just a Bear Attack..

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The Silver Fox and I are close. Very close. So I let him into the secret circle. The circle of trust. Of honour. I trusted him with my little secret...

I let him dye my hair.

I know, I know... I was putting a lot of trust in someone not familiar with "the business". He has never dyed HIS hair hence the "Silver Fox"nickname. It is not because he is old or sneaky. He is silvery-gray. Very distinguished it is too - on a male.

Not as alluring on a female me thinks.

So, armed with Garnier's promise of "covering gray", I wrapped on old towel around my shoulders and declined his kind offer to remove other pieces of my upper body clothing. I told him my usual hairdresser didn't make those requests.

He also seemed genuinely shocked at the amount of hair that needed covering.

He was also quite alarmed at the colour the dye was turning as he applied it. The box said "Crimson Promise". He thought it was more like "Bear Attack Red". Hmmm, catchy name don't you think? Master T came in exclaiming that he could smell Redskin lollies and that I had better share them if I have any. This was indeed very different to my usual hairdressing experience. Maybe that is another name that could be considered too. Must be hereditary this naming business.

The Silver Fox insisted on massaging in the colour in such vigorous circular motions that I am not confident a comb will be able to untangle those lovingly-made knots without removing most of my hair hence making the need to dye it in the first place quite obsolete.

I am currently at the 25 minute mark prior to "blending the colour through to the tips". His look of disbelief that this will all work out okay without looking like something from the circus is a refreshing change to my usual hairdressing experience.

I'm not usually nervous getting this done however his novice approach has me hoping that I will come out of this dark brown with a hint of chestnut as opposed to "Bear Attack Red" or "Redskin Red".

You never know, these versions could become trendy don't you think?

Wish me luck but if you see someone walking down the street looking like they escaped from the circus, say "hi" to me won't you?





 Ciao for now...

 

just Inspiration...

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Raining...

Still.

Never mind. It is lovely to be dry and cosy on such a wet day. This is the end of Master T's holidays and plans need to be changed to indoor excitement that involves movies, popcorn and maybe some cooking of biscuits or even dinner. Not that he is concerned.  He is keen to go back to school mind you. This will be his last in Primary. Already! Time flies doesn't it? Miss T still has a few more days.

I am in  need of some inspiration.

To get things done. To achieve. To move forward.

Holidays have that affect on me. To slow the pace of my life. I like it. For a while, but am looking forward to routine, time limits and goals. To being busy. To cram things in..

A busy person gets more done I think.




 Ciao for now...

just Ewan and Charlie...

 I have a passion for Ewan McGregor. And Charlie Boorman. I l-ov-e them. Not obsessively. I was riveted to The long Way Round and the Long Way Down. Not sure why but long after the family was asleep, I would still be watching. Ewan seems to pop up in movies here and there. And I think Charlie seems like such a nice fellow too. Am I obsessed by motorbikes? No. Not sure what the attraction is but since watching the both of them in their "Long Way..." series, I have been a fan of both Ewan and Charlie. Here are some pics from Google Images:

 Ciao for now...

 

just Rain...

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What a wet day today!! You know what that means?

Cleaning.

Yep.

Great day for cleaning.


 Ciao for now...





 

Family Time...

Just chillin' out

 Last day of the Silver Fox' holiday so we celebrated by the two of us taking Ginger for a 11/2 hour walk along the beach. We talked about goals for 2012, hopes, dreams and the good old 'what would you do if you won 2 million dollars' sort of conversation. It was nice 'us' time with the kids sleeping still. We have had such a lovely time whilst he has been home connecting again. We have sorely neglected our family and friends but they understand we need to be together after 9 months away with minimal quality contact. We did talk on the phone every night but it is definitely not the same. One of the things I have really noticed is that I get driven places now, I don't need to do all the driving. Very nice.

Today we had a 16 km bike ride to our local town (there and back with minimal hills. Sounds more impressive than it really is) with Ginger in the basket. The start was delayed due to my flat tyre, my 12TH flat tyre and the Silver Fox in his "McGuyver" mode was even unable to fix it - (something about vulcanized rubber being the best but no longer on the market) Thankfully my gorgeous neighbour came to the rescue and lent me her bike (as the thought of riding one of the SF's BMX bikes with its low skinny seat had me envisaging a trip to the local hospital to get the seat surgically removed after the event). There was even a nice big basket so in went Ginger and she was chauffeur driven the whole way there and back.

We met my parents for an ice-cream, fixed up a breakfast date for me for during the week and caught up with friends. Unfortunately it p-o-u-r-e-d the last 5 minutes of the journey and we were soaked to the skin. Never mind. I did get a very reproachful look from Ginger as she sat in the basket wet through. We have nearly all had our showers now and might just be able to squeeze in a movie before bed.

I have the week off so will need to focus on establishing some sort of return to usual bedtimes, no doubt meeting some resistance. Holidays are so relaxed compared to the usual weekly routine. We have a few things on our agenda but not too much.

Cheers to a sleep in for me or should I make the Silver Fox's breakfast?


Naaah, don't want to spoil him



 Ciao for now...
 

Simple Style...

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I have a week's holiday next week and I have left work all up to date with notes here and there for my colleague. There is also a public holiday in there to ease the Silver Fox back into his first week of work so I will rustle up some sort of bbq / picnic / beach adventure. Maybe with friends too. We have been insular enough - time to mingle!!

I l-o-v-e white like in the picture above. Why? Because I have had a lollypop house in the 80s: a nice Queenslander with every room a different colour, sometimes there were 2 colours in one room above and below the trophy rails. Then in the 90s I had the Mediterranean palette with shades of yellow and pale terracotta. Nice at the time but I have one word for you people: DATE. Yep, they both dated pretty darn quick. For me a white base means colour in the furnishings. And because I am older and wiser and know that it is much easier to change the furnishings than to repaint the whole house.

The "Great Room" with white walls, white architraves and colours in the furnishings...

In my last house I had these pale tiles that had a cute little fossil motif set in random tiles. Cute yes, retained the dirt? Most definitely. They a-l-w-a-y-s looked filthy and my dream was to tile over them but the Silver Fox gave my some poor excuse about tile heights, doorways, clearances..... This house has timber floors done with a semi gloss finish although it was a compromise between me wanting satin and the Silver Fox wanting full gloss. (I still think satin would have been better)

Stairs with Queensland birch (or is it Australian birch?)

 What is your style philosophy? What do you l-o-v-e?



Ciao for now...
 

just Contact...

Ahh, the simplicity

I l-o-v-e covering books with contact. Yes contact!! I even offer to cover the school library books... in my  spare time!! I know, how insane is that.

I've just come back from school-supply-shopping. There were lots of sullen faces when buying school shoes let me tell you!! I needed to remind Miss T that school sandshoes are not a fashion accessory! They are just sandshoes and that to see her morose face was going to need to change. She did offer to buy her own Nikes. An offer which was readily accepted however no more was said after she saw the price of them. Funny about that!

This is the first year that we have had to buy our own school books for Miss T as usually we purchase a pack from the school. Not this year though. No packs on offer. It has made me realize how spoilt we have been to date. Do you think that they throw in a red herring just to send parents crazy? I think so. I couldn't begin to find the Aquarella colour pencils even after four shops. Hmmm, warped sense of humour? Like at the gym there is an exercise where you have to balance on your feet and  hands and touch the opposite foot to your hand underneath your body and then behind your back. It takes l-o-a-d-s of concentration, tongue held just right. I am sure the instructors put it in for entertainment value!!

I take special effort to cover my work diary very carefully with trendy paper and contact. Yes indeed, I have mastered the art of contacting books. I get the kids to cut out pictures, glue them to the book and then I cover the books with contact. Look, I let them have a go but let's face it, contact is tricky stuff indeed. No doubt there are many stories to tell.....

Those mitered corners

The sleek-ish-ness of it all

Ciao for now...



 

just Creativeness...

Master T's creation

I've neglected you. I'm sorry. It is just that life has been so busy with the Silver Fox home and a new puppy,  plus work... and children... and school holidays....


You know what it is like....


But. We have been having a great time!! We have had family visiting, 70th birthdays, friends having sleep overs, hanging out at the beach for h-o-u-r-s! (umbrella insitu plus an esky of healthy food each time)


Great times really



The Teenie / Tweenie got creative with the old cooking too. Master T baked a superb cake and decorated it in a 'beach' theme with a palm tree as the centrepiece made from chocolate and icing. Miss T baked some strawberry and cream cupcakes and went with a flower theme. Fondant was the key ingredient and it is amazing how creative my gorgeous children can be. See for yourself.

Desert Island perhaps?

Miss T with her strawberry and cream delights

A close up. Such detail, so colourful...

The neighbours even got into the groove

This is a chocolate zucchini cake, made for us with love! Recipe here

Miss Ginger now has the nickname 'Ninja" as she can go a bit feral in the evenings. Very entertaining.

Oh, and I got rid of Austar. Finally. The Silver Fox is traumatized.




Too bad...





 Ciao for now...

 

just Attitude...

That's the spirit. A sandwich with attitude! It would be a brave kiddy to eat this little duck! Are you thinking about school lunches yet? I'm not. I have a week's holiday next week. Can't wait...

Would love to blog more but internet not being cooperative. Thinking Master T and his ipod are behind the mess...


Ciao for now......


Just Martha

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Balance...

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This describes life with a teenager perfectly I think. The Silver Fox is having an interesting time letting Miss Teenie be more independent. He has nine months of training to catch up on. They are finding their way together. A bit of give and take from each side, building that trust. Interesting to watch really.

Him and Master T go to the skate park nearly every day for a few hours. They are also getting on track and are planning a little holiday away with another family of boys. Sounds pretty good to me: surfing, skating and boy stuff. Ahhh, the joy!

Have a lovely day sweet bloggers. Hello to my heavenly new followers. We have Mother-in-Law's 70th birthday this weekend and Miss T is going to video the whole thing, edit it and set it to music. She is good like that. I will do her up a photo album and have a cheese cake and a fruit salad to whip up. Sound like it will be fun doesn't it?




Ciao for now...

Life is a Beautiful Thing...

This is so very lovely. It will bring tears to your eyes. I think it is going to be this sort of year: kindness, thoughtfulness, sharing....



Get the tissues



Don't say I didn't warn you



(not being slack with posts. We were throttled again after 2 weeks of internet so still have 2 weeks of go slow to go. Hmmm, me thinks Teenie/Tweenie have something to go with it. Might be some serious throttling go on here too. You never know)



Ciao for now...

Toilet Training...

Aawwww!!!

Ahhh, the joy!! Toilet training is going very well. For me anyway. I take Ginger outside diligently at a-l-l hours and say "wee wee" (as you do). As I watch her sniffing around (you can't rush these things), I need to go to the toilet!!! So, as I hop from one foot to the other, trying to ignore the light rain and the neighbour's automatic watering system, she is sitting watching me with her head on the side. When I finally dash inside to use the toilet, she does a wee on the floor...

Yep, going v-e-r-y well indeed. I do declare that I am fully toilet trained. On command. Not a bad effort really. Now, if I could just sort the dog out...




 Ciao for now...


 

just Reality...

Glorious day!!!

Aaah, it was good while it lasted. Back at work tomorrow. Have spent the last few days at the creek or the beach, picnic in hand, relaxing and chilling out with my family. It has been heavenly. We are all settling back in nicely as a foursome. Yippee!!


Back to the gym tomorrow too. My rules are 6 days per week. I'm like that. All or nothing. Whole block of chocolate or none. I best have none. I haven't really overindulged during the silly season which is good. I still have 5 kg to lose as part of my 'plan'. It will take blood, sweat and tears. I know it. Sigh!

Catching up with friends next weekend for more relaxing, swimming, hanging out. Met some new neighbours today and they said "oh, your the family with the cute dog". Yep, that's us. She draws a crowd wherever we go. I don't think I have met so many new people in such a short period of time.

Slowly, life is creeping back to normal. I can hear strange noises coming from my washing machine so I had best find that receipt and check my warranty. Sigh again!! I hope it is easy to find and won't fall victim to my 'safe place' debacle!!!

The Silver Fox made some scrumptious salt and pepper calamari last night and we ate the leftovers today. It is good to have him back...





 Ciao for now...




 

Day 1...

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This would be a good start to the year wouldn't it? We are relaxing. Master T is just getting breakfast (at 11.22am) and Miss T is baking strawberry and cream cup cakes. As you do. I didn't make any resolutions except to learn to swim properly. Like r-e-a-l-l-y properly. Did you make any? I managed to stay up until 1am-ish chatting to neighbours. Noice!

It is a bit cloudy here but soon we will gather our stuff and traipse down to the beach: boogie boards, chairs, watermelon, drinks and dog. A nice way to spend the first day of the year I think, just hanging out.

I have great hopes for 2012 which include health, happiness and love. I will cope with whatever the year brings and will cherish those in my life. I will be brave, and strong, calm and giving. And I WILL have a couple of nights away with my sister.






Ciao for now...