Here’s to a New Year

 Blessings abound as we have settled into routine in WA. Some of the most significant are the house we are now living in - which God selected and held for us, and the work that we are able to enjoy. Dan got the days he needed all at one school quite unexpectedly. We moved over due to his calling on our family. I can’t say it has been easy. At times I would say it has been traumatic. But we are thankful for God's ongoing support. 

Zemiel started out at with his siblings but it was quickly clear that he wasn’t going to keep up with study requirements. From mid 2024, he has gone to the Deaf school in Perth and we are pleased with the effort that school are putting into him. This year we are hoping he will be completing several certificate courses. He travels the public transport system to attend his school. 

Azariah had a rise in popularity when he arrived at his new school, but has since settled to a core group of friends. Ever the socialite, he has requested social media connections with people back in Mackay. He has become confident in travelling around Perths transport system as well. 

Zekiah has also found some solid friendships. He is enjoying his study and building special projects at home and school. Currently he is working on building his own remote controlled boat. 

Liana has also found some friends. She struggles with some academics but is interested in coding and has started designing dresses with Sharlene. She loves building with Lego. 

Dan enjoys working several days per week teaching Auslan, technologies and sport. He is grateful for the chance to return to Mackay periodically to see his good friends and check on his bees. 

Sharlene has had a lot of success in her position after a rough start to 2024. She has recently sewed a few new dresses, which has brought her a lot of joy. 

We visit several different churches and have made a wide group of acquaintances. 

Looking forward to more of Gods blessings through 2025.

Happy 10th Birthday Liana

Traditional Trifle for Lily.

Happy 12th Birthday Zekiah

Celebrating in style with Casadillas and cheesecake. 

Pictures of Perth

A few shots from our recent trip to Perth to check out the new school. 

Clear sunset over the water was an answer to prayer.




Selfie moment


Upgraded to a BMW hire car.


Whaling tunnel in Fremantle.


At Patrick’s Basilica in Fremantle. Regular devices in Italian.


Tom Edwards’ story is one we wanted to discover.

The fountain commemorates Tom Edwards who died in a union riot in 1919.The riot became known as "Bloody Sunday", part of the potentially explosive ‘Battle of the Barricades’ riot on Fremantle Wharf on 4 May 1919. During the riot Edwards was mortally wounded by a police baton and died 3 days later giving the union its first martyr.

The ‘Proclamation Tree’ planted on the day WA became a state, 21st October 1890.

Liana’s Investiture

Last Sabbath, Liana was invested for Helping Hands Adventurers class. This brings to a conclusion hers and our families’ involvement in Adventurers - the end of an era. Thanks Lance (and Salin) for your unwavering support and commitment to our family. 

Next year we plan for everyone to be involved in Pathfinders, though exactly where we are not sure yet. 

Goodbye Pippa

After 5 joyful years, our move to Perth has precipitated us to farewell our beautiful horse Pippa. We’ve had so many fun times with her as part of the family. She has built our kids’ confidence around big animals and riding. Zemiel struggled with the thought of letting her go and didn’t want any final photos. 

Two lovely ladies collected her two weeks ago.

And took her to a new home. 




Thanks for the memories Pippa.

We’re moving to Perth

So Sharlene recently received a request for her to take a position in a school at Perth. 

After a lot of prayer in the matter, we have been impressed that it is the correct move for us to follow God’s leading. We are currently finishing up our respective positions and preparing our house for the relocation. 

Backyard Extension

This week, we’ve begun expanding our backyard area. Our neighbour has given us a pile of dirt (in pay back for running a tractor through our fence.) So our old rosewood log fence is being moved and reconstructed several meters further out. 

The ground falls away down the hill that we are capturing part of, so we’ll be using the dirt to raise the ground level. 

Long term plan is to install a pool within the new boundary. But that is still a ways off. 

Zemiel’s Baptism

Two weeks ago, one of the young ladies of our church was baptised at harbour beach. Our family attended and celebrated with other friends. We usually ask Zem if he wants to be baptised as well when we attend a baptism. (He has a standing agreement that he can be baptised straight away). But he has always refused point blank. On this occasion he paused and considered. Then he actually agreed. 

When?  

Next week! 

What time?

Don’t know. 

By whom?

Pr Patt.

Who would you like to come?

Immediate family. 

Anything else?

Open invitation to a bonfire and barbecue at home afterwards. 

So that started a frantic week of cleaning, mowing  and repairing. 

On the day, he was nervous, but he managed to go through the motions of being called up front and presented to the church. 

We set the time for 3pm and arranged for interested friends to come also. 

A storm came over just beforehand and we prayed for the rain to clear. It did clear, just as many of our friends arrived. We had beautiful sunshine for his baptism. 

Congratulations Zemiel on your decision to follow Jesus. 1st April 2023.

Sour Dough

Recently, we have taken to making our own sour dough bread. We regularly feed our starter and manage somehow to get a reasonable loaf most times we try. 

Shar does the majority of the baking. Although, last night, we did also attempt a guava jam - which turned into more of a guava jelly as the skin and pulp was a little grainy. So we left it out.  No slightly green ones next time. 

There are still plenty of fruit left on the roadside trees which we will try collect next week. Azariah and Lilly enjoy the picking. 

New Lambs

Last Monday night (7th June) Zemiel’s sheep Rocket Pocket gave birth to two healthy lambs - one girl and one boy. The girl is curly fleeced like her mother and the boy is has straight hair like the father (Rambo). The girl also has a white head like Rocket, while the boy has a black head. 

We managed to be there for the births and Rocket didn’t seem to mind the intrusion.

The girl is the oldest.

Tuesday morning.

We will probably be looking to breed the sheep one more time, but to a different ram this time. 

New Cow

Greetings. One week ago, our family went for a drive to Rockhampton to collect a dexter cow for our place. The idea is that we need about 4 -6 cows to help keep the grass in the back paddock down. It has a lot of rats tail grass in it and ruins the mower blade spindles and bearings. I’m hoping the cows will be more resistant.  

Meet Lucy

She is a bit skittish about being patted but is now taking hay from the hands of the kids. 

I have in the horse round yard now but will expand her area this week coming. I’ll be investigating in some electric fencing equipment. 

Lucy is pure bred dexter, but not currently registered. We’ll be looking to get a few more in July. 

New Car

Our new car is finally here. We’ve waited for this one for a while. It was with some sadness (particularly on Zekiah’s part) that the grey car left us. However, it seems that our new Isuzu MU-X has wiggled its way into everyone’s affections. 

It has been fun exploring the car to see new features. 

Baby Quail

We came back from caving with Pathfinders this weekend to find our quail eggs have hatched. We now have 4 baby quail and a fifth has tapped a hole in his egg. One of the babies got trapped under the incubator plate so has somewhat splayed legs. I have made some hobbles for it. Hopefully will get it walking well tomorrow.

These are brown quail eggs. I found the nest when I was mowing and unfortunately uncovered it. Fortunately, none were broken and we began incubating. Hatched on the 17th day @ 37.5 degrees.

Azariah’s Baptism

Through the year Azariah has been attending Bible studies through his school. He and a friend, Benjamin, chose to be baptised on December 5th at Platypus Beach. It was well attended by the wider church and we had surprises from Uncle Trevor and Aunty Roni and family, as well as Levi Obst and his dad from Townsville. So proud of our family and so thankful for close friends. 

Fire on the Mountain

Our place was threatened by a fire last year. 

A dry lightning strike sparked a grass fire that swept through. The rural firefighters kept our place safe though. When the fir looked to get into the long grass the wind changes direction and consequently our bore was preserved. 

Meet Stormy-Sky

Our dogs are no more. They escaped one night and killed a lamb and about 8 of our neighbours chickens. They were a failed attempt to get a pet that could help with Zemiel’s anxiety.

In October I organised to buy a Ragdoll kitten to fulfil the same task. I drove to Townsville on the Friday before Sharlene’s birthday. The breeder gave her a name of ‘Stormy’. Azariah once read a book about a Siamese kitten called Sky. By happy coincidence our new kitten had the same markings, so we named her Stormy-Sky in keeping with the girls of our family having hyphenated names. 

Rainbow Valley

A good time to be reminded of God's promises...

Click on photo to see full picture.

COVID-19 and its Consequences

So, the world has been turned upside down by a virus that few took seriously until a few weeks ago.
Panic buying has emptied the stores of pasta, rice, flour, sugar and toilet paper.
Currently, most restaurants, pubs, clubs, and social gatherings have been either banned or restricted.

Churches have closed. Our North Mackay Church is now all online. We are using Zoom to connect with other members and trying to keep our elderly ones safe.

As I work at the shopping centre, I've been able to buy TP  for some of Sharlene's colleagues that have had difficulty in getting to the shops in time. Everything is bought out by 9am.

Queensland has enforced either early holidays or student free days. NDIS offices are reducing staffing to skeleton crew, meaning I'll be working remotely from home alternate weeks.

Solar Panels are GO!

The solar panels that Sharlene’s tax return bought were installed today and began reducing our power bill from 1:10pm, at which time our meter read 7227kw hours.

Our system is about 7kw on two strings with 8.2kw inverter, evenly divided north and west facing.