poetry, plans, pacification, pals and preparations.

(and just a little bit of alliteration)

I was asked yesterday by the delightful annie if I missed the open blue skies of home. I have to say it really chimed with the conversations I have been having with Pr. C-Dub and Babyman this half term holiday (oh lack of routine, I shall miss you tomorow). Chimed b/c we have begun our countdown and, being good mother, I have started preparing my babies for the Great Trip Home (GTH for short).


As the date draws nearer this will include keeping them awake and hyped for 24 hours at a time, feeding them completely tasteless, nutritionally crubbish food in difficult to open packaging, complete with useless cutlery, and jamming their legs against a board. But for now I am content with opening discussions about how things are different 'at home'.


Driving down to meet my very lovely, real imaginary friend Missus Moogsmum we passed through lots of rolling farmland and hills. Being Engerland that comes with windy, twisty roads, something there are few of in Australia. Except here.

We also talked about how the colours are different in Australia. Yes we do have the normal ones just like everywhere else; it is the natural ones just lying around which have that ' I live in a hot country' kind of look. Almost like it gets so hot they just can't be bothered to attain deep tones. (and before the letters to the editor kick in I know we have lovely jewel tones, etc, etc but y'all know what I mean).

Like so many Australians I love the Dorethea McKellar poem and have come to greater appreciate the early stanzas more the longer I live in the UK .

'Strong love of field and coppice,

of green and shaded lanes,

of ordered, wooded gardens

is flowing in your veins.

(please excuse if it is not 100% correct but I am doing this from memory)

Strong love of grey blue distance,

brown streams and soft dim skies,

I know but cannot share it.

My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,

a land of sweeping plains,

of ragged mountain ranges.

Of drought and flooding rains.

Do you know, before I moved to this hilltop town I did not even know what a coppice was? So I definitely wasn't able to share in the love of it, strong or otherwise. But now I do and again I kind of do however to answer your question Annie - yes I do sometimes miss the open, blue skies of home.