Rainy Days..........

Today we are lucky enough to be staying home as the creeks are up again...1oomls since last night. There was still water in the creek from the last rain 2 weeks ago, so it hasn't taken much for them to come down.Robbie and Cassandra have been getting there assignments all up to date. They of course got onto the subject of home schooling and why can't they do it like there older brother and sisters...Why not indeed only the timing is not right at this point in time...
Lets bake was my real answer to them. We made a cake then our version of a savory loaf off bread or pull-a-part for lunch, it was nice and warm real comfort food in this weather.

and of course lots of knitting in between...The weather is wet and cool and wonderful, I hope you are getting much needed rain where ever you are...

Blessings
Mandy

A time for sitting....

This is the back garden all nice and green, I don't know why it always stays green as I never water it. I Don't believe in wasting precious water on grass. What I wanted to show you is the paddock behind..........it is dry here, very dry...Our local rural fire brigade have already stared to burn off in the area in readiness for the warmer weather. Our house tank has been empty for a couple of weeks and I've been pumping water from the shed tanks...That is a job I have to do again today. I don't mind doing it because it means we have water..Others around have to buy there water in... Yesterday the arch was made...This is for the Kiwi fruit, so it is nice and solid. I have always wanted an arch here, and am pleased with how it finishes the area of..It is made from some old star pickets 6 of them, then the poly pipe fitted over the pickets. The poly pipe is from the shed and then the mesh is from out in the paddock that we found....Price $oo.oo now that's why I love it. All recycled materials.....

The report from the Doctors wasn't good, he said that there is nothing more they can do to help, I knew this in my heart but hearing the Dr say it, well, that makes it all the more real doesn't it? This is where you find Greg most days in the sun on the veranda, he is taking the news better than I thought which is a blessing. One thing we are learning is that life is a gift, and we must live life to the fullest each day.....even just sitting and talking drinking coffee and tea is living it to the fullest for Greg so there is plenty of sitting for me and not much doing....but I would rather sit for this time than do...

There is lots of changes to happen in our lives and things are going to be tough and different, but that to is life....We have finely put our business up for sale, it has been hard for Greg to let it go, now we pray that it will sell fast....

Wishing you all a blessed day...

Mandy

Electricity and Water......

Thanks for all the comments regarding yesterdays post....

We all have different ideas and this is what is making every-thing so interesting I think. Today you can see we are discussing water and electricity. Lets look at electricity first shall we.. I would encourage you look at http://www.down---to---earth.blogspot.com and read Rhonda's post on meter checking. She talks about reading your meter and keeping an eye on how much you are using..Yesterday our meter man came to read our meter, this gets done every 3 months. I will be taking note of my account and I have set a challenge to lower the amount of power we use in the next 3 months.

Ways I will be saving is.......

Doing larger loads of washing instead of small ones....Turning of lights when not in use. I already use the new fluorescence bulbs.....Turning of appliances when not in use...computer, T.V. D.V.D players...There are probably different ways that others can cut down as well air conditioner, heating, clothes dryer, hot water. I am interested to see if our hot water usage has changed as our new washing machine heats its own water...How cool is that.. Let me know of any areas that you think are important that I have missed..

Water..

Water is an area that we didn't have to change at all...Living out of town we have only ever had tank water to use. Our children have always shared bath water youngest to the oldest. Now only the two boys have baths and they share the same water. The girls all shower now but know to have quick showers. We have always had a water saving head on our shower, a couple of years ago I got this you bute tap that goes between the shower bar and wall fitting. With a flick of this you turn your water off, shampoo your hair, shave your legs then when you flick it back on the water is the same temp..We have saved even more water with this. Above is the house tank, last year we put 2 big tanks on the big shed in the paddock and these are always full. Fresh rain water will never be a problem for us again. One thing I do want to do is collect my grey water, now it goes into the grass and gardens. We need a new septic and I want to get a Home Sewage Treatment System. These are upwards of $6000..I think they are well worth the output though as then you have water a plenty for the garden. Now many of you probably live in town, you can read your meter and try to cut down of your water. Many town homes here are being built with tanks on them, this can run the washing machine, toilet and even showers..

How is your no spending week going? I know next time I will need to plan things better and may-be not do it in school holiday time. So far though we haven't spent' so far so good...

Blessing to all

I'm looking forward to reading the different blogs on today's subjects....

Mandy