Around here

Since returning from WA we have been quite busy playing and having fun with cousins and aunties and uncles. It has been quite wet so collecting rain to drink is fun as is a slip and slide in the rain!

Trisso finished our bed. It is beautiful and I think it is made from wood from his old family home!

Sunny being very cute and funny!

There are lots of tomatoes in the garden so I made tomato sauce from this recipe and I also made some pickled beetroot and bread and butter cucumbers.

Foxes Lane

I have been reading and enjoying this blog Foxes Lane lately.  She is a cool chick and even her name is Kate.  She makes lovely colourful things and cooks and grows vegies.  Anyway she pretty much summed up my own thoughts on happiness and goals for life in her happiness recipe......

"Love where you live.
Shake up the routine.
Love the ones you're with.
Remember how lucky you are.
Be brave and change.
You can do it.
Be more social.
Indulge once in a while.
Get active.
Eat well and drink lots of water.

Also not on that list are be creative, grow lots of stuff, read books, get outside as often as you can, beware of clutter, stop talking and start doing and remember that you are not responsible for other people's grumpiness."

No new or amazing ideas there but lovely simple things to remember for a happy life.

She also had this beautiful flower garden on her pinterest page.  I hope one day to create something so pretty (apart from Sunny!)

Another trip around the sun.....

A new year, a new beginning.  I love the start of a new year, with it comes renewed enthusiasm and zest for life.  New goals and projects.  As usual there are lots of things I want to do.  The most important is to ....

and

Next  is "Go health".  I want to exercise and get fit.  Three kids later and nearly forty  I definitely need to exercise more! With both boys at school this year I should have some time.  (I'm sure I say this to myself every year, but this time I mean it!)

This sounds good in theory I think in reality a lovely  brisk morning walk or bike ride is more realistic (and more pleasant!)  Maybe even a zumba or dance class!

Do more stuff! (and sometimes do less stuff) Have adventures, go to new and different places, meet and talk to new people, cook different foods, listen to new music, read lots of books, write letters to my friends .....

Be creative.  Make some cool colourful things. (Like these cool mittens)

or perhaps I'll redecorate the house like this.....

I better get some sheep!

Lastly remember and practise the very good advise of Gandhi......

Also I will try to keep these few things in mind too....

Hooray for holidays!

One night in Sydney..... so we check out the crazy Christmas lights.

Over in Western Australia at my favourite Borranup Forest.

Down at Augusta loving the aqua blue water.

Canoing up the recently burnt Margaret River.

This sand dune used to be thickly covered in coastal scrub. Burnt to a cinder!

Beautiful Redgate beach.

Christmas Day

The Hacienda - our home for three weeks.

Funny Sunny.

Thanks for having us Mike, Peta, Max and Reuben ! We had a ball!

Gimmie Shelter

I can't get this song out of my head this week, I love it!

End of year shananigans

Happy Christmas everyone. A beautiful tree drawn by Django the reluctant drawer!

The reptile man came to preschool. This was a huge black headed python. It was beautiful.

We all got to hold Snap the crocodile.

This is the beautiful peacock that often turns up at preschool. It wanders about, honking at the kids, pooing on the veranda and sitting on the roof.

Django was 'The Hat Peddler' in his Preschool concert. It was his last day at Preschool.

Nelson won the Art competition to have his drawing on the front cover of the school cookbook.

The Girl Effect

I am lucky to have a lovely little daughter.  She is lucky to be her.  She can do what she wants with her life.  She has a loving family, clean air to breath, water to drink and fresh healthy food to eat. She has room to run and play and the time and space to have a happy childhood.  Other girls around the world are not so lucky.  It is Sunny's birthday tomorrow and so I am going to make a donation through Global Giving to help another girl somewhere in the world who is not as lucky as Sunny.   You can choose to donate to specific programs.  By donating just $25 I have provided school supplies for 20 girls for one month in a school in India.  Hopefully the money really gets to where it is needed!