My One Little Word

It has been simply ages since I have been blogging but I have decided to find the time to record my thoughts again.   I have been so busy and lost focus on so many things blogging is just one of the things that I loved to do but lost sight of its value to me.

So once again I have chosen to focus on a word for this year.  I have taken a hard look at what I am ready to focus on and find that I am ready to rejoin the world of being Passionate about life.  For me, this will permeate in many different ways.  Life is complex at best in my house and very little time for me to reflect on myself and the ones I love.

So this year is it.  With passion I am going to pay attention to my life.

So here it is.  My mantra for the year.  Here in writing to remind me what it was I was thinking right now January 2018.

(found on Pinterest but the blog it was linked to has disappeared)

Fridays Fabulous Five 11 March

Here is my five finds for this week.

image from under my umbrella which was so wet I go saturated, just last Monday

• I am going to get the knitting needles out and knit this hat to keep me warm at work.

• I am in the zone of designing my new laundry.  Here are some of the ideas I am looking at. 

• Oh boy, some more ideas for around my home.  Ideas for hanging pictures

• This wood transfer is something I can do with plenty of spare would lying around my house.  

• Finally just a few romantic songs just as what would be hand on those special moments with the special someone.

That Home Remedy

There is nothing like a little toe fungi caught while away with a group of hockey playing girls.  I think I must have bought shares in a pharmacy trying hard to clear the toes of one daughter from this fungi.  So she googled, yes was desperate enough to use Dr Google, a home spun remedy.   White vinegar in hot water.   

With bucket in hand and still some coins in my wallet as vinegar is relatively cheap to purchase.  Dilligently sitting for 20 minutes at a time soaking her toes in the hope for a cute.  Finally after still no success a visit to the doctor informed us that the cheapest remedy was the beach.  Yes you read it here  time at the beach in the fresh salty air, salt water of the ocean and bare feet was the most reliable cure.   Hmmmmm I wish I had known that earlier.

Wordless Wednesday 9 March

Yum......nothing more to be said.

Plain greek yogurt and fresh raspberries.  Delishious.

I am linking this post to My Little Drummer Boys.

Dreamer

Just sometimes is pays to stop and smell the roses.  So  I thought I would just share my art to inspire a little dreaming.

(credits for this can be found here)

Now go ahead smell the roses and dream a little and life just wont seem so bad after all.


I'm just saying..........

Mondays Menu 7 March

I am completely run off my feet.  Between working and running children here there and everywhere and my husband away my menu saves me.

This week it looks like this

Monday  Cold chicken with new potatoes and green salad

Tuesday  Devilled Sausages and green salad

Wednesday  Beef Skewers and green salad  

Thursday  chicken with roasted tomato and red onion  with salad

Friday  Fish burgers home made

Saturday  spiralised zucchini and grape tomatoes

Sunday   left overs

I am linking this post to I'm an organising junkie

Fridays Fabulous Five 26 February

Another week and here are my favorite finds on the web.  Not that I get much time to browse the web but just sometimes some things stick and are worth pinning or bookmarking.

• Since I don't have a stove and need to provide my son with home made baking I thought that Sunday I would make this.  I am sure a whole bunch of 12 and 13 year old boys who are out camping will enjoy the Caramello Slice

image from Bake Play Smile blog (see recipe for link)

•  Here is nice little reminder about how to parent in the digital age.  If found this article on mashable.

•  What about a quick tutorial on taking great candid photos.

•  There is nothing like a little colour in your vege garden.  So my son, the vege gardener in my house, decided a little companion planting was necessary to keep the bugs out.  He read all about it here on the Tuis web site

• Finally.  If your children are into playing sport then the Proactive Coach is a site you should not look past.  I love everything that is written and it really makes me think hard about me and my role as a parent of children who participate. 

Roll on the weekend.

Preparing to move.

So moving a house takes a lot more planning than I ever thought.  So the first lesson I learnt in this phase was think of how much time it will take to do things and double it.  That will minimize any further stress being added to your life. 

So moving a house 30km to you site goes something like this.

1.Here is another look at the house in its original site.  The owners of the site had to clear everything from the site so the house could be moved off.  The garage out the side had to be demolished carefully before any work could be done because of the asbestos in it.  Thankfully we did not have to do any of this as it was in the contract clearly laid out.

2.  A builder comes inside and prepares the house for cutting.  I don't have any photos of this phase but you can see in this shot the vertical cut line between the top and bottom story along with the large brick chimney demolished.

Inside because the house is going to be cut right down middle on both top and bottom story, doors and door frames need removing, a couple of windows need removing. and inside the house needs bracing.

Inside lounge and dining room.  Yes they are mirrored tiles on the wall.

Garage gone.

This is a much more invasive process than I thought it would be but there was no turning back.  Not that we wanted to anyway.  After two weeks of work the house was ready for the next phase. 

Next blog post will be the move.

Wordless Wednesday 24 February

Just as I go walking down the road I see so many wild flowers and even unripe blackberries,  I decided they were worth photographing.  I know my phone was not the best camera I have but nonetheless it was all I had while out on my 6km walk.

So now I am guessing I dont need a flower garden I just need to go on walks around my neighbourhood.

I am linking this post to My Little Drummer Boys.

The story so far.

This time last year we decided to sell the house we owned and buy something that better suited to our needs especially growing children and one disabled son.

Now those needs were a little long term but really revolved around my able bodied children having a quiet place to study and a space for time out from living with a disabled sibling.  Then there were things like spaces that would not easily get broken and made our life easier such as an easy to clean toilet, an easily accessible place to store medication and medical supplies etc etc.

The only way we seem to be able to afford this was to buy an older house and move it to a place that was suitable to us. 

So that is where our story began.

We found this lovely 1959 house just waiting to be moved off site and to a new home.  Hmmmmm...we had no idea that once we decided to take this house just what a journey it would be.  A journey that we really are only a small part of the way through.

Phase one was to wait for spring to arrive.  Logically you can not move a house you have cut into four bits when the weather is terrible.  Of course there were all those decisions regarding changes we wanted to make to we could submit it to council for planning permission.  Now that was very tricky especially since we had not lived in the house and only visited it twice.

After much work were given the large package to deliver to council.  Yes there I am with all that important paper work.  Without it nothing can happen.  The house cant go on the truck, it cant be put on the land and we wont be able to move it off its original site.

After much stress and running around the paper work came through and phase two began.  The moving of the house.

We had already learnt some lessons.

• allow lots of time to council to work through the paper work.
• banks don't want to deal with old houses that are about to be moved so creative planning is required.
• patience is a virtue in may ways and this phase certainly reinforced that.
• Remember your husband (yes I love his heaps) is your partner in this and is after the same end goal.

Phase two will follow Thursday so drop on back.