Dogs, Family and Fashion (in no particular order)

I have neglected to tell you some of our biggest news lately - we have more family in town now! Very exciting. Don's brother and family moved here recently. I can't believe how many cousins the children have to play with now - I had none (within 1200km, that is)!

Ah, we do love our dog, Jack. He is on a chain still due to his leg healing from yet another operation... (ca-ching! $$). There is one thing I don't like, though - the holes he digs. And my question for the day is: what happens to the dirt from the hole?? Why is there a hole there with no sign of dirt to put back in?? It must be sprayed far and wide, I'm telling you.

And we're looking after Jack's brother, Noah, at the moment while my sister is away. He's a sweet little thing, and boy can he jump! And did I see there...

... Yes, I did. The latest fashion statement. Floral shorts over tracksuit pants. Ah, to be 3 again...

Top grooming tips

We sat in the shade (yes, it's getting rather hot) this afternoon and watched a bee grooming itself on one of the bikes.



The bee spent a great deal of time making sure it's antennae were clean and straight, and also that the fuzz on top of it's head was in order. Next each set of legs was properly rubbed over. Then there was a brief pause ("right, I think I'm ready to go now"), before launching off to the next flower.

On the topic of insects, I have been reading Gerald Durrell's My Family And Other Animals again. I have read some of the stories aloud to the children, too. Good stomach exercise - all that laughing!

A week of camping

We went camping in Coonabarabran this week, and did some great bush walks in the Warrumbungles. We had the entire unpowered tent site to ourselves at the caravan park, so we had a great big space for playing plenty of cricket. We woke up to a chorus of birds in the mornings, and enjoyed looking at the stars in the evening. Just lovely. I did think my own bed was the comfiest place on earth at the end of the week, though...!

A secret island

We managed to squeeze in some fish & chips in the park between rain showers at lunch time. And now I've donated a strip of calico to the children so they can draw a secret island while it's raining outside. At this point there are a lot of secret tunnels, caves and pirate ships... And there are rumours afoot of smugglers and hidden treasure...

Perspective shift

Ever feel like you have a shift in perspective and it changes everything? God has certainly been shifting our perspective on things lately. I don't feel I can do it justice here, but our expectations have changed over the last year. Particularly with healing: a change from hoping to expecting.

Mark 9:23. All things are possible to him who believes.

The dust continues

We are stuck inside again today, with more dust passing by. I made some more strawberry shortcake (can't get enough of it!), Don has been getting into a book (with children piled on top of him at various stages), and the children are getting restless. The younger two took it into their heads to do some paper cutting, which was lovely, until I left the room and they decided to start cutting their hair instead. The boy's hair, being the shortest, is the most obviously... er ... re-shaped. Oldest chicken has been working hard writing her new book, with the amazing and gripping title of 'The Hour of Dawn'. I wish I'd thought of a title like that when I was young! I could never think of a title, and all of my stories started with "It was a dark and stormy night..." (can you tell I was a Madeline L'Engle fan?).

Time for some family games...

Don't bother inhaling

We had a wonderful downpour of rain last night, with winds that tried to blow away everything not tied down, but today all we can see is thick dust in the air. Everything is dusty and dirty. It's disgusting. The children are not allowed to go outside, and I took pity on the dog and let him come in the laundry.



The Bureau of Meteorology calls it 'Areas of raised dust'. The NSW goverment website merely calls it 'Particles', although in it's defence it does use the colour red to describe hazardous air quality. ABC rural weather calls it a 'heavy dust haze', which is rather more meaningful. I think they should say 'Don't even think about stepping outside today, let alone breathing!' I went to get the mail with a scarf tied around my face, and still felt like I needed a shower when I stepped back inside. Yeuuuck.