My Daybook: 22nd June, 2020

Outside my window…

it’s totally dark, it’s night time, last night was the longest night of the year, it was the Winter Solstice

I am thankful…

for our home and property, only months ago we were on standby for threatening bushfires and then we’ve spent the past few months isolated at home, I’m extremely thankful for our beautiful home, albeit unfinished, and our picturesque property. We’ve made many sacrifices and much effort to arrive here and I’m extremely appreciative

I am thinking…

about the distractions of social media, I control it pretty tightly, I mainly use facebook for book loving groups and I’m extremely spasmodic with my instagram use, both posting and scrolling but I do think it still interferes with my blog writing and that remains my main love.  So many times I sit down to write a blog post only to realise I’ve already published that story on instagram albeit in short hand. It’s time to give it further serious consideration

Learning all the time…

it has continued to be a great learning term, thanks to isolation, and clear written instructions of what to do and read, however a couple of our children are not working with the same level of commitment as the others, how to inspire one in particular continues to elude me. We’ve had discussions about, and adjusted the expectations and materials, but really it comes down to motivation

Celebrating the liturgical year……

we have able to attend Mass again!!! Oh how thrilling it has been to be able to receive Our Lord again in the Blessed Sacrament! And to attend Mass with some of our fellow parishioners, at present we’re on a 50 people limit as restrictions slowly ease, thus far we’ve attended four times and each time is exciting. It’s not only the Sacraments we’ve missed it’s the routines and little rituals surrounding that anchored more than we realised. The dressing up once a week and attending as a family, the chatting with fellow parishioners afterwards, walking together into the supermarket and purchasing our after Mass donuts

From the kitchen…

we had one of ‘those moments’ this week, a ‘moment’ already added to the family annuals when one lad decided to bake a jam slice for the first time and he forgot to add …. flour!! That moment is now added to the family pages of “remember when brother/sister forgot/doubled inaccurately the sugar, butter etc

I am creating…

still working on my Australian Books Database I’m now over the 700 Australian book mark. Be sure to check it out, I have it grouped into: a chronological history plan, various Australian cultural books and plenty on our flora and fauna as well.  I’ve even added a function that you can see at a glance what age I recommend the book for and whether it’s in print or not. Most exciting of all is your new wishlist option, with a click of a button you can create your own booklist. And that new project I mentioned last month, the one helping you use all these books, I’m much closer to revealing the final product to you

I am working on…

regularly running and hitting at least the two/three times a week mark.  PC is my running buddy and we’ve mostly been running along flat paths, today we returned to a hilly road I haven’t run in many months and my muscles are feeling the difference! Reflecting as I ran this morning, yes it was freezing, that I’m grateful my body is capable of doing what I ask of it, I never take that for granted

I am going…

still staying at home, though we have slowly started having a couple of families visit occasionally. Enjoying the slow easing of isolation

I am praying…

• for two of our adult children and their job situations
• for another adult child as he makes career decisions
• for other intentions regards our adult children
• for those in our nation and worldwide effected in various ways by Covid
• for a young homeschooling lady, whom we have seen grow from childhood, and is a distant cousin, her Wedding is Wednesday
• for our nephew who is making his Confirmation and First Holy Communion in August
• for my sister and her fiance, they now have a second date for their Wedding, first was postponed due to Covid
• for two sisters in law who are pregnant

I am pondering….

how to condense my Sacramental plans for Confirmation and First Holy Communion into a program that can be covered in 4-5 weeks! I have been asked to help prepare our nephew as their parish is only spending a short day retreat on preparation! Our prep time will all be done via zoom, so a different approach for me

I am reading…

I just don’t know what’s going on with my reading life, I haven’t found anything that riveting for ages. Currently I flit between re-reading a few of previously read books, free ebooks on the kindle and borrowing our town library’s ebooks. Great news is our town library has just reopened to patrons, albeit with a strict list of restrictions

I am listening to……

children playing on their computers around me in the study, they are playing Minecraft with a friend, they are all so excited, voices are loud, I’m blocking out their voices so as to concentrate on my writing

I am hearing…

I’m ‘back home’ with Hearing Australia after decades away and couldn’t be more thrilled, after aging out at 21 years it’s so exciting to be back with my mob. I was born with a mild to moderate hearing loss and after many years without hearing aids I have a pair again. They are so tiny and light! And match my hair colour! They are barely visible when I have them on. Technology had come long way since I last had hearing aids. I’d forgotten how noisy the world is! Birds singing, shoes squeaking, tyres swishing, children’s voices, I can even hear when I scratch my head!! I thought maybe I’d been gifted super sonic hearing, but my family tell me it’s all normal. It’s a wonder the hearing world hadn’t all gone mad. It’s all exciting, new discoveries to be had

I am struggling…

I’m not, but all day I’ve watched our 13 year old persevere as he pulled a couple of computers apart to create a larger RAM space in one. 10 hours he has been at this task, first it would work, then it wouldn’t, he’d solve one problem, have it work again, then die. Calmly, patiently he has persevered until finally it is steadily working!! So impressed with his tenacity and patience

Clicking around…

all my clicking around continues to be related to my Australian Books Database and my new book related project. Seeking out and researching books is rather time consuming, but I couldn’t be more thrilled with the finished product

Around the house…

our lack of splashback in the kitchen finally got to me, I couldn’t stand that splash of brown sample paint any longer. I began researching options and narrowed my preferences down to glass or stainless steel, leaning towards the latter, the prices though, ouch. Next thing I know a third option appeared, already cut and attached to my wall, aluminium! So looks like I have an aluminium splashback and I love it

One of my favorite things…

our lifestyle, so grateful for this life I live, to be able to stay at home and home educate, I don’t take it for granted, I know it’s a precious lifestyle I live

A few plans for this week…

I’m certain Jem (11) will be begging me to supervise more of his driving practices, everyday he wants to drive around the property, he is rather good at changing gears, dodging trees and steering through gates now

A little peek at my day…

frankly today was exhausting, thankfully not an average day.  By the time I took a moment to ring PC at 11 am I realised I’d already gone for a 5km run, washed and hung 5 loads of washing, taught and supervised 2 hours of maths lessons, supported and fielded multiple phone calls from two adult children as they lined up potential promising future employment opportunities, huge adrenaline rush, fielded a phone call from another adult child on her way home from work. By 1.30 pm another adult child required paperwork urgently, dating back 13 years, at which point adult daughter joined the search and PC drove home from work to assist. This afternoon a couple of friends and children visited, isolation is slowing easing