Home-Based Businesses You can Start in No Time
Service businesses are a great field to get into, whether you provide offline or online services it's an easy way to start your own business with usually very low start-up costs. With the number of businesses you can easily start from home there simply isn't an excuse to not start your own business.
So if you've been thinking about it, here are a few in-demand home business ideas:
Transcription - If you can type (or can learn how to, it's really not too difficult), have a good eye for detail and want to work from home, this is a great profession to get into. You can find clients online and locally. You can transcribe for real estate agents, insurance brokers, online marketers, speakers, consultants and a huge range of other clients. Transcriptionists are in high demand and is a very easy business to start from home.
Virtual Assistants - Similar to a secretary or administrative assistants, VAs (virtual assistants) are a growing field. Many entrepreneurs have home businesses now and need someone to help them run their business - what better person to turn to than a VA. Similar to transcription this is a high-demand field and a relatively easy business to start.
Ghost Writer - Just the name alone sounds exciting, but make no mistake, ghost writing isn't some mysterious profession you see only in movies, it's a very real in-demand field. This is especially true when it comes to online marketers and website owners who have a need for quality content. You can also write articles for local newspapers, magazines and a number of other publications. If you love to write, you can take that passion and turn it into a very profitable and cool at-home business.
Cleaning Service - Okay, this may not be the most glamorous business in the world, but hey there's a lot of money to be made here. If you enjoy cleaning and take pride in your work you can easily set up your own maid or cleaning service. You can also take one step further and manage the business and hire a team of cleaners to do the job for you. With so many parents and single professionals working such long hours plus the increase of disposable income, you can certain "clean up" with your own maid service.
Those are just a few service businesses you can start from home. Relatively easy to start, low cost and plain old easy, there's no good reason NOT to start your own business.
To learn how to make it BIG with your own service Business, visit Moms Talk Biz for a range of fun and profitable at-home business ideas.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Great Home Business
Why Researching Makes a Great Home Business
There are many services that translate well into home businesses. One of the main reasons that many moms want to work from home is flexibility. A research business provides the ultimate in flexibility, and allows you to do a large portion of the required work at home.
The Internet is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That means that any research that you can do online can be done whenever you wish. You can work after the kids are in bed, before they get up in the mornings, or even during the day. Research can always be put on hold while you’re cooking meals, giving baths, or playing a game of hide and seek. It will be there when you get back to it, ready for you to pick up where you left off.
You will likely be working with deadlines, but the ability to work at the time of day that is best for you is a huge asset when you’re a mom. As long as you take your deadline into account, you can easily work your research around the rest of your life.
Another good thing about research is the fact that you rarely have to leave the house to do it. Most of the time, client contact can be done by email. A great deal of information is available for free online if you know where to look. For those things that you can’t find freely, you might decide to invest into subscriptions to some paid online reference sources. Or you can make a trip to your local library to find more free information.
Getting research jobs often requires little or no formal training. While there are some scholarly publishers who desire a researcher with a specific college degree, many clients are content with a demonstrated ability to produce good results. Obtaining testimonials from satisfied customers can go a long way toward convincing potential customers that you are the person for the job.
The Internet provides more than just research opportunities. It also gives you numerous ways to gain new customers. Setting up a website detailing the type of work you do gives potential customers an easy way to learn about your services. Advertising on websites of interest to writers and pay per click search engine advertising are two ways to target your site to the right market. You could also join business networking communities to make valuable connections.
A research business is great for work at home moms because they can do most of the work and promotion from home. It also provides a great deal of flexibility. If you are good at digging up reliable information, research could be a profitable and enjoyable home business for you.
Want to learn more about starting your own home-based Internet Research business? Click here to instantly access your step-by-step guide.
There are many services that translate well into home businesses. One of the main reasons that many moms want to work from home is flexibility. A research business provides the ultimate in flexibility, and allows you to do a large portion of the required work at home.
The Internet is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That means that any research that you can do online can be done whenever you wish. You can work after the kids are in bed, before they get up in the mornings, or even during the day. Research can always be put on hold while you’re cooking meals, giving baths, or playing a game of hide and seek. It will be there when you get back to it, ready for you to pick up where you left off.
You will likely be working with deadlines, but the ability to work at the time of day that is best for you is a huge asset when you’re a mom. As long as you take your deadline into account, you can easily work your research around the rest of your life.
Another good thing about research is the fact that you rarely have to leave the house to do it. Most of the time, client contact can be done by email. A great deal of information is available for free online if you know where to look. For those things that you can’t find freely, you might decide to invest into subscriptions to some paid online reference sources. Or you can make a trip to your local library to find more free information.
Getting research jobs often requires little or no formal training. While there are some scholarly publishers who desire a researcher with a specific college degree, many clients are content with a demonstrated ability to produce good results. Obtaining testimonials from satisfied customers can go a long way toward convincing potential customers that you are the person for the job.
The Internet provides more than just research opportunities. It also gives you numerous ways to gain new customers. Setting up a website detailing the type of work you do gives potential customers an easy way to learn about your services. Advertising on websites of interest to writers and pay per click search engine advertising are two ways to target your site to the right market. You could also join business networking communities to make valuable connections.
A research business is great for work at home moms because they can do most of the work and promotion from home. It also provides a great deal of flexibility. If you are good at digging up reliable information, research could be a profitable and enjoyable home business for you.
Want to learn more about starting your own home-based Internet Research business? Click here to instantly access your step-by-step guide.
Friday, June 29, 2007
For the Dogs
Our local newspaper today had an article about a man that will be chaining himself to a dog house this weekend. At first I thought it was some punishment that he had been given for animal cruelty. I read the article to find out that he is doing it for a reason and that reason is to show his support for the dogs.
Dogs Deserve Better"As the days become years, many of these dogs sit, lay, eat, and defecate within the same 10-foot radius. Chained by the neck, they exist without respect, love, exercise, social interaction, and sometimes even basic nourishment. They live as prisoners, yet long to be pets."
Mothers Against Dog Chaining is a newly-formed initiative of Dogs Deserve Better, and is led by DDB founder Tammy Grimes and Crystal Sinclair, mother of Makayla Sinclair who was killed by chained Great Danes in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, in October of 2003.
Unchain Your Dog "Imagine being chained to a tree year after year. You watch the door hoping someone will come play. No one ever does. You long to run, but you can only pace. You shiver in winter and pant in summer. Eventually, you stop barking. You have given up hope."
Dogs Deserve Better"As the days become years, many of these dogs sit, lay, eat, and defecate within the same 10-foot radius. Chained by the neck, they exist without respect, love, exercise, social interaction, and sometimes even basic nourishment. They live as prisoners, yet long to be pets."
Mothers Against Dog Chaining is a newly-formed initiative of Dogs Deserve Better, and is led by DDB founder Tammy Grimes and Crystal Sinclair, mother of Makayla Sinclair who was killed by chained Great Danes in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, in October of 2003.
Unchain Your Dog "Imagine being chained to a tree year after year. You watch the door hoping someone will come play. No one ever does. You long to run, but you can only pace. You shiver in winter and pant in summer. Eventually, you stop barking. You have given up hope."
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Surfing again - not what you think
Ok - I went surfing online again today. Well really I didn't, I just read a few emails that have been sitting and waiting until I got the time to read them. One of my favorite newsletters that I get is from The Old Farmer's Almanac. The Old Farmer's Almanac is something that could be found in our home for years and years. We always planted our vegetable garden by the signs. We would even schedule when to have our teeth pulled by the signs in The Old Farmer's Almanac. Since I have grown up and we don't farm to much anymore we don't use The Old Farmer's Almanac too much anymore. I sure know I miss having it around the house. But with the invention of the internet, I can always find it online for my reading enjoyment.
These are some of the wonderful things that you can find in
Just in time for Watermelon season - Nine Ways to Tell if Your Watermelon Is Ripe, Watermelon Punch
Just in time for the 4th of July - Summer Chicken Salad, Summer Time Pasta
And always a delicious dessert Pecan Pie Bars
There are lots more to check out at The Old Farmer's Almanac.
These are some of the wonderful things that you can find in
Just in time for Watermelon season - Nine Ways to Tell if Your Watermelon Is Ripe, Watermelon Punch
Just in time for the 4th of July - Summer Chicken Salad, Summer Time Pasta
And always a delicious dessert Pecan Pie Bars
There are lots more to check out at The Old Farmer's Almanac.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Recent Things I Found Online
I sure know that I can spend hours and hours online. I have got to start limiting the time that I spend in front of the computer and get outside more. It seems like I get a lot done while I am online. Why? Because I have dial up. LOL I click on several links and I wait for them to open. While I am waiting, I have a chance to check a few emails, open a few more links from our local newspaper, take something out for dinner, turn the horses out, put on a load of laundry, hang out a load of laundry, do a few things with the kids, run a few errands and so much more. Once all of that is done, I can finally sit back down to look at the links that I have opened. I save a lot of them to my favorites, so that I can go back and look at them later. Later when I have more time.
Our latest update is that things are going really well with the boys. They have settled in really nicely and our finalization for the adoption is approaching rather quickly. We still don't have a court date but we expect to have one any day now. It will be exciting for all of us. We plan to invite some family and some friends to join us when we go to court to sign all of the final paperwork and the judge can put his/her final approval on our adoption.
Now back to my online adventures. Well I did say ramblings from a country family...LOL
Ok - here are a couple of things that I have come across lately that I think you might like. And hey - if you don't like them, remember you have control, just click on the bright red box in the top right of your screen and close the window.
Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary
If you are interested in posting a flyer in one of your local businesses, you can get the PDF flyer here Flyer
I was amazed at what the Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary is doing for the animals.
I wanted to invite you to join me on Gather. It's FREE. And best of all when you join and get five friends to join, you'll get a $20 Borders Gift Card!
Gather is a social network where people like us can write about and share our interests. The content is great and ranges from politics to cooking, plus you can publish your own articles or photos and comment on others' contributions. We even earn Gather Points just for using the site! You can exchange your points for great stuff like books, CDs, wine, and vacations. Check it out! Hope to see you on Gather.
The Awareness Garden. Honor the women in your life & help grow breast cancer awareness. You can plant an e-flower at The Awareness Garden.
Lowes has a great Money Saving Energy Guide that you can get for free.
Well I guess that is it for now. I am off to bed (finally). I have an early appointment in the morning so I best be getting off line.
Good night everyone - hope to see you around.
Our latest update is that things are going really well with the boys. They have settled in really nicely and our finalization for the adoption is approaching rather quickly. We still don't have a court date but we expect to have one any day now. It will be exciting for all of us. We plan to invite some family and some friends to join us when we go to court to sign all of the final paperwork and the judge can put his/her final approval on our adoption.
Now back to my online adventures. Well I did say ramblings from a country family...LOL
Ok - here are a couple of things that I have come across lately that I think you might like. And hey - if you don't like them, remember you have control, just click on the bright red box in the top right of your screen and close the window.
Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary
If you are interested in posting a flyer in one of your local businesses, you can get the PDF flyer here Flyer
I was amazed at what the Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary is doing for the animals.
I wanted to invite you to join me on Gather. It's FREE. And best of all when you join and get five friends to join, you'll get a $20 Borders Gift Card!
Gather is a social network where people like us can write about and share our interests. The content is great and ranges from politics to cooking, plus you can publish your own articles or photos and comment on others' contributions. We even earn Gather Points just for using the site! You can exchange your points for great stuff like books, CDs, wine, and vacations. Check it out! Hope to see you on Gather.
The Awareness Garden. Honor the women in your life & help grow breast cancer awareness. You can plant an e-flower at The Awareness Garden.
Lowes has a great Money Saving Energy Guide that you can get for free.
Well I guess that is it for now. I am off to bed (finally). I have an early appointment in the morning so I best be getting off line.
Good night everyone - hope to see you around.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Karisma and Kids
You have got to check out the other side of the world. 2 friends that met somehow, someway online and have really hit it off and look forward to reading each others blogs. I think Karisma is just so wonderful and I love reading her blog now that she has finally started one. I love the colors that she has used for her blog. It is awesome - just like her.
Take a trip on the wild side with Karisma...
Karisma and Kids
The ramblings of nutty aussie mama of five very spirited kids, 2 dogs, a cockatiel with attitude, A Rat called Rupert and an Axylotl. Welcome to my world of children, homeschooling, crafting and coastal life in Australia..................
Take a trip on the wild side with Karisma...
Karisma and Kids
The ramblings of nutty aussie mama of five very spirited kids, 2 dogs, a cockatiel with attitude, A Rat called Rupert and an Axylotl. Welcome to my world of children, homeschooling, crafting and coastal life in Australia..................
The Horse and The Ball
I have played ball with all of my horses many times. I just happen to pick up one of the kids ball last Friday and put it in with the horses. It is one of the big balls that has a handle that a child can sit on and bounce. Pretty cool invention. Well 2 of my horses thought it was pretty darn neat. They weren't very keen about sitting on it and bouncing. LOL But they liked to touch their nose to it and try to figure out if they could eat it. My 3rd horse - hmmm...well he thought it was some giant bouncing horse eating critter. There was no way this darn thing was going to touch him. He just walked away from it and avoided it. That was his way to say "hey giant bouncing horse eating critter, you will not eat me".
Now add a child on his back. Not good. The ball spooked the horse and he did a little buck, it's actually called a crow hop. Well off comes the child. Our 11 year old just laid across the horses back with his feet up in the air and rolled right on over and off of the horses back. Yep - a small fracture in the left wrist. There was only a little pain that evening and that night, no swelling. We thought, well it is only bruised and sore. Come the next morning there was a little bit of swelling. Off to the emergency room we went, where we spent 5 hours and walked away with a splint and a recommendation to see another doctor on Monday.
Monday - sure enough there is a hairline fracture in the left wrist. A hard cast was put on the wrist and now he has to wear it for almost 4 weeks.
Swimming sure is going to be difficult, but he loves to swim so much it doesn't matter to him.
Now add a child on his back. Not good. The ball spooked the horse and he did a little buck, it's actually called a crow hop. Well off comes the child. Our 11 year old just laid across the horses back with his feet up in the air and rolled right on over and off of the horses back. Yep - a small fracture in the left wrist. There was only a little pain that evening and that night, no swelling. We thought, well it is only bruised and sore. Come the next morning there was a little bit of swelling. Off to the emergency room we went, where we spent 5 hours and walked away with a splint and a recommendation to see another doctor on Monday.
Monday - sure enough there is a hairline fracture in the left wrist. A hard cast was put on the wrist and now he has to wear it for almost 4 weeks.
Swimming sure is going to be difficult, but he loves to swim so much it doesn't matter to him.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Stressing out the ancestors
I can imagine our ancestors are rolling in their graves right now. Why? You may ask. Well this week, I have had the pleasure of not only sick children, but sick pets as well. While our ancestors may have taken their children to a doctor, if they could afford to, they would not have taken their pets, and especially not a rat. My goodness, fancy having a disease carrying rodent as a pet. Unthinkable! Disgusting! Indeed I have had this reaction from many people in this day and age as well.
I took the captain to the doctor on Saturday as she has been unwell for nearly a month, with flu symptoms. Every time she seems to get better, it hits her again. Her ears were sore and her throat and she was basically miserable. Did they give her an antibiotic though? No of course not. Its a virus, go home and sleep it off. This is the typical reaction of most doctors these days. There was wide debate a few years ago over whether or not to give antibiotics as they believed that people were becoming immune. I understand this view, however, I am not one of those parents who takes my child to the doctor every time they sniffle or cough. I wait until there is a secondary infection or if they are not getting better. I am not one to panic. Needless to say the child is still sick and has missed quite a bit of school this month.
Now when it comes to the pets, they cant wait to prescribe an antibiotic now can they? Rupert the rat, yes the rat, is on antibiotics because God forbid, he has a cold. I don't for one second believe he has a cold, he actually has allergies. (a bit like the captain) He sneezes if we touch him or he comes into contact with anything new. He vigorously washes himself, every time we have the audacity to touch him. The vet however, (I think he had never seen a rat for consult before) was scared to desex him as he believed the sneezing was a cold. Hense the antibiotics, were prescribed and are being administered twice daily via a dropper. Medicating a wriggling rat is no easy feat, I can tell you. I have to wrap him in a small towel and then try to get the dropper into his mouth. He does not feel the need to oblige me either. He clamps his little mouth shut and throws his head from side to side. Just like a little child would.
Maxi also went to the vet, she has a tumour on her face, which needs to be removed. She also has arthritis in her back leg and had to have her nails cut as one of them had grown round. The vet told me this is quite common but it has never happened to her before. She got off this week with just pain killers for the arthritis.
She will be going back in a few weeks to have the tumour removed.
Can you see my ancestors rolling in their graves right now? Imagine spending all that money on animals and vermin. Go Figure....
I took the captain to the doctor on Saturday as she has been unwell for nearly a month, with flu symptoms. Every time she seems to get better, it hits her again. Her ears were sore and her throat and she was basically miserable. Did they give her an antibiotic though? No of course not. Its a virus, go home and sleep it off. This is the typical reaction of most doctors these days. There was wide debate a few years ago over whether or not to give antibiotics as they believed that people were becoming immune. I understand this view, however, I am not one of those parents who takes my child to the doctor every time they sniffle or cough. I wait until there is a secondary infection or if they are not getting better. I am not one to panic. Needless to say the child is still sick and has missed quite a bit of school this month.
Now when it comes to the pets, they cant wait to prescribe an antibiotic now can they? Rupert the rat, yes the rat, is on antibiotics because God forbid, he has a cold. I don't for one second believe he has a cold, he actually has allergies. (a bit like the captain) He sneezes if we touch him or he comes into contact with anything new. He vigorously washes himself, every time we have the audacity to touch him. The vet however, (I think he had never seen a rat for consult before) was scared to desex him as he believed the sneezing was a cold. Hense the antibiotics, were prescribed and are being administered twice daily via a dropper. Medicating a wriggling rat is no easy feat, I can tell you. I have to wrap him in a small towel and then try to get the dropper into his mouth. He does not feel the need to oblige me either. He clamps his little mouth shut and throws his head from side to side. Just like a little child would.
Maxi also went to the vet, she has a tumour on her face, which needs to be removed. She also has arthritis in her back leg and had to have her nails cut as one of them had grown round. The vet told me this is quite common but it has never happened to her before. She got off this week with just pain killers for the arthritis.
She will be going back in a few weeks to have the tumour removed.
- Cost of Child seeing the doctor: $55
- Cost of Medicine for child: $16 cough medicine only
- Cost of Ruperts visit to vet $50
- Ruperts medicine $25
- Maxis vet visit $50
- Maxis medicine $25
- Maxis operation estimate $160
- Ruperts operation $100
- Bellas operation $250 + medicine
Can you see my ancestors rolling in their graves right now? Imagine spending all that money on animals and vermin. Go Figure....
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Pay Attention
Kids! Gotta love em!
Have you ever tried your best to get your kids to pay attention? Of course you have. Some lessons just seem like the hardest learned. If that makes sense. LOL
Here is our story about paying attention.
Mowing season has finally arrived now that we are getting some rain. We take care of our property and also my mom's property. She has a small yard (1 acre) and it really is pretty easy to mow. Every year, it seems like, I am the one that starts off mowing. I always have to make sure the mower has oil and fuel and so on and so on. If there is a problem I try to fix it, if I can't...Well that is the job for Superman. And every year I always have to start out with a dead battery. It really isn't a big issue, I just pull out the jumper cables. It can get a bit tricky though because the battery is under the seat. The seat has a safety switch that makes the mower shut off when you get off the seat. Hmmm...I think, now how in the world can I put the jumper cables on my SUV battery and then put them on the mower battery while keeping the seat down, while trying to crank (start) the mower. Yes, I have quiet a dilemma here.
Ok - I got it. I look around the seat area of the mower, find the safety switch, figure out just how it works and now just to bypass the darn thing. I found a piece of Sycamore tree bark and wedged it between the contacts. Safety switch is now bypassed. Jumper cables all hooked up and I am ready to turn the key. About mid way between my SUV and the lawn mower, I hear electricity and my middle son holler. Sparks are flying and it is so darn funny, I really thought I would fall on the ground laughing. Needless to say he had gotten on the mower and sat on the seat. This caused the metal on the seat to touch the jumper cables giving him a shock. It is almost as if he flew off the mower.
No harm was done to anything or to anyone. I simply said while I was laughing, "Now you know why you should pay attention". He defiantly agreed.
Have you ever tried your best to get your kids to pay attention? Of course you have. Some lessons just seem like the hardest learned. If that makes sense. LOL
Here is our story about paying attention.
Mowing season has finally arrived now that we are getting some rain. We take care of our property and also my mom's property. She has a small yard (1 acre) and it really is pretty easy to mow. Every year, it seems like, I am the one that starts off mowing. I always have to make sure the mower has oil and fuel and so on and so on. If there is a problem I try to fix it, if I can't...Well that is the job for Superman. And every year I always have to start out with a dead battery. It really isn't a big issue, I just pull out the jumper cables. It can get a bit tricky though because the battery is under the seat. The seat has a safety switch that makes the mower shut off when you get off the seat. Hmmm...I think, now how in the world can I put the jumper cables on my SUV battery and then put them on the mower battery while keeping the seat down, while trying to crank (start) the mower. Yes, I have quiet a dilemma here.
Ok - I got it. I look around the seat area of the mower, find the safety switch, figure out just how it works and now just to bypass the darn thing. I found a piece of Sycamore tree bark and wedged it between the contacts. Safety switch is now bypassed. Jumper cables all hooked up and I am ready to turn the key. About mid way between my SUV and the lawn mower, I hear electricity and my middle son holler. Sparks are flying and it is so darn funny, I really thought I would fall on the ground laughing. Needless to say he had gotten on the mower and sat on the seat. This caused the metal on the seat to touch the jumper cables giving him a shock. It is almost as if he flew off the mower.
No harm was done to anything or to anyone. I simply said while I was laughing, "Now you know why you should pay attention". He defiantly agreed.
Professional vs Mom and Dad
One night last week our middle son came to us and said that everything under the bathroom sink was wet. Of course it's bedtime when this happens. Just one more thing to keep us all from getting a good nights sleep. LOL
And yes, I am (as usual) the first one to arrive on scene. Sure enough, everything under the bathroom sink was wet. It wasn't wet enough that anything was damaged, just some swollen rolls of toilet paper and a few towels that were damp. The damage could have been bad but the toilet paper and the towels saved the day.
I start examining the situation under the sink. In the doorway of the bathroom were 3 boys that wanted to know just what was going on. It kinda reminded me of our "Pulling Teeth" experience. There wasn't a drip that I could see, so I felt around on all of the pipes until I found the culprit. It was the drain pipe, better known as a Pee Trap. I know silly word and that is exactly what the boys thought.
I checked all of the fittings, found one a little loose and gave it a good turn. This fixed the problem. Over time things just kinda work loose or they just get used more often. All of the boys had to ask questions and add in their suggestions and comments on everything that went on. Our oldest boy said that he had read about a Pee Trap once in a Home Improvement book, but it was a trained professional that did the work, not a mom and dad. I loved that little comment. Our boys are starting to see that mom's and dad's are pretty darn smart.
Once again we saved money instead of calling out a plumber. Check things out before you call a professional. But then again you might just be able to call a mom or dad.
And yes, I am (as usual) the first one to arrive on scene. Sure enough, everything under the bathroom sink was wet. It wasn't wet enough that anything was damaged, just some swollen rolls of toilet paper and a few towels that were damp. The damage could have been bad but the toilet paper and the towels saved the day.
I start examining the situation under the sink. In the doorway of the bathroom were 3 boys that wanted to know just what was going on. It kinda reminded me of our "Pulling Teeth" experience. There wasn't a drip that I could see, so I felt around on all of the pipes until I found the culprit. It was the drain pipe, better known as a Pee Trap. I know silly word and that is exactly what the boys thought.
I checked all of the fittings, found one a little loose and gave it a good turn. This fixed the problem. Over time things just kinda work loose or they just get used more often. All of the boys had to ask questions and add in their suggestions and comments on everything that went on. Our oldest boy said that he had read about a Pee Trap once in a Home Improvement book, but it was a trained professional that did the work, not a mom and dad. I loved that little comment. Our boys are starting to see that mom's and dad's are pretty darn smart.
Once again we saved money instead of calling out a plumber. Check things out before you call a professional. But then again you might just be able to call a mom or dad.
The Day Has Come
After finding our little Blue Jay and nuturing him along, the day has come to set him free. Some people have ask if we would be able to set him free and return him to the wild. Our answer...Of course we will. When we rescue any critter from harms way, our long term goal is to return them to the wild. Our short term goal is to nuture them to the strength that they will be able to survive on their own, the way Mother Nature intended.
This picture is just a few days after we found the baby bird. There are just a hint of tail feathers.
This is the day that I opened the bird cage with the intention of releasing him back to Mother Nature. There certainly are a lot more tail feathers now.
Once I took him out of his bird cage, he wanted to fly around the room. It wasn't easy holding onto him to get these pictures. All of us were so happy that the baby Blue Jay had survived and was able to b
e released.Little Baby Blue Jay, how beautiful you have become.
These pictures were taken during the time that we had the Blue Jay. He loved to sit on our shoulders while we walked around the house. For about the first week that he rode on someone's shoulder his grip was almost non-existant. After the first week you could really feel the strength in his feet has he gripped our shoulder or our finger. We didn't let him ride very much on our shoulders because we have cats and dogs in the house. One little leap could have been fatal.
It was a beautiful day when we released him. We released him at the spot where we found him. I held him on my finger and when he was ready to go, he just took off. He flew into a section of woods that fronts our property. He perched on a tree limb and we watched him for about 10 minutes. After all of the kids walked away, I walked over close to the fence and I told the beautiful little bird that if he thought he was not ready that he could come back to me and I would keep him safe. He leaped from branch to branch and seemed very happy. I was sad when I walked away, because I would miss him. I was also happy that I had saved his life and I could return him to the wild where he belongs. Saving and raising the Blue Jay was a very wonderful experience for our family.
Keep the Families in Your Prayers
Here is the latest updates on the fire that claimed the lives of 9 Firefighters.
9 Firefighters
9 Firefighters
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
9 Firefighters and Their Families
As I opened our local paper today, I held my breath when I saw this article S.C. warehouse fire kills 9 firefighters.
It always saddens me when anyone that helps keep others safe loose their lives. My family will keep the families of these Firefighters in our thoughts and prayers.
It always saddens me when anyone that helps keep others safe loose their lives. My family will keep the families of these Firefighters in our thoughts and prayers.
More storm warnings
Well it looks like we are in for more storms tonight. They are forecasting winds at up to 120km per hour. The last storm was only 70km per hour so you can imagine we are not looking forward to it. If you don't here from me for a few days you will know why. I am praying the power doesn't go out tonight again. Its bad enough being cooped up in the house for so long.
The washing machine and dryer as well as the air conditioner having been working overtime trying to catch up. We have had to bring all the wet washing inside and hang it in front of the air conditioner. So the lounge room looks more like a laundry room.
It was supposed to start around midnight tonight, but the winds have just started blowing outside already, it is now almost 5pm and dinner is in the oven so I hope the power at least stays on long enough for it to cook through.
I had been meaning to post some more pictures but blogger doesnt seem to want to upload my pictures the last couple of days. Im not sure why but it just keeps loading and loading and getting nowhere.
Anyway, take care everyone. Have a great week.
The washing machine and dryer as well as the air conditioner having been working overtime trying to catch up. We have had to bring all the wet washing inside and hang it in front of the air conditioner. So the lounge room looks more like a laundry room.
It was supposed to start around midnight tonight, but the winds have just started blowing outside already, it is now almost 5pm and dinner is in the oven so I hope the power at least stays on long enough for it to cook through.
I had been meaning to post some more pictures but blogger doesnt seem to want to upload my pictures the last couple of days. Im not sure why but it just keeps loading and loading and getting nowhere.
Anyway, take care everyone. Have a great week.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Magic Tree House
I recently packed up my boys and my gift card and off we headed to the city. My gift card was from Mothers Day and it was at my very favorite store. Barnes and Noble Book Store. I love that store. I bought myself a couple of books and of course I had to buy the boys each a book.
As I was browsing around, I came to an area in the childrens section that talked about earning free books. Of course I had to run down a sales person and find out immediately what this was all about.
Here is what I found out -
Summer Reading in The Magic Treehouse For every 8 books that your child or children read, they will get a free book from Barnes and Noble Book Store.
Since I found this out, the boys have not left me alone about reading. They come to me and say "Mom, can I read to you now." And of course I say yes. What adult in their right mind would turn down a child asking to read?
As I was browsing around, I came to an area in the childrens section that talked about earning free books. Of course I had to run down a sales person and find out immediately what this was all about.
Here is what I found out -
Summer Reading in The Magic Treehouse For every 8 books that your child or children read, they will get a free book from Barnes and Noble Book Store.
Since I found this out, the boys have not left me alone about reading. They come to me and say "Mom, can I read to you now." And of course I say yes. What adult in their right mind would turn down a child asking to read?
Karisma, I will miss you!
I have to say that I will miss Karisma very much. I have grown very attached to her and her ranting and raving. I know that we are only a blog away and I look forward to keeping in touch through our blogs and through email.
Congratulations on your blog!
Congratulations on your blog!
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Karisma finally Blogs
Hi everyone,
Just wanted to let you know that I finally started a blog of my very own. I thought maybe I should as I have started posting more and more. I will still post here at Love Country Living but will save my longer ramblings for over there.
You can visit my new blog at Karisma and Kids
Just wanted to let you know that I finally started a blog of my very own. I thought maybe I should as I have started posting more and more. I will still post here at Love Country Living but will save my longer ramblings for over there.
You can visit my new blog at Karisma and Kids
Thursday, June 14, 2007
A story for thought
I really enjoyed this site, it gives you a lot to think about.
http://www.firethegrid.com/eng/home-fr-eng.htm
http://www.firethegrid.com/eng/home-fr-eng.htm
Dinoboys Dilemma
During the storm last weekend when we had no power. Dinoboy and Surferboy had a conversation that went like this....
DB: "Dad, can you warm my cereal up in the microwave?"
SB: " Mmmmm No!"
DB: With a very serious look on his face..." But dad it only takes a minute"
SB: "But I can't"
DB: "Dad your mean, its cold, I need it warmed up, I can't reach" He stomped his feet and became really cranky.
Everyone started laughing, and then his little face lit up with knowledge " Oh the microwave needs power doesn't it?" CLEVER BOY
DB: "Dad, can you warm my cereal up in the microwave?"
SB: " Mmmmm No!"
DB: With a very serious look on his face..." But dad it only takes a minute"
SB: "But I can't"
DB: "Dad your mean, its cold, I need it warmed up, I can't reach" He stomped his feet and became really cranky.
Everyone started laughing, and then his little face lit up with knowledge " Oh the microwave needs power doesn't it?" CLEVER BOY
It's raining again!
Well, after a couple of days of the sun shining and the water receding, it is raining again. We had planned a trip to Sydney tonight to see a show but have decided we better stay home. I am afraid to leave the children just in case we get flooded again, which is looking very likely. The teens are disappointed as they had offered to babysit and it was their very first opportunity to spend the night alone and prove their grown up status. (We are pretty boring people, don't get out much) I am more concerned that the power will go off again and they will burn the house down with the candles which are looking a little bereft after last weeks effort at lighting our way. Not that we don't trust you guys but accidents do happen. The smoke alarms have been beeping with low batteries and I haven't had a chance to replace them yet. Im hoping to dash to the shops this afternoon and replenish supplies before we get stranded high again. Surferboy has gone surfing, would you believe? It is freezing cold but he says he has to get into the water as he hasn't been for over a week. It all seems so unreal, we have been in a drought for the last 8 years or so and on high level water restrictions.
The cleanup is still underway from last weekends storms and it looks like the water will be rising again. The prediction is for the rain to last all weekend with more strong winds predicted. We have spent the week indoors due to the cold conditions and are all starting to go a little stir crazy. Even with the air conditioner running I feel like my bones are frozen stiff and am finding it hard to get motivated to do anything. Other than schoolwork with the boys and cooking dinner each night, washing dishes etc I have been a pretty boring person. I haven't even felt like crafting which is highly unusual for me.
We had previously planned a holiday further north for this time of the year and now Im regretting that we decided to leave it till July/August. We could have been outdoors having fun instead of cooped up. Oh well thats life. Im looking forward to going soon though, after all this I think we all need a nice break. I have decided that I am definately a summer person.
On the lighter side of things, last night on the news, there was a story of a family that got up in the morning to find a huge cow in their backyard swimming pool. She was standing there quite unconcerned about her plight. A rescue mission was launched and after much pulling and pushing she was finally coaxed out of the pool and returned to her owners. Maybe she was just taking a much needed bath after all the sloshy muddy flood waters?
Anyway have a great day everyone!
The cleanup is still underway from last weekends storms and it looks like the water will be rising again. The prediction is for the rain to last all weekend with more strong winds predicted. We have spent the week indoors due to the cold conditions and are all starting to go a little stir crazy. Even with the air conditioner running I feel like my bones are frozen stiff and am finding it hard to get motivated to do anything. Other than schoolwork with the boys and cooking dinner each night, washing dishes etc I have been a pretty boring person. I haven't even felt like crafting which is highly unusual for me.
We had previously planned a holiday further north for this time of the year and now Im regretting that we decided to leave it till July/August. We could have been outdoors having fun instead of cooped up. Oh well thats life. Im looking forward to going soon though, after all this I think we all need a nice break. I have decided that I am definately a summer person.
On the lighter side of things, last night on the news, there was a story of a family that got up in the morning to find a huge cow in their backyard swimming pool. She was standing there quite unconcerned about her plight. A rescue mission was launched and after much pulling and pushing she was finally coaxed out of the pool and returned to her owners. Maybe she was just taking a much needed bath after all the sloshy muddy flood waters?
Anyway have a great day everyone!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
A few pictures of the storm
This photo is courtesy of our local newspaper, this house is in the Newcastle area further north. All farms and properties in this area were hit worst.
This is Cameragirls friends house, they thankfully just suffered from a few broken tiles.
This photo was taken by Cameragirl the day the waters started to recede, there are actually more houses behind the yellow one, totally engulfed by the lake. These houses back onto the lake (their backyards back onto a reserve and pathway, so you can imagine how far up the water came. The water here came further up the street about six houses up. This is down the bottom of the hill from in the next street from us.
This picture was taken on the day we finally got our power back. In our section of the power grid this tree was the culprit, it had fallen on a power pole and pulled out the lines.
This house is just one street over from us. As you can see the car was a squashed. This particular tree was split at the base, others were totally uprooted and some just dropped large branches. All caused a lot of damage to property. I still havent uploaded my own photos yet. I will try to post them soon.
The weather forecast is for more rain this weekend. Hopefully it will not be too heavy. As the water goes down the damage bill is mounting and the clean up is beginning. The insurance companies are already debating whether they should blame people for living so close to water or pay up. The politicians are arguing it was a freak storm so they should, but there is always a catch isnt there. I hope for all the poor people effected that they do pay up so that they can rebuild or repair. The government has estimated the repair costs into the billions.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Summer Camp
And they're off!
I finally get a little bit of a break. Well that is what I call it anyway. The boy's started 4-H Summer Day Camp today. They are taking Sports Fishing I. The boy's have signed up for 3 camps this Summer. All of the camps are day camps. This means that I drop them off in the wee hours of the morning (8am) and pick them up everyday at 4pm. This morning they were so excited and full of energy that is was hard for me to contain them.
I have always dreamed of sending my kids to camp. Even when we didn't have children, I dreamed of someday, someway being able to send our children to a Summer Camp. Today that dream came true, not only for me, but for my husband and for our 3 boy's. Of course they have never been to anything like this before. We have talked to all of them about maybe joining something like Boy Scouts or 4-H. Anything to get them involved in that represents something positive in their lives. Before Friday they really didn't care anything about Boy Scouts or 4-H. But that was before they heard all of the wonderful things that the 4-H does and has. That was before they went with me to sign them up for camp. Now it's all a different story.
My middle child said that there was no way he was going to join the Boy Scouts because he did not want to stand in front of Walmart and sell cookies. He was so serious and funny when he said it. My husband and I tried our best to explain that it is the Girl Scouts that sells the cookies in front of Walmart. He still thinks that it is the Boy Scouts. LOL
Ever since Friday all of the boy's are all wanting to join 4-H. They want to join all the camps, clubs and groups that 4-H has to offer.
Me - well I am certainly enjoying my little quiet time. A great big thank you to my husband for allowing me to have this time to and for myself. Another great big thank you to our Gardian Ad Litem for making 5 people's dream come true. Thank you Superman! Thank you Ms. Maggie!
I finally get a little bit of a break. Well that is what I call it anyway. The boy's started 4-H Summer Day Camp today. They are taking Sports Fishing I. The boy's have signed up for 3 camps this Summer. All of the camps are day camps. This means that I drop them off in the wee hours of the morning (8am) and pick them up everyday at 4pm. This morning they were so excited and full of energy that is was hard for me to contain them.
I have always dreamed of sending my kids to camp. Even when we didn't have children, I dreamed of someday, someway being able to send our children to a Summer Camp. Today that dream came true, not only for me, but for my husband and for our 3 boy's. Of course they have never been to anything like this before. We have talked to all of them about maybe joining something like Boy Scouts or 4-H. Anything to get them involved in that represents something positive in their lives. Before Friday they really didn't care anything about Boy Scouts or 4-H. But that was before they heard all of the wonderful things that the 4-H does and has. That was before they went with me to sign them up for camp. Now it's all a different story.
My middle child said that there was no way he was going to join the Boy Scouts because he did not want to stand in front of Walmart and sell cookies. He was so serious and funny when he said it. My husband and I tried our best to explain that it is the Girl Scouts that sells the cookies in front of Walmart. He still thinks that it is the Boy Scouts. LOL
Ever since Friday all of the boy's are all wanting to join 4-H. They want to join all the camps, clubs and groups that 4-H has to offer.
Me - well I am certainly enjoying my little quiet time. A great big thank you to my husband for allowing me to have this time to and for myself. Another great big thank you to our Gardian Ad Litem for making 5 people's dream come true. Thank you Superman! Thank you Ms. Maggie!
It Can Happen To You
As careful as I try to be...It happened to me. What has happened? Someone managed to get into my ebay account, one of my email accounts and my paypal account. I am a suspicious person by nature. I am always careful and try to stay out of harms way.
I have no idea how it happended to me. But I know it can happen to you, too.
Here are my suggestions.
1. Do not use the same password for all of your accounts.
2. Change your password.
3. Be extremely cautious and suspect everyone and every website.
4. Do not give any information over the internet or over the phone.
5. Get a call back number and call the company or person back before you give out any info.
6. Be careful!
I am hoping that who ever got into those accounts of mine did not go any deeper and find out any more info. Regardless, I am changing every password and every account that I can think to change.
I have no idea how it happended to me. But I know it can happen to you, too.
Here are my suggestions.
1. Do not use the same password for all of your accounts.
2. Change your password.
3. Be extremely cautious and suspect everyone and every website.
4. Do not give any information over the internet or over the phone.
5. Get a call back number and call the company or person back before you give out any info.
6. Be careful!
I am hoping that who ever got into those accounts of mine did not go any deeper and find out any more info. Regardless, I am changing every password and every account that I can think to change.
Living without Power
Imagine life as you know it suddenly takes a backward turn. Imagine life without electricity, hot water, computers and even a fridge. Imagine a wind so strong you think your house will blow away and rain so heavy that the lake that was once so low is now devouring peoples homes inch by inch. Imagine having no telephone to call your loved ones. No stove to cook your dinner, power lines down all over the place and worse still very large trees sprawled on top of friends and neighbours cars and houses. And imagine it all happens in the second week of winter. Can you imagine all this? If so welcome to our lives this week.
On Friday morning, most people were looking forward to a long weekend, the Queens birthday a national holiday down under. Instead we awoke to extremely strong winds and rain like we havent seen here for over thirty years. At 1pm our power went down, it was a novelty at first, usually if this happens its up and running a few hours later. Not this time. This time it lasted for three whole days and very cold nights. The storm covered areas from Northern Sydney, through the central coast of NSW, up to Newcastle which is a few hours north of Sydney. We were smack in the middle of it all. I think I mentioned before we live on the coast, and are surrounded by beaches and many lakes winding through the suburbs. It is a semi rural area, you can drive from the beach, to the suburbs and into farmland within 15 minutes. We are in one of the smaller suburbs with a large lake down one end of our street and bushland at the other, there are many gum and eucalyptus trees throughout the houses as well. While these trees are native and very beautiful they are notorious for dropping large branches unexpectedly and you guessed it, in a bit storm they just go right ahead and fall down and crush our houses and cars and sometimes people. It is against the law for us to trim these trees without special permission from the local council and in most cases unless the tree is actually dead you are refused. So you can imagine the results and they mayhem that has come with this storm.
The first and second day we went for a drive to survey the damage and take photos. Then we bought takeaway for dinner and ate by candlelight. We spent the evening playing scategories and went to bed early. Gameboy and Dinoboy were scared so spent the next few nights on a mattress in our bedroom. The second day we found out that the flood waters were rising even though the rain had stopped. We also found out that my sister had power, only half of her street had it and the rest of our surburb didnt. The children quickly ran round to her place and tried to move in. We took most of our meat and some perishibles round and put it in her freezer and had dinner there everynight. With our 8, my mum and dad, my brother, his wife, baby and there boarder all piled into this tiny little house for mealtimes, it was quite funny really. Every night was early to bed in the dark with nothing to do, by day three tempers were beginning to flare.
Yes, we were inconvenienced and yes our children were going stir crazy without the usual mod cons, I was basically dying for a hot shower and finally got one this morning after four days of no water. We were the lucky ones, we didnt sustain any damage to our house or our car, we still had a roof over our heads with a dry floor and the beds were warm even if the house was freezing. We live on the top of the hill NOT down near the lake.
While we were feeling grubby and a yes I'll admit it, a little sorry for ourselves, others houses were submerged at the bottom of the street and the people had to leave there homes. Others again were stranded in their homes, especially the rural areas where they had no help for days. They not only had the danger of fallen electricity wires in the water but deadly snakes trying to get to dry land, in this case peoples homes. One family called the local news station as they were stranded on the top floor of their home, their dog had been bitten by a snake and was very sick and they couldnt get him to a vet. Another family lost their lives when the road collapsed beneath their car, a young couple and their two little girls, along with their nephew, it is such a tragedy. Another man left his car thinking he could swim to the edge but was swept to his death. An elderly man was woken by a large tree falling through his roof and pinning him to his bed. A friend of camera girls in the next street also had a large tree fall on their house but thankfully it only caused some damage to the roof tiles. There were many more houses in this state and fences crushed just in our little town alone.
Ninjaboys family were at a funeral when the storm hit, two hours drive south of their home, they came out to find their car and everyone else had been swept away and were totally submerged all in the matter of an hour. They were stranded and had to spend the night at someone elses home that also attended the funeral. Keeping in mind, the majority of areas had absolutely no power, ours included, we are seriously thinking of installing a gas run generator and stove in case this ever happens again. We couldnt even use our telephones as they are hands free and connected to the power.
As I type this there are still over 29,000 homes without power, in the Hunter region whole towns were evacuated, as the flood waters were still rising yesterday and expected to peak during the night. The little town of Toronto is one of the worst off with the sewerage systems breaking down, causing a health risk. Some areas are not expected to get their power back for another week, our little suburb got off lightly with just three days and only one row of houses being submerged. Other suburbs further down the coast were flooded several streets up from the lakes and people had to get out by boat. For two days we couldnt leave our little town as the roads in were flooded so the majority of people had to stay in their cold dark homes and stick it out.
I think the children have learned some valuable lessons this weekend. Not to take everything in life for granted and to appreciate how easy our lives really are. Without power we can not cook, keep our food fresh (we had to throw out a lot of food), call our families on the telephone, wash our clothes (I think its going to take a week to catch up with that one), have hot showers everyday, and god forbid the children cannot get onto the internet or play their computer games. Tragic! Needless to say when the power came on at 1.20pm yesterday afternoon, their was much rejoicing and a quick race to each of their computers, sadly for them the internet wasnt up for another couple of hours LOL. I had a good giggle at that and suggested they all help me vaccuum and do some of the washing etc. They went into hiding really quickly, funny that. Oh well, I did manage to get some help from the girls and I was happy just to be able to do something and to cook a hot meal. And once the kids were all fed, and in bed, I ran upstairs and checked my own email and visited my favourite blogs, it was bliss, and it was warm again!
All the grownups and teens are happy to be clean again, (now the hot water finally reheated) not that we did anything to get dirty, but we felt it just the same. Now I just have to catch Dinoboy and Gameboy who did not mind missing there baths one bit, and clean them as well and all will be perfect.
No guarantees though, we have been warned the power could go out again as they are still chopping down trees and removing powerlines and waiting for the flood waters to go down to survey the rest of the damage. Our heroes the local fire brigades, the ses, the council workers and the Electricity workers have been fabulous and working round the clock trying to help people. Our thanks and appreciation go to them all, without them we would be in serious trouble.
I will try and post some of the photos I took, in the next few days, I havent actually even uploaded any to computer yet, so not sure how to do it. I need to read the friendly manual and start learning to be a bit more techno savvy. My children know more about computers than I do. LOL. And I am still actually learning how to use the camera (WELL it wasnt as easy as it looked).
Take care everyone, keep smiling, I will. And whoever stole Alta's money out there in internet world, shame on you! You have some very bad Karma coming your way Im sure. There is no excuse to steal from another person no matter how hard up you think you may be, there is always someone else out there who is worse off than you. For every greedy selfish person in the world I believe there are many more kind and generous people to make up for them. Please don't be suspicious of everyone Alta, just be careful and aware in the future. I truly believe the majority of people on this earth are good regardless of race , religion, lifestyle or beliefs. Some people just have more lessons to learn and spiritual growth to catch up on. If we become negative, we bring negativity to ourselves. Even you have a lesson to learn by your loss by how you deal with it, and the person who stole from you has a much larger lesson to learn from his or her deceit.
I learned this lesson many years ago and now if I lose something, I just sigh "Oh Well" and get on with the next thing life throws at me. Life is full of setbacks, surprises, losses and storms but it is also full of wonder, joy, new beginnings, friends, family and amazing gifts from God. Everyday brings something new and exciting and many new lessons to learn and enjoy.
Some good advice for everyone.......
* Work, Love and Live everyday as if it was your last.
* Be Happy and Keep Safe.
* Always look at your glass as being half full rather than half empty and you will enjoy your life more.
And now that Ive finished being the regular Pollyanna of today, Please find it in your hearts to pray for all the people down here in the not so sunny Australia who are still not out of the woods that they are safe and well and that there is no more loss of life or harm to anyone. God Bless.
On Friday morning, most people were looking forward to a long weekend, the Queens birthday a national holiday down under. Instead we awoke to extremely strong winds and rain like we havent seen here for over thirty years. At 1pm our power went down, it was a novelty at first, usually if this happens its up and running a few hours later. Not this time. This time it lasted for three whole days and very cold nights. The storm covered areas from Northern Sydney, through the central coast of NSW, up to Newcastle which is a few hours north of Sydney. We were smack in the middle of it all. I think I mentioned before we live on the coast, and are surrounded by beaches and many lakes winding through the suburbs. It is a semi rural area, you can drive from the beach, to the suburbs and into farmland within 15 minutes. We are in one of the smaller suburbs with a large lake down one end of our street and bushland at the other, there are many gum and eucalyptus trees throughout the houses as well. While these trees are native and very beautiful they are notorious for dropping large branches unexpectedly and you guessed it, in a bit storm they just go right ahead and fall down and crush our houses and cars and sometimes people. It is against the law for us to trim these trees without special permission from the local council and in most cases unless the tree is actually dead you are refused. So you can imagine the results and they mayhem that has come with this storm.
The first and second day we went for a drive to survey the damage and take photos. Then we bought takeaway for dinner and ate by candlelight. We spent the evening playing scategories and went to bed early. Gameboy and Dinoboy were scared so spent the next few nights on a mattress in our bedroom. The second day we found out that the flood waters were rising even though the rain had stopped. We also found out that my sister had power, only half of her street had it and the rest of our surburb didnt. The children quickly ran round to her place and tried to move in. We took most of our meat and some perishibles round and put it in her freezer and had dinner there everynight. With our 8, my mum and dad, my brother, his wife, baby and there boarder all piled into this tiny little house for mealtimes, it was quite funny really. Every night was early to bed in the dark with nothing to do, by day three tempers were beginning to flare.
Yes, we were inconvenienced and yes our children were going stir crazy without the usual mod cons, I was basically dying for a hot shower and finally got one this morning after four days of no water. We were the lucky ones, we didnt sustain any damage to our house or our car, we still had a roof over our heads with a dry floor and the beds were warm even if the house was freezing. We live on the top of the hill NOT down near the lake.
While we were feeling grubby and a yes I'll admit it, a little sorry for ourselves, others houses were submerged at the bottom of the street and the people had to leave there homes. Others again were stranded in their homes, especially the rural areas where they had no help for days. They not only had the danger of fallen electricity wires in the water but deadly snakes trying to get to dry land, in this case peoples homes. One family called the local news station as they were stranded on the top floor of their home, their dog had been bitten by a snake and was very sick and they couldnt get him to a vet. Another family lost their lives when the road collapsed beneath their car, a young couple and their two little girls, along with their nephew, it is such a tragedy. Another man left his car thinking he could swim to the edge but was swept to his death. An elderly man was woken by a large tree falling through his roof and pinning him to his bed. A friend of camera girls in the next street also had a large tree fall on their house but thankfully it only caused some damage to the roof tiles. There were many more houses in this state and fences crushed just in our little town alone.
Ninjaboys family were at a funeral when the storm hit, two hours drive south of their home, they came out to find their car and everyone else had been swept away and were totally submerged all in the matter of an hour. They were stranded and had to spend the night at someone elses home that also attended the funeral. Keeping in mind, the majority of areas had absolutely no power, ours included, we are seriously thinking of installing a gas run generator and stove in case this ever happens again. We couldnt even use our telephones as they are hands free and connected to the power.
As I type this there are still over 29,000 homes without power, in the Hunter region whole towns were evacuated, as the flood waters were still rising yesterday and expected to peak during the night. The little town of Toronto is one of the worst off with the sewerage systems breaking down, causing a health risk. Some areas are not expected to get their power back for another week, our little suburb got off lightly with just three days and only one row of houses being submerged. Other suburbs further down the coast were flooded several streets up from the lakes and people had to get out by boat. For two days we couldnt leave our little town as the roads in were flooded so the majority of people had to stay in their cold dark homes and stick it out.
I think the children have learned some valuable lessons this weekend. Not to take everything in life for granted and to appreciate how easy our lives really are. Without power we can not cook, keep our food fresh (we had to throw out a lot of food), call our families on the telephone, wash our clothes (I think its going to take a week to catch up with that one), have hot showers everyday, and god forbid the children cannot get onto the internet or play their computer games. Tragic! Needless to say when the power came on at 1.20pm yesterday afternoon, their was much rejoicing and a quick race to each of their computers, sadly for them the internet wasnt up for another couple of hours LOL. I had a good giggle at that and suggested they all help me vaccuum and do some of the washing etc. They went into hiding really quickly, funny that. Oh well, I did manage to get some help from the girls and I was happy just to be able to do something and to cook a hot meal. And once the kids were all fed, and in bed, I ran upstairs and checked my own email and visited my favourite blogs, it was bliss, and it was warm again!
All the grownups and teens are happy to be clean again, (now the hot water finally reheated) not that we did anything to get dirty, but we felt it just the same. Now I just have to catch Dinoboy and Gameboy who did not mind missing there baths one bit, and clean them as well and all will be perfect.
No guarantees though, we have been warned the power could go out again as they are still chopping down trees and removing powerlines and waiting for the flood waters to go down to survey the rest of the damage. Our heroes the local fire brigades, the ses, the council workers and the Electricity workers have been fabulous and working round the clock trying to help people. Our thanks and appreciation go to them all, without them we would be in serious trouble.
I will try and post some of the photos I took, in the next few days, I havent actually even uploaded any to computer yet, so not sure how to do it. I need to read the friendly manual and start learning to be a bit more techno savvy. My children know more about computers than I do. LOL. And I am still actually learning how to use the camera (WELL it wasnt as easy as it looked).
Take care everyone, keep smiling, I will. And whoever stole Alta's money out there in internet world, shame on you! You have some very bad Karma coming your way Im sure. There is no excuse to steal from another person no matter how hard up you think you may be, there is always someone else out there who is worse off than you. For every greedy selfish person in the world I believe there are many more kind and generous people to make up for them. Please don't be suspicious of everyone Alta, just be careful and aware in the future. I truly believe the majority of people on this earth are good regardless of race , religion, lifestyle or beliefs. Some people just have more lessons to learn and spiritual growth to catch up on. If we become negative, we bring negativity to ourselves. Even you have a lesson to learn by your loss by how you deal with it, and the person who stole from you has a much larger lesson to learn from his or her deceit.
I learned this lesson many years ago and now if I lose something, I just sigh "Oh Well" and get on with the next thing life throws at me. Life is full of setbacks, surprises, losses and storms but it is also full of wonder, joy, new beginnings, friends, family and amazing gifts from God. Everyday brings something new and exciting and many new lessons to learn and enjoy.
Some good advice for everyone.......
* Work, Love and Live everyday as if it was your last.
* Be Happy and Keep Safe.
* Always look at your glass as being half full rather than half empty and you will enjoy your life more.
And now that Ive finished being the regular Pollyanna of today, Please find it in your hearts to pray for all the people down here in the not so sunny Australia who are still not out of the woods that they are safe and well and that there is no more loss of life or harm to anyone. God Bless.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Learning to Blog
I have been having lots of fun... learning to post on this blog. I started off quite well and then last week, every time I tried to log in I was booted off because of my password. I had it changed several times but to no avail.
Hopefully, I have more luck this time and it will keep working.
We have had a fairly hectic week, the first week of winter down here. Its been cold and everybody has been sick with some virus or another. Most are on the mend now with just a couple of stragglers to catch up. We have had lots of soup and not much school or housework getting done.
Yesterday was my birthday, because we were not all that well we decided to have lunch out rather than dinner. Nobody went to school and my mum and sister joined us. We had a nice time and as we were all full I didnt have to cook dinner for anyone.
I finally got a new camera (a Nikon D40) and am very keen to start using it. My old camera died about 6 months ago so I was a little sad without it. This one however is more complicated for me and I will have to learn how to use it properly LOL (its not quite the point and shoot my old camera was). Im sure the kids will work it out before me and teach me anyway! Dinoboy has already given me a few pointers as he has had a turn on Cameragirls and thinks he has it all worked out. (Hers is a more expensive version than mine though so a little different).
Well I am going to sign out now and see if I can sign back in. Wish me Luck........
Hopefully, I have more luck this time and it will keep working.
We have had a fairly hectic week, the first week of winter down here. Its been cold and everybody has been sick with some virus or another. Most are on the mend now with just a couple of stragglers to catch up. We have had lots of soup and not much school or housework getting done.
Yesterday was my birthday, because we were not all that well we decided to have lunch out rather than dinner. Nobody went to school and my mum and sister joined us. We had a nice time and as we were all full I didnt have to cook dinner for anyone.
I finally got a new camera (a Nikon D40) and am very keen to start using it. My old camera died about 6 months ago so I was a little sad without it. This one however is more complicated for me and I will have to learn how to use it properly LOL (its not quite the point and shoot my old camera was). Im sure the kids will work it out before me and teach me anyway! Dinoboy has already given me a few pointers as he has had a turn on Cameragirls and thinks he has it all worked out. (Hers is a more expensive version than mine though so a little different).
Well I am going to sign out now and see if I can sign back in. Wish me Luck........
Fun and Free
I think that I mentioned a couple things about me. I want to Homeschool our boys, however, I haven't quiet made the decision to Homeschool them yet. One thing that I have just started is that I am Summer Homeschooling our boys.
I started out with my 3 boys. Their ages are 9, 11 and 13. This Monday (yesterday) the 3 neighbor children joined us for class. Their ages are 7, 9 and 11. Our public school has all of the children in the following grades: 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th. So you can see the range of grades that I am working with. We all read together as a group. Even the younger ones read aloud in class. I have even assigned them spelling words that will benefit all of the age ranges and grade levels. They all help each other out and I try to get them to learn a little patience while listening to each other. It isn't easy but they are all trying and that is part of learning.
I have found some wonderful links where you can print out free worksheet. Our boys really enjoy working together as a group and working on their own with the worksheets.
Some of these websites are free to join, others thre is a fee. I find free worksheets and information on all of the links.
Find the 50 State Capitals.
Lots of Free items at School Express
Songs for Teaching
Free Math Worksheets
Great printables
Teacher Stuff
The online reading program Reading a-z.com
Connections Academy—the free K–11 public schooling program that students attend from home.
Sites for Teachers
Free Educational Worksheets
Learning Page
abc teach
Printable Certificates
Teacher Planet
Carl's Corner
edHelper.com
Also - I wanted to invite you to join me on Gather, a social networking site where people like us meet, talk, and stay in touch -- all for free. The content is great and ranges from politics to cooking, plus you can publish your own articles or photos and comment on other's contributions. We even earn Gather Points just by using the site! You can exchange your points for great stuff like books, CDs, wine, and vacations. Check it out! Hope to see you on Gather.
I started out with my 3 boys. Their ages are 9, 11 and 13. This Monday (yesterday) the 3 neighbor children joined us for class. Their ages are 7, 9 and 11. Our public school has all of the children in the following grades: 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th. So you can see the range of grades that I am working with. We all read together as a group. Even the younger ones read aloud in class. I have even assigned them spelling words that will benefit all of the age ranges and grade levels. They all help each other out and I try to get them to learn a little patience while listening to each other. It isn't easy but they are all trying and that is part of learning.
I have found some wonderful links where you can print out free worksheet. Our boys really enjoy working together as a group and working on their own with the worksheets.
Some of these websites are free to join, others thre is a fee. I find free worksheets and information on all of the links.
Find the 50 State Capitals.
Lots of Free items at School Express
Songs for Teaching
Free Math Worksheets
Great printables
Teacher Stuff
The online reading program Reading a-z.com
Connections Academy—the free K–11 public schooling program that students attend from home.
Sites for Teachers
Free Educational Worksheets
Learning Page
abc teach
Printable Certificates
Teacher Planet
Carl's Corner
edHelper.com
Also - I wanted to invite you to join me on Gather, a social networking site where people like us meet, talk, and stay in touch -- all for free. The content is great and ranges from politics to cooking, plus you can publish your own articles or photos and comment on other's contributions. We even earn Gather Points just by using the site! You can exchange your points for great stuff like books, CDs, wine, and vacations. Check it out! Hope to see you on Gather.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Baby Blue Jay Alive and Well
We have had our little Baby Blue Jay for 5 days now. He certainly is growing and doing really well. I was concerned the first day that I found him because I really didn't think that he would
make it. His little feathers are growing so fast it seems that I can almost watch them grow. It won't be long now and off he will be flying.
Here are some pictures that I took of him today. While I wait for the pictures to upload, I just went in to feed him. He was on the bottom of the cage and when I opened the door he jumped up to the opening in door. How awesome! I put him on my shoulder and took him in to my husband. The bird tried to leap/fly onto my husbands desk. He is really making progress!
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