You may, before venturing into this post, want to read the first part written about Tessa. ‘OCD In My Cat’.

After procrastinating for some time and mulling over the idea put forth in one of  the  comments, I decided that I couldn’t spend the money on a drinking fountain for my cat afterall. The outlay, if  it didn’t work would have been too much even if I could resell on Ebay.

Tessa's 'new' drinking fountain

Crude, but effective

(more…)

We recently had a beach holiday a couple of hours from home and these Kangaroos were having a lovely feed on spent Banksia flowers. So we don’t necessarily have Kangaroo’s jumping about in our streets here in Victoria as some people still believe. They do, however, enjoy hangin’ at the beach in some places.

But wait! What is this other strange critter I managed to capture on film. Is it a lion or perhaps a tiger? Not used to those on our Australian shores. Maybe the gals at 5minutesformom can help me out.

Oh! I’ve worked it out. Looks like it’s just my 4 y/o daughter pretending to be a wild animal. One of  her favourite games. And yes, we are expected to play it 24/7 with her. Okay, I exaggerate somewhat, but a LOT of  the time.

I’ve decided to leave my Christmas tree up without decorations because the smell is so very heady and evocative of my childhood, so whilst I write this post I might just take a few long, deep breaths to inhale the aroma if you
don’t mind. I’ve also,  for my sensual pleasure got my feet in a bucket of cold water because it’s blooming hot tonight.

This is about my third or is it fourth attempt at writing a post? Maybe the aroma is mucking with my concentration skills. Well, I have to blame something, don’t I? I think I’m trying to be too perfect and everything I write just doesn’t seem to gel. (more…)

I’ve been finding it tricky to blog lately. With all the celebrations taking place I’ve found the exhaustion taking over and even as I write this, I’m struggling to stay awake. Part of  the difficulty I have is with depression at thisCarlo Sandblow
time of year.

Christmas is ’supposed’ to be in the snow with the nights getting dark early and a feast of lights. But, this end of the world is the total opposite, so even though there are lights and prettiness, it doesn’t get dark enough to enjoy them until 9.30pm.

Anyway, the hype is over and now I’m just packing to go away to the beach with family. My brother is visiting from interstate with his partner and we don’t see them much. I’ll be absent awhile longer from blogging until about the 7th January, but I hope to return with renewed vim and vigour.

I’m taking plenty of  reading material to keep myself in the loop with business. It’s best to leave my computer behind for safety purposes which I’m conflicted about. Still, I found all the learning to be overwhelming in the past 6 months of 2009, so I think the break will do me good.

Please take care during this holiday season and I look forward to being with you again earning and learning.
Happy, Happy New Year to you and may it be full of  love, laughter & prosperity.

Creative Commons License photo credit: Centophobia

Do you use the old ‘Santa knows if you’ve been good or bad, so be good for goodness sake’ thing with your kids at thisSanta & Son
time of  year? Would Santa REALLY not stop by your home if  your child was misbehavin?’

I don’t like feeding that line to my 4 year old daughter because, let’s face it kids have their moments, but is it being
naughty? I even try to avoid that word. Whatever the behaviour, it is a child expressing something that they can’t verbalise yet and does feeding them the ‘be good or else’ line really change their behaviour? Me thinks not. (more…)

What to do when waiting for a meal at our favourite restaurant? Shake a little fibre optic light about and take photos to see what the effect is. I’m quite happy with this result. We’re heading to the same restaurant tomorrow night for a bit of Christmas Eve entertainment. It’s a hop, step and jump from home and weather permitting, we’ll walk there and stagger back. Okay, so we’ll walk or even run back and play chasey which is often what ends up happening.

Blessings  & happy holidays to all especially 5minutesformom Thanks for all the Wordless Wednesdays.

Awaiting a fine meal

Awaiting a fine meal

We had some wonderful rain today. Don’t worry, this post isn’t going to be all about the weather. When Charlotte was  younger She LOVED stomping in puddles whilst it was raining, but then somewhere along the track and sadly,

Having fun in the rain

Having fun in the rain

She stopped enjoying it. I am thrilled to say that lately She has started loving it again. Only in the past month or so and today She bounced on the trampoline, in the rain with not a care in the world about getting wet. I joined Charlotte on the trampoline and whilst it rained I gave it a much needed clean. (more…)

Here She is. My pride and joy

Here She is. My pride and joy

I am proud to introduce to you my grown up, beautifully shaped Christmas tree. She has strong qualities.  I can hang heavier baubles and lights from her limbs and She doesn’t crumple under the pressure. Her shape is beautiful because it has some flaws, but despite these She still stands tall, erect & proud and oh how She sparkles during the day and at night.

I’m bursting with pride. My life lights up when I walk into my loungeroom now. With ‘My Poor Old Christmas Tree’ (see post) I felt down and gloomy walking into my lounge. And the other thing about my new tree, the smell is intoxicating. I’m in 7th heaven.

I’ve been taking my time to decorate this one. Tweaking her here and there. I shall continue to adorn her with finery until She is looking  just the way I want. No matter how much I tweaked the other one, it just wasn’t going to get any better.

I can rest easy at night having made the decision to buy a cut tree. It is somewhat at odds with my feelings about cutting trees down, but at least this one hasn’t been wasted, given the pleasure I have derived from her thus far.

Adorned with lights & tinsel

Adorned with lights & tinsel

I’m liking  this Wordless Wednesday gig. Heading over to 5minutesformom to add my post.

Charlotte and I simultaneously decided that these leaves needed to have some Christmas sparkle added to them. Lots of glittery mess later we had five beautiful decorations for our tree or for in a vase.

wordless wed  leaf # 1 wordless wed leaf #2

It’s no secret that one of my favourite places to be online is MomMasterminds and I am doing the Blog Internship with Kelly McCausey. When I check into the forum there to catch up on the news, ask questions and learn more GIRL ON BEACH
from the wonderful women, I see that quite a number of them get together for various business functions.

Now, that is a problem for me to participate in seeing as I am all the way over here in Australia and they are mostly from Canada and America. When these functions are talked about, I have this longing  to want to be there meeting up in the flesh. I feel quite isolated.

Finding local WAHM’s

Since getting together isn’t possible for so many reasons apart from the distance, I decided I needed to find some WAHM’s in my neck of  the woods. There must be some over here, surely? It’s funny how you can think something, then it comes together. As part of my research for the Blog Internship I came across the perfect place to be.

It’s called WAHM Network Australia. I headed straight there to investigate and liked what I saw, so I’m signed up and enjoying connecting with the community. It has the same warm, supportive feel to it as MM. I’m thrilled to have found this network of women and as it happens, one of  them lives not far away. In fact it’s a place we visit regularly for pizza nights with Peter’s brother and his family.

Future Possibilities

Looking to the future, I’m excited at the thought of getting together in person at some of  the meetups just as they do at MomMasterminds. It’s nice not to be feeling so isolated now.

I’m always open to getting together with other WAHM’s so if you are in West Gippsland or thereabouts leave a comment. I’m not into exclusivity, though, so I’d love to hear from you wherever you reside.

Happy Networking :-)

Creative Commons License photo credit: Robin Hutton

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