Big Floods & Big Bangs.

"To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else". Emily Dickinson.

Mizzling around here again but the cloud formations are glorious & the colours delicate & fey.

Not so out west. The mythical inland sea is in all actuality a fact; at least for the present. The Condamine has over run its banks ~ along with all the minor rivers, creeks, rills, brooks & billabongs; ditto most of the major waterways. 56% of the state is presently under water. I think the drought might have broken. The images are amazing. Thousands of hectares of land a sloshy muddy brown as this sea of water moves inexorably southwards, spreading over the floodplains from the gulf into N.S.W ~ & hopefully into the Murray River to deal with that river's saline problem. You wait long enough even our inland will provide water views!

This is bull dust country. The red dust is usually everywhere. This is country that has been in serious drought for over a decade. Now it's all under water. For the farmers this is seriously good news despite the fact some of them are now airlifting sheep onto higher ground & all that is keeping the water from their own doors are the levy banks they built to keep it out.

When it rains like this the desert suddenly flowers abundantly. OK, so I don't need the crocodiles floating down the local street, washed out by the floods, & I'm not keen on snakes looking for somewhere dry to hole up in my house but the hordes of swans & pelicans that suddenly arrive, the insect life & wildlife that suddenly sprouts for such a short season is fascinating & abundant. Go google. It hasn't flooded like this in 100 years.

Meanwhile I am waiting with anticipation for the release of Under Hill 60 ~ presently being shot in Townsville. Now I need to say I did a bit of caving back in the day. I know about chimneys & squeezes & the proper meaning of, "Boy, it's dark down here." I know how the earth smells when you're burrowed into it & the smell of fear & while I will never be the proud flag waving Aussie at the ANZAC day parade stories like Hill 60 give me goosebumps. The sheer unmitigated courage of these men blows my mind.

Hill 60 is in Belgium. Well, it was. It's a crater now. It was part of the German's front line in WWI. Some bright spark, no doubt an engineer, decided burrowing under the German lines & blowing them up was a really top~notch idea. Unfortunately a German engineer had the same bright little idea so here you had, all along the western front [eastern if you belonged to our allies] 2 underground armies burrowing away like mad to try & blow each other to blazes. Now the fact they got a bunch of miners to be so absolutely mad is one thing but these poor sods then lived in terror of the Germans suddenly breaking through into their trenches ~ which they were rather wont to do. In the ensuring scuffle what little light they had tended to go out & the only way to tell friend from foe was by their epaulets! Yikes!

My blood runs cold just thinking about it but it gets better. Having burrowed under the German lines these guys then had to lug some phenomenal amount of dynamite along those tunnels & set the charges! The Aussies dug their tunnels & set their charges & blew the Germans to Kingdom Come. 10,000 Germans died in the blast. The sound could be heard across the channel in London. It caused the ground to squeeze together trapping German soldiers at their posts in the trenches. It probably changed the whole course of the war because those Germans who escaped dropped back behind the second & then the 3rd line of defence opening a huge breach in the German defences for the Allies to surge through.

And these brave, brave men who dug those trenches & lugged the explosives & set those charges were labeled sewer rats & cowards! I get irate about Gallopoli, which was a mistake & British stupidity at its finest, because the colonials were expendable, but we've gone about celebrating that for the best part of 100 years. Time to remember that this was a European war & fought for the most part on European soil & that our boys, average age 42, changed the whole outcome of that war.

[Yes, people, I'm totally anti~war, but bravery & courage in the face of insurmountable odds is always to be admired, however misplaced] And for the record, there is a farm house near what's left of Hill 60 that remains uninhabited to this day. Underneath it's unprepossessing exterior remains the charges that for some indefinable reason did not discharge on that memorable day. Probably a good thing given how big the bang was.

A Little School.

"Schooling confuses teaching with learning, grade advancement with education, a diploma with competence, and fluency with the ability to say something new. ~ Wendy Priesnitz"

In all the years we've homeschooled I think this is the worst start we've ever had to a year. Ditz & I have been sick on & off all term. We are unmotivated ~ & hormonal. We've had things happen that have knocked us for 6 emotionally & recovery has been slow. My curriculum supplier has decided to suddenly be extremely unhelpful & Ditz only really likes her bed. It has just been a shocker of a year. If I was a quitter I'd've quit already.

Just as it looked like we might slowly grind into some sort of routine our supervisor rang. Short term. She was coming for her term visit. Term visits mean our supervisor expects to see the results of a term's work!!! Oh my! We were ~ & still are ~ reading. This means almost no written work. Ditz has issues. I don't mind because frankly I don't see the point of making a child whom we all know writes exceptionally well, write out pointless little comprehension exercises. Ditz would rather chat if she must engage at all so that is what we do. We read & chat & at some point I lean really, really hard on Ditz & we produce the three items of work required in each subject each term. Something our umbrella school finds acceptable. Something that drives both Ditz & I crazy. We are erratic. In Home Ec we read & cook. Oops! I photocopied the tests for Ditz to take.

Now personally I find our supervisor absolutely wonderful & as she polished off the vegetarian lunch Ditz put together she did remark we had very different sorts of learners. *sigh* Don't we know it. And she did ask rather pointedly what we were going to send her as our term's work. This is what dictation & grammar exercises are for. And tests. And the arty~time~line. Mini~ reports. A little concerted effort & we can produce the required 3 items BUT ~ this is not learning. This is meeting government requirements. Our supervisor knows it too. She also knows Ditz. She has met the immovable math mountain often enough to know I have a real problem in that area. She knows as well as I do that math tutors or math immersion days at the school would be a waste of our time & throwing good money down the gurgler because it is not for want of ability but lack of desire on Ditz's behalf. Ditz has been begging to ditch math for 2 years & our supervisor is a math teacher. The irony is pretty.

So Ditz & I spent a harried few days writing a book report; a science experiment, doing tests & otherwise meeting our enrolment conditions so the school can tell the government my child is actually learning something. I hoped it was enough. Then came the phone call...

I don't have a new learner & I'm not a beginner homeschooler. I'm pretty secure about how we go about things & I know how my Ditz learns best ~ however difficult & awkward that might be. The math is impossible simply because no~one writes the sort of curriculum that works for a Ditz. Honestly. If I had any idea about math myself I'd write it! So I girded my loins thinking I was going to have to battle the school on my Ditz's behalf & when you've had a child in PS who manages to score a big fat zero on his comprehension test in grade 11 you're pretty much over the whole *school knows best* thing. [True; my biggest dyslexic. I was still reading half his work to him & helping him pull together his essays]

Our supervisor really is the most wonderful, thoughtful & inspired teacher. She rang to say she could provide a math text that was on money management. Thank heaven. The text we're presently using has all these things we don't even know what they are though in between it works. Ditz happily promptly ditched her math book. Money we can manage. We're good with money. Money management matters. Even Ditz gets this one. She didn't even quibble.

Then there is science. We were using Apologia General Science. I chose it because it is *proper science* as compared to *sort of science* in far too many Christian texts. It began with an overview of the history of science & proper scientific procedure & it was very readable. Unfortunately it is also heavy on the technical language & it lost Ditz pretty early on. We struggled on with it because it really is an excellent curriculum & it gave a good grounding in all the science branches. We finished it last term & now I have a problem. I'm not blowing things up with Ditz. Perish the thought! So no chemistry. Ditz can't do the math for physics even if she was interested; she's not. Neither of us is going to cut things up for biology. It's just not going to happen. No, we're not the scientific sort but we do like science. We like Natural Science & botany. We really enjoy the history part of science & nature study, environmental study ~ that sort of thing but, you guessed it, there's no ready curriculum for any of it & Ditz being grade 10 rather than 10 years old, I have been hunting frantically on the net. This is when having a really different learner really sucks!

My lovely, thoughtful supervisor has actually grasped how Ditz learns best & has suggested a DVD series. Ditz will we rapt! She thinks watching DVDs isn't really school. Long may she think that! I will have to invent an assessment procedure but believe you me this is far easier & less stressful than wading through a curriculum Ditz absolutely hates.

At this point I am finishing up our Sonlight but what I want Ditz reading means I'm actually tweaking quite a lot now because I have To Kill A Mocking Bird & How Green Was my Valley lined up for the child. Our supervisor is more than happy with these choices. She also knows we're really strong in these areas ~well, we've got to be good at something! ~ & hasn't batted an eyelid that I don't actually have any curriculum lined up yet ~ & may not have.

I also have, lost somewhere in the bowels of the computer, something about careers & career choices & work experience. Ditz, who really can be a Ditz, thought if she just said she was going to be a checkout chick the whole thing would go away. It won't & it hasn't. I don't think our supervisor bought that idea for one minute but we had a chat about our Ditz. The musical, arty, creative Ditz who has a CV in the industry & knows people, you know, & when asked tells everyone she's a professional. Yeah. That Ditz. End result ~ some really good ideas to get Ditz through years 11 & 12 with some sort of qualification besides the ability to hit both the top & bottom F! Child care & computer graphics are both good choices for the girl & I will be so much happier being able to move Ditz away from straight academics into areas for which she herself can see a use & a purpose.

I'm not always absolutely thrilled being with an umbrella school but God really has blessed us with our supervisor. She has never been anything but kind & helpful, even when Ditz has taken a snoot & been her most charmingly difficulty self. Her understanding & help as we transition through these final school years is invaluable because by hook or by crook our Ditz will be educated!

Some thoughts on heaven & hell.

"Dr. Werner von Braun, well-known for his part in pioneering the U.S. space program, said that he had 'essentially scientific' reasons for believing in life after death. He explained: 'Science has found that nothing can disappear without a trace. Nature does not know extinction. All it knows is transformation. If God applies the fundamental principle to the most minute and insignificant parts of the universe, doesn't it make sense to assume that He applies it to the masterpiece of His creation -- the human soul? I think it does.'"



There was a funeral yesterday. Ditz wanted to go & I said no. I should have had to take her & if there's one thing I can't stand on this earth it's going to the funeral of a non~believer. Bad enough if they do a completely secular funeral comforting themselves with lies. Infinitely worse if they make claim to Christian promises to which they have no right.



The Lord is my Shephard ~ yes, if I know His voice & have followed His leading all the days of my life. Otherwise what on earth do people think they are saying?! Now I don't even begin to understand the theology of Heaven & Hell & I would never dispute God's right to intervene in the life of one of His creations even at the very last second of life but to trust your eternity to such frail hope strikes me as foolishness. Better outright disbelief than such wishy~washy thinking. If you have not lived your life in such a way as to prepare to spend eternity in Heaven then Heaven could not but be Hell for you & kinder by far to keep you out.



Why? Well, for starters, God is there & no impure thing can enter His presence. Frankly I couldn't stand it ~ but I don't have to. I am clothed in Jesus' righteousness, washed clean by His blood & I will be given a clean white robe to wear instead of these filthy rags. Jesus covers me. I am being made into His likeness. He is my High Priest & advocates for me before the throne of God. God looks upon me through the veil of what Jesus has done to redeem me. If you have children I think you understand how this happens very well. No matter what atrocity the kid's done, judgement is always tempered with mercy because the child belongs to you & you are molding him into the person you hope he will one day be.

I expect I will feel very small & insignificant in Heaven amongst those who wear the martyr's crown & the giants of the faith but I know Jesus loves me as much as He loves them. All that is required of me is that I do that which has been given unto me to do here.

I know something else. Heaven is a real, physical space ~ but it's not going to be much like we imagine it to be unless our imaginings are based on fact. I noticed as I was looking for a pic to illustrate this post how incredibly inaccurate from a biblical perspective most of the pictures were. I know certain things. I know there is a city, I know it has 12 gates of pearl [plain white, black, smokey or pink?] & many mansions, one of which will be mine. I know Jesus is there preparing all the mansions for believers now. In my more idle moments I wonder what God himself has chosen as my colour scheme, how he has set everything out, what He considers to be absolutely perfect for me & what will make me feel instantly at home. There's lots of things I might choose for myself, but what will God choose for me?

I know there is a river & fruit bearing trees, animals & children ~ all talked about in scripture. I know the walls are made of precious stones & the streets of crystal gold. I know there is no temple & no sun or moon because God is there & there is no longer need for these things. Paul says we can't even begin to imagine what the Lord in His mercy & love has prepared for those who love Him. Ahh, see the glitch. Heaven is not for everyone. It's not even for the people who consider themselves good because there is none good, not one, only God. It's not for those who go to church or claim to be Christians. It is for those who have loved God & can bear the weight of His glory because it is borne by Christ Himself on our behalf.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. In our own strength we could never bear it but in the deep places of my soul a silent bell tolls constantly; Come, Lord Jesus; come. And that is why I cannot bear the funerals of non~believers. I have so much hope. I am granted such grace & I have been granted a glimpse of the depths of the love Jesus bears for me to sustain me through the trials & tribulations of this world that it grieves my heart to know others have rejected what has been given so freely & enter through the portals of death so unprepared for whatever meets them on the other side. May the Lord God have mercy on their souls.

Mentors, socialization & the homeschooled child.

Back at the tail end of last year I had the opportunity to chat with a neighbour. We don't have many but we do know them all despite the fact we keep pretty much to ourselves. There are a lot of us so we're a party all on our own.

Our neighbour has known all our kids all their lives & regularly asks after the ones he hasn't seen in a while so when he began telling me what a wonderful daughter I had I assumed, without surprise because it happens a lot, that he was referring to Liddy. He wasn't; he was talking about our Ditz.

Now I know this particular gentleman has a couple of grand~daughters about Ditz's age who visit semi~regularly & I know as there are so few kids round here that Ditz was totally delighted when they first turned up & made friends as fast as possible. She chats with them on MSN. They are Facebook friends; they even Facebooked the dog! I don't think I have ever met these kids properly & I've never yet met either parent but there has never been anything I've considered particularly questionable about the friendship. The girls go to one of the snootier private schools but however secular their world~view it is hardly likely to compete with what Ditz regularly sees & hears backstage despite Alison's best efforts to shield the kids from the worst of it.

I learnt with embarrassment how many of Ditz's more acceptable quirks I take for granted as this distraught grandfather told me how his grand~daughters, who go to such a good school & get the best of everything, barely even acknowledge him, speak only in grunts & are patently bored in his company whereas my Ditz smiles & chats away & remembers what she's been told even months afterwards. I was so sad for him as he told me how wonderful Ditz was & how he wished his grand~daughters were more like her. I was sad & yet I thought how very well they've been institutionalized, trained to adhere only to the peer group, schooled in ignorance towards the older generation. My friend, Seeking, has an excellent post on *upward socialization* & more thoughts on what a different approach homeschooled socialisation takes here.

Having had kids in both the public school & homeschool I know for an absolute fact it is much easier to pass on your values & beliefs when you are not constantly competing with the school. One of the things that shocked me the most when we pulled Liddy out was how rarely she took opportunities, even when they were offered, to socialise with her peers. I know she was very sick as well but there were obvious difficulties coming from a daily situation when she was surrounded by girls her own age to being constantly at home with mummy & a much younger sister but it was quickly apparent she preferred our company & at one point bluntly informed me Ditz was better company & more sensible than her own friends. Given Ditz's nick~name the old mind really boggles.

We tried to compensate because Liddy was pretty reserved back in the days. We dragged my hyperactive, sporty child along to Ditz's art classes & music classes, to bible studies & drama & something wonderful began to happen. Liddy blossomed. It took about 12 months in all but the adults were so thrilled to have the young people join them & be willing to engage they bent over backwards to include them. Ditz, who knew no better, simply took this as her right & due. Liddy didn't but she gradually began to open up. By the time she left school Liddy was this cheerful, forthright, engaging young person who attracted people with her very presence & the beauty of her smile. Not that she's perfect but the homeschooling allowed her to take risks about the sort of person she wanted to grow into without the fear of peer persecution & ridicule.

Who Liddy wanted to be was a soccer missionary to street kids. It has been the desire of her heart for more than 10 years. I have watched her batter it out with God. I have watched God let her exhaust herself battering against Him stubbornly until she cedes to His will but the dream is the one He has placed on her heart & she has never wavered.

Liddy was homeschooled & her love language is quality time. Just spending time with Liddy was never going to satisfy her. She wanted, & expected, better of me than that. I'm a head person so this was exhausting. What evolved was a relationship where a lot of D&M chatting goes on & Liddy has taken that into other areas of her life. Nearly all her church friendships, both on the island & off~island, are the same. As Liddy started to grow deeper spiritually many of our D&Ms were on the things of God ~ & because nearly all her deep friendships are Christian ones, she then bounced those ideas of others. What has happened is a network of Godly friendships with older people as well as her peers, that pray for Liddy daily, who hold her accountable, who support her & share with her but until she went to Melbourne I don't think she'd even heard the term *mentor* before. Asked if she had a mentor Liddy said no ~ & that is true. She doesn't; but she does have many mentors by whatever name she chooses to call them.

As we traverse this no~man's land between leaving the workforce & entering full~time misson I can only marvel at how God has, & is, preparing my daughter for a lifetime of service. The soccer is obvious, but the island, which so many seem to see as a drawback, has been a mission field forever & Liddy knows exactly what it is like to go against the flow of a culture & to stand up for God when those around you only know him as a swear word & a myth. God has even brought Christians into her life who have opposed her calling, don't understand the imperative urging of the Holy Spirit that will not, & cannot, be gainsayed, or think she is too young, too inexperienced, too naive. Liddy is a lot of things; none of those apply. No one amongst us knows the hour or the day when Liddy will finally go to Chile but the consensus amongst those of us who know Liddy really, really well & have held her in prayer for these many years are of one mind in Christ: she will go, sooner rather than later. I also feel God has been preparing my heart to accept that He will do great things for His glory through my girl. To those to whom much is given, much is expected & she can expect to be refined by fire & tempered as steel that she may be a fitting tool for the Master's hand.

This & that.

But At my back I always hear/Time's winged chariot hurrying near...

Time. I squander so much of it & yet have so little of it. It fragments into small pieces as annoying & useless as the small change in my purse yet put all together becomes large expensive chunks. It annoys & frustrates me. I move as though I had all eternity & then some instead of my three score years give or take a month or two. Besides Time isn't really. There's no such thing, not in the grander scheme of things. It's thinking like that that gets me in to trouble.

We've had a busy week ~ which always leaves me a little mentally frazzled: a friend's birthday to celebrate; a homeschool visit; a cyclone to consider; & weekend guests. Theo went into lockdown 24 hours before Ului hit & the area is now without electricity, sewerage, water & has a HUGE clean~up operation. The government, sensibly I think, declared a disaster before Ului even hit, so all the red tape was taken care of. The emergency plans promptly swung into action. I still haven't spoken to Theo but he came through Ului just fine & boy~like is probably hugely chuffed about the whole thing. Yep!

I knew this was a short school term but typically paid absolutely no attention to the calender & simply plodded along doing what we do ~ only I now find work is due in & we have very little paper work. Well, we wouldn't would we? We do a lot of reading & typically do our writing component afterwards. We are still reading so have done no writing. Yikes! Poor Ditz. Our supervisor, who does know us rather well by now, shook her head in despair but did remark I have very different learners! Sadly all too true. Ditz did, however, redeem herself by being responsible for the entire lunch preparing a mixed green salad, nut patties & her wonderful apple crumble. It was impressive & very nice. At least our Home Ec component is obviously working!

In the general frazzle we lost a cat Saturday morning. Expecting Ului to dump at least some rain our way [it didn't] I opened the doors early Saturday morning & left the cats happily perched on the outermost reaches of the verandah staring buddah~like into the far distant cloud banks. Some time later I became aware that there was a cat crying unhappily. As Marlow was happily chopping on my toes the yowls could only be Kirby's.


Feeling a little exasperated because Kirby is in the habit of seeking adventure & then finding he has bitten off more than he can chew & is in need of huge amounts of comfort, I went outside & called him. The howls became more frantic but no cat appeared. I walked to the end of the verandah calling & checking the yard. Desperate, frantic howls of uttermost despair, no cat. A little bewildered I went & checked the other side of the house, still calling, but no answering yowls. I peered into the thick ferns that grow up our hill wondering if he'd ventured into unknown territory again but the howls were definitely coming from around the house. I was getting worried. If Kirby calls it's because he is desperate for his people but not a hair or a whisker could I find though I did manage to wake everyone else in the house & Marlow was hampering my efforts my arranging himself if irresistible motifs around my ankles & threatening to send me sprawling headlong at any moment.

Just as I was about to try the verandah again a very subdued black & white kitten slunk from under our house & scampered towards me. He'd raced to the end of the house I was calling from only to meet a brick wall with no possible way back out & then had to try & backtrack when I changed locations. Silly puss!

Ditz has surpassed herself with desserts this week: chocolate mousse [ the new improved version; just as rich but much smoother & not so grainy as her first effort. She's getting good.]; apple crumble, mmmm; & last night we made lemon meringue pie together. Because time was short I used a bought shell which is never as nice but making sure Ditz got her lemon component together & her egg whites stiff enough to survive the oven took all my attention. Patience is not her strong point & having myself made most of the mistakes common to an impatient cook I made sure her custard was nice & thick. It was a beautiful, beautiful pie & there isn't a skerrick left. Sorry.

Chile is still a "yes" but January rather than August? Not really sure what is going on there but it's all good. We get to celebrate Lid's 21st with her ~ YAY! Liddy gets to do a short hands on course on the Gold Coast ~ we think. Lid gets an opportunity to detox from a toxic work situation & be blessed by God so she can be a greater blessing to those she will serve. Stuff happening but not set in iron yet. Waiting on clarity but Liddy has so much prayer coverage it's not funny. Not just all you wonderful people but her church & our little home gathering & some really formidable prayer warriors!


Finances could be part of the issue but in all honesty the practical aspects float over the top of my head. God has, however, addressed my one & only concern in the most interesting way. Earthquake? Wouldn't bat an eyelash. Tsunami? Ditto. Send my kid to the other side of the world to a country whose language she doesn't speak? No problem. Fundraise? I start running for the hills. Mammon & I have nothing to say to each other. Necessary, yes, but moving right along....The how Lids gets supported was worrying at me because in this area not being the practical sort is no earthly use to her. Hmmm. So OM sent Lid up a book on fundraising. Believe it or not I've already read most of it! Yep. Me! I know. Interesting book. Far less about money than the spiritual principles behind the ebb & flow of money within the kingdom of God. Fascinating. Especially given how much I hate it when churches go on & on about money when I know seekers see that as a money grubbing attitude & are put off. Christians like me are too. Not about money so much as making sure you aren't ceding ground that blocks God from blessing you! Yes, indeed.

And to top off my week? I was sprawled on the green couch last night to watch The Mentalist wit Ditz ~ something I very rarely do because the T.V annoys me so much but I was tired enough to zombie out happily. I was rather flattered when Marlow joined me & curled on my chest purring away like a demented coffee pot. The next thing I knew Kirby was angling for space on top of me as well & both cats cuddled for the duration of the show, albeit with a jealous eye on how much attention the other was getting. Ditz was rather peeved. She had a willing & available lap & both cats shunned hers for mine, not that Ditz is the restful sort. Not at all.


So how's your week been?

Dancing with Ului.

"HURRICANE, n. An atmospheric demonstration once very common but now generally abandoned for the tornado and cyclone. The hurricane is still in popular use in the West Indies and is preferred by certain old-fashioned sea-captains. It is also used in the construction of the upper decks of steamboats, but generally speaking, the hurricane's usefulness has outlasted it."Ambrose Bierce.

There are lots of things I could be doing this morning. Useful things. Practical things. Instead I am contemplating the nature of cyclones & why one is sitting off our coastline at this time of the year. Not wrong exactly, but it is very late in the season.

It's a long way north of us & still a long way out to sea but apart from expecting even more rain the seas are now dangerous even this far south & there was a tragedy yesterday on the Gold Coast at the National Surf Lifesaving Championships. Terribly sad.

Theo, who is working on Hamilton Island further north, is battening down the hatches & preparing for the worst. The outer, low lying islands have already been evacuated but Hamilton should be reasonably safe & certainly the staff are staying.

Apart from rough water, higher than usual tides & another deluge of rain Ului shouldn't affect us too much unless she drops even further down the coast. Mind you, is is overcast & incredibly still here this morning; even Ditz has noticed. The calm before the storm...

A little cat talk.

If you want the best seat in the house ~ move the cat.
The boys are growing...& their personalities are becoming more apparent. What is surprising is how their personalities show. Kirby does this whole Mr Independent thing & he's definitely been the lad itching to get out our door & explore but having got there he shoots for home the first time anything spooks him & he is the one who hides under the couch on Sunday & won't show even a whisker if there are children about.




Despite the fact Marlow is more reserved & requires very gentle handling he has coped much better with the children. He hangs round out in the open on Sundays accepting whatever cuddles come his way though the children's sudden movements will have him cringing. However we invariably have chicken on Sundays & Marlow goes berserk at even the whiff of chicken about the place. Kirby loves his chicken too ~ but not enough to brave a roomful of strange children.

Kirby is our thinker. As part of orienting them to their new surroundings I was taking them outside with me: out the bathroom door to the clothesline; out the living room doors to the verandah; out the front door to the path & garden making sure they knew where the doors were
You know what cats are like. They were skulking about the place for days, bellies almost dragging along the ground, tails in the dirt, noses working overtime & as skittish as all come. As Kirby seemed determined to escape at any cost it seemed wisest to make sure he knew how to get himself back in ~ or at least to a door where someone would spot him. Eventually they were brave enough & interested enough to stay while I wandered in & out. When I wanted them I simply banged a plate. Guaranteed to work every single time. Marlow shot under the verandah, pounded up the ramp & bolted straight for the living room door. Kirby hesitated at the corner of the house before following suite & glanced back at the bathroom door. He knew that was the one he'd come out of. I was fascinated that he realised he had more than one option.

Both the lads are incredibly affectionate & will purr at the drop of a hat. With Kirby though it is always on his terms & he loves to get up under your chin & smooch, which is a little close for comfort. Dearest's beard gets a real workout. Kirby loves it & was fascinated when I trimmed it. Marlow will accept being picked up & cuddled but if he is feeling neglected he sits at your feet waiting patiently to be noticed. Anyone foolish enough to continue to ignore him will suddenly feel the needle fine points of his claws sinking through their pant leg & gently resting on their skin. I tell you, it's a real attention getter!

They are such good mates too though boylike the wrestling matches get out of control at times. Just the same I was taken aback to pull a sharp snaggley kitten tooth out of Marlow's fur ! Using your brother as a teething ring is just a little out there.

Home Economics.

When nothing is valued for what it is, everything is destined to be wasted. Wendell Berry.

The most hits I get on this blog are on the random one I put up about the home ec curriculum we chose to use from Christian Light Publications. That being the case I thought it was probably time to update a review on how we are finding this curriculum.

Being a Mennonite curriculum the basic principle is line upon line, precept on precept. The first two units were very basic for us but a really good chance to review & make sure Ditz did actually know what to do if the grill caught fire, to turn her pot handles, what all the utensils were for & basic baking terminology. Bear in mind this is an American curriculum & if, like us, you are not American, weights & measure are in pounds, ounces & gallons. My house is bi~lingual by default. Most of my recipes are old enough to still be in pounds & ounces so this has not presented a huge problem for us. Otherwise make sure you have a good conversion chart.

Lessons are short. Read a page or two; fill in the blanks in the book, do some practice. This suites Ditz very well. No brain strain. She does actually like to cook so bonus for me! Now we are into our third unit & looking at things like: hidden costs; planning ahead; types of food stores; organizing the kitchen; preparing, serving, cleaning. Some things we already do: gardening & bulk buying. Others ~ well, lets just say I'm not strong on lists & organisation.

At the end of each unit there is a test that reviews the work covered. Unit 4 moves into the realms of menu planning ~ something I have never, ever done. I see the point but so much depends on what I actually feel like eating & have the energy to prepare come tea time. The prac has the planning, preparation, cooking & serving of a main meal. Ditz is already doing this in a simple way. Now is a good opportunity for her to refine her timing skills so everything is ready at the same time. There are suggestions for different ways to prepare a table & serve the meal too.

Units 5, 6 & 7 are the sewing units ~ everything from the basic ways to use a machine to choosing, laying out & reading a pattern. I may yet need my mother for this except she is something of a perfectionist & Ditz & I are more the gung~ho she'll be right sorts.

Units 8, 9 & 10 cover something of general housekeeping & decor, growing into godly womanhood & child development & growth. The same approach is used throughout: academics mixed with practical application. So far so good. I still really like how this curriculum is working for us though I have tweaked it a bit. Some of the recipes are too stodgy for us, things like pork too rich & we have had to evaluate the needs of the semi~vegetarians in our midst but as the idea is to practise reading a recipe & cooking from scratch I don't think it matters which recipe you choose so long as it's within the cook's capabilities & your family will eat the results.

The curriculum breaks down into very manageable parts. Some weeks we do several lessons, others just one if there's a lot of hands on work. All the instructions are incredibly easy to follow & very clear. I haven't seen another home ec curriculum that is as thorough & as easy to use. Highly recommended.

A bleh day.

A poet is someone who stands outside in the rain hoping to be struck by lightening. James Dickey.

Maybe it's the rain. Maybe it's the low grade wog in the house. Maybe I'm just missing Issi. Whatever it is I feel just bleh. Very bleh. I don't have a constructive idea in my head. Under such circumstances silence is golden. Trust me.

I will be back when I am feeling better & not so bleh.

PS: they're not my tea cups but I do think that's a good idea, don't you?

I will make you Fishers of Men.

People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget they too are expending their lives...& when the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted. Nate Saint, missionary martyr.


God is a giver. He gives even when you aren't expecting anything. He gives when you haven't asked. It is His nature to give as much as it is His nature to love.

What He has given us is Danielle ~ & I now expect more such surprises. Danielle is 21, just a year older than Liddy. Liddy met her in Melbourne. Danielle is also called to the mission field, on the OM ship. She is bilingual [I am eating my heart out], well travelled, a musician [she's worked with Alison on Creative Generation; wonder if Alison remembers?] & because it is a small world after all any friend of Liddy's is a friend of ours & as much on our heart & in our prayers as Liddy is herself.


You can read Danielle's story here, in her very own words. And because I know what a wonderful caring, praying lot you all are I ask that those of you praying for Liddy slip Danielle in there too. Every little prayer helps & for these kids, about to head so far from home & totally reliant of the mercy & grace of God, knowing people are praying for them all around the world & that there is always someone awake to hear a call for prayer, is a blessing beyond measure.



And just in case you're wondering ~ Danielle visited with us yesterday & I do have her permission to give her a shout out! ☺ Go visit. Go on. She has a wonderful heart for God & a desire to minister to children ~ though where Liddy seems called to small children I think Danielle will minister to older children, especially teens. As the world plunges towards it's final abyss it is wonderful to see those God is calling step out in faith to shine His Light & do His will in a fallen world.