' the vegie garden '

Here is the current view of the vegie garden. It is looking a bit bare at the moment. We have a few tomato,cucumber, pumpkin and watermelon plants in as well as some carrots and a good crop of basil. We have just done a planting of some corn, broccoli, lettuce, more carrots and springonions. So I guess this is the before shot. In a couple of months it should look a whole lot greener.                

' trendy bucket hat '

All of the boys have worn this denim bucket hat and I must say they have all looked rather cute in it.

Here is Mini M.

' D and Z '

These two had a ball just playing in the dirt. (Z is our neighbour and good friend)

' slip and slide '

The boys had a fabulous time at a friends house slipping and sliding. W was a natural at it and loved every minute of it. D had a few turns but was more happy to watch.

' bumbo time '

M had his first go in the bumbo. He loved it. I can not believe how he is growing so quickly.

' all dressed up '

J, M and myself are off to the local cotton dinner. After what seems like forever, it was really nice to dress up and feel a bit girly. It was also a milestone for W and D - they had a sleep over at a friends place. We picked D up after the dinner but W slept over the whole night and had a great time.

' flying high '

D loves the swingz. It is a great action shot and D has the most beaming smile. What you can't hear is his squeals of laughter and calls for 'high', 'high', high'.

' busted '

This is C sneaking in through the cat door. It is going to get to a point where he will try this trick and he will get stuck. For the time being he is safe.

' green cotton '

The cotton has just kept powering on over the season. J took this shot of 106 from on top of the dam wall. It is starting to get to the exciting time when harvest is imminent.

' ice-cream moulds '

I was so excited when these new moulds came in the post. They are unbelievably easy to use and make awesome shaped ice blocks. These are mango puree and coconut milk. The boys loved them.

'

' pancake sunday '

We always have pancakes on a Sunday.

' boys at work '

My boys are such outdoor boys. Any chance to get dirty or muddy there in. Sorry the shot is not too clear as I took it through a muddy window.

' guess who '

I could not resist this cute shot of  - 'D'. He played with these boxes for quite some time. Usually they have toys in them but I was happy enough for D to tip them out and play with just the boxes. It is rather funny to think this was what I used to store my toys in and probably play with in a similar way. Got to love that 80's style.

' pooped puppy '

C went irrigating with J this morning. J said he had a ball running up and down the ditches and in and out of the bays. Here is the end result - one very pooped puppy.

' the girls '

Today I thought I'd take a shot of the girls. We hatched them from incubated eggs around Christmas time. They are Sussex Cross and are doing very well. They will probably take another six months before they start laying.

' w collects the eggs '

For about a month now W has been collecting the eggs as one of his chores for pocket money. It has become an afternoon ritual - Mac loads into the pram or baby borne carrier, D puts on his gumboots and W grabs the chook bucket and basket. Off we head over to the chookies. I'm sure they have mixed feelings when they see us coming - they know food is on the way but also D. He loves chasing them around.

' baby pheasant moves house '

He is a lone chick from a batch of incubated eggs. J is in the business of trying to build up our pheasant numbers so we can have a fresh supply of pheasant. I myself have not eaten pheasant but I am told it is rather yummy. We will see.

' my house '

This is the front view of the house. It was built around 30 years ago by the in-laws and I think they were going for the english cottage look. It looks rather nice at the moment with all the rain and J mowed the lawn this morning. Most people do not use this entrance into the house so I will get a different shot another time.

' fig jam '

Today I made fig jam with all the wonderful figs from our tree. They are sooooo yummy. I used a recipe I found on the net called ' David Pascoe's Easy Fig Jam Recipe '. I chose it because it had all spice and cinnamon which I thought would complement the figs nicely. Looks good. Will let you know how it tastes.

' ridem cowboy '

Here is W and D riding a blow up caterpillar that is meant for the pool. Oh well - they had a ball.

' boys love to read '

Had to get this shot of J reading to his boys. S ( closest to J ) is a friend visiting from Augathella.

' happy m '

What more can I say !

' picture perfect '

For about 10 years now I have been keeping anything that comes my way with interesting pictures on it or in it. For example  - calenders, cards, leaflets, diaries. The boys spent at least 45 minutes looking through my picture suitcase talking about different things. W got a farming calender and proceeded to cut up all the tractors and glue them onto a sheet of paper. It was an awesome activity.

' w has a new library bag '

My Mum made me a library bag similar to this one. It was called Bertie Bookwoom loves reading Books. Here is my own take on it. I'm pretty pleased with the results. Happy Reading W.

' the hair has got to go '

As much as I love my boys having a few locks, it is just far too hot for them.

' mmm fresh figs '

I loooove fresh figs. I have been patiently watching our fig tree load up and ripen. Coming back from feeding the chookies, J suprised me with these scrumptious delights. I think I might be the only fan though - W and D were not to keen. Yah for me!

' my new bedroom '

It was Friday afternoon and I convinced J to help me switch our bedroom into the spare room and our bedroom become the spare room. Here is my new bedroom. What do you think?

' on my bedside table '

My gorgeous sister-in-law gave me this book for Christmas and I love it. I relate really well to all of its ideals about children eating quality wholefoods. It has some fantastic recipes which I hope to try this coming week.

' my beautiful boys '

W was getting couch cuddles with M.

' pop in visit '

On the way home we stopped at Great Grandma's in Toowoomba Town. We had a lovely visit and I just had to get a photo of Grandma with M.

' GG time '

Story time with GG. We have had a great time at GG's. Home tommorrow.

' day at the beach '

It was not fantastic weather for the beach but we did not care. Uncle C joined us and W, D and J all loved it.

' nanna and poppa time '

They all look so happy after a feed of fish and chips.

' sunny coast here we come '

These are our chopper bags. I'm green, W is light blue, M is red, D is navy and J is brown. They come from Dominant Leather Goods in Pittsworth.

' we are so proud '

It was a momentous occasion - our little W was off to kindy today. He was very excited and yes we were too. He had a great day.

' lovely lamingtons '

Happy Australia Day to all ! In 44 degree heat we decided to ditch the damper cooked in the camp fire and went with inside homemade lamingtons instead. We had some friends over and the children loved the lamingtons. (Note the Aussie flag hanging in the background - thanks Jules)

' m has daddy time '

I just love watching J spend time with any of his boys.

' j has a new toy '

J has been saving for quite some time to get a new scope for his Remington 280. The scope is the black telescopic looking thing sitting on top of the gun. It is a Burris Eliminator Laserscope with a built in range finder. J really enjoys long range shooting (the sport of shooting targets from various distances). He has also shot a few deer and I must say a venison curry on a cold winters night is rather delicious.

' sunday fun '

We have not been able to use the pool much this summer as the sand flies carry you away. Today we decided to brave it to give the boys a swim. It was great fun . We lasted 10 minutes. The handsome tall red head with the boys in the pool is our danish agricultural exchange student - 'R'. 

' c on a hot day '

It has been really quite hot out here and poor little C has been feeling the heat. He comes inside to cool down but we have all noticed how he pokes his little tongue out. We think it is rather a cute look.

' best loaves yet '

I have been baking bread in the oven for about 4 months now. I use Kialla Wholemeal Bread Flour and buy it in bulk 25kg. I bought two bread tins from The Bread Shop in Toowoomba and mix the dough in my thermomix. The boys love it (and I love the smell of it baking).

' j hard at work '

Here is J out irrigating the cotton. It takes about 3 days to irrigate the whole farm, and as he is trying to water it efficiently as possible he has been up at all hours doing shifts as soon as the water is through. You can not see in the shot but there are millions of sand flies buzzing around due to flood waters.

' m has found his thumb '

M has been trying for days to get his thumb into his mouth and today he has finally done it. He woke from his daytime nap and over the baby monitor you could hear him sucking it very loudly. J said and I quote ' Gee he's going for it'.

' bad bad boy '

It was not M. It was not W. It was not D. And it was not J. Who was it? It was C - the naughty little puppy. W and D came in from outside and discovered C having the time of his life with the toilet rolls. Needless to say I used it as a lesson about making mess.

' brown is my favourite colour '

J took this shot from our property boundary where the flood water just about broke the levy bank that was built. If it had not been for building such a big levy our cotton crop would have been inundated. I actually love the colour brown and have numerous shades of it in my house.

' c takes a bath '

It was a family affair when it came to bathing C. Fun was had by all and I think C even enjoyed the experience. He is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier and came to live with us Christmas morning (gift from Santa). He is now 12 weeks old.

' project table '

I acquired this little table some years ago and have wanted to restore it. It is an old school desk and I am hoping to use it to put my sewing machines on. I have started and hopefully next week I can share with you the finished result.

' bigger boys '

For the past week we have had my cousins O and F staying with us due to flood waters over roads and not being able to get home. My little boys have loved having them around to entertain.

' more cushions '

Decided to give these a wash as well. I use these on the couch in the lounge room but they are also big enough to use as a floor cushion. The boys often lie on them to read books. The fabric is Sprout Design on White - My Little World Elephant.