A Half Century

Yes, I've made it!

Tomorrow is my fiftieth birthday!

Thank you, Lord, for a wonderful life. 

For an extraordinarily fantastic family. 

For the blessing of faithful, prayerful and supportive friends.

For healthy, beautiful children

For thriving, inquisitive grandchildren. 

And most amazing of all I am thankful that  ~

You have called me and redeemed me.

Amen

For everything there is a season

And a time for every purpose under heaven

I woke up early last Saturday morning and drifted back to sleep with happy thoughts of my family gathered in Melbourne and a prayer for my gorgeous niece who was to marry later that day.

When I actually got our of bed a few hours later I was greeted with the tragic news that there had been a shooting in a school in America.

Sometimes, all  the seasons seem to happen in one day.....

So while I spent the afternoon waiting for pics to come up on Facebook and visiting my parents, there was a very sombre cloud over the day, even here so far away.

Ecclesiastes 3

1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

² A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
³ A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
⁴ A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
⁵ A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
⁷ A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
⁸ A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

And so it has been for most of this year.  A season of casting away but also gathering and regrouping.  A time to keep silence on some issues but with others to voice our opinions. And we have had lots of times of weeping and sadness and trial but also many memorable happy times ♥
And so it seems, it has been all my life, as I look back from this high pinnacle of fifty years.  The ups and downs, the good times and the bad, sickness and health.

The one constant in my life?...............My Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
For even before I knew of my need of Him, I can see now that He was always leading and guiding my steps.  Before the Lord became the centre of my life, the love of my life, through many "dangers, toils and snares" He knew me and was working all of my life together for good and for His glory!

This is great consolation for us when we are travelling through dark valleys. And when life is going well and we are able to see all the wonderful blessings and glimpses of Glory that God has bestowed on us, we can also look back and see that the same faithful Jesus led us through that difficult time.

I know now that my niece was an enchanting bride. She  and her lovely husband are honeymooning and everyone is talking about just how special their nuptials were.

My heart aches for the the families of the sweet children and their teachers from Newtown.  I selfishly hold my children and grandchildren close, unable to fathom what pain they feel.

We do indeed "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep."
As we come to the end of another year, when there is a lot of rejoicing and thanksgiving, I want to give praise and thanks to God ~ for His mercies endure forever! "The JOY of the Lord is my strength" and no matter what comes our way in 2013 "Nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ which is in Christ Jesus"!

Thank you all for your friendship, encouragement and entertainment during this very eventful year.  God bless you  xo

Rawr!!!!!!!!!

"Three little words"

You know from my blog that I am a genius ~ mwhahahahahhaha!!!
Truth is I am often ditzy and unco-ordinated.  It goes without saying that I don't read maps well :-)

So last week I ordered a new bed.  One of those bunks with double on the bottom and single on top.  The boys have been back to sharing a room since our daughter and family have been here and it was very crowded, so this seemed to be the best solution to give them some space.  The picture looked so nice!  The salesperson was very accommodating and we bargained a good price - alas, those "three little words" that I dread -
 Ready to assemble!

All you Ikea loving, allen key toting readers may well laugh...  But for me, this is no laughing matter.  It strikes fear in my heart even looking over the instructions!!!!  Fortunately, other members of the household are not deterred by such confusing pieces of paper and the bunks look just fine.

                                                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My third grandson turned three today! They are all growing up so very quickly, it is hard to fathom where the years are racing to.  GS 3 is one of those absolutely gorgeous cute little boys who is into every conceivable mischief he can find!  So I can finish this brief post with those other three little words ~  "I Love You" ♥♥

Three Amigos!
Birthday boy in the middle.

The twins check out the new quad bike

We're Done!

We are officially on holidays!

It has been a typical Rockhampton week weather wise - hot and humid.  This has made it hard to buckle down.  But here it is, lunch time Wednesday and the last of the school books are packed away.  Such a great feeling!

2012 has been a year of many highs and lows. I guess that makes it a very typical year.  We've had a few good break throughs with the boys reading.  S2 particularly has improved immensely in this department.  S1, though he finds anything academic tough, has really shown maturity and applies himself to what ever  task is put before him.

Sadly, my boys do not enjoy the formal side of schooling and I am trusting that they will find what it is they love and want to do in life and then go for it with gusto!

Come on ~ it's not that bad!

We have some unfinished books which I will attempt to get read in the next few weeks.  Have you found as the children get older that it is much harder to make times to sit and read together, especially on holidays? One of the books we have almost completed is my Uncle's family history, so that is a great read together and conversation starter.

We ended the year with a bit of a bang last week (another reason why we have been sluggish this week). We had the Groves Presentation Night on Wednesday last, both boys receiving certificates for effort and character.  Then on Thursday, my older son's fifteenth birthday, he and I attended the Graduation Dinner.  This is held each year in our little home school group to celebrate the completing of Year 12 or in some cases 10, of some of the students.  This was a lovely night out for the older students.

The graduates and guest speakers

My handsome birthday boy, second right, with mates

 at the Graduation Dinner

Then on Friday we had a Break Up with all the homeschooling families.

This was a fabulous event with slip and sliding, water fights, family challenge and a shared evening meal.

The Capricornia Homeschoolers are a terrific bunch!

It is wonderful to see so many young and enthusiastic people getting involved.

This week, apart from finalising our formal work, I have a number of appointments and taking my mum to one as well.  Then it is time to really enjoy the holiday break!

I thank God for the many blessings and mercies he has showed to us this year.  We have faced many challenges but we have come through. We have enjoyed many family occasions and we are blessed to have all of the grandparents living and contributing so much to our lives.

We have learned to trust God more as he had enabled us through difficult times as well.

"The joy of the Lord is my strength"

Bye, bye books

Well, a decent portion of them.

Many of my bloggy pals are book-aholics, as so many Christians, homeschoolers and lovers of learning are, and they are posting wonderful pics of their home libraries as they grow.  I see enviable shelves, rooms even, with neat rows of books sorted into their many and varied subject areas.  I know it was a vague dream of mine in the past as well, but I have shrugged that one off completely now. (All sigh and groan with me together!)

One can dream!

I've had another enormous cull.
Refer to this post to the last big cull about two oops three years ago. Three years!  How could could over a thousand days have passed sooooo quickly?

I haven't taken before and after photos this time.  The house in general, and the school room in particular, has become totally chaotic.  The family have been living here for almost two years now and with so many little people in the house everything has had to be put "up".  Well, we only have a limited amount of "up" in this place.  Something has to be done!

ALL of the boxed books from the last clean out have gone to Life Line.  I am sorry I did not read my old post and the comments before I did this as I may have passed some things along to other, more tragic, book lovers :-) Yes, the World Book has gone.  The Child Craft books have gone.  Many of the novels have gone.  I had to make ruthless choices, disposing of many,. many novels, general knowledge and interest books. 

With my two remaining schoolies being non-readers, I was able to selectively keep the books I plan or at least hope to use over the next four years.  I also allowed myself the luxury of a few old friends like Norah, Laura and Mabel.

Of course, this school area has a lot of "schoolie" stuff as well. With all the space I have been able to move some of my devotional and Christian Biographies onto those shelves. ( Does one house need three copies of Pilgrims Progress? Just wondering?) We have never had all our books stored in one area.

I have found the book shelves scattered in several rooms of our house are constantly on the grandchildrens' hit list of places to raid.  We do not have the luxury of being able to close off ANY rooms in our house other than the bathroom,/toilet.  Not a good place for book storage :-)

Thus we loaded the Tarago to the max last week and delivered eight boxes of books, 5 garbage bags of clothing (mainly baby from my daughter's twins) and a few of her baby accessories that we were storing in double! It was liberating!

This coming week I hope to do the other book shelves but this is a tidy and not a throw out.  Hubby and I can not bear to throw out Christian Classics.  And I will be keeping my poetry books.  These two categories will grow, I know.

The receptacles for picture books and young childrens' stories are in constant use. I feel a little sad that some of the beloved titles of my own children, which we have kept so carefully, are now rather dog-eared.  Still, I am very pleased to see my grandchildren loving them the way their mothers did, their grandmother, and my own mother.

The rest of the house is preparing for similar treatment!  Every cupboard I hope by end of the holidays.  The heat conspires against me by sapping all of my energy but this is my plan at present.

I envisage a house with somewhat less disorganisation.  It does not fix up the poor old structure, nor does it clean it......That is another story. Perhaps it will give us a little more space to work with.

Have a great weekend.  We have a few more days of schooling to complete before we end 2012.  Wooweeee.....

What are your holiday plans.  Travelling? Relaxing? Cleaning? Blogging?

"Whatsoever your hand findeth to do, do it with your might"



Of Deep Thoughts and Shallow Lives

He leads me beside the still waters

For quite a long time, when I first began to blog, I posted on a regular topic "Sabbath Thoughts".  Now, it's not that these thoughts and ponderings have dried up completely, but I very seldom dabble in posts like that any more.  There are a couple of reasons.

One thing was that being uncertain of my readership, those who do not comment, I wanted to be careful what may be coming across as "teaching". 

Another thing was that the more I read around the internet, the more I found material with which I disagreed.  I try hard not to get embroiled in debates, especially on topics which might be considered straining a gnat. They will know we are Christians by the love we have for one another.  I want to be able to fellowship and enjoy all who profess Christ. I did not want my blog to become a place where offences were caused and harsh words were exchanged.  I think I've managed that.  I do not know whether I am always true to my own heart on some things but if I can't find a something good  to comment, then I don't comment at all (Thanks Mum!)

I have also experienced a long and difficult period in my life through which I am still wading.  Although I am a battle weary warrior of nearly thirty years experience I have not coped so well with some of the trials which have beset us.

Some one very close and influential let me down badly :- (  How childish and immature I have been about this.  I've had lots of disappointments in my life and they have served to show me more clearly that the only faithful and dependable one is God.  Man, male and female, will always disappoint, as we ourselves do.  I put too much store by what this person said and have felt crushed in the fall out.  I feel too drained emotionally and spiritually to share very much here.

The old saying "When mumma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" comes to mind. Have I dropped my bundle to the detriment of my family, my husband, my friends? They would say no, but deep down I know that I have not behaved and lead by example as I might have done in the past.

Time is healing this wound.  God is gently showing me my failings. I do not want to loose that ability to reach out and love and trust people, but deep hurt takes a good deal of time to resolve. All of us here have been affected and I especially grieve for my teenage boys who have seen some unpleasantness between adults who profess the Lord.  I remember this happening when my girls were in their early teens too and it grieves all the more as I know it to be a factor in their walking away from the Lord. All of my children are covenanted to be the Lord's and I trust that in His time they will search for and trust in Him.

God, give me grace to accept with serenity

the things that cannot be changed,

Courage to change the things

which should be changed,

and the Wisdom to distinguish

the one from the other.

Reinhold Neibuhr

Our lives become very shallow and meaningless if we turn back from what we know is the straight path.  Here in this place a little faithful group of believers meets together in the manner which we believe is honouring to our great God. It is simple but deep. We hold his Word to be precious and his Saints to be dear.  As my family and I move forward, we struggle with the changes that have come about in our lives.  Hubby and I find it difficult to keep the Lord's Day in the way we used to and sometimes our family worship times are greatly interrupted.  Personal time too.  I confess, I am often distracted by all the busy-ness of small children, school and family that old routines seem to have gone by.  Have I become shallow?  We do not want our lives to become just so, so.  We long to display our love and loyalty to our Lord and Savior.

The Lord is on my side

I will not fear.

Not Sabbath Thoughts but the random thoughts of a tired heart ♥

Our United Nations

Hubby and I and the boys are home from a great weekend in Brisbane.

We travelled by train and managed to catch up with lots of people even though it was only a four day trip.

On Brisbane trips we always stay with hubby's mother. (You may remember she was eighty in October).  We got to relax and chat with her as well as a nice little shopping trip and coffee for us ladies.

No kids around, so the boys spent the first two days very quietly.

Here they are on the train but the ear phones got a good work out during the trip down and back and when adult conversation just droned on for too long!

The reason for our visit was my Father-in-laws eightieth birthday.

Hubby is obscured but this is him with his sister and half brother and spouses.

Despite ongoing illness, Papa was very enthusiastic at his party!

Coming home from the celebrations, I couldn't help but ponder

about the contrast between

my own family and background and my in laws.

Hubby's dad migrated from Italy in the early fifties. His mother has a wonderfully chequered background with French and Scottish forebears.

The story of how his French great-grandparents ended up in  

Australia is fascinating and I

hope one day someone writes a book about that!

They are part of the history of early Cairns remembered by such place names as

Frenchman's Creek and Josephine Falls.

My husband's parents separated way back when he was about five. 

After that he didn't see his dad again for twenty five years!

He was raised by his mother (and grandmother).

His father remarried a much younger Philipina and had a son.

Can you imagine the scene in the restaurant where the party was held?

The excited high pitched voices of the Philipino ladies and the rich rolling

depth of all those Italians.  What a babble!

Many of their friends we had meet on other visits.

Michello, Giorgio, Mario, Giovanni.

Aurora, Rosalinda and Maria!

After the luncheon we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening

 just with the family members.

As we sat to share dinner we noted that there were we few "Aussies" with an Italian,

a Philipina, a Korean and a German! All of whom have arrived here as adults.

Before eating, hubby's half brother commented "Bon Appetit" and we all roared laughing.

All those languages to choose from yet he used French!

"Bon Appetito"

The eighty year old corrected in his beautiful throaty accent.

It is almost 25 years since we first re-established contact with my husband's father.

This weekend we realised how blessed we have been to have that

area of life "resolved".

Looking on, I believe my father in law must be very pleased to have been

re-united with the children he left so many years ago.

It's Wednesday!

It's Wednesday and we had pizza for tea.

Not exactly a blogging head line snatcher but big news in our house as we usually only ever have pizza on a Friday.  Friday is Dad does tea night.  Today however was one of those days when 6.00pm rolled around and although I had meat out nothing was even started for tea.  The babies and toddlers were tired and cranky and I might add so was the cook. Just a little.  Frazzled perhaps describes me better, so my daughter's suggestion of pizza went down very well.



The "Utopia" 150 year celebration was a great day out!

About 200 people crowded into the Library for the launch of a book recounting the life and voyages of the "Utopia" and  the passengers and crew of that first migrant ship to arrive directly to Rockhampton.  Though I know the history of my own family it was great to see them there among the interesting stories of others who settled here at that time.
My Dad's cousin at 91 was the oldest descendant present and got to cut the cake, along with one of his distant cousins who had travelled the farthest for the event.  (From Canada)

The lunch was made interesting for me being able to sit with the mother of two of my friends.  Knowing them since the eighties we never realised then that our great, great, grandparents had travelled together to the land down under way back in the 1860s.
 A maritime historian gave a very interesting talk after lunch on shipping and immigration at that time in Australia's history and the actual happenings around the arrival of the boat. Including a stoush between the indigenous people and the new settlers. The Durrumble people were acknowledged on several occasions throughout the day.

Then about 150 descendants took the bus tour around the original part of town.  This was commentated by one of the local history buffs and he not only knew his stuff but painted a vivid picture of old Rocky town, what little there was of it in 1862.  This tour ended with a wander through the old cemetery where both my Bond and Rattenbury great, great grandparents are buried as well as later members of those families.

The Utopia

If the Brits who came here thought this would be Utopia then perhaps, or no doubt, they were sorely disappointed.  Many scattered to other parts of Queensland and the rest of Australia.  Judging by the turn-out at this reunion and the enthusiasm among the attendees I think many have found Rocky to be a great place to be.
The local news paper slogan is "We live here because we love it"!!!!!


Off to Brisbane again this weekend.

This time to celebrate my father-in-law's eightieth birthday! You may recall from past blogs that I am not a real fan of Brisbane.  It is a rat race!  But seeing family is always good and I don't mind these trips when hubby is with me as he can deal with the maps and chaos much better than me.
We have certainly had a lot of family celebrations this year.  Only another oh, six or seven weeks until I hit the big 50!

This will be like a mid term break for the boys and I. When we get back we will be into the final few weeks of school for the year.  We are hoping to be finished end of November but.......

Grounded

"Friendships are like roses, the petals die but the perfume never fades away."

I was privileged this week to meet with a couple of old school friends.  It seems that as we age and our children leave home, there is more time and inclination to renew and build on some of these old friendships.  As I've mentioned before my high school years were spent in a boarding school.. Life long friendships are often planted when our formative years are spent in such close contact.

My old buddies seem to accept that I am a christian and sometimes make exceptions or apologies when I am there and something is said or done which I might not think funny/ appropriate.  This is without my saying so, they just do.

I am  very fortunate in this whole friend department with sisters, relatives and many christian women who have become my mentors, confidantes and sounding boards. I treasure these who are mostly women of faith and share so many views and commitments with me. Our friendships are based either around family ties or faith.  I always know I will get good solid advise and realistic comfort and I thank God for that.

It's different with these old school mates! What a motley crew we are! But after this meeting, I was struck by the wisdom and maturity of these ladies.  True, that wisdom is not from God and His Word but rather a worldly type, but solid non the less. These girls are grounded.  Because of our very long friendship we are able to discuss many and varied topics and share our joys, heartaches and goals openly.  Particularly on a matter that had been troubling me with one of my children, I experienced real connection and a light toward resolution on hearing one of my friends story of a child in a similar situation (Of course, I thought no one else had every had this problem :-).  Also one of these ladies who has had some very tough life experiences helped me to see things a little better concerning my daughter who is left as a single mother.

I love the Godly wisdom of my "usual" friends but I know that some of these situations are out of their sphere of experience.  I hope that I can be a realistic listener and advisor when it's needed. I suppose it is something to ponder as we deal with all who come across our path ~ sympathy, empathy, patience, shared experiences.  Of course we know that Our Jesus is the ultimate answer and we want to share it, but to the unsaved it is impossible to fathom that what ever is happening is God's will. We need to tread thoughtfully.

My cousin, my friend

"You can choose your friends but not your relatives."

One of my special friendships is with my cousin who lost her husband twelve months ago.  It is hard to believe it is a year.  So much has transpired.  I have come to love and admire her all the more for the strength and courage she has shown during this period of mourning. Again, I hope I have been the patient listening support I have wanted to be.

Do you sometimes feel, as I do, that our lives become so busy and fraught with drama that it is easy to forget the ones that need to be comforted, that are lonely, that are ill?

I hope that each one reading will forgive yet another one of my little waffles.  Also that you, like me do have a wonderful circle of family and friends in which you feel loved and are able to contribute to as well.

A big weekend

We have a busy weekend ahead with the Homeschooler's concert tomorrow and the "Utopia" reunion on Sunday.  I am still unable to load my photos on here which is annoying as I have a couple of beauties of the kids! 

Have a good weekend.

"UTOPIA" Revisited

Well, lovely readers, I have given you a short break after the wonderful Centenary Celebrations of my family, from my dabblings in history.
I love history, though I admit it is a love I have developed as I've become older and in the broader sense have enjoyed learning along with own children.

But Family History has become something of a passion for me:-)

• 
  

Therefore, in this 100th year of my father's parents settling at Jooro, I am excited to also be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the landing of the migrant ship "Utopia" in Keppel Bay.  The passengers of which then came up the river to Rockhampton.  The year was 1862 and this was the first ship to bring immigrants directly to Rockhampton. The 324 passengers swelled the population of Rocky by about 50%!

Descendants and History buffs are invited to attend the celebrations being held next weekend (3/4 November).  The launch of a book by a local Historian at the Public Library, Lunch at the North Rockhampton Bowls club which is along the Fitzroy River not far from the arrival point and a bus tour of historic sites. These include the memorial stone to mark the arrival of the "Utopia", other old establishments along the river and the old cemeteries.

Several of my own family will be enjoying the day with me and many of my more extended relatives.  My father's maternal great  grandparents, (on both sides) were passengers on the "Utopia".  Two young couples, the Bonds and the Rattenburys.  Each with two small children arrived here among the adventurous souls who travelled from England's fair shores to the blistering heat of our Australian summer.

Each family had quite a few more children after coming to Australia and my  great Grandfather, Charles Bond went on to marry Sarah Rattenbury.  As you can imagine in a large country town like Rockhampton there are still many descendants of those first pioneers who lay claim to this wonderful piece of Aussie history. 

If you would like to read a little about the ship, her voyage and arrival and the good folk who travelled on her , follow the link:

The Arrival of the Utopia

The article concludes with a photograph taken at the fifty year celebration of the "Utopia" and my ancestor, Richard Bond is in it.  He is the gentleman with the bushy beard.

(Hahahahahahahahahhahahaha)

Great great grandparents
Richard and Mary Bond

In family folk lore, and also other articles, it is told that the crew of the ship mutinied and that the able and willing men on board performed the crew men's duties to aid the captain to bring her to her destination.  It is mentioned in this article that the men were hand picked according to their skills and trades.  This was a great boon to the newly settled area.

The Bonds became dairy farmers. 
A friend of mine now lives in Bond road close to the place where they once lived and worked.

The Rattenburys were also farmers and Dad was telling me recently that they also dabbled in mining. There were several mines in the area in the early days including 

gold at Mt Morgan.

More on this after the event!

Haha, if you missed the joke I know you didn't look at the link!

   Two special people♥

21 October, 1972

My eldest sister's wedding day. 

Happy memories even though I am bawling!

Meeting the Challenges

One day at a time.
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Being a little overwhelmed by some of the present challenges that life holds before me, I came to the realisation that without challenges, it would be a very boring existence indeed!

I am constantly put to the test by technology :-) This week it is my printer. I have put in a new ink cartridge only to be told that it will not print because the cartridge is not genuine.  The trouble being, it is a genuine cartridge.  I do not have the smarts to inform my computer of this fact and so have not been able to print anything out.  It is amazing just how much printing one needs to do when one can not :-)

A serious challenge at present is planning for the 2013 academic year.  My older son will be Year 11 age.  He has no huge goals at present but is keen to try out different things and gain skills.  He is not, however, keen to attend TAFE, which was the way we thought we were heading.  The pre-vocational courses run during Years 11 and 12 look really good and interesting and useful for life no matter what he decides to do. The sticking point is the "classroom" element which is a component even of the hands on courses.  I understand that because I am his teacher and I know the challenges he has to face each day.  His Year 11 & 12 subjects will be through the Enrichment Program with Groves DE so basically continuing at his present ability.  He would like to do some work as well as school if not attending TAFE.  I am for this also but I know having had others working casual jobs and completing schooling that often the hours the student can actually do school work can be limited. 

Second son will move up to year nine but also has many challenges.
For me the great challenge at present is motivation.  They are past the stage of carefree days rambling the Botanical Gardens for leaves and bugs.  They are almost through their school years and looking at a working life but still struggling with many of the basics.
Some days it is tough to be positive and inspiring!  Come on all you creative people out there.  What do you do to ignite the fires of imagination in flailing young minds?

It is a challenge living here in our once large but growing smaller home :-).
This is one challenge that has so many good sides that it is really not weighing on my mind.  Of course, there are days, today being one, where we all heave a collective sigh when the little darlings finally go to bed.  Four active, inquisitive toddlers generate a lot of noise, mess, washing, chaos, did I say mess?  But I do love those little guys ♥
If only we could get a clear day to clean .... before the troops come tromping back through the house! I am grateful, in a strange sort of twist, that I do have a worn out, falling apart, going to mildew sort of house.  How hard I would find it if everything was "precious".

My greatest personal challenge is to keep myself on an even keel health wise.  After poor results two months ago, my Renal Clinic appointment today was a little more encouraging.  I am never going to "get better" but by being as diligent as possible my blood sugars are slightly better, my Renal function is stable, blood pressure is fine. While the heat tends to make my battle with tiredness worse, our Spring has been reasonable so far and I am enjoying the days.

My No.2 grandson was four on the weekend and again my gadgets let me down. (Seeing a pattern here?)  Therefore I have no photos to show of the fantastic little fellow with his gorgeous green frog umbrella!  Something to look forward to, eh?

The Birthday Boy

Because blog reading seems to have become almost a past fad, I am probably writing a little more personally than I used to because I know all you fine ladies who read or at least comment here.  So many blogs have finished now and I am missing some of those which I found particularly uplifting. I am not planning to cease.  For two years now I have only posted once or twice a week and I enjoy the journalling aspect of it. 

So, to all who drop by here this week.  Take up your challenges one by one.   Do not be anxious for anything and cast your burdens upon the Lord for he shall sustain you. He will never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Philippians 4:6

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Looking Back....

You know what it is like.  You plan and organise every detail for a big event, like your wedding, and then blip.....in the blink of an eye it is all over.  There's a high, then a sort of deflation right afterwards.  Then, as time goes by you remember the great event with happy satisfaction and it is stored away in the archive of happy, golden memories that will always be treasured.

So it is with the great family Centenary Celebration!  We've had lovely thank you emails from many of the travelling relatives.  I notice this is mostly the older generation, and remind myself to be more diligent in sending Thank you notes and encouraging the children to do so. I wrote an article for the Local Paper and was thrilled that they edited it very little and printed all four photos that I sent.  It was a full page article on Saturday, so everyone was very thrilled!

Our littlest grandchild had his first birthday on the day of the reunion, so we celebrated jointly with his dad, on the Monday public holiday.

He is such a cute little fellow and despite being a little off colour

had a wonderful day being the centre of attention!

Birthday Boys!

My two boys had a great week  with their friends at the Gold Coast.  As they all get older, start jobs etc.  it is becoming more difficult to plan times when they can all meet up.  They really enjoyed it, as always, and also got to meet more of the boys new friends.  The reality is that over time their lives will diverge more and more.  "Jasmine" their mother is a special friend of mine and I relished the short space of time we had to catch up on Friday when we collected the boys.  She is one of those rare to find friends with whom I can immediately fall back into conversation.  It is almost as if we just took up where we left off about 12 months ago! I pray that our children will enjoy the same closeness of fellowship in years to come.

Friday was my mother-in-law's 80th birthday!  She is a very with it woman with a lot still to offer and enjoy.  She still teaches music students (piano) and I think she will do so for as long as possible.  It is her great passion and I think it keeps her going!

We had a lovely family dinner at a Community Sports Club in Sunnybank.  Everyone was there except my two girls and their children.  I loved meeting two great nephews who we had not met before. Hubby and I made a very quick two day trip for the occasion but we hope to go back again soon for a longer visit.

Nana had a wonderful 80th surrounded by her family.
Here she rides happily back to the car park and enjoys the well wishes.

So, after all the excitement of the September holidays we have now to get back into school mode.  I can scarcely believe that Term 4 is on us already.  We always find the heat of first and fourth terms challenging.  This will be the first summer term for many years where we are not doing swimming on Fridays.  Perhaps I'll incorporate that anyway.  There are end of year events to think about and school work returns and .............

Have a great week everyone, especially if you too are back to school.
Remember to hug your children. Try not to  let those precious opportunities pass, when you can show your love, grace and forgiveness to others.  Life is so short.
I am reminding myself to send that note of thanks or comfort and share a little of the blessings which God bestows.

One Hundred Years of Farm & Family #3

One Hundred Years of Farm & Family #1 & #2

are the two previous posts.

When the melee of the tree planting was over

(we had decided they would all be planted at one time

to prevent a long drawn out session)

the men started up the branding fires for the branding of

the entrance gate and fence.

In real life, branding cattle used to be a very hot, smelly event.

The gas burner still get hot and the one doing the

branding needs to be careful.

P7J

Formally Dad's and now my youngest brother's.

Planks were branded for any who wished to take

home a memento.

6GD

Grandad's brand and now my cousin's/

Another cousin and her husband constructed the gate and fence

and put in a watering system for the grove.

Note the old cow bell hanging on the gate.

Dad can no longer see.

He listens carefully as my sisters read out the brands.

Of course, he knows whose each one is.

Sunset at the top of the world!

With wine and cheese

we soaked in the splendid view from the highest point

on my brother's place.

A 360 view of the Callide Valley and toward the Dawson.

Westward ho!

The local school bus driver, and family friend

loaned his bus for ferrying folk around.

My grandkids loved the bus ride but being

almost dark, fell asleep on the trip up the mountain.

Memorabilia displayed on what was once my grandparent's

family table and later hosted many happy occasions

at my own childhood home.

including my Family History Albums.

(And my sweet grand-daughter behind)

Old photos hanging in the corrugated iron shed

plus old implements, cream cans etc

added to the rustic feel.

My youngest son and his cousin give my two

grandsons a ride on the quad.

In our day, visiting kids got rides on horses.

My brothers are both horse lovers and good horsemen and

use them for mustering,

but many farm jobs are done on bikes these days.

And so it is over......sigh.

Our celebration and reunion were well worth all of the effort

that went into it. 

Every detail seemed to fall into place.

Thank you for reading and sharing in this special occasion.

100 years of Family and Farm