Macro Monday - A Caterpillars Journey

Macro Monday is here again

and on the weekend I came across this adorable little guy

making his way to a new home!!

Here is a fullsize shot!

He has a bit of a home to cart around with him!

Click here to join the fun

Book Review - Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

 I came across this book the other week when i was shopping at Big W

Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

Ive never read this author before.

She writes both Teen & Adult Fiction.

This book though is Teen Fiction!

I totally loved it!
Couldn't put it down.

Weve seen Vampires, WereWolves, Shapeshifters,

Fairies, Angels, Fallen Angels and now we have something different again!!!

Demons!

Theia is a sweet innocent little thing raise by her very English father

as her wayward mother passed away during Theia's birth..

Theia dreams of the falling burning man

and her life is forever changed!

I really enjoyed this book....

I give it 4 Stars!

Colour Combos Galour #194

WOW! Two for fun layouts in one week!

Goodness Me, If im not careful i will be scrapping everyday again soon!!!

(Lets hope so!)

This is the colour challenge from

Colour Combos Galour!

"Twinkle Toes"

How could I go past not scrapping this!!!

At the drags on the weekend, the out of towners were calling Stu

Twinkle Toes

because he can only just touch the ground!!!  Too Funny!
That was just a layout waiting to happen!

The Colour Room #60

Its really hard when your scrapping style has changed

but your scrapping supplies haven't!!!
We dont have a shop here and its so hard to scrap 4 pacific colours out of your stash when you dont have all the colours in supplies that suit the style i now scrap!

Gonna have to work on that!

But here is my layout from this weeks

The Colour Room.....

Totally dont like what i have done with the title,

but i just didn't have anything else in the required colours!

"Dream Big"

Gunnedah Drags - Mate vs Mate Final

Today was the final day for the drag meet.

Stu had some good runs today after some really dodgey ones yesterday!

 I caught a nice photo of him!
He called himself an "ugly Bastard" but i still think he is a cute old bloke!!!

Stu ended up in the Final with his best mate Steve!!

They were calling him "Twinkle Toes" today too!!

So funny!
I think that might be a title for a layout!!! hehe (He wont like it!)

Here is Stu & Steve in the line up!

Stu dodged up the start a bit, and Steve got around him.

So it was runner up for him today!

12WBT - Updates & Esteddfod Time Again

This was the view at the top of Porky today!
You cant really see it that well, but the whole town and surrounding farming area was covered in fog!

It looked so awesome from the top of the hill!!

You can kinda see it behind me here in this photo!

All going really well!

The food recipes are divine!
So nice and completely filling!

Im not craving anything really!

I'm secretly excited that i might actually achieve goal number one of 20 kilos!!

How many takes did it take to get this photo!!  OMG!

I decided to adopt a kid today and go to the Eisteddfod with Bridge and Amelia!

It was lovely! It totally makes you cry all the little kids trying so hard!
I thought Amelia's class was wonderful!

They ended up getting highly Commended

We are up on the balcony!

The room is so full of kids and excited parents!!

12WBT - Weigh InOne

Considering I started this on Monday!

There isnt much loss! I was actually secretly wishing for me!
But Ya get that hey!

So Im only down .2! 

It was raining this morning at 7am when i get up to walk...

And poor Stu spent the night in the fetal position on the lounge due to Kidney Stones

All I heard all night was his moaning in agony!

So there wasn't much sleep in our house last night!

But after getting my jobs done this morning

and my deliveres

the rain stopped and i headed upto Porky around lunch time!

I multi tasked and got all my phone calls done while i was at it!

Until the steps started and then i had to hang up!!!

By the way, I counted them today!

In the .8km section there are 205 steps to the top!!!

No wonder my legs are so sore!!!

Varying heights but 205 none the less!

Here is me at the top today!

Here is a 180 photo over the other side of Porky

This looks out over onto farm land!

There are lots of white dots out there at the moment with Cotton Harvest!

You can kinda see them right at the back there...

Also updates on Matt

We took Mat to the rehabilitation doctor in Tamworth yesterday

They did have him assessed in John Hunter as not being a candidate for Rehab

but the Doctor here wanted to make sure we have looked at all the options.

But after reading all his notes and lengthy discussions with Us and Matt,

he thought that he wasn't suitable.

There is no chance of him walking again

or living independently at all!

He agreed that our discussions on placement in a High Care Facility that has funding for Young People is our best option for him

Thank goodness there is a place that is close, and we will be 

placing him there when all the paperwork is done!

He will have small improvements over the years, but it looks like this is it for him!

Very sad!

The guy that did it will only get a maximum 10 year sentence (But the detective said he wont get that long)

and his victim gets the rest of him life in a Nursing Home!
It doesn't seam fare does it!

Matthew wont be able to give evidence at the trial, therefore they aren't interested in his recal of the events.

So the judge or jury wont ever lay eyes on the victim or what he has now become because of this act of violence! its not at all fair!!

I Have a secret...... 12WBT

Its part of the process

I am joining in Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation!

I have been looking around the blogs

and on the facebook, and there has been so much success with this!

So i thought i owe it to myself to do it!
Not try it! But DO it!!!

Part of the process is making a public commitment to stick with the program!

This is so funny, cause how many public comitments have I made on my blog??

Hilarious!!

Anyway, this is my public commitment 

to stick to the program

and to do everything i am told to do by Michelle....

(Except, I am gonna do different exercise, as what i have done and haven't done in the past has had varied results. I know that if i walk to the lookout everyday I will loose weight! I'm not going to gamble with the gym when i know it doesn't work for me!!)

In the following 12 weeks  I would like to loose 20 kgs!

Here i am today, right now as a matter of fact!

Im not sharing my weight with you! I think its obvious its too much!

But I will share the before photo cause you all see me anyway hey!! lol

So I thought i would also share some photos of my walk to the Lookout!

Its a total of 6.5kms.

3.25 all uphill!!!

Here are the ducks at the golf course on the way past....

You cant really see them properly!

But there was about 10 there this morning!

Looking up to the hill where I walk too!
It was covered in cloud this morning, you cant see to the top!

And then the steps!!!

There are steps most of the way up!

I started counting them today and then lost my spot at 4 due to the coughing and spluttering going on!! lol

More Steps

Getting into the cloud now....

More Steps

 At the top!

You can see how the town is covered in cloud in this photo

and then seconds later the wind started and blew it all away......

See in the selfie

All the cloud has just about gone and it was only seconds!!!!

And dont worry too much about the first thing in the morning look!!!  

Gorgeous hey!!!

So there we have it!

Day 2 of 12 weeks!

Wish me luck!!

Macro Monday

I haven't done these photos in a little while....

But its cleaning day today and I am really not at all feeling motivated,

so i thought i would go out and take some shots.....

I dont have a macro lense and its so frustrating trying to get as close as i would like!

I wanted to get just the water drop!

So I got as close as i could to take the photo using the auto focus and then put it on Manual Focus.

Then i had to crop it right down. this is as close as i could go before it got blurry!

I like how you can see the reflection of the other colours around it in the water drop!
The green leaves are very dominant in the water!!!

If you want to play along visit here

A Day on the Range

When i talk about Archery guys,

this video is what i am talking about!

Stu made this today out at the Range...

Featuring Stu, Zac, Katlyn & Me

Keeping It Real!

There has been a bit of discussion in the blog world lately about keeping it real

Not just telling the nice stories,

 but being honest with our readers!

Anyone that has been following my blog for any length 

of time knows that i have been keeping it real since I first started blogging!!

Infact, it was with the help from fellow bloggers

 that i have survived some really difficult phases in my life and my children's lives!

There is no better advice, 

than that from those people that have already been through what you are going through.

A few years ago this was the case with my daughter and i sought help from every avenue i could trying to find what i could do about the situation I found myself in with her.

And it was thanks to some very honest and beautiful woman in the blog world that shared their stories and lives with me that helped me help my daughter through everything!!

To the point where she is happy and successful and leading a very normal life when without their help, it could have been so very very different!!!!

And in my experience, being honest on my blog has helped people to get to know me on a personal level. 

When I meet people for the first time face to face,

we already have a shared history through my blog

and every single person i have met has commented

"Wow, you are just like your blog!"

There is nothing more annoying and misleading than bloggers who present a persona that isn't them and i have met so many of these people over the years!

I might have once respected them from reading their blogs, but then I meet them face to face and they are nothing at all like they present themselves on their blogs!

Why do people do that?

I write like i talk, minus the swearing!!! Hehe

I dont have the best use of grammer, and i do put my foot in my mouth all the time!!

But what you see is what you get!!!

So if you have enjoyed reading about my life on my blog in the past, I hope you continue to enjoy reading it.

This is who I am 100%.

Scary hey!!! 

But on with the show......

I have a few different stories to share today!

First off this boy!!

Old Solo, he is such a pain in the bum!

Anyway, we are growing his mane. Emelia like it platted for shows, 

not that there will be many of them this year

but she does hope to do the Showjumping Festival in June when she comes home for holiday!

Anyway so he is growing his mane.

We like to put the heavier coat on him in Winter

and I dont have the time to take it off of a morning

and put it back on during the night

so it is on all the time!

I went to check him a few days ago and took him rug off to give him a brush

and his mane is in dreadlocks and as i brushed its falling out!!

Oh No! This happened last year and i was thinking it would happen again!

So i thought i would try putting the stocking on under his coat and see if that keeps the coat from rubbing back and forth and pulling his mane out!

So it was on for a day and then i checked him yesterday and i nearly died!!!

He comes out from hiding when i got to his paddock and there are puss stains all down from his eyes!

Then i see that you actually cant see his eyes!
He has rubbed and rubbed and rubbed the mask all over the place and his eyes were covered!!!

He was so feral too! I couldn't catch him at all!

I thought S#@t, he has run around with his eyes covered and stabbed himself!

He shyed away from me and i couldnt catch him at all!

So finally I got his halter from the car and found some yummy black mail food we had left and I finally caught him and was able to get the stocking off him!

He was fine underneath, his eyes had been watering where the seam had rubbed on it!

Obviously it would have been sore, but he allowed me to pat him and everything after i took it off, so we are friends again now!

But talk about scared! I thought Id done something to him and Emelia was going to kill me!!!

So the outcome is that i have taken the heavy rug off and he is just wearing his old body rug without the neck!!

Haha, I just deleted a whole yarn about this!
I think its a little too real!

So i will tell the nice stories instead!

We took Matt out again on Thursday, Yesterday and again to the Markets today!

No easy thing I can tell you!

Pushing this huge thing along the paths, so you think people will get out of the road?? No!

We had to go off the path to go around them!

Honestly people! Get a brain!!

This is so hard to push and you want me to get off the path! You stupid imbosiles!!!

So thats my thought on this!!!

See these guys?

These little birds sit on the end of Matts bed at the hospital!

I walked in the other day and asked how the birds were!

Matt responded with

"The bloody things swarked all night and kept me awake! Hurry up and buy that gun so i can shoot them!!"

Ok??? lol And the funny thing is he is totally serious!!

I have got no idea how his brain is working!!!

These are his dogs and Emu!

Jess is the little one, then we have Roger and Eddie the Emu!

Jess has to go to the Vet to be desexed! Yep! lol

Josh called into the park on his way home from work on Thursday!

He was on his bike, so i thought it would good for Matt to see him and get a look at his bike.

Matt hasn't seen Josh since 2004 I think!

So they talked motorbikes and fixing cars and thing

and Matt reacons they will put a turbo on the Commodore so he can do the drags with the boys!

The Commodore has been gone for maybe 4 or more years!!!

And i dont think Matt will be driving in a while anywhere??

It really is sad to watch that he can be so "normal" during conversation about all things mechanical and such and then talks about what he will do.  There is just no concept of the fact that he is being pushed around in a wheel chair! I try to figure out how his brain is working and deciphering things but just can not understand it!

He knows where he is, but not why he is there. He thinks he can just get up and walk out and we argue about this constantly with him!!

Has anyone else had any experience with this kinda brain injury?? I think we need any help that might be on offer to help us understand how he is thinking so we can offer him the assistance that is going to help him accept things the way they are.

Wish us luck!!

Not a The Colour Room Challenge

Im such a total idiot!!!

After reading that my lovely friend LINDY is a featured Designer this month

for The Colour Room

I thought, Id better do this challenge then!!

So pulled it off the computer where i saved it!!!!!

Scrapped away....

Did a bit of surfing and discovered this was the Palette from 2 weeks ago!!!!  Grrrr!!!

I totally love these photo though..

There is a story behind it!

"Forgiveness"

Emelia was riding Solo around with no anything!

No Bridle or halter

no nothing!
Anyway Solo is running around and around the feed shed

and up and down the little hill near his water

and he came tearing down the hill all excited

and decided to throw in a buck down hill!

Well, Emelia hit the dirt didn't she!

Solo went running and bucking off and then stopped and looked behind him to see Emelia

on the ground!

He came walking over with his head lowered and sniffed

and nuzzled as if say "Hey what are you doing down there? We were just having some fun!!!

Hold on tighter next time human!!!

Once Upon A Sketch

I sat down to do something last night that didn't involve worrying about people!!! haha

And this layout just came together in a matter of half an hour!

I used the sketch from

Once Upon  A Sketch

The majority of items on this layout came from The Polka Dot Place Kit

Apple Blossom Place

including that adorable hand made flower.

The base and banners and a few bits and pieces came from  a Noel Mignon Kit

but matched in with other Lilybee design items in Bridges Kit.

Here is the sketch

A Layout and some updates on my Brother

The new Polka Dot Place Kit

Apple Blossom Place was released on Sunday

Purchase here

and here is one layout i have managed to do so far...

"Look Daddy Plane"

I took Matt for a walk out side today!
Its the fist time outside for anything other than transfers between ambulances in over 2 months!

It was such a nice day too

We went for a walk over to the Tourist Information Centre

and took Matt shopping

He loves to shop!

I remember when we visited him in Port a couple of years ago he and Emelia went shopping at Supre! Matt loved it! And then went everywhere else just looking!

Anyway he came out with a can of coke, a pencil with a koala on it,

a new dingo called Roger and a note pad to make his lists.

Then we just sat and watched the traffic and chewed the fat about life!

Its good to have these talks with him, he is getting alot of stuff out,

feelings he has had over the years and no one to express them to.

He life has been tough, with few fairdincum people!

But it was his choice, and i have to accept that.

But now he is with us, its really great to just talk about child hood and the things we did.

He remembers alot of stuff like it was yesterday, but still pretty confused about the here and now.

It will come good i dont doubt

I also think he will have Severe Brain Damage Dementia and its something he will have now always. There is no cure for it.

The poor bloke has been pestering for a smoke now for ages!

Finally he got one in his hands!!

I think he raised it to his mouth twice and dont think he actually puffed on it!

Just the whole process of holding it i think!

He has very little strength in his hands and it took a bit to keep it in place.

Mum & I were like following his hand every which way to make sure it didn't drop and burn him!!

The rug he is wearing is one i got him in Newcastle.

I was in a hurry and this is all i could find!
He just wanted something soft and fluffy was the request! 

And he loved it!

You will notice the restraint.

He has to be restrained unfortunately, as he thinks he can just get up and walk places, but he cant and falls.

He cant get anymore knocks to his head. He does wear a helmet when we are on the move, but it was hot in the sun, so i took it off for a bit.

Things I am loving!

I was stalking Brenda's blog this morning and came across this from PasleyJade

Things i am loving!

I thought it might be the perfect opportunity to reflect on things I'm loving!

Its been quiet stressful at home recently 

with my Brother who has severe brain injury!
Its just all about him at the moment!
And i do like caring for him and making sure that he will be cared for appropriately, its just that its so intense!

So focus on something im loving!!!

I love that i have the kind of husband who allows me to be frivolous!
That I could drive to Sydney on Mothers Day

Stay at a nice Hotel

and spend alot of money attending this scrapbooking class!!

And then another one!!!

Im lucky that we have that kind of freedom in our marraige!

I am loving that Emelia is finding her place in the World

at Ag College!!

This is such a huge relief!

I do prefer Maccas Coffee

but i dont have that photo!

Im loving Maccas Coffee in the morning!

I do, and i am tonging for one right now!!!

You too can play along

see here

Graphic 45 - Sydney!! - I did that!

I know it was terribly self indulgent,

But I took myself all the way to Penrith for the Graphic 45 classes being run by

My Creative Journey!

They have a schedule of classes on their facebok page!

I left on Mothers Day!!

I know! Shock! Horror! How selfish of me!

I did get a little spoilt before i left though

with a Darrell Lee 10 gallon drum of different indulgences

three DVDs from Josh

and a txt from Emelia (I was lucky to get that!!)

Then I hopped in the car headed for Penrith

I followed this Restored Dodge Ute till Muswellbrook!
It was so nice, with the rabbit foot hanging from the arial!!

I dont mind drying along by myself

I can listen to what I want to

I can sing as loud as I want and i dont even have to ring the correct words!

I can stop when I want!

Go to the toilet as often as i want!

Imagine my shock when i pulled into the Penrith Panthers Chifley

and saw this in the car park!!!
OMG! I think i have had them once years ago at the Sydney Airport...

So I bought a caramel latta and two donuts!

The coffee was neither here nor there

(I still prefer Maccas)

And the donut i had was a bit yuck!
So I didnt eat the other one!!  Until the next day when i was waiting for NRMA with the Wagga ladies and i tucked into then cause i was starving!!

I ate the wrong one the day before, this one was a butterscotch crunch one or somthing!!

OMG YUM!!!

The Wagga ladies arrived quiet late and we went for dinner....

(I didnt as i already had KFC! Big Mistake!!)

This is Kim, Kath & Marg!

Turns out I went to school with Kath's little Sister Dianne!!!

Small word hey!!! 

On Monday it was off to the Graphic 45 Class!!

Brilliant!!

What a stroke of genius from Sherry Mendoza to organize the Your Creative Journey Workshops!

If you haven't heard about these,

Sherry has teachers coming from all over the world to teach classes all over Australia!

There is a website here and a facebook page here

They are a little more than you might be used to paying, but so worth it!!!

Here is the little shadow box we made. 

I am still to finish it, but i will and show better photos!

And here is the film Cannister we made...

Same deal, will show better photos when i am done!

The Graphic 45 Ladies were just like their products!

For fancy and fluffy and gorgeous!
So for future reference, the dress code for any future Graphic 45 classes is Black & Bling!

This is Mummy Graphic, Diane

And this isnt the best photo

but this is the Graphic 45 daughters

Aimee & Charee

I got to meet some gorgeous people that i have stalked online!

This is Lisa who is also a Scrapbook Creations Diva!

I met up with Lisa and Sandra Staples (Who is the leader of the DT for WOW)

and they generously allowed me to adopt them as BFFs!!

We enjoyed a lovely lunch together at the Panthers.

And my old mate from Armidale Peg Hewitt!
I met Peg last year at the Keepit retreat!
We shared a room together on Monday night 

at Sherry's place!

And this photo is testament to the great time we had...

notice the black eyes and the bags!!!

This is Sherry, who graciously offered me a bed next to Peg, so i could do the night class!
Thanks so much Sherry!

And that was my graphic 45 journey!

Cant wait til the next classes!!