36... 35... 34....

Saturday - 36 Sleeps:

I got a fright today. My beautiful mare Freelance collapsed at the paddock. I didn't see her go down. I was in the feedroom mixing her next feed when Jessica called out to me. When I came out of the shed and around the corner, Freelance was layng stretched out on the ground and groaning, in a really good impersonation of Phar Lap dying in Tommy Woodcock's arms in the movie starring Tom Burlinson.

I stood stunned, and silent for a moment. Jessica was next to her, saying worriedly "Mummy, is this normal?? Is Freelance ok? Is she tired?". Outwardly I calmly grabbed her headstall and lead rope saying "No this isn't normal, let's see what the problem is..." Inwardly I was thinking "Oh holy @#$%.... My precious mare is having a heart attack and is about to die in front of us.... What on earth am I going to do?? Both of my kids are going to witness this... I don't know what to do, and I'm sure I don't know how to cope".

Naturally the thoughts of who I wanted/needed to phone started instantly rushing through my mind...... Facing something like this often makes me wonder what the outcome of doing this would be. Freelance did eventually come good. I think the shock is still there though.....

Before the Freelance's drama, for most of the day I busied myself with culling. Going through my clothes, and coming away with about 8 grocery bags of clothes to take to the salvos and/or throw out. Ok, so I kept the famous handkerchief dress. I haven't worn it in a while, but it still looks pretty good, and I can't bear to part with it, and I like to imagine a life in the not to distant future when I have an excuse to wear it again.

In the evening we had dinner at Tom's. He and I discussed the logistics of the packing up and moving at length. I have booked flights taking the kids and me to Melbourne for the step up day at the new school on 19 December. And we're going down after the trucks on 5 to 7 January to unpack. My nephew Talon, an intelligent little boy, is beginning to grasp the fact that we're moving. It's pretty tough, and I hope the boys don't feel that I am abandoning them. We talked about them visiting us, and me being back and forth with the kids. All these details are yet to be worked out of course, and are currently in my 'I don't quite now how it will definitely look' sphere...

Today is the last day of Spring. This has been my last spring living here in Canberra. I've lived here all my life, and leaving is a really big deal. Jessica is marking the days off on the calendar each day. She's done a drawing on the 4th January, which is the day the trucks turn up. And asks throughout the day whether it's time to cross another day off. Before bed I had another look at the long range forecast for Scone. It's chopping and changing a bit:

Scone

Close Precis

Forecast updated at 8:12 am EDT on Saturday 30 November 2013.

Detailed Scone Forecast

	Sat. 30 Nov	Sun. 1 Dec	Mon. 2 Dec	Tue. 3 Dec	Wed. 4 Dec	Thu. 5 Dec	Fri. 6 Dec
Summary	Possible shower.	Partly cloudy.	Mostly sunny.	Sunny.	Sunny.	Morning showers then rain.	Shower or two clearing.
Max. Temperature	24 °C	26 °C	30 °C	34 °C	36 °C	31 °C	26 °C
Min. Temperature		9 °C	9 °C	11 °C	14 °C	18 °C	10 °C

Sunday - 35 Sleeps:

Freelance to my relief was ok. And I spent the morning culling more paperwork culling. I had intended to tackle the toy boxes in Heath's room but I didn't get around to them. The kids and I went iceskating again this afternoon. I love how keen Heath is to go now that he has his own skates. Jessica was a bit recalcitrant to begin with, but I phoned one of her friends, who squealed with delight in the background when her mum asked her if she'd like to go.

The one thing I will say about the little dog box that we call home in Canberra is that we have amazing neighbours. They are lovely company. They have helped wonderfully with Maxie. And they've helped me when I've been feeling down, and with all sorts of things. Noelene has grandkids. She's delighted to accept the kids old things. I don't have the time, inclination or energy to try to organise a garage sale to make money out of things. I'd rather give them away free to good homes. And it was with genuine delight that Noelene received Jessica's still pretty pink bike that she grew out of so quickly. She doesn't take after me from a height point of view, she will have long legs like a racehorse...

And my truly ace brother came and tamed the jungle that was masquerading as my backyard, using my neighbour Paddy's mower. I'm mostly pretty self sufficient, but have to admit that mowing lawns is just not my thing... I'm liking the fact that our new little house will not have any lawn out the back. That's v good, particularly because it's a wetter climate down there, and therefore I'm sure the lawns will be more jungle like. The lawn mower that I bought with my Arrowfield Stud earnings a few years ago now didn't end up accompanying me, so that's been a real handicap when it's come to the management of this garden.

How's Scone looking next week on today's long range forecast I hear you ask? I know that you want to know!

Scone

Close Precis

Forecast issued at 4:25 am EDT on Sunday 1 December 2013.

Detailed Scone Forecast

	Sun. 1 Dec	Mon. 2 Dec	Tue. 3 Dec	Wed. 4 Dec	Thu. 5 Dec	Fri. 6 Dec	Sat. 7 Dec
Summary	Partly cloudy.	Mostly sunny.	Sunny.	Sunny.	Rain at times.	Sunny.	Sunny.
Max. Temperature	26 °C	30 °C	34 °C	35 °C	30 °C	25 °C	29 °C
Min. Temperature		9 °C	11 °C	14 °C	20 °C	10 °C	9 °C

Smart Missile at Arrowfield. Saturday afternoon was going to include a half day for the farm. They won't have the staff, so I might get an early leave pass and head back to Sydney to break the 8 hour drive home up a bit. That's probably not such a bad thing.

Monday - 34 Sleeps:

Today I started packing for Scone. Things have to be mostly ready tonight (nowhere near ready!) because tomorrow I'm in the showroom all day. After that the kids have swimming and we have dinner at Tom's house. Wednesday morning I hit the road after dropping the kids at school. I've charged my camera batteries. And all my stallion toys are already in the car. Pinkie included.

This morning I finally phoned NRMA about the crack in the windscreen because that's covered under my insurance policy. Hurrah.... Alas and woe, they cannot fix it until next Monday, so I need to brave another 16 hour return drive (ouch, that sounds long doesn't it when you add the 2 drives up together) looking around a crack which is now very long.

I also looked up an exhaust place and phoned them up. They will look at Dan tomorrow.. There's no guarantee he can be fixed tomorrow but if they can they will. If they do, Dan will think that they are fabulous and stop him grumbling at me quite so much. Getting him serviced has proved impossible this month, so I'm patting his dashboard and hoping for the best.

Dan sounds much better when you drive with the windows closed and the radio up loud. I have to admit that I really like driving with my window down, and the wind blowing. My dad hates it... I love it. It keeps me feeling more alert, and I like the way it blows my hair. Although with a forecast of 35 degrees I suspect the windows will be up because I'm sure I'll need the airconditioning on.

The nice thing about driving with the windows down is that, when I draw closer to Aberdeen, the scent in the air changes, and I can smell that I am close to Scone and the horse country that I love. This trip I'll drive straight through Scone, and on to Murrurundi. It's actually a very pretty stretch of road, this section, and I enjoy driving it. Although driving it at the very end of an 8-9 hour drive is perhaps less enjoyable than when setting off fresh from Scone. I am usually headachey and very tired from Singleton onwards, and paddling once I reach Musswellbrook.

I have the usual list of things I must do tomorrow written on my hand.. I have to go to the chemist for Heath, and buy batteries for my flash, and I'll try to fuel Dan up tomorrow afternoon. And the temperature here this afternoon, in my little house that reflects the outside temperature so beautifully well? It's 28.3 degrees outside and 28 degrees inside... I hate this house in summer.... 34 sleeps though, right?????

"Remember that choosing not to choose is a choice in itself. Indecision is still a decision".

This is my thought for the day.....I'm not being indecisive anymore. That's a good thing, right, because I know some of us can become paralyzed by indecision. That's not much fun. In my experience, indecision gets you nowhere, and doesn't bring happiness. I think it brings unhappiness. And it certainly won't get my car fixed or a interstate move done!!!! And yes, I'm actually doing my invoicing too, a job you know that I hate to do! It's a bit like in the movie Transformers, which we've watched tonight just for fun... "Don't you want to look back in 50 years time and say you had the guts to get in the car?"

Final thoughts? I'm trying to decide whether I should go to the trouble of getting a Christmas tree. I'm trying not to create work for myself, because goodness knows there is enough to do, but will it feel like Christmas without a tree??? Christmas is important to me, however this year I am under no illusions that I will find Christmas tough to get through. There are some moments when I want to close my eyes and not think about it...

And how is Scone's long range forecast looking today??? Well, this is what they were saying at 10.03am this morning, which had me thinking dubiously that I wasn't sure about the rain..

Scone

Close Precis

Forecast updated at 10:03 am EDT on Monday 2 December 2013.

Detailed Scone Forecast

	Mon. 2 Dec	Tue. 3 Dec	Wed. 4 Dec	Thu. 5 Dec	Fri. 6 Dec	Sat. 7 Dec	Sun. 8 Dec
Summary	Mostly sunny.	Sunny.	Mostly sunny.	Rain at times, easing.	Sunny.	Sunny.	Sunny.
Max. Temperature	30 °C	34 °C	35 °C	26 °C	25 °C	29 °C	33 °C
Min. Temperature		11 °C	13 °C	19 °C	9 °C	8 °C	10 °C

However it seems the BOM can't make up their mind. I'm looking dubiously at that gorgeous looking day on Friday, thinking "don't fall for it, don't fall for it, it could easily turn out to be a stinker...." Sorry Dan.. It's still going to be a hot drive for us on the way there and home..

Scone

Close Precis

Forecast issued at 4:00 pm EDT on Monday 2 December 2013.

Detailed Scone Forecast

	Mon. 2 Dec	Tue. 3 Dec	Wed. 4 Dec	Thu. 5 Dec	Fri. 6 Dec	Sat. 7 Dec	Sun. 8 Dec
Summary	Clear.	Sunny.	Mostly sunny.	Shower or two.	Sunny.	Mostly sunny.	Mostly sunny.
Max. Temperature		34 °C	35 °C	27 °C	25 °C	30 °C	33 °C
Min. Temperature		11 °C	13 °C	17 °C	9 °C	9 °C	12 °C