The Udder Life

What's going on?

2012-01-04T11:02:00.000+11:00

I received a Christmas email a couple of weeks ago from a friend that I don't often keep in regular contact (well....it is regular - just once a year!) and he mentioned that I must have been busy of late as our farm blog had not been updated since September.

WHAT?!

And sure enough, visiting this morning, I note that I have not been on for some time. YEs, life has been busy, but not THAT busy.

So, I will get thoughts together and be back with an update of the last quarter of 2011 and make a pledge to be better at updating the blog (and for that matter, our farm website that needs some work) in 2012.

Be back later.....stay tuned.

A new skill

2011-09-20T17:24:00.000+10:00

Our 15 month old daughter has recently taught herself a new life skill......feeding herself. Which is hugely admirable because it means that if the worst ever was to happen and I ended up face down in the shower for any reason, I can assume that the kid won't starve in the time that it takes someone to come and rescue me...or her. At the end of the day, it is every man for himself around here and the older kids wouldn't think to assist the baby to get some food, so it is great that she knows how to do it for herself. However, I have to preface this by telling you that she feeds herself from the scraps out of the bin.

Occasionally, I will be engrossed in something (usually the computer) and I will get a waft of a food source that I remember from the previous night....or even the night before that. On inspection, it will be Bella sitting near me with a 3 day old chop bone in her mouth, or yesterday's sandwiches that were retired from the older kid's lunchboxes.

Maybe it isn't so much of a survival skill in nutrition as it is a recyclable ethos. Maybe?.....probably not. I'm guessing that I'm just not feeding her when she wants it.

I'd best go and see what else she has pulled out of the bin, because she just waddled in here and passed me the strawberry tops that I cut off for Biddy's lunch. No doubt, the she's found the KFC that I threw out this morning.

Time just gets away

2011-09-14T13:53:00.000+10:00

Cripes. It seems that I have badly neglected this blog. I'm sure that I could come up with plenty of excuses, but really...at the end of the day, I have had a million things going on and something just has to give sometimes.

Things have been going along steadily here. I can't believe that we are closing in on the remaining weeks of term 3 already. Pretty soon, Tom will no longer be a little prepie, but will be a big grade 1 kid. Sheesh. Next Thursday night we have the whole school performance and I understand that it is to centre around recycling. The preps are chooks......it will be interesting to see what is in stall for us!

Health-wise, we have suffered a little around here. Mark torn some ligaments in his shoulder and cracked a bone playing baseball. Biddy has had some lingering virus which has seen her have to have 2 blood tests to try and work out what is wrong (still waiting on results), and Tom has battled an ear infection and bronchitis. Bella has been snotty and I wouldn't be surprised if she also had a touch of bronchitis as she sounded exactly like Tom. I have been fine until 2 days ago when I came down with a migraine. Needless to say, we are hanging out for the hot weather to make its appearance and hopefully burn some of these germs off.

Mark's baseball team is in the grand final on the weekend. Both the B and the B reserve Braves teams made it through which is a great effort. The problem though, is that the B grade boys meet with Corio who absolutely THUMPED them 2 weeks ago. Did I say thumped? I should have said DECIMATED them. It was a very poor result on the part of the Colac Braves with the mercy rule being invoked in the 7th innings because of the score. 21:1. A shocker. So from today, I am making it my mission to remind this score to Mark at every chance I get. A sort of intimate heckling as you will. Because if he can't take it from me in the privacy of our own home and convince ME that they are going to win, how the hell is he going to rally the fellas to face up to their biggest opponents?

The shame of it is, I have a class on Saturday, so I can't be there in person to provide some down to earth heckling if needed from the stands. Pity. Of course, they shouldn't need it and hopefully my one on one tirade will do its job over the next couple of days.

BRING IT ON!!!

A tragic event

2011-08-09T09:23:00.001+10:00

A friend of mine lost her husband in a vehicle accident yesterday. They live in FNQ and he works even further up. Details are sketchy, but it seems it was a collision between a truck and a car. As you can imagine, she is devastated. So my message today is.....hold your loved ones close, tell them you love them and spend some time EACH DAY just being with them. Because we never know when we will depart this earth and every day may be our last.

My heartfelt condolences to Helen and the boys.

Wanna see Mark's new girlfriend with her top off?

2011-08-01T23:42:00.000+10:00

This is what has been getting Mark's juices flowing the past few weeks. A Ford Cobra Mustang.

A more dignified shot with her top back on! Note the REAL car in the background...go you good thing, Prado!!!

Mark has wanted a car like this ever since we drove one over in America back in 2004 when we went to World Dairy Expo. I have to admit to pretty much forgetting about the experience once we got back to everyday life, but clearly, Mark had not. Life just about stopped for him once he saw this advertised and in a matter of days, it went from being a picture on a piece of paper, to an actual hunk of metal that has now displaced Alan's ute in the garage!

The kids are forbidden to look at it, much less touch it, and even though MY name is on the purchase agreement, MY name is on the insurance and MY name is on the bank loan that is paying it off, I too am viewed as an intruder into this relationship!

However, as our accountant wisely said, it could have been a mistress, and at the end of the day, a car is cheaper. I'm not sure for who though.........

All I can say is, my time will come and when it does, there will be NO arguments! So there.

Another birthday!

2011-07-04T00:05:00.000+10:00

The birthdays seem to be coming thick and fast around here. This time, it is for Tom. Yesterday, he celebrated his 6th birthday by having a party at the bowling alley and pizza place with a few of his little school friends. I felt really bad about having to make him cull his birthday list, but there was just no way that we could have the entire prep class. We enlisted the help of his teacher to identify the kids that he played with the most and we went from there.

All the kids had a great time and there was not one kid that played up, was naughty, didn't do what they were told. They were all so very good, it was honestly a pleasure to have them for a few hours. Some of the kids were drop offs and pick ups and others had their mums stay for the while time. It was the easiest birthday party I have ever hosted! [note to self....hold all birthday parties out of the house!!]

Tom's birthday is not until Wednesday, so I will hold off on all the mushy stuff until then (!), but here are some pics of the party that you might like to have a look at.

This was the FIRST year that Tom did not want a dinosaur cake. OMG!! I had no idea what else. Fortunately he wanted a dragon birthday, so that is not so far removed from dinosaurs!!! I created a "How to Train Your Dragon" cake which proved very popular with the kids!

Here are the kids at the bowling alley. Our good friends Mooka and Alfie have a son the same age as Tom, so they came along to the whole show. We roped them in to help us at the bowling. So we had Mark, Mooka, Alfie and myself each on a lane and each of us had 4 kids (well...I had 3!). This worked really well and we were able to keep the turns moving. We were finished bowling (10 frames each) with 15 kids in the hour! Not bad.

The pizza place was popular as it has a indoor playground. Judging by the way the kids ran screaming into the place, I guess that most had been there before!

Tom and Kyle (Mooka & Alfie's son). Look at how old Tom looks! Oh, and that's me in the red jacket behind the boys stuffing my face!!

Blowing out the candles

The birthday boxes we gave out, courtesy of my Stampin' Up! business!!!! I will load the invite up in the next day or so - I gave them out before I took a photo and the one I kept for us is in pieces on my desk.

Blessed Be...

2011-06-21T17:38:00.000+10:00

A few weeks back, a scrapping friend of mine posted a video of the time surrounding the birth of their 5th baby and 1st son. It was beautiful and made me think that I would like to make one too. When Tom was born, he was a c-section baby and at the time, you weren't allowed to bring recording devices into surgery (although photos were fine and we got some rippers). For Biddy's birth, we just didn't think about videoing much of the labour even though we did take the camera in with us. I think I might have been gripping Mark's hand just a little too tight for him to get away.

But this time round with Bella, I told Mark that I wanted some video footage of the labour AND the birth. Whilst the birth part is only for us, there was heaps to cobble together with various photos to make a special video that we are willing to share.

So here it is. I hope you enjoy it. For the first few times I reviewed it, I cried...but that might just be me!

(if you click on the icon to the left of the word vimeo, it will make the video full screen)

Untitled from Sam Simpson on Vimeo.

Happy 1st birthday baby girl

2011-06-07T23:48:00.000+10:00

Oh my God.....how can a year just slip by so quickly? Today has been one of great joy and a bit of saddness because today at 1.15pm, Bella turned 1yo. No longer a helpless baby, but a little person forging her way in this world. Bella seems to be more developed than either of the other two kids and we put it down to the fact that she simply wants to keep up with them (or escape them as it may be!).

at birth.. 7th June 2010

at 1yo...7th June 2011

As I was lying in the hospital this time last year, I told Mark that I wanted him to video the actual birth. I had to make this clear hours before the actual event, because I knew that when the time came, I would be in no position to be asking anything of anyone! This video is not for general viewing, but it is one of the most important documentations I possess of all of the 3 kids arrivals. It is for me to look at - albeit rarely - and remember the miracle that occurred on June 7th 2010. It is made even more special by the fact that, in all likelihood, Bella will be our last baby. It is so easy to forget the little details and I am glad that we were able to record it.

Bella has not had an easy time of her first 12 months. In fact, it all started well before she even arrived. Not being able to get pregnant, Mark and I returned to IVF much to my reluctance. We had already been down this (expensive and emotional) road a number of times in the past and I wasn't keen to do so again. However, with my chances of conceiving being quite low, it was our only course of action, I wasn't prepared for the fact that it would all fail again. With our prognosis looking grim, we decided to try again. In the meantime, we just had to wait for my body to get back to a rhythm and while doing this, I fell pregnant naturally. Of course I did!

Week 13 saw an emergency visit to the dr and the hospital with suspected ruptured membranes. A flying visit to Geelong showed that everything was ok and no indication of loosing the baby was obvious. Week 16 (ish) saw me in Melbourne facing an amniocentesis mainly due to my age (39). This was a true test for me and I have to say that I failed. I couldn't go through with it. In my heart of hearts, I knew that there was nothing wrong with the baby and that I was potentially risking a miscarriage to be told this. I was sent home a blubbering mess and spent the next week second guessing my decision. I did go through with it and had THE BEST sonographer/doctor performing the procedure. Everything was fine - no miscarriage and no genetic issues - and the rest of the pregnancy went on normally.

Bella's arrival was joyous, not just for Mark and myself, but also for the other kids. Tom was now of an age that he understood about babies, and Biddy was a doting 'mum-in-training'. They have taken to her like bodyguards and even today, can't leave her alone. She is spoilt by them!

About 3 months of age, I noticed that despite her birth weight being the same as Biddy's, she was falling behind in the growth charts. At one point she was almost 1kg below Biddy at the same age and my kids are not big kids. Alarm bells started to ring and this started a chain of events that subjected Bella to blood tests, urine tests, a barium meal, ultrasounds and being placed under a paediatrician. She was a spewy kid and whilst it was not projectile, it did empty her stomach. She was slipping in growth, development and potentially health. A combination of treatments including measured feeds, early solids and different lying/sitting positions helped and once she got up on her knees and started moving, everything fell into place. She is now firmly in the 25% percentile and is about the same weight as Biddy at the same age.

For the past few months, she has just gone off like a rocket. She has now cut 4 teeth (the last one just on Sunday) and is on the edge of standing by herself (she is up for seconds at a time now). It will not be long before I turn around and she is walking and talking. And then she won't be a baby anymore. I don't want to keep her the same forever, but I do wish that time would just slow down a bit. All my babies are growing way too fast for my liking and I feel like in our busy world, that sometimes I miss things.

But today, we celebrate Isabella Mary Simpson Billing's 1st birthday. We give thanks to Dr Nick Lolatgis who was there to assist the pregnancy to keep going, the midwives Dot, Laura and Pauline who bought her into this world, to Dr Peter Nice who looked after me and has looked after Bella during her first year (and beyond!), to Dr Chris Cooper who got her over the rough patch of weight issues, to Rosemary and Helene the maternal child nurses that have provided encouragement and advice and finally, to our parents who have been there to pick up the pieces and fill the gaps when the wheels fall off everything!

It has been a wonderful year watching you grow darling girl. From a helpless little bundle to a beautiful baby and now a darling (almost) toddler. We wish you all the very best for today, tomorrow and the rest of your life. Always know that you are very much loved and that you will always have family to surround you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BELLA

xxxx

Listening to "happy birthday"

First try of cake

Obviously....a success!

this was the cake we had for her party on Sunday

The birthday party

2011-06-06T13:57:00.000+10:00

We held Bella's 1st birthday party yesterday. The theme was ladybirds and the marquee was decked out with all things red and black. A big THANKYOU to family members Bret and Emma who did all the decorating. We had other family members pitch in to help with food and what not. The weather wasn't great (well, what do you expect in winter?!) but it held until the last stages when most people had gone home before it bucketed down. But the marquee provided us with heaps of shelter.

Bella was a delightful baby for the whole day. I guess it is because there is heaps to see and new people to meet. She has been our only child that has not cried when having 'Happy Birthday' sung - in fact, she loved it, kicking her legs and laughing.

She got some beautiful gift and again, we thank everyone for these. A few were ladybird themed and a number of ladybird cards were attached too!

Here are some pics of the day. We are having just a grandparents dinner tomorrow night to celebrate her actual birthday (sigh...when she really will be one!) which will be a very bittersweet day for me indeed.

The birthday cake (made by me!)

Bret and Emma decorating the marquee. Tom and Biddy painted the letters of Bella's name red the day before and stuck black spots to them.

No way was she going to leave that party hat on. She is not a hat person.

Mummy and the birthday girl

Opening her presents

These were the lolly bags I made up. I used all SU! products - if you want to make some yourself get the stuff off me! The bags are mini lunch sacks about 15cm high. Too cute!

12 months gone in the blink of an eye

2011-05-31T23:38:00.000+10:00

We are now preparing for Bella's first birthday party on the weekend. FIRST BIRTHDAY!!! OMG. The year has just flown. She doesn't actually turn one until Wednesday week, but still. In the past couple of months, she has just blew us all away with her developments. Today she cut her third tooth (one of the front top ones). Funnily enough, yesterday Tom lost his second tooth. I told him that for every one that Bella gets, he will loose one. I hope I'm not right!

I should also count today as the day that Bella stood on her own. It was only for a few seconds, but it was definitely a solo stand. On the change table. Hanging onto nothing. ON THE CHANGE TABLE for Christ's sake!! We also spied her climbing up one of the kitchen chairs to reach something on Biddy's bumper seat. This child will be the climber of the family, although it must be said that Biddy is also partial to daring manoeuvres. Must be a girl thing. Both Mark and Tom are scared silly by heights.

Bella's party invites

A girl after her mum's heart!

2nd one gone!

Mutual respect. Bella normally keeps her distance.

Attacking dad. Their favourite nighttime game!

A bit of a catch up

2011-05-19T20:56:00.000+10:00

Ugh...since we have been home it seems like everything is in fast forward mode. Tom went back to school, Biddy to kinder, Bella has continued to get crawling perfected and Mark is into the thick of it with calving. And I am just playing catch up all the time. The caravan is STILL in the carport waiting to be completely unpacked. I don't think there is much sense putting it away just yet, because in 3 weeks time (or so) we have Bella's first birthday party (gulp....yes, she is nearly 1) and the Butler's will be using it to sleep in.

So what's been going on?

Calving is on the go right now and we have about 40 - 50 calves in the shed already. I haven't had to do any rearing this year as mark has taken it on himself. I dearly love doing it, but with the 3 kids and my stamping business and trying to keep on top of the farm book work, and running around after all and sundry, it makes sense for Mark to do it again this year. I know that there are other women who are just as busy as me and they rear the calves on top of everything else, but when I don't HAVE to do it, then there is not much sense in running myself ragged.

As mentioned, I also have my stamping business and this is going from strength to strength. The financial year for Stampin' Up! goes from April 1 through to March 31 so we have just finished one year. I am proud and pleased to say that I exceeded my own financial goals for that 12 months and sold over $20,000 worth of product. For this, I received a pin, a free stamp set and a walk across the presentation stage at the convention which was held last weekend. I know this doesn't sound like much to some of you, but for me, this is my release. It is what keeps me sane!

I have spent the past 18 months getting myself in order with this business, and now I am ready to recruit other demonstrators. I am in a position creatively and business-wise that I feel I can adequately support new demonstrators. So if you would like to talk about joining the SU! family, earning some handy money and having the FUN of your life, then give me a call. No pressure. Even if you just want to suss it out for the future. Check out my web site (www.gracefulimpressions.blogspot.com)

The kids are growing up just far too quickly. As I said, Bella Boo is coming up 12 months in early June and it tears at my heartstrings to see her growing so quickly. You just want them to stay babies!! I have settled on a theme for her party: ladybirds. Get ready to check out the invites and paraphernalia in the coming days!!

Tom will be turning 6yo in early July and Mark and I have already given him his present. We bought him (and us) tickets to see Walking with Dinosaurs in Melbourne. Mark and I have already seen this show when it kicked off its worldwide tour back in 2007 (I think) and it hasn't changed at all, but remains a great show. Tom had no idea where we were taking him and he wasn't game to even dare think that it would be to this show even when he saw the advertising at Hi-Sense Arena. He had a ball and I've attached the official photo of us with baby T-Rex.

Biddy's hair is finally starting to take on a girly shape after THE hair incident of 2010. For months, every time we go down the street, some comments on her being a 'little fella". I guess it doesn't help that she wears Tom's hand-me-downs. She may look like a tomboy, but she has the temper and attitude of a 14yo girl. OMG, we are going to be in for it with that one.

Tom is loving school and is doing so well. He has bought home the odd laminated award and a bunch of "Well Done" and "Outstanding" stickers. Last Friday, the preps hosted the prayer gathering at St Mary's and I couldn't go. It was made worse by the fact that Tom was doing a reading too! Mum got it on Mark's iPhone for me though. Bought a tear to me eye.

Mark is the coach this year for the Colac Braves. Once someone gives me some pictures and information, I will be maintaining their blogsite, so stay tuned for that one. I believe that the B grade are undefeated so far this year which is fantastic. We have had some bad news in the club this year with one of the newer players - but brother to an established player - recently suffering a stroke (his second one). I'm unaware of the prognosis and we all pray and hope that he will make a decent recovery. It is made worse by the fact he is only just 18yo. Breaks your heart.

Well, I think I am caught up on some stuff. I have fallen WAY behind on my 365-12 blog, but rest assured I have been taking photos, I just haven't been loading them on! I'll get onto that when I find an extra hour or two in the day! In the meantime, I'd best go and hunt the two older kids into bed.

Holiday wrap up

2011-05-02T17:02:00.000+10:00

We left Melbourne on Monday 25th (ANZAC Day) so that Tom would have at least 2 nights in his own bed prior to starting back at school. On the Tuesday, he told us that his tooth was wobbly (bottom front), but as it had been wobbly before that then stopped, I didn't pay much attention. Until he appeared in the office doorway MISSING A TOOTH! At first he said it came out int he apple he was eating, but later he admitted to wobbling it so much it fell out. It wasn't even that wobbly!

So the tooth fairy came that night and replaced the tooth with $1 (price for teeth has obviously gone up....but it WAS a first baby tooth, so something special!) and a card which said "Official Visit from the Tooth Fairy".

So our 2011 holiday is now over. We won't get another extended break like that until this time next year. We came home ready for calving, school, swimming lessons and the general hullabaloo of life.

Days 14 & 15

2011-04-24T19:00:00.001+10:00

With sadness we left Broulee on Saturday morning....it is such a great spot and the kids have had a great time. Tom has really taken to the beach and asks all the time whether he can go down with his boogie board. Biddy was happy to scoot around the park and play with other kids. But it was time to go.

Back in Victoria

As I mentioned in the last post, we headed out not knowing where we were going to stay as finding accommodation for just one night - Easter Saturday - was proving very tricky. We backtracked along the Princes Hwy and eventually found a caravan park at Cann River which was basic and allowed open fires. It wasn't freezing but considering the weather we have recently had, it was on the cool side. So the open fire was very welcome.

I found this function on my camera that allowed me to photograph people AND the fire and these were the results! Biddy looks like a devil girl.

Easter Sunday and the Easter Bunny found us. Mark and I had a chuckle at the complete reversal of conditions we find ourselves in this year compared to the same time last Easter. On Easter Sunday last year, we were sweltering in Katherine, NT and took the kids for a cruise down the Nitmaluk Gorge. We had to rush the chockies back in the fridge for fear of them melting everywhere even in the a/c comfort of the caravan! No such issue this time round though!

Bella's first Easter

We headed for the Butler's place today (family in Beaconsfield) with the promise of a roast dinner (yum!). Bernie, Emma and Monica arranged for an Easter egg hunt for the kids which they enjoyed. I enjoyed the roast pork belly for dinner!

Home tomorrow........ :(

Days 12 & 13

2011-04-22T22:14:00.000+10:00

We have spent every afternoon at the beach, but I have been reluctant to take my camera down there again as getting sand in the lens is a bit of a risk. We really should have bought one of the other cameras we have with us for just such a purpose, however, we have made do with snapping the odd pic on one of our phone cameras.

Biddy with 2 of the snakes we bought the kids from Mogo Zoo

Tom has taken to the beach like a duck to water (no pun intended) and is proving himself to be the right little boogie boarder. We have even had a few comments from other beachgoers and surfers that we might have a young surfer on our hands. I brushed those comments off until today when he wanted to STAND on his boogie board because he had been watching the surfers doing it! Their comments may just pan out!

After being dumped by a couple of waves on the first day, Biddy has taken until today (our last beach day) to warm up to getting in the water. She cried when we told the kids to say goodbye to the beach! So typical. Yesterday, Bella had a decent nap at the beach in the tent we bought which was great after the horrid day on Wednesday (after not having a nap). It was not the case today though.....but she was quite happy to play in the shallows with Mark for a while. The water really is quite cold for her and it isn't long before she is shivering.

Enjoying the waves...from the safety of daddy's arms!

Today being Good Friday, there is not a lot open so we just bummed around the park all morning, doing our last loads of washing and the kids hooned around on their scooters. There have been quite a few people check into the park both last night and this morning due to Easter and the fact that Canberra school holidays are still on next week. This seems to be a favourite place for Canberrians (Canberrites?) given that it is only a couple of hours away. Probably a bit like Lorne for Melbournians. So our quaint little retreat has become a hive of activity. There are also groups of families that are holidaying together and have booked sites that all join onto one another. There are some amazing setups here, let me tell you. One lot came in last night and this morning I got a look at what they have and there is a full size fridge, an electric wok, a microwave, a rice cooker, an electric grill, about 3 trestle tables all under 2 marquees. Their vans and tents surround this setup. They could be setup for a couple of months, but I guess it is only for the Easter break!

Lunchtime

Playing Angry Birds on the iPhone (Tom is addicted!)

Biddy on Tom's scooter Note the helmet and bare feet! Sigh....

The second tooth that Bella cut while away - it is well and truly up now!

As for us, we are headed out tomorrow. We are still toying with where to stay tomorrow night as we haven't secured any accommodation at all! This is because Easter has fallen at the end of the school holidays and no caravan parks have any vacancies for just one night from Good Friday through to Easter Monday. but we want to be home by Easter Monday and in Beaconsfield on Sunday. All we need is one night's stay for tomorrow night (Saturday). Argghhhh. I completely understand the booking policy, but surely the van parks would know by now whether they had a site free for tomorrow night. I know of 2 that do have vacancies, but are not taking one night bookings. Grrrrrr. I guess if we have to, we'll just stop at an overnight rest stop. We've got a generator, so we can manage ok.

Days 10 & 11

2011-04-20T20:17:00.006+10:00

Before we left on this holiday, we booked Tom in for a holiday programme at Mogo Zoo - hence why we came up here. Yesterday, he participated in the 'slither & hop" Zookidz programme. It was only for 3 hours and I dropped him off and picked him up...hence no photos. In the afternoon we took the kids back down to the beach which has proven to be a real hit. We will really have to consider more beach holidays in the future. Actually, we have been toying with the idea of coming over here again this time next year as it is such a great spot.

Today, we all went to the zoo. It doesn't take forever to get around and we had seen everything in about 3.5 hours and that included lunch, so the kids don't loose interest or start banging on about how tired they are etc.. The highlights for the kids were the reptile house which housed some HUGE pythons and a rhinoceros iguana, the ring tailed lemurs which reminded the kids of King Julian out of "the Penguins of Madagascar", and the feeding the deer.

This is the frog that Tom held at the Zookidz programme yesterday

However special mention has to go to this particular lioness who was quite placidly lounging on a deck until some tasty morsel of a child (not ours) happened by. Let me just let the picture sequence tell the story - but thank God for the fence between them!

Yes, I know that Tom is cute, but keep you eye on the lioness

And this lioness DID NOT take her eyes off the child in question for the entire time the kid was around.

Returning back to the van, Mark and Tom took off down the beach to boogie board again while I stayed back with the girls to do washing (sigh!) and try to relax, although Bella was not having any of it and screamed for about 4 hours straight until bedtime. Grrrrrrrrr.

Days 6 to 9

2011-04-18T21:18:00.006+10:00

Wow...the days are just slipping by. We have moved towns and are now in Broulee which is just south of Bateman's Bay. A really lovely little seaside place with a delightful beach (actually, a few delightful beaches) which are great for the kids and the kids at heart. This place sort of reminds me of Seaford or Inverloch in the 70's before they were either commercialised or overrun by the masses. No doubt it is bedlam here during the summer period, but for now, it is just bliss.

But let me recap the days we have lived through....

After experiencing Magic Mountain, we looked for a quieter day and travelled to Eden to visit the Killer Whale Museum (day 6). Both Mark and I had been here before on our way back from the Sydney Olympics and nothing much has changed in the ensuing 10 years or so. But both Tom and Biddy liked it and it got them out and about.

Day 7 and we took the kids to a place called Oaklands which is sort of a mish-mash of a number of things. It is first and foremost a nursery, but there is a cafe, an antique/old wares store, a animal nursery and a function centre. It was very much like the place we visited in Darwin that had the huge dinosaur statues. It is hugely popular; there were always heaps of cars in the carpark every time we drove past. We had a poke around the sales areas and had a spot of lunch. We then took the kids down to the animal nursery for a look. Whilst it was a bit hobbled together with haytwine and boards and looked rather worse for wear, I think it was one of the best animal nurseries I have ever been to. Why? Because the kids could touch the animals, the chooks and ducks were just wandering around, there were pony rides for the kids (which of course Biddy spotted in a flash!) and there was a great array of animals to looks at. Funnily enough, there were no cows or calves, only some crossbred longhorn steers that wouldn't look at you! But there were puppies (a big hit with everyone), cats, the aforementioned chooks and ducks, rabbits (and I think there was a rogue wild one in there), a goat, alpacas, a pig, horses, guinea pigs, a Shetland pony with a foal and I'm sure there were more but I can't think.

After the obligatory pony ride (yes.....I am 99% sure Biddy will get one soon), we then took the kids to a place called Top Fun back in Merimbula. It is sort of a pinball/video arcade but there is also laser games, mini golf and ten pin bowling. We all had a go at mini golf and bowling before throwing our money away on the arcade games. The twist with this place was that when you played the arcade games, depending on your score, you received tickets (this was also true for getting strikes and spares in bowling). The tickets could then be redeemed for prizes at the end of your session depending on how many tickets you had. We didn't get nearly enough for anything good, but the kids (and us) had a great time.

Now this next bit might sound like a true fisherman's tale, but I assure you, it is TRUE. Looking to waste a bit of time before dinner, I persuaded Mark to join Tom and I on the jetty for a quick fish. Mark was a bit reluctant and the girls got bored very quickly. However there were plenty of nibbles and that kept both Mark and Tom interested. Biddy needed to go to the toilet (not sure whether it is a novelty to go in strange place or whether she really needs to go), so off I went with her. On my way back, I spy Mark FRANTICALLY waving at me to come quickly. I suspected he had caught something. When I got there, it turns out he had caught a flathead, ably assisted by Tom, but the 2 of them had no idea what it was or what to do with it, so it was just flopping about the place. I took out the hook and put it in the bucket with the intention of keeping it. But, we had just decided on having takeaway for our last night in Merimbula and it would have meant gutting and filleting it and that meant WORK for ME. So I returned it. At once, Biddy burst into tears as she wanted to keep it. I don't think she realised that it would be dead though if we did. At any rate, it was a common flatty and was about 35cm, which is probably on the smallish side, but a decent fish for Mark's FIRST EVER CATCH. The only catch....we didn't have a camera so we didn't record the occasion. Of course, the size of the fish will grow with the retelling of the story by Mark, but what I have said is the truth!

Packing up the next day (now day 8), we headed to Broulee, about 150kms north. We stopped at Bega just before lunch to show the kids the Bega Historical Centre. They we just happy to get out of the car and run amok, but Biddy was particularly interested in milking the statue cows on display!

Maybe this is how you get higher production?!

We then stopped in Narooma for lunch down at the foreshore. We were just getting ready to pack up when Tom spots what he thinks was an invasion of bugs on the low tide sand. What it actually was, was crabs. Tiny little blue crabs. I don't know exactly what they were but there were THOUSANDS of them. The pictures we took do no justice to them, hopefully the video we took will be better. But there were just so many that you could hear the sand moving with them. The kids thought they were great.

Now in Broulee (day 9), we have a beach entrance from the caravan park and the water is about 22 degrees. Once you are in, it is quite ok. Nonetheless, we bought a wetsuit for both Mark and Tom and some boogie boards as well. We figured that Tom's wetsuit will be passed down to the girls in time so the expense was worth it. And Mark's....well, without it there was little chance of him getting wet, so again, a good purchase!

Biddy was having a fine time until she got dumped by a huge wave and that ended her day in the water, although she was happy to play in the sand. Bella was happy to eat the sand! I'm sure I'm going to see that come out the other end in the next day or so!

Of course, you have to have the obligatory sand burial pictures!

Days 4 & 5

2011-04-14T20:02:00.007+10:00

Ever since we told Tom about this holiday, he has been hankering to go fishing. Mark only ever went fishing once as a child. I, on the other hand, used to go fishing all the time. It is one thing from my younger days that I miss as I no longer do it. So we bought some rods, tackle and what not and got organised. Mind you it has been a while since I have held onto a rod, so it did take me a few moments to get re-orientated!

Earlier in the day we took the kids to Wheelers Oyster Farm where they saw the grading of some oysters, heard a talk about growing oysters and mummy and daddy got to eat some!

Afterwards Tom and I went in search of a good fishing spot, and after a false start on a beach at Merimbula, we ended up on a pier in Eden where we had a number of decent bites - including one which took Tom's line and hook - but no fish. But he had a good time and that was the main thing.

Today we took the kids to Magic Mountain which is a fun park located in Merimbula. There is tobogganing, water slides (too cold for us today), mini golf, a dinosaur park, a roller coaster, a carpet slide, a toddler play area and go karts. It was on the pricey side, but the kids had a ball and Biddy was only too small for the roller coaster which was the only thing she was stopped on.

When we got back to the caravan, Tom banged on about wanting to go to the pool at the caravan park. We let the kids go even though it was all that warm, but the pool is heated. Yeah right! Tom lasted about 15 minutes and then sat on the side shivering. Biddy was better lasting about half an hour, however the fact she was in the pool meant I had to get in too! Brrrrrrr.

our van site

Tired kids tonight which shouldn't give us too much grief about going to sleep!

Day 1 to 3

2011-04-12T21:03:00.002+10:00

Snapshot of our first three days:

Wet weather
Bella screaming (ok, let's be fair. She is cutting another tooth so we discovered)
Biddy defiant
Tom constantly hungry
Van travelling well
Caught up with family on day 1
Now at Merimbula and the caravan park is REALLY nice.

We are staying at Merimbula for 5 nights and we hope to take the kids fishing and to see some of the sights. The weather is reasonably good here, so let's hope it holds.

More news when we do something more interesting than driving!

We're off!

2011-04-10T09:56:00.002+10:00

Amazingly, we are actually running to time at the moment. We have set ourselves the timeframe of leaving after lunch and so far so good. Food packed, clothes (almost) packed, bedding done, books and colouring stuff in. The kids just need to sort out what toys they want to take (which could take a bit of negotiating) but all in all, I think we are getting into a groove.

There is light rain falling here at the moment, so I hope we leave that behind. Nice for the pastures but crap for holidays.

First stop is only at Beaconsfield to catch up with family, then to Bairnsdale, then Merimbula and finally up to Broulee (neat Bateman's Bay). As we did for our trip to Darwin and back, I'll be updating this blog with our exploits, so tune in over the next fortnight to see what we are up to.

Our next trip and update on Tom

2011-03-22T23:12:00.005+11:00

As you may be aware, this time last year we set out with 2 kids, 1 caravan, 1 very pregnant lady (me!) and a man with a dodgy back and headed to Darwin for 4 weeks. And it was FANTASTIC.

We resolved to have a big trip each year, but with Tom starting school and just so many things on during first term, it really was impossible to take 4 weeks away. We had originally thought to take 1 week either side of the school holidays, but it hasn't worked out that way.

We decided that we would have a shorter trip this year and see if we can work a longer trip (hopefully to WA) next year. Initially we thought we would just go as far as Merimbula as we have had some friends stay there with their kids and they said it was great. However, seeing as we were nearly there, we made the decision to continue up to Broulee (near Bateman's Bay) so we could visit to Mogo Zoo. I checked out their website the other day and discovered that at the exact time we will be there, they have a ZooKidz programme on and Tom was old enough to attend. He is going to be participating in the "Slither & Hop" workshop. You guessed it, snakes, lizards and frogs.......right up a small boy's alley!

The fact that Tom wants to do this workshop is a direct reflection of him going to school. Prior to starting prep, he would never have gone to a holiday programme by himself with people he didn't know, even for just a few hours. I know that this is surprising to many considering how full on he can be, but Tom is a bit of a shy kid. It comes to the fore when he is placed outside his comfort zone and he makes a beeline for what he knows best (usually me). So for him to understand and agree to participate in this, just warms my heart. He really is growing up!

School is going wonderfully for him and he is coming home reading all sorts of things, doing sign language (in the good way!), talking about new friends and recounting all the new experiences. After the 2nd week of school, he also started going to and from school on the bus. This was a HUGE thing for me to let him do (and yes, I followed the bus to and from school that first day unbeknown to Tom), but to see him now, it is like he has never known any different. AND he has to change buses. Whilst he has a bus buddy to help him, he can do it all by himself now and occasionally the buddy is not on the bus and Tom is fine. I think there are a few mother hens on the bus!

Tom getting off the bus on his first day

Bella update

2011-02-07T22:15:00.002+11:00

It's been a while since I posted anything on Bella.

Some positive changes on the weight gain front. She has been steadily putting on moderate weight gains over the past 6 weeks and is now on twice monthly weighs. The vomiting subsided for a while and we had fantastic weight gains, but it reappeared and the weight flattened out somewhat. As a result, she is off to have a barium meal and check out her insides.

At 8 months of age, she is now 6.8kg and thankfully is back on the growth charts!

Her development has been fairly normal otherwise except for sitting. She is a bit behind the 8 ball on this one, but that is probably attributed to her poor growth rates. But on Thursday last week (3/2/11) she started commando crawling and has been going that little bit further every day. Ahhh...life is changing for her and us. The other kids are now on strict instructions not to leave any little bits and pieces lying around that will fit nicely into a baby's mouth.

Some new noises are coming out of her mouth too. She is making this weird sucky noise and today started blowing raspberries. It makes me laugh at how funny they think these noises are! I'm guessing that bibs will be the attire of the season as she burbles her way through the next month or so until she learns a new noise!

He's no longer a baby......

2011-02-02T23:40:00.004+11:00

Someone tell me where the past 5.5 years have gone. Because today I had to send my 'baby' out into the big wide world to take his first real steps at becoming his own person. Yeah ok....I know he is not really a baby and I also know that he has spent 2.5yrs at daycare and kinder, so he has not exactly been hidden behind my apron. But the times that he has spent away from me have been limited and short and the bulk of his learning, nurturing, educating and discipline has largely come from me. But from today, this will all change. Forever.

I know that for some time to come, I will form the basis of his life. I will be the platform from which he launches. But today, Tom started primary school and whilst it was a hugely joyous occasion for us all, it was also a time for sadness and mourning of the passing of time and the realisation that other people will now play significant roles in my son's life. And these relationships will also make him into the man he will become. I have to share. And I'm not all that ready to let go and hand over joint responsibility.

But whether we like it or not, it is time. It is possibly harder for us mums that are sending our first borns out to the word. Will I be like this with Biddy and Bella? I don't know. I know that Mark doesn't think so, as he recorded me sniffling and weeping in the foyer of the prep room today. He said that thought that the emotion should be captured because when it comes to be Biddy's turn, there will be less tears, and by the time Bella's gets to primary school, I will be opening the car door and kicking her out!

After all is said and done, it really is an exciting time for all of us. For Tom, it means a steep learning curve, new friends, new responsibilities, new skills and the chance to develop his own persona away from the family. For me it means new acquaintances, new opportunities, a more developed relationship with Tom, some measure of freedom and the chance to review my parenting skills over the past 5.5yrs. For the girls, it means developing a relationship with each other without the distraction of Tom's presence. I'm not really sure what it means for Mark. I haven't asked him!

St Mary's feels like such the right choice for us and the kids. I'm not sure how other primary schools handle newbies, but we have events lined up in order to welcome us into the school community and to ease the transition into school life.

I hope all those that are starting prep this year have a great time....and mums...take the tissues with you. Be proud of the happy tears. And trust me, you will not be the only one weeping in the foyer as your son or daughter struts proudly into the classroom in a uniform that seems two sizes too big. There are plenty of us crying too!

Thoughts with those up north

2011-01-13T23:57:00.002+11:00

Just a quickie tonight....just to say that our thoughts are with all those in Qld, NSW and Victoria that are affected by floods, particularly those in the rural areas and are farmers. Our business will be donating to the appropriate fund and whilst our contribution will no doubt be a drop in the ocean (no pun intended there!) I guess every little bit helps. And I would like to think that if we and our business were ever in dire states of emergency, that others would be looking to help us out.

Thought and prayers are with you all.

365-12 project

2011-01-02T17:15:00.004+11:00

??????????????????

So what's this all about?

Well check out the new blog I have created (see side bar for link) that will explain all! I never make new years resolutions, so this is as close as I am going to get.

Wish me luck with it.

(alternatively, click here to go to www.365-12.blogspot.com)

A Christmas wrap up

2010-12-31T01:24:00.007+11:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This is the kids decorating of the tree (note where the baubles stop due to height restrictions!)

This is my fixing up of the tree so the decorations where a bit better spaced!

I'm a bit late with getting this on the blog. But I want to get it on while it is still 2010, 'cause it sort of seems that when you post things about Chrissy AFTER the New Year has set in, that it all seems a bit out of whack.

I'll try not to inundate you with pics, but let's face it - the camera gets a severe bashing on the 25th December.

Firstly, just to remind you that Christmas Day is also Biddy's birthday, so whilst we are overwhelmed with what the fat man in the red suit has bought us all, we also have to make time to remember that Biddy joined us on this special day. And my, hasn't that 3 years just blown by? As usual, Mark and I gave her a small crystal trinket (a rocking horse!), and I also found a darling little bracelet in the jewelers which I knew she would love because she is right into bracelets and necklaces these days. Before ANY presents are opened, including Santa sacks - we all wish Princess Parrot a very happy birthday and have a bit of a singsong.

This year was the first time I have been woken by a child on Christmas morning. After getting to bed in the wee early hours, I awoken to the strains of "MUM....SANTA HAS BEEN!!!!!!!!!" from Tom. This was at 6.45am - FAR TOO EARLY for him to be awake. In fact, I have NEVER known him to be awake at that time....ever! He had been into the lounge room and spied the Santa sack. None of these toys were wrapped, so he could clearly see that there were some dinosaur books and Hot Wheels cars at the very least just tempting him! But he didn't pull them out and came down to me. I quickly popped him in bed with me and thankfully, he went back to sleep for another hour and a half (much more civilised!).

Unfortunately for the kids, Mark had to milk that morning, and didn't get back into the house until 8.30am. Such is the life of a dairy kid. No presents were to be opened until dad gets in. This did give me time to give them some breakfast and get them dressed so that they didn't appear in their PJs in every single photo I took!

With some superbly bad timing, Biddy became sick a couple of days before, and after a visit to the dr on Chrissy Eve, was placed on antis. However, they had not really kicked in by Christmas morning and she was a bit of a bag of misery for the first little bit, not even wanting to open her Santa sack. But after Tom got through his and we started on Bella's, she started to warm to the idea that she would also like some presents.

The big ticket items that Santa left this year were a bike for Tom and a scooter for Biddy. Bella was content with her rattles and teething rings!

But, the BIGGEST surprise was in store for the kids when we took them outside - both 'blindfolded' by pillowcases over their heads - and gave them our present. A cubby house!

The look on their faces is priceless!

As you can see...it is rather high!

Even Bella got into it!

This baby has been a project unto itself, I can tell you. We bought it from a place in Melbourne (CubbiesRUs) and went down to pick it up when we went to Melb to celebrate our wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago. It has then been sitting over in the calf shed, and we had to keep remembering not to let either of the kids over there. As the cubby is an elevated model, we had to sink the posts into the ground and concrete them in a couple of days prior. As this was in full view of the kids in the backyard, they were going to see. So we told them that daddy was building me a fernery for Christmas. Tom worked his guts out all day, helping to dig the holes and mix concrete and hammer in nails. He was buggered that night! If only he knew. On Christmas Eve, I took the kids to church and then for a bit of a tour around town to see the Chrissy lights giving Mark about 2.5hrs to get the whole cubby up on the elevation kit. The kids were almost asleep when we got home at about 10.30pm and by that time, Mark has pretty much finished. And it is such a ripper. The kids (and no doubt their friends) will get years of use out of it.

The rest of the day was spent opening boxes, constructing toys, riding bikes and scooters, eating, drinking, watching new DVDs....the usual stuff!

All in all, we had a great day. We hope you and yours had a great day and best wishes for 2011.

I need one of these!

2010-12-16T22:26:00.006+11:00

Today was the day of the annual Cockies Picnic in Colac. It is a Christmas celebration day for all farming families around the district. Years ago it was simply a piss up for the boys, but in the past 5 years or so, it has become more of a family event and now more people attend. That being said, numbers were down this year because today turned out to be a fine day and there were a lot of people cutting or baling hay - Mark included.

But I took the kids along and from the word go, they made a beeline for the merry-go-round swing thing and the jumping castle. I had two rules for the day; 1) don't hurt any other kids, and 2) do not go outside the gate. Other than that, they could run, scream, go crazy, not eat lunch, pee on the oval....I didn't care. But they were very good. In fact, except for lunch and a trip to see Santa, I don't think they hardly got off that merry-go-round thing. I have no idea how much it cost the committee to hire, but rest assured, it was the best money spent in my books. Kept the kids amused and out of my hair for 2.5hrs! I NEED one of these at home.

How much fun do they look like they are having?

Over the years, each of the kids have had their face painted like a cat at the Cockies Picnic. The thing with my kids is, they HATE having their faces painted. So up to 1yr of age is the ONLY time I can get it done. Hence it was Bella's turn this year.

Of course, all this fun does not come without it's costs, and I had some tired worn out kids to take home that couldn't do ANYTHING asked of them because they were "too tired".

'Cause it's Christmas-time.....

2010-12-15T22:20:00.002+11:00

...and I am changing our blog background for a festive look! As usual.

December is a crazy month isn't it? Why is it, that everyone seems to think that if we don't all get together just before Christmas, then the whole world will grind to a halt? Why don't we make more of an effort to see each other, have BBQs, lunch, concerts, drinks, send letters, cards, photos, give gifts (for the hell of it) and just be generally NICE throughout the year? Why leave it all until Christmas? Especially in this over commercialised world we live in these days? Why, why WHY?

I dunno.....

That all being said, I LOVE the leadup to Christmas - and if the truth be known - all the frenetic activity that goes with it, along with the excesses. Mark, on the other hand, does not. He hates the shopping, the constant questioning of what he wants, the pressure to get things in order, and the whole rush of everything. Bah Humbug! This year, it may be due to the fact that we will be baling hay on Christmas Day if the weather pattern settles into something predictable. And he will have to milk as well. Plus, he has a super secret job to do in the days leading up to Christmas Day including a major job on Christmas Eve.

On other matters, today is our 9th wedding anniversary and we have just returned from a lovely night out in Melbourne at the Windsor. This is a tradition that we have done ever since our honeymoon, so this was out 10th visit! And as always, it was a real treat. Even if we did have to take Bella with us.

We have the annual Cockies Picnic tomorrow in town which the kids will love. We are holding our staff Chrissy bash this Friday night at the farm. Should be a good night. On Monday we are taking the kids to Geelong for photos with Santa and the last splash of shopping that is needed to be done. And hopefully a cruisy run to Christmas.

You Tube clip

2010-11-28T15:43:00.004+11:00

Yeah!!!!

Ok, it's not our brand (although there is a Yeo just down the road from us - different country to the one in the clip though), but the sentiment is from all DAIRY FARMERS!

Check it out!!!

Update on last night

2010-11-26T21:58:00.004+11:00

Mark and Tom got back home around 10.40pm and it turns out that he did have an asthma attack. Doctor was very pleased that we decided to bring him in as it could have gotten much worse very quickly.

He was dosed up on ventolin and prednisolone and sent home with a puffer and spacer thingy and a script for more pred-mix. He has had a couple of goes today on the puffer. It was evident how much he has been affected by it all when he was in swimming lesson today and couldn't hold his breath long enough to get down to the bottom of the deep end to get the brick - something that he does ok usually.

So for now it is just really a monitoring exercise and using medication when required.

Tomorrow we are holding Biddy's birthday party. For those that don't know, Bid is born on Christmas Day so we hold her birthday a month earlier. She really doesn't know any difference! She thinks she is 3yo tomorrow. LOL. I have just finished making up some little boxes for her party favours. They match the invites I made - horses of course! You can see the invites HERE.

Green for boys, pink for girls.

Lord...it's been a while

2010-11-25T21:25:00.003+11:00

As the end of the year draws near, I seem to run out of time for everything! And that includes updating this blog. But much has happened over the past few weeks and a quick breeze through is:

Biddy sporting a new pixie hair cut thanks to Tom trying his hand at hairdressing (grrrr)

Biddy's hair as it was before Tom got to it

Biddy's hair AFTER Tom got to it (Mullet style all the way!)

Biddy's hair after our friend Suz came and fixed it (bless you Suz!)

Mark taking the fire truck to Biddy's daycare for the kids

Can't you just see that Mark was wishing that the pump was turned on!

Hosting some Fonterra reps at home
Bella being classified as 'failing to thrive' and having to have an ultrasound to rule out anything serious
Missing out on the Colac and Noorat shows this year because I developed a calcified tendon in my shoulder and couldn't halter break the cows
I attended the Stampin Up! regional conference in Melbourne and took Bella with me who was a very good baby that day!
Running a stack of Christmas card classes for local ladies
Tom getting his new uniform for St Mary's primary next year
Having the heifers classified by Holstein Australia
Bella started solids

Note the silver Tiffany's spoon that we gave Tom as a baby, but all kids have used for their very first feed!

I spent a leisurely, childless couple of hours sailing the mouth of the Yarra to celebrate my friend Lou's 40th
Mark taking Tom on his first excursion to Cobden miniature railway with Wydinia Kindergarten

And just today, we took Tom for his first orientation day at St Mary's (second one is in early December). A bit emotional for a few of us mums and we weren't even leaving them!! Yet. While I think it was hard on the mums that were sending their first-born to school, I did see a few more experienced mums welling up at various points of the discussion. I didn't feel so bad!

Just going back to the point about Bella and 'failing to thrive', we've been battling for a few months with her weight gain. She was doing normally and quite well up until 3 months old and then she simply just stopped gaining anything significant. We took her to Geelong Hospital for an ultrasound to see if she had pyloric stenosis (a thickening of the muscle at the bottom of the stomach that prevents the milk/food going through to the intestines) but the u/s showed all to be normal. She vomits A LOT although it doesn't appear to be reflux due to a range of indicators. So we kept a close eye on her, but a week ago she lost quite a lot of weight. On MCHN and drs recommendation, I started her on solids (farex) hoping that her weight would improve or at least steady. But a weigh today showed that she has lost even more weight. At 5.5months she now weighs the exact same as she did at just 4 months of age (just on 5kg), meaning she has only gained about 1.6kg since birth. Whilst she looks and acts healthy enough, there is not a lot to her. We have now been given a rush appointment to see the paediatrician next week to see what can be done. So more tears from me.

With Tom's new venture and Bella's poor outcome, I was a tad stressed and now have the makings of a migraine. Great! What a day.

And to just top everything off, Mark has had to take Tom to A&E tonight because we think he is having an asthma attack! Good Lord.....what is going on today? Tom suffers very badly with hayfever (as do I) and has spent this past week with a puffy face, itching eyes and throat and runny nose. Now I know it is silage season for us here and that is simply the WORST time of year for us hayfever sufferers, but we had a stack of rain last night and that calmed down the pollen. I am fine today, but over the course of the day, Tom had developed a persistent cough that is stopping him from talking, and immediately after his bath, he started wheezing and it became so bad that he was really struggling for breath. I just told Mark to take him into casualty. He has never had asthma before, so I didn't want to muck around as we have nothing here to give him. I am waiting for them to get home.......

I'll be damn glad when today is over. I need another headache tablet.

It had to happen some time

2010-10-18T23:42:00.004+11:00

Many of you with kids have probably used one of those baby rockers at some stage in an effort to try and keep an infant happy and occupied whilst you are blaring around trying to get things done. We borrowed one when we had Tom, and mum bought us one when Biddy came along. Just prior to Bella, my SIL loaned us another type - a swingy type thing - that incidentally, we bought her when she had twins a few years back.

At some point, both Tom and Biddy fell out of the rockers. Once the babies find the ability to kick their legs, they seem to simply slide out of them (and yes, I know that there are straps to buckle them in...but you don't tend to use them when they are motionless...it is only AFTER they fall out you start using them!). The drop from the end of the rocker to the floor however is only 5 or so cm. Not so the swing, which Bella fell out of tonight. That is more like a drop of 30cm!

Having just got Biddy in the bath, I stuck Bella in the swing in front of the babysitter (aka tv) to go get pjs and milk ready. Tom was in the lounge with the baby and I told him to not touch the baby and to leave her alone as she was quiet and content. I go to the bathroom to get Biddy out and Tom appears in the door to get in. I chase Biddy down the hall to her room, only to hear screaming coming from the lounge where I find the baby flat on her back on the floor under the swing. For the life of me, I could not work out how she'd come adrift because this time I DID buckle her in.

Clue #1... the swing's speed was now at the fastest speed - I had it on the lowest speed.

Clue #2... guilty look on Tom's face when questioned about how the baby fell out of the swing.

Turns out, he dialed up the speed and then unbuckled her to play with her (why???) and then got distracted and left her to go to the bath. And then she fell out! Good Lord. How is he ever going to be ready for school next year? How is he not going to get distracted when it comes time to change buses?

I think we are in for some ride next year.......

Grampians camping

2010-10-09T12:12:00.005+11:00

As mentioned in the previous post, we took off for a week in the Grampians straight after Bella's christening. We went with the Butlers (Bret, Bernie, Emma & Monnie) and mum came with us as well. It's been ages since I've been away camping with them all. Years ago, we used to go camping every second month. I'd like to get back into that.

Unfortunately, Bella was rather unsettled and cried a lot....A LOT. Sigh. I think I was more stressed than anyone though about her crying worrying others. But it was enjoyable and MArk and I are now starting serious discussions about where our next big trip (a la Darwin) will be. Maybe WA? Or maybe Flinders ranges? OR Tassie? Not too sure.

Anyway, here are some pics of the time away. It was very cold and as you will see, we were quite rugged up. On some days, I wasn't too sure I even had kids much less a baby due to all the swaddling around them all!!

Phew....wotta week!

2010-10-03T17:39:00.003+11:00

So much has happened in the past 7 or 8 days, I hardly know where to start. But first, may I say.....

CARN' THE PIES!!!!!!!

Woooooohooooooo.

I could not believe it when the first granny was a draw. I mean come on! There have only been 3 drawn Grand Finals and Collingwood has been in 2 of them! At least, the end result was not anything like the '77 Grand Final against North Melbourne. Much to my relief and Mark's disgust. The kids are firm Magpie supporters now!!!

This time last week, we celebrated Isabella's christening. It was a great day and we were blessed to be surrounded by a number of family and friends. Mark and I chose Bernie as godmother and Chris as godfather (need a big burly bloke to look out for the girl when she reaches her teen years!!).

On the Monday, the Butlers, us and mum all headed to the Grampians for a few days camping. It was quite chilly to say the least, only really warming up the day we left (typical). It is due to this camping trip that I have not been online to post any pics of the christening.

But I have sorted through some and here they are! I created a collage of a number of them, but because it may be a bit difficult to see, I've posted a few of them singly.

For the first time in a loooooong time, I had to front up to the dairy to milk! Gasp, splutter, gulp! Yes, for the first time in about 3 years, I had to don the waterproofs, brave the cold and milk with Mark. I'm pleased to say that our marriage has survived intact. I also have to say that if any of our staff whinge about milking on the cups off side, I will make them come and look after my kids for a day! With the cup removers, backing chains laid on and no need to mix up chemicals, it is DEAD EASY around that side. The hardest thing is making sure you don't get shit on! It is a hell of a lot easier than when I milked with Mark every weekend and didn't have the cup removers. (Mark will remember back further when it was even more labour intensive in the walkthrough dairy....another story that one).

Anyway, I will edit the pics from the Grampians and be back to post them. But for now, have a squizz at my darling baby's big day.

the christening cake (which had a MAJOR overhaul)

this christening gown was Mark's (I think I have posted about this when Biddy was christened). All our kids have been christened in it and it is my wish that my kids continue the tradition with their own babies.

the water

Bernie Butler and Chris Foster (godparents)

Out of the mouths of babes

2010-09-21T22:54:00.002+10:00

Kids say the funniest things.

The other day, Biddy was listening to me talking to mum about something or other and I must have got to an exciting part of the story when she clasps her hands to the sides of her face and exclaims "ohh my GORGEOUS" (obviously meaning "oh my goodness"!!)

We are gearing up for Bella's christening on the weekend and I have a couple of cake books out on the counter, deliberating over what one I will copy for the christening cake. Tom has taken quite a shine to them and has been pouring over them for part of the afternoon deciding which cake he will have for his 6th birthday. The fact that his birthday is 10 months away has alluded him.

But one of the books has an index which has a picture of each of the cakes. He proudly reads them all off to Mark tonight just before going to bed and it was extremely interesting to hear how a 5 year old's brain works as he named each cake. Where you and I would have just commented on the overall theme of the cake (ie. mouse, boat, tractor etc), he had a story attached to each one. But the funny thing was, he tacked on the word 'cake' to each one.

So for instance, the Noah's Ark cake, he told us it was "the animals marched by 2 by 2 hurrah, hurrah ...cake" and the haunted castle one was "the zombie cake with the ghosts coming out of the windows.....cake" and another was the "baby pram that is Isabella's party cake for Sunday...cake" LOL.

Yep...the funny things kids say.

Footy day

2010-09-16T00:16:00.003+10:00

Today was the last day of kinder and daycare for the term (for my kids anyway) and as we head into the AFL finals, both kinder and daycare ran footy fever days, complete with lunch orders of pies, sausage rolls and snags. All kids got to dress up in their team colours.

In our household, I am staunch Collingwood and Mark is Geelong...so you can imagine what this weekend will be like for us (and I'm praying it is not a repeat of the 2007 finals).

Ahh.....brings joy to my heart. Collingwood from the cradle to the grave. Mark just doesn't get it. As long as I breathe, my kids will barrack for the Magpies.

GO PIES!

baby Bella

2010-09-09T00:38:00.005+10:00

Just to get over a god awful day yesterday....thought I'd post a picture of little Bella. 13 weeks now - 3 months! Cripes but the time is flying! Thanks to all that sent words of comfort for our dreadful day yesterday. As I said, Tottie was an old dog and it wasn't totally unexpected, but we appreciate your thoughts!

A day of good and bad

2010-09-07T17:41:00.005+10:00

What a day. As my title suggests, it has been a day of good and bad. Starting with bad....

BAD

Our dog Tottie had to be put down this morning. Granted, she was an old dog, but it is never an easy thing to do. She has been deteriorating over the past couple of years, but in the past 6 months or so, she has really gone downhill. On the weekend, she got caught up in one of the electric fences and had to go into the vet's to be sedated to get over it. This morning, it was likely that she took another stroke (she'd taken one a few months earlier) and she was just so disorientated and suffering. Mark's dad took her into the vet and Mark buried her in the backyard with the other dogs that have gone to the big dog kennel in the sky. The kids were matter a fact about it all...their farm kids. They know about life and death. Us adults were more distraught! RIP Tottie.

GOOD

We picked up our brand new car today. A Prado. After much deliberation and reading of car brochures and taking test drives, the GXL Prado won out. The reason of needing a new car was that we needed something to tow the caravan as Mark's Courier cannot fit 3 carseats in the back. and the Territory was not set up to tow. Plus it was time to change it over before it got too many kms on the clock. And also, we wanted something that would handle off road driving.

BAD

The Territory left us :( . I loved that car. I bought all my babies home from the hospital in that car. And after the morning that we'd had with the dog, leaving it at Toyota and driving away almost made me break into fresh tears. I felt like I was abandoning one of the family. I know that sounds stupid, but that's how I feel. I hope it goes to a good home with people that will love it like I do. Co-incidently, that photo of us in front of the car...it is the FIRST photo of all five of us together!! And the baby was 13 weeks on Monday!

BAD

I had to take Bella to the doctors today as she has been throwing up more than usual (she is a chucky little baby) and has been quite unsettled for the past couple of days and has more green phlegm than I think is good for a 13 week old. She just seems miserable and for the past month or so, is not really putting on a lot of weight.

GOOD

Doctor said that she may have a bit of reflux and that the opening out of her stomach maybe small and hence, the milk is able to sit there and then whoosh out when she is moved upright. Her temp was normal and he said her chest was clear. I have an appointment with our own doctor on Friday (bad shoulder....another story), and I have a health nurse visit on Thursday, so if she is still miserable and has not put on any/much weight, I will get him to check her out.

BAD

On arriving home from town, I discover a calf standing in the main yard. On the weekend, we lost a lot of trees due to gale force winds and some of them fell over electric fences. Turns out , the calves have worked out that the fences are not on and are pushing against them (doesn't take them long).

GOOD

The calf in back in the paddock and didn't get out onto the road.

So that's our day. Good and bad. I feel like I have not stopped today and now I have a headache. Quite frankly, the excitement of the new car hasn't overridden the loss of Tottie, so it hasn't been a great day. I'll be glad when it is over.

Much to Mark's horror.........

2010-08-22T14:35:00.003+10:00

........Biddy is increasingly becoming a horsey girl! Ha ha ha. Whilst I wouldn't say that Mark is anti horses, he certainly can live without them in his life. So to have a daughter that seems to speak, breathe and live horses (even whilst not actually owning one), is just wrong in his books!

Fortunately for us, Mark's sister Libby does own horses and amongst them, a pony that is small enough for Biddy to ride (and add to that, it is lucky she lives almost next door). Back in May, we all went to Lib's place for afternoon tea on Mothers Day. Most of the little kids got a quick ride on the pony. Biddy spoke of nothing else for about a month. About 2 weeks ago, she again started banging on about riding the horse at Libby's, so I arranged a ride for her.

This may be the start of all things horsey for us.....but doesn't she look so pleased with herself? Brings joy to my heart!

The small things

2010-08-18T22:57:00.002+10:00

I am feeling a bit happy today and it is all to do with a lump of wood. Yes, you read that right. Wood. Well, I think it's wood. Wood veneer at least. It is my new desk that actually is not really new.

Medium length version of the story is; when Mark renovated this house many years ago, a very small office was created off the front entranceway. Over the years, and with me now on the scene, it has become the office for EVERYTHING....studies, CFA, farm bookwork, entertainment and most recently, my Graceful Impressions office. We moved the farm stuff to another new office 2 years ago now, but the small alcove I have now taken ownership of, never got an overhaul. Old filing cabinets full of stuff we never use, an old student desk with drawers of stuff that haven't seen the light of day in YEARS, more technological equipment than a Dick Smith store trying to vie for room on the desk with my craft stuff......it just wasn't working.

About 12 months ago, I bit the bullet and bought a new desk with a return. 12 MONTHS AGO. I finally got fed up waiting for Mark to put it into the office, so mum and I cleaned it all out 2 weeks ago, stacking everything in the entranceway. As expected, Mark got sick of maneuvering around said stacks and decided he would put my desk together today. I don't think he realised just how long it would take him, but it is done now.

It is a very tight fit, but everything does fit nicely. In fact, there is little space for flies, dirt and small offcuts of paper to accumulate under furniture which will be refreshing! So now I just have to bring everything from the entranceway back to the office and find a nice spot for it.

As the title of the blog says, small things.........!!

In just 6 short months.....

2010-08-10T23:36:00.002+10:00

Mark and I took Tom (and the girls) to St Mary's primary school in Colac for a walk through today. We put in an application a few weeks back for Tom to start prep and received a phone call last week informing us that he had been accepted into their prep class next year. Neither Mark nor I had actually been to the school, so before officially accepting the offer, we decided to have a visit and see the surrounds, the kids that are there and meet some of the teachers. It was really to get an overall impression and to see if it "felt" right for us and our family. Because let's face it...we have the girls to go through as well in a few years time.

I was so impressed with the school. St Mary's is a small school - only about 230 students all up - but it is big enough that the kids get to experience a range of opportunities. Like many schools here in Colac, St Mary's has recently benefited from a building stimulus package and is now sporting a new multipurpose room, library and grade 5/6 rooms.

The feel of the place fits in with our own family's values. It is nice to have something certain for Tom's (and Biddy's and Bella's) foreseeable future in the education sector. But oh my Lord.....off to school!!!! This has all just come around so fast. One minute he was a baby, the next we are discussing schools. This is the first step towards independence, towards not needing me all the time and it is scary as hell (for me!). And between you and me, I think a few tears will be shed over it all!

So.....look out St Mary's, here we come!

Thankyou

2010-08-03T00:05:00.009+10:00

In this day and age, many congratulations are expressed "virtually" - that is, I mean that you tend to receive 'happy birthday', 'condolences' and 'congratulations' via the web, email or text messaging.

When we welcomed Bella into our lives, we received well wishes from many people in just these ways. Of course, we also received the "old fashioned" cards as well, which are great because you can hold onto these and cherish them in years to come.

For those that sent cards, we sent them this "thankyou" card. For those of you that sent well wishes via the internet, this is loaded on here for you. Thanks!

In Good Hands

2010-07-25T17:11:00.004+10:00

It has been so long since I have been able to sit down and do a scrapbook layout. I was fortunate (and privileged) to be asked to run a class for some customers of mine this weekend at Port Fairy. These gals escaped to a seaside villa to do a spot of creating for the entire weekend. I took some stuff to scrap as well, along with what I was teaching them, but after all the yakking I did, I only got this one layout done. But it is a start and the first I have done for little Bella.

This picture was taken the other night right before she was to have a bath. I wanted to capture the size of Mark's hands in relation to her entire size. It is not the most perfect of photos, but I love it. I printed it out on some canvas paper that I bought at Aldi (of all places) ages ago, and it made the whole thing look quite "arty" in real life!

Five weeks!

2010-07-13T23:45:00.003+10:00

How can it already be 5 weeks since little Bella joined us? Here are some more updated pics of the little girl. Little is kinda the operative word, because although she was the heaviest one born of the three kids, she is rapidly becoming the lightest as the weeks pass. I don't think that it is that she is not putting weight on, rather the other two piled it on quickly. Mind you, to look at them today, they are both lightweights compared to others of the same age. Tom was weighed last week and is just 18kg and Biddy was weighed 2 weeks ago and she is 12.8kg.

This is Bella having her very first shower. We have introduced all our kids to the shower from a very early age (around 4 weeks) and we have found that we have never had a problem with them getting under the water as the years go on. I myself, was terrified of the shower right up until I was about 2+ when my aunty (unknowingly) put me in the shower and I held my breath till I almost passed out!

This shot was taken outside Colac Area Health right after we went for a newborn hearing screening. Unfortunately, the machine broke down just before we got there, so it turned out to be a non event, but Bella was so settled and comfy in her capsule, I couldn't resist taking a few snaps of her in the carpark!

Asleep after a hard day! Actually, asleep after awake time of almost 2 hours (which is a long time for her!). It is difficult to sleep when big brother and sister insist on wanting holds and giving continual kisses.

News on other children; Tom and Bid are on the up and up as far as the throat infections go. In fact, you'd never know anything was wrong with either of them. Tom had a follow up session to a speech pathologist today (first one was last week) which came about due to some pre-screening at kinder back in April. Turns out, his results show he is in the upper level of the normal range. So this means his often poor concentration span and borderline listening skills are just that; not concentrating and not listening. Sigh. Something to work on.

On Monday I called in to one of the Catholic primary schools to pick up a pre-register form for school next year. Lucky I did, because they are making a decision tomorrow!! Apparently, because this particular school gets quite a lot of enquiries, they don't have to advertise their enrollment (they have to turn prospective students away). However, I met with the principal and she told me that because we are Catholics and we live in the parish, we will be accepted. Phew! I guess it doesn't hurt that I volunteer at church for readings throughout the year and mum is also on a couple of the committees and is also a special minister. And we have another 2 kids coming through the system in years to come as well. But not to count our chickens.....we will have to wait to officially be told whether we are in or not.

Finally, to sign off with....I actually sat down and pulled out some of my old stash in order to make MIL a birthday card. Cripes, but I have a HEAP of patterned paper tucked away! I am teaching a class in a couple of weeks at a mini retreat and I intend to also use the time to square away a few unfinished layouts that I have here (namely Tom and Biddy's birth layouts!). But here is the card I made.....turned out ok, I think!

Sickies in the house

2010-07-11T23:50:00.005+10:00

Oh good grief.

Things didn't turn out all that well for Tom on his birthday. In fact, Biddy started it all on party day (Sunday) when she was simply flat out with a high temp and feeling ordinary and missed the entire party. The fact that 10 other children and equivalent number of adults where all making raucous noise right outside her bedroom door and she DIDN'T STIR, reflects how sick she was. Monday morning she wakes up with no voice and trying to tell me that her throat was sore. A quick peak and I discover lots of pus! Yuk. A trip to the drs and on antibiotics pronto.

Then on Tuesday morning (birthday day), Tom wakes up ok and I bundle him off to holiday programme with Biddy. But at 12pm pickup, I'm informed that he had been a bit out of sorts and prone to bursting into tears and wanting to go home for some of the morning (VERY unlike him). No food touched at La Porchettas but still appearing to be ok. But during his trip to the movies with his dad to see Toy Story 3, he became very upset at one point of the film suggesting he was out of sorts. A check of the temp at home (38 deg) confirmed he was coming down with something.

Wednesday morning, he opens his gob and I see the same pus pattern that Biddy displayed 2 mornings earlier. So another trip to the drs to get him on antibiotics.

The strongest one of the kids so far is the 4 week old! But then she is getting all the good stuff from her mum!!

I have to admit to feeling a little torn about the kids being sick. One part of me simply wants to take their sickness away and make everything all better, and the other (wicked) part of me loves the fact that they are motionless, quiet, sleepy and compliant. In fact, they are angel children! But no, really, I hate it when they are sick. They are just so.......unlike THEM! They are not my kids unless they are tearing up the place, creating havoc and generally getting into trouble!

Fast forward though to today and the antis have done their work and both kids are back to normal. And I am back to yelling at them, pulling my hair out and keeping the Viva paper towel company in business by cleaning up all manner of spills and messes.

The three of them! (Bella @ 4wks)

Where are the years going?

2010-07-06T17:24:00.004+10:00

I woke up this morning with the thought that five years ago today I became a mum for the first time. That day held so much for me...emotions, promise, love, excitement, fear, doubts...I could go on. But it was the day that I changed forever. Because from that day onward, no matter what I do in my future, no matter where I am, I will always be a mum. And by our very nature, we put our kids ahead of ourselves (well...for a number of years at least!). And I'm cool with that. It was on that day I became less selfish, more understanding, and discovered that I possessed a love that I never knew existed.

There is a saying that is doing the rounds of the internet at the moment, and I totally agree with it. It goes something along the lines of 'I wanted you the minute I knew you were coming, I loved you the second I saw you, and it was in that second that I knew I would die for you'. And it is true! I rant and rave at my kids at least once a day - usually more - but there is nothing I wouldn't do for them.

And here we are; five years on, and Thomas is now no longer a baby, no longer a toddler, but a small boy who provides us with challenges, tense moments, fun times and laughter. He is our ground breaker. He will forge the way for his two younger siblings and make it easier for them no doubt. He will make me and his father examine how and why we do things and take stock of what is really important to us.

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY THOMAS!

We celebrated his birthday on Sunday by having a small party. This will be his last official party for a while - after all, from next year around the same time, we will be celebrating Isabella's birthdays and honestly, I can only cope with one child's festivities every few months! And can you guess the theme? I'll give you a hint............we are getting good use out of certain decorations!

Yes, it was dinosaurs again (always). I'm really not sure that this craze is EVER going to let up (a few weeks back at kinder, a speech pathologist was meeting with the kids and the lady asked Tom was he wanted to be when he grew up. Instantly he replied "a paleontologist" What else?!)

So here are some pics from Sunday and a couple from today (his actual birthday).

the cake

The kids all had a ball belting the hell out of this poor dino pinata. Some had a terrific arm on them! There were about 10 kids who had a go and I think they each got 3 turns of 5 swings each before the poor sucker caved and delivered the treats!

Some of the presents he got. The one on the right is a spaceman thingy that you pump up and then push a button and it shoots up in the air. REALLY high! You just knew that it would come to grief.......

.......and it was Mark's grief! Mark is circled in red and the spaceman is circled in green. Mark is not fond of heights, so he was less than thrilled at having to get the rotten thing out of the tree! After about 30 minutes, the thing fell out of its own accord (much to Mark's disgust!)

Lunch at La Porchettas complete with dino cupcakes.

Baby Pic

2010-06-15T16:28:00.003+10:00

Thought you might like to see another picture of the little girl. I am slowly working my way through editing a few of them.

Isabella - 1 day old

Baby News!

2010-06-08T19:13:00.003+10:00

Announcing the arrival of

ISABELLA MARY SIMPSON BILLING

Weight 7lb 7oz

Length 52cm

Isabella arrived yesterday (Monday 7/6/10) on her due date at 1.15pm. We are both doing very well and dad is recovering after the discovery of having another daughter that will also have him wrapped around her little finger!!! Big brother Tom and big sister Biddy are beside themselves over having the new arrival finally here!!!

More pics to come when we get home.

Pregnancy pics

2010-06-05T11:51:00.003+10:00

Ok, some of you wanted to see what I looked like at this late stage in the game.....so here you go!

This is me at 37 weeks and 2 days

This is me yesterday at 39 weeks and 4 days. In my togs to take kids to their swimming lessons. I think I may have been standing a bit skew-wiff in this pic, because in reality, there is not much difference in my size.

Still here.........

2010-06-03T20:41:00.002+10:00

4 days and counting..............

Am having weekly doctors visits and I am told that really, I could go any time now. I also haven't put on any measurements in the past 3 weeks, so dr is suggesting that the baby doesn't need to be staying put in order to grow.....it will be better out than in (I agree!).

I had cleared my calendar for the last 2 weeks of this pregnancy in order to take things easy, but I have wound up doing nothing but clearing up, cleaning up, washing all manner of things, running errands, fixing things up, sorting rooms out....I feel like I have never been busier. Thank god for mums. Mine has been here most days to help out and even if that just means keeping the 2 kids out of my hair while I sort through boxes of crap, it is a HUGE help.

The electrical issue we had (from last post) turned out to be much simpler than anticipated. Rather than a problem with the wiring, it was a dodgy switch in the fuse box. So all the sparky needed to do was change that one switch. Brilliant.

I had some pregnancy photos take a couple of weeks ago and they turned out beautifully. Almost makes me want to get pregnant again just to have good photos! Almost....... LOL. We also recently had family photos taken as part of Biddy's baby club photo thingy... and with the exception of a couple that needed photoshopping (!) they weren't too bad either. Now we go through the decisions about which ones to enlarge!

Anyhow, I'm signing off for tonight. I have been on the computer for a bit today and despite the chair being usually comfy, I am now unable to feel my bum, the kids are at the point of killing each other and if I don't go and find a heartburn tablet in the next couple of minutes, I honestly think my oesophagus is going to rot away!!

A dead short

2010-05-26T23:23:00.004+10:00

I am currently sitting here in a unique situation....we have lost all lights and the powerpoints in the front room (aka Biddy's "new" room), but we have power (via outlets) to the rest of the house! So we can use lamps, computers, tv, kitchen implements, washer, dryer etc... but we are forced to do it all in the dark.

Usually, when our power goes off, everything goes. Mark was out feeding the dogs and cats with the boy when this happened....I was bathing Biddy who kept a remarkable sense of calm about her as she was plunged into darkness whilst probably underwater! The fuse board would not reset, and being a dairy farm with electricians on speed dial (how fortunate) Mark was able to speak to one of the sparky's straight away. However, the news is not great. Apparently, it is known as a "dead short" and it will require one of the electricians to get out here tomorrow morning and go over all the house wiring. I have never heard of this!

In the meantime, we have bought a floodlight inside and plugged it into a powerpoint in the bathroom to shine down the hallway for Tom in case he gets up in the middle of the night (plus, he's recently taken to needing a dimmer light left on....sigh...another story that one), but woe betide anyone that looks directly at it, because it is so damn bright it'll fry your eyeballs!

Lunch with my boy

2010-05-17T23:17:00.003+10:00

Today I had lunch with Tom at kinder. They had some special lunch for mum/gran/aunt etc. It was a BYO or you could have vegie soup that the kids made. I have to admit to nearly forgetting about it though. Thank God I pick Biddy up from daycare at 12pm because there were a few cars about and it got me thinking why......and then it hit me about the lunch! Fortunately, lunch wasn't until 1pm, so I had enough time to grab Bid something at the bakery, cram it down her throat, make myself a sandwich and still get back into kinder in time. When I walked in, all the other mums that were attending were already there and here was little Tom's face scouring the room looking for me. Nearly made me cry. Especially when his face lit up when he saw me....

.......damn pregnancy hormones!

Happy Mothers Day!

2010-05-10T14:51:00.006+10:00

Yes, I know I'm a day late with my wishes to fellow mums, but still, it's the thought that counts. I thought I might just load up a pic of me and the kidlets from last night. God, what a battle to get just ONE decent picture of the three of us. If it wasn't Tom looking like a stunned rabbit, then Biddy had her fingers in her gob, or I was scowling at one (or both!) of them and telling them to behave and JUST SMILE (imagine that being said through gritted teeth). To be fair, I had had a rotten night the previous night with Biddy having nightmares about spiders and being awake most of the night. I eventually went to bed at 3.45am, but I could hear her talking and singing and playing for the rest of the night /morning. For those mums that have kids that do not sleep through the night.....hats off to you. I do not know how you cope. Tom slept through from 5 weeks; Biddy from 2 weeks. I have never really suffered from a lack of sleep (save the odd night) that was not my own undoing.

So this is the best of a bad bunch! I have attempted to make it look a bit better by making it into a basic digi scrapbook layout!

For those that are interested, as of today, I have exactly 4 weeks (by the calendar) before baby #3 due date. Today I have started to really pull my finger out and get things organised. I have rang the painter to come and paint the ceiling in the room Biddy will move into, I have got the plastic storage bag for the mattress in the spare room, I have arranged Mark to shift the bed and desk out of the spare room, I have sorted out one drawer of Tom's and I have priced single beds for Biddy. Tomorrow, I have to go to Geelong, so I will call in at the Homemaker Centre at Waurn Ponds and check out more beds there. I'm a bit torn between getting a little girl's bed (ie white), or stick with a wood one like we got Tom.

This is me yesterday at 35 weeks 6 days. I have compared pictures of me at about the same stage when pregnant with both Tom and Biddy, and honestly, I can't tell much of a difference. Tom, I was much more taunt (let's face it...I'm much more stretched now!), but I seem to be about the same size and shape. God willing, this is a small baby like the other two.

Back to the subject of buying things, I had an unexpected purchase today. Yesterday - of all days - the washing machine shit itself! Great. Now we said that when it went again, that was it. We have already put 2 control panels in it, plus replaced the agitator, and the pump had to be repaired under warranty years ago. But we have spent nearly the equivalent of another new machine just getting repairs. So, off to Budget I trotted today and bought another one. It arrives Wednesday, which is 1 day longer than I would have liked, but at least I do have other options to wash clothes in the meantime. So that was $800 I could have spent elsewhere!!!! Sigh.....

We are right into calving at the minute and have 30 odd calves in the shed. things are picking up in workload around here and I can't help at all. My ankle is still giving me grief and it is all I can do to walk around the house without moderate pain. As for walking around muddy pugged up paddocks....forget it. We all know what my balance is like right now! I had to cancel our involvement in National Farm Day for this year. I was a bit sad about this, because I really believe in the concept and we have been involved since its inception, but given that it will be run the weekend before I am due, there is just no way I can do it. Mark is generally away at baseball for the Saturday, so it is left to me to "entertain" the city family for that day. Mark normally takes them out and about on the Sunday after they feed the calves. So if there are any other farmers out there reading this and you haven't been involved, have a think about it. It is a really good weekend and I think there are eyes opened on both sides! Contact Deb Bain via the national farm day website (just google "Farm Day").

The home stretch

2010-04-26T11:29:00.007+10:00

For those that have been following this blog religiously (!), I apologise for the break in transmission. Isn't it always the way though, when you get home, normality kicks in and it is difficult to actually wind up your holiday? The caravan is still sitting out in the dairy yard waiting to be completely unpacked and have the remains of locusts washed off it, and we have been unpacking clothes as we find a need for them! Just last night (a week after our return) I was hunting around in the van for kids medicine!!!

But, back to the holiday. The last post took us up to Day 29, or Friday 16th April, and saw us spend our last day in Mildura. Day 30 became a feature of our whole trip and not in the best sense neither!

We packed up and got out of Mildura by mid morning. The locusts were so bad (and we'd had reports that they were as far south as Horsham) that we stopped at Bunnings to get some mesh to cover the front of the ute to try and keep them off the radiator somewhat. We then decided to head for Halls Gap for the night and do some scenic driving through the Grampians.

Stopping at Laschelles (just north of Horsham) for lunch, we found this free (?) caravan park that had a beaut little playground next to it, and the cleanest toilets I had almost been in, complete with showers. All of this is accessible to the public, but given the population of Laschelles, I doubt they have many problems with abuse of facilities. Anyway, we stopped here to give the kids a break and to have lunch. All which went very well.....until.....

After clearing everything away and watching the kids and Mark play on the equipment, I thought that I could also have a bit of a play. Now I am 7.5mths pregnant, have absolutely NO concept of where my centre of gravity is, and have tripped, stumbled and fell my way through most of this trip. There was one of those small little roundabout things with the pole up the centre and I stupidly stood on it. It twisted, my ankle twisted and I did not twist. Result, a very badly injured ankle.

Imagine this if you will. I am in hysterical tears because of the pain in my ankle and leg, Tom realises that I am injured and rushes down the the steps of the slide, falling in the process and scraping his back. He is now crying hysterically. Biddy takes one look at us and because mummy is crying, she starts bawling too. Mark is simply trying to contain his laughter. In order to keep a check on things, he takes Biddy, and puts her into the carseat, pinching her stomach in the carseat straps in the process. So now she is howling legitimately from the pain of that. A lady that lives in the house next door appears at the car (by which at this point, I have hopped to - again, not the best of things to do when pregnant), to see if there is anything she can do because she heard all the kerfuffle!

Given that there was nothing that any of us could really do, we put ice on it, I took a couple of Panadeine Forte and we got going, thinking we would reassess at Horsham. It would be at this point we would have to make the decision about going to Halls Gap or coming straight home. Because, if I couldn't stand on it, then I couldn't get to the toilet and I need to go to the toilet LOTS!!!!! By Horsham, the painkillers had kicked in, but so had the swelling. Mark wrapped it up and through clenched teeth and a feeling of nausea, I hopped to the toilet. Ok, let's just go to Halls Gap. I didn't want to holiday to end like this.

We had just clicked over 10,000kms by this point, and I can honestly say that the most scenic and interesting driving we did was the stretch from Horsham through the Grampians to Halls Gap. Stunning areas. DSE were doing some burn offs in the northern Grampians and it added to the scenic nature somewhat.

When we got to the caravan park, I told Mark that whilst we had not taken advantage of ensuite sites at all throughout our trip, if there was ever a need for one, tonight was the night! This meant, I only had to stumble 5m instead of maybe 100m in the middle of the night!

Sore ankle!

So Mark looked after all of us that night - setting up, shopping for dinner, cooking, cleaning, bathing kids etc...I should have injured my ankle weeks ago!! It was lovely being looked after!! Ha ha ... Distance travelled today: (will get back)

Day 31 and our last day. A bit sad for all of us, but the pain in my ankle (which is now blacking up quite nicely) tugs at my sensibility to get home ASAP. We left Halls Gap and tootled home stopping in Mortlake for lunch and getting home early afternoon. Distance travelled today; (will get back).

Locusts all over front of ute

Not sure if you can see, but the van is covered in squashed locusts!

All in all, we travelled a total of 10382.2kms and didn't have one tyre puncture, one mishap with the ute or van, and had one hellova time. We are already looking forward to our next extended trip, although with the arrival of #3, we now have to change our towing vehicle because we can't fit 3 carseats in the ute. So whilst we look forward to welcoming another baby into the family in a few short weeks, we will also be welcoming a new car as well!

Oh, and to just wrap up the ankle situation......I went to A&E on Monday and after 5.5hrs and an x-ray, found out that it is largely tendon and ligament damage and I need to keep it up and off it! A subsequent visit to my own doctor later in the week revealed that the damage was so much that it really should have been placed in plaster and me on crutches for around 2 weeks. But it is on the mend now, and whilst it is still extremely painful (and colourful), I am able to hobble around.

This is the bruising & swelling coming out (and there is more now!) on about day 3

Back to Victoria

2010-04-16T21:32:00.006+10:00

Day 27 and we launched into Mildura, Victoria. It is a relatively quick run from Broken Hill to Mildura, but we encountered the worst locusts that we have seen since leaving Longreach. The locusts here aren't as big as Longreach, but they are in bigger proportions and are making much more of a mess of everything. We actually washed the front of the van and the ute at Broken Hill because they had gotten into the brake discs and under the ute and they absolutely STANK! Although we never intended on driving about with a shiny ute and van we just couldn't stand it any longer. Especially when the ute was parked right outside our bedroom window! Yuk! I have mixed emotions about our trip now: - on one hand, I am extremely jealous of travellers that I speak to in various van parks that are just starting their trips, but on the other hand, I am looking forward to getting home. I am slowing down physically (especially after the mine tour yesterday.....cripes!) and I know that I don't have long to go before the baby is born. But I still wish that we were only just starting out. Distance travelled today: 295kms.

Day 28 was a bit of a relaxed day about Mildura. We took the kids to this placed called "Snakes and Ladders" which is sort of like a big outdoor playground with what can only be described as rugged equipment. No soft edges on any of this stuff! The kids had a ball, although much of the equipment was too big for Biddy. But she coped.

Mark on the Tarzan swing

There was this bloody big slide which both Mark and Tom freaked out about going up (but Mark was eventually brave enough to go up....probably thinking about the ragging I would give him if he didn't!!!), a flying fox which Mark almost crashed off, a smaller flying fox which Biddy did crash off, but Tom thought was just brilliant, plus various slides, seesaws and swings.

the BIG slide

Mark going up: and holding on for dear life!!

Zipping down!

The visit ended with a game of mini golf, but with 2 kids of whom neither possesses any concentration skills, it was a bit of a waste of time, because I spent much of the round keeping them off other people's fairways! But Mark wants me to tell you all that he got 3 holes in one in a row!!

Greg Norman and Carly Webb they are NOT!

In the afternoon, I took Biddy to a local shopping centre for a spot of girly stuff, while Mark took Tom for a boys hour to a local go-kart track. Tom thought it was fantastic - they went in a double kart and they guy said that he had not seen the double one go around the track so fast in a long time! Typical.

Day 29 and we were a bit foiled in our endeavours to do some touristy stuff. Firstly, we tried to go to the ten pin bowling alley, but it was closed for renovations. Then we went out to Orange World (yes...there actually is such a thing) but the next train tour wasn't going for another 1.5hrs and there wasn't much to do in the meantime. So we went to Lindemans winery, which the kids thought was as boring as hell. So back into town, we found an indoor wave pool, but this was also closed for renovations! Sheesh! In the end we bought the kids back to the van park and took them to the pool here, but honestly, it was like a block of ice had just melted. Although we all went in, none of us stayed in for very long. Much, MUCH too cold. Our swimming exploits for this trip are definitely over.

For those that are interested, this is me at 32 weeks and 4 days! Getting bigger every day.

32w 4d

Lots of bitumen....

2010-04-13T18:28:00.003+10:00

Well, for the past few days it seems like we have seen nothing but bitumen. Largely because there has been not a lot between where we have been and where we are now.

After leaving Charleville, we headed for Bourke on day 24 (11th April). We were amazed by the township - every shop had a roller shutter and was locked up tight. Made me glad we were spending 5kms out of town! The weather has definitely changed...for the worse. We are now experiencing cooler weather, but in an effort to drag out the tropical holiday, we hit the pool for what might be the last time for this holiday. And such a shame. The pool at the van park was amazing. It was easily the best pool and surrounds we have been too. Pity the water was cool and so was the ambient temp! Tonight was the first time we have not had the a/c or the fan on! Distance travelled today: 455kms.

On the highway headed towards Broken Hill. Note all the bugs on the windscreen!

Day 25 and we packed up and headed for Broken Hill. Unfortunately, we are stymied by water over roads throughout the Bourke shire, which has meant that instead of being able to do a bit of off-road driving following the Darling River, we are constrained to the bitumen once again. Cobar was a much bigger town than I expected, and although Wilcannia looks to be the same size on the map, it is nearly the opposite of Cobar. Broken Hill is enormous. I'm not sure why I am amazed by its size, but it is a huge town. Distance travelled today: 624kms,

Day 26 and we took the kids to Day Dream Mine just out of Silverton. This turned out to be a great visit...Tom was unbelievably good (!) and Biddy was ok too. We took a surface tour before descending 80+ meters. Mark would never have made a miner - 6'4" is just a might too tall to be walking around the mine. In fact, the only ones that didn't bang their heads were the kids.

Day Dream Mine, Silverton

Tom and Biddy ready for the mine

Sam and Tom

Tom and Biddy exiting mine....Biddy exerting a bit of effort to get out!

After the mine we checked out the town of Silverton....strange little town. Nice though.

And just as a bit of a side note....thanks to Dicko for posting a comment on the post that spoke about the police station at Avon Downs, NT. Dicko (being a copper himself), did a bit of research and found out the background behind why there was a station in the middle of nowhere. Check out his comment on that post. And for his efforts, he has got himself a bottle of wine!

Dinos, Stockies, Planes and Locusts

2010-04-10T21:38:00.007+10:00

When we woke up on day 21 (now April 8th for those that are after dates!), the flood waters had still not receeded and roads were still cut off. We made the decision to check out some of the stuff in Winton and then head to Longreach that day. Maybe...but not likely....we might backtrack if the roads open in time again. So we went to a static display in town that depicts the Lark Quarry stampede. For those that are not wise to the whole story, basically, this farmer had just been mustering stock when he happened upon some strange footprints. He called someone in the know and they came to have a squizz. Turns out, the footprints were fossilised dino tracks. At the time, there weren't that many, but teams of palaeontologists and the like descended on the site like a Glendambo fly on a tourist (see previous post to get that reference) and eventually hundreds of tracks were unearthered. Turns out that the tracks were made by about 500 small plant eating dinos running for their lives from a huge meat eating dino (3 meters in fact).

Tom in front of display

This is what is now known as the Lark Quarry (the place they are located) stampede or "trackways", and amazingly, was the inspiration of the stampede scene in Jurassic Park! There were also other bone replica fragments on display...quite interesting, but with no actual dinosaurs, it wore thin quite quickly for Biddy in particular. We then went to the Waltzing Matilda Centre which is pretty much dedicated to Banjo Patterson and the song/poem "Waltzing Matilda". As expected, lots of pioneer and early Australiana stuff to see.

Biddy playing "Waltzing Matilda"!!!!

Onto Longreach in the afternoon and as we pulled in quite late in the afternoon, all that was on the cards was a swim and dinner. But what we weren't prepared for was a locust plague!! They are everywhere and have stripped all the trees around the van park and town. In the daylight hours, they tend to just flit about and accidently bump into you (actually, they land on you with an almighty thud), but at night, they swarm around you if you are anywhere near a light. And this was just too much for dear little Biddy, who couldn't even make it through her dinner for fear of them. Distance travelled: 180kms

Just a VERY small sample of the buggers....these literally landed on our van the minute we pulled up.

Doesn't matter that you are on hols...the cooking still needs to be done!

Day 22 and we visited the Stockman's Hall of Fame. I thoroughly enjoyed looking through here and I think Mark did too, but we kept Biddy in the pram for this visit and many of the displays were above her head height, so she was bored and was constantly asking to "get out???". Tom, on the other hand, was belting around the place like a mad kid and I was trying to ignore the fact that he belonged to us, but it was difficult when he'd run up and call me "mummy". Sigh.

Stockmans Hall of Fame (Mark and the kids are in the front centre)

After lunch we went to the Qantas Founders Museum which held Tom's attention for a lot longer. Must be a male thing, looking at engines, planes and machinery. I, on the other hand, thought it was interesting, but it wasn't the highlight of my visit.

However, for both kids, it was quite exciting to see a big 747 up close (one was on display).

The locusts are starting to thin out, and we found out later that they are definately moving on but have also been sprayed for.

Day 23 and after pouring over the mapbook last night trying to decide what route we will now take, we have decided to ditch our first thought of travelling to the coast in favour of sticking inland. We will leave the coast for another visit. So we are headed to Charleville today with the intention of heading eventually to Mildura for a number of nights. The actual route may depend a little bit on road conditions and closures due to rain in the SW of Qld. So today, was pretty much spent packing up and driving to Charleville. We went through Tambo with the intention of buying Biddy a Tambo teddy, but we missed shop opening hours by 20 minutes!!! Arghhh...sometimes, the luck is just not with you! Travelling on a Saturday does have its disadvantages. I will ring them when we get home and see if I can arrange something via mail. I have a Tambo teddy from my last pass through this town (his name is "Sonic"...all teddys are named after a local property). Distance travelled: 511kms.

check out Biddy's hair from the humidity...curls galore!!

Heading for the West

2010-04-07T21:52:00.004+10:00

Day 18 saw us leave Katherine and make for Three Ways. We had planned to go south a slightly different way - through Cape Crawford and then down to Barkly Homestead and then through Camooweal to Mt Isa - but fuel stops and accommodation was an issue. And the distances that we would have had to do made it a little unfeasible with the kids. So instead, we retraced our steps to almost Tennant Creek stopping at the Three Ways Roadhouse for the night instead. This was the first night in a while that it has not been humid and I think we slept without the a/c on!! Distance travelled: 613kms

Road trains at Three Ways

Leaving Three Ways on day 19, we headed straight for Mt Isa. The only place you pass through before you hit the Qld border is Barkly Homestead and it is only 187kms into the trip!

But one little strange place we passed through - and stopped for lunch (a sandwich in the caravan) - was Avon Downs. What made this place so strange was that it consisted of a property (that we didn't see) but also a largish police station. In the middle of nowhere! There was still 50+kms to go before the border, and Barkly was about 200kms west!

Avon Downs police station

We are not sure why this place exists so if anyone knows, post a comment!

Baby in NT; Sam in Qld

Sam at the Queensland border

We pulled into Mt Isa at about 6pm and headed straight for the caravan park. A bit of a mishap tonight....Mark decided (unknowingly) to see just how waterproof his mobile phone was. He thought he'd checked his pockets before plunging into the deep end of the pool, but obviously not well enough. After 5 minutes, he discovered the phone. Oh oh! There was no display and when he opened the back, an awful lot of water came out of it. We joked that it is water resistant to 1.9m but Mark went to 2m so that is what stuffed it! Tonight, we treated the kids to Macca's - this is the first fast food we've had on the trip. Distance travelled: 637kms

Day 20 and whilst we would have liked to get an early start, we had to wait for the Telstra shop to open to get another phone. Because although I have mine (and Mark's sim card did work in my phone, so that wasn't stuffed), I don't have the cables, software etc to allow us to use it to get onto the internet to do important things like updating the blog!! We got away with buying just a prepaid phone and swapping the sim cards. At the rate that he goes through phones, I reckon he should just stick with the prepaid handsets and run the plan through the sim!! We eventually left Mt Isa at around 10.30am and headed for Winton. Remember the pub in the movie "Crocodile Dundee"? The Walkabout Creek Hotel? Well we passed by it in a nondescript placed called McKinlay.

It is obvious that it was only the hotel scenes that were shot here, because the surrounds are almost farmland rather than outback....nothing like I remember from the movie. Now, I have to admit that the visit to Winton and surrounds was purely so we could take young Tom to see the dinosaur exhibits at the newly opened 'Age of Dinosaur's centre and maybe also visit Lark Quarry Dinosaur Trackways. We didn't say anything to him about this just in case we didn't even make it here. And just as well, because on our arrival this afternoon, we discovered that the bloody cyclone that has been dumping a crapload of rain in the gulf region also dumped a fair bit around here and the roads to the dinosaurs are all cut off!!!

The road to Lark Quarry....flooded

Something that the flood waters threw up! Killed just before we saw it!

I could cry. But what do you do? There are some dino exhibits here in town and we will take him to those. Maybe, if this dino fever he has keeps going over the next few years, we might fly him to Longreach, get a hire car and drive him to Winton to see them. But it ain't going to happen this trip sadly. Distance travelled: 467kms

Nitmiluk at Eastertime

2010-04-04T22:44:00.004+10:00

Happy Easter everyone! Yes, the Easter Bunny found our kids in Katherine and left some goodies near their beds. Although mum had to rapidly put them in the fridge to ensure they still resembled eggs and bunnies, and not a lump of chocolate!

We visited Katherine Gorge today, and for those that don't know (and I didn't prior to yesterday), you pronounce the National Park as "Nit-me-look". It means "place of the cicada" or something similar. We took the 2 hour cruise of 2 gorges starting at 9am. Thank god we chose that one, because it was so hot and muggy this morning.....I couldn't imagine what it would be like on the punts at 11am, 1pm and 3pm. Yuk. I was a sweating mess by halfway through - as were most people!

The Katherine Gorge (or Nitmiluk Gorge as it should be known) is really beautiful, but there are limits to the kids attention spans and they were well and truly over looking at scenery and rocks by about 3/4's through. Which was fine, because the aforementioned weather was starting to get to me too. Our guide talked us through the areas we visited and it was really quite interesting. There is currently no swimming or canoeing in the river as the wet season has washed some salt water crocs into the system. Nasty buggers.

Jeda's Rock - this is the rock that featured in the film "Jeda"

A hot day for a small girl and her dad.....38 degrees and 70+% humidity

Back at the caravan park, we were all just hanging out for the pool and a bit of a relax. It is amazing how much the humidity takes it out of you.

I think that the word above me just sums it all up! Thanks Tom (the photographer!)

Tomorrow we push on further south for Three Ways (just north of Tennant Creek) so we can push into Queensland in preparation for a big surprise for Tom! Stay tuned for that one!!

The Top End

2010-04-03T23:24:00.007+11:00

After a bit of a blogging hiatus, I'm back.

Day 11 (this is now the 29th March), and we met the Stevenson's at Crocodylus Park. This is a crocodile park and research venue and houses in excess of 15,000 crocs. We had promised Tom even before we left on this trip that he would get to see a crocodile close up and probably even handle one....this was his day!

There are about 20 breeding pens which house 1 male and 1 female...these crocs have mainly been taken from the wild due to either injury or being a rogue croc. The males were ENORMOUS. Most of them were over the 500kg mark.

Keeping a safe distance

Tom and the baby croc - how pleased does he look with himself??!!

At the end of the croc tour, 2 baby crocs (2yos) were bought out (mouths suitable taped shut) for you to hold and take photos/video. Tom was right in there, which surprised me as I thought he would be reserved when the time came. In fact, it was Biddy who didn't want a bar of them and I thought she'd be the one wanting to hold them.

The rest of the park was set out like a mini zoo with both Australian and exotic animals on display. The kids got to see emus, dingos, wombats, variety of birds, lizards and snakes, lions, tigers, monkeys, and ostriches.

After the Park visit, we headed off for a late lunch before heading back to the caravan park with the Stevos for a swim and a BBQ tea of croc snags, kebabs and hamburgers!

Day 12 was a serious tourist day with Deb and I taking my 2 kids into town to do some souvenir shopping whilst Mark and Stevo went to visit a WWII museum. A fishy lunch on the wharf before heading back to the caravan for some relaxation time.

Deb mentioned that there was a local garden supply place that happened to have a heap of lifesized statues of various animals on display that the kids would love. Tom thought it was great because there were DINOSAURS!!! So day 13 saw us spending a good hour and a half at this place having a look at the various displays before having some lunch in the surprisingly fabbo cafe.

Yes....Mark found a dairy cow in the Top End.....albeit fibreglass!

We then headed off to a waterpark not far from our caravan park which was almost the highlight of the trip for the kids (both small and large!) This park was absolutely free and was so well equipped. There was an enormous water adventure playground complete with a number of small slides, various water fountains, and a huge bucket that filled and tipped a cement mixer worth of water on you in one go. There was a huge pool that was made to resemble a beach (it got deeper as you waded out into it) and there were 3 really big water slides. One you went down in a tube, the other 2 you just sat down and sped through. Tom didn't quite make the height requirement, but at the right time, he stood on his toes and passed muster. After a number of goes, he did get sprung for being on the short side and was stopped from going up again. Nearly broke his heart. Mark had some definate views on that decision for the lifeguard! Nevertheless, Tom had a ball on the slides and I doubt that any swimming pool in any caravan site is ever going to match up again!!

Who is the bigger kid?

Day 14 (April 1st), and we are rapidly approaching the time when we will have to leave Darwin. Sigh....our holiday is almost half over. Today, Mark and I took Tom and Biddy to the Territory Wildlife Park in Berry Springs (south of Darwin). This is sort of like Desert Park in Alice Springs, only it is tropical based. The highlight for Tom was the birds of prey show because the lady called them raptors and this is just too close to being a dinosaur for Tom. After the show, we got to go up and get a really close look at them. Beautiful.

Wedgetail Eagle

Barking Owl (Tom was particularly taken with this one!)

The lowlight for both kids was the enormous spiders that inhabited the area. These are orb spiders and are very big (maybe the size of my hand). Both kids got a fright at various points during the day - Biddy nearly had a melt down when I made her walk under one (I didn't think she'd saw it) and Tom got a huge fright when he was looking into a display and one ran nearly right under his nose! From then on, he was on spider alert!

Just for those that are interested....me at 30 weeks and 2 days. Suffering a little in the humidity!

Day 15 (halfway point) and it is Good Friday today. Nothing much open, which is just as good as we took the opportunity to start to pack up surplus stuff and get some serious washing done. We took the kids around to the Stevos for dinner and to say goodbye. Not for long though as Deb and Stevo are planning to return to Colac (for good) just before Christmas and will be parking the Big Blue Bus at the farm until they can move back into their house. Biddy has taken to Laura and follows her everywhere calling her "Lola". Tom thinks Will is pretty good too.

Biddy, Laura, Will and Tom

Sam and Deb

Day 16 and we leave Darwin headed for Katherine. Darwin has been great and once you get a bit used to the heat and humidity, I would fully recommend visiting in the wet season. Mainly because there are just so few tourists around and you really can have your pick of things to do without fear of missing out due to overbookings. Sure, some things aren't running and some things are closed, but you can always find something to do. So we headed south for Katherine and lobed into the Low Level Caravan Park. This is a very nice park - very shady and quite a bit out of town so you tend to not get the riff raff. We have booked in for a cruise of the Katherine Gorge tomorrow and have elected to do the 9am cruise which goes for 2 hours (to miss the heat of the day). So an early start tomorrow. Afterwards we'll see what else there is around here to do that may interest the kids. After all, when the kids are happy, I am happy!!

The big push for the north

2010-03-30T16:34:00.009+11:00

I must admit that I didn’t intend to be as lax with our blog entries for the trip, but we have had some big travelling days and some pretty poor phone/internet service while we’ve been away. Add onto this that most nights we are absolutely buggered, and you start to get a picture of why I haven’t been blogging.

But the time has come, so I’ll do a bit of an update for you all.

The first day (March 19^th) we did end up leaving home well before I thought we actually would but a bit later than planned (I think we drove out the gate at about 8.45am). This day was pretty much spent in the car travelling to Adelaide, where we stayed out the north side of the city so we had a jump on the next day’s driving. Distance travelled today: 730kms

Day 2 was another big travelling day as we are trying to get as much distance between us and the farm as possible! No, seriously, if we don’t put in some big days then we are simply going to leave our time in either Darwin or the trip home a bit short. The outback pretty much starts after Port Augusta as there is nothing much to see from here on out. We stopped at a place called Pimba for a refuel (just out of Woomera) and I could not believe the flies. I thought they were bad at home, but my god.....these were just unbelievable. As soon as you got out of the ute, they just attacked you. And they were no better 200km or so up the road at Glendambo where we pulled in for the night. The temperature today was up around the 38◦C. Distance travelled today: 605kms

Day 3 was a short run to Coober Pedy. The kids need a break out of the car and frankly, so do we. We are finding that they still have all their energy reserves for the day when we pull up at night and they are not getting to sleep until 11pm....not great when we need to be on the road early the next day. Coober Pedy on a Sunday is just a bit of a ghost town. Much like Sundays were when we were growing up....nothing much open, no-one around.... But it is as hot as hell here! The pool at the caravan park is inside a sort of water tank – completely out of the sun. Freezing cold..or maybe it just feels that way because we are so hot! Distance travelled today: 250kms

Day 4 was spent being tourists around Coober Pedy. We visited the dog fence and the Breakaways which are located about 15 – 20kms out of town towards Oodnadatta. The dog fence is an amazing structure as it extends 5,600kms from almost Surfers Paradise down to the Great Australian Bight near Ceduna. The longest continuous man made structure in the world. The landscape around Coober Pedy is just barren, and a number of movies have been shot around here that play on this rocky, red, hot environment (Mad Max, Pricilla Queen of the Desert, Red Planet). Later in the day we took the kids on a tour of an example of an opal mine, an underground house and one of the underground churches. It really is not that cool underground...quite muggy in fact. It struck us that Coober Pedy feels like it has fallen a bit on hard times, tourist wise, as there were a lot of things closed and obviously big ventures now not operating. Sort of feels a bit sad. Didn’t buy any opals here as they are not any cheaper here than anywhere else in Australia. Distance travelled today: 50kms

Biddy near the dog fence just out of Coober Pedy (can you see her? Right in the middle of the pic)

Tom and Biddy in the Old Timers Mine, Coober Pedy

Day 5 was an early start out of Coober Pedy headed for Alice Springs. Another big day of travelling broken up really only by a photo opportunity at the SA/NT border. Both Mark and I had not long been to Ularu, Kings Canyon and the Olgas, so we didn’t bother taking the 400km round trip to go there this time. The kids at their age would not be that interested and it is a bloody long way to go. So we pushed on past the turn off at Erldunda and kept going. It was amazing how green it is up here. The last time we were up this way (about 8 years ago), it was like a dust bowl. But this time, there is greenery everywhere. There have been some extensive rains in recent weeks – in fact enough to get the Todd River in Alice flowing which actually drowned someone! We pulled into Alice at about 5pm and headed straight for the caravan park. This park is one of the Big 4 chains and it is really well appointed. There are 3 pools here and the kids were in heaven! Distance travelled today: 692kms

Mark and the kids at the SA/NT border

Day 6 was another tourist day. We took the kids to the Alice Springs Desert Park in the morning where they got to walk around and view different desert habitats. It is simple enough to walk around (in fact, we took Biddy’s pram for the inevitable slow periods) but it was so hot. You are out in the heat for pretty much the whole time, although there are water stops along the way (which we made good use of). Tom did so well walking around the park, but by the end he was buggered – so was I. I think I was bringing up the rear! (give me a break, I’m nearly 7 months pregnant). After lunch we headed for the Reptile Centre in town. This is a bit run down and institutional looking, but there are heaps of exhibits to view and even a “pet” goanna that meanders about the place on its own that you can pat (but don’t touch its head or tail unless you want a nip!). Tom was hugely impressed by the snakes and geckos.

Tom with the goanna at the Alice Reptile Centre

We are now at day 7 and the novelty of living in the caravan and travelling has worn off the kids and they are now settling into a routine much better. For the first couple of days, Tom was a bloody nightmare to deal with, mainly because he had so much pent up energy, but now he is getting a lot better. Biddy is also settling into it all as well, sleeping better at night. This day also sees us leaving Alice and heading for Tennant Creek. We passed through Aileron which has a huge statue of an Aileron man overlooking the town and another of an Aileron woman and child down in the town. I’m not sure how big they are (I’ll google it), but they are enormous (impressive!). Not much at Barrow Creek and we ate lunch in the van under the only tree in the roadside stop. Temperature is in the 40’s today and after lunch, both the kids and I fell asleep and missed Wycliffe Well and Wauchope. Wycliffe Well is reknown for being a UFO hot spot and is even marked on maps as being the UFO centre. Mark said that there was a tin cutout of a UFO and another of a green man at the entrance to the town. The “centre” was just the arse-end of the roadhouse! But the highlight of the trip for me so far was the next stop – the Devils Marbles. When I was a little girl, we used to have a big book at home that was all about travelling Australia. In it, was a picture of the marbles and I always thought they looked so cool. I remember knowing that I would visit them one day and now here I am! They are spectacular in real life! I made both kids and Mark get out and come for a walk with me. I really enjoyed this bit of the trip. Onto Tennant Creek afterwards. Distance travelled today: 529kms

Aileron woman and child statue

All of us at the Devil's Marbles

We were going to head to Katherine today (day 8) and spend a couple of days here, but that would mean that would put us in Darwin a day later, and we really wanted to get there. So we decided to go as far as Mataranka (100kms less) and then do a short jump to Darwin the following day. So onwards from Tennant Creek to Mataranka we went (Mark insisted on calling it Madagascar!). On the way, we turned off and stopped at Daly Waters Pub. This pub is famous the world over and heaps of international visitors come here. The bar is covered in stuff (no other word for it really) – from bras, undies, rugby tops, stubbie holders, cloth patches, money, hats etc... The kids had a good time wandering around and it was a good half hour break for the out of the car. Mataranka is reknown for 2 things: thermal pools and also the place that the book (and film) “We of the Never Never” was about. Never having read the book, I’m not sure what the story is about (although I could venture a guess). The thermal pool is located just near the Mataranka Homestead where we are camping for the night (and I mean camping...this is just about bush camping), and we all toodled off for a look and a dip. What we thought initially were noisy birds turned out to be red flying foxes – thousands of them! And you had to walk under them to get to the pool. I’m sure we were piddled and pooed on for the round trip! The pool was beautiful although I couldn’t help but think of it as one giant bat toilet! It is now quite muggy and we are feeling the tropical weather more and more. Distance travelled today: 575kms

Sam and Biddy enjoying a cold one at Daly Waters Pub

Mark at the Day Waters bar

Red flying foxes

Us in the thermal pool at Mataranka

Day 9 saw us wake to a beautiful morning, but very muggy. The kids spotted a hand reared kangaroo near our camp site and took off to give it something to eat and for a pat.

We packed up and left for Darwin today, although things seem to be a bit slower going as any exertion results in you swimming in your own sweat! We arrived in Darwin at about 3.30pm and the kids and I left Mark to set up the annex while we took off for the pool. Deb, Chris, Will and Laura Stevenson came over to the caravan park to meet and greet us – the friends who are main reason for coming up all this way! – and to stay for tea. It was great to catch up with them and find out all the goings on (from both sides). Will and Laura have grown so much since we saw them last. Just as we were finishing dinner, a HUGE storm hit us and held us all captive under shelter. There have been cyclone warnings for a number of days and whilst Darwin itself is not in line for it, we will receive the rain from it. But the rain was warm and the kids had a ball running around in it. I’m glad that we have finally arrived and am looking forward to staying put for a week or so. Distance travelled today: 421kms

Tom, Biddy, Laura and Will

Deb, Mark and Stevo

Today (day 10) we took off with the Stevos and Deb’s friend Caz to Litchfield National Park for a look about and a swim in some rockpools. We started at the furthest one (Wangi Falls) and then worked our way back towards home. Wangi was unfortunately closed for swimming (crocs) but it is a beautiful waterfall. There is also a walk around the base and up over the top of the falls. We all started the walk, but after getting to the first stop (300m up stairs), I was knackered and was not going further. Neither was Deb or Caz (who is also pregnant – 13wks). The young boys took off up more stairs with Biddy, so Mark followed them. When they didn’t come back within 5 minutes, we figured that they decided to keep going the whole circuit. So we headed back and waited for them at the bottom. When they got back, Tom was still going strong, Will was holding his own, but poor Biddy was being carried by Mark. And apparently, had been for most of the walk! So Mark was a pool of sweat and his arms and legs were killing him!! We stopped then at Tolmer Falls for a look before heading to a rockpool near Florence Falls for a swim and some lunch. The water was beautiful – clear, cool, although there were some murderous rocks! We even spotted a couple of water monitors that hopped in with us for a bit (freaked Deb out!). Afterwards we went to the Magnetic Termite Mounds which are enormous before a visit to the Batchelor Pub for a quick beer before heading back to the caravan and another swim. Distance travelled today: 240kms

Mark at Wangi Falls

Mark and kids at Florence Falls rockpool

Sam with the kids at the giant termite mounds

Packing, lists and time running out!

2010-03-15T22:41:00.002+11:00

Get ready for a flurry of posts over the next 4 weeks as we set off on our epic journey north to visit the Stevenson family in Darwin. But before we even drive out the gate, there is a flurry of activity right here! The organisation that goes into being able to take 4 weeks away from the farm is astonishing to say the least. I really think it will take Mark about 1 week to settle into the holiday, so it is just as well we are taking a great slab of time!

In the meantime, I am madly washing clothes, making lists and going shopping for all the things that pop into my mind at 3am! We drive out the gate at 7am THIS FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!

Stay tuned.......

My 40th party

2010-03-01T15:53:00.009+11:00

Aloha!

Over the past weekend, the calf shed had been recreated to resemble a south island tropical resort. If only the weather played the game, it would have been perfect (Friday it was about 36 degrees...Saturday (party night) it was about 15!). Ahh well....we can't have it all.

Yes, it was the setting for my 40th birthday and about 65 guests came along to help me celebrate. I want to once again thank all of them for making the effort to not only come along, but to also get into the spirit of the occasion by dressing up in hula skirts, hawaiian shirts and sarongs despite the cold. I had a wonderful night. I'm sorry to say that I missed a heap of people leaving as I had to go back tot he house and put tired kids to bed, but I'm sure those people understood. After all, most of them were leaving to do the same or at least relieve baby sitters!

The bulk of this post is photos, so sit back and have a squizz.

A couple of big thankyous though....

my mum: for cutting out all the palm trees that we had as part of the decorations (you can see one in a photo below. These were 7" high and made of MDF....a bit of work gone into them). Also for helping with the shopping, the food preparation and serving and also the baby sitting while I was trying to get organised!

Butler ladies: Bernie made my cake, helped with decorations and dished out the food. Emma and Monnie made some great decos to bring to the farm. Emma also acted as bartender for a bit to get cocktails organised.

Mark: for running around, picking up and dropping off hire gear, helping to set up the shed and also for helping me to clean up today! (very important job)

Trevor and Terry: our farm guys pitched in to help set up, help Mark pick up hire gear, mow lawns, move machinery around.... general dogs bodies.

Mooka: for arranging the coolroom for the drinks and the food. A damn godsend!

Alfie: for cutting up the meat and making sure it was cooked properly.

And finally my cousin Dean and his family: for travelling from Adelaide especially for the night. It was great to see them all (it's been too long guys!)

Biddy

Tom

Mum, Emma and Bernie

Mark

The (6 months pregnant) birthday girl giving a speech

Kids on the "beach"

Some of the guests (you can see a palm tree in the background...one of 12!)

Blowing out the candles

The following morning, we put on a breakfast of bacon and eggs for all those that stayed overnight. Much to our amazement (and delight), Biddy decided to give us all an impromptu performance. "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" was her song of choice. And of course, she HAD to have the microphone on. Singing into it with it turned off was just NOT ON. Mark had to go and crank it all up for her! She lived it up for her "fans".

Do you think a karaoke machine might be on Santa's 2010 list?

12 months on....

2010-02-08T15:27:00.003+11:00

It's hard to believe that it has been 12 months since those devastating fires that hit Victoria. Black Saturday. Mark and I watched the ABC show last night "Into the Firestorm" which recapped the timing of the fire events and the responses (and results) throughout the day. From those events, it is difficult to image that anyone living in even the fringe areas of bush and farmland would not consider fire plans. But sadly, I guess, that is the case.

As members of the CFA, Mark and I both hear from time to time about people who have not got a fire plan, do not know in advance of what they will do and expect someone, somewhere to swoop down and rescue them when the going gets hot. Sometimes, listening to talkback radio gives me the sh*ts, because it is evident that there are people out there that are just itching to lay blame when things do go wrong. I don't for a minute suggest that if negligence or malice is involved, someone should not be held accountable, but there are definately times where things go wrong and are outside of what anyone thought was imaginable or possible. Just listening to the various CFA captains and residents of those fire affected communities bodes this out. Never in their wildest dreams, did they think it could ever have gotten as bad as it did. But it did.

Add onto this, is the fact that those that cop the brunt from the "blame-layers" are in fact the face of the fire agencies. The vast majority of them CFA volunteers. Let me state that again.... VOLUNTEERS. Not necessarily the paid staff of the ones that make the upper management decisions. They are the guys and girls that pick up a line and squirt the wet stuff on the red stuff and hope that they get everything under control ASAP. And in the case of the Marysville crew, they were out trying to save other people's possessions and livelihoods while each and every one of them lost their own houses, possessions, and in one case, much much more.

So what has prompted this diatribe from me? There was an article in the weekend's Age which I received an online copy of. It is a very good article which probably states everything I have said, but in a much more eloquent way. The bottom line; if you want to live in a fire prone area, you need to accept the risks, and these may involve the loss of property and/or life. If you don't want to, or can't, accept these risks, then you need to consider living somewhere else. There simply cannot be guarantees of safety made.

Check out the article by clicking HERE

A busy 6 months ahead

2010-01-21T21:10:00.002+11:00

The year is staring to pick up speed and I feel like I am not keeping up with it already!

The start of the year on the farm has proved to be a busy one with an outbreak of pinkeye affecting most of the various mobs of cows. A dreadful condition, which although we have vaccinated the cows to reduce the incidence, the dust and the flies are just having their wicked ways. For the first time in my life, I woke up with a touch of conjunctivitis and Mark suggested (tongue in cheek) that I may also have succumed to the pinkeye outbreak!!! Great!

We have also had all our first calf heifers classified - about 100 odd - and whilst I am yet to see any score sheets, I believe that we averaged in the 80's. I resubmitted Craiglands Luckystrike 3111 for classification and she improved 2 points taking her to VG 87 which I am very pleased with.

On the subject of Luckystrike, I don't think I mentioned that our big black Luckystrike cow (2843...the one we flushed), is FINALLY in calf. Whoo hoo. This is the best news! She is due a week before me! ha ha ha. Because she has been running with 9 bulls, we won't be keeping the calf, but the fact that she is pregnant and hopefully will continue to get back in calf is very welcome news. For those of you not in the cow game, I can appreciate that this is not very interesting and you are probably thinking that I have lost my marbles. Nearly correct, but not quite!

As Jarrod left us to join the Navy, we have been interviewing potential replacements this week. Happily, we had about 11 people apply, and we chose 6 to interview. We will make a choice by early next week and hopefully the new employee will start in February.

Mark and I also took part yesterday in a television commerical shooting for DPI. It has something to do with the future farming program and there are a number of farmers from different industries involved. We may end up on the cutting room floor, and I doubt that we would win any awards for our performances!!

February sees us getting the kids back into a routine of daycare, kinder (first year for Tom!) and swimming. My 40th birthday is also at the end of Feb and we are planning a big bash for that. I am actually looking forward to celebrating my 40th and entering the next decade of my life.

A big March and April is planned as we are taking the kids and the caravan and travelling to Darwin to catch up with the Stevenson's. Already I am very much looking forward to it and I think the big break away with just us and the kids will do the world of good for Tom, especially as in a few weeks after, the focus is going to be on something very different in our lives.......

...the new baby. Yes, the baby arrives sometime in early June. I am now over halfway and have gotten through all the necessary tests that I needed to have done (except diabetes...still to come). Of all the tests that I have gone through - for pregnancies, IVF etc - the most stressful that I encountered was the amniocentises. It was not the actually test that freaked me out, but the odds of having a miscarriage. In fact, it freaked me out so much, that on my first attempt (2 days prior to Christmas) I backed out. Couldn't go through with it. But after a few tears, hours of discussion with Mark, I knew it was for the best. So I did go through with it. And everything is fine. We have the results back and genetically, the baby is normal. Physically, the baby is normal. Mentally, it's mother is borderline!! LOL. But sheesh....the stress of will I/won't I miscarry is just so in your face. But I am past the danger period now and fingers crossed it is all smooth sailing from here on.

We haven't really seen too much of the hot weather so far this summer. Yes, we've had a few days in the high 30's and even low 40's, but I think we are still to face the wrath of Mother Nature. Actually, we need a few stinkers to kill some of these bloody flies!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

2009-12-27T16:37:00.005+11:00

I'm a little late with my festive message, but we hope that you all had a great Chrissy filled with good food, good drink, good cheer and not too many tantrums, hissy fits, tears and squabbles (and that is just for the adults!!). No seriously, we hope you had a fabbo day.

We had a great day here at the farm, although one of our milkers was late on the job. And he doesn't even have an excuse of a hangover as he is only 15. I hope Santa bought him a whopping big alarm clock! Sadly, we said goodbye to one of our long term workers. Jarrod Hall had his last milking with us on Christmas morning and it was all I could do to say thanks, give him a kiss and get out of there before I dissolved into tears. Jarrod has been with us 1 month shy of 4 years and we have watched him grow from an awkward teenager, to a strapping young man with a bright future. Jarrod leaves us to join the navy, and since his missed the March intake, we might see him sneak around for the occasional milking to get some money! So heartfelt thanks go to Jarrod for all his work, committment and reliance over the past 4 years.

Jarrod & Mark

Back at the house, the kids were chomping at the bit to get stuck into the pressies! Mum had done a wonderful job of keeping them out of the lounge room until Mark and I got back from the dairy. Of course, they were both spolit rotten and Mark made the commentthat they had more stuff in just their Santa sacks than he usually got in a whole Christmas. It's a fair comment as I think the same was true for me!

Biddy 'relaxing' in her new camping chair with her Dora sunnies!

But the kids had a wonderful day with the main presents being:
Tom - a V-motion console and games, a Tag pen and books, a battery powered Jeep (courtesy of Nanny and the Butler family), clothes, books, the usual array of dinosaur merchandise, a dino quilt (from Gran) and a stack of Hot Wheels racing tracks including the dinosaur tracks.

Biddy - a rocking horse (horses are her FAVOURITE thing at the moment), variety of dolls, tea-set, a crayola table with pens and playdoh, books, clothes, goggles, and a camping chair.

Mark - a set of RM Williams canvas carseat covers, a mini Webber (for the caravan), and Top Gear DVDs and books.

Sam - a water fountain for the garden, a couple of metal garden ornaments including a HUGE spider (loving that one!!), a Soda Stream, the New Moon CD and a rolling table to use near the BBQ (this was handmade by my mum in her woodwork course at U3A and is simply fabulous!).

Unwrapping the Soda Stream

Lunch ran late of course, but luckily, none of us had to milk, so it was no biggie. Had the usual - ham, turkey, pork and also poussin (baby chickens), followed by pudding and another sweet treat. We only had 5 adults and 2 kids for lunch so it was pretty relaxed. Dinner was at my SIL and the whole Billing family got together - LOTS of kids at this one!

Of course, we can't forget that it was also Biddy's real birthday, so on top of all the festive celebrations and food, we also had a birthday cake and a birthday song for her. Every year, Mark and I are buying her a small crystal figurine...this year it was a cat.

Blowing out the candles for her 2nd birthday!

Are we mad?

2009-12-09T22:55:00.004+11:00

For those that haven't caught up on the news yet, Mark and I are expecting our third baby in June next year! Yes, Tom will be a big brother x2 and Biddy will finally get the opportunity to terrorise someone younger than her! Things have not been smooth sailing (already...I am 14+ weeks now), but hopefully everything will settle down into an uneventful pregnancy.

Things have been flat out here of late and I feel like I am not even keeping my head above water. I am struggling a little health-wise (pregnancy related), and with Mark still out of action due to back surgery, everything has fallen to me to do. I have had to cancel an event I was organising for Saturday afternoon, purely because I am not able to get everything done in time.

The kids are winding up various activities and now we are facing the run of Christmas parties. As a bit of a run down on what I have booked in:

10th: Back surgeon appointment and OBGYN appointment (both Melb)

11th: free-ish. Have hairdresser appointment!

12th: cancelled event, but now have 6yo party to take kids to

13th: Larpent CFA Christmas BBQ

14th: Kids have their daycare Christmas concert. Judging for HICO on-farm challenge sometime in next 3 days

15th: Swimming group breakup and then Mark and I are celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary (in Melb)

16th: Spot of Xmas shopping in Melbourne then home

17th: Cockies picnic (day), dinner with female family members (night)

18th: to Geelong for remainder of Xmas shopping??????

19th: Craiglands staff Christmas party

20th: free

21st: OBGYN appointment in Melb

22nd: Food shopping

23rd: finish cleaning house

24th: to Lorne to pick up seafood

25th: yes I know that you think this is Christmas, but remember, for us, it is also Biddy's REAL birthday, so we have that as well!!!

Phew! December is just crazy isn't it?

Also, I have neglected to mention how we went in the various shows that we took cows to. Colac show was not a great success for us. We did get places (a 2nd and a 3rd), but I was hoping for something a little better, particularly for the Luckystrike cow that we took to the shows last year. My personal opinion was that she was a much better cow this time out and should be in with the mix. At Colac though, she wasn't. However, at Noorat, things were a little different. The cows settled into the different surrounds very quickly and that always helps things along. The Luckystrike (Craiglands Luckystrike 3111) performed exceptionally well taking out Reserve Champion Dairy cow and Supreme Udder in the interbreed sections! This was a terrific result.

Sam with Craiglands Luckystrike 3111 (wearing her ribbons) after just taking part in the Grand Parade

This time round, Carl Moon was unable to join us, so I thank Mike Huth (from BOS Trading) for coming along to both shows and helping me put the finishing touches on the cows, particularly with kids in tow! I also want to thank our farm staff who put up with me juggling cows around, preparing cows whilst they are trying to do their normal duties, helping me with various little jobs both before and after the shows (such as applying sunscreen to clipped udders), and generally supporting my 'hobby'. Thanks guys!

He's back and recovering

2009-11-18T14:18:00.003+11:00

Monday week ago, Mark had his back operation. It turned out that the prolapse was much worse than first anticipated and he ended up being in surgery for nearly 2 hours. But the surgeon (Greg Malham) was very pleased with how it all went and was happy with how the remainder of the disc looked.

Mark remained in hospital until Thursday when he came home in an ambulance - because he can't sit at all - he either has to lie, or stand and not for very long. Casting no aspersions on the ambo driver, he said it was like being in a washing machine!!

Mark with the 2 ambulance medics who bought him home

The kids were rapt to see him and immediately got into bed with him. Much supervision is needed when they are with daddy though, although one on one, they are ok. But together, they think that the bed is an amusement playground and jump all over the place.

Recovery is going well except for a slight hiccup Monday morning. Sunday night, Mark complained of being a bit itchy on his back. To me, it looked like a bit of a rash where he'd been lying for a while, and I thought he may have needed a pressure mat or something. But come Monday morning, he was covered from head to toe in a raised itchy red rash. I have never seen any thing like it (just remembering it is making me itchy right now!!) So off to the hospital (slow trip in the car!) to get it checked out, plus taking the little girl with us because she also had a rash on her legs and body.

Turns out it is urticaria (or hives) which has resulted from a reaction to the digesic (painkillers) he was on. Hence, no more painkillers - although he was nearly finished them anyway. So now he is on big doses of antihistamines and cortisone to treat the itchy rash. Today, it is slowly going, which is good. But the itch remains. Biddy, on the other hand, simply has bug bites (mozzies) and she has made them worse by scratching at them. But we have also discovered that she is highly sensitive to the sticky on bandaids (which I used to cover up the bites) and now she has broken out in rashes from them! Sigh.

So the back is good - so far - and he is bored, so all is well on the homefront. I, on the other hand, am run ragged from running after the kids and Mark. LOL!

Sun, silage and shows

2009-10-28T21:16:00.002+11:00

Hold on tight everyone, because this is a CRAZY time of year.

Yes, silage season has hit us and a little bit early this year too. We are into it now, with most of the home farm cut and raked and waiting for the contractors to arrive tomorrow morning. The paddocks over the road will be started tomorrow and the contractors will be in them and most likely finished by Friday. I remember when I first arrived at Craiglands about 9 year ago, that silage used to take nearly 2 weeks. Now, if we get good weather, it is all over and done with in about 3 - 4 days and that includes covering the stacks. Improved machinery, different technologies and management have attributed to this. But it is a crazy 4 days still!

And it is just as well that it will be all pretty well finished by the weekend, because Mark has a date for his back operation. He is booked in for Monday 9th November at Epworth in Melbourne. he'll be in hossie for about 3 - 4 days and then will be discharged home in an ambulance (because he cannot sit up) where he'll be useless...ahem, I mean recuperating, for a month. During this time, he is not allowed to sit in a car, do too much walking, absolutely no work, no lifting....nothing. It will be heaven for him, hell for me. After the first month,. he'll be able to start to resume some light activity, and then after another month get into moderate activity and then he should be ok about 12 weeks after the op. So, if anyone is in Melbourne on the 10th - 13th November, give him a call and drop in and see him. I'm sure he'll be grateful for the visitors.

But before he goes under the knife, we are showing cows at Colac show. We are training 3 cows at the moment; 1 from last year who has slotted back into it all quite nicely, and 2 newies. Although I must say that the 2yo we are training has already been halter broken as a calf (never made it to the show though), so she is a piece of cake. She did however stand on my foot yesterday when I was leading her around and I think she may have done a bit of damage as my little toe is PURPLE. Nice one. The other cow we have is a right tart. Is taking a stronger person than me to break her (thanks Huthy!). Hopefully she'll shape up in a couple of days.

So I am in the midst of leading cows, washing cows and specialty feeding cows as well as everything else. And I just remembered that the BAS is due at the end of the week. Good grief.

All over bar the shouting

2009-10-07T09:33:00.002+11:00

Well, we are back home now (boo hoo) and pretty much straight back into it. But let me recap the final leg of our journey.....

Day 12
We left Albury headed for Melbourne to visit relatives (the Butlers). We had a final breaky of bacon and eggs, much to Mark's disgust as he wanted to get out a bit earlier, but both the kids and I were up for it! We eventually left just after 10am.

Heading down the Hume Hwy (one of the most boring roads I have driven on.....maybe because I have driven it MANY times), I was lamenting about all the towns that are now bypassed. Yes, I agree that when you want to get from point A to point B in a hurry, major arterials like the Hume are great. But the towns along the Hume that have been bypassed have not always done well and some are a mere shadow of what they were. I don't want to really mention any in particular, because as soon as I do, someone from that town will be on me like a shot saying how the town is fine, but I reckon you can all understand what I mean. As a result of these bypasses, great monoliths have sprung up, usually adorned with a giant golden "M" or similar. Sigh.....

We took some of the backroads and called in to some of the towns - Euroa for example, where we had lunch. Mark said we were travelling route 66 (for those that have seen "Cars" you'll know what I mean!).

We headed to Melbourne via Alexandra, Marysville and surrounds to see how things were recovering after the devastating fires earlier in the year. OMG. I hadn't been up this way for a few years (I think the last time was when played waterpolo for the last time at Alex back in about 2001) and I was gobsmaked. It was really hard to get your bearings, particularly in Marysville where hardly any of the buildings survived and all the trees are gone. As mentioned in earlier posts from this year, Mark fought fires up at the Alexandra fire and he was interested to see how it can recovered. I am no tree expert, but from what I could see from the ute, many of the trees on the Cathedral Range looked dead.

Leaving this sad, but recovering area, we headed to Beaconsfield. For the first time for the whole trip (my opinion only), the GPS did it's job. I really didn't think about how to get there from NE Vic, but it directed us to drop from Marysville through the Black Spur, down to Emerald and then to Beaconsfield. Easy!

We spent the next couple of nights with family, not doing very much but catching up. Mark hadn't been down to see the Butlers since early December last year and I hadn't been there since April, so it was nice to catch up. We just parked the van out the front and hooked up to their power!

On Sunday, we packed up and headed home. Everyone was a bit quiet and like the end of all trips, it was a bit sad to drive in the front gate.

Here it is Wednesday and the van is still not 100% unpacked. Life on the farm started the moment we drove in the gate - Mark was out to look at a cow, I was sorting bills getting ready to pay... Mark's eyes have started to play up again, and in the last couple of days have gunked up again and are blood red. Even the cows are looking at him funny. If he's not careful, he'll get pulled out for a vet treatment the next time Mike comes to look at one of the cows!!

So that's it. Our first family holiday with Biddy and the caravan. I'm happy to say that everything went better than I expected (with the kids and the van). Thanks to those that have followed my ramblings. We are now looking forward to planning our next trip which is to Darwin to catch up with the Stevenson's in mid March 2010. In the meantime, we have harvest, Colac show, Mark's back operation, Biddy's birthday, Christmas and the usually madness that accompanies our general lives!

The home run

2009-10-01T23:14:00.002+10:00

Day 10: Wellington to Young

We started off the day by visiting one of the caves at Wellington. We decided on the Phosphate Mine and the Bone Cave as this was probably going to interest Tom the most. At various points of the tour, you got to see bones that were embedded in the clay/rock which were dated between 800,000 and 1 million years old! Pretty amazing. And at the end of the tour, you got to hold some of the fossils. The skeletons of the Diprotadon (actually not a dinosaur, but a ‘megafauna’) and the Thylacoleo (also not a dinosaur but another megafauna) were in fact not real but casts. But still, the way they were portrayed as being slightly dug out of the ground was very effective and Tom thought it was just great!

As a bit of interest, the Diprotadon was like a really big wombat with large teeth and grew to heights of about 1.2m and length of around 3m. It weighed about 2.5 – 3 tonnes. Depending on the source, they became extinct only about 30,000 to 12,000 years ago. Thylacoleo was sort of like a marsupial lion and ate other early marsupial, including Diprotadon. They grew probably about as big as a female lioness.

OK lecture over.

The rest of the day was pretty much spent travelling to Young, although we did have a small visit to Cowra to see the site of the POW camp. By coincidence, an older lady that was at the site at the same time as us told me how her father used to own the property where the POW camp was and it was only recently sold out of the family to the government to be listed as a heritage site.

We amused ourselves today on our drive by counting the number of dead kangaroos on the side of the road. 15 ended up being the final tally.

We stayed the night at the Young Tourist Park. A number of pros and cons for this park (see below), but as we pulled in late and left around 10am, we didn’t really take advantage of too much except the showers and the laundry. We are trying to run our food stores down, so everyone almost ate something different tonight. The food issue was one of the main reasons for purchasing something like a caravan, camper or camper trailer. You are able to eat what you like, when you like and cater to individual’s tastes. This is always my major battle when staying elsewhere and relying on purchasing food for the kids. Let’s face it, there is only so many times that you can (or want to) live on McNuggets, pizza and the like. Sometimes you just hanker for a good ol’ snag! Anyway, this aspect has now been largely resolved for me as we are now able to carry our own food with us. In buying the van, I opted for less bench space in order to accommodate a larger fridge. And now that we have been away for a few weeks, I am so glad I did.

Caravan park wrap up: at the time of our visit, the Young Tourist Park seemed such an ironic name as the vast majority of people staying there were of the grey nomad brigade. Perhaps it should have been called the “Old Tourist Park”! Seriously, this park has also seen better days, and whilst it is clean, is very worn around the edges. The site we had was right next to the amenities which was fine, and it was well grassed. The distance between the vans was also reasonable and the way that most people had parked, meant you weren’t looking into anyone else’s van. We didn’t use the BBQs at all (used our own cooker), but Mark tells me that the water to wash up with was nice and hot (yes, don’t fall over...Mark has been doing the dishes the entire time we have been away. Hope it keeps up!). The big downfall of this park was the kiddy friendliness. The playground was, in one word, CRAP. There were only three pieces of equipment (2 springy seesaw thingys and a strange looking monkey bar), and one of the seesaws was broken and the monkey bars would be too high for a 8yo let alone for a 4yo and 21mth old. Unlike some of the other parks we had been in, there was no ability to bath or change the kids, unless they were in with you, which is rather a PITA quite frankly. But the owner was friendly and explained everything to us, and the park suited our needs of an overnighter well. If you have kids, I would advise to miss this park unless you are only stopping for the night. It may suit older generations though, depending on how friendly you want to be.

Day 11: Young to Albury

A fairly uneventful trip to Albury today. We stopped in at Gundagai to take the obligatory photo with the dog on the tuckerbox (although, Tom was convinced it was a wolf!). When we arrived in Albury we booked into the Albury All Seasons Tourist Park. The playground here is very well appointed with the kids playing on the equipment for about half an hour whilst Mark set up the van. Biddy overestimates her abilities in many things and going down big slides is no exception. She has no fear of heights and today took a tumble off a 6” slide. She spotted it first and got to it before Tom, so she had not seen anyone else go down it. Instead of sitting down at the top, she goes down the first part standing up and then face plants on the slide and bounces off into the chipbark at the bottom. I was ready for the scream and cry, but no, she got up, dusted herself off and got right back on it again. Tough kid.

We took the kids bowling as Tom enjoyed this so much when I took him at Christmastime. We just let Biddy have some of our goes, and embarrassingly, she did just as well (or better) than Mark and I! Mark won the first game, I won the second. Tom held his own very well, scoring in the 70’s both times.

Tonight we took the kids to the Commercial Club for dinner and we told Tom that it was a restaurant. So he was on his best behaviour and he really did try. Although he did pour salt all over his meal just after being told to leave the shaker alone. The clubs are a great place to take kids as usually under 5’s are free and all it cost us for them tonight was a glass of lemonade each. Plus, there is a huge choice of food (and desserts) for them and you can almost be guaranteed that they will eat something.

Tomorrow we are really heading south and will wind up at the Butler’s place (relatives) in Beaconsfield for a couple of nights before going home on Sunday.

Caravan park wrap up: this park is very nice. As mentioned before, the playground is very well appointed and set out. The pool is nice but was too cold for us to use this trip. The showers are smallish, but the water is hot and the pressure is good and this is the first park that we have visited that has a sunken area for the shower and a raised bit to get dried on. Saves getting your pants wet in the puddles of the shower, or having to put them on in the main toilet area for everyone to see! The ladies bathroom also had a baby bath (large trough) with plenty of room to lie baby down to dry and change. And as a nice touch, there were cloths hanging up for you to dry out the stainless steel sink when finished, and also a hairdryer supplied in the bathroom. The laundry was fine (2 washers, 1 dryer) and both a reasonable cost ($3 and $2 respectively). We haven’t used the camp kitchen yet, but will give it a workout tomorrow when we have bacon and eggs for breaky. The downsides are that the vans are a bit close especially in the drivethroughs and because of the configuration, you tend to end up looking into your neighbours van. The road noise is very noticeable, but this is on the Hume Hwy (Wagga Rd), so it is to be expected I guess. This park is also a little way out of the Albury CDB but there are plenty of eateries, shops, supermarkets etc on the main road not far from the park. The only other gripe is that there is a lot of gravel around, which makes for noisy walking and driving. But all in all, a very nice park and is good enough to spend any number of nights here to base yourself out of to visit the surrounds of Albury Wodonga.

Heading south

2009-09-29T20:53:00.002+10:00

Our night at the Warrumbungle National Park was very good. In the middle of the night, I had to make an obligatory pit stop and was overawed by the night sky. It was truly beautiful. The moon had set and without a cloud in the sky, it was like you could see beyond our galaxy with the naked eye. It has been many years since I have been somewhere that you can see the night sky in so much detail. It's at these times that I regret not knowing more about astronomy so I could better appreciate it all. I also now know why there are so many observatories in these parts!

Tom was absolutely taken with the compost toilets ("Daddy, there is NO flusher! The poo just goes on the ground!") and made numerous trips to them. Biddy was delighted in just being able to wander around at leisure and not being constantly called to come back.

A late start today due to a computer malfunction at home (just prior to morning milking) that saw Mark trying to deal with 3 people all at the same time to try and fix a computer that he could not log on remotely to. All's well though thanks to the great staff at Westfalia. I also had the makings of a migraine (didn't eventuate though..phew). We eventually left our little campsite at around 11am headed for Wellington. We decided to take a route which took us through an area where a number of years ago (1994) I worked for ABARE conducting farm surveys (part of a secondment with Dept of Ag). This route took us through Binnaway, Coolah and Gulgong. I have no idea what Binnaway's claim to fame is, but Coolah is home of the black stump (took a picture of it with the kids), and Gulgong holds the title of the 'Ten Dollar Town" as it was the town that featured on our old paper $10 notes. We grabbed a bite to eat in Coolah and whilst walking to the cafe, we passed a small general store that had the most darling nativity scene for sale. I snapped it up.

We arrived at the Wellington Caves Caravan Park in Wellington too late to do any cave tours (what Wellington is famous for), so this is on our agenda tomorrow. And guess what? They also have dinosaurs here! Typical! So we will take in a tour that shows some dinosaur fossils as well (the dino from these parts was sort of like a giant wombat with sharp teeth. I'll get the details for the next post).

Despite being in the car for most of the day, the kids went to bed pretty early, which is just as good, because the cave tour we are embarking on is 1.5hrs.

Oh, and a quick update on Mark's eyes...they are much better this evening after looking pretty bad for most of the day. I can even see some white in the whites of his eyes! The drops and ointment seem to be finally doing something for him, although I still keep my distance in case he gives it to me!

Caravan park wrap up: this caravan park is attached to the cave tours, so accessibility is 100%. It is an old park and has seen a lot of visitors, but it caters well for a range of campers (caravans, tents, big rigs) and even has motel style accommodation. Whilst we didn't use it, the camp kitchen has a great range of facilities which would be great for those in tents. The playground is modest, but our kids thought it was good, with Biddy having no trouble using equipment. The amenities are old but clean and the water (and pressure) is good and hot and the washing machines clean with the cost to use them reasonable. There is a baby's bathroom which is a small sink and a toilet, but it's downfall is that there is nowhere to lay the baby down to dry and clothe them. A change table would improve this immensely. At this time of year, you can have your pick of any site (we chose the one right near the playground so we didn't have to move too far to watch kids). This park is ideal for those that need a couple of nights to base themselves in order to explore the caves and maybe the nearby Lake Burrendong, although there is campsites on the lake for those that are more self sufficient.

The eyes have it!

2009-09-28T22:14:00.002+10:00

Bit of a play on words there, but we can't not mention how truly, unbelievably, scarily disgusting Mark's eyes now are. In fact, they are so bad that he had to see a doctor in Coonabarabran to get some heavy duty eye drops and ointment. He tells me that not only do they look bad (and believe me, they DO look bad), but they are also painful - sort of like flash burns from a welder. With all of the pus constantly coming out of them, coupled with the entire whites of his eyes now blood red, even the chemist had a hard time looking at him. Ugh. Hopefully the medications will do the trick, but we have been told that what he has is extremely contagious and that we shouldn't share any linen and to disinfect the washing (yeah right....on a caravan trip!). Mark says that he now has a new empathy with cows that get pink eye.

Today we left Dubbo and headed for the Warrumbungle National Park. In particular, Camp Blackman campsite. On the way, I decided to count the number of caravans, motorhomes and the like. By the time we got to Coonabarabran, I was up to 52. A fair number considering that the trip wasn't all that long (180kms). A quick stop in town (to see aforementioned dr) and grab some lunch before heading out to the National Park (about 36km further along).

The winding road into the park was dotted with a number of places that had their own little observatories. This is probably due to the fact that the Sliding Springs Observatory is located in the Warrumbungles. It is open during the day for visitors, but closed in the evenings because the scientists are conducting their experiments. We might call in there on our way out tomorrow.

Being a National Park, we had to collect firewood outside the park boundaries, so after depositing Biddy and I at the camp ground, Mark took Tom off for wood collection. They came back with a modest pile - enough to cook the obligatory marshmallows that we had promised Tom. He has never been camping before, and was so excited. Unbelievably, he was great around the fire, and neither kid scorched themselves on gooey confectionery.

The kangaroos are absolutely everywhere in here, many of them with joeys in their pouches suggesting that either there were some fertile roos around, or it was a good year nutritionally. Probably both! At any rate, there are Eastern Greys all over the place. And they obviously see lots of campers, because they are far from wary of us.

There are plenty of walks around here and I'm sorry that we are not here long enough to give a few a go. The scenery is spectacular - the Warrumbungles were formed as a result of volcanic activity 13 - 17 million years ago and have quite distinct craggy peaks. But be warned; in seasons other than summer, I can imagine that it gets damn cold in here. Even tonight, the cold air simply appeared and forced us into the confines of the van a bit earlier than anticipated. Bring warm stuff.

Campsite wrap up: the campsites here (that caravans can use at the least), are quite civilised, with some of the powered sites sporting bitumened areas. There is quite a bit of room here, but I am lead to believe that it is quite crowded in NSW school holidays. Even now, there are a few in. There is a new powered site area just opened up, but there is very little shade here (not a problem at the moment) as the trees are so small. The older area is amongst established trees and I daresay, would be more popular in summer. There is an amenities block (showers and toilets, public phone) which we haven't visited yet (it is a bit of a walk), but there are compost toilets close by to all the camp areas. You are allowed to have fires, but being a National Park you have to bring in your own wood. This is a nice place to rough it a bit whilst having some of the small luxuries around you. Great if you are into bushwalking or just lolling about, but unless small kids are into bushwalking too, you may find that they will be pestering you to 'do something' as there is no playground (that I saw anyway). I believe that there is a discovery programme for kids, but I don't know the details. I liked this place and would definitely return if around this way.

Half over

2009-09-27T21:04:00.003+10:00

Sigh... a whole week has passed in the blink of an eye. And it has been pretty good as well with the kids taking to the whole adventure with great gusto. Today we spent a bit of a cruisy day bumming around for most of the morning before visiting the Old Dubbo Gaol. An interesting place to spend a couple of hours, peering into the past at how criminals used to be treated. There were 8 executions at the Dubbo Gaol, all of them because the inmate was guilty of murder. Some of the crimes were truly horrendous, even by today's standards.

The building that houses all the cells has a couple of solitary confinment cells and they are something to behold. They are in pitch black darkness and Tom was extremely reluctant to go inside even with both Mark and myself beside him. Even the lux feature (night vision) on our video camera did nothing in the total blackness. And prisoners spent sometimes weeks in there.

The rest of the day was spent just lazing around the caravan park with Tom spending much of it on the jumping pillow. It has been bloody chilly here the past couple of days which is a bit of a shame as there is a pool here that Tom has been bugging me to get in, but there is no way I'm getting in when the outside temp is barely cracking 15 degrees.

Tomorrow we are headed for Warrumbungle National Park, and the northernmost point of this trip.

Caravan park wrap up: so we spent 3 nights at the Parklands Big 4 Caravan Park and there are some pros and cons. For those that are looking for a quiet intimate park, then this is not for you. This is a large park with a number of sites. When we first arrived, the park was close to being full, but the past 2 nights have seen it empty out a bit. Our site - C13 - was quite spacious and allowed us to park the caravan, park the ute beside it and pull out the annex as well. Not something that can be done at all the sites. After both Mark and I struggled to shower the kids the first night, we discovered that this park has both a baby and a toddler bathroom. I can't comment on the baby one, but the toddler one has a bath and shower and has plenty of room. A definate plus in my book. I have previously mentioned the jumping pillow which both kids thought was simply fabbo. And it is. But the playground associated with it could do with a little more equipment suitable for babies and little toddlers. The jumping pillow gets a bit crowded (and rough) with the older kids using it, so the younger ones can find it a bit of a struggle. Something else for them would be good. The amenities are good - the camp kitchen is clean and has plenty of room and seating, the water is hot and there are a decent number of showers and toilets. However, the cleaning roster of the toilet blocks could be reviewed with the women's closed between 9 & 10am and the men's closed between 10 & 11am. Right when people are making their last abulutions before leaving. Whilst we never used it, there is also a small kiosk in the reception area where you can buy some groceries. All in all, I give this park a tick. It is certainly a very good place to base yourself from when visiting Dubbo and surrounds and is conveniently located almost next to the Open Range Zoo.

Quarks, pulsars and a slice of Africa

2009-09-26T21:57:00.002+10:00

OK, time for another catch up.

Yesterday was day 5 and we left Forbes headed for Dubbo, calling in at the radio telescope at Parkes. But before leaving Forbes, we had to call into the local cemetary and see the graves of Ben Hall, Kate Kelly and Rebecca Shields (grand neice of Captain Cook).

The radio telescope is a MIGHTY structure ('The Dish" as it is affectionately known, is 64m in diameter) and is operated by the CSIRO and any number of scientist from Australia and abroad are conducting experiments with it. On the day we visited, I think there were about 5 scheduled experiments to happen, each of them looking at a different part of the sky. As such, we got to see the dish move around, which was quite amazing to see.

Because you can't actually go inside the telescope, there is a visitors centre set up right next to it with a range of static displays and a 20 minute 3D movie. Mark was hesitant about whether Tom would sit still and watch, but in fact, he was enthralled by it (maybe it was the 3D effect and he got to wear those really cool glasses ...not!). It was Biddy that I had to contain after the first 5 minutes, but then she fell asleep in her pram, so all was good!

OK. Now time for a bit of a bitch. We decided to grab something to eat at the on site cafe as we were already 20kms Dubbo side of Parkes and we didn't have stuff out and ready at hand in the van. Plus, the menu seemed suitable for the kids. So while Mark was out looking at the telescope with the kids, I ordered a caeser salad for me, a burger for Mark and 2 mini pizzas for the kids. Minutes ticked by. Still more minutes. Half an hour disappeared. The kids became a bit raucous, so the waitress bought out coloured pencils and paper. Other customers came and went and still our food hadn't turned up. So, with the clock nearing 50 minutes, and the kids being very good, I went up as asked how much longer, only to be told that the order hadn't even been processed because it was lost! Oh for God's sake! I mean, what did they think we were doing sitting there? Now, I can completely understand that sometimes the occasional order goes missing. But I can't understand how this can happen when there were only 3 tables occupied in the cafe and only 2 or 3 other customers came for takeaway!

So there was much running around behind the scenes and very quickly our meals came out. Too quickly. Part of our order was missing and when I went to cut the kids pizzas up, they were stone cold in the middle. So back they went and I asked for my money back on them, because by this time, the kids were beyond hungry and had picked at mine and Mark's. The manager tried to make amends by sending out some other food, but the kids didn't want it. We did get an icecream for Tom and Biddy's milk for free though. A bit too little too late.

So while Mark took Biddy back to the ute, I took Tom into the gift shop because he had found a dinosaur poster (of course!). Just as I got to the head of the queue, the phone lines went down and they announced that there was no credit card facilities. Grrr. I asked if they had a manual swipey thing and no. Great. Now Tom is at me to get the poster and I have no cash because I spent it all on our ill-fated lunch. After a trip back to the ute to deposit Tom and check out what coinage could be scraped up, I return to find that they can take my credit card details and book it up to my visa later on.

So whilst the grandeur of the radio telescope was fantastic, it was all marred somewhat by the other poor experiences that I had. But rest assured, the telescope is impressive.

So in the car and onto Dubbo. Because of all the mucking around over lunch, we lobbed into town around 4pm. A quick visit to the tourist information centre to pick up town maps, what's on, and various attractions, before setting up camp at the Parklands Big 4 Caravan Park. Now, as we are here for 3 nights, I will reserve my wrap up of this park until our last night. However, I will say that the fact that there is a jumping pillow about double the size of the one at Forbes has been an instant hit with both Tom and Biddy, despite the fact that there are numerous kids here that also think the jumping pillow is a bit of a winner.

Day 6
Mark has woken with a really badly infected eye. It was so badly junked up, that he couldn't open it when he woke up and I had to bathe it clean. It is so swollen that it has bruised and it looks like he has been in a fight. We think that he has caught some congunctivitis off Biddy as she had a bad eye a couple of days ago, but nothing like this. If it keeps up, he might need to see a doctor at one of the next towns, to get some antibiotics. Blurgh, it is really the worst eye infection I have ever seen.

Today we tackled the Open Range Zoo. Wow. This is great and the kids had a ball. So did Mark and I for that fact. We got there at around 10am and left at about 3.15pm. Whilst I'm sure that others have spent much more time there than we did, this was quite enough time for my two explorers as they walked a great deal of the 6km. And that is a looooooong way for a 4yo and 21mth old. We took our own car in and parked it and looked at exhibits and then moved on to the next exhibit. But because the car parks are quite close together, what ended up happening was that we all visited the first exhibit and then while Mark or I walked the kids to the next one, the other would go back and move the car up to the next point. This may seem to be a waste of time, but it worked quite well.

Tom was totally taken by the picture of the otter silhouette sign on the park map (he'd been studying it for a day already) and was absolutely convinced that the otter was a lizard, and continued to tell us that he was going to see an animal that lived under the ground. When we finally made it to the otter exhibit, the damn things were in hiding and we never saw one!! However, there were plenty of pictures around, so Tom got to see that otters were really nothing like lizard at all.

My favourite animal would have to to be the maned wolf. These are really beautiful creatures, although I'm sure that I would make an easy meal for them if given the chance! They sort of look like overgrown foxes but with REALLY long legs. They did stink though! Overall, the great thing about the zoo is that you almost feel like you are in with the animals, because what usually seperated you from them was a deep ditch and an electric fence running thousands of volts (no doubt). But if you stood back from the ditch or the fence, it was almost like you were in the same paddock as them. And in the case of the Galapagos Tortoise, Tom did end up in the same enclosure as them!

While Mark was inside the tortoise house looking at one, Tom appears around the back of the exhibt IN WITH THE TORTOISE. Because the barrier fences are very low (I could have easily have stepped over it), he simply jumped over it, ran past a number of other tortoises and surprises his dad by being in there with them all - "Ta Da"! Mark couldn't believe it. I could. Wish he got a photo of it though.

All in all, a great day out. The kids are exhausted - as we all are.

Oh, and I'll post some photos soon. Perhaps, I'll make a final trip post (when we get back home) of all the relevant pictures.

Day 4 - Narrandera to Forbes

2009-09-24T20:17:00.002+10:00

After saying that our kids rarely wake with the sparrows, both of them were awake before 7am this morning which did have some benefits in that we were up and about and getting organised to head to Forbes at a reasonable hour. Still, we were one of the last to leave the caravan park even though we did get out before 10am.

We headed up the Newell Hwy stopping at West Wyalong for lunch. Two fabulous things about West Wyalong; the park at the start of the main drag (sorry, can't remember the name...if anyone knows it, please let me know), and the Round About Bakery. The park was simply the best lunch stop for the kids as there was a tops little playground which was completely fenced and had a great array of play equipment that even a toddler could use, and the bakery made the yummiest pies (although the beef and pepper pie was quite spicy..but still delicious). The sausage rolls must have also been pretty good because both kids woofed them down.

The Newell was a bit of an undulating ride - something I have never noticed in the past when driving up and down to Brisbane in years gone by. But then, I wasn't towing 500+kg behind me and the car I had at the time was pretty crap in itself! Impressively, there are many truck stops and rest stops along the route which allows for caravanners such as ourselves to easily move off the side of the road when a number of faster cars (and big rigs) are behind. Maybe those in power that are in charge of the Geelong to Warrnambool stretch of the Princes Hwy should take a trip and take notes.

We landed in Forbes around 2pm which gave us a good site and heaps of time to get settled. The Lachlan View Big 4 Caravan Park is a small park but has a handy playground for the kids which includes a jumping pillow which all of us (big kids included) thought was pretty good! Apparently there has been an enormous dust storm go across much of NSW in the past 24 hours, and it seems that Forbes was not spared. Certainly not by the colour of the kids clothes after they had finished rolling around the jumping pillow!

We are still finding that we are in need of a few things for the van, so we took a trip into town to the supermarket and took the opportunity for a quick squizz around. Forbes seems to be reknown for a couple of things; 1) the burial place for bushranger Ben Hall, 2) the burial place for Kate Kelly, the sister of even more famous bushranger Ned Kelly, and 3) some amazing heritage buildings. Tomorrow we will call around and see some of these attractions.

Caravan park wrap up: the Lachlan View is a nice little park with good sized grassed sites that allow for annexes to be pulled out and still leave you enough room not to be on top of your neighbour. The camp kitchen is reasonable and clean with a few implements (kettle, toaster etc) available for use as well as fridge and BBQ (20c/15mins). A slight problem with the BBQ's starter meant that we had to go in search of some matches but this is not a deal breaker. The playground is good and toddlers can use the equipment, although Biddy needed some help getting up on the jumping pillow (which, judging by the other kids playing on it, is a huge asset). The showers are clean and the water is hot. There is a baby bath sink in the ladies, although I found this too late and had already bathed Biddy in the laundry trough, which she thought was fine as she got to chat aimlessly to a lady who was waiting for her washing! There seems to be a number of things that happen in Forbes (a Ben Hall festival is coming up), so I would think that this park would fill up quite quickly as it is more of a smaller park.

September '09 road trip

2009-09-23T21:55:00.002+10:00

After seemingly getting prepared for weeks, we are finally on the road and headed for Warrumbungle National Park. Well, that is our most northerly destination, but we are really only staying there one night. This trip is really about seeing sites and catching up with friends and family on the way up and the way back. So I thought that I'd better keep some sort of record of the auspicious event, plus depending on what happens on the way, it might make for entertaining reading (or not!).

I have to backtrack a couple of days, so excuse that, but I'll *try* and update most days if possible (translate: internet coverage is good).

Day 1 (Monday 20 Sept)

Not a fabulous start, and certainly, not the speedy exit that Mark had hoped to make, we eventually pulled out of the drive at Craiglands at about 12pm. Right on lunchtime. We didn't even make it into Colac when Tom started on about being hungry and wanting something to eat. So in order to keep some sort of timeliness to our day, we opted for McD's and ate on the way.

Today we travelled to Nanneella in the northern irrigation region of Vic (not very far from Echuca), to catch up with friends Selina Handley, Tim Fulton and their kids. It has been years (almost 9 I'm ashamed to say) since I have been to their place, and there has been significant improvements made to what used to be a tired old farmhouse. It is now wonderful and I am so jealous (space...they have HEAPS of space).

However, before we even got anywhere near them, I suddenly thought that we hadn't packed Tom's bedding. Whilst we did have a fair range of blankets on board, this was a significant oversight as it could mean that he ended up in bed with us. Freezing. So a quick stop into a huge shopping precinct at Kangaroo Flat (just out of Bendigo) that has seemingly just sprung up out of nowhere to buy a new doona. Mark graciously donated one of his pillows to Tom for the holiday duration.

Arrived at Nanneella at around 5.30pm just in front of a huge thunderstorm which then kept up most of the night and had me thinking that we might be blown away at any minute. Everyone was very pleased to see us as we told them that we bought the rain up for them!

Kids in bed late, but went pretty much straight to sleep.

Day 2

We have always been fortunate that our kids do not wake with the birds. They certainly do not keep dairy farmer hours. So at about 8am, both kids woke and got into bed with us. A couple of minutes later, I got out. Four bodies in 1 bed doesn't really work.

A leisurely morning was spent doing 8 tenths of bugger all. Got in touch with some more friends that happen to live about 1 km down the road (Carl & Rachelle Moon -the same Carl who shows our cows) and arranged to catch up with them later in the day. After lunch, while Mark offered to stay with Biddy while she had a nap (translate: have a nap himself), Sel and I took the remaining kids into Echuca to run some energy out at the playground and to show Tom the paddlesteamers. The weather was very warm despite the big rain storm the previous night and the kids were bright red and in need of an ice-cream after the playground (and so did Sel and I....it's tough work watching them play!)

Later that afternoon, Mark and I (and kids) caught up with the Moon's to discover that Rachelle (who is very pregnant) is actually due this day!! And is looking fantastic I must say! Of course, the conversation was about cows and grass and rain and sport, with the occasional reference to kids thrown in for good measure. Carl is coming down for Colac show again this year, so it won't be too long before we catch up again.

Tonight, kids very tired and went to sleep almost immediately.

Day 3 (today)

Time to leave Nanneella (before we wore out our welcome) and head over the border into NSW. Today we headed for Narrandera mainly because we thought that any further was too big a push for the kids. To make it a bit interesting, I navigated us through Deniliquin, Conargo (where we stopped for lunch) and past the property where I jillarooed 20+ years ago. OMG. I didn't think that it was that long until I stopped and counted up the years. I now feel old. A couple of weeks ago, I tried to look up the phone number of the family that own Barrabool Station, but I had no joy. As it turns out, when we stopped for lunch and I spoke to the lady at the general store, she told me that the brother I worked for (2 brothers owned the farm; 1 worked on farm with his wife and the other worked off farm but had a active interest in it) had left the farm and was now living in Deni. So sadly, there was no-one I knew that still was at the farm. However, the road was good for us to travel on past the property and onward to the Sturt Hwy (it is a sand road for much of it) and whilst it was soft in some spots due to recent rain, we had no trouble with the ute or the van. When we got to Barrabool we got out and I had a photo in front of the sign for old times sake. I think it really hit Mark just how remote the station was that I worked on when I was just an 18yo, and I hope he was a bit impressed!!

Travelling onto Narrandera, we passed a lot of farmland, and the crops are looking pretty good (rice) and the cattle (beef) are certainly in good nick.

Tonight is the first night we are staying in a caravan park - Lake Talbot Tourist Park - and it is a battle to moderate the kids volume control. The majority of the other travellers are couples (both young and old) and I haven't spotted too many other youngsters. Of course, you can hear Tom clear across the park and when I returned from a quick supermarket venture, a neighbour mentioned that it sounded like someone was being killed in our van!! Great.

However, Tom thought it was a great novelty to cook our dinner on the BBQ (why, I don't know, because we BBQ all the time at home. Maybe it is because we don't put money in our BBQ) and must have been hungry because everything disappeared from his plate with very little coaxing from us. Showers in the amenities block for all of us - another adventure - and kids in bed and fast asleep in record time! Bliss.

Caravan park wrap up: at this time of year, you can have your pick of any site (we chose a drive through). However, the park is a bit tired and outside of the summer period when the local pool is open (right next door), there is very little for kids to do here. In fact the only play equipment is 2 swings and the chain on the baby one is broken. The amenities were ok; the showers and toilets are clean and the water is hot, but if you wanted to use the camp kitchen, the facilities were extremely basic and the fridge wasn't turned on for people to use. Recommend for a 1 night stop over if you are pretty much self sufficient.

Update on the back situation

2009-09-04T17:42:00.002+10:00

Ok. We've seen the specialist again, and there has been no improvement from the nerve block injection that Mark had. So the next step is surgery.

We've been advised that the surgery will almost completely fix the pain that Mark experiences down his leg, but may not do much for the actaul back pain. This is because the back pain is more of a deflated disc issue - sort of like a dodgy shock absorber! The disc is really only half the height it should be so it doesn't flex as much as a good disc should. But this pain may very well be manageable when the leg pain is removed from the equation. Or not. Which means that down the track, other treatment may be required.

So the rundown we have been given is that surgery will mean 3 days in hospital, discharge by ambulance to home because he won't be able to sit for long distances in the car, 4 weeks of no activity, next 4 weeks would be starting to get back into it, the 4 weeks after that would be moderate activity and then by the 12th week, he should be right. If the surgery happens around the middle of November, this will set Mark up for some of the fire season (because let's face it....it really doesn't get hot and horrible until mid February), and also the start of baseball season (!).

We'll see.......

Busy couple of months

2009-08-22T10:46:00.007+10:00

Ok.....where to start?

Where my last fairdinkum post left off, we were just about ready to celebrate Tom's 4th birthday. He had a great time, got lots of presents and yeah, there were HEAPS of dinosaurs about! He had his party on the Sunday, and on his actual birthday (Monday), he went to daycare carting a heap of mini cupcakes decorated with little dinosaurs. Then after lunch at Aunty Jo's, Mark and I took him to see "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" at the movies. He was in seventh heaven!! To cap off the day, we went to McDonald's for dinner because they had the Ice Age promo on and he got a couple of figurines from the movie plus one of those cups that change colour when you put in cold drinks.

the dino cake for 2009

blowing out the candles

The party in full swing

We have a rest now in our immediate family from birthdays until Christmas when it is Bridie's. Although, we will be celebrating her's earlier again in November.

We also recently purchased a caravan. There has been some saga attached to the purchase of this. As a person that has grown up camping - and I mean true camping - I wanted to get a camper trailer. A couple of years ago, we did our homework and decided on a particular trailer. But because we dithered and hesitated, the price of the trailer went up and combined with fitting it out (stove, fridge, beds for kids, jerry cans, water containers etc.. which would have put on about $3K), we ended up being up for a bit of money. In the process of looking at some alternative trailers, we happened to visit a Jayco sales yard and after seeing some of the vans there, Mark's mind was made up NOT to get the trailer. Sigh...

Having just taken delivery on the as yet unnamed van

After much to-ing and fro-ing, we have ended up with an Expander; sort of a cross between one of the original pop out campers and a caravan. Mark's reasoning was that he would be more inclined to go away in it if he had a bit of luxury about him (again.... sigh), as he has not done much camping in the true sense of the word.

Mark, Tom and Bridie

So we took it to Warrnambool for our first 'sortie' (trial run) and all things considered, things went well. The configuration we got has the beds up either end and a set of bunks, which the top bunk can be folded away. The portacot fits perfectly on the bottom bunk. Both kids went to sleep that night just as well as if they had of been in their own beds. Much to my relief as I thought we would have nightowls on our hands. But with a queen size inner spring bed, microwave, stove, flat screen tv, heater/air con, dvd, wireless internet, mobile phone coverage, and hooked up to an ensuite site, how could anything go wrong!! LOL.

Tom has a fear of heights. This is him trying to get Mark to come down from the rocks. He was 'worried' about Bridie!

All of us at Moonlight Heads

I think I may have mentioned that Mark's back has been playing up. It has gotten so bad that he is unable to work normally and has had to stop playing baseball. In the past 2 months, he has gone to see about it. He has had xrays and a CT scan and they have shown a prolapsed disc. The prolapse has gone into the middle of the disc and is pushing on the nerve bundles which is the main reason for the pain he is experiencing. We went and saw a neurosurgeon in Melbourne and the treatment was for Mark to get an MRI done, then have a cortisone injection into the prolapsed disc to see if it can be shrunk. 33% chance this will work, 33% chance it will not work at all, 33% it will give some releif but will require ongoing treatment. In the event that the injection does nothing, then he may be looking at surgery. The first injection is next Wednesday.

I managed to escape the family and head to Sydney for my annual scrapbooking retreat courtesy of Little Scrapbook Shop (or LSBS). It was fantastic (as always) and I really enjoyed having 48 hours all to myself doing nothing but scrapping and chatting. I don't think that I truly appreciated this sort of thing before I had kids, but now I am only ever able to snatch minutes at a time to myself, I relish the ability to nick off and leave everything behind!

My business - Graceful Impressions - is going well. I have held monthly classes which have been well attended and the workshops and sales are going well too. Pop over to my other site for more info on that.

On the farm, we have had a few of things going on. In mid July, we hosted a couple of vet students from Melbourne Uni for 2 weeks. I hope they felt that their time here was useful. We also flushed our big Luckystrike cow (2843) but had an unmitigated disaster. She produced 10 eggs, 5 of them fertilising and all of them duds. Very unhappy with this as we got nothing. We have put her back into a flush program, and will be flushing her on Monday. Hopefully with a better result.

Calving has finished and we have 115 heifers. We start calving again in October with the second batch of springers. Hopefully will get around 25 heifers from that which will bring our yearly replacement number to around 140.

We are starting to eyeball which cows might be taken to the show. As the big Luckystrike is still not pregnant, she is a no go, but I have to review the 2yos (1st calvers) and also check out some of the older animals that have already been to the show. 3111 is a likely contender agin this year as she has a bit more size about her.

OK, I think that might be it for a quick recap.

Almost 2 months??? No!

2009-08-20T20:35:00.003+10:00

I have just realised that it is nearly 2 months since I last posted. Whilst I never thought I would blog on a daily basis, I also don't like to be so remiss with my recording. And now I have a heap of stuff to catch up on.

So this is to let any regular readers know that I haven't abandoned the blog. I will be back within the next 24 hours with an update. And some pics.

"For the love of God......

2009-06-23T22:34:00.003+10:00

.....please, PLEASE choose another theme for your birthday Thomas"

This was my plea that fell on deaf almost 4 y.o ears. I suggested a range of fantastic and equally impressive party themes such as pirates, cowboys, Curious George, Tom & Jerry, underwater.....but NO. And not just a no. An emphatic, serious, "I can't believe you are suggesting something other than dinosaurs" NO.

So dinosaurs - for the third year in a row - it will be. Sigh.

The conversation went something like this:
Me: "Tom, what do you want to have for your birthday party this year?"
Tom: "Dinosaurs"
Me: "Don't you want something else?"
Tom: "No"
Me: "What about pirates?"
Tom: "No"
Me: "what about Tom and Jerry"
Tom: "NO!"
[continue on with me suggesting other themes always answered with a NO.]

a brief silence ensues...
Tom: "Mummy, you know, you don't have to make a T-Rex cake"
Me: "What do you want?"
Tom: "Well you could make a Kronosaurus cake instead"
Me: ?????????????
[insert me rushing to one of the many MANY dinosaur books we have here to see what a Kronosaurus actually is. Turns out, it is this monster underwater aligator like thing with flippers. Oh yeah, and it was NASTY.]

A couple of days later I mock up an invite to his party. I found a Jurrasic scene, which has numerous dinosaurs on it, on the web and I put it on the invite along with the details. Tom happens along and sees the trial version.
Tom: "What's this?"
Me: "Well, it might be the invitation to your party. Do you like it?"
Tom: [thinking and studying the invite closely] "There aren't any T-Rex's on it"
Me: "Well what's that?" [me pointing to what I believe looks like a T-Rex]
Tom: "Mummy, that's not a T-Rex, that's an Allosaurus" [with a look of contempt]

Needless to say, that version never really saw the light of day. So here is the final version that has been given the all clear from the little paelentologist. I gotta say, we are getting remarkable use and value out of all of the dino decorations!

And do you know what was the first animal sound Bridie made? Yep a dinosaur roar! Could be a cycle starting all over again.

Tom actually enjoyed being photographed for this. He even managed to pretend he was "standing" under the dinosaur!

Just a quickie...

2009-06-07T23:14:00.002+10:00

I have just updated the farm website with:

new farm staff member
updates on the calves born from last years flush program
another flush program
things that are happening on farm right now

I really must get off my rear and get some more photos on the site. I really have been taking a few of late.....

Some 'heart stopping' news (pardon the pun)

2009-05-21T13:53:00.003+10:00

That really is a poor choice of a post title. But it is very apt. Over the past couple of weeks, Mark's dad (Alan) has suffered a number of heart attacks or heart issues. It all stemmed from a bit of a blockage in one of the arteries, but after having a couple of stents put in, he developed a clot which put him back into hospital again. Since, he has found out that there is another clot and the doctors are madly working to dissolve it so he is 'fit for duty' (so to speak). In reality, I think both Mark and Judy will be keeping him wrapped up in cotton wool for a while (much to his horror no doubt!!).

So he has spent the better part of the past 2 weeks in either Shepparton, Royal Melbourne, Colac or Geelong hospitals. And for a man that rarely admits to being unwell, I'm sure that this has been an arduous experience for him.

Mark has been to see him today and reports that he is in better spirits than he had been, and was looking more like his old self. Most welcomed news!

Ok...farmwise, what else has been going on?

We are well into calving now with almost a full calf shed. I am doing none of the rearing this year as Mark felt he could manage it. And so he has. I miss it though. As of yesterday, we have had all our recip cows calve (the ones that were impregnated with embryos from the flush last year) and we ended up with 4 bulls and 3 heifers. One of the heifers is huge and is a potential show cow herself.

We welcomed a new staff member to our business in the past 2 weeks. Terry Baulch is a 16yo student who is going to be doing some weekend milkings and the occasional week day milking. He is also doing his work experience with us and possibly in the future will complete a school based certificate II traineeship. We hope that Terry enjoys his work with us.

We have just reviewed some text for an article that is being written on us for a breeder profile for the Holstein Australia magazine. I have to admit to being a bit embarassed about it as we have not been in the registering game for very long and there are heaps of breeders out there that also deserve recognition. But we agreed and we took some photos last night to accompany the article. Surprisingly, Tom was very accomodating and took some lovely pictures. We got a few rippers of him with one of the ET heifers who's name he informs us is 'Kelly". So Craiglands Megaman Kelly it is!! This is one of the shots of him holding on to her. Maybe he will be interested in the show circut after all????? (me smiling to myself here!) .

In a couple of weeks we will welcome the Azzopardi family to our farm as part of the Farm Day activities. They hail from one of the western Melbourne suburbs and I'm not sure how much they've been on farms before, but an email from them the other day tells me they are looking forward to coming. They also have a 4yo boy named Thomas!!! LOL. It may get confusing over the weekend!!!

Calving season has started

2009-05-05T21:12:00.002+10:00

We are into calving season 2009 already. From memory, we have about 20+ calves already in the shed. So far, Mark is rearing them all by himself. This will last for as long as we get a sick one and he wants me to take over!! Seriously, I miss doing them, but the super early morning starts for me last year just about killed me. Burning the candle at both ends and all that. Hopefully though, this year, I will be able to take the kids over with me at a later time in the morning (rather than 4am like I did last year). I'm not 100% convinced that Tom's concentration and interest will last the time that I need to be over there, but we'll give it a crack and see how it goes. But for the meantime, Mark is happy to plod along with the babies.

And today we had a bit of excitment! Remember the flush program we did on our show cow back in August? No? Well, suffice to say, one of the recip cows calved today. And it's a bull! LOL. Bugger it though.... I'm keeping it. This is the first of the bull calves to be reared this year. Fingers crossed that the remaining six recips give us some heifers.

We are gearing up for 'Farm Day' where a city family comes and spends the better part of a weekend with us. This year, the dates are May 30 and 31. We haven't got our city family's details yet, but I would guess that they will have kids, as the organisers try and match us all up.

My Stampin' Up! business is starting to pick up a bit of speed. I have a number of workshops in front of me, a class that has been confirmed, and a couple of customers that may turn into long term clients. I attended the SU! convention in Canberra last weekend and I have to say that I have returned all excited and inspired! I can't wait to get right into it. This coming Friday night, I have a 'party plan' evening at a local kindergarten. A number of direct sales companies will be there basically showcasing what they have as far as products and what they can offer prospective hostesses. Fortunately for me, we have a lot of 'hands-on' stuff that tends to capture the attention of bystanders. I am hoping to secure at least one workshop booking from the evening.

First shoes

2009-04-20T19:58:00.003+10:00

Just a quick update. This is Bridie in her brand new dress and wearing - for the very first time - SHOES!!! And just how damn cute are they?? Black patent leather shoes. A staple of every little girls wardobe!! LOL.

Bridie has been properly walking now for about 5 days, and this photo of her was taken on our way to her cousin's birthday party. As we were going to be out and about, I figured she'd better have some shoes now. Bridie was fascinated with them and I had trouble getting a decent picture of her because all she wanted to do was look at the shoes.

Such a girl!!!

VALE: Bluey

2009-04-13T19:00:00.004+10:00

Very sad news today from Craiglands. One of our dogs was killed this afternoon when the milk tanker ran over him. Poor Blue. It was only a matter of time though...Mark had pulled him out from under the wheels of the stationary tanker a number of times. In the past year, he has become deaf and almost blind. He wouldn't have known what hit him (literally).

We were only talking about Blue the other day and wondering how he was going to make it through another winter. Arthritis, poor bladder and bowel control, his senses dimming (or dimmed)...we really were facing having to make a difficult decision in the very near future.

Our concern now shifts to Tottie who is Blue's litter mate (sister) and has been with him for always. Her health is also not 100%, so we now watch her to see how she will react to him not being by her side constantly throughout the day.

Mark just came in from burying Blue. We haven't mentioned anything to the kids yet, but Tom already understands about birth and death in animals, so I don't think he'll take it overly hard. After all, Blue was a very old dog to Tom.

RIP Blue.

Graceful Impressions

2009-04-02T20:43:00.003+11:00

My new business - Graceful Impressions - is up and going! This is my new business name and it is derived from Bridie's middle name (Grace).

This business is predominately the face of my Stampin' Up! demonstratorship, but in the future may be used to extend my business dealings.

I will be keeping a seperate blog/website of all things "Graceful", and you can read about it here. On this site, I will be doing a few things:
1. SU! specials
2. my own personal specials offered on SU! products
3. promotion of SU! products
4. tutorials and tips on how to make the most of your stamps
5. sketches and templates for you to use
6. regular pics and product listing of various projects I make
7. calendar of upcoming events
8. arranging a regular newsletter to be sent out either via email or mail

I can offer a range of services, starting with a party where you and a number of your friends/family get together for a couple of hours to have a bit of fun, make some cards and/or scrapbook pages and have a lot of laughs. Of course, the hostess of this party is able to earn free stamps and products to either kickstart her new passion, or to add to her existing stash!

I am also going to offer a regular workshop or event where for a nominal fee, people can come and make a range of paper crafts, learn different techniques and have full use of my proucts. This also leads into offering "Stamp Clubs" which I will be discussing in detail on the Graceful blog.

Of course, I can also accept orders from anyone by phone, email or in person that wants to order some of the vast SU! range, but doesn't want to hold a party.

So bookmark my site (http://www.gracefulimpressions.blogspot.com/) and pop over regularly to check what I have on offer. Orders can be sent right around Australia (via Aust Post) and are delivered from the warehouse directly to you. This means, less waiting time for you to get the stamps and product that you ordered!

If anyone wants any further information on any of the SU! products (including the newly released 2009- 10 Ideas Book and Catalogue), drop me an email at sam.simpson@bigpond.com

Questions, questions....

2009-04-02T20:36:00.002+11:00

I was in the car with Tom today, and just as we were pulling out of our driveway, a man appeared in front of us. He was jogging down the highway (certainly not a usual sight around here) headed for Colac. This simple figure fascinated Tom and for the 20 minute round trip, all I got were questions about the man:-

"Who is that?"
"What is he doing?"
"Why is he running?"
"Where is he going?"
"Is he coming to our house?"
"Is he going to town?"
"Where did he go?" (this was after we passed him and lost sight)
"Where did he buy that white shirt he is wearing?" !!!!!!!!!

I guess it is better than just getting the "why?" question all the time. There is at least some context to his questioning. But boy, it gets tiring, especially when he forgets that he asked the same question and hence repeats it 10 times!