So Far So Good

A friend asked me this afternoon how my week has been so far. Well, Tuesday is a funny day for me. It's kind of like everyone else's Monday. I wake up every Tuesday in a bit of a brain fog, wondering what day it is, what did I do yesterday, what am I meant to be doing today etc etc. It only happens on Tuesday's. That's because Monday's are a little slice of pure paradise.

Yesterday I cleaned. Yep. I've decided I must make myself do that regular weekly clean, like a good Fly Baby. I love how I feel about my home when it's done. I just don't like the idea of getting started. So while the floors were drying I watched an episode of "Little House on the Prairie". Because after all, I worked hard! Then I sat down to some study.

It's been a bit of a day for my girls though. The Year 7's had immunisations. Miss Sunshine doesn't like needles much. I checked in on her at the start of recess and she was doing fine. Miss Mischief got bitten by the class rabbit. It's been traumatised by a fox and he took his fear out on her. My how she bled! The first aid room floor was a mess but she's fine. I've checked that her tetanus immunisation is current and I'll have another look at the wound shortly. Poor baby, it gave her such a fright.

After I finished at school I had a beautiful lunch with a friend. She made roasted mushrooms with walnuts & ricotta with roasted tomato & capsicum and soft polenta. Ohhh those mushrooms were good!

Last Week of Term 1 ... Menu Planning Day

My daughters are both home from camps. I was never more relieved to see one of my children than I was yesterday when I picked up Miss Sunshine from her Girls Brigade camping trip. The contrast between the two girl's camping trips was stark. I wasn't even terribly concerned about knowing where Miss Mischief was staying. I knew she was perfectly safe and as well cared for as if I were there. Miss Sunshine's was another story. I had no such confidence. At least nothing I could base any on.

So, last week of term. We finish up on Thursday and have parent/teacher interviews that evening and all day Friday. I've scheduled mine for Friday morning. All. Morning. Two for the primary kids and five for the one secondary kid. Oh my goodness!!!!! I have an hour and a quarter just talking about one child. There's got to be a better way!

I've planned my meals and I have to say I'm not feeling all that inspired about them. Maybe that's just my frame of mind, and not the meals themselves though LOL.

Monday: Fish & Vegies
Tuesday: Lamb meatloaf, vegies
Wednesday: Honey Soy Chicken, vegies, rice (a hold over from the weekend)
Thursday: Singapore Noodles
Friday: Ricotta fritters, vegies
Saturday: Honey Lemon Chicken, vegies
Sunday: Tuna & Rice (to get Mr Busy off my back!)

Rel mentioned the other day that I hadn't posted many recipes lately. I don't suppose I have. I've gone half way this week ~ I've linked my menu with whichever recipes I have available. When I decide how I'm going to make that lamb meatloaf I'll post that recipe. I'm thinking something to do with cranberry sauce and fresh rosemary.

After all that, can I just say I love my old keyboard? I swapped the oh-so-fancy wireless keyboard Dh got with the computer when we upgraded quite some time ago with my trusty old one (with better buttons!). The fancy one was never as smooth as the old one. You'd hit a key and it may or may not actually allow itself to be pressed down. Very frustrating when you're typing in PIN's and passwords.

This morning I plugged in the old one and voila. We have dependable speed typing again!

Colossians 1:4-5

"Because we have heard of your faith in
Christ Jesus and of the love you have for
all the saints - the faith and love that
spring from the hope that is stores up
for you in Heaven and that you
have already heard about in the
word of truth."

Colossians 1:4-5

Thank You

If I start out on how my week has gone, this week, you'll all think me nothing more than a whiner who needs to 'get over it'. So I won't start. Suffice it to say that it's been a tough week for me on many fronts. My friend Jodie copped the tears this morning.

I was feeling a little tender anyway and during the course of conversation about Missionary Kids (of which, I am one) a fellow MK mentioned a speaker she'd heard of, who was told he was ruining a parents opportunity to sacrifice his children to the work of the church. I kinda lost it. I've been in a position where a the leader of a para church organisation pushed me to find someone else to care for my very unwell daughter so I could attend class and fulfill my leadership obligations. So I guess it struck a still-raw nerve. My kids aren't up for sacrificing....other things get sacrificed but not my kids. They're too important. Their lives, their very souls are too important. If I don't care for those that God has given me, how on earth could He possibly trust any other unsuspecting soul to my care? Anyway, that was the culmination of the week that this one has been.

The purpose for this post was to say THANK YOU to each one of you who pop in here regularly to read my ramblings and for the encouragement that you give. You can't begin to imagine how much that means on days like today.

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I finally received my work books arrived today. I can't wait to get started....although I'm feeling quite apprehensive at the same time. It's been over 20 years since I studied and the idea of measuring up to a set standard that I've yet to understand is a little unsettling. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it. I've done distance ed. before. Just not at this level....and at this age LOL.

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Meanwhile the children are bickering as they eat their afternoon snack. I'm thinking some play time in the jungle (aka the back yard of unmown lawn) is looking like a good option. They might get lost out there and I might have a little 'piece of quiet', as Mr Busy used to say.

'Turning the Paige' by Laura Jensen Walker

My review for 'Turning the Paige' is now posted here at Relz Reviewz. This is the sequel to 'Daring Chloe', which we read for book club at the end of last year. As a result some of our book club members spent a day in at the Art Gallery here in the city and had an absolutely fabulous day of it.

Meanwhile, this book is as wonderful as the first and delves into a completely different set of life's circumstances.

I've Modernised!

I'm feeling very clever right about now. I've just successfully downloaded and installed the Victorian Modern Cursive font onto my computer....and it works!

It's a terrible font to handwrite in, with all its ticks and kicks. However, it is what we teach our children right from Prep and all my classroom related assignments are to be written using this font.

For those of you who are curious, you can view the alphabet here.

It's the 'b' and 'p' that gets me!

Oh Whew!

I've just managed to meet my deadline! My review for 'Turning the Paige' has been emailed after a couple of hours absorbed within the pages of the book. Now to pick a new one LOL.

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I've decided that I love Primary School. The kids are gorgeous and thoroughly engaging. They're enthusiastic, respectful, they still love learning and they can still look up at the adults in their classrooms. It's hard to be naughty when you're not tall enough to look your 'adversary' in the eye!

It's been a couple of very trying days with Year 7. Their English teacher (the class I'm in) and their home room teacher are away on a camp and the kids have taken the opportunity to run amok. In all Miss Sunshine's 7.25 years of education I've never come across behaviour such as I have witnessed this week. What happened to those beautiful Year 6 students that were so lovely to spend time with? Where did they go? Something happens to them within the first weeks of Secondary School! Partly, it is to do with the casual relief teacher. Certainly today's teacher was better than yesterday's. But I am so incredibly disappointed in the kids themselves. They know better and most have parents who teach and expect better from their children. I certainly don't want to repeat this week's challenges. I'm so tired and my patience with my own children's nonsense is at zero.

On the upside I had a good chat with an unusual little soul who is quite misunderstood by his peers. I encouraged him to push through his dislike for group activities and find a way to be courageous and try something out of his comfort zone. After all, in schools, group activities are inevitable. You can't get through to Year 10-12 without coming to grips with it in some way. I know it'll be tough for him to do it, but hopefully if he knows someone in the room is cheering him on he'll be brave and give it a go. Who knows, he might actually enjoy some aspect of the experience!

Ready, Set....

I'm stuck on 'set' until the mail man arrives. Tomorrow.

Last week I took a plunge I never thought I would take. I enrolled in a Certificate 3 course for Teacher's Assistants. I have managed to find a TAFE college that delivers this course via external study (ie distance education) and the course is nationally recognised. The TAFE is in Western Australia! Although similar courses are run in Victoria, I would have to attend classes and that just doesn't suit my work commitments or my family's needs. The TAFE I've enrolled with have been excellent and very efficient in replying to emails, phone calls and mailing things out to me. I was very excited to discover I don't have to wait until semester 2 to start! Because the course is self paced I can start immediately.

So, I've received some information and an initial exercise to 'demonstrate my commitment to the course'. It was just a little thing, so I completed that and have it in the car ready to send off. I'm just waiting for the Learner Guides to wing their way across the Nullabor and then I'll be able to get started.

This year seems to be full of "I never thought I would....". Here I am being paid to work and am about to embark on study after 21 years of being beyond that phase of life. They are two things I never imagined for myself 13 years ago when I became a mother.

Apparently 'old dogs' can learn new tricks!

This Week's Madness & Menus

It feels a bit like madness anyway! Miss Mischief is heading off on her school camp today. She'll be back on Wednesday so things will be quiet around here for a bit. She's the quiet one, but you only have to take any one of the three out of the picture and life gets dull .... er .... peaceful ... um .... there's a whole in the family. Then Miss Sunshine will be away working on her Girls Brigade badge on Saturday night. It's just going to be a strange week kid-wise.

We finally took a little drive out to a town about 30 minutes from here yesterday, so I could investigate a couple of walks for our Women's Retreat, which is coming up all too fast. I found a beautiful walk along the upper Yarra (where it's a nice flowing happy little river, rather than the sludge it becomes closer to the city). We can walk up one side and down the other, enjoy watching the duck playing and paddling upstream and the walk itself will not be prohibitive to anyone. Mum and I are going to go back there today and spend some time at a patchwork shop that is also a tea house. I didn't think Rel would cope too well if I saved that for Retreat and dragged her through there! I'll indulge myself now instead.

Anyway, without further ado, this week we'll be dining on the following feasts:

Monday: Lamb Chops & Cranberry sauce, vegies
Tuesday: Mr Busy's choice
Wednesday: Roast Chicken
Thursday: Soup & homemade bread
Friday: Chicken & Veg pie, vegies
Saturday: Honey Soy Chicken, stir fried vegies, brown rice
Sunday: Homemade Pizza...Miss Sunshine's lesson on making dough will come this week.

Early Birthday Present

Mum and Dad will be away for my birthday next month, and Mum said she just really wanted to see my face when I opened my gift. "You'll just love what I've gotten you", she said yesterday morning. So she gave it to me early.

Oh. My. Goodness. I am indeed spoiled! The fine china mug above (Maxwell & Williams 'English Rose') is what I received. Not just one, but a whole matching set of six. SIX! All the same. I am in Heaven. I've always wanted a pretty, matching set of mugs. Mum said she found these at a marvellous price and just could not pass up the opportunity to thrill my simple little heart.

Thank you Mum & Dad. I will enjoy them with every sip. And I will love looking at them through the window pane of the cupboard where they will live. They are truly beautiful.

Saturday Catch Up

The Secret Life of Insomniacs

Yesterday morning I woke up at 4am, which is not entirely uncommon for me. Thankfully it doesn't happen as often as it used to. By 5am I figured there was no point going back to sleep because I needed to be up at 6. I'd lain there for an hour thinking "I need to organise Mr Busy's room for Mum to stay over. The stuff needs to go back out to the caravan. I should've finished those dishes last night. That bloomin' Christmas tree......" Friday, being a work day for me, means an early leave so there's no time for mucking about at the best of times. Adding an extra lunch to be made for myself challenges my time management. So I got up at 5.15am and pulled all the stuff off the Christmas tree and took it down. See Jodie, you're way ahead of me and I really don't have it that together LOL. I had Mr Busy clean the kid's toilet from top to bottom, floor included. I have no idea how he did, I didn't have time to check. I really, really don't have it together LOL.

When I got to Morning Cuppa at school, my friend said "oh I was up at 4.30am". I told her we should get together for a cuppa because I was already awake and the mind was racing on! She only lives around the corner from me.

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Spending Other People's Money

We all know it's a great fun thing to do, because it's an 'all fun, no responsibility' kind of thing. Yesterday I spent an hour shopping online at school for the Mother's Day stall. I have a shopping listed all organised for the kids, already (and some things they're not allowed to come home with!). There have to be some pluses to getting roped into these things.

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The Weekend

Dh & I have a 20th Wedding Anniversary celeration to go to tonight. Dh phoned them last night to see if they needed anything and he says they've invited lots of friends from that era of their lives. Which means lots of old friends of ours too. It should be a good night. Mum has come down for a few days so that she can be here to care for the kids tonight. She and I are going shopping this morning for a 'china' gift and some black pants for me. The only trousers I have are the one pair of jeans I've been wearing. Suddenly that's just not enough!

My kids, in true BMPF fashion, said "Oh Mum, go Op Shopping for the china". I don't these friends would be terribly appreciative. While they're not snobbish at all, they are VERY well off. A $2 gift for a 20th anniversary just doesn't seem appropriate. Besides, I don't think I would be able to give up whatever Op Shop gem I might come across.

For me ~ if I were inclined to have such a shindig for such a personal milestone, I think I would put it on the invitation "Gifts of no more than $5 perfectly acceptable and preferred"!

While Mum & I are shopping this morning, I plan to stop in at one of the larger department stores to ask what they do with their china place settings when one piece of the display setting gets chipped or broken. You never know...I could end up with the odd piece of beautiful, well-priced Royal Doulton!

Well....Mum will be here for a few days and I don't work Monday's, so I'm all set for some fantastic catch-up time. Miss Mischief heads off on school camp on Monday, so we'll spend some time getting her organised over the next two days. I feel so out of that this year, because I'm not involved. I know they'll have fun though ~ we did last year!

Torn Between Two

One of the greatest gifts I have been blessed to receive is the friendship of some very beautiful women. Friends who are 'real'. Women who share their struggles, ask for truly honest opinions and who care enough to freely offer their heartfelt advise. It is truly precious to have friends to whom you can turn and say "I need whatever wisdom you have to offer about ..... ".

Last night I felt truly torn between two sets of amazing friends. In the end I went with the first invitation that came. Although I know I missed out on some wonderful conversation with women I love to spend time with, I was truly blessed to have been where I was.

Lots of our families at school attend quite a large church that is relatively local to Our Town. A couple of times a year they run a women's evening. I've only been a couple of times, but each time I am blessed to hear from whomever is speaking. These are just ordinary women like me who are willing to share their journey with God. I seem to relate best to hearing people's stories and so although her story is vastly different from my own experiences, I felt challenged and encouraged by the lady who spoke last night about her story.

What better way to spend an evening, than to be with good friends (and as it turned out, family!), enjoy a cuppa and a delicious light snack, and to have been in the presence of God.

'Daisy Chain' by Mary E DeMuth

My review for 'Daisy Chain' has been posted here at Relz Reviewz.

I am very satisfied now that I know there is a sequel that resolves the Daisy's disappearance. I can't wait for 'Slow Burn' to arrive in my hands!

'The Shape of Mercy' by Susan Meissner

I have just finished reading this amazing novel for our book club meeting on Friday night (I'm way ahead of my reading schedule now ~ YAY!).

Rather than hash out another synopsis, you can read Rel's review of the book here.

What I will do, is say that this is an absolute must-read book. I was completely captivated by the characters. Each of the three women held my attention for different reasons. Abigail, for her reserved nature that bespoke a story worthy of hearing. Lauren, for her desire to determine what she wanted her character to be and her passion for literature. Finally, Mercy, whose diary entries illuminated a time in history, for me, that must have been truly horrendous for those directly involved. Her incredible capacity to love and forgive is inspiring and challenging.

It is rare these days, that I am able to find the time to read a book cover-to-cover without being distracted by the busy weekly routine of my life. However, by page 5 I knew this was no ordinary novel. Lauren's insightful comment that "This is the treasure the impoverished forget they have: the ability to choose a new road. They may struggle all their lives to stay on it, but at least they chose it for themselves" seized my attention and and I was captive then until I had turned the final page. I simply could not rest until I had come to the end of Mercy's diary entries and by then I needed to know what the outcome was for Abigail and Lauren's tenuous relationship. I was not disappointed.

Now I have to wait three sleeps to discuss this with the rest of 'the girls'. I'm sure it will be a fascinating discussion.

The Wrapper Free Lunch

Our lunch boxes have been transformed in the last six months. First it was our sandwiches. We use the tupperware sandwich boxes now. Last week during Wrapper Free Lunch week I bought new snack boxes. We are a completely plastic-free-lunch-box home.

Last year when we started talking about this in the classroom I was horrified at the manufacturing process and then the waste issues associated with plastic wrap. I'd not thought much about it before then, it was just something you did ~ using glad wrap on lunches, that is. However I was deeply challenged to change what we did. Our difficulty has been finding boxes that fit into the insulated lunch boxes we use. The sandwich box takes up a fair bit of space. Granted, homemade bread is hard pressed to fit into them, but it doesn't leave much room for another rigid container in there.


Last week in Safeway I found the perfect little container. They were the right base dimension and deeper than the decor brand containers. These boxes fit salada crackers, homemade biscuits...whatever it is that we snack on at school fits, and in turn the containers fit in the lunch boxes.

For those of you whose children take lunch to school each I would encourage each of you to take up the challenge of going as wrapper free as you possibly can. It's a really simple way we can each take care of the world we live in.

This Week's BMPF Menu

We have yet another exciting and busy week ahead. You know....board meetings, school excursions, School open evening, book club, Mum coming for the weekend, a night out for dh & I, a church anniversary to celebrate. Not to mention the usual work, housework, school assignments and homework. And meals. Yes, in between all the doing's this week we need to eat!

This week Beyond My Picket Fence we will be feasting thus:

Monday: Baked Gnocchi with Roasted Tomato Sauce
Tuesday: Bacon Wrapped Chicken, vegies
Wednesday: Fish a'la Maggie Beer, vegies
Thursday: Singapore Noodles
Friday: Chicken & Dumplings
Saturday: Tuna & Pasta
Sunday: Honey Mustard Chicken, hassleback potatoes, vegies

I've been cheating myself a little this last week and my skin is getting pretty cranky with me. Beginning today I'm getting strict with my diet again. Fruit & yoghurt or eggs for breakfast and salads, soups and stir fries are on the menu for lunches. I'm going on a Year 3 excursion tomorrow so I need to come up with something that will travel well that isn't a sandwich. I'm thinking a salad or cold Asian noodles.

Sunday's Productions

Today has been quite the productive day Beyond My Picket Fence. Above is my brand new ironing board cover. The old one had really gotten beyond a joke with it's stains, rips and useless elastic. So I got to and put this piece of fabric that I've had stashed away for just this precise project to its intended purpose. Was it really May last year that I found it? Goodness time flies.

In the kitchen while the rain poured, I've iced a slice with melted chocolate and made a batch of chocolate biscuits. With Miss Mischief's chocolate coconut balls already in the fridge from yesterday, I do believe the family's sweet tooth is well and truly taken care of....for now.

No rainy Sunday is complete without a spot of reading ... 'A Cousin's Promise' is almost finished so I will be working on the review for Rel as soon as I'm done. She handed me another two books this morning, one from a new author, so I've more treasures to explore very soon!

Saturday Happenings

Saturday's at home are a wonderful respite in the midst of my happily busy weeks. This morning in Our Town we had a little quilt show on, so Miss Mischief and I took ourselves off to have a little look. While we were there we were inspired by little snippets of fabric that sang to us and demanded we bring them home and use them for some fun little creation.

No trip up the street is complete without a little wander through the Op Shops. I was not disappointed when I came across these four little bread and butter plates for my growing collection. The woman in the shop asked "you're not going to break them up are you?". I was horrified when she explained that people use them to tile table tops with broken plate pieces. Nooooo....these will be used and enjoyed for their true purpose! The pink ones are my favourite.

And of course in centre stage is my most recently completed cottage garden stitchery.

This afternoon is feeling like a reading and baking afternoon, I think.

Decisions, Decisions!

In my pigeon hole at school the other day, I discovered immunisation information for my Year 7 student, Miss Sunshine. It sparked some very deep thought and a difficult decision for us.

Our children are fully immunised, according to what was available at the time they were little. This week however, is the first time when my gut feeling has been "not with my child, thank you very much".

Gardasil. This is the name of the cervical cancer vaccine, now given to girls from Year 7 and can be obtained for free on the immunisation schedule until 26 years of age. This particular vaccine scares me. I've heard of some very alarming side effects from friends. I've also done a little bit of reading online today and discovered some other information that cements my reluctance to make this decision on my daughter's behalf.

Our decision at this point is to decline the vaccine. This is a first for us but I firmly believe in following your instinct. My instinct is raising red flags all over. I'll have a little chat with Miss Sunshine and explain our decision and her responsibility in taking on this decision for herself as she gets older.

Kerfuffle and Hullaballoo

This would describe half a Year 3 class while cooking!

Now that the class has settled into its routine without a student teacher, Mrs R and I have also settled into our very busy Wednesday morning of cooking with the kids. Mrs R supervises the children who are doing the language activity and I supervise the cooking group ~ they swap over each week. This year the Year 3's are in the lower primary building that encompasses a wet area with an oven and kitchen facilities. It works our beautifully for a seamless working morning of cooking and classroom activity.

Yesterday we made Feta and Spinach pie. We went out to pick the silverbeet leaves from the vegie garden (easily interchangeable with spinach) and then headed back in to create our pie. The kids all have a very hands-on role and between us all we get it done, share our creation with the entire class, as well as the Head of Primary and usually the Principal.

I've also had my first serious altercation with a little boy who is ...... somewhat challenging. I had to pull him aside in two separate incidents and explain to him that arguing with me when I had given him an instruction was unacceptable and outlined the consequences, should he wish to continue that line of behaviour. He's going to be dynamite when he gets to secondary school!

One Thing After Another

You know that saying "when it rains, it pours". My SIL is dealing with that kind of thing at the moment. She's very unwell right now. Another in a long line of medical problems. It's people like her that make you wonder "Why God?". If you've a mind to, would you mind praying for her and her young family?

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Our own version of one thing after another comes in the form of plain old busy-ness. It seems like a million things fill my mind ~ some of them enjoyable projects I want to get to, others are the of the responsibilities and day to day goings-on of a family. I think I'm wishing for an extra measure of time to get to it all! I don't want to leave anything behind because even the things that "need" to be done are enjoyable. Or maybe I just need the ability to focus my mind and organise myself a little better LOL.

Last night I sat and knitted while watching telly in that time before bed where I just can't 'do' another thing. I'm looking forward to that project being completed, as there's a crocheting one I'd like to begin! I desperately want to finish my current stitchery so I can begin on the 'Verandah Views' blocks.

See what I mean? So much I want to do and not enough hours in the day! Hopefully tonight I'll be able to catch up on my very most favourite blogs as well!

Menu Planning on Tuesday?

When the combination of responsibilities and fun conspire to keep you busy and away from a computer, then yes. Menu planning happens on a Tuesday. Although my menu plan has already altered from my plan. Oh well, that's the price on fun with responsibility trailing close behind!

Monday: Fish & vegies (it was chicken & chips, actually)
Tuesday: Mr Busy's choice ~ he'll let me know in the next hour!
Wednesday: Ricotta Gnocchi with tomato pesto
Thursday: Pasta & Napoli sauce a'la Year 3's recipe book
Friday: Lamb Chops with Cranberry Orange Sauce
Saturday: Vegie Patties & wedges
Sunday: Roast ... maybe lamb?

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I had a rare but inspired bright idea over the weekend, thanks to my lovely friend Joy. She was doing Block of the Month stitcheries. It suddenly dawned on me, I could take all the little Cottage Garden stitcheries I've been doing, and hoarding for a rainy day and piece them into a Spring Garden kind of quilt. Joy also shared a little tidbit of quilting secrecy. There are, apparently, many free Block of the Month programs floating about in blogland. I will just have to search them out, won't I?! Joy showed me her 'Verandah Views' blocks to date. They are absolutely the cutest thing and available for free from Willowberry Designs. I love the Bed & Breakfast block. Just gorgeous and full of humour!

While Waiting...

Last night was to have been our putting-it-together night for my Block of the Month quilt class. I cannot tell you how incredibly disappointed I was when I got an email to say the class had been cancelled due to ... you guess it ... the weather (insert eye-rolling 'smilie' here). I've worked so hard to get all my blocks completed and all the little bits of hand stitching on the needle turn piece done. I went up to the Quilt Shop on Saturday to use a square ruler to cut out the background squares. Not to mention, my reward for having put up with terribly irritable children all day Tuesday. I was all set to go. ~deep sigh~

Whatever is a girl to do, I wondered? Why, start another project of course. My trusty little book of cottage garden embroideries has been patiently waiting, laid aside for quite some time now. Last night I got it out and traced myself a new design.

I really need a new floss box. Mine is overcrowded and simply cannot fit another thing in. I think a trip to Spotlight might be in order this evening! Oh how I love to wander about in there. Perhaps I should take along a dressmaking pattern....just in case something marvellous has been marked down..........

Praise the Lord for rain. A few hours of really decent rain arrived last night. The grass has already begun to green up! There is nothing more heavenly than climbing into bed and listening to the rain as you drift off to sleep. Bliss!

Today also brought the resumption of school for us. More bliss! I spent my morning helping Year 3's to make pizza ~ garlic & cheese and tomato & basil. They are great little cooks. The teacher was in and out, as she was supervising the half of the class doing a language activity so she'd just pop out to the 'wet area' to check on us. Then of course, for me, it was up to Year 7 after that. We had a talk about some themes in the current chapter of 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader' and how it might apply to our lives...and how we need help with some things that we can't do for ourselves, just like Eustace did. Often we need God's help to get something accomplished.


The one productive thing I did yesterday was to revisit the Flylady website for some inspiration. The home page crashed both IE and mozilla, but if I was quick I could navigate to a different part of the site and was able to surf about from there. What a wonderful blessing it is to walk into your kitchen first thing in the morning and have not even clean dishes on the sink!!!! I do my dishes every day but I don't always get them put away. Yesterday I did. Today's task is to clear off the dining room table of all the bits that need to get put away into the cabinet where we keep our crystal and china pieces.

Sidetracked

What does one do, when she's at home with three bored children because of 'extreme fire threats'?

Listen to the rain ... yes, that's right. A little here and there since 7am.
A load of washing ~ washed and hung out under the deck.
Cleaned the kitchen and sorted the bottom two drawers.
Listened to the kids argue and bicker.
Watched two episodes of Little House on the Prairie.
Cleaned my ensuite.
Made lunch.
Listened to kids argue and bicker some more.
Answer 'No' again to the question "can we go somewhere?".
Try not to be as frustrated as I feel.

I think I'm going to watch another LHOTP episode. At least the kids stop arguing then. We are all so incredibly bored!

Monday...You Know What That Means

Yep...menu planning. As soon as I've finished this post and manage to get blogger to post it, I'm going grocery shopping. My list gets longer with each day that I get, past Friday!

Monday: Lamb rissoles, vegies
Tuesday: Frittata, salad, jacket potatoes
Wednesday: Chicken Parmigiana, hassleback potatoes, vegies
Thursday: Pasta with creamy mushroom & bacon sauce
Friday: Hamburgers
Saturday: Ants Climbing Trees (nicer than it sounds!)
Sunday: Nachos

Ants Climbing Trees is an Asian dish, made with pork mince and bean thread noodles. It is very easy and very tasty. Perfect for the weekend ahead, that we have planned.

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Lisa from The Tin House asked to be kept updated, given the weather forecast for Tuesday. Our School has decided to close for the day tomorrow, including staff. On Friday staff worked...well...not me, but the teachers. I worked today to make up for the time I am paid for and didn't work. Then during devotions we found out that we'll be closed tomorrow....when I would normally work! So I just stayed on until lunch time and worked in the Prep/1 class, spending time with the Year 1's while the teacher focused on the Prep's. It's always fun working with really little people!

As for our plan for Tuesday? I plan to stay home. The fire from last week was the reason we left on Friday. It is no longer going and still being patrolled to ensure it doesn't flare up. I feel confident that unless a new fire starts, that we'll be just fine right here.

I'm so tired of living with such a degree of uncertainty all the time. It's meant to rain over the next few days in Victoria. Please pray that it will be a decent soaking rain and not just the pathetic little drizzle we had on Sunday, that lasted literally five minutes.