles.

We are alone, we are together.
We are doing an important job, a difficult job; a beautiful job.
And when you look at the big picture - we are doing an amazing job of it.
We are a million mothers.

Go well into your day.
xx
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babies...

I spent a bit of time yesterday with an eight week old sweet baby.

Made me realise that I still call my two boys my babies.

And that reminded me of this rhyme by one of my bestie fav children's poets Clyde Watson.

Oh once I had a baby
And Georgina was her name
Now she's all grown up
But she's my baby just the same.

We sing it with my boy's name there instead of Georgina.

Aaah, babies eh.
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Urk

I went to a 'mall' today to return something.

Urk.

First time I have been into one for, good gumboots, must be years.

Urk.

Still can't think of a single good reason why they exist.

Urk.

Must go lie down and think about tall trees and dirt.
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wearing out the old :: no need for new

Lately, we have had a few different items of clothing turn to rags. Useful rags actually. From useful clothes.

A few of my clothes, about three pairs of shorts from my boy W who is five and a few bits from my boy K who is two.

All of these clothes were second hand. And some third hand. All were well loved and worn through in the parts that show you enjoy life - you know - knees, arse, elbows, seams.

And we didn't quit early, some were well repaired and they were all worn in multiple places.

All of us, especially the kids wear at least 80% second hand clothes. I have really enjoyed finding something that someone else had done with, finding good use for it. Good use for years and years. And wearing it to threads.

Gives me great pleasure. Like all the juice really squeezed out of the orange. None wasted.

Slurp.

Slurp.

Old stuff is so good.

Just another digression.

Happy days.
Hope you are having a good one in your glad rags!
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bed

I love bed...



from here

and I know I am amongst bed loving friends here.

I have been going to bed on new year for over, um, at least 14 years now. So completely pre kid decision. Makes new year with kids easy.

An aside though. I love bed is the main thing. We are currently sleeping in a futon that my partner bought before he met me. It now has a pimple mattress on top. It is lush sleeping. Oh so lush. Even if you factor in the five year old's feet in my back and having to letch off the side of the bed throughout the night to pat the two year old's bottom when he stirs - it is still lush sleeping.

Which is not to say I don't look forward to a lush bed with noone in it but me and my squeeze. Or no one but me for that matter! (snort!)

But compared to the 4WD camping mattresses we have used most of the last 6 months - this bed with its two 'kid factors' is still oh so lush.

I so want to know what people sleep on these days when camping. The 4WD mattress is good but bulky and in hot weather sweaty. It is inflatable but heaps fatter than a thermarest but has foam. So much better insulation than an inflatable bed and packs down much better than straight foam but still oh so bulky.

It takes up a good bit of our pod trailer. Oh did we mention we love our pod. Will have to do some pictures and put them up. Out of the gazzillion accessories, we added a gas ring, water tank under, spare tire and then had a wonderful engineer down the road from home, who usually services our bush fire water system, make us up a folding table that hangs off the side. Oh, yes, it works so well!

Oh this post is just one big digression. But what better way to get back into a wee bit of blogging. I have been pottering out there in blog land very occasionally but generally just full time life. Oh, we are in Fremantle so that is the birth spot of my first boy (well, White Gum Valley to be exact) and we are loving being back. Beach, river, oh stuff and stuff and stuff to do. And lovely friends to catch up with too.

But on a bloggy note, I met my first blogger pair that I only know from blogland. And yes - it is like meeting a stranger that you know a bit about secretly and introducing yourself by saying 'hello - I am your stalker'. Hmm.

Still, back to bed. Aaah, just thinking about it makes me happy.

Hope you sleep sweetly, long, uninterrupted as much as is concievable and whilst sleeping have dreams of sleeping in a lovely bed.

Happy days people. Happy nights.
xx
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waldkindergarten :: bush kinder

As you may possibly know, I am a wee bit fond of idle parenting and of the idea of the waldkindergarten.

(image from here - sadly my foreign languages amount to very bad french so I have no idea what this website is really about but I do know that these kids had a great time!)

And whilst I am pottering and plotting away at various schemes, the waldkindergarten is never far from my thoughts. Especially lately.

So wasn't it funny when sat on the beach at the mouth of the Murchison River, that a little girl further down spotted my boy W building an amazing sand castle with about 5 every expanding moats and requested of her mother to come up the beach and join in.

Of course - the little girl must have been acting on higher instructions of some kind as after a few minutes it seemed I had found a kindred spirit of kinds! She had come up from Albany with her partner and two children. Where funnily enough she had been part of starting up a Steiner playgroup.

It seemed, she had just finished a course with someone from Scotland on outside kinder - waldkindergarten!

Aaah, we had a lovely long chat whilst W and her daughter played wet, dirty and delighted. Aren't kindred spirits wonderful things!

Doesn't the world just turn to please us if only we can see it that way. Hope you have serendipitous moments today as well.

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