The Week that Was

Many's the time I have grappled to think of something to write to update my blog.  Occasionally when life is hectic, I have lots of material but little time to "put pen to paper" ( in the old speak) : This last week has been so hectic, and with very quick changing scenarios, that my head is swimming!

Last week flash flooding and terrific wind from Cyclone Oswald caused quite a lot of damage and flooding here and even more so right down the coast of Queensland and into New South Wales.  We have grieved with the city of Bundaberg which experienced its worst ever recorded flood.  Houses swept off their stumps, roads with huge craters carved through them from the violence of the water.  The power of the wind and the waters are extrordinary!  The power of our great God!

Now we wait as the Fitzroy River steadily climbs to its expected peak of 8.7m.  This is 50cm below the 2011 flood but still hundreds of homes and businesses are flooded.  For many of us it is "business as usual", yet for those valiant souls along the river flats it an anxious wait, hoping that it will not go higher than predicted.  The last thing they need is more rain ~ which has been forecast :- (

Rocky airport 1/2/2013
Taken this morning
Closed this evening except for emergencies.

GS 2

First day at Kindy

The big day arrived and my two oldest grandsons started at their kindergartens.  I've mentioned before my mixed feelings about this and I think I was more churned up by it than the little boys, or their mothers.  All went well.  The girls have begun the long years of school drop offs and tuck shop and all the related to-ing and fro-ing.

I knew long ago that my children did not feel the same way as me about schooling, though being home schooled themselves or perhaps because they were home schooled :- (.  I suppose it is just another matter in which I have to say, "Thy will be done." and leave it in God's capable hands. We made our choices with which the children have not always been happy.  Now we see them having to make choices for the next generation.  God give wisdom and knowledge to each of us as we need it.

This ol' house, in which we have lived for 14 1/2 years is back on the market.  It has been bought and sold a couple of times since we've lived here and each time we have been able to continue renting.  This time it is much more weathered than previously and we have not really had a chance to "tidy up" since the family moved out.  Again, I am seeking to trust in the Lord for our needs.  I am so pleased that my daughter was able to move into a good place before the ordeal of having people look through the house started.

With our home, our city and the state in such upheaval this week we made only a brief attempt at school each day.  Oh, it is hard to get back into the harness!!  I think the only thing the boys and I have enjoyed about it is starting the book "Twice Freed".  Reading is not their favourite pastime but listening still is :-)

I trust that all who read here are safe from the ravages of fires and floods which have swept our diverse country in the past few weeks.  For all getting back into the academic year I wish you the best. 

The Lord is on my side, I will not fear.........

"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.

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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

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"



I had a plan...

I've mentioned before that we are with  Groves Christian College distance education.  After doing our own thing for about fourteen years I thought it would be very restrictive to have the supervising teachers from the school overseeing our progress.  In God's good Providence the staff at Groves have been a Godsend for me and my boys.

Today our teacher visited as they do a couple of times a year and it has been a great encouragement to have her input and suggestions.  Mostly, just good to be appreciated and supported so liberally!  Words of affirmation.(My love language)

I had many hopes, dreams and goals when I began homeschooling and some of them have come to pass.  But I think we all need to face the reality that "Man makes his plans but God directs his path."   Many unforeseen circumstances have come to pass over the last twenty years and brought us to where we are today.

I still embrace delight directed learning but find it harder and harder to find the delight in each day.  I still believe that knowing the Lord and Christian character are more important that academics, but some days it is just a case of getting through the work we need to do.

I still have the goal to raise useful, Godly adults and I am seeing some results but the gains are hard won and the disappointments are great.

But God......

When push comes to shove, God has always sent an answer. 

Like today, with the friendly, encouraging visit from our teacher.

Like last Friday evening when I met with just two of the mums at our Mother's night out.  It was great that just three of us turned up because we got to actually share about what was going well, what was not and what has worked over the years. (And we ate nice food that we didn't have to cook!)  Petunia and I got a zap of enthusiasm from one of the young, energetic mothers and she, hopefully gleaned something from our experience.

I had plans too for some major house work this last weekend, but the sickness has been ongoing with several members of the family having more than one bout of it, and no one felt up to it.  Of course, then we had a mad dash around this morning before the good teacher arrived!  I know, I know, no one else has to do that!

I've been thinking a lot about the way God directs our paths.  So often we ask for an answer, a sign, a directive and when it comes it is not what we wanted or expected.  God works the trials and the everyday occurrences of our lives for our good.  I have been focusing on this.  Knowing that our God shall supply all our needs!  I feel tired, but I am not to weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap.  God's promises are a constant source of encouragement and renewal of strength.

A Productive Day

Well, the swimming training is done and the "treat" to the Skate Park.

The school books finished and put away for the week.

There's sweet smelling, clean washing to be folded,

and some still flapping pleasantly on the line.

My little car is looking spiffy clean. 

And there is a tantalising aroma of lamb shanks in the slow cooker. 

Now that is my idea of a productive day! 

Now, I do not do anything at warp speed, so yes, there is plenty of   m e s s other domestic jobs

to be taken care of. In fact, it takes quite a lot to get me out of  b e d reverse gear

most days.

I will spare the details, but suffered from an abscess last weekend which caused me a

great lot of pain and a great loss of sleep. I eventually had a Sunday emergency

Doctor's appointment for treatment. Ah...relief.

Then I suffered a couple of days later from the terrible constipation unseemly side effects

that the anti-biotics caused!

The swimming pool where we have lessons and training as a Homeschool group is

conveniently located right by a nice park.

Lots of covered areas, tables and playground equipment for little sized kids.

And a pretty cool skate park for bigger sized models!

this is not my boys favourite place to take scooters and skate boards

but good fun, none the less.

The Home schoolers take advantage of the fact that our lessons finish at 9am

when there are no other school children about.

Spring is everywhere here!

We've had an unusual amount of rain and of cloudy days for this part of Queensland.

Everything looks lush and green and for those with flowering gardens

everything is in bloom.

Have a lovely weekend!

Kute Kitchen Kitsch

WORDLESS  WEDNESDAY

Keepers...

WORDLESS  WEDNESDAY

Decisions, Decisions....

WORDLESS  WEDNESDAY

Mumma's New "Place"

Some of you may recognize the photograph below as one of my old headers. It was the childhood home of my paternal Grandmother and was a another great example of the good old Queenslander.

About every six months I usually change my header. I have been using the family homesteads from my family history albums which should keep me going for a little while. This time round I thought I would use this beautiful example of a classic "Queenslander".

I bought this wall hanging from a second hand store about ten or eleven years ago. I just love the style of this house. The Queenslander has a central section consisting of 3 bedrooms, hallway and lounge room. Across  the rear, bathroom, dining and kitchen. The front and both sides are verandas. Typically, especially in places like Rockhampton, the house stands on high stumps. This increases air flow and gives some safety from flooding. You see many Queenslanders in Rocky, and many along the Fitzroy River, where low blocks such as the one in the wall hanging are rare. The old family picture is from a location far from any rivers so is also on low stumps.

Many of these grand homes no longer look as the above. Most, such as the 1920's built model we live in, have had the verandas enclosed. This gives us a really big home but of course much of the character is lost and they have become box like. They also loose the ability to capture the breeze. Up here, we call the enclosed veranda used as a bed room a "sleep out". In ours, we used the sleep out as such when all the children were at home. Now it is Annie's room.....Anything can be found in here!! Computer, spare bed and cot, babies things, stored clothe ~ you get the idea,  Our other side is our "school room" (complete with old school desks with ink wells!). The front is just an entry area with phone and  several book cases.

The above house is very grand looking. It hangs in our lounge and reminds me of the glory days of this old house. Ooooh.... I feel another song coming on!

"Ain't a-gonna need this house no longer

Ain't a-gonna need this house no more

Ain't got time to fix the shingles

Ain't got time to fix the floor

Ain't got time to oil the hinges

Nor to mend the windowpane

Ain't a-gonna need this house no longer

He's a-gettin' ready to meet the saints
"
From this Ole House by Shakin' Stevens

Back view at Mumma's Place

A True Confession

Last week Jillian posted some excellent thoughts about the attitude we should have towards all our mundane tasks, namely ironing. This post received a surprising number of comments. Obviously, ironing is a subject very close to all of our hearts!
Some more serious subjects were covered as well, like...er..the return of the Lord Jesus Christ! Pop over if you are interested to read what everyone had to say. It was a good example of encouraging one another in doing well and being ready for that great day.
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Now I am quite open that I do not particularly like to iron. I do it. We have good garments which need pressing. For the most part we are all at home most of the time and I endeavour to buy house/ work clothing which needs little or no ironing. When it needs to be done I try to do it with a good attitude.
"Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. "
I have even on occasions done ironing for friends when they are unwell or have new babies etc. This was something I always appreciated myself. My lovely mother ironed here once a week when my boys were little and we had school and a lot happening. She didn't much like it either but she figured it was a big help and something she could do out of the way. A labour of love♥

Two Things I Confess
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#1 I have, in periods of extreme pressure/ over whelmedness/ illness PAID a lady to do ironing.

#2 I have in situations where a friend has been under extreme pressure/ overwhelmed/ unwell/ snowed under with school/ many children/ a new baby, SUGGESTED that they PAY someone to do their ironing.

There, I said it. Am I lazy? A bad housekeeper? a poor friend? (okay, I openly admit I am not a good house keeper:-) Most of us who are homeschooling and one income families cannot really justify this long term, but sometimes it is worth the budgeting sacrifice to keep on top. Ironing ladies usually work fairly cheaply and it is amazing what a lift it can give a girl to have that wretched job out of the way. Also allows her to get the family out of the house looking good when she needs to and have hubby nicely dressed for work.

As with my blog and friends on the net, my real life friends and I try to build up and encourage one another. We can do this in practical ways as well as discussing deep theological issues. It is often our practical coming along beside a friend which helps us and them to deal with life and in turn devote more time and energy to the more important spiritual matters. Faith without works is dead.

Mary chose the good part. She sat at the Lord's feet and was not hindered by cares and cumbrances. She did the one thing needful. While I struggle to keep up with my household chores, I like to think that the priorities are in place. I'm plugging away at it!

My home is clean enough to be healthy

and dirty enough to be happy!

Riotous Summer Foliage

Wordless Wednesday!

I plan to...

Use it up,

Wear it out,

Make it do,

Or do without.

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I've read this quote a few times and understood that it originated from a World War II poster. When I googled, it seemed that there are a number of claims to it.

Still, good advice. It is one of the things I am thinking about as I begin to plan for 2010.

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"She looketh well to the ways of her household..."

Blitz Report Week 3.

Done and Dusted!

I really want to thank my blogging friend Organizing Mommy for the motivation to do this project which was hanging over me for a LONG time. Go to her site Organized Everyday to read about the Blitz concept and get other handy organizational tips.

Read here to view my 3 week plan. Then here and here to see my weekly progress.

Before

The fact that the before photo isn't quite clear just adds to dishevelled look, don't you think?

After

This is an old TV unit which serves nicely for storing my scrap booking and family history gear. It has two little cupboards with doors at the bottom and they house the family history folders, photographs and a box of art supplies. Sadly rarely used in this non artistic household.

These shelves have the organized photographs and scrap booking paraphernalia.

I actually didn't stick closely to the week 3 plan as I knew I would be pushed for portions of time each day (Even this post is being pre done!) I spent quite a few hours last Saturday sorting the family history files but I already had folders going so it was manageable.

All of my holiday projects are smaller but it has given me a boost to get this biggy out of the road. Another incentive is that my mother-in-law is coming to stay! I am looking forward to actually doing some scrap booking to enjoy the fruit of the labours.

Thanks again Organizing Mommy.

P.S. I actually have a terrific mum-in-law!

Blitz Report Week 2

I have completed my aims for week 2 of this major project!

See Organizing Mommy's blog Organized Everyday for more information on the Blitz.

I had scheduled all of week 2 for sorting photos, but when I came to it it wasn't such a big job. About 8 years ago when I started scrap booking I had sorted all my photographs into years up to then. Since then I have done a number of scrap books and have also made new folders for the children's photos which I have made into their own albums. So I really just had the last 8 years, minus what had already been scrapped, to sort.

Two of the boxes of photographs in total disorganized state.



This is my final sorted box. You can't see too clearly but each envelope

holds a year/ project/ child or event and is labeled accordingly.


I'm quite happy with the week, but I realize that sorting through the family history material and the paraphernalia for scrapping is going to be a bigger week then I had first thought.

I plan to add Saturday time to this as next week is a busy one.

Did I mention that we have a Family Reunion (mother's side)
next weekend, 26to 28?

As I have been very involved in the planning, next week will be big. We are all really looking forward to the long awaited event. Sad to say, my Mum is not very well at present.I trust she will be able to enjoy the Reunion.

So Far, So Good...

I have pretty much stuck to the plan. I managed 2 bags of clothes to a charity shop and one of hand-me-downs to friends, plus a large box of rubbish went out. I am amazed how much stuff had accumulated that has never been used or will never be used. Also, one of the cupboards had some stuff belonging to my girls so I was able to disperse that as well. (3 years after they moved out of home:0)

Mostly ironing and mending related stuff.

Please note as a bonus I have almost emptied the ironing basket!

This before pic doesn't do justice to the rubbish that had accumulated here! and the after has some scrapbooks which we were looking at.

Now a confession... I am probably a bit behind on some of my other regular jobs! Saturday is my usual day for this so hopefully I will catch up.

A Blitz at Mumma's Place

On her wonderfully motivating and informative blog, Organized Everyday, Organizing Mommy has a great Friday Blitz segment. I haven't joined this blitz as I don't find Fridays a good day for major housework ( okay, confession no.1...no day is actually good for house work!) but I like her idea of using hour blitzes.

My own pattern has been major jobs take a major day, or when time is stretched, or I am, I use the half hour method. ( I originally read about that in a Terry Maxwell time management book some years ago.) It makes sense for me to work in short bursts and do a job over a couple of days. This week it's been my linen cupboard (2 sessions) and the computer area (1 session).

Identify the problem:

Like Organizing Mommy, I have a very untidy and unorganized photo and scrapbook supplies area. My aim is to organize photos into years and/ or categories ready for scrapping, organize scrapping supplies and store in usable spaces. De junk and tidy the other things in that area which are stored clothing, ironing and surplus books and board games. (We have very limited storage so a lot of stuff in the one area.)

Plan for week 1:

1. The ironing area

2. The stored clothes (x2)

3. The cupboard (x2)

4. Take give aways to charity and throw outs to bin

5. The work station (x2)

Plan for week 2:

1. Sort photos (who knows how many sessions this will take!)

Plan for week 3:

1. Organize scrapping supplies (x4)

2. Organize Family History information (x4)

Start date: Monday 8 June, 2009 Finish date: Friday 26 June 2009

Using half hour time slots but hopefully more than one per day. Our holiday break begins on 27 June so, Lord willing, I can be at finished the tidy up by then.

We have a sisters scrap planned for Thursday 9 July to make an album for my mother's 80th birthday which is coming in September, so that's a good incentive. And my usual group of friends will probably also plan a day some time over the break.

I have taken a couple of before pics but I think putting them on will be a lot of pressure/ humiliation. I'll maybe post them if the after photos are noticeably better!

Summer's End

Tomorrow is officially the beginning of Autumn.

We don't have a great variation in seasons around here, but the searing heat and oppressive humidity will start to ease up. We have the most glorious Winters!We don't have a large yard and very little garden. I love the riotous way the ferns and creepers grow around the back of the old house.

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