A Fresh Start

   
     We folded up our school house last year on 23 November.  It was the final day of school forever for my older son! and No 2 and I were well and truly ready for the break.  We had blisteringly hot days here over December and January, which meant I spent a lot of time in the air conditioning.  This limited what chores were done but the reading opportunities were great .  I spent a very relaxing, fun filled week at the coast with my older daughter and her four cherubs coming back home with the intention of starting school immediately after Australia Day (26 January).

My older son (second left) his cousin and mate (centre) and friend
on Homeschool Graduation Night.

     Ah...the best laid plans! On the night of 25 January, a Sunday, I had a heart attack!  Needless too say this put a spanner in our well laid plans.  I spent five days in the CCU here in Rockhampton and then flew to Royal Brisbane hospital for an angiogram.  Alas, as previous angios have shown, there is nothing that can be done for my very blocked veins and arteries other than medications to relieve the symptoms. The good news being that the three by passes that were done ten years ago are clear and working well.  God is good.  Though somewhat disappointed I was not shattered as this was the same outcome as previous tests had shown.

Grandad and Mumma enjoy Saturday night tea,
usually my boys,  my older daughter and the fab four.

     That week my two eldest grandsons started Grade One!  Third little man began Prep and the twins started a couple of days a week at Kindy.  Somehow those years have just flown by. And so it is that I am back in the class room with just my youngest beginning Year 11. He's had a late start, today being the first back to normal routine, but we've begun as we intend to continue.  So it is with renewed energy and "vision"  that I launch into my twenty third year of Home Schooling.  ( Anyone who actually knows me or has read my blog before will remember that I have very little energy and not so great vision so I jest)

   Today, I am pondering the character traits which I need to work on.  Primarily my own,  love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. 

     As my son begins a unit on Peace and Conflict, problem solving and mediation are  topics which are coming up naturally. I am loving this season of life with grown up children, where discussions are fruitful for our spiritual growth. 

Back yard cricket.  I has to be extremely hot to stop my guys from
getting a game going.

     Ooops, it's such a long while since I have blogged that I am rather rusty with the finer points of placement etc but I will do my best to improve on that.

Anyone still reading out there?

Hello out there!  I'm going to try one of those "On this Day" Posts to see whether I am still able to write here and whether others out there still read blogs.  Please leave me a message if you read this.

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'For today, Thursday, February 5, 2015

Outside my window... everything is lush and green around us.  We have had some extremely hot days followed by some extremely heavy rain.  

Hearing...The hum of the air conditioner.  Can't live without it. Also the blare of the TV.  I can live without that but it's a good relaxer.

Pondering... The goodness and faithfulness of God.  I am home after another heart episode, a trip to Brisbane.  Why has God so graciously spared me?  again and again.  What is my calling to serve the Lord in the weary world? 

Praying... Always for my children, mostly that they will love the  Lord and live their lives in his service. For my grandchildren, that they will hear and learn His truth in their secular school and also repent and be saved.
"For the promise is to you and to your children and all those who are afar off, as many as the Lord thy God shall call."

Thankful for:  the above mentioned preservation.  Also for the amazing family and friends that I have the privilege to live with. The outpouring of care and concern during my illness encourages me.  Knowing that when these peoples say they are praying, they ARE praying!  and seeing the faithful answers come about.

Wearing... Green denim pants, swirly heart/paramecium top. I am not exactly a fashion plate :-)

Creating... A short article on child hood memories for  the Centenary of my hometown which is being celebrated on  Anzac Day..  The one hundred year anniversary of the Gallipoli landing

Going...  To the afore mentioned celebrations, Lord Willing.  My social life has narrowed a lot of recent years, as my health has deteriorated. 

Looking forward to...  Saturday when the family come over for fun and dinner.

In the kitchen... Not much happening there.  Keeping things simple with grills and salads and hoping my energy and love for cooking returns.

In the learning rooms... For each of us, our education continues.  My older boy completed Year 12 and is job seeking but has also got into a TAFE course starting early March.  My younger son is beginning Year 11 ......slowly, as his teacher slash mum gets back to speed. My eldest daughter, while still a stay at home mum of fours, has also signed up for a Certificate in Aged Care and hopes to eventually work in that area. Two grandsons have started Year One and one Prep.  The twins have five days a fortnight kindy with only the youngest of the six grandchildren still not in school.  Oh, the early years have just flown!

Around the house... hmmmm.....long grass and two weeks of bachelor life. 

Noticing that... The moment the dishes are washed.... others appear!

A peek into my world...

Five of my six grandchildren.
Still the light of my life!

Dust if you must

	Dust if you must, but wouldn't it be better, To paint a picture or write a letter, Bake a cake or plant a seed, Ponder the difference between want and need? Dust if you must, but there's not much time, With rivers to swim and mountains to climb, Music to hear and books to read, Friends to cherish and life to lead. Dust if you must, but the world's out there With the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair, A flutter of snow, a shower of rain. This day will not come 'round again. Dust if you must, but bear in mind, Old age will come and it's not always kind. And when you go and go you must, You, yourself, will make more dust. Author unknown A friend posted this on FB today. It is very much how I am feeling about non-essential house work at the moment.  A construction site across the road has upped our dust accumulation of late. As my health declines I am more and more depending on the Lord to show me what is necessary and what can wait.....or perhaps what won't ever get done. I still have a few "mountains to climb" that is for sure!

I Must be Growing Up!

After several years of rainy wet seasons, as opposed to the many years prior of dry, wet seasons as well as dry, dry seasons  :-)  I finally bought myself an umbrella!  Gone are the days of being the only lady turning up to church unprepared, I whipped out my little brolly and I fitted right back in. It made me feel quite grown up.  Did I ever mention that the first time I attended our (very conservative) little church, back in the mid 80s, it was on the back of my now husband's motor bike.  Needless to say I was totally wind swept!  Through babies and toddlers and then through various health issues, I have always seemed to manage to arrive looking rather the worse for wear! Well, one has a reputation to uphold!

It is raining here.  Grey, windy, miserable rain coming from the cyclone which reached the North Queensland coast on Friday night at Category 4 (down graded from a 5 as it made land). The system is down to a Cat 1 but slowly moving down the coast so bringing rain and wind to this normally sunny part of the land.

Much needed rain fell a few weeks ago in the west of the State but as usual pockets are still missing out and desperately dry.  We quote nostalgically that we love this sunburnt country, but doesn't she deal us some heart break?

Wow! Months  have passed since I blogged and while it has been very busy it is hard to know what to write.
Shall I write about the delicious meals we"ve had  and having some special people over to share them? Nah, Macaroni Beef. Spaghetti Bol and Honey soy drum sticks are just not the stuff of exciting reading.

And even though I have been silent here for quite a while you are very well acquainted with my daughters and the small people who steal my time and my heart ♥  I don't need to regale you with antics about how clever they are and all the cute things they say and do. Or perhaps the joy that they bring to my life and the smiles I catch myself with even at the thought of them?

Shall I mention that we had the best week of school thus far this year a couple of weeks before break up? That my very energetic young lad who can't concentrate for more than a few moments on any one thing actually got a couple of his subjects finished and that my older son is liking his TAFE course, though it has been daunting. Okay, things spiralled down a bit towards the end of term so I need not mention that. And these same delightful handsome and well mannered teen aged boys are also bringing down our grey hairs...but enough said about that, I think.

Perhaps you have not called over here to read all this frivolous stuff but to find something more deep and meaningful? I seem at a loss for much of any depth these days.  My kidney function has steadily dropped and I am experiencing the occasional bout of angina. I get very tired now so our busy life is about all I can cope with.  I am having very little social life outside the family and that seems fine for me just now. I have been very much appreciating a fortnightly bible study with a small, interested and interesting group of believers. I press forward knowing and experiencing the everlasting arms safely beneath me.

As always, God is supplying all our needs!

Of ingrown toe nails and other breaking news............

Friends, Romans and countrymen......

Honestly, it is so long since I last posted I hardly know how to begin.  I certainly don't think I can catch you up on all these months in detail.  It is amazing that when I am blogging regularly the words seem to flow.  Just now I feel rather bereft of things to say and yet anxious to reconnect with friends in blogging land.

I really do suffer from ingrown toenails.  Ouch!  I used to have nice even toes and toe nails but apparently the nerve damage which affects long term diabetes sufferers elsewhere, also affects the nails, so I had to have a couple of nasty toenails trimmed off.  I can't believe it but I am also getting finger nails curling inward in the same way.

Yes, I know that is all trivial :-)

The Family

The situation with my OCD son has improved out of sight. He is not totally back to his old self but much more stable and easier to get along with.  School work is still a huge struggle for him as his concentration span is very short.  He does get down but not depressed the way he used to.  He has packed on a lot of weight over his illness and now that he is feeling better in himself he is anxious to get it off.  He is finding it difficult to accept that it takes time and commitment. I want to thank all of you who have prayed for this precious boy over the past year and thank God for the improvement we have seen.  He will turn 15 in a few weeks!

My older son is beginning his final year of school!  He is doing a TAFE course one day a week and so far liking that and fitting in.  He has never been in a classroom situation before so we are very proud of him. One of his cousins is also enrolled in the same course and that has been good.. My girls also did TAFE courses after school so I feel it has been a good option for us.

My older daughters and their families are thriving!
My two eldest grandsons began Prep this year.  While I still have all the same concerns I had twenty five years ago for my own children, I try to see the positives as well.  My relationship with the one "wayward" daughter is still fragile but I would say, improving.  Sigh! Bringing forth children sure can be sorrowful.

I see my home educating years coming to an end soon.  Perhaps the youngest will see out Year Twelve but I doubt it. I have a lot of mixed feelings about it all just now.  Many of my early dreams and goals have never come to fruition, I have children (bar one) who do not profess faith, I have to deal with a whole lot of bad character traits which we prayed, read and learned about for years.  I guess I am weary.  I know my children are good people, but are they the Lord's? are they useful members of society? are they good examples to the grandchildren and other people?  And thus, have I been?  All theses questions swirl around in my head.

My husband is having a lot of back pain and finding his mechanical work quite difficult.  He needs an operation on the spurs growing on his spine but the list is long...........  I will be having a small procedure done on my hands soon as I have very painful joints.  Some pain is just arthritis but I also have, wait for it, trigger finger!  When that is repaired I guess I will have to stop totting a gun!
But on the whole we are coasting along and in general life is good.  In all things give thanks!

Love my children and grandchildren ♥

Mum

In mid-December mum had a nasty fall and broke both her shoulder and her hip.  She has a pre-existing heart condition which made surgery risky.  However, she pulled through well and after several stays in and out of hospital and then Rehab she is now back in her low care unit.  She still needs assistance to walk.  The dear lady has become very frail and fragile but mostly has a wonderful, accepting attitude.  She is just thankful for her family and for her carers. I forgive her the bad days because I know we all have them and I also know that she misses Dad.......a lot.

I attended two beautiful, joyful weddings over the holidays.  Both were daughters of home schooling friends who married wonderful young men who are also following the Lord.  They were quite different but still very beautiful and was really excited to be a part of them.

My cousin and I at one of the recent weddings

A few books to share

I also read lots of books over the holidays.  Mum needed help with meals for over a month so there wasn't a lot of time. I very much enjoyed "Csardas" by Diane Pearson .  This is a favourite of one of my sisters which I wanted to read. It is set over the two wars in Hungary and details the class system and it's downfall in Europe. It follows the adventures and mis-adventure of one upper class family and those whom they came in contact with.  I loved it as my sister had.

I also read the Lancaster series by Anna Jacobs.  Fluffy romance really but a good story and great historical facts woven in.  This book also highlights the strict social class system in 1800s in Britain and the changes which came about for immigrants to the new colony in Western Australia.

I read Philippa Gregory's "Earthly Joys" but I actually found it a little hard to finish in the end.  Just too many immoral encounters for me.  I realise, being set in the immediate years after the reign of QE1 that it was a debaucherous society.  I never want to become so affected by worldly standards that it would not upset me to read such books.  Of course her other historical novels are full of similar behaviour - that's human history :-(

A novel I picked up at the supermarket turned out to be quite interesting as well, even though written by an unknown (to  me) Irish author Elaine Crowley. Now that I have googled her I see she has quite a lot of titles and they all seem to be on that Irish theme.  I read "The Ways of Women" and it was quite good in opening up facts about the Irish "situation" post WW1.

Now my hubby and boys who have driven to Gladstone for the Drag Races have just rung to say that the meet was cancelled and they are on their way back :-(  So many things I was going to do while I was here on my own, which is rare!

It feels good to be back.