It seems that playing in the dirt is good for building your immune system so Eva took this advice. Last week when we had glorious sunshine we spent lots of time in the backyard to enjoy the last burst of warm weather. I put Eva down and then went back inside to fetch the washing basket. I returned to find her exploring the dirt that Daddy had dug up last week.
Oh what fun!
This is the first house that I have lived in with a chimney. We decided to make sure that it was safe to use and so today we had our chimney swept. I didn’t even know these people still existed. Goodness knows how I thought chimneys were cleaned otherwise. The only other chimney sweep I knew of was Bert in Mary Poppins.
Peter the Chimney Sweep that I met today didn’t dance on the roof or have soot on his face and even answered his mobile phone while on our roof! He did a very neat job with no mess left behind and we can look forward to lovely fires soon!
Today Eva and I spent the day wandering in the city centre of Melbourne. It was a very relaxing day and we got to have lunch with Andrew which made us all very happy.
We rode on the tram and sauntered through the many gorgeous arcades and lanes. We visited Haighs (an Adelaide chocolate shop) and I savoured a milk peppermint chocolate frog. Eva had sleeps in the sling while I got sore feet from keeping moving all the time. I walked through the David Jones food hall and salivated over the many delicious treats on offer but managed to walk past. I saw the Westin hotel where Andrew and I spent our wedding night, the lane where we had some engagement photos taken by our wedding photographer and the jeweler where my engagement and our wedding rings came from. We sat for morning tea by a tram stop so that Eva could enjoy the passing traffic. We even saw a horse and cart clip clop past us which Eva enjoyed.
I stopped at Tourist Information for a map so that I could find Andrew’s work then we met him for lunch. It was so nice to catch up with him and Eva really enjoyed the extra cuddles. Hopefully I have some more bearings in the city after all my walking today.
We had a fabulous long weekend with time for some gardening. We “trimmed” some overhanging branches, planted seedlings, mowed and made space for more stacked wood.
We went on a trip to Bunnings (luckily only 2.5 kilometres away) and made several purchases including the new blue wheelbarrow.
I managed to plant some seedlings whilst Eva slept this afternoon which was a blessing because nothing can be done in the garden with a one-year-old except play and having fun. Eva has explored the pots and only pulled out one seedling so far. The feel of freshly watered soil and the temptation of lush green plants just little person size is just too great. Hopefully some will last long enough for her to enjoy pulling off the flowers.
Andrew trimmed lots of overhanging branches from our neighbour that has created a big garden waste pile and made the back corner of the garden brighter. He also made more space for me to stack wood this week and dug up the stones from the front garden bed for me to plant in. Needless to say he is feeling a little tired after all this effort.
After handing in two essays this week Andrew had time to do other household tasks like installing weather seals along the external doors, putting up a doorbell, installing an ironing board holder and installing a water saving shower head. We also had a chest of drawers arrive for Eva’s room so we put her clothes in then moved it around the room several times until I was happy. It’s been a busy time in our house!
To commemorate Anzac Day in 2001 Andrew and I went on a tour of Turkey including Gallipoli. This tour is where we met each other thus Anzac Day holds special significance for us. I remember feeling very emotional as the bugle played as the dawn broke on the beach at Gallipoli. As the waves lapped onto the beach it was a horrible feeling to imagine young, innocent Australian and New Zealand soldiers running up onto the beach to face attack from the much better positioned Turkish troops.
In 1934, Kemal Atatürk delivered the following words to the first Australians, New Zealanders and British to visit the Gallipoli battlefields. This was later inscribed on a monolith at Ari Burnu Cemetery ( ANZAC Beach ) which was unveiled in 1985:
This is a 20-minute video that I have been meaning to share for a while. I hope that you can find time to watch this and be inspired to make changes to your everyday lives.
The Story of Stuff shows the production and consumerism that we are tolerating in today’s society and some practical solutions to help the planet out. From The Story of Stuff: “Our Project’s focus is on systems of production and consumption—in particular the harmful environmental and social impacts of current modes of producing, consuming and disposing of material goods. Our Project is systems-focused, solutions-oriented and change-driven.”
I hope that you find time to watch this video. Remember to save it as a link and watch it later when you have more time.
Have a great weekend.
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With floorboards throughout the house we need some nice cosy floor coverings in each room. It has taken us a while but we have finally purchased a carpet for Eva’s room. She now has this cosy purple carpet to crawl across.
This carpet is from Carpets for Communities who work in Cambodia to empower mothers to break the cycle of poverty. We saw a program on them near Christmas and we knew we wanted one but have taken some time to decide. The carpet is made of post production t-shirt cotton purchased or donated from the garment factories in Cambodia and hessian sacks (used rice bags) purchased from local communities. The material is cut and rolled and hooked through.
When I went to the market stall to buy the carpet I was handed a photo of the family working on Eva’s carpet.
I had tears in my eyes. I never imagined we would be able to know who made her rug. The mother has died but the father has been allowed to continue the production of carpets. There are two sons in the photo. I hope that our contribution may mean that they have the opportunity to go to school.
The carpet is very soft and nice to feel underfoot. We went to look at a display at a shop first then emailed the volunteers who tracked down the colour and size that we were after. They sell the rugs through shops and also volunteers run market stalls. All the details are here. There are many shapes, sizes and colour combinations to choose from.
We are very proud of our investment and hope that you consider Carpets for Communities next time you would like a cosy feel underfoot.
Last week we welcomed some very special visitors to meet Eva and see our house for the first time.
Srijana and Lokraj were our host family when we spent 3 months volunteering in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2007. Since this time they have moved to Australia to study and earn money to help to create themselves a better lifestyle. It seems that our conversations and photos were inspiration to them finding a new life here. Sadly their now 6-year-old daughter Shreetika remains in Nepal with her grandparents for now.
Their brief visit with us reminded us about how fortunate our life is in Australia and just how privileged we are without even giving it a second thought. Also they were fascinated by the fact that Eva slept in another room by herself. They thought that she must be lonely and sad. Nepali children share a parental bed and are never left to go to sleep by themselves.
Srijana is currently studying hospitality with the view that this is the most likely course to get her a job and residency. Lokraj is working 60 hours a week in a plastic bag factory and Srijana works there too for 40 hours. They are tired and busy but enjoying the Australian lifestyle. They sometimes eat pizza which is unheard of in Nepal where rice and lentils twice daily is the staple diet. Srijana enjoys wearing jeans and a top instead of the kurta surwal she would wear in Nepal.
We hope to see them more often and help them where we can.
We have a very big pile of beautifully cut wood sitting in our backyard ready for the cool months and open fires in our living room.
Andrew and Bob (his Dad) worked very hard all day Sunday to make this pile of wood. Luckily they hired a very efficient log splitter which cut the logs with it’s very sharp blade very quickly. I know that we wouldn’t have a fire all Winter if this had to be done manually with an axe. I did help out during Eva’s sleep just stacking the wood for cutting, never in charge of the machine! We certainly moved lots of bugs from their homes on Sunday and also a rat apparently which fortunately I didn’t see (not sure why Andrew even told me about that!).
Now we have to stack the wood and then get ourselves organised to have a fire in Winter.
Also on Sunday (it was a Jewish company so they had their day of rest on Saturday) we had our insect screens installed so now I can open windows and doors without entertaining whole families of flies. Of course this week it has been cold and I haven’t needed any fresh air but it will be great on those sunny days.
I’ve been mulling over what to write for the past few days. Last Thursday a good friend of Andrew’s parents and a member of their church lost her son. He died in a motorcycle accident. Obviously all road deaths are tragedies but his death comes just 4 months after the death of his father to a brain tumour. This family is now missing it’s eldest and youngest members as they gather around the table. The coming months are going to provide them with many challenges and heartaches whilst grieving for two very special people. I can’t imagine what it will be like to go through the grieving process again in such a short time. This mother is now a widow and without her youngest son. There is no noun for a mother whose child has died.
Please keep this family in your prayers as they face the coming days where they will plan a celebration of his life and start to contemplate their forever without him.
Eva's Story 