Horse of Course!

Living in the country, we are lucky to have wonderful neighbours who visit on horseback!  Why take the car when a ride in the sunshine will do?

Our friends saddled up and rode along the railway track to our property, it was such a beautiful day, and a pleasant surprise to have these horses in our driveway!

Miss T (aged 9) had her first riding lesson.  Now she wants a horse more than she even has before.

 

Get Outside, Kids!

 

 

I've had a very productive day today. I cleaned the kitchen.

It's fun and games here people! I've gone into a crazy, spring cleaning frenzy and decided to start with the kitchen, doing a deep clean which was needed.

You know, getting into those hidden spots that don't get alot of attention! My kitchen is now sparkling, and if anyone explodes anything in the microwave oven, they will be in trouble.

Today is the first day of school holidays.  Two weeks of fun and frivolity.

I've already confiscated the kids Ipods, Xbox, dvd players and anything else technology related. Yes the first day has been a hoot!

The kids have been, as we like to call it, acting ugly.  A bit of whining here, a raised voice there.  I take an ipod away, the kid plugs in a music usb stick.  I take that away, the same kid plays loud cds. I take the cds away and pass her a broom, see, fun and games!

I wonder could I do a technology free holiday, I don't think so, I'd probably go mad! I think the trick is to limit their xbox time and get their little personalities outside!  Which is what they did this afternoon. They packed drinks and snacks and headed off down the paddock to the fruit trees, where they picked the remaining mandarins and oranges.

As I like to keep an eye on them when they are walking around the farm, I used the biniculars to find them down at the flying fox over the dam, sitting on the cement wall eating Nutrigrain!

This photo is from 2011, they love this space!  As do I!  It's very peaceful and beautiful, with a little creek running through the trees.

It's a great place to explore.

Reflection

I've been officially unemployed for 20 days now.  Without job, lady of leisure and my personal favourite semi retirement are phrases being kicked around.

Despite a lack of money and feeling very weird, I'm doing okay. It was good to go away for school holidays but now we are back, and school has begun, I'm trying to get grounded and work out what to do next.

I must say that I don't, for one moment, regret resigning from my job.  It feels as if a dark cloud has been lifted, yes cliche I know but a fitting one. I now realise how ridiculously busy I was, how much stress I was carrying around and how I've been missing out on so many different things.

I'm definitely calmer, I can feel it in my soul. Those feelings of worry about fitting it all in, of doing things half heartedly and not having enough time have gone.

My choice has been a good one.

And I've been baking!  Yeah I can't believe it either!  Homemade treats for the lunchboxes, thank you very much!  I'm making an orange and chocolate chip cake tomorrow because we have an abundance of oranges and mandarins on our trees.

They are delicious!

Today the kids and I walked down to the trees and picked some fruit, it was such a beautiful day.  Not a sound and such peace and quiet. These precious, easy moments are what I've been missing.

I plan to have many more.

Mount Larcom Show

Every July, we go to the Mount Larcom Show....the best agricultural show in the district. From baby animals and cattle, to homemade cakes and jams, it's the only place to be!

We arrived just before lunch and enjoyed the horse events, before checking out the cattle and woodchopping.  The kids loved the jumping castles, while I fell in love with the beautiful crafts and displays in the pavilions.

Every year I look forward to this show, because we go as a family, and it's wonderful to see familiar faces enjoying the sunshine and community.

It's the best thing about living in the country.

The Friendly Show

Every June, we put on our Wrangler Jeans, our cowboot shirts and boots, and head out to the Mount Larcom Show, or The Friendly Show, as it's known by.

It's the one and only agricultural show in the area, and it gets better and better every year. 

It has the classics, the showjumping and stud cattle, the animal nursery, wood chopping, show dogs, a central arena full of events, jams, cakes and crafts, market stalls, fireworks, music...the list goes on!

The day was just perfect.  Full of sunshine, and friendly faces and kids and cattle and icecream!  It's a permanent date on our calendar and although the crowd is big, there is always someone we know!

Oranges

Miss T (aged 8) invited me to go exploring with her today.  We have 75 acres, and we've recently discovered a hidden orchard with trees filled with oranges, madarins and mangos!

It was such a beautiful day, and so peaceful just taking our time.  We made our way down to the freshwater creek, with the craggy gumtrees giving way to delicate waterfalls here and there.

The trickling of the water was only surpassed by the narrative of my little companion, who delighted in instructing me where to walk and what to look at!