Silver Lining

Walking. 

Horses. 

Rain.
Rural Living.

Clearing sales.

Cleaning Up.

Studying.

Enjoying life.

Remembering all the good things around us as we put the events of the past few weeks behind us.  We have so much to be grateful for, even if I am behind on some things.

Easter Road Trip

We drove South to be able to attend a family party.  A 60th wedding anniversary.  60!
It was about 900km away which is a big drive with the kids, especially when you have to turn around and do it again to come home too.  They are little troopers!

Someone showed Possum how to use an iPad.  Now she keeps asking to play games on the Mr's phone because she knows how.  Blue was more interested in the party food, with a host of older relatives to encourage him he ate a lot of cupcakes.  It was a great afternoon.

On the drive down Blue looked out of the window and said 'look at the far away meadow' which I thought was a bit funny.  We have paddocks at home so I guess the telly is to blame for the meadow reference.

We spent one night in a motel on the way down, the kids slept while we put them in bed, but there was only one bed so we put one at each end and tucked them in.  Blue woke up a couple of hours later and whispered 'there is something in my bed' but was happy when I told him it was Possum.

Banjo the dog came with us.  I don't have his puppy card yet so couldn't put him in a kennel.  He is such a great traveler!  I put a little carpet square in the back under Blue's seat and Banjo jumped in and slept while ever the car was moving and got out to run with the kids at each park we pulled up in.

And as far as parks went, we pulled up in plenty!

Peppy the Pony

New saddle, boots and reins = expensive

New pony = a lot more expensive

Riding in your pj's one afternoon = priceless!

Peppy joins our existing pony Lily.  Now we have one for both children which is a lot more fun.  Pony club, here we come!

Puppy Dog Eyes

On Saturday after I finished BBQ duty at the Bunnings sausage sizzle we picked up this little fellow.

He is seriously cute!

My brother was unable to keep him, the joys of being a tennant, so when I heard he was trying to sell him I offered to take him.  We knew he was a sweet little pup, great with kids, and I hope he has grown out of shoe chewing?

He kids love him!  We have given him a bath, been playing fetch and generally having fun in the yard with him.  I love that he is quiet of a night, is so soft and silky and did I mention he fetches?  I have never had a dog that would play fetch before!

Lets pretend I bought him for the kids...

The kids are calling him Banjo, which is close to his original name so I am going with it.  

Farm Cat

Sleeps high up on the roof.  

And retreats into the chimney with each passing shower of rain.

Funny critter!

The Cat

9 days ago I went to town to run a couple of quick jobs and I came home with a cat.  Thankfully this is not the norm on a quick trip to town!  He was looking for a home and had been desexed.  I had mice, and no cat, so it seemed like a good idea.

He spent the first night inside and he actually liked the children's rough housing.  Blue would pick him up to carry him upside down but there was purring, and no scratching so I didn't step in.

The next day I put him in the workshop.  I am not an indoors cat kind of person.  We didn't see the cat for 7 days.  I was worried but he was sleeping in there and eating the cat food.

Yesterday he came out from under the house for a quick pat.  Yesterday evening he came up to the door so we let him in for some milk and more children cuddles before letting him back out.  This is more what I fancied cat ownership to be like!

I hope he is eating lots of mice!

Advent 23-24

Advent Activity #23. Fun craft!

I had these shapes put away in the cupboard and today was the day I pulled them out along with the glue and bits to stick on.  The above photo shows Blue carefully sticking things to the glue stick.  Possum did a bit better and on the craft wall there are a few butterflies, a bug and a ladybug all proudly lined up.  They are kept company by the 'carpar' below.

Tomorrow's activity will be a visit to Nan and Pop's which will be fun.

We are visiting in the name of Christmas early leaving us to have a quiet day here on the big day itself.

On a different note, I have shown off the photo of Nellie in my washing before, but now she has taken up the hobby of staring at me through the window too.    I took this photo through the glass doors three hours ago,  I just looked again, and she is still there, looking at me...

Man's Best Friend

This is Sam.  I got her as a pup in 2000.

She always came at a run if you called her.  She would bounce like a puppy with excitement when she saw you and would nudge at your hand for a pat.  She never jumped up and got you dirty.

She was great with the kids.  They loved her and she let them pull her hair and pat her with a thump.  Blue calls all dogs 'Sam' and tells them to 'sit' because of her.

She loved the water and would always swim, even when I thought it was too cold.  She loved rounding up the horses, chickens and possums, but never worked stock in a way which would be useful.

She was scared of thunder and would come inside during a storm even though she was strictly an outside dog.  In this house she could open the front door and would let herself in with the first distant rumble of thunder and would be found under my sewing table.

She will be missed.  A lot.

At My House

At My House we are feeling healthy again after a bout with a bug.  We have been sick with frequency of late.  Every bug that goes around ends up here with thanks to the small people in the house.

We sold a few excess rams, but still have a couple to go as soon as they are ready.  The clean up continues of stock and stuff that was left here when we moved in.

We have been slashing thistles and mowing too.

I have been getting excited about Sew It Together next year, but the Mr thinks it is funny to blog about 'I will be here on such and such a day' events as opposed to events in the past so if you are wondering, I am not going, and if I was I would be hitch hiking from Alice Springs or catching a bus from Hamilton or something other than what I am actually doing.  Confused?  Me too...



We have also been having pony rides.  This is Lily. 

Lily is a wonderful and quiet pony and we love her just a little bit, especially Possum.

Horses

Last week the children and I went and got the horses in.  That sounds easy, but the horses were turned out and it was a 340km round trip to get them.  I was home alone too, but it all went well and now we get to enjoy having the horses back with us.

Wordless Weekend

A good roll in the dust

For other Wordless Weekenders look here

Blogtober #26 ~ But wait.......

There's more!
You have seen the hat before...

But there is a skirt too!
What a cute outfit for feeding the chickens :)

Only five more Blogtober posts to go.

Blogtober #17 ~ Wordless Weekend

Feeding Chickens by hand

Action Shot! Throwing pellets.

Blogtober #10~Wordless Weekend

Blogtober #7 ~ Cocktober

Ideas Hub idea #20 COCKTOBER (Roosters)

OK, I admit it, it's a hen, not a rooster! Our chooks are very quiet much to Miss Possum's delight. She can often be found running around the backyard either carrying, or chasing a chicken. This is Mabel, my favourite hen :)

Wordless Weekend

Wordless Weekend

Exposure 1/160
Aperture f/5.6
ISO 400
Focal Length 200mm

Busy Beavers

I no sooner get out of hospital ready for a relaxing weekend when Miss Possum wakes up sick, very sick... Poor little one needed lots of cuddles and couldn't sleep lying down which did not allow for a restful couple of days.

While sitting up on a late shift at 1am on Sunday morning waiting for Possum's fever to break I decided that some quick and simple sewing project was in order.


I chose a Tag Monster as something different because I had everything I needed in my stash of goodies. I was a bit lazy with the hand stitching sections and played with some decorative machine options instead but I think it all worked well enough.


A friend sent me a package for the new bub and there were some great bibs in there from 'Cotton on kids'. I decided that I could make my own so I now have a production line of 18 bibs on the go. It is a great way to use up two old bath sheets for the terry backing and some remnants and off cuts that I already had for the fronts. I am using the decorative band from the towel ends as the button bands.


While we were house bound and sewing Sam was outside keeping an eye on things for us... Our chooks are doing very well and laying three eggs a day which is more than we need so have been cooking a lot of late. No need to panic, Sam may look hungry but the chooks are very good at chasing her away when they are sick of her.

I am posting my apologies here, I have not been as good as I would like about replying to comments, and visiting Blogs with everything else that has been going on, but I am trying, and I will get there again soon :)

New Stuff

Last night Miss Possum spent her first night sleeping in a 'big' bed. This makes way for the new baby to move into the smaller room with the cot shortly.

Her first night went well as I only had to put her back into bed once before she fell asleep as usual. Her lunch time sleep today was a little harder because Possum just wanted to play rather than sleep, but she eventually got there.

I snuck in today after Miss fell asleep to snap a photo :) Have you ever seen so many different pink stripe articles in the one photo?! Her shirt under the jumper is different again, but if I sleep in and Dad dresses the child I cannot argue (or leave the house...).

I now need to urgently make her a quilt for her bed, which has been on my 'to do' list for ages. I think I will use my Vintage Sheet FQ and make a simple coin quilt as a short term solution.

The other change in our house today is the addition of THREE Isa Browns!! All are settling in well and are nice and quiet and not worried by small children and kelpies who keep peering in their chook run to check things out.

They are 'point of lay' so it won't be long before we are reaping the rewards of chook ownership in the kitchen!

My brother has named one 'Chicken Chook' after a childhood pet chook he had many moons ago. I think I like the name Mabel for one but am waiting until I can tell them apart before putting too much thought into it :)

Crafting Canine?

What crafty fun is your pampered pet having today?

I think Miss Possum took a ball of yarn outside...