Christmas cakes and puddings

I love making Christmas puddings.  Each October I travel to Mum and Dad's house and make a day of it.  I always make two, sometimes three.  One to test before Christmas, one for big day, and one to eat in January, just to string out the holiday feeling a bit longer and feed any loitering holiday makers.

Mum throws the silver coins into the mixture and everyone who happens to be there stirs in a wish.  Mum and I usually stir in a few extras for absent siblings.  But it never goes quite according to plan.  The silver coins go missing every second year (Mum likes to store them in a very "safe" place), we often have to improvise trivets out of coils of gardening wire, and they have been known to boil dry while we get on with other things.  Whatever happens, there is pudding on the table on Christmas Day.  Though this year they're forecasting 30C.  Perhaps I should turn it into pudding icecream.

This year the Goslings and I travelled to Port Fairy
to make a day of it with some of the family.

I think the puddings will be delicious.  I'll let you know.  The cakes are another story altogether.  They were a DISASTER.  I don't want to relive it in detail - here's the abridged version.  I have a spicy, delicious recipe with secret ingredients (actually, not a secret at all, they're green peppercorns) from a Family Circle Christmas book, circa 1983.  It's a winner.  I always make a massive batch of this mixture and turn it into a number of cakes of different sizes, for different people and occasions.  So, it's a LOT of cake.  The past couple of years I've tried to take some of the mystery out of baking a perfect fruit cake and studied up.  I've drawn on advice from show judges, the CWA and a number of internet searches.  Technically, I know what makes a prize winning cake.  In practice, I produced several black lumps.  I blame the oven.  By the time I realised they couldn't possibly cook in the centre without the tops turning to charcoal it was too late.  I've never made them in this oven before, but should have known it would be tricky -  the cursed thing has ruined a number of efforts over the past two years.  Anyway, I'm declaring 2012 the year of the fruitcake.  I'm going to practice throughout the year until I can turn out a reliably delicious fruitcake.  I like the idea because fruit cakes keep for AGES and I'm never tempted to eat the whole thing as quickly as possible, which is the case with every other cake.  And the Gander doesn't like them, so they tend to last in this house.  Here's a picture of this year's horrible Christmas cake.  Consider it a "before" shot.  I'll upload the "after"s during the year.

PS.  I read recently in the Age that you can salvage a burnt Christmas cake by shaving off the black bits, stabbing it all over with a wooden skewer, drenching it in liqueur, and covering it with marzipan and royal icing.  Which I would do if I had time to burn.  I might get as far as the liqueur step.

Holidays

I'm back.  Not sure for how long, maybe just today.  Lots has been happening.

Firstly, we've been overseas for five weeks, visiting the Gander's parents.  Our only purpose was to spend quality time with loved ones, and I'm happy to say "mission accomplished".  It was lovely mooching about with them, just playing and eating and chatting at their home.  We put no pressure on ourselves to race around the countryside doing things, or being tourists.  We had little day trips to places of interest, but nothing too strenuous.

A picnic in the woods

And I think that was the way to go ... we couldn't have managed much more.  A thirty hour journey is hard work at the best of times, but hungry, sleepy babies in airport lounges at midnight really takes it to the next level.  The Goslings did marvellously well, and we managed to avoid any major meltdowns, but unless you have a very good reason for going, I couldn't recommend taking such young children around the world for fun.

Anyway, within days of arriving both Grandies were firmly wrapped around the Goslings little fingers, giving me and the Gander a chance to nap and recover our equilibrium.  The weather was GLORIOUS, so we spent much of time in the garden.  It's very easy to see where the Gander and Goslings have inherited any interest and skill in gardening from ... the Grandies are mad keen, and indeed, are recognised as amateur experts in some particular fields.

Grandma and Little Miss Gosling gardening

So, a month flew by and we left with heavy hearts.  Homecoming was a mixed bag of emotions ... I know the Gander pines for some things about his home country, but we rejoiced over the clear nights where the moon and stars light up the sky rather than aircraft, and the quiet and space we have at home.  It's peaceful.

Civic cabbages

The council gets a big thumbs up from me for its public flowers.  There are loads and they're all beautifully maintained.  The roses at Vansittart Park and the Cave Gardens are lovely but at this time of year they are nothing more than bare stumpy sticks.  Planted beneath them though are an abundance of cabbages.  There are also loads in planter boxes down Commercial street and the middle of roundabouts.  They're a quirky splash of colour in winter.  I love them.

Busy down on the farm

The old diary, tyres and submersible pump

It might not look like much but this tiny part of our five acres has been the focus of our most expensive works since we moved here 18 months ago.  And there's nothing to show for it!

Because our little farmlet was the result of a subdivision, our water supply was still connected to the neighbouring farm's.  The same pump was filling their cow troughs and our toilet. $5000 later and the problem has been fixed .... at our expense as the pump is on our land.

Right next to this pesky pump is a pile of old tyres.   It turns out 155 car tyres and 14 truck tyres were left on the property, which we inadvertently purchased with the house and land.  The only legal way to dispose of them is to have them taken away to a special facility that shreds them and passes them on to be recycled.  Having them removed set us back another $1200.

Infant orchard

On the positive side, we just finished planting the orchard.  Last year we put in four apples and a lemon.  Actually there's a funny story here.  There was a fruit tree already growing slap bang in the middle of our planned path.  Dad told me he thought it was a mulberry.  I LOVE mulberries and really wanted to save the tree.  It was surrounded by heavy duty wire and it had grown so large it was being strangled.  I snipped all the wire away and the Gander transplanted it into our new orchard.  A couple of months later it sprouted some leaves ... and then nine cherries!  Yum.  I love cherries too and they grow very well in this climate.  Anyway, we just planted an apricot, a peacherine, a greengage, an orange and a crab apple.  There's one spot left for an avocado - we'll plant that in spring and see how it goes.

A baby blanket

A dear friend of mine had her first baby yesterday.  I made her a blanket a few weeks ago in anticipation of the happy event.

My Mum is a very skilled seamstress, capable of making beautiful evening wear, hardy children's clothing and the most delicate decorative hand stitching.  Needless to say, I'm wanting in all these areas.  But she inspires me to give it a go, and I have another incentive - my Granny's sewing machine.  Check it out.  She bought it in Nigeria in 1952.  I had a few sewing lessons last year and my teacher could hardly hide her horror at such an antique, but it goes forwards and backwards, and does zig zag and button holes - more than enough for me!

Anyway, here is the blanket.  It is cotton on one side and fleecy and chenille on the other, with ribbons round the edge.  Miss Gosling was given a similar one when she was born and she loved the ribbons once she became aware of their existence and had some control over her hands.

Sheep for beginners

The sheep and I have not got along since we met about a year ago at the saleyards.  It's been a troubled relationship to say the least.  And hopefully, it will end tomorrow morning without too much drama.  And honestly sheep, in this case it really wasn't you, it was me.

I had NO IDEA what we were getting into.  I have grown up surrounded by literally thousands and thousands of sheep and they all look so happy and fat and healthy.  I know they need crutching, drenching, shearing ... too easy.  NOT.  When do you do these things?   I've been driving about peering into paddocks noting what the farmers are doing to their gazillion sheep and inflicting it on our seven.  And what about their horny curly toenails?  I watched a tute on the web about how to pare them back with garden secateurs.  They were crutched with my sewing scissors after the hand shears proved impossible to handle.  Both procedures were effective but the poor sheep.  Each time they saw me approach they shrank into the furthest corner of the paddock.

Which brings me to our main sheep trouble - rounding the flaming things up.  First of all, in my defence, for the entire duration of their stay with us I have either been heavily pregnant or had a baby strapped on in a sling - so I haven't been the most agile jillaroo.  We have also been a bit hampered by lack of sheep dog / ATV and sheep yards.  The Gander very cleverly crafted some makeshift yards out of star pickets and old gates, which work a treat as a holding pen, but lack a race to funnel them in.  And the fiesty ones have been known to jump over the side.  Luckily the flocking instinct is strong and they jumped back in.

All this has resulted in a lot of us chasing them around the paddock, literally in circles.  The Gander seems to know what he's doing, but he tells me I have no affinity for sheep, that I can't think like one, because I'm always moving at the wrong speed in the wrong direction and actually help the sheep evade the yard. 

So, Plan B.  The past 10 days I've been feeding them lupins in the pen.  Apparently lupins, and other grains, are like sweets for sheep and ours certainly love them.  (Who knows how much to give them, or if lupins are good for them.  Two of my million unanswered sheep questions.)  My plan was to wait til they were all in there munching away, sneak up and close the gate behind them.  Two things I didn't anticipate - firstly, they eat the lupins at dawn.  I'm usually up, but in my pyjamas and home alone with the babies.  That hasn't stopped me nipping out in pyjamas and gumboots when it's 1C, but I find that secondly, there are always two keeping sentry while the other scoffs a snack.  The minute they see me they trot out of the pen.

Onto Plan C.  Yesterday we strapped kids into pram and left them outside the paddock.  Then the Gander, a skillful cyclist, lifted his deadly treadly over the fence, planted me by the gate, and with a few sneaky twists and turns herded the sheep into the pen.  I slammed the gate behind them.  Yay! We should have thought of the bike earlier!

Tomorrow they are going to be slaughtered, destined for our deep freeze.  And I'm very sorry to say they aren't in great nick.  While they are generally healthy and have had enough to eat and drink, they could have used a bit more TLC.  And I'm sorry these sheep were our guinea pigs, but I have learnt so much from this experience and expect the next sheep that come to stay with us will be much happier, fatter and relaxed.  I'll keep you posted!

Mother Goose's take home tips for looking after sheep.

• If you don't have a working dog or a motorbike, and suitable experience, buy the sheep young and treat them like pets.  They must be relaxed and happy in your company.  The problem with ours was we only rounded them up every couple of months to flip them upside down and do horrible things to their bottoms or toes.  No wonder they became hysterical when we tried to catch them.

• Get a local to help you develop a calendar of what needs doing when.  When's shearing? Crutching? Drenching?  And then just do it.  Don't wait til you think your sheep looks licey or might have worms.  Too late, the poor things are suffering.

Have you got any other tips?  I'd love to hear them.  As you will have gathered, I need all the help I can get!

Mount Gambier Public Library does it again!

A quick post just to remind you how much I love the library.

We went last Sunday to check out the Trash and Treasure event on the verandah.  Anyone could book a table for $10 and sell their odds and ends.  I found this gorgeous hand painted bowl for 50 cents and a few Playschool DVDs for a couple of dollars.  They're very old episodes - my vintage in fact!  I love seeing Noni, Benita and John again and Miss Gosling doesn't know any better. She has a pavlovian response to the theme song, it sends her straight to the couch, quiet and happy for half an hour.  So, very happy with my little haul.

Inside they had an ocean touch pool.  I'm not sure why, I didn't stop to read the posters, but spent ages bent down with the Goslings watching and touching a little shark, sting ray, lobster and an enormous hermit crab. How cool is that?

On the other side of the library were activities marking Environment Month.  There was craft with recycled materials for kids - Miss Gosling fashioned something out of an old toilet roll, with lots of dots stuck on it.  And there were talks on sustainable housing.  Right up my alley.

And no trip to the library is complete without a few laps through the tunnel, and reading some stories.  It is, after all, a library.
 

Keeping warm

There's nothing more comforting than a cosy fire on a cold winter night.  Ours is going constantly now, so our living area is an ambient 21C twenty four hours a day.  It's lovely sitting in front of the fire feeding the little Master in the small hours of the morning, watching the glowing coals, snuggling together on the sofa.  And it certainly makes it easier to get out of bed on frosty winter mornings.  Little Miss Gosling does a mad dash for the fire, and warms each item of clothing in front of it before putting them on.  The only draw back is fetching wood each day - no easy task in the rain with two little ones.

Miss Gosling helping collect firewood

Clothes swap party

I kept hearing about clothes swap parties - my sister went to one, I read about them in an eco newsletter, then again on a simple living / frugal living website. There must be something in it, I thought, and sent out some invitations.

It was tremendous fun.  People brought along clothes they hadn't worn in ages or had such sentimental value they wanted them to go to a friend rather than the op shop.  We hung them on racks, or folded them in piles, admiring as we went. When everything was organised, we dived in to try things on.  There was such a lot of beautiful clothing - everything from Cue work dresses to royal blue jumpsuits made out of parachute silk (whoever wore that?!  It's gone into Miss G's future dress ups.) 

The afternoon wore on but there were no signs of fatigue.  As we tried things on and built up our piles of treasure the kiddies ran wild outside (there were ten of them under five).  We kept our energy up with coffee, cake and red wine, and when all was done two hours later, we each had bundles of "new" clothes.  It was like shopping for free in your own lounge room.  The funny thing is, afterwards nearly everyone said to me they felt guilty because they had brought such old, ordinary stuff and taken home real gems... just goes to show beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

And one last note - when it was over there were six green bags of unclaimed clothes.  I took them to St Vinnie's that week, so everyone's a winner.

Mount Schank

We recently took the goslings for a walk around the rim of Mt Schank.  It's one of the youngest volcanos in Australia, last erupting only 4500 years ago.

It's a short but steep walk up (mostly stairs) and then about 2kms around the top.  Whatever the weather is at home, it always blustery and threatening to rain whenever we're there, but worth the risk.  The views stretch to the sea in one direction and over farmland in every other.  Beautiful.

Cloth nappies

I'm a big fan of cloth nappies. Over the last two years we've experimented with all sorts of designs and combinations and without a doubt Baby Beehinds are the best. They're super absorbent, they don't leak and they have fitted both goslings from about 2 months to 2.5 years (I got the multifits which mean you don't have to buy different sized nappies).

 I forked out a LOT (nearly $700) for a complete set of nappies and covers and boosters but I've done the sums and we broke even when Miss Gosling was about 12 months old.  It would have been sooner but she was in disposables overnight and for 7 weeks while we were away from home. According to some cloth nappy advocates, it costs about 4c per cloth nappy for the water, electricity and detergent it takes to wash them. Compared to about 40c per Huggie. And we use rain water, and a cold wash, so I'm guessing it's even less. It's a no brainer.

We do put the babies in Huggies overnight though. I found the cloth nappies always leak overnight, even with a booster. And it's not a good idea to use nappy rash creams with them, because they clog up the cloth. So one Huggie and some bottom cream overnight keeps the babies dry and prevents nappy rash.

Cloth nappies drying on the verandah clothes line.

Now I've got two babies in cloth nappies and winter is fast approaching. The flip side of super absorbent nappies is the time it takes for them to dry. Since the cold wet weather set in, we've lit the fire and got out the drying racks. The nappies dry in about 24 hrs in front of the fire. That little hassle, combined with my growing aversion to toddler poo, is motivating me to toilet train Miss Gosling. That adventure will start soon. I'll keep you posted!

For all your cloth nappy questions:

http://nappynetwork.org.au/content/about-us

Mount Gambier has a natural parenting group as well - lots of mums with experience of cloth nappies, as well as homeschooling, immunisation issues, organic food for kids etc etc.  Message me for more details.

Chooks

"Bl***dy pesky chooks!" is frequently heard at our place, usually from me at the kitchen window.  Every morning and afternoon they make their way to the verandah, scratching up the flower beds on the way and covering the paths with mulch and poo.  If the dogs are about, the chooks persecute them, nipping their ankles til they leave, then eat any biscuits left in the bowls, drink their water and do some more pooing.  I am constantly scrubbing it off.  Yuk.  It is certainly a chore I could do without.

Still, I love them.  Their antics are endlessly entertaining and their clucking and crowing and the very look of them fossicking about is charming.  The eggs are a world away from those you get from the supermarket - the whites actually keep their shape.  And they are very easy to keep.  Here's a photo of Miss Gosling helping clean their house out.

A gift for Miss Gosling

I always start sewing projects in a fit of enthusiasm but become discouraged at about the point when I've spent more time unpicking than I have sewing.  This project went surprisingly smoothly, maybe because I did it all by hand.  No machining necessary.

I saw some lovely hair clip holders at the Library's Art and Craft Market. (The market is fabulous but takes a break over winter.  They'll resume monthly in spring.)  Even though they were reasonably priced I thought I could make one with what I had at home.  Everyday Miss Gosling was going through a performance searching for clips in various places and insisting on wearing particular ones.  I'd spend AGES trying to convince her to wear whatever I had in the bathroom drawer.

So I downloaded an image of a strawberry from the web, enlarged it, printed it out and used it as a pattern.  I had to read a web tutorial on how to do french knots, and didn't waste any time practising on a scrap, I just put them straight onto my strawberry, which might explain why no two knots are the same.  The beads act as a weight, and they were from some broken costume jewellery.

Anyway, it has proven to be a very useful little addition to our bathroom.  All the clips are there on display and she can pick whichever she wants to wear.  And when I find them in the car, under her sheets, in her pockets and stuffed between cushions, I just pop them back in their new home.   Happy 2nd birthday Miss Gosling!

Kalangadoo Farmers' Market

All I know about Kalangadoo is that it's surrounded by apple, cherry and potato farms, and that it now has a small but quality farmers' market.  

We pootled along to the inaugural market this morning to find tables laden with organic apples, vegetables, preserves and crafts.  Luckily most of it was indoors because in typical SE style, the weather was divine yesterday and miserable today.  The drizzle put a bit of a dampener on the sausage sizzle and coffee stand outside, but didn't take away from the quality and range of produce available.  I bought a jar of ruby red, crystal clear crab apple jelly and a forest of silverbeet.  

The market will be on weekly and you can find out more on their website.

http://kalangadoofarmersmarket.com.au

Playgroup

I love playgroup.  I particularly love our playgroup.  It's held every Friday in the Yahl hall, which is now only used regularly by us and the indoors bowls club.  Each week the kids run around like mad things, eat some play dough and get covered in paint, while the Mums chat and drink tea.  Sure, there's probably room to include more structured activities that increase particular skills and learning, but I love the free for all.  The kids get to explore, imagine, play and quarrel together, and when they can't sort it out themselves there are lots of mums on hand to help.  There's time for structure at school.  And I love the tea and chats with other mums.  I've got to know lots of lovely local women through play group, that I probably wouldn't have met otherwise.

Miss Gosling in action.

Moving the bees

The Gander has dreamed of keeping bees for years.  Since moving to the Mount he has met a few apiarists through work and recently one of them very generously gave him a couple of hives, complete with 100 000 odd bees.  They've been living by the chooks, but rejected our water sources in favour of the neighbour's trough.  We bumped into him by the fence a couple of nights ago and it turns out he's allergic bees and terrified of the hives.  So with perhaps a little bit less planning than required, we moved them that night.

Gander and bees

It's best to move them after dark, when they're all home and sleepy with the cold.  So after dinner we put Miss Gosling to bed, wrapped Master Gosling up snugly in the pram and headed outside.  While I got kitted up in the protective gear, the Gander bravely smoked the bees and stuffed their doorways with newspaper in nothing more than his jeans and long sleeved t shirt.  Together we lifted them into the back of the car and drove them 100m to their new home.  That's when the trouble started.  The lid of one hive slipped open exposing a lot of very grumpy bees.  Agh!  A lot of swatting and swearing later, we finished the job with just two stings.

The bees are now happy in their new location.  Happy bees.  Happy neighbour.  Happy Geese waiting for their honey.  Harvesting it is the next job!

Bees new home by the water tanks

A trip to Port Fairy

The Goslings' Grandparents live in Port Fairy and that's where we spent last weekend.  It is the perfect destination for families with young children.  It's just an hour and forty five minutes from the Mount (a bit more if you stop on the way to feed the baby) but I find not many people from the Mount exploit its proximity ... most head towards Robe.

The southern end of East Beach.

As soon as we finished unloading the car we walked to the beach.  The southern end of East beach is calm, sheltered, shallow and often covered with shells.  Miss Gosling peeled her clothes off as soon as she hit the sand and ran around with glee for a good half an hour.  A great way to wear her out.  After snacks, her lovely aunt took her for a walk along the jetty to see the boats coming in.  There is seal and big sting ray that both visit the ramp to eat scraps fishermen throw in while cleaning their catch.  It's tuna season at the moment and the men were bringing in very big fish.

We spent a morning walking over the shops and stocking up on toys and books from the op shops for the Grandparents house, had coffees and babycinos and ducked into the lolly shop.  It's a beautiful shop - more like a large cupboard lined with shelves of sweets of every shape and size.  It's irresistible.

The jetty.  It really does look like all the post cards.  I just snapped this photo on my phone.

There's lots more to say in praise of Port Fairy - the shopping is great, the day spa is a real treat, Miss Gosling rates the play park VERY highly, the cannons at Battery Point are of little interest to a two year old but there's a great hill for rolling down.   I won't say anymore, I'll leave it to you to discover yourself.

Baking

I love to bake.  Miss Gosling loves it too.  I'm pretty sure she likes the beaters, the sugar bowl and pats of butter best, but along the way she's learning how to stir, use a rolling pin, break an egg, measure a teaspoon and use a knife safely. She's also seeing how real food is prepared from scratch.  I don't get too hung up on super healthy food.  I think there's value in looking at the whole experience of preparing, sharing, eating and storing food, not just the fat content of the raw ingredients.  We made these shortbread for afternoon tea with little friends, and ate them in the sun on the verandah.  Lovely. 

Short bread. 

Excursion to Carpenters Rocks

We took the Goslings to Carpenters Rocks recently.  This is our favourite local beach destination.  It's so beautiful with the lighthouse mounted high above a rocky outcrop.  There are rock pools and shallow coves to explore, sweeping beaches, a wrecked boat for interest and miles and miles of uninterrupted views.  In winter it's blustery and wild, and in summer it's the perfect place for a shallow paddle.  The only drawback is it's also a popular destination for trail bike riders.  Don't get me started.  Why oh why hasn't South Australia banned beach access for bikes and cars?  As far as I can see, they RUIN the atmosphere with their noise and pollution and they are devastating the fragile dune environments.  However, don't let this put you off, they aren't there often and the beach is so vast it's big enough to accommodate everyone (if you can ignore the revving in the distance).

The Gander and Miss Gosling at Carpenters Rocks

Fruit & Veg Swap Meet

This year our veggie patch yielded lots and lots of garlic.  More garlic than one family can possibly use.  Luckily I harvested it around the same time the Mount Gambier Fruit & Veg Swap Meet started up.  Last December I took the garlic along, with some potatoes and onions, and came home with lemons, spinach, cucumbers, rhubarb and basil.  

I've been to each swap meet since then.  Last Saturday I only had half a dozen eggs to swap.  I traded them for some baby spinach, cherry tomatoes and garlic chives.  It's so easy!  You just put your produce on the table and take what you think is a fair trade.  The whole event has such a casual, friendly vibe.  I've met lots of other gardeners, learnt all sorts of tips for growing and preserving veggies, and swapped recipes for future gluts of rhubarb / zucchinis / carrots etc.  The organisers are hoping it will expand so people bring along worm castings, seeds and seedlings.  One lady has been bringing rhubarb crowns. I took one in January and already it has tripled in size.  Maybe I'll be able to take some rhubarb along next summer!

The swap meet is on the Mount Gambier Library verandah, 10am - 11am.  The next three dates are 2 April, 17 April and 14 May 2011.  For more information call the Library or South East Regional Community Health on 8724 5222.

Our free range eggs for the swap meet.  Dated with help from Miss Gosling.

The Womens Work Depot

This shop might look a bit dated, but don't let that put you off - I did, for too long.  It's gold.  Pure gold.

A friend told me you can buy great pav shells there.  Then a mum from playgroup told me she loves the knitted clothes for kids.  Then I saw a sign in the window for home made ice cream.  That clinched it for me, I was in the door in a flash.

I haven't tried the pavs, and the kids clothes are cute (though reminiscent of 1980's Family Circle), and the ice cream is sublime.  It's the real stuff.  No dodgy thickeners, sweeteners or dairy by-products, just eggs, sugar, cream and condensed milk, plus vanilla or chocolate. And a steal at $4.50 for half a litre.  I think it's better than any other ice cream you can buy in the Mount, and that's including when Molten stocked Timboon.

They also have frozen lasagnes, sausage rolls and pasties, plants, fruit & veg and dozens of slices and biscuits.  I can vouch for the anzacs and chocolate melting moments.  And it's all so scandalously cheap I might never bake again.

The Depot opened in 1970.  It has about 100 members contributing goods.  It's non profit and all proceeds go to charity.  Go check it out.

Mount Gambier Library

I had a full morning of activities planned in town for the Goslings today, but things went awry the moment we left home.  I wanted to print some photos at Hardly Normal, but they were opening late on account of the public holiday.  So we scooted over to Target but found the same again.  I should have known better.  Luckily I found the Public Library already open for business, just seconds after Miss Gosling announced "Wet. Pants."

This library is awesome.  I've could sing it's praises to countless tunes, and I plan to in future blogs, but today I'm in love with the parenting facilities.   Next to the kid's section there is a clean, bright space for parents and their offspring.  There's a little toddler loo, change table, kitchen sink and microwave AND comfy chairs for breastfeeding.  They have curtains you can draw around for privacy or you can keep them open to monitor your toddler playing as you feed the baby.  Very handy.  The area feels like it was actually designed by parents of little kids.

The children's section at Mount Gambier Library

Anyway, this morning I certainly got my taxes worth.  We changed nappies, played, read, snacked in the cafe, changed more nappies, fed Master Gosling, played some more then headed over to Target, who was just opening its lazy doors at 11.  By the time we got back in the car, everyone was dry, fed and ready for sleep.  And lucky for me both Goslings managed the tricky car-to-bed transfer when we got home.  Yay.

Where do you head in Mount Gambier when you need to change a nappy or top up a baby?

Back in shape

Actually, I've never been "in shape".  I like to walk and I like to swim and that's about it.  Luckily, I've never had to do much more to fit into my jeans, but having two babies in two years has taken its toll.  Parts of my body were toned and slender by virtue of youth alone and have recently taken on a rather sluggish and ill-defined shape.  And my pelvic floor is the worse for wear.  Not happy.  I'm not grasping to get my pre-baby body back (though why didn't I love it more when I had it?)  I accept that baby bearing changes a body.  I just want to fit into my clothes without cutting my circulation off at the waist.  I don't want to buy a new wardrobe (and can't afford to) and I want to be healthy and energetic for the Goslings.

So yesterday I bought a gym pass.  I have never, EVER been to a gym and have frequently sworn I never would.  I used to walk through one on my way to the pool.  The gorillas in the weights room gave me the heeby jeebies and I've never understood the appeal of cardio equipment.  It's a bit creepy seeing rows of strangers marching in the same direction, vacantly staring ahead into the middle distance at some twaddle on daytime telly.  The zombies are coming ...  Still, I find I can't motivate myself at home.  I need structure, a commitment and someone to show me what to do.  So after chatting with friends with littlies, I've signed up at Activ8 Health and Sports Centre.  They've got a creche and a class that focusses on core strength and abdominal toning.  To give myself a kick start, I bought some new sneakers.  No backing out now.  I can't start til next Tuesday, when I'm six weeks post partum, so I've still got some time to psyche myself up.  Wish me luck!

Are you doing any post-baby physical activity?  What works for you? 

My new joggers.  And what I'm much comfier in.