The Bus Swing

Next to one of the old cottages on our farm there is an old fashioned swing. I LOVE this swing. Every single one of the Muddy Kids fits on it at the same time. There are no fights over whose turn on the swing it is, just where everyone sits and who holds Muddy Bubby.

The Muddy Kids call it the Bus Swing, they pretend to get on the bus and take turns being the driver. They sing 'The Wheels on the Bus' and stop at different places to see things or go to school or preschool. There is peace amongst them, the bickering ceases and the squabbling is gone while on this swing.

Maybe I should call it the magic swing? It is the bickering and squabbling over little things that I think wears me down more than anything. From the 'she hit me' to 'it's mine, they took it', to 'she's hurting my ears' to 'Muddy Bubby wrecked our game', it's this that eats away at my patience until I can stand it no more.

While on this swing there is happiness in all our faces and hearts, if only they could spend maybe half a day on the swing we'd all be a bit happier! Is it just me or do all kids squabble and bicker? If your kids don't PLEASE tell me how to help stop mine, otherwise my kids will spend way too much time on this swing.

Grateful for the little things

Life has been moving in a blur, and I've realised that really I'm kidding myself if I think things will slow down, if anything they're only going to get busier. I'm trying to make a conscious effort not to sweat the small stuff, focus on my priorities, make lists and work my way through them, all of the tried and true stuff, some days it works, some days it doesn't.

This week though I have made a conscious effort to think about the things I'm Grateful for, I let it slide the last few weeks and it hasn't been fun, I like to focus on the positives. So this week I'm grateful for all the little things.

The delicious chocolate pudding I got to enjoy all on my own while away for work, and a wonderful job that presents so many lovely opportunities.

The small smiles of joy as my Muddy Kids enjoy their new ducklings and spend lots of time getting to know them and look after them.

I am grateful for having a wonderful manager at work who has made the return to work just that much easier.

The wonderful Muddy Hubby I have who makes each day just a little easier to get through when things are busy.

A caring teacher for My Muddy Organiser who was adamant she wanted to go to school despite her ear infection.

The silence of a motel room on my own, just to sit quietly and read.

Good friends who listen and love you just the way you are.

It's the little things I'm grateful for this week to keep me smiling and moving forward.

Linking up with Maxabella at Village Voices for 52 Weeks of Grateful. Head over and check it out, it's definitely worth it!

New Family Members

My Muddy Puzzler only had one request for her 3rd Birthday - Ducks. Our first attempt at the Poultry Auction was a sad outcome, we came home with nothing. Now, however I'm quite pleased we came home with nothing, because I found 6 little ducklings to fulfill the request, and to top it off they're my FAVOURITE type of ducks. They are Indian Runners, they can't fly, so they can't escape on me, they're great for training your sheep dog (so Muddy Hubby is happy), and they are so good looking and friendly once you've got them used to you.

They had a long trip to make it home to our house, I picked them up and they attended their first baby shower, before spending the night in Nana's shower recess, then a 6 hour drive home. They were very pleased to be put in their new home, have something to eat and a nice bath and drink, before the Muddy Kids started the cuddles!

They have kept the Muddy Kids entertained for hours, just sitting and watching, or sitting and holding. Muddy Bubby has tried to climb in with them a few times, or tried to pull down their light, but he's getting used to them.

There's one little duckling we're keeping an eye on, she's a little bit smaller than the others, the runt of the bunch. My Muddy Organiser has named her Sprinkles and yesterday she was being bullied a little bit, today the other ducklings are being a bit nicer, she's getting something to eat and drink and seems to be growing and happier. There's no doubt about it, they're a very welcome addition to our Muddy Family.

The Canola's Flowering!

You always know the year is moving along quickly when the Canola is out in flower. The first flowers shoot up and appear during shearing and within a couple of weeks the paddocks are a blanket of yellow. It was such a lovely sight to come home to after my weekend away.

Muddy Hubby took the kids down to check it out while I stayed and unpacked the car and got dinner started. The kids always have a lovely time playing in the crops, and my Muddy Organiser in particular likes to show off with silly faces and dance moves. Some of my favourite shots of the Muddy Family are taken in our crops, they make such a great backdrop.

Whenever we have Canola the 'Bee Man' comes and puts out his 'Bee Boxes' with hives of bees to make honey from the Canola Flowers. He places the boxes near the crop in a place where he's sure he won't get bogged, they have to also be near a water source, as they need water to drink and help with the honey production. In return we get a box of lovely honey to enjoy for several months after. It's also a good sign that things are starting to warm up and winter is not far from over, Hooray!

The Bee Boxes in the Distance

Thank You Posie Patchwork!

A little while ago now I was lucky enough to win Posie Patchwork's comp where the prize was Louise Fulton Keats latest Recipe/Story Book titled 'The Best Ever Birthday'. I had been eyeing this off for a while so was VERY excited to be a prize winner. I promised Posie that the first recipe I would make would be the Butter Cake, and it's taken me a while (thank you to the thermostat in the Oven going) but this week I did it! I used the Basic Butter Cake Recipe to make the cake for the Muddy Puzzler's Birthday Cake. As promised by Posie, it was delicious, just like my Grandma used to make, all moist and buttery goodness.

It was the perfect cake to use for the Butterfly chosen by my Muddy Puzzler and by the reactions they loved it!

A Huge Thank You to Posie, the book is already a big hit, we read the story all the time and the Muddy Kids have picked out what's next to make.

Overthinking with Cake

So I've been traveling along pretty well, almost in denial I think that the return to work is looming, blithely I have planned a birthday morning tea for my Muddy Puzzler, have made countless phone calls asking people to donate prizes for our Preschool Trivia Night, followed up leads on ducks for the Muddy Puzzler and rearranged the way our household works to accommodate going back to work. Suddenly though it's the day before and I haven't even ironed any work clothes!

I did think I was doing pretty well, then about a week ago I started waking up in the middle of the night and tossing and turning for hours and hours, until I can finally get out of bed and start the day without waking the entire house. I put it down to everything except work, then Muddy Hubby declares 'it's because you're going back to work you know'. Of course he's right, I get like this each time before I start back, that nervousness of 'will I remember how everything works, what is the latest research on evidence based practice to make sure what I'm doing is right, will I have a desk to sit at and will I have a phone, what has changed since I've been on leave (12 months is a long time), how many e mails will be there waiting and what will they expect on the first day?' All of this worry and anxiousness, and chances are I'll walk in and not much has changed, but it still doesn't stop the torrent of thoughts. Does this just happen to me or is it a common thing this over thinking and over analysing and worrying????

So tomorrow I head back into it all, and I'm hoping that once the first day is over I'll be back to sleeping again at night! For today though I've distracted myself with the Muddy Puzzler's Birthday Morning Tea. I baked up her requested cake, I invited friends over to exhaust them and now I have laid them all down for a rest in the hopes they will sleep and I can run around like a mad person making sure my house is in order to return to work! Because of course it makes all the difference in the world to my work day knowing my house is clean and tidy!

Poultry, Poultry and More Poultry

You would think that the trauma of the pigs and chickens would have put me off purchasing any more poultry pets for a while. Alas no, our Muddy Puzzler turns the big 3 this week and she has put in a request for Ducks. All she wants when you ask is 'A little Ducky'.

So Sunday we headed off to the big Poultry Auction. It's held on the first Sunday of the month and has all manner of poultry available, Chooks, Roosters (hundreds), Special breeds of Chooks, Ducks, Guinea Fowl and yesterday one great big Turkey. We walked the Muddy Puzzler around and she pointed out what she would like, including a pair of ducklings and alarmingly the Big Turkey.

Alas it was not to be, one pair of Ducks she liked went for over $200 and Muddy Hubby was the losing bidder on a few other pens, so we came home Duckless and Thank Goodness we also came home Turkeyless. It was a fun day out though, a definite eye opener as people raced to out bid each other on what they obviously thought were prize Chooks.

There's a man on mystery at the auction each month, the rumor going around (which auction stalwarts were eager to share) was that this particular individual lives in a massive mansion in Sydney and earns a lot of money and each auction he puts on his daggiest clothes and buys up all the cheap roosters ($1-$2) and takes them back to Sydney. There is lots of speculation on what he does with them, including running rooster fights. My bet is on selling them at markets or pet stores, but the mystery still remains.

Now the hunt is on for ducks before the big birthday arrives!

Hanging Close by the Turkey!