Exciting News!!

Our second son Craig and his gorgeous partner Kathryn have announced their engagement. We are absolutely with the news. Kath is a very special girl and already very much a member of our family.
Craig's proposal was very romantic...we are so proud of him for going to all the effort that he did.

We love you both very much.

Meet BJ

Martin has a new border collie pup he has named BJ. He's a cute little fella and came all the way from Brisbane. Kath picked him up for me and she and Craig looked after him for a week. He's a very intelligent little bloke but is causing poor Charli a bit of grief at the moment. Charli will get used to having him around and will play with BJ when he thinks no-one is watching..

 Here's BJ with his proud new owner.

I had a lovely Mother's Day and I hope you did too. I received some very special gifts including a beautifully framed family photo and most importantly I had calls from all of my boys.

Nathan chose these lovely flowers at our local grocery store. Aren't they just beautiful?

A Crafty Weekend

During this last weekend, Martin and I did some workshops with Adriaan and Denise Vanderlugt. a very crafty and clever couple. Martin did hebel sculpting (Nathan did it with him) and I did coiled basketry using recycled materials. Not only was it fun to creating with like minded people, socializing and meeting new people was wonderful.
Martin first sculpted a ute and then he did some chain links.

 I created a little coiled pot with a lid and a little oval mat. It's not perfect or straight, but hey that's what practice is for!  The core I have used in these is old plastic bags, but you can also use strips of denim, orange and onion bags, rope...almost anything as long as it doesn't break down. I plan to make some little octopuses for a little baby's room. They are so cute and bright and colourful.

I would really love to do the hebel sculpture but the next workshop is during the week and with school it's too hard to get away, especially as we are already behind. Hopefully next time Adriaan comes I can do it.

Charli

Last Tuesday we very nearly lost Charli. We were woken by his screams at 6am. Martin went to check on him, and Charli tore through the house, his eyes wide with terror. I grabbed him, wrapped him in a blanket ( it was cold and he was trembling) and refused to let him go. I am sure he'd picked up a bait somewhere and was so sure we were about to lose him too. Through his screams, seizures, frothing at the mouth and wanting to run, I held him, tightly, refusing to let him go. I walked with him for 4 hours, occasionally stopping to check if his heart was still beating.
At about 10.30am he began panting, as a dog does when it's hot. I moved out of the sun but still kept Charli wrapped up as I couldn't bear to see that terrified look in his eyes again. Slowly, he moved his head out from under the blanket and the look was gone and he looked peaceful but a little inquisitive. After 11am I lay him in his bed with the blanket on his body to keep him warm. He lay there exhausted, watching everything, but not moving.A couple of hours later, he sat up and practically drained the bowl of water I'd placed near him.
I don't know how Charli survived but we are all so grateful that he did.
Now...it's hard to believe the horror my little dog went through. He's showing no ill-effects of what he went through.

Khloee and Killer

We recently lost 2 members of our family, Khloee (aka Miss K, Princess Khloee) and Killer (aka Kilbey) to 1080 baits. Coming home and finding them was hard for us all.

Martin really misses his mate. Killer went practically everywhere with him. I can still hear Killer's 2 barks as Martin crosses the front grid in the Nissan. I can still hear Killer whimpering as he watched Khloee and Charli  play on the front lawn...he wasn't allowed in the garden. (That didn't stop him jumping over the fence when no-one was watching.) I still go to say "Don't forget to tie Killer up" when we hang the washing at night. Killer had a heart of gold and he adored Miss K..she behaved like an absolute floozy around him.

I can still hear Miss Khloee going in and out of the dog door. I still look for her wagging tail under the blanket in the dog bed in the laundry. I still see her dancing up the hall towards us. I still feel her jumping up against my legs, letting me know she was there. I still hear her playing with Charli. She was an absolute delight and while she was the only female dog, she kept the boys in their place. Charli adored her and was always cleaning her face and her ears. From the beginning she was always a "Princess with Attitude." She bore 2 beautiful litters of pups and of those there was one little female, we called her Princess and she was just like her mum.
We may have had them for only 2 1/2 years, but Killer and Khloee will never be forgotten.

It's Show Time!

Our local show is held on the long weekend in May. This year, we hosted the Queensland State Merino Sheep Show as well and as it's also The Year of the Farmer, some sections of the show were adapted to fit better with that theme.
After storms around on the Thursday afternoon, we were blessed with glorious weather for the weekend...even the nights weren't too chilly. Out of necessity, I became head steward of the Arts and Crafts pavilion. I will admit, I thoroughly enjoy working in there and when working with judges, so much can be learned, but boy is it hard work. I spent 3 days in the pavilion prior to the show and while it took hours to classify everything, judge and then display....it took no time at all to pull it all down. By Sunday night I was so exhausted that for the first time EVER I didn't enjoy the fireworks. 
Nathan and I did very well in the pavilion. I won the aggregate for scrapbooking and venerables, the Trophy for the Best Knitted Article, first prizes for photos and handicrafts and the Cultural Assoc Aggregate for highest points on the sections.
Nathan won the aggregate for photography in his age group, the aggregate for handicrafts in his age group, some first prizes for his artwork and the highest aggregate for boys in the pavilion. Next year he goes up to a different age group so the competition will be much stronger.
Martin and Nathan came home on the Sunday morning to get sheep for the mutton busters and was shocked and deeply saddened to find two dead dogs, Killer and Khloee. They must have picked up a 1080 bait put out the with wild dogs as we'd done an aerial bait on the previous Thursday. There were lots of tears throughout the day.