How it feels to let go of some stuff

Back when I wrote this post I was feeling incredibly overwhelmed and depressed and anxious.
Life and everything I had taken on was weighing heavily. It was all too much.

I have been doing some regular work with one of those professional mental health people and together we have put in place some strategies for dealing with the anxious when it comes. One of the big tasks that I knew was there to be done was to downsize my commitments. I knew that I really needed to stop saying yes to everything, start saying "no" or "I don't have the time to commit to that project".

I have quit my part time job.
I have finished my two year role as secretary of the kinder.
I have said "no" to other requests that have come my way.
I have limited the number of nights out that I have in a week (although that gets tricky come the silly season).
I have not missed my twice a week pilates class.
We went on a farmstay holiday to one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.
I am making a conscious effort to slow down and be in those moments with the boys instead of worrying constantly about the next thing on the to-do list.
I am spending more time doing the things I love - cooking and reading and hanging out in the backyard. Working with beautiful food and creating dishes in my own kitchen is a true place of happiness and feels like a completely valid therapy/meditative experience.
My Christmas plans are in place and they are smaller and more achievable than the craziness I came up with last year. Home cooked Christmas presents here we come.

All of this has helped so much.
I am calmer. I am more present. The anxiety is a smaller beast. When it visits, I am more able to cope. There is still a way to go though. I have to watch myself because my personality regularly leads me to a place of saying "yes" too often and ending up over-committed and miserable.

But for now, where I am feels good.

new neighbours

They're new neighbours but they have been in the neighbourhood for a while and anyway, it feels like we have known them forever.

There is an ease in the ebb and flow of life living next door to this beautiful little family of three.

The side gate is open and a precious two year old tinkerbell tiptoes in to our backyard now and again to steal a jump on the trampoline or five minutes playing trains with our boys.

A big black dog has been well and truly adopted and hours are spent patting.

The spoils of cooking and produce are shared and containers of deliciousness are passed across the fence and back again.

The difficult hours of dinner, bath and bedtime are easier when you can call out to someone else facing the same trials next door.

Having new neighbours, might seem like a relatively small thing in the grand scheme.
Small or not, it feels like I have won the lottery.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

We have a winner

Getting up close and personal with a tuba after our recent visit to an MSO performance

I had a giveaway on Segovia the other day.
The winner of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Classic Kids Sing tickets for a family of 4 is......

High Country Gourmet

I have sent you an email and look forward to arranging your tickets.
Thank you to those who entered.
Happy Wednesday one and all.

Sunday catch up

It's been difficult to stay true to Blogvember this weekend. It gets like that in November, better weather, the opportunity of social occasions, the looming Christmas beast.

This weekend has had some challenges but it has largely been beautiful.

Pilates. Swimming lessons. Twitter. A trip to see the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra do a Classic Kids performance. The most amazing turkey schnitzels and coleslaw. Washing. Twitter. A quick blog post. Sunday drive all the way to "Day out with Thomas" at Puffing Billy Railway in the hills. Cooking some gorgeous flatbreads stuffed with chicken, spinach, feta and chickpeas. A well-earned beer. Couch time and a blog post. Twitter. Caramel custard (I heart you Thermomix).

And there will be lots of sleep, any time now.

I hope you had a lovely weekend too. Go well.

Food for Friday

It's Friday. I am tired. It has been a huge week and I figure, what else do you need on a Friday except some pictures of beautiful food? So I thought I would share some of the gorgeous food we ate while we were on our recent farm stay holiday near Bright.

Here you go. So much deliciousness from me to you. Happy Friday.

the most delicious berries at the Bright Berry Farm

a gorgeous breakfast - granola by The Misadventurous Maker

loveliest burger I ever did eat from The Myrtleford Butter Factory

cute Bowler with nuggets and chips at the pub

divine scrambled eggs and salsa from the Rail Trail Cafe

more Rail Trail Cafe yum - egg, salmon, bagel

fell.in.love. with coral lee cafe in bright - lemonade and cheesecake anyone?

more coral lee - when I grow up i would love a cafe like this one

I made these ones - caramelised onion, avocado and cream cheese tarts

Dear Friends

Dear Beautiful Friends,

Thank you for opening your home to us on Melbourne Cup Day.

Thank you for the beautiful food and the opportunity to contribute to an amazing feast for all of us.

Thank you for your generous and gracious hospitality which extended through not one but two meals. Seven whole hours of a house full of people.

Thank you for loaning the Bowler some trains to play with and sustain him on the journey home. His day ended peacefully and perfectly.

Thank you for always creating a space that welcomes the Batsman and encourages him to be himself. He had the time of his life.

Thank you for being the friends you are to all of us. We are beyond lucky to have you in our lives. It makes us so happy to watch our boys play together.


Love,

Us
xoxo

The treechange dream

Imagine a place where there are four distinct seasons. A summer, autumn, winter and spring - each with their own contribution to a stunning landscape.

Imagine a place where you can walk for a few kilometres and usually not see another person or car, maybe just a cow or a few sheep.

Imagine a place where the kids can just run and be outside for hours. They bottlefeed a calf, chase sheep, giggle at a kookaburra and eat like horses. Their favourite thing to do is chucking rocks in the creek.

Sounds perfect doesn't it?

We have just returned from a farmstay holiday, our second in two years at the same lovely farm. I go to this place and I can feel my whole body unwind its springs, the tension draining. I watch my boy let go of much of the anxiety that autism has him carry around. I go to this town and I want to live there.

I have long carried a little dream about living in the country. It's something I think about from time to time. I can picture myself in a little farm house baking a pie with the eggs my chooks laid, just like the cliche of all cliches . On a holiday like the one we have just had, I am utterly seduced by the lifestyle, the landscape, living close to the source of the produce we eat, all of it. It is usually by about day three that I start to look at the real estate websites or linger outside the window of the agents in the main street of town, checking out what's on offer.

Of course, a treechange is a much more complex undertaking than just packing up and going. If only it were that simple. Employment, housing, schools and services are the big ticket items that need some big thinking and planning for a move like this to happen successfully. It's always at these big ones that I stop in my tracks and the dream drifts away. In my heart of hearts, the Batsman and autism and all that that requires, in services and expertise and support, is what puts up the roadblock. The services are just not there for children with disabilities in many rural and regional areas. There are some exceptions but only a few. Every child in Australia should have access to the services that are available to the kids in the city but the tyranny of distance and cost means that many of the services are just not viable in smaller towns and regions. Rural families of kids with additional needs drive thousands of kilometres to get what their child needs and in that very driving, other aspects of family life are made harder. Not fair.

When it comes down to it and no matter how much I think I might like to be baking that pie in a country oven, I just couldn't make a decision that means the Batsman gets less - less specialised support, less resources, less. For him, I want it all. The pies will be made in our inner suburban kitchen for now.

And the dream wanders away somewhere over in that back paddock.
Until next time.

If you would like to know more about the farm where we stayed go here. If you would like to know more about the beautiful village of Bright in Victoria go here or here.

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Giveaway - You know you want to SING!

We love a bit of a sing at our place.
There is singing along with Play School and with Giggle and Hoot.
We always sing the Goodnight Song with the boys. It's part of the night time ritual.
There is some singing in the shower and sometimes in the car.
Singing gets us to our happy place, usually a little more quickly than a chat.
The boys singing and music tastes are broadening as they get older.
And I admit to being more than a little chuffed when I went to kiss the Batsman goodnight in his bed the other night. He had fallen asleep, but not before he had begun playing the Black Eyed Peas in his bedside CD player.

Do you like to sing at your house?

If you do, and you are based in Melbourne, then this giveaway is for you.

I have a family pass for 2 adults and 2 children to attend the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Classic Kids program, SING! I have been to a couple of the MSO performances for kids and they really are a fabulous way to make music part of your children's lives.

Date: December 1
Venue: Iwaki Auditorium at the ABC Southbank Centre in Melbourne.
Time: your choice of 10am, 11:30am or 1:30pm sessions.

More details about SING!:
"One of Australia’s pre-eminent conductors and a passionate advocate of the importance of singing in a child’s life, Richard Gill, and singers from Victorian Opera, will join forces with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra to lead a stimulating musical program for children which will explore the joy of singing and inspire aural imagination through song. "

If you would like to win and go have a SING!, all you have to do is:

1. You must be in Melbourne!
2. Leave a comment below telling me what you sing at your house. 
3. Follow Segovia - here or on Facebook
4. Ensure that you are contactable by leaving an email address with your comment or via your profile.

The giveaway is open until midnight on Monday November 12, 2012.
The winner will be drawn randomly. Prize value is $50.

I am a Gemini so let's see if I can complete Blogvember

 

 

“Geminis have a dual nature and therefore seem changeable, sometimes reckless and fickle. They tend to do many different things superficially. Totally flexible and adaptable, they can work at multiple tasks simultaneously but they may lack persistence” Source: Here

Hmmm.

My life is littered with quite a bit of stuff that I haven’t persisted with. Hobbies are the main offender, in particular, craft, for which I have great desire but little talent. It always looks so much better in my mind’s eye than in reality. Cross stitch anyone? Who wants to make a Christmas wreath? I have the materials stashed in a cupboard somewhere. I also confess to never having managed to finish one of those “photo a day” challenges run by the very clever Fat Mum Slim. There are quite a few unfinished books littered around the house on the shelf too. It seems that I have all good intentions but I don’t always follow through. Food projects, though, are something I always complete. Go figure.

So when I saw my friend Naomi was going to take on the Blogvember challenge of posting every day for the whole month I thought “what’s another unfinished project between friends” “why not give it a crack?”.

So here I am.

I have two blogs, this one and The I Love You Song where I write about our autism adventures with our very gorgeous Batsman. For Blogvember I am going to alternate between the two blogs. One day, I will be here. The next day I will be over there. I hope you will join me and hop around.

And, if you are one of those people who does manage to finish projects, feel free to give me advice and a good kick up the backside if you notice me wavering.

I would really like to finish this one.

PS: I am going all out and doing #FMSPhotoADay too. If you want to see how far this Gemini can go you can find me here or here.

Image via WeHeartIt