End of the Cricket Season

The cricket season has drawn to a close with Rohan's last game unfortunately finishing with a forfeit! Lucky for him there had been a change of rules to Under 9s mid season which allowed him to play a more social game on a Friday night with his little brother.

Living where we live I knew we wouldn't make it to the weekly cricket training (on Wednesdays and Thursdays)...bring in Dad and the problem is solved.

He devised using the gravel out the front of the shed as a pitch....and of course the sweeping of the pitch. Might I add this also involved NO-ONE walking on the pitch when it is raining, it is so soft that our footprints would always remain. The inconvenience of this was that is it is also our footpath to the schoolroom...ho hum!

Pitch's were measured and marked (builders spray paint) out for individual grades...the shifting of the stumps ever so important dependent on who is bowling.

Note Duke is never far away from the action but now knows not to walk in front of the ball!

And then there is all that practice. Fortunately for the kids Dad has had a bit more time to do this with them this year and they have improved so much.

The commitment has been worth it, the outcomes valuable but I think we are all looking foward to a Friday night at home!

AWiA...Australian Women in Agriculture

Juggling teaching,

business,

and family, is my life....I wouldn't have it any other way (except of course if you are a week behind in Science....), however I was given an opportunity to attend a two day workshop in my regional city, by an organisation called, Australian Women in Agriculture (AWiA).

This organisation began in Victoria 20 years ago and was created to increase the contribution and profile of Women in Agriculture.

I received an email from a mutually hardworking peer and jumped at the chance to attend a workshop like this. The "Leadership and Decision Making" focus of the workshop was the reason behind my desire to do it...the difficult part was working how the kids would keep up with school, manage to get to swimming lessons and of course cricket, Dad and Grandad played tag team.

The way I conduct business, relationships and teaching is extremely important to me. I'm not striving to be perfect (perfection is the greatest imperfection) just to do it better.

We were lead by a fantastic facilitator and I was joined by 15 equally passionate, vibrant and driven women who are all in varying fields of Agriculture.

Australian Women in Agriculture: AWiA

If the opportunity presents itself, apply, I highly recommend it.

He was lost, now he is found!

As the week progressed, I had lost all hope of finding my mate...sipping ales with husband on the verandah I spotted a yellow dog running along the road which in turn elevated my spirits. I ran bare foot down the road to greet him. Excitement was quickly replaced by sadness as I turned the corner to find it was a dingo, (Duke's ears are floppy, they don't stick up like a dingo). He got a fright as did I and he quickly made a dash for the trees.

Words of wisdom expressed to the kids this week were:

"He is probably on the adventure of a lifetime"

"Maybe he was sick, knew it and decided to find a resting place"

The phone call Saturday morning from a neighbour two places over telling me they had this Labrador at their back door that looked like Duke.

Our typically rushed Saturday morning turned to absolute joy at the idea of being reunited with our friend. Although he is little foot sore and looking like he has been at a weight loss clinic, he is in good spirits and so very pleased to get a bath and a bone!

This was not the outcome I was expecting but so very pleased he is with us again. T.

Home Sweet Home

After 16 days the boys and I have finally made it to our humble abode. I have noticed the trees have grown, Lach noticed the boys have grown...oh how we did miss each other!

Thank you to my Mum and Dad who gladly put up with us for the duration. Thank you to my husband for keeping the house clean, washing up to date and mowing done...

 

There is water water everywhere still, this was my trip home..

 

 

This is our dangerous one, I won't travel the road until it is under the culvit!

 

It won't take much to put it all over again...but we are so very lucky to have had rain, to be home, safe and stocked up with supplies!

On a sad note though, my dog is missing...he should have been home by now...

Saving a green turtle!

Many weeks ago, on our holiday to the beach, a distressed green turtle was trapped in a rock pool...

Saved by my very own Bondi vet....

Being safe in the wet season

I travelled to town over  a week ago for mini school...what a blur, such a busy week, lots of learning for us and the kids. There are school lunches to make, traffic to contend with, sessions to do, first aid course, some babysitting, haircuts, physio, dentist, an oven to buy and some random browsing.

However all that aside, public knowledge of closed roads and water heights don't apply to our road. Why? I must find that out, because more and more people are wanting to travel to the beautiful destination that lies at the end of our road.

Many phone calls to get a status report on the road, requiring a small drive by my brother to be able to report not much except "I can't get that close yet" eventually became a more accurate "estimate" of creek heights.

By Friday morning, an estimate of .8 revealed that by Saturday morning it would be low enough to cross....the window of opportunity.

As I rose early to finish packing the car,

I got the phone call to say 50mm fell overnight, reported "not a hope in hell of getting over the creek".

At present I am stranded, at Mum and Dad's place, away from my home and husband. It has been 8 days since we left home, it has been 8 days since he has seen another human being. We have had 625mm since Australia Day. The rain at home is irrelevant as it doesn't stop me, the large catchment spanning many, many, many kilometres, way up into the the Shoalwater Bay military training area does.

Reports of someone trying to tow a caravan into a creek with 5ft (1.5m) of water over the culvit leaves me seething at the stupidity of people...people who should know better. Not only do they endanger their own lives but the lives of "untrained" people to rescue them and their vehicles.

However, we are safe, we are comfortable, we are happy (mostly), he has food, we have telecommunications (having facebook friends on the road is also a very handy way to get up to date road reports), we have had a wet season so we have lots to be grateful for.