I was recently interviewed on Plumfield and Paideia, as part of their ongoing series: Meet the Librarians.  I’m chatting about my latest venture, owning and hosting a Lending Library; Wattle Gum Library.for my local homeschoolers.  I’m truly loving operating a Lending Library, I’ve achieved so much already with a growing number of patrons,  an online catalogue, a complete reorganisation of my library and more improvements every evolving.   Head over for the full interview, but sharing some teasers here: What are your earliest memories of books and reading? Was there a part ..read more

Completing the Verandah is so exciting! Finally a project begun years ago was taken back up and completed. We began the verandah in 2012. First cementing the piers, then bearers and joists, then laying the floorboards for the side and side and ‘front’ verandahs. Work then came to a halt as we pondered how to complete ‘section 3’ of our ‘front’ verandah. Life intervened, other building projects shifted our focus, in the meantime we made do with particleboard sheets on this last section. First tasks up was selecting, cutting and laying the joists. As the joists had been stored in the yard unde ..read more

Late January our Einstein asked his girlfriend Sunflower to Marry him, and she said Yes!! We are delighted, Sunflower and Einstein suit each other so well. We are blessed to be gaining such a vibrant new daughter. Meeting just before Covid, when exercise was permitted and visiting was not, their earlier dating period consisted of hours of walking and talking.  A time to really get to get to know one another well. They are getting married next year, so excitement is already building and planning is underway. It appears our family tradition of designing engagement rings continues to flouri ..read more

Outside my window… the bush appears soft in the post dawn light. There was more rain overnight and the lawn is lush and the paddocks green. So hard to believe only  12 months ago we were suffering through a drought and the after effects of bushfires that decimated 52% of our Valley I am thankful… to live in country NSW, we have been spared much of the Covid 19 restrictions of larger cities and in particular Victoria. I often wonder what our children will remember as adults. Our youngest processes changes through play, which includes enactments of border checkpoints and passes and talk of ..read more

It’s time for our annual Australian Homeschool Summit! Always a highlight and a fantastic way to kick off the learning year. Once again I will be presenting at the Australian Homeschool Summit.    What I’m Presenting This year I’m going to be sharing about How to Raise a Family of Readers. Raising a Family of Readers is something I’m passionate about and totally committed to. If raising your family in a reading culture is something you desire then I can assist you. During the Australian Homeschool Summit I’ll be sharing about our family’s journey. How our family have been raised to ..read more

Sharing with you our favourite Bible picture books. Bible picture books are high on my list of must haves.. I have high standards as to what I deem worthwhile.  They must have beautiful illustrations and words close as possible to Bible text. The following authors are ones that came highly recommended from reviewers I value. I have deliberated about my selections, but feel comfortable about these recommendations. Check out the The Motherload of Excellent Catholic Picture Books. for even more suggestions. Ellie has a fantastic round up of her favourite Bible picture book recommendations ..read more

It’s time to kick off the year with our annual Australian Homeschool Summit! We have a number of tickets to give away! Give away ends tonight!!! So best click over fast for your opportunity. *We now have more than the original 3 Give Away Tickets available! Yes I’m running way behind getting out the news. Better late than never though.  Give Away Tickets This year I’ll be talking about How to Raise a Family of Readers.    Obviously a pursuit near and dear to my heart. I’m excited to be sharing our journey and experience.   Easily accessible online, so you can attend ..read more

  The Journey to an Online Database of Australian Books I don’t recall ever a time I couldn’t read, a love of words led me to a love of books. Growing up in a home full of books, as a pre-teen it seemed only natural to set up a library.  I loved pasting envelopes and borrowing cards on family books and handing out library cards to the neighbourhood children. They were eager to join my lending library, at least that was my perception. This was laying the groundwork for my later dream of having an Online Database of Australian Books.   That childhood library fortunately gifted to ..read more

Outside my window… it’s totally dark, it’s night time, last night was the longest night of the year, it was the Winter Solstice I am thankful… for our home and property, only months ago we were on standby for threatening bushfires and then we’ve spent the past few months isolated at home, I’m extremely thankful for our beautiful home, albeit unfinished, and our picturesque property. We’ve made many sacrifices and much effort to arrive here and I’m extremely appreciative I am thinking… about the distractions of social media, I control it pretty tightly, I mainly use facebook for book loving gro ..read more

  In August 2018 Jem and Bass received the Sacrament of Confirmation, at the time the boys were 9 and 7 years old which made Bass the youngest child I’d prepared to receive this Sacrament. Previously Jelly Bean at 9 had been my youngest child for Confirmation and I’d already discovered the need to adjust previously used materials. With both boys being so young I found that some of our previous resources didn’t suit, and I found a couple of new resources I was far happier with. Preparing our children for the reception of their Sacraments is amongst the most precious responsibilities as Ca ..read more