A long overdue update!

This is one very neglected blog I must say........

What have we been up to lately - well since I last posted in May?
Plenty.

Winter sports have finally finished - yippee!  It was a rather chilly winter, but in typical Western Australian fashion, a very dry one.
The Avon Descent white water race took place the first weekend of August and it was the driest on record - in some placed the competitors were carrying their boats over the rocks.  I'm not joking.
Two weekends later was the Targa West car rally.  Both of these were super busy days in the bakery.
That's the Toodyay news.

Lucas has been doing paid "work experience" (well that's what I'm calling it on the homeschooling report anyway) on a local farm catching, mulesing, crotching and drenching lambs.  He gets up early every morning and is ready on time, comes home stinking of farm and sheep poo, washes his work clothes and hangs them up on the clothes airer by the fire and crashes in bed early.  It's an awesome adventure for a nearly 15 year old and he was bought home tonight with 5 orphaned lambs that are now going to keep the grass down for a while - until we do something else with them......

Miss Bethany is turning into quite a lovely young lady.  She is 12 now and an absolute delight (ok, so she has her moments.......)  There are times when she is more than happy to sit and read a book or paint or draw and then there are times like tonight when I went looking for her and found her outside with an axe chopping firewood!

Marc is STILL working long long hours 13 days a fortnight!
I have my times where this really gets to me I will admit but it's all good and things will settle down eventually.

We went back to our hometown last weekend for my Dad's 70th birthday.  My brother and his family were down from the Northern Territory so we took the opportunity to have some long overdue family photos - Mum and Dad, us three siblings and all the grandkids.  It was a lovely, although somewhat crammed and rushed weekend.
Whilst down there we signed the paperwork to put our home on the market........  Me being me, I cried.
Big sooky la las I know, but it was hard knowing that all the work and memories we've sown into that home over the past 7 years is going to be enjoyed by someone else.  I got super emotional and sulked a little on the way home (I know, I know - grow up Linda!)

We got home late Sunday night to find the dog missing.......
We called and called but no little white bundle of fluff came.  Emotions were already high and a dead beloved family pet was not what we were prepared for.
Beth opened her bedroom door and Toby came flying out!  He raced outside for some water and escape and left us to deal with the mess of Beth's room - AAAAAARGH!!!!!  He was accidently locked in there ALL weekend!  We have to replace the old manky carpet, the door and some truly awful curtains.....
Little turd is lucky I didn't wring his neck!!!!

We've been here nearly 7 months now and are thinking it's time to get a place of our own.  As much as I'm fond of the beautiful place we are renting, it's time for me to 'nest'.  I want to plant and paint and make something "ours" again.
We had a look at 10 acres of land for sale yesterday and I'm dreaming again.  You know, the little hobby farm, self-sufficient lifestyle, solar passive home, blah blah blah.........
We'll see.

xx