We Move Tomorrow !!

OMG we are so not ready - stuff everywhere, not enough boxes etc. etc. I am trying to stay calm. This is my 30th move in my lifetime & I should have it all together by now :) It is now about 5.45 am and this is my last post for a while until we get the puta all plugged in at the new place. We are both feeling a little sad too at the thought of leaving here, as you do -and I am trying to focus on all the good things about our new house. This morning we have to go into town to drop Lewis the cat off at a pet motel, visit our bank, solicitor & financial adviser, drop a large sheepskin rug off to be cleaned, pick up some empty boxes and buy something for dinner tonight whew!! No take away food in the country and I did baked beans on toast last night :) Tomorrow is also my birthday (Woo Hoo 55 Go Me!!) but I may have to cancel that as there will be no time for it. Anyhoo wish us luck.

We have a New Grandbaby

We are all so excited as Louise and Jeff now have a son and we have a beautiful new Grandbaby ! Tate Timothy was born on Friday evening and weighs 7lbs 2oz (I love that babies haven't gone metric yet). We are all so proud of all of them and Lou and Jeff are still on Cloud 9. Here is a photo of me with Tate taken yesterday :)
I have also included the front and the inside of a card I made for them all :)

A Week in Review

I know that I haven't posted for a while but time on the puta is so limited this week :( We have been on tenterhooks (whatever they are) waiting for news that Louise has gone into labour. As of today no news but she will be induced tomorrow so soon the wait will be over :) In the meantime we have been busy packing. I just can't believe we have so much stuff, either that or the boxes are soooo small. We have sold all our Silky Chooks, our Cattle, some horses, our Tractor and various other things. We have taken a whole ute load of things to the RSPCA Op Shop and we have given away another ute load of things to friends. We decided against a garage sale and just kept on giving instead. None of these things were rubbish, just things we had outgrown in one way or another and the recipients were very happy to put them to good use. One example was my Bendigo Pottery Bread Crock, bought in 1974 and moved with me to a dozen or more places. Now it has gone, the new owner loves it and I think to myself that it never was a good place to keep bread LOL. Next week we will give our old front load washing machine to Vinnies. I love moving, such a good feeling to clear things away - good feng shui !

In some sad news we have also lost 2 cows recently with tick fever and we have heard that a horse we recently sold has died from a snakebite, also a Silky Rooster we gave away has been killed by a dog. Life with animals can be so rewarding but also so sad when you lose them, and no matter how hard we try in the country `stuff happens' and we just can't always prevent it. Lewis our cat is starting to `smell a rat'. He will be booked into a pet motel for the move. Here is a LO I did of him recently. I am so missing my creative time but it won't be long now till things get back to normal :)

Some words of wisdom

These wise words were sent to me by my sister Anne some months ago and I was struck by the wisdom of these thoughts. This is the kind of knowledge we only really arrive at at a fairly late age - and we wish we had known earlier. That's life I guess :)

I believe - that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I believe - that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I believe -- that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I believe- that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I believe- that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I believe- that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I believe- that you can keep going long after you can't.

I believe- that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I believe- that either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I believe- that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I believe- that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.

I believe- that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I believe-> that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I believe-> that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I believe- that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I believe- that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other and just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.

I believe- that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I believe- that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I believe- that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I believe- that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you you will find the strength to help.

I believe- that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I believe-> that the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

Books etc

Apologies to my Blog readers for my slackness lately - packing etc. is really the pits. Anyhoo for a change in pace I found these questions about books on Kate's Blog and thought I would have a go at answering them. I am still finding time to read however and packing books has a way of sidetracking one all too easily :)


1. One book that changed your life!
`Winnie The Pooh' - he is one cool little fat dude
2. One book that you've read more than once:
`The Shipping News ' - I re- read it straight after I finished it and I will read it again :)
3. One book you'd want on a desert island:
Something practical with survival tips :) and I would like to re- read`War and Peace' to pass the time
4. One book that made you laugh:
`Notes From a Small Island' by Bill Bryson, in fact anything by this guy makes me ROFL
5. One book that made you cry:
`To Kill a Mocking Bird' and `Jane Eyre' - a close tie
6. One book that you wish had been written:
`How to survive life on a small acreage with horses and cattle in SE QLD Aust.' :)
7. One book you wish had never been written:
`The Da Vinci Code' - IMO it just doesn't live up to the hype and I can't believe I bought it let alone read it :(
8. One book you're currently reading:
A Biography of Daphne Du Maurier
9. One book you've been meaning to read:
`The Outlander' (AKA `Crosstitch' by Diana Gabaldon - one of those interesting novels about time travel and the first in a great series

We Have Started Packing!

Finally we have started packing! We have hired a container and now we are rapidly filling it with `stuff'. Believe it or not we also have a removal truck booked but the container will hold all our farm equipment, gardening, camping gear etc. and we can pack a lot of this ahead of time. I am sorting through a lot of things and filling several boxes of things to donate to the RSPCA Op Shop in Gympie. I opened a box yesterday which travelled with us 3 years ago and which I hadn't opened since then. I literally hadn't missed any of this stuff in that time ROFL. Alan finds it impossible to part with a lot of his old things (stamp albums, things that were owned by his Mum & Dad, his 21st Key - the list goes on) so I am putting all this in a special box, labelling it `Alan's Memories' and he can keep it in his garage at the new place. At least photos can go in Albums which are much more accessible and easy to keep in bookshelves where they can be seen. I have so many packets of photos and only a fraction of them are worth keeping. I am just beginning to realise how much money I have wasted over the years getting very ordinary photos printed. Thank God for digital cameras and CD's :)


And this is what we are leaving behind :( I took this photo last week from our back door on a beautiful cold and misty morning.

A Wet Sunday

Today has been a wet and dismal winter Sunday, so perfect for being a `mouse potato'. Alan just came in and suggested I might be getting square eyes or RSI :) but he is watching the football on T.V. I just wish I had some chocolate but luckily for my waistline the shop is too far away :) I found an old family photo earlier today and decided to play around with it. I have found that these Kodak Instamatic snaps from the 70's are the hardest to work with, they were very poor quality to begin with and the colours have faded badly. Anyhoo this one is of my Dad and my sisters and brother all kicking back on a Sunday afternoon in October 1973. I love these unposed tableau style family photos from any era as they really draw you in. I cropped and added a tint to the original. This LO is 6x4 a size I love for its versatility and cost effectiveness.