Dear heartsister

Dear Heartsister,

thank you for the well wishes in your recent letter. I'm as healthy as i can be. The Doctor was quite apologetic when he told me he couldn't find anything wrong with me and all the tests came back clear lol. I'm happy I'm healthy, though it would be nice to know why my heart was giving me grief. Heart disease runs in the family so it is a little scary when the my heart does irregular things.

Did you take the photo of the bird on the front of the card/letter? I'm trying to take more wildlife photos where possible to build my photographic skills.
In regards to the cartoon picture you signed off with, were you a redheaded cheerleader in a past life or are you one now? hehe
I quite enjoy reading your snippets of the history of the places you stay at :)

Did you attend the quilt exhibition? My mum is an avid quilt maker and collector, i just wish she passed on her creative genes to me. At the moment she's making some quilts for the Geltwood festival in Millicent, Sth Aust, The festival is a celebration and an acknowledgement of the quilt making and of the artisans and artists within the area. 
I like quilts that have a history or are made for a specific purpose. Did you see a photo of the quilt on the forum made for the Raine? Just gorgeous!

My munchkins have settled well into the new school year. B1 is in 1st year of high school. She needs to learn how to organise herself better. The amount of homework she's given each week makes me think they do nothing in class. She's on camp at Halls Gap this week. It's a getting to know your fellow classmates and working in teams kind of camp. They're camping in tents they've set up themselves, cooking their own meals in groups, having adventures in canoes, abseiling, archery lessons, doing all sorts of trust games, sounds like a load of fun :) B2 is coasting along with her studies in grade 6. Ask me at mid year how she is doing, it could be quite different lol, she's not a keen scholar, would rather be in the paddock with the horses. We had her to the optometrist on Saturday, she needs glasses for all things except sports, sleeping and walking. It could just make a big difference to her learning. B3 is still coming along in leaps and bounds in grade 2. Once again he has an occupational therapist once a week and i can see significant changes in his learning abilities.

The weather is still hot, humid and yuck! Summer may officially end at the end of this month but this part of Oz will still be sweltering for another month or two. I'm thinking a holiday house in the form of an igloo in the Arctic would be ideal ;) We've had a couple of fantastic storms pass through in the last 2 weeks. Unfortunately all it did was start fires again all around us. The smoke haze from the Grampians fire (200kms away) engulfed us for most of last week. I couldn't see beyond the neighbours back yard. 

We're off to the Great Western Rodeo on Easter weekend. We went last year and have decided it will be another annual event on our calendar. We'll pitch the tent and enjoy a day/night of country fun and games. Hubby also has a week or maybe two weeks off work over the Easter/school holidays so we may find somewhere else to pitch the tent for a few days of relaxing.

Home renovations haven't been happening lately. It's either too hot or hubby has been working too hard. He was in QLD for 2 weeks at the beginning of the month. I'm aiming for the kitchen to be complete over the school holidays, I'm nearly at the point where i can't cope with no running water over the kitchen sink and no stove top or oven to cook on/in. The munchkins are hanging out for all the goodies i usually bake for the school terms.

Well, i must leave you here. I have a piglet to wash and groom for show and tell at school tomorrow. I'm not sure how that's going to go, the piglets are still jumpy and squealy and haven't got used to us as quick as i thought they would. We attempt to play with them daily but they still shy away and get crazy. They're 4 weeks old on Wednesday :)

I look forward to receiving your next letter :)

Until next time
~x~