Purely Crazy

2012-01-30T06:30:00.000+11:00

Hello !
Yes it has been quite a large section of time since I last wrote. For which I am guessing I should be saying how very sorry I am... But! My blog my rules ;).

At the moment my Christmas history is boring and filled with sickness stories and visiting. All I will say is that it was both calming and hysterical. And you can make what you wish from those bare bones I give you.

I listen to powerful music, most probably too loud for my poor eardrums, telling me to follow dreams no matter what. They assume you know what your dreams already are.

I am still writing, still drawing, still sewing, and to add to that I am still cutting weird shapes out of fabric and sewing them together to make something (although the last piece I showed to my was promptly called 'Interesting' and then 'Imaginative'... Yes I think they were long words for 'Ugly' or 'Weird'.). I plow on through the half hearted attempts of praise and plan to make something new today.

My darling Mother, has herself and yours truely booked to go to a large market sometime soon (I think Febuary), so I am crazily making things to sell.

Between times Mother and I have been milking cows at a dairy, every morning and every evening. Speaking of which, it is now time to leave.

So I bid you farewell!

A few words, here and there, a list.

2012-01-30T06:26:00.000+11:00

Early morning

Rain falling outside my bedroom window

Finished cup of coffee

Piano music

A Google search on skin allergies

A comment to a post

Country Style magazine

A pretty new note book

10 minutes till I have to leave to go to work

Secrets and truths

A heart hurting and a heart on fire

A smile

A prayer

Life goes on.

Have a good day everyone!
I leave you with a favorite photo of mine

Why is it?

2011-07-26T11:55:00.002+10:00

*Chuckles*
Why is it that when I am actually supposed to be typing up my 10 page (and growing) production journal, I get the urge to write a blog post after not writing for a couple of months???

Yep, that's right, I am procrastinating... If you can procrastinate whilst actually doing the dreaded thing? I think it is actually the non-stop two and a half pages right ahead.

It actually feels weird to be writing, I mean really writing. Not just URLs, taking notes in class or even google searches. To be writing words that complete sentences which I am thinking, rather than copying something else from someone else's brain!

There are many things I would rather be doing right now. Such as being outside in one of the rare sunny days this week, working in the garden or going for a lovely walk with my great new camera (which I will be making a post about very soon!).

Anyway I am going to leave and actually have this post published, even if there isn't much to it!
Till next time :)

House sitting boredom

2011-05-31T08:41:00.000+10:00

confused...

2011-03-19T09:52:00.003+11:00

Here I was, just sitting down to get to some home work, a boring piece about Australian Standards and other great aspects of design. Happy, in my own little world, I had just had some great ideas for my project, I had just read a blog post about someone who went to Thailand to work at an orphanage, it touched me and it got me thinking that maybe I should be thinking about doing something. But I realised that I first needed to do my homework. I opened another Internet browser, our home page is the ABC News website.
The headline...

State of Emergency

Gunmen on rooftops have shot dead dozens of protesters at an anti-government rally in Sanaa after Muslim prayers, enraging the opposition.

Bloody clashes spark Yemen emergency.

The picture. A young man, who couldn't be more than 20, wounded and being carried. Blood all over his face. Eyes half open and vacantly staring at something above him. An arm raised as if his dying breath will still be to over throw his government. While the article goes on about the president and the country all I can do is stare at that face.

I am sorry if I have shocked anyone, I guess I just needed to say something. I cant say that I have a great sermon about this... this... moment. I feel confused and I guess shocked, saddened. And here I sit with my safe, secure and simple life.

If you want to read it for your self, here.

And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars....

Inspired...

2011-03-07T18:14:00.005+11:00

So I was sitting here, late afternoon sunlight coming through the double glass front doors beside me, recovering from a coughing fit, listening to the music on my blog (just because I like it) and eating Parmesan cheese (yum), listening to and smelling Mum cooking lovely spaghetti bolognaise and I was inspired... To do what I am not sure, just to write I guess so I thought I would share this scene with you (and what else I have no idea!).

So I just did a google search and came up with these, inspiration pictures :).

The flowers because I want to make some to put on some clothes :D and the curtains because I want to make some for my bedroom and these are really pretty! (I think I will make some of the ones featured in the bottom left hand corner, just cos I have some straight old curtains already, just need a little prettying up!)

Till next time, bye!

150 posts - 2 (or is it 3) years

2011-03-04T11:45:00.000+11:00

Happy Blogaversary to me!!! Whooo... I am sorry if I am not overly ecstatic, because for me this is just another day. I have failed to think of something of interest to inform you about that will amuse you, mostly because I woke numerous times last night to lay awake and cough. No, don't feel sorry for me, I have had more than enough people to say "Oh, I am sorry you are sick." and to look sympathetically at me while I am in the middle of a coughing fit, I have found that it does not make living any easier to know that someone pities you.

So today... the sun is shining, there is quite strong breeze around, the grass is green and in some places a tan or brown, the trees are starting to turn yellowy orange (some slightly red, by the type of tree), although the gums stay as olivey green in summer, autumn, winter, and spring, but the bush does spring to life in spring and early summer, with the glorious banksia's, 'bacon and egg' flowers, bright yellow and aromatic dog wood flowers, purple nameless flowers, and rare orchids that are everywhere sometimes there is a whole clearing that has a carpet of them... and now I am rambling.

Today is a Friday, tomorrow is Saturday, tomorrow is also a family friend's funeral, well not exactly but we are going to watch his widow spread his ashes... I guess that is a difference.

Again I apologise for my depressing state and I take my leave.

Till post 151.

cough, cough, cough

2011-03-01T20:07:00.004+11:00

I am so sorry I have no updated sooner but there have been a few developments, first large one I guess would have to be that I am sick :(, with a high chance that it might be whooping cough because Sarah has it, and it happens to be highly contagious. Unfortunately it is not so highly recommended, it is a most unpleasant disease that I don't suggest that anyone else catches. All coughing and nose running and sleepless nights (I haven't yet to have any but Sarah tells me they wont be far away). So I have been banned from going to school and to Auslan, well not exactly 'banned' but I don't want to spread the germs so I have decided to let my teachers know and skip.

Second bit of news, I now have a room of my own so there may be some decorating posts coming up :D. I have been making some very simple but very pretty kinetic mobiles. I had heaps of shells from our very few trips to the beach so I decided to make my collection a bit more interesting and using one of my other collecting passions for ribbons and some very rustic sticks (that I collected from our drive way)... annnnd *insert drum roll here* the rest you will see in a later post!

I have also been painting (fun! except for the mishaps) which will also be in another post.And I am sorry I just cant think of much to say so I am giving you all the post I ideas I have had in the last little while.

Well this is post 149 out of 150, and tomorrow is the day! I am not really sure how or what I will come up with so that you guys wont be bored out of your skulls but I guess I will have to come up with something :D.

Till then!!!

Late Summer and Early Autumn

2011-02-21T09:43:00.003+11:00

As much as I love this time of the year, I do not really like the part where you wake up in the morning dreading to get out of bed because it is chilly and there is no warm fire to snuggle up to with a hot cup of coffee.

It is hard to believe that it is almost the end of summer! The change of seasons represents a change in my life, in reflection I can see it. Early this summer I had thought that just by being happy I could make this summer to be the best, so many plans and ideas I had on how to make a wonderful and happy summer. I guess first of all I had no idea that we would spend most of the summer cooped up indoors because of rain, second I had no idea that circumstances around me would change so drastically that my entire world would be turned up side down, I didn't foresee that I would be sitting here in this moment writing this.

People come and go, we change, lives around us are affected by their actions, endings, that should have been seen coming, arrive and we are surprised by them. Beginnings have profound affects on me, ones that I had not expected.
As I read not long ago, We cannot know the whole story. We cannot see what is ahead but with the grace of our God we can accept and deal with whatever comes.

A new post soon. I will put some photos up of the changing of seasons.

Its raining, its pouring...

2011-02-19T09:11:00.003+11:00

The old Pig is Snoring!

I walked out our front door the other day to find this.

She is not a very pretty specimen and she doesn't know about being tidy, but she does send us into fits of laughter every now and again.

There is no way better to sleep than half off the bed.

She was so very tired...

I think she thought I was the paparazzi or something, she was not happy about being photographed in the middle of her nap.

I was not kidding about the rain, it has been raining quite heavily here for quite a while, the last couple of weeks it has only left off for a day or so. We are dreading more flooding, not for our sakes because we don't get very affected by the rising waters as we are a long way away from any major rivers or creeks. But I do feel for the people who have farms on river flats. And anyone who lives in rising water range of a river.

I will fill you in on my trip to Sydney next time! Till then.

To my readers

2011-02-17T08:13:00.002+11:00

Well I have 15 days till my blog anniversary! Two whole years :) wow! I do hope that you have enjoyed them.
Anyway I have a little plan... I have 5 posts till I get 150 posts, soooo I have decided that I am going to try and get to 150 in 15 days. I hope this makes you happy as it means you will be getting a few posts in a short time (not months and months like it normally is!).
This is my plan! Enjoy me while I am here!
15 days and 4 posts to go.

Its a new day.

2011-01-10T08:19:00.003+11:00

And apparently a new post ;).

Christmas has come and gone then the new year came with little fuss and no grandeur. But some small news gave more excitement and also sadness... My oldest sister is leaving our home, our community, our state and the country. She is moving to Sydney to be a nanny for a well off family in a rather rich suburb. I wont tell you which one just cos she mightn't want all of you knowing :). We will miss her quite a bit and I suspect that she will miss us a lot as well. It will be strange without my biggest sister around.

To those of you who miss my blog posts I am very sorry that I haven't been diligent with my blog, but I wont spend much time lamenting this fact or that will be the entire contents of this post.

Yesterday, in honor of Ayala moving away from us we decided to go for a bit of a tour of our area, it is commonly known that if you live somewhere you are the last ones to see the local attractions so we decided to make the move and see some of our local wonders!

We drove a lot. The most obvious direction was into the mountains, we have some magnificent mountains right here in our back yard (ok, so slight exaggeration, but still pretty close). The highest mountain in our large but small country is sitting some 100 kilometers away from us and we had never climbed it. Thankfully we didn't climb it yesterday, because that is one big hill! I think I would have gotten half way up and collapsed (or wanted to at least). Instead we drove, visited a few very small towns where their roofs are on a very strange angle for a very obvious reason.

(I would post photos but it takes soo long that I end up forgetting about the post and go and do something else).

*Insert a day break, I was procrastinating*

After Cabramurra we stopped at a Dam, I can not remember which one (they all have names but after seeing four or five of these dams you forget which name goes with which dam), for an hour or so to take photos and to basically just stand in awe of the hugeness of it. I am sitting here picturing it but I can imagine it would be hard for most of you as you have never seen my beautiful country and if you have I doubt that you can imagine standing on a great feat of human engineering, to one side thousands of tons of water stretching for kilometers through long narrow valleys covered in gum trees but so steep so that if you can imagine a huge V with it the bottom of which is filled with water and with scrubbery (bushes) and gum trees covering the rest, that is almost what it looks like. And to your other hand is a curved concrete drop 100 meters or so to a small pool at the bottom. It is truly a majestic sight!

We stopped at another dam on the way home, slightly smaller than the last and an earthen dam, instead of concrete. The Tooma Dam.

To end the day we drove up a dirt bush track for what seemed an age. To laugh at an overgrown 4x4 track called Cherry Tree Avenue. We finally turn onto a smaller 4x4 track that took us down to Bunroy Creek, a secluded lonely spot with great beauty, really in the middle of No-Where :). Dad and Dan did some fishing, my brother snagged his lure so he left it to my Dad to catch us dinner but he didn't catch anything. We went for a swim, well that is every one except me (I hadn't been feeling very well), I watched as they had swimming competitions across the fast flowing current.

We returned home very late, about 8 or 9 PM. All very driven out, my stomach never allows me much peace when we drive through the mountains! So I wasn't a very happy chappy by the time we got home.

And that concludes our escapades through the Snowy Mountains and around about!

I will include my latest projects next time I post.

Till then :).

Some thoughts

2010-12-11T06:34:00.007+11:00

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 :)

2010-12-06T10:45:00.003+11:00

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).

A life worth living.

2010-11-07T16:10:00.004+11:00

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!

2010-07-31T08:33:00.007+10:00

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.

2010-06-30T17:13:00.008+10:00

"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

2010-06-23T12:14:00.002+10:00

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 :).

2010-06-22T08:01:00.002+10:00

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.

2010-06-02T08:11:00.005+10:00

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

2010-05-21T18:41:00.005+10:00

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 :)

2010-05-08T09:36:00.003+10:00

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!

2010-05-02T10:31:00.002+10:00

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)

2010-04-21T08:00:00.003+10:00

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

2010-04-13T12:17:00.004+10:00

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...

2010-04-11T09:29:00.002+10:00

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 :)

2010-03-30T20:11:00.004+11:00

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 :)

2010-03-28T10:27:00.004+11:00

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...

2010-03-26T09:10:00.002+11:00

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

2010-03-21T08:37:00.002+11:00

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!

2010-03-16T19:21:00.004+11:00

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.

2010-03-03T11:38:00.003+11:00

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!

2010-02-16T09:08:00.003+11:00

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

2010-02-12T13:16:00.002+11:00

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!!!!

2010-02-08T11:45:00.002+11:00

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

2010-02-01T11:07:00.002+11:00

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

2010-01-28T10:19:00.002+11:00

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

2010-01-27T09:38:00.003+11:00

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.

2010-01-25T07:47:00.002+11:00

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...

2010-01-16T14:09:00.004+11:00

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...

2010-01-13T11:31:00.008+11:00

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.

Oh Romeo, Romeo. Where for art thou Romeo?

2010-01-05T18:16:00.002+11:00

Yup I have finally fulfilled my ambition to read Romeo and Juliet, lol! My sister was given the complete works of William Shakespeare for a Christmas present, since she also got the complete works of The Bronte sisters, I asked her if I could read Romeo and Juliet before she read the whole lot :). She was more than happy to hand it over, Ayala isn't a fan of Shakespeare and more to the point, hates Romeo and Juliet. She and Sarah always told me not to read it 'because its so boring and stupid anyway!' so I hadn't gotten around to getting it from the library yet. I'm not sure if I like it or not.... I don't like the story. But I love the wording. The way the characters speak, the way that Shakespeare put some comedy into the worlds greatest love story. I couldn't sit down and read the whole lot of it from cover to cover in one sitting, I think my head would explode! There is such a difference in how they speak to how we speak now. They speak with their Thees and Thous and arts. I think I want to start on The Taming of the Shrew next :). But I have to finish Janette Oke first.

Anyways normal news coming right up! I'm sorry I haven't put any photos up yet I always seem to forget or last time I tried the memory card wouldn't work and now I don't know where it is!!!
Grandma is up. And we are still moving. My Dad might have almost fixed our car now. So as soon as he finds out what is wrong with it we will be making our daily trips back to our place again. We have moved heaps of stuff already but we still have heaps to go. That's actually why my Grandma is here, she is really great at getting us cleaning and she is great to have around when you are moving because she is always getting us going with the next thing to pack :). The 31 seems to be coming around real fast.

BTW Who has had a fun time writing the date?! 5/1/10 :) I tried to get my Dad all muddled today by saying "O-10" but he didn't fall for it. I have had a time trying to stop my self writing 09 on the end of the date. I seems to have trouble getting my head around the date for the first month of a new year.

Well I gotta go, things to do, books to read, stuff to pack!
TTYL all!!!! And have a wonderful NEW YEAR!

So this was my Christmas

2009-12-30T19:34:00.002+11:00

Ok so I have been trying to write this post for almost 2 weeks now! Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry! I have been busy... Hold it! That isn't exactly the truth. I haven't been able to write, I guess writers block set in and wont go away.

So here goes back a few days when I actually got something written! WOW!

A little late I know. But I couldn't really help it, so much has happened since that day.

Ok I guess I will start with Christmas Eve. We had planned to go and use our movie vouchers that we got last Christmas before they expired. We all got ready and got everything done early and set out. It wasn't far down the road that the car started slowing and soon we were sitting on 80 kph (which is about 40 mph) and then stalled, I don't know much about cars but automatics are pretty hard to stall, and apparently it takes more than bad driving to do so.

Anyway we never got to the movies. We had a rest day instead, well all except Dad who was working really hard to get the car going again before our long drive the next day to our Grandparents place. The car wasn't going to work so Pop drove up and took us down and also dropped our present off :) it was a barbecue!!! We had one but it was about ready for the junk yard.

It was a pretty good day, we got to see all our cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents. There were a few down points of the day, like I had a pretty bad headache and that every time I turned around one of my cousins were talking about what "Santa had got her". I'm sorry to offend any one but I hate 'Santa'. I mean how could parents lie to their kids like that! And how are the kids going to feel when they find out that 'Santa' was just a big lie their parents had fed them? I don't know about you but I would never trust my parents again, I would constantly be asking my self "what else are they lying about?".

Ok enough about the bad side of my day :P. A good point! My aunts and uncles finally figured out that me and my sisters don't want skimpy little dresses but real things, like things for our glory boxes and finally someone found out that I want to write, not play with make up, and gave me a heap of folders and pens and note books :D.

On Saturday we rested. How come life is sooo tiring?!?!

Sunday we went back to Cudgewa and visited our friends. What a wonderful day! We didn't have to be dressed up we just went as we were and got to play games and have real fun, while our parents talked.

Sunday was also the day when my Dad got a text from our boss. They had a disagreement and Dad told our boss that he has 4 weeks to find another person to milk because we were leaving. The last year has been a real struggle to live here, we don't have enough money at any one time and our boss hasn't been very nice and one thing led to another and that text was the straw that broke the camels back... So anyway we have been frantically packing and moving boxes as fast and as much as we can.

And during this time we found time to lend a helping hand to our neighbors just over the hill who got almost completely burnt out by the fires. They have no feed for their cattle so they are having to agist their cattle out to farmers. At our old farm we have about 50 cattle on a lot of land with a lot of feed, so we offered for them to put some of their cattle on our property. Some of the cattle were burnt, it was horrible to see. One funny thing was though, when the cattle got off the truck their heads went straight to the ground the eat, they hadn't eaten well for about two weeks and they looked very content.

There has been so much else going on around here but I don't have to time right now to say everything. I will try get the photos of the fires up soon, I tried today but for some strange reason the storage card that they are on wont work. Ahh the joys of technology

Fire De-briefing party, Christmas Eve, and tomorrow is Christmas!!!

2009-12-24T19:14:00.003+11:00

Ok I think I may have mentioned on Facebook that we went to a de-briefing party on Wednessday night. Basicaly it was a barbeque with lots of people I didnt know talking about their expieriences in the fire. There were some people from the country fire authority (CFA) and some people from the rural lands protection board and some from the department of primary industries (DPI), and SOME from Red Cross. We got told all about the loans you can get if you had damages to your property or house, and the money that the Government is giving out. We got heaps of pamflets and papers. And we talked to a Red Cross lady, who (bless her heart, lol) told us all about how there is going to be stress about the fire and that if we feel a bit depressed that we should talk to our friends and let all our frustrations out on Facebook. I just kept smiling and thinking "Stress from this? You have got to be kidding! The stress of every day life is bad enough, the fire was just a bit of fun and excitment for a day!" I mean, yeah its hard to see all the damages and hear of all the devestation others have gone through but right now I am so tired of hearing "oh I am sooo sorry about the fires, are you guys ok?" I am so tired of talking about the fires and hearing about them. I am sorry if I sound angry but I am frustrated about it all and I am sick of people being pathetic, one person was in tears because she thought I was in a bit of shock (by the way I was just a bit bored and wanted to be alone).

A Christmas Eve post

2009-12-24T06:41:00.004+11:00

So its Christmas Eve, wow this year has flown! I dont have much time to write much at all because we are going to Albury today and I have no idea when we will be back, so I thought I would put the song Christmas Shoes here :) I dont have the video so you will just have to put up with the words.

It was almost Christmas time
There I stood in another line
Trying to buy that last gift or two
Not really in the Christmas mood
Standing right in front of me
Was a little boy waiting anxiously
Pacing around like little boys do
And in his hands he held
A pair of shoes
And his clothes were worn and old
He was dirty from head to toe
And when it came his time to pay
I couldn't believe what I heard him say

Sir I wanna buy these shoes for my Momma please
It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size
Could you hurry Sir?
Daddy says there's not much time
You see, she's been sick for quite a while
And I know these shoes will make her smile
And I want her to look beautiful
If Momma meets Jesus, tonight.

He counted pennies for what seem like years
And cashier says son there's not enough here
He searched his pockets franticly
And he turned and he looked at me
He said Momma made Christmas good at our house
Though most years she just did without
Tell me SirWhat am I gonna do?
Some how I’ve got to buy her these Christmas shoes
So I layed the money down
I just had to help him out
And I'll never forget
The look on his face
When he said Momma's gonna look so great.

Sir I wanna buy these shoes, for my Momma please
It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size
Could you hurry Sir?
Daddy says there's not much time
You see, she's been sick for quite a while
And I know these shoes will make her smile
And I want her to look beautiful,
If Momma meets Jesus tonight.

I knew I caught a glimpse of heavens love as he thanked me and ran out.
I know that God had sent that little boy to remind me
What Christmas is all about

Sir I wanna buy these shoes for my Momma please
It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size
Could you hurry Sir?
Daddy says there's not much time
You see she's been sick for quite a while
And I know these shoes will make her smile
And I want her to look beautiful
If Momma meets Jesus tonightI want her to look beautifulIf Momma meets Jesus tonight

Have a great Christmas Eve! And God Bless.
Till next time!

Fire!!!!

2009-12-20T10:26:00.002+11:00

Ok so I never really imagined that this would happen to US!
It was a kind of quiet day, Mum and I went into town to drop Ayala and Sarah off at their jobs and did a few jobs ourselves, we headed home. The Murray Goulburn representative was coming today so we had to be back before 10:30 AM. But at 9:30 there was really no hurry. We stopped to take some photos of the big harvesting machines working in a paddock, and the piles of grain the had already collected.
We got back home at about 10 and cleaned up. The rep was arriving at 11. All was going smoothly. The rep arrived and I sat at the computer for a while, checking emails and Facebook before going to my bedroom with a book to find a comfy chair. There was really no need for my brother and I to be around while the rep was there. They just had to talk over money figures and plans for the dairy. We take these opportunities to read or sleep in my brother's case.
My book was really interesting (it was actually my sister's book from the library but since she wasn't there I thought I would read it). But I got interrupted by the door swinging open from the wind, when it got windy the door had a nasty habit of swinging open and the cats would get inside. I got up and locked it (that's the only way to keep it shut). About an hour my Mum knocked on the door. She told me there was a fire, it was nothing out of the ordinary there had been many times where there had been fires around but nothing ever that affected us. I expected that my Mum would tell me that Dad was going to help and we had to get water bottles ready or something like that. Where? is the normal question when that statement is said. The normal answer is usually the name of a place near here but too far from our house to be of worry.

This wasn't a normal answer! "Pine Mountain" is the big hill right in front of our house! There is the Murray river between us and there but that comfort was short lived when we heard the man on the radio said "On the NSW side of the river at Pine Mountain.". That meant that the fire was raging just about 10 to 20 kilometers North/West of us at speeds of 110 to 114 kilometers an hour with a strong wind blowing South/East. Complicated I know. But it means that the fire was going at about 110 kph right at us! That's when the adrenaline kicked in. Running on scared we filled as many buckets as we could with water, drenched as much of the house as we could until the power went out. Every now and again I would look up and watch the cloud of smoke getting closer.

By this time we had all donned masks, hats, gloves, overalls, cotton shirts and work boots. We looked like we were getting ready to enter a war zone. The wind kept blowing my hat off so I took it off. My hair by the end of the day was a mess from the wind.

Woolen blankets, computers, photos and water found their way to the cars and into the dairy, the place we had chosen to flee to just in case the fire took out the house.

The wind was slightly to our right so the first fire front flew past us by about 500 meters and just missed our neighbor's house, then fled up and over the hill and was gone, leaving the sides still burning. The wind picked up the little fires and turned them into a second fire front, picking up speed, it was closer this time but still missed us by heaps. It jumped the main road just outside our boundary and into our neighbor's paddock. The wind changed direction slightly and burnt through one of our paddocks filled with 100 hay bales and 300 silage. It was also wide enough to catch our neighbor's house. It burnt to the ground. There was nothing anyone could have done as the fire was too fierce.

With the fire still burning round the edges, it came down the bank and invaded another of our paddocks. Dad filled up his spray tank and went to take it on. He managed to stop it but it got away again coming closer by the minutes. Thankfully the paddock that it invaded next was all almost dirt, it fed on the stubble for about 200 or 300 meters stopping short 100 meters from our house. Fire trucks and cars came and went all day, I lost count. There were helicopters and airplanes going over almost constantly, getting water and dumping it on the fire fronts. Hundreds of tankers and emergency cars went by. We gave glasses of water out to men I have never met. I kept thinking it was amazing what people who really cared would do for you. One of our tractors had stopped, out of fuel, in the middle of the paddock two days previous, and a neighbor we hadn't met before came with his tractor and without being asked put a fire break around it.

That was the worst of it. We were on alert the rest of the evening as it was about 5 PM by this time. My Dad and brother filled Dad's spray tank up again and went putting out smoldering logs and fence posts.
We went for a drive around the district and it was totally amazing the amount of ground that got burnt.
We went to Tintaldra to see if we could go and get Ayala and Sarah from town but there was a road block and once you went through it you were not allowed back for anything! Ayala and Sarah stayed the night with friends and we drove out to get them in the morning, the road block was still there but since the fire danger had passed mostly we were allowed in and out because we lived there.
We were out of power for 2 days. My grandparents came with a generator for the house but we had to wait all day to get one for the dairy but ended up getting it hooked up only to unhook it again because the power came back on.
I have heaps of photos that I would like to put on here but I don't really have time right now.
I'll write more later today or tomorrow. That was not the end of the story. It still isn't as I m writing this, the fire, although presents no threat to us is still burning a little while away.
I have to go, till next time I post.

I dunno what to call it...

2009-12-15T11:28:00.004+11:00

Well I was just checking up on my blog and who has been visiting. I kinda got really excited because there have been people looking at my blog from all over the world! There have been people from 4 different continents right here! And anyway I felt bad because I haven't been posting very much lately. So I decided to write a post. Now all I have to do is think of something interesting to write about, lol!

Why must catastrophes happen when I am writing a blog post??? I'll be right back after I tell my Dad that the cows are in the silage paddock.... Yup, his reaction was exactly as I thought it would be, a loud 'Oh NO!" and with out being told my brother got up and went and got in the car.

It seems that lately I have developed a talent for one of my least favorite chores... cooking... Or maybe its just the everyday practice.

I am kinda typing this post a little slow in between jumping up every two minutes to check on dinner. And the fact that I have the startings of blisters on my hands from riding my bike with wet hands doesn't help any. Ahh the joys of my life, huh?

Yeah I know I have mentioned this fact a couple of times in the last 5 posts but really its my blog I am allowed to write what I want, anyway back to the subject. 10 days till Christmas! I'm not actually excited. Isn't it funny...
~~~
THIS BLOG POST WAS PAUSED WHILE THE AUTHOR SUDDENLY REALISED THAT SHE HADN'T PUT ANY WATER IN THE CARROTS THAT WERE NOW BURNING ON THE STOVE. ~Rule #1 if you are going to burn something you might as well make it taste good (add honey to carrots).
~~~
Oh yeah! Isn't it funny how when you are a kid you spend your entire year looking forward to the 25th of December, and when it arrives you are so excited and happy. Then suddenly one year you just don't get excited and its just another day *sigh* its all kinda sad. You are supposed to remember that our Lord was born on that day but when you think about it, did he really get born on this day? or was it just a day that someone superstitious picked out of a hat? No body knows when he was born exactly and why should every other day be different, we are supposed to remember him every day not just on Christmas and Easter! Christmas isn't even about Christ any more, its about Santa and presents. And this fact is the sadder of the two.

Sorry :P

2009-12-08T11:10:00.003+11:00

So I haven't been very good at writing... It seems that every time I get to write a post something happens then I either get kicked of the computer or I forget or I have something else to do, anyway posting is a the bottom of the priority list right now. Maybe I will get more time in the next few weeks because this morning I got rid of all the calves that need feeding milk and I only have one! Yay, its great!

Kurt has been coming out every weekend now and he really is becoming a part of the furniture now :). A friend of us girls came out this weekend for a girly weekend and we ended up spending all the time watching movies and generally relaxing, lol :). We are getting ready because we heard a rumor that our Grandpa is making his yearly visits around this time. And now in a couple of weeks its Christmas! Wow, where did this year go?!

My sister Sarah and I had a stall at the farmers market this past Saturday, we stayed up till midnight cooking the night before and we made heaps of cakes, biscuits, and cupcakes. We were thoroughly sick of chocolate and cakes before the night was over. And with all the stress and a few half nights of sleep I got what my parents think was a very mild case of the shingles. Anyway we had fun and had a good day, we made about $30 which isn't really that much when you look at all the time and money that went into it... Oh well we have 13 more farmers markets to do in the next year, so we have to keep going on for now :).

I would upload some photos that my Mum took of my sister and I cooking but I think Ayala has her camera at work so, hmmm....

Well gotta go
God Bless all this Christmas!!
Kathy

No Internet

2009-11-30T18:03:00.002+11:00

So if you had that thought that I might have gone on an unexplained holiday from posting again you would have been wrong :). It was just that the Internet thought it was working too hard and went on strike.

So anway this month, while everyone has been typing their little fingers off with NaNoWriMo I have been helping around the farm, cleaning, cooking, running here and there on the motor bike taking things to and from my Dad (who is usually on the tractor), swimming, having fun with friends and writing some :) so over all a pretty good month.

Today is SUMMER!

Wow!

Its crazy, it seems like yesterday that we were slugging through mud in the middle of winter (well with a little rain it seems like it has gone back to being winter because its cold and there is mud everywhere again :P).

25 days till Christmas... Oh boy... Hmmm... Christmas sometimes ends in the car, driving home from your grandparents place/s and you are tired and all you want to do is be at home and sleep. You seat is covered with the presents you received. Your siblings are falling asleep around you. Its the only moment you have gotten to be half alone all day. You are dressed in a pretty summer dress, probably that your grandmother got you, something that you LOVE but will probably never wear again, you hair is done nice but its kinda coming out because its been there all day. Lol ok just a random thought :).
Till Next time!

So I havent posted...

2009-11-22T08:07:00.002+11:00

Now I have taken the step to click on the 'new post' button. No all I have have to do is think of something to say.... :P Apparently I think that might be a harder thing to do than it seems. But then maybe not :).
Ok so harvest is almost over. I have patched bales, watched some strange two kids (Dan and Kurt) tie a car bonnet to the back of the Mule and 'paddock surf', I have tried to count to over 120 (silage bales) and failed, I have gone out in the middle of the night and played amongst silage bales in the dark, I have swam in the rain and stayed there for 2 hours, I have worried my Mum sick when we disappeared at 10 at night to go say hello to Dad up in the paddock, I have ridden the Mule (our motor bike) with my brother and our friend Kurt (which by the way is almost a death wish), and right now my brother and Kurt are turning all the clocks forward an hour for some weird and mysterious reason. Yesterday, because my Mum had a stall at the market at Tintaldra, we rode 8 kilometers on our bikes to see the market (which was pretty boring any way because there were hardly any people there).
What else is new? Hmmm... not much really. I have been playing the piano a lot lately and the other day when I was looking through our music books I found the music too "Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring" it is soo beautiful to play!! I am really happy that it isn't the hardest of songs to learn :).
And... we got our air conditioners installed today!!! YAY!
Well I guess that ends my post for now. I'll post soon :)

Break Time I think...

2009-11-10T09:49:00.003+11:00

So I have had writer's block for a while now and havent had much to write about in my blog so I think its time to say bye byes for a while, I dont know how long but maybe a month or maybe two, I am sure if I leave off of blogging I will get very lonesome to write in it again and be back before you know it. :)
Till next time I write!
Your author in training
Kathy

Rural Women's Writing Award

2009-11-07T07:57:00.002+11:00

At the presentation, there were lots of photos taken and we were told they were going to be put on the website along with our stories. The photos havent been uploaded yet but if you go HERE you can see the other shortlisted stories and the author's bios :).

Hey and all that...

2009-11-07T07:19:00.002+11:00

Well its Saturday morning and I am sooooo tired! But the tiredness is starting to wear off now that I am drinking my coffee, lumb (laugh under my breath) because I am to tired to lol.
I have finally found some time to sit down and write! Now I have no idea what to write about :P.
I'll have to be going down the poddies soon so this may not be a long post.
Harvest is now in full swing. I think the bale count is almost to 1000, but am not sure. We still have quite a few paddocks to cut, rake, bale and wrap yet. I should have been taking photos but I haven't really been out in the paddock much, I expect it to be out there more now because when you start to move the bales they get holes in the plastic wrap and my Mum and I are going to be chief bale patchers. I actually like the job (except on hot days). Your only tools are a knife and lots of rolls of duct tape = fun!!! The trick is to start patching as soon as the start guys bring in the bales in so you can keep up to them. It can get to be a pain when you leave it till the guys have piled up all the bales then you have to get between the bales and if they are stacked a few high it gets dangerous to climb on them. That is the job I get my tan for the summer on, lol!
Well I really must scat, I have about 30 calves to feed this morning and its going to be all done by little old me.

The days I havent posted

2009-10-31T09:55:00.002+11:00

Ok, so I guess I have a little explaining to do why I havent posted in ages... Well mostly its been because I have been pretty busy and thanks to a tiny little thing called 'writer's block'. I dont remember a lot of the stuff that has happened since I last posted, so I guess I will start with Yesterday and see where I go from there :).

Yesterday... Hmmm well we went back to Cudgewa to get a beast to kill for our meat, I think the butcher is coming out tomorrow but I'm not sure. Anyway when we got there I found out that we would be spending the day there getting cows in, sorting all the older calves out of the herd to sell them. I didnt think we would be there all day so I forgot to take a hat. It was a really hot day yesterday, it got upto 35 C although it felt more out side under the sun running around cows, in other words I got sunburned on my face and arms *ouch*. Later in the afternoon the stock agent came out to have a look at the calves we had sorted, they were pretty good calves, they had been left alone for about a year on lots of grass and some were still on their mothers and the others were calves we raised from poddies, so they were nicely fat, lol some of them were pretty cute :) (sorry no pics, I didnt take the camera). While we waited for the agent to get there (he is pretty well known for being at least an hour late) we sat around in the old dairy and talked about the idea of turning it back into a dairy. Its a dream but you never know it might come true one day :).

Last Friday Ayala finally convinced me to go to work with her. It was fun but I don't think I am quite cut out to be a teacher's aide, lol. I do have some photos of that but I'm not going to up load them right now. I'll try to remember for my next post.

Sarah gets back from the Gold Coast this afternoon. She left on Wednesday last week so she has been gone 6 days. Its been a little weird not having her here, it will be great to have her back.

Well I think that is just about all the news for now. I'll try to post soon.

Crazy Thoughts

2009-10-25T12:56:00.003+11:00

Ok I wanted to write a crazy post just for fun, lol, I am in a bit of a weird mood :D!

Have you ever sat in front of a clock and watched the second hand tic away and thought that every time it passes the 12 that another minute of your life just passed and you wont get it back... personally I get dizzy watching it go around and around in circles, lol.

Carrying on the theme of weird thoughts: I was thinking the other day (sometimes that can be dangerous;) and I came up with this weird question, Is cold colder than hot is hot? I have yet to find an answer to this but I did think of a way to figure out how to get a solution, you find out normal body temperature then go to freezing point then go from body temperature to boiling point. Like I said it was a weird thought and I am no scientist, lol!

Now I get to go completely loopy and burst out in song!

Spring times' coming
On the heels of a winter wind
Balmy breezes will blow across your garden again.
As long as earth and Heaven remain,
God promises the seasons will change.
Spring times' coming

Ok bad song ("Its already spring" *whispers loudly* "dont tell Winter!")!
Now what else can I do to complete the effect that I am out of my mind and you need to stop reading my blog and go do some house work... hmm... Did anyone notice I am bored? Its Sunday afternoon, Dad, my brother and our friend (who came to help) are out in the paddock raking, baling and wrapping the silage, Sarah is watching The Waltons somewhere, Ayala is writing in her blog (Oh by the way, check it out at ---), and Mum is asleep. I'm tired and basically exhausted and this post doesnt really need comments, lol and I think thats where I will end this post :)

A little help that I thought you might need :)

2009-10-21T10:10:00.002+11:00

OK, new rules!
If you are really really really stuck you are allowed to Google the question, I thought I would make it hard for you guys but Mum thinks I made it WAY to hard not allowing you to Google anything.

A few Aussie Questions and a lot more!

2009-10-20T08:08:00.004+11:00

OK I decided that I would put a quiz up. To whom ever gets the most questions correct, I shall send a prize (right now the prize is a mystery to me as well but I will mention it when I say who won). And if more than one person gets all of them right I will figure out another 5 or ten questions :). Oh and NO GOOGLE or any other search engine's allowed until after you have submitted your comment.

2o questions

1. Name Australia's highest mountain.

2. What is the name of the World's largest monolith? (clue. I can see if from my house)

3. What does this road sign mean?

4. What is the name of Australia's largest engineering feat?

5. What very famous festival, based on a very famous poem, that takes place in my area early in Autumn?

6. What is the name of the poem and the name of the author of the poem mentioned in the above

question? (clue. I have mentioned this festival in my blog a few times, but no peaking!)

7. What is the only thing in Australia punishable by capitol punishment?

8. What are Australia's emblems?

9. How many stars are on our flag?

10. What are the names of the capital cities of each state in Australia?

11. What is Australia's largest dairy exporter? (clue. I am part of it, its name has something to do with the Murray River)

12. Where is most of Australia's fruit grown?

13. On what animal's back did Australia use to ride? (clue. This is a well known poem)

14. Name Australia's most infamous Bush Ranger

15. What is the name of the movie that many non-Aussies associate with Australians? (this one should be easy, it isnt the man from snowy river)

16. What is, my side of the mountains(I have to say this because on the other side of

the mountains they think its something else), name for the Man From Snowy River?

17. What is the name of the famous Australian, who died when a sting ray peirced his heart?

18. Name Australia's longest river system.

19. What is the name of the lake in the middle of Australia, renouned for its bird life (when it has water in it)?

20. Name the Flemington of the bush.

Have fun!!! I know I will, when I read the answers!

My entry to the Elyne Mitchell Rural Women's Writing Award, now that its all over I can show you :)

Ours
by Katherine McFarland
Sitting beside the calf pen in the warm May sunshine with Djaq, my Kelpie cross German Coolie cattle dog sitting in my lap, makes me feel content and safe. There aren’t many warm sunny days in May so I figure I might as well enjoy this one.
Djaq starts squirming and licking my hands. I smile at her as she looks up at me with her weird amber eyes. She is a truly beautiful dog, her coat always gives me a mental picture of someone stirring a big pot of caramel sauce and randomly dropping chocolate chips into it. It is coming up a year that we have had her now. I sometimes wonder what we ever did without her, she can be a pain a lot of the time but over all she is a good dog. I remember the morning we were given her, it was a cold, wet, foggy morning....
There were shouts of “Josh is here!!” from my younger brother Daniel. The caravan door slams, probably Dan in a big hurry.
I take a sip of my packet mocha coffee as I peer out the fogged up windows of the caboose.
Josh is a twelve year old boy whom my oldest sister, Ayala, tutors. He is also a friend of my brother. And seeing as though we don’t get many, any visitors are very welcome.
I step out of the caboose, and onto the crate we use instead of a step. “Hey Josh.” I call as I lead the way between the three caravans that we now call home.
There is a mumbled “Hi” in return.
The ‘kids caravan’ door opens with a loud creak; that sounds like the door is about to break off, it never does so I just ignore it. Ayala is waiting, school work already laid out on the table. I find a place to sit and be a good example by reading a thick book.
A little while later, Mum puts her head in the door “Kath can you go and feed the calves please? And don’t forget to give the youngest one colostrum, ok?”
“Yup I’ll be there in a minute.” I say putting the book down and following her outside.
The caravans are parked in a shed at the end of the dairy yard, so there isn’t far to go.
I shove my feet into a pair of too-big gumboots and head out of our shed.
In the dairy pit, I grab two green calf feeders and pull the lid off a test bucket. The colostrum is thick and a dark yellow colour, for some reason I have to fight to keep my stomach in the right place for a split second before lifting the bucket to pour some of the gross stuff into the feeder. I am thankful that only one calf is young enough to have to drink that! I fill the other feeder with normal white milk.
As I carry the two feeders out to the cattle-yards-turned-calf-pen, I try to keep my hands clear of the colostrum, it never works; I always seem to splash myself.
I let myself into the pen and hook the two feeders on the fence. The older calf is right there trying to suck my elbow, but I stick my fingers in his mouth and guide him to the teat. The younger calf on the other hand has retreated to the end of the pen, most likely he will give me a run around before I can catch him, I take a closer look then correct myself, its’ a heifer. Great, a heifer with an attitude!
I close in slowly, trying to corner her so I have a better chance of grabbing her. She sees me and tries to bolt out into the open, but its’ too late, I grab her ear and swing my leg over her neck to stop any further escapes. With her head firmly between my knees, I put my milky fingers in her mouth and hope that she knows how to suck and I won’t have to teach her. Her mouth moves around my fingers for a second before I feel a feeble suction, then it gets stronger. I say a prayer of thanks before half dragging her and half leading her to the other side of the pen and to her feeder.
She sucks pretty strongly but the older calf is still finished first. I am still standing over her with her head between my knees, the other calf butts the back of my thighs and tries to suck my knees, and I swat at him and laugh.
I unhook the feeders but the heifer refuses to let go of her teat, she is sucking air but she doesn’t really care. I twist it away from her and make a dash for the gate.
Back inside the dairy again I give the feeders a hose out and my hands a rinse under the hot tap. My Mum, Dad and sister are just washing up as I walk through.
I wash my hands again at the back of the caboose with soap and warm water, the calf slobber leaves a slimy film over my hands and you need soap to get rid of it. There isn’t much I can do about my jeans and jacket; I am going to be just getting dirtier later on, so I might as well leave them on.
The caravan door creaks again. It is wonderful and warm inside. My brother and Josh are still working on their times tables. I sit back with my book again. It isn’t long before my brother goes outside, it isn’t really his lesson so he is allowed.
A car pulls up at the front of the dairy, I glance up and say “Probably your Dad.” He nods and keeps working.
A minute or so later, my sister steps into the caravan and hands Josh something then cuddles a very small cute puppy to her chest, there were a few cries of “Its’ so cute!” from around the table. From what I can see of it, it is dappled brown all over, and even though its nose is buried in its paws its amber eyes were peering around the small cramped space.
I glance at Josh to find he is also cuddling a puppy, but it is more black, red and brown; and, unlike the puppy Sarah is holding, Josh’s pup is squirming to get down, to explore.
“What kind of dog is it?” is the first question asked.
“She is a Kelpie German Coolie cross. She is a she. And she is ours.”
“Ours?” I ask raising my eye brows. Mum and Dad had never let us have a pup before; we already had a dog and they always said no to another.
“Ours.” Sarah answers with a grin “Dad says we are going to train her to be a cattle dog.”
“Yeah,” Josh pipes up “That’s why we got this one. Dad says we are gunna make a real good cow dog out of him.”
The next question “Does she have a name?”
Sarah grins again “Nope, that’s our job.”
Josh pipes up again “We’re gunna call this one Bundy.”
“Like as in the beer?”
“Yup, see ‘is colour?”
I have to admit he does look like a bottle of beer. But we have to find a name for ours. How could we do that? She looks almost un-name able! How could you name a dog that was so cute anything?
“I think we should call her Plaster.” My brother says, referring to her one white leg.
I shake my head “No way! She is too nice to be called Plaster! We have to find something better.”
After a while of cuddling we take the puppies outside for a run around in the now clean dairy yard.
We call her Pup for a while but she needs a real name. My brother is still adamant about calling her Plaster. And it is getting rather annoying when he tries to make her come to that name.
“Come on Plaster, come!” But she wasn’t listening. Bundy was much more interesting.
“Well Plaster sure isn’t going to be her name!” Sarah, who is sitting beside me, comments “What other names can we think of?”
I shrug “I don’t know, but we need to think of something soon.”
“Hmm.” Sarah thinks out loud “What about... Honey?”
“No... I don’t think it really suits her.”
“Yeah I guess... well what about...” there is a pause “Djaq, you know like as in Robin Hood?”
“Yeah that suits her. I wonder if she will come to it.” So we try it. To our utter amazement she turns and looks at us.
“Well!” I turn and look at Sarah “She has a name!”
I finally bring my thoughts back to the present. I glance at my watch, lunch time. Djaq is asleep in my lap. I push her off and stand up.
“Come on dog, time to go home.”

(By the way, this is my writing so if you want to copy it please ask me first!!!!)

Ok last thing before I sign off on my 100th post

The picture of my shotlisted award from the Eylne Mithchell Award Presentaion

Bonus Question: Name the birds on the Elyne Mitchell banner :) (BTW you dont have to but you can if you want)

99 and still counting :)

2009-10-19T10:01:00.002+11:00

Well amazingly I have made it too 99 posts! Whoo! Ok so maybe I'm slightly off my rocker, but who cares, I'm happy!! I'm at 99 and still no ideas what to do for my 100th post... Ideas are still very welcome :D. I'm thinking maybe I'll upload some photos... hmm I really have no ideas!!!!
Ok I think I will make a list of all the things my friends have done then go through it crossing them off one by one :).
Well I guess that's it for number 99, and anyway I have to go feed the calves :P.
Till 100!

Elyne Mitchell Rural Women's Writing Award Presentation

2009-10-16T10:35:00.003+11:00

Ok for the news some of you might have been waiting for :) no I didn't win the "Award". But I did win something...

But I guess I should start from the start, lol and keep you all in suspense!

We had a wonderful day yesterday, at midday we went to pick Rachel up from in town, because I invited her to come with us, we went to the op-shop and found some really nice CDs, there were a few singing ones but the ones I really like is the one with a Cello playing hymns and another one with a violin playing hymns, both of them are really beautiful :).

We came home and while listening to the violin CD I read my book. I had a shower and got dressed up, Ayala insisted on putting make up on me :P (I really dislike make up, I used to say it made me feel sickish, which it did, but I looked at myself in the mirror after she had finished with me and I didn't really like the way I looked, anyway that's off the subject), which I endured.

We left it late to leave and the sun was just setting as we came into the Corryong valley, it was pretty magnificent with all the clouds turned gold and sunlight coming through here and there. I had grabbed the violin CD as we went out the door so it was amazing to be listening to Morning Has Broken being played on the violin and watching the sun go down, my idea of a very beautiful scene :). I also had some private thoughts which makes it a bittersweet memory.

There was a $10 entry fee for all the people who weren't contestants and everyone was given a raffle ticket for the door prize (it was just a couple of copies of the shortlisted stories, some jams and chutneys and things). I looked at my number, 45, and though 'oh great! It isn't even one of my favorite numbers!' and thought no more of it.

They had pictures and a short biography of each of the shortlisted contestants up on the wall, lol I took one look at them and thought 'I haven't got a hope!' because there were two girls who were 22 or 23 and they were both in university and doing creative writing course thingys! I was the only local person in the Emerging category.

After all the speeches had been made about thanking the supporters and one lady got up and sang a poem that Banjo Patterson had written, then Eylne Mitchell's daughter, Honor, got up and gave a speech about her Mum and writing and all that, she would be an amazing person to sit down with for 2 hours and talk to her :)!

When Marita, one of the organisers, got up to announce the raffle, I was joking to Dan and comparing what numbers we had, he had number 44 and I already said I got 45. Marita called out a number, 45 (LOL) and I turned to Dan, who had suddenly started staring at me and was about to say "Haha, its you!" when I realised that I was the one holding 45 and was more like "EEK its ME!" I just never win those things and I was so shocked and it was so hilarious that I just started laughing.

We were all awarded a certificate for being shortlisted so that was the second time I had to walk up to the stage thingy, I got to shake hands with the mayor :D (which isn't the greatest of honors because she is friends with my grandmothers, lol)!! And as we all left the stage Honor stopped me and talked to me, because I was the local!
And after some more speeches, photos, talking and congratulations from people I have never met before, that was basically it and after Sarah and I helped in the kitchen we went home :).
I would upload the picture of my award but its on the other computer and there is some trouble with the connection so I cant right now :P. But I will as soon as I find a memory stick.
Well I have to go, till next time!
P.S. 2 posts to go!!!

Post 97 and just thoughts...

2009-10-14T15:36:00.002+11:00

Yup 97... Only three to go until three digits :D!
Its been raining here a lot lately. Been kept inside not doing much, it can get boring and I could have made it to 100 already, but like I said I haven't been doing much.
Yesterday I was looking for ideas for a dress I wanted to make and I came across Anne of Green Gables costumes on the Internet and that gave me the idea of looking for the middle movie to see if I could get a better view of the dress but unfortunately I didn't find it because it is still back at our old house in storage :P but in my search I happened upon an old video with Inspector Gadget on it! I hadn't seen that movie in years, it is a bit corny but its still pretty funny :).
I ended up settling on a pattern we already have for my dress. I am in the process of making it now. I am not far into it yet I am just cutting all the bits out but I guess that's always the hardest part isn't it?
Well gotta go, I expect I should be posting tomorrow :)
Till next time
P.S I still have no idea what to do for my 100 post celebration, so any ideas would be helpful!

Its Monday morning...

2009-10-12T07:03:00.002+11:00

Today is Monday, you know some people say they hate Mondays... Since I don't usually go along with the flow, lol, I disagree :). This morning was a lovely morning and since I had a very restful weekend I am very much looking forward to this week! I got up at 6:30, about half an hour ago to an almost red gold light coming over the top of my curtains (as I occupy the top bunk the sun comes in over the top of my curtains at about 6 to 6:30 every morning, except of course cloudy ones). I got up and had the pleasure of seeing my parents before they went to work at the dairy (one thing I miss about dairy farming is that when you get up your parents aren't there and you wont see them till you go and start your jobs). Then I put a CD on (Sons of Korah, the best thing to wake up with and go to sleep with :O *yawns*, possibly a bad thing :), and now I am sitting here drinking my morning cup of coffee, writing my 76th blog post and listening to beautiful psalms being sung.
Well anyway the other day, think it was Saturday, I decided to post on my other blog so please take a look here. I hope I can keep up with posting on both my blogs :).
Thursday is the Elyne Mitchell Award presentation. I am kinda nervous but not overly so, it would be pretty amazing to get the award but I think I could live without it. I am pretty excited that I get to go at all.
Yesterday one of our cows gave birth to twin boys :D. They are so cute! They are almost identical but one is brown and the other is black :).
Harvest should be starting soon but its a little hard because it keeps raining! My Dad is a little frustrated that we haven't started yet. I don't think we will get a very good number of silage bales this year as the grass is a little sparse, that is good news for me because I will be sitting on top of the pile of bales patching any holes with duct tape and bad news for Dad and the rest of the farm because there wont be as much food for the cows as they need.
Well I need to go, my babies don't like to have their breakfast kept waiting (my Dad usually isn't all that happy about it either :).
Till next time (when ever that is, lol)!

A few hymns and some thoughts

2009-10-06T19:07:00.003+11:00

Onward Christian soldiers,

Marching as to war,

With the cross of Jesus going on before.

Christ the royal Master,

Leads against the foe.

Forward into battle,

See his banor go.

Onward Christian soldiers,

Marching as to war,

With the cross of Jesus going on before.

How many times have you stopped and thought what this was about? I've known this song almost all my life, I have fond memories of singing this song amongst others in the car on the way somewhere. We would always sing a hymn (usually more than one, lol) when we were in the car, it became like a habit. But I never really stopped to think about what the words meant. I would always get an mental picture of a whole army of warriors dressed in immaculate red tunics, chain mail with the metal helmets and swords marching along singing "Onward Christian Soldiers" then a (very clean) battle scene, that image changed along with my knowledge it became a parade of priests dressed in their long flowing white robes and the front man carrying a cross. But now I think its time to change, it should be a mental picture of someone kneeling down in prayer with their Bible not far away, unaware of anything else except their God.

What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear,

What a privilege to carry

Every thing to God in prayer

Is there trials and temptation,

Is there trouble anywhere,

We should never be discouraged

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Basically self explanatory :).

Take my life, and let it be consecrated,

Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.
Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.

Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.

Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.
Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.

Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.

Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.

This is another one of those first songs I ever learnt, singing them in the car.

Come, thou Fount of every blessing,

tune my heart to sing thy grace;

streams of mercy, never ceasing,

call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet,

sung by flaming tongues above.

Praise the mount!

I'm fixed upon it,

mount of thy redeeming love.

Here I raise mine Ebenezer;

hither by thy help I'm come;

and I hope, by thy good pleasure,

safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,

wandering from the fold of God;

he, to rescue me from danger,

interposed his precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor daily

I'm constrained to be! Let thy goodness,

like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

prone to leave the God I love;

here's my heart,

O take and seal it,

seal it for thy courts above.

This isn't one of the first hymns I ever heard or learnt but it is my favorite. But I do not like the story behind it. Apparently the man who wrote this fell away from the Lord and died in his sin. It saddens me that he could write this song and in it say "Oh to grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be! Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above." and not believe the words he wrote!

Amazing Grace,

how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me....

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now, I see.

T'was Grace that taught...

my heart to fear.

And Grace, my fears relieved.

How precious did that Grace appear...

the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares...

we have already come.

T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...

and Grace will lead us home.

The Lord has promised good to me...

His word my hope secures.

He will my shield and portion be...

as long as life endures.

When we've been here ten thousand years...

bright shining as the sun.

We've no less days to sing God's praise...

then when we've first begun.

And the grand old classic. I sometimes wonder if this is the first song people think of when they hear the word Christian... Just a thought.

Will try and put these songs on my playlist as soon as possible.

Just a little quiet ;)

2009-10-03T20:32:00.002+10:00

*Sigh*.... It has been a beautiful day. And now I am sitting here in the dining/living room amazed at the serene quiet that has suddenly surrounded the house. My mum went to bed early (not sure why, I think she might be coming down with the same flu that I have, poor Mum), my sisters both went out to the flat, Ayala to finish some Brailling and Sarah (who is also sick-ish) to go to bed. My brother has just appeared from his room to talk to Dad about something about fixing cars and things. And my Dad is sitting in his chair reading the paper, Oh and I am writing this blog post :) lols! I think I am getting better (YAY!), I only have a blocked nose and I cough sometimes :P so not quite better! I cooked dinner tonight (as I seem to be doing most nights now), and amazingly, with the limited amount of vegetables, it turned out quite nicely :). The truck is just arriving... Its 20 minutes to 9 PM. I should be heading to bed but I just want to write some.
Today was the Farmer's Market, Mum had made a heap of soaps to sell, so we had a stall. We made $107 all up, and we had some offers from places that want to sell our soap in their shops :). So all up is was a success. Mum is trying to talk me into growing vegetable seedlings for the next market. I dont know, I know that I could and it wouldn't be that hard and the money would be good, but, and, and... And I'm tired and I am rambling and I forgot to say thanks to my friends who helped me out big time with the Elyne Mitchell thingy magigy, and I cant say thanks to one of them and I am sad about that and I need sleep and I need to attach that photo to that email and I am sick of having so many things to do. I'm going to go sleep, Goodnight!

News, news, news!!!!

2009-10-02T16:38:00.002+10:00

I have news :). First of all...
~
~
~

I GOT SHORTLISTED FOR THE ELYNE MITCHELL RURAL WOMEN'S WRITING AWARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am still like "WOW!!" and it was two days ago that I found out :D! I am sooo happy, ecstatic, excited and just plain amazed that I could have gotten shortlisted out of hundreds of contestants!! 10 people get shortlisted for each category (there are 2 categories) and out of those 10, one is the winner. The standard for judging is pretty high so only very good writers get to be shortlisted. Right now I don't care if I win, because I have won anyways, being shortlisted IS winning! It's one of those things that will look good on a future job resume :).

The whole presentation is on the 15'th of October (on World Rural Women's Day), that is when the winner is announced and all that.

Anyway, other news.

Well I had to go to the dentist on Tuesday (the 29th) and have 2 teeth pulled out :P (actually its a bit of a "YAY!" because that means the last trip to the dentist in a long time!!). And my sister decided it would be a good idea to share her germs with me and I got the flu (nother :P), that is one time I do not like sharing, lols, so I am sitting here with a sore mouth (cos I chewed on something the slightest bit hard) and the flu!!! :(

Ok, on a better (brighter!) note. Monday, because I was bored I decided to start sewing rectangles of fabric together and now all I have to do is sew the binding on the edges and I have a blanket for my Glory Box :) (will try to post pics and instructions soon).

We haven't had Internet for the last 3 days (that explains my absence from the blogging world).

Well I think that is all news for now.

Gotta go! Till next time!! :D

92 post... 8 till 100!!! :D

2009-09-28T07:23:00.004+10:00

As the title says, I have only 8 posts till I reach 100 posts! :D It has been a long time coming and I was wondering what I should do for my 100'th post?? Any ideas? What did everyone else do on their 100th post?? Ok if anyone has any ideas please leave a comment and let me know!!!

Now to normal posting... Well this week we had Kurt staying, AGAIN! He is really starting to become part of the furniture, lols. No I'm just joking, he will always be welcome here :).

On Friday Grandma came up, for Dan's birthday (its so hard to believe that he is a teenager now! Well actually not really... he is getting almost taller than me now! And the best part... He has been taking over some of my harder jobs, yay!), and stayed till Sunday morning (Mum took Kurt home Saturday lunchtime.). We sat inside all day Saturday watching TV (it was only the football, boring :P) because it was windy and rainy and really just miserable outside. Then after Grandma left, Sunday morning, we packed ourselves up and took the 2 hour trip to Bathanga to my other grandparents for a kind of three person birthday party/get together Mama had going (it was Sarah, Dan and my uncle Jed's birthdays), so all the aunts and uncles were there (except one uncle and his family), so we got to see all our little cousins, Abby and Grace are getting so big and grown up!! And the three little boys, Charlie, Izak and Joseph are soo cute (Izak is Abby and Grace's little brother, Charlie and Joe are brothers)!! Here are some photos.

Izak and his Dad, my Uncle Brendan

Yours truly, very tired and a bit cold, the warmest I was all day I think. (sorry this isn't a great photo all the other's Ayala got of me were worse than this :P).

Little Joe :) so cute and the youngest of all the cousins.

Charlie, Abby and Izak

My beautiful Aunty Cynthia and her two gorgeous sons, Joe and Charlie.

Abby and Sarah thinking about the cryptic message I just gave them in Spot this Object, lols.

Grace and Sarah, the two second children :)

Little mister cutesie pie is making funny faces :), Gotta love the little fella!

Gracie and Dan

Aunty Patrice, Izak and Pop

And that is all the photo's I am uploading because it took me hours to upload this lot!! And I am not exaggerating!!

Honest Scrap Award

2009-09-21T20:44:00.006+10:00

Well Cassie was so kind as to include me in this award/tag. Thanks Cassie!!

Here's the Rules :D.

1. Say thanks and link to the person who gave you the award. (Done that :)

2.Share ten "honest" things about yourself. (I have no idea what to write!!!)

3.Award this to seven people who's blog design/content you admire or who have encouraged you, and inform them of their win and of the rules of this award. (I think I'll just have to pick a random few people because my sister told me she is getting sick of being tagged :P!)

Okey Dokey! Here goes :)

1. I cant stand being bored or not doing anything.

2. I like taking long walks in the paddock (except I haven't done this in a while)

3. I like haying season because it smells so great!

4. When I wash dishes I organise the dirty knives, forks and spoons in the cups and I get

annoyed when someone puts them in the wrong cups (because of this my sisters jokingly say I must have Autism, which I find vastly amusing).

5. I drink a cup of coffee almost every morning.

6. I like photography (but I cant say I am very good at it :P)

7. I don't have a favorite colour, they all have their place in the world and in their place they are

beautiful.

8. I like watching birds, small birds mostly.

9. I like modifying clothes.

10. I get annoyed very easily (something that I need to work on).

Oh boy that was hard! Why is it so hard to think of things about your self??

Ok now to tag someone! Just so you know I am tagging you almost completely randomly!

Tia, Earwen and Sierra

Anyways I have things to do so I gotta go!!

Bye, byes!!

A Young Maiden's Daybook 21/9/2009

2009-09-21T11:11:00.003+10:00

A Young Maiden's Day book
Today... Monday, 21 September 2009
Outside my window... Its a sunny warm day with a tiny breeze
I am thinking... That Ayala should really start a daycare center! LOL!!
I am feeling... A bit cold. I hope I can spend some time in my garden today (in the sunshine!).
I am thankful for... That Ayala and Sarah did the poddies yesterday and that I didn't have to be there.
I am wearing... bare feet, dark pink ankle length skirt, purple and white plaid 3/4 sleeved shirt, and my blue watch :) (sorry about the long winded account of my clothing, but I did have to answer the questions, lol)
I am reading... nothing right at this moment in time.
I am creating... A late birthday present for my sister Sarah.
One of my favorite things... Sunny days.
For education this week... I have no idea!!
A keeper at home skill I am learning/using... cooking, cleaning and sewing.
A spiritual lesson I am learning... to be diligent
A Godly character trait I plan to work on... Being the girl God wants me to be, not the one I want to be.
Scripture I plan on memorising (I changed that cos I'm not learning one right now, lol)... Not sure where it is but it goes along the lines of "We should be in this world but not of it.".
I am praying for... Its a secret.
For the rest of the week... Ayala's little boy is coming out tomorrow, so I will probably be helping babysit!

Da di dum dar da di dum dar

2009-09-19T07:17:00.002+10:00

Yup, you are correct I am bored, a little crazy and seem to have suddenly inherited my Dads funny word concoctions.
Well anyways I'm sorry I haven't posted in about a week I have been busy and not much has been happening :) (contradiction, kinda). For some reason this week my Mum and I have found ourselves in town every day since Monday and twice on Tuesday and Thursday. BTW for anyone who doesn't know 'town' is a half hour drive away, an hour round trip! Before you know it the whole day has gone and you are left with an hour or so in the morning and an hour or so in the afternoon before going into town and after going to town, and between milkings! And silly us were thinking about taking today and going to Albury/Wodonga (about 2 hours away) to see a movie with Mama (grandmother on Dad's side) because she wanted to do something with her grandchildren she doesn't get to see very often... Great idea, but we have this afternoon that we aren't doing anything and then we are having visitors tomorrow! Can any of you guess how tired I am? that's right VERY! And this morning I woke up with a sore throat so I hope I am not coming down with anything!
OK on a brighter note, my second oldest sister, Sarah, turned 17 on Thursday! I was talking to Ayala the other day and she made mention of the fact that in a year and a half she will be 20!And in a week my baby brother will be 13! Where did all that time go?? It just seems like yesterday that Ayala was 13 and we were having little picnics in the paddock at Cudgewa with oranges and cheese, lol :).
'Nother subject now! I finally sent my assignment off last week, I got it back Tuesday... I got 80% and a distinction, YAY! I know it probably wasn't my best shot but its a lot better than 74 on my last one :). I have one more assignment in this book then I have to download another book! which is exciting :D!
Well I really need to go because its time to feed poddies and I have about 4 new calves to teach to drink so its going to take a while!
Til next time!

Picnic :)

2009-09-13T08:14:00.005+10:00

The last few days have been really nice and warm... Actually maybe slightly too warm! It has been up in the mid to high 20s (degrees Celsius) which is really hot for early spring. We took advantage of the wonderful weather and went for a picnic :). We asked our neighbor if we could go through her property and picnic down at the river. She has the most beautiful spot down there, its all green and there are a heap of gum trees everywhere.

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story :)

Happy, slightly crazy... hmm I am thinking this might just make my new profile pic :)

My happy beautiful mother, preparing damper by the looks of that, mmm yum!

Lazy-bones sister (dont worry that drink she is holding is completely non-alcoholic, lol)

This is Kurt, for some reason looking a little bit grumpy (which by the way is not normal!!) :)

Dad had spotted a White Clawed Murray Crayfish and sent Dan and Kurt to get it, Dan was a bit scared so Kurt risked his toes only to lose the cray in deeper water (I have no idea how only the three of us got in this picture because everyone was crowded around).

Dad, Kurt and Dan getting the rods all ready to catch some fish (BTW we didnt catch any :P. Why is it when you have visitors, they always end up in the photos???)

River flats with huge gum trees, just beautiful!!!

My Internet Silence (if you call it that) and a Young Maiden's Daybook (ie. Long post)

2009-09-06T20:03:00.006+10:00

Well if you have read my blog in the last week you would know I have been spending the last 4 days in Melbourne. Oh do I hate big cities!! I am not joking! After the second day I wanted to come home... The water tasted like a pool, there was no where to go and have a quiet moment if you needed one, there were so many people, it was so noisy, and there was hardly anything to do, and most of all my whole family wasnt there (each of those should be followed with an exclaimation mark, lol, and yet not lol).

(I wrote the above on Sunday night, so I will try to finish and publish this post before I get off the computer again and forget about it)

Ok... Now where to go??? Ok, we went shopping on the second day. We went to THE biggest shopping center I have ever seen and could ever imagine! It was almost scary, the size of the place! We walked around that for about two hours and didnt see all of it! We went into David Jones and just out of curiosity looked at the price of a simple cotton dress... Wait for it... The price tag read $600!!! We didnt feel like touching anything after that, hehe. After the two hours were up Aunty Lynne (who isnt actually our aunt but Uncle Bob was best friends with my grandpa and so my Mum and her brothers and sisters called them Aunt and Uncle and so thats what we call them) took us to to a factory outlet where thankfully almost every thing was within our price range and we didnt feel quite so intimidated, lol!

On the third day Ayala and Sarah had to go to their course and I stayed at home with our friends. Aunty Lynne has the biggest scrapbooking/cardmaking collection I have ever seen, and she was kind enough to give me some papers, stamps, and punches :) so that is what I did with my morning then in the after noon Aunty Lynne and Uncle Bob took me to some craft shops, which without my Mum I have to say wasnt very interesting... I would see something I knew she would like but she wasnt there to see it too. And in the evening we met up with some other friends who we hadnt seen in a long time.

And obviously on the fourth day we came home. Do you have any idea how wonderful the feeling of heading home is? It was the best feeling I have ever felt, I think :D.

We had Monday at home but today we were back in Albury/Wodonga because my brother had a dentist appointment. And right now I am so worn out it isnt funny!! I am so sick of towns and being in a car I'd rather stop talking about it all, lol (it probably isnt that bed but I just have some other stuff to write right now.).

A Young Maiden's Daybook

(that I should have written yesterday)

Today... Tuesday 8 September 2009

Outside my window... I have my curtains closed but from the sound on the roof its raining quite heavily and its dark.

I am thinking... About the new book Mum bought, that I should email a few of my friends (I'm sorry I havent yet), wondering, a little bit confused and somehow happily so, about things in the past.

I am feeling... completely worn out, kinda sad about some stuff I have said and done.

I am thankful for... The actions of others that have shown I did something right, my Mum and her motherly wisdom.

I am wearing... black flat shoes, blue jeans, and a very ew yellow coloured woolen jumper.

I am reading... For Young Women Only, by Shaunti Feldhahn and Lisa A. Rice (If anyone is wondering, this is the cause of my slightly weird thoughts, feelings and thankfulness and yes I am going to say something about it). Wow, what a book! I have often wondered and sometimes exclaimed "What was/is he thinking?!", this has been about my brother and sometimes my friends who are guys. I am one of the worst girls for misunderstanding guys, I am sorry if I sound like I am putting myself down but its true. How many of us girls actually realise that some guys would actually prefer to be respected rather than loved? The cause of my weird thoughts has come from I guess examaning how I have treated the guys in my life, wether it be my Dad, my brother or my friends. And thinking "How could I have acted better in such and such a situation?"... (BTW, have only read the first two chapters).

I am creating... Nothing right now, I need some ideas :)

One of my favorite things... Home

For education this week... Actually there might be something this week. I asked Ayala to help me get back into school work and stuff, I dont know how this is going to go but hopefully it will work out.

A keeper at home skill I am learning/using... cooking

A spiritual lesson I am learning... Not to keep anything from God.

A Godly character trait I plan to work on... Being the girl God wants me to be, not the one I want to be.

Scripture I plan on memorising (I changed that cos I'm not learning one right now, lol)... Not sure where it is but it goes along the lines of "We should be in this world but not of it.".

I am praying for... My Dad, that he will be able to make the right decisions.

For the rest of the week... Hopefully not much :)... Resting, school work, writing work (thinking about that I planned on doing that today but I guess I ran out of time), house work.

Well I guess thats it for now. Will write some other time. Soon, hopefully :)!

Just thinkin' that I want to write somethin'

2009-09-02T20:56:00.002+10:00

Its 10 minutes to 9 PM, on the second day of spring. And I am sitting here thinking that I should probably be packing my bag to go to Melbourne tomorrow, listening to the best music (ie. Classical, is there any other? :) and my favorite song, Pachelbel, I think it is also called Canon in D. And thinking (I mentioned that already, didnt I?) about random stuff, like my friends (most of whom are probably just waking up about now), tomorrow, spring, my garden, dirty feet (from wandering around in bare feet, yeah I know, crazy, right?), the project I am almost finished, prayer requests I received earlier today. You know its funny, when I receive prayer requests and I pray for the person, I find myself praying that God's will be done... I'm tired, I probably should go to bed.
I was working in my garden today. Yesterday I got potatoes planted and tomatoes in the green house. I was never very good at gardening... I was always too impatient for the plants to grow and it always seem like an age for anything to happen :)! Why is it that we get so impatient about things? I'm not only talking about plants but life in general... Well I think that will be a good note to ponder on while I sleep :).
I dont know if I will post tomorrow, so this is probably to be bye for about 4 days.

The rest of the post I didnt finish last Sunday :)

2009-09-02T09:31:00.002+10:00

Well (let me just read over what I wrote on Sunday...), even though it doesn't sound like it, we did have a lot of fun on Saturday when we went snowboarding/skiing.
After I wrote that post my Aunt found that she only had two bikes so I stayed at the house and Dan and Aunty Jane took Sheba (her dog) for a run on the bikes, so I could have very easily finished this then but I really didn't feel like it (yeah, yeah, lazy bones, right?). Anyways after they got back we took our wet clothes down to the laundromat to get dried (because my Aunt doesn't have a drier, and we didn't have time to wait for them to air dry) after a bit of drama we managed that and while we waited we went to see great Grandpa at the nursing home, he has lost a lot of his memory and had no idea who Dan and I were, he really didn't have any idea who Aunty Jane was either...
After that we picked up our washing and went to my cousin Jorjah's 1'st birthday party. From there we went home. That was the most welcome place to be that day :).
Life went on like normal until tomorrow. My sisters and I are getting on a train to go to Melbourne.
Well basically that is the end of this post, lol.

My weekend...

2009-08-30T07:49:00.003+10:00

Well at the moment I am sitting at my Aunts computer, drinking my morning coffee, writing this post :). (the last part was obvious!)
On Friday, we dropped Ayala and Sarah off at the train station (did I mention that they were doing a sign language course?), then my Dad dropped Dan and I with Aunty Jane at Tamgambalenga (dont worry about pronoucing it correctly, lol!! But just for your information it is said Tam-Gam-Bal-Enga).
Yesterday we went skiing, it was foggy and it rained sometimes, by the end of it my legs felt like they were going to fall off and I was going to die of hypothermia (ok, I admit I am exadurating slightly, lol but right then it seemed to be the easy option!). I was soaked to the skin and Dan and Aunty Jane werent much better.
Well will finish this later because we are going gor a bike ride...

American V. Australian

2009-08-26T13:45:00.002+10:00

Sigh... I am almost 100% sure that I am one of the only Christian Australians on blogger.com! It must be an American thing to have a blog... Why? I have no idea! I know of only 2 people (outside my family, my family would make it 4) who have blogs who are Australians! One of them has NEVER written in it and is not a Christian (so he doesnt count!) the other I dont even know her name :P.
I would like to be proved wrong that there are only 3 Christian people in Australia who blog... Anyone???

Once in Royal David's City

2009-08-23T14:04:00.002+10:00

This morning I started humming... I was not thinking about what I was humming and in truth I didn't know what I was humming! I was indeed surprised when Mum told me that it "Was not Christmas yet." :), I then realised that I had been humming the song Once In Royal David's City, a song I the opportunity to learn a few years ago on the piano and a song I hadn't heard or played in about a year, it was a completely random song to be humming! I realised that I had never read the lyrics to it, so I did a google search (the wonderful things I learnt off you Kate S. :D) and thought I would share my findings with all my followers (and of course those anonymous people who would ever happen upon my blog).

Once in royal Davids city,

Stood a lowly cattle shed,

Where a mother laid her Baby,

In a manger for His bed:

Mary was that mother mild,

Jesus Christ, her little Child.

He came down to earth from heaven,

Who is God and Lord of all,

And His shelter was a stable,

And His cradle was a stall:

With the poor, and mean, and lowly,

Lived on earth our Saviour holy.

For He is our childhood's pattern;

Day by day, like us, He grew;

He was little, weak, and helpless,

Tears and smiles, like us He knew;

And He cares when we are sad,

And he shares when we are glad.

And our eyes at last shall see Him,

Through His own redeeming love;

For that Child so dear and gentle,

Is our Lord in heaven above:

And He leads His children on,

To the place where He is gone.

The week I didnt post...

2009-08-22T10:29:00.002+10:00

Why is it when ever I post lately I am tired and worn out? I personally dont know... Well anyway here is the rest of the week that I didnt post.

On Wednesday my Mum and I got some small square (they are actually rectangle) hay bales, for my garden. I prepared the ground a couple of weeks ago. So anyway I now have a half made (bodged up) greenhouse. I (with the help of my Mum and my dear little brother :) made a square with the bales and put bent pipe over the top and tied it all down... now all I have to do is get my Dad to help my find some clear plastic (back at our other farm).

Thursday my brother gave me a driving lesson in the old car we use to go around the farm. *Shudders* I dont think I'm very good, I kept stalling it! But... I am probably not the worst person to ever drive that car :D (ie. my teacher, lol). I am glad I am learning now so I have a year to practise before I am lawfully allowed to drive on the road!

Friday... what happened Friday?... I dont think anything happened Friday :D

Umm I think that is it... Sorry this is kinda short, I just dont have much to say this week. I guess I should go plant some potatoes :D (or something like that, lol)!

80 posts! Rain water and weekend

2009-08-16T11:46:00.002+10:00

Yay, I have 80 posts! Only 20 more till I reach 100!

Its Sunday afternoon, its raining cats and dogs and my Dad is collecting rain water off our roof to make Coloidal Silver , and we tested the water and it is almost exactly pure water! The water on the farm is out of a dam and it has like 200 parts per million (which it really disgusting! I think Dad said that the drinkable limit is 500 parts per million) and the water that came off our roof is like 10 parts per million which is practically pure!

The weekend... *Sigh*... Exhausting!! LOL but fun :). We had Kurt staying out again, he has got so much energy! After a weekend of watching him you feel exhausted!

Friday, after I wrote, it was a pretty normal day until we noticed another cow having trouble calving! The calf died... It is so annoying! Two in one day! It is so hard not to let it get to you, you just have to harden your self and get on with the day. I know from experience that it is hard, really hard! It is impossible to grieve for every little calf that dies, if you did you would get depression!

Well I really need to go (and do what I am not sure, lol).
Till next time then!
Katherine Alice

hectic morning!

2009-08-14T11:46:00.002+10:00

Well after I wrote the last post I went and got 6 cows and calves in to the dairy yards and was trying to get another one in when I saw a heifer lying in the creek having trouble giving birth. It was obvious that the calf was dead and had been for sometime. After a lot of hassle and elbow grease we got the calf out about an hour or so later (at about 10). By that time we knew we weren't going to make it into town before 12 to put my job application in, so I came back to the house and finished it off (ie. getting the referees, making phone calls and uploading the forms) and with 15 minutes to spare sent it in via email.
This morning when I found the cow, I knew that it would probably take a few hours so I just prayed "Father in Heaven, if its your will I apply for this job YOU do the miracle! And I wont worry about it.".
I dont really care if I get this job, it isnt what I want to do in my life but right now its an open door and if it isnt right thing for me God wont let me get the job, now all I have to do is wait and oh I hope the rest of the day doesn't hold any more surprises! Tatblol (The Author of this Blog is Laughing Out Loud)!
Gotta go, still have things to do!
Bye for now
Katherine Alice

I'm so excited!!!!

2009-08-14T07:39:00.003+10:00

I checked my inbox this morning and I had an email from the editor of a Aussie girls magazine called REAL (Respect. Enjoy. Aspire. Love) asking if I wanted one of the articles I wrote for Heywire (mentioned it in the last post) PUBLISHED!!! :O I was so surprised, I still cant believe it! LOL!
Well I gotta go, I have a lot to do today, I have to put my job application in (I'm excited about that too:) and right now I have to go check cows and feed the calves :D.
I'm sooo excited! LOL!

An Update

2009-08-13T14:30:00.003+10:00

Well since I last posted (on Monday) hardly anything has happened but I am kind of bored so I guess I will try ramble on about nothing.

Some time last week my Dad accidentally hit his shin with a big hammer and was limping around then the next day or so he was working in the dairy and he got a little bit mad at a cow and he kicked it *shudders*. He saw the doctor yesterday and had an X-ray... He has successfully broken his toe in about 4 pieces!!! So he is kinda stuck inside, I will just make mention that my Dad hasnt spent more than a day inside in his whole life (!) so he is getting really bored, lol (and he will have to spend the most of the next 6 weeks indoors)!

I have been sick since last weekend, it is getting really annoying... Not that is much I can do about it!

I have started to write for a website called Heywire, its a competition but you can put blog posts on it as well, its for teenagers in farming Australian, its interesting to see what other farming Aussie kids are writing about. Actually it can be quite depressing :P, but interesting all the same.

I am up at 11:00 PM writing Key Selection Criteria, my application letter and my resume (actually I finished my resume this morning) for this job that I'm going to apply for, lol still cant tell you what it is (well I can but I am not going to:). Ayala is up with me helping me (well that was until she got side tracked talking to someone on Facebook, lol, no seriously Ayala helped heaps!) and we are practically done now. We still have to think of two people who can act as referees! I didnt realise that I dont know very many people.

Well gotta go, am really tired and need to finish off so I can go to bed.

Till next time I write!

Ahh Monday again... which means A young Maiden's daybook

2009-08-10T11:16:00.003+10:00

A Young Maiden's Day book

Today... Monday 10 August 2009

Outside my window... Its half cloudy half sunny, quite cold.

I am thinking... That I am really tired and that I feel sickish.

I am thankful for... Being able to put stuff into words sometimes.

I am wearing.. Track suit pants, long sleeved blue and red checkered shirt, green jumper.

I am reading... I Isaac Take Thee Rebekah by Ravi Zacharias, great book, not finshed yet, and I started reading The Secret of the Notebook by Eve Haas, its really interesing.

I am creating... nothing really

One of my favorite things... sleep and feeling well not sick

For education this week... writing (like always) and what ever else I get time to do.

A keeper at home skill I am learning/using... none this week (yet).

For the rest of the week... feeding calves every morning and trying to rest to get over this cold/flu.

A picture to share... This is soo cute! But its bad cos every time I look at it I want to fall asleep :)!

Photos

2009-08-09T19:32:00.005+10:00

A weed leaf that I thought looked a bit weird cos of all the holes.

Yours truly (this has got to be the best self portrait I have ever taken!)

Random shot...

Our Momma cat, she was a good model.

This would make a good blog header I think... hmmm...

I dont know what this is *Shrugs*

Nother one of our cat (like I said, she is a good model!)

"I's (eye's) watching you!"

This is the hay rake, I was hoping that this would turn out slightly better.

I dont know which one I like better... hmmm.

I'm not sure what this piece of machinery was called but it looked kinda cool.

Is this "The egg was THIS big!"? or "This is the size of the posts."?

I was supposed to upload these earlier, I know! But I guess I just got too busy and didnt think... After I said I would upload the photos sometime today I went outside to do my daily jobs (getting any cows that have calved in, feeding the calves... etc.) There were two cows that needed to be got in, one who had calved yesterday, and the other was one who I am 100% sure she had had her calf but seemed to have misplaced it, lol they seem in the habit of doing that sometimes! The cow with the calf was pretty easy to get in but the other cow... Hmm let me just say she is NOT my favorite cow right now.... Anyway if I continue I WILL ramble on and on till you (or me, which ever comes first) are bored out of your brains!

I hate uploading photos cos they always take ages!! (I guess that is why there arent many photos on my blog :). I have a heap more I took that day of my brother's handywork lol, so I will try post them sometime soon!
Till then!

Latest News

2009-08-07T14:56:00.004+10:00

I wrote this on Friday.

BTW, if anyone was wondering about the sudden change of music from Gospel to Irish tap/river dance music, I got infected with it the first time I ever saw tap/river dance on TV when I was just a little kid. I absolutely LOVE it!!! All of the music on my play list (except two songs) were off a tap/river dance video call The Lord Of The Dance.

On Thursday, as we planned, we went to Albury/Wodonga for our dentist appointments, which for some of us went well *evil laugh*! Sarah walked up the dreaded hall way first, a few minutes later she came back and said "X-ray."
My brother, looking very scared, took the second walk and came back half an hour later with a fat lip.
Lastly I walked up the hall way (Isn't it funny how you think of things like "Walking the Plank" or "Sheep being led to the slaughter" when you are walking up the hall way toward that dreaded white room! lol). The dentist had a look at my teeth and said "X-ray." My first thoughts were "Awesome!! You are the best dentist in the WORLD!" I did not say that because that would be completely out of character, lol.
So we went and got the X-rays. Have you ever seen your teeth on X-ray? if you haven't it is very weird, it was quite interesting and kinda scary (scary, cos you can see all the stuff that is wrong with your teeth!). Anyway enough about the Dentist.
What other news do I have to tell you?? umm, I am thinking about applying for a job, I wont tell you much about it just in case I don't get it.
I will upload photos later today. I don't think I will have time to do it right now.

just an update

2009-08-06T06:25:00.000+10:00

Hi all,
I am very sorry I haven't posted in a while, I have made a bad habit in telling myself "I wont post till something interesting has happened." and when something does happen and when I get around to writing the blog post I say to my self "But that wasn't very interesting, I'll wait." *sigh* well that kind of thought wont get me anywhere! Just so you know, today will only be words although I have a LOT of pics I want to put up, I don't have time this morning. Yesterday we had a bit of an outing on the farm (like we do every day), but yesterday was special! We took the CAMERA!!! Yay! We aren't very good good at taking the camera places and so there for we don't get pictures :P which can be annoying sometimes, like when a pen-friend asks for a picture of me I go "Uhh, sorry about this but, ummm, the last photo of me I have was taken two years ago!", hehe it can be funny too :D!!
Well anyway there have been a few things happen lately. After my parents went to meet with our boss, because they discussed the things that needed to be done around the farm, we have been getting ready to build a shed near the house so that Dad can work on machinery and fix stuff. Its all very exciting! So yesterday a friend who knows about this kind of thing came and had a look at the site (which is now scattered with bits of machinery) to see how hard it would be to level, and while they talked and measured I had fun taking random shots of them, the machinery, our Momma cat and me and my shadow, lol! Then when I got back to the house I cropped and polished as best I could :D (Which isn't very good at all!). Hope you like them.

Just one tiny little thing...

You have to wait till tomorrow to see them!! Mwhahaha! :D Cos I have a dentist appointment today and I need to feed the poddies and get ready before 8 am and its now 20 to 7!! AHH!!!
Got to fly!

sigh so tired... :) #10 Young Maidens Daybook

2009-08-03T06:30:00.000+10:00

Well as the title says I am writing this at an unearthly hour... 6:30 AM. I guess it really isn't all that unearthly, lol, but it is when you have already been up for 3 and a half hours. But that story isn't all that interesting so I don't think I will tell it.

Well Saturday was spent marking, sorting, de-horning, ear tagging, and spray painting our poddie calves. Actually that list should probably read sorting, marking, ear tagging, de-horning, spray painting and sorting again, lol! Ok to explain (if you are squeamish do not continue reading this)...

Sorting= we had a few cows in with the calves.

Marking= is a nice word for castrating (I wont go into details).

Ear tagging= Because we cant buy or sell or move cows/calves with out some sort of ID (so that if they have diseases the Government can track and stop the spread, just one aspect) we have to fit an electronic ear tag to their ears (just like getting their ears pieced, except that the ear tag is permanent and they cant change them for prettier ones, lol).

De-horning= A lot of cattle have horns, which can be dangerous for humans and for other cattle so we have to remove them. This is probably one of my least favorite jobs to do, because it involves either cutting the horns off with huge clippers or (if the horns are still very small) you can burn them and because it kinda stunts the growth and this is the most humane way of doing it. A lot of people don't know this but cutting off horns is not as painless as cutting off a toe nail and there is a lot of blood involved. I wont go any further into detail because even though I am not squeamish at much at all it made me feel ill.

Spray painting= this was fun! We had to paint a dot on the top of their tails to tell which ones we wanted where. Some were going back to Cudgewa and some others were going to our boss' farm up near Sydney and some of them we were keeping here because they still need to gain a lot more weight before they go anywhere.

A Young Maiden's Day book

Today... Monday 3 August 2009

Outside my window... The sky has really dark rain clouds over it, the grass is an iridescent green, its been light for about 1/2 an hour.

I am thinking... That I am happy that I got to video chat with Cassie yesterday!!! And I cant wait to talk to her again :D and that I am really tired.

I am thankful for... God's grace, and that I am weak but He is strong.

I am wearing.. My pink p.j.s and am wrapped in a blanket (the best way to be at this time of morning, lol).

I am reading... I Isaac Take Thee Rebekah by Ravi Zacharias, great book, just not finished it yet :)

I am creating... A handbag made from recycled jeans, love making them :D

One of my favorite things... sleep :D.

For education this week... writing (like always) :)

A keeper at home skill I am learning/using... to be creative in the kitchen when there isn't anything to eat, lol!

(I wont bore you with these two because they haven't changed yet)

For the rest of the week... Hair cut today, feeding calves every morning, writing, cooking, sewing, Dentist on Thursday (AHH!!) pain Friday (lol), rest Saturday/Sunday.

I don't have a picture to share.

A Woman's Question

2009-07-30T18:29:00.000+10:00

A WOMAN'S QUESTION

Do you know you have asked for the costliest thing

Ever made by the hand above?

A woman's heart, and a woman's life--

And a woman's wonderful love.

Do you know you have asked for this priceless thing

As a child might ask for a toy?

Demanding what others have died to win

With the reckless dash of a boy.

You have written my lesson of duty out,

Manlike, you have questioned me.

Now stand at the bars of my woman's soul

Until I shall question thee.

You require your mutton shall always be hot,

Your socks and your shirt be whole;

I require your heart be as true as God's stars

And as pure as His heaven your soul.

You require a cook for your mutton and beef,

I require a far greater thing;

A seamstress you're wanting for socks and shirts---

I look for a man and a king.

A king for the beautiful realm called Home,

And a man that his Maker, God,

Shall look upon as he did on the first

And say: "It is very good."

I am fair and young, but the rose may fade

From this soft young cheek one day;

Will you love me then, 'mid the falling leaves

As you did 'mong the blossoms of May?

Is your heart an ocean so strong and true,

I may launch my all on its tide?

A loving woman finds heaven or hell

On the day she is made a bride.

I require all things that are grand and true,

All things that a man should be;

If you give this all,

I would stake my life

To be all you demand of me.

If you cannot be this, a laundress and cook

You can hire and little to pay;

But a woman's heart and a woman's life

Are not to be won that way.

Lena Lathrop

Mocha Brownies

2009-07-30T13:19:00.000+10:00

This is a recipe that I made last night for sweets. Its really nice, really easy and quite quick.

180g unsalted butter
250g dark chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup castor sugar
1 tablespoon dry instant coffee
1 tablespoon hot water
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour

Grease 19cm square cake pan. Melt butter and chocolate in a pan over a low heat, stir until smooth. Remove from heat, stir in sugar and combined coffee and hot water, add eggs one at a time (I found that I had to leave it to cool for a little while because other wise it would cook the eggs). Stir in sifted flour, pour mixture into cake pan. Bake in moderate oven for about 35 minutes or until firm; cool in pan. Dust with sifted icing sugar, if desired, before serving.

This is really nice with ice cream too. Have fun making it!

Tagged by Cassie (again lol!)

2009-07-30T07:44:00.000+10:00

This will be an interesting tag :) lol (and possibly a bit of a hard one).

Hopeless Romantic Tag

I was tagged by Cassie:

What two qualities do you want most in your future husband? I want him to be very strong in his faith (he would have to be to get past my Dad, lol!), I guess that's the most important quality and probably a romantic and have a sense of humor :D

Is there a fictional character you see as a model for your future husband? Clark from Love Comes Softly

Where do you want your wedding? Cudgewa Bluff Falls, the most beautiful spot on the entire earth!

What are your views on courtship?I haven't really thought much about it all.

What are your views on your first kiss?I don't really know, I would like my first kiss to be at the altar but I don't know if my views will change before that.

Do you have or want a purity ring/locket? No I don't have one or want one, I believe that if a girl is serious about keeping her self pure for her husband she will do it without a ring or a vow and if she is not serious about that then a ring/locket and vow will not make any difference.

Do you have or want a hope chest? No I don't have one but I really want one :)

Will you wear a veil at your wedding? I don't know I haven't really thought about it. But I think it would be an interesting thing to research.

What kind of wedding dress do you want? Some thing that have I have made my self with the help of my Mum.

What flowers do you want in your bouquet? Wild bush flowers

What do you want to name one of your daughters?I think I will decided that if I ever have a daughter.

What do you want to name one of your sons? I think I will decided that if I ever have a son.

Do you believe in the 'knight-in-shining-armor' view of courtship?I don't know! I don't spend my days thinking about all of this stuff!!

What music do you want to play at your wedding? This is probably the easiest question in this whole tag. I would like to play Pachelbel also known as Canon in D.

Are you a hopeless romantic? Not hopeless but I do consider my self to be a romantic.

I tag... Sarah and Ayala

Love Comes Softly and A Young Maiden's Daybook #9

2009-07-28T07:21:00.000+10:00

This is what my Mum got me for my birthday. Yes it is a little late but when they are coming from America and being back ordered... I think you get the picture. But although I couldn't find a picture of it, Mum actually got the first three movies in a set!

Love Comes Softly

Love's Enduring Promise

Love's Long Journey

Personally I think the books are much better (like any book that has been made into a movie), but although the movie makers changed a lot in them they are still very good movies which I would recommend to almost anybody (one of my favorite things about the movies is that Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing is the theme song)!

I know it happens to be Wednesday but seeing as though I didn't get around to it on Monday I thought I would do a Young Maiden's Day Book today :).

A Young Maiden's Day Book

Today.... Wednesday, 29th July

Outside my window... Its over cast and the fog is creeping over the saddle in the hill into our valley, its kinda surrounding the hill and when it comes up further we wont be able to see the hill.

I am thinking.... That my Mum just told me I should get a lot more done on my course, and that I have set my self a goal to use all of the old fabric we have before Christmas (now I have said it, I need to keep it, lol).

I am thankful for (This time I am going to change this to "I am happy that).... there was a Jersey calf born yesterday, Kurt will be happy because he has wanted to see what one looks like :D.

I am wearing.... my P.J.'s, black top, black track suit pants, and my snugly blue and white striped dressing gown.

I am reading.... (Lately I have to think "Now what HAVE I been reading?!" lol) When Quilt Designers Think Small.

I am creating.... a late birthday present for my Mum and finishing off the handbag I started last week (its almost finished).

One of my favourite things.... Warm mornings in Winter.

For education this week.... Writing, I have to finish my assignment, and maybe some English if I have time.

A keeper at home skill I am using/learning: sewing, cleaning and cooking

A spiritual lesson I'm learning.... to see the good in every thing (still) and to be content.

A godly character trait I plan to work on.... being patient with every body and every thing (I am not going to change this because I still need to work on it)

I am praying for.... I don't think I will fill this out anymore because we are supposed to do things before the Lord and not before men and to do things in secret and I don't think filling this out every week is being very secretive.

For the rest of the week.... Farm work, house work, writing, sewing, hair cut, and next week the dreaded visit to the dentist!!!

A picture I'd like to share.... Shared it up top.

Tagged

2009-07-25T11:37:00.000+10:00

Tagged by Cassie
What time is it? 11:39 AM (25 July 2009, sorry I didnt get to this earlier Cassie!)

What was the last out door activity you did?I fed the poddie calves and bucketed oats.

Do you have an email address?Yes

How many followers do you have?18

How long have you been on the computer today? Dont know didnt time my self

Who was the last person you talked to on the phone with? My Mum

Are you happy right now? Kinda

Do you want a horse someday? No I already have one.

How many pets do you have? Dont know, I havent counted lately but I'll try, 2 dogs, 6 cats, 3 horses, 150 ungraful cows, and over a hundred calves, and I have about 9 pet calves who change every couple of days.

Do you have a playlist?Yup.

Are you having a fun summer? Its not summer :D!

What book are you reading now? Bible, umm dont think I am reading anything else lately.

What is the most advanced book you read?uhh dont know!

Do you like your blog? Yeah its ok, but I think its almost time for a make over.

How many tags have you gotten? I dont know probably under 10.

What is the most recent award you've gotten? I dont know if I have ever got an award, lol!

What is the first award you've gotten? read above.

Who gave you your first tag?Cassie

Who gave you this tag?Cassie

Do you have a three column template?No.

What are you doing tomorrow? umm, feed poddies, wait for Mum and Dad to get home, then not much else.

How long have you been on blogger for? About 3 years, not always this blog though, I started this one at the start of this year.

How many times have you changed your profile picture?Once or twice

What did you do for your last post? Just an update

What is the most comments you've ever gotten on your blog? I think about 12

Are you having fun with this tag? Kinda

What is one thing you want right now? I dont really know.

Is your profile name your real name? Yes

What is your favorite animal? Cats, birds

What is your favorite movie? Ever After, Amzing Grace, Pride and Prejudice, Bride and Prejudice.

Have you seen the new Star Trek? No, those kind of movies dont interest me

Who is your favorite fictional character? fictional character?! I have no idea! Probably Daniell from Ever After

Are you hungry?Not really

Should you probably get off the computer right now?It doesn't matter.

Who are you tagging now? Sarah and Earwen

*NOTHER TAG*

Here are the rules.Go to your 6th folder and to your 6th picture.Post that picture and then tag away. (this will be interesting)... Wow I am the only one who actually looks happy and NOT tired!!!

hectic days

2009-07-24T09:09:00.000+10:00

I hate hectic days, especially when those hectic days go on for a week :P! This week we have been getting ready for Mum and Dad to go up to meet the owner of the farm we are living on and share farming (we have already met them but they are going to talk with him). So they will be away for this weekend, it is also my Mum's birthday :) so its kinda a working holiday birthday present for her, lol, if that made any sense what so ever! My grandma is staying with us, she arrived last night and will be leaving early this morning. Mum and Dad will be back tomorrow sometime (they didn't exactly say when, so I guess it will be just when they arrive).
It is 10 past 6 on Saturday morning, a friend, the man who is helping with the milking while Dad and Mum aren't here, will be arriving shortly. Its still very dark outside but I can see my brother bringing the cows over the road, when it is dark he has to have a flashing light.
I am thinking that I should get off the computer and make some stuff, but I really don't feel like it, lol!
Just had to interrupt my writing to take two travel mugs of hot chocolate to Ayala and our friend. And say goodbye to Grandma.
I'm sorry if this is kinda short and sketchy, I really am at a loss at what to write. After some personal stuff that happened to me a few days ago I haven't really felt like writing or had anything to write about.
Shalom! From your very awful author (joking!)
Kathy

Just a quick note.

2009-07-20T16:39:00.001+10:00

I saw in the local paper the other day, the Elaine Mitchell Award has attracted over 100 entries!!! From all over Australia... AHHH! Now I am scared! And I have to wait till late September to see if I have even made it to the top 10 (!) then I have to wait till some time in October to see if I come anywhere near winning!

A Young Maiden's Daybook

2009-07-20T15:59:00.000+10:00

A Young Maiden's Day Book

Today.... Monday, 20th July

Outside my window... Its sunny, the sun is just starting to go down for the day, my brother just rode past on his motor bike and my sister is walking down from the bus stop.

I am thinking.... That I am excited about going to the Faulty Towers restaurant tonight, and thinking I am glad I have almost finished my goal for today!!!

I am thankful for.... that it was warm today and it was actually pleasant to feed the calves this morning.

I am wearing.... Dark blue jeans, black wool jumper, and bare feet.

I am reading.... Georgiana, by Libby Hathorn, it is about a botanist in 1829, who settled in Western Australia. Its a fiction book based on the life of the real Georgiana Molloy.

I am creating.... a handbag to sell on Etsy.

One of my favourite things.... the feeling of accomplishment after you have finished something.

For education this week.... Writing, I started my fourth assignment today (whoo!!).

A keeper at home skill I am using/learning: sewing, cleaning and cooking (this probably wont change much)

A spiritual lesson I'm learning.... To see the good in things instead of the bad (I was told the other day that I already do that, I was surprised because it isn't usually what I think).

A godly character trait I plan to work on.... being patient with every body and every thing (I am not going to change this because I still need to work on it)

I am praying for.... Same person as last week except for different reasons.

For the rest of the week.... Farm work, house work, writing, sewing and being generally busy.

A picture I'd like to share.... don't have one right now. I think I have exhausted my supply of photos :).

"Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God. He to rescue me from danger, buy me with his precious blood."

(My ALL TIME favorite song ever!!)

"Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love, here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal if for thy courts above!"

Stuff needs to be done!

2009-07-17T07:22:00.000+10:00

Ok yeah, the title does sum this up well :). I probably should be writing the activities for my course. Or figuring out the pattern for a shirt I started making last night (will post photos when finished).
My Mum brought me about 2 meters (could have been 3 meters) of dusky pink corduroy in the Autumn and I haven't been able to find a pattern to fit it. So yesterday while looking for fabric for a present, I found a couple of meters of baby pink cotton and I had an idea. I would make a shirt out of the cotton and a jacket and skirt out of the corduroy. Yay, that's sorted, now for the hard (fun!!!) bit... making them! :)
My course.... Well I am at the end of the chapter and in each chapter there are activities, basically like assignments except they don't get sent to my tutor. This time they are exactly like the assignments, except I have to write an anecdote and a quiz, and in the assignment I can choose which one I would like to do. I have a quiz all sorted out but what I am having trouble with is thinking of a story that would make a good anecdote!
Well got to go, I have an hour till I have to be down at the dairy and feeding the poddy calves. So I should get started on something!
Shalom!
Kathy

Sigh another day in the pocket of time...

2009-07-15T18:03:00.000+10:00

Yup I just made that up :)! I guess it kind of reminds me of picking up shells on the beach. Don't know why. Felt like writing something, this just came to me as I wrote.

Just another day,
Just another morning,
Just another calf to feed,
Just 5 more cards made to sell,
Just another idea to make tomorrow,
Just another frustration,
Just another aching muscle,
Just another blanket started on,
Just another email sent,
Just another mess cleaned up,
Just another load of washing hung up,
Just another song played,
Just another scene I should have written down,
Just another page not turned in my book,
Just another creation thought of,
Just another day... ends.
One more day to live,
One more song to play,
One more singing bird to listen to,
One more rose to smell,
One more frustration to over come,
One more day I will be able to turn my idea into something,
One more time to show kindness to someone,
One more horizon to see,
One more life has been born,
One more scripture to learn,
One more sight to enjoy,
One more sermon to listen to,
One more friend to meet,
One more day that hasn't happened yet.
An amazing God to serve,
Just another day.

Monday again! #7 Young Maiden's Day book

2009-07-13T10:31:00.000+10:00

Well today is Monday again. It is also when holidays end and when school goes back so both my sisters are at work and I am free to continue on my boringly mundane life alone, lol! What a holidays. It was pretty hectic but really fun!

Yesterday after Kurt went home the Paul family (friends of our family) arrived unexpectedly. We had supposed to have gone to their house for a fellowship meeting Saturday night and when Dan got sick all that was called off and we stayed home instead. So it made the day more interesting :).

I am very relieved. My writing assignment came back today!!! I got 74/100, so it isn't as great as I would want it but I think I should just be happy that I got it done, finally!

Today Mum asked at the local paper, the Corryong Courier, if I could do a few weeks work experience!! I am kinda scared and kinda excited. The only problem I have with working really is that I get painfully shy around anyone I don't know well or at all. I hate it! Also today Mum asked at the school if I could enroll to do a textiles class next year. Now that I am really excited about!!

A Young Maiden's Day Book

Today.... Monday, 13 July

Outside my window... Its sunny but there are clouds so perhaps more rain.

I am thinking.... That I should get up and make some stuff, as I haven't even started anything today and I want to at least make one thing a day.

I am thankful for.... Beautiful music

I am wearing.... Blue jeans, pastel green jumper/sweatshirt, bare feet

I am reading.... I haven't read anything but my Bible in ages, the last book I read was The Hiding Place the story of Corrie Ten Boom.

I am creating.... nothing at this moment in time, but I hope to be in the next 10 minutes :D

One of my favourite things.... sunshine and warm after rain and cold

For education this week.... Writing, I finished my last assignment Friday and I hope to at least start my next one by the end of the week.

A keeper at home skill I am using/learning: sewing, cleaning and cooking

A spiritual lesson I'm learning.... To be content in all situations

A godly character trait I plan to work on.... being patient with every body and every thing

I am praying for.... Someone in hospital

For the rest of the week.... Farm work, house work, writing, and sewing

A picture I'd like to share.... don't have one right now.

A few un-interesting bits of random ramblings...

2009-07-12T12:26:00.000+10:00

Ok, like I said this post will probably be a bit boring but then I guess its better than not posting at all :)! (ok reading over it, it was pretty interesting, I even made myself laugh at the last bit, lol).

This weekend Kurt (Ayala's student) stayed over for the weekend. Its a little weird because he is almost one of the family now, lol. He loves the farm, and cant get enough of fencing, feeding the calves and hunting the cows. He really enjoys learning new things. He heard me playing Beethoven's Fur Elise on the piano and begged me to teach him, telling me that he thought it sounded "Awesome!!". So I gave him a lesson (that was interesting, seeing as though I have never taught anyone how to play anything on the piano, and I am not overly good at it myself), he learnt it off by heart in about 4 days! It took me weeks to learn that!! He also wanted to know how to play Ode to Joy, after that Dan started calling him Beethoven, and when ever he wanted to practice he would say "I'm gunna go be Beethoven." :).

Yesterday one of the springer herds (we have three herds of cows, two herds of cows (the springer's) are the cows we have to check every day because they are going to have their calves soon, and the other herd we milk) got out of their paddock and got into another paddock but yours truly thought they were the herd we were milking and so Ayala and I put them back into what we thought was their paddock, no problems, until we found out that the herd we had just moved were the springer's! OH what a nightmare... So we spent the whole rest of the day in the paddock sorting about 50 cows out of about 130 and they all look the same!!! Our neighbor came and helped (because it was the kids fault we were sent out to fix it and Mum and Dad stayed right away) with her horse, Ayala already had Blackie, the boys had the motor bike and Sarah and I were on foot (not the best thing because I had gotten a blister earlier in the morning). After a lot of frustration on every ones part and about 8 different plans of attack, we sorted most of them out and we had missed about 10 which got sorted when the herd went to the dairy for milking. Ayala and Diana (our neighbor) and their horses got a lot of camp drafting (also called cutting) practice and the horses had a good exercises.

Usually Mum and Dad are the ones who do the milkings, but last night my brother got sick and Sarah and I had to help Mum while Dad looked after Dan, (which meant my blister didn't get much rest, lol, it hurt a bit) it also meant that we had to help get the few springer's out of the herd. The last 9 cows were made up of 3 springer's and 6 normal milking cows, our plan was to try stop the three springer's going into the dairy but as we tried to stop them one of the cows (not a very nice cow, lol) put her head down and charged Mum, Mum told me later that she thought "What should I do?" The only thing she had time to do was yell "AHHHH!!!" and freeze. The cow missed her by a couple of feet (I was standing a few meters diagonally behind Mum) and came straight for me!! I just thought "What do I do? Run for the fence or..." Sarah told me later that I just screamed, lol! The cow also missed me by a couple of feet and ran into the dairy shed. When I think about it the cow probably wasn't thinking about getting us but just bluffing to get us out of her way, but it is a little hard to judge if a cow is bluffing or not when she is charging you!

Okey dokey, got to go.
Bye byes :D
Kathy

untitled and A Young Maidens Day Book

2009-07-06T18:07:00.000+10:00

Well a few interesting things have happened over the last few days.

Yesterday we found out the Ayala's mare isn't pregnant like we hoped. That was a bit of a disappointment. We are slightly worried though, because about a year and a half ago, Luka (the mare) had tetanus and we were told then that she would be a ruined horse if she ever recovered. But thankfully a miracle happened and she was fine, we are just wondering if being ill like that could have damaged some of her organs, we have still to ask the vet about it so it is just a theory.

Today, Face book decided they didn't like me anymore and deleted my account. At first I thought it may have been because I was home schooled, but after a bit of searching through the terms and conditions I found an exception for home schooled kids. Then after a bit of thought I guessed it could have been because I made a comment about God. But my sisters talked me out of that one, and now I have no idea! Which is annoying because in the terms and conditions (yes I read most of it!) they clearly stated that they would contact me before they deleted my account, so I am left scratching my head... I guess all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose.

Monday, I guess I should do a Young Maidens Day Book well here goes.

Today.... Monday, 6 July

Outside my window... Its dark, I am writing this in the evening

I am thinking.... Wondering why, and thinking that I love the sound of Amazing Grace on Bagpipes (its on my play list) and thinking that I love the movie too

I am thankful for.... That I got kicked off Face book (I have no idea why I am thankful for that!), for the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies, Lord of all to Thee I raise this my hymn of grateful praise. For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent child, friends on earth and Friend above, pleasures pure and undefiled, Lord of all to Thee I raise this my hymn of grateful praise. For the gift of Thy dear Son, for the hope of heaven at last, for the Spirit's victory won, for the crown when life is past, Lord of all to Thee I raise hymns of gratitude and praise. (Wow, I just started writing 'for the beauty of the earth' and I just felt I needed to write the whole song, and I realised that is exactly what I am thankful for right now!)

I am wearing.... Black wool jumper, loose blue jeans and white socks

I am reading.... The hiding place

I am creating.... Stuff in my head, haven't transferred them to my hands yet

One of my favourite things.... sunshine after rain (its been raining a lot lately)

For education this week.... Writing

A keeper at home skill I am using/learning: Sewing and designing things

A spiritual lesson I'm learning.... To be content in all things

A godly character trait I plan to work on.... being content in my circumstances

I am praying for.... a few people

For the rest of the week.... Farm work, house work and 'making stuff' work
Pictures I'd like to share:

These photos are a couple of years old but I wanted to share them with you. :D

This is the first poddy calf that I ever raised, Rosie, and her calf Buddy, my Mum found the photo the other day and I thought they were cute :D

This photo was taken just after Ayala's 15th B'day. We have a matching photo somewhere taken a couple of months ago (will post it at later date).

This, as all of you should know, lol, is a wombat. And no he is not dead, he is asleep. His name was Woko, he was the best pet EVER!!! Now I know you aren't supposed to keep wild animals as pets but when his mother met an untimely end, we picked him up (he was only about a month old) I couldn't resist asking my Dad if we could keep him. He said yes!!! We took him home and gave him some milk and put him in a box, the middle of that night he dug through the box and got under my bed and called to me (wombats have a funny call, its basically a series of grunts). From that night on he found ingenious ways of getting out of his box and finally found a way to get up on Mum and Dad's bed, lol! There are heaps more stories that I could tell but I don't have the time right now. We were all sad the day he got out of the yard and fell asleep under Dad's car.

Well I really need to go.

Your author

Kathy

Big week.

2009-07-03T22:09:00.000+10:00

Well the reason for my being so bad a blog author is because the start of this week our Internet stopped working :(. It took us the whole week to get it fixed. But there was a good side. On Monday (or Tuesday, I forget which, it could have even been Sunday), Mum came to me and told me if I was going to get serious about making stuff I needed to set aside a corner where I could set up my sewing machine and what ever else I need. The problem with this idea is that there is no where! We ended up finding a corner, I love it because I can be set up with my stuff and fiddle around making things, I have already made two handbags. I might post about them another day.

Other developments... Last week, I got my entry for Elyne Mitchell Rural Women's Writing Award finished and with the help of my two great friends Noah (from aquest4thecalling.blogspot.com) and Cassie (from insidecassiesmind.blogspot.com) I was able to edit it as well. Thanks guys :D!! I couldn't have edited it with out you, lol! Now all there is to do is wait... till October (I wish I really could time walk! lol)!! That is when the winner is announced but apparently I should be notified soon if I get to be a runner-up, but there is a good chance that may not happen.

Today, one of Ayala's students came and spent the day with us. He's a good kid, although he has been through a lot. He is about Dan's age, they are great friends now. He lives with his grandparents and when he comes out here its almost like he treats us like a family away from home.
Tonight, we have had a kind of fellowship meeting, with one other family, it didnt really feel like one.

I have to go... Its 11 pm here and I should be in bed asleep but I felt I should write something, seeing as though I haven't for a week. I'll try be a better blog author from now on :D.

Bye, from your very tired author.

P.S. I am thinking about setting up a website, not a blog, a website, if anyone has any experience in this field please comment to see if you can be of any assistance.

I's sick :P

2009-06-25T10:42:00.000+10:00

Yup that's right I caught the same thing most people catch around this time of year... a flu. My Mum took one look at me this morning and said "You look terrible!". Last night Sarah walked into the room and asked me what I was crying about. I don't know if this means I am getting better or worse, hopefully better... but I have a horrible feeling it isn't.

When you have a flu and think things cant get any worse, and they do! Well yesterday they did, I had a dentist appointment, and he informed me that I have 4 baby teeth to pull out! Yikes! You can imagine what my first thought was (ie. NOOOOOOO!!!). Thankfully Mum decided that it would probably be better to wait till I was a little bit healthier. But he pulled one out anyway :(

I still haven't been able to finish my assignment. My brain can barely think of what to write in this blog post let alone think of assignments! Well I guess I am not to bad because I almost finished writing my entry for the Elaine Mitchell Rural Women's Writing Award. I have about 7 days to finish it and send it in.

Till next time! Hopefully I will be a bit healthier next time I write :)