In a flash

In a flash the weekend was gone. It began very early as Toby had to be on the other side of town by twenty past eight for his first cricket game. Oh, the excitement! Here he is in his whites before the game.

Now, when you live in a country town and send your children to an independent school, you have to accept that they may not always have even matches. Toby's first ever game was against a team of year three and four boys. His team played really well, Toby ran someone out and managed to hit the ball and score a run so he didn't mind that they didn't win. We don't mind that next week is a bye so we get to sleep in! The photos of the game are on Andrew's camera, sorry.

While they were at cricket I was hard at work in the garden (don't fall off your chairs Mum and Dad). I fed my roses and lemon tree and put down sugar cane mulch. My hay fever went crazy and I managed to get sunburnt in the gap that formed between the top of my pants and my shirt. Don't worry this very attractive spectacle, all covered in sugar cane mulch was confined to the back garden. I won't bore you with a picture.

In the afternoon the kids and I packed watermelon and grapes and went in to church to make invitations. Every year, at least for the last three years, the women of our church have held Cafe by Candlelight where we invite our friends, eat fabulous desserts, hear a talk about the gospel and do something crafty. The first year we did beading, then we made cards, last year was tassels but this year someone totally uncreative made a suggestion and we decided to go for it. I remember Tricia putting up photos of her button flowers and I really wanted to make them. Now I'll get my chance. My friends Rosie and Anna are organising the crafty side of the evening (I am staying where I belong on the food side) and Rosie brought her practice pieces to Bible study to show me. The boot of a car is not really the most attractive place to put them for a photo but that is why I am involved in the cooking rather than the aesthetics.

We made 160 invitations and it took seven of us a few hours to do. They were lovingly designed by another crafty person and in her example there were three buttons sewn on a little piece of paper on one side of the card. We looked at those buttons and the huge pile of beautiful paper that needed to be cut and stuck and ran for the glue guns - we'd still be there if we had sewn them on!

Mim came over for dinner which was lovely as always and she and Andrew worked out what they were going to do for the kids' talk at church on Sunday. Andrew did his first puppet show and it went really well. He isn't quite up to the standard of Waffle or Ollie but it was great.

After church everyone went to the Botanic Gardens for a picnic. The weather was lovely, overcast and cool. A group went over to the little train for a ride, here they are coming back. I was too busy sitting and chatting to go and take a photo of them on the train.

Two Bethany's and a Hannah enjoying the watermelon.

In contrast to my effort in the back garden, the mulching around the roses at the front was done in the rain! No hayfever and no flies. Sadly, as it almost never rains, I can't only do work in the garden when it's wet.