Happy birthday old man

I'm sure on what would be your 11th birthday, you're running around with Bria, Bella, Cian and the friends we knew over the years who are waiting for their own families at the Rainbow Bridge.

I'm sure you started the morning by gobbling enough liver-garlic birthday cakes to stuff a small army - you never were one for moderation. There are heaps of cherry tomatos here you'd be disgruntled to miss out on picking.

I rather imagine after that you launched into a pile of brand spanking new toys waiting to have their squeekers removed and stuffing spread everywhere so you could run wildly and skid, tossing the "snow" in the air to catch and roll in without being cold.

I hope your afternoon yields a field full of nothing but tunnels - no weaves anywhere.

If it's heaven it's got to have a prime napping spot for you to snooze nearly buried beneath a pile of huge fluffy doonas fresh off the wash line and warm, just waiting for you to burrowed in.

But I do wish you were doing all that here, it's not the same without you.

Not. Happy. Jan.

I had intended to come home and write up a happy post about a nice day out shopping at a childrens market and the sustainable living expo with good company - and that part did happen...

I did have a lovely day out with Sif and the adorable Ari at the childrens market. I've been hanging for this since Dec as I knew I could get a lot of very nice stuff at far less than it'd normally cost which being a frugal bargain queen I loves! My haul - 29 pieces (onesies, shirts, pants, dresses, jackets, sleepsuits etc) in brands which retail $30-60 ea (Absorba, Jack and Milley, Seed, Paradise Baby, Purebaby Organics, Minihaha) for avg $1.75 ea. We then rode the train in to the city for the Sustainable Living festival and met up with Jayne, Liam and Sienna.

At the very end, we stopped in Fed Square at one of the cafes. I'd sent Nic out to a different place to get La some food. When Nic got back and handed me the change, I discovered my wallet had been stolen!

I was NOT being careless either - I had my arm looped through the handles, so that it couldn't be snatched and was pushed behind me with my hands/arm resting on the side of the purse with the 'bulk' of the bag wedged between my back and the (solid wood, no gaps) bench to keep it out of peoples sight and reach. I did not leave it and was in physical contact with it the whole time. My wallet was out long enough to hand Nic enough to get Laurent something to eat (while telling him to get something smallish and inexpensive because we're on a tight budget atm - which the thief would have heard me say...) and then put right back in. Sif and Jayne were both directly facing me from across the table, less than a few feet away and under a security camera, in the cafe's "Safety Zone" just outside their doors - which according to the security guard who reviewed the footage missed the thief by a few centimeters due to angle. So whoever did this was an absolute pro to be able to get into my purse to pinch the wallet without me feeling anything or anyone else seeing them and had cased the area and security very carefully to know to avoid how to be in the shot. Absolute SCUM...

And the only reason they were able to get the money is because the bank decided to change our cards without asking us from standard bankcard that requires a PIN to one which accepts the easier to fake (esp if the cashier is lazy) signature. So we make our police report and get home to cancel the cards but it seems around 10 mins after they pinched it they drained the account and left us with about $2. Generally I try to tell myself if someone steals maybe they have some really desperate reason but right now I've had a very stressful, crappy week and am not feeling very charitable so I hope karma drop kicks them into the next millenium!

33 week MW appt this morning.

• I am normal (well, as I ever am)
• The dogs and kitten are as sure as La is that the MWs are there to see them and not me. ;-)
• BP is normal
• Squidge#2 measures at 33 weeks which is entirely appropriate for 33 weeks
• heartbeat is normal
• head is down
• the bits of bubs I thought were very pokey little back and bum are indeed a pokey little back and bum
• I miss having a bladder capacity of more than 0.003mL, especially when it wakes me up multiple times a night
• next meeting is birth plan meeting at 36 weeks by which point I will have hopefully switched into baby-mode. It would probably be useful to do so sometime before the baby actually pops out. LOL (Right now it's all La, dogs, training, house, birds, stuff that needs fixing around here etc! *g*)
  

We are still officially boring. That is all.

Oh. Forgot to mention. MW noticed Aussies are curious, nosey creatures given the permanent fixture of a dog stationed at my head or feet throughout the visit and watching curiously as she did the exam, took BP etc and asked if the dogs will be with me throughout the labor. "Yeah, probably. They were nearby through most of La's." Not a batted eyelash. Innit grand? :-)

As a birthday follow-up, Nic ended up surprising me at the end of the night on my birthday with a little cake and a surprise gift - a TomTom One GPS navigator! Now those who know me know 1.) I am not generally 'into' technogadgets... they're interesting but I can generally think of a million things that are higher interest for me and B.) the average gnat has far superior navigational ability to me and reads maps better as well. However I have to say, I LURVVVVVVVS my TomTom!!! Ohmygosh. Coolest. Thingamawatchie. Ever. I've tried to get lost with it and you just CAN'T. Major brownie points to Nic!

Fire-wise... this is a smoke shot facing toward Gembrook - turn the other direction and it's bright, clear blue skies and sunshine. Weird isn't it?

Fires are now pretty well looking like we're out of any danger, the weather has cooperated enough they've been able to do a lot of preventative stuff though before it heats up again, so it's actually good news despite how smokey it looks. Apparently the Bunyip fire has now covered
27,200 hectares, up from 25,000!

This has been such a up-and-down one but one that despite feeling sort of stressy in points (read: fires) still has had an over-riding lovely vibe to it.

• Lots of good stuff and feeling powerfully blessed... no other word for it, we're in such a good place and so much "GOOD" is just everywhere. Which is just, well, GOOD!
  
• Feeling unexpectedly confronted by the fires, the idea of loosing our home and stuff (yeah, it's 'only stuff' and we'd rebuild but I'd still be devastated to loose the home we've built over the past few years, photos, objects we've collected from our trips together etc) and number of people we know who have both survived and suffered under them.
  
• Saddened by the loss of one of the Aussie club members who passed away when she should have been around to enjoy the world for much longer.
  
• Enjoying my day out at the Melb Pet Expo with Sierra who spent Saturday playing meet-n-greet with the public. La contributed to excitement when he went with Nic to look at other exhibits and spent time adoring the rats (he LOVES them) with one apparently crawling up his pants (!) as well as 'accidentally' nearly ending up with a snake after he touched the cage door and it fell off! Leave it to La...
  
• Fed up with someone who refuses to accept where their own choices have landed them because everyone else but them is apparently responsible but pleased with myself because it's not upsetting me as it usually does.
  
• Very much enjoying my little man - who among other things has started this really whacky singing - just randomly and LOUDLY belting out totally off-beat, out-of-tune, nonsense lyrics with the wholehearted ENTHUSIASM only 3 year olds and drunks can manage.
  
• Training on Thursdays and Sundays. Geeze that's great! Seriously- just being out doing stuff with the dogs around other people who are of a similar mindset is something I missed so much and am enjoying every minute of! LOL
• Looking forward to the next midwife visit tomorrow and also doing a bit of shopping/crafting of bubba cloths soonish.
  

Completely random but cute pic. Itty Bitty Kitty is clearly a genius - he's doing his sums!

Remember the Chinese curse?

"May you live in interesting times?"

We spent the past few days pretty much picking up and trying to continue preparing for if there was a shift and we had spot fires here. They had sent an alert to residents to be aware of and watch for possible impact but not a full warning for direct impact zone. At any rate, there is still more to do today so that's what I've been doing all morning and will continue to be doing. At least I will go into this labor very fit right??? *G* Mind you I'll be glad enough when things are boring enough I can sit down and just do a bit of crafting at home or go shopping for bubs. (I have been woefully slack in the later department... lol)

The good news is that after briefly raising the alert the other day they then downgraded it last night and through this morning it's stayed there, albeit we're getting a bit of ash from backburns. So Nic is back at work, which I'm less than entirely comfortable with because I'd much rather have him here to help me round up the critters and hitch the trailer if we need to leave. It'll mean I need to get La into the car, hitch the trailer (my main concern - very heavy and difficult for me to hitch) then load the dogs, kitty and as many of the birds as I can cram into carriers in the car/dog trailer with some of our (prepacked) stuff. The sheep I'd have to leave, hopefully they would be able to just move through the paddocks to clear areas as the firefront passed.

To inject a bit of humor, after the thought we might have to call 000 for fire, last night we did have to call 000 for nothing to do with fires! At 2AM, a guy comes pounding on the door to say our cows are on the road and one is hit. Initial 2 am brain fog (...but we don't have cows...) quickly vanished as the potential for trouble dawned (cattle in road+night+morons speeding around tight blind curves+other morons doing the same=BAD) so Nic grabbed a torch to wave people off while I rang the police. The guy left while Nic was grabbing the torch - have a feeling he had tied a few on and didn't fancy getting a DUI. Some minutes after Nic sees a big SUV coming and frantically waves them down before they round the curve. Turns out it's the police - not realizing they passed the crossroad they'd been given as coordinates and are about to plow full tilt into the cows. Eventually the cows got to where they belonged - the gates were wide open, so some idiot must've had a prank. The neighbors who own them are older and apparently didn't hear the ruckus of the cows being pushed through their front yard to the lane to the paddocks! I'm sure they are wondering what happened when they went out this morning and found the erm.... "evidence" of the cows romp liberally splattered all over their front yard! Roadside grass is evidentally a bit richer than the cows are used to...

It's a funny sort of birthday mood today. Still feeling a bit antsy about the fires which you'd think would make it feel just grim and serious but also very blessed to still be here and not in the situation others are in which is a pretty freaking awesome 'birthday gift' in and of itself when you think of it.

Not a huge lot to report here... the day has been pretty quiet and bizzarely normal despite knowing all that's going on only a short distance away, at places we visit pretty routinely. At 3pm we got an alert on the CFA website that the Bunyip Ridge fire was extending a warning to people who lived in the areas of East Beenak Rd to Pack Track in Gembrook that while the fire was not currently posing a threat there was an increase of fire activity in the area which had the potential to impact directly. Both areas are 9-10kms from us by road, a bit closer as the crow flies. There's also been 3 grassfires in Gembrook, mostly having 2 units respond and currently safe status.

The Bunyip Ridge warning hasn't been raised to a full alert thankfully, at least as of the last update at 7:30pm, so I can only assume that they either are having success maintaining the line at this point. All day we've been able to see and hear the big helicopters buzzing back and forth overhead though and the fire is still going strongly in it's 6th day.

The idea of our home being threatened by these fires is really getting to me at the moment. Mostly the sense of 'will it, won't it, maybe, probably not' hanging over our heads and this being our first major threat making it that much more 'real'. I'd like to think it won't turn into anything, hey this house has been here since 1911 right? So I'm trying to stick with the practical preparations but I can't help but wish this bushfire was a tornado. Those I grew up with and feel a lot more confident about judging and coping with.

I'm so grateful that we're unaffected and have been so much luckier than so many by far - so many have lost their lives, their family or homes and everything they've had. The selfish bit of me would still rather this was all far, far away and there was nothing more dire to think of than dog-training, baby stuff and what sort of bread I feel like making for toast tomorrow. It seems surreal that instead of that normal stuff there could be a big fire like others have faced that takes everything at any time. It's even more damned creepy to think we could go to sleep and the winds could suddenly bring the fire to our doorstep, larger than life. I keep trying to sleep and having this horrid image of us sleeping through it which I know is paranoid and undoubtedly ampliefied by whacked out pregnancy hormones that a safety alert that's not even a full warning has me being so morbid... but it's still creepy to think about as a real thing that could happen really to us.

Just to let everyone who has heard about the bushfires know...

We're all safe here. We're not super far from Bunyip but safe enough at the moment and feeling very blessed to be so. There's been nothing worse real close than 2 grassfires, one small and one medium in Gembrook but both have been quashed safely. Fingers crossed nothing else comes closer or gets more severe although winds are predicted to pick up tonight.

We're glad that most of the people we know who are in the areas are safe, aching for those who have not been so fortunate and thinking of those whom we're unsure of and wishing all the fire crews and Army safety and success as they work to get the fires under control.

For those overseas who may not have heard, Victoria is currently being devistated by violent bushfires in many areas all around the state after a month of high temperatures and dryness, including the other day when it hit 46.3C (115+F) with winds of 67kph (about 42mph). The Bunyip fire is listed as having burned 24,500 hectares (60,540 acres) and that's only one blaze. Current death toll is 66 people statewide with many more expected to be found, with over 600 houses lost and a couple of towns pretty much burned to rubble. They are saying it is worse than Ash Wednesday, the last worst on record.

It is mind-boggling, humbling and scarey to contemplate, even more so when it is not yet over.

We meet again, Mister Tail!

Itty Bitty Kitty playing Ferocious Ninja Death Warrior battling The Evil Lace Tablecloth does not realize IttyBittyKittyTail is not Evil Lace Tablecloth.

Itty Bitty Kitty is NOT amused the human observed this monumentally embarassing judgement of error.

And it just keeps getting better!

I've got to say, life is pretty darn great at the moment!

La is doing well, I'm doing well, Nic is doing well and Squidge v. 2 is growing steadily with only a few more weeks to go! Things are still quite relaxed, although in the next few weeks we'll start to finalize preparations for her birth when our midwives come over next.

In the meantime, training has started back up last week which brought with it a behaviour discussionand tracking workshop. Then Sam who owns Veri and Hope's sister the fantabulous Jahzzy made my week with an offer of Bob Bailey's dvds which are already in my hot little hands this evening! (Thank you soooo much again Sam if you're reading!)

As if I weren't already bursting at this spate of lovely happenings, on Monday I got a phone call from the agility club regarding a spot opening up. With La chattering LOUDLY while the lady was trying to talk it took several seconds for it to tick over in my brain that this wasn't Hastings but the other club - the one I've been on a waiting list for oh... two years, hoping to get a spot in! Oh. My. There are no words for how excited I am! So Hope and I are starting this evening! (After this long, even if I was in full labor I'd be crossing my legs and down there at as fast a clip as I could manage! LOL) Besides being an excellent club the classes are also late enough in the evening Nic will be able to watch La (and in a few weeks bubs too) which has been a major hold-up with most classes as he is gone from very early till quite late at night and we've no family here to babysit otherwise.

And just because this seems to be the week for doggy happenings, while at the HDDAP meeting I also ended up volunteering to be on the General committee and we'll be at the Melbourne Pet Expo's Aussie booth, probably with Sierra. So we should have a lot of fun with the puppers coming up!

For those not in Melbourne, you may not have heard about the heat we've had over the past few days with multiple days at 43-44C (that's 109.4-111.2F for those Stateside) which has been unpleasant considering we've no air-conditioning, were stuck at home except for the one day I tried to escape to the mall (and ended up passing out at a service station I'd pulled over at part way... joy) and since we're experiencing power outages, for the duration of that we lacked even fans. Thankfully we can still get water from the tanks even with electricity out and spent much time submerged in an attempt to avoid overheated people (small ones and pregnant ones both) and critters.

Saturday was milder, at least enough that we could stand the car ride to a proper swimming and picnic spot. They have a great kids area which is the size of a regular swimming pool but not deeper than half a meter anywhere, surrounded by the lake and is fairly shaded which is nice.

La was loving the whole "swimming" experience, albeit his version involves more bouncing, running in the water and splashing than dog-paddling. In typical La style he wasn't at all cautious when it came to hopping in (we were right there mind) and managed to loose his footing in the water and dunk himself a few times, which he took in the usual "don't worry - he bounces" manner by standing up, shaking his hair off and laughing at himself to the astonishment of a few folks who were amazed to see a kid not come up crying.


Meanwhile today has been very cooperative for us weatherwise as well, so that we were able to attend the first day of training starting back up! I took both Sierra and Cami this time, as I want Cami to get in more time. Sierra (ever her completely 110% enthusiastic self) was seriously thrilled to be back again and for extra fun another Aussie was in our class - Martin with Hitch, who she thinks is really, really cool so she had fun schmoozing with him after class. LOL Typical Si she got pointed out several times as the example of a happy dog who is loving to work. Also ended up getting put onto a behaviour discussion supposed to happen mid February-ish and a possible tracking workshop in April (doh, will have to cross my legs if it happens to be around my due date!) which will be a nice one for the little black dog I think. So glad to be back! :-)

You Know It's Too Hot When...

the two most hyper beings on earth... a 3 year old and a kitten.... are flat-splat

30 Weeks

Pretty much this whole pregnancy up to this point I've been waiting to FEEL pregnant and it really just wasn't happening because there was just too much other stuff I was busy with or thinking about. Even up to last week I was saying this, despite sporting the ample evidence of pregnancy. Well, it seems this week I finally feel pregnant! Gee, it only took the first 30 weeks... LOL

After spending yesterday being much lazier than I'd intended (read: I spent most of the day playing around here with the animals and La) I had a number of what I'm guessing were stronger braxton hicks this morning which only subsided while I was actively walking and were flaring up whenever I was trying to kneel or do stuff in the garden, so we decided to spend the day walking around Gembrook for the market, the ice-creamery, cafe and watching Puffing Billy while we finished off the fruit we'd bought.

Afterward we headed off toward Launching Place to spend the mid-morning through the afternoon meandering around Kurth Kiln about 20km past Gembrook, near Tomahawk Creek and finishing after Shiprock Falls which was an easy but pretty little walk. Since no one else was there it was lovely sense of quietness and peace in the bush, despite being not terribly far out.

Super Stealth Ninja Kitty says "The chasey-zippy-mouse toy will never spot me stalking it from HERE!"

The aforementioned chasey-zippy-mouse toy, favorite of both little people and little kitties. La thinks it's too funny to watch itty bitty kitty pounce after the toy...

Itty bitty kitty is little but mighty!

"Jasp-burger is a pretty kitty mum!"

The little man has settled in well. He's not met the girls up close yet, though he's seen them while being held and coming from an Aussie owning household probably won't be too shocked by them. Other than that he's been alternately eatting, playing, getting attention (which results in demonstrations his purr-box is in fine working order) and chilling out in the bathroom where his food/litter and what is likely to become favorite snooze spot (curtained cupboard) is. Not bad for a tyke who has been here only a day!

La is fascinated by him and already attempting to clicker train him. LOL Poor lil' kitty didn't last 24 hours before getting a bizzare nickname though- La pronounces Jasper as "Jaspburger" or in moments of total tongue-twist "Cheeseburger" who came from "Gate" (Kate).
Peering out from the cupboard
Ferocious tiger kitten pouncing on paper.

Itty Bitty Kitty arrives

We had been looking for a kitty for a little while when we heard of this fellows litter. We'd been looking for a male who'd be on the large side who hadn't been born outdoors and outside all it's life, happy to live with rowdy dogs and small children as well as enjoy keeping any mice from thinking our house might be a nice place to set up house. These guys promised to fit the bill on all accounts so it was just a matter of waiting for them to be old enough to be vaxed, neutered and microchipped. Today the little guys were ready to meet us and this is the little fellow who came home.

We're thinking he may end up dubbed Jasper (we're remarkably original...) unless sometime in the next few days it really doesn't suit him. As you can see he's not much fussed by the whole moving houses gig. This was shot on my lap in the car as I was petting him and he was purring and rolling to give me better access to a sweet spot. He's currently sprawled limp as a noodle in my lap sound asleep, so more photos will have to wait till tomorrow.

Anyone have a winning Tatt's ticket to donate?

I want to go to the ORCA conference! And the Clicker Expos. And and and... *sigh*

I really wouldn't like to move back to the US, I'm happy here and this is my home but gosh darn it they have all the COOL STUFF!!!!! X-p

On March 20th, 2009: The Art and Science of Animal Training: Where Are
We Now? Where Are We Going? presented by ORCA and the University of
North Texas

Speakers and Topics Bob Bailey http://artandscience/bailey.html
Training the Animal is the Easy Part: Animal Trainer's Search for a
Behavioral Touchstone Alexandra Kurland
<http://artandscience/kurland.html> Going Micro: The Evolution of
Equine Clicker Training Kay Laurence
<http://artandscience/laurence.html> Reinforcement Patterns,
Reinforcement Styles and How They Affect the Outcomes Steve Martin
<http://artandscience/martin.html> The Art of Training Ken Ramirez
<http://orgs.unt.edu/orca/artandscience/ramirez.html> Evolution of the
Zoo Trainer: A Personal Perspective Steve White
<http://artandscience/white.html> Skinner and World Collide! Film at
11:00 Dr. Jesus Rosales-Ruiz (chair)
<http://members/j_rosales-ruiz.html> Challenges and the Future of
Animal Training: Open Panel Discussion

For more information please visit us at
http://orgs.unt.edu/orca/index.html

HAIRCUT!

Fresh from the sheers... one of the newly neckid sheep! LOL

This is one of the English Leicester ewes. (Before pictures can be seen here and here!)

With bonus "help" *cough cough* from Laurent the somersaulting tornado child.

And just a cute pic of the girls looking very sisterly and as if butter wouldn't melt, despite the fact we all know Aussies are really mud-loving, wrestling goofballs! ;-)

Pics of the girls

Verity

Blueberry watching a bird

Sierra

Jo, after a hard day of playing around...

Along with one of her favorite toys, a squeeky football

Hopie

"Ohh... what's that? Jo has a squeeky football??? Must dash!"

For anyone who hasn't heard (which I suspect is down to one hermit who lives in a cave in the middle of nowhere and hence is out of hearing range of the victory shout...) Nic GOT HIS DRIVERS LISCENCE yesterday! It took me since shortly after 2005 to convince him and after we moved out here and planned for a second child it became non-negotiable. So this is a major celebration!

Completely unrelated, I brought my camera with me while we were doing the rounds this afternoon. Some "chores" are more enjoyable than others and this is one of La's favorites... a bucket with several scoops of wheat to hand out.

Good for flinging out so that the birds all run around hunting through the grass...

giving out hand outs...

and the inevitable catch-n-cuddle sessions, with one of the Wyandotte roosters above and Matilda the Muscovy below.

Out-takes

This pregnancy is going beautifully... I've been enjoying this stage I think the most of any so far. I'm a bit more tired with the odd wishful thought of La still having a daytime nap so I could catch a rest as well but I love the constant reminders that comes with the dozens of twirls, stretches and taps I can feel throughout the day. Doesn't matter what I'm doing, it's just nice to be reminded so many times a day that sometimes life is bountiful and beautiful - even if it's also crazy and there are a million and one things that need doing, planning, working on and remembering... lol... one does not preclude or even happen despite the other!

I keep telling myself I want to get more photographs of this stage that show everyday life... it usually seems it's just me snapping photos of Laurent like the ones above and below... when he holds still!



Not that it's not nice to have some like this in it's own right but I've sort of been looking through a lot of my photos and found a lack of 'snippets of life' pictures... not just snapshots per se but nice photos that show the little moments that aren't particularly unique or stand-out but still are so important because they are the majority of what makes up our lives and are so much a part of who we are and who we become.

Nic's holiday leave is over as of this morning and I need at least a few more weeks... LOL I had *heaps* planned for this time and only got about half of it actually finished. Among other stuff:

• Fencing for the ducklings and such done, but I need to repair the sheeps small-yard. I think it also needs an extra tension wire along the top. Here's the ducklings enjoying their own baby-space, two age groups. :-)
• A bunch of large pavers and posts buried at all the new gates (8) so the dogs can't scoot under but sloping enough I can get the mower over
• Did not get the new beds I wanted to get plowed done.
  
• I made a good dent in the weeds, blackberries and assorted pruning and chipped a couple dozen loads of sticks into mulch which is now covering a fair bit of the garden beds. Planted cuttings. Still have a heap of large branches/logs to chop.
  
• 2nd coat of oil on decks but I still need to prime and paint the skirting of the house.
• Nic disassembled the small aviary to the day pen and put it on a fox-proof base so his chookie has a place separate from the big chooks
  
• The retaining wall rocks were sorted into base, large, medium, small and corner pieces and in the front has most of the base excavated and first row placed but will take another few days on the weekend to finish.
  
• The large chook shed is completely undone... I think I'm most frustrated with that
  

And these are a few of the out-takes... from when we were putting in the base-layer of the retaining wall for the dirt I'm sitting on.

Sook-a-boo... Sierra leaning in for a cuddle, looking rather blissed/drugged out might I add... (check the so-relaxed-they're-rolling-back eyes)

*HONK* While La was trying to show me how he was digging and helping (those are his arms and feet on the right) Nic caught Cami being a cheeky-baby. Poor Sierra!

And the two-fer-one special on kissie girls... Veri (blue) and Sierra (red)