Hey there everyone, welcome back to Darling Downs Diaries. It’s almost Monday again so it’s time for another Good Morning Mondays Link Up.

How has your past week been????

I started out the week with a head cold that turned into some funny virus thingy that left me sweating and cold and very tired for a day. It took me a few days and I was much better by Thursday, I got a bit better each day.

We have still been pushing through with our piano practice and the exams were Sunday afternoon. All done and dusted now, just need to wait for the results. It’ll be fine.

Our No 1 son came home on Friday night, so there was great excitement in the camp. He was with us for one night and then caught up with a very good friend on Saturday night and then joined us again for church and  lunch on Sunday. It was so nice to see him and we enjoyed our time together.

My husband and the younger children managed to get all the fruit trees planted. We bought 29 trees and the orchard is starting to fill up.

Spring must be coming because we have been talking this past week about our coming spring/summer vegetable garden. Our no 1 daughter is growing our seedlings for us this year and we are getting some of our tomatoes early this year to get planted under plastic.

Last season we only got our first tomatoes in February and they really didn’t peak until March. Hopefully if we get them in earlier we may have tomatoes by Christmas, but we’ll see.

I have been so impressed with the dehydrating that I did with my Excalibur that I can’t wait to get into it again this coming season.

I dried some homemade sourdough noodles this week and I was really pleased with how they turned out.They look a bit homemade but it’s the taste that matters and they taste good.

I have been progressing with the jumper for our no 1 son and have started on the front now. I try and do some everyday but really couldn’t earlier in the week when I wasn’t feeling well, but I’m back on board now.

Okay onto our link up…A Thrifty Week at Harvest Lane Cottage #73 by Laura at Harvest Lane CottageSummer Cooking: Pasta Salad FAST! by Tammy at Taylor Made HomesteadServing Mister by Mrs White at The Legacy of Home

Thank you everyone for taking the time to stop by and for linking up. I hope you were blessed.

Right this week is, ahhhh no serious piano practice, yay. We might take a bit of a break this week before we get into it again next week.

Our local town has it’s Sheepvention, which is a big show, sort of like a fair but no rides or side show alleys. Lots of machinery, dog trials, ladies clothes and stuff like that.

We didn’t make it last year and I think my husband would like to go on Tuesday this week. Hopefully it won’t be too wet or cold but we’ll see.

Apart from that there isn’t much happening. I forgot about making the granddaughters beanies for their ski trip, so I hope to get into that this week when I get some nice wool for them. I like to make them matching ones because they are so cute.

I am still reading Fervent and I am still really enjoying it, and I have 10 verses of Ephesians 1. It is slow going but good fun all the same and I am learning heaps.

Just a reminder about our monthly link up…

Our new link up for Wednesday Wisdom Searching commenced on the 20th July, and this months topic is PRAYER.

Also remember you don’t have to link up, but I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section, so stop over if you get the time.

Have a blessed week my friends and may God lead and guide you in your everyday life.

Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”

Blessings to you all xxxx

It’s time again for our Good Morning Mondays Link Up, so welcome back and I hope you enjoy your visit.

I thought this week that I wasn’t going to have any photos for you, because I have been home nearly all week but then we have had heaps of rain and I managed to get some pictures after music lessons.

It has been so wet that when we did a bit of a road trip on the way home we had to turn around a couple of times because we were only in our car and we couldn’t drive through the water. Next time I’m sure we’ll take my husband’s 4WD.

I’ve had quite a quiet week, I came down with a head cold on Monday, so I haven’t really been feeling too motivated. The last half of the week was very mild but very wet.

I have been busy knitting a jumper (pullover) for our oldest son who is 21. I was hoping to get it finished before he came home for a visit but he’s coming in a week and I don’t think I will get it done. I will just have to post it when it’s completed.  This is the first big jumper I have made and it is knitting up really nice, it’s quite exciting.

Piano has been our major goal this past week and now we only have 1 week left until their exams and then we can relax a little bit. Each year I say that we are going to keep up scales and each year we don’t, now I am determined that we are going to. I am going to pray for consistency this coming year.

I got a new sour dough plant started last week and it has been happily bubbling away and I managed to make some pasta this week and pizzas. It’s great to have this going again, now I just have to remember to feed it and have an alarm on my phone to remind me.I am almost halfway through reading Fervent and I am starting to get my prayer strategy organised. The scripture references she gives are a great basis to get started and she puts them into  groups – husband, family and so on. I am so enjoying this book, and I would recommend it to anyone.

I have also started studying Ephesians, going through each verse and writing it down and then looking at what it means. It is amazing when you read that we were chosen before the creation of the world, just think on that for a moment.  I knew that before but sometimes you just get that extra revelation that leaves you just in awe of God’s grace and mercy.

Oh and I love the meaning of Grace – God’s unmerited favour. Wow…

Okay onto our link up…

Our top three posts this week were…The Inner Views of Robin McCarter by Cheryl at Homespun DevotionsHow do you study the bible? by Jo at Stop Have A ChatHow to Can Beets by Kathi at Oak Hill Homestead

Thank you everyone for linking up. I am so blessed by the fact that there is so much variety here, from cooking to crafting to devotional, something for everyone.

This week there really isn’t much on but we do have a funeral on Monday morning. A friends mother passed away after being in hospital.

My husband’s Fathers Course isn’t on this week but we do have a music lesson on Thursday night and then again on Saturday.

That’s it for me, music practice and keeping the mud off the floors seems to be keeping me busy at the moment.

Oh the most exciting thing happening is our oldest son is coming home next weekend for a few days, so we are all looking forward to that.

Just a reminder too, of our new link up …Our new link up for Wednesday Wisdom Searching commenced on the 20th July, and this months topic is PRAYER.

Also remember you don’t have to link up, but I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section, so stop over if you get the time.

Have a blessed week my friends and may God lead and guide you in your everyday life.

Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”

Blessings to you all xxxx

Hi everyone, welcome back to our Good Morning Mondays Link Up. Where are the weeks going we are almost though July and then the rest of the year will be on the downhill run.

We are mid winter here and it has been really cold and wet. There was even snow close by but unfortunately it didn’t suit us to go and have a play.

I had a bit of cabin fever earlier in the week and it was so wet that we decided to go and visit our son-in-law, daughter and their lovely family for the day. We had a great time as usual and I really enjoyed talking with our daughter. She cooked us a delicious lunch and we were home at a reasonable hour as well. It takes us about 2 hours to get there which isn’t too bad the only issue would be driving at night and hitting a kangaroo which can be pretty thick through that way.

The rest of the week was school and piano practice, exams are in 2 weeks now and we have some scales to get right yet. I think the children are pretty amazing with how they can play all that they do but the scales can be a hard drag.

My husband has been continuing with his father’s course and the men involved are really going great and enjoying it. There is quite a bit of homework but they are all putting in, which makes it all the more enjoyable for my husband.

Unfortunately my husband has come down with a bad head cold and he has spent a couple days inside trying to get over it, our no 2 son isn’t too well either but that seems par for the course during winter.

Our no 1 son is going really well where he is working and will be home for a few months at the end of September. We are all looking forward to this and will value that time together. We are having some really deep and encouraging phone conversations at the moment and we are in awe of how he is maturing.

Up where he is living they all wear cowboy boots and our no 2 daughter was really keen to get some and I managed to locate some really cheap on ebay. To say she was thrilled was an understatement and she wore them around the house for a day or so. They were brand new vintage boots and look just lovely, now her brother wants some so we will have to go on the look out again.

We haven’t managed to get the fruit trees in yet, that’s a job for this coming week, when the weather was good my husband wasn’t. It is just so wet out there at the moment you should really only go out there wearing waders.

We have been talking about doing another butchering session as we are almost half way through our meat. We have about 5 pigs that are ready and I think that we will probably put them into sausages again. Sausages are great on the bbq for summer and are so easy to team with a salad and baked potato.

We might wait another few weeks before we do them though due to the wet weather. August can be really wet here too so maybe in September.

Okay onto our link up…

Our top three this week were…“How Artwork and a Quilt Became a Devotional Book” by Beth Willis Miller from Ifeoma at Purposeful and MeaningfulOut Minimalism Journey Update, An Exciting Book Giveaway, and One More Thing!!! by Cheryl at Homespun DevotionsMonday of Many Blessings Link Up #21 by Our Home of Many Blessings

Thank you everyone for linking up, I hope you enjoyed looking around and I appreciate it that you take the time to stop by.

I have been studying prayer with my friend and doing this while reading Fervent. Priscilla Shirer is talking about prayer being strategic and specific and I guess that is what I have been thinking on at the moment.

We also need to realise who the battle is against, who the real enemy is and that isn’t our family or friends or people around us.

Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Sometimes it is so hard to really recognize who the enemy is, when are lives are so full and busy, I need to reminded so often.

Monday we have a funeral of an old friend to attend, if you remember I wrote a post ages ago about present day mothers well this the lady it was written about.

The rest of the week will be at home, we have an extra music lesson on Thursday night for our daughter and my husband has his father’s course.

Just a reminder about our new monthly link up…This last month’s topic was WORSHIP and what that meant to you and how you live it.

Our new link up for Wednesday Wisdom Searching will commence on the 20th July, and this months topic will be PRAYER.

Also remember you don’t have to link up, but I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section, so stop over if you get the time.

Have a blessed week my friends and may God lead and guide you in your everyday life.

Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”

Blessings to you all xxxx

Hi there everyone, and welcome back to Darling Downs Diaries and our Good Morning Mondays Link Up.

I’ve had a quiet week at home this past week and we have been getting some school done and music practice.

My husband has been busy working when it hasn’t been too cold and wet. Most of his work is out doors and in sheds which is handy when it is raining, and it has been quite wet this past week.

He even managed to fix our car saving us around $1300. The fact that he can fix things like this is such a blessing for us because it would be difficult to scrape together that much money. God knows and has given my husband these abilities, it’s amazing really.

Apart from school I have been doing the usual household chores. Washing is hard to get dry at the moment so it is being rotated from outside into the clothes horse inside in front of the wood stove.

I’ve been darning socks, I really enjoy this job, but I think this sock below is almost past it. I was challenged to do it though!!Our fruit trees have arrived and are waiting to be planted. We got nectarines, peaches and apples.  Our orchard is in the front of our house in the paddock against the road. They will be a great fire break in the summer because we hope to get the cooch grass growing out there eventually and keep it mowed and green.At the moment my husband is trying to mound the dirt so that we can plant them, but it’s pretty wet out there. That’s a job for the coming week.

Our daughter had been busy knitting a scarf and finished it last night, she was so pleased to get it done, now to teach her how to crochet!

Okay onto our link up…

Our top three this week were…Using the Psalms to Pray by MB at John 13:35A Thrifty Week At Harvest Lane Cottage #70  by Laura
How To Have A Leave It to Beaver Summer by Mindie at The (mis) Adventures of a “Born Again” Farm Girl

Thank you everyone for linking up, I hope you were blessed by the variety of posts.

Well my young friend and I are now studying Prayer and I think that this is the topic I will use for our next Wednesday Wisdom Searching.

I’ve mentioned before that I have been reading Fervent and I am enjoying this book immensely. It is challenging to go through the scriptures on prayer and then you get to the one in Thessalonians that says that we should pray without ceasing.  That’s where I’m up to.

Okay this coming week is another quiet one at home, but we will have piano lessons this coming Saturday as school holidays will be finished.

What are you up to at the moment, and where is God leading you???

Just a reminder about our new monthly link up…

This month’s topic is WORSHIP and what that means to you and how you live it.

Also you don’t need to link up if you don’t have a post on the topic, but you can leave your thoughts in the comments section.  I would love to hear from you.

Our new link up for Wednesday Wisdom Searching will commence on the 20th July, so stayed tuned.

Have a blessed week my friends and may God lead and guide you in your everyday life.

Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”

Blessings to you all xxxx

Hey there everyone, it’s Monday so it’s time for our Good Morning Mondays Link Up.

Is anyone else amazed at how quickly each week is passing??? I had a lovely week at home which was great. We achieved some school and music practice.

It was that wet and cold on Thursday that my husband stayed home and had a lego day with our son. They are building a header out of the lego they have. It’s always great when Dad is home for the day. These types of days only happen a few times a year, when it is wet and cold and when it is too hot.
We were lent the DVD of War Room and I think our lives have been changed. What an awesome movie and with such powerful lessons for us. So I was so excited to get these two books in the mail this week.  I have started on Fervent and I’ve read a chapter and a half and already I am enjoying it. I feel like I am sitting in the lounge room talking with this author, just amazing and so practical. Saturday morning we went to town for our music lessons, even though it is school holidays here, we missed a lesson last week. We have heaps of work to do on the technical side in the next few weeks but I think we are up to the challenge.

Then we caught up with my sister-in-law who has come up from Melbourne for a few days to visit her parents. We had a lovely brunch together and she is a favourite amongst our children.

My husband is busy preparing an area for our fruit trees which are arriving this coming week. It is pretty boggy out in the paddock but he is going to raise up some beds to plant the trees in. We have 30 trees coming in all – 10 apples, 10 nectarines and 10 peaches. Within these there are 2 different varieties of each tree. Next year we will hopefully get another 30 or so and have fruiting happening over a long period of time, very exciting.

Okay onto our link up…

Our top three posts this week were…Modern Modesty by Jo at Finding Joy In The EverydayThe Simple Life Ain’t Simple by April Tells All 6 Reasons Why Natural Remedies Don’t Work by Jamie at The Herbal Spoon

There we are and thanks for linking up everyone, I hope you were blessed. There always seems such a variety to have a look at and that is just wonderful, thank you.

This coming week is another week at home for me – yay. We aren’t taking school holidays so we will be doing heaps of school and heaps of scales practice, which we all love (not), but we will persevere.

My husband started his men’s course last week and has been blessed by the men participating and their enthusiasm. It is so wonderful to see him reaching out to other men and using what God has taught him to help others.

We are seeing so many marriages collapsing, and when they are Christian it is even harder to watch. I guess we, like so many others are passionate about marriage and about helping others see how good it can be if you have God as the head.

I mentioned last week about a younger friend and I going through scripture together. We do this over text messaging but I am so blessed by it. I feel that finally God has brought a younger woman for me to share my heart with. This young woman is so amazing and challenges me each week to dig deeper into scripture to really see what it means. God’s word is so exciting and full of some many nuggets of wisdom.

Our children have really enjoyed watching War Room also, so this week I bought them both journals and we are encouraging them to write down their prayers each day. It is so exciting.

I have finished the cardigan I made for our 2nd granddaughter so I am going to start working on one for our no 1 son who is away working at the moment. I am half way through the back but it is in 14 ply so it won’t take too long.

We are blessed with how this young man is growing in the Lord while he is away. Each day is a challenge for him to delve deeper into what God is saying to him.  We are having some amazing late night conversations with him and are growing even closer together.

So what has God been challenging you with lately???

Also a reminder about our new monthly link up…This month’s topic is WORSHIP and what that means to you and how you live it.

Also you don’t need to link up if you don’t have a post on the topic, but you can leave your thoughts in the comments section.  I would love to hear from you.

Have a blessed week my friends and may God lead and guide you in your everyday life.

Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”

Blessings to you all xxxx

You will find me linked up at some of these great blogs.