The Udder Life: If it doesn't rain.....

After months of not going anywhere, not doing anything out of the ordinary, seeing the same old faces day in day out, doing the same old thing.....all of a sudden our social calendar is simply bursting! And quite frankly, I am overjoyed by it!

It started with my trip to Sydney to attend the scrapbooking retreat. To paraphrase (and apologies to) Paul Keating, this weekend away was the break I needed to have. I think the whole migraine episode and the subsequent long recovery after it was due in part to simply being overstretched. I was trying to do too much in the small amount of time allocated to me in a day. Starting my days at 4.15am to feed demanding calves and not finishing my days until around midnight was truly attempting to burn the candle at both ends. The weekend was fantastic and I really enjoyed catching up with the ladies that I had befriended last year and meeting new ones this time round. And I also managed to do more work this time too! This layout in particular I quiet like. Having the opportunity to see firsthand other people's work helped me identify and categorise my own work. I would have to say that I definately fit into the "clean and simple" box. My work tends to focus on the photo rather the embellishments and whilst this example doesn't have much journalling, as a rule, I do tend to favour a bit of text on the page. Mind you, this beautiful photo of me at 38+ weeks pregnant with Bridie taken by the ever talented Wal Slow really helps to create a lovely layout.

The following Friday night Mark and I went to Melbourne to watch Melbourne Storm thump Sydney Roosters at Olympic Park. Mark was given 2 tickets to the match which included entry into the Robbie Kearn's Jim Beam Lounge (thankyou Lachie & Bec). Free food and drinks and a fantastic view of the game. Of course, with all that free grog, we simply had to make a night of it and we stayed in Melbourne. Mark was playing baseball the following day, so we hightailed it back to Colac so he could play, but I also had to take Tom to a little friend's 3rd birthday party. The rushing about didn't stop there either as we had a surprise 50th the attend to that night.

This weekend we are off to one of those indoor kids adventure playgrounds with some of the other baseball families, and then the following weekend we are headed back to Melbourne to watch Emma do her deb. Three weeks after that we are back down to Melbourne again to celebrate Bernadette's 50th birthday (which also happens to be medieval themed...sooooo looking forward to that!!). I will scarcely have a moment to draw breath! Before I know it, we'll be celebrating Bridie's first birthday!!

It must also be the season for babies. A friend of mine had a baby boy earlier in the week, another had her 4th baby - her 4th girl! - yesterday and my good friend Lou has just informed me that she is expected #3 early next year!

And on the subject of new life, we have committed to purchasing a puppy. In a first for both Mark and myself, we will be actually spending money on acquiring a pet. In the past, we have both relied on the fact that there are a plethora of animals out there that need a good home and the vast majority of them are being given away. But, as much as it goes against my grain to purchase a dog, I have to admit that it is all quite exciting. Our vet, Mike, has a family tradition of owning Australian terriers. They only have one at a time, and as each one is replaced, the successor is given the same name as those that have come before it. "Tiny". I don't know which version they are up to (maybe v.5??). But we have had the good fortune to see this particular breed in a variety of circumstances and they really are a good temperament dog with kids, whilst at the same time, having a bit of guts about them. I am not a small dog person, but I think that this dog is going to fit very well into life here at Craiglands.

The pups (2 bitches; 2 dogs) were born while I was away in Sydney, and on our way to the rugby, Mark and I called in to see them and possibly decide on which one we would have. Apparently, the pure red ones are rarer, but there was only one black and red one in the litter and I thought that this one was a bit "spesh" so we have decided on taking that one. It is also a dog, which is good. Because they are from a stud and are pure bred, they all get papers. We get to provide a couple of the names for it's papers. Oh Lord...I have a hard enough time trying to name some of the cows, let alone now having to do it for a damn dog! 'Werireds' is the name of the dog stud, and we figure that it should have 'Craiglands' in there somewhere as well. Now we just have to decide on a third name for the papers. Maybe something to do with the Olympics????????