Fields of Gold

The colours at this time of year are wonderful. I love the sight of golden fields of wheat or barley against clear blue skies. God is one amazing decorator.

This picture above is our barley, ripe and ready to be harvested. It's such a beautiful colour. I walked out past this crop last night and I love the sight of the gold, the smell of the barley and the sound of the wind moving through it.

I just took this photo because I liked it. Looking through the old wagon wheel at another of our paddocks. This one was oats before it was cut down and baled into hay.

And I've saved the best til last. I just love the colours. This paddock is one of our better ones. Kym started harvest early this week and while the yield isn't too bad, the quality isn't so good. And the poorer the quality, the less you get paid. But whether it's good quality or not, you have to agree it is pretty.

Tennis

Scott went to Kimba today, another town on Eyre Peninsula, not far from here.

Kimba is where the try outs were held for tennis. Those selected go to Adelaide in two weeks time, representing their schools. Our schools are part of Central Eyre, so Scott was competing against boys from Kimba, Cleve, Wharminda, Lock, Cowell and some others that I can't remember. Lots of kids anyway.

Scott rang me very excitedly this afternoon to tell me that he has been selected. I was excited for him initially until the reality set in. I have to take a week off work to take him to Adelaide for a week long tennis tournament. In just over a week. Not much notice hey. Sigh.

Don't get me wrong. I'm really happy for him. This will give his confidence a huge boost, and I'm proud of him. But a week in Adelaide in November watching hundreds of kids play tennis isn't really my idea of a great time! It would be fabulous if I had lots of money to spend, but I don't. So...I guess I need to stop sulking, sort out the logistics and be happy for him. Because being selected in a representative side is a big deal, and he's done really well.

Unwelcome Guest

It's almost summer.

One sure sign that summer is just around the corner (apart from obvious things like the calendar and the weather!) are visitors like this one.

This is just a brown snake. Not a notorious King Brown. They are about twice as long and fat and deadly. But still. Even a common brown snake sends a shiver up my spine.

A common brown snake can still put you in hospital, just not likely to kill you. Which is comforting. Not.

This one didn't survive it's visit to our garden. We don't kill snakes on the road, or out in the paddock, but when they are knocking on your back door, well, that's just not on!

Step Away From The Vehicle!

Stephanie has purchased a car.

Not sure how I feel about that. Hmmm. I'm proud of her for saving for something she wants, and for working hard for it. I'm terrified of watching her drive away without me in the passenger seat. She has 6 months before she will be allowed to drive alone so I guess I can get used to that idea over time. Perhaps.

Anyway, enough of my paranoia. Here are some photos of the car which I have just had the pleasure of driving home. It drives really well on the open road but being used to a four wheel drive meant that in this little number I felt VERY close to the ground! And that made me feel like I was driving REALLY fast (which Stephanie reminded me repeatedly I wasn't, I was in fact going REALLY slow....I was not!)

So here he is. And yes it's a "he". His name is Chad, after Chad Michael Murray. For those who don't know Chad Michael Murray is one of the stars on the TV show One Tree Hill, and he's HOT! Actually, I have to admit, he's not too shabby! Anyway, this Chad is a 1999 Hyundai (which Stephanie calls High Undies) Excel. It has done 140,000 kilometres, has a CD player, spoiler, great big speakers in the back and an Ipod dock. All very important things to Stephanie.

Chad was her second choice. Her first choice was a little Suzuki something - or - other which had done 100,000 kilometres more, was ten years older and the air conditioning didn't work. But it had PINK pin stripes! Kym was astounded that she was prepared to buy a car solely because it looked "soooooo cute!". He has a lot to learn! He flatly refused to let her buy it and managed to stop her pouting by telling her that she was too important to him to put into a car that looked decidedly dodgy...even if it had a pink pin stripe and was sooooo cute!

This is Stephanie's car deoderiser. It smells like bubblegum, and it's pink, so of course she HAD to have it. She then proceeded to list everything she needs to "pimp her ride" (her words, not mine!). She wants hot pink seat covers (of course), pink steering wheel cover, mag wheels, and did you know that you can get a pink sparkly gear knob? There are so many sparkly pink car accessories, I never thought I would see my daughter getting so excited about being in a car accessory shop.

Of course, having just bought a car her funds were somewhat limited so she settled for her car deoderiser and this little sign below to hang in her back window.

Hmmmm. I'm a bit dubious about the accuracy of this sign! But of course, it's PINK so she had to have it. She would have preferred "Driven by a Princess" but that sign wasn't pink, so of course it just wouldn't do!

So think of me driving to work and back in the passenger seat of this little car with all the pink things dangling from it! Pray for our safety, my patience and my sanity!

On the road again...

We are off again for the weekend tomorrow. At a RIDICULOUS hour of the morning I might add. How plans change!

When Kym and I were invited to my cousin's wedding in Adelaide we thought "great, a chance for a nice weekend away together, maybe see a movie, go out to dinner, spot of shopping". So I booked nice acommodation (with a spa ;)) and we planned to wander over to Adelaide taking our time on Friday in time to be able to relax and enjoy each others company before the wedding on Saturday.

Then we received a bit of an unexpected windfall, and Kym thought maybe we should leave early in the morning as now we have enough money saved to buy ourselves a camper trailer. We are avid campers and have been erecting a tent for a very long time while our friends just flip out their camper trailer. Ok. No problem, just means we don't get to have that sleep in on Friday morning.

Then Princess Stephanie suggests that maybe we could take her with us, since she too has enough money saved to buy herself a small car. She pointed out that it would be a good opportunity to look at lots of cars as we don't go to Adelaide very often, and she wants to buy her car as soon as possible (before she is tempted to spend her savings!).

So. This means to look at both camper trailers AND small cars we would need at least the entire day in Adelaide on Friday. Considering it's a 5 and a half hour drive that means leaving at around 4am. Did you get that 4AM!

We thought about leaving tonight and staying about half way, but really, that's just $150 on accommodation that we don't need to spend. So 4am it is.

Instead of a leisurely day spent shopping and eating in nice cafes we are looking at car yards and caravan places. Sigh.

And instead of nice quiet romantic evenings, we have a teenager with us.

You know what they say about the best laid plans!

Make Hay While the Sun Shines

Its hay season here in South Australia. These hay bales aren't ours, but they are the same kind. Ours aren't baled yet, they are still laying in the paddocks in rows of straw, waiting to be baled.

We rake these rows to dry them out and to keep them from being spoiled by moisture. Hay needs to be baled when it's dry, which is where that term came from. Make hay while the sun shines.

To me that phrase means take your opportunities when they arise. I've got another excerpt from the wonderful little book that Joanie sent me, that talks about this very thing.

No one wants to be shipwrecked.

But the reality is, it happens,

not only on the open sea,

but also in life.

The secret of victory at sea is what

we do ahead of time in calmer waters.

If your life is storm free, take advantage

of the peaceful lull.

Spend time in God's word.

Deepen your walk with Him through

prayer and personal worship.

Then, when the inevitable winds of adversity

begin to blow you'll be ready to respond in faith,

rather than fear.

In other words....make hay while the sun shines!

No Laughing!

We have a new scanner at work so I've been having a bit of a play with it. This morning I've brought in my wedding photos to scan so that I can save them digitally in case something happens to my album.

I thought maybe you would like to take a peek...but remember it was 1990 and we all had perms like that! And taffeta was in! So no laughing! LOL! Just kidding, you can laugh, I know I did!

This photo was taken in what is now our garden, but at the time it was Kym's parents home. The bridge we are standing on was made by Kym at tech in school. And it's still there!

Here are Kym and I walking back down the isle after the ceremony, looking pretty pleased with ourselves! We were married in the same church that I still attend and worship lead. Kym was baptised and confirmed in this church, and he was the third generation of his family to be married there.

Here I am in all my tafetta permed glory in that beautiful garden that I'm afraid isn't quite so beautiful anymore. Kym's mum is an amazing gardener, I don't share her talent!

The wedding party in that garden again. Looking at it is making me feel guilty! The groomsman standing next to me is my older brother, second from the right is Kym's sister Michelle and she is partnered by his brother Brad.

Eighteen years has flown by! I can remember every detail of that day like it was yesterday.

Lord, thank you for blessing me with a wonderful husband and father to my children. Thank you for blessing and protecting our marriage. I pray that we can continue to grow together and grow in You.

Silent Treatment

As you may be aware our family went away for the long weekend last week. When we arrived home we were greeted enthusiastically by our dogs Max and Shelley with lots of barking and tail wagging.


We were also greeted happily by our cats, almost. We have three cats. Jess is the oldest, she is sweet, chubby and affectionate. The second is Jack, he is Jess's son and three times bigger than her. He is your typical farm cat. Big, strong and very affectionate like his Mum.

Then there is the other one. He is my baby. He is a Russian Blue named Boris. I have wanted a Russian Blue for as long as I can remember so when I finally got him I spoiled him shamelessly. He sleeps under the covers in bed between us, only eats the best cat food and basically gets whatever he wants.


Boris is never amused when we dare to go away and leave him. Kym's parents come and feed him, but he does not like having to sleep outside with the "peasants"

For about four hours after I arrived home on Monday, this is what I was greeted with....

Complete silent treatment. If I spoke to him he simply turned around and sat down, always facing his back to me.

It lasted til bed time when he managed to swallow his pride and take his rightful place on my pillow.

He is arrogant, spoiled, and has an attitude that sometimes rivals my teenage daughter...but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Family Weekend

This weekend was a long weekend for most states of Australia. We travelled about 300km to go to Kym's Aunt Lorraine's wedding. Lorraine has for a long time been Kym's favourite Aunt, she is only 5 years older than him so they grew up together in a way. Lorraine lives in a beautiful part of the state in a little town called Laura. It was a lovely, casual wedding held in her back yard with a small reception to follow. It was a great opportunity to catch up with family members we hadn't seen in a long time, some hadn't even met our children so it was a family gathering long overdue.

Above is a photo of the four of us...Scott isn't really that tall! He's standing on the tree trunk behind us. Here is a photo of Lorraine and Martin taking their wedding vows. It was a really lovely ceremony which included a short, uplifting and meaningful sermon.
Here is Stephanie with her "little" brother. He's still taller than her even though she is wearing heels!
And here are Kym and I enjoying our meal at the reception. The reception was also held in Lorraine's back yard in an old wooden shed which they had renovated and decorated beautifully.

Here is a photo of the road home which includes one of those beautiful big gum trees I told you about!

I forgot to mention that if you look reeeeaaally closely at the photo of the tree you can see Scott standing at the base. The fact that he's wearing a black shirt isn't very helpful in this instance but you can see him! Gives you an idea of how big the tree is.

Lord, thankyou so much for such a blessed weekend. We really enjoyed our time with just the family. Thank you for our safe travel there and home again and thank you for the precious time we got to spend together with our immediate and extended family.

Dolly

Dolly is our pet sheep. It's obvious that Dolly is a sheep. The dogs know it, the other sheep know it, we know it. The only one who doesn't think Dolly is a sheep is Dolly. I'm not sure what she thinks she is, but it's certainly not a sheep.

Dolly was a twin lamb who's mother abandoned her so she came to live with us. We bottle fed her and she had her own special little pen just outside our house yard. The kids gave her fresh hay to sleep on and visited her after school with fresh grass. It wasn't long before she became too big for her pen so we let her wander about the yard.

This is when Dolly really started to make a nuisence of herself. We have an outdoor toilet (I know! Don't get me started on that!) and if anyone leaves the door open then Dolly is in there like a shot. She doesn't drink the water, or go in there for shelter, she's after the toilet paper. And she doesn't just have a nibble. She gets hold of the end and trails the paper all over the garden until the paper runs out. We thought this was really funny and cute, until she started doing it every single time someone left the door open. After several rolls of toilet paper it was decided that it was time for Dolly to spend some time with her own kind.

She disagreed.

She managed to get out of the paddock and back to our toilet again and again and again.

She wouldn't mix with the other sheep. If they came near her she would walk to the other side of the paddock.

So we've come to a compromise. She has a small paddock, near the house, with no other sheep in it. The kids still visit her with fresh grass, she still has a bed of hay to sleep on.

She is in the paddock next to the rams, and for the past three years has fallen pregnant at exactly the same time of year, so I'm figuring knows what they are for! She had twins last year, and did a great job of looking after them, and this year she is very big again so Kym thinks maybe she is having twins again.

I've written a children's book about Dolly but haven't gone any further with it than that. I'd love to get Stephanie to illustrate it for me and self publish it, but have no clue how to go about that. I will get around to it one day...

Nothing to Say

What do you say when you have nothing to say?

I guess smart people would say nothing.....nah, no one ever accused me of being smart!

Maybe I will tell you about my weekend plans.

This weekend is a long weekend here in South Australia. We are off to a wedding in Laura, which is part of the Clare Valley wine region and at the southern end of the Flinders Ranges.

Above is a photo taken from the "lookout" at Laura, it is looking toward the ocean which you can't quite see but I thought the colours were pretty. The sheep that you can just barely see in the foreground are merino's, which is the same as the sheep we have on our farm. Beautiful wool growing sheep.

We have visited this area often as it's a nice detour on the way to Adelaide, much more scenic than taking the highway all the time. Kym's Aunt lives there (she's the one getting married) and it's an absolutely beautiful part of our state.

This is a photo of typical bushland in the southern Flinders Ranges. The area around Laura is mostly dryland farming, much the same as us here on Eyre Peninsula. The major difference being they have a more reliable rainfall. You don't have to travel far to the east to find the Clare and Barossa valley wine regions or to the beautiful Flinders Ranges in the north.

In case anyone is wondering, that grassy stuff in the foreground is called spinefex which should give you an idea how it feels! I'ts really spikey! When walking through the bush in this area you often find huge areas of spinifex grass completely flattened to make a bed for a herd of kangaroos. Can't imagine a worse place to sleep myself!

I'm looking forward to getting away for a few days, and maybe enjoying a spot of bushwalking. There are giant gum trees in this area and I find it so serene and relaxing to walk amounst them.

Control Issues

I'm sure all who read this blog already know, but it's somewhat a revelation to me that I have control issues.

I've found that when I get "down" and start to feel hopeless it's because I'm feeling like I have no control over the situation.

I like to be in control.

I think I might be a control freak. Ssshhhh. Don't tell my family, do you think they know?

I get offended when Kym comes into the kitchen and tells me I'm burning the potatoes, or turns the heat down because he thinks I'm cooking something too fast. I hate that. What I really hate about it is that he's generally right. Does this mean we are both control freaks?

Do you think that my slightly obssesive desire to get my family in a church pew next to me is also a control thing? Sometimes I wonder at my motives. Do I want them there to save their souls or do I want them there for me? So I can feel that I have it all together, that I have my family where they are supposed to be.

I had a chat to Steph's counselor this week, and we discussed her fear of doing things on her own. She doesn't like to go to a doctor without me, doesn't like to shop without me, won't make her own hair appointments...basically she seems incapable of doing a lot of things that an almost 16 year old should be doing. Have I created this? Have I done too much for her?

This week I've come to a decision about work. When my boss arrives home from holidays next week I'm going to ask for a payrise. It's all very well to bang on about being undervalued but at some stage you have to do something about it. The feeling of taking control and doing something makes me feel better already, and I don't even know if I will get the payrise or not.

The biggest hurdle I had in the past with regard to my faith was accepting forgiveness. I have done some things that I couldn't forgive myself for, and therefore just couldn't understand how the Lord could forgive me. Thankfully I seem to be managing to get over that one. But now I have realised that I have a new hurdle. I need to let go. But how to you actually do that? I can say it, I can pray about it, but I still want to control it.

Lord, please help me give my life fully over to you, and let you take the reigns. Im sure I must be getting in the way, so please help me step aside. I lift my whole family up to you Lord, and leave them in your care and trust that you will lead them to where they need to be. Help me to remember that you are able, and that nothing is impossible for you.