Well, we've had quite a week since the last time I wrote! The cowboy continued his rampage around our property and managed to break the water mains, the sewerage pipes of the downstairs toilet (luckily we haven't been using it lately) and bend the metal pool fence. Some people just shouldn't be let out. Here is a photo of his handiwork...

On Saturday we managed to get out of the house and struggled through the dirt without too much damage in our best outfits for a photo shoot to celebrate L's first birthday.

Over the weekend the generator died and we had no power whatsoever for a whole day and night. There have been no baths for the babies for four days... Our kind neighbour let us plug the fridge into their supply so we'll be saving up for thankyou presents once this is all over.

Sunday was the day of N's fifth birthday which we held at a friends house and which was said by all to have been a success. Here is the cake I made for her - complete with five cute kittens (her favourite animal).

The kids had fun on the swings, exploring the nearby bushland, trying to eat jelly snakes hanging from the clothesline with no hands, pinning the horn on the unicorn and generally stuffing their faces with more lollies, chocolate crackles, chips, frankfurters and cake.

The cat escaped the night before last and was outside for hours. By bedtime we were really quite worried and went all over the place with the torch calling 'puss, puss, puss' and 'wudda, wudda, wudda'. After about half an hour of searching and looking in holes and ditches I was outside the front of the house when I saw something black streaking across the lawn. The generator was blasting away around the side of the house. I shone the torchlight over and caught two shining green eyes looking at me nervously. I crouched down and called her and she came over - shaken by all the commotion. We went to sleep content with the knowledge that she was back inside safe and sound.

An apprentice plumber on his P's managed to get his truck stuck in the big hole at the top of the driveway. He was stuck for a couple of hours and probably had to get towed out. Somehow he got in and then he was trying to reverse back out - I wish I had taken a photo!

Yesterday the driveway turned into a quagmire. The rain turned the clay into a thick slurry and we got taller and taller as we made our way up to the main road.
Here are my boots after an outside excursion... we had lunch out - yummy italian pizza (really authentic - Il gianfornaio - I recommend it) and spent the afternoon and evening at my parents place which felt amazingly cosy and comfortable in contrast to our beleaguered abode!