Home again,

I LOVED Melbourne!! There was so much to see and do, Bantam Boy believes he could live there quite easily. I loved the snow and the art markets and the galleries every few paces!

But I missed this.....


I just had to do some baking as soon as I could when I got home. Baked ricotta with chilli, olives and semi dried tomatoes.

And this.....


I crocheted the central motif from one of the books I bought in Melbourne, finished off from my imagination. (Note to self- crochet hooks may not be allowed on the plane in your hand luggage but they can go in the suitcase! After weeks of knitting and crocheting my shawl which was fab! I was having withdrawal symptoms.)

We were very fortunate because Kirti and family live there and K came to pick us up from the airport- very comforting to a somewhat nervous traveler. Kirti had made soup so we had a lovely home cooked lunch with friends for our first meal in melbourne. Beau and my two made friends very quickly. Bantam Boy has quite a gentle nature and they had a bit of fun despite the large age gap! K then drove us to our hotel/apartment right in the heart of the city in flinders lane. The people who managed the apartments were so friendly and the room was bright and clean with windows that actually opened to the outside world- fresh air!!


On our first day- when we finally got up, still on perth time!- we went on a tour of the city on the free tourist bus which took us right to the art gallery. We spent about 7 hours there. The gallery stays open until 9pm on a wednesday. BB has been studying art history so he was intensely interested in each and every detail of each and every piece of art work. Chicky Babe on the other hand would have been happy to do a cursory glance of the artwork and move on to the next entertainment. Even though I am an art nerd, I fall somewhere in between the two. I felt quite torn between what each one wanted and was at a loss because like the man with the donkey I could not please both of them at the same time. BB and I returned later in the week to finish off the sections that we did not get to originally , we left CB watching TV in the hotel in her pj's in her fold out sofa bed and everyone was happy. BB and I wandered at a leisurely pace and had morning tea on the first floor.


It was a lovely bonding time for us, I love that he enjoys these things and will chat openly and thoughtfully with me, something I cherish from my almost 17 year old son. CB (15 and a half) is a bit of a strange chicky- she's not pursuing art into year 11, no matter how hard I try she is not interested in fashion unless it is extremely comfortable and not at all revealing, she likes mainstream radio! Unlike BB she has no intention of raiding my old record collection and CD's but we still have a lovely friendship and she still likes to have a cuddle every now and then while we watch TV or a long chat when it's time for bed and I 'tuck her in'.

The kids had friends from their drama group staying in Melbourne at the same time so they organised to go to Dracula's (a cabaret restaurant not at all my cup of tea.) By this time I felt like I had walked a marathon


and we had planned our trip to lake mountain the next day so I elected to stay in and read my book (Perfume- a book that is both alluring and repulsive at the same time, quite unsettling but worth the read.) I decided that it would be ok for them to catch a cab there themselves it was only about 5mins in the taxi from there to our hotel. While they were out my mum called and I told her what the kids were doing.
"You let them do what???!!!???"
"I'm sure they will be fine, it's only minutes away."
"But it is so late and they are kids and you don't know who is out there......"
Ahh!! back to my teen years, I am wrestling with the fear I feel and the strong desire to not pass these onto my children. To really live I think you need a little risk and a fear base does not lend itself to spontaneity. I think that some of the mistakes or poorer life choices..... regrets come from decisions made from fear. I worry quite a bit, is this the right choice, should I do this or that? I over analyze things and fret about whether I've done the right thing or not. (This also has a profound effect on my art work I worry and fret that it is not good enough, that I have nothing to say- hard to believe when I look at the length of this blog and the winding road it's taken me on.) ..... any way of course I then started to fret that I had given the kids too much freedom, I wouldn't have let them do the same here in Perth ( Perth city is not as busy as Melbourne and therefore there is not the safety in numbers that melbourne seems to have.)

Needless to say they arrived safely home and had had a fantastic time. They went and did their own thing again a couple of days later and I spent the day with a friend of mine who had come over for the art fair. It was actually quite nice to spend the day doing our own thing and I kind of like their budding independence. I noticed how much they are growing on this trip, and it is not going to be too long before I have a lot more free time on my hands. I'd better get my head together so I can find my artistic voice and the confidence to say what I have to say and not worry about whether anyone agrees with me or cares to listen for that matter.

I quickly did a catch up of some of my favourite blogs ( having missed their voices for the last couple of weeks... another addiction!) But I've been so busy with work - I'm painting a mural with the kids at school.

(this is a phone photo and a bit unclear. This is about a third of what they want done- it's on brick and therefore takes ages! It needs a second coat unfortunately even though it had a prep coat first.)

....and CB wanted a ball dress made since I got back ie: thursday night/ early morning, which I might add she decided not to wear in favour of one from a friend she was supposed to try on earlier and if she had could have saved me a lot of bother!!!! But I'm not feeling at all resentful about it!! And BB's sleepless, all night art folio preparation, also thursday and therefore my pretty sleepless night. "Sorry to wake you mum but do you have water colour paints?" "Umm mum do you have coloured pencils I can't find mine".... I've not had a chance to get on the computer until now.

Fifi's post made me reflect on thoughts I hadn't intended to post but they were things that the trip had bought to the surface for me, about the kids and my relationship with them and my feelings about their being on the edge of adulthood and the double edged sword of this growing independence bringing me more time alone, whether I want it or not. I've written enough for now but I have hundreds of photos and more to write, another time.