Renata's rambling..

Hello my friends...

Don't you just love the word " rambling"? No, not the rambling-on that we associate with someone carrying on & on about something, but rather the walking ~ going on a ramble.  It conjures up images of a gentle stroll here & there with no definite destination in mind & every chance of distraction, change of path & retracing of steps to find something delightful.  Well today's post is much like that ~ a little bit of this & a little bit of that & nothing in particular... so come on a ramble through my mind & let's see where we end up ~ we all will be surprised!

Brothers ~ these 3 are best mates!

You may be wondering why my posting has slackened lately ~ truthfully I just don't have time.  It seems I compose post after post in my mind, but finding the time to sit down & type it out & upload photos is just beyond my schedule right at the moment.  I have always said blogging comes down after real life & my real life is taking a lot at the moment. 

Teaching our precious children is currently a full time job.  It is really my own fault~ you see I was the one who wanted to do Spalding & I wouldn't change it.  I love this program, but it is definitely a whole lot of work.  Thankfully this is a great time in my life as I can focus on this  & make sure they really are getting it ~ isn't is so exciting when they do??!!?? 

Last Sunday afternoon as I was taking a much needed rest, Jud curled up next to me & read the first half of his first Fitzroy reader ~ sounding out the words (with Spalding you don't do sight words).  Sure it was all about a 'fat cat who sat on a mat' , but it was so exciting for him.  I really thought Eli wouldn't be interested, but 5 minutes after Jud left Eli came in & asked to read it as well.  He sure surprised me as he read the whole book.... I'm feeling a bit of healthy competition may occur between these two when it comes to their educational pursuits ~ certainly something that can help push a child that little bit further.

Jud insisted he wanted a photo with the ducks!

Do you know our ducks have begun laying? ~ Well at least one of them has, but we're not sure which one.  They both look so much alike that we are wondering if we have two females ~ guess we'll know if we get any ducklings or not in the future.  We had a little troubles with these ducks.... you see we'd been keeping them in with the chooks.  We were quite surprised to find that our hens had quit laying ~ we just couldn't find any eggs.  Hens do go off the lay, but generally it's in winter & not at the end of summer.  After a month of no eggs Zai finally wondered aloud if it could be the ducks.  We decided to experiment & remove them to another pen.  We got eggs again ~ what do you know ~ the ducks were eating the hens eggs??!!?? It couldn't be for the shell calcium as we always include shell grit in their food, so maybe it's just that they are tasty ( & we know they are :).

Those pesky ducks ~ it's a good thing that they look so pretty!

The other week I went shopping all alone.  That's right my good friend Corinne was crazy enough to offer to take all 4 children while I went to the big city an hour away all by myself ( & yes it was strange & I definitely felt like I was missing something (or someone/s) the whole time).  It seems I really need my kids with me though.  When I arrived the first thing I did was head to the bathrooms.  Can you imagine my surprise to find the layout looked completely different from last time I'd visited.  I looked back at the door to find I'd walked into the male toilets ~ certainly wouldn't have happened with one of my observant kids around.  ( Thankfully there was no one around ~ I still blush just thinking of the could~haves).

My daisies are in bloom & I just had to take a picture :)

My autumn gardening isn't going as well as I'd like ~ mainly because of the busyness of everything at the moment.  It seems there is something on every weekend ( sigh) ~ I think I need to take a holiday without going anywhere just to get my list done ;)  Hopefully I will get a lot completed in the easter holidays soon to be upon us ( 2 1/2 weeks to go).  It sure is hard to believe that the first term has been & almost gone .  Hasn't it flown?

Zai & Dave adding some composted manure to the big circle 'garden' in the middle of our driveway ~ it melts this Mummy's heart seeing father & son working together!

I'd better go I could ramble on further, but I'm sure if you've read this far you need a medal  :)

I'd better head out to the washing line & hang out the last of the laundry for today.  Oh yes I'm sure I'll get mildly distracted with some garden element ~ maybe I might even do some of the much dreaded, but oh-so-essential weeding ( I have done one garden, only 2 million to go ;). 

**Note: got terribly distracted ~ now posting with photos when I should be heading to bed**

Have a wonderful day friends,