Category Archives: Children & Mothering

The children are all in clover!

by . Posted on
13 Oct

Tinkerbell has been locked up behind the house for a couple of weeks now as she has laminitis.  She was therefore present for the birth of the baby who will love, master and live with her into her dotage.  She just lay by the back door all through labour and didn’t call out for Baby or make a fuss about her confinement like she normally does as soon as the sun is up.  Instead she was quiet, present and contemplative until Benjamin was safely birthed into her world.

Then Baby came down with it!  First time ever and the result of a crazy clover season.  We all have hundreds of acres of clover at the moment – too much, too rich, for all the stock.  It would seem that after all that rain and our two floods, after ten years of drought, all the dormant seeds in the ground are thriving.  So now we have Two ponies locked up in a very small section of the house paddock, and then, just when Tinkerbell was getting better, she became a three legged horse, literally hopping, and in despair I called the vet out.  She had been up to her normal Houdini escapologist tricks and somehow had severely injured her hip.  That’ll teach her, you would think, not Tinkerbell . . . she may only be hopping but she can still get out!  Electric fence put paid to her shenanigans but what with a new baby, two sick ponies and a dog who is definitely not getting enough attention I was pretty close to reaching the end of my tether . . . !
Macca came and weighed Ben and he has put on HALF A KILO – pretty impressive . . . there’s goodness in them there boobies after all!  There’s no doubt that Master Love is a tit man – those big blue eyes light up every time the milk bar opens and he starts licking his lips . . . I am trying to teach him that it is good etiquette to kiss the girls first, not go straight for the boob!!
And I have discovered that he is a complete groover – he has moves, he has rhythm, he LOVES to dance with his Mummy – will get Ged to take pictures.
All my plans of having three months off work went pretty much straight out of the window and we were working three days after the birth (pretty impressive!) and am now just squeezing it in between feeds – so on a good day I might get two or three solid hours of work under my belt – keeps me on my toes!
Ged went back to work this week, although he had done about 4 days work during his two weeks paternity leave so it didn’t feel like a holiday and nothing got done on the farm, but he and Benjamin just adore each other and he is in charge of winding and soothing the little man, and I take care of the input and while he is at home, the output is all his!!
Gotta go, I hear His Master’s Voice . . .

Waiting for Baby . . .

by . Posted on
22 Sep

I was so sure that by now we’d have a baby to share with you.  However, it was that little curly haired blonde girl who told me she was going to be a Virgo, 9 months ago.  So since she is a boy, instead of a girl (presumably that means dark haired too), it is inevitable that he will be a Libra instead!  Oh well, we need a bit of BALANCE in our lives . . .

So here I sit, gross with child, puffy feet, wrists and ankles . . . it’s not quite 2 in the morning and I have been up since the witching hour.  Tinkerbell has a chronic case of laminitis so I sat out with her for an hour, doing reiki on her gurgling tummy and tortuous toes and now I am catching up with you all . . .
Waiting for a baby to come is a very funny feeling.  You clear the decks, refuse to plan anything and then life comes calling and you have to get back into it, regardless.  I had sworn that I was going to be a little stay at home farm girl for the next few weeks.  The midwife has my 4WD in case of flood so I am grounded and dependent on my husband for his wheels.  Feeling that birthing was imminent he did a huge shop last Tuesday and came home to me smiling sheepishly saying that one of my clients needed me to second interview staff for him (all part of the ‘how we grow your business better’ service!!) so I was going to glam up, grab the car and get gone . . . .
It’s a good thing he has the patience of a saint . . . !  I got heaps of work done last week, actually, perched in my little nook above the washing machine, even though my clients have to put up with my Baby Brain, and a few suppliers have been on the receiving end of the ‘don’t mess with the pregnant lady’ temper.  My fuse was always shorter than most  . . . it’s non-existent now!
So we have been adding finishing touches – we have curtains in our bedroom now and hooks on the back of doors and all those little details which make life easier and a house a home.  One of the neighbours came over on Saturday night bearing a home-made baby quilt for Benjamin which was very kind . . . and Ged came back from the Post Office on Friday laden down like Santa Claus with parcels for this very spoilt Baby Love – amazing how kind and generous everyone has been – thank you!  After forcing the poms to go Baby Gap shopping for organic clothes for us, we have FINALLY found a nice, reasonable, online store where we love the products and they even have a ‘specials’ department for seconds and sale items – can’t recommend it highly enough: www.babyecostore.com.au
Meanwhile we are enjoying the community parenting displayed by the mixed horse/cow herd.  Arthur gets babysat by whoever is willing and can be a long way away from the rest of the herd with his chaperone.  Both Arthur and Phoenix are desperate to be friends (the latest is Arthur keeps wandering up to Phoenix) but one of the over-protective herd nannies puts its head down and charges to shoo Phee away.  The definite down side of having Arthur is that Phee has discovered a new doggie delicacy – calf poo.  I’m sure it’s very tasty but it doesn’t agree with his digestion – Ged and I are suffering from his constant and cruelly overpowering wind as a result . . . phew!
I guess I’d better go to bed and TRY and get some sleep  . . . maybe this time next week I’ll have someone to show off . . . meanwhile here’s the only baby we’ve got for now!

Belly belly

by . Posted on
25 Aug

It looks like the race is on between the two mad cows at Avalon . . . . Paddy is really ‘bagging up’ now and her udders are bigger than mine (close, but no cigar!).  It’s a close thing who waddles more and who eats more . . . we both have our noses in the trough 24/7!  Ged says now he knows how Daisy feels when paddy head butts her off her feed – I am scrapping for the biggest bowl and the leftovers now!! Maybe Paddy is waiting for me so Macca the midwife can deliver us both!

As for me, the baby is Head Down, Bum Up and engaged.  So pre-flight checks have been completed and he is ready for orbit.  I am keeping my legs firmly crossed until the house is finished, baby’s room ready and linen cupboard cleaned out and rearranged . . . . !
Monday morning saw me consorting on the phone with a couple of animal healers/clarivoyants for an article I am writing for the ongoing series in ‘Australian Performance Horse’ magazine about Complementary therapies for horses.  Tinkerbell and Ged’s mare, Mythri, were the subjects, and Tinkerbell told us that she had chosen to come into this life to be one child’s pony, for life, and I was carrying that child and this was her destiny.  So basically she is responsible for getting us all from the UK to Oz and then from KV to here and fixing me up with Ged and getting me up the duff etc . . . we always thought she was a spoilt, manipulative little tyke but now we know for sure!  The animal communicator confirmed that Mischa had been bitten by a snake, had gone very quickly (10 minutes) and so now we know . . .
The weeds inspector came on Thursday and was, as always, very helpful.  He told me that the ‘Travelling Stock Route’  on Crown Land across the river from us (where we have our river crossing entrance and Flying Fox parking etc) is available for rent.  So for $75.00 a year we get an additional 100 acres or so!  Can’t pass that up, so we have written the relevant letter.  It just means that if it ever came up for sale, we would have first option on it, and while we have a lease it can never be sold to anyone else, and we get to do as we will with it.
On Friday I took my big belly into Port Macquarie and signed up a new client – a lovely couple who import Natural Paint from Germany and her other business is importing organic baby stuff so we know how I will be getting paid!!  I swore no new clients this year so I could concentrate on the wedding and the baby and have taken on two newies in the last two months – great timing!!  Well they say there’s no rest for the wicked . . . .
I have been sanding and Tung oiling the laundry floor and glossing the laundry skirting boards this weekend as my new office ‘niche’ is above the washing machine so I can keep in touch during my maternity leave without having to trek up to the office.  Am aiming on getting Ged into the office next week.  Scottie came and did two days – one finishing the shed and making it watertight (just in time for the first deluges in months) and helping Ged dismantle the shed on his old place.  So we are very close to being ready . . . just not quite yet, little baby!
But the dynamic, over-achieving, whirlwind you know and love has disappeared and I am slow, sluggish and needing frequent ‘nanny naps’ these days.  The focal point of my day has always been my run, recently walk and now it is my siesta . . . who is this person?

It’s a BOY!

by . Posted on
23 Jun

Time is winging its way forward and the bump is growing daily.  We had our final ultrasound and apparently IT’S A BOY!!

The baby was obviously determined that there be no more confusion about his sexual identity – He had both his feet and hands in front of his face (yoga baby?) so there was an uninterrupted view of his genitalia.  I made her go back and check three times and each time she said ‘that’s a scrotum, there’s the penis’.  I have been in shock ever since!
I wandered around Port Macquarie in a daze all day muttering ‘this changes EVERYTHING’.  Ged was sympathetic, knowing I had my heart set on little Harmony.  But finally the boy in him broke through the sensitive, caring, husband – ‘he’s well built, anyway’ – TYPICAL!!
Ged is happy too because he knows that he is now more likely to get his two.  I am still going to want my precious little angel girl so whereas, before, I was happy to stop at one, now I will pull out all the stops to land my Harmony . . . more acupuncture methinks!
(oh my god, you mean I have to go through this again??!!)  Being pregnant is quite the most bizarre experience.  I’m sure it’s not natural!  First the overwhelming tiredness, then the nausea, then the constant stretching pain as the previously taught muscles of your abdomen are lengthened and loosened, the endless weeing on the hour, every hour all night, the heartburn, the hunger, the water retention, the emotional rollercoaster . . . Someone tell me, please, why do your bum and legs have to get bigger too?
There seems to have been an extraordinary level of interest in the burgeoning size of my bust as people who pitied my petite appendages imagined that Ged and I must be revelling in my new found frontal regalia.  Actually, I have always loved my little fried eggs no matter what anyone else said or thought, and luckily so has Ged.  I got another huge shock when I finally went to be fitted for a new bra – from 32A to 12C in less than ten minutes and $100 – that’s a pretty cheap boob job!!