February has been and gone – so what happened in the only month starting with F? It was a month of many F words – fun, family, friendship and festing!
Somehow we have moved into the third month of the year, and time is marching on! Time is my word of the year!
I invite you to grab a cuppa, make yourself comfortable and settle in for a chat as we look back over the month together.
SUMMER – TIME
It was the last month of summer and another hot one at that! I’m happy to announce the storm damaged sunroom, which I mentioned in last month’s post, January Time, has been fixed by the Mathematician and now is undergoing a bit of a revamp in readiness for the hopefully cooler weather ahead – it’s been far too hot to sit in there these past few months!
Autumn, my favourite month, lies ahead with the promise of a delicious colour palette, gently floating leaves, (which I refuse to pick up) and cooler, but still pleasant, temperatures. It’s been a long, hot summer down here, that’s for sure!
FUN – TIME
February is always a full-on month in Tumbarumba with Tumba Races, TumbaTrek and TumbaFest. These are great times for friends and families to get together and our whole town seems to come alive!
TumbaTrek is an annual bush walk instigated in 1985 with various politicians, locals, media and visitors, which showcases our beautiful area. Approximately 100 people join in each year. Anna, our Hungarian Rotary Youth Exchange student was keen to get involved and enjoyed talking world issues with Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack.
Tumbafest is an annual music, food and wine festival that has been going for 22 years! I’m proud to say I’ve been to every Tumbafest and volunteered on the committee for many years. I even wrote a post about how to have the best time at the event!
How to make sure you have an awesome time at Tumbafest
This year it was lovely to have the company of my daughter, son-in-law and baby granddaughter – her first ever Tumbafest – I was way more excited about it than she was!
It was great to spend a few days days with my mother-in-law on the coast and some time in Canberra with my daughter and family. I also enjoyed facetime chats and messages with my two daughters who live a lot further away. Technology helps us stay in touch despite the distances. I manage to message my mother, sister and brother regularly too, as we’re located all over the countryside!
BLOGGING – TIME
I have continued with my Wordless Wednesday posts and enjoy letting a photo tell the story. You can see them all here and feel free to join in at any time: Wordless Wednesdays
I also enjoyed sharing my Flowers on a Friday series and am looking at changing this theme each month.
Terri’s Sunday Stills have all had a F theme too this month, with Fire, Fresh, Frozen and Flight.
I’ve enjoyed writing few personal posts this month, including my Five Favourite Decades, and a post where I got honest about my feelings of inadequacy as a blogger, just as I was nominated for Best Lifestyle Blog in the Annual Bloggers Bash Awards. I turned it into a post about How to be a Grateful Blogger
I also talked about meeting an inspirational young man at the Heywire Youth Summit – Sam is one who will be going places in the future. He has passion and charm and it was such fun to meet him. Meet Sam
ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE – TIME
Anna, our Rotary Youth Exchange Student from Hungary, is having a great time in Tumbarumba and Australia. She’s over half way through her exchange and we’re enjoying being host parents to her. This month she got to join her other Inbound Students in our vast area, for a weekend get together and then a few days later they went to a surf school with none other than Australian Champion (many years ago) Pam Burridge.
We always enjoy seeing the exchange kids take on these new challenges and they all had an absolute ball. These types of weekends wouldn’t happen without the caring (voluntary) Rotarians who drive them, chaperone them, host them, feed them and support them. I’m proud to be a Rotary member! These youth are our future and Rotary is all about Service Above Self.
We also took Anna on a Dolphin cruise where we got to go boom-netting off the back of the boat! So much fun 🙂
READING – TIME
I’m well into my 2019 reading challenge and am reading a mix of genres as per usual! I seem to have had a bit of a run on Amanda Prowse books and Faith Martin Detective series lately. Our bookclub book this month was The Midnight Dress by Karen Foxlee and I found it a great read. But I did enjoy a random novel called Call Me Evie by JP Pomare, random because the Mathematician picked it up purely because it was set in a little known town we’d been to in New Zealand called Maketu. It was a surprisingly good read. I also enjoyed fellow blogging buddy Joanne Tracey’s Wish you Were Here.
THAT’S A WRAP – TIME’S UP!
I think you’ll agree that was a pretty big month – full of fun, family and a great use of my TIME! I also managed to fit in a facial, a massage, a haircut, new tyres on my car, new reading glasses (waiting impatiently for them now), movies and catch ups with friends in town, plus we had a few days of work as Outdoor Activity leaders at school camps.
Thanks for the chat, I’ve enjoyed your company but I’m a tad exhausted now! Thank goodness it was only a short month 🙂
Wishing you all the best for March, what do you have you planned?
Deb xx
Note: this was written using the new Gutenberg editor so I’m hoping it works ok. Thanks to Hugh for the push to at least try it out. The world didn’t end so all’s well 🙂
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What fun to read about all you had going on in February. I find the names of some of the places in Australia to be such fun, almost like tongue twisters or riddles to pronounce. Tumbarumba, for one!
Envious of your dolphin watching expedition and time in the net and on the boat. Wonderful memory-making. Oh, that beautiful blue water.
Your Bitmojis are so YOU. How do you insert them in your blog? What a clever idea.
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Yes Leslie, our names are quite fun even for us sometimes! I love my bitmojis too and just save them as a picture and then insert them as required. I’m so glad to hear you enjoy them, my daughters think I’m mad, but that’s OK!!
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I enjoyed catching up with you Deb. I’m really impressed with how you stay so involved in your community, while mentoring your young exchange students, and still make time for family, and blogging. Have a great month! Hope to be back with you all, soon.
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Thanks Christina, I’m glad you could join me for a cuppa! I’ll admit that it isn’t always easy but I do enjoy all that I do, so I manage to find the time. Hope to see you back soon, take care!
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I get quite nostalgic when I read your posts about your life in Tumba because we too enjoyed our country teaching days and have lived in at least 4 different communities. They have their ups and downs of course, but Tumba seems to have such natural beauty which would be hard to ignore. I do think you are a fan of busy…and I understand. Great to see and enjoy all you do and are to others!
Denyse #mlstl
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I agree, we are very lucky with our beautiful area here and I’m sure you understand the ups and downs of living in small country towns. I am a fan of being busy but I’m getting better at pacing myself, although it might not sound like it at times! Thanks for your visits and comments Denyse, you are a wonderful encouraging friend 🙂
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Hi Deb I had thought I’d commented on this, never mind I’m here now. What a wonderful month you had and I know that Anna would have loved the dolphin cruise and I’m sure you did too. Tumbafest and the Races looked like so much fun and that is what I love about you Deb, you have such a variety in your life – it certainly is never dull. Thanks for the cuppa and I’ll join you again next month. #MLSTL 🙂
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Thanks Sue, I admit my life is rarely boring that’s for sure! I enjoy keeping a track of monthly happenings and reading back over them later on is always fun.
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Firstly, thanks for the shout-out for Wish You Were Here. I haven’t read any Amanda Prowse, but she’s on my list to check out – as is the Faith Martin detective series. I really must get to Tumba Fest some year – it was so great that you had good weather for all 3 events this year. Here’s to a great March.
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My pleasure Jo! It was a good read. Tumbafest is always fun so you’re welcome anytime. All the best for your month ahead too.
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So glad that sunroom got rescued – I’m always sharing our virtual coffee with you in there in my imagination. Nice to see that you’ve joined Donna in mastering the new Gutenberg thingie – something we little Blogger bloggers don’t have to face (thank goodness) things change so quickly on the interwebs and I’m always paddling like a crazy woman to keep my head about water!
Thanks for linking up with us at MLSTL and I’ve shared on my SM 🙂
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Yes the sunroom is ready when you are Leanne! I like the fact (sometimes) that we keep learning new things, although it can be hard to get my head around all the changes. I enjoy the link up and having lost of lovely visitors like yourself pop in for a virtual cuppa! Take care 🙂
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Happy March to you as well!!
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Thanks Cherie :), you too.
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Great to catch up on all you did in February Deb. Reading about your exchange student in this post and others, reminds me of all the years that I was a host mum to Rotary exchange students. My daughter also did exchange in Japan. I loved being a Rotarian – many years ago. Will share on SM #MLSTL
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That’s great to hear Jennifer, it’s a small world isn’t it? Being a host mum and a Rotarian is rewarding. I think exchange is a really good program, keeps me feeling young! Thanks for sharing.
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What a fabulous February!! 😊🌸
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It was busier than I thought Sam, but fun all the same.
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Hi Deb,
Busy, busy, busy! And lots of fun and family. And it sounds like the Mathematician is a handy guy to have around for fixing stuff!
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Yes he is a very handy one to have around and yes life is busy at times Nancy!
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Wow what a crazy busy month!
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Just a bit!!!!
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What a busy month, Debbie. How do you manage to fit it all in and blog? I’ve heard about the very hot summer you have had in your part of the world. I hope Autumn brings you plenty of comfortable days and nights where you can enjoy being outside without getting too burnt.
I have to say that the photo displays on this post are amazing. They fit in so snug, and nicely, into the rest of the post. That blue water looks very refreshing. Did you dive in?
Now you’ve cracked using the Gutenberg editor; I hope you’ll continue to use it. Thanks so much for linking to my recent post about the Gutenberg editor. I’m so glad other bloggers are coming out of their comfort zone and are giving it a go. Kudos to you for giving it a try.
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Thanks again Hugh, your comments mean a lot to me! I’m actually really enjoying using Gutenberg now that I’m in the know, it’s very easy. The photos do look good in the post and I appreciate your thoughts.
Blogging is important to me so I manage to fit it in, but sometimes I wonder how!
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Sounds like February is a great month to live in your town – what a lot of community events to get involved in. Definitely lots of fun!
March is always a busy month here, my son’s birthday today, mine next week, then Mother’s Day – lots to celebrate.
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Thanks cdeb, it really is a good community and although it has its ups and downs, like all small towns, it’s mainly all good! Happy birthday to you all 🙂
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Sounds like a wonderful and busy month!!
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It sure was a HUGE month Michelle! Lots happening – just the way I like it!
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