Blog? What Blog?

I know what you are thinking. I thought the same but like a phoenix from the flames, the blog has risen from the fires of neglect and procrastination to once again appear on your screen. But after two months of silence, where do I begin? What do I tell you? So much has happened, I don't know where to start. So I will let the photos do the talking. Oh, speaking of talking, though I've forgotten many of the recent colloquialisms, I can tell you that most of Jonah's sentences begin with "well," and he knows exactly how to use the word "actually". He likes to talk septic systems vs compost toilets and is, in his words, "really into big machines". From the moment he closes his eyes at night, to the moment they open in the morning, he is a burst of energy, a flurry of questions, of remembrances and plans and of statements that usually concern fur, firetrucks and ferry boats. All bed times stories must involve 3 cats named Gina, Cindy and Rupert and a group of rabbits named Hank, Barbara, Herbert and Paul....

Jonah loves to work with me outside. Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't be shuttling him off to a playdate or preschool or some organized crafting kumbaya read at the library. These things are great and have wonderful value and yes, I should do a bit more of them. But Jonah (and Mama) are very happy to stay home and be in the garden. Or make bread. Or hang laundry on sunny days. We like to take the truck out (no airbags, thanks for checking) and return with a load of leaf litter or firewood or gravel. He loves to be a part of whatever I am doing and perhaps his greatest desire is to be alone in Jason's workshop touching tools, singing the theme song to Bob the Builder. He rakes, he digs, he cuts, he saws, he excavates, scoops and dumps.

I recently took a SOLO trip to Australia to take part in a historic venture back to my family's roots. My grandparents, Mum and Uncle lived in the outback for years and we've been hearing stories about these properties and the lives lived for a long time. In honor of my Nanna's 85th birthday, a trip was planned by my sister, Aunt and Mum and thanks to some parental funding, I went along. It was an amazing trip, to say the least. We traveled by train into the outback to visit a couple of the large properties my family lived on in the 1950's. At Wanda station, we sat on the verandah of the home my grandad built and ate huge yabbies (think crawfish + lobster + steroids) and drank beer (not nanna) and talked at length with the new owner about the past and present. We wandered around the woolshed (also built by grandad) where sheep are still shorn and the wool pressed with a huge antique woolpress. We could smell the scent of lanolin and deadly spider breath. We visited the MadMax museum and stood overlooking Mundi Mundi plains, a place so flat and expansive, I swore I could see the curvature of the earth. At the local pub in Menindee, my nanna stood, walking stick in hand, surrounded by locals and she regaled them all with tales of flood, car accidents and pet kangaroos. It was in a word, phenomenal.

Also phenomenal was taking care of only myself for over 2 weeks, though by the end I began to feel useless and wandered around trying to spoon feed strangers and wipe their bottoms. It was a great trip for me and Jonah had a wonderful time with his Daddy. They went to the opening of the farmers market, they enjoyed the playground, they hiked, they fished, they ate a lot of ice cream and pizza, they said goodbye to winter and hello to spring, they bonded.

Up Up and Away

I've been promising Jonah that as soon as we had a sunny and windy day that wasn't too cold, we'd head down to the airstrip to fly a kite. Considering the season, this promise has been a long time coming. But I deemed today was the day; the combination of sun and warm clear skies was too much to pass up, especially in late winter. So we trudged down Blossom Lane to the Sky Valley airstrip to fly a kite on a completely windless day. The airstrip windsock was totally limp and still. Undaunted, we began or rather I began running, unspooling string behind me, thinking if I jumped a bit now and again, the non-existant wind might catch the kite. The nearby horses snorted hilariously and ran around their paddocks as if imitating me. Thinking this was a game, Fela began to chase me and the fluttering kite tails, nipping at my heels and growling. All the while, Jonah stood as still as the wind, smiling. I thought, maybe if I shrieked a bit, the wind might respond. So I began running AND jumping AND shrieking. The kite took a nose dive and I was left with a string cut on my fingers. This happened many many times. Finally the neighborhood girls came over and told me to get off the runway as their Dad was expected to fly in any moment. I think they wanted to put me out of my misery or perhaps they were tired of watching my antics. Either way, we had had loads of fun and as we turned to head home, I could hear myself say, "Now Jonah, as soon as we have a sunny and VERY windy day that isn't too cold, we'll come out and fly again!"

The Pied Piper of Poopalapampa

Gaga has been here for a visit. This is evidenced by the new words in Jonah's vocabulary, the presence of a new fire engine, Fela's increased happiness and waistline and a sense of general merriment in my house. My girlfriends asked me why my Dad was coming for a solo visit and I answered because I asked him to. Every other member of my family has flown solo and it was time he did too. The snow arrived the day before he did and melted the day he left. We were pleasantly forced to spend our days at home, making cookies, enjoying snowy walks, tending the fire, playing with fela, oohing and ahhing over the snow, cooking and eating and drinking wine. We did puzzles and relaxed. I watched Jonah and Fela follow Gaga's every move - morning, noon and night. Lots of wrestling happened between Gaga and Jonah; lots of laughter too.

Inspired by a friend, I had Jason tie a knotted rope to a hook in the downstairs ceiling. Jonah spends much of his waking hours swinging from this rope. He's dreamed up all sorts of other things to do with the rope as well. He plays piano with the end of it, he ties trucks and furniture to it but mostly he swings on it. He stands on a very low chair and positioning one hand above the other, Tarzan style, he jumps off the chair and swings, legs held high, across the room and back again. Gaga has him singing as he's swinging, a different song each time. Jonah also likes to carry things between his knees as he swings. pillows, boxes, Gina. Whatever he can catch.

We did some home improvement projects before and during Gaga's visit. I hung some pictures in Jonah's room and installed a sweet lamp that used to be mine as a child. I rearranged our clothing area, computer desk, and lounge area upstairs. We also turned the defunct downstairs coat closet into a neat little desking area with a newly painted desk, shelves and corkboard. Jason put a new roof on the workshop. The massage studio is painted with milk paint and awaits a new floor. The call of the garden is faint but audible.

Nanna Joy bought the most beautiful sheepskin boots for Jonah. he loves them and puts them on and off on his own. I can't make up my mind if they are his houseboots or his townboots so he wears them for both occasions.

Cold weather also calls for hot drinks and we've enjoyed a lot of grated ginger tea with lemon & honey lately. We also drink lots of milk mixed with Milo, an Aussie icon made with toasted barley. Jonah still loves cooking in the kitchen, both his and mine, and often serves me on a tray. He tell me often that he yoves me and has resumed calling me mommy. I yove it.