Sister-in-between

today

I am thankful

for

a gift

of

new clothes

from India

and

guess what

they are

pink!

xxx

Sister-in-between

We are losing it ....

K9 has this thing for sultanas! She will sit and wave her paw when I so much as get the packet out of the pantry.

This afternoon 'Mr Bookworm' decides he likes sultanas too and obediently sits, paws, rolls over and demands his handful of sultanas too!! What a household!!

I am up to my eyebrows in report writing - such a fun time of the year!

Sending lots of love to all siblings and am looking forward to more regular posting when things settle down.

xo Big Sister

Sister-in-between

today

I am

thankful

for

a

pretty pink necklace

made

by

a

friend!

xxx

Sister-in-between

Sister-in-between

I have a friend who

is posting

 something to be thankful for

and a photo

every day

for a month.

I like this idea!

For the past few weeks my life

has been somewhat hectic

 I have felt quite negative

So what would I post today . . .

today I am thankful for

 my 13 year old son

making mushroom soup for lunch

It was delicious!

A photo . . . oops it is all gone!

xxx

Sister-in-between

Fifty Sudanese Pound

50 Sudanese Pounds (SDP) will buy you...

8 litres of fuel. (The price of fuel doubled last week to 6 SDP/litre)
50 bottles of mineral water, cause it's hot....
25 cups of local coffee (a.k.a rocket fuel with sugar) to keep you up all night
150 SMS as it only costs 30 piasters (cents.) to send an SMS.

but not a goat.....

Sleeping Under the Stars...

This has been my accommodation for the past week. It has been far too hot and humid to consider sleeping indoors. Each night we put out our mattresses and erect the mosquito nets ( the frames are two bamboo poles at each end). I had forgotten how much I enjoy sleeping outside. It has been great to lie in my bed and be able to view the stars without any light pollution!

 

 

Sister-in-between

today I found a few minutes

 a few minutes to myself

a few minutes to make the change

  light pink to hot pink!

for those who know me also know that this is not a good sign

pink reflects how I am feeling

at the moment that is overworked

stressed 

the life balance is out of kilter

working too much

family suffers

when it all seems too much

I peek down at my toes

take a deep breath

and think

I just love pink!

for a few positive moments

my spirits are lifted

xxx

Sister-in-between

Weekend away

We got away for a couple of nights over the weekend with friends who are visiting. It was a wonderful, relaxing change of pace and place. There was something for everyone...

a clear, icy lagoon to wallow in after a steep climb to a cave - this was definitely the kids' favourite activity of the weekend, especially jumping in from the rope swings!

stunning mountains coming in and out of view amongst the clouds

fields for Mr Ag to meander through and inspect

fresh coconut juice and organic mulberry shakes to keep our energy up

and a leisurely boat ride.

We inadvertently timed our trip with a festival and had the added excitement of watching rockets being launched high into the clouds and over the mountains as we relaxed in the guesthouse pool at sunset.

It was a bit hard to come home really!

Little Sister

A Bright Spark

I took Bookworm shopping for ping pong balls today. In his inimitable style, he has set up our dining room/ hobby table/ homework and study table as an indoor ping pong table!  AND, it is great to be out of the cold and rain playing ping pong!!!! The most frustrating part is making sure that K9 does not run off with errant ping pong balls when they go flying across the lounge room! I wonder what Dad would think of 'his table' being used in such a way??!!

Happy Days from Big Sister xo

Snow ...

It is snowing in the mountains today!

It is 7 degrees C at our house at present - bleak!!!!!

What is the weather like at your place today?

Brrrr from Big Sister

Sister-in-between

Happy Mother's Day!

Today my children shared their Mummy

with our special family member

A happy day for all!

xxx

Sister-in-between

Happy Mother's Day from Big Sister

Happy Mother's Day to my sisters! I hope that you were both suitably spoiled!
We started the festivities with a sunset picnic by a lake last night. Bookworm is determined to empty our water ways of carp. He has a mean cast - but, alas, we are yet to catch any! We were led to believe that corn is the bait of choice - maybe corn is very 'yesterday' for carp now!! Anyhow, we will persevere! Watch this space!
This afternoon we went for a lovely long walk with the K9 in tow. I now feel ready to face the week.
Much love to all, Big Sister

Sneak preview

When Sister-in-between was visiting she decided to have a dress of mine copied by a local tailor.

Today I picked it up.

Not sure I want to post it - it fits me quite well...
Little Sister

The serenity!

This morning I was home alone.

Did you get that?

ALONE!

A rare and much enjoyed treat!

Sometimes it's literally months between 'home alone' times.

I love my family, but I spend a lot of time with them.

A bit of time alone helps me love them all the more.

I didn't do anything particularly special.

In fact I did an assignment.

With a cup of tea on the side.

But it was QUIET.

There were NO INTERRUPTIONS.

For nearly 2 whole hours.

What joy, what bliss :)

Little Sister

Shouldering the load!

With all three sisters living out of town, little brother was left to "shoulder the load" for Mother's Day. Getting in early, the 'one brother' took Mother for Saturday breakfast at the botanical gardens. Mum enjoyed her poached egg on toast with tomato and mushroom. 'One brother' had a huge serve of bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomato and hash-brown. Happy Mother's Day Mum! We all love you very much xo.

Loving the pink . . .

Busy day ahead

Am loving my new skirt

Pink always lifts my spirits

xxx

Sister in-between

HOT!

This week has been HOT! High temperatures and high humidity; the kind of energy-sapping heat that consumes all my motivation and patience. But, taking a leaf out of Sister-in-between's book, there's a lot to be thankful for even in this kind of heat:

1. Swimming pools: until a few months ago we were living in a small, provincial town that was even hotter than here. I used to get pretty desperate some days, trying to entertain 3 little kids who were overtired, hot and grumpy, when I was feeling the same way! There were no pools and even the river was tepid at this time of year. Now we're living in a bigger town with swimming pools! At the end of the school day it's bliss to take the kids for a swim; to be able to exercise and have fun together. I am VERY thankful.

2. Mangosteens: this fruit is one of my all-time favourites. If you can manage to break open the tough skin without completing squishing the delicate white fruit inside (I have about a 70% success rate!), they not only look beautiful but taste scrumptious. The kids have discovered that the number of little flower-shaped petals on the underside of the skin corresponds to the number of juicy segments inside - tricky! They are only available in HOT season :)

3. My house: we are living in a comfortable 2-storey house with shady mango trees around it. On the hottest days it is still bearable downstairs, if you stay close to a fan (upstairs is another story...). Next door is a building site where a new house is being erected. The labourers live on-site in a wood and tin shack. I can't imagine how HOT a tin roof would be in this weather! I have nothing to complain about...

4. Storms: we had a ripper of a storm last night; one that made the house shudder! There is nothing like a really wild storm with cooling winds after days of climbing humidity - what a relief! The thunder and lightning had the kids blocking their ears and we had to grab the candles and headlamps for a bit, but oh it was SPECTACULAR!

So I guess I had better stop complaining about how HOT it is :)

Little Sister

Coffee ...

Today Big Sister was given a second hand, nifty blue coffee machine!!! It uses coffee pods so no grinding and messy clean up! Can't wait to try it out!
Thank you to 'coffee buddy' at work - it will sure beat the instant!
Xo Big Sister

Old Mother Hubbard . . .

Tonight I did an 'Old Mother Hubbard'

The cupboard or in this case the fridge was bare.

I managed to rustle up some bread (that may have been fresh yesterday), apples and some watermelon,

and called it 'dinner'

Little Miss had a science project so leaving the 'Capable One' in charge, I headed out to do the much needed grocery shop.

This post was going to be a grumble . . .  about the horrific battle through the mish-mash of local vehicles, and the need to drive up the wrong side of the road towards oncoming motorbikes in order to enter the carpark, and the lack of car parking spaces once there.

My grumble was going to continue, to describe the unwanted giggles and comments made about my heavily  laden trolley (by other shoppers who are there daily rather than weekly), and about the ridiculous 100 item system which saw me having to pay through 2 transactions as I had 102 items to buy.

I then stopped and began to count my blessings  . . .

The checkout assistant carefully packed my trolley, wheeled it out of the centre and down to my car, where he unloaded it . . .  all the while smiling.

His smile soon became mine as I arrived home and was greeted by my 'house fairy', who helped me to carry and unpack all my groceries.

I realised just how lucky I am

xxx

Sister-in-between