Chook chook chook

The chooks are getting bigger and braver and just tonight I saw Miss Dangermouse (the black silkie) actually attempting to go UP the ramp. 

She has of late been managing to get down it in the mornings but still would not go up. 

Until tonight.

But she was nearly thwarted by her mates, who sat at the top of the ramp watching her and would not move their feathery butts out of the way so she could step off the ramp and head inside. 

Poor thing, couldn't go back down because she was facing up but couldn't get inside, hubby and I just stood there laughing at the lot of them.

No one's ever said chickens are clever, have they?

The garden's been tootling along alright, it got a bit hot for a lot of the toms there but we have been managing to eat some fresh every day.

And see that funky looking thing on the left? That's our new compost bin, of the spinning variety. 

Little man in the picture wanted a ride in it, asked me to empty it of the chicken infused straw I had just put in and give him a spin.

I was tempted...

Want some sad songs?

Ya know those odd days when ya just wanna indulge your weepy mood?

Let me help you out.

And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

The Pogues

Cat's In The Cradle

Harry Chapin

This one not weepy perhaps, but still...

I Was Only 19

Redgum

Feel free to indulge with me, if ye be in the mood....

Wyandottes and silkies - the new members of our family

See who arrived at our place for Christmas...duly named by their proud owners...

Dangermouse

Penfold

Anakin Skywalker

Shuttle

All a little bigger and braver now, the wyandottes are bantams and the silkies just stay small.....I think.

I didn't do much research, beyond looking up the council rules and regs. 

So now, as well as putting my boys to bed, I put these darn chooks to bed too.

The silkies won't go up the ramp...I discovered silkies don't fly, hence their reluctance to use the ramp and they are inclined to sleep in a heap in the corner. 

Which is ok, except Anakin and Penfold won't go anywhere without their fluffy friends. So they all snuggle in in a corner of their run downstairs. Which again is ok, except when it's cold. Like tonight. (What's up with this WEATHER?? I have my electric blanket heating in the middle of summer.) 

So, after the boys are in bed, I go out and lift Dangermouse (black) who is particularly timid, up into the more enclosed upstairs area. Then I lift up Shuttle (white). Who will go down the ramp, but not up. But she squawks for Dangermouse if one is upstairs and the other not. And the wyandottes won't go up if Shuttle is not up. So up she goes. Then the other two squawk confusedly for a bit, then follow the fluffies in a series of hops and flutters. 

And they all settle in for the night.

In the morning, Shuttle, Anakin Skywalker and Penfold have always made their way downstairs, but Dangermouse just will not go down the ramp. So I lift her down or I'm sure the silly chook would just stay up there and starve.

Here are my boys on Christmas morning...see the miniature cherry trees in the background? 

The boys love having their own trees, I can't help but wonder though, are we the only weird parents who give our kids chooks and trees for Christmas?

Keep the kids busy with a potion lab

I came across this idea on some cool blog (that I now can't find or remember) and thought my kids would love it. 

A potion lab, just the thing for a bit of magic, or maybe some scientific experimentation if you prefer.

I saved up any plastic containers I came across for a couple of weeks, then on a sunny but cold Saturday morning away we went. We did this in that time of year when Saturday Auskick had finished but cricket had not yet begun, so Saturdays belonged entirely to us for just a little while. For better or worse.

Many containers, a funnel, food colouring and water. 

Easy. 

The boys even managed to refrain from dumping/throwing/pouring the water over each other for most of the time. We did end up with a fair amount of mess and the colours all blended to a nice murky brown of course but my little magician and scientist loved it.

The Melbourne Zombie Shuffle...

The boys and I went to a Halloween party last night, the boys dressed as ninjas and me in my regular duds, as per the invite. It was fun, lots of kids and as the night wore on, Mr 6 stuck closer and closer by me, eventually saying "it's just a little bit too scary for me mum". 

Think life-sized skeleton bride standing in one corner, massive spiders and webs everywhere and a cackling witch head on the table. Not being brought up with Halloween, all this spookyness is pretty new to them; in general, they coped admirably.

I even made these cupcakes for school on Friday. 

Because I, in my genius-ness, thought Halloween was today, Sunday, thereby making Friday the logical day for bringing Halloween cupcakes to school. Now I feel really smart. 

Never mind, they were cute and everyone enjoyed them.

And have a look at this, the 2010 Melbourne Zombie Shuffle.

Freaky stuff!

BOO!

School hols over and back to the routine

Life has been a bit off-kilter here because my dear hubby was away for a month....yes, a month!....including the two weeks of school holidays. Ai yi yi! 

We survived, obviously.

The school hols we spent at The Farm which was just fabulous, joined at different times by one of my sisters and one of my brothers. The boys were in heaven, and so was I most of the time. 

Photographing a squashed-on-the-road snake.
No photos of the live brown snakes we saw though.

Feeding the farm dogs.

The helmets were so cool, they wore them everywhere the first few days.

About to go on a platypus hunt. 

Unsuccessful as it turns out, two loud little boys don't help, I'm sure.

Glorious view in the morning as the fog lifts.

The stillness and blissful quiet was broken from time to time, by some very, uh, tuneful singing. And loud keyboard. Turn up the echo on the karaoke machine and I'm sure every sheep and every cow in every bl**dy paddock could hear us.

Er, I mean them. Well, mostly them.

More morning views.

Loads of mud around after the storm that apparently just about drowned Melbourne.
Ah, the bliss of living on a great big hill.

Here is the aforementioned rain.

These were inspired by Mr 6 seeing three baby rabbits out the bathroom windows one morning.

And this set Mr 6 into "Can I have a pet, pleeeeeease?' mode.
(There may some bantams coming for Christmas if I can find some young ones, shhh.)

The view again. Yawning yet?

Lots of art happened.

A true picasso, that green smear is the dead snake from the first photo.

'The bog' as the boys called it. An overfull stream in reality.

Bullseye!

Hanging out in the Goulburn River.

Yep, a great time was had by all.

Mr 6 is now back at school, hubby is home and life has regained some semblance of normality.

Yay!

Tired, tired, tired

I gotta get these boys to sleep all night for a few nights in a row to recharge myself I think. The boys have had a run of colds, unusually for them, and the last one has left them both with a fairly chesty cough.

 Fun. 

Last night at about 8.30pm Mr 3 woke up in a tizz, which very quickly degenerated into an all out screaming meltdown, that went on so long it actually woke up big brother. 

Fabulous.

 So now two kids awake and mum's plans to do various house and kitcheny things all evening fly out the window. That's when I'm already kinda tired from whoever it was that woke up the last two nights.
I can't remember who, I'm thinking they tagged teamed it.
 I do remember one of them was Mr 6, who woke up sobbing because he dreamed he lost his Milo cricket bag. Right.
Add to that two wet beds in row from Mr 3 and a lot of rain, so wet bedding draped everywhere and occasionally stuffed into the dryer. 

Ok.

Today Mr 6 came home and told me they've been watching High School Musical at school. 

Actually, he told me they finished watching it today, as they watched the first part yesterday.

This is a film about American teenagers and their relationships.

I cannot see in any way, shape or form how this is appropriate viewing for a class of 5 and 6 year olds.
Aside from the fact I don't send him to school to WATCH TV.

I am beyond annoyed.

Now, just to remind myself I do love being a mum, even when I'm tired and my kids are sending me round the bend, I give you this photo: 

Mr 3 year thought Buzz Lightyear and Zurg could do with a makeover. 

Much improved, don' cha think?

That was before he started jumping off the desk onto my bed. 

The last time of which he landed oddly and rolled round in laughing agony saying he'd broken his jacks crackers.

Oi

Lord give me patience and let my children sleep all night. Please.

Matching pants and environmentally friendly weed killer

My little monsters today....

As soon as the temperature rises above 12c, they are ready to get their gear off and race round like mad things outside. It didn't actually reach 25c I'm sure, but that did not deter them one little bit.

Do ya like their matching shorts?

Haaaahaha, yup, I've turned into one of 'those' mums, but I just couldn't help myself when I found them in Mr 3's size. The boys think it's cool, so I'll milk that for what it's worth while I can. Poor things.

I thought I'd give the new veggie garden a sprinkle but that soon degenerated into a bit of a free-for-all with the hose...

They don't need a beach to have fun with their bodyboards, either.

And, just LOOK at these dying weeds:

( I just know you're drooling with excitement)

My mission was to find an environmentally friendly weedkiller.

Answer to problem: straight white vinegar in a spray bottle.

Now, these are not huge weeds, as evidenced by the toe of my shoe, but I sprayed them yesterday afternoon and they are surely looking very much worse for wear now. Whether or not vinegar would work on the waist high jungle that was our backyard a few years back I'm not sure.

So, armed with vinegar for weeds, and a torch and my husbands big ol' shoe for snails, I am all set for gardening this summer. Yeah.