Ideas please

Getting ready for the festival which is only 6 weeks away. I have been organising it for the last two years since we first decided to hold a stall, and each year it gets bigger and better. 
So as this years festival approaches, I can’t help starting to worry if we will once again rise to the challenge. 

The idea is to make our stall people friendly, to draw in the crowds, to generate interest. 

I should mention that we host the Community Newspaper stall – and as you may or may not know, community newspapers are non for profit run solely by volunteers. That’s why it is important to get as many people interested in the papers as we can. 

In previous years we have had surveys, paper plane (made from our newspapers) races, colouring in etc . We have thought of doing a secret story but have never actually managed to get it going. Maybe this year!! 

We are always looking for, and needing, people to write articles, to deliver papers, to sponsor ads and to just get involved.

If anyone has any ideas on how to generate interest in the public I would love to hear them. 

 

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My problem is …

  

A jar full of happiness

I saw this on Pintrest the other day and thought what a wonderful idea!!

A jar full of happy memories that you can look back on and relive all over again!!

Next year is going to be a good year I can just sense it!! My babies are starting high school, Georgie is going to be in year 10, hopefully he will get a job and will also be getting his learners permit, Stephen and I along with my brother and sister are planning a wonderful holiday overseas to gorgeous Italy, my nephew will be going to the university of his choice to study, we have two 50th birthdays and a sweet sixteen. There will be plenty of opportunities to fill that jar to the brim with good memories. I can hardly wait to get started.

Only 23 sleeps till Christmas!!!!

Bad decisions make good stories

I was thinking today about what it is that makes a story really good and I came to this conclusion ….

BRAINWASH Magazine

I was given a copy of the Brainwash Project magazine today and I have to say that I am really impressed.

For those of you that have not heard of the Brainwash Project, it is one girls crusade to change the image portrayed to young impressionable girls in the glamour magazines.

Jessica Barlow who was honored at this years Australian Day awards. Started the Brainwash project in hope of making readers feel good about themselves, to encourage them to expand their mind and branch out and try new things. It is about recognizing the beauty that exists in diversity and the innate beauty that resides within each of us.

The project has seen Jessica travel far and wise spreading her message that girls don’t have to look like the models pictured in the magazines in order to be beautiful and unique.

Inside the Brainwash Project Magazine girls will read real life stories and see beautiful real girls. There is a plethora of information, advice, fashion, entertainment all of it targeted to real young ladies.

The front and back cover of the magazine is plain white with bold black writing and on the back the words ‘don’t judge by appearance’ pretty much sum it all up.

There was only a relatively small number of this magazine published, but anyone who has been lucky enough to get hold of a copy will no doubt agree that our young girls could certainly use more of these types of magazines.

Sick dog tip

My mother-in-laws little dog Taya, chihuahua cross foxie, seems to be having a lot of problems lately with her stomach. Ever since my in-laws adopted Taya she has had good days and bad days. Numerous visits to the vet, several tests later and they are no closer to finding out what is wrong. Initially it was thought that perhaps Taya was anxious and it was this anxiety that was causing her to vomit a bile like substance, (sometimes this bile even has blood in it).

On these bad days Taya goes off her food, even getting her to drink water is a challenge. So when I stumbled upon this fantastic idea I knew that this was something I should definitely share. It is simple but effective, just add some low salt chicken broth to your dogs water, a great way to entice a sick dog to drink and prevent dehydration.

Home Alone

Check out this awesome new invention. I would love to have one of these installed at my house not only for Dexter but for my cats too. How great would it be to be able to see them while I am at work and see what they get up too, but also to be able to send them a treat or two.

I found this on Facebook yesterday and after some research on the internet I found out that this particular camera is from a company called PetChatz and it retails for around $349 US, so not bad at all.

Painting 101

How hard could it possibly be to paint treated pine? Not hard at all one would think right? Well that’s wrong, depending on the cut of the timber painting can prove to be a very challenging experience!!

We are in the process of having our deck and pergola constructed, fortunately an old family friend who has recently started up his own home improvement company has undertaken this long time coming project for us and he has been really wonderful going through the whole process with us and trying his best to cater to all of our wishes.

We have had to make quite a few compromises I must say. The pitch roof I once wanted is now flat. The decking is treated pine not merbau. The rails are not quite as I imagined and the screen that I want running down the one side of the house will have to wait until next year when we can save up a bit more money. As a whole the deck is coming along really nicely, and it’s big, and new and within our budget, and we have been assured that it will be ready for Christmas when the whole family is coming for lunch so really we couldn’t be happier.

The only problem is we have hit a glitch with the painting. According to some people the wood needs to be primed before it can be painted, but according to our friend and deck builder, it does not. So far we have painted on three coats and the results are shocking. The wood appears to be sucking in the paint. Tonight my husband who is not a handy man by any stretch of the word, is out there after work (before even having his dinner) painting away. Has it made any difference? I don’t think so, but he does.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Writers block

As Christmas grows closer my days are getting busier and busier. Lately making time for my writing is a challenge. This weekend I had a Christmas Party, a concert and Christmas shopping and in amongst all that was the washing, the normal household chores, and helping my daughter write her school captain speech (which I guess technically is writing right?).

Whilst NaNoWriMo is officially over, my novel is not yet finished. I have reached a standstill. I have come to a point in my story that does not work, I know this, but I’m struggling to find a way to work around this, so for the time being my novel is on hold, possibly until I take some leave in January, when hopefully I will be able to take some time to really think this through.

It seems that a lot of writers experience writers block at some stage, and if you were to google writers block you will find countless tips about how to overcome this frustrating blockage.

There are tips such as changing the area that you do your writing, or making a schedule to write and making sure you stick to it. There was even an suggestion of skipping over a chapter that you may be struggling with. But if you do this how will you be able to tie the story together? I suppose what works for one person will not necessarily work for another.

My favourite suggestion and one I seem to revert to quite often is creating a subplot, by having something unexpected happen in my story, I find can often create excitement and add a new twist.

For the moment though I’m just taking a break from my story and reevaluating, one never knows when inspiration may strike, when it does I plan on being ready.

Six Simple Steps To Help Keep Pets Safe During Home Renovations

Construction work commenced today on our deck and pergola, and so our backyard now looks like a construction site. For the next two weeks we will need to be mindful whenever we are in our back yard. There is timber, bricks, nails, sand, and pavers everywhere.

Not only can this be a hazard for the children but for my pets also. Fortunately our front garden is also fenced in so we have an alternative for Dexter when he needs to go to go outside. Many people are not so lucky and don’t have an alternative space to use for pets during renovations which means they need to make the best of the situation.

This post is aimed to highlight some of things we can all do to help keep our pets safe during home renovations of any kind.

1). if you can securely fence off an area in the garden to use for pets than that’s great, if not and you need to leave your dog outside while worker are there make sure your pet is safely tied up.

2). Try and remove any electrical wires, most animals if given the chance will chew through electrical wires.

3). Do a sweep of the grounds, nails, staples, tacks and anything sharp can cut tender paws.

4). Secure any loose or wobbly items, animals like to brush up against things and may accidentally knock them over.

5). If you need to make changes to your pets sleeping or eating area during the time of renovations consider making the change prior to work commencing so that your pets have a chance to adjust. Most animals do not like change.

6). ID tags are especially important during renovation time, as your home may have doors and windows left open for long periods of time and this may lead to your pet wandering off and getting lost.

These are just six simple steps that anyone can implement to keep their pets safe during what can be a very trying time, but in the end it will all be worth it. We can’t wait for our new deck and pergola.