Christ~mas

Have this mind among yourselves,

which is yours in Christ Jesus,
who,

though he was in the form of God,

did not count equality with God
a thing to be grasped,

but emptied himself,

by taking the form of a servant,

being born in the likeness of men.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself by becoming

obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross.

~ Philippians 2:5-8

Welcome Sarah Esther!

Glenn (father) & Sarah

A warm welcome to our newest neice!

The beautiful Sarah Esther,

born 19th December 2011.

The biggest bubba yet - over 4kgs! :)

Sarah & Aunty Josie



Chillaxing with Cousin Mikayla

Didn't know that we had joined W.I.R.E.S ~ Saving Kanga!

Damo drove the school bus for the first time in over a term

(surprised that he remembered where to go!)

On the way back he saw a Kangaroo wrapped in wire struggling to get away.

He came home, got changed and grabbed a few tools.

Of course I came along to 'help'

(please note that I was standing on the other side of the fence!),

I did manage to pass him some tools without screaming too much! (see video evidence).

 

We had to throw some old balnets over his head to calm him down ~ he still growled and hissed.

He was sooo grumpy (the Kanga, not Damo ;)

I hate to think how dangerous a fully grown buck would be.

We managed to free him ~ He stood up and went to fight Damo,

 until Damo backed off rather quickly.

He took off all out of balance,

but still managed to clear the fence and make good his escape!

JB was very impressed with the hop-hop from his vantage point in the car!

Introducing: Chips and Caramel

Charlie, our delightful jersey cow
 had her second calf last night!

Somewhere between 9 and 11pm our newest addition was born.
We went out to check her at 9.
She was definitely having contractions, but I thought she would be a while away yet.
Back out we went before we went to bed - (in my PJ's of course!)
And there she was!

Once again I missed the all important event!
Boo Hiss!

Charlie, Chocco (older sister) and Chips

We had a trip to the sale yards today.

Bought another heifer calf for her to raise.

Caramel

She has far too much milk...
Although at this stage, hte process of her becoming attached to Caramel doesn't seem to be working as well as last year.

Caramel

TRUCKING!

JB's favourite part of the day is when Mamma has to put clothes on the line.

We get to spend sometime together playing games, kicking ball, driving trucks....

relaxing on the verandah with Mamma

The weather has been absolutely beautiful,

perfect spring weather:

damp, warm with that gentle cool breeze.

The BEST fun at present is to drive the truck up the verandah ramp and give to a big push down and watch it crash at the end - great entertainment!

It amazes me how kids can pretend play with anything!

JB found a small piece of cardboard left from fixing up the watering system,

and managed to turn it into a phone.

Fair Warning for those who insist on talking on their phone while driving!

- it can be very dangerous!

A new birthday book!

There is nothing quite like the excitement of a package in the mail!

Particularly when its your birthday!

I don't think that JB quite gets the connection yet...I'm sure it won't be long.

He has worked out that things wrapped in paper DOES mean something special!

We received a package for Jacob in the mail wrapped in brown paper

(all the best presents are wrapped in brown paper)

Look at the concentration on my boys face,

trying to find that perfect little opening!

Some people must just KNOW what a boy is going to enjoy!

 

Look 'Mamma' book!!!!!

Jacob had just spent the past few weeks tormenting Nanna's new ginger kitten.

Books are also his favourite past time.

 

JB & Da

 

"Net (Nettles)  Look book"

Of course this book has become the new hit and must be read before sleep every night.

THANKS M & M ;)

God's work in us reflected in His creation

We planted a very tiny little seedling

- It was like all things small, quite cute and fresh.

Over the past two years we nurtured it.

Water, mulch and weeding around it,

giving it all it need to grow well.

and it has.

Now, this tree is scraggly and rather ugly,

we wondered why we planted such an unsightly tree in such a prominent position in our developing garden. 

As most mornings, we wondered through our garden,

exclaiming over the growth of this, and the pests on that, and the beautiful flowers here and there.

And to our amazement -

 a huge bud developing on the most ugly tree that we have!

 

 

Every morning then, with coffee in hand, we looked with anticipation for the spectacular flower to open.

Slowly, ever so slowly

- weeks past until there was a tiny crack in the gum nut.

Days past by,

- then a wild storm and a few millimeters more...

Yet another day,

- a most delicate, but large pink blossom.

As I sat and mulled over these things with a great coffee in hand,

I realised that this was a reflection of what happens in our lives.

We start off as a tender plant, drawing in all that is around us in this world.

Quite cute and seemingly innocent.

As time goes by we become marred by sin and selfishness,

What we were created to be is hidden - making us look scraggy under the weight of sin

We come to Christ for forgiveness and and his life has been given willing for us ~

A gift that we can never repay.

And as we learn and grow in Faith, God works in our lives.

Slowly but surely our lives will reflect this beauty.

Just like our scraggly tree, God works in our lives to produce beautiful things.

We become useful, fruitful - what God has created us to be!

And so now when I look at my straggly tree, I am reminded of the work that Christ is doing in me everyday.

 I pray that I might be useful, fruitful and reflect His beauty.

Praying this for your life too,

Corinne.

Eating Chocolate Frogs with Uncle Tony

Fresh-as-a-daisy! Herbs

There is nothing quite like your own fresh home grown garden herbs - they can really improve all manner of dishes - you can cheat with a base and make it all your own with just a little of this and that!

This spring I completely over hauled my entire vegie patch (it was way to big and unmanageable). Part of that massive patch was my herbs (some slowly being taken over by weeds, and others over taking the vegies!). I pulled them out split them up and brought some fresh ones, like basil that won't survive over the winter.

Paisley, Thyme, Basil, Garlic and Onion

I thought I'd share with you one of our meals (last night in fact!) that I use our lovely fresh herbs in!

So here is our very own Spag Bol!

 - I'm hoping to make our own sauce over summer with the loads of tomatoes we are going to have (fingers crossed).

 spinach

 A few leaves of spinach were also picked, JB delighted in picking this and carrying it inside for 'Mamma'. This spinach plant came up all by it self (in the strawberry patch of course!) I was quite surprised - I've never managed to grow things from my own seeds.

Millet -summer cropping on'Clayton's Run'

With all the summer rain we've had in the last week, we decided that we really needed to make the most of it.

We have a few too many animals and not quite enough feed.

Two of our cows are expecting calves any day now.

Charlie (Charlotte) our 'mum' and Chocco her 'calf'

It was only supposed to be one - we had to take Charlie's calf Chocco out to the bull with Charlie because she still had too much milk and well, you know, things will happen with animals...oops!

Thankfully, we have our own combine with a small seeds box, so we can sow pasture.

We brought some left over Millet that was already mixed with super for $1/kg from a local farmer.

Two evenings ago Damo worked up the ground and last night we sowed our first crop of millet. I sat on the back to sweep the seeds into the middle - a very dusty and precarious position with the harrows behind and the roller behind that!

Summer cropping around here is always a bit of a gamble - but then, when is farming not a gamble?