Hello there everyone and welcome back to another Good Morning Mondays.
It has been very hot this past week and we even had a fire scare on Saturday afternoon. We had lightning strikes just north of us which started a fire, thankfully it was under control before it caused us any issues, though it was the closest fire we have ever had. In some ways this was a very good exercise for us as it made us get our fire plan organised and things in their right places.
My husband has been very busy this past week and has been here, there and everywhere fixing things up for people. It is full on harvest time here at the moment and machinery is always breaking down.
He was able to take our younger children with him for a day each this week and they always love spending time with dad. Our no 2 daughter even got a movie of a snake swimming across a dam where my husband was working. Don’t worry she kept her distance and took the movie on the highest zoom setting.
I have had a quiet week here at home but I was blessed to be able to go to town with our no 1 son and help him with some Christmas shopping. Actually he had it all organised and I just encouraged him from the sidelines. I really enjoy spending time with him, we have a lot of fun and some great discussions.
We sold some more sheep this past week and it was hot work getting them in and then tagging them, but we all worked together to get it done. It is wonderful to have the children home and have their help when we have work outside to do, and they are learning so much.
We haven’t done much school this past week or so and I think I will leave it until the new year and then get stuck in. I sometimes find that a break really helps get everyone motivated for more work (well I hope and pray that is the case).
Our vegetable garden and fruit trees are coming along nicely. We even have an apricot tree which is fruiting for the first time. Even though the weather has been hot it is good for our vegetables and my husband has been watering them at night. We are blessed with a good bore which is wonderful.
Our cauliflowers were growing really well in the hot house but unfortunately they didn’t come to much and the head had leaves growing through them, we probably should have picked them earlier and smaller.
They went from this below…![DSC_2213[1]](http://darlingdownsdiaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/DSC_22131.jpg)
to this…
We are learning so much with this aquaponics system and sometimes we make mistakes, but I suppose that is how we learn, isn’t it.
Now we don’t really go in for Christmas decorations, we usually put a Nativity Set out and put our presents around that but this year we are spending Christmas with our son-in-law, daughter and their children so I haven’t even done that. There are lots of people in town who do Christmas lights and sometimes they are pretty amazing.
Here is one below that I took a picture of the other night, I wonder how they sleep with all the lights on??? Pretty amazing and what a lot of work.
Okay, I know enough, enough, onto our link up…
Our top three posts this week were….
Increasing Hits on a Single Blog Post from Giftie Etcetera
(mis) Adventures Mondays Blog Hop by Mindie at Born Again Farm Girl
Can Child Training Actually Improve My Relationship With My Child by Anastasia at Anawins
Thank you to everyone for taking the time to link up. It is amazing to me to see this wonderful community of bloggers stopping by each week and sharing their thoughts and ideas, it is so special.
I have some thoughts and plans for something new next year, it’s still in the pipeline (that means I am still having discussions with my husband and no 1 daughter) so I won’t spill any beans just yet, but I hope it will be good and challenging for us all.
I am going to take a two week break from the link up. I hope you all understand and I will see you back here on the 10th January 2016.
May you all be blessed this Christmas, may you find the love of God filling your hearts and may you find the time to share this love with others.
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 my dear friends. xxxx
You will find me linked up at some of these great blogs.
God bless you on your break! Enjoy your time with your family, and have a merry Christmas! 🙂
Thank you so much Cheryl, same to you and may you all be blessed this Christmas Season. See you in the New Year. Lots of love to you all.xxxx
I’m happy the fire didn’t become an issue for you.
Thank you for hosting. Merry Christmas!!
Thank you Emily, many blessings. xxxx
Merry Christmas to you and your lovely family! I always love hearing your news.
Thank you so much Michele, thank you so much for also for your support and friendship this past year, many blessings to you and your family xxxx
It seems strange to see the growing vegetable and hear how warm your weather is when we are getting so chilly here on the other side of the world. Our temps are supposed to be getting up into the 70’s for Christmas though so that will be pleasant.
Merry Christmas to you and your dear family and blessings for the New Year.
Hugs,
Patti
Hey Patti, I agree it is strange to think of you having cold weather when it is so warm here, but a cold cosy Christmas sounds wonderful. Have a great Christmas and New Year and I look forward to seeing you again in January. Many blessings to you and your family. xxx
Merry Christmas to you and your family. It’s my first visit to your site, and I wanted to leave a quick comment to say hi. I always enjoy connecting to other, faith and family bloggers. I was home schooled the last few years of high-school (which was quite a while ago now) and am also stoked to get connected to another home schooling family.
Thanks for the opportunity to join in the link-up too!
Welcome Jed and thanks for your lovely comment. Homeschooling is great, although not always easy, and we enjoy having our children home with us and learning new things together. Have a great and blessed Christmas and I look forward to reading your link ups in the New Year. Many Blessings.
Thank you for the feature spot! You are a blessing! Thank you for hosting – I hope you have a Merry Christmas!
Definitely my pleasure Ana, have a great Christmas and I look forward to connecting more with you in the New Year. Many blessings
I am thrilled that my post about Increasing Blog Hits was featured!
Hey Kristy is was my pleasure to feature your post. Have a great Christmas and a lovely New Year. Many blessings
We’ve had some experience with too-close fires. We were even evacuated for four days a few years ago. It’s very scary. I’m glad that your fire was easily resolved!!
I always love catching up on your life. It just makes me smile!
Merriest Christmas to you and yours, and GOD BLESS!
Thank you so much for sharing with us Sharon and I hope you had a great Christmas and New Year. Blessings
Just wanted to say that I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that your New Year will be a blessed one! See you in a couple of weeks!
Thank you so much Donna for your lovely thoughts and blessings. I hope you and yours had a lovely Christmas and that you are enjoying or enjoyed the holiday season. Blessings to you
Thanks so much for hosting, Love! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Happy New Year and GOD bless you, beautiful friend! 🙂
Thanks Tai, you always make me feel so good and special, you are a wonderful, encouraging friend. Blessings to you