17/52

 

Leah ~ playing marbles with her Dad, the old fashioned way

 

 

Milly ~ she is miss cheeky lately

 

Emmett ~ playing a camping game in the makeshift cubby

 

 

Max ~ on a mission walking back from the woodpile.

 

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014"

 

~ this week has flown, between catching up with friends and family, easter and appointments, our time has been quickly taken up. I didn't get the camera out as much as I would have liked during the week, so I had to make do with what was happening this morning for 3 of the children. There's always next week I guess :)

 

Joining in with Jodi at Practising Simplicity

On A Child Free Day

 

 

 

Yesterday Chris took all the children to the farm for the day to mark calves and get a load of firewood.

I stayed home alone. A whole day at home.

Alone

 

This happens every so often and I'm both fortunate and grateful for the luxury of a day to myself. I love being home together as a family, but I also enjoy my space.

Trouble is I usually write out this terribly long list of jobs to do and feel guilty if I stop to do anything fun. But not yesterday.

I hung out the washing.

I cleaned up the kitchen.

I folded the clean washing and put it away.

 

Then I finished off my 2013 project life family album. (or so I thought, last night it was disovered that I had missed Max's birthday. Ooops.)

Then I watched 3 episodes of Call The Midwife on dvd and knit and knit and knit.

I'm not far off finishing my very first cowl knit in the round.

 

And I did not allow myself to feel guilty, I just relaxed and did as I pleased.

Today I'm content to do the jobs that need doing.

It was a good day.

xxx

 

What do you do with a child free day?

Weekly Stills Collection ~ Shearing

 

1. Shearing the sheep

2. 'Riding' the sheep waiting to be shorn. This one's quiet because it was a poddy lamb.

3. Emmett in the yards

4. Leah watching on in the shed

5. The ram. Emmett asked me to take a photo of him so he can show the kids at creche.

6. Max found the whole shearing shed experience amusing.

7. Squashing the wool into the press

8. Max having a ride on the wool table

9. Kevin waiting patiently to chase the sheep. Thank god he's turning out to be a good sheep dog 'cause he's a pain in the butt as a house dog!

10. Leah, stopped to pose for me while helping to move the sheep into the next pen

11. Milly sweeping up the wool, she was pretty handy on the broom and was a great help.

12. Chris throwing a fleece onto the wool table.

 

~ We had glorious weather last week, so shearing went to plan for the 3 days it took to shear all the sheep at the farm. Emmett was beside himself with excitement, he was counting down for a good week leading up to the first day. He spent 2 of the three days out there, and heading up to the house with Chris's mum when he was tired. The girls had a couple of days out there too, then on the third day I took Max out for a look. He was so funny, trying to climb on the sheep and running around the yards, not a bit of fear until Andy the shearer started shearing. Then he was a bit unsure of the noise.

Now that the shearing's over, Emmett is already counting down to next time, such is our farm boy. This week will see Chris cutting a few loads of fire wood, the weather has turned cold and we've lit the fire the last 2 nights. Winter is just around the corner...~

 

How are your easter holidays going?

 

Joining Emily at The Beetle Shack

16/52

 

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2014"

 

~ Last Thursday we had a day out in our nearest regional centre, an hour away, and we visited the botanical gardens and the little zoo. The wombat was the highlight, weve visited many times and never seen him awake, so everyone was excited to see him sitting right at the fence almost close enough to touch.~

 

Joining in with Jodi at Practising Simplicity

Weekly Stills Collection

 

1. The Simple Baby Hat, ready to cast off, and finish to give to a friend's little bub.

2. Can you see our furry friend? He went hopping through the yard during the week while we were waiting for the school bus.

3-6. Toasting marshmallowings. My two nieces are staying at the moment, and we all had a lovely Sunday afternoon toasting marshmallows over the first fire for the season.

7. Trevor dog, never far from Chris's feet.

8. Whiskey came back in from the farm, and off to serve as a pony club camp mount for a friend next week.

 

~Hello Autumn! We had a busy week with athletics carnival and all the end of term school stuff, and now we're loving the start of the school holidays and true autumn weather. The cool change after the rain during the week  has been very welcome around here, we lit the first outdoor fire of the season on Sunday afternoon and toasted some marshmallows. This is easily my favourite season of the year :) 

Happy Easter!~ 

 

 Joining in with Emily at The Beetle Shack

15/52

 

Max ~ I found him up the ladder trying to climb on top of the rain water tank.

 

 

Milly ~ having a rest on her new quilt

 

 

Emmett ~  Waiting for Daddy to go out to the farm. He was given these cowboy boots from a friend and he loves them., they make him look so grown up.

 

 

Leah ~ toasting marshmallows

 

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014"

 

~ After a busy final week of school we are all relishing our down time with the beginning of the school holidays.  Slow mornings, cousins to hang out with, movies, and toasting marshmallows. We're off to a great start :) ~

 

Joining in with Jodie at Practising Simplicity

Weekly Stills Collection

 

 

 

 

 

1.A snippet of mum's garden.

2. A family of kangaroos were looking on across the road from our local farmer's market on Sunday morning.

3. Lots of these wild mushrooms popped up after all the rain

4. Emmett learnt to cut up his own pancake on the weekend.

5&6. Watching the rain from the loungeroom window.

7. Crocus bulbs are flowering, I wasn't sure they would when I only transplanted them a few months ago.(I'm a really bad gardener by the way)

8&9. My Jellywares Yarn Club package arrived and it's absolutely gorgeous, I love everything in it and the wool is lovely to crochet with.

 

~We had a much needed 2 inches or so of steady, soaking rain over the week. The lawn is green and growing wild and there's lots of  happy farmers around. My highlight of the week was the arrival of my Yarn Club package, and the end of daylight's saving! Yay! I'm up at 6-6:30am again, in daylight, and everyone is sleeping like tired people should! It also makes the changing season more noticeable I think, the days seem shorter and the mornings just slightly crisp. Truth be told, I'm excited for winter. We can't wait for bonfires with friends and family and toasting marshmallows and camp oven dinners. We also can't wait for school holidays, and a break from packing lunch boxes :) ~

 

Joining in with Emily at The Beetle Shack

14/52

 

Emmett ~ giving me the evil eyes. He was running through the blanket on the clothesline but didn't want to have his photo taken.

 

 

 

Max ~ he drew on his face and all over his arm with a texta on Saturday morning.

 

Milly ~ the robber, caught and tied to the chair by Sheriff Leah before she could escape!

 

 

Leah ~ having a laugh with Nanny Goat. We went to Mum's for morning tea on Sunday after a quick stop at the Farmer's Market.

 

" A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2014"

 

Joining in with Jodi at Practising Simplicity

Weekly Stills Collection

 

1. Our capsicum plant's still growing strong

2. Best of mates when they're not fighting

3&4. I pinned and started quilting Milly's quilt on the weekend.

5.The caterpillar conga line we stumbled on in the yard. There was about 12 of them on a mission to somewhere! Very interesting yet slightly gross.

6. Max likes to stand against the railing around the deck and survey the yard.

7. I finished my dishcloth from my Jellywares Yarn Club pack, and now I'm hanging out for the second instalment.

 

~ I sound like a broken record as a new week begins with my usual, where did that week go? What did I even do this week? That time went so quick! But it astounds me how busy we seem to be with life and how quickly the days roll by, despite our efforts to live a slow and simple life. Although it could be a whole lot busier I'm sure, if we let it.

I've been carving out plenty of time for myself lately, crocheting and finally getting Milly's half finished quilt out of the unfinished object box after 3 years in hibernation. My plan is to have it on her bed by the end of the week, it's set up on the end of the dining table ready to be worked on here and there whenever I get a chance. I'm loving playing with fabric again after having a long spell from my sewing machine, I'd forgotton how much I enjoy it. ~

 

Joining in  with Emily at The Beetle Shack