The Horse Whisperer ...

  The part of Sydney we live in is truly spectacular, a string of coastline dotted with stunning beaches on one side and the lovely calm of Pittwater on the other side.  In between there is a lot of national park and the odd rural hamlet.  We take a shortcut to the boys schools through one of the more rural areas and in doing so drive past several paddocks that are home to horses.  And yes,  I was one of those girls that was horse mad.  

Here I am aged around 15/16 on a pony camp.  Loving my very 80s Akubra (the hat) and my Drizabone that I have rolled up and hooked onto the saddle!  I think I must have been channelling The Man from Snowy River!  Although I am appalled that I am not wearing a helmet!! 

  This childhood love of horses has never really abated and I often stop at one of the paddocks we drive past on our way to and from school.  It is home to half a dozen horses and they always come over to the gate to say hello.  The other day though as we were driving home we came across one of the horses and a little Shetland Pony out on the road.  A bunch of people had stopped and there were a couple of men trying to catch them with a bit of rope.  Both the horse and the pony were very agitated and the horses in the paddock that hadn't yet got out were also very distressed, cantering up and down the length of the paddock beside the road.  

The two that had got out were in serious danger of being hit by a car as they were dashing back and forth across the road, dodging all the cars.  Fortunately, as more and more people came across the mayhem all the cars created a sort of roadblock that stopped the horses moving further along the road in either direction.  All the extra cars and people though certainly weren't helping to calm the horses.  

Watching all this from the safety of my car I was at a loss as to what to do until the Captain said to me, "Mummy I still have some apple in my lunchbox!"  I grabbed his lunchbox and jumped out of the car, one of the men yelled at me to get back in the car and that they had called the RSPCA and the Police and I was all like, oh yeah just watch this and waved The Captain's green lunchbox at him!   He probably thought I was crazy!  Ignoring the Shetland, (I figured he was probably a companion pony and would follow the other horse back into the paddock), I walked straight up to the horse and with one quick wave of the apple under the horses nose she was putty in my hands.  My audience of onlookers watched enthralled (if only they knew!) as she followed me calmly back into the paddock, the little Shetland trotting along obediently beside us!   I felt like the horse whisperer, it was hilarious!  The Captain is now working hard on me to start horse riding classes!  I guess it looked pretty impressive to a 6 year old!

Superheroes....

  The boys have never seen an episode of Batman, Superman, Spiderman or even Ben 10.  Nor have they seen any of the movies, nor have I bought them a single Superhero toy.   Yet somehow, (perhaps by osmosis in the playground?), they know each and every Superhero.   Wandering into the Converse shop, I had only been intending to purchase them a new pair each of the classic grey slip ons they both love.  I did walk out of the Converse shop with grey slips on, but I also walked out with these:

I succumbed to pester power.

For the first time ever I bought them a "licensed" product. The little guy got Batman Converse and the big one got Superman Converse.  In my defence, at least they are vintage prints.   They now wear them constantly, even with their pyjamas.

Oh please, please Mummy can I have these?  Even if they are so big that I can wear them as a hat?

Speaking of Superheroes, the King of the Superheroes made a reappearance this week:

This time he was escorted by his trusty sidekick, Super Little:

Together they embarked on an adventure inspired by a true Superhero...  Eliot jones, of course.

Yes indeed,  that would be a "Meteor-Busting Rocket Launcher"  that The King is sitting on!  It is sort of like the one Eliot has to save the world with...

Reader, please be aware that today you were saved by...  

The King of the Super Heroes and his confidant Super Little!  

Enid Blyton vs Beast Quest

Well, despite my best efforts it appears Enid Blyton hasn't quite made the cut for this one.  I know it is... a great disappointment.  The many years I have devoted to collecting First Edition Blytons, with the view to one day sharing them with my own children... has possibly been in vain, sniff.  He has become obsessed with something else.  The obsession part is all too familiar, the staying up and reading under the covers long after the rest of the house is asleep, the dreams about the characters and the nose continually stuck in a book.  Meal times, in the car, walking around, you name it, there is a book in his hand!  All of which is of course fabulous and I am delighted that he loves to read.  Curious, I picked up a copy of one of his Beast Quest books and was intrigued.  The author is Adam Blade (real name? not sure...) and he is prolific, there are 60 books in the series and counting.  We have 40 of them.  Hmmm, sound familiar?  Blyton wrote around 800 books over a 40 year period.  As Blade is only in his 20s there should be plenty of time for him to churn out some more.

Each book features a quest that the protagonist Tom (12 years old) and Elenna (his best friend) need to complete to help save the Kingdom of Avantia.  There are lots of dragons, weapons, wizards and beasts to keep things interesting.  The Captain clearly adores them and so I would recommend them to anyone looking for a series of books to engage a little boy starting out on their reading journey.

Pelicans

I just picked up this lovely little Pelican at the Salvo's for $2!  Such a lovely and unexpected find!  I have a bit of a thing for Pelicans despite two rather unpleasant incidents.....  

Incident 1

This event took place some time ago.  We were living in Clovelly at the time and had taken a two year old Captain over to Rose Bay to watch the sea planes taking off and landing.  On arrival we found the ultimate rockstar car park, right on the harbour front.  We couldn't believe our luck and off we went to the park.  Upon our return we saw a bunch of tween aged kids sitting on the fence near our car, holding their noses and giggling.  As we got closer we saw what they were laughing at.  A pelican, perched rather prettily on a lamp post in the car park, next to our car had decided to empty it's bowels.  All over the front of our car. The damage was extensive, it took us a few minutes to clear the windscreen enough to drive. It was the smell however that was the most shocking.  A pelican diet consists primarily of fish.  R and I stood looking at the car in dismay whilst the tweens on the fence were laughing at us like hyenas!  After a while we had to bite the bullet and drive home though and the smell was simply phenomenal, it literally permeated the whole car.  At one stage I can remember we stopped at traffic lights and even the people waiting to cross the road started gagging and pointing at our car.  We now know why that car spot was empty.

Incident 2

The second pelican poo incident, yes there are two.  Be grateful, I have taken the fall for a lot of people as surely the odds of this happening must be rare!  Anyway, this event took place on the little one's third birthday.  For his present we gave him a lovely new bike and in order for him to try it out I took both boys to Manly, to ride to Shelly beach and back.  Along the way I stopped to answer a phone call, simultaneously a Pelican perched above answered a different kind of call, all over me.   Once again it was the smell, but this time it was in my hair, down my shirt, it was everywhere.  I had to walk another 2 k or so back to the car dry retching the entire way.  When we finally got back to the car I took off my t shirt and drove home in my bra.  By that stage I was completely over it and beyond caring what I looked like.   Pelican Poo Incident 2 has taken a little while to get over but over it I must be as I still love Pelicans.  

I even have this fabulous one at the front door!

The Dulux House

Investigating my stats recently I discovered that a great number of visitors to the blog were searching for images of the Dulux House, so I thought for all the like minded house stalkers out there I would provide you with some more images of it's fabulousness!

The front entrance, so pretty with the frangipani tree and scattered flowers on the lawn.

The gorgeous backyard.  The whole of the downstairs looks like it is a huge open plan room, this now seems to be a pre-requisite when designing a beach house.

Love the old milk bottle basket full of vintage bottles and flowers on the dining table.

Gorgeous tap and butlers sink in the island.  Do you think the little room off to the left might be a butlers pantry with the fridge in it?  I would seriously love to have a good look at this kitchen!

Living room with an open fire and stone surround.  I am not convinced by the very high mantle though.

Another living area in the main part of the open plan area.

With views out to the backyard.

A perfect beach bathroom.  The vanity is lovely and simple and not unlike our one.   I am also pretty sure that they have used the same travertine tiles on the shower walls that we used on our bathroom floors.  

Such a pretty house.  All images are from here.