Hunting for Vegetarians

"The cruel bastards!" you think.  Nahh, it's hunting that vegetarians can do without hurting fellow life forms.  Archery can get dull always shooting bull's eyes, hay bales and silhouette so on Friday we collected a variety of 3D targets from Bushbow 3D Targets. A cat, bunny, fox, boar and a deer. Keith also loaned us a running goat and 2 flying pigs for the SCA September Baronial. However, it won't all be for gentle people. The event has been titled "Hunt the Horned One" and will include Steve, with antlers strapped to his head, running like buggery from the mass of archers who will be trying to shoot him. More on the event later.

Kids' report: Skye thankfully has had no more croup but still phlegmy and in pain. Not sure if it is a sore throat or gum but she has reverted to breastfeeding which is difficult now I am returning to work.

Kirk is very obviously in need of the grommets the ENT intends to insert on Tuesday. He is having difficulty hearing the fricatives. But apart from that he seems to be fairly happy and is learning quickly how to ride the bike.

Lord Keynes had something there...

"On their deathbed people don't say, I wish I'd done more housework." I recite this every time I begin to despair of my entropic nature and assure myself there are more important things in life than a sterile home. The Toothfairy will always back me with his pithy; "There are no awards for housekeeping," which I regard as flagrant permission to go fishing. Essentially this amounts to the same thing as "I should have drunk more champagne"...the clothes and dishes will always be there so you may as well do the things you enjoy.

Bark!

Skye & I had an awful night. She barked, spluttered, panicked and gagged for breath. I cuddled her and just waited it out. I suffered childhood croup regularly so I realise that with the sun comes relief. Tonight we have some medication in case it grows worse.

Doctors appear to be popular this week. Rachel practically ripped her little toe off resulting in a compound fracture.  Today she decided she did not like the top dressing which she thought was too sticky and had me "Whip into Wendy's" to buy Co-Flex bandages which are generally used for horses. The only colour they had was fluro pink! Can't wait for the doctor to see it.  (This is revenge for all the pink clothes she keeps giving me for Skye.)

Weaning

Once again I am doing relief days, weaning myself away from Skye. They are what I call "glass of water" days - nice, but so dull so you don't want another - because the teachers must plan for the possibility of the worst imaginable teacher arriving. Rarely do I have the opportunity of teaching anything more strenuous than the components of 3D shapes so I amuse myself fixing their computers or spending some personal time with the less motivated kids in my spare moments. However, teaching staff are always lovely and generally make me feel welcome.

At the end of the day, my welcome home is quite different.  Kirk's greeting is usually offhand being busy with his own activities but Skye greets me ravenously. I know she has been well fed and has not missed me but she only accepts breast milk direct and scrabbles under my shirt to latch on and fill her belly. What a difference a few years makes in kids. For one I am chopped liver, for the other you'd think I was the life source. Sigh...and now the small one calls my breasts hither!

Quick note: Skye is crawling and pulling herself up on furniture. She is very single minded about this and will use anything to assist her quest for the rarefied atmosphere .

Bag'o'Bread

I'm experimenting with breadmaking. Today I lumped flour, water and yeast together in an old plastic bag and squeezed it until it was mixed [Kirk loved that bit]. It was a batter rather than a dough. I let it prove for a few hours and gently decanted it into a silicone loaf pan and cooked it in the microwave - 15 mins@ half power. The result is no crust and slightly chewier in texture but pretty good. I don't think it will be much good tomorrow but if you have a ton of kids turning up in an hour and no bread it is definitely and easy way to go.
No floury mess on the bench, no time spent kneading it to perfection, no double rising.

Another weekend gone

"Thank you" to the honest person who found my wallet & coin purse which I lost on Saturday morning somewhere between the markets and the sports ground.  It was great to have it returned with all my cards and money!

Kirk aced the discus at Little Athletics once again (it's that long wingspan he has) but buggered up the 300m walk because he lost interest 1/2 way and wandered in slowly around the track. Then when everyone yelled encouragement for him to hurry to the line he suddenly got very suspicious about what was going to happen if he actually crossed it and started bawling.

Little Miss Independent: refuses to be fed with a spoon. She desires to feed herself and then play in it. This would be fine if she could convey some of the food into her mouth. She is also drinking water from a cup now. No interest in bottles, not even if they have breast milk expresso in them.

This weekend we have had a lot of visitors. On Saturday Brian, Anita and Ron came to help prepare for the baronial. They finished the bridge across the creek and rewarded themselves with a black'n'tan before dinner.
Today, Michelle & Jordan arrived with "sheep in a box", Isaac & Amina came with his passport renewal for signing and Rachel & Dan brought a randy rooster for me to gut, which we ate for dinner. Imagine if THAT happened to all the cocks who harassed women. Mind you, the poor sheepies didn't do anything wrong, they just happen to be yearling males.

Last week Sean bought a Suzuki Stockman with an aluminium tray for $700. It's a very cool little toy and I hope I get to play in it sometimes when I don't have kids to look after. While Sean intends to fix it up there is no intention to re-register it. It will just be a paddock basher. Pics to be posted soon.

And finally, Sean has changed jobs to Bundaberg Housing. They are a private business who procure and manage public housing.