Have a good Christmas?

I hope that everybody had a great Christmas and traveled safe. Everything was so quiet on the roads, it was lovely. I caught up with some friends and then relaxed as best as one can. Back to work, another wombat collected today so life is back on track:). Been doing some brush cutting as well, where a ride on cannot get to. Cannot deprive it of every bit of cutting now can I:)???

Today Madam J has her first birthday party to go to. She will no doubt walk everywhere and shout at everybody and everything - she loves doing that:). Today I also have to start doing my business again, also need to sort out photographs and get some more up. I need a 30 hour day. Time to go and check on the new wombat. I think he is an older wombat. He would have been big if he was in condition. We can fix him, no doubt about that but need to give him time to show us what he is capable of when he is better. Need to think of a name for him. I'm starting to struggle with names. I try and name them to their circumstances so I can remember their history. Will keep thinking.....

I'm in heaven.....

I am naming our next child Husqvarna *lol* (only joking mom):). Oh my goodness, WHAT a difference to do the mowing of acres and acres on a ride on mower as opposed to all by brush cutting. Wow oh wow. I feel like a little kid in a toy store, truly. Okay, so maybe 'city' orientated people might not understand this but when you live on a rural property (we live in the bush), summer brings all sorts of things to think about and with all the rain, we haven't had this much grass grow in literally years. I feel like I have my garden back:).

And has anybody noticed all the different birds around this year? I am seeing birds which haven't come this way for at least 3 years. And normally we find a lot of emaciated parrots, very thin birds of prey, you name it. Not this year. Not one bird so far (hold thumbs).

And with the rest of Canberra and surrounds, we braved the shops this morning. Early as we could but oh please, somebody remind me next year not to do this again!!! Its just madness at Christmas time. Its almost like the shops are going to close for a month. Its only a day folks:). The trolleys which we saw, piled so high. Shelves of certain things, completely empty. You do know of course that by the 28th December you will be able to buy your first Easter Eggs, that always cracks me up:). Its 6:09pm and I'm actually sitting at the computer typing. Wombats have been done, all enclosures that is, now its just a matter of swopping during the night. Madam J is fast asleep after her big day out and Bella is passed out at my feet. I might be able to sit down after dinner and read my book:). Off to make the most of the quiet. 

Ride on mower it is

That is it, no more brushcutting for 3-10 hours every two weeks, no can do. I cannot keep up with the grass growth anymore, I admit defeat (not easily I might add) but somehow Sleepy Burrows will get a ride on mower for Christmas. Every time I finish on one end, I have to start on the other the next day!!! Its crazy all this rain. Never seen it like this up here. Its wonderful of course but I've never had to keep the growth down like this:). And as I'm typing this, major storms approaching so adios for now:).

Rabbit proof veggie boxes?

Righto, so I have done the right thing and bought raised garden beds to prevent the cute little bunny rabbits from taking the veggies which I am growing. These are placed in front of the verandah outside my bedroom window. Now, what I did NOT envisage happening was what I saw last night.

I could not sleep last night, no matter how hard I tried. I stopped looking at the clock at 1am as it was just making me cranky. About 2am the sensor light came on and I heard the familiar pitter patter of wombat feet on the verandah. I waited to see who it was, could either be Vegimite or Boney Bum. It was Veg. The next thing I saw was Veg's bum, leaning over the verandah, helping herself to the carrots from the vegetable garden!!! Of course she didn't take one, oh no, at least 4 were sampled and one finally was good enough to take with her:). Lets see what happens tonight as I've no doubt Boney Bum will discover them now too. The verandah will be busy tonight as we've had lots of rain today, over 35mls so the verandah becomes the dry place to be on these nights. This could mean you may find your work boot half way up the drive, Bella's dog bed in a different position (much to Bella's disgust), rearranging of any items on the deck - always a pleasure to have them around:).

Tomorrow I have to venture into the Christmas shopping playground which I am dreading slightly. Its the week before Christmas, why do we always do this, leave it until the last minute:)?

5am Sunday start:)

Why not? Madam J reckons make the most of the day clearly. All the wallabies and the kangaroos are in the creek and valley area this morning. You don't need a weather man if you observe animals. This tells us that the weather is going to get very windy and rain. They always move into the creek for protection as they cannot hear danger with the wind and rain. Its more sheltered in the valley area. So you see, there is the weather prediction for today:).

I went for an early morning walk and for anybody observing or doing wombats, I can say for certain now that the size of wombat cubes do not reflect the size of the animal. I used to go walking and find huge cubes and think it must be a large wombat - no not correct. Since then I've been observing the wombats in the wild and the ones in rehabilitation and its no reflection on the size of the animal. Also, the female cubes tend to be larger than the males. Whether its the food intake, metabolism, who knows. You can learn so much from the bush and just walking around. Of course in the cooler weather the snakes don't come out and aren't as active so its a good opportunity:). 

Do you snack at night time???

I don't know WHY I hadn't thought of it before. I am a very bad culprit of having something sweet late at night, sometimes during the night as well. Normally I grab chocolate. Not good. But now I have been having one of my dutch chocolate health shakes - why oh why did I not think of this before???

Christmas is almost here....

This year has gone so quickly, it is unbelievable. All the shoppers out and about, people bustling everywhere to get things done. Where has the year gone??? And where has summer gone folks? Madam J has a gorgeous pool from  her grandmother and its been too cool to use it *lol*. I certainly am loving the cooler summer but we have even had the fire on at night time to take the chill off and it is December:). Hopefully Christmas day will be hot enough for Madam J's pool to go up:).

Obstacles are like mountains.  When you look up at the mountain from the valley, it seems so big and difficult to climb.

Instead of looking at obstacles from below, try taking an eagle's eye view.  From this viewpoint, you can take in the whole picture, see where you are and come up with a strategy to overcome the obstacle.

Don't be overwhelmed by the mountains, just remember obstacles are hurdles for you to fly over.

Chips?

And it is surely quite normal for a female to consume almost 1kg of hot chips, with sea salt and vinegar *lol*!

Waste of time!

Sometimes in life you realise (albeit a little too late) that you have wasted a LOT of time on somebody. So what do you do? Move on and up I reckon. A bit hard at times but necessary. As I've said before, one chapter closes, another opens.

Before I forget, if anybody uses a farrier in the Gundaroo area called 'Kingy' - suggest you look for another one. You wouldn't want a man who beats dogs and breaks their legs to be looking after your horses - I don't need to say anymore here. 

No sign of Genie, she must be happy having gone off down to the creek. I remember hearing a wombat screaming at 4:15am, it must have been her as she was a screamer. Another two arriving shortly at Sleepy Burrows - ha, far from sleepy!! There is a feeding station which is put out each night. The reason I do this is so that I can monitor the ones released or the ones which come by for help. This has happened a lot in the past and I've been able to treat them accordingly or take them back into care while they recover. Wombats are very cruel amongst themselves for territory. Having watched them in the wild encounter each other and having run down to stop a fight which was getting out of hand far too often, by having them encompass the house territory as part of their range, it helps me monitor more closely. Last night there were 3 females around at one time. The dynamics can be very interesting to watch. I'm sure Boney Bum doesn't have a voice box as I have never heard him/her scream at the others, he/she only ever bolts but never a sound comes out of this wombat. Daphne appears to be the dominant female at the moment. All the others scream and/or bolt when they sniff her or hear her coming. I can only imagine that Forrest is the dominant male now that Titch is gone. But then you can never be certain. Will have to watch and see.

Relaxing Sunday...

Waking up, with a 1 year old wanting a WARM bottle and no electricity, that is not the most relaxing way to start your day. You can of course try explaining that you have to heat up water on the bbq and it may take a while but that just makes the screaming increase. We eventually got there, Madam J not impressed in the slightest.

Then I got a call to go and put a kangaroo down because some arsehole has hit it during the night and not bothered to call anybody to put the animal out of its misery. I know there are people out there who hate and don't care about kangaroos - that is the same attitude I have towards red necks and if I could put the ones that I meet out of their misery, you would not have to ask me twice. But come on, leaving an animal all smashed up and alive!!!!! Where do you people come from? What breeding makes a person think that is okay? Do you even consider that somebody elses morning has to start with killing it? That in itself would be too much for a red neck to comprehend wouldn't it? I just wish some people would not breed, its that simple.

So now that the electricity is back on, coffee it is then up the back to see how the wombats faired overnight and this morning with the rain. I can see from the deck that the burrows close to the house are flooded and by the rain gauge its been a good dose of rain. Ah, and of course the grass is going to grow grow and grow:).
PS: Still cannot put my hands flat on the floor with legs straight like J but will strive to do so soon!!

And then I've gone out to find the female wombat called Genie ironically has escaped overnight. If the wombats can escape, the motto is they deserve their freedom BUT it doesn't always mean they are ready to take on the wild wombats. She can come back if she needs to, that is the great thing about living here. And they are smart enough to do that if they need help or get injured from other wombats. She certainly picked her night, hope she can swim!

Vacumn now gone!

Righto, so puppy dog has decided that the vacumn  cleaner was a foe and has made it redundant. Thanks Bella!!! Guess who is going shopping for a new one tomorrow - not Bella! Would be good if I could send her. Remember how I said that you never have to plan a weekend out here? Yesterday, a quiet day was not quiet at all, today was the same. And tonight will be interesting as there are storms about which always means more wombat activity on the deck. Woke up to a wombat peering into the bedroom window 2 nights ago, not sure that I knew this one. It ran off quite quickly once the sensor light came on. There is more activity than normal about but that could be because of the rains and amount of food in and around the creek. Still no sign of Barney although....judging by the cubes near the enclosure area, he might be around.

I know it is not everybody's cup of tea but watching an animal that you have raised and rehabilitated, 7 years on down at the creek is quite humbling. Wombats (and all wildlife) have such a damn hard life, for them to survive and thrive is just the best feeling. When the sensor lights come on at night, it normally means somebody is about and I go out and see who it is. All the wombats rehabilitated here are dehumanised as the final stage so you cannot get close but you can observe from a distance. Its great. 

Interesting day....

Today will bring challenges for me, that is for sure. Lets see how high the hurdles are:). Another customer who I am helping to lose weight, I love my little business. Its great to be helping others achieve something. Makes it all worthwhile.

How flexible are you?

So, has anybody ever watched a 1 year old and how flexible they are? How many adults out there can stand up, straight legs and hands flat on the floor, OR can you lie on your back and put both feet behind your ears *lol* - makes me feel very old suddenly:). Give me 5min and I'll get over myself:). Have made mental note though to try and be able to put hands flat on the floor with straight legs by new year!!!

My new store is up*****

Yay, finally, its up and running. Have a look. So many great things you can do for yourself. Get up and do something positive today:). www.dls.greatshapetoday.com.au/goland4
There is now truly no excuse for people who want to lose weight not to do anything about it, honestly. 

Oh dear Santa!

Santa dear Santa. Took Madam J to have her photo taken with Santa. Gave the poor man such a filthy look - he said (because J is only 1) 'I think you had better sit next to me' - I thought he had said I think you had better sit on my knee!!!! Sorry Santa!

As one door closes (finally) another one opens, just feels so so good. Just loving life right now, so much good going on in it. Went to our xmas bbq today, what a great bunch I work with. Great bunch of idiots (and I know they would understand this comment, minus our Dr Ben of course) but they know how to relax and have a great time. Thanks guys for a fantastic afternoon (even though you all began at 10am!!!). I don't need to say anymore *lol*. Pete, you do however worry me to no end:) but then you wouldn't be Pete would you???

Great day business wise as well. So good to see people finally taking stock of their health. As I keep saying to them, if you don't, nobody else will. Rely on yourself and you cannot lose. Now is that lose or loose - I always get that wrong. When you feel good yourself, everything else just falls into place and you can cope with just about anything - that is what I believe and I'm living proof.

This sums it up for me, just love this
LIVE WITH PASSION
To live life with passion is to discover what invigorates and inspires your soul.  Make time to identify your passion. 

When you find your passion, it's then possible to find direction and focus to do what you love. You don't have to focus on just one passion.  Why not, do a little bit of everything that you love?

When you live with passion, you gain enthusiasm for life as a whole and as a result you're better able to persist through life's challenges.

Wombat play time roles around again. Bella fast asleep after her big day out, Madam J asleep as well. Quiet house, how will I cope *lol*.....