Hello dear bloggy friends!
You know this already. But I still have to say…
I have the best blogging friends in the world. 
The Bluestocking household were invited to spend Christmas at the farm of a certain blogging friend whom I will call Ms H. Ms H invited us to stay a few days so we could be woken up each night by dogs and roosters and frogs, oops, no.. um.. It was so we could be waterbombed and shot at by small boys with nerf guns, (It’s awful when posts will write themselves!) One more try… She invited us to stay so we could grow corpulent and happy eating delectable baked chocolate cheesecake and roast dinners and homemade caramel slice… (That is the honest to God truth.)
While I’m tempted to tell you a bunch of funny stories about things that went on during our stay, and the many fun activities Ms H involved us in, I really want to share something that I thought was as sweet as pie.
Christmas in Australia is hot. (That’s not the sweet part!). Children were in the pool, or stalking us with water-bombs, grown-ups were sitting in the shade in that lazy, Christmas-arvo kind of mood. A fellow guest brought out a red, wrap around skirt her husband had made for her, with the view to embroidering flowers around the hem. And here’s the sweet thing: she invited everyone to join her. Can you imagine?! It was so lovely of her to share her new skirt! A bunch of little girls felt ten feet tall being able to help in such an endeavour, and of course conversation flowed more easily because we were working on a project together.
The experience was so inclusive. Coupled with Ms H’s ability to entertain eight overnight house guests without developing a nervous twitch, it has caused me to re-think how I try to make people feel special. When I entertain, I plan and plan and stress and stress about it being perfect. Why? Because I want it to be special. But this visit has shown me that being relaxed, and allowing people to be a part of your life is what actually makes an experience special. Happy realisation! 
Thank you, Ms H and family for opening your hearts and home to a bunch of city folk! ♥
And now, friends, I offer you Lies People Tell about Chickens and the Joy of Good Friends…. The Sequel! Yes. Because there is a lot I have to tell you about chickens (and good friends), that the unwary ought to know. For example: have I told you I have geese? I do. Adorable things, geese. Lookie…
A dear friend gave these to me, and when they are good, they are very, very good, and when they are bad.. well, they are certainly naughty. Just like puppies, they get bored if you don’t play with them. Then they find something to play with that you’d rather they didn’t. But as my geese are well loved and frequently cuddled, I had opportunity to notice giant, prehistoric looking insects crawling on them. Really, really big insects. Horrid looking things.
I looked on-line. I rang the vet. I determined to rid my geese of what turned out to be (shhhh…. they are still embarrassed about it.. ) lice. Uh huh. My geese had nits.
I turned to my trusty, farm wise friend, Ms H. She informed me that a dunking of the geese AND the chickens was necessary, told me what to buy, where to buy it, and blithely instructed me to fill something with water and pop the birds in.
Well. This is where I tell you the truth about friends, AND birds who need to be dunked. Friends who give you chickens, and say that those chickens need to be dunked, and imply that the process is not going to endanger your very life or at least your sanity, are Not Quite Being Truthful.
After repeating this process on three geese and four chickens, I spent days wafting the aroma of freshly washed puppy wherever I went. Fleas, lice, and probably man-eating crocodiles if I encounter them, will melt before me in a three mile radius for weeks to come, I’m sure, so saturated was I in the “kill any baddies” wash. The moral of this story is that friends who lead you to believe that your birds getting lice is no big deal, are telling whoppers, and that should you ever find yourself in that lamentable circumstance, wear a raincoat! (and goggles, and gumboots, and… )
And that’s it folks. I hope you are all enjoying time with family and friends over the holidays. Stay safe!
Dec 29, 2012 @ 16:48:54
Well, this is precisely the reason that I do not own any animals, other than our beloved Greystash. Let’s face it, animals of any kind, size or shape are plain ole’ hard work. Not at all for the faint of heart, which you are obviously not but I am. (Smile)
Glad to see you had a wonderful time with your friend… it looks like such fun! I say that because any hard work or dirt under my nails is only fun if I can return home again.
Love to you and yours,
Dec 29, 2012 @ 22:52:05
Hello to you too Susan. It’s a long while since I have seen you round
Dec 30, 2012 @ 09:24:03
Our Susan, you are quite right about the work part. I used to think I wanted to be a farmer. (no, really, I did!) But I don’t have that kind of constancy.. a little rain, or excessive heat, or I’m in the middle of a good book…. and my inclination to muck out pens and lug feed around vanishes faster than an ice-block in Darwin.
So, visiting a farm is right up my alley.
My geese, although they do entail a little more effort than a cat, have never sharpened their claws on my lounge, or made me go into sneezing fits. So I forgive them the daily chores they require of me. 
Hope you are enjoying the hols, and that your TWO special girls are coping with the heat! xx
Dec 29, 2012 @ 22:51:14
Nice to see you post, Mrs BB. Love all the pics especially the beautifully dressed goose! and the sewing project. All the best for a wonderful year in 2013.
Dec 30, 2012 @ 09:28:44
Hello Ruby.. you birthday girl!!
Thanks for popping in. I am the slackest of bloggers this year – we’ve had something on every day.. so many great adventures, and so little time to tell of them!
I take it as a sign of the good very nature of my geese that they are often in “bonnets and shawls”, one of the hazards of belonging to a family with little girls!
Hope your new year is full of adventures of the good kind! xx
Dec 29, 2012 @ 23:01:03
Dear Mrs BB,
I can now exhale! Honestly fellow followers of Mrs BB, she is being truly gracious in what she has left out in this post!
Our household thoroughly enjoyed your stay and hope that your geese weren’t too badly traumatised by not getting hugged and patted every day, whilst you were away.
The lice thing…well, I must admit, I took rather too much pleasure in the idea of HOMESCHOOLED geese, who don’t socialise with “other” geese, getting LICE!!!!!!!
Goodbye for now,
The Youngest in the Family and Therefor the Most Beloved
Heidi
Dec 30, 2012 @ 09:44:02
Ah, Heidi… the stories I was tempted to tell. And then there are the ones I was tempted to make up!
As for my naughty geese.. despite having no less than TWO professors of ornithology looking after them, (what goose owner could do more for their beloved pets?!) they have been paying me back in the most saucy manner ever since I’ve come home. They have so painstakingly unwound the bird netting wrapped around my passionfruit vine just so they can pull the leaves off and leave them in a pile on the ground. Sheer naughtiness, that, as they don’t even like to eat them. They have also found a way into my veg garden, and my six varieties of lettuce are decimated. Decimated!! That was not revenge so much as it was gluttony. They are partial to lettuce.
And I’ve had a talk to them about the lice. I’m quite sure that if we only attend harder to our studies, eat more barley green, bake our own bread, dress them dowdier and start home-churching, there will be less chance of contamination with the outside world…
Thanks again, you lovely girl, we had a wonderful time with your people.
xx
(ahem.)
Middle Children of the World… UNITE!!