Yesterday was such a looong day. The early wake up was one thing but the ongoing and unrelenting demands of the children were another. Ever feel like some days the requests just never stop? Well on this day they truly didn't. Bam, bam, bam! One after another they fell and by early afternoon I felt about five years older and...uh...shouldn't these children be asleep now? Puhleeze?
I really love that first photo above. Ted, holding a random item associated with a musical instrument - says it all, really. He loved his violin lesson on Friday and had the chance to learn the A string, and how to roll his bow over the strings without making a sound. He loved that. Tori, his teacher, did ask at one point how often he is practising. I had to admit that it is a couple of times a day, uncompletely unprompted. And for me the adorable thing is when he's playing he really feels the passion and gets all Warren Ellis on us - bouncing his body around with the pure passion he has for playing. It is really awesome. In this photo it's just another morning in the playroom, surrounded by instruments and creating his 'band'. The other day his band was called 'Snakey, Snakey' and they played a song called 'All About the Leaves'. Don't ask, it just gets in the way of the art.
Yesterday was the Garage Sale Trail and talk about disappointed! Wah! I pottered around the backstreets of Erskineville and Newtown searching for places and found a few, but not the wild landscape of insane bargains I was hoping for. When I hit King Street with a wildly exhausted Ted who was refusing to walk, I was less than thrilled about getting him to walk much more. But we ran into Jay, Scott, Poe and Ilo, which seemed to give Ted-Ted the renewed motivation to pursue that ancient acquired skill - walking upright. We managed to get to Flying Penguin, where we scored big time! A recycled plastic frisbee, wooden stacking blocks for a baby, and a dinosaur excavation kit.
Archaeologists and palaeontologists watch out! Harriet is after your job! I thought she might enjoy this little kit and she loved it. Inside a box there was a slab of sandstone, all smooth and about the size of two big bars of soap. You had to smash it with a hammer and then delicately brush away the dust in order to expose the dinosaur nest and three free-standing dinosaurs inside. It was fabulous. Ted and Harriet sat outside and bashed away with a mix of glee and careful intent.
Meanwhile, I was inside the house, stroking my backpack and whispering "My Precioussssss". I had made a major score at the one sale where I did stop. There was an old cardboard box on top of a table...and inside said box there were bags...and inside those bags were...buttons. Hundreds and hundreds of delicious vintage buttons. Apparently the woman (in her 50s) who sold them to me had them from her mother. It was a total find. See that pile at the front? Awesome, huh? Then see all those bags in the background? Oh yes, they're filled with delicious vintage buttons as well.
Here are just a few I grabbed from the pile without really even trying to select particularly great ones. And there's a bag of metal buttons that have loads of Australian maps with Commonwealth crowns over the top of them and one that says NSW Railways. Awesome. Will have to go searching (maybe on pinterest) for something to do with a crazy amount of vintage button-y goodness).
Then just before we all bundled into the car I picked up this shirt for wearing out to all those local funky places I frequent. *cough* Although what with Ted now sleeping when I put him down to sleep I get the chance to go out at night. Of course I have yet to put that to the test yet, but it's on the radar. Oh yes! Watch out Inner West as I come for you!
And what's with the snow in the title? One of the items we purchased from the Flying Penguin sale was this vial of 'Make Your Own Snow'. Turns out it was goo and gross. But the great learning curve is - what's gross to someone over ten is fantastic fun to someone under ten. Harriet is naked next to this massive bowl of goo because she was enjoying the sensation of lathering this stuff all over her body, especially her feet.
And unlike real snow, which melts and is done with, this goo had the staying power of Phar Lap. I ended up having to pour it into a bag and, pinched between a forefinger and thumb at the end of an outstretched arm, I deposited that dubious snow in the bin. Unceremoniously, may I add.
And how fabulous is this weather? It is GLORIOUS! And not a photo to show for it. Bummer.
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