It's Been A While

I haven't intended to be away for so long. Life is busy, as always. It's regular and normal and day-to-day. But it's different too. There's a lot of adjusting going on. I'm loving my new house, loving making it a home. I'm stubbornly pursuing the good things, lightness and laughter. I'm trying for shiny and bright rather than the obvious alternative.

I've been hovering around, checking in with other blogs and keeping up with the portrait project, but I've lacked the motivation for much else here in this space. And one thing that's become abundantly clear after a month of not much is just how much I miss it - the outlet, the interaction, the inspiration.

And yet, the words aren't flowing. Not yet.

So I've decided to give myself a little project for the month of August - to keep my hand in, to give me a focus, but that doesn't require too much effort. It will force me out with my camera and keep my eyes open and searching. 

There's a bunch of fresh flowers in my kitchen, and their scent combined with the unexpected warmth of the past few days reminds me that spring isn't far away. In the meantime, I'm going to try to celebrate what's left of winter with a month of photos, each accompanied by a handful of words, or none at all.

It might be just what the doctor ordered.

30/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Lola: She likes to share facts. "You know a snake shreds, Mum?" "It shreds, does it?" "Yes, it shreds its skin. It has to." 

Pearl: Watching a roadside crane with great interest, she told me that when she grows up into a man, she'll have long legs and be able to climb cranes. I tried to convince her that, as she was a little girl, she probably wouldn't grow up into a man as such. "Well, Mum...we just need to buy a wand." Righto.

Stella: I call her Mrs McGinty. She calls me Poo-Poo McGann.

Previous 52 portraits here.

29/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Lola: We're all big on trading made-up stories at the moment. When her sisters aren't around, Lola asks me to make up an extra scary one for her - "Make it a PG one, Mum, not just G."

Pearl: If we sing a song together, she calls it "singing all in a row."

Stella: She likes to wear my "dangles" on her wrists.

Previous 52 portraits here.

School Holidays

Is anyone else quietly looking forward to school going back tomorrow? First thing on the list...replenishing our supply of glue and sticky tape.

28/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Lola: Upon being asked if she could sort out the mess in her room, she responded firmly, "I am not a cleaning machine." Teenager much?

Pearl: I looked questioningly at the two little girls in the bath and the flood on the bathroom floor. Pearl's defence - "One of us is responsible but both of us are not responsible."

Stella: I asked her, "Do you know how much I love you? It's a really, really big number, maybe as big as a million. Can you guess?" She thinks for a moment. "Is it 18?"

Previous 52 portraits here.

27/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Lola: Always cutting and pasting and drawing and writing. The other day she came to show me a picture she'd drawn of a "man sitting in a crescent moon with a fishing rod fishing in a pond."

Pearl: There have been a lot of parties recently. Last week she wanted a tiger on her face. Today she insisted on one plait and one ponytail.

Stella: I will never tire of hearing her chase after her big sister calling, "Lolls! Lolls! Hey, Lolls!"

Previous 52 portraits here.

Six

You are funny and bright, and terribly earnest.

You are resilient, courageous, so very determined.

You are messy and flamboyant. You dance with great flair and sing the national anthem with a deep seriousness.

You love and you fight. You are light.

Oh, how I love you, my six-year-old.

26/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Lola: Someone lost her first tooth. And won an award for "wonderful improvement in reading and writing." She turns six this week. Oh, my.

Pearl: Her negotiating skills are mind-boggling. "I'm going to do three lullabies." "Four." "OK, four, but only four." "Ten. Do ten." "Four, Pearl." Ten lullabies later...

Stella: When she sneezes, she tells me she has the bless-you's.

Previous 52 portraits here.

Housekeeping

School holidays are upon us. That means visitors and trips away, swimming lessons and a very special birthday (six!). A break from routine.

I continue to unpack and rearrange, slowly and with a lot of procrastination. I calculated this is the 22nd home I've lived in in my life (not counting the student dorm in Wollongong, the staff digs on South Molle Island, various couches in London, a motorhome at the back of a hotel in central Scotland, the Berlin backpackers I worked and lived at for three months, and my very generous sister's place several times over in my 20s.) That's a lot of newspaper and cardboard.

Rumour has it Google Reader is on its last legs. You can follow Typically Red at Bloglovin' by clicking here. There's the staight-into-your-inbox option over there on the right. Or stay up to date with blog and shop happenings on Facebook. I'm also (intermittently) on Instagram now too. 

I think that may be everything...what was that I said about procrastination?

Have a lovely weekend. A little sunshine would be nice, yes?

Outside :: Inside

Outside it's wet. It's been raining for three nights and three days. Rivers run alongside roads, and across them in places. We fall asleep to the rhythmic drumming on the red tin roof, and wake up late because it's so dark it doesn't feel like morning.

Inside we sift through boxes and rearrange our stuff against a new backdrop. I'm awaiting the courier's delivery that will mean I can begin work again, and in the meantime I drink coffee, knit special orders and type up recipes that are overdue for submission.

It's true, life does roll on.