Aussie Readers discussion

No worries. And thanks (:

He's so cute!!!

He is lovely Becca! I love his 'thoughtful' pose, with his hands clasped together :) Congratulations! Is Declan your first babe?

Thanks Bluesky. He has many thoughtful poses, one close to the statue 'The Thinker' (: Yes Declan is my first and only for a very long time

Ahhh ... many marvellous adventures ahead of you then :)

And I'm looking forward to them all (:

Carmel wrote: "Rain, rain & more rain, when is it going to stop!! Forecast rain is going to cause even more flooding in the eastern states. We've been told to expect possibly 100mm on Tues I think we will need to..."

Anyone looking for updates on how the weather is treating us (a favourite topic of conversation for Aussies!) check out the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

A good article on how the floods are endangering our harvests is this one in todays Australian Newspaper: Rain swamps rural recovery.

General issues affecting our farmers and primary industry in rural and outback areas of Australia can be found on the website Farm Online.

I dunno how true this is but I heard (atleast for Tassie) there was going to be 12 days of good weather during Summer and the rest was all RAIN...omg! D:

Carmel wrote: "Now that's scary!!"
Indeed it is, I'm hoping it is wrong...I love to sit out on my airchair during the summer time and read...It's sooo relaxing.

They are forcasting an extremely wet summer for Sydney too.

My uncles are all old Aussie bushmen and according to my eldest uncle, 75, after the winter we've had we always get a long, hot but very wet summer. He's usually right when he predicts the weather, unfortunately.

It's so dry over here in Perth! There was so little rain in the winter that hardly anything trickled in to the dams, and that was our rainy season. A La Nina event is also supposed to increase our summer rainfall. Double nothing and you still get nothing. Send just the odd cloud or too this way please, it would be much appreciated. The air here is so dry that sometimes rain falls, but never hits the ground. You can see the clouds, and see the rain falling from them, and as it gets closer to the ground it sort of trails off into nothing and evaporates. You can hang the washing out after dark and it will be dry in an hour or two.

Jan wrote: "It's so dry over here in Perth! There was so little rain in the winter that hardly anything trickled in to the dams, and that was our rainy season. A La Nina event is also supposed to increase our ..."
Wow that's so weird - I feel for you but I'd love to see rain that doesn't hit the ground. Sorry, I'll do a little rain dance [which I will not make anyone watch] and hopefully send some real rain your way :)

Well that's good news... must've been scary when the dam got that low. I think we got down to like twenty per cent, then in the middle of flooding the stupid Premier Anna Blight announced 'Great news, the droughts over' - little bit tactless

I know it's probably not the appropriate reaction but I love that first photo Carmel.

Carmel wrote: "Yeah I know where you're coming from Gail, it speaks volumes doesn't it. This particular lake was the centre of watersports (sailing/skiing), fishing, etc and the last 5 to 10 years it has died so ..."

It looks like your 'cyborg' alter-ego is in that first photo Gail!!;)

I noticed that. Gee, and I thought my profile was so original. There are obviously a few of us floating around.

Tracey wrote: "Jan wrote: "It's so dry over here in Perth! There was so little rain in the winter that hardly anything trickled in to the dams, and that was our rainy season. A La Nina event is also supposed to i..."
Thanks Tracey, no sooner had you finished your rain dance, than the temperature dropped from 36 to 23, the clouds gathered, and we are now actually getting a few drops. I stood still, talking to a friend today and actually felt one raindrop hit my face! All the cars are looking grubby, after a dry month, you get hit by twenty droplets, and it rearranges the dust! Maybe if you could just dance a little longer next time, Tracey. :D The clouds are still there...

But Jan, did the cockatoos Weelah?? :) I won't believe it's raining til you say they did lol

Goodness me, I have just been through the most tiresome 4 hours on the plant. My son graduated from Primary School tonight.(Why do they have to graduate from everything?) We sat through two hours of torture at mass, followed by two hours of tedious presentations. I don't know what idiot did the planning but when I find out they are going to be on my hit list. :(

Struth Ruth(that is for David).

Gail "cyborg" wrote: "Goodness me, I have just been through the most tiresome 4 hours on the plant. My son graduated from Primary School tonight.(Why do they have to graduate from everything?) We sat through two hours o..."

Ouch :( That does sound harsh. It does seem a little over the top when it comes to graduating..It's the new thing it seems.

Don't you just love sitting through music and dance performances :x One thing I don't miss at all.

But now Gail you can go spend some time reading ooor sleep :)

Plan B, sleeping. I have to get up at 6am and it's already past 11pm. Nigh' Night. :)

Wahh...6am (@_@);;;
Have a great sleep..Niiight ^_^

I am going to sneak in a whinge here. I love my baby girl, I love being a mom, but it seems that mommyhood has finally caught up with me. She's having her 6th week "wonder week" aka growth spurt a little late at 8 weeks, at a time when hubby's away on an overseas travel. So I've had to manage with a super demanding bub on my own and I have little energy and brain cells left to stomach the modern lit novels I've planned to read this month. I've had to give up my Nov/Dec list and now I'm thinking to re-read some classic modern lits like Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby (the movie's coming up, I heard?). Hubby's back soon, I'm thinking of ways to make him 'pay'--maybe get me a stack of new ebooks? A new reading chair? Hmm...

Dhitri feel free to pour it out we really do know how tough it is. As Carmel say's don't try and do everything, try and get your priorities right. I was a total basket case for the first 6 months with my daughter. I tried to do everything. When my son came along, I found neglecting the things that weren't important work much better for everyone.

I hate online shops that give you the run around...uugggghhhh!!! It's starting to really, really get on my nervs.

Adhityani "Dhitri" wrote: "I am going to sneak in a whinge here. I love my baby girl, I love being a mom, but it seems that mommyhood has finally caught up with me. She's having her 6th week "wonder week" aka growth spurt a ..."
Never mind Adhityani, it's quite normal for them to need to increase their milk supply at this stage, by being more demanding. Many parents think,"Aren't they lovely when they're asleep?" I remember sometimes reading through the baby cards about sugar and spice and all things nice...and finding it hard to match up with the reality of a screaming bub. It's not the job of being a Mum in itself, it's the 24/7 nature of the job which makes it so difficult. You just get so tired. If I lived near you I would come over and give you a break for half an hour, so you could have a nap. Have you tried the old car trick...go for a drive and the baby seems to fall asleep like magic. Sometimes they wake up the minute you try to extract them from the unbelievable complexities of the modern car seats(so glad we didn't have those!), but at least you have twenty minutes of peace, during which you can think up plan B. I only ever managed to read while feeding...the rest of the time I was non-stop busy. These are the difficult years. I always think of babies in the 'most' category...the most demanding, the most rewarding, the most despair, the most joy...just keep on loving and one day that little child will walk up to you, look you in the eyes and say, "I love you, Mummy." and you will know it was worthwhile getting through these difficult days. Do you have anyone who can help?

Carmel, Gail and Jan, thank you for the words of support!

It is indeed the 24/7 nature of the job that's wearing me out... and the unpredictability of it! I am learning to let go of housework and allow the house and myself to look a little messy. The most tiring part of this little baby has been her feeding issues. Up until a few days ago she'd only take expressed milk in a bottle. So with growth spurt, you can imagine the logistics that come with expressing, sterilizing all the bottles and utensils, warming the milk when she needs it... all that takes away precious sleeping time! But of all sudden she must have realized that it's so much more fun to take milk directly from the breast and her sucking started to improve so much, it was such a joy to watch her feed properly. So things are so much better now, she's been sleeping much better yesterday (yay!) and she napped this morning, too (double yay!). I have a terrific neighbor and supportive landlord, so I can call on them in case of emergency, but it's so much different than having your actual partner around! Luckily he's coming home tomorrow, phew!

Thanks again for letting me vent and sorry for the novel! :D

So glad thinks are looking brighter Dhitri. It is very hard when you don't have any additional family support. Are you part of a mothers group yet? :)

Hi Carmel, just wanted to let you know, I picked 'Sister' up from the library this morning..will let you know what I think, when I get to it! Thanks for the suggestion..:)

Laura wrote: "I hate online shops that give you the run around...uugggghhhh!!! It's starting to really, really get on my nervs."

I'm curious to know what's happened to you Laura to get you so annoyed with the online shops?:)

Adhityani "Dhitri" wrote: "Carmel, Gail and Jan, thank you for the words of support!

It is indeed the 24/7 nature of the job that's wearing me out... and the unpredictability of it! I am learning to let go of housework and..."
Now that you don't have to mess around with bottles etc. things will be much better. That's great. Who knows, you might even be able to read while feeding now!

Just for a change of pace, here are my grandkids......

Firstly my 2 gorgeous girls...


My 3 (cheeky) young men & other gorgeous Grandaughter who we are going to see on the Christmas break, they live just outside of Ipswich, near Brisbane.

Gorgeous David. :)

Yes, they are Gail, I'm a bias grandad (-:

Lovely kids David! They look like little larrikins.:)

Lovely kids David! They look like little larrikins.:)

They sure are & yes they are LOL!!


They sure are & yes they are LOL!!

@David- Haha, all happy little grinners :D

@Mandy- Waiting on a book that was meant to be released on Oct 2nd. I still don't have the book. I email the shop to cancel my order due to it taking ages but got told it's now been shipped and I can't, which is fair enough. But then I check my account and it still tells me it's not dispatched.

I re-email asking about the book and mention the phone call so another person from the shop rings me up. I asked how come my account doesn't say 'dispatched' and he replied there is nothing he can do about it at the moment since the book is coming from the USA and at the time it was night time in the USA so it wasn't worth emailing them.

I checked my account last week and this week and my account still isn't saying 'dispatched'.

I just want the darned book....And since I've no real idea where the book is..I'm stuck in the dark.

Hehehe, ranting much? xP

@Carmel- Oh my..I hope the work computer gets sorted out! Hate it when a work pc is having issues :(

Thankfully this isn't the longest I've waited for a book. I pre-orderd a book from Joe Ledbetter ages ago...If I remember correctly it took over 2+ years to get it!! And still some people haven't :(

Laura, I hope your book arrives soon! This is the downside of online store, you can't just grab the merchandise and go! And it sucks to not get a book you pre-ordered at the time of its release (the whole point of pre ordering, right?).

David, your grandkids are absolutely gorgeous!!! Looking forward for my little girl to be their age and pose with her grandparents :)

Again, Jan, Carmel, Gail, thank you for the kind words of support. Gail, I haven't joined a Mums group yet because, guess what, the ones in my area are already full and I have to wait to next year before they can assign me to one. BUT I have a online birth club on babycenter.com.au and now on facebook - knowing Mums who have bubs around the same age helps a lot! We share tips, pics, questions and answers and vent on the forum, too, :)

David, your grandkids are absolutely gorgeous!!! Looking forward for my little girl to be their age and pose with her grandparents :)

Thank you Adhityani, & I'm 200% sure your grandparents will be as proud as I am of mine.

David wrote: "Just for a change of pace, here are my grandkids......

Firstly my 2 gorgeous girls...


My 3 (cheeky) young men & other gorgeous Grandaughter who we are going to see on the Christmas break, t..."

David, absolutely beautiful grandkids!!! They are the best, aren't they..love my grandkids to bits!! )

Carmel wrote: "*prepares floaties & drags the Ark out of the shed to get to work today*
With the expected rain & flooding today I'm just a little concerned that perhaps I should have brought that house boat afte..."

Oh, Carmel, do hope you and all your friends/neighbours are ok..these floods are terrible..the silly part about it is, we NEED rain!! It's skirting us...

Adhityani "Dhitri" wrote: "I am going to sneak in a whinge here. I love my baby girl, I love being a mom, but it seems that mommyhood has finally caught up with me. She's having her 6th week "wonder week" aka growth spurt a ..."

All the best Adhityani, the first few months are the hardest. I hope you can fit in some sleep now and then...leave anything that's not important, and sleep when bub is sleeping (or at least rest)..housework etc will always wait (unfortunately). Hopefully you are getting lots of help from family and friends also...*hugs*

Does anyone else smell something fishy with the arrest overnight of the Wikileaks founder for 'rape charges' in Sweden? The charges seem preposterously coincidental! I'm sure it's just a cover up for a one way trip to the US. From what I've read the US legal system wants to charge him with treason and some US politicians are calling for the death penalty. I don't understand how he could be charged with treason there if he's not American? It annoys me that our politicians are just rolling over on this as per usual. The thought that an Australian could be murdered in the US with our government's approval really makes me feel sick. I don't trust the justice system in this situation at all.

Wikileaks founder in jail.

The rape allegations.

I just read it too Mandy...not impressed with the 'overkill' from the US...it sounds totally 'off'. But he's got some good supporters, also top lawyers...it'll be interesting to see where it goes. It's 'guilty until proven innocent' in this case, for sure!

Mandy wrote: "Does anyone else smell something fishy with the arrest overnight of the Wikileaks founder for 'rape charges' in Sweden? The charges seem preposterously coincidental! I'm sure it's just a cover up f..."

Super fishy! I stumbled across an article that excellently elaborates why the allegations, once you look closer into them, just don't ring true.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic...

Also in the news. Norman Hertherington past away. We had a nostalgic night watching Mr Squiggle on youtube last night. The kids loved it.

Agree mandy, I haven't trusted the judicial system for quite some time & as far as politicians go I wouldn't 'P... on them if they were on fire' (-: from what I can see & have read, (& this is my personal view) Julian has not 'pin pointed' any undercover operatives mixing with the 'common' people in Iraq & Afghanistan, has not revealed strategic places of where our troops are & he is only publishing what the politicians are tooooo! bloody gutless to say! & yes I do believe this rape charge is a set up. The C.I.A. will probably read this as well, YA MOB OF WANKERS!!! LOL!LOL!LOL!