My Eccentricity - again!

It's been a while hasn't it? Shall I hand in my absentee note now?

This is me, by the way (just in case you'd forgotten what I look like. And yes, I cut most of my hair off, and have gone even shorter since this photo was taken. Just for kicks.) :

Ignore the blurry bit in the upper right corner. My 15 yr old needs to work on Photography 101 - keep your finger out of frame!

What prompted such an extended break from the blogging world, I hear you ask.

Well, that's easy to answer. Life has been happening. Glorious, busy, joyful, stressful, fun, hard, living in the moment life.

Family time together.

For a long time I have been chasing the 'ideal' life that I see in my mind's eye. A loving, peaceful mama with well behaved, happy children, a husband home from work with a smile and offer to help out with dinner or play with the children. The mama cheerfully working in the home, house gleaming and tidy giving the feeling of a job well done, whilst simultaneously juggling working 30 hours a week with ease and a high level of proficiency. Healthy, home cooked, home grown organic meal, infused with the love of the chef and she hums as she bakes and cooks. Family time in the evening, reading nourishing books, listening to uplifting music, walks in nature and excursions to fun and wonderful places together.



Sounds lovely to me. My ideal, happy, eccentrically unique life that I can envision in my mind.

The reality? Well, not quite meeting those ambitious expectations. Not even close.

The Mama : loving and peaceful - yes. But also tired, grouchy and if truth be told, a little selfish with precious time to herself.

The Children : well behaved and happy - yes, some of the time. And some of the time more like loud, arguing and demanding, both of each other and the poor stressed mama.

Charlie the Earth Guardian

 The Husband : home with a smile and offer to help out - yes. But some days, he is also tired, stressed and acts human and not the demi god I view him as.

The House : oh the house! Yes, parts are gleaming and tidy, but not the neglected glass shower screens that can barely be seen through (great for privacy!) and those floor that only get spot cleaned when necessary. A quick run around cleaning on a Saturday or before guests has been the extent of things.

The Work : yes 30 hours a week is done, but in fits and starts and often late at night to make up time. Sit down to work at the computer and beeeeep, the washing machine has finished, sit down again and "Mummy I'm hungry", sit down again and realise that another coffee is necessary in order to concentrate fully.

Surely I must be doing something right to get a card like this.

The Meals : healthy, home cooked organic food - yes, most of the time, but there are nights of eggs on toast, or take out from the fish and chip shop up the road too. Organic produce has lessened as time and funds to obtain it have decreased (boy, is eating organic expensive!). Weekend lunches around here, have become a "help yourself as Mama's too tired to bother" type of situation. Thankfully, my teenagers know how to prepare a gourmet bowl of cereal in my culinary absence. At least it's healthy.

Family time :  reading nourishing books, music, walks and excursions  - yes these wonderful cherished moments do happen. But they take forthought, and some planning, and you know what, sometimes I'm just too tired to be the happy inspiring one, dragging reluctant teenagers to play a board game with me and their 4 year old brother. There are also many times where I find each of us in this five person household in a different room, each occupied by electronic devices. Nothing like family interaction via Facebook chats when you're only a room apart!

Brotherly love!

So after this rather long winded overview of the reality of life, I can see that life has good moments, and also has not so good moments. I have to face the reality that the ideal life I picture in my mind's eye is just a figment of my vivid and rather ambitious imagination. It's never going to be like that all the time and I need to ease up on my perfectionist nature that feels like I've failed if I don't get a gold medallion for Best Mother, Wife, HomeMaker etc etc ......

I had stopped blogging what seems like eons ago now, as I felt that I didn't have the time for achieving the perfect life as well as time for this blog. That this was one thing, just one little thing that I could let go and suddenly all would be fall into place and I would have that ideal life. Also if I couldn't produce an interesting and witty enough post on a regular basis, why bother at all? Reasons that felt valid at the time.

Ahhh, the folly of youth! (What? I WAS more youthful then, even if it was only a short time ago. We age every second, you know.)

Kaiden just before his High School Graduation

So the reason for finally getting back to this blog?

I enjoy writing it. I like getting my thoughts out. I like using my creativity and not just to come up with 'creative' solutions to sibling arguments, or the best way to creatively make a play dough fire truck. I think documenting family life is a wonderful exercise both at the time of writing, as it gives one a more third person perspective, and also to be able to look back at the stories and photos that make up our family history.

Corey - 15 and as funny as ever!

Incorporating blogging back into my life is a positive thing. Into a life imperfect when compared to the unrealistic ideal in my head, a life full of unique happenings, twists and turns, ups and downs. An life full of eccentricity.

How do you spend a sick day?

Today our home is over run with illness. The horrible runny nose, annoying sore throat and irritating cough type of illness. People seem to be dropping like flies.

Thankfully, I'm still healthy. Someone needs to be well enough to dish out sympathy and tissues.

So what did I do to entertain a disgustingly snotty almost three year old stuck indoors due to bad weather and illness?


Played cars (of course!).



Picked the meagre winter vegetables from our garden in between rain showers.



Practised our letters.



Ate lots of yummy healthy fruit.



Did some cooking.



And used lots of these.

Home Sweet Home Nostalgia

Just for nostalgia's sake, I thought I'd put up these photos of our previous house.



I miss it.

I loved that house.



We lived in a semi rural area about 3 hours south of here, and it was so peaceful and quiet. Sometimes too peaceful and quiet. Occassionally I longed for the lure of the big smoke.

Cafe's to relax at nearby, shops with a large selection to choose from, a good number of restaurants to dine out at. That sort of thing.



After living there for 3 years we did move to the city. I don't regret it one bit, but I do miss this lovely house.

It was our home. It was comfortable, it was beautiful. It hugged you the second you walked in the door. You knew you were home. I loved being surrounded by nature too.

Apart from the venomous snakes that is.

And the scorpions that liked to come into the house.

And the deadly spiders. (I got bitten by a Red Back Spider whilst living there)

Hmmm.... maybe that part wasn't so great after all.



It's a shame I don't have photos of the interior. The inside was as great as the outside.

*sigh* Did I mention I loved it?

What's For Dinner Wednesdays

I'm thinking of starting a new themed day, along the lines of Fashionable and Fabulous Fridays, which seem to be popular.

So what does everyone think of 'What's For Dinner Wednesdays'?

I, like a lot of other mums I know, get stuck into the routine of making the same meals over and over again, due to lack of time, planning and ideas. So if we can share some ideas of quick and easy family meals, surely it will add a little inspiration to our cooking lives? Yes?

So, let's kick start this with Risotto. Easy Peasy.

Nothing is more homely to me than a delicious risotto made with love and care.

Everyone in this house loves risotto, so much so that I make a ton of it at once and we have it for lunch and dinner the next day and then freeze the rest.

The little bowl at the front is for Charlie and the other four huge servings are to satisfy the ravenous horde that live here.




Here we have a very basic Chicken Risotto, very simple yet oh so yummy.

Healthy too, which is always a bonus!

I don't follow a recipe as such, and often vary between ingredients such as chicken, mushrooms, onion, basically whatever takes my fancy at the time.



I serve my risotto with cold sugar snap peas on top.

The contrast between the hot and creamy risotto and the nice cold crunchiness of the peas is just divine. You just have to try it!

Please play along and add to the comments what you plan to cook tonight, or something yummy you've recently made. I'd love to hear from you all and get some inspiration for future What's For Dinner Wednesday posts, if they prove a successful addition to this blog.

The New Year, and Lots of Lovely Nothingness.

As I sit here typing up this post at my new desk, given to me a Christmas gift from my wonderful husband, I look around my home.


My stylish new desk! I'm almost tempted to start back at work a week early in order to make full use of it. Almost.


And I feel full and content.

Little Charlie is asleep, my two older boys are outside fixing up a scooter so they can ride to the local deli to buy ice cream, my hardworking husband is ... well... out working, and I am luxuriating in the benefits of having an extended period of time off work.


Important work being undertaken.

I can potter around my home to my heart's content, doing a little bit here and there as the mood strikes me, resting and reading as and when I want to. A little bit of swimming here and there with all my boys, much playing of cars and trains with Charlie and lots of indulgent eating is going on around here.


Percy, friend of Thomas.
It seems I'm usually relegated to being Percy, while Charlie stars as Thomas. Only fair I suppose given it's Charlie's production.


This quiet, simple life fills me with joy. It's a wonderful novelty to have two whole weeks off work, and in the summer holidays too.

This may all sound sickeningly sweet and essentially boring, to those of you rushing through your life with so many things pulling you this way and that, to the point where you fall into bed at night exhausted, but my intent is not to inflict my contentedness upon you, but simply to...... hmmm.... express how I'm feeling right now, I guess.

That's what one's own blog is for, right?


The view from my desk.


But I am aware that all too soon, this idyllic summer break will be over for me.

I'll be back to juggling work, children and home. But after a lovely little break such as I've had, my batteries will be fully charged and ready to take on all the little daily challenges life will throw my way, be ready to grasp opportunities to grow as they materialise and be ready to cope with any sleepless nights yet to come.

January has been a wonderful start to what I intentionally predict to be a magnificent year for my family. Under the influence of this Capricorn month, grand and ambitious plans are being laid that will alter our future in most wonderful and fulfilling ways. I look forward to the fruition of our dreams as the year progresses.

(And, no, I'm not pregnant, nor planning to be. Just in case that thought crossed anyone's mind!!!)



View of our 'Library' from my desk.


Kaiden and Corey are on their summer break till February, which means a whole month remains of sleeping late, swimming and lazing around for them.

I envision come the beginning of February, it will be a rude shock for them to have to conform back to the society standard of a life regulated by the clock. Poor dears!



Creative Corey. Made from skateboard and scooter parts.


One thing I'm excited to report is that the power of intention has manifested beautifully in my life recently.

My life is magnificent.

And the more often I say, the more it magnifies the magnificence!

Ask. Believe. Receive. The Secret.

I feel I'm achieving my aim of living in the now, and I'm loving it.

And I sincerely wish the same for all of you.

With all my heart.

This book .....

.... is one I can't recommend highly enough.

Although not Buddhist myself, the concepts, ideas and strategies detailed in this wonderful book have enriched my journey through motherhood greatly.

I would recommend it to every mother.

Buddhism for Mothers : A Calm Approach to Caring for Yourself and Your Children - by Sarah Napthali can be found at Amazon Books (which is where I got it from).

Please treat yourself and read this book.

You and your children deserve it.

And it's only November

This is my bedroom :



Which I love. It's my haven, where I can find some peace and quiet in my wonderful, hectic life.

And this :



.... is my side of the bed, closest to the windows, nice and light and airy.

On my bedside table is my lamp to read by, perfumed oil from Dubai, a photo of my husband as a 21 year old soldier in the British army, a photo of the two of us together at the very beginning of our relationship and my box of tarot cards.

In the top drawer are books.

Many, many books.

I like to read, you see.

And if you look a little closer....

.... and lower .....



...what is that we can spy?



Why it's a secret stash of Christmas presents, all wrapped and ready to go!

Yes, I am very happy to say that for the first time EVER, I have finished my Christmas shopping in November. Yay, for me!



I'm just waiting on the last of the online orders to arrive (should be this week sometime) and then that's it. I've never been so organised.

It's a good feeling.

It also means it leaves me free to plan the Christmas / Summer Solstice party that we're having here on Christmas Day.

Hmmm.... party planning and organisation.... I'm in my element there. This is the fun stuff now.

So how's your Christmas shopping/organisation going?

Every little bit counts

I just love this journey we've been on towards living more simply. We are getting there, baby step by baby step. Just a little bit at a time.

I know if I let myself, I would read everything I could get my hands on, in order to research every aspect, make loads of lists of things we could do, another million lists on how to do all those things and then meticulously plan a schedule for when to implement said things.

My OCD side is just itching to do just that.

But NO, baby steps. Little, one at a time baby steps. If I launch myself headlong into it, I know that I'll overdo it and give up all too soon , so it's try the new 'baby step' approach time.

And do you know what? It's working!

Due to living in such a dry country, and given the terribly dry winter we've just had our dam water supplies are at an all time low. It's only just turned into Spring and the government has already introduced water restrictions, we can only use sprinklers once a week at the moment. I predict by summer we won't be able to use the sprinklers at all, and maybe not the hose either. Oh how my poor garden will suffer.

So the latest live more simply / eco move we have made is to keep buckets in the showers to catch the wasted water while we wait for the shower to heat up. We do the same in the kitchen and I could hardly beleive we've been wasting up to 3 buckets of water A DAY. Wow! Also I'm saving the water from Charlie's evening bath to reuse also.

This saved water goes out each morning to the vegetable pot garden to give precious nourishment to my little plants during this warm weather.

There is so many more things we would like to do, but they need time and money, but I'm hopeful that the time will come where we can finally implement many of them. I'll just have to be patient I guess.

Maybe in the mean time I can do just a little research, and maybe just write a short list?

Springtime and sunshine are here!

Here in my corner of the world, Spring has sprung. At long last warm sunshine bathes the earth, the birds sing in the trees once again and I hear the constant noise of sniffing as my family battles severe hayfever.

Oh, Spring how I love thee. (spring really is in the air if I'm getting all poetic).

This year the turning of the seasons has been calling to me, I feel the energy of Spring coursing through my body. It's the season of new life, new beginnings.

I have had this need to get my hands dirty and plant something. Anything. It's been gnawing at me for the last week or two, so on Sunday Del and I trekked to the markets to buy some seedlings to start our very own herb and vegetable garden.

Now we don't have very much room in our back garden, what with the pool, Charlie's outdoor toys everywhere, and the older boys rusty bikes scattered about, so we have started our 'pot garden'.


It's only small but it's a start!



Mmmm, who doesn't love fresh strawberries?

I foresee members of this family sneaking out to pick the first strawberries before anyone else gets to them.



Cherry tomatoes for summer salads.



Capsicum plants, a mix of red and yellow for colour.



The strawberry pot with asparagus growing in the top. It's an odd combination I know, but this blog is titled My Eccentricity for a reason!!!

Charlie loves getting out there each morning with his little watering can and giving all the plants their drink. Of course he usually ends up completely soaked himself, but isn't that the fun of being a kid?

I now also have little pots of herbs growing on my kitchen window sill, just like a proper kitchen witch. We plan to add to this small beginning, but at least my need for surrounding myself with new growing things has been fulfilled.


And btw this the 100th post on My Eccentricity !!! Time to celebrate and party. Either that or have an early night and get some sleep. Tough choice.

The Path to Living Simply

We have been happily taking a jaunt down the path to simple living for a little while now. Over the last few weeks I have been making small, sustainable changes to our life.

I think that's the trick - taking baby steps.

Which is hard for me, being the perfectionist that I am. I want it all done now, and done properly and perfectly.

But I'm being tough on myself and doing this one step at time so that I don't go into overload mode and give it all up.

Here are some of the changes to our lives I've made recently :



* I now buy all our fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs and milk at a nearby Farmer's Market. Not only is the food fresher and cheaper, you can actually taste the difference. Also it means I'm buying food in season, rather than food that has been artificially ripened, modified or just arrived straight out of months of cold storage. As an added bonus most of the produce is locally grown, meaning less impact on our earth from a transportation/use of fossil fuels/pollution point of view.



* I'm trying to reduce the additives we consume in our food. It's appalling how difficult it is to find food that is in it's natural state. Our bodies are so overwhelmed with the pollution (in many forms) from our modern world that it can only be a good thing to reduce all the added colours, flavours and preservatives in our food. I'm now one of those annoying people you get stuck behind in a busy aisle at the supermarket, as I take each product off the shelf and read the label to find which one is the best option. Take strawberry jam for example, the most popular brands not only have huge amounts of sugar (to be expected in jam I know but not that much sugar!), but they also have lots of added colour, flavour and preservatives. Yet on the bottom shelf, is a little known brand of jam which suprisingly has only two ingredients - strawberries and sugar. I know which one I chose!



* I am no longer buying sandwich meat. Have you ever looked at the list of ingredients? There are more numbers signifying artificial additives than there is actual meat in there. I now buy a large piece of roast beef or other meat and pop it in the oven to cook one evening when I'm already using the oven for something else, then just slice it up and freeze it in small packs ready to defrost and use in sandwiches. How easy is that? And so much better for us. And also so much cheaper than buying packaged ham.



* Currently, I'm waging war on plastic around here. I've been researching how the use of plastic in EVERYTHING these days is harmful to us, and it's confirmed my long held suspicions. Plastic is evil.
When you stop to think about it, almost every bit of food we buy is wrapped in plastic, our homes are filled with plastic, our cars are more plastic than metal, we just can't escape it's evil clutches.
And, shock horror, plastic is made from chemicals. Bad chemicals. That leach into our food, our water and our bodies. This is not good. Not good at all.
One of the worst types of plastic is the 'soft' plastic, such as sandwich bags and plastic food wrap, as being in such a soft state it easily leaches into the food we eat. Go look in your fridge and pantry, I would take a guess that most of the things in there are wrapped in plastic.
I've started using glass jars, tins and ceramic containers to store our food in, as much as possible anyway. I've also started to wrap the boys lunches in paper bags, and I now even use a plate to cover a leftover bowl of food in the fridge rather than use plastic wrap.

These are just little things I do, as I think of them. I plan to add to these things as alternative ideas occur to me. These are my baby steps along the path of to simple living.

I'm realistic enough to know that I won't be able to eliminate additives and plastic entirely from our lives, but even reducing them has to be plus.

I know it won't be an easy thing to achieve.

But I'm prepared for battle.

In the past few days, 4 things that have made me smile......

1. Having followed Charlie's instruction to lay down on the rug with him, he pats my arms and says "Good boy, Mummy, good boy".

2. Walking into the room to find Bob the Builder on tv, with an almost 15 year old watching it alone, as even though it was long after little Charlie had wandered off, he needed to keep watching to see how it ended.

3. Being woken at midnight by the sound of Charlie singing 'The Wheels on the Bus" to himself in his cot until he falls back to sleep.

4. Corey on arriving home after being away at a friends house for an afternoon, confiding in me that although it's fun to go to a friends house, he likes coming home because he gets to be with his little brother again.

Children help you to see that these moments are what's really important in life, don't they?

Gosh, I just love my boys so much.

Monday Afternoon

Yesterday afternoon I returned home from work to find a very out of sorts and crying little boy anxiously awaiting my return.

It seemed that Charlie was still feeling unwell, even though his nose was no longer running. And an hour of playing at the park with Daddy and his brother earlier in the day had used up what little energy he had.

Although I had major amounts of work to catch up on thanks to a recent database issue that had just been resolved, I knew what I had to do.

I spent the afternoon on the couch with my littlest boy, reading a book and cuddling.




Sometimes the universe sends an unequivocal message to take some time out from the hectic pace of life.

It was just what we both needed.

Lazy Day at Home

What?????

I deserve a break.

It's tiring work being this cute.

For the Sake of Posterity

This weekend my in-laws have come to visit.

I love it when they come to visit.

I'm one of the lucky ones who actually gets on well with her mother-in-law.

We all raced around this morning and tidied up the house ready for their arrival. I love it when my home is tidy and clean.

It makes me happy.

So whilst my house is looking nice I took the opportunity to take a few photos. For the sake of posterity. I love looking at photos of my past homes, it brings back all the wonderful memories.

Especially the home I was in when my big boys were born. I remember coming home from the hospital with Kaiden only a few days old, it was Spring, the sky was blue, the sun was shining and the flowers were blooming in my garden. And all was right with the world.

I love those memories.

That's why I wanted to take photos of this home, to one day be able to reconnect with the sweet memories of Charlie's babyhood.

Also, I thought there may be a slight chance that someone out there in internet-land would like to see where I live.

I think perhaps I'm a little bit nosy as I love seeing blogs that give a peek into their homes ocassionally. I think it adds another dimension to their stories.

So here goes :

Let's start with the kitchen. It seems to be where I spend most of my time. I love that it's large and bright.

What I don't love is the green bench tops.

This is the living area off the kitchen. Charlie spends most of his day playing here. His toys are kept in the wooden cabinet. He loves having his own little toy cupboard, and happily puts his toys away when he's finished.

A closer look of the same area. It's a very comfy couch. Not that I get time to sit on it as much as I'd like.

A peek through the french doors into our sunny tv room. This room is heaven in winter as it gets the sun all day long. But in summer, oh my, it turns into a sauna if the blinds aren't down.

The view of the other part of our tv room. Note the tv program on at the time. That would be Kaiden, my car obsessed son watching tv then.

The dining room which is off the kitchen/living room area. A very grown up dining room, which I'm always slightly nervous having the children eat in.

And myself, if I'm truthful.

I just love the chinese dragon wall relief, that Del brought home as a surprise not too long ago. It was just perfect for this area.


And finally, our front living area, that looks over our front garden. The main front door to our home, is on the other side of the wall behind this couch.

This room is decorated a lot more modern than the others, hanging on the wall is a selection of aboriginal tribal weapons that Del bought when he first arrived in this country.

The other side of this room. Note the target artwork on the wall. Our little tribute to the mod era.

I love my home and hope we are here for many happy years to come.