Long Weekend and warning LONG post!

It was Labour Day weekend here in Queensland, but the only thing significant about that in our household is that Kate had ANOTHER long weekend. It will be hard to go back to full weeks of school, though we still have Queens Birthday long weekend a few weeks down the track.

Well, there was one other significant thing about the weekend: Trevor spent the day at home on Saturday (ALL of the day!) which is rare indeed. Saturday involved odd jobs around the house yard and the collection of a load of "Mothers Day Dirt" - my list included a load of manure for the vege garden. Sadly, I don't think we got enough, and I might be waiting awhile to get the rest. The weather has turned cooler here, and I really should have my seedlings in now....sigh.

Sunday involved a Family Day at Lyons Creek, which involved all of the kids in the cattle yards while we drafted up a small mob and branded a few stragglers that were missed earlier in the year. Now lets just say the combination of this Mum, Dad AND kids in the yards is not normally a good one, but due to a little esky full of drinks and snacks, and strict instructions to GET OUT OF THE WAY immediatley when told (due to those straggler calves being big and feisty!) it all went reasonably well.

After branding, we had to do a lick run (Lick= mineral supplement for the cattle, which is like vitamins - they don't get enough of the right stuff from the grass in our part of the world, so we have to help them out. There are few parts of the country that don't have to supplement in one form or another, at certain time of the year). All five of us were jammed into the front of the toyota trayback, which was quite cosy and involved quite a bit of negotiation and power struggles. And a snooze by a couple of the kids.

Anyhow, it was dark by the time we got back home to our house, and everyone was quite grubby and quite cranky (including their mother!) The kids did declare the day " A Good Fun Day" - including the bit where we towed two not-so-fresh-smelling dead cows away....I wish I had taken a photo of their faces when they got a whiff of the stench, but I was busy avoiding the smell myself, and one can't hold a camera and try not to vomit at the same time!

Here's a collage of of photos from the weekend. Its on an A4 sized canvas, with a tiny bit trimmed from the side and the bottom. I should have done it 8x10 to have printed, so I don't know what I was thinking at the time. I'll have to fiddle around and resize it.

Oh, look at that Happy Husband. You would think he would have gotten over having a camera in his face a good nine years ago. It came as part of the package, love. Learn to live with it.

I edited all of the photos, and made them all Rustic. It seemed to suit!

The finished 12x12 {digital} layout. Journalling similar to what I have described above. You can't see it, but this is matted on white around the brown and paper.

On another matter, a few of these have pics have made it onto My Favourites of 2009 list. I've decided that rather than do a 365 or 52 project this year, I'm just going to gather together my favourites (as they come off the camera, but after editing) into a folder. I could end up with 50, or I could end up with 80. Who knows?! I haven't quite decided yet, but I think I'll have them printed into one of those little books that are popular and plentiful at the moment - one great and economical place being Frog Prints. I think I'll go large for impact...might add a little journalling strip at the bottom of each photo, or even put the text straight on each. I want it to be very graphic and clean and magazine like.

I might start posting my favourites here to share. Some of them you will have seen already...

Also might blog the 52Q that Emily Falconbridge has on her blog. I don't think I'll ever get as deep and meaningful as she does {nor can I do her style of art! oh, not enough Straightness! OCD much?!}

You would think someone with an obsession with straight and clean would have a much tidier and cleaner house.

Maybe its my obesession with straight and clean in my scrapbooking is a way of compensating for what is NOT so in the rest of my world?!!

Sorry for the long post, it will have to do you for the next few days, as a fair bit happening - mammoth grocery shopping trip tomorrow, followed by fancy dress night/dance at the local picnic race meeting, then a weekend in the cattle yards (again, sans children).

Love to hear from you!