In which we get a chicken 'Dinner'...

Meet the newest addition to our family.  Minty has named her 'Dinah' after Alice's pet cat in Alice in Wonderland but there is some dispute over the pronunciation.  I am going with the traditional Die-na, while the kids are insisting on Dee-na and the Mr. in a state of confusion thought we had named her 'Dinner'.  She's a bantam leghorn and she lays the most delightful pure white little eggs.

On the way to pick up Dinah we visited the local markets in Jumbunna and Kongwak.  It was a gorgeous morning and we had some very yummy waffles with fresh berries.  I couldn't resist taking a photo of this epic colour blocked bookshelf.  It covers a massive wall but I didn't have a wide angle lens on my camera so you'll have to be content with this little blue corner!

house update

These first two pictures were taken out at the Rescue Centre in Wonthaggi.  We took the girls there to see a production of Pinocchio put on by a local theatre group.  It really is a gorgeous location, amid sprawling fields of grass and old ramshackle farm buildings.  I'm itching to head out there again for one of the upcoming twilight markets, with the express purpose of taking some more photos.  I didn't really feel like I could make the kids hang around while I got my photography fix since it was right on lunch time!

And now for a house update… we have a floor!  It makes a great stage for twirling!  The wall frames have been delivered but with the threat of tonight's storms looming we had to tuck them all to bed under tarpaulins instead of erecting them.  

In which we visit Kongwak and Minty gets a smack...

The daycare dilemma has reared its ugly head once again.  When I went to pick Minty up on Friday she told me that two of the older girls gave her a smack because she was running around during nap time.  She solemnly told me she doesn't want me to leave her there alone again because she 'missed us all very much'.  Every night since then she has been sadly telling me how worried she is, and that she doesn't want me to leave her alone at 'school' anymore.  She says that she misses Turi and daddy and mummy too much and then looks at me with very big teary eyes.  It is heartbreaking.

Now on the one hand I don't want to teach her that when you encounter a difficult social situation the way to deal with it is by avoiding it and running away.  But on the other hand I did tell her that if she stopped liking 'school' she didn't have to go back.  And frankly I wouldn't want someone to leave me there all day, so how can I expect her to want to?  So I think this might be the end of the road for us with daycare.  Maybe I'm molly coddling her, but nasty girls smacking my baby wasn't really part of the perfect childhood bubble I was hoping to create for her.  Surely there is plenty of time for all of that when she reaches prep?  Thoughts anyone??

Onto lighter matters… 

Today I took the kids to the Kongwak market.  It's mainly bric a brac and vintage things for sale so it wasn't really Minty or Turi's idea of a good time.  If I'd been there on my own I probably would have come home with some vintage sewing patterns but the kids couldn't get out of there fast enough so I didn't really have a chance to browse.  At least it was a nice country drive.  Kongwak is a really pretty little town and we had picnic morning tea watching the cows grazing.