Daughters, Dogs and other Ramblings

Received a sweet little text tonight from my darling daughter saying

she's glad I'm back blogging. 

In the age of Face book being so important in people lives, I'm so happy she takes the time to check in at her Mumma's "OLD" blog.

Mmm...she never comments though ;)

So of course after that, I had needed to put some darling photos up of her and her gorgeous Border Collie Stevie.

Despite 2012 being such a hard year for me this year I am endeavouring to move forward with my life. Last year my home suffered greatly & so I feel did many of my close friends & family as they supported me through what was such a difficult time in my life. 

I've always been a person who thrives in a neat and organized environment & after a year of merely just "EXISTING" in my home I think it is well in need of an overhaul. I'm bursting with excitement at some of the plans and changes I've got spinning around in my head. Just to wet my appetite a little in advance of things I have just come back from an afternoon of furniture shopping (Whoops)

Another exciting thing I plan to do is nurture and develop some new friendships I made in the past year. As you get older I found that you rarely make "new" friends and we all become creatures of habit as we tend to move around in the same circles. Have any of you found that true for you as well?
When my children were young I found I was constantly meeting new people in various ways- the school, sports and other community and social groups that I was involved with through my kids. 

With last year being what it was I felt I didn't embrace my new friends caring, kindness and friendship that they gifted upon me BUT this year I fully intend to return that favour x 10 :) 

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Also, last year I joined a small community group in our little town that is full of like minded people. I must say I was most pleasantly surprised when I joined as in many ways I had struggled with some aspects of this town :0

You see it wasn't a place I would have ever personally have chosen to live in given, the choice that is but desperate times made for major adjustments to our life and the way we lived so when I moved here (many moons ago now) I never really expected to stay!! As a young widow at only 26  with 3 very, very young children I had to move where there was a decent job that would support us, then I met my partner and dare I say- I think it was all "written in the stars"

Anyway it was such a blessing to have found this small group that when I continually came home at night raving about it my partner decided to join, it's all the more lovelier as it something we share together now. Finding things to do as a couple becomes more and more important, I feel as the children grow up and fly the nest spreading and testing their independent wings.

I have a few new projects that my darling partner helped me start last year. His part in my journey by helping & supporting me (& selflessly putting his own feeling aside despite them being as deep as mine)was helping me find new hobbies to learn, explore & enjoy. 
I hope to be able to share a few of those in time here, at my blog. 

So, I hope you all will continue to join me in my journey throughout the year as I regain(hopefully) my strength after 2012 the year that was!! 
Thank you to those few kind bloggies that sent me awesome messages/emails & to my faithful followers.It was encouraging to see in my absence I didn't lose any of you and that I fact in gained some newbies :)

Enough rambling, hope you all have a lovely Sunday, cheerfully spending quality time with those that you hold dear.

Caroline xo


  

Another Update- Emerald's Sleep Apnoea

For the ones that have asked of late-

It seems like we finally have a handle on Emerald's sleep apnoea & with many thanks to her fantastic surgeon the operations a success and she doesn't have to sleep on a CPAP machine. Thank goodness for that it would have been devastating at such an age.

Mind you she wasn't overly impressed with the ultra fashionably leg wear she had to wear her entire hospital stay!!

Of course waiting around hospitals is never easy

but....

if you have to be in a hospital The Noosa Private Hospital was great.

Fantastic care & attention & the nursing staff were lovely & very attentive.

This was the lovely bush view from Emerald's hospital bed, such a lovely peaceful setting has just got to be an advantage with patients convalescing. There was always something new to see looking out the window. Plenty of birds flitting around along with lizards scurrying to & fro.

Must say very good for mothers sitting beside for MANY hours.

and so life continues....

Have a great weekend (flooding in our area again)

Caroline xo

A Neglectful Blogger, Sydney & a Grandbaby

Haven't I been a neglectful blogger of late. Thank you to the people that still follow, check in & send me an email to see I haven't dropped off the earth -I haven't lol!

but wow! where do I start...

First & foremost next year my first Grand-baby will be born. (I posted about my son's wedding back in July)

As you know my son is a soldier & therefore will not be here for most of the pregnancy nor the birth. Which is so sad & very hard on both of them, fortunately though DIL has been through it all before (DIL has a child to a previous relationship) & hopefully this will make it a little less stressful & scary for her. You can only wish, hope & pray for the very best as unfortunately we have been told that nobody will be holding the baby after it's born, and our friends have now said they will just wait till my son gets back to see the baby & Dil.

However my Granny-who will be the babes GREAT GREAT GRANNY is pretty upset cause as she says herself at 88 "I'm on borrowed time" Anyways I am sure it will all work out & they will both be the best of parents.

How big the contrast is to my friend that is due around the same time & has asked several of us to help her so she can at least have some time with her other kids and an undisturbed toilet or shower(I think we all remember what that's like)

We have had these little control issues come up in the past and we are hoping with maturity & a feeling of security for her & her daughter they will disperse. They really put a dampener on things. We have also been told we are to come & leave at a certain time on Christmas Day. To us this is not what Christmas Day is all about so we will probably stay at home where friends/family can come & go as & when they please -it's really not the day to rush! While we are all sympathetic to these issues our family has decided it is still best to stick to our principles & the interests of all family & not to the wishes of one.

A few weeks ago I went to Sydney to Equitana. (a national horse event) I took a friend that had never visited Sydney before so after Equitana we had a lovely few days doing the tourist thing.

Lane has now finished school for the year. (only two more years to go) & is getting some work with a Baker, we all have our fingers crossed that in time it may lead to an

apprenticeship as he would love to be a pastry chef. The school has given me a contact to an organisation that negotiates with employers about employing kids with disabilities so hopefully that will work in our favour as well.

Yesterday I spent the whole day 5am to 6.30pm at The Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane. My neighbours baby had an operation and she had no one to go with her to support her. How terrible it would be to have to sit there by yourself for hours while your little baby was in theatre, anyway the operation went well & I hope I was of a little assistance in taking her mind off things. Yesterday I felt so thankful for my children & was reminded of how impossibly hard it was after their father died doing it all myself. I am forever thankful for good friends & hope I am somehow returning the favour done for me.

Emerald started a new job and now within 3 wks she has been made a supervisor. This has given her a lovely self esteem boost as she wasn't being treated very well in her last job & ended up being hurt as they didn't provide the necessary protective equipment for her to use. The new boss seems to be so much more understanding of her Uni hours & that it must always be her first priority. Emerald has now finished the first year of her nursing degree and is very excited about becoming a second year student.

Anyway I must be off only 25dys till Christmas and this is the most disorganised I have been in as long as I can remember.

Take Care

Caroline xoxo

For Today....

A lot of lazing & resting, tissues & more tissues along with a hefty dose of

painkillers waiting for this dreaded lurgy to pass.

Caroline xoxo

Reducing Plastics in your Home & Thrift Shopping

For many many years now I have been trying to reduce the use of plastics in my home. This came to the forefront of my concerns when my last child was born with Autism. These kids are and/or very likely to be overloaded & effected by chemicals.

By the way Lego is one of the most stable plastics you can get, thank goodness -my last born is obsessed with it.

Most people know of the nasty chemicals used in the making of plastics and how these can leach into the products contained in them. Plastics contain molecules called Phthalates (which effect the endocrine system) they infiltrate everything they touch as well as this they are by-products of the petroleum industry which makes them a big pollutant.

Usually the cheaper the plastic container the more chemically unstable it is. For example pharmaceutical plastic is much more stable than say your cheap plastic container from the dollar shop.(Have you ever walked into one of these dollar shops and smelt the plastic chemical in the air? my youngest used to go troppo in those shops) this is because the harder the plastic the more chemically stable it is.(hence leggo being ok)

So please, if you do have a lot of plastics please make sure they are not the soft variety and avoid vinyl's which are highly unstable. Leather is a good alternative to vinyl and yes, I know of the price difference but the initial outlay is nothing compared to the years of use you will get out of leather if you maintain it well.

The photo above of the ceramic pumpkin container is what I picked up at the op-shop for $8. I was going to use it to store my homemade Laundry Detergent in but the shelf in my laundry isn't big enough for it so I am now storing my dog treats in it. Unfortunately the lid does not seal well enough to store food stuffs in it. Still a great thrift shop bargain though which I am sure I will use for many years to come.

I certainally can not eliminate all plastics from my home but I do try to find alternatives if it is at all possible.

Do You??

Caroline

Chloe

Chloe is recovering slowly, despite having to take her back for another day at the vets because she reacted to the anti-venom after I took her home. Apparently it is common when the dog has had anti-venom previously.

So it turns out because it was the second time around she should have had an anti-histamine shot & also a shot of cortisone at the time when she was given the anti-venom.

She is a lot lot better but not quite back to her old self.

I'm off for a few days, leaving Chloe in the hands of my darling daughter & wonderful house-sitter"H". I have known "H" for ten years & she has been house sitting for me for five of those years. She is absolutely wonderful but this time just a little bit of me may still worry for the "little dog"

Back soon to share with you my doings.....

Caroline xo

Another Snake Bite!!

"Chloe Emma" is at the vets having a sleep over tonight!!

Bitten by a Brown Snake AGAIN...

The curse of Jack Russell Terriers they just can't help themselves.

Another bottle of VERY expensive anti-venom.

She has been lucky both times, as we have been around & have got her to the vet quickly, one day I know we won't be.

At least this time we know she will survive. Last time she had 3 serious bites with one being on the neck it was real touch & go for weeks.

Today only one just above her paw.

We haven't seen a snake here in years but they came to slash the vacant block next door & maybe that's why, she was actually sitting up on my lap when she saw our Red Cattle Dog react to something, she was off my lap in a flash and well.... the rest is history(NOT!!)

just a BIG vet bill.

Caroline............

Been to busy...

to blog, but hope to return soon.

What with School starting,

Emerald having her op... (more on that to come)

Granny's house having gone under in the floods (she say's it's aged her 3yrs-don't know how she came to that figure, but that would make her 90-going awesome I reckon)

Hope to be back here soon.....

Caroline xoxo

This & That?

I've dropped out of blog land for a few days, I have been busy busy busy. My Granny's house went under in the floods & at 87 she is finding it very hard to cope. Family First right!!

I have also been having a massive clean at my own home, with a leak in the roof last week & a small amount of water getting in under the house. Everything has grown massive amounts of mould. Did you know that mould even comes in different colours, we have had the white looking dusty mould, the black/grey mould and even to be a little bit artistic(yuk!) a blue & a pinky colour.

Everything & I mean everything has had to be wiped clean. I have found Vinegar & a good dash of Oil of Cloves to be the best. I have also been running the air-con on the "DRY" air setting and if you go outside where the outlet pipe is the amount of water that is running out of the pipe is amazing. Didn't think to use that setting when it was teaming with rain all last week but I'll be sure to remember from now on it may help to eliminate the mould problem. Although living in a hot humid climate like ours I may just be "DREAMING"

Luckily, although we have had storms the last two afternoons there has been plenty of sunshine in the mornings to put things out in the sun for a good air. Nothing like a good old air in the sun!!

I find the kids old trampoline is great for putting items out in the sun that are difficult to hang on the clothes line. I pull the trampoline over close to the house & because the mat is a mesh material it has good air flow from all sides.

I realize I am much luckier than most- my grandmother included, all her worldly possessions have been put out on the footpath as rubbish for removal.

Hope to get back here soon & to get around and answer the growing amount of mail in my inbox. I have had a few new followers of late -Thank you. I hope to be able to get over to discover your blogs soon.

Emerald has her operation scheduled for this Friday for her Sleep Aponea so wish us luck. we are hoping for the best outcome, meaning hopefully she will not have to sleep on a machine for the rest of her life.

Caroline xoxo

Emerald's Health Update!!

Emerald will have her first operation mid-January(& hopefully her last) The surgeon is fast tracking her operation because of the severity of her aponea. He is fairly confident that he will be successful and she will not need to sleep on a machine. Please pray for that one!!

We are hoping that we can get some resemblance of normal back into her life before Uni begins in February. Em had a really bad day yesterday at work, having to rush of to be sick she then came home & slept for the next 6hrs. It's a hard balancing act trying to keep things relatively "normal" & making sure her health stays strong. Today has been a great day for her, Soldier boy came to visit and the three of them mucked around - just like old times. She is still bright as a bubble tonight and it's nearly 10pm. You just can't pick it. She did say she might sleep upstairs in her old room tonight though, so she may just be needing a little Mumma sooking saying that.

So I better be off this computer & go and clean her old bed off. That's where I have all the Christmas presents stacked atm.

I would just like to thank the lovely caring people who have left me such kind well wishes for Emerald over the last couple of posts & specially to you Simcha as I know you haven't seen Em in ages & we just can't wait for you to move back to Australia. xxoxo

Caroline.......

Results are in

We have just got Emerald's results back from her Sleep Study.

It seems she has Severe Sleep Apnoea, so severe in fact that at times during the testing she stopped breathing in her sleep, at some stages up to 6 times in a 5min period as well as having 3 Hypoapnoea's (very shallow breaths)

More than 1 episode every minute. No wonder she is becoming such a tired/sick girl.

They are saying it is quite rare in a child this age , hence I suppose their reluctance to even give her a sleep study in the first place. I am so glad I kept pushing for this even though her other blood/urine tests were clear.

They say she is a most unusual case as-

She is only 17

She has always been medically healthy

Is very fit & athletic

Has a perfect weight/height ratio-BMI

So now we are off to see a round of specialists the first being tomorrow. Thank goodness they have fast tracked everything (owing to the severity of her apnoea) otherwise with Christmas only next week we wouldn't be able to see anyone till at least mid to late January. We are hoping for the best case scenario that an operation will fix it. We are all praying that she will not need to have a machine to sleep on at night, that would be such a terrible thing for a young girl to have to do specially at an age when they have so many sleep overs with friends and maybe in the not to distant future, a relationship. I was a little frustrated while seeing her GP as I would have liked to have seen the full results of her study. I was craning my neck to read his computer screen, but we were at just the wrong angle.LOL! I hope I can learn more about things tomorrow.

A note to all mothers out there, please believe in your own motherly intuition/instinct regarding your children even if you have to push your way there & never hesitate about getting a second opinion. If I hadn't have kept pushing we still wouldn't have any answers.

Wish us luck

Caroline xoxo

A Sleep Study

Please think of

my darling daughter Emerald

Whose health has been deteriorating for a while now, more rapidly as the year has progressed. It has been increasingly difficult with her having to complete her Senior studies & a Trainee ship she has had through her part-time job.

We have finally found a doctor that was willing to refer her for a sleep study, this is something that I have wanted for a while but most doctors are reluctant to send young people for them.

It is just NOT normal, some days if I was to leave her she would sleep 16-18hrs. She is finding it harder & harder to concentrate & retain memory of the things she is doing. Not good, for a normally high achieving student.

The photos are of Em getting "wired up" ready for her sleep study. These are only about 1/3 of the wires that she ended up having to wear. She also had them on her body & legs.

Her sleep study was done just before we went on holidays

so we are anxiously awaiting her results.

Be back soon to let you know how it all goes, otherwise, back to the drawing board!!

Caroline xoxo

Maybe, a little prayer -if that is what you do. Thank you.