Time to Update

It's time to do an update..

• Kel is now studying Maths and Physics in his spare time. For once he is doing something for himself just for fun and not for work. I couldn't think of anything less fun, but he is loving it. He just celebrated his 37th birthday.


• Speaking of birthdays, it is birthday season for us: Happy birthday Kel, Neville, Jen, Sus, Alex, Annette, Monnie, Mum, Nathan, Martin, Sam and Bella. Sorry if I forgot anyone.


• In the last 43 days (since start of year) we have had 1509.8ml of rain. Amazing! My backyard still has not recovered and as I write this it is pouring rain outside again. My poor chooks are looking very sad and Duffy our springer is also over it.


• My brother Joe has been working extremely hard with the volunteer SES in country Victoria where the recent bushfires have devasted many local towns and taken too many lives. He is from Healesville, which up until even yesterday was still on alert, two weeks after the inferno began. Several children from his bus run have died and many homes on his usual route have gone.


• Birdwatching has been minimal due to the rain and the thick mud in my backyard. But I was excited yesterday when I found my Golden Penda blooming for the first time. When I went out later it was feeding a little honeyeater (not sure which - probably little brown). Joy, o joy.


• Kids are fine, settled in well to school and kindy this year.


• Vege patch is non-existent, also because of the rain. Hopefully Kel will get things back in soon.


• Had a great dinner party last weekend at Leoni and Andrew's place for Valentine's Day. Jen and Al were there too. Lots of laughs and plenty of 'innuendo'.

Not a very exciting post, but it is, what it is. Have a great day.

Thoughts and Prayers

My thoughts and prayers are with the families in Victoria this week as they face the reality of their devastation. I pray for those who have died and those who are left to make sense of the tragedy of the bushfires. I pray for my brother Joe whose house is still under threat and who has witnessed first hand the enormity of this horrendous situation.

Another milestone

Sam and Patrick are back at school. Sam started high school this year. It is hard to believe. I am living with extremes at the moment.

Please Vote

Hey, please click on this site and vote for Katrina Frew, my son's AWESOME teacher:

http://my.duomagazine.com.au/12faces/

I want the 'Winternets'

..This was my two year old's tantrum cry when she realised recently she couldn't get the internet on her Barbie laptop.

..And my twelve year old asked me the other day - "Is there any way I can connect to the internet faster than just clicking on the icon?"

I tell you in my day....

There's a Cyclone brewing off the coast and I woke up early this morning to listen to the advice on the radio. The rain was falling heavy and the wind was very gusty. I made myself a cuppa and couldn't help think of my Dad. He loved plotting the storms on the Cyclone map and preparing the yard for a possible 'blow'. We always had spare batteries for the torch, plenty of tinned irish stew and Dad would fill bottles of water and pack candles. We hardly ever had to use them, but that never detered him.

I loved to sit with him, watch the rain and wind and listen to his old Bluegrass records.

Miss you Dad.

Saturday

My Saturdays are usually pretty awful. I usually have to do the shopping, get all the washing done that I didn't get time to do during the week, wake up very early with a toddler and spend the rest of the day working on my laptop. But today I decided to do some things for myself and the day turned out swimmingly.

I decided to have my first cuppa of the day at my sister Annette's house and had the joy of seeing my other sister Monica there too. Bella got to play with Georgia and Syd and I got to have adult company at 8 o'clock in the morning.

Some major stress arose from work and I chose NOT to let it ruin my day. Instead I got out my sewing machine and sewed Paige and my Goddaughter Aria a library bag. They both start Prep on Tuesday.

I then sat with Bella and we played lego on the floor (and did not clean the house).

I then sat with my gorgeous two boys and watched Lord of the Rings (III).

I then let Kelv make me lasagne for tea - and I probably won't clean the kitchen either.

Now that sounds like my kind of Saturday.

Golden Opportunity

Something you may not know about me is that I love birds. I am a 'bird watcher' and can distinguish the sound of quite a few birds. I'm not as good as my brother Joe or sister Annette, but I know enough birds to be able to get a thrill when I go for a walk outdoors. Graham Pizzey & Frank Knight's Field Guide to the Birds of Australia is one of my favourite books and it is never very far away from me.

Today I had the joy of watching a mother Yellow Honeyeater (Lichenostomus flavus) feed her baby after the heavy rain. They darted in and around the front and backyard early this morning and now this afternoon. I don't have a flash camera, but my little digital took these shots and while I haven't recorded their beautiful sound, you can get a glimpse of their beauty.

Did I happen to mention that I love birds?

A Sad Day

It is raining today and I'm sad about losing another teacher friend. About three years ago my good friend Graham died suddenly of a heart attack. He was barely 50. A year ago this week a great crafting and teaching friend of mine Dol, passed away suddenly from a blood clot. She was in her mid-forties. Today I went to a memorial service for a Principal friend Daniel who died suddenly after a fall on New Year's day. He was also only in his mid-forties.

Each of these people were outstanding teachers and people of greatness. Each of them taught me many things, but the biggest lesson I have learnt, is to treasure every moment alive that you have.

Rest in peace Graham, Dol and Daniel.

Duffy

Thought I'd introduce you to my dog - this is Duffy. His correct name is MacDuff Serandite of Sunford Indisposed. He is nearly 10 and is slowly going blind and deaf - he's always been a little 'dumb', it's not his fault, he's an English Springer Spaniel. He has been the most loyal, loving and gentle dog. Patrick and Bella have known him their whole life. I think that's pretty special. Stay tuned to learn about Lily-Cat..

Mornings..Bella style

I love these shots of Bella. This is how she looks every morning. Adjusting to the day, clutching her two 'lambies' for dear life.

Morning Bella-Roo.

Hold my Hand

This story has a happy ending. Thankfully. Kel and I just returned from the local shops where we lost Patrick - again. This is totally distressing to parents and even though it has happened to me many times with my second born child, it never stops making me sick in the stomach. How can I lose a child of 9 years, so many times? I do not know. Patrick just seems to wander. He always has. He is not being naughty; he does not run away; and he doesn't wander off with people (God forbid). He just seems to go into his own world and I turn around and he is completely gone. Today was particularly distressing. We were standing outside a video shop looking at half-price DVDs. The rest of the shopping centre (except for the supermarket) was closed, being New Year's Day. We had all walked together to the video store, Kel and Bella went in but Pat and I stopped outside to look at the specials. I then said to him, "C'mon let's go inside". I walked in, conscious that Bella would already be tearing the inside of the store apart. I just assumed that Patrick followed me in. Five minutes later after we were browsing through the store, Kel asked where Patrick was. I said, he was in the store with us (I glanced outside and saw that he wasn't there and wrongfully assumed he had come inside). A couple of minutes later, Kel and I started worrying and began searching the store. He was nowhere to be found. We ran outside, and he was gone. We split up and the horror of everything that could possibly have happened to him filled our minds. Kel checked the car, I checked behind the shopping centre - terrified of what I might find - or not find. Kel ran inside to check the toilets and nothing. This truly does my head in. Eventually we found a very stressed and frightened young boy wandering in the centre. He assumed when I said "let's go inside", that I was talking about the shopping centre, when I meant inside the video store. Simple mistake, but enough to cause panic.

Normally when Patrick wanders, he does not even know he is lost, which makes him even more vulnerable - because he is not looking for us! Once my sister was looking after Patrick when he was 2 years old and he went missing at the busiest beach in our district. On one side was the ocean, on the other a busy road, playgrounds and probably a paedophile's paradise. He was gone for over 20 minutes and when I heard about it, I was physically sick. It was not my sister's fault, he just wandered off. Another time I was at my local Target store. It was peak shopping hours (on a Saturday morning) and I had been queuing up at the checkouts for about 15 minutes. Bella was just a newborn and was ready for a feed. There were people ahead and behind me. Patrick needed to go to the toilets desperately, so I asked Sam (who was 10) to take him. I gave him the following strict instructions: Hold Patrick's hand; Use the Parents' Room; tell him to wait for you until you are both finished and then come straight back. Patrick was 7. Needless to say, Patrick did not wait and then instead of waiting for Sam, assumed he had gone off without him. So Patrick just disappeared and probably intended to come back to the checkout, but got distracted and ended up at the other end of the shops. I was hysterical. About 15 minutes had passed. Sam returned, distressed. Bella was starving by this time and screaming at the top of her lungs. Terrified that I would never see him again and at the same time, convinced I was going to kill him when I found him. After his description was read over the PA, he finally turned up. I sobbed and sobbed.

I keep telling myself he will grow out of this, but when?

The irony of this situation today, is that on the way to the shops this morning I asked Patrick to hold my hand. He said he was too old to my hand anymore. Ugh.

Torture.