When The Cat's Away...

... the mice will be devoured by unseen dangers...

Dave left for a snow trip on Friday morning. I fell apart shortly afterwards. I know, I'm such a loser wuss- but I was tired and teary and it was all too much. 

I could tell you the whole retched story of sleepless nights, flat car batteries, colds and flu's, tears and tantrums. But I won't, instead I'll tell you about the amazing people I am surrounded by.

Amy, my uber attractive sister in law who helped me bath and feed the kids before filling me with Thai and peach vodka. 

My Mumma who was upon my door step before 8 am dressing babies, collecting washing, drying tears and muffling my cursing. Who rocked the Lady Baby to sleep in the middle of Saturday night so I could rest.

 Dad, who installed a new car battery (with Amy's help), cooked us dinner, made us countless cups of coffee and chased the Young Man until he could run no further. 

And my neighbours who spent their Saturday morning trying to jump start my car and gooing over the Little Lady so I could... you know... melt down.

The story is always the same with me. Things are hard, I don't cope, there are 1000 people right there to help me out. My faith in myself and others is restored. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. 

I think i'm the only one who needs reminding that I don't have to do it all alone.

My Mother Always Told Me.

My mother always told me if you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all. So please excuse my absence- but i'm bunking down until I can be a little more positive.

Source

This Is How We Roll

The other weekend, my Mum and Dad arrived home from a little holiday. We hadn't seen them for a couple of weeks are were keen to catch up, what better way to do it?

I was on the pan so a few of the pikelets got, ehum, charred.

And then we rolled our fat bodies home.

Walking It Off, Shaking It Out

It was a rough 'ol morning here at The Beetle Shack with two snotty grotties and an absent husbie. I awoke to find the house a mess, a fridge full of broken glass (the result of the young man twisting the temperature dile to freezing), ants in the honey and my dirty washing basket smelling like a fart. Not even the humm of the espresso machine could lift my spirits.

But the sun on the water could - so we packed our pouts into the car and went out to get happy (but not before collecting Pa).

The grass was covered in dew, the air was crispy and the coffee was perfect. My dad demonstrated the kind of patience that only a grandparent could- chasing, tickling and offering shoulder rides to the boisterous young one. We talked, giggled, walked and talked some more.

I thank God for grandparents, because when I can't, they absolutely can. And they do- they even go so far as to say they enjoy it. 

My children are lucky. I bet yours are too.

Needless to say- i'm grateful for my Dad, so i'm linking up with Maxabella.

WINNER WINNER Chicken Dinner

Okie Dokie

The winner of this Ramsign house number is......

Cathie from m.e. Congratulations Chicken Dinner- email me and we can get this show on the road.

If you missed out this time, enter this weeks giveaway HERE

Happy Circus- Giveaway

 I'm pretty excited about this and you should be too. 

Thats right- you have the opportunity to get something excellent for nothing.

The ever generous Nell from 'On The First Day Of Marriage' has offered to give one attractive reader of The Beetle Shack a hand knitted treat from her Etsy store Happy Circus. 

Shazam. 

I have already collected a yellow bow tie for myself and a little blue one for the Lady Baby. Upon seeing them, my mother demanded she be gifted a red one (okay so it didn't really go down like that, but it's her birthday soon and i'll include one in her present pile). Nell makes all these items herself and is happy to create custom orders upon request, making my mother a happy lady.

To win your choice of hand knitted treats from Happy Circus;

 Become a follower of The Beetle Shack and On The First Day Of Marriage 

visit Happy Circus

 before leaving a comment below,

telling me which is your favourite item.

For an extra chance to win:

 Write your own post about this giveaway and 

leave me a comment telling me that you have.

Remember to leave a comment

for each entry 

Ready. Steady. GO!

Oh, and this giveaway ends tomorrow- so enter and check back in the arvo xo

Tea With Paddington

what else is there to do with all this grey?

And They All Said...

...AMEN

source

worth a read

6 Months

The Lady Baby of The Beetle Shack is 6 months today!

Lady Baby, you delight me daily.

xo

Let Me Tell You About Today

Oh yes. Today- Monday.

The sun was shining, birds were chirping and children were playing happily in the streets. We on the other hand were inside with the blinds drawn and tissues shoved up our runny noses,  slummin' it on the couch.

When the clock struck 10 we scampered out to the car (tissues still up noses) to make the trek to my old work. The place that used to pay me to have fun. It was the trial marking day for HSC Body Of Work and I was going to throw my two bob in. Not long after our arrival I realised that I no longer had to bob to offer. That's right- it appears I am officially brain dead (i will confirm this later). I left, deflated. Marking Criterias, outcomes, jargon- it's all lost to me now.

As a means of  restoring my self worth, I decided to make my family a delicious meal. Roast chicken with chorizo and tomato, all I needed was a few extra ingredients. We once again load into the car for a quick shopping adventure.

Lady baby in Bjorn, Young man in trolly. Right. Let's go. Oh wait, bung trolly. We just grab a new one- no big deal.

It's all way too easy right here. My children behave like angels, no crying, no screaming, no climbing out of trolly- no nonsense. We hunt and gather what we need from Harris Farm before rolling our way back to the parking lot. I give my back pockets a quick tap to locate my keys, followed by a rummage through my bag- no keys.

Yeah- left my keys in that first bung trolley. I left that bung trolley stranded outside harris farm. By the time I got back there is was long gone. Keys. Long. Gone.

But don't worry- I cooked that dinner, i cooked it good. And it was AWESOME. Dave is cleaning up as we speak while I  skull sip a glass of $4 Shiraz, cus that how I roll. I screw stuff up and drink cheap wine and i'm okay with that.

Let's all look at Mr Depp.

What I Wore

No, not really. I'm no uber styler- but my River Cottage bestie Jess is, so perve on her. Yoss is o'right too, you can give him a look over.

little bit of vintage, little bit of designer, whole lot of cool

the uber stylers

A New Old Phone- Bring Bring

A little bit of 'tan' in the mix. I'm dreaming of a green one, but for now- this puppy will do.

I've got a giveaway party going on at the moment so feel free to join in by following the links below

enter thursdays giveaway

enter fridays giveaway

enter saturdays giveaway
enter sundays giveaway

 You wont be disappointed.

Visit Her Library Adventures for more vintage finds

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I have never loved VB as much as I do right now

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