The Cost of Living

Harvey, bless him, likes wake me at the crack of dawn, to go food shopping ! The idea is that we "beat the rush". So being the diligent and long suffering wife that I am, we are out and in Woolworth's by 8am most Saturday mornings...

This morning was a Saturday morning like no other (except we were slightly late 8:15am). Harvey pushing the trolley, me with my list and dumping stuff...the difference is that the shops were PACKED ! It was SO weird ! I'm thinking that with a cyclone imminent people were "being prepared" and getting their foods and trying NOT to panic buy?! Was interesting.

What I was thoroughly disgusted with was the cost of fruit and veggies ! Since when was it cheaper to eat junk food than the healthier alternatives?! We bought 8 Fuji apples and it cost over $8 !! That's just over $1 an apple ?! What the?! My quarter piece of watermelon cost nearly $5 !! Isnt that just RUDE?! Before I get comments such as "why dont you buy cheaper places and/or cheaper fruit"? My answer to that is - we buy what our children will eat - so there is no wastage. The other is that we buy "local" to us because by the time you factor in the cost of petrol to go to market places (our closest is almost 12kms down the road) the cost balances out to be nearly the same - and sometimes you are only getting "seconds" and so the fruit/veggies you get dont last as long...sigh. No win situation there.

Adversely,a bag of potato chips only cost $2 and they had specials of $1 for lollies and other junk. Makes you want to cry.

Harvey with our 1st harvest of the year.



Close up



Prue & Madi doing a taste test.

Effects of harsh sun !

Why not garden I hear you ask? Well, since we live in sunny Perth, NOTHING is growing despite our favourite gardener's (Harv) best efforts of manure, fertiliser, soil improver's, composting, watering and shading. Its tragic. Partly because our soil is SO sandy, everything just washes away - either that or our sun is SO harsh that everything is fried crispy !  We have a "bumper crop" of grapes...but nothing else survived the past two weeks of 35c+ heat. Cant win their neither.

I AM thankful though, so that we have so much "abundance" when there are those who are much worse off that all of us. I do feel bad that I gripe about prices when there are so many who through circumstance, are much worse off that any of us could imagine. It is scary that this could all be taken away in just a blink of an eye. We are all happy and healthy despite these economic times and for that I am truly grateful.

Blogging dilemmas

Ok...so...I have decided that I am really, really, not so good at this whole blogging thing...Yeh...that sums it up ! I am currently reading about five blogs on a weekly basis - most people have quite witty things to say and have wonderful photos and stories to tell. Some people even write on a "theme". Me? My blog seems to be a series of random thoughts with bits of "what we have been doing" thrown in ...hmmmm.... Maybe that's because my version of blogging is going to be slightly different cos I'm SO different from anybody else?! Ohhhh....now THERE's a thought ! :D

So this week has been my final week of school holidays...technically. I have next week too but I have two days booked in already for me to DO stuff in my new classroom...so I guess you could say I am breaking myself gently into going back to work. Sigh. I'm going to a new school, into a new classroom. A bit scary ! New staff to get to know, new routines, new boss..etc. I dont even know where to find the loo's from my class ! I guess if I get desperate enough, I'll just use the students itty bitty loos ! Hee hee hee !

I have mountains of stuff to move into my new class. It would be a good time to cull most of it and begin again methinks. Although having said that - I have sourced some pretty awesome stuff. The idea of moving it all does not appeal to me in any shape or form...so I might have to bribe the "minions" to help me...hmmm....

We have mostly hung out this school holidays. It has been great. I love the "no schedules" kinda thing. No important appointments, no rushing to get to things on time, no stress. LOVE IT ! The children have baked, ate, run around, potty trained the puppy, watched DVD's, played board games, shot each other with Nerf guns and water squirters, scrapbooked, read , chatted online and in person, visited with friends, swum, gone to the beach and generally enjoyed each other's company. Its sad that all of that is coming to an end.

Time for new adventures and new beginnings now. :)

Scrapbooking...I love school holidays !

Don't judge me -  I get excited about pretty paper, stickers and ribbon ! For those of you who are "uninitiated", I scrap - cutting photos, picking just the right piece of paper to frame it, adhesives, stickers, journalling....the whole kit and caboodle ! I get a real buzz  when I have and idea in my head on how a page "layout" is supposed to "look" and then it all comes together...I LOVE IT ! Unfortunately, due to time constraints and the pain of setting up and putting away, I dont scrap as much as I would like and thus, my albums are wayyyyy out of date. I LOVE school holidays because I get to scrap! Oh YEH !

My good friend Amanda Goodman has this quote up on her blog (I borrowed it - thanks Amanda!)

"You will have significant experiences. I hope that you will write them down and keep a record of them, that you will read them from time to time and refresh your memory of those meaningful and significant things. Some may be funny. Some may be significant only to you. Some of them may be sacred and quietly beautiful. Some may build one upon another until they represent a lifetime of special experience."

Gordon B. Hinckley, 2006

My good friend Karen and I have "scrap days" down to a fine art. She brings her children, food and her scrapping stuff and between us, we feed the children and then set them free. (I think that maybe having two wives in the same house could work in this particular instance). Then we have a few hours to listen to music, chat and play with pretty paper ! Woo hoo ! This week we fit in two scrap days and plan on having a few more. We get competitive and try to "out scrap" each other just for fun.

As you know, there are HUGE floods in Queensland. While it is on the other side of Australia to us - it has give us opportunities to have some heartfelt conversations with our children and share in some "teaching moments". Our thoughts and prayers go to those who have lost so much. My heart aches for those who have lost loved ones as well as all their material possessions. It is very tragic and sad.

While scrapping my thoughts and our conversation went to those in Queensland. Karen and I decided that besides our families and their safety, one of our few material possessions we would want saved would be our photos in our scrapbooks. Why? Because those tangible  pictures have our happiest memories and they would bring us much comfort - should we ever have to face such a crisis. Now, if we can only figure out HOW we would pull off such a feat ...if the need should ever arise !?

School holiday fun times.

Its scary that school holidays are half over already ! We must be having a fun because time is just flying past too quickly.

We've been to the beach, watched DVD's, baked, cooked, went to the movies to see "Tangled", been on the trains and buses, shopped, completed endless amounts of floor cleaning and washing of clothes, dishes, played with friends, scrapbooked, created some cards, fished, bbq-ed, picnic-ed, potty trained the dog (we think he's getting the idea!), read books, draw ed, played the Wii, Internet, listened to music, sang to music, gone to church, attended parties, ate lots and lots of good and bad food and generally had a good time. After all that, we just might need a holiday to recover from our holiday ! Who knew that having fun could be so tiring?

Since the weather heated up, the children have been "camping" on mattresses in the games room with the air conditioner. Its a sea of mattresses and pillows and children. Every now and again, the dog and cat try to sneak in too! I've been told that memories will be made of all the activity and non-activity we conduct over this period of time.