Loud on LOUD Shirt day

Loud Shirt Day is only 2 weeks away on Friday October 21^st, (www.loudshirtday.com.au)

Loud Shirt Day is an annual fundraising initiative co-ordinated by First Voice, an alliance of early intervention hearing service providers who teach deaf and hearing impaired kids how to listen and speak. 

The gorgeous Mrs Woog's and her equally adorable lad Jack have this to say about loud shirt day.

Loud Shirt Day encourages individuals and groups to wear their loudest and brightest outfits (traditionally loud shirts) for one day and to get sponsored by their friends, family and colleagues on that day and/or purchase Loud Shirt Day merchandise from a Caltex retailer. Whether the outfit is stripes, florals, polka dots or paisley, as long as it’s loud and colourful it’s perfect for Loud Shirt Day!

I was asked to lend my support .I am very passionate about hearing . I have a significant hearing impairment . I wear a Cochlear BAHA Bone anchored hearing aid on my good side. My hearing loss was gradual due to ear infections and surgery complications . I had already learnt to speak and hear.

Please show your support and get LOUD on Loud shirt day ...wear loud shirts and outfits to raise awareness. With your help First Voice can give deaf children sound and speech ,changing the lives of hundreds of hearing impaired children and their families throughout Australia.

Like them on facebook here and spread the word !


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What big ears you have ...and listen carefully

Please bear with me ... it is a bit wordy. (Dash ...In the wee hours I had a greta blog post today but now it is long past .. the morning and my bedtime, so I will have to wing it from what I remember.)

I wanted to give thanks today for this ....


a huge box of sweet corn our kindly neighbours gave us. They run a market garden nearby. They live next door but their block is long and we are the back house on a battleaxe - (A block of
land shaped like an axe, where the handle is in the approach. situated between other blocks, thus we have no apparent street frontage (bare driveway)- the road is to the left hand side and we have other properties surrounding us on all sides.


So really their shed is next door to us. (see below the greenish shed next to our house).

The advantage of a battleaxe is our lovely private front rose garden.


I digress also to add ... several neighbouring children and our eldest son's Friends love to ride their bikes , scooter and skateboard up and down our long concrete driveway ... plus the babies have decided they like to ride in the little red wagon up and down the driveway. Which means I push and pull it LOL

anyway ... Our fence is about 3ft (short in comparison to most which are 4ft-5ft) we used to be able to see over it .When Mario saw us a few times he gave us vegetables etc off the back of his truck. His truck was often packed to take to market in the wee hours. Mario and his wife, our neighbours are also very short (hope they never read this).

Since we grew the potato vine to cover the ugly green fence - we can see his truck but he can't see us nor reach over. The rose bushes have grown too.(ouch)

For months, DH heard Mario start his truck and leave (to go to the markets) right outside our bedroom window... in the wee small hours every night [till he got used to it]. I did occasionally but not much due to my hearing impairment. It bothered him a little but he is so patient and easy going he would never complain.

The other day I saw our neighbours whilst hanging washing on the line. They were at the back of their shed. I haven't seen them up close for months.They gave me 4 ears of corn on the cob ... freshly cut/picked. We chatted, small talk. I think they saw the babies close up for first time *gasp*. Then they offered me a box of corn and Mario said he would drop it around later.

OMG - I went out later and found the screen door open with that box wedged in the door. Since I was down the back of our house and our doorbell is out of action - I didn't hear him. Scary !

MY Dh tells me I should lock the door . I feel a bit of a dill and a bit embarrassed if in case he heard me talking to the babies and not answer him .I also consider, to think if the babes didn't sleep in their cot as I often put them down on my bed (near front door) ...eek they would have been off to explore as they get down off my bed no problem and they toddle down to find me (at the computer) . I just felt it was a good warning for me to take on board. Be more careful.

The sweet corn was delicious though our eldest complained * sigh* that is was too juicy - I could say a few choice words but I won't... just can't please that kid

So ... my hearing is not good and today I did something about it - finally organised to get a referral to ENT specialist and see if they do anything plus organise me a new hearing aid so I can listen more attentively and improve my hearing if possible.

I also got to thinking about the fact that I am guilty of not listening attentively even when I can hear. I often get caught up in blogging and don't listen to my husband or DS properly.

Frequently, I feel a bit socially isolated in group situations because background noise can overwhelm me and all the conversations blur. I have made a fool of myself by having misheard or worse preempting and I feel more a fool. I don't really lip read .

I also remembered this post over at Mad Goat Lady - keys to better listening.It is well worth a read.

P.S. DH has the doorbell and new door closer on his to do list, plus gates !
P.P.S. I have to write them a thank you card or maybe bake some brownies.