Catch Up

Where to start! I have so much thats happened that I haven't had a chance to blog about. Valentines day found me with my own sweet valentine. Below is the card Conor made for me. It made me go AWWWWWW! Yes, my delicious little man, I will be your valentine! Caitie and I had a girls night in where I cut her a fringe (looks awesome) and we did facials and makeovers. She had her piccie taken with Nightclub style makeup on. Yes, she is 12 but I am teaching her how to wear makeup responsibly and she likes to look girly now and then. I told her to pout LOL, she took me literally. She isn't a fan of heavy makeup and thinks the girls who wear heavy eyeliner to school look daft. Around a month ago our very much loved Devon X Mask slipped out the back door and took off. Tony and Caitie spent ages trying to find him with no luck. We looked for him everywhere and I called and called. We kept an eye on the local pounds all to no avail. Four weeks later I was calling my chickens in for some food when I heard a tiny little Miaow. I kept repeating the call until finally, around the corner of the neighbours shed, came Mask. He weighed nothing, he was all bones and ribs, no muscle. Very weak and sad but very glad to have come home. For a very big cat, there was nothing of him. He is home and we are happy. He has taken to sleeping wrapped around Caitie's head at night. Yes, my 12 year old still sucks her thumb *sigh* He has put on weight, has a long way to go but is feeling fine and frisky. You know, I am convinced all the weird stuff in life happens to us! Coming home from buying chinese takeaway with a friend, we were both startled to see a duckling run across the road. We put on the brakes and both dashed out to see if we could find him. This involved us introducing ourselves to the owners of the home whose yard he had run into. Picture THAT conversation... Hi...we're not crazy, you have a duckling under your house! So, I took said duckling home for the night ready to find him a home the next day. Imagine my suprise when we discovered this the next morning! One of the neighbours ducks, who had got away, heard the baby and figured she would wait outside and see if he would come out. She flew away soon after I took this pic. We found a home for the duckling by the way. I don't like ducks much, they eat and poop, thats it. Conor had a birthday at the beginning of the year and I just had to share this gorgeous photo with y'all. Check out those freckles! And finally, Titch hasn't popped yet. Here she is two days ago looking rather rotund. I don't think her nipples could get any pinker. Happy Autumn everyone. We had a bried spell of Indian Summer but Autumn has crept up on us with soft evenings, crisp mornings and cups of tea. I love this time of year.

7-8 Weeks

We're preparing for kitten countdown now. Titch has around 2 weeks to go and she is starting to really podge up. She is eating more than ever and has a very low tolerance for the other cats. Her nipples have completely changed shape and are no longer little bubbles. Now they are fat and elongated, like a christmas tree light shape, all the better for little tongues to squish against the roof of little mouths when feeding!

This week we will organise her nesting box. My cats usually use a cardboard box or one of my crates. Some of my queens prefer the complete blackness of the box and the soundproofing it provides. Others prefer the airiness of the crate with a blanket over the top. Either way we have heatpads for the babies when they arrive. My vet is usually on speed-dial and I also have oxytocin on hand. I only use it when a queen has stopped active labour for longer than a few hours.

I usually have a bag of saline from my vet and also have needles. I use the saline solution to hydrate struggling kittens and have also found it beneficial if I need to make up bottles. There is another product I like to keep on hand and its from a company called Rufus and Coco. Its a gut formula called Inner Balance and if I have to bottlefeed I always add a teeny bit to the bottle.

Are we ready, yeah I think we are...now we just have to get through the next three months!

How To Deal With Bullies.

There is a video that has gone viral which shows a young man taking a stand against a bully and fighting back. The young man has been labelled a hero and a poster child for bullied children everywhere. Much has been said about sensationalising bullying because this footage has been played over and over again. For me, as a parent, I believe the young man is a hero because, when all was said and done, he walked away. He stood there and took the bullying, snapped, gave as good as he got but then he walked away. He could have beaten his bully to within an inch of his life but he didn't.

I found myself on the other side of the coin on Friday when my husband rang me at our shop to inform me that Conor wanted to tell me something. Slightly bemused, I tried to speak to a little boy who could only say "whennoehrjhokdlkfee....uh uh uh". "I don't understand you", I replied. This was followed by another senence of gobbledygook followed by the word "bully". "You've been bullied at school?" I said into the phone....and this little voice, full of tears whispered, "No, I bullied Jack and made him cry and I bullied A- as well...." He subsided into wails of despair. I counted to three, pulled much air into my lungs and roared,"You did WHAT!"

I don't tolerate bullying. I was a bullied child and I... DO... NOT... TOLERATE... IT... IN... MY... HOME! All of my kids know this.

When I got home, Conor showed me a letter his teacher made him write to apologise to me for being a bully. I decided then and there that it simply wasn't enough. It was time to show my school how bullies should be dealt with. I got down on his level, looked him in the eye and told him exactly how I felt about him, about bullying and I finished with "I love you very much but right now, I don't want to be your friend."

Monday morning rolled around and he was marched up to the school, he was made to stand in front of his class and apologise to Jack, to his other victim even though she wasn't there, to his class and to apologise for not being safe, being responsible or being respectful. I spoke to the students and asked them if they could help Conor to not be a bully to the other students because it is not allowed in my home. And I asked Jack if he accepted Conors apology.

Of course, it would have made more impact if His Nibs didn't have a big shit-eating grin on his face at the time BUT I made my point to him. And besides, I made him cry first....(gr)

And this is how I feel parents should deal with bullying. DON'T accept it as a normal part of growing up, don't expect it to make your child stronger, don't think it fantastic that you have the toughtest kid in the school. And most importantly, don't be afraid to haul your little rotter up in front of the school and make him apologise. Bullying can scar kids for life, it affects how they interact with others and it can affect their ability to make longterm relationships in the future. Stand up for your child if he is being bullied but also stand beside him if he is a bully and make him stop! Its what all good parents do...I know because I did!

Pregnancy 101

I have decided to write a blog on the pregnancy and birth of a litter of my kittens. I'll be featuring week to week updates including birth weights etc. Now, I am a big softy and am liable to cry if I lose any, just thought you should all be aware.

Ok, so Mum-to-be is DGCH Leetamy Shine On, Titch. This will be her second litter. Her first litter she decided to have in a kitchen drawer with a one inch gap at the back. How she got in, I have no idea. We lost three of the six kittens due to being smothered. She has taken a very long time to come back reliably into call.

Dad-to-be is the Chunky Hunky Monkey, Kracken Perfect Storm. Bred by my husband from my lines, this is THE mating I have been waiting for, the litter I have prepared for and bred for. Which means everything that can go wrong, probably will...

Titch is between six to seven weeks pregnant. And below is her first tummy pick. Usually females will pink up, which means their nipples going a bright fluoro pink, at three weeks. Titch decided to pretend to NOT be pregnant and took until six weeks to show off her large pink nipples. The hair has receded around the base of the nipples in preperation for the milk pads becoming swollen with milk.

She is not very big, my guess at this stage is for three kittens. Devon babies range from around 50g to 80g for smaller litters.

I will post more pictures as her belly begins to swell. At the moment I haven't felt any movement but that is quite normal with my queens.

Always Take the Weather With You

We are Aussies, through and through, we spend our time telling tall tales and watching the sky. Its what we do. And we have had more than enough reasons to watch the sky lately.

Early January saw a vicious flood sweep through our City. Early February saw a vicious cyclone sweep through our State. Still early February and there is soul sucking heat and humidity in Brisbane, there are floods down south, record temperatures in Sydney, floods in Victoria, heatwaves and bushfires in Perth AND snow on the mountains.

The humidity has been really awful for us. No aircon, just ceiling fans. The humidity slowly sucks the moisture out of your body leaving you feeling frail and weak. Sunday was appalling, it was so hot and humid. I nearly fainted while doing housework and had to go sit in the pool before I fell over!

We woke up this morning to a cool change but not before the worst night ever. Hubby opened the door to the boys room and they had moved their bed to directly under the ceiling fan, they were obviously too hot. Thank goodness Aiden didn't get up during the night or he would have been sporting some stitches!

We travelled up to Toowoomba a few days ago and that was a scary, eerie experience. To drive on a road and see the flood markers on fences and know that a few weeks ago you would have been underwater is very humbling. There were areas which looked totally normal, until you came to a creek crossing and looked down into the creek bed. It resembled a giant childs sandbox, with the riverbanks gouged out and trees tumbled like pick up sticks. There was a ute, abandoned on the side of the road, smashed and broken. Crops have been left to die in the hot sun as they aren't salvageable.

Life goes on. I won't forget. This has been a soul changing experience. I am currently running a fundraising Agility trial as there are clubs who have lost everything. Devastating.....

My People

I compete in agility. I compete in dog obedience occasionally but enjoy agility a great deal more. The last trial I competed at last year was held at the Obedience Dog Club of Brisbane's Oxley grounds. It was teeming with rain and the mud underfoot was like a soggy marsh. It was horrible but we enjoyed ourselves immensely!

The Oxley clubhouse sits at a bend in the Brisbane River so, when we recieved reports the river was rising there were concerns for the clubhouse. Some members went down and removed new electrical equipment and sandbagged the meeting room. And this was the image we were presented with when the flood came through...

Yes, that is water to the eaves. We were camping in that spot between those trees the night of the trial. When the floodwaters receded, the kids and I decided to head out to help with the cleanup.

It did our hearts glad to see Brisbanes Mud Army out on the streets in full force. Cars were passing us full of people with shovels, brooms and gumboots strapped to the roof racks. Utes went past with water guerneys on them. Milton Rd was blocked with traffic all trying to get in to help. To the left and right, down side streets, you could see hives of people coming in to clean up. There were people in shiny clean gumboots passing people with mud from nose to toes, greetings were shared, sleeves were rolled up and everyone got dirty! It took us an hour and a half to get from Banyo in the North to Oxley in the South down the Centenary Highway. Its normally about a forty minute run.

This was the sight that greeted us.

Under that grey looking cover is green grass. The grey coverage is mud. It is a good few inches deep in mud. Everything is covered in a coating of thick, smelly mud. Did I mention that its muddy?????

We donned our boots and hats and got to work in cleaning off the mountain of agility equpment that needed to be scrubbed down. All three of my kids dug in and helped.

Lunch time showed us the depth of human kindness that is welling through the flood zone. A gentleman came randomly in, asked if we needed feeding and gave us sandwiches, homemade biscuits and cupcakes. We also shared a feast of fish and chips bought by the club and offered our food to those passing by. After we had gone back to work we were met with the sight of an elderly lady picking her way through the mud and silt. She came up and asked us if we needed sandwiches. Even though we were right, I gave her a hug and said thankyou. It was the least I could do.

We scrubbed and cleaned and washed and swilled and cleaned and scrubbed some more and yet, there was still another surprise for us as we went to leave. Someone had left a bottle of juice, some choc chip biscuits and a packet of marshmallows on the tray of our ute.

On the way back home we saw more of Brisbane at its worst and best. A McDonalds flooded to the eaves. Playgrounds covered in flood silt. Piles and piles of household goods stacked on the sidewalk like so many broken lives. Shops closed, houses bared for all to see. And the people, out in force like an army of ants, smling, laughing. Those people who couldn't help were on the corners of streets with barbeques making sausages and food for the workers.

I am so proud of my city, so proud of my people...black, white, pink, purple and the strange greyish brown we all are at the moment, these are my people. Thankyou....

Cin

There are moments

There are moments when you just want to take back what you said. Can I take back that I was sick of the weather, can I take back moaning how inconvenient it was? Because if I could take it back, then maybe we could take back the inland Tsunami that swept through Toowoomba and down into the Lockyer Valley killing twelve people. Maybe I could take back the fluctuating totals of missing from around 50-70 at any given time. Maybe I could take back the devastating stock losses and crop losses which will cripple this country for the next few months if not years....

Leading up to this tragedy, we had weeks of rain and Brisbane was coping. There was isolated flooding but Brisbane was coping. Then a deluge hit Toowoomba at the top of the ranges and turned into an inland tidal wave that swept cars, businesses, animals, homes and sadly people with it. We watched in horror as a family were swept away in their station wagon. Reports have come to light that the mother and child were rescued by helicopter but the father is still missing.

Wivenhoe Dam was built to protect Brisbane from a flood and it was doing its job....until the water hit Toowoomba. Wivenhoe was sitting on 160% capacity and the flood gates had been released. 200,000 megalitres of water was flowing out every hour while 1 000 000 was flowing in. BUT the Brisbane River was handling it. As the flood swept down the ranges, it picked up momentum and the rest of the water that was inundating the South East. All of that water has then dumped itself into an already swollen Brisbane river. And something had to give. The Brisbane River, Brisbane itself and its surrounding suburbs have been swallowed up by a fast rising flood. Businesses have been destroyed, lives lost and people have been afraid.

Wivenhoe Dam in 2008, during the drought.
Yesterday....

Its a scary time for everyone with the river only just beginning to peak. There are around 60 people missing, grave fears are held for their safety. Times to come will be hard as the cleanup begins.

However, through it all, our quirky sense of humour has shone through. Some wag put floaties and a snorkel on our iconic statue of Wally Lewis at Suncorp Stadium. Now that the Stadium has gone under, someone else reckons it'll be a great water polo venue. In flooded streets you can see "Wet Floor" signs. And the Mayor of Ipswich, in true Aussie style, said that looters would get "the shit kicked outta them and then used as flood markers." Thats the spirit!

The last word has to come from our Premier, Anna Bligh, who has stood fast throughout this ordeal, keeping everyone up to date. She said, "We're the ones they knock down and we get up again." We'll survive this, we'll pick ourselves up, brush ourselves off and start again....and look anxiously to the skies as cyclone season rolls in.

I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains, of ragged moutain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewelled sea, her beauty- and her terror- the wide brown land for me. Thankyou Dorothy McKellar, you couldn't have said it any better.