Thank You Hubby

I was browsing through some card making blogs and came across this handy device which is a peg bow maker. After looking at the YouTube video the author kindly made to show us 'all thumbs' people how to make bows I did indeed drag dear Hubby to the computer and asked if he could make me one. Off Hubby went to the hardware shop and he came back and started sawing and drilling and behold here it is:

If you compare with the original idea you'll notice that the ribbon holder is not so fancy. That's because the corbels are rather expensive here ($13 each) so we settled for something cheaper. And here is a card I made after using my super-duper peg bow maker:

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Thanks Hubby! And thanks to Becca for sharing her ideas.

Fuzzy vision

I've been having difficulties for some time. When at my sister-in-law's house for the Q family's get together at Christmas time I admitted I needed reading glasses. Just getting older I guess. While there I happened to notice a book: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. I also admitted to having never read any of Douglas Adams' books, but said that I had always wanted to. My lovely sister-in-law not only loaned me the book, but the means of reading it:

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I've since had my eyes checked thoroughly and now own two pairs of slightly less interesting looking glasses. My flower power ones were great whilst reading Dirk though, and I've since read Hitchikers as well. Off to check the library for more of the same.

Painted lines and pot holes

As I drove out the other night I noticed that the lines on our street had been repainted recently. Today as I was driving around our suburb I noticed that the line painting people seem to have had a field day in our area. Someone somewhere has obviously decided that it's line painting time here. I really didn't think the lines needed doing. What does need fixing though is the large number of potholes in the road which are due to the recent heavy rains. It's a pity that line painters can't be pothole fixers instead.

I was thinking of it as a bit of an object lesson. With two children finished schooling I'm finding that I get contacted a lot by people who want to know all about the different ways of home education. One of the comments I make is that no system of home schooling is perfect. Even after 15 years of it we prayerfully decided to change the curriculum and learning style for Matt this year. Last year he and I were getting frustrated by the line painting in the curriculum - the endless revision of concepts already mastered - whilst the pot holes (weak areas) were being left alone. With the new system I have a lot more control over what he does and the line painting has stopped and the pot hole filling has started. Already we're having a smoother drive.

Thus endeth the object lesson for today.

Eat the Couch Day

Valentine's Day seems to be celebrated differently in other parts of the world. In Australia, one usually only sends a Valentine's card or gift to one's sweetheart - girl/boyfriend or wife/husband.

Many years ago on the 14th of February we just happened to sell an old couch that we no longer wanted. The second hand shop gave us $40 for it. It wasn't a great deal of money but we didn't have a lot of ready cash in those days and decided to splurge on a take-away dinner.

Thereafter in the Qing family the 14th February became "Eat the Couch Day".

We celebrated this year's "Eat the Couch Day" with some yummy chocolate truffles that Hubby brought home.

Review

The school year is all fired up now and we're finding it easier to work today with the rain rather than the impossible heat and humidity last week.

Mike is reviewing his grammar. Last year we did nouns, proper and common, and pronouns. We also covered action verbs. This year we're starting on state-of-being verbs. I've made up a little jingle to remember them.

To review action verbs though I asked Mike to give me an example of an action verb. I was expecting the usual run-of-the-mill action verb. You know.... run, jump, skip etc.

Not my son. His choice? "Assassinate"

I guess he's right. It is an action verb.

Update

It was ginormous big. It's still not little even now but the worst has past.

First, the good news:

• No reports of fatalities, injuries or missing persons although it is a little early still. Praise God.
• It crossed a little later than expected which meant it didn't quite come with the high tide and thus flooding isn't to be what was expected.
• The centre crossed between the two major cities rather than through the most populated city.

Second, the not-so-good news:

• Where it passed there is a trail of destruction with an estimated 90% of buildings being affected as well as crops.
• One of the towns that the centre did pass through was devastated 4 years ago by Cyclone Larry and has been hard hit again.
• The above means that bananas are going to go on the rare items list again. Hubby will have to forego his usual banana a day for work at the prices they are likely to become. After Cyclone Larry I remember $12 per kilogram (that's roughly about $6 per pound). This is a minor inconvenience for us. We are very thankful to have escaped floods and cyclones here and continue to pray for those who have lost so much.

It's coming

It's big. Really, really big. Did I say big? I mean ginormous big. 4 hours until it hits.

Praying for North Queensland for wisdom and safety.