To sickness and health

This week I was sick again. Not horribly sick. Just vomited a few times and felt better sick. But my abs were burning this morning when I woke up and so I went for comfort over style at church today.

No tight skirts or tops, no belts and definitely no hosiery! How un lady like, BUT oh how comfortable.

 

Thanks for the photography Hunna. We will miss you at Phillips while you are in Sydney this week....

Un petite console

I have suddenly realised ( after cleaning the house from top to bottom amongst other homely, wifely, motherly tasks) that I can still successfully negotiate life as an independent matriarch,

You see, two and a bit years is a long time to be living with the in laws.. It's a long time to relax -- Kick back and enjoy sharing everyday tasks with another matriarch.

I had been undeniably concerned that I had forgotten how to "negotiate the pleats" and when we moved into the mess that was Phillips and I was confronted with 3 weeks worth of scrubbing I quite lost my mind.

But-- I have struggled through (after some pouting) and triumphantly come out the other side with a bellow of glory.

I CAN do it! I CAN do it all!! Did you doubt me?

My Mumma plate and my wifey plate and my church calling plate and my cleaning plate and my me plate and all the others that make up my multifacited life are quite happily spinning on the end of their sticks.

Just how they should be.

Oh how I thrive on being busy.

Also, I L.O.V.E gumtree...

I noticed this listing you see... For this free piano and I looked up the make on the Internet and even found the original catalogue for that A. Bord Piano and I thought Oo la la how French. And I emailed that person and today we picked up that free piano ( and by we I mean Hunna did because I was deathly ill and in bed ) but when it arrived on the back of the truck this afternoon I felt suddenly well enough to rip my weary bones from the bed of my sickness and rush to the front door and exclaim "put it here..or here, no here"

And now we have a console piano you see. A petite modele perfect for Phillips.

Oh how very delighted I am at spinning all those plates on my own.

The week that was..

After reading Veganist by Kathy Freston and watching "If slaughter houses had glass walls" (please don't click that link if you are easily offended) and finding a great website called Forks over Knives which promotes a movie (yet to watch) and just generally looking for a more centered life ---

we have become flexitarians.

Since we moved into our new home we have been cutting back on meat. 

TO the point where, now. We don't eat hardly any meat (unless you are Hunna and sneak some at lunch time) The goal is to go two weeks without meat. Then three etc. etc.

Of course I can't ever pass up a juicy steak from parkers -- hence the "flexitarian" name.

We don't put too much pressure on ourselves and don't have to beat ourselves up if we choose to have a bit of meat every now and then. 

I have found it completely and utterly easy to transition into no meat eating mode.

I've never really been a big meat eater anyway, but since making the conscious decision to eat less (or none) I have been making sure we get a wide variety of everything plant based to try and give us a well balanced diet.

Its actually really exciting and we have probably been eating more nutritionally beneficial foods than we were before.. I am feeling great!

On the menu : 

Chickpea and sweet potato burgers with coriander and chilli. (above)

Okonomayaki (below)

We still eat cheese and eggs although no milk considering I am allergic to raw milk anyway - but I do have a spare bottle for cooking.

With so many delicious alternatives I don't crave meat or milk anyway!

This week I had a parcel arrive from Anthropologie.

(White is for fresh and Blue is for hard boiled)

And these cute porcelain fruit baskets came from there too..

We have also been mooching around a bit finishing off the cleaning..

And trying (amongst flexitarianism) some other new endeavours..

                             
back soon. x

Pinterest

Since we moved to Phillips I am getting into pinterest even more than I was before..

I just bought a beautiful solid table, oh and those chairs I told you I was crushing. And now I will make them beautiful with the power of pinterest inspiration.

So get excited for some creativeness coming soon.

On the up side I have a sliding door and the surrounding wall, one window and the surrounding wall and the roof left of this darn cleaning expedition... THEN it will be complete (until I can save for a steamer to get the niggely hard to clean corners) and life can go on as normal.

Lucky for me there hasn't been any hot weather in the last 3 weeks tempting me to procrastinate cleaning for being outside.

Lucky for me I have had some great motivating messages and visits since my last post which have given me enough gumption ( literally, thanks Mel) to continue the dreaded job. ( which had stalled a bit cause I was over it)

I have gone through 6 pairs of gloves

14 scrubbies

3 rolls of paper towel

1 tub of gumption

5 scrub brushes

Loads of spray bottles of "cleaning grimey stuff"

And a roll of 150 dry wipes

And I managed to convince Kyle to chisel the muck off the bottom of the toilet bowl so now it is sparkley clean and his chisel is ... well, not.

I cannot wait for summer to be here.

Annoying - I need some cheese.

I can't get over the fact that I have to clean an entire house from top to bottom. I know I really need to move on from it. But it is making me really depressed thinking about all the "extra" tasks I have to do on top of day to day cleaning/cooking & child rearing because the Landlord didn't get the last tenant to clean up after themselves or bother to get a professional in.

think: scrubbing the whole house. From top to bottom.

I know I said I would be done by last week but we were under the weather and our plans got pushed back. On top of that Kyle has been working insurmountable hours and I am thinking I am a single parent at the moment which makes Bastian the primary concern since he is needing some extra emotional support and attention since we moved and doesn't have his Dadda around much.

I just feel really frustrated because I know if I was at home-- real home,  I would have had so many relief society sisters call in and check on me. Dropping off meals and pushing past me to clean the walls against my futile denials that I need any help.

I miss the fellow ship of the sisters in Tasmania. They are as strong as oxen.

Its easier when your burdens are lightened by many.

However, I will say this.

The few but faithful (namely the beautiful Julia and the stunning Mel) who have helped me and supported me during the process have given me hope for the future.

I hope that Melton is as tight as Tassie because I couldn't find the same feeling of love and warmth and unity in Geelong.

I hope that I will find older sisters to be close with and coddle me like mothers.

Because I miss that. I miss all my surrogate mothers in Tassie.

 And most of all I miss my real, no nonsense Mum too..

I wonder if for the rest of my life I will hear her in my head, like she is over my shoulder. Scolding me like she would when I was five with a brisk "Jessica" and telling me to get on with it.

Seriously sub-consious Mum.  I could use a break!

Grumpy - Pants

Morning potty interrogations

This morning I had my grumpy pants on after Boy threw a glass jar in a minnie "I'm frustrated your not getting it Mumma" tantrum. So I sent him to bed, to sleep off his own grumpy pants.

Now I am bored. And wish I hadn't had grumpy pants on because I want to play.

But he really did need a nap since he didn't get one yesterday because we were out for lunch.

But still... that doesn't change the fact I am bored.

We are cleaning. Cleaning and packing - doing it slowly so it doesn't overwhelm me.

I am easily overwhelmed since we moved to Phillips. It has something to do with the fact that we moved in to a house that was trashed and more to do with the fact I am exhausted from cleaning at all hours.

So we have slowed the pace. Because we are getting sniffly and thats generally a good enough excuse to say "slow down cowboy"

p.s: I took up instagram again. Follow me @jess_booqi

I am deciding to facebook less and instagram more. 

That way, its more about me cataloguing my own day - not stalking other peoples days.

Things I am crushing

Provincial you tempt me so with your expensive but cheaply made items. If only they were actually made from hard woods I would be SO tempted.

Anthropologie.. Why do I now know you ship to Australia for only $25? Don't you know I'm poor now I have moved out and can't afford you.. Well couldn't really before that either.

We don't have a table or chairs yet... But I can assure you. They will be solid and have chairs just like these, all metal and wood. I am in love.

So it's back to cleaning and sorting for me. I will give you a tour when things are neater and homelyier and just generally lovelier than stuff in boxes.