Jikana Damaru

In a tree far, far away...

Last night the Tsunamis and I finished reading 'The Faraway Tree'. It's the first 'grown up' book we've read the children from cover to cover and they absolutely loved it. I had searched far and wide for a vintage version but ended up with the new release. Fanny is now Frannie and Dick is now Rick. Which is probably just as well. They are cousins, after all.

Maxi-Taxi was thrilled when I announced the new book. I think he thought we were launching into a new version of Star Wars. Far, far away tree, you say? I'm there. There was a bit of confusion when meeting Joe, Beth and Frannie, but he soon got into it. Before you knew it, I was calling him back as he raced his friends into the bush behind our house in search of the Faraway Tree. I can't imagine what his mates thought as he babbled on about Angry Pixies and Saucepan Man, but they seemed to take it in their stride.

It's magical sharing a treasured childhood story with your children. There's apprehension - what if they don't like a book you found wonderful? There's wonder as you realise that even in a world full of 3D and CGI, young children haven't lost their ability to be captured by story magic. There's the joy of sharing a little piece of your own childhood.

Cappers is a bit meh, but she's coming around to the idea of stories without pictures. The Badoo turns somersaults as we read, but she's inclined to do that whatever the story. Maxi-Taxi is captivated and begging for more.We're staying with the Faraway Tree for now. 'The Folk of the Faraway Tree' has been ordered by our local bookstore for the next installment of Enid Blyton merriment. Or should we wait for the CGI 3D movie version?

11 Months

I can't quite believe my little Indi will be one in a few short weeks. Here she is just last week at 11 months. This past few weeks has seen her a bit out of sorts with her first bad cold - so not used to her being grumpy.

The past few days she is happy again but up to mischief! She has learnt to pull herself up on the furniture and today I found her climbing the stairs - the dangerous and tricky stage has begun but looking into those beautiful eyes makes it all so worth it!

wordless Wednesday

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A New Look

What better way than to kick off the first day of winter with a makeover!

I hope you like my new look - it always feels so exciting and refreshing when things are new so welcome to the new Mrs A in The Cove - I hope you stay a while.

Thank you to Carolynn from I Love My Blog Makeover for my lovely new look.

A Lamp for the Price of a Sushi Roll!

mmmm, Sushi.

Oh by the way, here's the world's easiest way to pimp a plain Ikea lamp:

Buy a packet of pom pom trim for $2.50 at the local haberdashery store:

... and lazily stick to said lamp with a bit of double sided tape. Finished product resembles this:

Ok, the trim is a bit higgle piggle but no matter, I think I'm going to pull it off to glue it properly down anyway. The tape was just to sample the finished product to see whether I liked it. And I do!

Quick, what can I do next?

If the shoe fits... and even if it doesn't.

The Badoo has adored shoes since birth. She was my only baby who wore shoes prior to walking, simply because even at 6 months it was obvious that she loved them. I bought her a little pair of 'pre-walkers' and they were never off her feet. She graduated to her sister's shoes as soon as she could stand, worked her way through my collection of flatties not long after and then before she could run she was in her Zia's sky-high stilettos which even 13 sizes too big she walks in better than I ever could. At almost-two she insists that everyone around her is wearing shoes (she heads off and gets you a pair, brings them over and puts them on you. Doesn't matter if they're not actually yours). She carries extra shoes wherever she goes and is not fussed if she is wearing a different shoe on each feet and on the wrong feet. She changes her shoes a minimum of ten times a day. She wears shoes to bed.

So it comes as no surprise to learn that while viewing the Biennale exhibition on Cockatoo Island with her daddy on Saturday (mum was burning up the tarmac on the Snowy Mountains Highway at the time) she decided to help herself to a shoe that was part of one of the exhibitions. LOML said her look was one of utter concentration as she carefully tried this way and that to manoeuvre the shoe out from under the guard rail. She was beside herself when she was dragged away. My shoe, she screeched, MY SHOE! (My art, the artist shrieked, MY ART!)

Back when I had normal-size feet (a dainty size 9) I too had a glorious shoe obsession. Prior to pregnancy stretching the ligaments in my very high-arched feet one and a half sizes (up to a, gasp, no really, not joking, 10 1/2) I owned over 30 pairs of loveliness collected from all over the world. The best thing about coveting shoes was that no matter how much my weight fluctuated, a beautiful shoe still fit. Little works of art, lined up by colour and giving such pleasure.

Now I'm shopping for shoes at the chemist.

But, no mind. The Badoo is here. And she loves my old shoe collection even more than I do.