Finding joy in the everyday

The view from my front porch looking at my garden at dusk. With water restrictions I can only water every second night between 7:00 to 10:00 using a hand-held hose. Considering this, it is doing very well. The agapanthus has started to flower. As soon as they flower the spiders arrive and spin their webs through the flowers. Steven is training the Dobermans to sit and listen to commands.  They are quite good. Notice that ones has his tail and one doesn't.  Brenin was born in WA where it is legal to remove the tail, Gaia in the ACT where it is against the law. If Gaia hits you with his tail it REALLY hurts! This is Brenin who turned 2 on the 24th November. He is a very sweet 36kg pup! who has a cheeky streak. He loves to steal tissues out my pockets to eat! This is my cat Charlie - she patiently sat while I took closeup photos of her.  She has now gone to bed (her bed is under our bed and to her it must feel like a cave!!)

I would love peoples views on adult children who still live at home and paying board.  My questions are: Should these adult children (mine is almost 22) be paying board. And if so, how much?   What happens in other countries? I think they should as it gets them to understand the whole thing of paying rent (when they finally move out) and how to budget (something my son is learning).  My son is enjoying the luxuries of a "hotel" with cooking, cleaning and washing all done for him!!  He does clean the bathroom/shower/tub but that's about it at the moment.  He says he is "too busy" to do anything else:)  I have said he can start paying board from the 1st of January.  I am still deciding on the amount (based on his income).   This is similar to pocket money - how much to pay and what do you expect in return? __________________________________________________________________________________ Thank you for the comments regarding mothers an...

Today my 17 year old son went to the coast for a week (a two hour trip from our home).  This is the first time he has been away from home for more than a few days.   He is going with a group of 4 young men with one of the dad's driving then there and back.  Of course like most mothers the first thing I did was worry and had a long chat with my son about all the dangers at the beach: rips, rough sea, jumping off cliffs (not sure if he was even thinking of this one), drink alcohol (they didn't have any with them, only 2 large bottles of red cordial and 40 packets of instant noodles!!) etc...  He assured me that he would take care and not do anything stupid - of course that didn't stop me thinking of all the other things he could do. He phoned just a while ago to say they had arrived safely and had gone for a walk to the beach and now settling in.  I asked for a message each night so I knew he was ok! and perhaps a few photos so I knew he was in one piece!...

  "Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter ." ~~Psalms 74:17~~

I have just finished reading the most fascinating book " A Foreign Affair " by Valerie Barnes (published 2004).  Valerie, a young British girl (1947) yearned for the good times promised after the war.  Two chance meetings catapulted her into the most amazing career - at the newly-formed United Nations in Generva as an Interpreter (English, French, Spanish and Russian).  She traveled the world (first class - they were treated like royalty - making big dollars) in the 1950's and 1960's visiting the most exotic locations (long before tourism had become fashionable and cheap) rubbing shoulders with prime ministers and presidents. She was also married to a Frenchman - who believed it was fine to have a mistress whilst married - which he did for 26 years! They had 3 children  and a nanny (who cared for the children when she traveled).    In 1977 she finally divorced her French husband (he had a very bad temper) and in 1981 married an Australian and moved to C...

So glad to see the end of the week - and relax over the next few days (2 to be correct).  Thought I would give a quick up date. Tristan still hasn't heard about the ICT apprenticeship - so I made contact and was told they are running a little behind and he should hear from them by the 11th December - I am not very good at waiting, but don't really have any choice! Only 3 weeks and 6 days to Christmas - so I have started my shopping and Steven and I have put in our leave - something to look forward to (even though it is quite short!). Hope those in the US enjoyed Thanksgiving - Nick your meal sounded very nice. On Saturday it is my parents 51st wedding anniversary - not something that is very common any more. AND summer starts next week - even though it feels like it has been summer all of November!!  We received rain last night (it was so heavy it woke me up) - after days of being promised rain, the Bureau of Meteorology finally got it right.  the garden is lo...

As I consider colouring my hair (it has white bits in it!) - I read the following article in the newspaper - maybe I shouldn't.  Then again I shouldn't wear perfume or deodorant either - but then again men also were deodorant and aftershave etc.... so are we all poisoning ourselves? The average British woman "hosts" 515 chemicals on her body every day, according to a new study. The poll of 2016 women by deodorant-maker Bionsen said most of the pollutants are self-inflicted by women who sprayed on deodorant, slapped on body moisturizer and applied lipstick each morning. Today's average British woman uses body and facial moisturizers, perfumes, deodorants and various other make-up products which leave them unknowingly carrying hundreds of chemicals on their bodies throughout the day, Bionsen said. Moisturizer can contain over 30 different chemicals and perfume up to 400, it added. More than a third of the women who took part in the study were unaware of ...