Another weekend over.

Sunday evening is here :( Lloyd will be back at work tomorrow....I wish weekends were 3 days long. Still, we got so much done this weekend.

Tonight we cooked our hotdogs on the fire outside which was nice. The children had fun and they made smores after too. I finished cutting the grass and then took pictures of the children sat in the dandelion clocks....some pictures of the house from the road and parts of our land now that summer is in full swing.....and I tidied all the toys away and made sure everything was dog proof before letting the dogs out for a run.

Laurence took the dogs out for a play with the balls etc and then I sent him for a shower as he was caked in grass and his feet were filthy. He had fun earlier driving the tractor and cutting the grass.

Our mealwarms have hatched.....the cocoons have started hatching into beetles!!! They are weird looking beetles but very cool! WE have to feed them a piece of potato now....or apple.

Lloyd is doing his accounts this evening as they are due in this month.....I've been tidying up and vacuuming so I don't have to do much tomorrow. I think I will go and soak in the bath now.....

The sky darkened earlier but it didn't come to anything...I was hoping for a storm to blow away this heat but no luck.

I got a message from the Canadian lady that lives in the UK today. She told me she had read my blog! I think she's the first person to read it :) It was so nice to hear that someone had read and enjoyed it.



I think I will start writing my gratitude journal here each day instead of in my notebook journal.

Today I am grateful for:

1. My home and surroundings....the peace and quiet, the beauty and the calmness it brings to us.

2. Lloyds strength for digging up the bigger plants that I didn't have the energy for!

3. Short grass! It meant I could speed around on the tractor cutting it shorter rather than having to go slow...I really enjoy sitting on it cutting the grass and having that alone time to think.....

4. Seeing Chris with his chicken today....I like that he is enjoying caring for them....

5. The plants I bought att he garden centre today that have brightened up the porch steps.

6. That Susannahs arm has healed so fast and she is able to enjoy playing outside more.

7. My wonderful Nokia D70s that takes such wonderful pictures!

8. crunchy bread and pate!

9. Being able to share my life with my best friend.

10. The memories we are creating here at home for us all......Sam on the tractor, building the coop, Abby and Chris with the chicken, Laurence with Amber and Rosie.....Lloyd and I sitting on the porch drinking wine.....

Blogger won't let me add pictures right now....some problem they are having I think...so I can't add any pictures to my posts which is a shame...but I will add them when it is working again!

frogs, hostas and Iced Capps

(Pics of hostas before moving and my Iris!)

It's been really nice to have a weekend at home for a change....normally we're so busy at the weekend that it flies past, but we've spent this weekend at home tidying up the gardens and pottering about.

We went out for brunch today though which was really nice.......and this afternoon we took the kids out for a ride to get Iced Capps so we could all cool down.

Lloyd found another frog this morning....tiny...I think it was a Boreal Chorus frog. Very cute.....Sam (17mths) was very impressed!

I split the Hostas today and replanted them in various places in the flower beds...the boys moved all the rocks for me from the side of the garage and they are now in the flower beds too......I weeded more and added the last of the bark chips...we need a lot more of those though.....

We planted the second of Abigails Plum Trees and checked on Christophers little fir tree that we planted in the front paddock.

We really need some rain....none forecasted yet...where are the summer storms and rain????

I bought some beautiful Geraniums today at Greenlands. I've planted them in pots on the porch steps with ivy trailing at the font.....I've planted another Ivy in the wooden mini barrel that Shawna gave me...it has a small trellis at the back so should look really pretty ina few weeks.

Most of the Ivies are ones my Mum bought me while she was visiting last year.

So it's looking a lot tidier outside now...still a lot to do....but Lloyd is starting to mow the front paddocks now that the fences are down...it should all look like front yard. I want to grow the back field into a Meadow though...we've sprinkled poppy seeds and wild flower seeds in the hope that they will take off there....we also planetd sunflower seeds all over the place a few weeks back and some of them are growing....again we just need more rain.

My pumpkins all died due to lack of attention...this year has been crazy with the chickens taking over the garage.

We're having a fire tonight and the children are going to cook hotdogs out there and then make smores......we haven't done that for a couple of weeks. We normally do that a few times a week but haven't lately....life just gets so busy.

We moved here for a slower life....and homeschool for that reason too...yet I've let that get out of hand lately with too many organized events and activities and too many things we are doing too..........I plan to do less in the Fall.......

I do love weekends like this though....pottering around here at our beautiful home. We love living here so much.......I just can't imagine moving back to the city now...I would just hate it. We drove through Sherwood Hills Estate today......the houses are crammed in.........why do people spend so much ona tiny lot and a huge house........if you can afford a huge house why on earth would you buy one where you can touch your neighbours house from yours? I just don't understand that....I love space and privacy and nature.........and no neighbours ;) I know everyones different but I still fail to understand suburban life.......