Oh so busy

I have been so grateful for the amount of work I've been given this term.  

It is week five and I've had one day of no work!

I'm booked for the rest of the week, too, and was booked for all of next week teaching two different classes.

Well, I was.

I got asked to take on an 8 week contract and I said yes.

The Groom just asked why I don't work full-time and be done with it all, but it's not what I want to do

(even though I've worked full-time hours this term anyway).

I don't want the hassle of planning, marking, assessing, reporting.

I don't want to spend hours after school at meetings.

I want my weekends to be my own and devote them to my children, husband, home or my garden.

Best of all, about this contract, I'll be teaching The Princess!

From 8am to 3pm, I get to put on my 'teacher' hat with her.

I hope she doesn't try and take advantage of it :)

I'm so honoured and surprised as I was recommended for the contract - usually short-term contracts are just offered to someone on a list of people who are interested in contracts.

My poor home, though, looks like a mess.

It's all I can do at the moment to keep up with the washing and cooking, so if I can't 'do it all' now, imagine what I'd be like if I worked full-time too!

I take my hat off to mothers who work full-time and manage to raise children and have a lovely, tidy home.

You're doing it better than I can!

Contentment

Elastic waisted pants when you've eaten too much soup on Mother's Day.

Feeling so comfortable in your own skin that you wonder why it took you so long to feel that way.

Handmade cards from your children.

Corny presents chosen from the school Mother's Day stall but because they were bought with love and you in mind they are the best presents you have ever received in your life.

Laying in bed at night with an illicit Milky Way, eaten under the blankets, so you don't have to share any.

I've never been so content in my life.

I love being 40!

I have such a blessed life...

This is the beautiful sight that welcomed me on Easter Sunday.

The river where we camp was covered in fog.

I am amazed that the Easter Bunny found us in all of that fog.

Did you watch the Royal Wedding?

It was lovely and the dress was stunning.  

Now that it's over, we can all get on with the business of watching for the slightest hint of a baby bump!

I bought myself new pyjamas to watch the wedding in (well, one must be comfortably attired for these events).


I think my invitation was lost in the mail, otherwise I would have been there in a flash.

Little Man competed in a football carnival over the weekend.  

His team just missed out on making the semi-finals, but it's not about winning is it?

For the record, they had 6 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw.

Now, Little Man, The Princess and The Groom are out riding their motorbikes and I'm at home on my own.

I can eat ice-cream with as much topping as I like and not have to share!  

Woohoo!!!!

A special visitor

I am having 3 special visitors today.

I have prepared leek, potato and bacon soup.  

The bread has been taken out of the bread maker.

There will be orange patty cakes and a butter cake to share.

A new tablecloth has been put out on the outdoor table (but it's a shame the seat cushions are dusty and covered with dog hair - oh well).

Today, I'm getting a visit from Deb, from A Clothesline Out The Back and her two little boys.

I'm very excited.

It will be lovely to put a face to a name and chat.  It turns out we "have people in common".

Ash Grunwald's view of North Queensland

I love Ash Grunwald and have seen him play a few times.

I came across some of his footage from a recent tour he did up my way and was very intrigued as to what I'd see.

I'm impressed.

I hope you enjoy my neck of the woods.

Down to Earth Dishcloth Swap

I'm doing the dish cloth swap.

I wonder who I will get and who will get me?

It is a timely swap, with the children being on school holidays.

I have made heaps of my own cloths and I use them every day.

I've given away some as presents and I hope the recipients are happy to use them.

If you are interested in joining in on the swap, click here and sign up (or click on today's title as it's linked).

I think swaps are a great way to go.

Another milestone...

Little Man left today on his first school camp.  He is away for two whole nights!

I don't know how I'll be in the morning when I don't have him hop into bed for a quick hug.

He actually came over to hug me when they were waiting for the bus this morning!

I thought he'd play it cool like he did when he went on the bus last year for an away football game.  

I got told, "Leave me at the bus stop and then go".  Not on your Nelly I thought!  Apart from the fact it was 6am and I didn't know who any of the other parents and boys were who were waiting there, there was no way I was going.  I wanted to wave him off.

I like waiting with the children to see them off if they have to go somewhere.  Which isn't all that often.

I'm sure he'll have a wonderful time, and hopefully he won't miss me too much.

I've got The Princess home from school for a few days with conjunctivitis.  So all is rather quiet now.  

We picked up some school work for her to do this morning, so after lunch I will put on my Teacher hat and help her with her assignment.  

Then we might bake a cake and she can help me get dinner ready - tonight I might make chicken nuggets or a stew.  I bought a couple of kilos of chicken breasts last week so I may as well make the stew and nuggets in one go.  I can freeze portions for lunches and dinners that way.

Can you tell I forgot to bag the kilos separately?  They're defrosting in one big ziplock bag right now - oops!

I can't wait for my Little Man to come home (even if it means the two of them will continue whatever fight they left off at some stage), and most of all, school holidays start at the end of next week!

I look forward to the return of the Easter Bunny!

http://fairyqueen.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/easter-bunny-london.jpg

Orange cake - thank you CWA

I love recipes from the CWA.

They are basic and delicious.

Today I made orange patty cakes again.

It's from a recipe I found in a library copy of a CWA book.

It's from the 60's or 70's I think, but when I looked online I found a different one that had milk in it.

This time I doubled the recipe as the recipe only makes about 12 patty cakes.

I took them, warm and fresh from the oven, next door to share and they were a big hit.

I think if you find a recipe and you and yours love it then it's worth shouting it to the world.

I hope you enjoy my previous post and you have a go at making your own.

They say it's your birthday...

The world did not end after all!

I turned 40 this week.

It was nowhere near as harrowing as I imagined it would be.

I worked on my birthday.

I got sung to and given a cupcake.

I even got a Happy Birthday sticker to wear on my shirt.

I imagined I would have a big birthday and I wrote about my plans earlier.

It didn't happen after all.  

We went to Nitro Circus instead.

You know what?  I was fine with that.

I really don't think I'm the Birthday Party kind after all.

I spent the day of my birthday (other than at work) with The Groom, The Princess and Little Man.

We had dinner from the service station.

I'm happy with that.

There were no real presents.

I got a push mower, because we needed one.

I'm getting a little dirt bike, too.

A second-hand one that will eventually go to Little Man when he's tall enough to ride it (and at the moment I have to point my toes hard to touch the ground when I'm sitting on it).

I shall have to learn to ride the darn thing now.

At least I won't be the odd one out - even The Princess rides, so if she can do it then so can I.

Happy Birthday to everyone else who has a birthday in March!

How sweet - an award :)

I have been nominated by Sharon at Roses Among the Veg for a Stylish Blogger Award!  Thank you so much, I'm so humbled and speechless!  I also tried to hotlink her blog but for some reason blogger won't let me.  Go and visit her site - the link is in my side bar.  Not now, wait until you've finished reading this first :)


So, before I reveal 7 things about me, I wanted to update you all on Yasi.  


We have finally got most of the vegetation debris cleared.  There are a couple of tree trunks still laying on the ground that we've chainsawed up but they're too heavy to remove.  We'll wait until the ground hardens up enough to bring the bobcat in and get them out that way.  There are still some bottoms of trees and their root systems still in the ground but on an angle, but they're not posing a hazard at the moment so they'll stay there until later.  


I'm still waiting for the power company to arrange to have the leaning gum out the front removed.  It's on a weird angle and one side of it's roots have lifted out of the ground.   It's been reported so if it falls and takes out the power line it won't be my problem (other than we'll lose power for a while).I've signed the permission papers and returned them, now it's another wait.  


The mahogany tree that fell over in the chicken yard and landed on the gate and fence was cut up but the bottom and roots are still there.  The chickens think it's great to play on or scratch around under the roots to dust bathe in there, so I'll feel bad for them when it's time to dig the remains out.  There are also two other mahogany's in there that are still leaning over and we need to get the bobcat or ute over there to use to straighten them back up.


Okay, that's it for us.  Oh, and the chickens have each laid an egg each day since the cyclone, with the exception of one or two who may have missed the odd day.  But we're getting half a dozen eggs each day on average and that's good.  We've got so much I'm having to give them away.


My 7 things about me:

1. I love to sing.  Notice I didn't say I sing well.  I'm dreadful, actually, but I love singing at the top of my voice whenever I can, and if I can add a dance to it then that's even better.  I'm the weird looking person in the car next to you doing an excellent imitation of Wayne and Garth's version of Bohemian Rhapsody.
2. I'm not afraid of snakes or spiders but I go to pieces if a frog lands on me.  Little Man and The Princess take great delight in exploiting this fear.  I have been known to burst into tears and do a hand wavy-fluttery thing and do that thing with your feet where you step quickly from foot to foot in a side-ways movement.
3. The first ever concert I went to was Demis Roussos.  It was with my family.  I didn't know we were going but I did like his music.  My first 'real' concert was Culture Club.  I threw a letter on stage asking Boy George to marry me.  I do not have a working 'gay-dar'.  
4. I can write in mirror-writing and love psyching kids out with it :)
5. I can pick things up with my toes.  It's handy when you're too lazy to bend over.
6. I have almost dead-straight hair, with the exception of one single ringlet at the back.  The Princess suffers from the same affliction.  I also do not dye my hair and may consider doing so when I find my first grey hair.
7. I loved being the duster monitor in primary school.  I liked hanging out of the first floor window seeing how low I could reach and bang the dusters on to the bricks.  There were always two monitors and we used to see how many bricks down we could reach.  

So there you have it.  Go and visit Sharon now.

While you're at it, please visit:

http://aclotheslineoutheback.blogspot.com/
http://thereisalwaysenoughtime.blogspot.com/
http://theeverydaymum.blogspot.com/
http://www.mamamoontime.com/
http://consumption-rebellion.blogspot.com/