Cold, colds, and moments of warmth

Things have been slow around here. And cold.

Which is how winter holidays should be, I think.

Last week at the markets I picked up some pansies

and potted them, some in the front and some in the backyard.

Almost every night there have been beautiful sunsets.

I am so appreciating being free at 5.00pm to see each one.

We bought Emily some demi-pointe shoes, ready for next term.

Inspired by the pansies, Steve and I spent

much of a childfree Saturday digging out a front garden bed

(well, half a garden bed), and had fun choosing and planting new plants.

  

After that we felt we had earned dinner out,

burgers at a new (but old-feeling) bar a few suburbs away.

We were fortunate to have another couple of childfree nights,

while the girls stayed with my parents.

On Monday Steve headed back to work and I made the most of some

teenager-free shopping time and bought some clothes for myself.

I wore a cute skirt I was happy to find at Kmart

and this is one of my new outfits, made up of mix & match pieces.

I spent a lot of money, but they were all on special, so I saved hundreds of dollars ;-)

I may have gotten a little carried away photographing all my mix & match options...

... just an effort to remember all the possibilities later.

(No, this is not turning into one of those blogs)

On Tuesday the girls came home, and we visited a new chiropractor,

(as a result of which, Laura is now off gluten, dairy & sugar,

which means even more dietary gymnastics in my kitchen)

On Wednesday the cold which has been lurking for some time

hit me & Steve with its full force, and since then life has been somewhat miserable.

However I think we are all past the worst now, and just need to be patient

as we slowly improve. The girls had the colds first and seem much better now.

Emily has been working hard on school assessment tasks.

and loving some attention now and then. 

Laura has been iceskating this morning, and I've been trying to play 

the ridiculously difficult piano accompaniments for Emily's saxophone exam.
Steve is out happily playing the Trout Quintet with some musical friends.

Meanwhile, the ironing piles up and mostly I just sit on the sofa by the window,

not looking at the piles, but reading, searching for sugarfree recipes,

visiting blogs ... thankful for the winter sun and my spot by the heater.