After the rain ends..

This happens! After nearly a month of solid relentless rain, the sun came out last Saturday afternoon. KISA and I were not expecting it and were inside pottering around preparing a Valentines Day dinner. I happened to look out the window and saw this. Beautiful.

After a month of solid relentless rain, the pool filled up with fresh water and dirt that had been washed in. It looked awful and was starting to develop its own ecosystem. So after KISA mowed the lawn yesterday -again- he put flock in the water which is some magic stuff that attracts all the suspended dirt and makes it fall to the bottom.

Then this morning he had to vacuum up all the dirt and add 20 litres of chlorine, 100kg of salt, 5 kg of bicar soda and some other stuff. So hopefully by the end of this week it may be all sparkly again and safe to swim in. Because it is hot as blazes and we can't use it at the moment. That's ok, we are hiding out in the air conditioning.

I had a wander around the garden this morning, it is growing before our eyes. Here are some shots. This is some of the gingers and tree ferns.

Hiding in amongst the tree ferns is this Heliconia Lobster Claw.


Dorothy's tree is getting very tall, in fact I can't get it all in shot!

If I stand back far enough, you can see how tall it is. The other shot is of the crotons and the agave plants, which are looking good as well. You can't see them in the photos but there are also lots of weeds. Next weekend we will tackle thewm As soon as KISA finished the pool it started raining again.

We have an empty nest.

Well after 25 years it has finally happened. The last little bird has left the nest. Actually he has only gone to live in another nest, but it feels like it at this end. He flew down on 14th February to settle in at TBS's place, before starting O Week at QUT last Monday. I think he had mixed feelings about all the changes, I know I did. It has felt really strange this week, but KISA and I have settled easily into just the two of us.

There was no sitting about though. I was offered a few weeks work on KISA'a project at work testing software, so this week have worked nearly 45 hours. I did Monday and Tuesday at my regular job, then the rest of the week at KISA's work. On those days we are out of the house before 7am and rarely home before 6pm. Very long days. We ate out twice as I was too exhausted to cook! This week I will be more organised now I know what I am in for!

On Monday, I featured in the local paper on the front page. It was the publicity for my shave for a cure. The story was well written and we were very happy with it. You can read it here.I think it went in too soon after the bushfire news though, as there has not been much response from the public. I guess they were all donated out after giving so incredibly generously to the poor people near Melbourne. Although I have now raised nearly $3000 most of that has come from mine, KISA's and Jess's contacts. There is still three weeks till the shave though and I think more will come in then. I am being shaved at an event at KISA's work, and the paper wants to cover the shave as well.

On Tuesday we had masses of rain from this rainstorm. So much in fact we got water in downstairs. Nearly two inches of it that had to be swept out and mopped up. Just what you feel like doing after 8 hours standing up at work. This photo was actually taken in daylight about 5.30 pm. That is the colour of the cloud.

Pondering Modern Marriage

We had news from KISAs sister D who lives in far away wintery climes this weekend. Apart from bemoaning that their area is the only part of the island sans snow, she told of some good friends of hers who are facing divorce and how sad she feels that the couple concerned don't seem to care that much. She said that " Sometimes when people haven't experienced real loss and upset they have nothing to compare to when times, as they think, get tough. All me me me and not seeing the whole picture. Sad. Sad.". This really resonated with me. She is absolutely right.

We live very insulated lives today. Insulated from hardship, insulated from loss. In our great grandparents time, before antibiotics, even before they met and married, our great grandparents had a high chance of having experienced first hand the loss of a parent, either through childbirth, or an industrial accident, or a grandparent from something as simple as a toothache. Chances were high they had lost a sibling to any number of fatal childhood diseases. They worked hard and lived in much harsher times.

We live comparatively luxurious lifestyles now, more on a par with that of the royals of their time. We have more leisure time and don't work nearly as hard.
Are we better off? Are we happier? I imagine that there were plenty of unhappy marriages back then too. However, our great grandparents were not bombarded with constant unrealistic media images exhorting men to be successful and wealthy, strong and masculine, yet soft and sensitive, keeping a physique like Brad Pitt and not losing any hair. Great grandpa did not feel cheated that great grandma did not hold down a successful career, while keeping an immaculate, tastefully decorated house and raising three or four well mannered academically successful children who excell at music and sport, all the time retaining the youthful face and figure of her twenties. Our great grandparents were realistic. After twenty years or so of marriage they counted themselves lucky to not be widowed, grateful for the children that survived childhood and happy if they were healthy and had food to put on the table.

These days we focus on what we don't have instead on what we do. There are plenty of messages out there reminding us of what we don't have. It is up to us to remind ourselves of what we do have. And when you look at it closely and in comparison to our fellow world citizens we have plenty to be grateful for. We just need to consciously think them every day. And be thankful.

Today I am grateful for:
My husband, we make a good team on this ship called life
Our boys, both strong healthy young men with long happy lives ahead (God willing)
Loving family and friends with which we abound
Our relatively new roof and the cyclone bolts that hold it down in this wild weather we have been having last week, it is keeping us safe and dry
KISAs secure job in this unstable economic time.
What are you grateful for this day?

The next stage begins

Well it is all happening. Son 17 was accepted into QUT in the Biomedical Science course he wanted to do, and leaves next Saturday for Brisbane. Very exciting for him as he is on his way in his goal to be a surgeon. Bit sad for mum as he is her last baby to go.

KISA and I will be empty nesters, and it feels kind of sudden, even though I have known for a year this would probably happen. We only have him for one more week. He will be going to live with TBS who sound very glad to have him. I think he has a few nerves of his own as well.

It has rained all week, and is still very blowy here but not much rain today. We have had a quiet day, pottering around. KISA mowed the lawn - again! And I made soup out of this weeks lamb bone. Watched DVDs, a nice puddling day in a lovely simple life.


I signed up for the Shave for a Cure this year. I have been growing my hair for this solidly for 3 years now, so it is time. The shave takes place about 9 - 10 days before Jess's anniversary so I aim to honour her with this step, plus close the door on cancer, I hope. I had a phone call from the Leukemia Foundation who asked if I would agree to be in the paper as the human element for a promotional story, and I said yes, media tart that I am. So we are expecting a visit tomorrow from a journalist for a story in Mondays paper. If you can support this event please do as it is a very worthy cause. You can support me at http://my.imisfriendraising.com.au/personalPage.aspx?SID=47488

We did the coffee at the harbour like we do every weekend, but they won't let us on the breakwater, as the seas are still too high and crashing over the edge. A 4 metre crocodile has taken up residence in the marina, though we haven't seen it yet, will take the camera every time though.

Wet Weekend

It has been pouring all weekend here. A tropical cyclone has formed north of Townsville http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/wrap_fwo.pl?IDQ20032.txt and we have had gale force winds and very very heavy rain all weekend. And it is getting worse. We haven't even been able to go out onto the deck without getting soaked! So we have been pottering about inside cleaning out cupboards and tidying up. Oh, and swearing at blogger. (Not me, honestly!)

This little guy is riding the good ship Cow Tucker Leaf. There are even waves in the pool. He was only an inch long Must have been daunting.

The really good thing about rain is the temperature drops and we feel like comfort food, so I made good old spag bol. It was yummy. Always popular with the boys.

While I have been updating this blog over the last two hours we have had at least 2 inches of rain. So, the pool overflowed, and the KISA bravely donned his wet weather gear and went out to drain the pool, or it starts to flow into the neighbours garage,the nice ones. Neighbours that is. Yes I know the picture is sideways but I can't figure out how to delete just one picture without deleting the whole post. See above about swearing..

That is what KISAs do in this day and age. Go out in cyclonic conditions and drain the pool. Insist he doesn't need me to get wet and help him. So I am warm and dry instead. I love that man!