Playing catch- up

Ok, I know, I know. I've been slack with the blogging. The last couple of weeks have been kinda nuts, I've been very up and down. When I've been feeling up I haven't had the time to blog, and when things have been down I haven't had the inclination. Soooo now that things have settled down a bit here's the highlights.

A fortnight ago was Chris and my 1st anniversary. To celebrate Chris got us a room at the Novotel hotel on Collins st in the city. More extravagant than he could really afford but still preeetty good. We spent Sunday in the city, had lunch at the hotel opposite Flinders st station then went and checked in and had a look at the room (very nice, but might as well not have had windows for how bad the view was). Then we walked to Southbank, checked out the Art Centre Sunday market and watched a street performer for a while before finding a cafe overlooking the Yarra for a coffee. Then we walked back down along the Yarra and went on the travelling Ferris wheel that is currently set up next to Fed Square. We then had a look around Fed square before heading back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. For dinner we went to a really nice seafood restaurant at docklands, then afterwards to Hot Chocolate, for the best coffee I have had in ages.

Wednesday I had a girls day out in Fitzroy with Fi. We decided it was time for a change and went shopping for a goth/punk outfit for me. We did the rounds of the interesting alternative shops and I ended up with a funky black coat with fluffy trim - a bargain at $20 down from $60, fantastic boots (not so much a bargain at about $130), hot lace fingerless gloves which require assistance to do up, and two pairs of footless tights, stripy bright purple and black and plain black. Fi got the same fingerless gloves, a pentagram, and wrist cuffs. We then headed to Fi's favourite goth shop to finish off the outfit but discovered that they had closed early, so we went back to Fi's to dump everything and headed to one of the local pubs for dinner and drinks. Ross joined us later and we went back to Fi's for a few hours, before Chris came to pick me up and Fi came back with us to spend the night at our place.

Thursday after breakfast Fi decided to go visit her parents while she was in the area, so Chris and I dropped her off before heading to the DFO in Moorabbin. We each got some shoes (much cheaper then the ones I bought the previous day, and probably more practical), and looked at boring home stuff like towels and casserole dishes, then went to bunnings and bought a BBQ, which we still haven't had a chance to try out.

Friday night I headed up to mums in Castlemaine. My brother Steve, SIL Christina and 9 month old nephew Riley were up for the night so for once we were all in the one spot. It took an hour longer then usual to get there as I'd forgotten that school holidays had just started, and as soon as I cleared the traffic jams the heavens opened, so after a somewhat stressful drive it was good to relax, have a meal with my family, a play with Riley, and give my goat her bottle.

Steve and co left after breakfast on Saturday and I spent large parts of the day sitting on the ridge out the back with the goats. Both kids seemed to remember me, especially Ruby, who in her first 2 days of life decided that I was her person.

Chris caught the train up on Sunday and we came home Monday evening, as the cats were prepared neither to share a house with the ever burgeoning ranks of mum's petting zoo nor to spend more than one night without their people or a change of litter.

That's pretty much it, I've been working every day since Tuesday and am now on a night shift.

I am now going to see if the brand spanking new work computer will indulge me in an attempt to upload video. USB sticks are a wonderful invention.

Goaty fun

This video is of Ruby's early attempts at gamboling at 2 days old. Rowan was still learning to support her own weight at that stage so could not join in. Aunty Robbyn watches on from outside the goat enclosure.

Kids on film!

This video of Ruby and Rowan getting to know mum Rosie was taken on Monday just after Rowan's first feed. Ruby (strawberry blonde) is about 40 minutes old, Rowan (white) is about 15 minutes old. The storm that you can hear in the background arrived about a minute after I finished filming, Rosie did well to time the birth when it was dry.

Both kids are doing well, I'll be going back up to see them next weekend.

This is my week for cute animal babies. The last two nights while handing over to the night staff, who cares for orphaned natives, I got to snuggle with 5-6 week old wallaby 'Buddy'. He has just reached the age of climbing out of his pouch and exploring, very cute!

Kidding around

I am currently staying up at mum's in Castlemaine, where at 4.30pm today I attended the birth of her goat Rosie's beautiful twin girls Ruby (firstborn strawberry blonde with white on her head, belly and ankles) and Rowan (white with caramel head and strip down her back). It was Rosie's first pregnancy, and mum's first time at caprine midwifery, both did extremely well, in fact Ruby arrived so soon that we missed her birth, mum found her when she went out for a routine check thinking we were settling in for the long haul, and Rowan was born in less then two minutes from the time her foot emerged.

Both girls take after their Saanen mother in appearance, although Ruby has her Anglo-Nubian dad's floppy ears and their colouring is a mix between the two breeds, Saanens being white and Anglo-Nubians being the equivalent of a tortoiseshell [calico] cat.

I just came in from their second bottle feed. I fed Ruby and mum fed Rowan, as Rosie is from such a good line that she’s been requiring milking for weeks now, and the kids needed the nutrients from the first milk produced. After finishing most of her bottle Ruby settled down to sleep on my lap. After we gave the girls back to a concerned Rosie, Rowan decided she wanted a bit more to drink, then also fell asleep on my lap. It was a wonderful experience but eventually we had to resettle the twins and leave Rosie to it.

Photos don't want to load at the moment so check back later, for now there are some on mum's blog.