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.

'

'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!

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.

September!

A month to remember!

My eldest grandson turned 5!

My darling mother turned 84!

Here are my three sisters, their husbands, two of my brothers

 and me with Mum.

My youngest grandson turned 2!

He is very cute and sweet ♥

Mush! Mush!

Harnessing the dog power to save the legs!

Trick rider

These holidays from formal school have been a wonderful opportunity to take a breathe in our very hectic life.  I have got a lot done at home and been able to spend time with the family.

My youngest son's life is still turbulent and we are dubious to send him back to school

although he is determined to go.

My older son had a great break away with his Gold Coast friends.

Another week of holidays

Will it be enough!

Dear Dad,

 Here it is, your 89th birthday and you are not here.  Oh, how I miss you. There are so many things I would like to say,  I wish I had bitten the bullet and said them while I had the chance.  Or better still, I should have said a lot more over the years.  You were not a conversationalist, your actions spoke louder than words. I know my chattering and interrogation must have been annoying at time. You did not see the value of passing on the oral history until fairly recently.

  I miss your strength and dependability. Even in old age and blindness you liked to be in control! Like telling me which  route to take to appointments etc. Mum feels so rudderless without you  You were her memory..

Tomorrow is Fathers' Day.  So many years we've celebrated these two happy occasions on the same weekend.  So many years we probably took for granted that the day would roll around again., So while the ache continues the sharpness is beginning to go.
Love xo

Dad
88 years old at the family reunion

Trading Places

Year  9 Boarders
1976

About 35 years ago. I was a boarder at The Range College (Our Lady of Good Council) here in Rockhampton. I'm sure I have mentioned before that this girls only school is now only the girls' boarding section of the co-ed Catholic school.  Where our class rooms once stood is now a Retirements Village and in fact my parents lived for five years right about where I went to Science classes way back then.  Where the convent stood is now a low care facility for elderly folk.  This is where my Mum lives now and shared with Dad for the last twelfth months of his life.

The school photograph above was taken in front of a huge fig tree in the convent garden.  From Mum's front balcony you look straight out on this tree.  It is a marvellous view, one of the highest in Rocky, partly blocked by the enormous and very old tree.  It is beautiful though it does block the view a bit.

As I left from visiting Mum this week waves of grief rolled over me.   True, I feel the loss of my Dad much more there in that room where he lived for those last few months and died. But I was also overcome by the  great sense of the "circle of life" happening in my family.  Dad and Mum were very inter-dependant in the last few years.  Dad had gone blind so Mum was the eyes. Mum has no memory, so Dad remembered everything.  Although he couldn't see, she would tell him where each thing had been put and then when Mum couldn't remember where she had put it, Dad knew ! Dad could still remember names, dates and places. Mum struggles to recall her own birthday and much in the way of past events.

So now Mum depends on us.  Mainly my eldest sister and I.  My sister had already been doing all of their bookwork for a number of years and she does everything the way Dad wanted it.  Mum can rely on her to pay all the bills and do any transaction or legal stuff.

I am the day to day daughter :-)  I visit and drink coffee and pick up bits and pieces that Mum needs.  She is quite miserable.  She says she is not lonely but she loves visits.  They tire her out and she does sleep a lot.  She also does not remember conversations and information from one visit to the next but is just contented with her limited life. The other day she wandered a little too far and got herself lost.  Fortunately she was still on the property and was rescued by a nurse.

When I left the other day, I thought about how they must have felt driving away and leaving us there at school.  I was twelve.  I got homesick.  I so appreciated visitors and especially treasure another sister who was at uni then, making the effort to visit a lot and bringing goodies (which she could ill afford), Now it's me finding it heart wrenching to drive away.  Holding her frail body, I am over come by love and real admiration for this dear woman.  Our roles have almost swapped and it seems fitting. She wiped our bottoms ~ and smacked them!  She fed and clothed us and sacrificed a lot so that we could all have the necessities of life. It seems the least we can do.

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

On the home front

I am enjoying the one-on-one  home schooling time with my older son.  He is more settled as well and has  taken up more of the household chores since his brother has gone to school.  I reckon school life is much more taxing than staying at home. In most ways I feel my son has been well prepared for the life outside and we are thrilled and amazed at his good adjustment.  Getting up early and having a whole day out of the house and coping with life can be quite exhausting. Sometimes he just crashes when he gets home, other days he is quite demanding and his behaviour upsets everyone anew.  His mental health issues have not disappeared but they do seem to have improved.  Thank you for all prayers.

The weather here is fabulous! Cool nights, glorious sunny days. Ahhhh.....this is when Central Queensland is at her best!

A Day to Honour Mothers

To all the mothers out there.

Mothers of children

and those who mother and share

their love and compassion

with others
in many different ways.
Often unrecognised.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

The single, unflattering photo from our Mothers' Day lunch.

My mother and I with my daughter and her daughter.

Love you Mum xo

Today I Still Remember

We will remember them...

It is ANZAC Day and amidst all the nostalgia and remembrance of our loved ones and ancestors who fought and died for the freedom we enjoy today, I seem to keep drifting back to thoughts of Dad. 

He wasn't a veteran but he was my hero.

So much of my knowledge of the wars and what life was like "back home" comes from my own parents.  I think of my Dad now, when still only a teenager, who felled a paddock of scrub country using only axes, with his older brother in 1942. The following year his two older brothers went to the war in the Pacific and Dad was the eldest at home and much depended on to keep the farm going.  He did apply to the army but his colour blindness and the fact that by so late in the war the farms desperately needed fit people to keep them going, kept him home.  I have always been thankful for that.  My dear Dad was a very tender soul who I think would have struggled to recover from such an experience.

I have been enjoying afternoon tea each day with Mum in these past two weeks.  The days of our mourning.  What a wonderful, stoic and resilient woman she is! But the realities of grief have hit her and also the frailty of her own body.  She has been quite miserable and unwell. She is tasting loneliness. Her memory is very poor. Sometimes when I mention something about Dad she can't recall it....and that is hard, painful.

"Today I still remember, just like yesterday,

'Bout a mighty big man with a mighty big heart

And a mighty few words to say."

Here's a link to one of my old poems

Remember

Lest we Forget

Half Mast

In a small country town in Central Queensland, the flag at the War Memorial flew at half mast last weekend. It signalled to the townsfolk that one of their own had passed away.

Last Friday, my much loved father left this world. 

May he rest in peace.

It has been a very tiring and emotional week,yet because Dad was 88 years old and had lived an eventful and productive life, it was a wonderful time of reminiscing and celebrating his life.  The greatest legacy that he and my mum have left is our large family. Seven living children, 21 living grand children and 28 great grand children (so far). These plus spouses and Dad's living siblings filled the front half of the church!

Dad was a quiet, unassuming man but I think he would have been quite chuffed at the hundreds of relatives and friends who turned out to farewell him.

Long time readers here know my great love and admiration for my parents. I can only say that I miss him terribly and it will take some time to adjust to life without him.  He and Mum were married for 62 years.  She is coping well but the reality will set in now that the family have all gone home.

"It's not what you take with you when you leave this world behind,

it's what you leave behind when you go."

♥♥♥

I like it A LOT!

Our life is still very full but some of the chaos seems to have calmed down this week. Phew!

If only............

It goes without saying that I have missed my daughter and her children A LOT! being the first week that I have not seen them every day!  I miss their spontaneous cuddles and eager eyes.  Little twin boy, the moment he sees me runs for a ball and throws and catches for as long as I can keep it up.  Little twin girl wants me to put on her shoes and often just wants to sit on my lap when we visit.  The older boys are full of exciting events and achievements.  They all seem to have suddenly grown up A LOT!  Sigh......

I won't deny, I am loving the quiet.  I am savouring the personal space and less of everything....cooking, washing, folding, cleaning!

Suddenly I am like most other grandmothers and having to make a time for visits and fitting in with their new routine and they with ours.  It is amazing how easily we have slotted back into our old ways and I know that school for my boys is going to benefit A LOT!

The same for my other daughter and her boys since her eldest is at kindy. Oh dear, it is like weaning!  Needless to say, I have much to learn and experience of this role of mother and grandmother.  A LOT!

With a quieter house, my time for reading and prayer has come so naturally.  I have yearned for this and really appreciate it now.  While there are lots of ongoing needs in our house everything is so much less frantic and "solvable " :-)

I've listened to a number of Glen Campbell numbers today through the link which led me to the clip below.

Here is a little gem to sign off with today.  Even if you are not a fan you must love this classic?   I like it  A LOT!

Glen Campbell is suffering from Alzheimer's and  here he is playing Dueling Banjos (one of my faves) with his daughter at his farewell concert.

These Two Years

If you were serving two years in prison it would be a very long time indeed.  Even if one was travelling or working but away from home, a two year sojourn would seem a long time to be parted from family and friends.

How amazing that our older daughter and her children have lived with us for two whole years and that time has flown! We've had lots of wonderful times together along with all of the hectic days and disturbed nights.  We've built relationships with those little people which would never have been so close and cemented if we had not shared our home with them. 

So after two years my daughter has found a great house for her to raise her family.  She has a very child friendly back yard and we are just thrilled with the way it has all worked out.

The first morning after they moved hubby stood by me in the kitchen and said, "Hear that?" (Silence :-)  Then my younger son came out and asked, "Where is everyone?"   Me: "Everyone doesn't live here anymore."
I admit that I am probably missing them a lot more than they are missing me.  Thankfully, their new place isn't far from either our house or my other daughter's.

Her moving is also just in time for us to start school next week.

I am so thankful to the Lord for his gracious provision and answer to our prayers.  He does all things well and his timing is always perfect.

Rockhampton has received record rainfall overnight.

Some areas have had flash flooding and some are bracing for

the deluge to come on down the river. :- (

If you're an Aussie

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!

mate!

And to anyone else reading, tomorrow (26th) would be a good day

 to do/ read/ watch something Aussie,

being that it is our National Day.

Thanks to Mum-me at Our Aussie Half Dozen who made up

 the above collage for me

 a few years ago.



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

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.