Didgeri-who?

The classroom theme for this term at school has been Australian Culture. We've enjoyed some discussion on barbecues, mates, cobbers, diggers, Anzac Day, pavlovas, meat pies and XXXX beer to name but a few.

Last Friday also saw the students perform an Aboriginal dance signifying a special story from the 'Dreamtime'.


Sally was a crow in the tale of 'how the birds got their colour', Sarah and Wallace bustards (plain turkeys) in the tale of 'why emus cannot fly' and Jessie was a bird-man in a rather tragic tale of snakes and birds and a time when all animals were in human-form! (or something like that).

A great learning experience all-round!

Let Them Eat Cake

As Australians collectively raised their cuppas and enjoyed their lamingtons this month, working together as part of "Australia's Biggest Morning Tea" celebrations to raise funds for the Cancer Council, our small community also played along.

Pumpkin scones piled high with raspberry jam and great dollops of cream, passionfruit custard slices, date and walnut cake with great slatherings of butter, warm zucchini slice to mention but a few of the delicacies placed before us.

There was also a cake stall operating, selling home-baked goodies to all and sundry. I gladly offered to bring along my old faithful...carrot cake. Always been a lover of carrot cake. T'was even the cake of choice at our wedding.

As I entered with my cake in hand, Rhonda, the lovely organiser of the event, asked would I mind if they auctioned my cake, being as well-known in these parts as it is! Although happy to oblige I did feel some concern that if it only made three bucks I may be a tad embarrassed!!!

So I was more than delighted when the local ambo took home my cake for fifty big ones! Happy smoko lads.

Story of My Life

A rather interesting side-effect of blogging is how concerned I have become with how 'uninteresting' my life must seem to others.

Instead of being a treasured record of one's life, blog-land becomes a competitive arena to see whose children are the cutest, funniest, wittiest, whose kitchen the most stylish and most importantly, whose writing style the most quirky. As I'm side-tracked off to other's blogs, I am constantly in awe of the beauty in their lives.

Rarely a tale of blocked greywater sumps, of pulling dead breech calves from mama cows, hot water systems that erupt in the night draining not one, but two rainwater tanks; no stories of bulls up-ended in water-troughs, irrigation pumps who've lost the will to pump, cows with prolapsed uteruses, baskets overbrimming with dirty clothes, as well as others overflowing with ironing, burst poly-fittings which leak thousands of gallons of water, not to mention the lack of tales of lawnmowers broken down with couch grass now almost reaching to the seat in mockery of the mighty Husqvarna. Not so many stories of unkempt houses, of food crumbs under the table, chickens in the laundry, unmade beds and dirty windows. I see none of this on other's blogs, yet my own life is full of such stories. And I have to wonder does anybody really want to know!

But having recently received in the mail a copy of my blogging from 2009 in hard-cover book form, I have so enjoyed re-living last year and especially seeing the photos of my children growing, playing and just being, that I'm determined to get back on track with plenty more 'life' stories to share.

For, at the end of my days when I look back through these pages, it will not be some stranger's marble benchtops, someone else's frittata recipe or crafting ideas that will be of interest to me, it will be these four little critters and our messy home and rocky hills that will be the story of my life.

Meet the...

....new kids on the block.

Natalie,
Chelsea, Matilda, Samantha,

...and Maree.

Don't ask. Your guess is as good as mine. Can't wait to meet my grandchildren...
Flora, Troy and Duncan.

Egg-laying is a supply and demand type business.
And for some time our four old hens have been struggling to keep up with demand.
We eat six eggs for breakfast every day. More, the days we have scrambled. Do the maths!

So hopefully these five little dolls come with overladen ovaries fitted.

Absolutely Lovin'...

my new slow-cooker.

Have only enjoyed the presence on my kitchen bench of this little wonder for the past week (Happy Mother's Day to me!), but am already wondering how I managed to exist earlier. My life will forever more be defined by pre-slow-cooker and post-slow-cooker.

After Middle Eastern Lamb Casserole, Sweet Indian Beef Curry and Corned Beef all coming forth from its beautiful teflon-coated interior in the past few days, I did notice the children head towards it after school yesterday afternoon and breathe a rather noticeable collective sigh of relief that the slow cooker was having a night off. Apparently you can have too much of a good thing!

Happy Mother's Day

I was greeted this morning to this beautiful assortment of creativity:

...and the winner is:

some boys just don't have creative juices flowing through their veins.

Expecting a recruitment call from Hallmark anytime soon.

This Little Pig

enjoyed a day out in the green grass over the weekend,

as did his brother,
and cousin,
while little sister found some spilt corn,
and this little pig went 'wee, wee, wee, all the way home'.

And I learnt to place white borders around my photographs!

True Joy ...

was entering my kitchen just on dark yesterday evening to discover husband, cordless drill in hand, putting the front panel back on my dishwasher, standing back from the job, and uttering two words that fell upon my ears like a warm blanket falling on a small child.

"It's fixed".

Lovin' .... Horsework

(not to be confused with housework).

After a morning in at the campdraft grounds with some friends, giving the kids a practise run before our local campdraft at the end of the month...





...we returned home to gather together some cows and return to their paddock.



Jessie took immediate charge...


...and had her troops heading in the right direction.


Wal was left with the solitary task of tailing his own mob down to the meeting point.



It wasn't long and the girls had their charges moving in the right direction.



Good work team!