Little bit of white space and colour.

I found this scrumptious quilt pattern here Blue Elephant. It comes with a tutorial which i am going to print off and attempt. Well that one.

Or maybe this one from Sweetjane


Funny how i am attracted to white space. I used to love it when i scrapbooked too. It always seems to make things look fresher and cleaner somehow. That is the look i am now aiming for with my home style. Im not quite sure where to start though. Maybe a few visits to pintrest and designer sites will spark my creativity. Im kinda partial to design and colour, even though i am totally clueless:)

Feeling a bit ho hum today

Nothing major. Just things are crazy busy here which i am loving, dont get me wrong but oh for some time out!
Yeah i know im working part time now and im going to be more organised but i tell you what i havent really had a a chance to sit down and work stuff out or to plan things.

Im feeling a bit mixed up with my boy at the moment. He is never home, when he is you need to ask him to do his washing or clean his room and all you get is grief in return and that makes me angry and he just drives off. We sit here after the whirlwind has gone through shakin our heads thinking what the hell brought that on. We only asked him to ........! We never ask him to be here for meals, he doesnt have chores, he doesnt pay board, i buy stuff that we dont eat for his lunch.

His girlfriend has gone away for two weeks and he wont see her. Then shortly after that she is going away to study. I said to Daz well he is either going to be here more looking for company or out with his mates...hmmm not sure which but lo and behold last night brought a melt down on.

He says hey mum can we go to big w to buy socks jocks and tshirts? Im like what dont you know how to shop? So he cracks the shits and says dont worry about it. I went to him and said hey mate you are 18 you buy your own alcohol, buy your own clothes! That dint go down to well and so that brought on the question "Do you want me here?" The reply being you are never here so why ask us that question.

Anyways now he doesnt know if he wants to be a fitter and turner, maybe just a Tradies Assistant! Yeah well whatever, but the big point he made was maybe i should move to Adelaide?? To be with the girlfriend, yeah sure go right ahead, but who is going to hold your hand when you are sick and are crying in bed that its all too hard, i cant do this anymore......sorry but you arent ready and i dont think you could cope, the havint to think and fend for yourself will bring on anxiety and panic attacks again. Sorry mate, know you too well.

I know we need to let you go, but when you have spent all your money on PS3 games and not brought yourself jocks cause your butt is hanging out of them, sorry not sure what i should be doing here. Tonight we are going to have another little natter about spreading bills and payments out so its all not in one lump sum,. The trouble with my boy is it is ALL or NOTHING! There is no grey or in betweens, and in the day and age there needs to be, you can cope alot better when you can pace yourself and plan for things:) Sigh.....its very hard being a mum to a teenage boy that wants to be a man but still needs to come back to mum and dad for reassurance. Im thinking he will always be like this as he always seeks approval. I feel sad for him because i have the hindsight to know what to do and what I'd like him to do and what would be the best thing for him but its his life and he needs to live it. Live it for himself and not for me to live for him. So my son i love and adore you and will be here for you always but please harden up!! Dad and i shall help youxxx

Mums of older teens how did you manage to cope with these feelings and thoughts?? Please share with mexx
Have a great day Charxx

Memories

I just want to share this photo. I found it today and wanted to remind myself how much the kidlets have grown.





Zoe and her Daddy, this was taken in August 2008, back when i was into playing with my Photoshop.




Zoe and her Mummy. Loving her eyes.
You forget how fast they grow.
Just on the topic of how fast time flies and all that entails. Im not one for making New Years Resolutions because i beat myself up and feel like such a failure if i dont go through with what i promise. I NEVER EVER promise anybody anything unless i know i can deliver.

We do however have a few things we would like to achieve this coming year. Thats not the same as resolutions is it?

*Pull down our verandah and rebuild a bigger streamlined one:)

*Have Christmas in July with my family and with a Kris Kringle.

(We did that this year for my work do and it was really great. Its amazing what you can get for $20. I was extremly fortunate to recieve a Donna Hay cookbook. I shall take a photo! I promise:) Actually between birthday vouchers, Leighs book voucher and Christmas i was the lucky recipient of oh 3 or 4 cookbooks. Let me just say i LOVE cookbooks. However i am very fussy as to the books i do buy:)

*Schedule in visits with friends, which means a bit of travel coming up.

(With my job i am very lucky to be able to ask for time off with little hassle, so i plan to have a long weekend here and there. Did i mention that my boss is awesome! So are my workmates! We have alot of laughs and gigglesxx)

*Book in get togethers with local friends and families. I think a big goal of mine this year is to reconnect with people. Its been a long time coming (with my illness and all that entailed) that i am finally feeling like i can reach out to people and move forward. Im really lucky that i had huge support from many of my friends and i guess this will be a way to say thankyou to them.

*I wish to do more quilting. Even if it is just squares sewn together lol.

*im studying my nutrition, i have to hand up my assignments in April. Im looking forward to that. Not sure if i shall continue, it just depends on if its too hard as to whether i keep going:)

*We eat well and healthy, i would like to follow that on by Moving More and Eating Less. I want to include some kind of exercise every day! I know i will feel better for it and i have my little Dom on my shoulder egging me on!:)

What do you wish to achieve this year? Please leave a comment so i can pop by your blog and read your goals:)

Happy New Year!!!!!!
Cya Charxxxx

The end of 2011

Merry Christmas from my family to yours! Happy 2012. Please be happy safe and may all that you wish for come true!
So as this year draws to a close it is interesting to read what all my friends in cyber world are hoping and prayig for this coming year 2012!

As for myself, well 2011 was much better than 2010. I think the only thing i would like to achieve is to be more organised. I gave up a full time job to work part time with the idea of being able to do our block bookwork and odd block jobs. I have also taken up studying Nutrition. Im not sure where it will take me but i have a huge interest in food and healthy eating so it seemed like the natural choice. That or Personal Training. I was put off by this because of my health issues but i have noticed the less stressed and more relaxed i am i am not suffering from my vertigo and dizziness, fogginess as often and as severely:) Yay!!

So who knows what is in store for me study wise this year. I just hope i can manage it all. So i am planning to be much more organised and have already done planners and things to help me organise my gym, exercise, menu planning, shopping, house work, job and block commitments. Oh and id like to keep a small notebook with random happenings so i can update my blog more often and with photos. I must say im loving Instrgeam on my Ipod its so easy to take pics and upload them either to FB or computer:)

Some highlights of this year were: and in no particular order......

Leigh graduated from Year 12 with honours and a couple of scholarships under his belt. Cheeky boy.



Leigh dressed as Joker for a fancy dress 18th this year which seemed to be all the rage for 2011.

Zoe obtained her Learners, under funny circumstances i might add. Do any of you watch Little Britain? One of our favourite parts was where they wanted to go on a cruise as part of their holiday and the silly travel agent kept checking her computer and responding with..Computer saysss Noooo....that is one of our funny sayings. So it was no surprise that when Zoe didnt get her learners first time she exclaimed that *Computer sayss Noooo*.

Same happened for the second time but this time she was adament that the computer was wrong. So come her third time lucky charm she decided to do this test on paper. We figured that if she got it wrong a third time that it was human error and not computer error. Well to her joy she managed to get her Learners on her third try. God Bless Her. I must say that with out being biased she is quite a good little driver, due to the fact that she has had alot of practice driving on our 17 acres.

Leigh had his Prom as you will have seen from a previous post.

We had my neice shannon come stay with us for a week before Christmas this year. Gee she is a gorgoeus kid, inside and out, and very wise for her years. Love you Shannyxx



My new haircut from *SUCH* Salon. Most impressed she did an awesome job straightening my hair! Love it. Why is it we can never replicate it at home:(

My baby Daewoo is back on the road again after the boys stripped her back and painted her for me.

I did a vintage fabric swap with Mardi argh CANNOT for the life of me remember how to do a link grrrr!!!!!!
I sent away 94X5 inch squares of old pillowcase and some really awesome mens pjs that i cut up. I received the same amoutn of fabric back and oh my, how gorgeous was it. I have already put them into piles of ten as i am going to randomly sew them together as squares.



Zoe modelling the mens pjs for me. I promised to not show her face :)

I have done a few quilts this year. Not as much as i would like but i completed one for me. One for Zoe which is just squares stitched together, this type appeals to my personality which is impatience:)
I am still working on Leighs but i shall finish that in the next few weeks, well that is a goal. I have one on the go for Naomi, she is planning to go away to study in 2012 and i wanted to give her something to remember us by:) Not that she will forget us as she is just about our daughter in law haha.

I also have the fabric and pattern picked out for one for my darling man Dazxx

I met a gorgous girl in December who has inspired me to get back into my exercise.Im not fat but i lack motivation at the moment. It was awesome to spend some time with her as she is actually a personal trainer by trade. She had her own business in England and her and her boyfriend have come out to Australia to hopefully live here. They are a gorgeous couple and i clicked with her straight away.

She has opened my eyes a little more to POSITIVE!. I have come SUCH a long way this year from my anxiety and depression. I gave up my job of nine and a half years and to be 1000% truthful with you, I do not miss it one little bit. Oh i did have moments of oh my god what have i done but i tell you, they didnt last long.
Im really liking my new job and the girls are so much fun:) We had our Christmas Do the other week, oh what a night that was! We had a ball and were the last ones to leave.

Anyway Dom has helped to validate all the feelings i had as being normal and i cannot believe how much i found myslef nodding my head to what she was telling meX So needless to say she is my trainer by distance. I have to do 20 burpees per day. And also lunges and pushups. I can do the 20 burpees and i can now do 20 pushups on my toes!!!! Not necessarily all at once mind you:) I went for a run the other day and felt awesome. I have re arranged my verandah with all the gym stuff so i have easy access and i find that im doing the odd workout here and there. I have everything i need to get fit just not the motivation and she is helping me with this. I must say i also love the NTC Nike training club app for my Ipod touch. Its brilliant, all the exercises are there for you:)

I have found myself addicted to Words with Friends but i only play that on my Ipod.



This is one of my little timewasters in 2011, meet Lexxii

Do you ever find yourself at home very happy in your own company, here i sit on my laptop on NYE, happy with your own life and feel that sometimes its just too hard to mix with other people and then one day your eyes are opened to a new person or a new group of people and it makes you wonder what you have been missing??? Weird i know, i just dont do friendships very well i guess. I love my friends i do have but i need to be a better one. To make good friends you have to be one, isnt that what they say?







This was a new edition to our family back on Australia Day, cant believe we have had it nearly 12 months already. Dazzas pride and joy and Zoes CSI vehicle. Pic taken in Julyish:)

Well as it stands now on New Years Eve of 2011 fruitwise we have:

*Finished all apricots
*Have already started to scrape them
*Are looking at marketing them ourselves online.
Now that Angas Park and Sunbeam (who we supply too) are NO LONGER AUSTRALIAN OWNED!
We are hoping to get our fruit out there. Homegrown and Natural.
*Plums are all picked
*Nectarines mostly picked
*Apples thinned
*Peaches just about done:)
*Nectarines cut and dried OH my they are so delicious!
*Over 300 new trees ordered for our bare patch. It is going to be market peaches. The other smaller patch will be planted up to drying/market peaches.
We have people screaming for dried peaches! So we shall listen to their requests:)





Taken Christmas Day, a funny height one....3 generations as well:)

I think that just about covers it???? We had an amazing break thru Christmas ans achieved so much we are very happy.

Zoe participated in the Youth Opps program at school this last year. I think she found it helpful. It is an amazing program. It teaches the kids to work out what they what from life and gives them the tools to empower them to achieve their goals.

Shannies Visit

We were lucky enought to have one of our Neices come to visit us in the week before Christmas.

She came up on the bus and stayed with us.
I took her to visit Poppa and Nanna. I thought my dad was going to cry, he looked so proud of her and couldnt stop hugging her and looking at her. Its been a while since they have seen her.

I took Zoe and Shannon to Mildura to catch up with their uncle and auntie. As it turns out auntie had to go to work but we saw Uncle Chub and managed to have a whirlwind shopping trip.We had lunch at the food court in Centro Plaza. Boy and hasnt that changed since we lived there way back when Leigh was born! Phew over 18 years ago!


The girls pulling funny faces



Shan with uncle chubx

Shan also managed to do some apricot scraping and cutting. We were kinda lucky this year in that the season started about the 6th of December instead of about the 14th. And as i had this as a draft and am finishing this off on NYE our seaon has finished early. Apricots not due to be picked until the end of January, along with our Peaches are actually all picked and we were cutting peaches today.

We didnt need to employ any kids at all like we usually do. Actually we employed 6 adults and i tell you what, yes they are more expensive but they get in there and do the jobs. Kids, to be fair get tired and when the work is done they just want to go, and dont we all but it was great to have the shed cleaned up usually within 15 minutes of finishing cutting so that takes the pressure off alot!

While Zoe worked and Shan was here we hung out doing last minute Christmas shopping and food bits and pieces. This year i was SO NOT organised. I had no idea what to get Zoe. We ended up getting here some dvds and a heap of bits and pieces she needed, clothes, burnable dvds for music, perfume, bathers ect. Very tricky!

It was very sad to see Shan go home on the bus:( Zoe has been missing her actually.

Well you take care and thanks for popping by:)
Cya CHarxx

Prom 2011

How is this for gorgeous couple:)



Very wet day.




Another cute couple. I wanted to get the contrast of hot pink and blue and the blond and darks:)

Awards and Achievements

We are So very proud of our boy!
He had his High School Graduation on Thursday the 1st of December 2011.

He walked away with an Academic Achievement Award for English Pathways, which means he got the highest grade for that subject, apparently. His prize for this was a $50 book gift voucher, which he would like me to exchange for cash as i am the book lover not him:)

He also received the Agriculture and Horticulture Award presented by the Central Irrigation Trust and was also awarded a $250.00 scholarship cheque.
In this prize included a book about Irrigation Settlement in the Lower Murray Areas. That was quite interesting, there was a section of Cobdogla and the Humphfrey Pump which is a one of a kind pump in the Southeren Hemisphere or the world, im not sure. I know my Dad voulunteers at the Cobdogla Steam Museum and he would LOVE to read this part of the book im sure.

So out of his 3 subjects he received awards for two. We had no idea and neither did he that he was getting anything apart from his Year 12 Certificat of Attainment.

So this now means he is 18 years old and an official school leaver! Oh my where the heck did that time go.

I still SO remember his first day of school. It was Term 3 of 1999. He was a tiny 6 year old.

His uniform was Navy pants and top. He wore his gorgeous little workboots. I remember seeing him off and thinking "Oh, these 7 years will go take forever" How wrong i was! I have tears in my eyes thinking of how fast the time has gone by and i cant help but think that i didnt manage to grab every opportunity to spend with my two kids that i could have.

We have moved into the teenage years now with Leigh 18 and Zoe 16. She is driving on her Ls now. I just feel so sad at how fast they have grown but i am sure every parent feels the same.

If i had my time again i think i would spend more one on one time with each of them.

They have turned out to be amazing young adults that Darrel and I are very proud of, although on thing i would change if i could would be their language. They swear far too much for my liking. Im not saying i dont swear because i do, albiet not as much as them. I think it is terrible but anyways, they are old enought to guide their own views and habits without me nagging them:)

I will find some pics of my boy growing up and put one or two in this post when i have time:) A gentle reminder:)

WIWW

Hi everybody.Welcome to my sadly neglected blog. I do have an *ahem* excuse though:) I have started a new job. It is part time, i travel for it....an unusual occurance for me i must say. Although it is only 15-20 mins away......Im loving it so far. I am struggling with the much slower pace than i am used to but i will cherish this because when i am a fully fledged staff member and not an extra i can see that i am going to be busier and i am really looking forward to learning new ways and hanging with some fun friendly people:)

So without further ado i shall show you my new uniform:)


Sprouts Cafe Berri

Note to Self:)

Please spend some time designing a new blog:) Add some buttons and get reinspired here.
That is all:)
Charxx
Have an awesome day everyone!!

Hee Hee you asked for it:)

I sometimes play along with Mardi and Janelle in their WIWW posts.

Well today i wore something different....well certainly not different for me...as this is my usual attire when im working at home on the weekends.
These are hand me downs from my son actually....
stripy grandpa top
blue comfy tracksuit pants
diadora sneakers i did buy new a couple of seasons ago.




I dont wear beautiful outfits unless im going out...sometimes these occasions are few and far between but i wanted to play along today so i hope you enjoy seeing what i usually wear along with some things that we have done on the weekend.....it has been wonderfully productive:)
Below is a picture of our shipping container that we store our dried fruit in. We are in the process of building a lean to onto the side of it so we can store all our trays under it and out of the weather.



Some more images to share.....my little Lexxi has learnt how to beg....she does it at the drop of a hat...the funniest thing is when you say oh Lex you are so cute.....she pokes her little tongue out:)



A special and much sought after addition to our kitchen. My very clever man installed it and had the cupboards cut to the right width so we dont have any unsightly gaps around the dishwasher:)



This is a quilt i made for a friends baby who was born recently...i couldnt bear to have scraps lying around everywhere so decided to make this:)



Thanks for popping by:) Id love it if you left me a comment:)

OH my Im SO pumped!

This is going to be a long rambling post and im probably not going to make much sense as im so excited but you will get the gist at the end im thinking.

Okay so you may or may not know that i have had some issues with depression and anxiety. And for a long time i have felt it work related. I have mentioned to hubby on many occasions that i cannot cope and i am really really exhausted trying to put one foot in front of the other day in and day out when i have not had the energy or inclination. But, i have done it as i have felt i need to be *strong* and suck it up and just get on with it.

I touch a little on it in this post here

Anyway, after having a mini break down on ummm wed night i think,,,,,after telling darrel what is really going on in my head, the mental dialogue that is always in my mind he has given me his support and i can leave my job.

Now please dont get me wrong, he has always supported me and has always allowed me to do whatever it is i have wanted to do, he has never really said NO. Well i felt that i couldnt just give up because i would be letting us down as a family because lets face it.....you need money to live and my wage feeds us.

I am editing this post on Oct 8th as i havent gotten back to it and alot has happenend in the meantime.

Okay so i was having a really bad day and i happened to sent a facebook message to a friend asking if there were any jobs going where she worked....to my surprise she said bring in your resume and come meet my boss.

On the Monday i went to visit the boss and handed in my resume. She asked me to come back the following Monday for a trial and as i had that day off i was thrilled to be asked. I was there for about an hour and a half and it was SO MUCH fun, not the same as my current job but with similarities:)

After the trial she mentioned that she had some other girls to try out but that so far i was looking promising, this made me feel so wanted..but i couldnt count my chickens yert could i?? She told me that she would make a decision on the Friday and that she would let me know.

Fingers were crossed and i was so pumped and excited and so happy to have even been considered. Imagine my surprise on wed afternoon after finishing late that i had a missed call from her. I quickly rang her back....thank goodness that i had just put credit on my phone.......i usually use my phone for texting only:)
Anyways she told me that I HAD THE JOB IF I WANTED IT! Are you kidding course i wanted it...can i start it tommorrow LOL.

We discussed notice and the like and when i would be able to start.

I promptly went home and polished up the resignation letter that had been on my computer for some time and printed if off to hand to my boss the next day.

Fast forward a week and imagine my total disappointment when my boss comes to me (and me thinking yay only 3 working days left) and tells me that i have to give her 4 yes 4 WEEKS NOTICE!!!! Spewin!
Anyway after alot of discussion and deciding that nope i was going to just keep with my two weeks, it seems if i dont that they can hold back monies! Grrrrr!

I spoke to my new boss to be and we decided that my new start date will be Oct 31st!!! It happens to work out better for her and as i always say, things happen for a reason....and i dont miss out on any money......And i made my family proud!

Zoe said to me when i took her out to go to a friends *im proud of you mum* i asked why and she said because you fought to prove her wrong but when it turned out she was right well you just decided to go with what was right.

Now you have an end date, and its not like you have to be there forever, she could see how unhappy i was having to see out the extra two weeks so it felt good to know that i was showing my kids the right way to handle this and my attitude proves that you can overcome anything really. I told her that i was actually finishing now on Grans birthday and she said well you will be partying extra hard that day hey mumxx

So just goes to show, doesnt matter how sad and miserable you are ( and believe me ,,,,i was damn miserable) that there is always something jsut around the corner.

Now i have not been happy there for such a long time but it is definately Serendippity! How i love that word:) It has turned out great and i am so excited and im not even anxious or scared or nervous....really weird considering how bad i get just having to go to work there every day compared to starting something brand new!!

So today i handed in my amended dates of resignation and i rang my boss last night to tell i would stay the two weeks if she wanted.
Now what gets my goat really bad here is that she tried to guilt me into staying by telling me she had no staff capable and with one supervisor how hard it would be to train some one else......

I told her well actually
1 you have already replaced me
2 your superviser now is capable and
3 There is no room for growth for me any more!

During the course of these bosses ownership of the business i have gone from being their right hand helper in showing them everything about the day to day running of the shop, from ordering and right through to daily routines and even hygiene and supervisor...now its been a long time coming but now i only supervise on the 2 days the other supervisor is not there...not bad considering we were supposed to be *sharing* the job.......I only do the orders on those same days, pretty much all responsibility has been taken away from me, now dont get me wrong, i understand my lack of confidence, anxiety and deppression has played a part in this decision for her but to just continually take things away without any explanation it just made me feel totally useless hopeless and stupid, so in turn why should i keep trying so i would just say i didnt know something or just tell people to ask the supervisor or boss stuff.,...knowing darn well i knew it but everytime i made a decision, even as small as which job to delegate to who when, and my decision being undermined i decided stuff it you can stick it where the sun dont shine! You feel my decision is not the right one or you dont feel like following my ideas well pffft go right ahead dont bother asking my opinion:)

Anyway i dont care anymore...im LEAVING!!!!!!!!!

I am going to be helpful honest and do my work to the best of my ability until it is time for me to go so there is no way anyone can come back and say oh you dont care your leaving anyway.....so i can just say to myslef....ahhhh stick it hahaha:)

And know when i walk out of there on my last day that i can go with my head held high and be proud of all that i have achieved there. I did grow and learn alot in the 9.5 years i was there but it is now definatly time for me to move on.
There are certain people i will miss customer wise and some who i will not!!!!!

I am so pleased and excited to be able to have something fun to move on to and that i was highly recommended by the girl i originally asked...i cannot thank her enough for putting herself out there and voting for me.....i will not let her or my new boss down so all i can say is

*BRING IT ON!!!!!!!

So stay tuned for the next happy bubbly instalment of my life:)
Charxx

Todays Blog Prompts

On my travels in cyber space i dropped in on Laurens Blog and really loved her List of Prompts. Im hoping she doesnt mind me borrowing and sharing my take on her questions. I have to add that she is really blasting her calories and it makes me think that i could do that too:) Maybe i will ramp my exercise up soon. Anyway lets get on with it:)

Outside my window...It is dark and very cold.

I am thinking... I want to put music on my ipod

I am thankful for... My family and the fire that is keeping us warm tonight.

I am wearing...grey gym pants, gym singlet, sneakers and windcheater (yes i went to the gym tonight:)

I am going to... Go to bed soon as im working tommorrow

I am currently reading... The Last Minute By Lee Abbott (i think)

I am hoping... to get my menu planning and grocery shopping done this weekend

On my mind... Im trying to fininsh a baby quilt as a gift and my sewing machine is being naughty:)

From the kitchen... Im craving our preserved fruit and custard but its getting too late so maybe a hot chocolate?

Around the house... Are the toys that our puppy wants us to throw for him,,,

One of my favorite things... my ipod touch

A few plans for the rest of the week...work, day off monday, maybe a trip to an op shop or two is in order

One photo to share..

My brother was the tallest person in our family for so long.......Now my son is:) Im about 175cm tall....Leigh is over 184cm:)
And congrats to my baby brother who is SO excited about being a daddy!

Man i love a fantastic weekend!

This weekend was a wonderful one.

It started by us having a chat to the boy about being adult. A chat to the girl about school responsibilities and behaving herself. Consequently, she got grounded. There comes a time where you do need to stand firm and make them realise that you do mean what you say and anrent just there to make their life a misery:)

I think it was the best thing to start our weekend off with because it was brilliant. Leigh stayed home on friday night due to falling asleep on the couch. He has been quite sick this week and he really needed to catch up with sleep...even though he slept a good part of the week away.

We left him home while Daz zoe and i went to the local op shop for a browse....we saw Mardi there with her mum and had a quick hello and then we went our seperate ways to browse happily. I ended up leaving with a pair of size 11 levi jeans and some books and magazines because they were half price. Zoe came out with quite alot of clothes and some gorgeous dresses....Hmmmm must take photos...i always seem to forget that part:)
Darrel got a pair of jeans and a pair of shorts for work.

We stopped at a local cafe and had some lunch before heading home to just chill for a while.

At 4pm i left to go to a Body Shop party. A friends daughter has become a body shop consultant and i really enjoyed being pampered. I brought a few bits and pieces of scrumptious delicious goodies......cant wait to receiver them. It made me get my nail pretties out and give myself a mini manicure.....today i have pretty nails:)

Today the kids and i had pledged to do some work around the block so at 9.30 we pottered off to do our little bits...leigh laid out irrigation hoses back under the trees so it is all nice and neat again.

Zoe and i scraped apricots...so now there are NO MORE APRICOTS left to scrape!!!!! We ended up that these apricots were to go to rubbish because they got really wet and mouldy when we had our 300mms of rain over three months.....so now we just have to finish scraping the pears and these will be worked on over the course of this week.

During the course of the weekend we had such a huge amount of time spent together and so many laughs:) The huge thing here at the moment is if you burp...you are to place your thumb on your forehead, the last one to do this is supposed to get a light punch in the arm:) If you ummm for want of a better word...popoff:) then you have to grab hold of your ear.....and the same rules apply:) Needless to say geez we had some huge gigglefests this weekend and it has been fantastic:)

I have really missed having the kids around and just hanging out together. Dont get me wrong, im happy for them to grow up but they would rather spend time with the girlfriend and boyfriend...and its the time together that i cherish and miss.

I went and got darrels mum and brought her out to have a cuppa and chat with us. That was lovely, the 5 of us sitting around the table under the verandah just chatting:)

Zoe cooked tea for us tonight...we had a roast lamb with roast potato, roast carrot corn, zucchini, and peas. Yummo!

This evening i have revisited my friend... Pintrest:) Ive missed it. Im looking for decorating ideas for my house now..... Im looking forward to making some cute quilted cushion covers:) Ive been spoilt with my Ipod touch and havent been on my computer much. Im thinking i may have to set a night aside this week to scout around for a while and check out all the lovely things at Pintrest.

Speaking of doing stuff around the house. Here is a little before and after of our bed repainting:)

Really dark wooden sided bed,,,,it used to be our old water bed. Many years a go we put slats in the bottom of it for a mattress.



And here is the quick easy way to paint, Although im sure not everyone will have the awesome one of a kind bed holding tool that we have available to us. It makes painting your bed very easy:)







Pop on over to my Easter post to catch up on the photos i promised to show you:)

Blog Bucket List

I popped over to Kates blog today and was inspired by her Blog Bucket List.
She said if we wanted to join in to start a list and show her where to find it:)

Mine, like Kates will be a work in progress.
So big deep breath, ahhhhhhh, here goes,,,,,

1 Study Nutrition. Just because i can.
2 Write a cookbook for Teens leaving home.
3 Have my friend from USA come visit me.
4 Move to Queensland in a few years.
5 Go to Bali with my Auntie and cousin for a *girls weekend*
6 Join said cousin and auntie at a quilters retreat at Toowoomba
7 Pay off our property as soon as possible
8 Find a new job. Or branch into a new career.
9 Find myself!
10 Buy a kyack (sp?) and paddle up and down our amazing river.
11 Get my herb garden growing without the pets destroying it:)
12 Be happy with myself and banish negative self talk.
13 Forever love and support my children.
14 Have a girls weekend with my soul sista, either in Melbourne or Mildura.
15 Visit IKEA again.
16 Interior decorate my house, become braver in it.
17 Finish my projects.
18 Restore an old Holden....preferably an EH or HR, with blood sweat and tears, by myself.
19 Restore Ollies old chair and set up as my reading corner.
20 Be more adventurous, not a fraidy cat:)
21 Spend quality time with my husband.
22 Pick up a camera to attempt to learn to take half decent photos.
23 Make some patchwork cushions for my couches.
24 Run the bike track from our town to the next (and back)without stopping.
25 Im not much for travel but Id love to visit Lucy from Attic24. Her photos are stunning and make me wish i could visit.
26 Find my dream....Then follow it.
27 Give my Blog a new header....funky sounds good
28 Id love to become a professional organsier and declutterer.
29 I have an idea for an online business need to get the courage to look into it more.
30 Own a book store or a JayJays or a Cold Rock Icecream shop
31 Dance!!!!! Like in Hairspray Glee or in a musical i would LOVE to be able to dance

2 posts in one day!

I just want to share what i got up to this week:)
I did a six early shifts this week as one of the girls is away at the moment. I LOVE early starts, yeah you get tired but i love getting the day over with early:)

On Wed i decided to bring my mum in law out to my house for a coupl of hours for a visit. She is housebound with my bil and sil and cant get around except by taxi which costs her. Until now we havent been able to pick her up because our cars are too high.....well my baby is now back on the road:)
This is her during renovation shot lol.....


Her after one is to come....she is dirty at the moment:) Darrel and Leigh did a great job respraying her for me...

Anyway now we can pick her up we shall bring her out more often for visits,,,just to get her out of the house.

Friday was Leighs 18th so i had some running around to do during the week along with haircuts, chiropractor visits among other time consuming tasks...we also spent quite some time this wek doing some more pruning.....the JUST DO SOMETHING motto is working.



My friend had a new baby and i am making her a quilt......its good practice for putting the borders on Leighs quilt.....he wants it to be queen size so when he leaves home he can take it for his bed, so i want to practice on something small first......loving it.

The girl is doing really well, looking for a new job because she hates not having money and since i have dropped a day a week from work the money isnt as free as it was:) Zoe with Leighs Girlfriend Naomi (the blonde) and Talia who Leigh had a combined 18th with dark hair...zoe is dark haired at the moment too:)


I asked my boss to drop a day because i was working 11 days a fortnight and finding it very hard to do everything else that needed to be done with the block...eg pruning.....She was quite fine with it so those days i have off i have been doing some catching up on the block. Lifting hoses so we can rake the pruning out to mulch, i sorted all our paperwork ready for tax. We have just recently gotten back last years return and im not leaving it til the last minute again:)So there is a list of things i can whittle away at by myself quite happily:)

Some goodness this week!

Okay first of all i want to join in with Mardi and Janelles "What i Wore" posts. Now i cant play every wednesday but i figure when i wear something other than my black work clothes i can ask someone to take a photo for me to pop on my blog....(and once again i cant rememeber how to add a link *but i will remember lol* The top was a Christmas gift from Zoe. The shorts are Billabong from my last thrift shop visit and the hat was also a thrift shop find about 3 years ago:)



This next photo shows a shot of my Billabong shorts.....its a real bonus to find *brand stuff* seeings as i can never afford or justify to spending the money:)




On Friday it was our babys 18th Birthday so here is a not very good family photo taken by one of the kids for us:)


The Gang!

Sensational Weekend

Had the most beautiful weather this weekend...it was amazing!
After feeling having no motivation no goals an no focus well this weekend has ended up being wonderful.

Daz and i picked 5 bins of lemons in total. I think with us having a really crappy year this year we have lost all our motivation but im thinking it is coming back:)
We did some pruning and we will soon be finsihed there:) On the spur of the moment at about 4.30 this afternoon we decided to paint our blue wall in our lounge room.

We have been here in this house for over 3 years and im beginning to feel like i need to put our stamp on it. So a coat of paint is a huge step to start:) Our walls are Intermezzo, but in a pinch we used some of the seed pearl from the old house just to cover the blue until we get some Intermezzo there is a slight difference but gee it looks so much better:) Promise pics to come:)

Yesterday Daz and i went to Berri to order our new dishwasher yeehah! Cant wait it will be delivered on Wednesday, so today was the day he decided to chop the cupboards to bits to fit in in:) We have also rearranged the whole kitchen cupboards, including throwing out heaps of plastic and stuff we dont use:)

While in Brri we went to visit our local Thrift store and had a ball. They have brought out alot of their summer stock. So now i shall spend a pleasant 2 hours or so next time i go to check the whole store out:)I managed to get two pairs of ROXY shorts for Zoe. A Billabong dress for her and a pair of Billabong shorts (size 10, OMG)that fit me shorts. Now to get rid of the discusting varicose veins from my legs and i will be really happy with my body:) Although all is not lost because i still can hide my legs:)

We also took some time out and went for a coffee, shock horror we also had a pie, yes a pie.....i chose not to eat them and it was lovely to lash out and have something special.

I also had a lovely chat with my friend Jodie from Horsham, its always nice to catch up with her.,...she is a very clever and articulate lady:) I so wanna go visit them sometime this year....cant believe its already August as we were hoping to get there this year sometime.

Also while on the subject....my baby is 18 on Friday! Yes Leigh is 18...i cannot believe it. At his age Daz and i were j...u...s....t starting to go out with each other. Then not too long after that we moved away from our home town and off into our own lives. Looking at us then and Leigh now he is so not ready to leave home. He is talking about moving to Adelaide with his girlfriend.,...we are hoping ti talk him out of this for a while. Heres hoping she chooses to have a Gap Year:) That would give him time to get on his feet.
Okay on that note...time for a milo, dishes Bones and bed. We have one of the girls away thia week and i am on earlies all week with one day being a 6.45 start.....*sigh* as long as i get my sleep i shall be finexx Wish me luck!
Take care and have a happy week.

Hello World

I have been having such a busy time of late that i havent had the time to pop in and visit my blog. Or anyone elses much really:) I have a huige list of blogs in my favourites that i love to read but i have been kind of busy:)

Doing what you may ask...well,,,,,,i was lucky enough on my recent birthday to get an Ipod touch....and may i say i LOVE it.
Its so convenient to just pop on and check my facebook and i love playing words with friends.

I have a few health based apps on it and one i use every day to track my food and exercise is my fitness pal. It is SO easy to use and i have logged on everyday so far and written up my food and exercise.

Hmmm not that there has been much of that lately. I am however getting back into it, I went to see my gym man armed with a list of things i wanted to achieve for my health goals fitness and body shape. He has given me a rip snorting program that entails 30 mins cardio and 30 mins weights. And i love it. It is so hard but im getting such a buzz out of it.

I did speak to him at some length about my anxiety, labryinthitis and depression. He told me that completing this program will give me the confidence to address my anxiety.

After showing him my food diary he was freaked out at the amount of sugar i eat. After talking to him about it he thinks i hype myslef up on sugar because i feel nauseous and ill due to the anxiety and work and then i come down from sugar highs. I happened to google the effect of sugar and whether it has anything to do with anxiety. Well i found this very interesting piece of information which blew my mind!


Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum Answered:

Sugar wreaks havoc on the central nervous system and can leave you feeling on edge. Sugar addiction causes anxiety for a number of reasons. Excessive sugar intake, especially when associated with chronic stress, can exhaust your stress-handler adrenal glands. This causes wild swings in your blood sugar levels. As blood sugar levels plummet, the brain reacts by sending out a panicked adrenaline alarm, leading to severe anxiety. Over a period of years, this can become chronic.

I have times where i feel so weak that i get the shakes and an instant hit of chocolate or sugar usually fixes the problem, after mentioning that there is diabetes in my family he urged me to get my blood sugar checked...it came in at 4.5 which is a good number for my age.

Well since being aware of my sugar intake, the anxiety attacks have eased quite significantly, i kid you not, this coming from someone who would love to crawl under the covers all day every day...... if i wake anxious i can usually pinpoint that i had too much sugar day before. Thankfully getting few and far between now that i am aware of it!

Today was a busy day and very productive! I took Leigh down and filled out a heap of paperwork for Youth Allowance and while we were in that town we decided to hit the rego office, medicare office for various things. When we got home i took him to the bank to open a new savers account and we ordered him a new card.....his atm ard i kid you not is not much wider than the magnetic strip on the back....:) He broke it quite some time ago and never went to replace it:)

I have lots of things to talk about and get down, and something else i have learned while i am on this self imposed hiatus.......i lack focus and direction as well as motivation:)So im working on that as well.

So when time permits i want to upload photos to my blog posts for people to see rather than read my ramblings and not having any photos to tempt you back to my yummy blog.

I have plans in the pipelines to also do a new blog header. So that is going to keep me busy for a while trying to decide what i want to put up there:)

I brought a really cute notebook today called.....My To-Do-List......i love it and already have some things popped down.

I plan to participate in Mardi and Janelles Thrifty Thursday and What i wore Wednesday posts so that is something to look forward to:)

What i wore last saturday

This outfit i wore a few saturdays ago....
Black jacket...op shop
Mustard shift which is knitted and i LOVE...Berri op shop
Black Boots spendless
Black tights Big W
Yellow Scarf....borrowed from Zoe...also op shop
Im going to play along with Mardi and Janelle as they play WIW and Thrift Shop Finds. I wont be as organised as them however i will post as i remember:)
Thanks for popping by:)

What i wore today....

....shopping.




Zoe and i went Op Shopping yesterday at Mardi's fave shop we were quite spoilt and managed to get an amazing array of goodies. Just going off topic here...couldnt link to Mardis blog...did it the othere day:)
She got quite a bit...i walked away with the top in the photo, some magazines....Love Notebook....i beleive they dont publish it anymore. I really enjoyed it as a magazine.
I also came away with a red wrap around dress.....did i ever tell you i love red:) Hmmm cant seem to remember what else....anyway on with the show:)

Long Peach top....dotti..op shop.
Long grey coat...gifted:)
Peach and grey scarf...knitted as a birthday gift a few years ago.
Jeans op shop
Boots brand new...Spendless.