Excuse me dear - but it appears to be snowing

I remember standing at the bus stop - in the throws of a dark cold winter, wrapped layer upon layer like a little woolen strudel, when an immaculately dressed elderly lady shuffled close to me and whispered in my ear "Excuse me dear, but it appears to be snowing".

I looked about with wild wonder, only to be bitterly disappointed.  Rain, yes.  Sleet, maybe.  Snow... no where to be seen.  I smiled awkwardly at the old lady and just nodded a little.. again she whispered to me "Dear, it appears to be snowing", she then gave me a long look from my eyes, all the way to my hem line, where her gaze lingered a little to long!!  The bus was pulling up, and I was still confounded until I saw it, the lace on my slip, it was black with a white/cream speckle through it!  I adjusted my skirt and gave the old lady a "knowing look", and she seemed to be satisfied with my actions.

Later that day I relayed the story to my mum who called her mum and yes, it seems that in the charmed olden days, when the hem of a ladies slip fell below the hem of her skirt, one would remark "it appears to be snowing".  I have no idea what the secret code would have been in the middle of a hot summer, but am hoping to bring this secret code back into Vogue!!

Perhaps today of all days it might be most timely to work on bringing the code back, as this morning gave us the first snow of the season on our beloved Mt Wellington.  The boyfriend was dragged out of bed, the house guest shuffled to the window, the sister we let sleep, she is far taller than I am and I think she could knock me out with her hair.. but the three of us stood at the balcony window, wondering how in just a few short days it has gone from mild to wild in old Hobart town.

This week we have a full house of family and friends staying with us, and I could not be prouder of the weather!!Finally the Le Creuset can once again shine in its glory days of meaty casseroles and syrupy stewed fruit, the daggy but delicious flannelet jimmy jams can be worn with pride, and the ratty old blanket my nan made for me as a child can be pulled out of storage for solo snuggling on the couch.  No one will be wanting to drag me outside, I wont feel guilty about mid afternoon weekend naps, and best of all, I pick up the knitting needles again!

how to get goodness in your life before dawn (settle down!)

Response to my comments in my "how rude" blog sparked a flurry of story sharing, maybe I had better balance it out with a nice blog?

The other weekend, when I found myself too awake too early one morning, I snuck outside for one of my many guilty pleasures. 

I crept out of bed, put on my beanie and my short jimmy - jam bottoms,  unlocked the laundry door and took a deep breath in.

Slowly, slowly I unsteadily pattered down the concrete steps, growing ever more excited about what was about to happen next.. 

My feet were bare and super sensitive after relaxing for hours in my silky soft sheets, they could not wait to be on top of the cool and damp grass that was yet to be mowed in the back yard. The ground was wet with dew, and colder than I thought it would be, but it was so incredibly refreshing.  

At first I felt a little silly walking around in my jammas at some crazy hour of the morning, but I realised, just about everyone else would have been in bed asleep so all I could do was close my eyes and really concentrate on the morning around me.

A couple of birds were awake, dawn had not started when I took my first step outside, but it must not have been far away, the sky was looking clear and calm, and had started to get lighter without really seeing day break yet.  I knew it would not be long before the rest of the world would be up and getting on with their lives.. I felt I had not much more time to enjoy this guilty pleasure.

Toward the bottom end of the garden, there is a patch of grass that gets a little muddy, that is where I really wanted to be!  Slowly, deliberatly, I made my way across the grass, to where the mud was thick enough to creep between my toes, and to where if I needed to, I could hang onto the fence for support!

I stood on that spot until the mud around my feet had reached my body teperature, when that happens its time to find a new spot to stand on.. but on that day, it signaled time to head back inside, to see what early morning dreams if any, might visit me after my adventure in the yard.

On tip toes till I could make it to the sink, I felt little blops of mud left behind by my big toe and the balls of my feet, on this occasion the mud was already starting to dry and was not as slippy as I had hoped for!  With all the flexibility I could muster, I kicked each foot into the sink, one at a time to wash the dirt and dew off with freezing cold water - warm water just seems like cheating for some reason!

Doing a little dance on the bath towel that had been left on the floor from the night before, I did my best to dry off my tootsies before heading back to bed. 

As I slid back down between the top sheet and the bottom sheet, I could still smell the outside, I could still feel the cold of the air against my face and the ground against my feet.. Just imagine it - I can tell you're smiling!  Even in the middle of winter there is something about it that makes me so very happy!

Next time you cant sleep, don't lay there tossing and turning.  Kick off your bed socks and go for a little mission around your yard!  Not only will you fall to sleep within minutes of coming back inside, the peace you achive in your sleep will be amazing!

How Rude

I feel a Friday morning rant coming on!

Today I was walking down the street to get to work when in the distance I saw three well dressed men.  One looked to be mid 20's, the other mid 30's and the eldest I would say around about mid 50's.

I'm betting they were on their way to work, standard wool suits, cups of store bought coffee and that huddled walk that work colleagues seem to get. 

We were approaching each other at the same speed, me trying to get to my work, them trying to get to theirs, and then within moments we were approaching the same ground, the same bit of space on the foot path.. and then it happened.

I was rail roaded OFF the foot path, these guys kept their huddle - they kept their speed, until the last minute when they slowed down, but did not part their seas of uselessness.  Instead I had to step off the foot path, take a scenic tour around these guys and then get back onto the foot path!  HOW RUDE.

Don't get me wrong - I was not expecting one of these guys to take off his jacket, lay it across a puddle and bow as I walked past, I didn't even expect one of them to walk off the footpath and into the gutter, what would have been nice though is if they had broken their huddle, used some sort of sense of decency, and through some spacial awareness, we all could have made our way to work without leaving the footpath.

I don't think that being a swing dancer has given me unrealistic expectations for how gentlemen and ladies should behave, I do think though that my morning would have started off a lot better if these guys had just taken a moment to think about common courtesy and social politeness.  I'm not a vindictive person - but I hope one of them sneezed and spilt his burning coffee all over everyone else!!

Rant over.