All good, carry on.

Firstly, thank you for all your emails asking if I was okay – we’re a long way from the bushfires and thus are lucky enough to not have any direct involvement in the property loss. Later, I’ll update with links to the Red Cross if you want to donate to those families affected.

***

Everyone is well. I should start with that, shouldn’t I. Christmas felt like a long slog of tantrums and too much chocolate, but we got through and from the excitement my children oozed from their every pore, I’d say that they had fun. It took Nathan and I a little longer to recover – Nathan especially. He really should try harder to not throw himself at the ground repeatedly during games of backyard cricket, especially when the summer dry grass is like razors underfoot.

Evelyn enjoyed her new toys, despite her inability to actually hold onto them. We’re working on her developing a determined hold, as opposed to the grasp reflex she has going on still. The grasp reflex is great for say, pulling out my hair, or clawing at my eyes, but not so great for putting that exciting thing into her mouth. She’s still lacking lots of developmental building blocks, but she’s happy and getting progressively more adorable which I didn’t think was actually possible.

I may be biased of course, especially due to the fact that she is sleeping right now, therefore being rather low maintenance.

It’s Summer, which makes everything nicer too. I’m a big fan of summer foods, all those tomatoes and basil and berries and just, excuse me while I drool a little over here. My greenhouse is full of rapidly growing vines (cucumber, melon, pumpkin and watermelon) and I’m hopeful that we’ll get some fruit from these by autumn. Of course, I’m having to hand pollinate the pumpkin flowers because the bees haven’t discovered them yet, but we’ll ignore the fact that I am spending a lot of time poking paintbrushes into flowers. Maybe the bees will clue themselves in soon.

[Digression: HAHAHAHA. If you were a bee, would you rather collect nectar from tasty flowering gums, or from pumpkins? Yeah, I might be paint brushing everything, forever. It’s all my own fault for planting things that flower and attract the bees.]

So, that’s me. Safe from fires, not safe from giant holes in minecraft (yes, I bought Amy minecraft. Any good tips?).