quothe the raven

You know how much I do love an excuse to dress up - so check out this piece of exquisitely fabulous Halloween costume couture I found over at MarthaStewart.com

Magnifique non?

bridal party perfection

Of course! If anyone were to do a wedding to perfection it would be Christina Hendricks. I found this shot this morning, and can't believe that nobody told me she had bridesmaids frocked out in fabulous vintage.

Parfait!

photo face

So, I'm getting my legs waxed this morning, chatting with my beautician about this and that when I'm struck with the realisation that my driver's license was due for renewal. Last month. Whoopsies. Luckily I've been unable to drive for most of that period. So, with legs freshly waxed I tripped off to the RTA, slicking on a coat of red lipstick and some mascara to make myself presentable....

Were you aware there are new rules for license photos? Such as no smiling - eek! Head straight on to camera - double eek. Hair away from face - are you freakin' kidding me? Now, I'm smiley. I like to smile - particularly in photos, you know, it's a sign of friendliness. And the first rule of taking a good photo is never to face front on, you always need to tilt your head - jeez, they let you do that in mugshots {if Paris Hilton's recent is any indication...} And finally, if I can't smile or tilt my head at least let me frame my face with my hair...

So, sigh, I now have a license for five years that looks worse than a mugshot. I had to push my head right to the back of the chair so my neck looks like a rugby player's - noice. At least I had my lovely red YSL lippy and had dyed my hair last night - gotta be thankful for small mercies.

perfectly provincale

We're plotting our OS trip in earnest now. We've got a shortlist of two provincial homes near the Alps for the Tour de France part of the trip where we're sharing with two other families, and now we just need to find a home in provence to share with our sister- and brother-in-law and their two gals. I'd love to find a blue-shuttered beauty like this one, complete with lavender-bordered path. Utter bliss...

studied elegance

Have I told you lately how much I love my study? Oh, I do. And now it's all-but-complete {just awaiting a blind.} I now have a sparkly new chandelier to brighten up my days, rather than a bare bulb hanging on the end of a stick which makes it much better. Sorry about the quality of the desk photo - there's a large window over my desk with only the top pane covered with an antique white tablecloth, so too much light sneaks in and renders the image dark - particularly when it's just a phone photo - but you can get the idea can't you?

I swear I'm working better now I'm in a pretty room...

easy entertaining

I started off my morning earlier than I have in a long time. I had to drive 20 minutes to my 7am appointment for my MRI on my knee. Yep, SEVEN A. M. Thankfully it's over and done with now, and hopefully tomorrow I'll take the film and report to my physio and find out what's actually wrong with my knee.

We've got guests today. Mum's best friend from way back is popping in for afternoon tea, so I'm going to whip up some madelines as a sweet treat. These little French shell-shaped treats are so simple and delicious, and because they're teeny tiny only take around 3 minutes to bake. I'll make a double batch so my gal can take some to school for the rest of the week. I'll make some regular, some rose petal and a few lemon I think. Mmmmmmm.

PS: my squeal-worth moment today? My email saying "Don Draper is following you on Twitter!" Yeah baby!

hot damn mr hamm

Corinne, you've made my day/life/year... Go here for more...

woo hoo shoe

Now, you know I have to attend a black-tie ball on Friday night, and you know that I was inconsolable about having to wear flat shoes {le sob, le sigh} but look what I've found.

Yesterday we went to Morpeth, my first outing in what seems like months {but was only weeks} and in a store my eyes alighted on the first pair of flats ever to elicit a squee from me. One pair, in my size, in a colour so perfect I could cry {I've photographed them on the skirt I'm wearning, and see how beautifully the grey of the shoes matches the grey trim on the skirt? Same material and everything!!!} They've even got a hint of a heel {1cm maybe} so they don't feel totally flat and frumpalicious.

Happy days!

utterly delicious

Lifestyle Food I think I love you for bringing The Delicious Miss Dahl to my screen from Monday September 20. I plan on drinking in every single bit of the six episodes. Doesn't it look so pretty and perfect even in this single shot?

Prettiness!

nine o two one OH

Today, in the US, the date is officially 9. 02. 10. Weeeeeeeeee. I LOVED Beverly Hills 90210. Brenda! Dylan! and all the craziness that ensued. For an hilarious trip down memory lane head over to gofugyourself - quick sticks!

friday, on my mind

So, spring came in, popped its head around the corner to say "hi" and then quickly nicked off - what's all that about? Today's grey, drizzly and just a bit blerk - not what I'm after in a start to the weekend.

I'm off to see the surgeon this afternoon, where he'll hopefully tell me I can be treated conservatively and without reconstructive surgery on my knee. I really am dead over it. I did make it to French last night, to sit at a table mouth agape while I realised how much I missed in just one lesson. Past participles = eeep! Luckily my friend also missed last week's lesson, so we could pull faces and shrug our shoulders at each other whenever something new and scary and unintelligible was mentioned {um, that'd be every single word out of our teacher's mouth}.

Father's day and my mother's birthday on Sunday - guess how organised I am for it? Ouch. I'm going to go shopping with my mum and daughter to buy a surprise pressie for hubby - and let mum choose her own present for her birthday, that's the best option.

So, tell me all about your plans for the weekend. Let me live vicariously x

early arrivals

My gal and I were up bright and early this morning to collect my mum and step-dad who've flown up for the week for a visit - and to help me out. Woo hoo. Although the poor things won't know what's hit them with the mountains of washing {both to-do and to-put-away...}

The gal's having the day off today to recover from her school camp, which coincides just nicely with her grandparents' visit. Hopefully the day will clear up so they can wander down to the beach and do a few fun things. Me? Work. Lots. Best get on with it...

spring fling

How do I love Spring, let me count the ways...

♥ The flowers

♥ The delicate warmth

♥ The promise

♥ The subtle change in the light

♥ The longer days

♥ The chance to change the menu

♥ Flirty frocks

You? ♥

this'll be interesting

Found over at Dlisted.com is this ad that Modern Family took out in Variety. Why yes, that would be the Modern Family who won an Emmy for Best Comedy...

Apparently the local court's already signed off stating that any cast member of Modern Family will not be charged with public nudity. Bets on who'll actually birthday-suit-up?

get OUT

I have no coffee beans and as such am finding it difficult to concentrate on my work at hand and instead find myself re-watching the Emmy's opening {obsessive? moi?} and YouTubing Jon Hamm {obsessive! moi!}

Then I thought I'd best check out net-a-porter for some shoes I can't wear - and found these. Because, really, if you're going to look at shoes you can't wear why look at shoes with a measly 4 inch heel? No, why not go all the way and get sweaty and messy with six-inch Louboutin's that are so gobsmackingly gorgeous there's no need to say "I die" because, obviously, you're already dead.

Delirious? Um, yep, think so...

direct delivery

I'm very excited. Not only have I started off my morning in the best possible way {re-watching the opening Emmy scene - damn, that's happy-inducing} but yesterday I ordered groceries on-line. Bliss. Why didn't I think of this before as I'm house-bound? Who knows...

So today there will be fresh fruit and veg, meats {including free-range pork belly for my gal's welcome home dinner!} and yoghurt. Can. Not. Wait.

I think the worst part of being house-bound is the sheer boredom. Boredom of seeing nobody, but boredom of eating the same damned foods. Dinners have been simple so there's no leftovers for lunch, and my shopping lists for my husband have also been simple so he can quickly dash into Coles on his way home from work. I can't possibly eat another ham sandwich - toasted, pan fried or any way.

Husband has a work lunch so today I'm going back on the crutches in search of Sushi. Hopefully I'll find a nice, close park near the sushi store. My damned knee keeps swelling when I walk on it, so I'm still trying to keep my weigh off it. I'm seeing a surgeon on Friday re: reconstruction of the ligament I tore. I have fingers and toes crossed that I can just do rehabilitation as the recovery from the operation is six to 10 weeks which just seems unbearably long.

In good news it's warming up and my pool's starting to look mighty inviting. I'm looking forward to the swimming to build up the muscles to strengthen my knee - and for the cold water to help reduce the swelling. Bring it on.

Now, if you'll excuse me, there's an Emmy's opening I need to watch again...

be still my heart...

Love Jon Hamm? Love Glee? Love Tina Fey? Prepare to fall deeper and harder after watching the opening of the Emmys.

PS: You may not have noticed {ha!} but I thought the Emmy's this year were a damned fine spectacle. The red carpet rocked and Jimmy Fallon presented perfectly. What more can a gal ask for?

feeling a little skittish?

Love Modern Family? Check out this Emmy's skit. Gold.

oh MAN

Generally I don't care for men's looks on the red carpet - unless they're wearing Tom Ford. Or happen to be Jon Hamm.

Thumbs up indeed.

funny and fabulous

I think Tina Fey is just gorgeous and hilarious and, until today, has never found a dress sufficiently fabulous. Oscar de la Renta for the win. This - is fabulous.

sleuthing success

Whew, finally. Now, I've found three* shots - woo hoo. Christina Hendricks is just so... sigh... In my eyes she can do no wrong. Adore this shade of mauve with her glorious hair and skin. And just a touch of feathers - damn, I do love feathers...

*{yes, I've finished with the postings of more shots. But I just ad to include that last shot as it showed the stupendous detail on the bodice of this dress. Zac Posen, allow me to kiss your feet...}

red hot on the red carpet

Lea Michelle in Oscar de la Renta is one of my favourite Emmy red carpet looks so far. I also do adore Christina Hendricks {surprise!} but do you think I can find a photo of her fabulously lilac frock? It has feathers people - feathers! I will try, oh don't you worry, I will try.

archiles heel

I'm trying to shop on-line for a pair of sparkly, red ballet flats but my eyes just glaze over unless a shoe has a heel. I did find an amazing pair of 'blood orange' flats at Witchery - but look at the shoe that caused my heart to skip a beat. PRETTY!

We were up early to wave our child off at the school gate as she went off on her School Camp at 7.30am this morning. She was happy as she and her friend bagsed the front seat as she'd hoped so she was all smiles and blowing kisses as she drove off. I managed to avoid tears - barely. Here's hoping she has the time of her life.

lessons learned

Finally, finally, FINALLY I watched The September Issue last night. I know, I've been desperate to see it forever, but it's taken me ages to watch it. After posting the Grace Coddington and Anna Wintour dolls yesterday I felt an overwhelming urge to view the documentary, and oh my, am I glad I did.

See, I've read The Devil Wears Prada, and watched the film more than once {oh, the fashion porn!} so I had my opinions of Anna Wintour, which have undergone a rapid reversal. See, my first job on a magazine was under an editor who scared the living daylights out of me. Every day I'd go home crying and wanting to resign. It was awful. Yet wonderful. She might have been a horror to work for, but she taught me so much. She had an eye for news and what works. She was ahead of trends and expected the best from everyone who worked under her - and sometimes the best doesn't come easily. Sometimes the best has to worked, reworked, and then worked again. Sometimes it involves scratching what you've done and starting all over again.

That's what I saw in The September Issue. An editor and a fashion director who expected the best - which is why Vogue continues to be successful. In their world there's no such thing as 'good enough' - it's fabulous, or it's out. I think that's something to strive for.

You know what else I saw - women who looked fabulous at any age. While Hollywood and so many women in the public eye are kicking and screaming their way to the surgeons office to fight off old age at any cost, these women looked cared-for and refreshingly normal.

Grace Coddington was a breathtakingly beautiful young woman and is now still simply stunning. I adore her wild mane of hair and unmade-up face replete with glorious freckles. Anna Wintour has always had a distinctive look underneath the bob and the glasses - but there's more. You rarely see photos of Anna Wintour smiling, but when you do you realise how beautiful she is. Both women seem to have avoided the botox and the fillers so they look really beautiful rather than unreal.

Looking at the shoots Grace directed was humbling. There's a real art to creating fashion images that linger long after the aperture has closed and she manages to ensure that every single image is exquisite and haunting.

Luckily I've got the DVD for a weekly hire - I'll be watching it over and over to imprint it on my brain to inspire me to greater heights every day.

Uh-mazing

Hey doll-face... Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington dolls have been commissioned by Barney's New York.

Damn - I didn't realise it was possible to actually covet doll's hair.

splashing out

Am I now officially in love with pinupgirlclothing? Why yes I am. Do I keep darting back to check on luscious items of clothing even though I have a story due today? Oh, um, yes. However, did I find the world's most perfect red vintage style swimsuit which makes it all worthwhile? Yeah baby.

Now, as my knee rehabilitation process will involve swimming, water walking and water running would it not be a sensible idea to do so in the world's most smoking hot swimsuit.

Wow, nearly deafened by the chorus of "Yes'm" I just heard.

Thank you.

friday's flowers

I love a sweet-smelling full-blown rose. I'm thinking I need to gather a vase-ful for my desl/ Don't you?

flat out

So, I have a ball to attend in two weeks - and a bung knee. Bung knees and heels do not mix. Sad? Yep. Seeking options? Hell yeah. I found these red! sparkly! flats at pinupgirlclothing.com which, as you can imagine had beautiful heels I had to avert my eyes from they were so pretty.

I've also had to revise my clothing options. If I'm going flat I'm also going close to floor-length so my shoes won't be the focus of my outfit {um, yes, I realise that red! shiny! ballet flats won't exactly blend into the background - but you know what I mean...} Luckily I think I'm able to put together an outfit that once accessorised will look utterly ball-worthy. I have a fabulous black Laura Ashley skirt I bought years back that's long, full and has three layers that are bordered by a beautiful pale french grey silk. So pretty. I've also got a lovely Karen Millen Bolero - black, sparkly and bordered with, wait for it, pale french grey silk. Combined with a simple camisole, Coco Chanel-esque layers of beads, great make-up and something special with my hair and I'll be ready to go. All I need is the shoes.

Red? Sparkly? Yes?

totally unreal

So, reality television. It's been around for a while. So if you're keen to be a participant, chances are you've watched a bit of it and understand that you're going to become a 'character'. If not, then you're an idiot.

I've been sucked deep into the vortex that is Come Dine With Me Australia series 2 and this week I've actually been quite flabergasted by how nasty one of the characters is. Sure, they're all playing a game and putting on a show - I expect them to. But why on earth would you put on a show that leads to you becoming one of the more reviled characters in Australian television history. Bitchiness, judgement, rudeness - seriously, this woman is playing every single character to the hilt and I just can't understand why. Surely she's not naturally such a nasty piece of work...

I know that Reality Raver has been threatened with a lawsuit from the Voldemort {he who shall not be named in case he sues me too...} of the last series - despite him actually being involved in the entertainment industry and using the program as an extensive personal show-real. Unfortunately for him, Paul Robinson was already cast and there's no need for a Mr Nasty on any other soap.

The one benefit of these programs is that no matter how cranky or horrible you've been that day or that week, you can guarantee that there's a larger than life character up on screen who makes you look like Snow White!

something special

A hammock, a green, lush lawn... is there a more perfect spot to while away an afternoon? My perfect afternoon involves lying somewhere slightly shaded, but with enough warmth from the sun for comfort, with a great book and then a quick nap.

Bliss.

What's your idea of bliss?

totally camp*

How is it that one day you're pregnant and the next your baby is heading off on a three day school camping trip? Huh! Monday morning at 7.30am my gal's going to board a bus with her classmates and set off to a school camp on an island in the Hawkesbury River. How fabulous! She's beside-herself-excited and has the list of must-pack items read and re-read 95 times. She's also said things like, "ooh, I'll be having breakfast on Milson Island at this time next week..." bless her socks.

She's had overnight sleepovers - she's had multiple night sleepovers at her grandparents - but this? Wow. I'm thrilled she's getting the adventure, but I can't say I won't be biting my nails while she's gone. What an adventure - let's hope there's lashings and lashings of ginger beer!

* now THIS is officially my 1500 post. Yay me!

what's cooking wednesday

Yes, I'm doing a What's Cooking post even though, strictly speaking, I'm not really up to cooking. After getting the go-ahead from my physio to walk and completely and utterly overdoing it I had a shocker of a day yesterday. A sewer pipe broke, right underneath my favourite rose {no wonder it was so huge and always blooming...} so I had to lose my rose, and had a great big open pit in my front yard. Smelly, and I couldn't use any water. Nice. Thankfully it's fixed now, but we had 24 hours of erk.

Yesterday afternoon I drove to collect my daughter from school as I couldn't find my phone book or mobile and I really hate asking anyone for help. So I hobbled down lots of stairs {12-ish I think} and hobbled across to my car and winced as I drove along. Of course it's my right knee I've injured and when I move my ankle pain shoots up my calf and into my knee. Sigh.

I got to the school gate and got out of the car and then was just overcome with nausea and started seeing stars. When I get ill or in pain I tend to get low blood pressure and tend to faint. So luckily I had two friends who helped calm me down and offered to drive my gal home for the rest of the week.

Being incapacitated really does suck.

So as my husband's ridiculously busy at work I'm trying to work out a way to have decent meals. Luckily I've got leftover meatballs in the freezer so I can sit at a stool and make spaghetti sauce for that tonight. I'm certainly learning to grab everything I need and set it all in place before I start a task!

Here's what we'll have:

Wednesday: spaghetti and meatballs {always make double batches and freeze half!}

Thursday: Steak and salad

Friday: Salmon and salad

Saturday: hamburgers and salad

Sunday: Roast dinner

Monday: chorizo pasta bake

Tuesday: pork and cider casserole

Thank goodness the weather's warming a little and salad seems like a viable option.

Now, whinging over - what's cooking at your place?

look at your man, now look at me

The geniuses behind the Old Spice ads won an Emmy - as they damned well should. Seriously, those ads = brilliance. Did you see their series of Twitter/YouTube responses? No? Well by jingo by crikey go Google them. I spent far-too much time when they were live going through them and nearly chocking on my own saliva laughing hysterically and simultaneously being in awe of the quick-witted script-writers {oh, and yes, drooling at Mr Old Spice himself, c'mon, I'm human}.

My faves? The Alyssa Milanos... Gold.

le luscious

You know what'd look great with the shoes below? Christina Hendricks.

How utterly delicious does she look at the Creative Emmys!

let's pretend...

There was no way on earth I could possibly have posted a shoe of the week yesterday - but today let's pretend that there is a high heel in my foreseeable future...

If there is, please let it be something as Fabulous as these Alexander McQueen numbers I found over at net-a-porter. I do love a cherry red shoe - and look, cuteness, wee lil skulls!

Yesterday I overdid it knee-wise. My physio told me I was allowed to walk without crutches and I decided to become all inspired by The Proclaimers {'and I will walk 500 miles, and I will walk 500 more...'}. So last night involved swelling, ice and elevation. Le sigh.

I'm going to try to take it easy today. I've got my fitball pumped up and under my desk to elevate my leg and I'm going to keep walking to an absolute minimum. Luckily I've got lots of work to keep me chained to my desk!

monday {no moaning required}

I've just returned from the physio and the good news is that I'm not a hypochondriac. The bad news is that I have torn cartliage and probably have snapped my ACL - a rather important ligament whose job seems to be to hold the top half of your leg and the bottom half together. The physios were talking operations, I'm thinking slow recovery.

The other good news is that I can walk, with just one crutch now just in case. I'm also allowed to ride my bike when the weather clears {mainly because I put my left foot down, rather than my right}.

It's the same injury my husband suffered with a few years back so I know what to expect. Considering that he had the operation and doesn't have 100 per cent use of his knee I'm erring on the 'do what you can to recover and strengthen side'. I won't play netball again - but I was ready to give up playing anyway. Cycling's perfect - as is swimming - so it just means rethinking what I'm capable of doing and finding something new.

How was your weeekend?

almost spring

Can't you just smell spring in the air? Blossoms are bursting out on bare branches, new growth is showing itself throughout the garden and there's a decidedly warm breath to the air.

Bliss.

sunny saturday

Morning all. We're off to vote in a tic - I'm hoping there's a cake stall selling pretties such as these - ooooooh.

Enjoy your Saturday lovelies xx

drawing the line

My first election in which I was eligible to vote I just voted for the party my dad voted for. One mark, above the line and I was outta there. However, pretty soon I realised that I could have more power. While my single vote may not elect a party - voting below the line was the clearest message I could send saying "I like YOU the least". Oh, the fun I had choosing who I'd put last on my senate sheet. For years Mr Fred Nile got the tick. Then Pauline Hanson came along and I had to decide "Who's the least worst?" I did a bit of sleuthing, checked out a few of the party's How To Vote cards and walked out knowing that when the numbers were added up my least-liked pollies were getting a message.

That's why I was dumbfounded when I heard Mark Latham was advocating a Donkey Vote - leaving the papers blank to "Show 'em". Um, show 'em what exactly? That you don't care who runs our country? That you don't care who's in senate that can pass or block important policy? That you can't be arsed finding a political party or independent you believe will best represent you in parliament?

This matters. I want to know that my vote can send people who have similar opinions to my own to hold a position of power. Wendy from Family First? Um, she's in the "Hell No" pile. I've seen a few of her opinions retweeted on Twitter and at first giggled thinking she was a faux twit. Nope, she's just a twit in the oldest sense of the word. Scarily there are some ignorant, obstinate people out there who can hold more power than an entire political party. If my placing them at 99 on the senate sheet can help stop that then yay, the political process has power.

Now, I'll be standing on crutches filling out my how-to-vote cards tomorrow. It won't be comfortable, but I've found a site that helps. https://www.belowtheline.org.au/ is a site where you can sit back in front of your computer, go through your options and print out your very-own How To Vote card that you can take into the polling booth and copy while you're standing there. Much less time consuming than trying to work out who's the best and worst of a very bad bunch.

We live in a democracy where we have the ability to vote and have our votes counted equally. Let's take advantage of this shall we?

PS: I customised my How To Vote in 15 minutes - and that included time spent pulling up a new window to google unfamiliar parties such as Senator On-Line and Building Australia. I made a PDF and printed it and it's ready to go - looks just like the real senate paper. Now I have that song "I've got the power!' in my head...

guess who?

Unless you sneakily spied her name on the cover is there any way you'd guess this was Marion Cotillard on the cover of the Septembre issue of French Vogue? Eyebrows huh - who'd've thought they were so defining.

I do love this cover though...

friday fleurs

Here are my birthday hyacinths, now gone, but not forgotten. I do love a scented flower, and if they've got pretty blooms much the better. I noticed that our jasmine's now starting to bloom so I'll have to ask my gal to pick me a stem or two to place in a little jug beside my bed - dreams are always sweeter when they're scented with home-grown flowers.

My gal and I are off to a friend's house this afternoon for a mums and kids catch-up. She has the perfect outdoor entertaining backyard with a big veranda, pool and massive yard for kids to play in. She's also the perfect host so it shall be buckets of fun. I'll only have the one champers - can barely negotiate stairs and crutches when I'm not tiddly {ps: the french word for tiddly - pompette - "Je suis un peu pompette" sounds much nicer than "I'm a little sozzled" does it not?}.

Hubby and the gal are going to finish off painting the hall and the vestibule area outside the study - and they'll probably go for a bike ride or 70. They went out last night to buy a bike pump and came home with a new bike for a certain young miss. She needed it. We worked out that she was 17cm too tall for her other bike. Five foot tall at the age of 10 - with her legs taking up around 4 feet of that height... So she's now got a pretty pale green adult-sized bike. Chuffed? Oh yes indeedy.

Enjoy your friday. I'm going to spend the day writing. I have a footstool under my desk to elevate my leg and I'm ready to go. Speak to you soon.

dr google

At best, I'm a suggestible hypochondriac. When I read about a symptom, I will then tend to experience it. So you can imagine what Dr Google's like for me. While I'm waiting till 9am Monday to have my knee injury officially diagnosed, I've been calling on good ol' Dr Google to help me sate my curiosity. Bad move.

Because no two injuries or symptoms are exactly alike I could have anything from a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament that may well require reconstructive surgery to a simple cartliage tear or strain that just requires rest.

A sensible person would stop googling phrases such as "Knee popping sound".

Oh, to be a sensible person...

magical moments

Some times it's really important to make the effort. Last night I slowly hobbled out of my house to take my daughter and niece to see a play. An amazing play. A beautiful play. And a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

A theatre company from Verona were in Australia and for two nights they were performing Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince at the local Italian football club. For $15 you got a meal, dessert and a play. Bargain. Two men took to the little stage: parents sitting at the tables sated after finishing fine bowls of pasta, kids perched on the floor in front of the stage. Simply by cutting pieces of paper into a series of shapes these two men drew us into this beautiful tale. A tale of friendship, good deeds, sacrifice, hardship and the ultimate happy ending. In a mix of English and Italian, with much humour and enthusiasm we were all taken away and ensconced in this beautiful story.

I may have had to negotiate many damned tricky stairs on my crutches to get there - but to see the look of delight on my daughter and my niece's face was worth it. And, not-so-secretly, it was totally worth it for this big kid too. I might be walking on crutches - but I will be off them soon and back to normal. I might never play netball again, but I've had years of playing fun behind me - and years of coaching to look forward to.

Walking in someone else's shoes, or in my case, in crutches really makes you consider the hardships so many people undergo daily. My grandfather was involved in a serious motorbike accident when he was 18 or 19. It smashed his knee severely and he spent the rest of his life using a cane or crutches to get around. Every. Day. He lived to his 80s so that's 60 years of never rising easily from a chair, and awkwardly negotiating steep, narrow stairs that are barely wide enough for a foot, let along a foot and two crutches. My pain can be dulled by nurofen, he lived with pain every day. But he still lived a full life. He used to go out the front of his house, dive in the lake a swim a mile every day before breakfast until the last few years of his life. He drove his ute around town with his beloved dog Missy in the back, he went away on shooting trips with his friends and he laughed. A lot.

He cooked a mean stew, and always had a spoonful of honey in his tea from an enormous bucket that was kept on the kitchen bench. He lit the open fire every day and toasted bread on a long, home-made toasting fork. He smoked a pipe or rolled a cigarette and sat in the same chair in the corner - the one with the best view down the hill and over the lake.

I miss him. His advice still rings in my head. He taught me about financial responsibility and about what's important in life. He called me "Iddles" or "Uncumfoodles" and my daughter "The Perfect Baby". I still have two treasured photos of four generations of my family: my daughter, me, my dad and my Poppa.

He was my Happy Prince.

tea time?

I'm loving this whole having-people-do-things-for-you-while-you-just-lie-on-a-couch-scenario. So far my in-laws have washed and remade my daughter's bed, mopped the kitchen floor, tidied kitchen cupboards, watered the garden and made me cups of tea. AND there are two meals ready to go in the fridge. I love these people.

Now, I was just going through my iPhone photos and found this close-up I promised of my violet tea cup - pretty isn't it? It's one of a matching pair that resides on the wee bookcase in my study and I heart it so.

You know what else I heart? Clean hair. Yep, managed to stand on one leg long enough to wash my hair which was so desperately in need of a wash it'd almost merged into one giant dreadlock - or, my greatest fear - undergone felting {a weird condition where girls with long hair can just wake up one morning and their hair has all fused together, felt-like, into a dreadlock - used to be the condition I feared most after spontaneous combustion... yep, used to watch far too many of those "Freaky But True" TV shows...}.

just lolling around

So, I'm just lolling around with my knee elevated - but not looking anywhere near as glamorous as this. Sadly there are no tasty morsels within arm's reach either. My in-laws are coming down today to help attend to my needs as I lie with bags of frozen peas clamped around my knee - bless their socks. Husband has meetings in Sydney so I needed to organise school pick ups {thank you lovely friends} and so many other tasks.

I'm already bored of course. Even with Foxtel there's only so much television you can watch - and watching lifestyle food is torturous when you're hungry and can't get yourself anything to eat {well, I've yet to work out a way of walking with crutches and carrying a plate or a cup... I did clasp a bottle of water under my chin yesterday after filling it at the water filter in the fridge}.

Enough of my moaning. Tell me what exciting things you're up to. Geez, I can't even post a What We're Eating This Week post - because I wouldn't have a clue!

oh harry!

New shots released today. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!