Five Minutes of Fame......
There is a saying that in everyone's life we have five minutes of fame...I have had mine ..though it was embarrassing the kids thought it was great.I have not blogged it for attention but as we all do  with our blogs it is our little diary, a record of things that happen on our life's path.
I spend a lot of time telling people that just one person can make a difference, it is true but it is also true that we never get "things done" alone there are always many helpers and when  was interviewed for this article I named all my friends and helpers but in the telling of the story by the writer I was saddened to see their names were not there. Anyway here is a little bit of m from a section of our local paper called "True Blue" where each week they tell a story of someone in the Community,a couple of weeks ago it was me.

This is taken in our little park that houses the hall we meet in for the Cackle Club...looking very glam in my Australia Post uniform .

                                                         Life as we  know it...........

I have not blogged for ages due to my rule that no downsided blogs for me as although it helps clear the mind it is depressing really lol.

Life has been very busy, my lovely family is healed and they are all getting on well and that is all we can ask really just a clam and happy time when we are all together,though that is not often it is exciting and not stressful now.

My Mums health is great as she approaches her 93rd birthday.Bobs Mum however has had a very unwell year with 2 operations close by and just getting on her feet to find something nasty lurking in her Colon ,we are waiting to see what the Specialist advised Friday  and praying it will be an easy fix as she is also 93 in 2 weeks bless her she has had enough.
Our daughter in law is having a time of not so good health also,she became quite ill quite quickly, she had a bad back for months then woke up one morning 4 weeks ago with no feeling in her left leg, by 7pm that night no feeling from the waist down,she was rushed to Royal North Shore in ydney for a 5 hour operation,her disc had collapsed into her Spinal Cord and she was literally moment away from being a paraplegic,her recovery is very slow,still after 4 weeks no feeling from the wais down and although walking with an aid has no idea if she is walking on anything dangerous or leaning against anything hot,a trying time but our son has been wonderful and our daughter was first to go to them as all this was happening and she stayed with the children so Michael could travel with his wife.Kirsty is great spiritually and I am sure things will all be normal again in time.
Bob is on the Diabeties test trail after having many tests the results will be in soon but I am sure he will be fine.....ENOUGH...that is the doom and gloom catch up.

Bob was 66 yesterday happy birthday sweetie, singing phone call from the little ones and gifts and the little boys over the road made him a cake,he was very happy.

The great things are that we are 42 weeks or so from finishing work we cannot wait!

Billy got to stay and live with us we  all love him and he loves us back.

Billy and Molly having an evening nap...see typical Billy is in Maroon and he has the remote! men !

My little helpers with my care packages for the soldiers and I are up to 199 for this year,last year we did 179 so we have broken our record, I call them Care package Cadets now.

Riley,Jonah,Jayden and Brayden,Brayden is my Captain and has packed all but 20 of those 199 I am going to nominate him next year for junior Citizen of the year, I am so proud of these lads all 11 years old and giving to the Community.

The other thing is my decluttering I am almost done, I cannot believe how much we have sold, I have no idea how much we made as we are not opening our pots until the 4th December but I am sure we have enough for our fares to UK and Europe after we give up work.

                                    All the pots of money numbered  and ready to open in December

This is the pot we are working on now, it is 3 parts full and from now on really will just be getting our change etc.While decluttering has been great,we still are surrounded by things but they are all meaningful,my graft corner still needs to be culled a bit but I will get there.

Life has  thrown us a bit this year, I have missed my friend very much in the tough times ,if you follow me from way back you will remember Eva, I realise I don't really have a bestie anymore ..I sometimes think I will call a friend to unburden only to find a I don't get to as they unload,so the main thing is that they have been able to do that and as I drive on my job each day I give thanks for all the friends I have and I love them all,I ask myself is it rally important to have someone in your life other than family that knows every nook and cranny of your life?,  perhaps not ..after all,..so I share it with the the other constant in my life ..God he always listens, always loves always heals so perhaps I have had a bestie all along and did not know it.
Bless you as you travel your road be it bumpy or smooth if there is nothing else there is always blogging..I read all your blogs all the time,thank you for dropping by.

                           Scaling Down and Clearing Out( goods that is not me !)

I have been doing a lot of thinking about lightening up the clutter in our home.I have been collecting over 3o years and the time has come.I did not know where to start so I started in my little back shed.
Everything I am selling I no longer need,want or will miss,the money is going straight into the sealed pot,to be opened on 4th December.
First day of posting items from my shed at about 2pm it was hard I decided to sell on local Facebook pages,local Buy Swap and Sell sites,by 6pm I had over $700 in my hands! I could not believe it.
I have continued to post about 5 items per day and I have put way over $2,000 into my sealed pots.
I really have no idea on the exact amopunt and have only done my little shed and one cupboard so far,I will definately have our fares for the UK when we retire now.So far I cannot even remember some of the items I have sold there are so many .
I would advise anyone who has collectables that are just gathering dust or in a corner somewhere to bite the bullett,sell locally where there is no postage involved.I have met some lovely people that have come to collect their items,some I have known and we caught up on times past.No overheads,no advertisment costs,no commission,how much easier could it be!
So it is true one mans Trash is another mans Treasure,so join the clearing out brigade,place it in a pot or buy something you realy need and upcycle in the best possible way.
I have no interesting pics,Bob is driving me mad wanting to open the pots(we are up to number 3 for this year)and count the money,but for me the plesure will be counting it on the day.
Joining the Sealed Pot crew over at SFT is the best thing I ever did last year I had two pots containing $2,600,our first fare.
Have to get some more goodies out,it is fun now and I am feeling lighter everytime somthing goes out the door.

        

 

 

 

 

Someone has come to stay.....

We have a little visitor and his name is Billy.He has come for about 7 weeks in all to have a holiday with us while Mums Neice is in Europe.

Molly is not so pleased but now it is day 4 and they seem to be playing well and at last Molly is sharing her precious Mum with Bill.He is in the dark coat.

 

 

 The first night, Billy's Mum said he sleeps at the foot of her bed and so Mum got ready to go to bed ,alas to find he had really made himself at home! It took some doing but at last he went to the bottom of the bed.We think that perhaps Mums sister who died recently and was Billy's owner actually slept with him in the bed and that when he first came to visit he was very confused we think he thinks Mum is Aunty Pat as they look very much alike.
As you can see he was not going to leave much room for Mum lol.Now they are in a routine and he goes to the foot of the bed, we will not want to give him back he is loved already.
Molly has not been turfed out,quite some months ago she decided to come sleep in our room so Mum is happy to have company.Dogs are so intelegent and such fun,life would be boring without these two.

           A long time coming.........

I have not blogged for a long time,mainly because I promised myself no more blogging doom and gloom...
So lets just say that the last 18 or more months,there has been a couple of little sad old people in this home hiding it from everyone.
Easter came around and a break away and for most people the joy of the easter bunny coming and bringing lots of chocolate..well you know what he bought me...complete happiness and healing and on Easter Sunday he gave me this....
We did not think we would see all our lovely grandchildren together again.Thank you God for forgivness,love and absolute joy,it was unexpected and I cannot thank my daughter enough for the gift she gave us by being unselfish and willing to step forward and open her arms.Thank you sweetie you made Mum and Dad whole again.Our son walked into those arms and all was forgiven.

As I remember the Soldiers past with pain in my heart,my occupation and passion is of those still serving.




                                                      Beacause We Care.
We have a wonderful old fellow in our town 92 years old who still has the wrapping from his care packages in the 1st and 2nd wars.
This inspired me to send Care Packages to our troops.I am the founder of Aberdeen care packages.We are now in our second year ,last year 179 were sent, this year so far 90,all raised by our own people,donations of all kinds.Brayden is 10 years old and my helper,we get more excited everytime we get a batch of names and find that a young lad learning about our troops and helping community has now spread to the whole school waiting in anticipation for promised visits from soldiers on their safe return.My personal joy is so immence I find it hard to put in words, the feelings of joy and pride as every package I do it is as if it was for our son or daughter,a letter of praise,love and hope is placed in every box,giving thanks for the job they are doing.I tell them our town is praying for their safe return to their families.When we get a name that needs extra TLC, we shed a few tears as we put these boxes together.
I am so grateful to be able to do these care packages,every one not thrown together but placed lovingly and on every box are the words "Because We Care". and it is simply because we do.
CJ

                                                      Me and My Gals......



Our park is finished,the Mayor of the Shire came and some other lovely people ,so now the park is officially open and the town can all get fit.....

 Some of my lovely girls that volunteer at our little op shop,which has raised the money to complete our park.

 Di who is the clown of the group having a go at one of the exercise pieces.The childrens section is in the background.

Helen helping 81 year old Barb on another.
I am so proud of these girls,they are wonderful to work with,if one of them is ill and cannot get to work they replace themselves for me,knowing I work full time and co ordinate the shop,they try to make my load easier.I simply love them all.
The park is now complete,well there is one other thing I would like to do.In the childrens section we have a baby swing and normal swing,but I notice many families have 3 children so someone is always waiting for a swing,I want  one large swing big enough to hold an adult too,so that big kids can have a swing I see many adults in other parks enjoying a swing.So I did talk to to Mayor about it and he said go ahead,so we will see after our next meeting and get to that.Now on we go looking for another project to do.
Thanks girls you are wonderful.