Cats are lying next to each other on the couch! Nemesis has become Ootchy Mootchy’s friend and now they’re lying in a little cuddle of kittyness on the couch beside me and it’s adorable. I’m ridiculously happy- this is what I wanted when I got the second cat, and two and a bit months after we brought home our moustached interloper we finally have cat acceptance. Besides, if they’ll curl up together maybe Nemesis will stop trying to sit on my computer keyboard, which will make typing much easier.

We let Nemesis out into the front yard today, for the first time. He’s gone out to the backyard in the last week, but Pedro keeps chasing him back up on to the deck, so all he really does out there is hide under the barbecue. Out the front he was able to prowl around in the sunshine and chase butterflies and he had a wonderful time.

I was out in the front yard doing the garden out there for a couple of hours this morning. The little boys and I went to Bunnings straight from school drop off and bought more mulch and a new plant for the garden. Jericho also chose two new plants to go in his pots, as his seaside daisies had certainly seen better days and it was time to replace them. At home we planted out his pots, then raked all the old mulch up in one section of the garden, put in the new plant, then laid down fresh newspaper and re-mulched. I did the same in three other spots to put in three other plants that we’ve had growing in pots. I hope they all take and grow, I’m a bit tired of our garden looking bare. I shall have to try and remember to water in plant food more regularly, that will help.

           We also bought a gnome. Jericho is charmed by him. I’m less certain, but admittedly at the moment I’m doing what I can to make my miserable child happy and if buying a gnome for the garden does the trick, well who am I to argue? Jericho carried it through Bunnings, and then put it in Nicholai’s booster seat with the belt on to take it home. Once we got home he tried it out in several different places in the garden, and told me he would keep the plants company

I can’t believe I’m so into the whole gardening thing. I don’t know, it’s kind of hot and itchy and hard work at the time, but it’s physically satisfying and I like to look at the end result. It’s also nice to be outside with the boys, they have a good time running around and helping and playing with sticks. Although Jericho’s allergies did play up today and when we came in his back was covered with welts and he was all itchy, so I had to wipe him down with cold facecloths and then give him some Claratyne which seemed to do the trick.

I had to listen to a crazy diatribe from Nicholai all the way home from school today, about bubble gum. And how apparently it’s his dearest wish to have some and I never let him and Grandma said he could have it when he was eight but he’s only had it once and he knows he can’t have it because then everyone would want some and so now he has to wait until Soren’s eight and then Nicholai will be nearly fifteen and that’s just not fair and it’s awful being the oldest and why won’t I go and buy him chewing gum and and and….it went on and on until he was actually crying and shouting about it, and I have no idea how this even started! Sometimes I really don’t understand that child.