Flooding

We have had some bad flooding around our area.

Here are some daffodils.

The Waikato (pronounced Why-cut-oar) river spilling over the road.

See that post behind me? That's where the boats normally launch from.

This photo is just down the road from me. The flax bush is usually part of the garden and the white line to the left is the car park.

This house is going to need a boat to get to it.

Can you see the fence line in this paddock? NO, neither could we but it is there.

Winter theme

I have been so inspired by the amazing seasonal themes that bloggers create like this one from Funky Junk Interiors .

S0 I have made a very small version using what I have around the house.

(please excuse the blurry pics)

Winter theme complete. Only one more month till Spring.

Busy, busy, busy

I have been MIA for the last couple of days as I'm sorting out my craft room.

YES! You heard me right. C.R.A.F.T. R.O.O.M.

Now I know your picturing something like this.

I wish. Its more like this.

Ok, ok. Not quite, but it is a tiny room. About 2.5 mtrs long and 1.5 mtrs wide.

But it is all MINE! I have been clearing out all the boxes and crap we had stored in it so I can move in. Yep. I'll probably never leave. So that's my goal for the coming week. Make it liveable.

Extracting the urine

A little while ago my friend was telling me that she knew someone who had a face cream that contained horse urine. This is not unusual if you have dry, sensitive skin.

Now we get to the funny bit. I have really dry skin on my hands. The doctor prescribed a hand cream that contained urea. Now, I knew this was urine but tried not to think where it came from. I can say though that a horse never crossed my mind. Part of me is extra grossed out but the other part of me is pleased it isn't human.

I am still wondering how they extract it?

What does your entry say?

My Your Home and Garden arrived and one article stood out.

If you were seeing your entry/front of house for the first time what would you think?

Hhhhhmmmmm. Pretty gross if you ask me.

As you can see it is muddy and cluttered.

Can't do much about the ugly front door (we are going to get a new, scratch resistant,

black one.... someday).

So I scrubbed and cleaned and sorted out the shoe graveyard

I added a cute puppy for good measure and 'voilà' a clean and tidy front entrance.

Now to keep it this way.

The pain of sprain

This is me at the moment. I tripped off the kerb last night and sprained my ankle. Yep! All those torn ligaments really hurt, not to mention the swelling or bruising.

But I didn't break my arms so I can still fold washing, make lunches and cuppas.

Necessity is the mother of invention

In my reading today was a quote by a Roman poet written just before the birth of Christ (yes, along time ago).

'Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant'

This is so true for me. I have learnt to budget, sew, paint, cook, wallpaper, knit, recycle, grow vege, bake, organise, parent, make jam/pickle, bottle fruit etc.

What skills have you learnt because of necessity?

New look blog

I followed this awesomely easy tutorial by Clover Lane on how to make a header for your blog.

So please check it out as I'm so excited that I did it myself.

Thank you Dee for the inspiration to update the look.

My new BFF

I hung out with my new BFF this morning.

She helped me with the housework for 3 hours and all she wanted was some water.

I'd like to introduce you to the steam mop (hehe).

My old BFF lent me her steam mop. I don't know how she parted with it.

It was slow going, but my kitchen floor is soooooo clean.

Tomorrow I'm going to hang with my new BFF and clean our bathroom and foyer.

Hoggle versus Simba

When you live in the country there is a variety of live creatures to amuse your dog.

My dog Simba found this hedgehog very amusing.

My husband says the hedgehog found my dog amusing because Simba is wearing

a jersey (well he deserves to be warm too. right)

We gave the hoggle (as I call them) a dog bone.

After getting pricked in the nose a few times (no one said my dog was the smartest), he finally settled in to watch the little prickled creature.

I'm back!

FAVOURITE THING FRIDAY

This gorgeous sunset is photographed from our deck. I have not enhanced it at all.

Sorry I have been absent for sooooo long. Guess what? You move 15 mins from a major town and BAM! no broadband. Yes, you heard me right. Our little town only has a small number of broadband ports allocated to it. And you guessed it, they are all taken.

So we have had to go to mobile roaming broadband, which let me tell you isn't cheap (but how else can I keep up to date with all you wonderful bloggers).

Oh so quiet

I'm sorry I have been sooooo quiet. We have brought another house and I am busy packing . You see, we move Easter weekend. So all will be quiet (as it has been) for a little while yet. Please be patient and I promise I will be back:)

Dee Day

Dee of sew-funky and myself went to the movies during the week.

Oh what fun. No kids, no husbands, just us. Perusing the shops and

drinking lattes.

I brought a packet of jaffa's, after all they are a movie staple.

BLISS

Wonder Woman

How appropriate that on 'International Womens Day' I accomplished some things I hadn't tried before. I likened myself to 'Wonder Women' but instead of the lasso of truth I had a silicone gun.

Yep! I re-siliconed the shower, put up some wet wall (the water resistant panels in bathrooms) and used my husbands power tools. No stopping me now.

Great giveaway

Check out this awesome giveaway on jellybelly-jellybrain. As you can see they are amazing beaded watch straps in the most beautiful colours.

So pop over and say hi to Emma.

Again on highway cottage I found the link to another quiz. This is the Meyers/Briggs Personality test. And so accurate.

You Are An ENTJ
The ExecutiveYou are a natural leader - with confidence and strength that inspires others.Driven to succeed, you are always looking for ways to gain, power, knowledge, and expertise.Sometimes you aren't the most considerate person, especially to those who are a bit slow.You are not easily intimidated - and you have a commanding, awe-inspiring presence.In love, you hold high standards... for yourself, for your relationship, and for your significant other.While it's easy for you to impress others, it's hard for you to find someone who impresses you.At work, you are organized and good at delegating. You understand how to achieve goals.You would make a great CEO, entrepreneur, or consultant.How you see yourself: Rational, calm, and objectiveWhen other people don't get you, they see you as: Inflexible, controlling, and overbearing.

I am alive

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth.

My camera is not speaking to my computer at the moment (they must be in a tiss with each other) so.... I can't load any photos.

I have been a busy bee. I finished the January Cloth from sew-funky's blog and will be starting on the February one.

I have been putting together the families 72 hour food kit (in case of earthquake etc) that I found a website called Food Storage Made Easy. It has these great baby steps to help you along the journey of food storage.

You could also check out Everyday Food Storage as she has great ideas and recipes like one to make your own condensed milk. I have made it, and guess what? It really does taste like condensed milk.

I have still been following the Organising Queen and have decluttered my kitchen.

So as I said, I have been busy, I just can't post pictures :(

One bad day

The thing I like about bloggers is that even though they have crap going on in their lives they still focus on the positive things in life. But lets be honest, sometimes thats harder than other times.
Yesterday my Aspergers daughter (12yrs) was really mean to her respite caregivers. She ran away from them and told members of the public she was being held against her will and that they were abusing her.
So a good meaning member of the public phoned the police (even though the caregivers asked them not to) and so my daughter told bigger and better stories and lapped up the attention the public and police were giving her.
So, we had to go and get her early :( Yesterday I was angry but today I am really low and sad. I am so upset that my girl could make up such horrible stories about such amazing people who treat her with nothing but dignity and respect.
Because of her disorder she just doesn't get it. She doesn't get that she could have got her caregivers into serious trouble or that they may not want to have her again. She doesn't understand that we would still be feeling upset today.
So thats me today.

Word for the Year

Dee of sew-funky has posted here about choosing a word for the year and the other blogs that inspired her to do this.

(Drum roll please)

So without further ado my word for 2009 is

I am basing this word on the premise that ONE person can make a difference.

I may not make a difference to thousands such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jnr or Oprah , but I (one) can make a difference to ONE.

And who knows what difference that ONE will make to our world. The possibilities are endless and exciting.

What a day!!!!

Miss Lulu (nearly 3) climbed onto her brothers highchair and promptly fell off, head first onto out tiles. There was screaming (and that was me), and blood, and more screaming. My husband had to take her to the doctor as I was too upset. Anyway, Miss is fine and nothing broken, just bruised.
Then, in the pm my husband rang to see if we could look after a 6 month old for a couple of nights as the mum is on drugs and the dad in jail.
So we have a very cute addition for the next couple of days.

AHHHHH! The lead up to Christmas. You gotta love it :)