Humble pie with thanks a la mode.

Yesterday I was in a right funk.  I was having one of those days. We all do, I know…I was not going to click the publish button… but I thought if I really am going to have a blog that is about the good, the bad, and the down right ugly, if I really do believe that there should be more honesty about being a woman, and less of a veneer, then I better walk the walk.  I did.  Then I cried.  A lot. Every comment set me off again.  But, I am OK.  I have got passed it, well, almost.

In an effort the pull myself up by the bootstraps I walked around the house and took photos of some of the things I love about it.

I want to thank you all for your words.  They helped.  A lot.  Sometimes there really is nothing for it but to let the walls down, have a good cry and then get on with it.  I will be gentle to myself this week.  We should all be gentle with ourselves.  Thanks Seraphim for reminding me of that.

So then, here are some the things that I love…

Thank you all again, big, big love to you all,

Naomi xxx

Read more…

Tags: blog, build a bridge, never say never, weekend, wrapped in love

Words from the weekend

It has been a relaxed and easy going weekend here in the hills.  Helped somewhat by the fact that as I shut the car door on the working week I walk up the steps in the photo accompanying this post.

After what seemed like forever, but was in fact only a few months I am uni and placement free, and I think this weekend the whole household breathed a collective sigh of relief as I de-stressed.

Saturday felt a little like the day after a really great party, what with Jodie’s Bloggers Without Makeup going global.  What an amazing thing to have been part of.  It was one of those uniting moments with bloggers and tweeps.  It really was.  Jodie, you have done an amazing thing.*

The kids got busy making dioramas from boxes they found under the house. I loved hearing snippets of their conversation as they rummaged under the floorboards for the right sized box…  their collective creativity a low buzz from the kitchen table.

Sunday the clouds broke and the sun shone through the autumn leaves… I do love this time of year.

A Slow, relaxing weekend all in all.  How about you?

*Dear Jodie, remember my speed reading and grape peeling skills come Oprah…I’m all yours!

Tags: blog, twitter, weekend

I’ll be right back… promise!

There has been a complete lack of anything on this little blog of late. Life has taken over, as has the mammoth pile of washing barely contained within the walls of our home.  Working 3 days, being on a placement 2 days, having 2 kids, wanting some semblance of a social life, and uni assignments have all conspired against the blog.

But, I have just posted a uni assignment off (for better or worse) and informed the great uni gods (via the wonder of email) that I will not be on placement for the next 2 weeks for family reasons.  I feel a bit like a politician using the now cliché line.  But you know what? It’s cliché because it’s true.  Family life has taken a back seat as I stumble through this uni/work/prac thing and it’s time to take a break.

So, tomorrow we will be headed off to Tassie, via a 9 hour boat trip, to spend time together, see friends, family, and familiar places.   I will be webless for most of the first week.  No internet.  No twitter.  No facebook. I will, however have a soft lead pencil and a moleskine.  I have posts that are simmering, waiting to come out.  I have a dear friend to feed our old cat, the fish,  and use our ripening tomatoes.  I have the chance the breathe…

See you soon lovely people xxx

Tags: blog, facebook, freindship, holiday, parenting, twitter

I have been bitten by the fox with his sharp sharp teeth, he has left his mark on my shoulder.

Well dear readers, (if there are any of you left) I have once again been neglectful of my little blog. Work began again this week, and I have been busy setting up, being at a conference, meeting and greeting new families, and doing paper work. Thrilling. I know.

I have also been rather absent from Twitter (insert small sob here) and from blog reading (insert pitiful sob here.)

It has, however been an interesting week none the less.  It was the week I got tattooed.  Yes, that’s right tattooed. I have been wanting a tattoo for a long, long time.  Once, some years ago I even made an appointment to have one done, but the tattooist in question looked at what I wanted and said ‘no, can’t do that, the line work is too fine.’ Well, you can imagine the confidence that inspired in me.  I cancelled the appointment.

Since then I have continued the search for the perfect image, and the perfect tattoo artist.  My search ended last week when I came across a web site. I rang, they said  just drop in anytime to discuss what I wanted, so I did, but the artist in question was busy.  It was a little confronting walking in to a shop front and seeing 2 people being tattooed right in front of me.  I wasn’t sure where to look.   I made a time to come back and discuss my ideas with my chosen artist – for artists these people truly are.

I returned two days later and discussed what I wanted with Ryan, my chosen tattooist.  He went away, drew it up and showed me… I beamed! It was perfect. So, as I waited for him to set up I signed the paperwork. A man about my age and his partner were there too, he was choosing his design, and another younger man was being tattooed as well. He had 2 hours to still go and  he had been there at least an hour already… so, I thought to my self, how much can it hurt really.  I was to be tattooed in the shop front, with people walking past me on Smith Street Collingwood looking in. People came in and out, chatting to various artists, showing what they wanted, where they wanted it… one bloke even dropping trousers… meanwhile, I’m standing there with one singlet top strap and one bra strap tucked under my arm, shoulder bared having the transfer applied.  No one batted an eye lid at any of this. It was refreshing actually, people of all ages, shapes and sizes, baring skin, baring body, without judgement, without fear.   I checked placement in a double mirror, and then it started.

The buzzing noise was close to my ear.  There was light pressure, a small scratching sting… this is Ok I thought… easy.  Fool.  The second part was right on my shoulder blade. I had heard people say that being tattooed close to bone can hurt.  They are right.  But it was a controlled pain, of my own choosing.  After about 45 minutes I was done.  My tattoos were covered in plastic wrap and I was ready to go home.  A marked woman.  I love my tattoo, and am already planning to add to this one, or get another one.

For me, being tattooed was very personal.  What you choose to have put on your body, and where you have it, it is very personal.  A friend said I will regret having it done.  But I don’t, and I wont.  Someone also said I may regret it when I’m 90.  But I wont. If I’m 90 I’ll be happy to still be kicking and I’ll be able to say that I made choices about my body for me. And at the end of the day, it’s me who has to like it!

Note – the title of this post is what I wrote as my status on facebook when I arrived home from having the tattoo done.  It is also a hint at the name of the place I was tattooed.

Tags: blog, never say never, tattoo, twitter

Dear 2009

It’s new years eve. Tomorrow heralds the start of a new year and a new decade.  I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the past year, and all in all my reflections have left me smiling.  For me it’s been a pretty good year.  So, before I say sayonara to 2009 I have some things to say…

Dear 2009,

you have been a pretty good year to me, and for this I want to say thank you.  I sometimes joke about getting older, but really, 2009, you have taught me that ageing is really alright.  Although I can no longer claim to be youthful, I have found something else… peace and inner calm… and a sense of knowing who I am… Oh sure I still go out, but I stand more to the back… or off to the side… with a more expensive drink in my hand… not looking for something, or someone, just happy to be with those I love.

2009, you brought me a child with double digits in his age… how did this happen? Can I really have been a Mama for 10 years? Can I really? And yes, although they drive me crazy at times, I love this age, where my kids and I can talk, and reflect, and philosophise… I see the dawning of a new era in my parenting life… thanks for that 2009.

My dear 2009, you brought with you a slow dawning that this place I now live is my home.  Early on you marked the second year anniversary of the move here.  You reminded me that a friend said it would take two years to feel settled and at home… she was right… this is home… I am home. You also brought me friends new and old, from near and far… you gathered them to me… I am happy, and secure and safe… thanks.

This year you also set in stone the long, long held friendships I have with those I left in my old home… we may be separated by high waves and cold, cold sea… but our bond is strong and we remain tied together by soft green threads of ribbon and love.

2009, you gave me facebook friends with a mutual love of late nights and wine… we found our way to each other… across time zones and countries… and now, the future looks bright, and full of laughter, love…. and wine…

You gave me the strength to start this blog, and then you gave me twitter.  An interwoven community of support and laughter… a lille blue bird that is so much more than I ever thought it could be.

So, thank you 2009.  You have been a good year to me.  I will be sorry to see you go… but I hold great hope, and excitement for 2010… and that, I have found is half the battle won… if I look for and hope for, and speak of the good, it will come… not perhaps as I had expected, but in other, less obvious ways… and this is the greatest lesson you taught me 2009… so thank you.

image from DryIcons.com

Tags: blog, children, facebook, parenting, twitter

Best of 2009

Well, another year draws to a close.  Another year older, another year wiser… perhaps.  I have read a few blogs now with a best of list, and I like the idea. I most recently read the best of list over at the lovely Lifeslightlyused’s blog and have copied the one she did there.   So, without further ado, here is my best of 2009.

1. Best Book – I love reading, so this is a tough one.  This year I’d say it would have to be Geraldeine Brooks Year of Wonders oh and Wuthering Heights, but I read that every year!

2.  Best Movie –  well, it’s a tie, I loved Julie & Julia it was funny, it had heart, it had cooking, it had butter… also Where the Wild Things Are, a movie about childhood filmed in the places of my childhood, with my favourite fictional characters.

OK – I need to add to this, last night I saw Bright Star.  I love, love, LOVED it.  Beautiful piece of cinema, just wish I’d taken tissues!

3. Best Song - Oh again this is a tough one! Just one? Hmm, OK, It will have to be… oh boy… well, here’s two – one I’ve listened to most of the year – Still Wild by the divine Little Birdy, who, in my humble opinion just keep getting better  - listen & watch here. My latest best song of 2009 is Angus & Julia Stone’s and the boys listen and watch here.  These songs speak to my heart.

4. Best Album – Well, the best album I bought this year was Little Birdy Confetti, yes I heart Little Birdy.

5. Best Destination – Hands down Hobart, Tasmania to the Little Footprints Gala. Wonderful friends, wonderful cause, wonderful, teary remembering of sweet Layla and all the amazing staff and parents who care for prem and sick babes. A weekend and night that will remain with me always.

6. Best Blog Find - This is hard, as it was this year I found all the blogs really.  It’s hard to pick just one, they are all so great for many different reasons.  But, if I have to choose just one, I’ll choose Lifeslightlyused’s Blog because it’s the one that makes me laugh, and cry, and feel the most.  She writes with such beauty, and when she’s gone to Sydney to live I’ll feel a hole, even thought we’ve never met in real life.

7. Best Trip - Hubby, kids and I went on a road trip along the Great Ocean Road.  We had a wonderful day, so much so Miss8 has requested we do it again for her birthday.

8. Best Restaurant moment - I’m including café moment(s) in this… every few weeks a friend and I meet up for lunch at a local café.  We talk, we laugh, we eat… the vegetarian platter is very yum and changes every week depending on seasonal produce.  My favourite was the shot of cauliflower soup and the goat cheese and tomato tart, and the rhubarb crumble cake… and the blue cheese tart… and… oh, Ok will stop now.

9.  Best Moment of Peace – coming home after two nights away when we evacuated due to bush fire warnings.

10. Best Challenge – starting this blog, and keeping blogging.  It’s not what I though it would be, but it’s better and more rewarding than I thought it would be.

12. Best Place – I spent a lot of time at the National Gallery of Victoria this year.  I love that place…  I also love the city of Melbourne itself…  so, I guess this my best place, it’s home, and I love it.

13. Best new food – well, it’s not new, but my love affair with good sour dough continues. I re-designed how I make pizza at home – with thin crust, a light smoosh of tomato sauce, and light handed with the topping – salami, baby spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, boccocini and basil leaves.

14. Best change I’ve made –  to just go with the flow… let things happen as they happen… less stress, less angst… less overwrought planning… and y’know what? I like it!

15.  Best tea of the year - This was the year I gave up caffeine – although I have now returned to tea… just one a day… best tea would have to be a non caffeine chai that goes very well with soy, and which is in easy reach at a foodie store one minutes stroll form my front door.

16.  Best saying of the year - I have a few, and they are related to each other, and they make perfect sense to a few… lets just say, bonds have been re-newed through social network sites, and over a number of states, countries and time zones, and a fair amount of late night  drinking lap top use, (and here’s the sayings) I bumhat my pisses, pounging SWFBF mwah, mwah, mwah SSS. See, now there are a few people out there in blog land smiling right now!

17. Best shop of the year – It’s hard to choose just one shop, and I decided to take clothes shops out of the equation to make it easier. So, for me then, the best shop of the year is the NGV shop – especially with a NGV 20% discount off everything! This shop has it all, great books, moleskines, great jewellery, great mugs, great quirky gifts for kids, great home wares that don’t look like they came from ikea (but I love ikea too) OK you get the idea!

18. Best Project of the year – starting a veggie patch.  We had one years ago, and since moving a bit we haven’t.  But once again we do! We planted all from seed – organic, non hybrid seeds, which is very important to me… and I am loving the results.  Gardening is like a form of meditation for me, I’ve missed it, and am happy to be back at it…. look out, the overgrown perennial border is next!

19.  Best learning experience – I read Toxic Childhood and decided to let my kids have a bit of freedom… and you know what? It’s great! I also learnt to take a step back from Master10 and stop thinking/saying ‘but he’s small for his age and has really bad asthma…’ and just let him be… best thing I ever did for him and me.

20.  Best gift – Hubby went to Hobart for work, while there he visited my favourite jewellery shop.  When he got home he placed the wrapped box under my pillow knowing I always check under my pillows when I go to bed, in case there is a spider, (I hate spiders). It was such a lovely surprise, it wasn’t my birthday, or an anniversary… He chose a beautiful necklace and earrings. I wore them to the Little Footprints Gala.  Thanks Hubs!

21.  Best aha! Moment – gee, not sure I really have them…I’m more of a mull it over girl.  Probably when I realised that actually Melbourne is my home.  Not really an aha! But as I said, I mull.

22.  Best social network moment - The day I started Twitter.  This little blue bird has been amazing to me.  On here I have found bloggers, and tweeps that although I may never meet in real life get to see the real me.  Most of my tweeps are also bloggers, and together we are a tightly held online community.  We are there for each other, and offer support, strength, laughter.  There is a sense of connectedness, and to all of you I say thank you.

23.  Best moment with my children – there are two – First was with Master10, watching him join in at the Collingwood Football Club Members footy clinic – he knew no one, he is not a super sporty kid… he was brave, and happy… (and if you want to know why we are at all into football, explanation is here) The second was a day I spent with Miss8 at the Pompeii exhibition at the museum.  I love that my kids are now at the age where we can do things, have conversations, spend time together, remember, reflect.  A moment of togetherness was also walking through Hobart on a cold, cold winters day there just the three of us… walking, looking, talking.

24. Best item of clothing – again, if you know me even a little you know this is hard. I. Love. Clothes. The mere thought of clothes sends me into an excited haze of possibilities. So, without further ado my favourite item of clothing bought this year would be… nope, too hard.  I’ll do a best of list -it’s the best I can do! 1. dark denim high waisted mini skirt from country road.  2. Black ‘windswept’ dress from Metalicus  3. Grey dress from Country Road, it’s all rope cord and flowy, and knots and twists, and pleaty… and ok… I’ll stop now.  But Oh my I love clothes!

25.  Best TV show discovered –  it was a two parter on ABC of Wuthering Heights, I sobbed.

26.  Best DVD watched - I’d say maybe Gran Torino.  I missed it at the movies.  Clint Eastwood is amazing.  Just for fun I’ll add the original Buffy The Vampire Slayer Movie (before the series) in a it was so bad it was good way!

27.  Best DVD/TV series - Dexter. I’m addicted.

28. Best new TV series discovered – I was late to this show, and I know you may roll you eyes in mainstream horror but I just love Packed To the Rafters.

29. Best Youtube clip – was this or this. The first because I would really like a wardrobe just like that, full of shoes.  The second because it’s from a place I lived for a long time and still love.

30.  Best thing you watched on youtube – probably this .  Because, really, the time has come.  We have one planet, and one chance.

31.  Best person to be inspired by – This is a tough one.  It is a combination of people really.  Celebrity wise I’d say Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall.  His dedication to sustainable living is humbling and inspiring, and something we hope to have (on a much smaller scale) one day. On a personal level, a number of friends have embarked on some life changing journeys this year, their courage, strength and determination is amazing.

32.  Resolution you wish you’d stuck to – well, I simply don’t make them.  I’m not trying to sound tossy.  But I just don’t see the point. If I want to make a change I’ll do it when I’m ready, not because I made some grand statement under the influence on new years eve… but that’s just me!

So, there you have it, my best of list for 2009.  All in all it’s been a good year, a year of feeling settled, and secure, and happy and safe.  So thank you to everyone who was a part of that, and here’s to an even better 2010!

Tags: blog, children, dress, night out, shoes, Shopping, twitter

New look Under the Yardarm!

Because I have the patience of a nat… because after months of thinking about it, and procrastination, when I finally started this blog I enlisted the help of Hubby the trusty new media developer. But, instead of letting him do his thing, I decided I needed the blog up and running yesterday, and not a moment later! I’m good like that, you can always count on me to be about as patient as a toddler!  So, over the past few days, we have been looking through fonts, graphics, designs, and after I picked about a trillion things I liked, Hubby started the new look.   I have been very helpful, getting Hubby cups of tea… beer… and even letting him do work for his paying clients (nice, caring, thoughtful wife that I am!)  So, anyway, here is the new, improved Under the Yardarm… and a shameless plug for Hubby right here!

Tags: blog

I’m a technology bigamist!

I love facebook. This is a well known fact. I am on it a lot. A. Lot! It was my first social network love. I resisted, played hard to get, then relented, gave in, and fell heavy and hard, this was not a crush, oh no, this was the real thing baby.
First came family and friends… then my friend list began to grow… finding old school mates, uni mates, work colleagues, as well as reconnecting with lost friends, that I now also see in real life, yes folks… real life!

I love logging in, and seeing what everyone is up to… where they have been, latest photos… reading comments…  I love that I can keep in constant contact with family and friends interstate, and overseas.  It has become a life line sometimes, a way of reaching out to friends, and a way of them reaching out to me when in need.

But… the thing with facebook (AKA The Book) is that if you constantly update your status, you tend to clog up friends home feeds. My eye started to wander to other social networks… I follow blogs, and comment there… but I needed somewhere to type my random thoughts, so that they didn’t mill about in my head, taking up space that I needed to drive, work, cook… drink wine… then, something caught my eye.   I smiled, fluttered my eyelids… and started to chat with twitter… there I have found a way to utter, post, and interact with fellow blogging people… OK… so at the moment with 1 other person, but at least I’m not just tweeting myself… (ruder than it sounds people, move along!)

I’m not leaving The Book, oh no, I need The Book… to scrabble, look at photo albums… chat to Mum, organise girls nights out, and discuss dress choices… but I need Twitter too now… it’s a new love, a different love…  so, I’ve decided I can have them both, and blog on the side… it’s an open arrangement, Big Love style… and it makes me smile!

Tags: blog, facebook, twitter