Stupid smart sheep

So I've been told sheep are smart. Well I'm just not sure whether they are so stupid that they have us fooled they are smart or so smart they have us believing they are stupid??
 
So it 37 {friggin pants on fire} degrees outside and the three Dorper {breed of sheep} musketeers decide to go on a farm side adventure. They duck under a few fences, visit a few well known tree lines for some shade, stop by the cows for a chinwag. - this all takes place over the course of a few hours just to mess with my day.
THEN they spot it! 
The green grass just the other side of the fence. 
Right next to.... 
The road side.

Great

Bloody

Great

Now I actually have to intervene.

So here's the problem:

1. I'm already 200m behind the three sheep.
2. The paddock they need to return to is where they are clearly going to be hijacking it from once they catch sight of me.
3. Another 200m down the road and there is a school (public embarrassment or help, not sure which?).
4. The road also splits into a fork.
5. I'm wearing gumboots, so can't run in these...
6. Frig squeak is at home with no idea I've bailed outside and taken off down the road (surely farmers do this kind of thing all the time right???)

So anyway long story short we stare it off. The leader makes a dash for it and takes the other two. Then stops giving me a false hope that we might come to some agreement over this little misunderstanding.
I take off my boots, realise the road will scorch my feet, so put my boots back on. the Dorpers {or DORKers as they are known by in our household} hear kids at the school and are distracted enough for me to get just past them enough to shoo them back up the road towards the house. 

The little buggers then speedily gap it under the fence and back into their own paddock like they have been there all along. Seriously.mad.right.now.and.hot.and.mad.

By the time I arrive back, dripping in sweat, they are happily drinking from their trough and I scowl
"don't worry boys it's gonna be much cooler where I have planned for ya".

Bloody sheep! If I didn't have the right to feel yuck with a migraine already I can tell you it's a double O for awesome now!

FYI - marked red flag!

It seems I got a little carried away in my post about heading home to New Zealand. After numerous emails and personal follow ups I can now see that I clearly didn't state that we were going back to New Zealand for a NINE DAY HOLIDAY.

We have had a rough year and moving across the ditch is just the beginning of it and it seems that as I began to write about heading back to New Zealand to see my family, I got a little caught up in the emotion of it all and mislead quite a few people.

• We have not moved back to New Zealand

• We are safely back in little rural New South Wales, Australia.

I humbly apologise for anyone who got overly excited and started planning our homecoming parties! {You may return the cases our champagne that were purchased...}

I also am sorry for any distress or unneeded sleepless nights I have caused anyone thinking they would lose us from our tiny place in New South Wales. {I promise I wasn't packing my bags and doing a midnight runner!}

With that all cleared I hope you may go about and enjoy your weekend. We have lots planned. December 1st means Christmas decorating in our house...
What are you going to be doing this weekend?
Only a twenty five days until Christmas!

Happy Anniversary Baby

Yesterday we celebrated twelve months since Bubba stepped off the plane in the this wonderful Country. He caught the train and arrived to Quirindi, NSW in a mix of heat, nerves, anxiety, frustration, wonder, bewilderment and excitement. Bubba blogged about his arrival here all those long twelve months ago here

So much we had planned and thought would happen has changed or fallen over but at the same time things we never dreamed of, or ever saw possible for our family, have become a reality. There have been lots of doors closed that we didn't see needed to be, and others that we knew needed to be weren't sure how to do it. There have been doors opened that we have been trying to open for years but couldn't quite reach and other doors that have only been able to open once others were finally nailed shut.

It has been a long road but we are thankful for EVERY minute of it, for EVERY person who has made it possible, for EVERY bit of help we have received NO matter how big or small it was it ALL helped. We are thankful for ALL the PRAYERS and THOUGHTS that everyone has given us over the last twelve months. For every new ADVENTURE and STRUGGLE we have been through.

What a twelve months it has been and here's just a few memories....

So here is a toast from Bubba's Facebook last night:

'Well i have survived 12 months in aussie today. Its been an awesome time one of the best jobs i've done seen my kids grow alot whilst here and of course my rock of a wife who has been so strong and has held this family up. Love to you Jess. And cant forget all the great friends we have met. Roll on another 12 months.'

When I asked for the champers I was told I hadn't been here twelve months yet and I had to wait my turn. Men. Huh! 

I'm coming home NZ!

This time next week we will be on a plane on our way back to New Zealand. I have mixed feeling about this and it is hard to put into words. I have come to love our little rural New South Wales town as home and have really found a natural groove over here.
But... it's not where my heart is and as the saying goes 'home is where the heart is'.

We have made some amazing friends and met fabulous people here in Australia but nothing equals the tidal pull of your family. With some big family events and hard times also on the horizon the need to be near family strengthens more.

Talking with friends the other day about how they have decided to make the move back {after five year in this land of the lucky} makes you realise that even time doesn't numb the need for home.
We have had a reasonably hard year with my health and having no family or close family friends has been incredibly difficult. There have been plenty of days where I wished I could have had someone take the kids for a weekend, or cook us a meal, or come and do the housework.

There are so many things happening in New Zealand that we have missed. There are upcoming weddings, babies, graduations, Grandparents getting older, and the likes yet to come. Some days I wonder what we were thinking moving over here to do it all ourselves start a better life.
I have coped by being an emotional bottler. I don't let myself get worked up or lost in the emotion of loss and missing people. I don't write letters, emails, texts or make phone calls. I'm sure I come across cold and heartless but its a coping mechanism to keep myself from feeling the pain of reality.

I am looking forward to next Saturday, walking off that plane and seeing the people who I sometimes try to forget. I can feel the pain of having missed them in the comfort of their presence. I am looking forward to catching up on everything I have missed and slipping back in to the spot that I know they can't fill without me.

Look out New Zealand these five crazy ditch hoppers have had some sense knocked into them and are coming home!

Goody, Goody, Gumdrops icecream

Tip top ice creams

Toffeepops

Eskimo Lollies

Krispie Biscuits (plain and choc coated)

ETA chips

Krispa Chicken Corn Chips

Reduced Cream Onion Dip

Mallowpuffs

Cameo cremes (mint)

Griffins biscuits in general

Export Gold

Tui

And so much more...

{Hmmmm Round 4 12WBT is going to need to kick my bum! I do not need this food, I do not need this food!)

BUT Sydney we will see you again........

A week later!

The Great Scone Bake Off

Today at the kids had a mini fete at school and there was a scone bake off competition. So the kids had to help Mum , or Dad, bake some scones and send them to school. I must say I'm not a fan of scones because they are usually dry and chewy. So my mission was to find a recipe, or actually two, of good tasting non-chewy scone variety.

Quack chose sundried tomato and feta scones with herb and garlic butter

These were super tasty and super easy. I can't wait to have an excuse to make these again. I found the recipe here and they are worth the visit. If you are looking for something extra special and different too this is the answer. They rose nicely and have a wonderful soft texture and subtle flavour.

Jaybug chose the traditional jam and cream scone

For these scones I used a never fail recipe from my stash of women's weekly books. Again they were simple, moist, tasty and everything you could wish a good scone to be. They reminded me of a scone loaf which a friend had brought around for lunch one day. I couldn't believe I had managed to recreate that taste in my kitchen! Dangerous.... 

So here's the recipe (from memory which is always a sure sign they are a winner) so I know everyone can enjoy simple and tasty scones this weekend.

BUTTERMILK SCONES (worth the trip for buttermilk)

375g self raising flour

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

60g butter

300ml buttermilk

Preheat oven to 220oC and line a tray with baking paper.

Sift flour and sugar together.

Rub in butter.

Add butter milk and cut in with a knife.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.

Roll dough out to 2cm thick and cut out rounds with a cookie cutter (use whatever shape you have or cut squares)

Re-rolling scraps to use all the dough.

Place scones on the tray just touching and bake for 15 minutes until golden

Serve with cream and jam

We also added fresh strawberries and sandwiched them with a sprinkle of icing sugar on top!

NB - we didn't win the bake off but we definitely have some winning recipes by my standards and I have no idea what was wrong with the judges!

Today

Today I struggle with the never ending cycle of MCS {Multiple Chemical Sensitivity}.

Today I feel like an unadequate mother, unable to drag myself from the couch.

Today I wonder what a life without MCS would feel like.

Today my head thumps like a constant drum.

Today my brain refuses to function to its normal capacity.

Today I feel like I am wrapped in a fog.

Today I wonder whether a normal life is possible again.

Today I think of all that has changed lately.

Today I don't know who this person inside my shell is.

Today I am grumpy and on edge.

Today I am so tired it is an effort to breathe.

Today I know I am someone different to twelve months ago.

Today I wonder if I will push anyone else away.

Today I wish I had the words to explain.

Today I know there will be a tomorrow,

And there is hope tomorrow is better than today.

I know MCS had changed who I am, how I think, speak, act and react, and operate.

There are things I have done and said that are a complete breakdown of brain function at times.

I am grateful for friends and family who have seen the effects of this and have stuck by with understanding and compassion.

The way I would graphically try to explain MCS

Project Life - the arrival

As I posted about here on Sunday, I have been drawn like a moth to a flame. 2013 is going to be the year I capture and remember every piece of. The more I look for ideas and inspiration the more I can't believe I haven't done this before. I am very excited to say my kit has arrived {jumping up and down screaming like a teenage girl at a one direction concert kind of excited!}

Luckily the amazing team over at Crafthouse heard the prayers of Emily for hers to arrive on the same day as mine, even though they were ordered two days apart. This meant a playdate, even on a school night!

It was like Christmas without all the food!

So what have I ordered for 2013? {my links are for Australian customers but there is also the option for New Zealand customers too, other countries need to look here}

• 2x 60 page protectors - Style A
• 12x12 Binder - Clemintine
• Core kit - Cobalt
• Designer 12x12 Paper - Cobalt Collection
• Monthly dividers - Cobalt Edition

There is also an easy way to order and that is to order a starter kit in a chosen collection, which includes:

• 60 pack of A page protectors
• 12x12 Binder
• Core kit

From here you can add extra's from the accessories tab. It was personal preference for me not to do this as I didn't like the Cobalt Edition binder so instead I ordered the Clemintine binder and everything else is Cobalt.

This years range is pretty impressive with the addition of the Baby kits in His, Hers and neutral. There is also two new releases, Olive and Seafoam, which look gorgeous. My personal L.O.V.E is Olive but I wondered about how it would work with 3 males in our house and also its still on pre-order, due in December, and I'm too impatient to have to wait. Maybe next time?

Here is a few photo's of bits and pieces in my kit - Cobalt Edition

I am so looking forward to sitting down and doing my set up and blogging along with it so that I can hopefully inspire so others to join in this great Project Life Adventure for 2013.