Clyde Mountain

Well leaving Batemans Bay this morning was a bit sad for me as I'm not sure when I will see my son Shane, daughter in law Stacey and my grandsons O'Shea and Finn again. I was already missing them 2km down the road. We decided to head home the inland way rather than the coast. The road takes you up the Clyde Mountain with is a scarey road to drive down! But seeing we were going up we weren't worried at all. Only problem was it was drizzling and foggy all the way so we had to take it easy. Because this road runs between the coast and our countries capital Canberra it was pretty busy after this long weekend. But once we got past the Canberra turn off we had the road to ourselves until we hit the Hume Freeway. Which is the main freeway between Sydney and Melbourne. Once again we were surrounded by cars!! After a drive of just over 5 hours we decided to spend the night in Albury which is on the border on New South Wales and Victoria. We are staying in a cabin in a caravan park we have stayed at a few times before. After leaving Batemans Bay on a 13c morning the day turned into a delightful mid 20c's but the  wind has just turned cool and picked up so we may have a bit if rain tonight. So on that note I will say goodnight.

Australia Day 2015

Hope all the Aussies out there and all the honorary Aussies have had a wonderful Australia Day. I have had a lovely day, spending time in the lovely seaside town of Batemans Bay with my son Shane, daughter in law Stacey and my two adorable grandsons O'Shea and Finn. We put up lots of Aussie Flags, had a lovely BBQ and listened to the JJJ Top 100 tunes. Most of the songs were not my cup of tea, but it was still music. The boys (including my son Shane and the dog Bosco) had hours of fun with the bubble machine. I think Bosco could have a tummy ache tonight after all the bubbles he ate.  We finished off the evening with some yummy cakes.

Even on an overcast day the beach still called the Aussies on Australia Day

All the boys - Finn, O'Shea, Shane and Bosco enjoyed the bubble machine

Finn was just waiting for them to come close enough!

The day finished off with lots of colour

Last week of January's Challenge

Here we are our last week of January. How do you feel your first month of 2015 has gone? What successes have you had so far, what joyful experiences have popped into your January? It's all to easy for us to focus on the negative stuff that happens in our lives. Sometime I feel  it's easier to subconsciously let the not so pleasant stuff build it little nest in our brain and live there for a while rather than sweeping it out and letting the good stuff in our lives shine through. With that in mind I think we should all spend a moment each day focusing on the good stuff in and around us. I have decided to break our last week in January up into a new little challenge each day. If your missing in action or can't be bothered writing to much that's fine. All you have to do is post back a one liner with your answer and you have completed your challenge for the day. So to start our week off here's your first challenge question. What 3 things are you grateful for in your life? It's funny sometimes find it hard to see the positive things in their life so please contribute because your gratefulls may just help another person see their gratefulls.  

OK, my gratefulls are - 

1. First one has to be my two kids. Their Dad and I split up when they were young (pre- teenagers) and I am grateful that Paul and I dealt with the whole situation as we did because Shane and Rachel have grown into two of the most AMAZING people I could ever wish to be a mother and a friend to. 

2. I'm grateful for being born to the parents I was born to because my Mums strength and my Dads gentleness helped me grow into the person I am today. 

3. I'm grateful that I live in a country (Australia) that allows me the freedom to get in my car and drive to any corner of it with the freedom I choose. 

So now it's your turn, I really am looking forward to your 3 gratefulls.

January Challenge - Week 3

Part One

Here we go, another week of challenge. OK, your challenge for Week 3 is you have to do something you have NEVER done before. You never know it could bring a new passion into your life, you could meet a new friend or you may just get some pride in yourself that you tried something new. I have decided to tackle two challenges, the first being I am going to work on compiling a "5 Year Plan". As I have been setting myself  goals I have realized there are things I would like to accomplish in the future. So that's where my "5 Year Plan" comes into play. My second challenge is I am going to make Paella!! I have eaten it a few times but never tackled it. So this week I am going to give it a go. What comes to your mind that you can try? Maybe like me you have a recipe you will try, visit a shop you have never been before, go into a cafe/restaurant you have seen but never visited, go have a foot massage or try a craft you have never tried before. It's your choice what you do and how many times you do it. I would really love to hear from you. You idea may just help someone who is at a loss as to what to try. 

Part Two

Hi everyone hope you've had a great start to your week. I am halfway there with this weeks challenge. I sat down and wrote my "5 Year Plan". I've never actually done anything like this before and it actually felt good having a couple of goals to work towards. My other half of my challenge (making Paella) may just have to be sidelined for now. I just can't be bothered making it. I took on these challenges to be a motivator to others but I have had a few things that have consumed my brain this week and don't really feel I can motivate anyone to do anything at this point in time. Hopefully I can get my head around some stuff in the next few days and get back to being me again. but I would really love to hear how your week has gone so far.  

How did your Week 2 Go?

Here we are at the end of our 2nd week of our January Challenge month. What was your challenge? How did you go with doing something you used to love? Do you still have a passion for it or is it best left in the past? I dusted off my sewing machine and had a couple of evenings sewing and yes I still love it. I have finished the top of my quilt and will tackle the finishing of it in the next few weeks. Can't wait to hear how you went. Tomorrow I will reveal our challenge for week 3.

January 30 Day Challenge - Week 2

OK we have all survived Week 1 of our January Challenge. How did your first week go. Mine was pretty successful even though I did only get two of my three challenges completed in time. I did get all my Christmas decorations sorted packed and stored away for another 12 months. I spent a couple of evenings making some birthday cards. I have worked out i need to make at least 30 cards to cover this year. 

So that means I need to do more. 

My dining table became the craft room as the real craft room doesn't have air conditioning!

Well that's a start

 The only thing I didn't get to do was have my long hot bath. But with a week of very hot weather I didn't even want to walk into the hot bathroom. 

But as the weather has cooled down, that challenge is on for tonight. 

OK now for our next challenge. This week your challenge is very easy. I want you to sit down and think of something you used to do in the past that you loved doing. Something you haven't done in a long time. It could be cooking up something you haven't tackled in a while, going for a swim, playing an instrument you once enjoyed playing, a craft you haven't done for a long time. Maybe it's reading a book you loved as a child or playing in the garden. The only rules are, that you haven't done it in a long time and you used to really enjoy it. It should be interesting to see if the something you once loved still makes your heart smile or if it's best left in the past. Once again it's up to you how many times you want to do your challenge, it can be once or as many times as you like. What's my challenge going to be? For many years I did a huge amount of sewing, not only for pleasure but I also made custom made home furnishing items for a store. No matter how much I did I was always relaxed while sitting at my sewing machine, sewing away and solving the problems of the world. My sewing machine now has a lot of dust on it as it hasn't been touched for a number of years. So this week I am going to dust it off and have a bit of a play. I wonder if I will still love it or has this pastime runs its course, we will see. Can't wait to hear what your challenge will be. 

Time to blow of the dust and give this baby a try again. 

Challenge Time

Well here in Melbourne we have had a couple of very very warm days with the weather hovering just under the 40c mark, so I haven't felt much like tacking my challenges. In fact I haven't felt like doing much of anything. But as yesterday was a bit more bearable I decided it was time to pack away all of my Christamas stuff. As I have mentioned previously packing my Christmas decorations, lights etc. is very therapeutic for me. As I clean each piece I think about where it was bought and what meaning it holds in my heart. It may be time for some older pieces to be discarded and some may need a bit of a repair. Then they are individually wrapped and packed away in their boxes until next Christmas. My two other challenges will be tackled in the next couple of days. How has the first 5 days of 2015 treated you? Have you decided to tackle a New Years Resolution or maybe take on our 30 Day Challenge? Please check in and let's us know how your first 5 days has gone. If you haven't got around to doing your challenge as yet, that's fine you still have 3 days before your next challenge will be posted. 

Three Things Just For Me

January 30 Day Challenge - Week One

As you may have guessed from my last post, January’s challenge is going to be broken up into 4 weekly challenges. Your challenges will not difficult at all and in January you get the choice (mostly) of what you want to do. Sorry but there are a couple of rules. You MUST divulge what you intend to do, you MUST participate and you MUST check in with your progress. It doesn't matter if you don’t get your challenge completed 100%. What’s important is that you make an effort.

Week 1 – What’s something you really love doing? 

Something that makes you feel good? 

Something that makes your heart smile?

Well that’s your challenge for this week (Friday 2^nd – Thursday 8^th). You MUST do at least one thing for yourself that makes your HEART SMILE. It could be doing some gardening, having a long hot bubble bath, sitting quietly reading a book, going out for a nice dinner, dancing around the house while listening to your favorite music, relaxing in front of the T.V watching your favorite show, going to movies or any number of other things we love to do.  You MUST do at least ONE thing, more if you like. Just don’t try and do to much, make it achievable. What’s the first thing that jumped into your head? Maybe that’s what you should do.

As soon as you know what you want to do jump online and tell the group what your intention is. Then get to it you have a whole week to make that heart of yours SMILE.

Now to your MUST DO part of this weeks challenge. Most weeks I will once again throw in a mini challenge or a question. This weeks Mini Challenge is one day this week I want you to sit down in a quiet spot and write yourself a letter. Write how you feel your year has been, what your hopes and dreams are for 2015, whatever you like. Put the letter in an envelope seal it up and put it away in a “safe place” to read on NYE 2015. You can write what ever you like to your future self as you will be the only one reading it in the future. I will write myself a note in my diary to remind you on NYE to read it. If you would like me to keep a note of your “safe place” (because I always forget my “safe places”) I would be happy to keep a note of it. I think this will be a huge learning curve for each one of us. I have started writing my letter and by the looks of it, it’s going to be a long letter!

So that’s your first weekly challenge for the year. Now go and make that HEART of yours SMILE.

My weeks challenge is going to consist of 3 things. 

Why 3 - not sure why it just seems the universe is pushing me to pick everything in 3's lately, 

so must be a reason why. 

1. Soak in a nice hot bubble bath, by candlelight and some relaxing music playing. 

2. Pack all my Christmas decorations away. Some people might see this as a chore, but I find it very therapeutic. 

3. Make some cards to send to my friends for their birthdays throughout 2015. When I send someone a handmade card it makes my heart smile and hopefully theirs too. 

January 2015 - 30 Day Challenge

WooHoo we have arrived at 2015. 

I love the New Year as I feel it is a time to start over with a clean slate. New Years Eve, I always make a deal with myself that all that happened the past 12 months is finished, completed, done and dusted.  If I succeeded in something I congratulate myself, if I didn't I put it down to experience and try to learn from it. I try to work out why I didn’t succeed, was NOT succeeding part of my learning? Then on New Years Day (or maybe the 2^nd depending how big my NYE was!) I sit quietly and make my goals for the New Year. I stopped making New Years Resolutions a long time ago, as I proved to myself, for me they don’t work.  Over the past few months I have learned and proven to myself that if I set a goal for no longer than 30 Days I usually succeed. They (whoever they are!) say that if you do something for 3 weeks (21 days) consistently that action will become a habit. I have also realized that some months, I just don’t want to face a challenge for the whole month so they are the months where I break my challenges into weeks. These are not usually life changing habits just something I would like to do for a week. That’s purely why I started the 30 Day Challenge group on Facebook. Yes, it was purely selfish, so I could make progress in my life with things I was finding I was getting stuck on. I also came to the awareness that if I put my intention out there in the world and I was accountable to another person I had to succeed or at least make a huge effort at my challenge.  So, one of my 2015 goals is to bring my 30 Day Challenge world to my blog. It won’t consume my blog totally as 2015 will also consist of more travel around Australia and hopefully lots of other exciting events, adventures and moments in my life. But if you would like to accomplish something in your life you are most welcome to join me on my journey. Who knows what you might succeed at during 2015?

Seeing it’s the start of a whole New Year I thought I would start the year off nice and gently. So with that in mind I have broken down January into weekly challenges. Each Friday I will post your weekly challenge which you can participate in. You can make your personal challenge as simple or as complex as you like. It doesn’t matter if you don’t succeed at something as long as you give it a go.  You can set yourself one goal for the week or as many as you like. But keep in my mind make your challenge something that is achievable.

January is YOUR month. The first month of 2015 is time for you to look after YOU. Of course if there is something you want or need to do for someone else by all means do it. But predominately it is YOUR month.  If you are interested in joining us on our January journey check back in on my blog on Friday 2^nd and you will be set your first weeks challenge. I would really love to have you along for the ride.