can you tell

i don't have another adult to talk to? except you guys.

i'm off for a bath - which is exciting and ground breaking on a number of fronts. first w is asleep and therefore won't insist on joining me in the bath; second a bath is a real looxury now as we are in the middle of a dearth of water. even though it did start to rain again a couple of months ago and indeed is pouring down outside now, we have Not Much Water.

to celebrate i am using the last dregs of my crabtree and evelyn lily of the valley bubble bath. this is the closest mimic to my all time favourite perfume diorissimo, which i wear every day although stocks of diorissimo are getting to the perilous stage. so bad in fact that i have less percentage of diorissimo than melbourne has water in its dams. luckily it's my birthday soon and if some kind person doesn't buy me some diorissimo i will buy it for myself :)

naice

the lovely susan has nominated me for a nice matters blog award. created by bella enchanted , the awards are given to "those that are just nice people , good blog friends and those that inspire good feelings and inspiration! Those that care about others that are there to lend support or those that are just a positive influence in our blogging world".

i was brought up to be a naice girl and it has become somewhat disparaged as a personal quality. it has been been bleached of any colour and not valued for the warmth and affection that it should spring from. time to restore the niceness to nice, i say

the idea is that you nominate another seven people so i nominate (and i have decided that you can nominate people already nominated):
susan
susan
emily
Acey
elaine
caity
kylie

all warm, kind, sharing people and all very naice

bob, not bob and cousin boneless aka the thornbury sub branch of the cwa

are the names of our 3 chooks. a was all for calling the three of them bob, then e said 'mine's not bob' and thus the first two were named. and cousin boneless is named after the character in the cow and chicken cartoon.

they lay 3 eggs a day (although sometimes they take sundays off, leading me to suspect presbyterian antecedents), boss the cats around and generally patrol the back yard. they have a desperate curiosity to explore the laundry (which, in true inner Melbourne style, is outside) and will hip and shoulder you to get through the door as you're struggling with a basket full of washing) after i've shooed them out again i can see at least one scaly foot poking under the door and an array of beady eyes keeping a close eye on the proceedings.

i was surprised at what companionable animals they are and they remind me of the stereotypical busty and respectable cwa ladies that are the backbone of the nation. my girls look like they were born to wear aprons and make scones. they are also keen to come into the house and no doubt would put the kettle on as soon as they got in.

creative content will appear again soon - last weekend i had some fun with fabric and paint trying to capture some of the amazing colours i saw in central australia and started a small quilt. it felt wonderful being back in the creative zone and i will try and make some more time tomorrow, small people allowing.

a different kind of normal

i was just sending a very tardy to reply to an email i received in the middle of the turmoil when i realised that we are starting to find a different kind of normal.

this weekend is the first access weekend so all 3 kids are with m. and i have made sure i keep busy - no maudlin drooping about the house, i was up and at 'em yesterday. i bought some divinely sleek new cotton sateen sheets that were half price (and therefore begging to come home wiht me) as was a deep aubergine valance for the bed. the bedroom now looks instantly neater as you can't see the legions of crap under the bed :)

i bought a huge box of fruit 'n' veg - lovely tight cauliflower, broccoli ($7 a kilo - eek!) and the usual array of everyday stuff including a 5kg bag of potatoes. and bananas are now expensive again although now as astronomical as last year during the post cyclone larry great banana south sea bubble when a mars bar was cheaper than a banana......

then i hied myself off to spotlight and bought some fabric paint and 2 m of white homespun. it's been so long since i did anything creative but now there is a line of fabric pieces drying on the washing line in lovely desert colours. i'm going to try and make a small desert quilt this afternoon.

oh and textile seahorse might be a bit light on for photos for the next few weeks - a bad combination of slow internet connection and toddler dropping camera - with deleterious effects on said camera.

will report back later on the desert quilt. and thanks so much for all the comments being so supportive on the Recent Crisis - it means a lot :)

Min the Sinless

this lovely girl came to live with us a few weeks ago - i found her while surfing the local cat welfare shelters and was actually looking for a black cat, but almost fell off my chair when i found a burmese :)

she was named cinnamon by the shelter but her full baptismal name is now minerva, or min the sinless (with a nod to her former temporary name). she's a lovely cuddle puss, leavened with a good dash of burmese brutality - if you get above yourself she will give you a bite (not malicious but definitely firm)

and some other additions chez seahorse during the great blogging drought are the thornbury sub branch of the cwa - also known as bob, not bob and cousin boneless. 3 very matronly and productive isa brown chooks