Figit for your Digit...

I got these when Tim was still at Autism Queensland... They are brilliant... The Occupational Therapist working there at the time put me onto them... So glad she did :)

Push up and down onto your fingers and it relieves pressure points. It is very calming... I use it too. Great to play around with. They are also great to use for joint pain as it relieves stress and tight joints too :)

I found them on a Occupational Therapy sites many years ago... Must see if I can find it again. I reckon the girls at work would love these ;)

Cheers Damaris

I did it...

I'm one of those very sentimental people... You give me something and I keep it forever...

Have had this candle from my grandmother since my mum gave it to me many, many years ago... My mum knows what I'm like... I'm a shocker! It has gone to four houses that we have lived in. Yep, it's not even straight! It's crooked as but I still love it :) It was from my Oma...

Today was my day of decluttering my candle supply. I had a few that I knew didn't light for long as well as some incense sticks that didn't light well enough to burn... Tossed quite a bit and rather chuffed with myself...

Then I came across the green candle... I had the perfectly sized container for it in one hand, so I took the candle with the other hand and actually light it!!! I watched the flame flare up and settle sown... I wondered just how old was the candle really? How long had my Oma had it before I got it? I knew it was from Austria too, so wonder where it came from...

I miss my Oma on occasions like these... I miss not being able to talk to her, play German Rummy (and cheat just like her lol) and I miss her not showing me how to cook and bake... It's also one of the many reasons why I make sure no matter what I try my very hardest to go my Mum's for any cooking and baking sessions... I see my Oma in her as she does her thing and I stand back and watch... I also miss the continues letter writing we used to do... Plain and simple - I miss her very much...

Today was about her... I am glad I light the candle. It made me feel close to her... It made me remember... The details of her face, her hands... The pearl earrings and necklace she always wore. Her beautiful wide wedding band that she had a beautiful sapphire set into. Her nails, her hands that worked hard all her life, Her laugh, her smile, me washing and drying her back, her hair she would have set by her hairdresser each month, even her loud snoring which she was incredibly good at... I'm so glad I have the memories... I wish my baby sister had them too...

Mind you I couldn't bare to have the candle go too long. It's in a safe place and I am determined that I will enjoy each time I light it :)

Cheers Damaris

Look what I found...

Tim's at BlueCare this weekend so Russell and I took Josh to see 'The Avengers'! Had a great time... All loved it :)

After that we had to drop in at Big W as I needed to replace a Corelle plate that Tim had broken by accident a few weeks ago. Went to the Ladies first and what do I spot on the local notice board???

Our old car for sale that we had sold just over two years ago... Was strange seeing it for sale... Took me back :) That X-Trail got our stuff from one side of The Cunningham's Gap to the other... Amongst many other things...

Memories...

Cheers Damaris

Me thinks he needs a new chair...

So one armrest had been broken for a while. He has glued it but that didn't safe Russell this arvo as he tried to lean back a little... Luckily he caught himself on the edge of his desk or he would have gone flying!

Think he's finally getting a new one lol

Cheers Damaris

Visitors...

Haven't seen Kate and James for 1/2 a year now... Today was the day to catch up :) Lisa and Russ, their parents, sold their house up here and while the negotiations where going on, the kids stayed here :) They ate, listened to music, played pool and went to the creek... Was so nice to catch up with them all. The boys had a great time too :) We will see them again in a month or so for settlement lol

Cheers Damaris

Lest we Forget...

It's ANZAC day here today... Today we especially remember those who died for our free country and think of the ones left behind...

We have Warwick RSL members coming out for our community service on Friday at 2pm...

I thank them for the sacrifices that they made! I think of our current soldiers still overseas and pray for their safe return.

Cheers Damaris

50yrs of Lego...

One of the shopping centres near where I work has been having experts putting a nice variety of large objects together... All out of Lego... Loved it as a kid and still do now :) Was devastated when we got rid of the heap of Lego we used to have as kids to come to Australia... Won't get rid of the lot we have for our boys... I might just get the urge to have a little play lol!

Cheers Damaris

Cutie and the opportunist...

We had just had our family dinner when Josh decided he needed a rest... So he lies down on it and has a comfy pillow under his head as well as in his tummy for a bit of warmth... He promptly falls asleep... Bailey investigates and decides to use the top big European pillow all for himself lol

And there the two of the stayed put a good 1.5 hours! Should have seen Josh's face when he woke and realised what Bailey had done - priceless ;)

Cheers Damaris

Lasted nearly Two Years...

One of my best friends was moving to Melbourne... So just before he moved, Adam days 'Heres a tub of washing powder for you'... One more month and it would have lasted two whole years. How lucky are we :) Can't believe it has been so long since he's been gone... We see him when we can which the whole family loves off course... He still refers to Josh as his little brother which is so nice :)

Cheers Damaris

A new beginning...

This year has seen Josh joining his brother Tim at High School... He's loving it do far which is great. A couple of not so good choices have been made but Russell and I hope that he learns quickly from them... It's been hard for Josh to have homework and assignments but Tim gets time in class to complete his so doesn't bring it home... One huge adjustment for all. We make it fair and there are no computers etc allowed on while he does his work. They are both different and a couple of teenagers have to learn these... Even if it takes time or there are tantrums...

Tim is going to start trying out work experience hopefully end of this term. Boy, when I went to school you got to try it once a year for a couple of years... Tim can do it every term from Year 10 :) Must say he's not keen as he has no idea what he wants to do... or not for that matter... Gently we will guide and hopefully be able to eliminate some he's not keen on :)

After having only mainstream classes with Josh for a whole term now I must say it has been a huge eye opener. Tim really is so well taken care of and sheltered in the Support Unit! I'm very thankful for his brilliant Case Manager... Don't know what we'd do without Kirstie :) Then on the other hand he does try so very hard at everything. He came home last Monday declaring that he's about to learn all about growing from a boy to a man... Heaven help us with the questions he'll come up with. And I know he will lol

Here's to a successful rest of the school year :)

Cheers Damaris

Wow I found the app for Blogger

Well there you go!!! Russell suggested I look in the Apps store for a Blogger app and I'm now writing from my phone :) I'm so pleased... I can write again!!!

Now I'm just going to share a photo as well... This is Russell about ten minutes ago with the dogs lol

Cheers Damaris

Been slack but here I am...

My beautiful new Swarovski Crystal Ring :)

Little Rosella Plant... It's forming buds now :)

Bailey and Nova doing their thing... lol

Lots of harvesting has been done over the last four months...

Oh boy I have been very slack... I think of the blog so often but just don't get on the computer anymore... This is the first time in months that I have sat down properly... Mainly the reason is due to me not having a computer of my own anymore... Tim has the iMac now. Russell has the iMac 2 and Josh has the Laptop... I don't need my own. I use the iPad or my phone. But from those I can't upload pictures... I might have to look into this a bit more as I would like to upload stuff as I do with Facebook...

Allot has happened since January... Josh has commenced with High School. Tim is doing exceptionally well at school. He got 13 A's and 3 B's for Effort and Behaviour last term. Josh has to pull his socks up a bit but he is only just getting used to not only homework and assignments but also having so many new different teachers.

During the last holidays we also went fossicking for the first time, for real. We packed up the family and went to Glen Innes for a week. We had a ball. NSW was not on holidays yet so we had most operators to ourselves. Many oldies around but it was lovely and quiet. :) The camper trailer did really well. We did underestimate the weather just a little and therefore were a little cold some nights. The days, though, were beautiful to say the least. Lots of Garnets, Sapphires, Black Jacks and Zircons were found...

More and more things have been put into our garden too and the herb garden especially has served us very well. Things are starting to now cool down. During the night we usually have 7-9 degrees so things are slowing down. Just hope that my Rosella will finish growing in time for me to make some jam :)

Work for me has been fantastic as last year. 1.3.12 saw me sign up for my Certificate 3 in Disability, which I am yet to start. It's all in the pipeline...

One of the guinea pigs was accidentally caught by Nova so we replaced her. She is multi coloured. I still take them up to work on a weekend which the residents just love. Am also having a ball driving the bus still. Must say that I really appreciate the way that my boss looks after not just me but all of us...

Russell is loving working at the local school... Maryvale still has him on a Tuesday and 1/2 Friday. Tough that. lol So glad that he is home and that he is also getting on board with the whole No Technology Day thing. That was hard at first but we now have Mondays and Thursdays as No Technology Days... We don't do the Low Electricity Days on Wednesday at the moment. That will probably come again when it's winter... maybe... I have a bit of resistance from Russell on that one so getting the two days no technology is great for now. Our electricity bills have been averaging $120 for the four of us, per quarter. This will be the last quarter without the new Carbon Tax that is being introduced in July. That is something that I am very concerned about and wish that it was being dealt with differently... 400 companies being charged... 400 chances (at least) to get slugged with another tax. At this point no one can tell us what it will mean for power, food, petrol, you know all the day to day living stuff. We already to as little as we possibly can and turn everything off. What else can we do but the powers that be are predicting $300 extra a year... That's a heap of money I don't want spend. Just so glad I have my panels on the roof, thinking I should have gotten more when I had the chance...

So there you have a quick update from what has been happening... Lots of work and not much else. Don't go anywhere really unless I really have to when I'm off.

Cheers Damaris

Timothy's room, again...

This was a big one on my decluttering list and one that had to be done as a team. Meaning Russell, Timothy and I together...

This morning we woke to noises of Joshua cleaning up his whole room. He did a fantastic job. I ended up doing the library for him which was a job and a half but was glad to do that bit for him. :)

Timothy was a whole other story... He got on the computer first up and knew that he was not supposed to have done that... So then in the end we got him off the computer. Russell and him then proceeded to do the floor or try to find it anyway. There were loads of rocks and minerals out and about as he had been 'sorting' and were still there a couple of weeks later. Then we moved onto the bed and put all the folded clothes away that were clean, dirty clothes went into the laundry hamper. That is now full. :)

I went through the whole of his display cabinet as well and halved the rocks on display. All fitted really neatly under his bed. Yay!!!

His library I fixed up as well and he can't wait to sleep in his freshly made bed tonight... This job was enormous last time and this time took just two hours. I am soooo thankful that Timothy stayed on task that whole time, well mostly, and that Russell did such a great job with him... :)

Cheers Damaris