New Years Resolutions

Well it is that time of year again - a time to reflect on what has been and what is to come. I don't make resolutions as much as plan for the year ahead.

Although last New Year as I sat on the beach contemplating who knew that we would sell DaisyMountain and move to the 'burbs'? I certainly didn't plan for that.

What I did plan for however was to Simplify my life - and that came through selling our five acre property and large house - and with them the hours spent in maintenance, cleaning and travelling.

I planned to spend more time with my children - and that came through selling DaisyMoutnain and moving closer to work so while they have been on holidays I can come home for lunch, take them to the park after work for a play and spend longer at home with them in the morning before heading to the office (2 minutes away).

My other plan for the year was to streamline my business so that I could do more of it - and that has come through selling DaisyMountain ..... you get my drift

That is the thing with "resolutions" or plans when you give it up to the universe you acheive your aims but sometimes in ways you least expect. And sometimes it is as simple as one grand leap achieves several aims.

So for the year ahead my "resolutions" or plans include:

- taking some of this extra time and spending it on me - and in the process getting healthier, thinner and gaining more energy.

- sticking to my new business plan - a very streamlined simple plan which will get me the results I want

- and ticking some things off my (yet to be created) bucket list - which I call the Daisy Do list.

Have you got one of these? It amazes me how many times I have been told by highly successful people "write it down and it becomes a reality". This year I have done a lot of writing down and those things have become reality.

I am not sure what to add - oh there are a few things like waterski again, snow skiing, get back on a surf board. But in the few minutes I have spent thinking about this list I have realised that my dreams are pretty light on - maybe a bit safe - so for the next few days I will be going all out and thinking outside the square - thinking big and thinking bold - to compile the DDL.

My "almost New Year" challenge to you is to do the same - It doesn't have to 100 things but there have to be some things that will require effort and planning - something that will be an ACHIEVEMENT in every sense of the word.

Until Next time

Daisymum

Sunday afternoon

Thought I would share a photo I took at a new home I listed last week - this Wisteria is simply gorgeous. The photo below is just part of the garden there too....look at that Queensland bottle tree.

Well another lazy Sunday has passed with usual round of cooked breakfast quick game of cards with the kids and loads of relaxing and playing games together.

Daisygirl16 went off to school camp today - at the Sheraton !!! - it is a hospitality camp - funny how they didn't need any parent help on this it is probably the only school camp I could see myself on! !! Although the girls are going there to work - making beds, serving food etc we still had to pay - not sure that is quite right but oh well.

The kids seem to be the only ones going anywhere at the moment - Daisyboy15 just got back from the trip of a lifetime to New Zealand with his rugby team - they played a game, watched a couple of world cup matches and did the usual tourist stuff in Wellington.

Mind you daisyman and I are going on a fishing trip later this month to raise money for the Harcourts foundation. Now you all know camping is not my thing but I am rather looking forward to waking up on Teewah beach in a tent.... but I reserve the right to change my mind if it is raining !! The Harcourts Foundation is largely supported by agencies who donate a percentage off the top of their commission - it is a lovely worth while thing to see the money be distributed to worthwhile charities. Next year the major fundraiser is a trip with a terrific bunch of agents walking the Kokoda Track to raise funds for the Foundation.

Actually when daisyboy15 went to New Zealand we were having trouble getting the boys a game as it was school holidays - because of the sort of company I work for I was able to send the CEO Mike an email asking if he could do anything (Harcourts started in NZ in Christchurch) - after six long weeks and a series of emails going higher and higher up the food chain - they got the boys a game at Poirura College - daisyboy and his teams mates said it was the highlight of the trip staring down the Haka performed by the opposition!! It made me realise how proud and lucky I am to work for a company that really does live its core values - Fun and Laughter, People First, Do the Right Thing and Be Courageous. The Foundation is another example of the company living its values not just paying lip service to them.

Until the next time I have five minutes spare !

Daisymum

Sunday Beautiful Sunday

Well I have to tell you all my mood has improved greatly since the warmer weather has arrived.

I have to go to work for a little while in half an hour but then I am going tot he nursery to get some seedlings and get into the veggie garden.

DaisyMountain as some of you will recall has been on the market but we have decided to stay here for another 12 months or so. A decision that has been harder than I thought it would be.
But once it was made it sure made getting out in the garden a lot more fun and more productive.

At the moment I am sitting here with the gentle perfume of the Brunfelsia I cut yesterday wafting through the house. I think I might just cut a big bunch for the vase on my desk as well.

While my time is limited with work, and the demands of the family - there is a gentle balance that has settled itself over our lives at the moment and I plan to take full advantage of it. SO some simple vegetable gardening and some gardening - nothing startling just bits and pieces that I can do in the few linutes I find spare every now and then.

The trick to working full time I have discovered is not to wait for large chunks of time to open up to get tasks accomplished - just take a few minutes here and there to do a bit.

Clean out one drawer in the kitchen while you are waiting for the toast to cook, because I guarantee that the hour and a half that you need for the whole job is much harder to find than the bonus five to ten minutes, that present themsleves during the course of the day.

I have revisited Fly lady recently - it is a "home life organisational system" that I used for years and years - it is probably more relevant now than it ever was.

I hope you are all using this beautiful day to full advantage - doing, relaxing, or connecting with people you love.

Until next time

daisymum

Changes afoot

Hi Guys

Wanted to post this to my business page but it is down for some reason - the tecchies are working on it now. So I will regale you all with my thoughts:

This article appeared in my inbox today:

Industry slams new stamp duty legislation

Wednesday, 15 June 2011

Matthew Sullivan
"The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) has slammed the Queensland state government’s decision to remove the stamp duty home concession.
From 1 August, the government will remove the concession which non-first home buyers receive when buying a new or established home as their principal place of residence.
In addition, the government said it would also introduce a $10,000 grant to people that are building or buying a new-build home or unit priced up to $600,000.
REIQ chairman Pamela Bennett said while the incentive to increase housing supply and create jobs in the construction sector is a positive for the economy, the removal of the stamp duty concession for non-first home buyers will wreak havoc on the Queensland property market.
“The government is obviously trying to fill the financial void that has been left by the weak property market, and the subsequent lower stamp duty receipts given the marked reduction in property sales over the past 18 months,” Ms Bennett said.
“A better way to stimulate the economy would have been to provide financial incentives for all buyers of all types of properties which in turn would have increased activity and therefore helped the government’s bottom-line.”
According to the REIQ under the new legislation, home buyers purchasing a median-priced house in Brisbane will now be hit with more than $15,000 in stamp duty – an increase of more than $7,000."

So what does it all mean:

1: get in quick and buy a house before August 1st if you are thinking about it

2: get in and buy a block of land and build a new house if you are a first time buyer and get $17000 as grant before January 2012

3: get in and buy an investment property becasue prices are down, interest rates are down and the stamp duty thing hasn't changed for you

4: if none of these apply - take some advice from "The hitchhikers Guide to the Universe" - DON'T PANIC
The reduciton in stamp duty for buyers of a Principal place of residence was introduced as a result of the GFC to help stimulate the housing economy somewhat. Australia is in pretty fair shape still and indications are that we will remain in good shape for the foreseeable future. So this in one way is an indication of that - but more importantly there will always be a percentage of the population "on the move" - stamp duty or no stamp duty this won't change. People have to move for work, family reasons, lifestyle changes and nobody is going to sit put because of this - in fact in six months time nobody will even think about it - death and taxes it comes to us all.

( the real estate daisymum)

Another fabulous Day Off

It never ceases to amaze me just how many beautiful spots there are within a short drive of our home.

This morning we headed to Walkabout Creek at Mt Nebo and had a look through the Wildlife exhibit it was great - seeing the platypus and the snakes and the wombat (reminded me of some teenagers I know). Check out the face on this fish - he was so angry looking it was hysterical.

Then we headed off to Mt Glorious and stopped at the Camp Mountain Lookout which we have never done before. The view of the village from one side was great but the view of the CBD from the other was just breathtaking - the photos are from my iphone so aren't great but you can always pop up and see it for yourself.

Then we headed down to the Cedars and stopped for a picnic by the creek - the three (well four ) boys had a great time chucking rocks in the big pools, skipping stones and paddling and swimming in the water hole. Lunch was a simple chicken and salad roll , hot coffee from the thermos, juice and a few left over Easter Eggs.

On the way home we stopped in Mt Glorious and bought ice cream for the kids and coffee for us then a short trip down the hill and we were home - a gorgeous day out and never more than 25 minutes from our door !

And there is still so much we haven't done just in that drive there are three more lookouts to check out and the winery to stop at. But being so close to home we can do that one Satuerday afternoon after I finsh work - or even on a Sunday on the way home from football.

I hope you all enjoyed your day off and did something relaxing, exciting, with family, on your own - doesn't matter as long as you feel refreshed and happy.

daisymum

I found my old life for a few hours today...

Being a Saturday I had Open Homes but being Easter Saturday I only had two! This meant I was finished early, took daisyboy10 shopping for new footy boots, had a coffee, then went to Bunnings and did some damage in the nursery!

Home,changed and then went outside potted up some plants, repotted some geraniums that have been struggling to survive, tidied and moved the garden furniture around.

Then I got out the good cloth, the good cups, heated up some hot cross buns and made a pot of tea and sat and enjoyed it with the kids, Daisyman and a dear friend.

What a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

Reminded me of what my life used to be like before I got a career!!!

If only there were enough hours in the week to have it all...but maybe there are...we will see the new "set business hours" plan kicks into gear after Easter. It should bring me more days like this and that can never be a bad thing.

Happy Easter everyone

daisymum

My Other Life....

Thought I would share my "other existence" with you all.

This is my desk - as you can see pink predominates, the hydrangas are from daisy mountain's garden.

The green coffee travel mug is a fixture and much smarter idea than an open cup. I can't tell you how many quilt became "coffee dyed" because of an incident with a coffee cup!! It also saves all those broken coffee cups in the car as I leave the house or office with a cup of tea.

So back to my desk and the other reason for showing it to you. It is organised and clean and reasonably clear of clutter, but today is a paperwork day for me so there are two piles of stuff at the back that won't be there by the end of the day.

It has become my haven - Daisy Mountain is going to be sold and we are moving the daisy gang closer to work,schools etc. - so Daisy Mountain looks like hell !!!

I am in the middle of painting the kitchen and our bathroom, delcuttering, clearing the jungle that used to be the garden, and packing. So when it all gets too much I retreat to the calm clear space that is my desk - and update my blog!!!! hahaha

It did get me to thinking however that everyone needs a clear, clean space to retreat to when things get too much. In the days when I was religiously meditating everyday that space more often than not was in my head.

So this week's little challenge is to post a photo of your clean clear space - real imagined or hoped for...

daisymum

End of an Era

End of an Era - Daisy Mountain will be on the market in the next few weeks. And the Daisies ae off to the "burbs".

On one hand I am really looking forward to being closer to the kids schools and work, and living a more urban lifestyle.

But on the other other there will be many things to miss about our little haven not eh leat of which will be our mountan, my garden (well not so much a garden anymore as a rampant jungle of plants) our beautiful dam and gorgeous trees.

Then there is my sewing room - all the space we have to spread out and be us and the many many memories.....but the practical part of me says its time - and Real Estate wise it is the right time to move. So that is it the papers are signed the agent is employed I just need to hustle my butt throgh the painting and decljuttering adn turn my beautiful home into a desirable piece of real estate!!

daisymum

Dinosaurs and Dynamos

I am a baby boomer (albeit - a late baby boomer - which apparently means we get to claim some Gen x traits). But the gap that I see widening between agents who came into Real Estate less than 10 years ago and the ones (like me) who have just arrived is already huge and widening every day.

I remember talking about "old school" agents ("press hard triple copies on the hood of the family car" types) - but now I see them having a new classification as Dinosaurs whereas the younger agents are absolutely the Dynamos. Which logically makes the other group Darwins.....subject to evolution or extinction.

Last week I had the very great pleasure to be helping a younger colleague at his mid week auction. This is a disciplined, gentle, intelligent man with impeccable manners and ethics so I am happy to help out when he asks me. There he stood in his suit with his iPad cradled in his arm like a newborn, tapping away while talking to prospective buyers and auction attendees. He looked so cool, so professional and so completely in control that the fact that there were no registered bidders and that the mother of all thunder storms was bearing down made little difference to the evening.

Now I know some of you who have followed me for sometime think I am superwoman but believe me - I looked like Louie the Fly compared to this kid!

Is that scary ? - well may be for some - and I can tell you now that I know a handful of agents who won't be around in 3 years because technology and the level of professional sophistication that we will be expected to have will be out of the bounds of their abilities.

But I think while I still have a deep and abiding love of new gadgets, technology and good old fashioned communicating that I might survive this particular "extinction" but as always time will tell.

EVOLVE OR PERISH PEOPLE!!!!!!

Daisymum

Sustainability isn't just about vege gardens

Sustainability for me isn't just about vegetable gardens, recycling and buying organic.

It is about accepting the gifts and talents you were given - we are all part of the natural world and if we follow the thinking through then there is a reason each of us is here in the form we are in.

I just read a facebook post about someone who was revelling in actually diving in the pool - she had been resisting all day in 36 degree heat because she had straightened her hair.

If you were born with wavy or curly hair then you can bet your life there is a reason for that just like tree frogs and short sightedness.

I am not saying that for a special occassion it isn't nice to do something different with your hair but a long long time ago I relaised that fighting nature is just stupid, heartbreaking and expensive. My hair is STRAIGHT no amount of curling with tongs, curlers or anything else will make it stay anything other than straight - so I gave up. I hate my hairstyle always have but it is easy and the way my hair naturally sits.

My hair is also very dark - almost black - I hate that but fortunately I can change that easily each month with a little box of colour even if I do have to empty the rinse water out instead of putting it down through the biocycle.

So save yourself some time and energy - let your hair do what it is meant to do - yes fellas even if that is fall out - nothing worse than a plugged head and don't think nobody can tell BECAUSE YOU CAN - AND IT LOOKS WEIRD!!

You can't fight nature and if your spend a day sweltering because you have spent an hour straightening your hair then that is just sad.

End of rant

have a great day

Daisymum

Holding a mirror up to your life.- and liking what you see

This week an article appeared on a website - about me.

The article is on a site called Living Savvy the brain child of the gorgeous Jo Bassett our chidlren share a classroom, and she and I have shared a few lunches. Why she would have been interested in me was a bit of mystery but she was so we met, we chatted and the results are to be found on Living Savvy.

I was laughing as I was reading it because I kept thinking this is so weird I sound so good, so together, so grown up - when I feel far from all those things most of the time!!

That got me to thinking that I am, like most women, too hard on myself.

Having 7 kids isn't any harder or easier than having one - it is just different - like everyone's family is different. Working full time is no big deal millions of women all over the world do that and without the benefit of the best boss in the Universe. The other stuff I do well that is just the other stuff I do - put it all together and I sound like Superwoman or Wonderwife.

The reality is far more mundane I go through the motions, I write lists, I yell, I get things done, I know how I want things to be and somedays it works out like that - do I love my life YES! Would I change it - NO! Tweek it? - All the time and maybe that is where I am different I am constantly re evaluating EVERYTHING.

But perhaps that is more about getting bored than trying to be a better person.

But one thing I do know having someone hold a mirror up to you and making you look into it - is a really worthwhile thing, the upshot of this week is I am probably more appreciative of what I get done rather than beating myself up over what got missed.

So thank you Jo - it was an uncomfortable, confronting and worthwhile experience.

Daisymum

Nighties!!!

Well finally tonight our quilt group starts for the year. Can't quite believe this will be our 3rd year! They are such a great bunch of birds - and we have so much fun - I am so looking forward to tonight.

Even though we had a sneak peak the Sunday before last when we met for a Day retreat - we went to a hall just up the road( in Australian terms) and sewed for a whole Sunday.

The whole balance things is working quite well at the moment - I feel like a whole person again instead of some unrecognisable manic monster. lol

Daisymum

The list gets longer..............

As usual I have spent the first few weeks of January deciding what needs to be on the quilting MUST COMPLETE list for 2011.

I have decided to record that list here in the hope that some of you may try to keep me focussed on finishing these things rather than starting new ones!!!

- Journey of a Quilter - those familiar with this list from 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 will remember it is a block of the month that I completed one block of.....

- Be Attitudes - I need to do all the hand stitching of faces and details.....

- Angels Story - another long term favourite block of the month - although I have completed four blocks, have three ironed on and ready for applique and one to embroider ....as well as the other 7 to put together.

- my red, pink, white and black quilt - this one is only a the farbic selected stage - still haven't found a pattern for it - suggestions welcome.....

- Roll, roll cotton ball -a Bonnie Hunter mytsery quilt

- Kiss in the corner - a Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt

Might work these two together like I did Caroline crossroads and Orange Crush when I got sick of one I worked on cutting or piecing the other and I finished both of them in five weeks - yes that is definitely the plan for these two.

- Birthday block quilt - at least it won't be making these blocks the girls in the quilting groups will be I will just put them together - this will be my next hand quilting project

- Zahlees Quilt - Speaking of hand quilting I have to finish the pastel quilt for my little Zahlee.

- And then there is a paper pieced quilt that I want for my new bed - it will be scrappy with a common background fabric - again suggestions welcome

And finally the one I added this morning a "Jared takes a wife " it is another of Bonnies quilts that I have rediscovered - and have decided I just have to make it ....I wonder if it would look good made with the red, pink, white and blacks I have chosen with no pattern????

Are you thinking what I am thinking ? Is she CRAZY there are too many - I agree but my mentor tells me you have to aim high .....if there is no update post in December this year feel free to renind me to fess up and see if I got to finish any of them !!!

Daisymum

2011 - what a way to start a year !!

This first post of the year was going to be last week and about our holiday- a new addition to the family and things like that.... now that all seems a bit trivial.

So a quick round up:

We have a new puppy she was a Christmas present from our son - her name is "pudding"

She is now about 9 weeks old and is very cute and getting used to us - I on the other hand keep stepping on her because she is always right under my feet!!!!

One of the best blog posts this week was when we all heard from Mandy from The Old Dairy - it was great to know she and her family were safe and dry.

I think now with all the devastation around from the flooding it is a good time to remind oursleves that fruit and vegetables will be expensive and probably in short supply - so yesterday I planted some tomatoes and lettuce and few bits and pieces more than I normally would because I figure if I have excess I can share it.

So Welcome to 2011 - we Queenslanders sure know how to start the year off big!!! My thoughts go out to the families in WA facing fire threats - if we could send water we would - stay safe everyone.

daisymum