Congratulations...

to Callum for passing his 'hazard perception test' which is the first step to getting your licence.

Then more congratulations for passing the motorcycle licence test.

He is on his 'P's now and gaining in confidence every day.

I'm taking it as a sign...

On the way to taking Erin to the movies to see the latest Harry Potter, I had a flat tyre.

I probably put the mos on myself as we were having a conversation recently about whether I/women in general, could change a tyre. My thought was that I know the steps and could do it if necessary. Well I put the theory to the test and when push came to shove the first thing I did was to ring for help! While Chris was on his way I got the spare and the jack out of the boot. It wasn't easy and as I struggles with the tyre about 6 cars drove past me. I must have looked very capable as none of them slowed or stopped to see if I needed assistance. These days of mobile phones and RACV maybe they assumed I was OK. None of them knew Chris was on his way, I was a bit disappointed in our town ,I thought we had a tighter community than that.

My efforts came to a holt when I could't loosen the nuts on the wheel, so we waited for my knight in shining armour to come and rescue me. Luckily he wasn't far away, and I was very thankful for his muscles and capable hands.

So my original thought was right, I know what to do and if I didn't have a phone/reception, or if no-one would stop, maybe I could do it myself.

I'm really glad I didn't have to in the end, and we'll see HP another day, this day just wasn't meant to be.

Newsflash: Jo's Christmas present will be 4 new tyres and a wheel balance.

30 60 90...

Somewhere between 60 & 90mls of rain has fallen in the last 2 days.

I'm not exactly sure because I have to empty the rain gauge mid storm and it has a chip at the top so it probably isn't accurate any more, just like this one but a bit broken.



 When I got this one I was looking for any drop of rain, excited with just 2 or 3mls of rain. It would fill up with dust before water.

Maybe I could invest in something like this that adds the rainfall and never needs emptying. If I did the rain would probably stop and I'd be out there tapping it to move it off zero!

We went for a drive yesterday afternoon, out to see the rivers and reservoir, There was running water and mud over the roads, which made Erin very nervous, a four wheel drive with big tyres would have made her feel a bit more secure.

Our little bit of flooding in the garage is nothing to complain about.

Preparations...

My countdown to Christmas has begun.

I took myself off to the shops today looking for inspiration and ideas. I came up with a few for the children and picked up this little beauty for myself.

Picture this in orange, and at 30% off today it was a bargain as well.

I will be very surprised on Christmas morning!










I also got a kick start from Coles yesterday. They have released their Christmas ideas book and it was quite inspiring for me to look through the yummy recipes and imagine what I will cook. Here's a link if you cant get to Coles for your copy.
The Australian Good Food magazine Christmas edition also had some yummy looking things to try. I thought I would try out an appetiser before I took it along to a party. It involves wrapping a strip of prosciutto around a grissini bread stick and an asparagus spear. Sounds simple & delish but it didn't wrap nicely and didn't taste good, the verdict was a thumbs down. But it wont put me off trying some of the others.

I was able to pick up the glace fruit so will be able to start the baking once the temperature drops below 30 degrees.

Share...

Some layouts to share...

A page for Erin from our recent holiday

A page about Lucy's 21st

And one for Hayley's album

 Finally done.

Frustrated...

I need to vent my frustration.

As nurses we need to complete a certain amount of education each year to be registered. I know that it is difficult to complete on-line learning modules at work, with interruptions or even finding the time to commence a module is sometimes impossible.
As part of my education role I wanted to have the evidence of the obstacles faced by the staff. I sent out an electronic survey with just 5 questions which takes a few minutes to complete. When I checked today whether the staff on the mid ward were able to come to an education session I was howled down with cries of how busy they were.
Fair enough, but then when I enquired if they had done the survey they became even more heated with how they don't have time at work to do education and when they go home they want to switch off work matters. Also fair enough, but if they don't complete the survey I can't present the evidence and can't assist them with making study/education time available.

Uuuuggggghhhhh!

Finally Friday...

This week hasn't been extraordinary just the ordinary kind of busy that leaves you feeling tired  and lethergic at the end of the day.

So just some random thoughts from the week...

A large crack has appeared in my windscreen, after a small rock was thrown up by an oncoming truck. With a sand mine and a coal mine in the district we get a lot of trucks through. Seems the third strike is what does all the damage.

Can someone tell me how we go through so much toilet paper? We seem to use about 18 rolls a week! Have they made the roll shorter or are we in a great need? I might start buying the scratchy hard kind to deter the family a bit (I'll keep a secret stash for me).

I have done some scrapping that I can't be bothered uploading - thats really lazy, I know, I'll see if I can remedy that.

I saw a locust in the driveway this morning, the first of many so I'm told.

I am unhappy with the quality of my photo printing lately. This has coincided with a replacement of inks and a new pack of paper. DH assures me is used genuine Canon ink but I'm not convinced the paper makes such a difference.

The MIL rang to say she has found a 1 bedroom unit in Kingston, Tasmania and is happy with the arrangement. She is on a list for a low level care unit and unsure how long it will take.

Callum is gaining confidence on his bike and planning to sit for his licence as soon as is possible. What difference does a permit or licence mean when you are a solo rider. Other drivers on the road are pretty intolerant of Learners and the yellow plate does little to protect them. Callums friend came over to ride with him this afternoon wearing only a singlet top. While it was hot and tempting not to wear all the gear, I was pleased that Cal put on his jacket and boots to ride.

Today not only marks just 6 weeks til Christmas but is Hayley's last shift at Taco Bill. She is beyond excited about that and is looking forward to her new direction beginning on Monday. Her hassles with discriminating employers should be over and she can regain her social life but getting up for work 5 days a week is going to test her in a different way.

Fireworks at the festival...

Just got back from the Djerriwarrh festival and I wanted to check the photos I had taken with my little Olympus camera.

On the menu you can choose a 'fireworks' function from the 'scene' menu. I'm still not sure how to use this function properly and if I took time to read the instructions it would probably work out a bit better.

I still managed to get this shot

The trouble with fiddling with your camera during the fireworks display is that you miss the real action. It was a really good fireworks show and I'm glad we made the effort to get there tonight.

Erin enjoyed a rainbow gelati while we waited for the fireworks to begin, I listened to Kate Ceberano entertain the crowd,

and she even ventured on to this ride, it was one of the tamer ones.

It was called the Cliff Hanger and only cost 3 of the 4 tokens that Hayley had left over from her visit to the festival this afternoon. I tried some action shots with the camera.

I was very impressed with the number and quality of the rides on offer. There were some pretty spectacular ones for the very brave to try, Erin wasn't game to go on any others. There must have been thousands of people there, it was really crowded with very long queues on the more popular rides.
When I see the attendants scrambling around, helping people on and off and checking the safety equipment it always reminds me that Chris worked as a ride attendant at the Rye Carnival when he was a teenager, one of his first summer jobs.

Poor cat...

or should that be Splat cat...

or Poor Hayley...

Our tale of woe begins when Hayley agrees to house sit for a friend of a friend for a week while she holidayed in Queensland.

The lady had 2 daughters and 2 cats. Now she has 2 daughters and 1 cat.

Hayley had fed, watered and cleaned up kitty litter for the whole week and on the last day in the house one of the cats didn't quite make it across the road during an allowed 'outside time'.

That was a trauma in itself but then she had to deal with it like the independant girl she was being that week. First thing to do in a crisis? ring your BFF and then your Mum. Now Hayley has never been good with 'yucky' stuff. When she worked as a checkout chick at Foodworks she wouldn't even touch the meat trays and wont watch me cut up chicken for dinner. So I was really proud of her when she told me picked up the cat (ignoring jeers from some nearby tradies) put it into a bag then into a box and left it by the back door.

The cat owner came back from holidays and told Hayley that was the second cat squished in 2 months and she is not devastated but concerned for Hayley. She even asked if Hayley would house sit again for her. Hayley will think about that one.

This unfortunate tale reminded me of a story that Vanessa told me. It might be an urban legend but goes like this.
Aussie girl is house sitting for a family in London. Their large and much loved dog dies. The owner asks the girl to take the dog to their vet.Girl takes large dog in suitcase on the Tube to Vet. Suitcase gets snatched from girl on escalator.I bet he was one bewildered thief.

Young apprentice Trent is really annoyed that the tradies acted so poorly & hadn't helped Hayley. The other funny part of the story is Hayley had found notes in the young girls bedrooms with lists of rules about their bedrooms. They were hilarious with entries like...'Don't jump on my bed', 'Clean up your mess'. I told Hayley they should have also added 'Don't kill my cat'

October is over...

October has been a great month, so I am a bit sad to see it end. A holiday, a birthday, parties and some time for me have rounded it off nicely.

While I was enjoying the past month I missed the anniversary of this blog. Odd to think I have been at it for 2 years now. I was reading back through some old posts and enjoyed reliving them. The idea of my blog was to be a journal for myself and this is exactly what it is. Those first few posts include how we hadn't had any rain and the gauge was always empty, now we have to empty it mid storm! (Another 51 mls fell on Saturday during Derby Day).
It is also good to see the 'illustrations' of my little story, the family pics, the scrapping I have done. Might be boring to some but I'm going to keep at it.

And keep adding my layouts

An old pic...our mother aged 7

and me at 47

Roll on November, what will you bring?