Fast Away the Old Year Passes

I blinked and 2017 was gone.

It was a year of steady progress in some areas, and stalling in others.

It was a year of adjustment for my family, as we entered the school arena.  Suddenly we could no longer take holidays at any time during the year (bar seeding and harvest) - we were confined to term times, like many of our friends.  Rory's Kindy days were Tuesdays, Thursdays and every second Monday.  This made mid-week trips to Albany impossible. I attempted a few daytrips on Wednesdays and that was exhausting.

After a difficult start, the biggest little man did very well. His teacher was very no-nonsense and he seemed to adapt well to her approach. He did things for her that I could never get him to do. He started Kindy not able to hold a pencil properly.  Due to this, his arm would become tired while trying to write. I'd been trying to correct his grip for ages, but his teacher and the occupational therapist who visits the school corrected it within weeks. He has discovered that he CAN use scissors and that craft can actually be fun. But Rory is still very much a 'minimal effort' kinda guy in this area.  He'd much rather be running around outside or doing puzzles.

Dealing with his tiredness and resulting tantrums has been a challenge.  Term 1 was the most difficult, but it did get a bit easier as the year progressed. Still, I'm kind of dreading full-time pre-primary.

Rory's Kindy 'graduation'

One of the many Kindy creations - milk bottle top elephant

One of Rory's paintings. Apparently it's a picture of Daddy haha

This may seem strange, but my surgery was the highlight of my year. That (and actually reducing my anti-depressants) have made a huge difference in my depression. No longer have I been self-conscious going down the street. After I'd had the surgery, Duncan confessed that many people in town have been asking them if I was pregnant (he quickly set them straight).  This reinforced that I'd made the right decision to have the surgery.

Flynn and I at a Melbourne Cup lunch

The other highlight has been surviving seeding and harvest on my own, without needing house-help. I've had short visits from my mum, but other than that, I had a routine happening and I managed on my own (with God's help, of course). I think if harvest didn't fall around Christmastime it would be a LOT easier, as the added stress of the million end-of-year/Christmas events (which all seem to require you to bring a plate) get a bit much.

Flynn at the playgroup Christmas party

Sadly 2017 has seen the slow demise of this blog. I seem to have lost my passion.  Whereas once my head was bursting with ideas for posts, now I'm lacking both inspiration and motivation. By the end of the day, I'm so tired, I can't be bothered starting up the computer to write a post. Plus, I have taken on a small paid admin role for Flynn's daycare, so that has taken up some of my time. I think the fact that many other blogs I have enjoyed over the years have slowed considerably or stopped has been a factor in my own lack of enthusiasm.

What will 2018 hold? Well, it has already got off to a less than ideal start with the death of Solomon, but there are still 362 days left for it to be a good one.

The King is Dead

I had planned to do an end of 2017/start of 2018 musing type post today.

That will have to wait.

Today, we got back from a lovely day by the river (about 45 minutes from our house), only to find Solomon dead.  He'd been the King of Cluckingham Palace since a month before Rory was born.  Understandably, I'm sad.

If only the eggs had hatched, he could have produced an heir.  And we're finally in the process of building a new chook house.  What cruel timing.

He had a good life. I like giving roosters the chance of a good life.

Enjoying a dustbath with his wives. January 2015

The Case for Christmas

We have a book nook in our local park.  It's like a mailbox where you can put books and take some that are in there - kind of like a free book exchange.  It's not policed at all, so it relies on people's generosity.  Recently I've been wondering and praying about what to do with the evangelistic books in my bookcase. I've been hanging onto them in prayerful hope that one day I'll have such a conversation with someone that it will lead to me being able to offer them a book (and hopefully a Bible).  Sadly, these conversations have not progressed to this stage, but God, in His kindness, prompted me to put them in the book nook.  Of course, there are hundreds of tourists who stop at the park on their travels.

This is one of the books I've recently put in the book nook.  I reviewed The Case For Easter a couple of years ago, and this book is much along the same lines.  In fact, Lee Strobel has written a whole series of short books (The Case For a Creator, The Case For Faith etc.)  Personally, I wonder why he has written so many books which must surely cover the same things?  His best known work is The Case For Christ (and there is now a movie of the same name, based on his journey from atheism to faith in Christ).  Perhaps it because they are short and strategically written for unbelievers.

Part of this book answers the usual questions (such as how do we know the Christmas story is true, how reliable is the Bible?), but another part surprised me. It was about a Jewish man who had become a Christian and now has a ministry among Jews. He said that many Jews have never read the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus, and have been told by their rabbi that the prophecies are not about Him. One of the key ways to challenge Jews is to convince them to read the Old Testament prophecies on their own.  There is no chance that all of them could be about someone else; they are so clearly about Christ.

I pray my copy of this book will make its way into someone's hand and point them towards Jesus - the one who Christmas is all about.

Bible Verse of the Day

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel,” (which means “God with us”).
Matthew 1:23

No Dixie Chicks

Late last month, we had a rare occurrence here....a broody hen!

Dixie gathered nine eggs for herself and I ended up moving her into her own separate nesting area.  Given Solomon is rather advanced in years and I rarely see him with a hen (if you know what I mean), I wasn't hopeful anything would hatch.

Estimated hatching day was last Saturday.  We gave it a couple of extra days before pulling the pin.  Dixie was evicted from her nest and the nine (now rotten) eggs were disposed of.  The door to her special nest was shut, preventing her from going back in.

This is the second time we have tried to hatch eggs supposedly fertilised by Solomon.  A year ago, a friend on the farm tried putting our eggs under her broody hen, but nothing hatched.  I'm sad for the old fella.  I was hoping he would produce an heir....Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.

Even though she sat for three weeks for nothing, Dixie will not give up.  She was most annoyed at being turfed off her nest and went around the yard, puffing herself up and making the indignant cluck characteristic of broody hens.  Today, she was back on the main nest where the other hens lay, stockpiling more eggs for herself.  She was cross when I took them away.

So, it appears I will need to source some fertilised eggs from somewhere if I am to appease my cranky bird.  She gives a good peck!

As Duncan likes to say....a comfortable-looking hen.

Paddington Bear Comes To Stay

In many kindergartens, the children have to take a toy (or even a class pet) home and take photos of everything the 'thing' did while they were with you.  Rory's class has Paddington Bear (it is actually his teacher's own teddy).  I'm very glad it wasn't a live animal; when I was at kindergarten back in the day, my class had a budgie.  The poor thing must have been scared to death with all those kids!

Paddington Bear had to join in with everything Rory did for a week, from the mundane to the exciting.

Going for a drive on the farm in the ute.

At Sunday School

Having a teddy bears' picnic.

Dinner time

Flynn was quite taken with Paddington.

Sunbaking in the canola.

Like A Queen

I'd been wanting to get my hands on this book for a while when I found it in an opshop last month for....the grand total of 20c.  Bargain!

For those of you who don't know who Constance Hall is, she is a blogger from Perth, who shot to fame a couple of years ago when her post about 'parent sex' went viral on social media.  She could be classed as what you would call a 'mummy blogger', but she is more well-known for being a champion of the sisterhood, uniting mothers together and encouraging them to support each other, rather than tear each other down.

I realise this book will not be everyone's cup of tea, but there were some great things I gleaned from it.  Part biography, part opinion, the structure of the book is frustrating as it seems to leap all over the place.  I'd much prefer some kind of chronological order when she is talking about events in her life.  And she has had a very interesting life!  The saddest thing was that I read the book in hindsight....since it was published last year, she has split with her husband and is now engaged to someone else.

There are many opinions of hers that I don't agree with: I don't think it's necessary for every second word to be a swear word, and while there are many ways to parent, I don't think having an abortion is one of them.  These differences come from having such contrasting worldviews.  While some may be offended by how she writes openly about bodily functions, I have no qualms about it.  I live in a house with all males...talk about bums, farts and poos (from the four-year-old) doesn't bother me.  I loved out loud at some of the stuff she writes.  She is a brilliant writer.  Easy to read and her honest descriptions are hilarious.

Even though I don't agree with everything she says, I have always admired the way she focuses on what brings us together and that she practices what she preaches in trying to create better communities of mothers.