The work of Mice or Rats???

Not much left...

Russell has been decluttering the shed. And thank goodness too... This is what rats or mice, who knows did to a packet of cockroach bates... Not impressed... Just so glad that they are not in our house. lol

Cheers Damaris

Look at them now...

Here is a picture of the school chooks... From what I can tell though only two are hens and the other two are roosters which the school can't have... They may need to get some POL chooks I think...

Cheers Damaris

Joshua's Trap...

The trap covered over...

The hole underneath :)

Out near our chook house, Joshua and his friend Caelan have been busy building a fox trap or an anything trap really. :)

They dug the hole and have allot of fishing wire around it so that whatever comes in contact with it then can't get away...

Sadly nothing has been caught but there have been a couple of disturbances... Here is hoping. Well Joshua is anyway. lol

Cheers Damaris

Jack Frost has visitied...

Frost on a Thistle at Fiona's house...

taken at 8:30am...

Just beautiful...

Since beginning of May we have had some cold and nasty mornings... We have gone through one load of wood already and are only half way through winter. Last year we used half a load for the whole season...

I must say that I am really enjoying the cold mornings. Especially if I am at home as we have the wood fire on anyway. I also love the effect that the ice crystals have on plants and other things...

Love the beauty of our seasons...

Cheers Damaris

Girls' Night Out...

Lots of food was had...

My beautiful friend Margaret... Love that smile, even if she's tired...

Caught her snoozing. lol

Her reaction to when I told her that I had a photo of her sleeping. lol

Dylan with his heavy-duty gear on...

Margaret has never had a Girls' Night at her house... Ever... So I was most honoured to be invited :) This Party was a huge step for her and I am very proud of her that she did it. I was glad I was able to be there to support her. :)

We spent most of the day together and I even got my first chance to watch Dylan at a Rugby game that he was playing in... Boy he has shot up. :) He fits the uniform very well and looks rather scary with the head gear and all that...

I had such a lovely night with Margaret. Margaret also gave us all a calender that I have hanging in my walk in robe and look at it every day. I love it. The pictures in it are so uplifting and am grateful that I have it there to look at so often.

Met some other ladies as well and one Irish lady that was there was particularly nice. The other two were most interested in having a conversation amongst themselves. No matter I was there for Margaret anyway. Just another way for me to get my fix :)

Cheers Damaris

New game for the family...

Another game to play :)

Russell found a new game for us to all play. :) It is called Battle Frontier... It is awesome and can get a little hairy :)

Another game to use when we have No Technology Monday or Low Electricity Wednesday :) :) :)

Cheers Damaris

Blocked Drainpipe...

The offending filter...

Trenches were dug...

We had some heavy rainfall a couple of weeks ago and going outside afterwards I couldn't understand why there was so much water sitting up against the house under Joshua's window...

I dug three trenches so that the water would run away but that didn't solve the original problem... What was blocked???

I so hoped we didn't have to get a plumber out... As a last resort before Russell was going to try and investigate when it was not pouring down rain was for me to check the filter up the top of the drainpipe...

Sure enough it was totally blocked... There was a little block of wood (?), allot of sludge and a screw (?).

Cleaned it all out and scrubbed it clean... No problems since, thank goodness.

Cheers Damaris

Monster Worm...

One big slimy worm :)

Didn't want this one to fall in the wrong hands... Or into Chooks' beaks for that matter... Joshua found him under the shell we use for the ducks to bath in... What a monster. :)

It is somewhere now safe in our garden away from dogs and chooks... :)

Cheers Damaris

The cast is finally off...

He is FREEEEEEE

Cast getting cut off...

Joshua has been waiting for a while now. He had all three on for a total of 8 weeks so enough was enough as far as he was concerned...

He is loving writing with his right hand again and not being restricted :)

Am glad the dramas are over and hope they don't come back for a while at least. lol

Cheers Damaris

Candles galore...

Candles...

A friend of mine was decluttering a few weeks ago... I was fortunate enough to score all her candles. Many of these were still from her father so they were very old... I am using them as I need them.

Am very thankful for them as it slows the need for me to buy supplies... :)

Cheers Damaris

James at the show...

James checking Mum was still there lol

James watching the show :)

When the boys and I visited Margaret, Dylan and James for the whole day last Tuesday we went to the movies... We saw Kung Fu Panda 2 and I must say it was a great movie. :) James even survived most of the movie... At one stage he was hitting Margaret and I encouraged her to sit a couple of seats away from him and he sit next to me... That worked really well as she didn't have to leave then :)

When we got out we had to still pick up Timothy's blisterpac that he would use the next day for his stay at Blue Care so we went to the bottom of Redbank Plains Shopping Centre. There was a show going as well... Captain Popcorn. :)

James straight away had to go and sit in the front to see the performance. Was great to see him join in with a little encouragement from Margaret :)

It was the tail end of the show which was just as well as it got really noisy and James doesn't deal with noise very well but he had a lovely time all the same... :)

Was glad to be there to witness it :)

Cheers Damaris

Cuddles for Nova...

Kiarah and Nova :)

Looked after Carly's two kids last Friday for a little while. Ethan and Kirra loved seeing how the school chicks are going... :) They are growing quickly. :)

When Carly turned up, Kiarah took to Nova straight away and at one point she was on the floor with Nova. Nova was lying there taking all the loving in. :)

So cute to watch...

Cheers Damaris

Broken toe...

Just a little broken...

Last Thursday as I was coming out of Joshua's room, I banged my right foot really well on one of our skirting boards... By Friday, after not having a good night sleep at work at all and still being in allot of pain, I realised that I had broken it...

Not good... Russell strapped it for me and I have tried to keep my foot up whenever possible. Hard when you are working for 24 hours in one go...

Today it feels allot better... Strapping will stay on for a while yet... At least I know they don't put a cast on toes so no use going to the Doctor... Don't need another cast in this family. Joshua and his three was enough to last me a long while. lol

Cheers Damaris

World Chocolate Day...

Trust me they didn't last long...

Last Wednesday was World Chocolate Day apparently. Only found this out by accident...

Luckily I had bought Russell a packet of Cherry Ripe Pods as they were half price. lol

To my surprise he gave me a box of Guylian Chocolate Hearts... yum My absolute favourate chocolates :) :)

Two great minds think alike lol

Cheers Damaris

First lunch out...

Joshua trying his best...

Last week Timothy went to Blue Care for four nights from Wednesday lunch time... Once I dropped him off, Joshua said that he was rather hungry...

This was the perfect opportunity for him to take his mum out for lunch. He did it all... He opened the door for me, he pulled out my chair and he even ordered for me... He kept calling me 'Mam'. So cute.

This was the first time that he had been out to a restaurant. It was very special that we got to spend such a lovely one on one time together. :)

He tried the chop sticks for ages and so did I. He learnt how to hold them very quickly... Champion...

Then last Friday night, Russell and I took him out to Bestbrook Mountain Resort for a lovely dinner. We used the voucher that I had won at the Cancer Council Biggest Morning Tea two months earlier :) and this ensured that our meals were much cheaper. We all had a lovely meal and our food was cooked to perfection. :)

The meals were not completely failsafe I must say but we ensured that the next couple of days we monitored him and he didn't seem to react too much. Bit down in the dumps was about it.

Was great to have the experience :)

Cheers Damaris

Boys at work...

Josh on the left, Tim on the right...

Jumping from one to the other...

Last week I had a training session on at work... Was learning all about Makaton and Auslan... Am going get into that so that I can communicate better with the people I support, as well as with Margaret's James. :) Can't wait...

The boys off course had to try out the two massive trampolines that are there... They had a ball and had it not been so cold that early in the morning would have stayed on there...

Cheers Damaris

Oops, broke it...

Oops...

Didn't know how strong I was... Lol

These are the clippers I used at Margaret's... Don't think she will lend me her fingernail clippers to do my toenails anymore... lol

Cheers Damaris

TV dies...

Our new TV...

We had our Sony TV for only 1.5 yrs. 1/2 year out of warranty off course. Found the receipt and was not impressed... It was a 65cm TV and had done us well but now all it did was play the sound and a black picture was all we got. This was due to some overheating in the machine... Not happy!

So we went and had a look for some other TV's. Russell did his research on the net off course... We found a new model LG and he was all ok for getting another 65cm TV again. We then made the mistake of going to the shops and looking at the actual TV...

One shelf above I saw another LG, same sort of LCD LED lighting etc etc... Long story short it is 20% more electricity efficient than our old Sony so we went for it... Just as well as from 1 July this year power has gone up 6.6%. Final size 110 cm. Wow does it show up movies sooooooo much better.

And this TV comes with a 3yr warranty. Another win, win situation...

Cheers Damaris

Shelves, shelves and more shelves...

New table for the Shed...

Lots of room for storage :)

Didn't take long to fill this one...

Russell and Joshua have been very busy over the last few weekends that I have been working... They have made two massive shelves for the shed. We also made another two shelve table last Saturday before I left for work for the night. :)

The shed is looking better... Soon it will be organised. I realise that it is Russell's shed and that he is by no means as worried about clutter as I am but... You know... I just can't stand it...

Anyway he is well and truly on his way to having a tidy shed. Yay!!!

Cheers Damaris

Lions' Picnic

 

The band was great :)

Lovely views on the way home...

A week ago, I had my first all-day outing with the lovely people us support workers support. There were about 18 of us altogether. The scenery on the way there and back was beautiful. I had not been on the Warrego Highway for a long time and though there were plenty of road works that didn't diminish the excitement of the day ahead at all. :)

We all got into a coach bus and made our way to our destination, where a whole heap of Lions' vans were waiting for us. There was so much food, drink and games that there was plenty to go around.

There was even a marching band with bagpipes... :)

Everyone had a wonderful time, including me. Was a fantastic day out...

Cheers Damaris

Room with a view :)

What a view :)

This is the view I have from the office I work in while at work... How awesome is that :) This is early one morning. I am very, very blessed...

Cheers Damaris

Work...

Not attempting this hill while it's wet lol

Beautiful sunrises is just one of the pleasures I get from working here...

This tree is begging to be drawn :)

Love my views...

So where do I work? In most beautiful part of Toowoomba I think... Each sleepover that I spend there I wake up to the most amazing sunrise over the Lockyer Valley. We get the most amazing breezes. Washing doesn't need long to dry at all. The views are amazing and whenever I go for a little walk in the lovely grounds one of the residents usually joins me :)

I really didn't believe that I could be so happy going back to work after being at home for so long. I had gotten very used to that life and was able to always fill my days with allot of activities. Now I am finding that I am really stretching myself. I have learnt more about myself in the last month than in a long time... Little bit scary at times but also exhilarating as I know that it is always good to learn.

Working here has been the most rewarding experience for me...

It helps off course that I have a very supportive husband at home. Russell is home with the boys when I am not there and I know that all is well. So all in all... Having the time of my life :)

Cheers Damaris

What a cake...

Handbag for a cake...

One of the ladies at the Ladies' Group I go to in Warwick had her Birthday... Vicky scored a Chanel cake... How clever are some people that they can take a handbag and copy it into a cake... Just amazing. Only one side was allowed to be touched :) The other had to be preserved forever it seems... Tasted awesome by the way. lol

Cheers Damaris

Fred is home...

Meet Fred :)

Russell had to change buildings a few weeks ago and he decided to bring Fred home... He was given to him when there was a promotion about having plants at your desk some months ago. Was done in all capital cities around the country apparently... Many, many were given out. Russell got this one :)

He now happily lives in the kitchen with other plants. :)

Cheers Damaris