Out of the Archive and Onto the Blog!

Normally our wedding anniversary doesn't call for much sentimentality, but after moving this year I had the photos to hand and was prompted to take a trip down memory lane.
On this day fourteen years ago I married a guy I had known and loved for 11 years, he is as slow on the uptake today as he was back then, yes it took him 10 years to propose!
It's a weird feeling to have spent more of your life with someone than without them and when that amount of time is around 25 years I thought the least I could do was blog about it!
So enjoy my sentimental journey and fond memories of the best day ever in my life!

The most special little man in my life calming my nerves on the day and he was only 6!

 

My beautiful girls working hard to keep me under control.

 

Last chance to escape and I didn't take it.

 

Does the bride look happy?  I think so!

Do they both look happy?  I think so!

 

My favourite photo from the day of my beautiful Grandad doing what Deugardes do best - enjoying life!

 

The most important men in my life (besides my husband of course!)

They Take Halloween Very Seriously Around These Parts

Having only moved into our house a few months earlier, we were unsure as to what Halloween action we should expect this time around.  Not wanting to be caught off guard we piled all the lollies and chocolates in the house, and some specially bought chocolate eye balls and pumpkins into a bowl, ready and waiting.
Nothing doing at about 7pm so the girls were despatched to the showers to get ready for bed, as soon as they were upstairs and not dressed appropriately to come to the door the doorbell rang!  When I opened it I was faced with some pretty seriously dressed trick or treaters and I was very impressed.
Having missed the first crew the girls setup camp next to the door not to miss the next lot, their wait was made very worthwhile when they were met with this crew.

 

They were so excited with the effort these kids had put into their outfits and how nice and polite they were when thanking for the lolly booty.  I also appreciated the politeness and loved how they all jumped into character when I decided to get a Kodak moment and chased them down the street for a photo.

The girls waited as long as possible for any more visitors but then they had to go to bed given it was a school night.  Of course the minute they were tucked up in bed the doorbell rang again, we pretty quickly realised that the kids around these parts are a bit older in general than our kids, all high school age and allowed to be wandering the streets at 9pm.  I guess being dressed as a ghoul is a lot more effective after dark - or maybe they were actual ghouls...  Standing at the door this time was Cousin It, a rather bedraggled Alice in Wonderland (or Dorothy???) and another ghoulish fiend, again very polite and very grateful for the lollies.

With this experience in the back of my mind, I know I will be hounded until I give in and dress the kids up convincingly and send them off trick or treating next year.



My Little Green Thumbs

I have fond childhood memories of always having a bit of a veggie garden at home, not that I could ever stand the taste of the broad beans but they were fun to grow and Mum always managed to make the beetroot taste really good.  As an adult none of the houses we've owned ourselves have ever had any room to plant anything besides a few tomatoes in pots - until now!  Well kind of... we have this massive backyard that I could plant a whole farm in but unfortunately it is earmarked for a makeover sometime this year and any time, money or effort I put into creating a veggie patch now would be wasted once the bulldozer comes in.
Not to be defeated in my impatient quest to get some home grown produce happening I had a brilliant idea, albeit after a few drinks at a school fundraising night.  Some very clever and talented friends of ours own a business that, amongst other very clever and stylish things, make these awesome wall gardens called a VWall, they are also very generous people and had donated one to be auctioned at this function.  I slipped quite discretely away from Dave and bid until it was mine, not sure why I bothered to though as then I had to go back and tell him that it was me who bought it - and then I had to explain what it was, where we would put it and what we were going to do with it.
So with the smaller items on my veggie wish list taken care of I set about with part 2 of my veggie garden plan -  sourcing an old apple crate that we could plant up and then move around if necessary.
The only problem with my plans according to Dave is that he then has to execute them...  I don't see it that way, more like he gets to be the one taking all the credit from the kids absolutely loving helping Daddy play farmer.
The VWall was planted first with chillies, coriander, basil, rocket & strawberries, then we planted up the apple crate with zucchini, cucumber, carrots and passionfruit.  We also chucked a few tomatoes and snow peas in some surplus pots and added some rosemary and parsley bought at the school market and after much watering, waiting and watching we were rewarded with a bountiful harvest. Our first zucchini were huge and despite their size, very tasty.  Plenty of fresh herbs, crunchy cucumbers, rocket to hand when we can't decide what's for dinner and the carrots are still brewing but we're keen to try them this weekend.
Coming to the end of the season now, so with a lot of domestic farming confidence instilled we just need to decide what to plant next...

ps, check out the VWall and other very clever garden design ideas at www.h2odesigns.com.au/

 

 

Spicing It Up

It seems that our social life becomes more interesting in direct proportion to the increasing age of our children,  I guess as they get older they are easier for other people to look after.  We have a great bunch of friends who share our enjoyment of being out and about and pretending that we don't have children to be responsible for temporarily.

On this particular occasion our dynamite social co-ordinator organised a big one...  a much talked about venue around Melbourne and we were all very excited to be partaking of something from this year's social pages rather than from the newspapers we used to line the drawers or clean the bbq with.

Preparations were on par with my wedding plans, a new outfit was in order, we booked a hotel for the night, the hairdresser was booked for the morning zhoosh and the girls even booked a date with a makeup artist.

We arrived at the hotel dead on check in time, pretty much dumped our stuff in our rooms and headed off for the long overdue pampering.  The boys were left to their own devices with enough wine and technology to keep them busy until we returned.

Pampering complete, the afternoon whiled away in our hotel room(s), socialising, preening, drinking, chatting, even a very entertaining presentation on DMMR's riding escapades, and all with no interrruptions from children needing to be fed and watered.  Not sure how time got away from us, but it did, and it was 9pm before we headed off on our night out.

Comfortably ensconsed in our own private idaho the night rolled on... drink, dance, chat, eat, drink, dance, chat and then bang - GAME OVER!  the snarly waitress who had been serving us all night had cracked it, security was called and we were out on our ear(s), all 32 of them!  No point dribbling out the boring details, but for being kicked out of my first nightclub ever in 40 odd years, the reasoning was pretty lame.

Not to be discouraged from our big night out we retreated to the bar at the hotel where we were staying, 2 hours and a few cocktails later we still hadn't come up with a plan B so we adjourned to one of our rooms only to have hotel security shut down our party an hour later.  Message received loud and clear, 2am was way too late for us to still be enjoying ourselves...  Fooey to the fun police!

The next morning was a bit subdued as we all meandered into breakfast heavy heads in tow, much discussion was had concerning events of the night before and how we were hard done by.  Our fate was duly accepted and we all moved on with a bit of a laugh about the the whole thing..

Until Monday morning... the sober mind of our dynamite social co-ordinator was mad as hell and not going to take our treatment lying down,  so like a dog with a bone she took her beef straight to hotel management.  She's a mighty persuasive social co-ordinator and after the situation, and the cctv footage, was reviewed, heads rolled, someone lost their job and we were subsequently invited back with a nice little bar tab to get us started.

Our second attempt at a big night out takes place in 2 weeks time, stay tuned for the outcome!

One Thing Leads to Another and It Ends Up Around The Bay In A Day

Dave came home from a dinner with the boys one night early last year, the outcome of which was them deciding to enter themselves as a team in Australia's largest mass participation one day bike ride - Around The Bay. I have no idea how it eventuated, it goes without saying that some wine consumption was involved and not wanting to be outdone by their wives' champion sporting accomplishments in the netball arena, they hatched a cunning plan to stamp their own mark on the sporting community of Melbourne.
I had a sneaking suspicion that Dave really didn't believe it would eventuate but come Monday morning an email arrived with the entry form duly submitted and the team name revealed.
Not one for keeping my emotions to myself, my initial reaction to their team name was to burst out laughing...  I challenge anyone to look at the acronym DMMR and not immediately think it was short for dummer (aka dumber!)
Week after week Dave would disappear around dawn on a Sunday and return sometime around lunch, each time having done more and more kms and having another coffee shop to review.  They were really getting into the lingo and etiquette of the riding fraternity and taking this very seriously.
Then the turning point came, the bikes they had been faithfully riding for several months now apparently weren't good enough, the "Holdens" of the bike world needed to be upgraded to a fancier european model that was allegedly going to make the ride around the bay possible.
Like young boys in a candy shop they fantasised day after day in the local bike shops, eventually all choosing the right bike for their size and needs, complete with custom bits and pieces which all sound like a complete other language to me...  after learning the cost I was expecting to see something gold plated come through the door when it eventually arrived.
At our weekly netball match, the DMMR wives conversation turned to their husbands' new found obsession...  how many online purchases had been delivered that week and what the latest riding schedule was.  Apparently the online store of choice is something called Wiggle.com... another cause for much sniggering.
There was no questioning their commitment and the regimented dawn routine went on week after week.
The penultimate day arrived and there was plenty of action at the station as they readied themselves, carbo loaded meals were requested and an early night was in order.  One small glitsch as they attempted to load the bikes into the team van, but with a bit of perseverance and creativity all was good.
Things couldn't have gone any smoother on the day, they headed off nice and early, the weather was good, they made the ferry from Queenscliff to Sorrento in good time, in fact they were the last ones allowed on before it departed, today was absolutely their day.
They made such good time that they were finished a couple of hours before they (or us) expected too and were left hanging high and dry on the finish line with no-one except themselves to pat each other on the back, definitely not feeling the family love.  Unfortunately the big day coincided with a lot of dancing commitments for DMMR's progeny and they finished the race way before any of us could get there to cheer them home.  Nevertheless it was a MASSIVE achievement and we were all very proud of them...  even more impressive was them all being able to walk after riding 210kms!


  Our Champs!

The D in DMMR

Looking mighty relaxed one week out

Minor logistical issues

 

But we have the technology

 



Not sure that checking your messages helps in any way!

 

 

 

The Rest of the Birthday Story

After surviving the farm yard party there was still the actual birthday to enjoy. Just a normal day, and a school day after all, so we hurried through the present opening and made it to school just on the bell.

As is tradition in our household the birthday person gets to choose the dinner and lasagne was what we were having. We used the sheep’s head from her party cake for the actual birthday cake, lucky for the thick layer of icing as it took a tumble onto the floor when
her sister was trying to hide it from her and she reappeared unexpectedly in the room.  

Turning 6 is hard work and she was nearly falling asleep in her dinner, another marathon birthday done and dusted!

 

The Farmyard Party

or maybe this post should be titled 40 reasons why I should think about going back to work!

Miss A has been invited to quite a few birthday parties this year, quite normal for the first year of school I am led to believe.  After about party #4 she started to ponder what she might do for her own birthday party, albeit @ 6 months away.  This discussion was normally one sided, I wasn't buying into anything that was either going to cost me a lot of time, stress or money.

I know I should know better, but that's what brings me to the conclusion that I perhaps need to go back to work, my mind kept churning with all the fun we could have in our own newly acquired backyard that had already been dubbed "the paddock", the logical conclusion was to have a farmyard party!!!   Miss nearly 6 had other ideas, Build a Bear, Glitz & Glam, Tiny Chef, all her suggestions were shot down by her Mother on a mission with the comeback that she could do any of them when she turned 7 or even 8 but a farm party would be too baby'ish at any other age.  So 2 months before her birthday I set off on my farmyard party mission with no turning back.  Two weeks before the party she hit me with "but what if I don't want a farm party", by that stage it was met with "farm party or no party - end of discussion!"  and no I do not need to be reminded where my kids might get their stubborn streak from!

All things farm related became a bit of an obsession for me for a little while there, but I had great fun coming up with ideas and bouncing them off of anyone who would listen.  The last thing I needed was someone to egg me on but I found a kindred spirit in a fellow prep Mum who inspired me and made me realise that doing things for our kids can be a whole world of fun for ourselves too - O Yeh!

I am so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends who always come to the party when I have a crazy idea that requires more hands than I have to execute. My beautiful Mum came to town and baked her butt off for the entire week, my wonderful brother made a special trip with my gorgeous niece, he was under strict instructions not to stand around and look pretty and so was allocated duties and my amazing girlfriends went all Masterchef in my kitchen and took over food service.

So the birthday girl and 40 of her little friends enjoyed a beautiful day in our paddock with the help of some hired farmyard friends. Now I must rest on my laurels and stick to my promise that one home party per child ever is enough!