WHAT'S HAPPENED AT LAURIANA SINCE WE LAST MET???

Hiya!

Wow..how slack have I been??? No posts since late August! SLACK with a capital S! Hmm...a little trip down memory lane here. August 22nd saw our precious number 3 tinlid, Miss Lily, turn 8! Honestly, time really does fly when your having fun..=)

Miss LilyPie blowing out her candles

Lily's 4 tier rainbow cake...what an awesome Mum she has!!

A week after Lily's birthday party, the kids all had an excursion to the historic Moir Homestead, about 30kms from our house. It was a great day which the kids all loved and the parents had to hang around for the day because its a 4wd track in there. I took the opportunity to take some happy snaps down there!

Parents and kids getting safety talk beforehand..

 Our fave tree at the homestead, a magical massive Morteon Bay Fig! Who would need toys to play with with a tree like this outside your house (although it would have been a fair bit smaller back then).

Afterwards, the kids, teachers and parents got a treat...a swim at our fave beach in Esperance ~Fanny Cove~Id say this is the most action the beach has seen in a while.

Next BIG event on Lauriana,was the arrival of Big Red, our new CASE header. (The comb was on the trailer elsewhere, in case your wondering). The kids got the 1st look through as they do.

During the school holidays, we just hung out around home and did a bit of this and that (a fair bit of sheepwork and getting ready for harvest to crank up).

Kids riding behind the mob and my best mate, Sassy Girl x

 Lily and Ella had their friends, sisters Nikaya and Tyra come visit and stay for a sleepover! I have NEVER seen 4 girls eat so much food in 1 day!!! Hahaha 

 Ella and her crazy mate, Tyra.

 Lily and her crazy mate, Nikaya!

During the holidays,we also celebrated Kianhi's 10th birthday. 

Heres a few photos of Kianhi's journey so far in life..x

She had a party with a few friends before the holidays cause it was the only time we could squish it in and her friends, twins Tina and Sally, sleep the night.

My floor full of bodies...sleepovers are the best! 

The girls and I went for a bit of a wildflower wander one afternoon when Tyler had gone off helping Grandma do something on the farm. We found about 30 varieties of wildflowers in a patch of ground about 60ms long! 

Here are a few of them.

A little banksia, scarlet kangaroo paws and my fave, the red leschunultia plus a cutie of LilyPie with a little banksia..

 Mum came down one weekend and her and I went off to town to Lynny Ling's open garden day, to raise money for the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service). Her garden was awesome and her creativity flows through her use of the mundane to enhance the beauty of her plants, including this awesome succulent filled easel (above). My fave photo I took on the day was the Flanders Poppy (below)...just stunning.

Then it was time for harvesting..our 2nd harvest of the year (our 1st being harvesting the wool clip from the merino sheep we grow). It was a bit touch and go there for the first few weeks, with a bit of rain here and there, but once we got cranked up, it was all go! Im sure Im not alone in saying that I am REALLY glad that harvest is over and done with for 2013! Kids go feral, life becomes a juggling act of preparing meals for a couple of extras, plus lunches for 7, homework time is a nightmare and us harvest widows just never seem to have enough time in the day! On the upside though, there are some pretty speccy photos to be snappedp and its great to look out the window and see Big Red chomping its way through our crops. Theres a certain buzz to harvest time, that lasts for a few weeks and then all of a sudden, everybody is crying out for the end and a break! Here are a few of my harvest photos from 2013!

Top right - harvesting barley at Newman's; Big Red under a stunning sunset, picking up canola rows in our driveway paddock; Header unloading into the chaser bin whilst harvesting standing canola; smoke on the horizon - what no one wants to see during harvest time (fortunately this was down in coastal scrub {unfortunately for us, the coastal scrub was along our fave beach}); and a heart shaped tree silhouette with a magic sunset backdrop also in our driveway paddock.

In the first few weeks of harvest, Pete and I celebrated our birthday, with a bit of rain to stop harvesting and a feast fit for kings (and queens) thanks to Grandma Jude..your such a legend! It was such a treat to not have to worry about tea for the night..all I had to do was grill the crumbed chops..yummo! 

 What a feast! Crumbed chops, salads, garlic bread, bikkies, dips, lollies and beestings for sweets & an ice coffee each for the morning! 

 In the midst of harvest, we had a ewe die and Grandma Jude found her lamb and brought it home for us. Meet Miss Aggy...on the night she arrived her, all skin and bones, during and right now!!

Pretty safe to say she's enjoying her twice daily bottles!

Now that harvest is finished, its time to relax and enjoy, so heres a few funnies to finish off this post. Take care till the next time your around =)

Cheers Tash

Workman Mark, hubby Pete and Miss Kianhi...I love PHOTOBOOTH!!! Hahaha