Dead cat, new scooter, old friend

It's officially the start of winter on Friday (June 1) but the weather is still shorts worthy. I met some Aussie friends at the beach last week and while I was factored up and in shorts and flip flops they were in rolls necks, scarves and one even in a sheepskin jacket. I mean seriously, what are they like.? It was 70 with a light breeze. As I type I am trying to ignore the large dead white cat that seems to have met his maker on the road right outside our house. Someone has kindly shifted his ant-infested corpse to the end of our driveway so now every time I negotiate the car out through the gate I have to try not to turn its head into a giant cat-head pancake. Have so far managed to avoid Scarlett seeing it, but am not sure it can be avoided when we head off for her ride on her pink fairy bike this afternoon. Maybe it's time for the chat about death. I'll spare you a photo. Rob has bought himself a zippy red scooter which he rides to work when he is on day shift so I can have the car. It's handy to have two modes of transport, much better for the planet and of course cheap to run. He looks very cool heading off at sunrise. Another blast from the past arrives in Sydney this weekend. Paul 'Please leave with the minimum of fuss' Chinnery is heading to our shores for the first time and I can't wait to see him. We spent most of the period from 1989 to 1991 living in and around Notting Hill laughing. Just laughing. Paul also hosted me on my first trip to New York in 1990 and was also briefly a member of the group that took on Umbria in 1991. He and I also shared a memorably funny weekend in Amsterdam that had us talking and laughing so much we didn't realise we had sat through the same sex show twice. Paul is famous for his appalling posture, having different coloured eyes and for being the head of channel five's legal department. As you can imagine, with their programming, he's kept pretty busy. Long may the laughter reign.

Does whatever a spider can

This morning Scarlett, Florence and I met Spiderman. I know. Amazing isn' t it? And creepy. We were at Sam's 4th birthday party and not surprisingly almost every child burst into tears when the webbed one arrived in the park where we were all waiting with Zoe and Paul's Spiderman jumping castle. I'm 39 and he gave me the shivers as he emerged, half running and crouching from behind a set of bins in his tight lycra costume. The mask alone is enough to give the kids nightmares for weeks to come. It was hilarious however. He had them all chasing around, looking for bad guys, fighting with balloon swords and teaching them superhero skills while the grown ups stood around eating sausage sandwiches and remarking on how low his overheads must be - he charges $190 for an hour ( and presumably fits in about 6 performances every weekend) and only needs to get his suit dry cleaned once a week. We speculated that during the week he is probably either a tax accountant or high court judge. As Rob was at home 'sleeping off a night shift', someone even suggested he might be the one inside the webbed suit.

Old friends and new

The Autumn weather is amazing at the moment - chilly mornings and evenings but clear warm sunny days of around 20 degrees. I'm still in my shorts at the beach and swimming in the open air pool but my Australian friends are in sheepskin-lined jackets and winter boots. Scarlett tried her hand at babysitting at the weekend when we looked after 4-week old Saskia Baker, the new baby of our old neighbours Rob and Freya. Our house come bedtime took on the air of a small baby production line as each child was plopped in the bath, dried, dressed, fed and put to bed. On Sunday, my old mate Simon Dimascio came for lunch. Simon and I went to Manchester Poly together at the end of the 80s but we haven't seen Simon since our wedding 12 years ago. Since then he has split up with the woman he brought to our wedding, met someone new and produced twin daughters now aged nine. He was in Sydney from England on business for 24 hours and arrived for lunch at 3pm at Sunday, in typical Manchester wide boy form, with a carton of 24 beers on his shoulder. He left at 10.30pm when I called him a cab. You join the dots. Needless to say, hangovers and small children who rise at 7am do not mix. Florence is almost 10 weeks old and changing so fast. Her eyes have opened into two huge dark pools and the long eyelashes we love so much on Scarlett have popped out too. She is easey peasy compared to chasing a 3-year-old around. Scarlett is her biggest fan which is a relief as I have heard horror stories of parents walking in on their older child just in time to stop them hoisting the rope-bound baby to a tree branch.

All change

It was Mother's Day here on Sunday. My favourite present was the first smile Florence has given me when I went into her at 7am. Big, big smile. Scarlett brought me two lovely gifts she had made for me at nursery - a fridge magnet in the shape of a heart with her photo on and a keyring with a pic of her on, plus a voucher to use at a local spa for a facial and pedicure. Yippee. For breakfast, we met up with our lovely friends, Chris and Steph O'Brien, who let us tag along on their Mother's Day breakfast plans at Clontarf Reserve. Steph is one of 9 children ( that's catholics for you) and many of them were in attendance along with their spouses and children for bacon and egg rolls prepared on the bbqs in the park. The kids made use of the massive playground, Scarlett flew a kite all by herself, and Florence, just for a change, slept. Rob started his new job the next morning. His first day at work after 9 months off. Needless to say he didn't look very happy and he sloped off down the street to the train station. The good thing is the job is only a few km away and it's easy for him to get there by bike or train. He's also thinking of getting himself an Italian scooter to whizz around on so I can have the car for the kids. So this week is also my first managing both girls on my own.
Flo is very beautiful (we think), dark and big eyed like her handsome dad. her thing is throwing a gigantic hissy fit, every night at about 5pm ( the chardonnay hour as our friend Melissa calls it), but looking back in my diary, it seems Scarlett did the same at the same age, until she grew out of it. I wonder which type of gin we used to fix it. Why didn't I write that down too? Also new this week is the gorgeous personalised blanket sent to us by our wonderful friends in the US, Sarah and Scott and their twins Ruby and Jacob. They sent the same gift when Scarlett was born and it has hung over her bed ever since. We intend to do the same in Florence's room.

Relay For Life

Today we spent the day taking part in Relay for Life, a sponsored 24 hour walk in aid of the Cancer Council held at a sports oval in North Sydney. We were part of the Good Eggs team put together by our top mate Steph. It was a really emotional day, beginning with a special lap for cancer survivors and their carers that we took part in, and ending with a candlelit lap in memory of those who were lost to cancer. Then it was just a matter as walking as many laps as possible. Many teams had tents set up and were planning on walking all night, there was loads of entertainment - bands, jumping castles, kids entertainers etc. Scarlett and I took part in the egg throwing game where partners face each other and throw an egg to each other. Every time you catch it without it breaking you take a step away from each other and throw again. After a few successful throws and catches Scarlett slightly misjudged her throw and instead of the egg landing neatly in my waiting hands, went sideways across another couple and landed squarely on the forehead of a 10 year old boy, breaking on impact. I swear to God, I lay on the floor I was laughing so hard. The boy was not amused. Just the thought of him now is making me laugh. I fear the wonky aim gene maybe from me. Just last week at Balmoral Beach, Scarlett and I were playing football on an almost deserted beach. After receiving a neat pass from Miss S, I kicked the ball hard back up the beach to her, instead striking an elderly gentleman strolling past straight in the chest at a distnace of about 5 feet. Again apologising was made difficult by my snorts of laughter. Anyway, we had a great day, raised over $1200 for cancer research and education, so many thanks to everyone who sponsored us.

Rick's visit and happy birthday to me

Our fabulous mate from Blightey Rick has just been to stay for 9 days - Rob is driving him to the airport as I type. I was gutted to see him go, as is always the way when a little piece of home goes back. As well as being Scarlett's Godfather, he is an old mate from years ago, our friendship sealed during an unforgettably funny holiday in Umbria in 1991. Rick loves Australia and we were thrilled when he rang a couple of months ago to say he was coming for a visit before starting a new job at home. We have such a brilliant laugh while he's been here, eating out, going away to Gerroa last weekend for my 39th birthday, hanging out at the beach, early morning swims at our local pool and lots and lots of wine and storytelling.