Weekly catchup and September Space

Greetings friends!

I told myself I would try and post every weekend when I have my getaway afternoon.

I drive the car to a quiet place and sit and read, and sometimes sleep in the sun for a couple of hours.

This is the perfect time to squeeze out a post! Or so I thought.

I have been sitting here looking through photos to illustrate an idea I had, but none of them fit properly.

So now I will write a post about not writing a post! Ha!

This week has been a good one. The main points being: Cris was voted onto our building executive committee, Miles had his four wisdom teeth removed, and Aiden crashed his bike with a few injuries but nothing life threatening. And I continued to spin the plates, and adore our new home...and its surroundings. I can’t remember ever living anywhere where I constantly exclaimed over how fun and joyful it felt to live there. And we have lived in a few nice places.

This week we have had a range of temperatures, from snow last weekend to almost springlike temperatures today. Welcome to Canberra!

I am currently reading the book ‘Holy Heathen’ by Katherine North and feeling a parallel between her upbringing as a missionary kid in Japan and mine in Papua New Guinea. She is one of those sensitive intense individuals I can totally relate to. I love her passion!

Next week I start on a new adventure. I am taking the month of September off as a mother. I have booked no appointments and plan to use the time to explore my creativity in this new space and maybe do some heart searching about the way I run my life.

Hopefully there will be poetry and pretty pictures to show over the weeks and the kids will learn to support themselves more. I plan to only cook when I feel like it but am agreeing to supervise and coach if need be.

So we will see how the experiment unfolds!

Wish me luck that I don’t give in and start doing housework.

Til next time,

Keep on creating!

Lots of love,

Jazzy Jack

Our New Apartment

 Greetings my long suffering friends.

I am checking in with my biannual blog post!

I think in my previous post I mentioned we were waiting to move into our new apartment. Well, the title gave it away, but we have moved in. Actually we moved almost three months ago now.

I have been waiting until the pictures were hung before taking photos to post. It always feels finished with pictures on the walls.

We still have many possessions in storage which need sorting, but we are living quite comfortably in this new little space.

It is a two bedroom sub penthouse apartment on the 12th floor, the size of two tiny houses side by side containing four adult sized humans and a medium sized dog.

We managed to bring some favourite prints of stained glass and our porthole mirror from our old house, which we paired with a new IKEA couch in such a gorgeous rusty red. It warms me every time I look at it. And it looks old already! Very long. Four of us can sit along it and it is wide enough to be a bed if necessary.

We made the piano a priority in the space and bought a folding table at IKEA for the dining room. The table is stored at the entrance as you can see here.

This plus a few plants indoors is all the garden I have now. So I make it count by adding a mirror. I think my decorating style would be called when-in-doubt-add-a-mirror!

We fold up our mattress and make it into a chair so the bedroom can be used as a living space/office in the day time. The desk with the best view in town.

The boys have the master bedroom which they have divided into two rooms. This is Miles’ section with wardrobe and chest of drawers creating a private space behind for his bed. 

To his right is a door to another small balcony which gives them their own *small* space. Miles loves to use the door as his whiteboard.

Aiden just loves his little cave. He lives in the walkin wardrobe. We created an elevated bed with storage and desk underneath. He requested it. And he can fold up the bed to stand if necessary. But so far he loves to do sumersaults to get out of his chair!

And this is the reason we did all this upheaval. The view! Plus the proximity to the city and learning about living in an urban environment.

The trees on the right are our local park. Can you see the police jet skis on the water?

I hope you can see why I have been absent for so long. But I am going to try to be a bit more consistent now we have moved.

Please excuse my formatting. I’m still learning the new Blogger!

‘Til next time, keep on creating!

Much love,

Jazzy Jack

Mother’s Day Poem

Greetings to you all this fabulous day!

Firstly thanks so much to all of you for your lovely comments on my A to Z poems. It certainly was a challenge. And I was never so glad our alphabet has only 26 letters. That’s the first time I’ve tried an alphabetical writing challenge and it probably won’t be the last. I did struggle to come up with stories during the lockdown, as it seemed I had said all I had to say towards the end, so I got a little silly. Which is totally fine and sometimes important for me who can be very serious. Ha!

We are still in our lockdown on the coast but our new apartment which we are waiting to move into is edging ever so closer. We are almost at the final step! Settlement just around the corner. Of course we were supposed to hear before the weekend when that would be, but their computers crashed so now we wait once again! It seems there is always one more hurdle in this 21 month saga. You would think I had developed patience by now and wouldn’t keep needing more lessons. I’m trying, I’m trying!

Really it has been quite wonderful being here all together with Cris working from home and not having to commute back and forth to Canberra each week. Although finding quiet working space in this tiny place has been a challenge sometimes, especially for his Zoom meetings and radio interviews on cold and rainy days especially. He has been seen out there under our awning with a blanket wrapped around his legs and me dashing back and forth providing hot drinks!

The hardest part for the kids has been that we are not allowed to travel around the town for anything except essentials. The way the kids entertain themselves usually here is with excursions, setting themselves challenges or investigating things. We are allowed outside for exercise so some of these projects have been able to be combined with exercise. For example they both bought themselves cameras with zoom lenses. So they have been able to go for walks to test them out on the beach. Our backyard is basically a beach, which we are so thankful for. And they have the run of the caravan park which is huge. But driving to photograph the planes, for example, would not be acceptable.
So we are now earmarking ideas to do next time we come down.

I have found being without my sewing machine difficult, and craft supplies. We have had a double upheaval by being locked down in a temporary living situation. It’s been harder without all our normal activities and limited wifi. But of course we are very comfortable and grateful to be together.

Our camper van has been a godsend as it has provided another living space for one person to escape to  during the day, and for Miles to sleep in at night (usually he sleeps on the fold out lounge in the living room). We parked it opposite the front door adjacent to the deck, so it is even almost under cover. Cris thought up that genius idea of course!

Our apartment will be only slightly bigger than this little portable dwelling, so this has been a great little exercise to see how we can go long term in a tiny space. Apart from Cris’ working space, we have done surprisingly well. So this bodes well for our move. Phew!

Alright will leave it there for now. Here is a poem I wrote for mothers.

Mother’s Day

I struggled with this concept

For many years

As the Drs had told us

"It's unlikely you will have kids"

So as each year rolled around

I fretted and hid

And felt sad

Now after ten years

Of trying the first time

And two weeks the next - what?!

We are the proud parents

Of two teenage boys

Turns out Drs are not infallible

But I still struggled

Because every year it seemed

I was being tested on my mothering

As invariably one or the other

Or both our kids would fall sick

Not the picture perfect day I had planned!

So here’s to those who mother

Whether your own or another's

We rock!

What a privilege

To be able to raise another person

Teaching and nurturing them

Into the world

Loving and being loved

So deeply in return

I don't need to tense

As this day approaches

Wondering what it will bring

Because for a Mother

Every day is Mother's Day

Smothered in hugs and kisses

And tears and snot

Full of tasks and laundry

And another endless meal

Seeing happy faces smiling towards us

And grumpy ones stomping away

Feeling our hearts burst as we turn a corner

And sometimes crying at our wit's end

Knowing this is the hardest

And most rewarding job

And we wouldn't have it

Any other way

10/5/20

Til next time,

Keep on creating!

Love,

Jazzy Jack

PS Photo by Aiden

A to Z Writing Challenge - Z for Zoom

Zoom zoom

We zoom around the world

In our cars and planes

Zoom zoom

Now the virus has come

We are stuck inside

But being an adaptive species

We zoom around

In our virtual world

At the speed of light

We are connected

Via Zoom

3/5/20

A to Z Writing Challenge - Y for Yield

My shoulder has decided 

To pack itself up

In a little tight wad

Of pain 

It seems our shoulder

Is involved in many

Subtle movements

Including typing

I am having 

To sit very still

And very straight

To avoid exacerbating it

There isn’t much

I can do

At the moment

And I have

To ask 

For help

For all my usual tasks

And I need to see

That the quickest way

Forward

Is to yield

2/5/20

A to Z Writing Challenge - X for X

When I am holed up

In a tiny space

Without access

To a garden of my own

I love to walk

In parks

And along rivers

Underneath tall trees

After the cockatoos

Have finished feasting

And sprinkled 

All their dinner left overs

On the ground

I collect them together

And secrete them 

Around my home

And as I move

Through my days

They feel like

Tiny kisses of love

xxx

29/4/20 

A to Z Writing Challenge - W for Waiting

Who can identify

With the word 

‘Waiting’ right now?

Around the world

We are waiting

To see what is possible

If not probable

For this week 

And the next

Will we be able to drive

Or eat out

Or go to work?

Things we have 

Always taken for granted

All put on hold

But wait

What’s this?

A missive

From afar

Stating that life

Is already happening

While we are waiting!

Have we missed it?

Oh no!

Because this is our life

Like it or not

And as we yearn 

For something else

We have lost it

Wait no more.

28/4/20