Princess Patricia

Princess Patricia van Esshe - happy 5th birthday mate! We jumped into the bloggie world around the same time & 1,130 fabulous posts later you're still going stronger than ever (while yours truly can only dream of such posting stamina!). Thank you for the gentle beauty & generosity of spirit you share with us each day here.... & especially through your beautiful art & design. Always posing a question that makes us stop & think & wanting to share our thoughts. You are a unique & original stand-out in a bloggie world cluttered with sameness. I'll splurge at your blog bar, a glass of Krug please - I raise my glass to a legend!

Images: pve

Hello & Goodbye

This post has taken me ages to do, I've had 3 glorious weeks of vacation & I'd almost forgotten how to collect my thoughts, dig out some pics & compose something! Anyhoo dear Hedgies WELCOME BACK!! I've had the best time 'cos I've nested. I really needed to veg out & relax at home with nothing particular on the Agenda, & its done me a power of good.

I managed to do Chrissie with a last minute sprint & it was lovely. MOTH refused to remove his hat & apron for the pressie opening ceremony. And Son #5's size 16 feet in all their glory sans shoes appeared out of nowhere. Each year I ask the kids to observe a little decorum & wear shoes to Christmas lunch & each year they ignore me.

Puppy Lulu experienced her first Christmas & loved it!

It has been birthday month, with 2 close girlfriends celebrating their special days, my beautiful Aunt clicking over 88, Son #2 turning 32, Son #4 marking his big 30 & moi having to write 56 in the sand as of last Monday. So lots of fizz wizz has been enjoyed, but it was the brandy bottle I needed to turn to after my visit to the Orthopaedic Surgeon on my birthday.

After chucking my scans up on the viewing box he informed me that I need a knee replacement. No cartilage, bone on bone, a meniscal tear & ACL damage were his observations. Unbelievable really, as while it's been annoying the 'you-know-whatsies' out of me, I'm yet to take any analgesia. To say I was dumb-founded would not be gilding the lily. Anyhoo, cutting to the chase at 56 he needs to buy me some time before heading down Replacement Highway. I'm going to have an Arthroscopy next month & he's going to try & do some urgent remedial work. Oh joy, there goes my Footy season.

The leaning tower of books on the bedside table has been replenished BIG TIME, & I get little thrills of excitement each time I see them......especially the names Giannetti & McCulloch, hugs & kisses to you both.

However I've saved the best book 'til last. I'm absolutely thrilled to tell you that I'm going to be a Glamorous Grandmother or Glammie for short! Son #4 & his delightful girl Miss K. will be welcoming their little cherub mid-year, so I'm in Glammie overdrive. On hearing the news, MOTH took immediate steps & blocked the Baby Burberry Online Store from our PC. But I have ways & means!!

I'm off to Sydney on Sunday for the week as it's the Company's 2012 Kick-Off Meeting. A huge week with a full-on Agenda, so deep breaths Miss Millie & I'll be back next weekend. I'll tweet while I'm away, although I'll have to keep things tidy to protect the guilty. It's the weekend, so go enjoy!

Images: Notonthehighstreet & Welcome

Happy Birthday MOTH!

I'd thought I'd spoil MOTH on his 63rd birthday today & give him a treat. Here are the 2 most important things in his life............food & his gorgeous girl Justine.

I've been working in Darwin all week & have only just got home. Puppy Lulu & MOTH seemed to have survived OK on the puppy casserole I left them, although I had to cover Lulu's ears when MOTH made a comment about just how delicious the puppies were!! We're out for dinner tonight with the kids to celebrate another year in the life of MOTH. Jussie if you catch this post, maybe you could surprise your biggest fan with a comment, you would make an old man VERY happy!

Images: Justine Schofield

Busy Signal

Yes that means you dear Hedgies! Excuse me while I run around in circles getting nowhere fast, but life's like that at the moment. Tomorrow we are heading off to Melbourne early as it's MOTH's younger brother's 60th birthday party there on Saturday. And 'cos MOTH is too tight to fly & hire a car for the occasion yes you guessed it, we have to drive 7.5 hours in the Millie-mobile to get there. A mad dash around on Sunday to catch up with the 3 Melbourne sons & elderly Aunts & then back in the car early Monday for the 7.5 hour drive home. It's Son #5's 28th birthday & I promised to be home in Adelaide in time for his birthday dinner that night. Then a massive week at work follows & Thursday night I can collapse in a heap!!

Wish me luck in the car with MOTH. Last time Mr. Grumpy & I travelled down the highway together, it was no speakies from the Stirling roundabout (where a huge brawl occurred about him not giving way to a poor elderly local who got the fright of his life as MOTH bored through!) to Ballarat (approx. 500kms). The silence was only broken when MOTH got hungry & needed to ask me for 5 bucks for a burger & fries at HJ's. See you all next week, with or without MOTH!

Happy Birthday Jac!

Miss Jacqueline from Home is celebrating a VERY significant birthday today. Many of us have experienced the joy of having Jac as a friend along our blogging journey & for me, her comments enrich my life more than she will ever know. I loved Jac from her very first visit here at The Hedge....her quirky, funny, irreverent, joyous take on life is unique & long may it be. Jac just gets it, gets me & most importantly gets MOTH! Of course there is the unspoken understanding that she's the Pommie gentry & I'm the transported Aussie convict, & so she will always be the superior one in our bloggie friendship, but I can live with that.

So dear Jac, I wish I was there in the Motherland to celebrate this milestone with you, but we will toast your venerable age with a bubbly tonight. Party hard girl & much love to you from your No.1 fan in the Colonies.

29 Not Out

Happy 29th Birthday today to Son #4. A beautiful boy, at 9lb. 14.5ozs. he was the smallest of my babies, with a mass of black hair, the brownest of eyes & the cheekiest of faces. Always happy & smiling & according to all his brothers, always the centre of attention!

He's the upholder of all our family traditions, the most loyal of brother's, the life & soul of every party & the greatest practical joker on earth (think Russian Bride here!)

Son # 4 has lived away from home for nearly 10 years now & I've never ever had a single morsel of food prepared or cooked by him. With the gift this Christmas of a set of cookware from his baby brother, I was hoping that this would mean I may get to savour a 3 course meal from his kitchen before I shuffle off to the Nursing Home. However, a little bird told me that they had cause to open the oven at his house recently & found it full of dirty dishes, so I reckon I've got zero & no chance. Have a really happy day Sweetie & we'll see you tonight at our old family favourite, the Imperial Court, where once again you've cleverly handballed the cooking to someone else!

Rockin' Down The Highway

MOTH & I are off to Melbourne today for an extended weekend. Rather than fly, he wants to do the 7 hour drive there & back, as apparently we need to have urgent & uninterrupted discussions about the state of our renovations & our big holiday. He says he's working on the Agenda & I have to stick to it - oh joy.

Tomorrow is his 62nd birthday, so we are meeting up with the 3 Melbourne sons & gorgeous family & friends for a party night out on the town. I'm champing at the bit for some mother & sons time, so bring it on.

However, the main reason for our trip is to help celebrate a very close friend's 60th birthday (at 54 I'm the baby of our group!) & retirement from a stellar nursing career. Her dear husband is holding a black tie dinner for her at that last bastion & headquarters of conservative establishment, The Melbourne Club in Collins Street. It's the city's oldest gentleman's club, starting it's life in the heady days of 1858. MOTH says they're very brave inviting me & he's given me strict instructions that I must leave my 'Pinko, Lefto,' leanings (his words, not mine!!) firmly tucked in my handbag for the evening - duly noted dear MOTH. However, it will be lovely to glam up for the occasion & see MOTH out of his grotty work shorts & steel-caps & into a dinner suit.

I hope The Melbourne Club are polishing up their revolving disco mirror-ball as I write this, as there's a whole group of us going who along with the birthday girl, used to be the Dancing Queens of certain Melbourne nightspots a life-time ago! Those long shifts working together in ICU at St. Vinnie's Public made us crazy for a wild night or 3 out on the town. I'm sure the Club's flashing neon dance floor will be rocking on Saturday night with a reunion of said Dancing Queens.

Then Sunday brings Father's Day & Son #1's 33rd birthday, so my sweet SIL has organized a dinner at her place so the boys & their father can do their thing as a very noisy group without exposing innocent restaurant patrons to their 'activities'. Those of you long-suffering Hedgies will know exactly what will occur - so I won't go into the indelicate details. Steel yourself Millie, steel yourself!

So off we go for a grand weekend - see you next week!

Images: Shoestring Magazine & SMH

Adieu For Now

Just like my beloved Larry, Curly & Moe, I'm a bit all over the place at the moment, so will say my goodbyes until the end of next week. I'm off to Melbourne on Sunday morning for our annual Sales & Kick-Off Meeting & as usual, have left the preparation of all my financial & scientific presentations to the very last minute. So I'm in deep do-do big time. It looks like another huge Meeting, although I always want these things to be over with before they've begun. But I'm looking forward to seeing all my lovely interstate work colleagues for a really good late-night goss & whinge session in the Hotel bar!

We also have Son #5's birthday to celebrate on Saturday. Our baby will be 27 & if you missed his birthday pics from last year, do take a look here, they're ever so cute. I'm hoping to see the Melbourne sons for a quick Mother/Sons bonding session prior to the work meetings commencing on Sunday night. I hope if they are reading this post, they have remembered & are rescheduling their hectic social diaries. I am preparing an Agenda boys, so be prepared to answer your Mother's probing questions in a full & frank manner! MOTH's counting the seconds until I go, he's been surreptitiously digging for the date for months. When I finally confirmed them, he really struggled to hide his excitement, the high leap in the air & loud whoop of joy were a slight giveaway! See you all when I return, I promise to write a suitably 'interesting' report.

Image: All Posters

Happy Birthday Ms. Renee Finberg!

LOVE FROM MILLIE & MOTH

Celebration Time!

Dear Beautiful Boy

You won't remember this but it was 30 years ago today. Your entry into this world was long & arduous, nothing like I was hoping it to be. You were very, very big & I was only little, so we struggled for 15 long hours, you & I. As I caught a glimpse of another night sky appearing through the top of the high window in the Birthing Suite you were finally delivered. I was too exhausted to pay you much mind, so you were whisked off to the Nursery to be bathed & held by other hands. Later that night you were brought to my room to be fed & suddenly we were alone for the first time. You weren't crying, just calmly looking around with the bluest of blue eyes I'd ever seen. I gently unwrapped your blanket to see more of you & you were perfect in every way. It was so quiet & peaceful & still after the turmoil of the day. Our eyes met & from that very moment you were & always will be, my beautiful boy.

Love your Mum xx

Son #3 in Melbourne turns 30 today. I so can't believe my children are now reaching this age! MOTH & I are flying over this morning to take him out for dinner tonight to celebrate his special day. There's a birthday party for him on Saturday night at a venue in Melbourne where he DJ's on the weekends. MOTH & I said we'd make an appearance with our ear-plugs firmly in situ for a little while, but I reckon we'll last about an hour tops before bailing out. We've decided to stay on for a week, as we're long overdue for a catch up with the other Melbourne sons #1 & 2 & many other family & friends. We've managed to wangle dinner invitations for all the other nights, so it looks like we'll be very busy & well-fed! I'll be back at the end of next week, so take care & be good!

It Was The Best Of Times!

How lovely it is to be back! Thank you, thank you to everyone who left beautiful Christmas & New Year wishes, we loved reading each & every one. There was a whole lot of love & plenty of joy here at The Hedge this Festive Season, although it was compressed into 3 OTT days. The interstate sons + one partner arrived just before lunch, with the local boys + one partner not far behind them. The noise levels then reached those similar to an A380 on take-off, but it was sweet music to my ears!

MOTH wore the Merry Christmas apron in a futile attempt to convince those present he actually cooked lunch.

Puppie Tazzie, experiencing her first Christmas spent the entire morning wrestling presents from everyone here .....

......and here.

The result of the pressie opening frenzy.


My beautiful girls, MOTH's famous Christmas Lilies made their spectacular appearance right on time this year.

So went straight onto the Christmas lunch table in all their prettiness.

Certain family members were absent in this pic, out having a quick gasper before tucking into the food marathon!

My 'Don't be sillie Millie, those won't ever grow' Sweet Peas continued to bloom in profusion to prove MOTH wrong in truckloads!

And looked gorgeous in the Guest Room.

This year I planted new yellow Asiatics one freezing cold Sunday arvo in the dead of Winter, & much to my absolute delight, they rewarded me right on my birthday, saving MOTH a whole lot of cash at the Florist! Here.....

......and here this morning.

I fell totally in love with Lori's Panettone French Toast with crispy bacon, lashings of mascarpone & a snow flurry of powdered sugar & enjoyed it 5 mornings in a row between Christmas & New Year! I don't think I've ever fallen off the diet wagon with such a resounding thud!

These beautiful books were kindly delivered by Santa & then his lovely birthday fairy on Saturday & are sitting on my bedside table. So for the next few weeks I'll be living temporarily in Provence with Vicki, preparing delicious picnic nosh with Sophie & absorbing the late Ted's fascinating insight into his life.

I still have a week's vacation left, so posting may be a little erratic. Posting or the beach, posting or the beach - DECISIONS, DECISIONS!

Thanks from MOTH!

My Dear Public

What a lovely surprise from ALL of you out there in the parallel universe of Blogland! All your birthday wishes added up to about 11.5 years off my biological age & at 61 the time machine needs to be cranked up in reverse BIG TIME. Your lovely comments concluded what was a work day concentrated into 6 hours, whereafter a birthday ale or 2, followed by a Millie-produced array of my favourite bivalves & crustaceans, all washed down with a Adelaide Hills Savvy Blanc. And that was just the entree portion.......I jest!

Millie has conveyed your misguided requests for an encore MOTH Guest Blogger spot. However I don't yet have permission from the Powers That Be (PTB) & a subject. I had thought of a comprehensive tour of the World's Most Absorbing Breweries but it has been suggested that this may not be of interest to The Hedge's usual devoted Readers. 'Why don't you write a synopsis of the World's Greatest Interior Designers?' came the reply from You-Know-Who. So perhaps a combination of the above 2 subjects might be a good choice. All suggestions will be considered.

Cheers & thank you from MOTH.

Image: Fawn and Forest

A Man of Simple Tastes

'Don't go to any trouble Mills, but as you asked what I'd like for my special dinner I wouldn't mind one of these....

and then a couple of dozen of these.....

a glass or 3 of this......

and if you really want to spoil me one of these.....

and of course, this to finish the meal off perfectly.'

HAPPY 61st BIRTHDAY EMPEROR MOTH!

I didn't know you when this pic was taken (I was still in Kindergarten!) but I reckon you were gorgeous then & you are just as gorgeous now!

Image 1: Not On The High Street Image 2: Unicorn Brewery Image 3: eFish Image 4: Pikes Image 5: Ferguson's Image 6: BBC Images 7 & 8: Millie