domestic goddess... not I.

I don't pretend to enjoy being a housewife. It's one chore after another. And this week, I am going to feel the full brunt of being one since my shift-working husband has taken on a couple of extra day shifts. I KNOW I am lucky to be married to such a lovely Kiwi man who is not afraid of vacuuming, cleaning toilets, cooking, dusting, changing nappies etc etc, in fact, I'd even venture so far as to admit that he is a better 'wife'! I am especially lucky because he works two 11 hour days, followed by two 13 hour nights. followed by 4 days off...so that leaves him, in effect, at home during the day, for 6 days out of 8. Which is, for such a housewife slacker such as myself,fabulous. Also, it does allow me to get in some work hours in front of the computer (in theory) and to get a break from the kids.

We were recently given (actually a present for Ben since it was his birthday) a slow cooker. You toss in some veggies and a chunk of meat on top, leave it on low for the whole day, and hey presto! All done and dusted! Minimal prep time and even less thought! Of course I haven't looked into doing anything fancy in it yet, but have had 2 delicious dinners so far. It also helps we get given 'top ups' for our freezer by Ben's parents, who processed one of their cows that keep the grass short around the property. One hundred percent organic beef! Great! They currently have 3 cows and are debating which one to 'process' next...there's the lovely "angel face" who is getting enormous, the new cow "grassy arse" (Mia named her "grassy" which got spun into "gracias") who had run with the bulls before being bought and gave birth to a calf last year. This calf (Luna Rossa), still suckling, would make very tasty, tender meat... I'm glad it's not me making the decision. Makes me feel quite a bit guilty for being a meat eater in the first place...

Anyhow, as it turns out, Ben didn't work today (had originally planned to) so I've managed to go for a walk, have a swim, do some work and catch up here...but I really, really, really need to pay the house some attention. It really, really, really needs a tidy. Which is fine, I don't mind, since I have achieved some other important things too. Not as much as some people fit into their day, but being a novice at this housekeeping job (and I don't profess to have high ambitions about becoming an expert) I will do it one step at a time and the most important things first!

NZ is being pounded by bad weather - lots and lots of rain and wind expected over the next few days. Doesn't bode well for the pile of washing gathering in the bathroom (and on my bedroom floor). I missed the only sunny day (yesterday) what with getting the kids to school and to playgroup on time (and sticking dinner in the slowcooker)...by the time I was walking back home before midday, I realised the futility of doing a load of washing since the sun was already disappearing behind clouds, so I took Josh for a walk to the park instead and pushed him on the swings. A much better decision! He had fun and fell contentedly asleep on the short walk back home, so I had a peaceful lunch break. But I still didn't do a load of washing. Ah well, I'll see what can be recycled and do a load of undies, socks and thermals to dry in front of the heat pump.