Thursday, May 5, 2011

Outside fun and backyard visitors

Aside from our occasional games of beach cricket...


We have been loving hanging out at our house.... 
and the backyard!

Now in this picture above you can see the substantial growth immediately behind the back fence. This was originally clear for an access path among other fire safety reasons. So last weekend, I spontaneously decided to get out there and clear it back... I am NOT a gardener but I LOVE the visual satisfaction of such a task accomplished. It was an exhausting but an 'oh so satisfying' day.

 

Across the backyard expanse we have had a range of animal visitors. Some that I have managed to get the camera out quickly enough to capture proof... 

GOANNA GO!
This fellow nearly came right up to the cool tiles of our verandah. I heard rustling, turned around and there he was.. a very decent sized goanna. He headed for the house until my camera movement scared him off... That said, his "saunter" away was not at all rushed... He apparently had all the time in the world to slowly head back to the bushes... nice!



TOADY TOADY
So these guys are everywhere in Queensland sure, but lots of rain has increased of their numbers of late... Our issues with them is for another, more desciptive (and probably funny) post... Sigh... toads and frogs are NOISY buggers...
 
So, I just had to share about one particular night... where our toady visitors almost seemed like they were an "old sightseeing couple" ... It was a  bizarre experience to find them there... just watching... completely still... Sooo wierd to feel like you are being watched like this... by an old toad couple... haha
They were still for ages... One had his hand forward like he was in charge? or something... frozen to the spot until finally the smaller toad took off after I tried opening the door... The large one pretended to not notice... then finally gave up the game and hopped away...  It was a surreal visit...


 Onto a more palatable and welcome visitor...

KANGAROO DELIGHT
We have seen kangaroos a couple of times since moving in. Early morning visits that awed us :)))
But not in the last 3 months or so... Until this afternoon. 
Maybe it was the fact that my newly cleared pathway behind the fence made it more visible. 
My eldest was mid-sentence when she stopped and stared out the window... and there it was... (look through the 2nd swing)
our lovely kangaroo visitor! 

But he didn't stay for long.... though we were happy he stopped by :)))

WET WEATHER PLAY
So far in 2011 we have had lots of rain... Most times we were sensible and stayed inside but then there were the times the kids resorted to togs and going crazy outside... Add to that fun - one day the neighbours house (half built) provided a fantastic waterfall to play under :)

Then, sometimes they managed to convince me to let them... um.. play in the oodles of mud to be found... This is not like the 'old me' at all... But I couldn't help but laugh at their delight... sooo good for the soul...

.......................
WE LOVE OUR NEW LIFESTYLE...
...complete with a more relaxed me who lets them play in the mud!!!!! 

Cheers :))) and huge thanks for visiting us here in the blogsphere :)))

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Apologies - Distractions from Blogging

Hello everyone out there !!!  my APOLOGIES for the very long delay in updates...

This break has been unintentional... 
but due to several 'distractions' that have kept me from sitting down and giving time to record and share more about our "building sanctuary" experience...

MOVING into our house finally (at the end of Sept) found me totally EXHAUSTED... I was low on energy to even unpack and set up let alone blog about it all... So I gave myself permission to take my time settling in... and NOT be a super woman! whew! This has kept me sane and made the setting up a much more realistic task.

Then when I did do any work on the computer I had to prioritise my paid work... so I didn't really get beyond that... (yup nil blogging doh!)

Then came the Christmas Holidays!!!! I was soooo looking forward to these... the first chance in a very, very long time where we could just enjoy our family space and relax in our new house.
This meant once again that I chose not to do any extra tasks above my basic family needs and time together...

Anyway, that said... I yesterday went to check on the blog site and I couldn't find it! It had disappeared for some reason and I panicked... what if a site is taken down if there is no new posts for 3 months... Maybe I had LOST all the records of our building journey??? Ahhhh!

So, upon checking the internet again today - I have rediscovered the site - it must have just been a glitch... Thank God!!!!  But I don't want to risk it disappearing again so here is a small post to say...
"I'm STILL around... 
I still intend to finish what I have started with this blog - visually recording the journey of building our house, finding a sanctuary as a family etc..."  

It is just going to be at a slower pace for a while...



This year, upon completing the blogging about our house construction adventure - I hope to continue sharing stories of our family and our lifestyle... with lots of pics of course... So stay tuned (patiently haha)... I will be back more regularly this year with more to show you all :)))

TODAY however, my thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by the current devastating flooding in Queensland.  This natural disaster is proving increasingly terrible for so many people and homes in our State.... In the midst of it all, stories are filtering through of fantastic people (wonderful aussies) who are selflessly helping support each other (eg. strangers turning up in utes to help move people to higher ground)... I am personally feeling somewhat helpless to assist (being away from directly affected sites etc) but am praying hard for all those out there in the midst of it all... I encourage anyone who can to donate and help out wherever possible... Click here to help out!

Hope to be back soon...

Peace - here's a couple of rainbows to finish with....

Happy New Year for 2011