One Thousand and Ninety Five Days Later...

But it could as easily be one thousand and ninety five seconds later...or one thousand and ninety five months later...I won't say years because I'm pretty certain if that many years have passed, then I'll be well and truly reunited with my love in Eternity!

Bit of an intense start to a post when I've not been posting for so long I know...but whilst I originally had other ideas for my blog, it had become more of a "what have I done today" kind of thing which wasn't really where I wanted it to go. Yes, I know, great for keeping family in touch with my happenings this way but I wanted it to be more a beacon of light out there in internet land for others to perhaps see and be attracted to. However, not knowing the best way to really push a blog out there, other than being a big blog reader and doing it that way, which I just don't have time for, I can't see any other way for this to develop into what I was hoping for.

Anyhow...having said all that...for now, I wish to say the following...

Today, marks the 3rd year since Mark's aircraft accident, it marks the third year I have been without a husband, the third year my son has been with out a father, the third year a mother has been without a son, the third year a brother has been gone from his siblings...

I travelled today to the site where the aircraft crashed and spent a bit of time around where it had been moved to and buried. With the passing of time, the mound has become a little less but not by much...mostly because a big metal plane won't deteriorate underground real quick, so really its only been a settling of the dirt around it. There are actually some nasty holes up around the tail end of the aircraft that you wouldn't want to fall into...

So, I took a good look at the site as I really want to do something in regards to a memorial "rock" in the coming year. And after having a look at various angles and options came up with what I think is the best place for something...and that is at the base of the windsock that is close by to where the plane is. In fact, in the picture I took today, the windsock is actually pointing at the plane.



Now...to find the right rock and the right words to put on it...

Tonight, a few friends will gather on the back deck, raise a glass or two in memory of a good friend, father, brother, son and lover and not forgetting, greatest ag pilot in the world...oh ok...add to that cheeky bugger too..*big grin*.

So, if you read this before then or even if not...raise a glass and remember Mark Harlen with us...

Dropped Off the Face of the Earth...but found my way back...

May has been a crazy month here. And although I have sat down several times now to write to the blog, I've not managed to actually post it up!

So...here's what I had started to write at the beginning of the month...

Just back from a quick trip to Sydney. The main reason for going was to get to Cafebiz, an industry trade fair for...well, cafes! A friend was doing a reopening on Saturday of their small roastery and cafe that had suffered from fire damage and it seemed like a good excuse to go down a day earlier. When I got the invite to head out to Western Sydney for the Top Fuel Nitro racing...NO hesitation!

I had asked my friend, who employs me to make coffee, if she wanted to come and she was keen to join me. So, we managed to escape from work mid Friday afternoon and had a quick trip to Sydney with a stop for a lovely dinner in the Hunter Valley. Its always nice to show your friends your favourite haunts, I think! Merredith was very impressed with the Brokenback Bar and Grill. We had tapas, which I think is a million miles better than any fast food outlet and although you probably could have eaten several times at one for what we paid at the restaurant, there is just no comparision, I'm afraid!

Saturday morning saw us heading south to Sylvania for some good coffee and me catching up with both new and old friends. Mostly people I know through the Coffeesnobs forum, but also good industry people who are great to know. You can never have enough people to get ideas from. And I know that Merredith was soaking everything up like a sponge too.

She was also brilliantly patient with my seemingly whirlwind tour of Sydney! I warned her though, that we'd be crossing most of it. And we did!

We really wanted to get to Ikea for a bit of retail therapy and my mum wanted to join us as well. She was keen to get some drawers for her bedroom. Me having the pickup down was just the way for her to get all those boxes home! So, on our way back north, we stopped at home and got my mum. I really was expecting Ikea to be incredibly busy, which it was but I was expecting more people there. Often, I've been during the week, which is the best time to go as its so quiet! So, we managed to get through it pretty quickly, I thought. After taking our things and mum back home, we then did a quick unload and got back into the car to take the drive out to Western Sydney.

The drag racing was just so much fun and we had a great host who had been in a past life, a competitor on the drag bikes. Yes, you heard me, they even drag race bikes and some of them are even nitro powered. We were told that they can get to 100 kilometres an hour in ONE second! Now that's acceleration. It was a great night out and we even got to wander around the pit lane. This makes this sport very friendly and family orientated, I think. You can get up close and personal to the machines and those who are working on them. I was amazed to be invited into one pit garage so as I could get some photos. If they didn't want you wandering that close to their machines, the crews had set up rope barricades. But you were still close.

When the nitro cars finally made their runs, you found yourself trying to clear your eyes which were tearing up badly, holding your earplugs in even firmer and trying to take a photo! The fastest accelerating machines in the world and the fastest run that night was done at 500 kilometres an hour. In under 8 seconds. Just astounding and I would be absolutely hopeless at describing the noise that is associated with going that fast. Suffice to say, its a huge sensory experience that rattles right through your body. No wonder people go back time and again to see this spectacle!



The next morning, I wanted to have breakfast out and of course, our favourite breakfast haunt over the years has been Cronulla. So, we dashed off down to the Buzz Bar and enjoyed coffee and brekky overlooking South Cronulla. As Sunday was the day of Cafebiz that I'd planned on attending, we reluctantly dragged ourselves away from the view of the beach to head up to Randwick, where we'd have a view of the racecourse instead! Cafebiz was a great day, I caught up with friends from the industry and helped out on the Coffeesnobs stand. I successfully managed to make myself the butt of a joke all day because I had been suckered in to using a small roaster that only had instructions for use in Korean. Sadly, I don't speak Korean, nor do I read it. So, I could hear the beans going into the final cracking stage and as jumping about trying to stop the machine didn't work either, I had to find another way to stop the roasting process. Winding the dial all the way back seemed to work but it was too late for the beans and they were only one step back from ash. Anyway, it was good for a laugh. I know that they got bagged up and had "Scoota's Blend" written on it, whilst there was a small pile on display for all to admire. Which they did!

Monday was our day to drive home but first I had to go via Brookvale and Manly, north of Sydney. At Brookvale we picked up my new fireplace and at Many we visited our coffee supplier. So, we were well caffeinated up for the long drive home! And by that stage, the pickup certainly was coming into its own! Not only was there a fireplace and a new flue kit in the back but my mum had given me her old cedar tall boy as well. At Belaroma, they gave us some of their barricades and an umbrella, along with twenty kilos of coffee! So, the car was well and truly loaded to the gills. We had a nice smooth ride home, I can assure you.

So, the following week of being at home, I worked at getting the fireplace installed. When down in Sydney, I'd asked mum if she had had any slate tiles from the house left over. She did and told me to take what I wanted. With some help from Seth, we tagged teamed chipped the old tiles off the hearth and with help from my mate Davo, I layed the slate down. After grouting and then sealing, we finally lifted the new fireplace into its home. The hearth is not finished however, I am still to get some new timber edging and grout out to it. But the fire is in and is working a treat at keeping the entire house warm.







The next job on the house is the bifold doors which are still on their way but should have made the mainland this week. They were manufactured in Tasmania, and so are made from recycled Tassie Oak. I can't wait to see them installed as they will make a huge difference to the back of the house, both in weather proofing and looks.

Well, I'm going to leave this post here...and continue the rest of the news over another post. Can't tell you all now...otherwise you won't have anything to read later!

It is Finished...But I Don't Eat Cake...

YES YES YES! Joy oh Joy...

(Er...at this point I will say...I am being very careful and responsible...)

This might not be so exciting a revelation for some of you and there might be some who are a bit worried. But, don't worry...

The bitumen has finally been laid down on the Bingara Road up to Sawn Rocks.

This might mean nothing at all to you. And well, that's fine but it means a heck of a lot to me, so much in fact, that I decided I shall blog about it. Seems like the responsible thing to do...*laughs*.

So, on the VERY next day that that last stretch was put down (and I actually received an official text message from one of the road builders that it was completed!) four of us took a ride up over the hill and over to Bingara.

Boy...it was good...I enjoyed every minute of it.



Just to prove to you that we made it to the top of the hill. The yellow Ducati is my bike. The red one is a friends. It's currently being stabled with mine under the house as the rider lives out of town on a 10 km dirt road. A bit hard to navigate on a sports tourer when the dirt is wet. And Desdemona doesn't mind the company I think. (That'd be the Ducati's name in case you're now totally confused!)

As far as going fast on two wheels goes...there's no real point in my opinion. To me, the faster you go, the quicker the road goes by and so the less you are able to enjoy the moment. On two wheels, concentration triples with every ten kilometres over 100 kilometres an hour...I find that tiring and not enjoyable. I like to travel at a speed where I am comfortable and generally speaking, that is at the speed limit.

I mentioned four riders and I know, you can only see two bikes. The other two riders were so excited about the new road, that they just raced on ahead and didn't really appreciate the momentous occasion it was and so weren't about for the photo. Luckily, we did the responsible thing and stopped to record it.

Now, I'm just trying to get another free weekend to do it again!

Last month, I had another birthday so I decided to have a small gathering of friends. We went out to the local winery for a late Sunday arvo lunch. It was a great afternoon and nice to spend it with friends. Being not a big fan of cake, I decided to go the little cake option and made a bunch of raspberry trifle cupcakes and chocolate fudge cupcakes...everyone else ate them...some had more than others...



I also went out on my first callout for the Rural Fire Service recently. As exciting as it was to be on my first official job as a firefighter, it was disappointingly a false alarm. On the upside, I got asked if I'd like to drive the truck back to town after we turned around. OF COURSE I said YES!

For those of you wondering about miss Crash and how she is doing...



She is growing up, I think that she would be 12 months old now. She still lives in a shopping bag but I've changed her to a green one because she was getting too hot in the blue cooler one during summer. She has taken to chasing cars though, which is a bit of a worry because she's not a dog...

And for those of you wondering about Seth...

He's had a pretty good first term at the new school. I have had the pleasure of receiving two letters of commendation from them. One for English and one for Food Technology. The Food Tech commendation went so far as to say that it was looking good for him to do well in his school certificate at the end of this year. Here's praying that Seth continues with the good work.

Then and Now...

Which, I think is an Eric Clapton record but seeing as I'm no Eric Clapton fan (that was Mark) I'm not really sure. So, if you think I am an Eric Clapton fan, allow me to destroy that thought. Because I'm not.

But I am a Star Wars fan.

A long time ago, in a town far far away...

Well, it could be the start of a story but even with Star Wars, its not really is it? I mean, we actually find out that what is the first movie is really the fourth and that what we believed to be the first movie is actually the twenty fifth chapter or something...anyway...

Its not really the beginning of the story but there is a beginning involved, infact, I would have to say two beginnings. Now that I've got you really confused, here's what I'm talking about.

Years ago, about 10 or so now, I sent a cute little boy to school. Here's the photo I took from outside of the front of our house.

THEN



Isn't he cute? All together now...Awwww...

NOW...

In a recent shock decision (well, it was before Christmas so recent enough) I decided to bring said lad home to finish his schooling at the high school in the next town to us. The boarding school was sad to see us go...I was happy to see him home.

So, I thought I should do another photo. Now, don't bag me out because the front door doesn't look any different. There are differences, I'll point them out if you want. And besides, its a work in progress. So there. If you've never been a home renovator, then you have no business in bagging out my front door. At least some things are consistent around here anyway. Even if other things aren't.



And no...I don't like the length of the shorts. But at least they're not hanging down around his bum like some boys do...

But the lad is happy to be home. Loves his mother's cooking, likes having his own space and room. Is even okay about feeding the kangaroo. So far, I have only had to shake him out of bed once to get to school and I think that was because his alarm had failed him. Good thing I've got a fantastically annoyingly reliable body clock (which prevents sleeping in...ever) that has me awake at 7am every single morning.

And before the photographers get stuck into me...yes...the white balance is out in the second photo. I know!

The Beach and Retail Therapy...

Well, all I really wanted to say is..."More photos" but I'd better just fill in with a few more words as well!

I'm still in Not-So-Sunny-Queensland...or Beautiful One Day...Raining the Next Queensland or just plain old Queensland. I'm near the beach and that's all that matters! I will be here for another two weeks, just bumming about, doing some more beach and a bit of retail therapy. Seth is up at Tunnel Ridge Ranch doing some volunteer staffing for the youth camp.

And, if I haven't told you already, Seth is not returning to boarding school this year. Instead he will be going to Narrabri High which is a half hour bus ride from home. We're keen to be a bit more of a family, as I have felt like I've been losing that a bit since Mark has gone. So, here's praying that we can get along ok, all of the time!

If you're new to blogs...and you stumbled in here because I sent you a link in a Christmas letter, well...Welcome!

Here are some photos! I'll be back soon! (or whenever I get prodded by my sister in law...*giggles*)





This is my niece who was doing a sand sculpture...I was a bit sorry she didn't get to finish it...

Not here...but I'm actually here...

A very good friend of mine might get that title. Every time I get a call from him, he says..."Me here." and then there's a whole dialogue we go through after that.

For now, I'm at the beach. Well, near enough to it. It's very good to not be behind the coffee machine for a while. Four weeks actually. And boy, do I have an absolute pile of reading to do!

Meanwhile...enjoy some scenery!

St Lukes...They Came...They Saw...They Ministered...They Went...

It's been a week of highs and lows...

High water but not as high as it could have been and certainly lower than expected!

Ok...I'll stop trying to be funny now.

There were floods about but nothing that stopped us from doing anything we wanted to do. It has held up some of the harvest still. I know that there are a lot of farmers who will just be glad to see the end of this harvest. The rest of us had to deal with some inconveniences but generally speaking, it has been GREAT answer to prayer that the rain and water has finally come. I know many farmers were pumping as much water as they possibly could. The first decent water in what seems like many years! And I don't think that the rain has finished with us yet.

So, it was a rather bemused local who sat in a 4wd during the week, surrounded by excited citysiders who were acting like true tourists and taking photos and video like mad of the minor flood that had crept up behind one part of the levy bank. Then as we cautiously and slowly drove through the .4 of a metre water, my mind was cast back to an earlier flood, in an older 4wd and going through a much deeper causeway.

It was back in the floods of 1998 when Crop-Jet was still operating on the cotton farm to the west of town. The floods had prevented us from using the normal way to get to work as the road was near the river. So, we had to take a big drive around the farm to get out and back home. And that drive was not all dry either as one of the farm levy banks had failed and part of the road was cut, meaning we'd have to tackle the water in the Landcruiser.

My experience of driving through water up to this point was not all good!

When Mark and I had been courting, we had gone down to Boat Harbour near Cronulla in Sydney. It was a known four wheel drive park and we went in there late one night after a date. Actually, I think it was part of the date...well, I know still a strange place for a date. Mark was determined that it was going to be my four wheel driving lesson. And it involved water.

So, my first experience was not good. It ended up badly with me getting cranky that we seemed to be getting deeper and deeper into the water, as it was coming freely over the bonnet of the old 40 series Landcruiser and it was seeping in through the foot vents and door sills. Not good. With Mark beside me, er...encouraging me to "keep it going", I think I finally managed to stall it trying to climb out of the deep ruts and up onto what I could see as dry land. Remember, all of this happened in the dark!

After that, I flatly refused to drive through any more water and actually handed over the driving to Mark. Yes, willingly, I relinquished control of the vehicle to Mark. Amazing but true. But let me reassure you...only for a short time and only to get him to get us out of the mess he'd let me drive into!

Well, here we were, leaving work this day together. As Mark is telling me which way to go to get out of the farm, that in itself an interesting experience given his ability to navigate from the air was far superior to his ability to navigate on the ground, we finally come across the flooded road. The road at this point, is not actually a road in all reality. It is just a tractor graded track into the black soil, which is notorious for turning into the worst kind of mud ever on the entire planet!

We come to the flooded road and immediately, I want to bail. I'd rather walk across than drive the car. Even with its four wheel drive capabilities. Mark is beside me, telling me its easy and that I can do it. The man has complete and utter faith in me and reckons that I can do it. I don't even want to think about doing it, let alone do it! He reassures me that everyone has been driving through this floodway for the past few days and that there won't be any problem. It has a gravel bottom, not a black dirt surface like every other road. I'm still not convinced and insist that he takes the wheel and drives us across. Mark insists that I need to learn how to drive through flood water and that nothing will go wrong. At this point, we could have been arguing this for about ten minutes or ten hours...the truck wasn't getting anywhere!

The trick with floodways and flooded roads, is that the water is not still and is actually travelling somewhere itself. Usually, gravity is pulling it fairly quickly down stream. This is the thing that most people forget when traversing this sort of water. Still water is simple because it is still and not going anywhere. All you're having to do in your vehicle is push it out of your way. With water that is moving, it is wanting to push you out of its way.

This is the scary part of floods. Many people have been pushed out of the way by flood water and they've not always been rescued or returned. Of course, they've also forgotten that cars can become boats before becoming lead weights and sinking to the bottom like a stone.

Finally, I think we got across the floodway. Otherwise, I wouldn't be telling you this story I'm sure! I think as we drove across, yes, Mark at the wheel, I felt the car get lighter and move slightly in the wrong direction. The cool headed pilot kept his head and kept the car on the go, never slowing or going too fast, the nervous passenger gripping the grab bar in front of her and watching in horrified fascination as the muddy brown water swirled all around us. It was deep water, I can't remember the exact depth but certainly deeper than .4 of a metre.

From that time on, I swore I was going to be going to work in far better style than driving through flood waters. And yes, the next time it flooded, we got airlifted to work in a helicopter.

So, back to the present with the happy tourists and myself sitting in the rear seat of a car, driving once more through flood water. We were heading on out to Cuttabri, a place known as the oldest licenced wine shanty in Australia, for dinner. The signs on the road warned of the water and I was a bit surprised myself to see so much there but the river was after all in minor flood! We made it through no problems, not even with a bow wave, like Mark and I had done in the Landcruiser all those years ago. But still a fun experience and rather exciting for those who'd never done what we in the country do get to experience every so often.

So, St Luke's visit has come and gone again for another year. This year, the team got to see the country at some of its best. Lush and green with plenty of things to bite you! And that's not just the mozzies I'm talking about!

It's Official...

Today marks another milestone in the saga that is my life and was Mark's.

It is today, that I am officially allowed to talk about what was in the final report from the ATSB on the safety issues that may have been brought up by the accident that Mark had.

One thing to keep at the forefront of your mind when reading anything from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau is that their brief is to find a safety issue. If you find yourself trying to make sense of this report for any other reason, well...I'm afraid you probably won't make it. These guys are trying to find if there was a safety issue that needs to be addressed so that this type of accident does not occur again.

Sadly, there was no safety issue found that they could address so as it won't occur again.

If you would like to read the report in its entirety please head over to...

http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2006/AAIR/aair200607478.aspx

Remember, that this is a report that has been written with safety issues in mind. It is not a report that has been written to give conclusive answers. Those may never be found or given. The hard reality is, we will most likely never know the full picture of what Mark experienced in those last minutes of his final flight.

What I can say with absolute certainty, is that Mark is where we can only dream of being at this time, and that is with our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Be Inclined...

To watch the way of the rain,
When it falls slow and free...

I can't take credit for writing those words, except for here, as they are someone else's. I do however, have a fondness for them.

And so it rains here!

Has been for a whole day or so. While other parts of the country are being bombarded with high winds and cyclonic conditions, we're just getting steady rain. Which is how this country needs to take it. Slow and soaking.

Of course, you can't please everyone. Those who are yet to harvest a winter cereal crop are probably watching their income go down the tail drain. Its sad, as many of these farmers are yet to get a good go. On the upside, if this rain continues, then they won't have to worry too much about the future. As there will finally be one!

Personally, I think that the rain is great. The garden will just continue to look great for the next few months now, even if we don't get a whole lot of follow up rain. And of course, it means grass and feed for the horses. It also means weeds but I've got something I can do about them!

If it continues to rain like this then maybe, just maybe, we'll get a flood.

I wouldn't mind a flood...a flood means a lot of things to me. One of them is...water views!

Bring on the flood...I think I'm ready.

A Self Portrait...or Two...

Gesh...probably the hardest thing that any woman and maybe even any male for that matter, has to do is take their own picture. I found it difficult to get my mind around and then to figure out how to do it without showing any of my "ugly" bits...and I'm not talking about the private parts here!

So, another challenge and seeing as this time, I have not got a willing subject of the human variety, I have bit the bullet, or in this case, put the camera on a tripod and taken some photos of myself...

After an initial kind of "what the heck am I doing?" reaction, I came up with the rather, (well I thought so) brilliant idea of dressing up for the camera. I've got plenty of costumes! So, I had ideas for Cowgirl Tam, Pilot Tam, Biker Tam...you get the picture...

Cowgirl Tam was NOT all that good...didn't quite get what I wanted there...so you may not see any of those shots. There were two versions of Pilot Tam...One with a pilot helmet and a green military style jacket, the other with the classic sheepskin jacket, a Pratt & Whitney cap and a pair of aviator sunglasses. Now, where on earth would I get such props you wonder! Not...Pilot Tam v1 was not really very good because of the focus issue and a big white helmet, I'll probably give that one another go at a later date. Pilot Tam v2 was far better.

Anyway...after lots of hits and miss, the hardest part was actually setting up the camera. Time and again I had to go back and try to get the focus right. In the end, I figured out to leave it focused on a spot and move myself closer or further away.

The point of all this?

Well, the challenge is for lighting. So, in effect, I had to set up my own little photography studio and use some reflected lighting. Lighting is something I get. I love using any props or lights for more lighting. Lighting is what I did as a teenager for theatre. And if it hadn't been for Teen Ranch, I'd probably still be sitting in the dark somewhere, doing the lighting! So, lighting this was easy for me.

Although an overcast day outside, there was still a very nice bit of light coming in through the window...actually, a window that I'd like to block the light out of! Maybe not now I've been playing around with self portraits! And with a big piece of white card, I managed to get some good light onto the side of me that would have been in shadow.

Without further ado...here are the results...the one's I'm happy with.




If you look closely, you'll see the reflection off the white card in the sunglasses and in the next one, its quite clear in the helmet visor.



So, as much as I'm serious in these photos, there were one or two where I tried laughing but its pretty hard to laugh at yourself when the camera is loudly counting down the seconds! I had put on a funny dvd on the tv and turned it up loud but I couldn't really hear it over the beeping camera and the airconditioning!

Anyway, don't be surprised to see me revisit the self portrait. I have to admit, after I managed to get over myself, I had a bit of fun and am enjoying the results. I hope you do too.

When all is quiet...

Whew...what a couple of weeks...

I've been very busy making coffee...

The ABC Open Garden scheme came to our town and several gardens in the district were invited to open. One of the gardens is just two doors down from the bakery cafe where I work. My employers were approached to do coffee and light refreshments for visitors over the two days. Reluctantly they agreed.

So, a commitment was made to purchase a smaller coffee machine that would do the job. I was enlisted to research the right machine for us and I only had a week and a half to get it! A big call and by Friday, the day before we were meant to be at the open garden, my boss and I were wondering if we were even going to be making coffee! Well, at the last hour, it seemed, the delivery truck backed into the driveway at the rear of the shop and we unloaded a rather large box.

We were the new owners of a brand new machine. It was kind of exciting and when we took it out and put it on the bench, were in awe of all the shiny bits that greeted us!

The weekend went well, it wasn't too hard sitting around a garden for two days. We made a few more coffees than we'd expected and sold quite a few of the Portugese Custard Tarts and Lemon Poppyseed Muffins that we'd made as well.

The following Friday, the community was holding a Relay for Life, a huge charity event for the Cancer Council that involves teams of people walking a large circular track for eighteen hours straight. Of course, we were there to keep them all awake with coffee!

Over the period of fifteen hours we sold over 240 coffees and hot chocolates. We left tea for someone else to take care of. I was busy enough with the coffee! I had a laugh when I had at least two people ask for the "chocolate biscuits" I had. They weren't chocolate and would have tasted more like sour coffee! People thought that my coffee pucks were biscuits. Actually, a bit of a compliment really as it was nice to see that when I did knock the puck out of the portafilter, they stayed a whole "biscuit". That is what could be seen in the knockbox, so I could forgive the uninitiated for thinking they were edible.

Anyway, its been nearly three weeks of mostly work and finished with a weekend of three days off. Which made for a pleasant change...

What on Earth is Going on...

With this CRAZY weather? I mean, it's boiling hot one day, freezing the next! So far, this spring we've had hot, we've had cold, we've had rain, I've heard of sleet and hail in some districts and we won't mention the wind! Mainly because I really hate the wind, it drives me nuts.

I think that having exceptional hearing is a bad thing because when it is windy, you are adversely affected by it. I really avoid being out on windy days and today was no exception. It is days like these that I'm glad I work indoors.

We spent last weekend out in the heat of the day, well, it wasn't meant to be stinking hot but it was. We managed to dig over twenty holes with two tractors and some helping hands. The posts are in the holes, now I'm just working on setting the posts. Sort of one post a day at the moment. The wind doesn't help there either...



That is the end that I've finished with. All that is needed are the rails.



This is the long side. I've done three posts on it. Only so many more to go...

Its a project that has been long time coming and its been good to get it done. Slowly but surely, I will get this place looking like it should! And it will be great to finally have a proper arena fence. Who'd like to come and sit on it for a while with me? You're all welcome!

We Have A Winner!

Before I get razzed on for not updating...

Here goes.

The photo I entered in an online competition WON!

It was well deserved I thought. Here it is again just to remind you...



As for the garden...well...it didn't do so well. But, it was its first outing in something like a garden competition and I didn't think it would actually be that good first time round. Especially, as there was a great lack of information as to how or what needed to be done. Anyway, if the garden looks as good as it does now next year, I'll consider putting it again.

We've also started on the horse arena fence. Yesterday, a group of friends and I spent a few hours with two tractors, a post hole drill and afterwards, lots of fluids! So, the posts are in, they just needed to bedded in. Over the next few weeks we'll get the rails on and it will be looking very TIDY! And like the horse arena it should look like...

On Competitions...

Its been a HUGE weekend with us racing around to get the backyard spotless and set up for the local town garden competition. I had entered the outdoor movie screen area into the "Entertainment area" section, along with the backyard into the "Back Yard" section. We spent the weekend whippersnippering, mowing, pruning, weeding, watering, planting in the garden. I emptied and refilled my small swimming pool that we call a pond, got things generally tidied up and the place does look fantastic...All I can say is pity about under the house! Oh well, that's the next big project really.

The judging was yesterday, thankfully a lovely day weatherwise, not too hot, no wind and for the judges it would have been a lovely day for them wandering around other people's gardens.

We find out in a couple of weeks if we've done any good! I'm not really sure how we went, one of the judges sounded impressed with the size of the place. The judges weren't locals so I think that that was a good thing.

As well as the garden competition, I'm still joining in on some photography challenges. The most recent one was for a "character portrait"...So one afternoon, when I wasn't gardening, Seth and I went out to the airstrip to make use of some aircraft for a photo shoot. I was pretty happy with most of my results. Some of you will be amazed and possibly a bit shocked at just how similar to his dad the young pilot looks...

Seth himself, enjoyed being a model for me. I thought I was possibly going to have the reluctant teenager on my hands but he even suggested poses for the camera, which made my job a lot easier!

Somedays...I feel like I'm....

...In A Movie...


Well, I had some thoughts a while ago about how I found myself relating to certain female movie characters. I thought I'd put it up here and see what thoughts I get back. Let me know who you relate to, I'm interested to know...

Some days I feel like...

Princess Leia...A little bit of royalty but not really, a little bit fiesty, like I could take on the Empire and win all by myself, like I could hang out with the boys and fight side by side with them. Like I could love a scoundrel, a pilot and a good man too.

Some days I feel like...

Sabrina (not the teenage witch!)...where I need to go off to some far off romantic city that would be good for my heart and find myself.

Some days I feel like...

Jean Gray...or rather Phoenix...where I am all angry and confused, myself but not me, when my anger could make me self destruct and destroy anything in close proximity as well.

Some days I feel like...

Princess Fiona...Not quite beautiful in the classic sense, kind of different in a quirky way and certainly misunderstood by my parents, who love me but don't quite get me because of my oddity...which ultimately they share.

Some days I feel like...

Jane Smith...I have the normal life but its actually hiding something else. There was a husband who as it turns out, was on the same side, for each other and not against each other after all. All that trying to kill each other was not actually the thing we really wanted to do! And when we finally got it together, we were a formidable team that could take on any opposition.

Some days I feel like...

Gwen DeMarco...It's only one job I have...its stupid but I'm going to DO IT!

I'm sure that there will be more...

But for now, who do you feel like some days??

It's All About Jesus...

Well...here I am...12 months since I started a blog.

I thought I'd celebrate by telling you all why I am the way I am. And this will be where I might lose readers or keep them. So be it! This post has been a long time coming...in fact its been 12 months and 37 years in the making!

Because its ALL about Jesus. It is Jesus who has redeemed me, Jesus who has paid the very dear price for me, Jesus who now lifts me up, promises me only good things and who now encourages me to tell you all about Him. It is also Jesus who Mark is now with.

Look. It's not been an easy road. Far from it. NO ONE would EVER wish this situation on themselves. I never dreamed of being a widow at the rather youngish age of 36. I TOTALLY believed that Mark and I were going to be married for a long, long time.

Dreams...oh, I could tell you the dreams we had together...shattered in one heartbreaking moment. I can tell you too, that I've more than shook my fist at God over the past eighteen months...my biggest question..."WHY THIS WAY?"

THIS IS WHY...

It is so I can tell you all why I am this way. And guess what!?

ITS COME BACK TO JESUS!

You know...I could spout Bible verse after Bible verse here now...but I'm not going to do that. If what I've said here has affected you...well you'll either go and pick up a bible for yourself to see what the heck it is that Jesus is all about. Or you will leave me a message here to ask me personally how you can find Jesus...

Because, seriously, if you don't know Jesus, you will struggle in life, you will find hardships unbearable, you will worship and idolise the wrong things. There IS more to life...and that MORE is JESUS! And if you don't know Jesus, you will be on the path to hell...and whats more...WE won't see each other again. I would dearly love to see ALL of my friends and family again. PLEASE, FIND Jesus! This blog might be the start for you...MY prayer is that it is.

I live, love and glorify Jesus. Nothing else matters...

Here I am again! This is becoming a habit...

Have just got back from a Christian conference of 3 thousand people in Katoomba called "Engage". It was aimed at working people, so it had relevance to being a Christian in the workplace. Got to hear some great teaching from some awesome speakers, sing along with a great band and had lots of fun with some friends on a road trip. What a whirlwind though! One of the speakers, who I'd been told about a few weeks ago and had started to listen to on the internet, I actually got to meet! I was really stoked about that, I can tell you!

So, a great few days of teaching that has given me a few challenges to move along with...

Crash, the joey is going along great! She gets bigger each day and seems to eat more too. I love the way she hops after me now and I think soon she will want to be out of the pouch more. Will have to start thinking about building the enclosure for her!

We finally got some rain here again! I think its been nearly 3 months since we've had anything decent. Probably longer, actually. So, I came home to see that we had about 50 mls in the gauge. Already there is a lot of green popping up out of the ground. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly this country can recover with a bit of decent rain! Now, if we can just get some follow up!

I went out for a ride last Monday...hadn't been over the levy bank for nearly six weeks! So, it was nice to get out for a few hours. Went up the road that I am still waiting for them to finish a couple of kilometres of bitumen on so I can go up the windy bits up the big hill! I took some photo's of the hills...







This one is a recent sunset...we sure get some gorgeous ones here!

Long Time No See...

Damn blogger...

Sorry if you've left comments recently and they've not been published. In order to reduce the spam problem, I moderate the comments before publishing them. It appears the last lot got eaten by some bug in the system! Sorry folks! But I did get to see that you'd left me some comments! Thankyou!

Yes, I've been a bit busy of late. A few pictures will tell a thousand words I'm sure.

The first one is of a joey that was thrust into my life by her mother who committed suicide on the side of my car one night a few weeks ago. She's doing very well and even hops around after me...well, bounces off things and hops after me! She's quite the feeder and is doing well with weight for age I think.



We've had a fairly mild winter but it has had its share of frosts too...The new back deck has even had a frost on it. Reminded me of the snow!



I'll be back soon...this time I promise!

My Adventures with a DSLR...

A Blog About Something...

So, I think I lost my muse there for a while...

I haven't even been writing up in my real life journal much either.

It was like after the excitement and busyness of March, I didn't have anything left to say and that 3 posts on one weekend was probably enough to turn any die hard reader away. Well, I hope that there are some of you still out there...waiting...reading...listening to crickets! LOL.

Well, the crickets can be silent. I have found my voice for a time again. As well as rediscovering a past passion for photography.

I purchased for myself a replacement for the Pentax SLR that I've had and got a DSLR. Boy, what a learning curve! I just love the photos I can take. Wait till I can get over the nervousness of using all this new stuff and I get back into manually using apertures and shutter speeds! The sky won't be the limit, I can assure you!

So, I have got a flickr account to host all some of the good pictures...the bad ones you just delete! And if you're interested you can have a search for Duchess and the Duke, you'll find us there too.
I'll post some here as well...