A Kelpie on the work/ play balance.

This is Becky. 

Becky with the big brown eyes.

And the big bat ears.

She's a Kelpie, an Australian working dog. They are extremely intelligent and hard workers. Making them quite handy to the farmers of this country (just ask Miss Grey).

But Becky isn't all work.

An education

Today I read a very interesting post on a great blog ( A Cup of Jo ) about how to talk to kids. I was just about the youngest in a small family so I've had very little experience with kids and as I am only human, what is unfamiliar is frightening. I was always happy to look after the neighbours horses rather than their kids. Not a whole lot has changed, I am still much more comfortable with 800kg of unpredictable hooves and teeth than that small bundle you've just thrown into my arms.

This post has come at a great time as more of my friends start families. As I am now a full blown grown up I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to avoid eye contact with children, terrified they'll try to engage me.

Here's a really interesting article by Lisa Bloom about how to talk to little girls. Bloom is adamant about not focusing on saying how cute/adorable/pretty a girl is but on what she is reading, what she likes about the world and what she doesn't. She wants us to ask kids about their mind, not their dress.

 Now I think this article applies to little boys too (whilst body image issues are generally associated with girls  boys are increasingly being affected as well). I don't really want to get near the gender stereotypes side of things that the article touches on because it's such a complex issue that thinking about it just over whelms me.

 I used it simply to get a couple good ways to conquer my fear of those kidlywinks. And as it turns out, you treat them just like people. What a revelation! 

  

When Life Gives you Lemons, Make a Cushion.

You may remember me writing about sewing, but probably not so it's here. Anyway it didn't work as well as I had naively hoped. As I sewed the felt ribbons together they would stretch and the rug took on more of a rainbow shape then the more common rectangle rug-shape. With the addition of each ribbon the curve would get worse until I had inadvertently created something that wouldn't look out of place at a gay pride parade. So I admitted defeat and unpicked it at the point where the curve was least noticeable. I found some wool that I had lying around and made it into a rustic cushion. Very rustic*.

The end result-

 

 

For my next trick I will be doing personalised bunting and don't worry internet, there will be pictures.  

Em

 

 

* Rustic here meaning wonky and a bit lumpy.

The Not-So-Welcome Swallow

There is a dam near the house that has a lot of feathered traffic, it's an ideal spot to sit and watch the comings and goings. It also makes me feel like Indiana Jones as I army crawl up the side of the dam wall and slowly peek over the top for the first time to see who or what is wadding/swimming/flying/stalking/eating/sleeping in and around the edge of the water. Some times it is a relatively unusual Spoonbill or the more common Mudlark. Today I watched a Welcome Swallow feeding, before being rudely interrupted. But before I get into that a bit more on the Welcome Swallow.

Bird Life Cont.

So to pick up from where I left off, the Mickey Miner. Also known as a Yellow-Throated Miner or Dusky Miner. My field guide describes them as aggressive and dominating. From what I've seen this is very accurate.

 ....

Bird Life

I've been getting to know the locals around here over the last couple of months. I have stalked them, listened to them from afar and ignored their sideways glances as I've appeared out from behind a tree with camera in hand.

Sew, looks like I have a new hobby.

I'm not sure what I was thinking when I bought the sewing machine (Well that's not true I knew exactly what I was thinking, I was thinking “Holy cow that sewing machine is 50% off, you have yourself a deal surly teenaged Target employee!”).....