Bella

One year ago today Bella came to join our family. We love her so much. She is so sweet, cuddly, pulls our trees and plants out of the garden but we wouldn't be without her.

Bella at 8 weeks.

Here's Bella at 12 weeks.

We love our Bella.

A Few Tweaks

I have tweaked a few things and slowed it down a little. Let me know what you think.

Photo Video

I thought I would share a recent photo video I recently put together. Kady took the photos during January one evening after a day at the beach. Leah loves riding her bike around the back yard and playing with Bella. Check out all the summer bugs flying around as she rides and plays in the grass.



To check out my other videos click on the vimeo link below.

A Simpler Life

Over the last few months I have been trying to live more simply, declutter and get back to enjoying the basics. In todays world we are always rushing and life just seems so busy. I have been taking more time to enjoy our home and garden and the quieter times when we aren't rushing.We have spent more time on the weekends at home working in and around the house and garden.

My greenhouse and garden has been supplying us with lettuce, spring onions, tomatoes, strawberries and lots of herbs. I have started to think about what winter vegetables I will plant and about preparing the garden for sowing the seeds and seedlings and also about keeping some vegetables for next years seeds.

We have been lucky this season to receive lots of fresh vegetables from Mary and Eddie's veggie patch. We have had lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, beets, spring onions, red and white onions, beans, cucumber, zucchini, snow peas and more. I have been meal planning around what fresh vegetables we have in the fridge.

I have also been trying to cut back on our weekly grocery expenses and to look at our finances and how we can improve different areas. I have gone back to making my own cleaning supplies and dog food. I went off the rails for a bit with this and it's nice to be back on track. The recipes I use are from the following website.

http://www.aussieslivingingsimply.com.au/

CONCENTRATED LAUNDRY POWDER

4 cups grated laundry or homemade soap or soap flakes (Lux),
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and store in a plastic container with a lid.

Use 2 tablespoons per wash ( I keep a measuring spoon in the container). The mix is ok for front loaders as it doesn't create suds. I also measure my tablespoons into a cup and mix with hot water to melt the soap piece prior to putting in my washing machine.

There is a version of this recipe that you can make into a liquid version.
If you are using your water as grey water for the garden please do not use Borax in the mix.

FABRIC SOFTENER

½ cup white vinegar in final rinse

If you are using the homemade laundry concentrate you don't need to use a softener as the washing soda acts as a softener although if you use if every five or six washes it will help with the soap buildup in your machine.

WINDOW CLEANER

¼ teaspoon liquid soap
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 cups water
spray bottle

Put all the ingredients into a spray bottle. Give it a shake to mix ingredients. Use on glass with a rag or newspaper.

FABRIC WHITENER

Add two teaspoons baking soda to half a bucket of cold water. Soak the garment for 30minutes then wash as normal. Hang outside in the sun to dry.

I haven't made this all purpose cleaner yet but it sounds good.

All Purpose Cleaner-----SPRAY &WIPE----

2tab Cloudy Ammomia,Half cup white cleaning vinegar,2 tab wash up deterg(morning fresh) . Top up to 2 litres warm water. Use in spray bottle.


My dog food recipe is taken from the down to earth blog.

HOMEMADE DOG FOOD

1 kg beef mince - I buy low grade that only costs about $5 or $6 a kilo
1½ cups raw brown or white rice
1 cup raw barley OR lentils
1 cup raw pasta
2 cups chopped vegetables - it can be whatever you have on hand but NOT ONIONS or LEEKS ( I use frozen mixed vegetables if I have no fresh on hand).
1 spoonful of Vegemite (optional or beef or chicken stock powder)
Water

Place all the above ingredients into a big stockpot. Cover with water and stir to break up the mince. Bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes. When it's finished cooking, top up the stockpot to the rim with water and leave to cool.

When it's cold, place into portion sized plastic containers and freeze until you need them.This will feed two large dogs for seven days. The dogs love it and it's got no preservatives or artifical flavourings in it. It costs around $7 a week. I also give a cup of good quality dog biscuits mixed through it as well as this mix has low calcium levels so pups and pregant dogs will require supplements.

Here are some blogs I visit (some for simple living ideas and some for fun)

http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/
http://www.thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/
http://www.theletteredcottage.net/
http://enchantedthingsprimitives.blogspot.com/
http://www.lighteningonline.com/
http://remotetreechanger.blogspot.com/
http://dearfii.blogspot.com/
http://avisionsplendid.blogspot.com/
http://pacingthepanicroom.blogspot.com/ (awesome writer, photographer, very entertaining. Check out his pregnancy series).
http://www.abeachcottage.typepad.com/
http://www.towards-sustainability.com/
http://thewhiteverandah.blogspot.com/
http://satisfying-journey.blogspot.com/
http://www.mysimplerlife.com/blog/

Some great links here for living simply

http://www.organiccoupons.org/blog/2008/08/the-road-less-traveled-top-100-simple-living-blogs/

Photo Video- Forest Drive

Thanks Kev

For our 5 metres of firewood. Red Gum to be exact. A luxury for us as we normally get a permit and go into the forest and spend weekend after weekend cutting lots of common gum. Something we will still be doing as we only have about 9 metres of firewood (common, red gum and pine off cuts) and we need about 20 metres minimum to last through the cold months.

For those who have a fire you would know that Red Gum burns so much hotter and longer than common (it also smells so yum when freshly cut). We will mix it with the common during the day and burn red gum at night.

When Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued the stimulous packages we decided to buy 5 metres of Red Gum. Did we stimulate the economy? Well we bought local and someone's pocket was $600 better lined so that must be good. Although it's not a wide screen tv (as many were predicted to buy) I know on our cold winter nights I will be loving my Red Gum more than a wide screen lol.

The before pic is top left. It's really hard to guage just how much wood is there . 2.5 hours later the pile bottom left is all that's left. It's damp here today so it's covered with a tarp so we can use it without it being wet. The rest is neatly stacked along the length of the shed about 1.5 metres high and the second line started in front. I would have finished it all yesterday but the wheel came off the wheel barrow and I crushed my finger ouch, between two pieces.

Bella at 12 Weeks

Wow this pup is growing so so fast. It has amazed me that in a month she has tripled in size. For a few weeks she has been sitting, dropping and shaking hands. Working on roll and stay now.

Easter Sunday

We had a lovely relaxing day at home on Easter Sunday. The girls ended up with so much chocolate from everyone. Kady was totally spoilt by Dylan. He gave her a huge basket of eggs, a box of chocolates and a Lindt bunny.

We had our traditional egg hunt. The possums scored big this year with 3/4 of the chocolate missing by morning. Sunday evening we had Dylan and Simon over for dinner (Debbie is in Egypt). We had a lovely roast lamb and roast chicken with corn, peas, beans, roast spuds, carrots, yorkshire puds and gravy followed by apple strudel and cream and then a cheese platter. We had a lovely night. Jason and Simon played the guitar for a bit as well.

February to March

I really don't know where to start. February and March were very emotional months for us. Emotional in a good and also a bad way. I think we felt every kind of emotion over these last few months. This is a huge post. I still have to add a few bits in between this.

Black Saturday -7th February 2009

I don't think we will ever recover emotionally from Black Saturday. One of the reasons I haven't blogged as it all just knocked me for a six emotionally.

Whilst on Black Saturday we were lucky enough not to have any large fires break out in our forest. It was a day spent preparing the outside of our property in case we weren't so lucky. We spent the day in total shock as Victoria was consumed with large fires that spread rapidly. 173 dead and 2000 odd homes lost.

Taken from the Herald Sun.

CONDITIONS for a perfect firestorm led to Australia's greatest natural disaster at the weekend. Drought, hurricane-force wind and record temperatures after a record heatwave combined to create the deadly Black Saturday.

The University of Melbourne's senior lecturer in fire ecology and management, Kevin Tolhurst, said conditions on Black Saturday were some of the worst the world had seen for a potential outbreak.

He said the fires were so hot the energy they released could have supplied Victoria with electricity for at least two years. Up to 80,000 kilowatts per metre of heat was expelled as the fires raged on Saturday.

Dr Tolhurst said this equalled about 500 atomic bombs landing on Hiroshima.

"Eyewitness accounts said they didn't see evidence of fire and then all of a sudden they felt the area around them was exploding," Dr Tolhurst said.

The unprecedented bushfires were so savage because of the previous week's heatwave (a week of high 40 degree temperatures). He said this sapped up the vegetation's moisture, making the land tinder dry. "What was quite unusual and unique about it was the fires took so readily and developed so quickly. The conditions were so dry the fuel ignited," Dr Tolhurst said. Department of Sustainability and Environment fire behaviour specialist Peter Billing said spot fires, travelling up to 15km from the fire front, rapidly accelerated the blaze. "Spotting defeats the control of the fire,' Mr Billing said. The front then fragmented, creating fingers and tongues of fire rapidly spreading up spurs and gullies. "Bits and pieces of a very ugly fire will go all over the place," he said. "The original fire, the parent fire, can fragment so it is not a clean edge and you cannot determine exactly where it is." He said prevailing wind, with gusts reaching hurricane force levels up to 120km/h, initially drove the fire. "But once it is established it becomes a monster of its own physics," he said. CSIRO senior fire researcher Andrew Sullivan said Victoria was ideally placed for bad fires because of its climate, vegetation, topography and the phenomenon of hot and dry wind from the continent's centre.

"The conditions on Saturday were typical of bad fire days like Black Friday in 1939 and Ash Wednesday in 1983," Mr Sullivan said. "Victoria is the perfect spot to have really bad fires."

View of Melbourne city from Kinglake.

So many towns have been completely burnt out. So many lives lost. The stories of survival and the witnesses stories during the fire are amazing. I still am at a loss of what to say. It was just so devastating.

Mum's Birthday

Mum turned 60 on February 14th. Dad decided to surprise Mum by flying me up for a long weekend. I left on Friday morning and Dad picked me up from the airport. It took us 4 hours to get from Brisbane airport to Toowoomba. Mad. The traffic and heavy rain was unbelievable.

I stayed at Donna and Justins place. Dylan thought it was pretty cool that Auntie Dawn slept in his room on the scary upper bunk. Dylan kept me awake a lot so we played games, read stories and enjoyed some early mornings together.

Saturday was Mum's birthday. Mum worked until after lunch so we ran around buying food and preparing all the salads etc for the bbq later that afternoon. Everyone arrived at the bbq except Tony and I. We walked in and Mum was stunned. Lots of tears and hugs. It was so nice to catch up with all the family friends that I haven't seen for years. I hadn't been back to Toowoomba for four years.

This is the first time in four years we have all been together.

My three beautiful nieces, Hailey, Courtny and Emily. Look how much they have all grown up.

My brother Tony and his beautiful girls.

Family photo. We haven't had one of these in four years. My brother hasn't changed since we were kids LOL Always hard to get everyone looking in the same direction.

Saturday night, Donna, Justin and I along with two of Donna's mates all went out nightclubbing. We went to a karoke bar and had a ball. Not much sleep that night. Poor Justin took all day Sunday to recover.

Sunday we went to Tony and Mim's for a yummy BBQ followed by dinner out at the golf club (hard to fit in a meal after the bbq but we all managed).

One of Tony's dogs Paris.

View from Tony's place.

Mum & Dad

Dylan loved playing in the sandpit.

Whilst up in Queensland I bought the first book of the Twilight series. On the way home I bought the second book. Let's say I was totally addicted from the first chapter and have since read all four books as well as the book about how the movie was made. Kady read them next followed by Dylan.

Monday 23rd February

Monday afternoon I was at work when I received a call to say we had a bushfire in our forest. Although it was still a distance away after the recent events no one was taking any chances. Everyone quickly put the fire tree into effect and began notifying the next person on the list. We had planned on having a practice run this week never imagining we would have a real life practice.

The fire began in Hogan's Road near Daylesford and with high winds we were in direct line of the fire. We all raced home and we quickly began loading the car with all our valuables, photos and items we didn't want to lose. It was quite stressful trying to remember everything that we needed or wanted to packed. A little different from the few weeks before when Black Saturday evacuee's didn't even get time to take a single thing.

We were lucky when later in the evening the wind changed and was pushing the fire towards Trentham and Newbury. We had Dylan with us as Simon and Debbie were fighting the fire. At about 8.30 embers started falling on Newbury and Trentham. It was at this stage we decided to evacuate rather than spending the night worrying about embers or the wind changing back towards us. Most on our estate evacuated as well. As we only have the one road through we thought it was safer. Memories of Black Saturday were in the forefront of our minds. Tuesday night we returned home. I was glad we had left though as we wouldn't of had any sleep.

Friday 27th

was forecast as an extreme fire danger day. There were many rumours circulating and someone had falsely been door knocking saying they were from the CFA so a community meeting was held on the Thursday night put together by the CFA, the Police, the shire council and a few others. By this stage we had been notifyed by the schools to say that the school would be closed as it was unsafe for the kids to attend with the risk of another day like Black Saturday.

We attended the community meeting. We were told that all children must be evacuated and we were only to stay if we could defend our homes. We don't have any fire fighting equipment and had never planned to stay and defend our house so we left straight after the meeting and didn't come back home till very late Saturday night. Two road blocks were put in place. One at the base of the hill and one near our estate to prevent people looting our houses.

The line of cars leaving that night was incredible. Trailers filled with everything imaginable. We even saw fridges and even a trampoline. It was a very stressful time not knowing if we would have a house to return too.

Luckily enough the weather didn't get as bad as predicted and Saturday night we returned home safely.

We spent the weekend tidying up even more around the house. The coming Tuesday was predicted to be another Black Saturday and was going to be more extreme than the Friday just gone. By this stage we were tired and emotionally drained. I had kept the cars packed with everything and over the past week added even more items as I thought about them.

Monday we were notified to evacuate Monday night and told not to leave it till Tuesday morning. They were worried trees in the forest would fall as winds like on Black Saturday were predicted and we wouldn't be able to get out. The school told us that they would be closed. In fact over 300 schools/kinders closed. Kady's school was open as it was in town and not under threat. We decided to keep her home as we wanted to all stay together so Kady had the day off on the Tuesday.

We received a text message sent out to millions of Victorians and Tasmanians from the Victorian Police saying the following:

Extreme weather in Vic expected Monday night & Tuesday. High wind and fire risk. Listen to local ABC Radio for emergency updates.

The government also cancelled all school camps so a weeks worth of work was also lost as we had a full week of camps. I wouldn't want my kids camping near the fires.

I think by this stage many people thought the government, police, CFA were crying wolf and making out the day would be something it wouldn't be. We weren't going to take any chances. A house can be replaced. Our lives can't. We had the Ballarat ABC and the CFA scanner going 24/7 by this stage. We wanted to know as fast as possible what was happening around us. Fires were burning all over Victoria. The fire in our forest was contained but not under control.

Monday night we had evacuated by 5 pm. Once again the traffic leaving our area was amazing. Road blocks were once again put in place. The winds began on Monday night and I was so glad were we safe out of the forest. We didn't return home until very late Wednesday night. It was hard knowing when to return.

Here are some images of an area that was burnt near Daylesford. We were lucky that no properties all lives were lost in the Wombat fires. The CFA did an amazing job.

Daylesford water supply. The banks were lined with straw bays to prevent the ash contaminating the water.

Sunday 1st of March we had a fireguard meeting. We have set up a small fireguard with about ten families involved. Much easier to maintain and notify people.

March saw me turning 40. An age I didn't always think I was going to make at one stage. We decided to cater for it ourselves and we ended up with close to 80 people. J and I cooked finger foods, roasts, potatoes, corn, peas and lots of salads and desserts. Friends and family also bought lots of yummy food. Friday morning prior to the big day I was doing housework and both girls were home from school. Leah told me someone had pulled up in a car beside the house. We went out on the back veranda to see who it was. Imagine my surprise when I saw Mum, Dad, Donna and Dylan coming towards me. They had flown down for my birthday and were staying nearly a week. I was pretty speechless that EVERYONE knew except the girls and I.

We had a great night at the party. So good getting together with family and friends. My fav thing to do. The night ended up being freezing cold. The first cold day in a long long time with lots of rain. Actually the most rain we had had in about 4 months.


For a while I had been looking around for a Golden Retriever or Labrador puppy. Debbie (Dylan's Mum) had rang me the afternoon of my party to tell me she had found a retriever the colour I wanted. She went across to look at the pups for me and bought home my new pup. Love at first sight. Debbie took her home for the first night so she wasn't scared with all the people at the party etc

Meet Bella. She's nearly 8 weeks old here (pics taken the day after we got her).

Here is Bella two weeks later.

We had a great time with Mum, Dad, Donna and Dylan down from Queensland. I don't think I have ever eaten out so much.


My actual birthday was Sunday. Spent the day recovering from the previous late night. Mum, Dad, Donna and Dylan came over for most of the day. They left to go out for dinner and Debbie and Dylan (Kady's boyfriend) joined us to eat the mountain of leftovers. A nice relaxing day.


Whilst the family were down we went to Torquay, Geelong, Castlemaine, Daylesford, Melton and a few other places.



Some pics of our days.








21st March


Jason, Leah and I attended our first karate tournament. Lots of fun to watch.



A mammoth post.Congrats if you read through all of this. More for my memories than anything else. Click on pics to enlarge.

4WDing in the forest

We have enjoyed spending time doing a little 4x4 driving in the forest this summer.

It's already very dry in the forest and summer has only just begun. These pictures were taken along one of the tracks that is seasonally closed during the winter. We found a beautiful mossed ferny area. Amazing considering we have had a very dry season.

We also stopped by Shaw's Lake.

Mid November

Where has the month gone? I can't believe we are already in mid November. Not long to go till Christmas. I haven't even started my Christmas shopping.

Ok point form to wrap up our last few weeks

-Leah had swimming lessons with the school for two weeks. She really needed a refresher. Her swimming had gone down hill due to lack of practice and after five years of swimming lessons, not a good thing.

-Kady has a boyfriend. His name is Dylan. He's a great guy.

-We have all been doing Karate now since the beginning of July. We are totally addicted and have been training three nights a week since we returned from holiday. Our level of fitness has increased considerably. I have dropped 5 notches on my belt, woo hoo. Have lost a heap of weight and plan on losing a lot more. Next week we have our first grading for our red belt. It's a three hour intense workout. I can't wait.

-We had our first Karate demonstration a few weeks ago at the Greendale Market. Lots of fun. Kady had a panic attack so sat it out. We didn't want to push her. Last Sunday we had our second demonstration at Gordon Festival. Kady took part and did really well. No sign of a panic attack. She has come a long way and has conquered the fear of getting up in front of people. We are so proud of her.

-Kady chose her subjects for school next year a while back. She is doing all maths (algebra etc) and science. She is still focusing on working in Forensics. Many of her friends have chosen easy subjects but she is determined to stay on track and only do the subjects that will get her into a science field.

-Kady had an orientation day this week at the senior campus. Next year they are merging the junior and senior campus's together. We can't wait. We are hoping the school improves. Kady was impressed just visiting.

-Tuesday night I did a demonstration for Fiskars at the Spotlight VIP night. A great night. We were very busy all night.

-Leah dressed up in her finery for Myrniong Cup in the Friday before Melbourne Cup. No pics :(

-Cup weekend we began painting the veranda on the house. A big job. It has needed doing for a while. We finally decided on using the same colour as the colourbond guttering. Jason had a week off work (boss insisted as he has too many holidays built up) so we spent time pottering around the house and garden catching up on jobs.

-Cup weekend Kady went to Colac show with Dylan and his Mum. Dylan's Mum has just returned from Korea showjumping with the Australian team. Kady had a great time watching them both compete and got to show their dog in a comp and won second for most lovable pet.

-Baby duck is sitting on eggs. We really didn't want ducklings this year but she was sitting before we realised. Less than two weeks and we may have little black ducklings running around the back yard. Reggie goose is being the protective Dad.

-Last weekend we spent Saturday digging and preparing the veggie patch. I have planted in the garden and greenhouse, zucchini, cucumber, peas, lettuce, snow peas, chilli's, pumpkin, carrots. In the greenhouse we already have dill, coriander, and parsley. I just need some tomato plants. I have been busy adding pea straw to the veggie garden and around all the fruit trees.

-Kady has been volunteering at the wildlife shelter for the last three weeks. She is loving it. I have been going to help out a few times when I can. There are two cute baby wombats there at the moment and lots of baby roos.

-Fire restrictions begin tomorrow. We have already had two fires in our street over the past two weeks. People burning and clearing without adequate water near them. Idiots.

- Last weekend we had a fatal car accident down the road from our house. Very sad. The roads were closed for over four hours.

-My good friend Erica had a baby girl last month. I have been slack and haven't had a chance to catch up with her yet.

-Our Girls Night In on the Fiskars blog was a great success. We raised around $1700. woo hoo

-The weather has started warming up here. We have had some lovely warm days and also had a great thunderstorm the other night. Not a lot of rain but the thunder was the loudest we have heard in a long time.

-I am so happy that J's cousin Graham and Michelle are expecting their third child.

-Over the last few months I have two new little cousins, Lucus and Skye and another little girl due next month.

-My sister in law Kathie is home from Argentina. She had a great time filming Wipeout. Well done Kath. We are so proud of you.

-J's sister Cassi and her partner Ash are coming over from New Zealand for Christmas. It will be great to catch up with them both.

-Wendy and Daryl moved into there new home.

-lots of Christmas parties are already being slotted into the calendar. December becomes so busy so fast.

-Loved that Obama won the election. Loved watching his speech on you tube. Awesome.

I think thats it for now. Been a busy few weeks. Off today to celebrate big Djudak's 83rd birthday.

Around The House

The last few days have felt like spring. I am so ready for spring. I am sick of the dull days. We have had a cold and very damp winter. We are all sick of being sick in this house. After so long of no one really being sick we have all had our share this season. Four weeks since I first woke up with the horror flu I STILL have a sore throat. J is just recovering from gastro. NICE. Kady is still feeling yuck. Leah had a head cold and we discovered a hole in her tooth. A mad dash to the dentist and some $200 poorer to get a hole filled in a baby tooth in case she has problems when we are away next month. J had a fall at work yesterday. Nearly four metres off a ladder. He is quite bruised but nothing broken thankfully.

Our fruit trees are starting to bloom. The daffodils and Jonquils are in flower. The weather is finally warming up.

Some little *&%$ of a neighbours kid trashed our fish pond on Father's Day. They pulled out all the water lillies. They were just starting to really grow and look lovely. I had to spend an afternoon fishing in the pond to retrieve them and replant them. JOY......

We are currently planning our holiday to the outback late next month. A visit to Menidee Lakes, Broken Hill, Silverton (where movies such as Mad Max, etc were filmed), White Cliffs (underground opal mining town), Tibooburra, Cameron's Corner (where NSW, SA and QLD join) Innamincka (resting place and memorials of our explorers Burke and Wills), Lake Eyre, Flinders Ranges and Burra and then making our way back home. I can't wait. We are lucky that J's mate from work Red needs a place to stay for a few weeks so he will be looking after all the animals etc. A weight off our minds. We wil have to learn how to post pics to the blog from our mobiles whilst on the road.

The photos below have been taken over the last few weeks. The roos are our two resident males. They are always together. The older male on the right seems to look out for the younger male. We believe they have been banished from the mob. We see these guys every few days around our house. Check out the pics where the roos have heard someone in the neighbouring block. They both look up. The older male then sniffs the air (enlarge the pic). We can walk around the house and block as long as we don't disturb them too much. If you get too close they hop off. The older male is quite a bit larger than the younger.

Daffy the Indian Runner Duck shocked me this past week. She managed to get up onto the outdoor table. I have no idea how. Daf isn't too adventurous. I heard a heap of noise outside and looked out to this view. LOL. All the other ducks were quacking as if to say get down. She flew down and then they all had a big conversation about it LOL.

Daf is close to five years old. I suppose old for her breed. Her and her mate Donald we have had since we first built the chook pen. Reggie Bird our goose is still the Dad of the ducks. He is also close to five years old. I have read he can live to 15 years. Reg is a bit of a character. He really believes he is a duck.

Our latest addition to our backyard is the annual babies of the wild wood ducks. How cute are these guys? Kady spotted them on Monday and they come back every day. A little earlier this year as we normally see them end of September. This year they have eight babies. Last year there were ten. Mum and Dad both take care of them.

Click on the collage to view larger.

Today we saw our first snake. A brown. It was only 50 metres from the house. As we came around the corner we ran over it. It was sunning on the bitumen. Leah was keen to get out of the car and look at it, Kady joined us be held back lol. We told the girls how you can still get bitten even if they are dead or have been run over. It was just over a metre long. I was planning on doing some gardening and removing some dense creeping daisies this week but not sure if I am as keen now. The snakes are out early.

August Snow

Jason took these photos yesterday morning at home and as he was driving to work. He had to go the back way through Trentham, Woodend as his work ute wouldn't have made it down our big hill safely with all the black ice. He said it was quite slippery in places. Look how pretty it looks.

This might be out last snow for this winter.

Our House tonight

Took a few photos tonight about 15 minutes after the snow started settling. It has snowed all day on and off but hadn't settled until tonight. It's 0.9 degrees outside at the moment and another storm is approaching. Look like it's in for the night.

Kookaburra's

It has been cold and damp today. We had 5 ml of rain overnight. Today we had to go out into the forest and cut some firewood for the next few weeks.

We came home and J was splitting the wood under the watchful eye of six Kookaburras. They are so cute and so funny. They kept sitting so close to the splitter that J was worried he would hit one. All they were worried about was checking the wood for some yummy lizards or grubs.

Update

Well I have been quite slack at updating this blog lately. We have been very busy. I am still working for Fiskars as one of the two Australian Lead Ambassadors. I love this role. My focus is on media and creative development. I am also still working for the YMCA a few times a week. Mainly evenings and a day on the weekend. Love both jobs.

J is nearing the end of his job. Only another month or less and then he can take some time off before the next one begins. We would love to go away on a holiday. We Might head up to QLD via the Kidman (love this highway) to visit the family and then go off touring around. Would love to go and see Tony and Mim's place before they move. Tony and Mim sadly have had to sell their farm as Tony has to have a back op that will require him to take a year off work. I feel so sad for them selling their farm as they love living there. They have purchased another place with about ten acres.

This month marked my two year anniversary of my diagnosis of Breast Cancer. I feel grateful for these two years. I think differently and feel different. I am thankful for the doctors, family and friends that were there for me on my journey. It was a time of reflection this month not in a sad way but rather more thankful for being diagnosed. The alternative I would rather not think about. They told me I would have been lucky to have had six more months as my cancer was very aggressive. Check your boobs girls.

Ok happier thoughts...............

This week has flown by. I spent today going into head office in Melbourne to work. Love going into head office and catching up with everyone. Today I got to see many of the Summer CHA releases in real life. Man they are yummy. My favourite would have to be the new Kimberly Poloson range. Black, cream and white. Very nice.

About a month ago we (meaning J, myself, Kady and Leah) joined a local Karate group. So much fun. We are learning Kyokushin Karate.

Kyokushin kaikan (極真会館, Kyokushin kaikan?) is a style of stand-up, full contact karate, founded in 1964 by Masutatsu Oyama (大山倍達, Ōyama Masutatsu?) who was born under the name Choi Yong-I (최영의). Kyokushinkai is Japanese for "the society of the ultimate truth." Kyokushin is rooted in a philosophy of self-improvement, discipline and hard training. Its full contact style has had international appeal (practitioners have over the last 40+ years numbered more than 12 million]).
Kyokushin has influenced many of the "full-contact" schools of karate, emphasizing realistic combat, physical toughness, and practicality in its training curriculum.

This week we attended two classes on Wednesday night and then tonight. Classes go for 1.5 to nearly 2 hours. I was quite sore this week as we did a full on class on Wednesday and another not so intensive class tonight. We will feel it on sunday. Way too many sit ups and push ups that I care to count. Lots of punching, punching bags, kicking. In a month I can feel the difference already. I am hoping this will build up the strength on my left side that was lost from my breast cancer surgery. I can already feel where my muscles should be lol. Bring on feeling fitter. Tonight we all got our Gi's. It's great to be able to partake in a sport as a family. The instructor claims Leah is a natural as she is so flexible and can do a kick and turn that most black belts struggle with. He told her to practice and perfect it.

We came home tonight to see a large male roo in the back yard munching away on the grass. He didn't hop away until we went onto the verandah to open the back door. It's so nice seeing all the wildlife here. We seem to have two to three males here all the time.

During the week J was driving home from work and stopped for a roo knocked down by a car in front of him. He rang the local wildlife shelter and they sent someone out to shoot the roo. so sad that people don't stop. In the roo's pouch was a pinkie ( a baby without fur). J thought it was about 30 - 40 cm long. The babywas going to be taken to our local wildlife shelter where Mich helped out.

Ok all for now. I actually have a full weekend off. The first in many months. We have to go and cut firewood though. It's cold and damp so not looking forward to it. 4.2 degrees tonight. I started this post hours ago. Time to head off for bed. Night.

Winter

We have had some awesome winter weather this week. Yesterday we awoke to snow. It snowed until lunch time but melted fast. It didn't go above 2 degrees until lunch and then hit a big 5. Thanks goodness we have lots of wood for the fire.

Over the next few days we are in for some rough weather. A wind warning has been issued for our area with gusts reaching 100km an hour. Snow is predicted for the next two days down to 500 metres. We are at 680 metres so we could well and truly get snowed in. The kids are looking forward to having heaps of snow. Let's hope.


Wednesday and Thursday Fine tonight. Showers and rain areas developing on Thursday. Snowfall above 500 metres on Thursday and local hail and thunder. A cold day with strong to gale force northwesterly wind.

Friday Scattered showers, falling as snow above 500 metres at first. A chance of hail during the morning. A cold day with strong southwesterly wind.

TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCASTVICTORIAN SEVERE WEATHER WARNINGfor Localised Damaging WindsFor people in the Western, Wimmera, North Central, Central, West and SouthGippsland, East Gippsland and Alpine districts.Issued at 10:05 pm EST on Wednesday 9 July 2008

A cold front will affect Victoria Thursday morning and a secondary front willmove through Thursday night and early Friday. North to northwesterly winds areexpected to strengthen from the west overnight to average 45 to 60km/h withgusts to around 90km/h before tending northwest to westerly. A west to southwestchange will then affect southern districts on Thursday night with winds likelyto average 50 to 70 km/h with gusts of around 100 km/h. Snowfalls are likely to develop down to around 500 metres during Thursday.

In the interests of community safety the SES suggests some simple precautions:Secure any loose objects in the vicinity of your house, beware of fallenpowerlines and, if you are boating, then return to shore as soon as possible.

The next warning is due to be issued by 5am Thursday

Happy birthday to Cassie last week, Megan yesterday and Jason tomorrow.

We spent a lovely afternoon at the park today with family friends. Kids all had a great time.

I will update more over the next few days.

Random Pics From Around The House

And A Few More

Some Photos With My New Lens