The Safety Blanket

My Muddy Organiser has a safety blanket, not a literal safety blanket but a little friend who has always been by her side. Her Best Friend is the one she can always rely on, the one who has always been there to do things together with first, from preschool to school to ballet and birthday parties. Everything is always OK because she knows no matter what her safety blanket won't be far away.

Over the last few weeks I've realised that my gorgeous, soft-spoken Muddy Pixie has lost her safety blanket, she had one, just like my Muddy Organiser did, a buddy who has been there since she was a baby, and she still is there, but she has shot ahead in leaps and bounds and with her extrovert personality has made countless new friends and my Muddy Pixie has found this a bit too overwhelming.

So, I've made it my mission to take a bit more time to help foster new friendships for her, to have some play dates with some other little friends to see if there is anyone she takes a shine to, another little girl that might be feeling lost like my Muddy Pixie is. Someone who can maybe be that safety blanket for her. It may not work, she may not like her, she may not like them, who knows what goes through their heads when they make a decision on something, but I figure it's worth a try. It breaks my heart when I see her looking so lost and I would dearly love to put some light back into her life and give her that safety blanket I think she needs.

Do your kids have a safety blanket, a friend they can rely on? Are they new friendships or old? Any ideas for good play dates?

Crutching Time

At the moment we are crutching our sheep. Basically this means shearing some off around the head and the bum. It helps stop the sheep from becoming wool blind and helps to prevent flies. We get the sheep into the yards the night before and then in the morning they're run up into the wool shed into each of the pens the shearers use. This year Muddy Hubby and his brother are doing their own crutching, and Muddy Hubby is whinging about how sore he is before the day starts, just at the thought of crutching. It doesn't stop him though, he gets in and gets them done.

 

The Muddy Kids help out when they can, they've each got a small broom and depending on who is home they practice picking up the wool after the shearer finishes and taking it to the wool table to pick out the stain and dags and put the remaining good wool in the bale.The sheep are then slid down the chute and into pens under the woolshed, to make their own way out into the sunshine.

 

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Muddy Baby Boy - Enraptured with the sheep running out of the pens after crutching.

 

Muddy Pixie - Insisted on wearing a singlet just like Muddy Hubby does in the shearing shed, learning how to pick up the crutchings and pick them, has made me so proud this week.

 

Sadly this week I only have two images of my Muddy Kids to share. I agree with Jodi when she says once they are at school, it is so hard to capture all that you want of them.

 

Joining in with Jodi from Che and Fidel for 52 - A Portrait a Week for 52 weeks in 2013.

 

Gratefuls on Struggle Street

I've struggled to hit my stride this week and get back into routine. I've chosen to linger and savour the sounds of the morning rather than get up and make sure all the lunchboxes and eskies are packed. I start one task, only to get sidetracked with another and not remember I had already started one. I'm not sure whether it's the after holiday let down or there's something else ticking over in my mind, whatever it is it's not made this week an easy one, today was the worst of all.

In all the struggle though there's been rays of sunshine that I am so grateful for.

Having good friends that listen to me rant or worry or just make me laugh, good friends are wonderful and special and I am so very lucky to have some lovely ones in my life.

I am extremely grateful to my neighbour who picked up my 'snake sticks' for me today, because I couldn't get to town for another week, now I just need to charge them up before strategically placing them in the house yard.

I am grateful for my gorgeous Muddy kids and the love they have for farm life and farming, for the joy they get from going to work with Muddy Hubby and helping out where they can. That is so precious and I hope they never lose it.

My Muddy Puzzler has done a complete turnaround on her bus enthusiasm, so I am grateful for the wonderful and caring preschool staff that encourage her and praise her and ensure she feels safe on the bus and make sure she's happy to get on and off.

Today though the thing I am grateful for is  those 'lightbulb moments' you know the ones, where you've been struggling to find the answer to a puzzle and suddenly inspiration strikes and you see it in a different way and you know how to go forward. Yes, that today I was very grateful for, now to just try and put it into action.

I am linking up with the wonderful Bron who is hosting 52 Weeks of Grateful at Village Voices. Stop by and have a read, you won't regret it!

Mr Independent

With my 3 Muddy Girls the biggest drama I had/have is probably their introvertness (not sure that it's a word but works for me), now with my Muddy Baby Boy it is the total opposite. He is a real Mr Independent, happy to go off on his own, or preferably with Muddy Hubby if he can. He is an explorer, a constant little boy in motion, seeking out his next big adventure. Packaged with his independence is his determination, his determination to do whatever his big sisters are doing, or whatever takes his fancy at the time really.

 

As much as I love it, it is certainly keeping me on my toes and some days I honestly struggle with how to parent him. If he is told 'No' or 'Stop' he lays down on the ground and chucks a massive tantrum. If we go walking and he wants to stop, he just sits down, there's no carrying him, he will get up and keep going when he is ready. If he sees something he wants there is no stopping him until he gets it, even if it means falling off the table in the process or banging into things as he pushes his way through, there is no fear, just total focus on his objective. Some days I long to be like that, so I can't really complain because it's a trait I admire, but it sure does make some days challenging.

 

Back to reality

After a week away our world came crashing back to earth quickly. My friends the snakes have moved in while we've been away. Once chose to make it's home under the swimming pool tarps while the second one chose to greet me at the back door when I went to go outside, sliding between the metal and the mesh. It was not a happy welcome home.

I have resolved to invest in some 'snake sticks', which I have been unable to purchase in town as the only shop that stocks them is sold out. So they will have to wait til I am in the next biggest town for work next week. I have heard a lot about these 'snake sticks', some people think they definitely work, others think they don't. Effectively they're solar powered and they send out intermittent pulses at a frequency that deters the snakes to a 10m2 radius, apparently the snakes don't come within that radius. At this point I am willing to give anything a go.

My other purchase has been some Guinea Fowl. These birds are excellent at alerting you to snakes, they flap and squawk and surround the snake, giving you a chance to get the kids safely inside and try and find a way to deal with it. They are only little, but I have placed a lot of pressure on these birds to do the job they've been purchased for! It helps that they're very cute and get even cuter as they grow. And just because I couldn't resist we have a new rooster, we've called him Bobby, he's a blue crossed with gold Wyandotte and looks like he'll be a good looking bloke.

7/52

 

 

My Muddy Baby Boy - Determination is absolute, I will climb these stairs on my own and will reject any offer of help.

 

My Muddy Puzzler - Concentrating on her beach finds

 

My Muddy Pixie - So very proud of herself, fishing for the very first time

 

My Muddy Organiser - Amazing me with her growing confidence and how much she is growing up so quickly!

A portrait of my kids 'once a week for 52 weeks in 2013'. Joining in with Jodi at Che and Fidel.