The day began for me at the sound of my alarm clock shrieking, in its tinny voice that it was four o’clock and time for me to greet the new day. I did so.

After my Quiet Time I quickly had a shower and got myself dressed as we wanted to leave the farm by about half past eight. Well, that is what we aim for, hoping that the bovines will not change that by wandering onto the Highway, or some such nonsense.

Nope., the bovines behaved and that meant Ken and I could leave the farm as decided and we headed into Port Macquarie, where our Bible Study Group was meeting. Unfortunately, several of our members were away for a variety of reasons, but we still had twelve people attending the meeting this morning. This group has grown up to twenty now, after a very small beginning in Ellenborough. Very exciting!

After Bible Study Ken and dropped George (one of the people at the meeting) off in town as Norma (his wife) was caught up visiting a friend of hers in hospital. I popped into Office Works to see if I could get those lovely little A5 Display books again for the children’s work this year. Hallelujah! I can. I bought ten this morning and will keep doing that until I have the forty books that I need for the kids.

We eventually landed up at Settlement City, where I had my hair cut whilst Ken sat and had a coffee and toasted sarmie. There he bumped into Pam, from our church, and the two of them had a good natter while waiting for me to return shorn.

I had a parcel slip to pickup form our little Post Office but had absolutely no idea of who had sent me what! I had ordered nothing, and the envelopes I will be addressing for the Wedding Invitations for Tayla and Malcolm (our eldest granddaughter) I had already received. Oh-er! I always get so excited when I receive a parcel.

My goodness gracious golly gee! WHAT beautiful surprise I had. My dearest friend Kat (as I call her but she is known as Kerry Anne Thomas to most), had bought a pair of shoes she had seen and thought had my name written all over them! She was quite right as they are so me! I will try and put a photo of them up if I can … I am not sure of how to get the photo off my mobile phone but shall do my best.

As we were travelling into town this morning, and not long before Wauchope, the heaven opened and the windscreen wipers could hardly cope with the down pour, but not a drop had fallen on the farm by the time we got home. So disappointing.

But in the later afternoon the rain arrived at our farm. It arrived with my hoo-hah, lightning, thunder, wind and the works! What a wonderful show and we received 44mm of rain at long, long last. The sound of the rain thundering down on our tin roof was pure magic.

I finished sorting the kitchen out, put washing on, tidied our home and wrote out lists of what I still had to do before leaving tomorrow. Hopefully I get it all done!

What lesson did I learn today? That there is a time and season for everything under the sun. Today was our turn to get some rain!

What am I grateful for today? 44mm of beautiful rain.

My saying for today is …

4

A new day began for me at four o’clock this morning, after a restless night’s sleep. I have no idea why I battled to go to sleep last night, but I did - maybe I was over tired? It happens every now and again.

There was my faithful feline in the bedroom doorway, making quite sure that I did not forget her and her beloved food. I did not! I dared not to!

After my Quiet Time I came downstairs and did just over two hours of ironing which left me feeling ever so angelic!

Then it was out to the yards to do cattle work, which very quickly destroyed any angelic feelings! I could almost feel horns growing on my forehead!

Ken and I had to select and separate the cows or heifers that were pregnant, from those animals off to the Saleyards. Yoh! It was another stinking hot, energy sapping sort of a day. Added to that were the flies, bellowing at close quarters and dust, dust, dust. The holding paddocks that used to have grass have none now It is just that fine talcum like dust and when the animals moved, clouds of dust erupted, filling one’s eyes, nose, hair, ears and depositing a fine layer over one’s entire body. My teeth were even feeling gritty.

Now, can you imagine that after spending hours out there doing that, one is not feeling the love for anything! One is hot, tired, dirty and all one’s nerves have been shredded and you are dreaming of a tall glass filled with icy cold water. Now, imagine when someone leaves a gate open in error, just as we had completed ALL the selecting and separating, and ALL the cattle escape!

Yep! That happened and we had to begin all over again. A serious lesson in patience and perseverance with no snorting at the person who made the error allowed!

We finished the cattle work at just after one o’clock.

I came inside and had shower and felt refreshed once again. Sometimes you ‘just gotta roll with dem punches‘  not so?

Then for the rest of the day I put my head down and worked hard.

I chose and sent the songs list I had chosen for church on Sunday to my friend Cathy who will be leading worship that day.

I contacted Jason, our eldest grandson, who had just come back to Australia after visiting his Mum and Dad (our middle daughter) in Seattle. Shame, poor guy, it took him five days to get back here as the horrific weather in the ‘States effected the roads, planes, well transport of any kind. Added to that they did not send his luggage with him, but he eventually received it! It was good to catch up with him and have a chat.

I printed my notes for my talk on Sunday. Then I finished my notes for Bible Study Group and forwarded them to John (our leader) for his perusal and correction, and I printed them for my file. I cleaned out and defrosted the big fridge. I paid accounts that were almost due. I printed out the drawings for the children (at school) for this coming Monday, as I will be away at my friend’s home looking after her mum and will not have a printer with me. I sent an ecard to a friend who is in a bad place in her life and another ecard to someone needing some encouragement (don’t we all?) and I did a few loads of washing.

Then the day ended with some marvellous pitter-pattering on our tin roof. Yes, some rain. Not a lot, but still rain. We are so grateful for each, and every drop.

What lesson did I learn today? Patience and perseverance out in the cattle yards - a lesson I seem to have to repeat at regular intervals as I am a slow learner, I fear!

What am I grateful for today? The rain.

My saying to day is ...

My goodness gracious February is whizzing by at a rate of knots leaving me twirling in its aftermath! I can almost hear the steady and unrelenting tick-tock of time.

I was up and out of bed just after four o’clock this morning. I turned my alarm clock off and had an argument with my body - Should I or should I not get out of bed at that time. I won, I got out a few minutes after four!

After my Quiet Time this morning, as I had put the first load of washing on early, I was able to hang it out just before seven o’clock. Then the next load went on … and so that continued until the last load, load four! Yahee! Now all I have to do is the ironing tomorrow.

I was way behind with my blogs so quickly caught up with those - three days in one.

My friend Karen had given me a large bag of fabrics to choose what I wanted from it. I did that early this morning too. All done and dusted, now I need to dig out some of my old patterns and get sewing for me again. Yoh! Now that is something I have not done for a while.

I did the Homework for our Bible Study Group for this Thursday, and began to work on the Scripture lessons for the three classes at school on Monday. I have to do all this before I leave to “live” at Karen and Paul’s for five days, (from this Friday), as I will not have my printer with me. I have enough paraphernalia to drag across there already thank you!

I designed the next letter for the children’s drawing, copied it and need to make copies for the children to take with me. I also wrote out the next Grocery Items for the children to enter in their little books that they are making. Plus, I wrote out two Knock-Knock Jokes for the books that the rest of the children are making for gifts.

Then it was time to get out in the stinking hot sunshine and help Ken with Cattle Work out in the yards. It was not fun - much dust, heat, flies, bellowing bovines and not much happiness, joking and laughter! In the end it was just far too hot to be out in the sun. We did as much as we could but will have to complete the work tomorrow morning. Hopefully early!

It was time to bring in all the washing as it was bone dry, ready for ironing tomorrow morning before I do Cattle Work.

Shelayne, our middle daughter, phoned me from Seattle in the late afternoon, and we were on the phone for about an hour. It was so nice catching up with all their news. There she was sitting in front of a fire at night and it was minus 2 degrees over there. Whereas it was 39.2C degrees in our shed in the late afternoon over here! A serious difference.

Oh, how precious our family is to me! I just love catching up with all the what’s, wherefore’s and why’s in their lives. Jason, our eldest grandson, flew back from Seattle last Monday, but, poor guy, it took him five days to do so, because of the extreme weather parts of America are experiencing - snow storms, sleet, blizzards and the like, which caused roads to close, airports to ground planes et cetera, so Jase had to hop all over the world in order to get back to Australia! But … he is back, safe and sound.

As the day trickled out so did my energy levels. By seven o’clock I was ready to sit down and veg’ in front of the TV for a short time and then I headed to bed.

What lesson did I learn today? Cattle work should be done at first light. It is far too hot to be out in the sunshine later.

What am I grateful for today?  The long phone call from Shelayne in Seattle.

My saying for today is …

This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind… let it be something good. -Mac Anderson

Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!  I know that I am late in writing my blogs for the last few days, but yoh! I have been chasing my tail. Life just concertinas sometimes, and I get squished in the middle.

On Saturday Ken and I spent the day with dear friends of ours, who only recently bought their farm. They are living out at Belangary an what a beautiful home and farm they have. Absolutely stunning! Tinus and Marianne have not been out (they are also ex-South Africans) in Australia that long and so are only just shaking themselves in, but loving it. It was so good to catch up with all their news, and Marianne had made a lovely lunch for the four of us, and Tinus took us around his immaculate farm. It was a lovely day spent with a lovely couple. We got home at just after seven in the evening!

On Sunday, we got a lift into Wauchope with Noel and Sandra, which meant that we got to catch up with their news too. Always a good time together.

It was my turn to teach in Junior Church and there were only five ultra-revved up, high energy squirting everywhere young boys! But we had fun and they were really good, sitting still and listening to the lesson and then - it was great gushes of energy as I got them to play a ten pin bowling game, using plastic bottles marked with the Ten Commandments. They had to try and knock down as many as possible to great roars of delight from the other boys, then read out the commandment onone of the knocked down bottles, and show me the hand sign for that particular commandment. (That was something I had just taught them), and I was super impressed how quickly they remembered them!

From church it was home again, home again, jiggity-jog. When Ken and Koda had their siesta, I worked on the lessons I would be teaching at school and printing the drawings for them to colour in. I try to set some project that they can make during the year to give to someone. This year we are making Grocery Index Books for their Mums, Grans, Aunts or whoever, or a book of Knock-knock jokes.

On Monday we began with the letter “A” and the children really did their work well, neatly and quickly as they do enjoy creating something special for those they love. They knuckle down and give it their best.

I love Mondays as I get to spend them at school, and I feel very loved by all the children there. It is a privilege for me to be teaching them.

After school I went around to Karen and Paul’s to make sure that I had “all my ducks in a row” for looking after Karen’s mum from the end of this week for five days. Karen was working in her studio and she showed me all the things she is busy making, has made or will be making. Crazy woman, she is a delight to be with! Karen also gave me an enormous bag of fabrics to sort through and take whatever I wanted out of it. I shall do that on Tuesday after doing Cattle Work with Ken in the ‘yards.

In the late afternoon, I received a call from the school secretary to inform me that I had left a bag at school with my water bottles, lunchbox, makeup bag, and wallet in it! Lawdy Miss Clawdy! I am getting a trifle scatty me thinks! I shall have to fetch it after the Cattle Work tomorrow!

What lesson have I learnt? That when I fill my days with too many “To Do” things plus whatlife throws at me, my thinking gets fragmented and I become forgetful.

What am I grateful for? The times I get to spend with children.

My saying for today is …

I was up and out of bed a little later this morning - still limping along after having had that restless night last night. I will soon be right just have to listen to my body when it is yelling blue murder, “I’m tired ... go to sleep woman!”

Today, after my Quiet Time and after breakfast I hit the day with as much energy as I could muster. I had quite a few things I wanted to do. The one way to do them was to begin!

I did.

I completed a few lessons of my online Excel course and printed the lessons I needed to remember. as I find some of the new things I have learnt, I forget very quickly. Obviously with using them often one does not, but I am not quite there yet.

Most of today was spent preparing my lessons for either my teaching in Junior Church this coming Sunday or teaching at school on this coming Monday. I like to be able to just talk and not read from notes and that requires really knowing the lesson.

Plus, I also drew the illuminated letter “A” for the first letter of our project this year. The girls in the classes (at school) have opted for the project of writing out an index grocery list for their mums, grandmothers or someone they love and making alittle book.  I made my little book many moons ago and have been using it for over forty years now. It is an index of everything I would need in my grocery cupboards, and I always check it when making my grocery list of what I need to buy. This way, I do not forget some item.

For the boys, I am still scratching my head - maybe a book of riddles for their Dad’s, big brothers, uncles or whoevers?  Again, I could draw an illuminated letter for the beginning letter of the riddle and these too would be made into alittle book? I am not sure yet but will run that idea past the boys this coming Monday.

As I am looking after one of my friend’s mother for her next week for five days, I worked on a menu that I hope will please her taste buds. I will pop in on Monday (this coming one) after school to check with my friend on the menu and also to go over a few things I did not clarify when I saw her last time.

Later I did some online banking and payments. Only seven words but it took me a lot longer than I thought or had planned!

Next, I took a “breather” and did a few stitches of my smocking to break the busyness of my day. Plus, every stitch counts and brings me closer to completing this little dress for Holly - the newest member in our church!

Lastly, I marked out the folders I will use at school for each class. Then I began the long and tedious job of marking each plastic sleeve with a child’s name. This I do so I can keep the art work they do nice and neat and clean. It also helps prevent any precious work getting mislaid or lost. I have only managed to do that for one class so far, and hopefully will get the rest done before Monday. (No hopefully Gail Morgan, you WILL have it odne!)

Tomorrow Ken and I are visiting some good friends of ours and to see their farm at Bellangry. I am really looking forward to that as we  saw them  a while before Christmas.

I have been so enjoying the cooler weather, but am not holding my breath that it continues, as I think we have more hot weather ahead of us.

I crawled into bed fairly early and watched one episode of my series and then it was beddy-bye time for me. I was asleep before Ken joined me later.

What lesson did I learn today? When I write down what I need to do on my To Do List, I get it done!

What am I grateful for today? The cooler weather.

My saying for today is …