Theme Thursday: At Play

To continue in a nostalgic vein, here are my Baby Angel and her cousin 'At Play' at Grandma's house in 2002. I think the BA was 7 and her cousin Ginger was 3.

I can hear them shrieking with giggles as I look at this.

Thinking back, play often involved getting under blankets and into make believe' beds'.

Sometimes the bed was a trampoline.

( Augh! I cannot believe I could not find any pictures of her in her trampoline bed.)

Sometimes the bed was a boxAnd sometimes it was a suitcase.
Megan at A Mental Inventory is hosting Theme Thursday for the time being while AmyJo does that new baby thing. Pop over and see what other Play-ful shots people are sharing.

Theme Thursday: Fall

Of course, it's not Fall here. In the annual seasonal anachronism, Australia and the States face weather patterns at opposite ends of the spectrum and themes which prove perennially difficult to work with :-)
So as Amy Jo and her fellow Yanks produce beautiful, whimsical shots of the last apple on the tree and the leaves changing from green to gold, I give you "to fall". The verb.

This is a picture of my child falling. Yes, she is in there somewhere. She who howled so insistently at Tokyo Disney that we had to hand her to an assistant whilst we went on the 3 minute simulator ride without her (remember headbang?); and similarly at Thorpe Park when faced with the Tidal Wave (oh by the way, watch the video right to the end..it is an awesome ride!!! The bit at the end is the ONLY bit the BA would be involved with :-D). She who never forgave me for making her go on the log flume at Paulton's Park in 2001. The very same girl, this year, without further ado, very little thought and a bevy of friends, went on XXXL! (I'm sure there's a way to pronounce that but I can't be thinking about it now).

This shot gives you a better idea of the size of the ride and the action of the 'carts' as they spin.
I stood underneath ( braving the danger of falling vomit) snapping furiously and trying to 'catch' the carts as they 'fell' over me. The top shot was the best I could manage.

By the time the BA emerged, flushed, breathless and swollen with excitement at her own bravery, I had almost forgotten she was up there amongst the lights and smoke! This of course did not go down well. :-) I made amends by taking the obligatory 'group shot'.



The whole Royal Show experience this year is one of those milestone moments in the gradual move toward independence that marks the passage of 'growing up'. Last year she went with a friend in the company of his parents and they wandered the show making intermittent connections with the parent body. At about 5.30pm I arrived and she abandoned her 'mate' in favour of mum and we had a grand old time together.

THIS year we did the whole 'why can't I have a day off school to go? ' thing (don't worry I held my Flaming Sword high!!! >:-) and we compromised over an after school excursion with a group of friends and me meeting them after my musical rehearsal and doing the whole 'drop everybody home' thing. The BA said she would do the rides and all with her friends and then, like last year, join me in the gadget hall and petting farm.

HA

From the moment I arrived and tried to ring them I was confronted with unintelligible, screamed, giggly phone conversations, promises to meet 'in a few minutes' and a group of very excited, very happy teens.

Having taken her photo on XXXL it was evident that I was superfluous to requirements and so I meandered off to see the baby animals and cake decorating on my own. This was not before the following conversation ensued:

BA: flinging herself onto my back and shrieking in my ear over the noise of the fairground
rides.Muuuuuuum!!! HI!!! OMG! What is that on your head??????

Me: referring to the perfectly conservative leather cowboy hat I had purchased on special from the Scouts
Outdoor Sports shop. What? This?

BA (and friends): YES!!! Hahahahahahahaha. You are SOOOOOO funny Mum!!!!!!!!

Me: That's rich coming from people wearing halos, devil horns and flashing bunny ears on their
heads!!!

And so I felt it neccesary to move away from my chick as she spread her wings in a (relatively) safe environment in the bosom of her friends. And of course it was FINE and I/she survived perfectly well, but nonetheless it was a change.

As are these laughing clowns. Now I don't wish to be politically incorrect but was it necessary to paint them brown?

And what about this handball competition game?

Could you get any more sexist?



Or this; possibly the most tasteless super slide in history?



But the petting zoo was as good as ever. Look at these beautiful baby emus....
and those sweet chicks and their interloping bunny friend.


The beautiful flower displays were as good as ever and sideshow alley hasn't changed much. And of course we ended with fireworks.
Which I watched alone.
*sigh*
By the time I had met up with the gang and dropped all the girls off home, the BA was asleep in her seat. Not so grown up after all.

I wonder how we'll 'do' the show next year?

For more interpretations of 'Fall' click over to Cheese Party and join us for Theme Thursday.

Theme Thursday: Passage

Passage: to Australia.
SS Arcadia, January 1962For more versions of 'Passage' join us on Theme Thursday over at Cheese Party.
Can't post more now. Got waistcoats and aprons to cut out.........

Theme Thursday: Two

Had life been running very differently I would have had time to go out and be arty with 'Two'. Many ideas and images came to mind but in the end I dashed in tonight after the Y12 Dance moderation performance and the only thing I could quickly bring to mind (and hand) was this photo of the Baby Angel's second birthday cake.

I cannot take credit for the design here, it came out of a cake book, but I was pretty happy with the way it came out
Here she is blowing her candles out one at a time. Such an effort!!

Have you got something creative to share for this theme? Click over to Cheese Party and leave a link so we can visit you.

Happy Thursday!

Theme Thursday: Gigantic

Gigantic.
So many things to choose from: my pile of unfolded washing; the list of props I have to find for the musical; the pile of Year 10 tests waiting to be marked; the resentment I bear towards the men in our house who NEVER change the toilet roll (I am declaring a moratorium on this you know...I will not change another roll I did not finish myself >:-(......); the list of costumes still to be sewn; the responsibility for getting 'the bag' with the netball equipment to the game on Saturday (our coach is sick); my big fat a***................

Mindful of the pettiness of the here and now, the enormity of time and the steadfastness of God and nature, I will refrain from posting pictures of any of these and give you instead; Stonehenge. Although you can't quite see how gigantic it is cos they won't let you near it any more. Not even if you're a Druid. Or maybe especially if you're a Druid?

Actually, it looks really small here doesn't it?

Click over to Cheese Party and see if anyone else has a Gigantic offering which actually IS Gigantic.

Theme Thursday: Timing

I was overdue. The midwife, a wonderful girl who visited me at home, presented my options.

"We don't want you to go much more than 2 weeks over. If you haven't delivered by 14 days past the due date we'll induce labour. That would be Monday the 8th."

I didn't want an induced labour. I'd read about them and they didn't sound pretty. I protested.

"OK." she acquiesced,"If you're prepared to come into the hospital daily for monitoring we'll let you go over. We just need to check that the baby's not in distress."

Relief. Permission. Control.
Excellent.
But on the other hand.......
I was pretty sick of being pregnant.

What was that date again? May the 8th. The 50th anniversary of VE Day? That's a pretty cool day to be born on.....

"OK," I agreed, "book me in for the 8th just in case."

Of course the rest is history. I tried every trick in the book but that baby was simply not coming into this world by choice. She needed coaxing; so on the 7th of May I entered hospital and started the 'drugs' and on the 8th of May I was in labour.

The fiftieth anniversary of VE Day was a big deal in the UK. Street parties were planned up and down the country; there were public ceremonies; TV broadcasts; fireworks and a network of beacons to be lighted in a chain around the country at 8.30pm. I wish I knew the significance of that timing.

That morning, with the aid of oxytocin, we went into labour. I missed all the celebration. It was a long day. A very long day. I don't know how those people who supported me made it through that long, boring day but at 8.06pm my tiny and slightly problematic daughter was born. Pre mobile phones, my mother rushed off to call my father. The first public phone she found was out of order so she rushed about finding staff to help her and finally, the call was made to my father at 8.25pm.

Five minutes later, as if to celebrate the arrival of his first grandchild, of my daughter, of the Baby Angel, they lit the beacons.

Timing.


Want to see some more takes on 'Timing'? Click over to Cheese Party.

Theme Thursday: Chowing Down

Looking for 'food' photos was harder than I thought but when I saw this one I knew I had to share it. I'll have to admit I wasn't the photographer. This one was taken by my dad in 2005. That's my niece, Ginger and the Baby Angel when she really was a baby....9. Don't ask me why Ginger is wearing that hat.........!

For more photos with food, check out Cheese Party for Theme Thursday.

Theme Thursday: Silly

You see this?

This is silly.

This is booking a ticket ONLINE to see Harry Potter AND PAYING .......for the wrong night. The BA will not even be back from Sydney tomorrow and The Small Boy (whose birthday it is) will be celebrating with his Mum!!!!!! >:-(

****(insert expletive of your choice)

I hit that 'Purchase Now' button a nano second before my brain suggested I check my booking details.

Too late.

Have you read their exchange and refund policy?????

HOW COULD I BE SO SILLY???????

And of course the booking office is closed now so I can't call til the morning. :-(

Anyone wanna buy 4 tickets to Harry Potter for Friday night in Adelaide? I'll let you have 'em for $15.00 each ;-D

Check out Theme Thursday over at Cheese Party. Hopefully noone has been quite THIS silly!!!

Theme Thursday: Reunion

I wanted to be all clever with this theme and post something that referred to my waistline and Size 10 reuniting but I ran out of creativity.

I also wanted to post the last Family Photo we did, just before my sisters left back in January. Himself stood on the balcony and took us all standing in the driveway but I don't think anyone emailed me a copy!

So instead I found this one. This is from 2005 when the BA and I traveled back to the UK for the first time since we moved back to Australia in Jan 03. Here's another that I took although we're still missing one of the husbands......don't know where he was at the time.Aside from my family, these people were the most important people in the world to me in the years after the Baby Angel was born. The kids were all born within 5 months of each other and we met at Baby Massage class and through mutual friends (who are not in this picture since they moved to London). The support we gave each other through the early difficult days of baby and toddlerhood was immeasurable. The outings, playdates and wet Sunday afternoon lunches with red wine were the things that kept us together and kept us all going. The Missing Husband and Tall, Dark and Handsome up the back there, were my Baby Group with brains. Being flexi-workers we were able to meet up once a week for lunch with the kids. We took it in turns to host and to cook and those two fellows proved the best testing ground for my meagre cooking skills. They were always encouraging and generally ate everything I offered. We discussed many topics; politics, history, culture, literature, music and of course, children.

The reunion in the New Year of 2005 was exuberant and joyful. For three weeks or so we were able to fall back into our old patterns; walking in the Country Parks, sleepovers, meals, ice skating, ball games in the park. It was wonderful.

All of us have moved on in our lives since this photo. I am remarried; the bearded gentleman at the back has a new super duper job up in Edinburgh and lives away from the family during the week; Tall, Dark and Handsome became a primary school teacher and at last contact was being fast tracked into Assistant Principal; parents have passed away, kids are in High School and life marches on. Thank God.

We love them all so much and we can't wait for another Reunion although who knows when that will be :-(

Check out AmyJo's Reunion and join in Theme Thursday with us.

Theme Thursday: Repetition

Well, everyone has to collect something don't they?

This started, right down the far right hand side of the picture, as a gift from my Middle Sis when I arrived in the UK, pregnant and at a crossroads. For my birthday that year she gave me a pair of Victorian shoe lasts she'd picked up at an antique fair. A year on she came back from Turkey with a fancy pair of embroidered Turkish slippers (unfortunately just out of shot), not quite in the BA's size but as close as she could get at that time. It started a 'thing'.
"I'd like to collect little shoes," I said.

Since then Middle Sis has brought me shoes from Ecuador, Greece, India, Egypt, China, Holland and (another South American country which currently escapes me)! Other friends have given shoes from their own countries; Taiwan and Korea and places they have visited, Japan and
Hongkong.

I haven't added to my collection for a while now but I am very pleased with the repetitive sets of little toes pointed upwards on my dresser.

To see what others have made of 'Repetition', click over to Cheese Party and say hello to AmyJo!

Theme Thursday: Sunshine

A rushed Theme Thursday this week as I sit here in the freezing cold in front of the bar heater (eeek $$$$$$$) ! Sunshine is a dim memory at the moment although we are loving all the rain.
This sunshine was back in January on Noarlunga beach when my sister and her kids were here from the UK. That's Ginger, recently turned 10, and the Small Boy who, thinking back to the last weekend, appears to have grown significantly in the last 5 months!

Boogie boarding is a wonderful pastime on the beach in summer: it's not as difficult as surfing, nor does it take you out to the dangerous shark infested deep waters (;-) you think I'm joking don't you?) but it offers a sense of satisfaction and a minor thrill as the near shore waves carry you onto the sand. I think the faces tell the story.

So I'll get back to work and the bitter chill of an Adelaide winter, while you go on over to Cheese Party and see what sunshine is warming up the other hemisphere!

Theme Thursday: Family

I have been 'torn' by this theme Amy Jo. Should I give you a tour of photos past? My ancestors? Or at least my relatives? Actually I don't think I have any ancestors although rumour has it we are related to Robbie Burns.

Mind you, so is most of the NE of England. I believe he was rather prolific.

No, instead I opted for a single shot which illustrates all the ups and downs, odd balls and quirks that lurk in every family, ready to leap out at a moments notice or at least when someone says 'Say Cheese'!!!!!!!!!(My brother-in-law wonders what he has done to deserve this family)

Click over to Cheese Party and contribute your own version of 'Family'.

Theme Thursday: Relaxation.

All you have to do on holiday in Kangaroo Island is 'relax'. This was taken in January this year when my sister and her children were here. We were on an outing to Emu Bay; when we arrived we doubled the number of people on the beach.

Are you in the mood for 'Relaxation'? Slide on over to 'Cheese Party' and check out Theme Thursday.

Theme Thursday: Gifts

What price a gift?

The icing of a wedding cake by a dear friend and mentor.



A housewarming gift made by her own hands.

A 'bunny rug', also handmade, which still rests, neatly folded now, by the pillow of that not so little girl.

Yesterday we lost a dear friend. Far too soon as is always the way. We'd been praying for miracles but finally the only blessing was that the very end was brief and hopefully peaceful.

I once got to give her a gift.


We were living in the Australian Alps, the Snowy Mountains, back in 1992 when the BA's dad proposed. Away from family we began planning our wedding; themes, colours, flowers.....the whole catastrophe*. She had already adopted us, put up with our histrionics and gathered us into the bosom her her close knit family. With her myriad creative gifts she was called upon as a style consultant and of course, quickly offered her services when we needed a personal touch.

Her first contribution was handpainting the invitations. She followed this by handpainting the orders of service and creating the cake.

And she loved ducks.

She had ducks, real ones, and she had longed for a cast iron weathervane in the shape of a mother duck and her ducklings which she had seen in a magazine. It was made in England.
I made a call to Mum.

My lovely mother carried that cast iron weathervane in the bottom of her suitcase all the way from the UK so we could present it to our beloved friend at our wedding. There may have been issues with excess weight :-) but she carried it. On many occasions after that I would feel a twinge of delight as I saw the dark silouhettes of the mallard family shivering in the Alpine wind.

And now she's gone. I'll never hear her calm voice on the end of the phone again; her delighted laugh at my erratic intensity or her gentle wisdom. There'll be no more quilts now.

But what a gift she gave us while she was here.




To see what other Gifts there are to share: check out Theme Thursday at Cheese Party.

Theme Thursday: Love

December 2007

Got an image of 'Love' to share? Click over to Cheese Party and check out the 'cheese' :-)

Theme Thursday: Perseverance

Up and over Boy Z! This young man was determined to get over this log by whatever means possible. That's 'Perseverance'.

Have you got a photo that exemplifies 'Perseverance'? Head over to AmyJo's and leave a link on Theme Thursday. Have a look at everyone elses' interpretation of the Theme while you're there.

Theme Thurday: New Beginnings

Yes, inside each of these perfectly formed little tripods is a new spiky, scratchy, horrible weed, waiting to sprout. And they are now in my garden. Thanks for that, picnic blanket.

Theme Thursday has moved to Amy Jo's place: Cheese Party. Click over and see what other New Beginnings are on offer.

Theme Thurday: The End

It's 'The End' of my house in England! It was also 'The End' of our time in England as we had finished renovating, painting, tiling etc ready to put the house on the market. And look! There's 'The End' of the garden. That was just about as much garden as I could cope with! Nowadays, our big, drought ridden unloved Australian garden looks like 'The Living End'! Ugh.

Stacy has reached 'The End' of her time hosting Theme Thursday. I have loved thinking about and coming up with interpretations on themes (when I had time to think) and I would like to thank her for her dedication to the weekly event over the last year and a half. Hopefully, Theme Thursday will find a new home and Stacy will have more time to regale us with beautiful photography, stories of her DIY and fabulous creative sewing! Great work Stacy. Thanks again.

Theme Thursday: Restful

Belair National Park.

For more Restful images, check out Theme Thursday over at Stacy's.

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Theme Thursday:Laughter

Circa 2001

2009

For more laughter check out Theme Thursday over at 'The Land of KA'.