Some thoughts

Ok so I guess my readers have noticed I have a new play list *smiles*. The first song, although not a Christian song makes me think... not about the past as the lyrics implies but to the future. What do you think?

I have another favorite crafty blog, I have quite a few favorites but some of them really have that diversity of crafts that take them to the top of my list.

Please go and check it out!

This is the tutorial that helped me find this website.

I was looking for patterns for headbands to make and sell at the Twilight market this weekend and I found quite a few that I thought "ooh, now isn't that nice!" and this is one of them.

And here is another, I made this one with blue ribbon. It turned out so well, I accidentally messed up the ribbon and sewed it together so there was a twist in it, so I got to keep it (yay). And I do know that it is actually for a much younger girl but it is still very pretty and so very simple, it took about 15 minutes! This is not a very good picture of the end product (I will have to take a photo of the one I made and put it up).

Also while looking for ideas for what to make for this afternoon's market, I came across some very pretty fabric jewelry ideas (ones that I would like to try someday when I have a little time).

These were from a few different blogs and websites so I do not own these photos or have never made them or anything.

Well it took me a few days to get this post together but I guess at least I am here, and here is the end!

I will try to post more often. Maybe with some photos of things I have been making.

Something pretty I found :)

Ok so I was surfing the blog sphere today and on one of my absulute favortie crafty blogs I found this ;).

Dont you just adore them? I really want to buy the pattern and make them (maybe in winter though when I could actually wear them, bit hot now).

More posts coming soon!

A life worth living.

G'day everyone!
I am so sorry that I haven't posted in such a long time, although being reminded by my great friend Kate-Lynn that I had not posted in such a long time my blog was getting cobwebs. Thank you Kate!
Well to say the least I have been very very busy! As you can see below I have been sewing as though my life depended on it.
I finally finished my Design and Tech course for which I am very happy, although I will be continuing this next year just because I need to keep busy. I have uploaded the finished product of my labors somewhere below, it takes a lot of effort to move the photos around so they stay where they are.
I have been making quilts and dresses and in between times learning piano and writing the odd UN-rhyming (but soul searching) poem and starts of stories, I have also lived through the flooding rains we have had this spring. But more on that another time.
And now may I present to you, the second ever quilt I have finished! Very happy with it, although I had some people ask why I put such random bright colours together, I just shrugged and smiled, I love it.

Here is my most recent attempts at quilting, I started it last night and am almost finished, I have this absurd obsession if I start something I have to keep going until I finish it. I may be sitting there for hours and hours on end but I must finish, the result is some very quickly made articles.

Close up

The entire quilt, named.... Garden Paths

Ahh, my Design and Tech dress. (please excuse my face expression, it tends to distort when I can't breath).

In the process of design and production. And I ask you to excuse the mess in the background, it is hard to keep things tidy with only half the shelf space you need.


*Smiles* I am in love with this quilt! I know some people might think its too over the top and bright but I adore it.

And the beautifully even squares on the back, I am glad I got it right!

And I will try to get a written blog post up soon, I don't know when but hopefully not as long as last time.

Till next time,

Kathy

Photos!

Ok so I know I haven't posted on here and I really need to give my self a good yelling at but I guess that I might just make it up to you guys by uploading lots of photos :).

I have a lot of photos to add seeing as though it has been a very interesting little while. So here they are! Enjoy!

First things first :). We have a few new babies! This is the newest of the new. Born on the 1st of July at roughly 6 AM, a beautiful baby girl. Who hasn't actually got a name yet even though she is a month old, lol!

Determined not to be the smallest of the pack, she decided it was now time to GROW. And as of yet she hasn't stopped :).

Not only did she grow in stature but also in personality! She has turned out to be a rather cheeky little rotter, although getting cuter by the day :).

Mmmm noms!

"Ayala! My noms weren't good enough. I'll just have to have Mums too!"

Did I mention that we had a 'few babies'? These are mine :). T bootiful lil bubbies, aww they is soo cute! It was soo funny, when we took these photos, they had just gotten out of their pen because we were trying to make it little pig proof (it wasn't working)! But they kept getting out and getting out. This one day we fixed the fence then came to get them and we chased them around and around the yard. We finally gave up and decided to try getting them with food instead. When we came back they had gotten so worn out they had decided to go for a nap, it was so cute cos they just flopped down and went to sleep :) awww.

Yeah well they couldn't stand to be the smallest either! So they grew(and grew, and grew and grew!)!

We took a trip to Melbourne :). In Federation Square we found this. We wondered what it was till we read the sign (lol). It was an art sculpture (yup I know!) it had tiny little solar panels on it and it was all wired up so that when the sun came out it would move as the sun moved across the sky. As it was only 9 AM and you can see the sun on those buildings over behind it, we planned on going back to see how it moved but we forgot. Anyway it was interesting.

Oh yeah this is a big TV screen, that they show important things on like the Soccer World Cup (lol) and elections and things. We weren't sure what they were showing on it at this particular moment, but it looked kinda boring and we had to keep moving because we had shopping to do and we were LATE! :)

Ok so we weren't so late that we couldn't get something to munch on :).

SBS building :). We tried going in but they hadn't opened and you needed to wait in this humongous line up so we decided against it :P.

The Yarra River. We were actually watching the rowers practice but anyway you really cant see them in this photo.

The City!

Dangerfield :O! Ok so you guys wont know what this means to me so I will tell you, in my course, I sent my project (a 50's style apron) off to my tutor and he sent it back to me and told me that 'it was very Dangerfield'. So we were sitting at a tram stop waiting for a tram staring blankly at the building across from us when I read the sign! I was soo excited, but there was a problem, there was a great road between me and that store :P. I don't know about you but when you are waiting for a tram and there is a busy Melbourne road between you and someplace you want to go and you had almost been run over by a group of crazy cyclists (because of our crazy less-than-street-wise sister) less than an hour before hand you think more than twice before crossing a busy Melbourne road just to look at a shop for two seconds before dashing back across that street, between cars, to catch a tram. Yeah you guessed it, I missed out because we never came back :'(.

BTW we were waiting for the tram when our crazy sister decided to be even more crazy and embarrassing and act like a tourist, which we were and probably obviously so, but we WERE trying to fit in a little, and take a picture of us. Both Sarah and I were trying hard to stop her, although I look happy I was getting annoyed and very embarrassed!

Oh and this is another thing I have been doing, it was a project that I did a long while ago, to my horrible brown chest of drawers :). Don't know if they look any better half painted but hey I gave it a try.

Well that is about it, hope you enjoyed my boring and also rather exciting account of my life over the past little while :)

Till next time I feel like entertaining you with my presence!

Funny Face.

"I love your funny face, your sunny funny face!"

Beautiful! I am in love with the red :).

So I'm doing a fashion blog post (my mum thought it would be a good idea). I thought Audrey Hepburn since she wore such beautiful clothes I would do one on her movie Funny Face (since I just watched it, lol).

I love this dress, it is just so beautifully light and I really have soft spot for sheer fabrics over a skirt or dress. I couldnt find a picture of the front of the front although I love the entire dress, well except that its strapless.

Ok so this is a little 50's but I still like it :), if you put it into colours and and removed the chiffon over the top it would almost be a fashion today.

I love this one, its soo simple!

My Mother's blog

Hi everyone!
I just wanted to tell everyone that my Mum now has a blog :). I helped her set it up a little while ago and she has been posting for a couple of months now, please feel free to pop over and check it out! If you want to see it click Here.
Ok gotta go, will post more some other time!

News, rather large news :).

Ok so lots has happened since I last posted. Now all I have to do is remember all that has happened in the right order :).
Well first things first, school is almost out forever for me :( I am slightly sad because this will mean leaving all the nice girls in my class and my wonderful teacher who has been so very helpful this semester. I have learnt quite a lot from this class and am very glad I decided to do it.
Although I finished half my course just a couple of weeks ago I haven't 'finished' it completely yet. I just received the next book, unit 2 of Design and Tech. I will be working as a team this semester with three other girls who are doing distance education as well. I am looking forward to it though I am not sure if it will be harder or easier to complete than Unit 1, when I was doing it alone. I think it will be easier to do because there are three other girls who I have to work with and keep up to, so it will give me some idea of where I am supposed to be in my work. But I think it will be harder because I AM working with three other girls whom I have never met and don't know how they work. I am also worried about keeping in contact and the skill level of the two girls that I have talked to, I haven't really got in contact with the third girl.

Ok so the next big news is that I turned 16 :) I am rather excited about this. Although it is scary at the same time. I am now almost considered an adult in our society, a lot of 16 year olds have jobs and have got their Learner driver's permit (or their L's). I guess that means I am half way, lol :) I passed the test for my "L's" yesterday. I am very excited although petrified at the same time, I have driven a car (both manual and automatic) many times before, around the farm and very, very short distance on a road but... I am still scared.
Well that isn't all the news but I have a lot of studying to do and I kinda need to get back to it.
Till next time I post!!!

Farm Day, Melbourne and updates.

Hey all!
I wish I could give you photos but we didnt get any :P. Ok I guess I had better start by telling you all what on earth I am talking about, right?
Well Farm Day.... Was started by a farmers wife who came from the city and thought that city people needed to know what farming was all about. So she made up this thing where you contact them and say "I want to be part of Farm Day." and then answer some questions about your self and your family and then they will pair you up with a family from the city who will come to visit, then you show the city people around your farm so they know what you are talking about and get them to expeirience a day/weekend living on a farm doing all sorts of farmy things. I have heard that some people are really mean to their city families and get them to do all the hard and horrid jobs, but we dont do that :).
We took our city family (of six, would you believe?!) around our farm and showed them a calf and some of the sights of our farm, we got the dad to pick up a calf :) that was kinda funny. We had heaps of stuff planned to do but the entire weekend there were only a few times that it wasnt raining so we stayed inside mostly and talked :). We took them for walks around our farm and up into the bush.
The second day they were here we took them out to the Cudgewa Bluff Falls, about 20 minutes drive away but in reality only just over a hill from our house only that isnt where the road goes :P.
I think they really enjoyed their stay here. And we made new friends, it is amazing how much you get to know another family by just sitting around and talking with them for the entire weekend :).
Other news... Well I finished Unit 1 of Design and Tech my course yesterday, something that I am really happy about! I will be starting unit 2 very soon, although I am not sure when. Class finishes the week after next, I'm kinda sad because I have really enjoyed going to school and getting to know the girls in my class. I think I'm gunna miss them :(. But then I guess after this my life will change again.
I also found a music teacher yesterday so I am very happy about this also, as many of you know I have been wanting/waiting/praying for a music teacher for a long time.
And... Last Friday Ayala, my oldest sister, had a conference in Melbourne so we all had a City day! :) We do not go to the city much so it is a very big thing when we do. As it is a 5 hour drive down to the big city it usually has to be at least a two day trip so we drove down on Thursday night and stayed with my great aunt for the night then the next morning navigated through the city to get to where my sister had to be then the rest of my family and I went and spent a rather cold morning at the Queen Victoria Markets. It was rather amazing for us as we kids had never been before, although we had been to things very like it. There were rows and rows of stalls selling all sorts of things. The part that I enjoyed most was the food part of the market, walking through the meat markets, seeing all the exotic things that we don't get very often way out here in the sticks. We got a lovely lunch from the food market. Then after some more walking around we drove to a shopping centre near where my sister's conference was and just wandered around, in and out of shops, it wasn't much different to Albury and it wasn't quite as exciting as last time we were down there and we went to Chadstone shopping centre. But it was a great day although by the time it was over we all couldn't wait until we could get out of the city and back to our quiet little farm way out in the middle of no where. We got back around 12 Friday night. It was rather tiring but we had lots of fun :).
Well gotta sign out now and go and really start my day! Till next time I write!

A little Irish

Ok so Irish music doesn't really go with my blog does it? But I like it so I thought I would indulge just for once :).
The penny whistle is one instrument that I wish I could play well, I have made my play list mostly songs with the penny whistle. So enjoy! I know I will :D.

I took this tag from Cassie. Thank you!

#1-What song are you currently listening to a lot? Irish Washerwoman reel tune from my blog :D.

#2- What is the best book you have read recently? Simple Secrets to a Beautiful Home, Emille Barnes.

#3-Do you sing a lot? Yes I love to much to the dismay of my family, I don't sing very well :P

#4-Sweet or salty? Depends on what I feel like at the time.

#5-What is your favorite hobby? Sewing, writing, reading, walking around the farm and praying.

#6-What books have you read at least 3 times? Uhh why is it so hard to think of???? Jane Eyre, Daughter of Zion, My Friend Flicka.

#7-What sites do you always visit when you get on the Internet? Blogger, other blogs that I follow, my email, and Facebook.

#8-What were the last things you bought? Lunch about a week ago. And before that it was my sister's birthday present.

#9-Which fictional character do you think you are most like? Umm uhhh I have no idea...

#10-Favorite earliest memory? Umm I have no idea, I remember being in hospital surrounded by people in white coats and smelling something like lolly bananas, I think it was just before an operation and I was about to black out.

#11-What do you do to change your mood? Pray, listen to good music, or go for a walk.

#12-What was the last meal you ate? Breakfast, not that it was much.

#13-Do you want to learn another language? I would like to but I haven't done before so I don't know if I would be very good at it.

#14-Five things you can’t live without? 1) My Savior, 2) Family and Friends, 3) Music, 4) Books, and 5) Nature and the Outdoors.

#15- Find the closest book to you, and flip to page 54. What is the first sentence? "While visiting a prison in Africa, I heard about a young man who was sentenced to die." ~Corrie ten-Boom, He Sets the Captive Free


#16-What is something you would like to say right now? I love Irish music! :D

#17-What are you looking forward to? Farm Day, next weekend.

I tag anyone who wants to do this tag. Have Fun!

An award and a few bits of newsy moments :)

Ok so slightly random title :), I wanted something other than 'news'. Something a little more interesting, or random, whatever takes your fancy!


I have decided that I might need to take a more relaxed approach to this blog. As much as I love it and I would love to be able to keep up with posts like I used to, I don't really know if I have it in me anymore to make the posts interesting if I do one say every day. But anyway I think most people have figured out that I no longer post everyday. Anyway I thought I would make it official that I will post whenever I want to, lol now I go round in circles :).


Ok news... Well we are now entering the birthday season, Ayala (13th May), Dad (17th June, he is going to be 40! Wow GO Dad!!!), Me (18th June, Yay 16!!!), Mum (24th July), Sarah (17th September) and then Dan (26th September, wow my little brother is going to be 14!), in that order. Ayala, my vewy special-est oldest sis (yes that was all misspelled for a reason), the teacher of our family, is going to be 19 in 5 days time (an adult). You know when you are small you dream of becoming 14 and 16 and even 18 but then before you know it its upon you and you aren't even sure what to think... Next year A's is going to be 20. Big milestone there... (please don't mind me if I get teary/nostalgic here) I cant believe it was almost 5 years ago that she got her first job/trainee ship, its hard to believe that not 7 years ago we were taking play picnics down to the 'Valley' with just oranges and cheese and a packet of matches. Ayala was always the one with the matches, she collected the sticks while ordering us to go get dry grass :) always the one to give orders and do the 'important' things. Now she can vote, she can do things without our parents, she can legally be an 'adult' and take care of us 'children' lol! Happy Birthday and love ya sis!

I got awarded by Cassie, Thank you sooo much Cassie!

Here are the rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link to their blog. Thank you Cassie (again)!

2. Copy the award and paste it to your blog. (tick!)

3. Tell us seven interesting facts about you.

4. Pass the award to around fifteen wonderful bloggers you've discovered. (Or as many as you can think of because I don't know if I can think of 15!)

5. Contact your nominations and let them know they've won.

Ok so here's my interesting things :)... Hmm let me think...
1. I love writing, I write about a lot of things, mostly about stuff that has happened to me (not very good at writing fiction).
2. I love reading, I read a lot of genres. But I'm not really into fantasy or sci-fi.
3. I pray a lot. About a lot of things, mostly stuff that's just between me and my Lord :).
4. I love being out doors on a warm sunny morning taking deep breaths of fresh, hilly, bushy air.
5. My favorite places are gully's, places where its green for most of the year, sometimes with a creek running down them, gum trees covering the sky making it darker almost like a rain forest, mossy logs and rocks and to walk through them you have to push your way through ferns :). Beautiful!
6. I am right now angry about people being mean to others who did nothing to deserve it.
7. I am thankful for wonderful friends, lovely siblings, the BEST parents and most of all my Savior.

I tag Joy, Sarah, Little Miss Sparrow, and Alaina.

Till next time I post!

Writing, the love of and a workshop!

OK so here is a challenge for all my fellow bloggers :); write for an entire 5 minutes straight(easy, right?) without using the letter 'E', not so easy but a great lot of fun and it helps make you think of different words other than that one that popped to mind.
Yesterday I went to a writing workshop, it was really good. The lady who ran it, Louise D'Arcy, is an author. She was really great and really knew her stuff. There were about 5 other women there, most of who I knew or knew about, there was one girl who was slightly younger than me that I had met before.
I have never been to anything like this before and I found that it was really good to be in a group situation writing. I mean other than giving my writing to other people to read or sending it in to a competition I have never sat in a group, written something then read it aloud. Do you know how scary that is??? Its like having someone who can see inside your brain and knowing that they know what you are thinking for that 5 seconds. I know that sounds weird as but its true.
The first thing we did was what the challenge that I said first, we had 5 minutes to write as much as we could about any subject that popped to mind, even just random stuff, without using the letter 'e'. Most people only got like three or 4 sentences written in that entire time. I got three written.

~~~~

Fog drifting slowly around a paddock as I walk along a dark road. Walking in a row arms around two warm companions. Cold air hangs around us as we stop to look at it.

~~~~

OK so yeah it was more than random but it took a lot of thinking to get that. It really got you thinking about what other words you could use.
The next thing we had to do was write about ourselves, in about 3 or 4 sentences. We had to sell our selves (so to speak) in three or four sentences. That was hard!
Then when we had done that we had to re-write that as a publisher would, making us out to be more than we actually were, but using the basic outline we just wrote. This was also hard.
But then after that we had to write it how our worst enemy would write it. Using those same things we had just written and make it out that our enemies had written it. Weird huh? but it was a very interesting exercise.
Brainstorming was next, I never brainstorm when I write I just write. Think of a scene and get it going from there. I just think of a reason for the story, possibly a plot, then think of where I want it to start and get it going. This way of writing probably seems really weird to other people but this is what I do.
The next thing we were 'ordered' to do was write. We had 1/2 an hour to just write. I got about 2 and a 1/4 pages of the note book my dear friend Cassie sent me a while ago. I hadn't gotten around to using it, because I have this habit of getting note books and starting to write in them, use them once, lose them in the process and then I have about 5 notebooks that I have written two pages in... and yeah...
OK so here is a segment of what I wrote, I am sorry but I cant write the entire thing up because I think I'll enter it into the writing comp.

~~~~

The lights flickers on then off. On then off. On, two seconds longer, then off.
Dad glances at the roof "That's it. It wont be back for a while."
Its complete blackness except for the free standing wood heater, which casts a reddish glow over the room.
Mum stands up "OK, where's the torch?"
There is movement as my brother disappears into his room. "Got one!" He holds it up triumphantly. Switching it on he shines it in our faces, I wince as he shines it in my face.
Mum takes it off him "Candles!".
I follow her into the laundry to find our secret stash of tea light candles. There are also the odd half burnt down candles that are from previous blackouts and candle lit dinners, and also the multicoloured ones that we made at Sovereign Hill, on holidays.

~~~~

Ok so that's it. Not telling any more!
Till next time I get around to writing!

Random Tag (an undate will follow very soon)

While listening to EPIC music, lol :). Thanks Joy you have great taste in music.
Random Tag from Cassie
1. How many toes do you have? A very normal amount :D

2. How many bones have you broken? None, that I know of.

3. Name an epic thing that you have done. Epic??? hmm well... Ahh got it :). Galloping through the bush on my pony along a winding track, wind rushing past your face, feeling very much like you were flying, dodging big logs and ducking for low branches, great fun ;).

4. If you had a pet lemming, what would you name him? Lemo :D

5. What color are the clothes you're wearing right now? Light pinky-purpley flanelette P.J's :)

6. How awesome are orca whales on a scale of one to ten? Well according to a little boy I know, out of 10 Orca's are 50 :). But for me they are about 5.

8. How old do you want to be when you die? How ever old God wants me to be.

9. Name a pet peeve and an addiction. Pet peeve, my brother has just developed the habit of coming (running) up behind me and shoving me right between the shoulder blades, knocking all the breath out of me and causing quite a lot of pain.
Addiction... Hmm does listening to great music count? Probably exercise, I am a tiny bit like Cassie when I dont go for a walk or a run at least once a day I go crazy, not hyper I just get restless and I cant stop moving.

10. Write a paragraph detailing your life. 100 word minimum. Well I was born the day after my Dad's birthday and my grandmother loves to tell the story that they had come up for Dad's birthday and the next day had to come up in the rain to see me, apparently I looked just like a tiny porcelain doll lying in my Dad's big hands. When I was two I put my self back in hospital because while my mother was making soap I ate some of the costic soda, it burnt my throat and for the next 12 years I had trouble swallowing. My childhood years were eventful, full of mishaps and mayhem. We lived on a tiny block of land in basically the middle of nowhere (ie. the bush) till I was 5 then we moved to our first farm, a beautiful little valley all of our own also in the middle of nowhere but we didn't really mind :). I spent the next 8 years growing up, exploring rocks and bush land, the little nooks and crannies of a beautiful place, doing school work, horse riding, and meeting the odd family here and there and finding a few very great friends, most important of all my Lord and Savior. After 8 years we moved again to share farm another property because of financial troubles. But after 18 months we were back at our own farm and it is wonderful. (229 words)

11. Name one thing that isn't really a secret, but that you haven't really gotten around to telling anyone. That I cant wait to be 16 :D.

12. Name another pet peeve. Cant think of one...

13. Sprechen Sie deutsch? Roughly translated that says "Do you speak German?" ;) My sister learning German came in handy, lol.

14. Tell a joke. My two favorite would have to be these; If a plane crashed on the exact border of Canada and the USA where would you bury the survivors?
David's Father has three sons, Snap, Crackle and who?

15. How many of the questions have you answered in a witty manner so far? Hmm dunno...

16. Compose a haiku. I am not even sure what that is...

17. Have you ever noticed how sour candies taste even more sour if you rub them on the side of your tongue?Yes! It makes me shudder just to think about it.

18. What book(s) are you reading at the moment?
The Holy Bible (always)
Design and Technology unit 1 (course)
And I think that is it... Kinda between books right now.

19. How many doors are there in your house? 9 I think...

20. How would you solve a problem like Maria? Sing the song :)

21. Think of something about yourself. Anything. Go on, think of it. going home today, YAY!!!

22. What's wrong with your legs? Nothing really, my foot hurts though because I stepped on a prickle a few days again and I just banged it.

24. What's your favorite show tune? Do theme songs count??? The last of the Mohicans theme and Man From Snowy River theme

25. Okay, you can tell us what that first thing you thought of for number 21 was. We all want to know... That after finish this I am going to have a shower.

And I tag, Anyone who either:
#1 Loves the country :)
#2 Has held a live wombat.
#3 Sews

Busy things and thoughts

Well my parents are home :) yay! They had a great time on their holiday. If you want to read a more in depth story my Mum started a blog just before she left so she wrote some stuff about what they did and ate.
I've been pretty busy, courses and house work and stuff. Tomorrow we leave to go house sitting. So another whole week without Mum and Dad, although I think if we get homesick Mum and Dad might come and visit which wont be so bad :).

Mum and Dad took heaps of photos of the ship and things that they did :) I cant really write much else or upload too many photos as I don't have much time before we have to leave for my class. So I'll just share a few of my favorites with you :). Enjoy!

My beautiful parents! Formal night.

Mum found a piano! :D But she didnt play anything :(...

A random toadstool.

My handsome wonderful Daddy.

Love ya's, Mum and Dad!

Thoughts on a beautiful week...

Well My parents have been gone for exactly 9 days now... They get back tomorrow.
I am sorry that I havent written sooner, I had expected that I would have because there would have been all this really great stuff going on and I would have had heaps of time to write so that is probably what I would have done...
But the thing is that we were really busy almost all of the 9 days and when we werent busy I didnt really feel like writing so I guess that means that today's the day :).
Ok so I guess I'll start from the start :)...
My grandma came up on the Thursday to be here when my parents left.
Friday morning we took them to the airport and watched as their plane flew off into the morning sky, bright sunshine made my eyes water, ok ok (!) yes I was sad that they had left but I didnt cry, lol :).
We came home and I think that first day it didnt really sink in that they had actually left. It was just like they were going to come home after a little while, it didnt seem real. Friday night it kinda sunk in that they were gone and even though no one was talking about it, eveyone felt it.
Saturday was hard. We had the farmer's market so we were busy and it half kept our minds off it, but not really. After the market we left for our other grnadparents house. We stayed there for Easter weekend, we got to see our cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. It was really good in that aspect but it was hard because it was weird without Mum and Dad.
Monday we got bought back to our house, which was a great releif for all I think. Monday we cleaned the house, mostly for lack of things to do. Tuesday, we didnt do very much, Ayala had a little boy out who she was babysitting for the day.
Wednesday we picked up our neighbor, because although Ayala and Sarah can drive the need someone with a full licence to drive next to, and went into town for the morning to get milk and a few vegetables.
Thursday we cleaned for the morning before our visitors arrived. They came at about 1 PM and later that afternoon we took a drive to the Bluff Falls, which is a small but very beautiful water fall. After a spot of bush walking, we got home and after having dinner talked into the late hours of the night (not quite morning:). Friday we went into town for the Man from Snowy River Bush Festival. My sister and my horse were in the parade as part of the school :). We walked among all the stalls and watched buskers play their stuff, some of them were really great. We dont get buskers in our little town very often. After a very Aussie day at the festival we had pizza and watched Crocodile Dundee, and again talked :).
Saturday we went into town again, after a coffee our visitors had to leave for the big city and we were left to wander the stall filled streets with a friend, We watched some of the horse events and my brother and our friend rode a few rides and got very dizzy. We were joined by another friend and more wandering from stall to stall... It started to rain mid afternoon, but held off for another two hours then at about 4 PM it rained! Our little party of six broke up then as one of our friends had to go home. We sat in a cafe watching the rain and waiting for our lift home. It was great to get home after such a long day. The Man from Snowy River seemed to be the appropriate choice of movies.
Our 10 days are almost up... We have one day. A chilly, windy, rainy day... That deserves Clasical music, a wood fire, hot chocolate and a good book, possibly a nap :).
Well next Wednesday, my sisters and I will be house sitting. We have two days with our parents till we leave. It seems like a week will take forever! I will most proabably write to you from there :).
Till next time!

Joyful Lamb :)

I have a new friend (well an old friend in real life) on blogger! Joy (that isn't her real name) has started a blog. So please go over and have a look when she has posted some :D. Check it out here
Gotta go!

Sigh... sickish still... got itchy fingers :)

So I guess that means I am going to write a blog post :).
Do you know how good it feels to be able to just type away and not worry about what to write and what I need to be doing. Do you know how good it feels to have your fingers typing away? Its like breathing. Just something I have to do, how good it feels to be set free (that isnt exactly how I wanted the words to come out but they kinda fit so I guess they will have to do.
Ok here is a random question to those of you who faithfully read my blog (even for those who do read it and I dont know about you, lol), do you enjoy reading the words that come randomly out the ends of my fingers??? I mean does it ever get boring just reading it all? Do you wish I had more pictures? Or do you like it the way it is? If you do think it is boring please tell me! Tell me your ideas. What should I do more that would help my blog to be better?
So today I wear a skirt (Yay!), I dont wear them often because being on a farm it really isnt practical to be in anything but jeans so wearing a skirt is kinda a novelty, I dont have very many right now as I said the other day that I have been living out o a few boxes and we still haven't got all our stuff out of storage yet :(. I love wearing pretty skirts they make me feel very feminine and pretty. I have memories of when I was a little girl I used to wear skirts all the time, you know after reading Little House on the Prairie, and watching things like Pride and Predjudice, we never really played at keeping house, we played Little House, Pride and Predjudice, Seven Little Australians and Little Women, lol!
This weekend past was great fun! We had three friends out (Josh L. and Zac and Rachel P.), Dan, Josh and Zac went motor bike riding for half of Saturday, till Zac's bike died then they burnt sticks at the creek. Sarah, Rachel and I spent Saturday crocheting, well Sarah was Crocheting and I was teaching Rachel how to. I do not think I am a very good crochet teacher! I am not really a good teacher of anything!
Saturday night the boys decided to camp at the creek. Although they were going to eat their dinner down there, after dark my brother turns up and says "Oh, I came to find something to eat..." Mum didnt think it was a great idea for three teenage boys, none of whom know how to cook, to be cooking sausages on sticks/plow disk over a camp fire (LOL). So they had to suffer to come to the house and eat with civilised people. After dinner we girls retreated to Sarah and my bedroom to watch a movie, the boys went their own way to their camp fire and my parents and oldest sister went to bed. The movie was soooo sad! It is called All Mine to Give. Its about this immigrant family with a heap of kids in the 1850's in Wisconsin. One of the little boys gets Diphtheria and the whole family is quarantined, the little boy gets better but the Dad catches it and he dies, then the mother gets exhausted from caring for the children and catches Typhoid and she dies, then on top of all of this the children have to give them selves away before they get taken to an orphanage and separated forever. So the eldest boy gives all the smaller children away then gets a job. It has to be one of the saddest movies I have ever seen.
On Sunday the boys burnt more piles of sticks and stacked heaps more up! (During the drought we cut heaps of willow branches down for the cows to eat, so now on the banks of the creek there are sticks everywhere!). We girls spent the morning crocheting (AGAIN!) then went S and R went horse riding and I went to help the boys at the creek and the boys accidentally bashed me with a log (which ended up with me having a rather sore arm!). After burning a few heaps of logs (S and R had joined us by this time) we were getting a bit hot so we walked a ways up the creek to our swimming hole. We only intended to stick our feet in to cool us down but some people were a bit hyper and so Sarah ended up getting pushed right into the creek by Dan (who was promptly thrown in to see how it felt, lol), it was all kind of funny but apparently it cold. We were very thankful for the fire we lit earlier.
We got back to the house and with wet legs, black coffee substitute, and amusing conversation it was time for our guests to leave much to our dismay. It was a weekend made out of the stuff of dreams, all in all it was wonderful!
Well next weekend my parents are leaving to go on their 20 wedding anniversary present cruise :). We have 10 days to have a great time with out our parents which will probably mean a few blog posts about our antics and all the fun stuff we do :D.
So till then!

Moving :D and other stuff...

Have you ever spent about 3 1/2 months moving and forget about the certain personal item that used to be your favorite then unpack a random box and find it sitting right at the bottom corner of a box and go "Oh I really like that! Why is it sitting at the bottom of the box???" That seems to be happening a lot around here of late. Today I hope my desk will get moved into my room, Yay! I really cant wait because I have about four boxes sitting at the end of my bed that have to go somewhere in my desk, one of which burst its side so I am trying my best not to have pens, pencils, note pads, drawing pads, random bits of paper, books and what ever else happens to be in that box going all over the floor.
The day before yesterday we set up our wardrobe so at least some of the moving mess can be stuffed into that. For about the last two months I have been living out of about three foot long by foot wide boxes of clothes, do you know how monotonous that can get? Wearing the same sets of clothes about a hundred times. I used to wonder how we could stand having soooo many clothes, but now I half understand, when you wear the same sets of clothes for a while.... You are very thankful when you can exchange one box of clothes for a different one.
School holidays start today, so no more textiles for about two weeks :(. Then after that I will only have another two-ish months till they are over completely, I am kinda sad because I really like going to classes. When you don't have anything major to distinguish one day from the next it sometimes is very hard to tell one day apart from the other.
Well anyway on a more cheerful note! We lit our first fire yesterday, no it wasn't because we were cold or anything, but it did help, it was because we have yet to move our gas bottles up here from our other house (we call the other house 'the hut') and we didn't have anything to cook on :).
It was very nice this morning to get up and have my coffee standing in front of a nice warm stove... hmmm bliss!
It is a very Autumny day today, all smoky (from where the national parks authorities are burning out the undergrowth in the parks) and with a bit of a chill in the air, the leaves are starting to turn so there is some very beautiful colours in the trees around the house. The bush looks just the same as if it had been a hot summer's day because it is are mainly gum trees which are ever-green (not that they were ever 'green' in the first place, they are more grey brown).
Well gotta go make a few beds and there is stuff to get moving.
So till next time I write!

Painting and getting ready to move

Yay finally we get to move into our wonderful house :). So ok, it wont be for about another week yet but we get to paint and plan and clean, I am just sooo happy I want to jump around and I really cant wait! It has been great just being back here and I am sure that I wont mind waiting till our rooms are painted and the carpets are cleaned and everything like that, but it will be just wonderful when we can actually get there and be living in OUR house.

We have lived away from our farm and house for almost two whole years now and I have no idea how we stood it. You really have to see our place to understand what I mean, and I don't mean just in pictures, you have to be here, standing right in our valley, seeing the green of the grass, the blue grey of the gum tress that are everywhere over the hills, the cows and calves, our awful old house (lol I am joking when I say awful!), to really know what I mean you have have to feel the freedom of standing in the middle of the paddock and knowing that if you yelled as loud as you could that no one would hear you and no one can see you, knowing that if you didn't go anywhere for a week you would see anyone other than your family that entire time. It must be hard to imagine for some of you who have never lived in complete seclusion in your whole life. Well actually that is pretty hard to imagine for me, to have never lived on a farm or in the country for my whole life. If I lived in a city I think I would go batty!

So enough of my random thoughts for now. We will be painting and cleaning all of today and
probably tomorrow (and who knows how long after that), then on Tuesday we are having the carpets cleaned, then after that we can move in! Yay I cant wait!
Will post more when I get the chance :).
Till next time my head gets so full of words that I have to write, lol, bye!

Busy days and we are moving again!

I have been very busy and I am sorry I have let all my faithful readers down by not writing much at all.
So many little things have happened it is hard to keep track of them or remember them all and some times they don't seem like anything at all. But I will try to think of something to ramble on about so you don't get bored :).

I watched Miss Potter... and...

I loved it! It was really sad but it was a wonderful story, Beatrix Potter should be a roll model for aspiring authors.

I have been crocheting. I got a book from the Library and I have been teaching my self some new stitches. Its coming onto winter so I have a bit of a crocheting bug so my fingers have been itching to get a project going :).

I have been reading a great deal over the last two months, although I havent had all that much time I have been reading book after book. I have been having the time of my life reading over my old favorites like the Love Comes Softly series and Beverly Lewis's The Courtship of Nellie Fisher, although I didnt like the last one much because I had left it about two years between the second book and the last one so I was a little out of touch with the story line... Right now I am reading Jane Eyre because I am participating in my friend, Cassie's, book club Literary Ladies Discussion Group.

Well I'll try write more another time.

Till then!!!

Kathy

Long time no post.

I know! It seems like every time I get on here I am apologising for not posting. Well I guess I that is probably what I should be doing, because every other time I have been correct in that I haven't posted in like ages! But I wont because its pretty boring, lol.

Reading back over my blog. Ok so it may sound weird that I find what I write interesting, but sometimes it gets my thoughts going and I can write something else.

I think a few weeks ago I wrote about getting an interview, well the big day is tomorrow I will find out if I get the job or not. I'm excited. I'll try post again soon to tell if I got it or not.

I was just looking at the traffic coming in and out of my blog. I am very excited to see people from all over the world reading what I write :). I hope you like my blog. So hello from me to those people who are dropping by from Russia, Vietnam, Italy, Poland, Denmark, England, Canada, India, and all my wonderful followers and friends from the US of A, oops almost forgot my own country!!! If I have missed any countries please feel free to comment and let me know :).

Ok so my music is out a couple of months. I might have to fix that this afternoon. I am not sure what to put there in place of the Christmas songs but I'll have to have a look :).

Well to other news now. I guess that there hasn't been much of anything going on. Basically eating, sleeping, going to classes, chasing the milking cow every morning (lol), and swimming when there is a warm day, its getting a little cold but after a hot day its still nice.

Sorry I haven't got much interesting stuff to say, but like I said there isn't much going on though. Maybe there will be something of interest next time I post.
Till next time!

So today I get to show you a picture! YAY, I'm excited, lol not really but seeing as though there aren't many pictures on this blog each should be given a celebration :D.

This picture is the pattern of the dress I am going to make in my textiles class. I am going to make the middle dress.

It wont be the most challenging dress I have made but I do not look forward to sewing the twelve darts at the waist... But other than that it is very straight forward. Well should be anyway, lnumb (laughing nervously under my breath).
Nothing much else of interest has happened in the last couple of weeks, well that is other than my brother, Dan, and Kurt fell off their motor bikes, they are both OK just a bit of skin off here and there.
My sister, Sarah, hurt her wrist just before we left the dairy farm and it has been giving her pain for a few weeks now, because she is basically one handed and almost useless at work, her boss told her not to come to work until it was better so she gets to stay home, YAY!
During our move, we managed to lose two cats, which we are very sad about, our oldest cat is scared of strangers and doesn't like being moved, so when we tried to get him into the car he ran off and we haven't seen him since. Our other cat we aren't so worried about as she was never very very friendly anyway, and after her friend and uncle died of a snake bite early this summer she was never the same, she went a bit feral and kept to the dairy. When I think about it our cats and dogs are very important to us, although we have a lot of cats we really miss our big old cat, we had had him for about 10 years so he was really part of our family.
We are learning to live in close proximity to our neighbors, which is all very new to us, lol! Its not to bad though because they are our friends and its like an extended visit, but all the while trying not to get used to them being here because we don't know when they will leave exactly.
Well I really need to go, I am trying to get some school work done these days so I had better get started :).
Till Next time!
Your author in training
Katherine Alice McFarland

Writing Standing up... :D

So hey!

Ok so weird title?? But seeing as though that this is the truth. Our computer is on our side table, we have no chairs, only a couple of couches. And also the side table is kinda high so a chair probably wouldnt fit anyways. Oh well it gives me the oportunity to try write on my feet. The printer is at eye level so its kinda annoying, lol, or just weird.

Its lunch time so I will have to stop in the middle of my post to eat. But I am sure you guys wont mind as you wont feel the time gap :).

We have settled in quite well I think. The hut is very small but we are managing. We have had a few comments in the direction of "How do you manage in such a small space???" Or "Dont you get sick of eachother?" but the answer is usually an inward laugh, because so far we havent had any problems with the space as we are learning to live with it. As my Mother put it this morning "We would rather be in a small space together than in a large one but apart.".

Ok... my interview. It was really scary!!! I walked in and got told that they werent ready for me yet so to sit down. So I sat and one of the ladies, I knew her because she used to be our former Librarian so I am pretty good friends with her, came and talked to me while the owner got off the phone. After a few minutes everyone was ready and we went into their conference room and talked. It was very nerve racking as I am not overly confident with people I dont know, or know very well. It went alright, they were very nice to me and made me feel very much at ease. They asked me about being home schooled and how I was planning to get time for it if I got the job, and all this other stuff.

I didnt really want the job before the interview but now I would really like to work there, the people are really nice and the things they would have me doing would be very interesting.

The class is really good. I am really enjoying it. In class we have to design stuff and we have made our first project, a pin cushon. Ok so not the most challenging project in the world but really fun. I made an ice cream cone with some ice cream in it. It turned out really well. This week's assignment was to design a dress from the 50's. It had to have the really small waist and the large hips and bust. Its really great learning about other fashion eras and which famous designers belong to which era and things like that. I am thinking about taking another designing and technology course.

This weekend we are heading to Albury/Wodonga to do some shopping. We plan on staying with my grandparents one night. Its all very exciting as this is the first time we have been free to do something like this since we left the dairy farm. Anything like this was completely impossible there because you had to milk the cows every morning and every night. Its great that we have the freedom to do this now.

Well I have to go pack some clothes and things for me and my family. Got to go. Bye Everyone!!!
Till next time I write!!!!
Your Author :D
Katherine Alice McFarland

Busy, busy, busy!!!!

Ok so I am run off my feet with all this stuff going on but.... oh the big B word!... lol ok so I still find time to be completely random :D! Yeah anyways 'but', I also don't have Internet or a computer to work on so I am completely stuck, the only times I get to use a computer and Internet is when I am at the Library, usually Monday's.
Let me start telling you about my week. My first day at school was so terrifying it wasn't even close to funny. But thankfully after the first two or three lessons I am getting used to it. I am learning a lot of new stuff, which I am very happy about, and I might be entering something into the Fashion Awards Australia which I am just a little bit ecstatic about :D. Over all class is great, I really enjoy being able to learn something that I will be able to do from home. My mum would really like my sisters and I to learn things that would be useful around the home and even sometimes to be able to sell the things we make.
One thing that I miss about being busy is that it limits my time. And I really miss talking to my friends and keeping up the good friendships I have with all of you guys. So please don't think I am being horrible if I don't talk to you much or take a while to answer your emails.
Another thing that is going on in my life is that I applied for a job. I didn't tell very many people because I didn't know if I would get it or not. Anyway I have been asked for an interview! Obviously I am excited :). But if I get the job its going to limit my time even further so I may not have much time to write here. So if I suddenly disappear off of the blog sphere for a number of days or weeks you should know why :).
Well I really need to go.
Till next time!
Kathy

Hey and all that

So I started school today. Scary!!! It was a bit stuffed up to start with because the someone hadn't enrolled me in the class. So I missed half of my class waiting around for the right people and paper work to show up. Anyway it all got worked out and I got to 'learn' how to thread a sewing machine, something I could do with my eyes shut (almost)! But I got paired up with a girl who didn't know so it was good to be able to help her.
There was a problem with me being in a class though. All the other times I have been in classes I have been helping little kids with their work. But now I am the one that has to learn so I sit there thinking that I should be helping the teacher with everything when I am not supposed to. Its kinda weird!

We have officially moved! YAY! I am so happy. We spent both Saturday and Sunday moving stuff and cleaning and sorting. All of which took a lot of effort. It is all very crowded but we will probably live :). We moved in a day early so we have been in the hut for two days. The hut is very small but its really cosy and its HOME! Which of course is all that matters. :)
One down side to all of this is that I am sooooooooo tired.... I feel like I am about to fall asleep over the keys. Which would be a pity to anyone who wanted to use this computer next.

We don't have the computer set up yet or any hope of Internet for a while so unfortunately I wont be able to put up an anniversary post. Not that I have given it much thought since Friday.

I have to go because Mum has things to do rather than sit with me in the library and watch my brain and fingers go 100 kilometers an hour, lol. I wish I could write more but I am seriously about to fall asleep!
Till Next time!

Just a thought

Hey everyone again :).
I just realised that I missed my own anniversary. Wow, I was keeping an eye on it then I forgot and completely lost track of the days.

!!!!Happy Late Anniversary To Purely Crazy!!!!

Any ideas on a late Anniversary party would be most appreciated!
I'll figure something out and do a post on the 1st of Feb (it'll also be a of a first day at Cudgewa post too, lol) :).
Till then!

4 days and some news

So four days to go... Yay! Have you ever realised how long and short four days can be??? Four long days till we move and 4 short days till I start school.


We almost have all our stuff moved now, it wont be long before I wont be able to post because the computer is one of the next things to go. So I figure that I had better get one or two last posts in before we dont have a computer or Internet. I am not sure we will have Intenet at Cudgewa. I know that there is Internet at the house but our friends havent moved out yet so... yeah.

I dont know how much time I will have to get on a computer either because I'm taking some classes at the school this year. Starting Monday. Its kinda scary, because being home schooled I have no idea how school works, I hardly know any body, and I have never been in a class situation. I guess I'll live and it probably wont be so bad when I get there.

Today we were supposed to have an ordit for the dairy. An ordit is when the milk company sends some one out to check how clean our dairy is and how good all the paper work is, just things like that so we have been cleaning a lot. I spent my morning on the end of a shovel and broom cleaning under our silo. I now have blisters on my hands and I suspect I will have very sore shoulders and back tonight and tomorrow. And then after all that cleaning and effort everyone put in, it got called off. For what reason I have got no idea. But at least the dairy is as clean as a whistle for the man who is going to take over from us.

Well I really need to go, I guess the rest of the day will be something of cleaning and packing :). We moved our horses back to Cudgewa yesterday, so it now actually feels like we are moving, for some reason it didnt before. It almost feels like it isnt true, that we are actually getting out of here. We are getting things ready for the next sharefarmers and in just 4 short days we wont have to look after this farm anymore.
Anyway I am rambling :).
Till next time, I hope everyone has a great day!

an apology and another update, sorry couldnt think of anything else to call it.

I feel I owe my readers an apology. The last few times I've posted I haven't exactly been in the best state of mind. I'm usually a bit grumpy or tired or something, and today as I read over some of the stuff I wrote, I know that I shouldn't have written some of it as it wasn't very nice and it definitely wasn't God honoring. I'm sorry.

6 days to go! Yay! I am very happy :). I really cant wait to get back home. We still have quite a bit of stuff to move back there, but we are getting there, its like we have seen the light at then end of the tunnel.
Our house is getting barer by the day. But there is a problem with that, like I packed something that I was supposed to send to my friends. Then our medical cupboard was packed, and of course I had an accident and we struggled to find band aids. And another thing, sometimes when I get bored I get this weird urge to do school work, this is mostly on weekends and school holidays (ie. now) and it was about two weeks ago that I packed up every last inch of school book and we took it all back to Cudgewa! Some times it gets frustrating when you cant find things and some one else goes "uh I packed that".
Oh well I guess we will live :).
Got to go
Till next time!

news...

So news.

Still moving... That will be happening for another 2 weeks yet :P. But I am glad it is coming to an end. I wont babble on about that much more because you have heard quite a bit about it of late.

Farmers market is on Saturday. My sister and I have decided that we arent going to do a food stall this time. Because of our wonderful state of moving we wont have much time to plan and cook for the whole stall so we might as well not even try. But, yes there is always a 'but', we have decided to pick blackberries for it instead :). Ahh I love this time of year, just because we get to get out of doors and usually down the paddock a ways to stuff our faces and containers full of the juicy black fruit. *Screech*!!!! Ok, back to reality! We get to get out of our nice cool house into the 40 degrees celcius heat and prick our fingers with the thorns and stain our nails and mouths with purple juice, not to mention any light coloured clothing you might be wearing, for a few measly berries. :) Just kidding, I do really like picking them but it can get tiresome when you are out there all by ones self for a number of hours.

About a week ago I got landed with the job of moving sprinklers again, it wouldnt be so bad except this year I dont have the nice option of riding a four wheeled motorised veichle, I have to do it on foot, most times I can get a sympathetic sibling to help me out but sometimes I have to do it on my own. Our boss thinks its a great job for a couple of kids to do because you get to stand under sprinklers getting sprayed with cold water. What he doesnt know is that unless you want to be sprayed with cold stinky dam water you have to move them while the pump is off... which means you are walking roughly 2 kilometers dragging sprinklers and their pipes through shin length dry grass in high 30 degree heats. I dont think he has ever done it.

Oh and right now our country gets the wonderful privalige of hosting Prince William.

Well gotta go. Till Next time I find something to blog about :).

Fire Photos and some updates...

Hey everyone!

I'm sorry I havent updated in a while. Busy I guess...

We are still moving. Slowly and fastly. Its all been hectic and tiresome, but we are slowly getting there. 'D-day' is creeping closer by the day, just hope we can keep up.



Ok I know its been almost a month and I should have had this done ages ago but I havent... So anyway here are the photos of the fire. They are in no paticular order because my computer didnt like moving them then I left it a day and I have no idea what oder they go in anyway :P.

The chopper


Afterwards

With all hell breaking loose around me I couldnt help taking a self portrait. The glasses and mask are not to hide my identity but to keep little bits of dust, hot ash and other horrid bits getting into my eyes and the mask was to stop me from suffocating in the smoke filled air, seriously it was hard to breath with out it. It was soooo hot that day, my Mum made me take the wet towel that in the pic is around my neck and put it over my self.

I was having some trouble with the zoom, lol, but I think this photo might make a profile pic somewhere :).

The fire had just jumped the fence into our property here, the white car down there is my Dad, brother and the MG rep, with the spray unit filled with water, with this unit and his skills my Dad could be a fire fighter.

The fire racing up the hill, nothing stopping it. At this moment my heart was in my throat, we didnt know if it was going to stop in the short grass or not, going that fast and that big we didnt know what it was going to do.

coming over our fence.

I was whispering to my self when I took this photo "Hurry Dad, hurry!".

Its coming down the hill, it doesnt look threatening there does it? But scroll up and have a look at the photos above, that is what it did after this.

Slowly creeping down the hill towards our fence.

This is when we started getting worried, it wasnt going along the top of the rise but going down it.

The smoke was awful!

(I did have a pic of the fire tanker but accidentally deleted it :P)

That was the hay...

Thats the MG rep's car. No it didnt get burnt.

Is it the hay??? nooo, it cant be! It is.

Nothing to do but wait... I snapped this photo with out my Mum even knowing it because she was to busy watching the fires.

If the fire had have come any closer this young man did some things that could have saved our lives. I think his name was Mark but I am not sure.

Ok thats it. I have to go.

Till next time I write.