Category Archives: 52 Weeks of Grateful

The Coming Together of Family

 
This week we lost a very dear family member, a fabulous lady who I have countless fond memories of. It was a very sad farewell, lots of tears were shed as old stories were shared. The thing I am most grateful for, through the immense sadness, is the coming together of family. My Dad and his cousins all together in the one place for the first time in years, a lovely dinner with us all and the feeling of great comfort with just being together, all of us, sharing the burden of grief together.

The coming together of family is always so special, the shared memories, funny stories unearthed, the companionship that can only be had with family. Then the time afterwards to relish in my own little family and hope that they also have the same bond with their cousins and extended family as they grow.

I am joining in with 52 Weeks of Grateful which can be found here over at Octavia and Vicky.

Toasted Marshmallows


My Muddy Pixie and I have had a whirlwind trip to Sydney and back this week, I’ve squeezed in a day of work a little bit of washing, some trips up the paddock and taken the Muddy Puzzler to a birthday party, it’s been go, go, go and it’s nice to know tomorrow is Sunday. In all the busyness I have made sure to stop and reflect on what I’m grateful for this week.

Toasted marshmallows with the Muddy Kids up the paddock.

Family Drives around the farm.

A flexible work place.

Specialist Doctors who keep you calm and know what they’re talking about.

Good Friends who can answer techy questions about which I have no idea.

New ugg boots that keep my feet toasty warm.

My Muddy Hubby who has stepped up when I am sick and in bed by 8:30.

Lots of things to be grateful for on the Muddy Farm this week. Check out the other lovely grateful posts over at Octavia and Vicky where Kylie hosts 52 Weeks of Grateful.

A Haircut

Yesterday it was raining, it was also a pupil free day for my Muddy Organiser and all 4 of my Muddy Kids were home, by 9am they had gone stir crazy, we channelled their energy to tidy the toy verandah, that got them through to 9:30, then there was a board game, and then they were planning their own masquerade ball, decorations and all. By 3:30 things had really gone pear shaped and my Muddy Puzzler had given herself a new hairstyle by chopping lots of locks off her beautiful hair.

On the bright side though there is lots to be grateful for:
– The self-styled haircut could have looked a lot worse than it does
– The Muddy Organiser and Pixie had a lovely sleepover with 2 friends coming to stay with us
– I have a gorgeous new niece who I cannot wait to meet
– My car is at a smash repairer and I should only have to try and manage without a family car for a couple more weeks as opposed to the couple of months with all the other smash repairers
– My Muddy Puzzler had a wonderful time playing with friends at a birthday party, it is so lovely for her to step out of the shadow of her siblings
– My Muddy Boy is on the mend after being sick and his smiles are getting more and more
– It is a fabulous drying day today, lots of wind and sunshine
– Dress Ups, whether it be full on princess outfits, my shoes or Muddy Hubby’s beanie dress ups always bring a smile to my face

Linking up over at Octavia and Vicky for 52 Weeks of Grateful. Make sure you check out all the lovely Gratefuls at their new home.

A Return to Gratefuls

I know the value of finding the Grateful in the everyday, to boost your spirit and your mood. For the last few weeks I have struggled to find the time for grateful, and it’s been quite evident, I’ve been tired and snappy and often too busy to stop and find the grateful to focus on. This week though I’m making a conscious effort to make time for gratefuls. I have stopped trying to clean and move the fish tank and do my footy tips and instead am taking time to post my gratefuls.

So this week I am grateful for:
– Being outside in the nice fresh winter air
– Bicycles and scooters and little trikes
– A fabulous OT service right here in town that is going to help me support my Muddy Pixie
– My coffee machine which gives me fuel to keep going
– Special moments in the shearing shed with my wonderful Muddy Family
– A new home for grateful at one of my favourite blogs to stop by and that grateful is keeping going
– An unexpected dinner with friends
– My Mum and Dad and the time they have spent with us and helped keep my household running
– My Muddy Hubby for boosting me when I’m down

Now that 52 Weeks of Grateful is at a new home make sure you go and check it our here. It’s always so lovely to read what people are grateful for.

When Friends Come to Stay

This June long weekend has been the first one that we have been home for in a few years, normally we have been heading to Sydney. This year however was different, we had friends come and stay with us, with their precious 2 year old twins, they packed up their car and headed west to us. It was pure bliss, they were such easy house guests and the Muddy Kids just loved showing the twins all of their toys and all around the farm. We took them up the paddock and checked the sheep, we got them on the bikes and the tractors and even the back of the ute.

We shared good food, good drinks and good stories. This friend and I used to live together many years ago and it was just like slipping into old times, being in the kitchen together, just chatting and reminiscing, but with the added element of husbands and children, it was delightful. Simply delightful.

I am so grateful this week for when old friends visit with their new families, it is so special to be sharing our families and hopefully our kids will be firm friends like we are for a long time to come.

Linking up at Village Voices for 52 Weeks of Grateful.

Grateful for A Day to Breathe


The last two weeks have kept me on my toes, kept me busy and worn me down, but today I got to breathe. To stop and spend a day at home, a full day at home with just my Muddy Baby Boy. We pottered around the garden, cooked, cleaned the fish tank, read books, explored the house paddock, spent time with the chooks and dogs. It was just lovely.

It gave me an insight into the next few years as my Muddy Pixie and Puzzler start school, where I might get some more 1:1 time with my two youngest Muddy Kids. It let me take the day slow, rather than at the full pace of the last two weeks.

I am so very grateful to my Muddy Hubby for taking my Muddy Pixie and Muddy Puzzler to the shearing shed, keeping them entertained and busy for the day. I am grateful for the special time with my Baby Boy and I am grateful for having a day at home to just be. Delightful.

Linking up with some lovely bloggers over at Village Voices for 52 Weeks of Grateful. Make some time to check out some wonderful blogs.

Grateful for farming stuff…..

I feel like this week has passed in a daze, struggling to focus on what I’m doing from minute to minute, losing track in conversations, starting one task, getting side-tracked by another and forgetting what I started. It’s been driving me crazy.

This afternoon though I got to do farm stuff, nothing ground breaking, just feeding sheep, but I loved it. Simple straightforward in the outdoors, despite the number of gates I had to open and close and the return trips to pick up hats and drink bottles Muddy Baby Boy threw out the window, it was invigorating.

It was also slightly depressing driving through paddocks with no feed, watching the sheep race toward you when they see the big yellow feeder bin on the back but I was out and about so I put that stuff aside.

Somehow just being in the garden isn’t enough, to drive over the farm and see the sheep and what’s happening from block to block just gets straight to my heart and lifts me, that’s what this afternoon did, despite the tiredness and crazy brain my whole mood was lifted and for that I’m grateful.

 
 
Linking up with the fabulous Bron over at Village Voices for 52 Weeks of Grateful.
 

Grateful for Inspiration

I have been lucky enough to spend this whole week in Sydney – well almost the whole week anyway. Wonderful, vibrant harbour city that it is I got to catch the ferry to work each morning, soaking it all up. As well as soaking up Sydney I spent 4 days at the most amazing conference learning so much that I think my brain is protesting, making it hard to hold conversations as I can only seem to manage yes/no answers, with a nod or shake of the head.

I will go home tomorrow and return to my Muddy Family who I have missed so much, but I go home with lots of amazing ideas to try and implement in my working life, and some in my home life. I was inspired by people who have fought against the odds their whole life, being born with Complex Communication Needs, but who have triumphed despite the obstacles they face on a daily basis.

I attended presentations by some of my work idols, people who are doing fantastic things in the world of communication for people with a disability, I even got ‘retweeted’ by some of them, for which I was absurdly excited!

This week I am grateful for Inspiration, for the inspiring people doing wonderful things against the odds, for my professional idols who inspire me to keep going and try new things to make for better outcomes for my clients. I am also grateful for the inspiration I get from Sydney every time I visit.

Linking up with Bron over at Village Voices who hosts the wonderful 52 Weeks of Grateful. Make sure you check it out.

Grateful for Sleepovers and Besties

Since I’ve added an extra day into my work days I have struggled to find time to catch up with my friends and subsequently my Muddy Kids have also missed out with only a small amount of spare time to fit in a long list of things. These school holidays thought I’ve tried to make a conscious effort to let my Muddy Kids get some quality friend time in. We’ve had sleepovers and play dates and netball clinics. All things that would normally have to slip by the wayside.
 
It has been so delightful for my two big Muddy Girls to go on a sleepover together and see how much fun they had, my wonderful friend made snow globes with them and let them watch a movie and have a spa. We had the Muddy Pixie’s bestie over for a play and they had so much fun playing in the wool shed, jumping on the wool bales and playing hide and seek in the sheds. We even braved the world of having a friend for a sleepover and it was lots of fun. Not only has it kept the kids entertained and they are falling into bed exhausted each night but the smiles on their faces and the joy it brings me lets me know it’s worth the effort.

 

So this week I am grateful for my Muddy Kids friends for being so special and bringing such lovely friendships into their lives.

 
Linking up over at Village Voices for 52 Weeks of Grateful, hosted by the lovely Bron.

Loving Music

Tomorrow night Dubbo is hosting Triple J’s One Night Stand. Dubbo is our nearest regional centre, it has a population of about 40,000 and tomorrow night they are anticipating the population will increase by a 1/4 as 10-15,000 people converge on Dubbo to attend the One Night Stand.

Business in the shops is reportedly booming, there isn’t a single bed in any accommodation left, and I imagine many will be sleeping in cars or on the floors of friends or not sleeping at all, as people do whatever they can to make it to this free concert.

It amazes me that sooooo many people will converge in one spot, and all for music. Yes that’s right Music. Music is bringing people together in a major rural centre, it’s got people travelling huge distances to be there. Music is bringing joy into people’s lives and boosting the local economy (even for a short time).

I know music is an important part of my life, and the music I listened to growing up still influences me today, I can only hope I pass that love of music onto my Muddy Kids and one day they might be making a trek to a music concert like this one.

This week I am Grateful that Music has this kind of power, the power to get so many people in one place. The power to bring a big concert like this to Dubbo, which has never experienced anything like it before. The power to bring smiles and joy.

Linking up for 52 Weeks of Grateful over at Village Voices. Take sometime to check it out.