Advent 8-11

Plenty of Advent activities underway here.

The 8th saw us at the Playgroup Christmas party. I will really miss Playgroup over the next 7 weeks as the activities, craft and support are wonderful in our local group.

When Santa left he jumped in his sleigh, a converted box trailer towed behind a car, and drove down the street while sitting in his trailer's chair.  How fun, if not exactly legal.

The 9th was a day when I needed a rest so the activity for the day was reading two new Christmas books I found in the second hand shop and had put away.  They join a growing Christmas book collection.

Friday the 10th was going to be a trip to the park, but it rained (again!) so we ended up at the library instead.  Neither child minded as they both love the puzzles and books in the children's section.

Today saw us build a Gingerbread house.  It looks pretty good given we didn't know what we were doing!  Possum and the Mr both helped and had fun.  Blue slept, but has made up for that by helping to eat a bit of it already.  I don't think this house will last long, Possum is already 'Gingersbread Hungy'.



For the Love of Tea

When Jodie posted about a tea and washcloth swap for Christmas I started knitting.

Packages sent (just).

And received. 

Thanks Ellie!  I love the crocheted cloth, the extra Christmas decoration and the tea (which is Chai, my favourite!).  I don't know if I will be able to use this wash cloth for washing, I think it will be perfect under a vase or something pretty.

My Happy List

There has been a lot of chat about the current floods and how they are affecting people which is somewhat sobering in this holiday season so when I saw Kate had done a list of Happy Things to focus on I thought I would have a go too.

A husband I love and two blue eyed children who smile and keep me on my toes.  Parents I can call and other family popping in to read my blog and cheer me on from the sidelines.  Thank you!  You can leave comments you know, just click the 'annonymous' user option.

Our block of land.  At the moment it is acres of thistles and an old house but we are turning it into our home.  It is hard work but I feel happy here and love the local community we have found ourselves a part of.

Friends.  Thank you for your friendship, support and blog comments over the past year.  Keep it up next year too please ;) 

Knitting and Sewing.  I love the quiet time, the fact that I am creating something useful and nice for our use in and around the home. And the dancing Possum does when she gets to wear something new always makes me smile.

Photos of Wagga Wagga.

Thankfully, while our creek does flood, it does not cut our access or affect our arable land.  We are lucky and our thoughts are with those who have an uneasy eye still cast on the weather reports.  Spare a thought for the flooded houses, the ruined crops, the stock and the workers on enforced downtime.

edit:  Kate has started a meme to spread the happiness.  Check it out here and join in!

Advent Update

There was a very excited Possum the day we got home and she found some mail for her care of the Kids Christmas Swap hosted by Kylie.  Her 'special mail' she has been calling it and it has been played with every day since it was opened.

There was also some coloured paper in the package too, but I could not find it to add to the photo.  I really like the Salt Dough recipe and am planning some decorations for our tree as a future Advent activity.  Thank you Jennifer, she is having a lot of fun with your package.

The 6th saw the start of our Advent activities for December.  We used some transfer crayons to colour in and decorate some hankies which will be included in a few Christmas gifts this year.  The crayons were 'Scribblers' from Big W and they worked better when applied direct to the fabric rather than on paper first.  A heat set with the iron and a wash cycle to test the fastness and they were ready to go.

The 7th had us set off for the library for the local storytime session.  It was the last one for the year and I was excited when Santa put in an appearance.  We should now all pretend that I knew he would be there and it was good management on my behalf ;)  I love storytime and think it is wonderful, if there is one near you look into it!  Possum covered her eyes when Santa walked in and it took 10 minutes before she was coaxed into accepting a small confectionery package from the big man.  I predict I will end up in the Santa photo again this year...

Home Again

We have been away for a few days and I am glad to be back home. 

Such a nice feeling to walk in your own door and feel happy.  

We dodged flood water heading down South.

When we got there, more dodging water in town.

After I took this photo, the underground car park flooded.  Glad I wasn't parked in there!

And again on the way home...

It wasn't all water.  We caught up with friends and family and had a fun day at the races.  Here is Possum chasing the boys.  They were older and faster but she managed to keep up, mostly.

December 1st

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Happy December 1st.  The start of the Christmas silly season.

This year I am ready because I have made my Advent Calendar.  I bought it with the intention of making it for Christmas 2009, but then I ran out of time.  This year, I was a little more organised!

I am now trying to think of enough fun projects to fill each pocket. 

Easy, family friendly activities for each day.  A picnic by the creek, a gingerbread house kit, the Christmas service at the local Church, the community Christmas party in a neighbouring wool shed complete with a Santa visit...  I need to think of a few more!

 This will be the first year I have had an Advent Calendar, I hope it will become a new tradition that the children will enjoy. 



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.