Look what we got this year

These cute little guys are the ones that we bred from the ducks that daisyson6 got for his 3rd birthday, turns out they were great mothers and we got 19 ducklings hatched from them.

We lost a few to the Powerful Owl family that is nesting in the back paddock - but only when we were home too late to get them locked away.

The one we kept is now a snowy white muscovey duck and she spends her day with our lovely Gander - Kite. Poor Kite thinks she is a really small goose - and she isn't sure what she is but they are having a loveky time together anyway swimming in the dam - which if FULL with a capital F.

So with visions of fluffy yellow ducklings in your head - have a fantastic day!!

daisymum

A week and its December Already?

I can't believe it has been over a week since I posted and it is December!

I just worked out that I have made over 13000 - thirteen thousand school lunches and I still have about 4800 to go before I am done being tied to the kitchen bench at 6am.

But the really sad thing (apart from me taking the time to work this out) is that I am not sure just how many of them got eaten.

You start out the school year with salad sandwiches and yoghurt in new lunch boxes and end the year with vegemite sandwiches and cling film!!

Of course there are spurts of wraps, and casseroles in those hellishly expensive food carriers - you know the ones - the ones THAT NEVER COME HOME.

What does come home are the mouldy sandwiches, squishy fruit and the "healthy muffins" now a very healthy food source for nine previously unidentified strains of bacteria.

At the end of every year we all ask oursleves why bother but in eight weeks time we will all be in the kitchen with shiny colour coordinated lunchboxes and ice packs - packing healthy yummy lunches - with the naive thought that this year will be different, and your kids will eat the lunches you pack not sell them to the boarders - so they can buy chips and lollies!!

Daisymum

Balance - a challenge for you

A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to have a guy called Nique Stewart come and speak to us - at us - he is a motivational speaker.

He talked about goal setting and how setting goals isn't just about work goals but life goals as well. How you need to write them down and in the present tense ie: I am spending 1/2 hour everyday in my garden, not I will....

So why am I telling you all this? well because it works.

Now mind you sceptic that I am it may just be that is is summer and you all know how I LOVE SUMMER! But since I wrote down in my book - I am spending 1/2 an hour in the garden everyday, I am spending 1/2 sewing everyday, I am spending 1/2 hour cleaning the house everyday - I actually am! Not to mention all the work related goals that I wrote down and are now coming to fruition.

This comes as much of a surprise to me as I am sure it is to you. But I spent so many months saying "I don't have time" when in fact I do have time I just don't allocate it for the things I love. I try to get all the work stuff done first so then I can play - but play is what makes me who I am and how can I be effective at my job if I am not who I am?

So all those posts about the elusive "balance" - it is simply a matter of writing it down in the present tense and reading over it every single day (more than once).

I know it sounds simplistic but if it is so simple and no harm can come of it why not give it a go and let me know how you go?

Daisymum

Friday

For the first time in ages I don't have any appointments - so that means one thing - jeans and a tshirt and a day of paperwork. Now this may not seem very exciting but believe me it is like a holiday compared to what I have been cramming into my days lately.

But as you can see I ahve made time for the vege garden here are a few squash, beetroot and lettuce. With the wonderful rain we are having they are much bigger than when I took this photo on Monday!! Remember when we are desperately concerned about the lack of rain - how lucky are we now.




Tonight is the Primary school extravaganza - not one of our favourite evenings - oh it is lovely to see the kids perform and have fun but the behaviour of some of the parents leaves me quite cold. I think I am getting less tolerant of boof heads in my old age!!!lol





Huge work day tomorrow 9 Open Homes and an inspection at 7:30am so a long day - but I love Saturdays they are full of promise and meeting new people and adventures and achievements - for a whole variety of different reasons it is still my favourite day of the week.

I hope you are all having a fabulous run down into the weekend.

Daisymum

Beautiful Sunday Morning

Today was to be my first day off in 33 days but as fate would have it I had a huge day in Open Home land yesterday and I have some buyers who want a second inspection on one of my properties.

Now to be fair I did try to organise it for Monday or Tuesday telling them I hadn't had a day off in a month - but one is starting a new job tomorrow and hey have little kids - and my seller needs to move on with her life.

So I chose to look at it differently I will get dressed, take the kids with me and drop them to the park in town (with ice cream money) do my inspection then sit and have a coffee while the kids play. I like the idea of afternoon tea in the village today - and I wouldn't have even thought of it if these people hadn't wanted this inspection.

So the lesson is - always look out for the possibilities in every situation.

Other than that I am planning on getting the house clean in a blitz this morning, cutting out some more pieces of my Mystery Quilt, planting out some more seedlings in the vegetable garden (did I mention the nursery is right next to the park!!) and getting my quilt marked up with the quilting lines so I can continue hand quilting tonight, and getting to church later today.

These are the bits of the Mystery Quilt I have cut so far - not even enough to complete the first part of the first block!!! Need to get a wriggle on with this today so I can sit and sew for a while.

This is Sascha - we are looking after her for her owner who is away until February. What I didn't mention when I told you the big boys had moved out was that they took Turbo with them and Buddy went to live in Mitchell with a friend of daisyson23 - he is happy and healthy and spends his days mustering goats!!

So we were dogless - we looked at getting another one and at fostering for the RSPCA and then Sascha turned up. She is a great dog she never barks, doesn't chew shoes, doesn't dig, loves to go for a walk (but not too far she is 7) and her only vice is ripping the soccer and footy balls to shreds so the kids play in the back paddock instead of the yard.

We will miss her when she goes back to her owner in February and perhaps by then we will be ready for a permanent four legged member of the family.

Enjoy your Sunday whereever you are

Daisymum

Vegetables

A quick one to let you know - blogging again is keeping me honest...got out and weeded the rest of the vege patch and planted squash, beetroot( a bit late but oh well) and lettuce.

Also planted some seeds of rocket, beans and tomatoes.

Not much but it is a start - and now it is raining ever so gently....I am taking that as a sign.

photos soon!

Daisymum

My year in Quilts

Old Dairy Lanes:

This quilt was a mystery quilt posted by Bonnie Hunter from Quiltville some time ago she called hers Old Tobacco Roads, as the area she lives in is an old Tobacco growing area. We live in Dairy Country and I chose to use green for the stepping stone blocks hence "Old Dairy Lanes".

This was a fun quilt to make loads of little pieces but all strip pieced so it was quite quick - basically for you quilters out there, it is pinwheels and four patches set on point with alternating bricks of a plain colour - in this case greens. It is completely scrappy all I did was separate lights and darks and just go for it.

This one is Charm Square Swap

We had a swap at quilt group (the one I never get to - or hardly ever! see it isn't just blogging that has been squeezed out of my life). We broke into groups of 10 and each month we all had to bring in ten charm squares (5 x 5inch) all the same so at the end of the year we ended up with 12 sets of 10 scrappy charm squares - 120 in all. My group had just 7 so we had a few less.

They were so different I was at a loss for a while - but then you have to let go of the "colour control" sometimes and just let it happen - tie it together with something darker and plain and this is the result.....

Be Attitudes:

This quilt "Be Attitudes" I have been working on for a while as you can see if you look closely, there is MUCH hand stitching to be done (nobody has any eyes!) Thought I might do that when we go on holidays over Christmas.

So there you go a few of the quilts I ahve staqrted or finsihed in the last 12 months.

Have a fantasitc Monday!

Daisymum

Notes from Daisy Mountain back on line!!!!

I cannot believe it has been almost a year since my last blog post!!

Thank you to The Old Dairy for getting me moving and motivated again. I love facebook I think it is a great way to stay in contact with people in "sound bites" - but for a meaningful coffee worthy, relaxing time at the computer nothing beats reading a blog post and being involved in a friends life.

Not sure whether sustainable living is still my main theme for here - things have taken a distinctly consumeristic turn of late with me working 6 days a week (and for the last 29 days - 7 days a week).

But there are some volunteer cherry tomatoes growing over the old chook pen, and some of those yummmy purple and white beans rambling over the lantana in the back of vegetable garden - and I did plant some white with purple spots sweet potatoes I got from a client the other day so I guess I can claim some credibility.

As for the quilting - I have started a new mystery quilt, finished hand quilting that single bed one and am half way through another one. The good news is one of my dear friends is quilting all my finished tops for me (well all but 2!) so soon I will have lots of new photos to show you all.

Family wise there have been some changes two of the oldest boys daisyson 23 and daisyson 19 moved out about three months ago - and hey presto the house is staying tidy, the electricity bill is cut by a third and the washing is now manageable! I miss them like mad but they are happy and healthy and living not too far away. And for the first time in 15 years we have a"normal" size family.

Work wise - I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job, I work in the best office with the best people and everyday is a joy. I have managed to sell over $5,000,000 worth of real estate in one year which is right in line with the goal I set myself so I am pretty happy.

Lifestyle wise things have changed a bit too Daisyman has a new job - the grown up job you apsire to when you reach middle age kind of job - it is a credit to him and his expertise and he is loving it. But I had a few months of being able to rely on him for picks and drop offs and now that has changed so my work day begins after I drop off daisyson 9 and daisyboy6 and finishes at 2:30 when I leave the office to collect them.

For about a week I panicked and moped about it, then I realised it gives me more time here in Daisy Mountain - to do things like the garden, the housework etc. - not that I have done any of that yet - but that is the plan - lol.

But seriously it is nice to be home to cook a proper meal and I am back in touch with the kids again - I was spending so much time at work that I missed liturgies sports days all sorts of things. So this new change has given me my mummy time back.

All this happened about four weeks ago right about the time I came down with whooping cough so I have been feeling dreadful - but that is now well and truly under control and getting better - so this week today is the start of a new kind of balance.

And I am relying on all of you to remind me about it when you see me straying back to workaholic mode.

So that is me and the last year in a nutshell - I hope you are as happy as I am that I am back in blogland.

Daisymum7