It was a funny day today. Funny/wierd not funny/ha ha. We had so many jobs that we wanted to get done ( the usual Sunday thing) but so many other things happened to happen that the day turned out totally differently.
When I got up this morning I checked on the cat first thing because he's been a quiet sick for a couple of months and yesterday I got a big paralysis tick off him. He seemed a bit more lively than he did yesterday afternoon so I was feeling all good and positive about that. Mid morning Peace came in to tell me that the cat had died. It was very sad and the kids were all upset but I was impressed with how easily they can express their grief. Since we've moved to Rainbow Love Farm we've all experiensed a bit of a confrontation with the cycle of life and death. Our first year here a couple of chickens were sick and died and then a couple were swallowed by a massive carpet python. Two litters of Guinea pigs have died before we had the last four babies and now the cat. I feel grateful that the children can experience this, though, as sad as it is for me to watch them with tears falling. For so many people death isn't discussed and it is hugely confrontational when it happens and very hard to deal with. I suppose the death of pets gives me a chance to discuss spiritual ideas with the children.
Mid morning I had to go and pick up my niece who is staying the night. Because it is a long way I was meeting my SIL Miss Demeanor half way. When I got to the park I realized I had a flat tire. Well, the car is just new (second hand-new) and I couldn't find the jack but I wasn't even stressing. I have been known to stress out occasionally! I just thought that I would do what needed to be done and I wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere so it didn't really matter. SIL had a jack and we changed the tyre in lightening time. Funny thing was when I first pulled into the park this young guy got out of his car and said 'do you know you've got a flat tyre.' I said yes and he just walked off. You'd think he'd offer to help! (Maybe I was feeling a bit maiden-in-distressish.) But after we'd changed it this old guy who'd been fishing down at the river walks up and offers to help. When I said I'd finished he told me it was the first time he'd ever heard of a woman changing a tyre by herself and gave me a pat on the back. It was just wierd!
The afternoon was a bit mellower. I picked the first zuchini from the garden.
Then was entertained by the kids doing a play over at the cubby house. It was called 'Two bad pirates and the nice girl.'- very post modern. Peace tried to get some building done but kept getting attacked by a band of marauding pirates.
This afternoon I sat on the back veranda and enjoyed the view as the sun went down. It's nice to be able to walk out the door and look at the mountains. I really love the view from this side of the house. When we first moved in there was a veranda out there but we walled it in to make a bedroom for the two oldest children. Now we've got the new deck and doors leading out there it's become my favourite spot to sit.
I was contemplating something I read the other day. If you could do anything, without any retrictions what would you be doing now? Well, I decided that I would probably be doing this. Sitting enjoying the view, living in the country side, loving my four angels. There are many dreams to come true yet but lots of them are already true.
It looks a lot like a building site... well I suppose it is.
Planted some lilli-pillys and wattles and a couple of other native trees ou tth efront this morning. By next year we might have privacy from the road. And we can run around in the nude if we wish. We've still got so many platns waiting to be planted but we can only water so many by hand so we'll do another lot next week-end. There's a big Old Hamii Bamboo I can't wait to plant.
It's all been built from reclaimed materials, old fence pailings a neighbour was throwing away, paint from the tip-shop, timber from skips at building sites. The whole thing, extensions included has costed about $80.