Hot and Uncomfortable

It's Autumn here in Tasmania and one would assume that the weather would begin to change. Wrong! We have had some of the hottest days of the year so far in this week past and I am not enjoying it. Being pregnant in hot weather is not much fun. Work has been a battle...my new office/teaching room is at the 'top' of the school (my school is set on a hill) and trudging up and down the hill and three sets of stairs, numerous times a day, is really taking it out of me and I'm feeling very hot and uncomfortable and full of aches. I am still in love with being pregnant, though, and love seeing my bump grow each week.

My bump this week, plus a photobombing cat.

My little family is away on the mainland for a special family wedding this weekend, so I'm home alone. It is so quiet without them! All I feel like doing is lying around on the couch with the air conditioner going and watching mindless television, while eating copious amounts of icypoles. Though I did have a lovely morning tea with friends this morning and some random K-Mart wandering time.

 

Little Miss Faye is finally settling into the new house and enjoyed having me- and the couch- all to herself last night.  

 

 Doesn't she look sweet and innocent? Well, if you look closely at the next picture you will notice some lovely claw marks in my hand. She decided that under no circumstances was I to stop rubbing her belly, and every time I tried to pull my hand away she hooked her claws in deeper- while purring louder. Thanks Faye.

In three weeks I start my maternity leave, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't counting down the days. Work this year has proven to be quite stressful and not as enjoyable as I would have hoped, and I feel very happy with my decision to start my leave a few weeks earlier than I originally had planned. I already have a list of things I want to get done in the first few weeks of my leave before I get too exhausted (and huge). 

Everyone in the house is getting more and more excited about our new family member, and Harry and Mikayla couldn't resist trying out the new cot.

 
Jasper is so excited he had no choice but to retreat to his bed and suck his rug. Oh, wait...that's just Jasper.

And Johnny is either excited, happy, or just hot...it's hard to tell.

I'll leave you now as I feel the urge to jump in my third cool shower for the day and eat another icypole (no, you don't need to know what number icypole it is). Bring on the actual autumn weather!

 

Love,

Bebb

 

Three Days, Two Islands...Part Two

My parents are amazing. They are very outdoorsy, adventuresome souls who do a lot of bushwalking, kayaking, abseiling etc and I grew up loving those things too. In 2010 they spent several months as the caretakers on Maatsuyker Island for Parks and Wildlife. They were the only people on the island and had to take all their food and supplies with them and were very busy sending weather reports, doing maintenance work on the caretaker houses and lighthouses, etc. Last year they did a similar stint on Bruny Island and are back there again for six weeks. After bidding farewell to Hobart and Jude, Georgie and I set off to visit them. First step was to drive to Kettering and take the ferry across to the island. The drive seemed pretty short as we did lots of catching up in the car and laughed a lot. Here's beautiful Georgie on the ferry.

Once we arrived on the island we had another drive ahead of us- all the way to the other end of the island to the National Park, where Mum and Dad are living in the caretaker's cottage at the foot of the lighthouse. As we zipped along past paddocks and sheep, with no ocean in sight, I remarked to Georgie, "Wow, I can't believe we're on an island." She replied, "Um, we were just on an island, remember?" Oops. Sometimes I forget that Tasmania is an island itself.

After a few stops, including one at the fudge factory to buy gifts for our menfolk back home, we arrived in the National Park and began driving along a dirt road. The drive seemed so long and into nowhere that we began to get a little nervous that we were going the wrong way. However, once we caught sight of the lighthouse we knew we were on track. We arrived at the caretaker cottage and were greeted by my parents, who were waving off some tourists. People arrive to see the lighthouse all day every day and part of Mum and Dad's role is to answer any questions and let them into the small museum. It was great to see Mum and Dad. They showed us the cottage and then Mum asked if we wanted a room each, or if we'd rather "share one and giggle all night". We chose the second option, partly so we could indeed giggle all night if we so desired, but also because as beautiful as the cottage was, it was old and kind of spooky. After we dumped our stuff, we all set off for a walk down to Mum and Dad's very own private beach below the cottage. On the way we passed a lot of graves...three children belonging to lighthouse keepers have died here, many many years ago. It's quite sad to see how young they are on the graves. There was also a pet cemetary with a lot of graves. Again, sad, but adds to the slightly spooky vibe...

Not many people can say they have their own beach, and in such a beautiful place. Pity it wasn't really warm enough to swim. Plus the hundreds of dead bluebottles put us off a little! They aren't always there though and Mum has been enjoying the water.

I love the following shot of Mum and Dad. In the distance you can see the lighthouse, and below it the caretaker's cottage.

We got back to the house to find some more tourists had arrived. Mum and Dad started chatting to them and they expressed shock that Georgie and I weren't wearing jackets. We explained that we had gotten hot on the walk back up the hill from the beach, but they still thought we were "very brave and tough Tasmanians". After they left, we headed inside for nibblies and drinks before dinner, which Mum and Dad call Happy Hour, and all attempted to eat our own body weight in Bruny Island cheese. The turning circle where tourists park is visible from the kitchen window and we noticed another car pull up. Dad went outside to talk to them and minutes later zipped past on a bicycle. I found this quite funny as I hadn't even known he had brought his bike, and when he came back in I decided I wanted a go. Georgie and I went outside and I quickly realised the bike was far too tall for me and posed with it in front of the cottage instead.

However,  not content with this, I decided to run with it up the road, being watched by some bemused tourists who probably thought that I lived there, and that living out there in isolation had sent me a little crazy. I, however, blame the cheese for my bicycle hijinks. Even though I wasn't even riding it, I got distracted by seeing Mum and Dad laughing at me through the kitchen window and managed to crash into a ditch.

Hey, it takes a lot of effort to be this clumsy.

After dinner, which was one of Mum's delicious stir-fries, we headed up the hill to check out the lighthouse, marvelling at the hundreds of rabbits we could see. Bruny Island has a terrible rabbit problem and we couldn't believe how many there were.

Once we reached the lighthouse, Dad pointed out some landmarks, looking very official in his Parks and Wildlife uniform. The lighthouse isn't open to the public, but one of the perks of being the daughter of the caretakers is that we were allowed inside.

We went inside and started to climb the steep, 100 year old spiral staircase, with thirteen metres to the top. Now, I should say here that I never used to be scared of heights. From the age of 12 I have abseiled from bridges, sheer rock faces, water towers, etc. But 5 years ago I had an accident while abseiling (the details of which can wait for another day) and ever since then I haven't felt comfortable with heights. I honestly thought I would be fine climbing to the top of the lighthouse, but about halfway up I felt sheer terror hit me. I kept going and made it up but was not feeling happy. Dad took Georgie out onto the ledge but couldn't convince me to go. I told Mum that I couldn't go back down. Going up had been bad enough but at least I hadn't had to look down as I went. Mum and Dad assured me that I would be fine, and that it would either be head down or sleep there. Neither option was particularly tempting, but I started down. I felt truly frightened...sweaty, breathless, pounding heart. I am ashamed to say that I, a grown woman of 27 years, had to hold my mother's hand the entire way down. She was great, very reassuring and gentle but also no nonsense. Example, about halfway down:

Me: "Oh hell, oh hell, I shouldn't have come up here in the first place."

Mum: "Well, you did. Keep going."

Obviously, I made it down, gave Mum a hug and thanked her, and then took a photo of Dad and Georgie from below as they merrily skipped down, terror-free. I think I prefer the view of the lighthouse from solid ground.

After an evening game of Canasta back at the house (which, despite a shaky start in the first round, Georgie and I won), it was time to meet Blondie. Blondie is an albino possum who has been fed by caretakers for the past fifteen years. We went outside, Mum called his name, and lo, he appeared.

So did another possum, who ran at Georgie and made as if he was going to climb her leg. Understandably, she made a quick getaway.

Most possums that are used to humans can be a bit bold and greedy, and you have to be very careful if handfeeding as they can bite you instead of the food. However, Blondie is very polite and gentle. Mum and Dad were calling Blondie a 'she' until I noticed that 'she' had two, ahem, things that lady possums don't usually have. Mum calls the other possums Pirate Pete, collectively. Blondie (or Blondo as we surmised HE should perhaps be renamed) is really quite gorgeous.

Mum and Dad have to be up at 5.30am every morning to do the morning weather obs, so they headed off to bed soon after our possum feeding expedition and Georgie and I hung out in the lounge room, chatting, and went on an excursion outside with headtorches to look for wildlife. We managed to give each other the creeps- it was so dark outside- and having a bird flying at our heads out of nowhere didn't help matters. We went back inside and into the kitchen, only to have the same bird bashing against the window staring at us. Creepy.

We were up talking (in whispers) until pretty late, so when Mum burst in at 8am declaring "Wake up, it's the fun police!" we were both a bit groggy. After breakfasting and checking out another beach we farewelled Mum and Dad and set off, stopping to buy more fudge as we had, ahem, 'accidentally' eaten our gifts for the menfolk the previous evening.

After a drive back to the ferry, and then from the ferry into Hobart, I decided to hang around at Georgie's for a while to break the journey, as I still faced a long drive on my own back to Launceston. I got to go with Georgie to the Dogs' Home to pick up the twelve-week old puppy she is foster caring. His name is Zeus and he is just adorable.

After reluctantly farewelling Georgie and Hobart, I set off, and one loooong drive later I arrived home at 6pm, was greeted by two very enthusiastic dogs, and even though I was sad my adventure was over, I was happy to be home. Be it ever so humble...

Tomorrow I'm off again, taking Jude and Sophia to my parent's home in the North East to check up on things while they are on Bruny, and head to the beach. On the road again...

The Canine/Feline Self-Identity Confusion

So a few weeks ago I blogged about my cat Pesto joining me when I walked the dogs. I speculated about whether this would be a regular occurance from now on. It seems it indeed has become the norm, as Pesto has joined me on pretty much every walk around the neighbourhood since then. It makes quite the sight, especially when he seems to be wearing an invisible lead and is part of the pack.

The walks definitely seem to cut into his pressing schedule of lying around, but he is willing to make that sacrifice to be a part of the pack. It doesn't matter where he is- he seems to know when we're setting off and comes running along behind us to catch up, sometimes adding a loud yowling if we are too far ahead. It seems to be entertaining to the neighbours and road workers (who have currently taken over our street until the end of February with very noisy machines...how's the serenity). After we get back from our walk he resumes his frantic to-do list involving finding the best place to lie around. This can be either a solo or a pack activity.



The novelty still hasn't worn off and I find myself giggling a lot on our walks now. I'm glad the three fur boys get on well. Pity about Faye, but she has never really liked Pesto anyway so it was a given that the dogs would be extended the same thinly-veiled contempt.

Bebb's Busy Boxing Day

So for weeks I have been saying, "Oh, I can't wait to be on holidays and have Christmas over so I can sleep in and relax..." Come Boxing Day today and I was up by 6.15am. What?! I have no idea what's going on here. Though it was good in a way as Mum and Dad are staying with us over Christmas and are very early risers so I got to have breakfast with them. Mum (or Mebb as she has renamed herself after reading my blog...hi Mebb) was very surprised that I beat her out of bed on a non-work day as she knows how much I love to sleep in.

Anyway, Dad headed off to his shift as a volunteer ambulance officer in the city and Mum and I chatted, cuddled dogs and watched Sea Change, then set off for Hollybank for a bushwalk with the dogs at 9am...pretty good considering I had set my alarm for 9am.

We had a lovely walk at Hollybank and the dogs enjoyed it too.

The highlight was walking down to the river. It was the first time my young Bub hounds had visited a river and the results were pretty predictable.

Jack stood primly on a rock trying not to get his paws wet...

...while Johnny plunged straight in and swam around, ending up looking like a drowned rat.

Drowned rat standing behind 'Mebb'. After I took that photo, Mebb was heard to say, "That picture's going on the blog isn't it?"  I also copped teasing from Mebb who claimed I only wanted to go for a walk so I could blog about it! Not true...though having a blog does change your outlook slightly, I won't deny...especially when you find yourself planning blog posts in your head.

The water did look beautiful but I didn't have my bathers and we still had a 40 minute walk to get back to the car...can't imagine it would have been that fun in wet clothes. Next time...

After we drove back into the city we dropped the dogs home and then I took Mum (oh sorry, I mean Mebb- she has started calling herself that now which is a bit of a worry...) out to lunch at the Seaport.

After grocery shopping we headed back home, and everyone is now having some quiet time. Mum (Mebb!) is playing with Christmas presents- she is reading a book on the Kindle she got from Dad (look, I can't call him Debb. Mum's name is Deb and this is just all getting too weird).

I'll leave you with a shot of our relaxed Christmas lunch from yesterday. Here are my parents kicking back in our gazebo while I cooked steak, salmon and haloumi (the latter for my vegetarian self) on the barbeque.

Oh and finally...it was Johnny's first Christmas and Jack taught him the joys of ripping up wrapping paper and going manic amongst the shreds. I let them go for it...it is Christmas after all. 

Merry Christmas from Bebb and the Bubs.

Backyard Happenings

So today was the last day of school for students. I got lots of hugs and had a few of my gorgeous girls literally clinging to me in tears and begging me not to leave the school. I wish I could stay there too but alas it's not up to me. Last night was Presentation Night and I was given the role of 'prize coordinator'...hmmm...a fancy way of saying that as each presenter was called to the stage I had to collect the associated prize from a table and meet them at the foot of the stage stairs to give it to them. I was told to dress up as I was 'on view'...I felt very much on view and conscious that several hundred people were watching me as I appeared at the foot of the stairs with prizes all night. At one point I even made it on stage as a presenter hissed "I can't carry all of those- come up with me!" So prize girl did her bit...I actually felt slightly like this... 

After the evening finished, one of the presenters (some random politician) came up to me and said, "You did a great job with all of those prizes- very coordinated and you looked very confident."

"Oh thanks," I replied, before adding jokingly, "Yes, I have my Wheel of Fortune audition tomorrow!"

"Oh really?" he asked seriously. "That's great. Well, good luck with that. At least you've got teaching to fall back on if you don't get the role. Good, good." He then walked off leaving me somewhat speechless.  

So anyway. Let's move on from politicians who lack a sense of humour and irony.

After I got home today, I spent half an hour wrestling with metal poles, flapping canvas and surprisingly straightforward and easy to follow instructions in order to erect this in the backyard.

I will be having Christmas Day lunch here with my parents and decided it would be nice to have some shade, as if the weather is nice we are planning to have a barbeque and eat outside. It will also be great for barbeques with friends, and just to sit under and read, chat, relax, etc.

After we got it up I harvested some of the amazing bounty my garden is starting to put forth.

Snow peas, peas, parsley, cauliflower- lots more still growing! Pretty good for my first attempt at growing vegies on my own. There were more peas but I stood at the sink and ate a lot straight from the pod- delicious. We'll be having lots of fresh homegrown vegies on Christmas Day.

While I was outside I decided to take a photo of Jack lying on the grass, and just as I was about to do so, Johnny zoomed into shot and stood there like a little poser. I love this photo of my gorgeous boys.

It's quite a warm evening and we have all retreated inside now to relax in each other's company.

I'm still feeling exhausted but am starting to get very excited about finishing work for the year tomorrow and enjoying some glorious holiday time. And no, Mr Politician, I will not be joining Wheel of Fortune. They'll just have to get along without me as best they can.



Moving Slowly Through Wet Cement

...or, On Being Tired.

There are days when just moving seems like an effort.

There are days when all you want to do is sleep in.

You just feel like sprawling out in a state of utter and complete relaxation.

Then you feel like perfecting this state and sharing it with others.



Maybe even encouraging your friends to take up this position, too.

Hopefully the word will spread on how great it is to just relax and let it all go.

It really is something that everyone can enjoy.

There are days when all you want to do is cuddle up with someone special.

Sometimes a lot of time can pass, and you become older and wiser, but you still love cuddling up with that same person.

You look around, and realise that other people are relaxing and resting.

Or just sitting back and watching the world go by.

"Why can't it be me?" you despair. You may even find yourself getting cross with those around you.

Or you just want to tear everything up and throw it on the floor.

Most of all, you just want to tuck yourself in with someone you love.

Then the day finally comes when all the hustle and bustle slip away and you can take a breath, smell a rose, read a book, lie on the grass, or even just sit in the ocean and contemplate life.

I'm ready for that day. It's been a long year. I'm ready to recharge and rejuvenate. I'm ready to garden, to read, to watch, to sleep, to hug, to potter, to sew, to chat, to swim, to walk. Three days of work to go...

All photos taken by Bebb, at Penguin Island WA, Perth Zoo WA, East Coast Tasmania, and my home, also in Tasmania.