It was my partner’s birthday yesterday, 21st of  January, so we took a leisurely drive to a fishing village called Port  Albert where Peter and Charlotte did a bit of  fishing off the jetty. We stopped at a lovely little town on the way for lunch and whilst in Yarram we bought Charlotte a dinosaur (not for lunch!)

What a patient critter it was keeping Charlotte and Peter company, eating the fodder that Charlotte found whilst  we were waiting for the fish to bite and in turn, being bitten by March flies.

Dinosaur waiting patiently at Charlotte's feet

Now waiting at Peter's feet

Time for some dinosaur lunch. Not sure that T-Rex is into seaweed.

But, he had a nibble. Not much else for a dinosaur to do whilst patiently waiting for the fish to bite.

And by the way, the fish didn’t bite. It doesn’t matter because the day was beautiful, we made a lovely cuppa on the jetty then enjoyed our fairly regular pizza night at Peter’s brothers home with other family members after an hours drive to get there.

Time to share this with 5minutesformom

I’ve been putting off  this ‘Tackle It Tuesday’ project for….. months!  The time has come  to take the bull by the horns and just do it. I KNOW I’ll feel relieved once it is over with.  I have had a nice new file sitting behind my bedroom door for…..months! I have just now emptied the old file and turfed the ugly, ancient thing into the bin. It must be at least 20 years old. Not a bit of remorse felt.

This project became bigger than Ben Hur as I also cleared some other paperwork and there is still some left in the basket whilst I ponder where to file it. I’m focussed on its completion now, so it will be done

I can’t wait to pop my post amongst the other ‘Tackle It Tuesday’s at 5minutesformom.

Months of paperwork in the basket

One of many piles to be burnt

Just the tiniest bit of paperwork left to complete

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

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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 this
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.

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 this
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

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

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

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