Life goes rushing by...

I keep meaning to post, but don't get to it somehow. Half of me (lol) quite likes to see blogs with lots of photos, and while our camera languishes in the repair shop, I feel disinclined to make photo-free blog posts. Ah well.

Lucky for me, our friend J took some photos of our outing the other day- I shall check if there is one without bare bottoms :0)

I received some encouragement to carry on with blogging in the form of comments, and a private e-mail...it seems, right when I'm thinking I have nothing useful/interesting to say- up pops someone who enjoys my blog. So here I am again...

I'm off to a Creative Memories class today- very exciting for me to have 4 hours off (if we get there on time). Meanwhile dh and the boys will be picking up our Princess who has had a sleepover with cousin P9. They have a live show to go to, and will be bringing J11 home to say the night.

I've been very busy this week, tidying everything up (then tidying it again, gotta love little Tombliboo)...we visited N and B21 months, and the kids got to grind flour from whole wheat! They also got to see, and hold (Tombliboo) their new chicks! So cool.

Daddy auditioned as a contestant for a TV game show, and went to a Transition Towns meeting. I had really wanted to go too, but it's too hard with a toddler. It worked out well though, because I had already seen the video they played (in several parts on You Tube. If you do nothing else with it, the first part at least is a gigantic eye-opener.

While you're there, The Story of Stuff is absolutely worth a look-see. I know it's really long (22 minutes), but if you can watch snippets, and pause it when you need to do something else- I doubt you'll regret it :0)

I've been pondering what is the best thing to do with money right now, and I can't seem to hatch upon the "right" answer. We got out our "savings" and paid off our two debts (one an interst-free HP for our giant bed, the other a tax bill for dh). There's not much left over for the new car we'll be needing when we move. I was planning to begin saving in earnest next week, and then wondered if the money would be better spent on food that can be stored, seeds, candles, clothes and shoes in larger sizes for as the children grow, etc.

Whatever we decide, it will be a new thing- because I am *not* a saver...but something about the global financial woes has jolted me in to action- even though I had been moving in that direction for a while.

I really like not having a car. It feels good. I like living more simply, and considering the implications of what we do with the planet's current and future resources. That's not to say I'm not sometimes annoyed by the necessity of catching buses, or asking for assistance here and there. I still think it is a good thing. We won't be able to go without a car when we move (too far from *everything*, and no public transport), though dh thought it would be cool to invest in horses.

I'm enjoying reading this blog, and trying to read through the archives as well- loads of good information, and written in a ,"Don't panic, Mr Mannering" way which I have to admire...because I have had moments of panic!

I'm nearly finished reading Power Down, which has been sorrowful as well as inspiring. I'm set to begin The Long Emergency when I'm done there. Still waiting to begin Animal, Vegetable, Miracle which I really hope to start soon...and looking for something a bit light-hearted as well.

The problem with reading at the moment, is that Tombliboo (ever the 2-hrly waker) changed to hourly about 3 months ago, and the last few nights has liked to feed between 4 and 6am...when I do get to read, it's only for a half a page, and then I'm out.

I've read plenty about cell-phones which has concerned me, but nothing like this. I only just replaced my last (ruined by Tombliboo) mobile, but last week (somehow!) managed to put it through the wash! Now I'm not sure about replacing it. I ahve told myself it is essential in an emergency, but the real fact of hte matter is...it isn't! Also, interesting to note an ordinary portable phone is only 20% better, so that will need to get replaced shortly too. Especially read this if you use an IUD. If you haven't got time to read the link, the main points are...don't use your cell-phone near metal (especially in a car, plane, bus, etc)...and keep calls short, prefereably under 30 seconds, but definitely under 2 minutes. Remove glasses (of you wear them) before starting a call. Keep it away from your body, and if you can keep it switched off that is better still.

Other than that- J-Man has been thoroughly immersed in Azeroth (World of Warcraft), which I can't help worrying about- even though I well know the good points.

Princess has been working on a jack-o-lantern bag, colouring every side in orange- which, as you can imagine, is taking a very long time. She has amazing stamina when an activity is of her own choosing. I have cleaned her room while she's been away overnight, offering her a "clean slate" as Holly wrote about in her blog. Princess has not inherited a tidy gene, though I'm not sure whom she would have inherited it from- so it's nothing much to wonder at...but wow! Can she make a mess! I would have loved to take photos of the current mess (which I might add was cleaned utterly a week ago), and then ensuing transformation...but alas, the camera is no more (for the moment).

I stared at the difference again this morning, and wondered how it can be so diffcult to keep it tidy...but it is, so that's that.

Tombliboo is delightful...he'll be 2 next month, and that seems so very hard to believe! He has been using the potty independently for some time now- didn't think that day would ever come, lol...but I notice that if he is wearing pants, he is perfectly happy to pee in them, and then announce "I wet" as he removes them. Not sure why he doesn't remove them *first*, and then avoid the "wet"...but as with everything, that will change soon enough.

He is no longer happy to wear training pants if we're going out...this is interesting to me, because it was at the same age that both J-Man and Princess decided they were no longer happy to wear nappies. Last weekend, we went to a farm, and he insisted on undies. I fretted needlessly for most of the day, but he remained dry (refusing all pottytunities) for well over 6 hours. The farm was wonderful by the way, Princess tried her hand at Felting and we all got to see sheep-shearing. Tombibloo couldn't get enough of that, and kept saying "Another one!" over and over.

So, that's about all we've been up to this week. Thanks for reading!

Photo Note: These are free-range children, choosing to go inside a chicken coop :0)