A Baby Shower Of Sorts

On Sunday we enjoyed the company of some of our family, friends and work colleagues as we celebrated the up coming arrival of our first baby "Peanut".
We didn't want to do a female only event with games and silliness instead we just wanted to have people over for lunch and a catch up so it was a good excuse.

Here are a few snaps from the day.

Meeting the new bub

Lucky we had the Gazebo for extra shade as it was quite warm.

I tried to get all the news from the town where we used to live

The kids enjoyed the park across the road

Jessie got lot of attention

Our nephew max posed with us for a photo

Catching up with work mates

Friends from Kilcoy (where we used to live) who I did a lot of community work with 

Friends of our Farmer Liz and Farmer Pete

Work Mates

Work Mates

The kids keeping Jessie entrtained

Catching up on news

With Hubby's parents

We had great weather and it was lovely to see every one.  We also got to meet one of my work mates new baby and catch up with friends who live outside of Brisbane.

The End Is In Sight - The Timeline For The Next 12 Months

The end is in sight for some many things we have been working towards for the last few years and there are some big changes on the horizon for us over the next 12 months.  Lots of our plans are coming to fruition and are no longer just things that we talk about doing in the future.  In so many ways I am an over achiever and I normally have a lot of stuff going on at one time.  I often have people make comments about all the things I take on and wonder how I manage to get  it all done. The short answer is organisation, forward planning and good time management.  There are times when it all gets to much but I am not that good at admitting it but thankfully I have a wonderful Hubby who can read me and knows when this is happening.  He is always there to remind me of what I can leave till later and to help out where he can to take the pressure off me.

So far this year we have been through our second round of IVF which was successful and I am now 23 weeks pregnant with a baby boy who we are referring to as Peanut (putting off thinking of names for as long as possible). After 6 years of trying this is something we had almost given up on.
I have been studying at university for the last 12 months and semester 1 (the first half of this year) I took on 3 subjects (4 is a full time student) on top of working 30 hours a week and being pregnant.  In hindsight 2 might have been better but here we are and I managed.  We have also been planning our move to NZ, finalising plans for our house in NZ and starting a bit of baby preparation.  
To give you an idea of where we are going and what we hope to achieve over the next 12 months I have put together a bit of a timeline.

A photo pf Jessie just because.

June - It is time for the final countdown for my university semester.  I have completed 2 of my 3 subjects and just have one exam to go Thursday next week.  This is also my last full month at work and every weekend except this one coming which I have set aside for study, we have events planned with family and friends.
July - Both Hubby and I have birthdays this month so we will be celebrating with family and friends. I will be finishing up at work as I am taking some much needed long service leave up until when my maternity leave starts in October.  We will be heading off on a 4 week road trip camping (yes in winter) but more about that in another post.
August - We will be heading home on our road trip and Hubby will be heading back to work.  I will be working with our builders and planning for our new house.  There will be a few Peanut related related baby appointments to catch up on and I have plans to do a further cull of excess belongings that will not go to NZ with us.  I also plan to do some craft, catch up with friends we don't see very often and have a rest before the Peanut arrives.
September - Much like last month but I am guessing I will be slowing down a bit more and finalising baby prep.  We will also have a baby shower of sorts that will include all friends and family both male and female.  And of course there is a chance the little guy could turn up early.
October - Peanut is due on the 5th so nothing big planned this month.  Mum is coming over from NZ for a week from the 9th for a week and it will be great to have her here in the early days (or for the birth if he is late).
November - Will be the beginning of the end as we introduce Peanut to friends and family here in Australia and start to say our goodbyes.  It will take time to make sure we see everyone and we will try and have a farewell party at some stage during the month.  At the end of the month the international removalists will come and pack all our stuff and store it for a few weeks before it gets shipped to NZ.  We will move out of our rental and stay with family over the Christmas period.
December - We will hand over our 4wd to the removalists and sell my car.  More of the same from November but we will be living out of suitcases and making the most of time with family.
January - Jessie will be having all of her final vet visits before the move and will be dropped off with the pet movers the day before we fly.  Jan 12 is Moving Day.  We will say good buy to Australia and set off to start a new life in NZ.  I am sure this will be a busy month as we start off staying with my parents, find a house to rent, get building underway on our new house and show off Peanut to our NZ friends and family.
February - Sees my youngest brother get married and our furniture and car from Australia should have arrived.  Hubby will be starting a new job (not sure what yet). Building should be underway and I will be looking at going back to university all going well.
March - June - Hopefully I will be studying and the house will be finished before winter arrives. More than that we can't really say at this stage.

NZ here we come

Sorry for the long wordy post.  I am sure this will all shift and change a bit over time but this is the big picture plan.

Liz's Magical Herbal Salve

As I posted the other day our dog Jessie managed to hurt herself recently when we visited our friends Liz and Pete.

As luck would have it a little while back Liz gave me some of her herbal salve to try and after checking all the ingredients were safe to use on dogs even if they licked it I decided to apply it to Jessies skin tear.

This was less than 2 weeks ago and the hole was about the size of a 10 cent piece and right through all the layers of the skin.

This is today.

As you can see it is completely healed over with just a tiny little scab bust mostly new skin.  To be honest I thought it would take a lot longer to heal to this point and you can tell that not much time has passed based on the lack of hair growth.

You can buy Liz's Salve here at her Etsy shop.  Just to be open and honest, yes we are friends, no I didn't pay for my pot of salve, no I am not getting paid to endorse her products (but I am happy to as I have tried the lip balm and a soap that she made a while back and they were great) and finally Liz does not know I am posting this (till now) and has not seen the attached photo either.

So a big thanks to Liz for gifting me this salve.

A Wonderful Long Weekend

We just had a wonderful long weekend where we not only got to catch up with friend and do stuff at home but we also found time to relax, perfect long weekend combo.

We had lunch with friends out where we used to live and then spent a day and a half with other friends Liz and Pete at their farm and checking out the renovations at their second property.  They are doing an amazing job and are making good progress. Unfortunately Jessie managed to catch her shoulder on a barbed wire fence (well we think that is what happened).   She never let on she had hurt herself and it wasn't until Saturday night when we saw her licking her shoulder we noticed the cut. 

It is not the first time she has had a run in with barbed wire but this time it does not even seem to be sore.  She is a bit of a sook and normally crinkles her nose and shows her teeth if you get close to a sore spot but this time she let me clip all the hair away without blinking an eye.  The main reason I clipped the hair back is to stop it poking into the wound and irritating it (which stops her licking so much) and so I could have a good look and wash it out with saline solution.

So that it can heal we are trying to stop her from licking it too much.  We could have gone to the vets and gotten a cone today but a rolled up towel and a nappy safety pin do exactly the same job and she is not bothered at all.

I also cooked up a big batch of Chilli Beef and some Biscotti.  Most of the Chilli Beef went in the freezer as I am trying to make sure we have a good stockpile of precooked meals for when the baby arrives.

There was also some time for books and cuddles in bed.  Yes she is a very spoilt little dog.

How did you spend your long weekend?

For the Love of Books

Over the weekend Brisbane hosted its Lifeline BookFest and my best friend and I meet up to hunt down some bargains along with thousands of others.

For anyone who has not heard of the bookfest it is one of Lifelines major fundraisers.  Lifeline is run by Uniting Care.   Uniting Care Community is one of the Queensland's largest community service providers, offering Lifeline services, child and family care, counselling, disability support and social inclusion programs throughout Queensland. 

The bookfest is the worlds largest second hand book sale with millions of books on offer every day.  It takes up half of the Brisbane convention and exhibition center and is attended by thousands many pushing supermarket trolleys full to the top with books.  As well as book they also sell CD's DVD's, puzzles and board games.

Row upon row of tables of books

 I have been to the book fest quite a few times and I know to take along my nanna troley like the one below.  And when it is full that is it time to leave (although sometimes there are a few more books loaded on top ready to tumble off at any moment).  Otherwise I could just go on and on.

 I got a heap of books, mainly fiction, and although I tried to avoid the gardening section the lure was just too great.  But it was worth it.  I picked up this excellent little book all about wild herbs for $2 which is both a field guide and recipe book.  I have not had a chance to read it yet but from the brief skim through it looks very interesting.

I also managed to get some board games and puzzles for $2 each.  One of the puzzles has never even been opened so it will have all the pieces but the other well I will not know till I give it a try.

Puzzles and games

I picked up a game of scattergories that has only been played a few times and a cute retro set of board games that has all the pieces and is in great condition.  You can see the games on the front and I had heard of all of them except the Motor Race and the Steeple Chase.  

Do you remember these?

Retro Board Games

After all that looking at books we headed off to a nearby cafe for lunch and spent a lovely hour catching up on all the news.

Good Company And A Bit Of Sillyness

Over the weekend we spent some quality time with a good friend who came to stay.

As often happens with good company there was also good food and good wine too.
Lunch was a grazing platter with sourdough ciabatta, tomato and basil bruchetta, home made feta  olives, dukka, dips and soft cheeses.  Sort of a European/Middle Eastern ploughman's.

A fair few beverages had been consumed but since we hadd been grazing all afternoon we did not need anything substantial for dinner so I decided on sushi.  I had some salmon on hand and added capsicum carrot, cucumber and avocado.

It turned out quite a few more beverages had been consumed than I thought as there was soon a wasabi eating competition happening.

No that is not avocado.

 There were no tears but the eyes were watering.

Our friend T, I am sure there should be steam coming out those ears.

Yes Hubby, it was a silly idea!

Thankfully they felt they had proven their manhood enough after just one round and they left the rest of the wasabi for the sushi.

It seems that no matter how old they get (these two and 40 and 37) they still like to behave like teenagers.

Does this happen at your place?

Sewing and Celebration

It was my best friends birthday last week and so now that it is finally past I can show you what I made her.

I made her this shopping tote from some beautiful Japanese quilting fabric and bamboo handles.  I got the pattern from a Better homes and Gardens magazine and even for someone like me it was not too hard and is something that could be made in an afternoon.  It is fully lined and uses an interlining and interfacing.  I will probably make this bag again but next time I would use a heavier interfacing.  If anyone wants the pattern let me know.

Then of course there had to be cake, well Velvet Cupcakes anyway.  I will post the recipe for these tomorrow.

 We are both wine lovers so we decided that lunch at a winery was just the ticket.  We went to Flame Hill Vineyard in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.  It was a wonderful venue with great views overlooking the vineyard, the Sunshine Coast and the sea was on the horizon.


Best Friend enjoying a wine or 2,3,4... who's counting

  Both the company and wine were excellent and with a lovely breeze blowing in from the coast and a spot in the shade on the balcony it really was quite lovely.



Me enjoying the view

Lunch was a delight.  While not cheap the meals were beautifully prepared and presented.

Sticky Pork Belly, Scallops, Cauliflower Puree, roast apple and Red Wine Jus for entree.



Pork Rib Cutlet, White Polenta  with Broadbean, Truss tomato, Nectarine and Balsamic Glaze
(And a naughty bit of crackling)

After our very indulgent lunch we spent the afternoon wandering the boutique shops at Montville before heading home to my place for some more wine and a few games of Majong.

The Loss of the Still To Come

Today is a sad day for me as it marks 12 months since my best friend Trevor took his own life after a long battle with injury, mental illness and depression.
But when I say sad I don't mean bury my head in a pillow all day sobbing kind of sad (although a few tears have been shed today), more of a sad he is not here to share life's experience's with me sad.  Sad that he did not have the strength to carry on and sad that his illness did not allow him to see the the possibility of  a better time to come.
I remember all of the good times we shared, all of the mischief that we got up to and that brings a smile to my face, but I think it is part of human nature to always be thinking about the time to come, the experiences you are yet to have together.
And that's what I miss.  The still to come, the possibility of what might have been.
As someone not prone to depression I choose to live my life looking for the good and the precious and the beauty of life regardless of how dark life might seem to be.  I have learnt that even in the darkest weather there is always the promise of sun after the rain and that sometimes it is the stormy weather that allows us to build strong roots and defences to help us stand up in tough times to come.
Sadly the reality is that for some people depression and mental illness is a part of their daily life. 
Sometimes as a spectator like I was, living through the feelings of helplessness and the constant fear of where this might lead.  And sometimes as a participant where the dark days outnumber the bright.
According to Beyond Blue one in five of us will suffer from depression at some stage of our lives.  So while it might be difficult to start the discussion with a friend or family member about how they are feeling it is often more difficult for them to come to you and let you know there is a problem.
So get out there people.  Touch base with your friends and family.  Check in and say hello, let them know that you are there.  And if you need help seek it, let your friends and family know how you are feeling. 
For everyone regardless of if you are the support person or the sufferer go to http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx for more information about where you can get help and support.
And if you are able donate, volunteer or get involved please do so, remember one in five pretty much means we will all be touched by this at some time in our lives.