What will tomorrow bring...

That is what I ponder today as it is the last day of June.

The last day of the current financial year as well as the last day without the dreaded Carbon Tax...

Noone can tell us what the implications are... Or what it will cost us...

Hubby and I are trying to overestimate everything at the moment. Electricity is supposed to go up at least 16% but who knows in the end? Milk, bread and flour etc was not supposed to go up but corner shops had been advices weeks ago of the steep increases...

Today is the sunset of the old. Tomorrow is unknown. To an extent it is no use worrying about the unknown but one must budget and keep the bills down as much as possible. Something we try to do very hard, and will only get harder I believe...

All in all I am not against this new tax at all as long as it actually helps the environment, which I don't believe it will. Companies will buy their credits and get billed by the government for their polluting ways, who will pass the cost onto you and me, the customers...

And after three years of price freezing who knows where the amount will go to...

I want today to be a Groundhog Day lol

Cheers Damaris

Some favourite sayings...

Love sooo many. These are some of my favourites...

Cheers Damaris

Clean out...

Has to happen every three to five years. Our Ecosafe Waste Management System has done well. We got 4.5 years. It's now cleaned out and ready for the next 4.5 or so years :) The man came out from Warwick and was great to deal with. Very knowledgable which we appreciate :)

Have also been very happy with the service over the time we have been here with Ecosafe. The service call we get every year as well as the tests that get performed to ensure the system runs at its best are fantastic. Couldn't ask for better.

Cheers Damaris

Goodbye...

Saying goodbye is always hard... Keith has now gone to be better place... No more pain and sickness.

You will be missed by many...

Rest In Peace...

Cheers Damaris

Geranium flowers...

Love it when my youngest picks a flower for me and gives it to me... Just because... No other reason... Just cause he loves me!

Cheers Damaris

Beauty...

Love my succulents... Love seeing the water bead...

Cheers Damaris

Settling in...

Slowly but surely the three new Leghorns are settling in. They still dart around at the edges when it's feeding time with either scraps or grain. They get their share though :)

They also have this uncanny ability to walk through the backyard fence and have a nibble or five on my garlic chives... Then they just walk through the fence again to get out...

Hopefully that will cease once they grow up a little more lol

Cheers Damaris

Getting ready...

I am getting ready for study :) Being part of my job, it will help me, help others even more... Something I am very excited about...

Can't wait to get started :)

Cheers Damaris

Smokin'...

Today I went out with some of the people from where I work to the Laidley Powerfest! I must say it was awesome. Some of the boats get 0-100km/hr in 2 seconds!!! The noise was a bit much after a while.

The hot rods were fantastic to look at too. The amount of time, effort and money they must spend on their passion...

Was an awesome experience that's for sure :)

Cheers Damaris

Little surprise...

I was sitting in front of the fire yesterday morning, when I realised that my cactus had white bits at the ends!!! I got up to investigate and sure enough there are a couple of flowers :)

How cool is that. I didn't even realise they were budding...

Cheers Damaris

Nova...

Running around like a spring chicken this morning she was... Full of beans. Had not seen her like that in a while, which makes me hope her needles for arthritis inflammations are starting to kick in :)

Once the boys leave for school, it gets quiet in the house so this morning Nova took herself of to the softest spot :) Normally, that's on a bed if someone is there with her as she loves the company :)

Today, it was a large soft blanket hanging over one of the breakfast bar chairs that Josh used this morning to keep warm... I didn't realise she was there at first... Just followed the snores lol

She is still at it now. She must be having a great dream as she is snoring like there's no tomorrow...

Cheers Damaris

Cuppa anyone???

My other normal large cups where in the dishwasher so got out the ultimate cup that Russell gave me for my Birthday couple of years ago... Hadn't used it in a while but today I need it lol

Cheers Damaris

Sitting pretty...

Our parking area as well as our driveway need a bit of work. The rain and wind can be tough on the surface...

Last weekend, the kids and Russell moved around sand and wood chips to make a better base for where we park our cars... Worked well :) Now to do the same with the driveway... There we will be using gravel instead of sand or it too would quickly disappear...

Cheers Damaris

Another pumpkin...

Another one was ready yesterday so I got Hubby to bring it in :)

It's now resting on its side waiting to be used... Love growing our own food :) So worth it! Looking forward to tasting it :)

Cheers Damaris

Dinner :)

So what's for dinner at your place???

At ours it's Chicken stew :) Love to fill up my 6.5l slow cooker and have some for dinner... Leftovers go into the freezer, off course. Not that it lasts long, as it's a favourate in this house :)

Loved adding our own fresh parsley, thyme and rosemary. The colours were amazing... The smell in the house was incredible :) Just what you want on a cold winter's day :)

Cheers Damaris

Clever Man...

Russell's built most of our PC's along the way. Haven't needed to since we got our two Mac's.

Over the last six months though, Josh's laptop has slowed down terribly and it had gotten more and more useless. Very annoying when you're trying to play online games lol

So Russell has built him a new, fast PC! He loves it. And Russell got to prove that he has still got it! Hehe

Cheers Damaris

Wanna try this...

Looks beautiful and it looks like it would smell Devine...

Must make it very soon :)

Cheers Damaris

Lavender Galore...

Yes, this is still the original plant from four years ago. Must say I have rarely pruned it over that time. I love to bring the flowers inside :)

This bloom is the latest show :) Just beautiful. I love a bit of colour when the temperature is positively getting cold :)

Cheers Damaris

Love it :)

What an excellent sign... I was going to print out this blog and then totally delete it after stuff happened last week. I have decided against that as I like the blog. I love to look back and see where we have come from and where we are going.

Peace of mind is what I am after and am determined to achieve :)

Cheers Damaris

Puppies...

Went to the vet for their yearly needles Wednesday and they are in excellent shape :)

Both love riding, in their seat belts, in the car with me and here they're sunning themselves in the back of my car, while staying out of the winter breeze... Clever dogs ;)

Any ideas?

I've had these little mounds come up in the yard... The diameter is different from each mound but roughly 10-15cm wide.

I wipe off the top layer and find nothing... Nothing but soft soil. There's a round middle centre but no hole?

Very curious... Wonder what it is?

Cheers Damaris

Baking and cooking Day...

I normally have one Tuesday a month to be all by myself. No kids, no hubby... I love that day and treasure it very much... So imagine my surprise when my mouth opened up and I invited Fi up for a baking day!

I couldn't understand the logic but went ahead with it all them same. So today, just after 10am Fi rocks up at my house with her beautiful Phoebee with ingredients in hand.

Fi baked 110 bikkies. My boys enjoyed their treat when they got home from school :) We managed to finish off the last of some Reisauflauf too. I made Parmesan and Garlic crumbed Chicken Tenders with chunky potato wedges on the side :) Was Devine and the boys loved it. No leftovers off course :)

Was so lovely to have a nice big catch up with Fi, listen to some great music and reconnect. I found stuff about her and she found out stuff about me. Was great to see that change in me from my side :)

Cheers Damaris

One of a few...

This lovely Jap pumpkin was from Josh's veggie garden :) There was another but it was way too close to the wire fencing that encloses the gardens. The wire is to keep wallabies, hare and our chooks out... Needless to say they thought it was great fodder, so we lost that one to the chooks...

There are another few in the backyard where the stem is withering. One fully dried we will also bring them inside and feast on them :) Will store them on their sides this time as I've learnt that they don't rot anywhere near as quickly then if moisture gets into them from the stem pointing up :)

Cheers Damaris

Another step closer...

Yesterday was more time spent on the patio area :) More weed pulling was done and even Floppy came to investigate and see if there were any interesting bits to peck at :)

The willy wagtail is having fun picking through what we've disturbed :) Such a cutie, always hanging around :) Both the boys did a great job yesterday, I must say! Was good to put the tools away. Over one hurdle... Few more to go.

Now to wait for the weather to fine up and then get going on the rest of the job... Loads of filling to be done...

Cheers Damaris

Decluttering...

And so it keeps going... I have acquired a massive amounts of candles over the years... Just lately I've been using them up...

This one's from a friend of mine that thought of me when she was going through her very old stash :) Again thanks Sharon :)

I'm determined to use them all up. Some were so old they wouldn't even light properly lol.

So glad after not using them for a while I've started again :) So many still to go through :)

Cheers Damaris

First Day of Winter...

Sent my boys a message this morning: Kisses and cuddles for the first of the month, and Winter... Lots of returns :)

Was fitting to have the fireplace going today. It's cold and wet to boot. The dogs don't even want to go outside to do their business... Same struggle with them each winter! Don't want to get their tush or paws wet ;)

This morning I did my last shift at work till next Thursday. Once a month I get about six nights off. Soooo lovely. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE my job. I am truly blessed and I know it. The support from management and the office staff as well as the other disability support workers is amazing. I am so happy to be working there... Love my down time though, with my three boys.

Russell, Tim and Josh love that week as I'm all theirs :) and so do I!

Josh has come home this afternoon, done his chores and then made us a fire. Even have some washing on rails to dry by the heater :) While I sit here my toes are warming up. They've been cold most of the day.

Russell's making homemade Pizza for dinner tonight, which I love. He's great in the kitchen and he also loves it :)

The last few weeks I have been trying hard to live in the moment... Whatever that may be... Been doing well and have enjoyed some small stuff in a big way. One example is... Tim singing on the way home from Gymnastics... Belting out tunes. Yes, they were mostly out of tune but so lovely to listen to him as Josh doesn't like him singing. He, though loves to sing :) He went for it and had a ball. I did too :) I hope to always remember those precious little moments.

Ok, cuddle time with the dogs before dinner :)

Cheers Damaris

Hmmm...

Don't you just hate it when you hear there's a new show in town at the Art Gallery and when you go to see it... It's closed...

Must go on an open day next time lol...

Cheers Damaris