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.

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!!!!!!!!!

Grrrr........... Computers!

It seems we can't live without them but neither can we live amiciably with them!  Yes, our computer is old so we often have glitches which, over time, become major problems.  We are blessed with a couple of friends who actually know a bit about the inner workings of the beast, unlike us. 

Today I sit at the very conveniently installed booths at our local super market.  When I sat down about half an hour ago to check all the important stuff :-)  (emails, scrabble games, face book) I was the only user of the five booths but now all but one are in use.  I am totally accustomed to a racket going on as I write a post but this is ridiculous!

At home we are debating the direction to take as far as this can't-live-without technology.  Our old one should be up and running over the weekend.  But with five users and high demand the majority of us are plugging for a) an upgrade and b) another beast to join the family.  I am checking out lap tops and other fancy portable devises.  The kids are very keen on this option!  They pointed out that I can use it while watching TV (apparently  men/ boys are beginning to multi-task too!) but the few TV shows I watch are my veg out times.  Plus, I need conserntration to read blog posts etc!  It is convenient for school.  Hey, we have to walk, oh at least three metres from the school room to the computer desk!  I can even pull it out at Maccas or a long wait at the doctors.  

Hubby is not keen for it.  He has the valid point that we have always had our computer in any open place where we can supervise what's being read etc.  I think he secretly fears I, and everyone else, may spend tooooo much time on it, which is also a valid point.  Two divided by five could jack up the usage.

I don't like to admit it, but I think I will/ would be tempted to doodle away on it at the learning area, which is something I have always tried to avoid.  Would I get to the stage of needing it near while I cook, wash, iron?  Do any of you do this?  Oooops, giggles, I don't iron :-)

So what do you prefer?  Your computer with it's nice big screen and keyboard ? your laptop? tablet? ipad? or some other doovy?? I admit I am hopeless at typing on touch screens so I am more of a key board person.  I'd value your opinions as I wade through catalogues trying to understand the terminology and decide what I actually need.  Need?  Hmm...what I want.

A lot of stuff have happened here over our Semester Break.  We've had a good holiday and a few special occasions.  I hope to catch you all up soon.  Not enough time for me to blog read at your places just now.  I hope all my regular blog friends are going well.  God bless!

(I hope there aren't too many typos.  Spell check doesn't seem to be doing its job.

FRAGILE....

Remember this post?

I got the repair bill today from the Insurer of the car I hit.

I needed more than a coffee.

I think  I will take a Panadol and have a good lie down.

Psalm 42

¹¹Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

The day started out so well....

I am just indulging in a strong cup of coffee, even though it is late afternoon and I rarely drink coffee after 3pm.  I have just had the unnerving experience of backing into someone :- (  Fortunately for me a gracious and mild manner lady who did not leap out of her car screaming.  If it has happened to you you'll sympathise, it is rather shattering.  Still waiting for Hubby to get home :- (

So, I was in Office Works purchasing supplies.  (They have an unusually small, tight, crowded car park, by the way)   Lovely crisp exercise books and spiffy new bits and pieces.  It always starts the year off nicely to have fresh utensils.

And...I've ordered books!  Not many as my number 3 & 4 students get to use lots of stuff we have used before with 1 & 2.  Enough for it to be exciting when the new stuff  arrives .  I am so pleased to have gotten my head around this chore....perhaps even in time to start school with the schools!

This week has turned very hot and very humid here.  Isn't Australia the most amazing place climate wise.  Last year most of the East was flooded during this time.  This year we get exceptional heat here but our friends in Canberra said it was 5 degrees C there yesterday and snow...SNOW! in the mountains.  Crazy!  We do not need to stress about Global Warming or a possible Ice Age coming.  Our God is in control "Even the wind and the waves obey him"!

I want to once again thank my prayerful friends.  This  break has been wonderful and I am feeling sooooo much better.  I am still easily tired and rather flaky but not to the extreme exhaustion I had late last year.  I will not admit to the exact rising time of decadently late sleep ins I've enjoyed.  Enough to say that I have been the last one up almost every day since school finished. 

I am actually beginning to get my head together for another school year.  My rough schedules are beginning to include some of the big household chores which have been so long neglected in "this 'ol house".  Haven't had a family conference yet but hope to do that next week and really hit the year head on.  It looks as though my daughter and the grandchildren will be here for a while.  We have loved it thus far  and we need to make things a little more organized so that we all go on loving it. 

Well, it's a waffly old post, which doesn't say much of anything but I have gotten rid of the shakes.  Thanks for listening.

Remember Ruby?

After a rather long sabbatical, I am back!

Sometimes we go through phases of life where everything is predictable, scheduled, ho hum even.  Other seasons are more frantic - spontaneous.  Sometimes, we are caught unaware and life carries us along paths we never imagined.

Two weeks ago I blogged from the Brisbane airport waiting to return from my appointment to the Eye Clinic.  That day I noticed a soreness in my arm, like   a bruise, and I think I mentioned I had a niggling headache. By Friday night that arm was fierce and swollen and very painful.  Turns out I had a DVT there and a severe infection. So whilst in hospital dealing with the symptoms some other things began happening.  I had skyrocketing blood pressure, which had been going on for a couple of weeks and other sensations which indicated things where not going so well.  By the Monday, my bloods showed I'd had a triponin leak which is an indicator of a heart event.  I then spent a couple of days in Coronary Care before the problem was made more clear.  A little of the clot had gone to my lung which was causing grief to my heart and causing the leak - so no heart attack!
I am sure it all sounds very dramatic to anyone reading but alas, this is the way things go for me sometimes.
I was able to come home last week on the Hospital in the Home scheme and have my condition and new medications monitored here which has been great.  I am feeling really well now and praising God for His mercy!
So, needless to say, my best laid plans have not come to fruition for a really full on term of school work with my boys before the birth of my daughter's twins.  She is due in about six weeks. Any mother who is teaching her children at home and also coping with chronic illness knows that we have to be somewhat flexible in our schedules.  It is a challenge and I won't commit to writing a post on that topic as I frankly do not think I have been the best of examples in it.

On the positive side, two of the boys' supervising teachers have made visits in the last couple of weeks.  This has been good motivation for them and great encouragement for me, who naturally wonders whether I should keep on the road we are going.  My older son is joining the Homeschoolers trip to Canberra in August which the school is organizing.  He is very excited.  I think this will officially make him the most travelled member of our family!
Whilst in hospital I jotted down several anecdotes and other ideas for blog posts which perhaps will make it here in the near  future,  I am still limited in my usage of the computer and the three weeks enforced break, with no internet here, has perhaps helped to wean me from the need to check my favourite blogs too often.
I hope to catch up with you all over the next few days and comment.  I have been missing all the happenings at your places and trust you are all well and happy.

Though I have posted this verse several times before it is very precious to me and I leave you with it now.


 "My flesh and my heart faitheth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

Farewell, Holidays!

Is it really 8 weeks since we packed up our school things and headed to Melbourne for our "Trip of a Life Time" ? Wonderful as it was, those precious days in Victoria have faded a little with all the events of the recent weeks.  Like many Australians the floods of 2010/ 11 have consumed us for many weeks.
We are still clearing and cleaning at my daughter's house and since she and the family will not be returning there we have the ongoing pleasure of their company here!  How special it has been to have day to day contact with the little boys.  We feel much closer.  Of course accommodation is scarce so finding another, affordable place will be the next challenge for my daughter.  She has had some very stressful weeks and is looking forward to getting settled and back into routine.

The Hand of God
God's ways are not our ways....ain't that the truth!
Several weeks into the rain, and one week into the evacuation, I marvelled at God's answer to one of my long standing prayers.  I found myself saying, "Lord, thank you, but did you have to unhouse all these good people and have all this devastation to take place to see this answer to my prayer?"  I had been seeking the healing of the relationship between two people very close to me and it seemed that through this trial God had brought it to pass and further, strengthened my family and took stress from me which I experienced due to this break down between others.
Two weeks into the evacuation, I had to re-examine my thoughts.  Something was not as it seemed?
Three weeks in and a very shattering revelation rocked my world and new found security. 
"It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good."
Because of the delicate and personal nature of this event I am not going to blog about any details, but our trust has been abused and more so, our loved ones have been hurt and betrayed. 
Sometimes, when I have prayed and said whatever it takes for such and such to happen, I have learned the hard way that God's ways are not ours and that my wisdom is very paltry indeed. I have not imagined the way the matter would turn out, nor have I always liked or enjoyed the consequences.
Thank God that he never leaves us or forsakes us.  That his Word is always truth.  That his promises are yea and amen in Christ, that his love never fails.

Further Observations
As widely reported, I have seen some wonderful examples of "loving our neighbour" during the natural disaster we have experienced.  It is heartening to see the willingness of people to help others in their time of need.  It builds pride in our country and our state.  But what I have also observed is a great lack of acknowledgement of God.  He is not attributed with sending the rain and the flooding and consequent loss of life and property.  He is not called upon (for the most part) to help in time of need and be merciful to us, a sinful nation.


We were reminded last Lord's Day that when David went to battle Goliath, he took only his sling and his five smooth stones AND HIS TRUST IN GOD.  Having that, only one stone was necessary! This thought has occupied my mind somewhat this week. 
Next week begins a new academic year for us.  Though I feel totally disorganised for school work, and my home is unimaginably dishevelled due to the constant stream of people ( and some of them small people :-)here for that last month, yet I feel ready for the "battle", trusting the Lord who has never failed me to carry me through another year.

As I foresaw, I have not had a great deal of time for blogging and the computer in general.  I trust that others in flood affected areas are doing okay.
I hope for everyone who is started back to school a very good year and for those who have been at it for a while, keep up the good work!
Usually when Christians speak of "After the Flood" we are discussing something post Noah and family.  I think for many of us the expression will be used often when recalling these days in which we are now living!

Oh...Rocky We Love You

Take a look at our beautiful city in flood.

Of Marriage, Milestones and Many Waters!....

The last week of every year is very special and usually very busy in our house.  This year was no different except we have had the rain and flooding to contend with :-)   This has been the biggest rain event in these parts for many years.  It is very widespread and the Fitzroy River is the catchment river for all the surrounding water ways...all of which are experiencing record flood levels!  So we sit here in Rockhampton, waiting, watching, wondering!

Previous record 1918
The Old Fitzroy River Bridge

There are predictions as to how high the river will rise but realistically no one knows for sure as the levels coming in from the north and west are higher than ever previously recorded.  Needless to say the Big Wet of 2010/11 will go down in history as one of the biggest.

My older daughter and her family live in the flood inundated area of town and have evacuated to us for the duration.  It looks as though their place (a high set house) will get water through the upper living area. We have a house full but we are enjoying it and will make the most of the precious family time despite the stress of the situation and the knowledge that when it recedes the big clean up will begin.

This is what the Depot Hill area looked like over the last couple of days.
If the river rises to expected heights this area will be under 2m plus of water.
This is where my daughter lives!

My second daughter and her family spent the long weekend in the south and are now (happily) stranded there until the roads reopen.  Their home is thankfully high and dry.

The town is very low on milk, bread, fruit and vegies etc.  We are fairly well stocked but with nine in the house plus their dogs we will need to be!!

oo00oo

For better, for worse,
For richer, for poorer,
In sickness and in health,
Until God shall separate us by death.

On Tuesday we celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary. Yes, 25 years!
 Although we did not take the above vows in our marriage service, I think it sums up well the commitment that two believers make when they stand before God, and the congregation of his people to promise and covenant themselves to one another.
My own children and my little grandchildren make every hurdle and difficulty through out the years seem trivial and very worthwhile.

Psalm 127

1Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it:
 except the LORD keep the city,  the watchman waketh but in vain.

2It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late,

 to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

3Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD:
 and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

4As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

5Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not
be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

oo00oo

Yesterday, Thursday was my birthday!  How quickly these seem to roll around these days. We had to postpone our usual lunch with my  little group of birthday celebrators . We regularly take the birthday girl out for a meal when each one rolls around.   When the flood dramas are past we will go out and have a nice meal together.  As mentioned, I had plenty of my family here to celebrate the day and some visiting friends from Canberra came for lunch.  This meal was cut short too with their decision to fly home before the airport is closed! Earlier, I had enjoyed a coffee and a chat with JJ and tomorrow will be lunch as usual with Dad and Mum .
I love that I get lots of phone calls and messages and I feel very spoiled in general. I am so grateful to the Lord for preserving my life thus far and giving me so many wonderful family members and friends to share it with.

Tomorrow will be the beginning of 2011.  We are having a barbecue with friends but it is most unlikely that I will actually see it in . I am sure my boys will take the opportunity to stay up late and have some goodies!

May God bless each of you in the coming year xo

And a NEWS FLASH!
The missing fuel cap was found today by my daughter, just going about her business down the back! Thank you Lord!

In which I learn a lesson

The hard way!

After many years of mothering and supervising children, one might assume that I know all the tricks and pitfalls to watch out for.  My little grandsons are every bit as switched on and mischievous as any of my children were.  My daughters are on the ball, but I am obviously slowing down and losing some of my smarts when it comes to out witting children!

So we are all sitting in the back yard, attempting to escape the very draining humidity.  We have cold water and  nibblies for the kids.  Mumma has her feet up and is fanning her very red, hot face, sighing periodically and generally feeling drowsy in this blistering heat. We while away a few hours until we feel sure the children have had enough and then pack for the evening.  One of my daughters is in the flood affected part of town so her children  really appreciated being able to run about freely.  All in all a very busy, noisy day but lots of fun.

Fast forward to next morning....
Dad goes down to work on the excavator which is parked in our back yard........
Well, yes the kids did have a little drive of it.  Why do you ask?

Can you believe it?  One of the two year olds has managed to unscrew the fuel cap! So the boys and I, and Dad muttering under his breathe about his  irresponsible wife, the cost of a new fuel cap, how naughty children are and the general difficulty in finding good help these days, went on a search and destroy of our back yard. It is small but has a great deal of  "equipment" in it.  Many wonderful hidey holes for little hands to squirrel something away.  Although we have no garden to speak of we do have several patches of thick ferns - again excellent to just drop something in if you never want it to be seen again!

Two days have passed and the wretched thing has not turned up.  You may think it is much ado about nothing but the excavator belongs to a friend and parts for Cat machinery, even little insignificant ones, are not cheap.  Sigh......

Rule #1.  Never, never take your eyes off a two year old!

It looks like this if you happen to see one around!

The Dame has Lost her Shoe!

My sweet little grandsons, like most other children their age,  love to clop around in all the shoes. My GS2 visited a couple of weeks ago and tried out all the models at our door including my walking shoes.  They are actually Winter shoes but I keep them at the front door as I have some leg problems and these are my most comfy walkers. After he had gone I searched high and low, but could only find one shoe......

As the weeks went by and the rogue shoe had not appeared during normal cleaning up I set my boys to search under beds and other nooks and crannies, but to no avail.  I asked my daughter and she suggested that dear GS2 may have "posted" it somewhere!  Now my large, cluttered house has many wonderful cubby holes and posting possibilities, so we organised quite a search and destroy ~ but no shoe turned up.

Finally last week I decided I really needed to purchase a pair of Summer shoes anyway. Now I do like shoes.   I don't have many but I sometimes covet a pair I particularly like....just a little. Not in a Mrs BB boot fetish type way  :-)  just with a little longing.  The truth is  I am daggy, I have crook legs and I need sensible shoes.  Sensible.  I chose what seemed like a nice summery, open back pair of Colorados, just a little fancy, a little bit of height.  I wore them non stop for three days.  Well, they fit great on my foot but something just wasn't quite right and one foot began to pain.  Vanity of vanities.  Oh for the sensible walking shoes!

Now, I am going on a little jaunt soon and I thought, "What will I do without shoes I can walk in....take my wheelie walker?"  So back I went (to the same shoe sale) and have now purchased a sensible, home schooling mother type, set of Summer sandals.  I hope I can wear them in before my big holiday.

It was so ironic as I straightened up today.  You guessed it!  The good old closed in Winter shoes we have searched for now for over a month turned up behind a bed side table!

Now if I can just find all those odd socks I will be very excited!

When Apples go Pear Shaped!

The week looked so rosy. Full of promise and me feeling on top of the world.
Only a month of school to go and everything going on track.

Yep, coming up apples......

The school work returns needed to be in by Friday, so that was good.
But every day, some thing, that is life, happened and here it is Friday and
they are not done, that's bad.

My daughter with two little boys came to visit and stay overnight, so that was good.
But 1am in the morning the two year old was up vomiting so mummy and Grandma
were up too, that's bad.

At least I got back to sleep (unlike my daughter), so that's good.
But around 4am my younger son was also up sick, that's bad.

Thursday dawned snuggily and rainy and perfect for sleeping, reading and bookwork,
 so that was good.
But by the time we struggled in and out of the car with the babies, taking them home,
did routine shopping and errands, got to basketball, most of the day was lost.
Now that's bad.

Friday, sunshine! Hurrah, this is the day we will catch up. That's very good!
But after swimming Dad needed a hand with something, just a quick something,
which took until lunch time. Too Bad.

I might get a post up, a happy positive post. That is good.
But Optus is having problems and we have no internet. So, no, that's bad.

No internet. Ah, I will get a HEAP of house work done. That is good.
I am too tired from the hectic and disorganised week and it hasn't happened.
That turned out to be bad.

So, as I survey the carnage of the week that was I remember Monday and wonder
where things went pear shaped?

Now there's the weekend to look forward to. An early night perhaps?

There is the Communion Season at church with three good messages
and a blessed time of fellowship.

Maybe, just maybe, a sleep in tomorrow.

So, it's all good.

"His mercies are new every morning!"

HAVE A VERY GOOD WEEKEND!

Waaa...Holidays Are Over Too Soon!

An absolutely splendid Spring week!
We spent several hours at the Rock Pool which was great fun for young and old. (See Wednesday's pics). We've met with friends and a pile of kids at a skate park on the coast. Not a single broken leg or arm. Funnily enough, the only scrape was my younger son riding his scooter on the bitumen road in front of my sister's house on the way home! She and hubby have just returned from Fiji and Tonga so lots to hear about there. (That's somewhere in the Pacific Ocean BTW:-)

The Shop Lifter
My youngest son also had a lesson in justice or rather injustice this week. While shopping with me, he spotted a woman trying and bagging some products. He nudged me and kept an eye on her and then we mentioned it to an employee as we went through the aisles. He kept seeing the shop lifter around the shop and was getting agitated that no one was accosting her. By the time we went through the check out he was beside himself and I retold the lady prowling the aisles and she went to the check where the shop lifter was. Son waited at the other side and the employee even came back to check with him which woman it was, but they never actually asked to look in her bag which was a little black back pack. My boy was very indignant that this woman was allowed off so lightly. That's life.......

Gemma unveiled
Last Friday I wrote about our Muslim friend Gemma.  During the week, her mother, my friend, rang to see whether I would like to come out with my girls to spend some time with Gemma. The men folk would all be out of the house, which meant my hubby would not be coming and Gemma would be much more free to talk, plus without her burka. Hard on hubby. One of my daughters came with me and we did have a lovely couple of hours. Although there is the huge gulf which are our religious differences, it was a relaxed meeting of friends focusing mostly on old times, the children and general conversation.
She is still the same lovely girl, well woman, who carried those flowers so sweetly on my wedding day. We will never stop loving her, nor praying for her soul.

Blogger
What's up with my photos? I can't seem to download any. Is this something going round or just me?
Trust you all have a great weekend and that those of you starting back to school next week, as we are, have a wonderful final term for 2010. I does feel good to say that but......the year has flown.

S.O.S. Clever Bloggers

Can someone with more smarts than me help me out?
I am trying to post a document from my computer onto a blog. How can one do that? Usually I type everything myself or it is from material already on the net eg Bible verses. I know it must be able to be done but when I try to edit the document I get the paint page.
This is a long poem which I would prerfer not to have to retype. It is not on Wordpad. It has been scanned from a very old book of my own poems.

Any ideas?

The Week that Was...

I described last week as wonderful. This one has been good too but with a few dramas to liven things up !

Firstly, I have spent a good deal of time at the computer. If you follow you will know that I had all sorts of dramas with posting. It seems to have stemmed from the autosave and date/time functions, well, not functioning. I'd like to say I couldn't care less, but of course that would not be true. I spent way too much time fiddling and faddling, without any result. Strangely, it does seem to have righted itself. When I lost all the gadgets in the side bar I was very disheartened. As you bloggers know that stuff is time consuming and you need to build it up over a while. I was not looking forward to starting from scratch.

Sometimes I feel convicted about spending too much time on the net and I think this has been a good reminder that I don't need to blog so often. Thanks for all the encouraging comments during this trial everyone ♥

The other project which kept me on the keyboard was doing up the calendar for our Homeschool Group. I've done this job on and off over the years and I do enjoy being involved in this way.
We have quite a few new families over the last couple of years. With them come lots of new children and some wonderfully young and invigorated mothers! I had a friend come over at lunch time Thursday to proof read the many phone numbers and details and thought to leave the printing of the pages until after basketball last night. So of course, it was 8pm before I got to the computer, loaded a new ink cartridge and ...... nothing. Zilch, zip, zero. No response. Ooooooh no, they were to be distributed at swimming at 8am this morning! So after a panicky phone call to another friend, who assured me the group would survive without the calendar, I just had to leave it and headed to bed. It had been a big day.

So I awoke early and thought perhaps I'd give it one more try. Voila! The printer clattered into action! It then took me another hour to run them off, collate them and staple them up ~ but I delivered the goods as promised!

And in other news...

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It was another really good week of school and the boys, although not going ahead in leaps and bounds, are enjoying their work and progressing surely and steadily. :-)

We have a regular day to spend time with each of my daughters and their little families. This is special time and I marvel at them anew each time at how gorgeous and special and clever they are!!

Today I watched my eldest feeding her 9 week old, talking on the phone and still helping her little 18month old son with his clothes!!! Hey, I used to be able to do tricks like that. It just goes to show that if you are not using your skills, you just can't keep up the pace. I had trouble juggling a container of food while I pushed the stroller!

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Hmmmm...on posting I see that I have no colours which I added when I bolded in the post. I had noticed that on one or two colours since I went to this template but now I can't change any. Does anyone have a solution for that??

Test

What's Happening???
First I can compose but not post,
Then posts disappeared.
Now my composition page has partly disappeared and half of the widgets and links in the sidebar, ARGG!!! They have totally disappeared from the settings page!
Stay tuned. Moving is a possibility...

Edit

I tried another spot where I post sometimes and the posting layout has the same problem. No dodads at the top. No preview etc.
Surely it can't just be me? Unless my computer is actually gobbling them up?

Staying Calm

Incredibly, it seems it has all gone.

In the past two days, I held my breathe, hoping...praying...that all my files would be able to be restored.

The Bad News: Apparently, you can loose the whole lot, if the C drive is cleared, which, unbelievably we managed to do. {Sob} Like many women, I learn about the computer's capabilities on an as needs basis. I now can do most of the basics with pictures, documents, emails, the blog, facebook. Who needs more? Like most men, hubby needs to know what's under the bonnet. He tinkers. This is a wonderful attribute that God has given men, to discover, to invent. Just, why , oh why, on our computer!

The Good News: In the past two days, I have been able to assemble all the disks I had backed up, and I discovered that I had hard copy of most of the documents that were going to be really hard to reproduce. PRAISE GOD. Long time readers will remember we have had similar dramas before. I had kept a lot more than I originally thought. Most of the hard work will be in recopying a few files of old photographs which I am working on. These are from originals of Mum and Dad's so at least I have the photographs to work with. A huge job, but do-able. Serves me right for waiting too long to copy to disk.

Solution? Hubby suggests I get an external hard drive. He can tinker on his things without fear of wiping me out again. This was also suggested by MommyMindy, and seems to have worked for her family.

Thanks for all your supportive comments.

I really am fine. The shock has worn off and I've had a day off reading blogs. Catch up with you all soon!

Woe is me!

Our baby is sick!

We need to take the computer for some professional help, so just letting you know that if you don't hear from me it is really serious.

Lord willing, it will be easily remedied.

I cannot tell all the symptoms...too distraught!

Actually, it is working fine, but we have lost . poof ...gone...vamoosh, everything. Pictures, documetns, programs, all my family history and completed memoirs for our book. SOME was backed up...some not. I have been assured it can be retrieved.

Okay, I told you any how! I am off now. Bye.

All good things come to an end.

The last day of the September school holidays. {sigh}

We've had a wonderful week, which made up for the sickness which marred last week.

It was after 5 pm when S2 ran in screaming in pain. After washing his eye and not getting any relief we decided to whizz him up to the Emergency Room just to be on the safe side.

They took him straight in, anesthetized it and had a good look around. Although very red and painful it looked as though the offending matter had already flushed out.

We were home in about 40 minutes with this impressive eye patch to show for it!

A day of worship and rest tomorrow then back to the regular school week routine. My S1 commented today that it is good to get back to school as there is always something to do. Well, there you go!

Our Own Bermuda Triangle

Today, somehow, who knows how...or why? my dear husband managed to delete my entire email section. OUR emails :o) Any one who has a large family and circle of friends, and enters into a lot of correspondence may empathise. They are no doubt somewhere with the swallowed socks, working pens and our reading glasses!

So, it's back to the Pollyanna game............

(It has taken me several hours to come to this point of clear headedness!)

I'm glad....that it was not my pictures which disappeared. Though I do copy to disc it is a while since I have done so and I have quite a lot of family history stuff in the pipe line.

I'm glad........ to be reminded that my emails and (very precious) communications, are not so valuable in the scheme of things. People (husbands) always come first.

I'm glad..... my youngest came and cuddled me and asked for a bed time story, just when I gave up on trying to retrieve them. XOXO

I'm glad..... tomorrow the home schoolers are attending a sports day with some christian school kids. I can go and cheer and socialise and generally forget my disaster.

I'm glad...... I am coming to a realisation that I am much more attached to the computer than I should be. I keep thinking I am dealing with it but..........