Weekend happenings

The weather was dry and blustery outside so inside was the best place to be. Mind you the washing dried really well in the wind. I think winter has passed us by as it is real spring weather here in our neck of the woods. No rain in sight. Once again South Australia has recorded below average rain fall so far this year which is worrying especially for the farmers, who are in desperate need of a good year. The top soil continues to blow away every windy day cutting the new growth off before it has established itself.

This is what I was doing this weekend:

Making felt board activities for the daycare children. Although I am not caring for any dear children at the moment as I am on a break, I thought it was a good opportunity while I did have time to prepare things for when I do start up again. I am still catching up on the bookwork in preparation for tax time.


10 green bottles standing on the wall,
5 little ducks went out one day,

Down in the meadow, in a iddy biddy pool, lived 3 little fishies and a mumma fishie too!

We have oranges!! First crop on our tree. We planted this tree some years ago but our dog chasing something broke some of it off. There are five oranges and we have sampled one. They taste so much better than the bought ones.

Our mandarine tree is heavy with fruit and they are nearly ready to be picked. My daughter has put an order in for a mandarine cheesecake, she tried one while over in England.

I will be having a break from blogging this week as we are travelling west to have a look at some whales. Will be back soon with some photos, hopely of the whales. We actually had some whales visit our gulf last week but I missed them.

Have a great week,

Tania

School woes

A family photo taken Christmas day 2006. L-R Son in Law Jarrad holding grandson Blake, Third daughter Talia, Middle daughter Kyla, me (Tania), eldest daughter Sarah and Jack in the front.

This year has been a shocker as far as school for my youngest (son). He has been put into a class that he is not enjoying at all.

Last year he had serious trouble with a bully that was getting physical with him. We were forever ringing the school and trying to sort out the situation, but in the end I refused to send Jack to school until something was done. The education department got involved and then things got better.

That was until this year when Jack was hoping to get into his favourite teachers class, but sadly this didn't happen as the bully was put in there. This particular teacher loves athletics and sport as does my son. He takes his class out for physical education every day sometimes twice a day.

The teacher Jack has this year doesn't like sport or believe it is important. We had our parent teacher interview last night and she told us that sport was a privilege and not part of her cirriculum. We couldn't convince her otherwise. We have rang the principal this morning and he is going to have a chat with her about it. She said Jack was a very intelligent child and will go a long way if he applies himself.

This may seem trivial but it is very important to Jack. His behaviour has gone downhill and his personality is changing for the worst. He has become rebellious and backchatting something awful. He has always been a well mannered child but the teacher has complained that he is rude and disruptive to the rest of the class. This child is usually a shy, quiet child. This year has changed that. He is also giving the relief teachers a headache. He seems so angry and frustrated.

I admit it could be the age (he is 12)and maybe the other infuences at school. Maybe he is just becoming rebellious fullstop. I am going to have to figure out a way to deal with this. I would love to homeschool but husband won't agree to it.

Next year we have Jack enrolled at the local private school so hopefully things will improve.

We have tried to explain to him that in life he will come across people in authority that he will not like or agree with, but he still has to respect their position, it is the same now with his teacher and he still needs to respect her.

Wishing a great day to all,

Tania

Water Conservation

The average family uses
about 1,020 litres
of water around the home
every day
- thats 118 full buckets!

We live on one of the world's driest continents.
By using water sensibly at home and at work,
we can help reduce demand for this finite resource.

I found this on one of our local sites from this area. There is other information about the flora and fauna of this district, if anyone is interested in having a look here http://www.australian-aridlands-botanic-garden.org/index.htm

I was amazed at the amount of water that is used in households, no wonder our River Murray is running dry.


More sites with pics of the beautiful Flinders Ranges nearby to where we live:

Flinders Gallery
and
here http://www.flindersranges.com/anges


Tania

"Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch

This is well worth watching although it does take a while(about 28 minutes). I saw this on Oprah recently, and boy was this is a wake up call. Don't take life for granted. A tissue box nearby may be required, as it is sad.


Enjoy the rest of your day


Tania

On the road again

Sorry I have been absent for a few days. We have been away in Adelaide attending a relative's 70th birthday party. Below are a few random pictures taken on the trip down, we went a different way than usual to avoid the highway traffic and to take in the scenery. My parents were travelling ahead of us, and as they have got older they tend to travel slower, so it took a bit longer, 4 hours instead of 3.

Horrocks Pass leading into the Flinders Ranges.

Going through the windy pass.

Lovely and green at Melrose.

Homestead and vineyards near Clare.

More greenery in the Clare district.

Lonely old cottage, long deserted.

I had better get back to my jobs that I am supposed to be doing right now. Today is cleanup and catchup day, and I have lots to do.

Our school teachers are on strike tomorrow so I will get to spend the day with my son Jack, which will be nice. He has been selected to go to Adelaide in a couple of weeks to play soccer in the states competion put on by SAPSASA (South Australian Primary Schools Amateur Sporting Association). We will need to spend the week in the big smoke again as he plays every day.

Must away,

Tania

Today

Headed for the hills,

it's starting to rain,

a windmill in the distance,


lovely bushland,

raining in the hills,

a bare paddock, soon to be green,

time for home and the saltbush,

home again...

time for lunch and a nice cup of tea.

Warm wishes to everyone,

Tania

Rain at last

Well it finally happened. Rain started falling around 1.00pm today and continued on for the rest of the day. Hopefully, fingers crossed it will continue overnight and on to tomorrow. The garden will be thankful. Sorry about the photos, I was trying not to get too wet, plus I am not that great at photography.

Only downer today was that the washing is all wet. But I think I can live with that.

Something we haven't seen in a long while.....puddles. Many of you probably don't know why rain is so exciting. I think the last decent rain was before Christmas last year.

I don't know how much we recorded until tomorrow morning when it can be checked.

Have a good night,

Tania

I've been tagged

I have been tagged by Linda over at Snowys

My first tag so here goes.


The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.Each player answers the questions about themselves.


At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.


a) What was I doing 10 years ago?

In 1998 I was living in my first home and sharing it with Dear Husband, DD Sarah 17, DD Kyla 14, DD Talia 11 and DS Jack 2. I resided in this home for 8 years. I remember my life being pretty hectic back then. The school run included dropping and picking up eldest daughter at the local private school, middle daughter at the public high school and third daughter at another primary school, all on different sides of town. Plus all the afterschool activities they were involved in. I had some chickens; they were silky bantams plus a menagerie of other pets. I was a SAHM trying to survive on one wage. Most things were cooked from scratch and I had a twin tub washing machine. I was developing a keen interest in genealogy and craft and we had a computer with dial up internet.

b) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today:

Doing the washing, today I do all the linens.
Washing all floors
Vacuuming all floors
Preparing dinner, tuna noodle bake
Picking son up from school


c) Snacks I enjoy:

Fresh fruit, dried fruit, pretzels and homemade biscuits together with a nice cup of tea.

d) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

This is a tricky one. I know my hubby would want it all invested. I would prefer to make sure that all ourselves and family members were provided for and some of the excess go to the needy and those less fortunate than myself.


e) Places I have lived:

I was born and bred in Ceduna, located on the far west coast of South Australia. I lived on a pastoral farm and these were great years. I lived there until 1993 when I moved to Port Augusta, for my hubby’s work. His work was to become a trainee Locomotive Driver.

And who am I tagging?

The usual blogs that I visit have all been tagged so that leaves just one.

Sarah My daughter's blog