Preemptive triumphant return

So, one whole year without posting. Unintentional, really, although at some point early last year, amongst parenting and partnering, working (and working...), knitting and sewing, cooking and running, trying to find time to see friends, trying to be present...well, I decided that the blog was one thing too many. So I stopped writing, but not thinking about it. And it turns out, one year later, I still want to write this blog. I don't care at all about how many or who reads it - I love having an online, words and pictures record of my life. Because things keep changing, and I keep forgetting things, and it seems important. So here I am.

So, late in 2014 I turned 40. Because we had lived in 3 countries in 3 years, very few of my friends were where I was. So I had a quiet celebration with my family, parents, and one very old, very dear friend who has seen me through many earlier birthdays (and her partner and son). And I decided that instead of one big bang of a party, I would make 2015 the Festival of 40. And I did. It kind of fell over about half way through, but you'll see why in a minute.
It went something like this:

• Actual birthday!
• Seeing Cat Empire live at MONA
• Running a 10K (Run the Bridge)
• Seeing old friends (lots of this!)
• Seeing more of Australia (we had a family holiday driving a campervan from Melbourne to Sydney up the coast - most excellent)
• Skiing (this was only just achieved - we finally had a ski season here in Tasmania (it doesn't always happen), drove to Ben Lomond on their most busy day when they had sold out of almost everything except hot chips, and I managed to get 2 hours on the slopes, most of which was spent in line for the 2 tows that were working - pommel tows!! - but still, skiing!)
• Went to the footy with my eldest & my dad (this replicates a key family experience, so probably means nothing to anyone except me & my dad)
• Bought a house

Some roses I grew this year, in lieu of a more content-related photo. To be fair, I really didn't do much - other than net them to stop the possum from dining out on them every night. But for a few weeks I had 6 big vases of roses in the house - it was spectacular.

So after we bought a house, everything went a bit quiet - until my 41st birthday, when we ate at Stefano Lubijana's Osteria, which was on the list from day one (and very lovely too). Obviously buying a house was an enormous thing, and there is lots more on that topic, but it really filled in September to December :)

View from the Osteria.

So here I am today, on the first day of a week of staycation holidays with the boys. Its the last week of the summer holidays for them, so a fine mix of boredom and routine of being at home. I knew on Friday, when I struggled to leave work with everything in some semblence of order, that I had over-planned my week off - that I would find myself frustrated with not getting through everything I wanted to do. And lo, on Monday, here I am. So here's the plan - every day this week I'm writing on this blog to remind myself its a holiday! And it doesn't matter - stuff is getting done, but the point is to enjoy - time at home, time with the boys, time by myself. I just sat with a glass of wine on the path outside, looking at the Derwent River and our two unfriendly rabbits, and realised how lovely it is just being here. I might do it again tomorrow.

Tomorrow is Australia Day. We are hoping to drive up to Mount Field National Park and have a look, although the highlight is usually Russell Falls, and we've had so little rain here that I'm not sure they will even be running. But we'll go anyway. It will be lovely. I'll knit in the car.

PS A noisy miner bird just landed on the open window next to me (they like to berate their reflections, thinking somehow that its a stranger that needs to be seen off), and (obviously surprised) gave me a right earful. Its lovely living in the sticks.