naomi loves: family

family

Home delivery coffee

Dear entrepreneurs and cafe-owners of Melbourne, here is a business idea. Consider it a gift from me to you. Home delivery coffee. Allow me to put my case. Imagine, if you will, the thousands upon thousands of parents, grandparents, friends and nannies in Melbourne right now who have spent all day chasing after babies and…

These two little onesies are all I have left of all the clothes my children wore, up until today. On the weekend we completed an enormous and much-overdue sort-and-clean of our front room. Previously, I’d gone through the children’s old clothes, those that didn’t fit them any more, and sorted out some to give to…

Lately the words haven’t seemed to be coming. And I’m not unhappy, in fact, quite the opposite, but I think I am maybe just replete with my simple family life. I have moments, flashes of something so real and powerful, through the day, and I want to share them with you, but the words don’t…

At around 5.30 on Saturday morning the storms rolled into Melbourne and crashed and flashed and by all tokens made a bit of a fuss. An angry wind bent the new trees in our new garden this way and that and then both ways at once, sending droplets flying sideways as rain the size of…

It was my birthday on the weekend. I was up before everyone else, as I often am. I let the cat out, and surveyed the still-dark garden in my socks. I love our garden in the early morning. Beyond the garden walls are the rustlings of pre-dawn morning; birds, stretching and yawning. But inside my little oasis, all is still and…

Yesterday I sat in the sun in our back garden with the children and our friend Tonia, and we ate watermelon and spat out the pips and sipped prosecco (me and Tonia, not the kids) and talked about life, the way girlfriends do. Tonia said something about someone who had been giving her a hard…

“When I grow up I will be Father Christmas. Ralph can be my elf.” (“Father Christmas” is pronounced “Farmer Kitmass”) * * * * * Scene: the cherubs are yelling at each other. Me: Use your words. Scout, what words do you have? Scout: Umm, PINK! * * * * * “When I grow up I want…

Last night in the middle of cooking dinner I went into the playroom and when Ralph saw me, he held out his arms and said “Mummy pick up? Cuddle?” So I picked him up and he snuggled his head into that little nook between my neck and chin and then he murmured, “Lub loo Mummy.” (Love you Mummy)….

This is not a story I think I’ve told on this blog before but, when I was a teenager, my family moved to a country property in the foothills of the mountains and, while my father built our house, we lived in a caravan. But mostly we lived outside. We even cooked and showered outside…

These photographs are the calm after the storm has passed. The quiet after the chaos. When your child has a birthday, you want to take a moment. To pause, to remember: “this time last year, this time three years ago, this time 18 years ago…” I don’t think the power of that day goes away…

Yesterday I didn’t get dressed and I didn’t leave the house. In fact I barely moved from room to room. Out of the four of us, Mr B was the only one to don “day clothes” as Scout calls them, or to walk out the front door (to get coffees in the morning and later,…

Good morning! This is my new diary. It’s called a “Passion Planner” which is a dubious name for a fabulous concept. It bills itself as “the one place for all your thoughts,” and also “the life coach that fits in your back pack.” The diary is filled with prompts and questions and lists and mind-maps…