thursday

the phone rings

earlyish in the morning.

oh hi Glen

she giggles

there is a wood heater on gumtree in Pambula

$300.

I’ll check it out.

before you could blink an eye we were hooking up the trailer and setting our course south.

in bed over cuppa and toast  John asks what are you doing today ?

home today all day

baking    gardening    blogging   wood gathering

home all day…

John continues  on with project of ‘keeping the rats  out of here’  by closing the gap between the glasshouse and the roof.

the car that had been such a pain in the seat for me Wednesday is behaving beautifully today dragging the trailer along behind.

the fire nymph is sitting in the front of the  garage under the two storey house at the bottom of a cul de sac called George Street.

we already like it, in fact John liked it before he got off the phone to Kevin

that is a bit bold I say.

eventually we rouse Wendy who yells up the yard for Kevin

shorter than me with a white t-shirt stretched taut over a bulging  belly tucked into black trackie dacks

he clocks us checking out the mega white with blue trim that is really black  Harley Davidson

chrome so shiny I could have checked my lipstick

sheepskin seatcovers, stereo  intercom a drink holder for Wendy

who incidentally towers over hubby Kev

they have recently returned from touring Tassie 5 weeks.

I’ve  buried  too many  mates lately, life’s too short to waste  if you want to do something you’ve got to do it he says.

all the toys of  doing  are here from  the super sized boat under a tarp to  the dinghy  a couple of  utes and a trail bike .

Alpine X Fire Nymph  made in Hastings New Zealand

wow a kiwi

Glenda deserves brownie points for this

she sure does agrees John.

the trailer is manoeurved  up close to the southern verandah

and we cover our fire nymph with  a blue tarp

waiting now  for muscles  and installation.

Friday

the phone does not ring

early morning holds bird song clear skies yoga and porridge.

the swallows have added another layer of wet mud  to the wall of their nest

how high can they go before they will no longer fit between nest and roof ??

talk about friendly

a superb blue wren sits on my knee today

a small swampy camps on the verandah looks at me thru the glass when I enter  the bedroom

blinks an eye watches me leave.

baking lime biscuits and the Aunt Daisy canadian orange cake

you know the one where you put the whole orange skin and all thru the  mincer with raisins and walnuts .

I used sultanas instead.

I am at the sink and hear a familiar scrabbling sound  tinkle clink in the bowls dept

hello  Jumping Mouse.

I know it is a jumper  because I chased it from  pantry to kitchen  and back again.

no one has ever called me sane.

it  faddled around the bench the dishes behind the tiles and shot off up  the curtain

aahaa…. I opened the window and  pushed the curtain out   gently flapping it   with the metal soup ladle.

plop it fell  banged the window shut tore  outside but  couldn’t see it  anywhere

well that skedaddled  quick .

good job well done a pat on the back and wash my hands.

back to greasing the trays

checking the oven temperature  of Stanley.

beating the eggs singing a song.

a movement  a tink a   a tail disappears into the porridge pot.

how on earth  ??

maybe it scuttled off the curtain and I imagined it went out.

the game continues

I want to place something over it and hover with  sieve then  bowl    but it flounces away.

oh so cute just like a cat it it lies on its side on the floor reaching out  with an  arm  into the gap to gather crumbs

not at all fussed by my baking activities

we are a team in this kitchen of life  together.

it dashes  up the blue dining room curtain

very  carefully I sneak round the table  climb up on a chair and ease  the  window  open.

again I  push the curtain out and race  outside.

it is  scampering around in free fall clinging onto a sail in the wind wheeeeeeee

its eyes meet mine briefly.

I  give   the curtain  a shake  or two  and it drops  to the ground and sits quietly among the leaf litter behind the rotary hoe.

this time I am certain it is out and congratulate myself .

wow what a story to tell John when he comes in from work

from acting as grocer at Sweet Home Cobargo

make the icing using lime juice paint it on the biscuits.

you are kidding

it is back romping around  under the sink sprinting with that skippity  jump in  the air to  hide  under  the blue cupboard.

did I say oh so cute.

nothing burning

cake rising

I wipe my hands and set a mouse trap on the bench

I don’t see it again

but as the sun is setting I hear the trap slam and going into the dark kitchen with my one bat torch

I witness  a final wave of the tail .

Jumping Mouse is flying now.

gently I place it near the lavender calling owl  calling frogmouth

here is a gift for thee.

*****************************

and today I remembered  scotch thistle

it was the fluff of the scotch thistle that I got the kids to collect

inside that seed  head is the softest fluff

absolutely perfect for teeny weeny fairy pillows.