I could have gone for tinsel, but who can resist the Grumbles?!?!

Ahhh, the wonders of the urban jungle! First solo bike ride - rawkin'! Merry Christihanukawanazmass, all you wonderful readers. May your holidays and the coming year be full of joy, happiness and the occasional estactic bike ride.

Lotsa love,
Jorth and co (i.e. Grumbles and Galumph)
xoxoxoxoxo!

PS How cute is that concentration?

Too whit! Too whoo!

"Oh dear!", sighed Mr Dottlepanger as he scrutinised his rather bespottled legs, wings and torso. "I do hope I'm not coming down with the measles. That would put me in a spot of bother!"

Determined to cheer himself up (after all, too much negative thinking can make an owl feel rather dotty), he perched in front of his favourite sewing machine, and gazed out the window, hoping to spot his favourite animal, the lesser-spotted quoll. Having no luck with quoll spotting, he decided that a spot of elevenses would be just the thing, and made himself a lovely big mug full of tea, accompanied by a jam drop or two.

Things I am loving

- The above rather spiffy Jorth fambly portrait, done by the awesomely talented Aunty Cookie. Cheers, Shannon!

- The fact that the parcel containing a Marimekko fabric dress for her wee little one plus a little something for Shannon finally arrived, although it took it's sweet time about it, and had me in constant conniptions in regard to it's whereabouts. Phew.

- This biscuit recipe. Yum-o-rama!

- That Grumbles has declared that for Christmas she would like a beard. So I knitted her one. Mo ho ho!

Tradies

I've had quite the morning dealing with tradies. The first fellow, who came to fill in all the ceiling gaps, wasn't exactly Mr. Talkative, but he seemed nice enough, and did a good job. He even offered to vacuum up afterwards (admittedly after I'd vacummed), so no complaints. A chemical headache, but no complaints.

But the guy who came to replace a couple of cracked windows? Um, cracked in the head. Big time. I can handle eccentric, but when eccentric comes with extraordinarily loud and continued swearing in front of Grumbles, and ends with my discovering hundreds of tiny glass shards all over her bed, then that's when it becomes ridiculous. Not to mention unprofessional.

I was going to spend this blog post ranting and raving in a very cutting way about him, making hilarious but snide comments about his personal hygiene etc, but then I remembered that golden old rule: If you can't say anything nice about a person, don't say anything at all.

So:

However, I shall say this - don't expect too much from people wearing Jim Beam hats. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

Paper, cotton, leather, linen, wood!

On this day, 5 very short years ago, I married the Galumph!




The bride wore green, and a big goofy grin. The groom wore the darkest of blues, and an even bigger grin. And they both carried hearts full of joy, and a promise to walk together in the many days ahead.

Who are the nutters in your neighbourhood?

Grumbles is going through her 'whhhhhyyyyyyyyy?' stage. It was slow to start, and for a few blessed moments I thought that we might have escaped it, but alas, no. It's taken off with a vengeance! I wouldn't mind so much if she actually listened to my answers, but she doesn't, and it's driving me BARMY.

So I began, at the end of the question thread, when no more possible answers were possible, to say in my best Grover-on-speed voice "Because I say sooooooooooo!"

And I've completely and utterly created a rod for my own back, because all she wants to do now is make Mum do that crazy voice, so it's all "Why? Why? WHY?" But who could blame her? It's highly entertaining, especially when I team it with a mad muppet run and up and down the hallway, bellowing "Because I say soooooooo! I'm the Mum, and I know best! GAAAAA-RAAAAAAHHH!". Sometimes she laughs so hard she has to lie down in order to recover.

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In other thrilling news, I'm going on a date tonight. Eeeeeeeee! It's been so long since I've done one of those that I'm no longer sure what to do. Any suggestions, o peoples of the internet, for a night out in old Melbourne town that costs less than $50?

Holy schmoly! I should probably point out I'm going on a date with my husband. Phew! Just imagine that kerfuffle I might have caused if I didn't clarify that!

Doing the photo thang

Firstly, thanks everybody for your good sleep suggestions. Breaking the caffeine habit will be the hardest, I suspect. Such a vicious circle: can't sleep, feel tired during day, have a coffee, too much caffeine, can't sleep and on and on we go. So no more coffee after 11, as suggested by Jo. Also, a good pal told me about the breathing she learnt during her hypno-birthing classes, so each night you'll find me lying in a relaxed position in bed, working that tummy up and down as I breath in correctly. Or so the theory goes.

But really, you don't stop by my little neck of the woods to listen to me blather on about my sleep problems. You're after madcap adventures! Crazy schemes! What new adventure is that loony Jorth embarking upon now? Well, I think I might just enrol myself in a photography course. Stop the old brain from rusting, etc etc. Plus I like to be really good at things I do regularly, like sewing and knitting and now taking photos. So that's the big plan for next year. Photocity, here I come!

Mrs Jorth does Ebay

Well - good news on the health front. All the results came back, and everything appears to be a.o.k. She gave me some sleeping pills to help me sleep, which I don't really want to be taking, but I guess anything is better than the 3 hours of broken sleep I've been averaging for the last couple of months. If anybody has some ideas regarding achieving a good night's sleep, then don't be shy - pass them on! I'm all ears!

Rightio - onto the Christmas cheer. I scored a tree on Ebay! I'm not really a fan of the ye olde plastic tree, but the real ones in pots we bought kept dying on us, and I feel bad about the cut ones. Yet I didn't want to buy something brand new either, as it doesn't quite go with our plastic-free life. Yet I did so want for Grumbles to have the Christmas magic that comes with a tree, and the traditions a family can create that are associated with it (you know, like dancing around to Rosemary Clooney whilst hanging the decs, inbetween getting out the dustpan and brush to sweep up the ones that Grumbles dropped on the floor - note to self: no more clay decorations until she is old enough not to drop them). Sight - whever is a Christmas-loving environmentalist to do?

So one morning I was browsing away on Ebay, and I saw second hand trees for sale. Geeeeeez, how exciting does that bidding get? I think I gave myself RSI from the refresh clicking I was doing, but I was determined that nobody, but nobody, was taking my second-hand tree away from me!

So I'm pleased all around. We didn't cave in and buy a new plastic tree, and we've recycled (the person who sold us the tree said they were going to throw it away - gasp!). Hoorah!