The Last Two Weeks ...

have been busy. My brother, Richard and SIL Trudie came to stay with their children Alex (photo with Penny) and Lachlan for just over a week. They came to finalise the sale of their house in Brisbane. The cousins all had a great time together. They swam most of the time and enjoyed each other's company. One day they set up a great vet hospital with its own radiology department filled with an ultrasound, xray and MRI machine. Pip also loved having so many people around and more shoes to steal.
Last week, we went to Byron Bay for a relax and recharge and stayed in a 2 bedroom apartment with a lovely heated pool. We visited the historic light house which sits above a short walkway to the most eastern point of Australia. We went to the beach on a couple of days although it was closed for the other couple of days due to sharks. The Macadamia Castle (just nth of Ballina) was a favourite. We went there about 4yrs ago. Penny was so excited about cuddling a rabbit as last time she wasn't quite 4 and was too frightened to do so. Nic and Penny fed milk to the calves and lambs, held baby chickens, fed the kangaroos and joeys (that were big enough to eat food) and enjoyed playing on the flying fox and huge tree house. I managed to read two books and have a good rest.
I am back at work this week whilst Craig and the kids have gone to Bundaberg. It's very quiet, just the dog and I but I am enjoying the solitude and getting lots done around the house. I took the opportunity to go out on Friday night whilst everyone was away. My friend Petrina came down from Bundaberg to attend the opening night of "Bundaberg Bohemians not Bogans" exhibition at the Bleeding Hearts gallery in Brisbane city. Petrina's sister, Renita also attended the exhibition with us. One of Petrina's Yr 12 students from 2012 was exhibiting her works. We went onto the city afterwards for a yummy Singaporean meal. It was a lovely night and we enjoyed catching up.
All the books are covered and pencils sharpened in anticipation for the start of a new school year next Tuesday - Yr 5 for Nic and Yr 2 for Penny. Wow hasn't that come around fast! Fingers crossed it will be a good year for both kids.
Have a happy Wednesday.
Rach xx

Baby Possum

Back in October we found this baby possum making a strange noise outside the laundry one afternoon. I had heard the noise for at least half an hour but was not obviously concerned to go and investigate. Luckily I discovered the little one before our puppy, Pip. It was tiny, with only a light covering of fur but very cute. We left it alone for a while so that it could call out to it's mother in the hope that she'd return but at dusk it was getting quite cold so we wrapped it in a towel and heated up a wheat pack. We tried to contact a local wildlife station to no avail so possum was staying for the night. I kept heating the wheat pack up which quietened it down as did wrapping it up. We tried to feed it some puppy milk with a dropper but it wasn't very interested in this. We were unsure that it would make it to morning alive but Nick was up at 5am and ran in to tell us that baby possum had survived. We tried more milk but again to no avail so we contacted the RSPCA who told us to take it to a vet or the Uni vet hospital. As it was a Sunday we thought most vets would be closed so we packed our little possum into a box with the heat pack and delivered it to the uni in St Lucia. The kids wanted to keep it and rear it but our lives are too busy for a tiny baby possum and particularly as we have little Pip to care for we decided it was best. We decided against finding out what happened to baby possum but like to think that it had a favourable outcome.
Hope you've had a happy Monday.
Rach xx

Book Review - "All That I Am"

Well I'm back, 2 days in a row! I have recently finished reading a book called All That I Am by Anna Funder. It won the 2012 Miles Franklin Literary Award amongst other awards. The book is set in modern day Sydney through the eyes of an elderly lady looking back to her life in Germany in the early 1930's when Hitler came to power. It is about the difficulties faced by the Jews and their brave resistance to Nazism causing them to flee the country and live in exile. They tried to continue their resistance movement with great difficulty and trepidation. This is a true story and very thought provoking.
I thought it must be a good book to win all of these awards and to be in the top 5 on the weekly reading lists. Well I must say that it was not an easy read but I am glad that I did persevere. The book swaps alternate chapters between two characters, Ruth and Toller. This makes it difficult for a slow reader like me who may only picks the book up once a week but for the fast reader who reads daily this wouldn't be a problem. I was surprised at the liberation of young women in this era in Europe with talk of speaking out, free sex, abortions and drinking. They were very brave souls who stood up for what they believed even though others were being executed around them. The book gives a good insight into the struggle of the Jews and I feel richer for having read this book.
SCORE: 7/10
Have a beautiful day.
Rach xx

2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I'm not sure that many people would read my blog now as I have been very slack at adding posts in 2012. Hopefully I will get around to blogging again this year as it is such a great diary to look back on. I think the reason I haven't blogged much as I felt I always needed to add a photo which I didn't always have ready to add to the blog. Well this year there may not be photos but words are just as important.

Do you like my new blog header? I am still adjusting the blog appearance, so you'll see some changes over the the coming days.

Usually I put up a single word to aspire to for the year. Last year was motivation. I only managed this in fits and starts but better than not at all. This year I don't have a single word, but a motto:

*the GLASS HALF FULL motto*

I plan to put a sign by my bed to remind me of this every day and night :)

What I would like to achieve in 2013:

1. TONE - my body

2. READ - especially since my family bought me a Kobo Touch EReader for Christmas

3. SCRAPBOOK - I haven't scrapbooked since we moved in August but have had 3 LO's published in the last 6mths

4. PHOTOS - take more photos as I rarely get my camera out now

5. HELPFUL - do good things for other people

6. TENNIS - join a social tennis group on my day off

7. ACCEPT - that I will turn 40 this year and not have ill feelings about it

8. LOVE - my family more than I already do

9. EXPLORE - get out and about more on the weekends and see this beautiful city

What is your word or motto or resolutions for 2013?

We are loving our new house although we are finding it laborious at times. I am painting bits and pieces at present as I am on holidays. Craig has been digging trenches for the plumber to replace our main water pipe into the house which ruptured on Sunday. Luckily we found a lovely plumber who lives nearby who was able to come and do a temporary fix for us yesterday. We are loving the pool and the kids are in it twice a day. Our puppy Pip is now 6mths old and gorgeous She was spayed just before Christmas and coped very well. We spent Christmas in our new home, just the four of us. Santa was good to the children and bought them a trampoline. We went to a local, favoured restaurant for lunch which was scrumptious and enjoyed an afternoon swim at home. 

Over January I will add some photos of the last 4mths of 2012.

Feel free to leave a comment as I really enjoy reading what you have written. Have a lovely day whatever you are doing. Rach xxx

Smitten...

is how we feel about our new puppy, Pip. Craig and I went to pick Pip up from Strathpine on Friday morning. She didn't take to the 45min car trip too well and vomited all the way home in her crate. On arrival home, she had an explore, feed, play and bath and then passed out on the couch for the afternoon. Nick and Penny ran all of the way home from school and were home in record time. She was a little unsure of them at first as she hasn't been around children but loved playing with them out on the grass in the sunshine. By Saturday afternoon she seemed right at home and happy with her surroundings. She isn't sleeping too well and waking often to make sure were around. This morning she thought 4.30am was a great time to start the day. Bit like having a newborn. Tonight she'll be going down into the laundry in a playpen as I need to sleep before a day of work tomorrow. It will be difficult to leave her tomorrow but the kids are going to have a big play with her and tire her out before we go. She is far from being toilet trained but we'll work on it with frequent trips out to the grass. Unfortunately she is too little to manage the stairs yet so we need to carry her up and down. Thankfully she isn't remotely interested in going up or down the stairs yet. Pip loves stealing my slippers and barking at Nic's cactus pot :) She is such a beautifully natured puppy with a little bit of mischief (like our dear Labrador Zoe).

We'll keep you posted on our puppy adventures.

Have a good week.
Rach xx

Excited!

Well we're all settled into our new home. It's only been 3wks but feels like we've been here forever. All boxes are unpacked and amazingly we didn't need to buy too much storage. I was a bit ruthless with what I put away as some of the gear we haven't seen for 18mths (packed in boxes), so we decided to get rid of it. Our guest room is already getting use with Trudie and Alex (SIL and niece) coming to stay and Craig's cousin and his family staying. Nick is busy scooping out the pool every afternoon. We have bets going to see how long this lasts but are loving that he enjoys doing it. Nick has crystal chandelier lights in his room and Penny has some pretty funky light covers too but they don't want them swapped. The kids are walking all of the way home from school together and enjoying their new found confidence and independence.

We only have 2 more sleeps until Pip, our West Highland Terrier pup comes home. We're all so excited. I spent the weekend puppy proofing the stairs and front and back decks so that she couldn't fall through. The packing boxes have come in very handy and zip ties. Pip is the puppy sniffing Penny's hand above.

This morning, I was walking back after dropping the kids at school early for their tennis and choir lessons when I came across daddy duck, mummy duck and their 7 tiny ducklings waddling up from the tunnel that goes under 4 railway tracks. They were obviously off on an adventure away from the safety of the Sherwood Arboretum. Unfortunately they were heading onto the road so with the help of another lady, we herded them into a small grassed area. I went home and picked up a large box and we proceeded to put the ducklings into a box but of course the parents wouldn't follow. By that time we managed to get in touch with the RSPCA who told us to let them go as it is illegal to move them and they wouldn't come out unless they were obstructing traffic. They were also worried that the parents would lose interest in their babies. We herded them off in a safer direction and hope they found their way home. I plan to visit the Arboretum on the weekend and see if they made it home. They were such pretty wood ducks.

Well, no doubt I'll be back over the weekend with some cute photos although don't hold your breath with my blog effort this year!

Have a good week/end.

Rach xx

Settlement Day

Tomorrow we get the keys to our new house. We are really looking forward to moving. So sick of boxes everywhere and cleaning for open houses at the rental.
We had a lovely time in Fiji. Such a beautiful place and the weather was amazing. The people are welcoming, friendly and so kind. Easily the best family holiday we've been on.
Term 3 is well under way with both children busy with school and extra curricular activities.

Most excitingly we went to adopt our new baby yesterday. Pip is a 5wk old West Highland Terrier and she will be ready to take home in a few weeks. She is from a litter of 6 - 3 females and 3 males. She was the most outgoing of all the girls and the one we all chose.

Well best be off to pack some more boxes.

Have a good week.

Rach xx