I am person who is sometimes short on perception. This in my lifetime has caused some interesting discussion, like the time I prayed for rain and a furious man confronted me outside the church and said: "How dare you pray for rain when I start to harvest my crop on Monday?" So I am a little hesitant to give any kind of opinion or advice unless I know all the facts. So whoever's prayed for rain on the New South Wales coast will they p!ease stop! Elsewhere if you are still in drought go ahead no harm should come of it!

We have had two weeks of rain with very heavy rain this week resulting in flash flooding in many areas and thousands of displaced people. The usual helping hand groups are out helping with the clean up, this being the second day of sunshine, but for all affected there is much heartache to come. As usual our Lions Club will donate whatever we can to be handed out where it is needed most. We can help financially where we as older folk we can no longer help physically. I do wish there was more we could do.

My backyard was a stream, I have had water under the house but on the whole everything remained dry. My family has all escaped damage and that is a blessing too. Now there is some digging of drains to be done down the side of my house before the next rain event as the stormy weather is usual for this time of the year. Daylight saving finishes on Easter Sunday so I will again be disliking the earlier nights. I find as a widow I tend to cocoon, shutting out the dark and cold days so I will stock up with books and craft supplies and wait out winter in the same way I did last year.

Trevor and Alice will be here in a week's time. Hopefully the warm weather will continue and we will have sunny days out to enjoy. No visit from the Adelaide grandkids as their mother is going to rent a house close to them for a week. Hope they enjoy showing her around their favourite places. Split families have their own ways of dealing with life I suppose. I grew up without grandparents because my parents brought us to Australia when I was young so appreciate knowing my own grandchildren better. Circumstances alter cases. I am so lucky to see them as frequently as I do.

I am still crocheting the little cat mats, I didn't do any while I was visiting my friends in Armidale for a week so I hope there are no cute kittens sitting on sacks instead of pretty little cat mats at the RSPCA shop. I do think the mats help to show off the kittens and make their adoption quicker. I must have made over a hundred of them now. I think it helps me too, hard to be blue when your hands and mind are busy with working out what colour to blend in next. It sounds trivial I know but whatever keeps your mind off your troubles helps to improve your life and it is helpful to others in some way that is a bonus. 

The sun is shining and sounds of lawns being mowed fill the air. Good work for a late Friday afternoon. The little ones next door are out on the trampoline shrieking and having fun, they have just come home from school. It is the sound of normality. That is a good sound. I am reasonably well, I am reasonably happy, that is a blessing. I have the usual old lady complaints, shoulders, hips and knees but none of them so bad I can't get around. Untill that Handsome Prince comes along and storms the Castle I think I'll just stay here and enjoy life as much as I can.