Fare thee well

There is an air of melancholy in our household today.

If you are local to Melbourne you will know that a large new road, Eastlink, is due to open in the wee small hours of Sunday morning. So why are we so sad? Is it the politics of opening a tolled road? Maybe the environmental impact of the new motorway?

No ... its the diggers.

For two years now Argy and then Bargy have enjoyed the passing parade of excavators, trucks, rollers, cement mixers and other construction equipment. The hint of heavy machinery, orange flashing lights and people in hard hats has whipped the boys into breathless frenzy.

And its been educational. They have learnt their colours using a range of diggers. Look over there boys .... its the rare Lavender Digger. Ooooh, there's one in Burnt Orange. Argy has learnt his numbers using roadwork speed signs. Hey mum, slow down it says 60 ... no 40. And I have learnt the names of weird, dirty big machinery like "concrete pumpers" and "asphalters".

So you see, the opening of Eastlink will leave a void in our lives.

To lessen the blow, I am making the boys a special new sack to keep their toy diggers and trucks in. I'm going to applique a digger on the front. (The lady in the quilting shop looked confused when I explained the pictured pretty fat quarters were destined to become an excavator.)

But when the novelty of that toy sack wears off, I can only hope that Eastlink will need some early repairs involving heavy machinery.