Itchy!

You could never imagine what I found this morning! Check out our front fence...


This is the bottom of the gate:


A close-up:

Martin sprayed them with termite spray and they were dead in next to no time. Now we need to wash off the fence and gate as their little hairs will be everywhere!

Bits

We've had a few days without any internet connection at all...very frustrating. I had to call Nathan's teacher this morning and ask her to fax through what was needed for his on-air lesson.

I had a play with the camera yesterday...seems ages since I did this! No scrapping mojo at all....if you find it, please send it home.

This is the top section of our phone tower:

This spider has made her web just outside our schoolroom window. As it's not where I walk through (too high) I've decided to leave her be:

Buffel grass:


Old wheel:


Today we finally started shearing the lambs. This has been delayed by wet weather and fly have been giving the poor little buggers a terrible time. This will be a new lease of life for them.

Tomorrow, we finally get to truck the ewes we sold on AuctionPlus three weeks ago. Their new home at Nyngan has had good rains too.

I am so lucky

Today I received this gorgeous card and tags from a lovely friend Taryn. Isn't she one very talented lady?

You really have to see both of these in real life to appreciate just how beautiful they are and the work Taryn has put into them.

Thank you Taryn, I shall treasure these.

School Days

Our school days took on a whole new dimension this week. Nathan finally started his on-air lessons (we missed the first week and I opted to not do them last week in order to catch up a little) AND his telephone reading lessons started on Monday too. Our days begin with whole school notices at 8am, telephone reading at 8.45am for about 20-25 minutes and then his on-air lesson at 9.15am until about 10am. We need to do school work straight after notices otherwise we lose all the time before 10am.

Nathan really enjoys his reading lessons and does them with his class teacher and another member of staff. I took this photo of him this morning, while reading a book called "Dad".

Do they know??

Late yesterday afternoon I spotted these little fellas under the roof of our butcher shop. Now we know that rain is forecast for the next week....are they telling us it will be floods?

Or are they just being slow in finding a new tree to make their nest? Martin gets the itches by just looking as these itchy caterpillars.

The things kids say

Martin commented today that his collar and cuff was rather whiffy. Next minute Nathan wandered to the laundry and came back with a peg firmly clipped on his nose! "I don't want that stink up my nose!" he said...cheeky little bugger!

On Tuesday Martin rang to say they were discharging him from hospital....leaving him to find his own way home! We live 700kms away!!! He asked them to organize plane seats from him from Rocky to Brisbane and then Brisbane to Barcaldine (we only have flights on Monday and Friday)....only to be told "You can't fly because you had the chest drain in." Thank God Wend's husband was on RDOs and been able to go and get Martin, because I was rained in. Michael drove 4 hrs, picked him up and drove back to Emerald that night, where they stayed in a motel for the evening and then drove a further 400kms on Wednesday. Luckily Martin handled the journey alot than we thought, but was very sore at the end of each day. I went in and picked up he and Alastair for the last leg of the drive home. Maybe yes the hospital couldn't do anything more for Martin but he still has the broken ribs and collarbone and they can't be plastered or strapped.

Now,Martin is going okay and still tries to do a bit....very steadily of course. His stronger painkillers have just about run out and he can't get anymore, so he's cut them back to one a day and in the morning. It will be interesting to see how he gets on tonight. He's taken up residence in the lounge room in a borrowed Jason recliner...makes for a more comfortable sleep that in a bed. He still has some mighty bruises and other still coming out.

We could not have got through the last fortnight without the love and support of many family members and good friends. They know who they are and they know how much we have appreciated what they've done for us.

Nathan and I are 'getting there' with school...still behind, but we have all term to catch up so it's not worth stressing about....something I would have once done as I really don't like being behind. As long as we don't have anymore dramas this term, we'll be right. Think of us this weekend as you can guess what we'll be doing.

A Visit from..

the Tooth Fairy!! Yep, the third since September. She will be back soon as Nathan has yet another loose tooth. Now that he's missing a top tooth, it's really affected his speech. For a lad who starting teething when he was almost 12 months old, he's losing them very quickly.

A stressful week

Last Saturday Martin and I were putting the rams out. Other than my flat tyre (and completely ruining it) all was going well until we found some woollies. Martin had run down a ewe and 3 lambs and had one more ewe to catch when he hit a clump of buffel grass and went over the handlebars on his bike. Luckily Nathan and I were there to see it happen as his 2way radio fell out of his pocket and just out of reach. I called a neighbour on the 2way and she called 000. Considering we were in a back paddock, the ambulance made excellent time and arrived sooner than we had expected. Martin had a very slow trip to town. While we knew he had some rib damage, xrays confirmed 6/7 broken ribs, with some broken twice and a broken collarbone, all on the left side.

On Thursday he was flown to Rockhampton vis RFDS suffering from a haemopneumothorax - blood, fluid and air around his left lung. A chest drain was put in and he had a special mask and machine that helps force his lungs to inflate properly and force out the unwanted fluid. He was moved to ICU on Friday. Yesterday the chest drain was removed but is still in ICU as he's had high blood pressure since Thursday and that needs to be resolved.

Hopefully he will not in in Rocky for too long, however getting him home may be difficult. With so many broken ribs he could not handle the long drive. I'm hoping he can be transferred by RFDS back to the local hospital and go from there.

On Friday, Nathan celebrated his 6th birthday...a very quiet day. Most of his presents were stashed at home and he had a bought birthday cake. We shall have a 'proper' birthday cake, when his Dad is home.