Here Comes The Son

Wordless Wednesday

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Baking Our Blues Away

I logged in to Facebook the other day(yes, I'm still on Facebook!) & found an event invitation from a friend. I usually delete these things but the title of the event made me a little curious, so I opened it up & had a look.


The event is 'Baking Our Blues Away'. On 1 June, the first day of Winter, we are asked to take the time to bake something for someone that we know that is suffering from depression or anxiety or is just not their usual bubbly self. This is the first year the event will run, & Michelle, who came up with the idea, hopes that it will become an annual event.


'I know personally how great I feel when somebody gives me something handmade. To know that someone has taken the time to make something just for you can have a profound affect. This can be as personal as you like. If it's a friend, this is a great opportunity to share a cuppa & let them know you care. If it is someone you don't know as well, simply leave a small note anonymously if you prefer. It is about letting people know there are moments of light in what can often be a dark place for some.'


Michelle has set herself a goal of having 5000 people join in, purely by sending event invitations to her family & friends on Facebook & watching it spread from there. 4707 people have currently accepted the invitation.


With the statistics on depression, anxiety & mental illness on the increase it is an issue that seems to affect all of us in some way. This initiative is not about raising money, it's about doing something nice for someone.


Suffering from (mild)anxiety myself & knowing many people that are suffering or have suffered from depression at some point in their lives(sadly some have also attempted to take their own lives. Others were successful), I think that this is a fantastic idea to raise awareness & just to show someone that you care.


And really, any excuse to bake a cake & have a hot chocolate or a cuppa with a friend is a good idea!


If you would like to join in & share the event with you friends & family, click here.


::


Recipe :: Simple Butter Cake


Ingredients


125g butter, very well softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
1.5 cups plain flour
half a teaspoon baking powder, sifted
quarter of a teaspoon bicarbonate of soda(baking soda), sifted
half a cup milk


Method


:: Preheat oven to 150 degrees celsius
:: Place butter, vanilla, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda of soda & milk in the bowl of an electric mixer & beat on a low speed until combined(I don't have a mixer so I use my Bamix)
:: Increase the speed to high & beat the mixture until it is just smooth.
:: Place the mixture into a greased & lined cake tin(20cm pan suits this recipe best).
:: Spoon in the mixture & bake for 1 hour or until cooked(test with a skewer or by inserting the tip of a knife.)
:: Allow to cool for 5 minutes &then turn onto a wire rack.


You can find more delicious cake recipes here.

25 Weeks :: Feeling Kind of Low

25 Weeks & 5 Days

This week I've been feeling a little down. I guess I'm just tired. But that means that I get really grumpy at the girls & I really really hate that! I also heard that a friend of mine had a miscarriage that played out quite similar to when I lost my Little Frenchy. I think about my Little Frenchy each & every day & have shed a few tears for my little lost one throughout this pregnancy, but hearing this news was kind of like picking off a scab. I'm feeling a little drained.


This little one is moving around like crazy. I absolutely love it! Without fail they will start wiggling & kicking when I lie down to go to sleep & when I'm in the bath with the girls. They have really strong little arms & legs & they seem to love stretching them out against my belly. It's so reassuring to feel all of the movement.


I went in to the hospital to do my glucose test on Wednesday & true to form for me  it did'nt go ahead. The referral was given to me by my midwife at m last appointment four weeks ago for the standard glucose test but when I went in they told me that they no longer do that test & go straight to the second which meant I had to have fasted the night before. Really? Of course they neglected to tell the midwives of this change. I rang my midwife from the hospital & she couldn't believe it. She was actually quite angry at them. So instead of doing that I finally went to Myer to have a bra fitting. 


I had my appointment with my midwife on Friday. I had kinder duty & went straight afterwards with Lily. Hmmmm. I went in there ready to tell her that I wanted to pull out of the caseload program because of the early discharge. She told me that she can have me stay the night playing on my anxiety. She's quite pushy so even though I still don't think one night is enough(hell, I don't even think that two nights is enough) I kind of left it at hat. I'll tell her again at my next visit in four weeks - I guess that at least I don't have to trek to the hospital for my next visit. She also brought up my fibroid. The results from my 20 week scan showed that it had grown since my seven week scan(no surprises there)  but she said that it was close to my cervix so they will monitor it. I'm trying not to worry about it because at the scan the sonographer consulted with an Obstetric expert regarding it  said it was fine & I had the same experience with Lily & had a natural birth. But of course, I start to worry. That on top of her telling me that at 25 weeks & 5 days the baby measures at 29 weeks worries me. It didn't help that the night before I had a dream that I had to have a c-section. Arraagghhh! But you know what, I'm not going to stew on it, I will call her during the week & discuss the fibroid(the size, monitoring, etc) & whether perhaps the fibroid could be what is making me measure bigger. Funny thing is that my scan dates me as being due on 1 September so if I was so much bigger shouldn't the scan have measured an earlier due date? Ah, I don't know!


Other than that I've been shopping for a few baby bits & pieces which is always fun. And I bought giant undies! Oh, they are so sexy! haha! I also now have 23 working days to go(8 weeks for me since I work 3 nights a week). I really can't wait to finish up. It will be such a relief! 


Ok, that's it from me today. I think I might share my girls birth stories over the next couple of weeks. A way of recording it for me since I didn't have this blog back then & also to remind me how this thing pans out - I feel like I've been out of the baby delivering loop for a while!







Footnote: we had a sad day yesterday

Farewell Zeus

This morning started like any other day - the girls were up arguing over something, I was trying to keep them quiet while the Man of the house slept off another 12 hour night shift. Today was the day I had decided to tackle the bombsite which is my sewing room. The girls were watching a bit of TV while I headed into the sewing room. As was my habit I'd have a look to see if Zeus was in his kennel, I thought he was. The girls were getting too loud so I told them to put some warm clothes on & play outside. I sent them outside & set about opening all the blinds & that's when I stopped. I saw him, our beautiful big old Zeus lying peacefully between his kennel & the girls swing set. My heart dropped. Even from where I was standing I could see that he wasn't breathing. The girls had noticed him lying there, motionless. I quickly went outside & told the girls maybe it as too cold to stay outside, but they wanted to stay - with Zeus. Piper looked at me, I could see in her big brown eyes that she knew our Zeusie was dead. She hopefully suggested that maybe he was having a rest. I agreed & went inside. Before I could control myself I began to sob. How was I going to tell the Man of the House that his beloved dog was dead? I didn't know whether to let him sleep(he had worked about four 12 hour night shifts in a row with another god knows how may to come), but I thought that he needed to know right away. He would want to know. So I climbed into the bed beside him & cuddled him. I tried to control myself but the sobs came out. The poor thing woke up with such a fright. I just told him, 'oh, our poor Zeusie. He's dead'. Still being groggy he thought something had happened to the baby. I had to tell him again. He just about fell out of the bed, tangled in the doona in his rush to get out to Zeus. There he sat, in the mud, wearing nothing but his long johns & hooded jumper in the cold, with his mate. He was talking to him, trying to wake him, but our Zeus was long gone.

He sat patting him over & over. I told the girls that Zeus had gone to heaven. Poor things, they started balling & calling his name. We all went over & gave him a pat, patting his tummy just how he liked it & playing with those beautifully soft floppy ears of his. I took the girls inside & they immediately wanted their 'Zeusie toys'. We all sat cuddling on the couch while the Man of the House stayed by Zeus's side. It broke my heart to see him outside with his beloved Zeus. He sat out there for about 2 hours, patting him, lying by his side, brushing him for what seemed like forever. The girls went outside again. Piper picked flowers & rocks to lay beside her Boofa. Lily kept asking when her 'Booie' would feel better. We talked about how Zeus was very old & he was now in heaven with Jesus. Piper then said that he was with our baby(little Frenchy) & that they would look after each other. She then went into drawing overdrive, drawing pictures of Zeus, making paper flowers. 

We eventually covered up our big Boofa with an old quilt. Now we had to think about where to bury our big boy. Zeus as so small when the Man of the House 'surprised' me with him as a puppy. He had just bought me Oliver the cat a couple of weeks earlier. I remember telling him off for buying a puppy, but melted when I saw those big brown eyes.  He was such a chunky little puppy with a long thick tail. He was so small that we had to put a plank of wood from the garage down to the backyard because we were yet to concrete it & he couldn't get down the big step to the yard. We had only finished building our house a few months earlier. We had just got married. Zeus & Oliver were our babies.

When he was little his trick was to pull tissues ever so gently out of the tissue box & walk them around the house. He chewed everything in sight. The kids in the house behind us lost about 50 balls in the time we had Zeus. He managed to eat them as soon as they went over the fence! He was so clumsy, often tripping over his big paws when we would take him for a walk. As he got bigger he would still think he was a tiny puppy & try to sit on you. And if you got whacked by that ever wagging tail, you certainly knew about it. For ages our neighbours didn't even know we had a dog, let alone a giant Rottweiler. He rarely made a sound, only barking if trouble was brewing. He had such a deep bark. I remember sometimes watching him while he slept - he would sleep talk! Little barks would escape & his paws would move. I would wonder what he as dreaming about, who he was chasing.

Taking him for walks people would be terrified of him. Little did they know he was a gentle boy, often being bullied by fluffy little dogs. He was so gentle with the girls & he loved them. They loved him right back. There were times though where he would knock them down with his wagging tail! Piper's first word after 'Mum' & 'Dad' was 'Zeusie'. Lily called him 'Booie', that's just how she pronounces 'Zeusie'. He could be such a pain, but a loveable pain. His poos were epic, the size of small dogs! He was a crotch sniffer. He always wanted to touch you. He was always by the Man of the House's side when he was outside. If the boys were over, he would be outside with them, often letting off the smelliest farts ever. He always had a 'smile' on his face.

In the last few days he went off his food. He'd done that before. We were about to take him to the vet but he started to eat again, his dry food. I was just telling Mum about him on Wednesday. We both knew what was most likely coming. I didn't have the heart to tell the Man of the House. Zeus was going to be seven on 6 June. That's pretty old for a giant Rotti. Just the other day I spent some time with him, patting his face, playing with his ears, telling him how much we all loved him & how we wanted him to stay forever. I told him that he had to meet the baby. He'd have another little terror to love & protect. But I guess he couldn't stay.

And now he lies under the pergola, under the window of my sewing room, for the last time. He's there just outside from where I sit, lying peacefully. Not our spirited boy, only his lifeless body. We've decided to bury him in the garden just beside the girls cubby. He loved to lie there on sunny days, watching the girls play. The Man of the House will finish digging his final resting place, it needs to be big & deep for such a big boy, the last thing he will do for his old mate. We will have a little ceremony for our big Boofa, so we can all say goodbye. Pip has already made some drawings for him & wants to bury him with his bone & a ping pong ball, because he loved to play with them. Lily wants to bake him a cake.

Oh Zeus, we will all miss you so much. We knew you were here for a good time, not a long time but we still thought we had a couple of years left with you, old boy. There will always be a big, giant Rottweiler sized hole in our lives. We love you so much. Goodbye Zeusie xxx

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