Taking Stock: Winter

Inspired my my newest favourite blog, Sydney Shop Girl, I decided it's time to Take Stock.  I used to do this occasionally on my old blog and I like how it prompts you to think of various things that you mightn't otherwise.

Making: no progress in the garden whatsoever.  The weeds however are making leaps and bounds.  Why does everything go dormant in winter except the blinking weeds?!

Cooking: more meat than I ever have in my life.  Can now knock out a very acceptable roast with little to no effort.  Tonight: pork.

Drinking: a bottle of Monteith's pear cider.  Eminently drinkable. (It's ok, it's 6.45pm here) (it's also taken me more than 24 hours to finish this post so now it's 1.00pm here and I'm not drinking anything) (I am, however, apparently very partial to a parenthesis today)

Reading: nothing at the moment.  I've just finished a whole pile of biographies of the royal family which I loved (for unexplainable reasons) and am now stumped for what's next.  Open to recommendations, will try anything.

Trawling: car sales websites in anticipation of updating the old banger I've been driving since we arrived in NZ.  A functioning heater becomes a more pressing necessity by the day.

Wanting: a Kathmandu puffer jacket.  AND they're having a sale.

Looking: at the carpet and wondering if A will ever allow me to vacuum again.  The vacuum cleaner wakes her up when she's napping, and she is terrified of it and cries if I vacuum while she's awake.

Deciding: whether to just go ahead and buy the damn jacket.

Wishing: I had all the time in the world to do all the things I want to do.

Enjoying: my little girls.  I really am.  I have had some tough times this year, especially with A, but at the moment it all feels manageable and fun.  It's amazing what a solid few hours' sleep can do for the mood.

Liking: the inexplicable and effortless weight loss that had me returning a pair of size 10 jeans for being too big.  Yes I have wormed myself, thanks for asking.

Wondering: how to convince B that a Kathmandu puffer jacket is a smart investment.

Loving: life.  

Pondering: why both my girls keep getting a fever every week that then turns into nothing.  Is it something underlying?  Is it their immune systems doing their job and fighting off all these new NZ bugs?  Should I just give them paracetamol in their Weetbix every morning?

Listening: to the weather on the news.  Cold, cold, cold.  Wet.  Cold.

Considering: whether to have a Tim Tam for my lussert (lunch-dessert for those uninitiated)

Buying: plant pots, picture hangers, nappies, cardboard files, all the exciting stuff.

Watching: the fire.  So mesmerising.

Hoping: that A continues with this good run of sleep.  I'm cautiously saying that she's turned a corner.  It's not amazing but it's far better than it's been in a long time.

Marveling: at our view, as usual.  I love looking at the mountain in the early morning and the late afternoon when you can see all the wrinkles and folds.

Cringing: at how much I keep eating at lunchtime.  No sandwiches for me.  Bring me the huge bowls of steaming soup or pasta or last night's leftovers.

Needing: to go through all the drawers and cupboards that I wildly threw stuff into when our boxes arrived - can you believe that was almost a month ago??  Where does the time go?

Questioning: was that really a month ago?  Can that be right?  That means it's less than 3 months to A's first birthday.

Smelling: the remnants of dinner.

Wearing: all manner of soft elasticated items.

Noticing: everything.  The light through the grass, the fat rolls on the back of A's fingers (heaven I tell you), a tiny bed of moss growing next to the paddock gate, steaming rising off my cup of tea, the bliss of snuggling down into my soft fluffy bed, it's all enormously pleasing.

Knowing: that that kind of stuff is probably pretty dull for everyone else to read, but facts is facts.

Thinking: about cleaning the house.  Which is almost the same as actually doing it.

Admiring: my newly-hung pictures.  Lots more still to hang but it's always fun figuring out where everything should go, and then admiring them as I walk by.

Getting: irritated with how many businesses make it so hard to move country.  I can't even buy Nespresso pods without having to ring them to change my address.  And I'm listening if anyone has any ideas on how I can get bloody Spotlight to acknowledge any of my correspondence telling them to stop sending catalogues to my old address.

Bookmarking: comfort food recipes.

Opening: endless jars of baby food.  I gave myself a break while we were in transit and just gave A jarred food and now - horror - it's all she'll eat.  She actually shuddered the other day when I gave her something I'd cooked.  Humph.

Closing: my Australian bank account.  It's the end of an era!

Feeling: warm with the fire at my back.

Hearing: some rubbish on the TV that B is watching.

Celebrating: that B is off work again, hopefully for a few days or more.

Pretending: that I have a reason to keep buying Horse & Pony magazine each month.  If nothing else it's certainly reminding me of everything I've forgotten.

Embracing: winter in all its glory.  Now come on with a big dump of snow!