B1 celebrated her 12th birthday on Wednesday and again on Saturday :) It's the normal way of celebrating around here as the weekends are the only time the Man of the House is home but if your birthday falls on a weekend then you only get one celebration ;) Wednesday nights festivites were quiet. Presents were opened and marveled over followed by a homecooked meal then an icecream birthday cake for dessert. We had many laughs with the candles. Everytime B1 blew them out they'd light up again and again. It wasn't until i looked at the candle packaging did we realize they were re-igniting ones! Saturday B1 was surprised by her grandparents (who live about 3 hours away) driving down the road with balloons and birthday banners stuck all over their car. We had a bonfire with loads of food and drinks and celebrated into the wee hours of the morning with family and neighbours. 3 of the neighbouring kids slept over so there was lots of giggling and very little sleeping. The grandparents stayed over too so a good night had by all :) Until next time ~x~

I haven't done an update on Buffy the dog for a long time. She's now 7 months old and still growing! She shouldn't grow much more taller but a little more filling out would be ideal. She eats like a horse then runs it all off so she's looking a little on the skinny side under her shaggy coat. B2 loves her to death which is great because i don't have to feed, exercise or clean up after her like i do with all the other animals around here that i didn't ask for lol. Speaking of the other animals, we've lost the rabbits. Someone left the cage unlatched. Luckily the guinea pigs stayed put. The rabbits were wild to begin with so i'm not too disappointed they've gone. They weren't the most playful pets we've had. Pigsy the big pig is just that lol. She's eating, wallowing and snorting her days away. She's 15 months old and begging for a boar to assist her needs. We may have to buy a young one. We've had no luck with finding one to lease around this area. The chooks are destined for the pot. I've not had eggs from then since February. I've tried threatening them and left the axe standing in their yard. They're ex battery hens so i guess after 2 years of being free from the battery and free ranging on the farm and now here they've finally settled into complete retirement. We also has pet yabbies. Funny characters they are. The lid to their tank is firmly on so no midnight escapes for them! Until next time ~x~

Normal families, as in once married, no seperations or remarriages, have 2 sets of grandparents. I like to be different lol

I have my mum's parents, my fathers parents, my stepdad's parents and my mum's stepdad. So that's 3 grandmothers and 4 grandfathers. I'd say i'm lucky :)

I don't remember my father's father. I believe he passed away not long after i was born. I recollect seeing a photo of him but no photos of him and myself.
My mum's father re-married so i guess i have an additional grandmother, although i've always known her as Aunt E. We weren't close to either Grandfather or Aunt E.
Mum's mum never officially married her next partner but he, Papa, was around from the day i was born, and longer before that, so they were like an old married couple lol.

I don't know if when you're a kid you're should have favourites when it comes to family members but i certainly had mine and they still reamin my favourites in my heart. Papa (mum's stepdad) and Granddad (my stepdad's dad). We lived with granddad for a couple of years. I don't have many memories of him apart from me always helping or perhaps being a hindrance lol at his place of work. He was a part of my life for many years but the memories are scarce.

Memories of Papa are more. From climbing the mulberry tree and picking the delicious fruits to him watching and sideline coaching my hockey team, we had some great times.

Sadly i don't have any living grandfathers now. My children were lucky to spend a few years with Papa and we have plenty of photo's from their time together.

Since we've moved to our little church i've self adopted a 5th granddad. You may think me weird lol but i think i may be missing a grandfather figure in my life, or even a father figure although i have my loving stepdad who i am close to but he lives in a different state. So my 5th granddad is a lovely neighbour who has many grandfatherly traits. He adores my munchkins, and indulges us with his passion for cooking. He's always around when help or advice is needed. He's full of knowledge and has the kindest heart. I couldn't ask for a better stand in granddad :)

Until next time
~x~

We have a flag pole in the middle of our front yard. At 1st i wanted it gone because it's in an awkward spot but after discovering it was concreted in the ground, apart from angle grinding it off at the bottom but still having the concrete there the only other option was to put up with it. I'm glad it stayed as it's become a talking point with the neighbours and passer by's after i thought long and hard what to do with it.

There are many occassions we have reason to celebrate so what better thing to do than hoist a flag for each occassion.

Australia day saw the Australian flag flying proudly.



St Patricks day, a leprechaun drinking guiness flew high.



Easter bunny made an appearence for a week.



Do you know how hard it is to take a photo of a flag blowing in the wind? lol

I have a happy birthday flag which will be hoisted for each of my children's birthdays during the year.

I'm yet to get a few more different ones, Christmas, New Year, Geelong Cats for when they win the AFL premiership this year ;) Ford racing for when they win their races too! I'll have to put my thinking cap on for other occassions.

Until next time
~x~

Easter has been on it's way since Christmas ended! I've not fallen into the trap of buying hot cross buns before the actual event, nor chocolate eggs. This is probably because my little family doesn't celebrate Easter like others do. My children don't believe in the magic of the Easter Bunny. The tooth fairy is more of a novelty and i'm happy with that. Also, being pagan means we do our celebrating in the springtime.

The magic was certainly there when i was younger. My granddad and i made easter baskets at his place of work and they were always miraculously filled with eggs on Easter Sunday. My mum always left a candy egg (my favourite for the past 30 years) in all sorts of places for me on the day. We never actually celebrated the day like we do Christmas or birthdays. I guess not following any religion meant we didn't do all sorts of things others may have over the easter period but getting a basketful of chocolate from a never to be seen being made it all fun :)

In saying that though, my little family still do the chocolate egg giving during April. I don't think chocolate of any form would stay put in the cupboard for 5 months waiting for spring to come lol. My children recieve an egg of their choice, most years it's the humpty dumpty egg, aswell as a pair of winter pj's. We also do a little decorating as any reason to do a little creating is right up our ally ;) It’s nice to brighten up the home for different reasons and gives the visitors something new to look at. So yesterday I donned my easter bonnet lol and arranged some easter novelties in a corner of our home. Simple, minimal but bright.

Until next time
Happy Easter, however you and your family celebrate it :)
~x~

We now have solar hot water. The man of the house installed it last weekend and after a few hiccups it's working well.

It's not on the roof of the church. The pitch is a little too steep so it's on the ground tucked away in a corner where the sun hits it mid morning to late arvo.

It's the 1st time in 11 years i've had hot water over the kitchen sink :) No more boiling the kettle or bucketing it from the bathroom.

Will be interesting to see how hot the water gets during the winter months. At the moment it's boiling hot but i suspect come winter we won't need to turn the cold tap on.

Until next time
~x~

Not part of my Australian spotty pottery but spotty and bright all the same :)

My mum gave me this gorgeous teapot, 4 tea cups and saucers and a large jug and bowl for a combined birthday/christmas gift. It's by Maxwell Williams and if i ever get to a store that stocks it, i'll add to it.

Now i just need someone to visit and have a cup of tea with me ;)



Until next time
~x~