autumnal

Today I woke up with a stiff neck and headache, probably due to stress and not drinking enough water or cups of tea over the last three days (* see the bottom of the post for explanation). But despite the slow start the fine weather (after a very wet weekend) lured me outside and with the kids we went down to the bottom paddock to check the pond after all the heavy rain.

We took our goat Mumbai over to the other side of the pond and chained him to a line for a change of pasture. He doesn't really like being chained up, but with us nearby he didn't bleat too much!

 

In the paddock and shelter belt there were lots of different types of fungi, including a orange coral like one which I'd never seen before.We are still getting a few field mushrooms too which I eagerly pick before the animals knock them over. After I'd taken some photos I did some pruning and weeding with The Teenager (yes that was a recent occurrence!) in the garden around the pond. Miss L took some photos with my camera. I think hers are better than mine. What do you think?

And yes I grubbed the thistles in the paddock too - that was the only one that was flowering.! Hopefully the alpacas appreciate what I do for them.

 

* Today actually  felt like the first day of the school holidays, because the first 3 days (plus the Friday night) was spend at the local dancing competitions with Miss L. Now don't get me wrong I couldn't be further from a "ballet mum" but when your child has a talent you have to support them the best you can. For me this involves having dreams/nightmares about her hair falling out while I'm trying to get it into a bun!! Being so stressed about making it to the venue on time, and getting her hair and make up looking perfect - something I've never perfected with myself! But the most stressful time is actually when I'm in the audience and know that she's on next, and I'm waiting for the music to start, my greatest fear is that the CD won't work. I no longer worry about her forgetting her moves, as she's now old and savvy enough to keep going regardless.

Despite all my anxiety Miss L is pretty relaxed. She was a bit nervous for her first two dances, but then she got into it. We (yes the royal 'we'!) finished the weekend with three trophies - firsts in her demi character, barefoot and barefoot impromptu (in case there are any other ballet mums out there you'll know what I'm talking about!), a second in her classical ballet and a highly commended in her jazz/modern. Now I can relax and enjoy the school holidays until we do it all again in June!