Author Archives: Are We There Yet?

Sunday Snapshot – Afternoon Walks

Our Sunday Snapshot this week is of our afternoon walk today.  We are big fans of the afternoon family walk.

We don’t go far at the moment, with me waddling along.  When the kids were babies we walked a lot, sometimes just around the block, sometimes just up the road to take the wheelie bins out, and some days for long jaunts exploring somewhere new.  It was a way to fill in time in the afternoons when we were all tired and cranky, but it was too early for baths and dinner!

Now I love it as just a way to get us all out of the house and enjoy the best time of the afternoon here when it cools off enough to be pleasant outside.  Matt has been doing some long days in the packing shed at the moment so we love when he finishes early enough to come for a stroll with us all and tell us about his day.

What about you?  How was your weekend?  Do you like afternoon walks?

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Flashback Friday – The Hanstede Family Visit

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This week’s Flashback Friday post is about a visit we had only a bit over a month ago now.  I didn’t get a chance to write a post about it at the time and really want to share it tonight because I have just realised we haven’t shown you much of the beautiful places we have to see up here on the Tablelands! Continue reading

Categories: Atherton Tablelands, Flashback Friday, Travel | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments

Ballet Girl

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This term Lexi started ballet.  This world of dance is so very new for us.  I have never danced.  In fact I am the world’s worst dancer!  I am a netball or a swimming club kinda girl!  I feel so out of place waiting outside the dance studio with all the other dance mums.  I have no idea how to do Lexi’s hair into a nice ballet bun, I don’t know how to braid hair, or do makeup, or even sew costumes, and we had to get the lady at the dance wear shop to find everything we needed for her ballet class!

But, the girl in our family wants to give it a shot and I want to try to let go a little!  To let Lexi do something that maybe neither of us will be great at, but it will be just for pure and simple enjoyment and perhaps that is enough. Maybe we’ll only do it for a term, or maybe a year, or maybe it will turn out to be something she loves for the rest of her life.  I’m trying not to over think it.

Plus, there’s still plenty of time for her to be an olympic swimmer or netballer yet, right? 🙂

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Farewell To WA

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I think I have been subconscioulsly delaying finishing off the posts about our trip because I really don’t want to believe that it is all over.  I love looking back at our trip photos, it truly was the most amazing time of our lives!!  This post will I think be the third last post recounting our adventures, nooooooooooo! Continue reading

Categories: WA Camping | Tags: , , | 3 Comments

The International Year of Family Farming

I’m a bit behind the eight ball this year, only finalising my New Year’s Resolutions in mid February and this week finally embracing the fact that 2014 is well and truly here!!  Which means, in case you didn’t already know, welcome to the ‘International Year of Family Farming’ (IYFF) as designated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.  ALRIGHT!  2014 sounds like our kind of year!!

I grew up on a family dairy farm, Matt’s family own a few family farms, and our little ‘Fealy Family’ now works and relies on a family owned farm to sustain us, so you get the picture that ‘Family Farming’ is a big part of our lives.  We believe Family Farm’s should be celebrated and we’d like to do our small bit to raise awareness about the importance of supporting family farming.

So, a few statistics for you first (c’mon – I am an accountant!!).  According to the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF),  “99 percent of Australian farms are family owned and operated. Australia’s 157,000 farmers not only produce 93 percent of Australia’s daily domestic food supply – the clean, healthy, fresh food that Australian families enjoy – they also contribute $38 billion in export income to the economy and manage some 59 percent of Australia’s land”.  That’s a pretty substantial contribution to Australian society I say!!

The United Nation’s says the “2014 International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) aims to raise the profile of family farming and smallholder farming, not just in Australia, but by focusing world attention on its significant role in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable development, in particular in rural areas.”  If you’d like to know more you can go to this website or watch the video below which has been produced by the United Nations.

I’m not sure how best to celebrate and support the 2014 International Year of Family Farming just yet, more to come on this topic – stay tuned! In the meantime, here are a few ways you might like to get involved;

1. The IYFF-2014 photo competition is calling for photos that represent the motto: Family Farming: Feeding the world, caring for the earth.  You can enter here.

2. Check out these great 2014 Food Resolutions – maybe you can make your own list?

3. Buy Australian Grown

I’d love to hear how others are celebrating 2014, International Year of Family Farming!  Don’t be shy, let us know!!!

Categories: Every Family Needs A Farmer | Tags: , , , , | 8 Comments

Sunday Snapshot – S … S …. S ……..

SNAKE!!This week’s Sunday Snapshot is of the surprise visitor in the packing shed today!  Imagine reaching into a red crate full of mangoes, looking to grab your next Keitt mango to load on to the de-sapping machine – something you have been doing for nearly 8 hours already today – and all day yesterday – only to pull out a snake!!  We shouldn’t laugh, but Matt said the five workers doing the de-sapping did a lot of yelling and shouting and jumping up on to benches when this snake came out of the mango crate!!!

Can you spot him?  The red crates on the bench are where he came from!

Can you spot him? The red crates on the bench are where he came from!

We're pretty sure he was just a little tree snake.

We’re pretty sure he was just a little tree snake.

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He was pretty cranky though!

He was pretty cranky though!

Matt managed to catch him with the shovel and relocate him to the tree outside so everybody could go back to work!

Matt managed to catch him with the shovel and relocate him to the tree outside so everybody could go back to work!

Nothing like a bit of excitement after lunch to wake everybody up for the afternoon shift in the shed!  How was your Sunday?  See any snakes today???

Categories: Sunday Snapshot | 2 Comments

Flashback Friday – Baby No 1’s arrival.

The Fealy Family Nov 26 2005I’m pinching an idea my Uncle Murray started among our family on Facebook, and bringing in a ‘Flashback Friday’ post to the blog.  This will be a chance for me to share and record for posterity something that happened in the Fealy Family past.

With all the work that has been done to renovate the nursery over the last week and some sorting of baby things happening, I’m starting to think about the arrival of baby No 4 in only nine-ish weeks time – eeeek!!!  That in turn lead to me thinking about the craziness of becoming a mum for the first time with Jack’s birth and I realised that I hadn’t yet posted the email Matt wrote when Jack was born (you can read Toby and Lexi’s arrival emails here and here), so that is what we will kick off ‘Flashback Friday’ with!  Seems like it was only yesterday – not eight and a half years ago!Jack's Arrival - bit scary!“Hi Everyone,
Just a super quick group email (sorry!) to let you all know that at
3:07pm today the 26th of November 2005, Jack Thomas Fealy made his way into
this world! Mum and bub are doing well after a few little concerns that had
us a bit worried. Jess woke me up at 4am after about an hour of contractions
that she though were just “pretty normal”. From there things got interesting
fairly quickly so we made our way to the hospital by about 7am-ish (Thanks
to Jamie who chose the wrong night to stay over!)

Anyway save the details, Jack was born. He was a bit naughty to begin with
because he did not want to breathe for about 2 mins after delivery but once
he started crying he didn’t stop. I have attached a few photos from just a
few hours ago when Jess was feeling well enough to give him his first feed.
He is in “special care” right now which is not like intensive care just
special, and it is only for precautionary measures due to the fairly
difficult birth. Hopefully he will be out of special care in 48hrs or so.

They had to use a bit of suction so please excuse his head shape (it is
already lots better then it was )

Love,

Matt, Jess, Jack and Jerry Fealy (yes Jerry has not been forgotten just
yet!)”

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Taking Stock – February 2014

You’re probably all wondering what crazy drugs or coffee addiction I’ve got going on at the moment with all these blog posts flooding your email inboxes!  Well, the truth is, I’m actually taking part in an online blogging course this month called ‘Blog With Pip’. 

One of my favourite blog’s I love to read, Foxs Lane 

recommended the course and you all know that my New Years Resolution was to do something fun for me and devote a bit more time to blogging, so whammo – I bit the bullet and enrolled in my very first e-course!

The course is fantastic, albeit a little overwhelming at times with blogging/social media overload!  I am learning sooooooo much and hopefully you have noticed a few of the little changes I have started to implement on our blog (all feedback welcome!).

I’ve even gotten to know some new friends and now have a whole pile of interesting blogs to read!!!  Check out Heike’s blog for more travelling around oz good-ness, or Cat’s blog for a granny-chic lifestyle fix – Tassie style, or if you want some new jewellery, have a look at the blog of Clare, in St Louis, USA (also great for some snow photos too!).  There are heaps more lovely blogs which I will have to share with you over the next few weeks!

So, my assignment this week is to ‘Take Stock’.  It’s just a little snap shot of what is happening here in my world at the moment …………………………… no laughing at my answers!

Taking Stock – Feb 2014

Making : Beds!
Cooking : Banana Cake for afternoon tea
Drinking : Soda water and lime cordial – delicious!
Reading: Buddhism for Mothers (great recommendation Stell!)


Wanting: Chocolate
Looking: at the patio which really needs sweeping.
Playing: Zac Brown Band of course!
Deciding: If I have time to go into town for groceries today
Wishing: for a family weekend away at the beach
Enjoying: having no kids at home!
Waiting: for the electrician to come
Liking: that life has started to settle into routine a little bit
Wondering: if we are having a boy or girl!
Loving: my newly renovated nurseryIMG_3206
Pondering: the implications of privacy online vs wanting to blog about our family
Considering: if Lexi should do ballet 2 times a week or netball on Saturday’s instead
Watching: nothing – sticking to our no TV during the week ban!
Hoping: we get a storm this afternoon
Marvelling: at how fast life is flying by at the moment!
Needing: to get tea organised
Smelling: sweaty
Wearing: a black maternity skirt that was my friend Shelley’s
Following: Miss Grey Photography


Noticing: that our hedge really needs trimming
Knowing: I am spending too much time on the computer at the moment
Thinking: of four letter boys and girls names
Feeling: guilty that I haven’t done any vacuuming yet!
Admiring: how successful Pip Lincolne is
Sorting: boxes of baby clothes
Buying: a new water bottle for one of the worker’s after Matt ran over it in the ute this morning
Getting: called by Matt on the UHF
Bookmarking: http://www.farmingaheadofthecurve.com.au/index.html
Disliking: the heat!
Opening: a new box of laundry powder
Giggling: at this photo which came up on Facebook yesterday; Reason #87 to hire a photographer 
Feeling: hungry
Snacking: Saos with cheese and tomato on them
Coveting: an ipad mini
Wishing: that we had got to do more of our trip – particularly WA
Helping: Matt get the dorm ready for some more workers arriving tonight
Hearing: the Semi-Trailer at the shed being loaded up with the pallets of avocados we packed yesterday

Why don’t you play too?  I’d love to hear what is happening in your neck of the woods!  Copy the template below and paste your answers into the comments on this post or share on your own blog, or Facebook page, via email, whatever!  It’s a bit of fun, c’mon have a go!!

Taking Stock

Making :
Cooking :
Drinking :
Reading:
Wanting:
Looking:
Playing:
Deciding:
Wishing:
Enjoying:
Waiting:
Liking:
Wondering:
Loving:
Pondering:
Considering:
Watching:
Hoping:
Marvelling:
Needing:
Smelling:
Wearing:
Following:
Noticing:
Knowing:
Thinking:
Feeling:
Admiring:
Sorting:
Buying:
Getting:
Bookmarking:
Disliking:
Opening:
Giggling:
Feeling:
Snacking:
Coveting:
Wishing:
Helping:
Hearing:

Categories: About Us | Tags: , , , | 12 Comments

Emma Gorge

DSC_0773As I gathered the photos for this blog post, I realised that there is less then a week of trip travels left to blog about!  This combined with the fact that Karen Camper was driven away by somebody else last week, (she sold only 2 days after we listed her on Gumtree!) means I am feeling a little sad that our trip really is coming to a very ‘official’ end.  I am reminding myself though, that as my mum-in-law Gayel said to me last week, “if you hold on to one adventure too long, you will never have another”, and she is exactly right.

Ok, so now just a little entry about the beautiful Emma Gorge.   Continue reading

Categories: Camping, WA Camping | Tags: , , | 8 Comments

New Years Resolutions – In February!

46ba5c2637907ec81126c9ef38ee1471Happy Halfway Through February New Year!!  I know, I know, it’s a bit late, but better late than never I say!

If you’ve been following our blog for a while then you know I am a planner.  It is of course pretty much a given then, that I am a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions.  I am definitely a ‘reach for the moon, even if you miss you will still land among the stars’ kinda girl!  I love to set goals for myself and our family and although we don’t always achieve them, I really believe that they give us direction for our year, a plan towards the things that are most important to us at this point in time.

At the start of each new year, Matt and I usually sit down and come up with a ‘Top 5’ goals that we would each like to achieve personally.  We like to have a couple of ‘family goals’ as well.  I then put these up on our whiteboard, so they are there in plain site for us all (even the kids now that they are learning to read) to see them.  The whiteboard also usually has a rolling monthly ‘to do list’ and our weekly meal plan on it.

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Our kitchen whiteboard

We went round the table at breakfast on New Year’s Day morning and asked what our New Year’s Resolutions were;

Lexi – “to build a swimming pool for my birthday” (hmm, think we might have to talk about ‘realistic goal setting’ before next year!)

Toby – “to learn how to ride my skateboard without falling off”

Jack – “to read all of the Narnia Books in the series, even the boring ones”

Matt – “to learn how to better deal with things that don’t work or go wrong”

Jess – “to have some time to myself to do something fun before bub comes”

We have really struggled this year though, to find what the Fealy Family focus is. We don’t have any big holidays planned, we’re not really sure what our careers are doing at the moment, we don’t have a clue how a typical farm year plays out so it is tricky to make plans for going away, we aren’t living in our own home so no major renovating is going to happen, and we’ve kind of forgotten what we used to do for fun!

At first, I was really frustrated by this, worried that we had ‘fallen off the wagon’ and weren’t going to achieve anything in 2014.  But, as the first month of the year has gone by already, I’ve come to the realisation that it is ok not to have some major project planned, that this year can just be a year of consolidation.  I’m calling 2014 a Building Block Year.  Sure, not as exciting as the year we had last year, but I think ‘building block’ years are just as important in the scheme of things for the big dreams!  These are the years that lay the foundations for the long term goals to eventuate. This is a head down, bum up, work hard, look around, time out to think and plan, year.  I hope this makes sense to all of you, it does to us!

I did manage to come up with a Top 5 for myself which I am going to share here just so you can hold me accountable (and I can check back and see how I went in 12 months time)!  These are not ‘I’d like to’s or I will try to’s”, these are my ‘I will do’s for 2014!

Jess Top 5 2014

1. Get the trip blogging finished and blog more regularly.  Learn some new blog/writing skills.

2. Get baby nursery organised and baby things purchased and ready to welcome Bub No 4.

3. Re-instate ‘Bell Girls Weekend’ for 2014 (a yearly weekend away with my Mum and sisters)

4. Lose 10 kilos after Bub is born through daily excerise routine (30mins everyday!)

5. Finally print out a photo album of baby photos for each of the kids for their birthday’s.

I’m also going to do this great idea that I saw floating around Facebook at the start of the year;

I love this idea!

I love this!

And Our Top 3 Fealy Family Goals 2014

1. No TV during the week

2. One week away camping, with at least two long weekend camping trips.

3. One ‘family only’ outing per month.

I feel better and much more organised already just for putting these up on here!  So, what about you?  Do you make New Year’s Resolution’s or goals for the year?  Put them down below and I’ll check up on you in a year’s time!!IMG_3987

Categories: About Us | 11 Comments