Some stuff..

Basil went for a little illicit wander out into the neighbourhood yesterday. He returned safe and sound, but the family stress when we can't find him is high. As you'd imagine.



Climber's soccer team is in the bottom 3 of the league. This means that they are getting thrashed most weeks, which is a little dispiriting, but at the same time we are enjoying getting to know the other families, cracking jokes on the sidelines on those cold early mornings, and generally feeling heartened by the way that the team is actually improving even though the results don't show that. Climber continues to do an excellent job, it's hard to pick whether he's better as central defender or goalie really. Just don't put the kid in attack, he doesn't like it. Apparently he's genetically programmed to be a defender, both his father and uncle played in back.



Cherub is, like his little mates in Grade 2, pretty obsessed with AFL (that's Melbourne footy to you international readers) swap cards. They take their little albums to school and haggle. Despite coming from a non-footy-following family, Cherub knows a surprising amount about the game. He accepts as gospel what the other kids tell him, which is pretty funny when he starts sounding off about a game he's never watched: apparently The Empire (umpire) didn't like one of the teams and was really unfair. He was having quite the footy chat with Grandma and Pa Fixit yesterday, and his Grandma when she heard about the swap cards was quick to hand over $3 for a new pack, something which I, as an anti-football in particular and swap cards in general, am far less likely to do. But I do think it is nice to have spoiling grandparents.



Fixit is putting different handlebars on the motorbike so he can sit up straight and ride rather than leaning forward uncomfortably. I suppose there's less chance of him falling asleep like that, but the tinkering required to do this job seems excessive and never-ending to me. (I am very supportive like that.)



I've knitted a square for an orphan's blanket. Perfect television-watching activity as I've sat glued to the screen for the SBS show Go Back To Where You Came From (emotionally wrecked after each episode of that show) and the final of Ashes to Ashes on dvd. (I love you Gene Hunt).

And the house still smells, I hate you stinky rat.