Hi everyone.  I'm back!!!  Not that I've actually been away, but it's definitely been a while since I sat down and put pen to paper  - so to speak.  Fingers to keyboard just doesn't have the same ring to it even though it's the way of the modern world.  Pen to paper is probably something that is happening less and less.

I'm guessing your lives are all speeding along just like mine is.  The other day I reading the following which kind of sums things up nicely:

"Oh okay,  it's March!

Nobody panic it's just March! 

Hahaha, that's fine, everything cool!

It was just Christmas, but okay  it's now March!!

Yip that about sums it up alright!!

So what's been happening the last month - well lots really - I think?????  To be honest it's a bit of a blur but lets see if we can work it out!!

All the usual stuff has happened - weekly looking after Noah, going to work (although I am doing Tuesday afternoons at the moment as there is a course running in the office in the morning), doing  the Church bulletin, mowing lawns, a bit of sewing, getting up each morning and going to bed at night (probably a bit later than I really should - going to bed that is not the getting up - lol)!!

At the beginning of February Noah came to stay for a couple of weekends.  He was home in between the two weekends.  He was great and we had a wonderful time.  He has progressed from the port-a-cot into what he calls his big boys bed when he come here to stay. He is so proud and loves to show people his bed with the beautiful quilt a friend made. Thankfully he's never fallen out of bed yet - more by 'luck' than design I'd say if you'd seen the different positions I would find him in.  One time when I went to check he was lying on his back the wrong way round in the bed with his legs up the wall - fast asleep, another time he was literally hanging over the edge, also fast asleep!!  Going to sleep at night took a bit longer than usual - one because of the heat and the other was the excitement and freedom of the new bed.  I decided as long as he stayed in bed he could stay awake as long as he liked.  That seemed to work and the bonus was he usually slept in in the morning.

February also saw a personal milestone - another birthday/Valentine's day without Roy (yip my birthday is on Valentine's day).  The week before I'd been feeling pretty melancholy about it all.  Last year I had a relatively big party because I was turning 50, so this year was a bit of a downer and I wasn't sure what to do.  During the week leading up to the actual day my friend Diana took me out for a pre-birthday dinner which was lovely.  As a 'gold card' member of the local picture theater I got a free movie ticket because it was my birthday and as I have a 'club' card at the local department store from them I got a free pen as a birthday gift.  I felt pretty spoilt and a bit more in the birthday mood.  In fact so much so that I even baked - a beautiful pavlova for my birthday dinner dessert.  On the actual day I had a lovely visit from my sister in law Joc who came for morning tea and then the family (those who could make it) came for dinner.  It was a wonderful day/evening and I felt truly blessed.  A BIG thank you to those who sent cards, txt's and messages on Facebook.  They were very much appreciated.  The birthday weekend was rounded off with a Skype session with Tim, Yvette and my handsome wee grandson Asher- that wee man is growing up sooooooooooo fast.

Job update: there's not a lot to report actually - the 3 jobs I applied for last time I blogged came to nothing and currently there are another 4 'in progress'.  Time will tell.  I apply for the jobs and then leave it in the l
Lord's hands and I'm not worried about it at all - amazingly.  Actually I don't worry about much anymore.  I get nervous about stuff, but not worried.  Max Lucado in his book 'Come Thirsty' wrote : "The worrisome heart pays a high price for doing so.  Worry comes from the Greek word that means “to divide the mind”.  Anxiety splits us right down the middle, creating a double-minded thinker.  Rather than take away tomorrows trouble, worry voids today’s strength.  Perception is divided, distorting your vision.  Strength is divided, wasting your energy.  Who can afford to lose power?  But how can we stop doing so?

Paul offers a two-pronged answer: God’s part and our part.  Our part includes prayer and gratitude. “Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks.” (Philippians 4:6)  God’s part?  “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7)"  So why worry??

What I have done - with much gratitude and thanks to a very kind, but to remain un-named benefactor - is apply for the course I was interested in doing last year.  It is a NZQA Cert. in Accounts Admin and Payroll.  Last week I made a start on the first module and quickly discovered that at 51 my brain is a bit slower than it used to be, esp at retaining knowledge.  This study stuff is hard work.  What I also discovered is that the mathematical side was much easier than the theory side - I am surprised by this because maths and numbers have never been my strong point, I think the years of running the business have definitely helped improve my mathematical skills.  I take plenty of notes and I find that really helpful, and it is good to be able to work at my own pace.  My first assessment has been handed in for marking and I go 84% on my first test so I'm pretty happy.  As part of the course I received a copy of the 2014 Payroll  - A Practical Guide to NZ Payroll Administration - if anyone is having trouble sleeping let me know and you can borrow it ;0)

On the 1st of March my beautiful grand daughter Inge turned 4 - where has that time gone?? Inge loves the movie Frozen and I was able to get some fabric in that theme so I made her a couple of dresses for her birthday from it and sent them over to England.  It still makes me smile remembering her singing "Let it go" at the top of her lungs as we walked through town when they were here before Christmas.  Next week there will be another birthday as Noah will be turning 2 - man he is growing up too - he is having a Bob the Builder party - exciting.

Speaking of exciting - there has been much excitement at Noah's place with the arrival in late Feb of puppies.  Richard and Aimee's English Springer Spaniel Rosie has had her puppies.  She had 8 but sadly 2 died.  Still 6 is a good number and they are sooooooo cute and they grow so fast.  I'm looking forward to seeing how big they are tomorrow when I go up to Palmy.

I am glad to report that my wood shed is almost full.  One bay is completely full and the other is half full.  I'm pretty sure I have enough wood to last the winter.  Dad has also constructed a water collection system by adding some guttering to collect the roof water with a down pipe that flows into a barrel.  The barrel also has an overflow into a 2nd large bucket.  Great for watering the garden and Jack has plenty of water to drink.  Mind you with the torrential rain we had yesterday the overflow bucket overflowed.

Yes, yesterday we finally had a good drop of rain.  In fact it rained so hard that the carport got flooded.  The drain I dug just couldn't cope.  I'm really pleased that the firewood was no longer stored there as it would have been soaked.  We haven't had any real rain for probably a month and a half, so it was good to finally get some., Everything is fresh again and looking just that wee bit happier.  The warm weather has a down side in that is seems to have brought the spiders inside, esp the daddy long legs.  I don't mind sharing my shower, but not with anything with more than 2 legs ;0), also it is rather disconcerting to walk down the hall still half asleep in the morning and get a face full of spider thread.  Those wee suckers are really good at hiding too because for the life of me I can't find them in order to give them their eviction notices.  Even as I sit here and look at the window I see a beautiful web has been strung in the gate opening of the fence around the deck.

I am doing some re-winter sorting and cleaning - that should make spring cleaning easier.  I have sorted, cleaned and rearranged the laundry - as mush as you can without moving the tub and washing machine. I have also re-arranged the lounge and gave it a good clean and sort out and then last week Saturday I decided to tackle my bedroom.  My bed sits on drawers and is attached to a heavy headboard so it isn't easy to move - in fact it's pretty unmovable as far as a quick dust under or behind is concerned - so you can imagine that when I finally moved the bed that the 6 years of dust I discovered was not such a pretty sight.  After a lot of huffing, puffing, lugging and just a tad of muttering I got things re-arranged to my satisfaction. The bed head is now against an internal wall rather than under the small windows which will be great come winter.  The down side is that I am now sleeping on what was always Roy's side of the bed.  Not that this is a bad thing because it was his side, but I always slept better on my side so it is taking some getting used to. You might think I'm crazy but you should try try swapping side.  The simple fact that you get into bed in a certain way on 'your' side and that you have to do so differently the other side is a problem to start with.  Funnily Roy always used to say we should swap sides just for something different, but I never would.  He would be amused to see that now I have.  I have only changed because of convenience (closer to the door) so I'll give it a few weeks otherwise I'll change back to my side - it'll just mean a walk around the bed.  Some of you may be wondering why this is a big deal as I have the whole bed to myself anyway, but after years of sharing it is just habit to stay on my side rather than use the whole bed and anyway I am still sharing - with the cat and for someone pretty small she takes up a lot of space.

I have a few projects on the go at the moment  - I have been doing some sewing to make personalised pillowcases for children going through cancer treatment.  So far I have made 3 - for a little girl of 5, a little boy of 4 and another boy who is 10.  It is so sad that these children are having to fight such a hard battle so young, but also so awesome as well to be able to do something that will hopefully brighten their day and make them smile.

The other project is the book about Roy for my grandchildren.  I have finally felt emotionally ready to make a start on this.  All the photos have been scanned that I want to use and I am now slowly putting the book together.  I started with the cover and title page and when they were done I burst into tears - it sounds a bit silly now that I write about it but at the time it was much more emotional than I had expected.  The book has since started to take shape, and the tears do still flow at times as old memories are relived, but that's ok. The end result will definitely be worth a little heart ache now.

Well I think I'm all blogged out for now.  I have some exciting things coming up but I'll tell you about them next time.  For now I'm off to do a spot of knitting for my new grand-daughter (Aimee's having a girl) before heading off to afternoon Church.

I'll leave you with this Valentine's poem with a difference - it's beautiful.

Thanks for reading.  Wishing you the Lord's richest blessing on your life.  

Till next time.

Love and blessings

Jolanda