Another year older, but not necessarily wiser.

a corner in the creek

On the weekend I turned 39.  And still no sign of a grey hair.  I'm so proud of myself.  The Groom says it's because I've caused him enough stress for the two of us and he's got my share of grey.  I don't think so.  They all got me a leaf blower/vac thingy.  I'm yet to use it.  I haven't figured out yet how to work it.  Then again, we've had the whipper snipper for years now and I don't know how to work that either.  I also went and got myself a pedicure last week, too.  That was my gift to myself.  And, today, I bought myself an Akubra Cattleman hat.  I've been thinking about getting one for a while, so today I bought one while waiting for the bank to open at 9.30am.   Not a bad haul for a birthday I say.

one of the orchids in flower

Here are some more pictures from around the place. I like orchids and when we sold our first house, in 2003, I had to leave ours behind and I regret it.  Now this place has a few stuck on some of the trees, so I'm enjoying looking at them.  There are lots of plants growing at this new place that have to go.  Things like oleander, mother-in-law's tongue, heaps of frangipanni growing in ridiculous, impractical spots and lots more.  I've spoken to a nearby nursery and they'll come out and look at what I want to get rid of and if they want them they are welcome to have them.  They're interested in the frangipanni so far.  It all depends on if they can get them out, though.    

I planted two calistemon in the front paddock last week.  They look pitiful and small next to everything else.  The photo below is one of the trees nearby; I'm not sure what it is but I like it.  We do have a lot of ti-tree on the block (a sign of bogginess I guess) and we're working on how to deal with it.  The boggy parts, that is.  The Groom and I have gone around and identified which plants we want to get rid of; again, everything has to wait until after settlement before we can do anything.

I'm enjoying a life without pay tv and the telephone, but miss not having an internet connection.  The library is a bit out the way for me to plug into their connection, but will have to do in the meantime.  I think for the time being we shall have to look at a pre-paid mobile broadband, but they all seem such a rip-off and full of clauses and loopholes and fine print it is frustrating to try and navigate them all to work out what suits us.  

We are still slogging away with all the legal stuff to do with the sale and purchase of the houses.  It seems like every second day more things turn up in the mail that need to be signed or paid.  I feel so overwhelmed!  I don't recall it being this 'hard' last time.  I think once settlement of this place is over I shall feel better.

I just want to get back into sewing, start my vegie garden and chickens, and just go back to some kind of normality.  The people who own the house we are buying (settlement is next week) are here this week to get their stuff from the shed and the house.  So I'm trying to avoid being around as I don't like the woman very much and I can't trust myself to be nice to her all of the time.  They came over on Sunday afternoon and she made comments I found unfair and tried so hard to zip my lip.  Oh well, it will all soon be over.

Well, Cyclone Paul is hovering in the Gulf and I'm hoping it will not affect us here.  We don't need anymore rain at all.  I did wake up during the night to the sound of rain but it wasn't really hard or last long.  From what I heard anyway.  

I have to go and find some Easter eggs soon.  I've told the children they aren't getting anything from the Easter Bunny this year, but of course, I'll relent and get them something!

Farmer in the Dell I am not!

Well, living on acreage is proving interesting every single day.  

On Wednesday I took the garden secateurs down to the creek to do some 'pruning'.  It was like waging a war on terror with a tissue!  I got to the gate that separates the back paddock from the creek area and I thought to myself "this just isn't going to work".  I feebly nipped the ends of some chinee apple off (and managed to get the thorns stuck in my hands and on my clothes - they even stuck into my pretty pink gumboots).  I wandered along snipping off bits and pieces as I went knowing I wasn't making a spot of difference.

The dogs took off into the water and splashed around, like they are wont to do, then they sensed something and took off.  I saw a flash of white and saw the dogs were in a neighbouring property, then heard cursing from the house behind us.  I'm calling the dogs like mad, trying to get them to come home, to no avail.  Finally, as I decided to turn around and head for the car to go looking for them, they came splashing along the creek and back to me.  They got a gumboot up the bottom and sent back to their avairy (where they sleep or spend time when we aren't home).  

Isn't the picture up the top lovely?  It's of our creek and to the left is a little hole that is ideal for lazing around in.  It's not too deep but the water is icy cold on a hot day.  And thankfully, crocodile free!  There is a fair amount of erosion along the bank of the creek that we are hoping to be able to stabilise.  We just have a lot of work to do first clearing out all the weeds and rubbish plants down there.

While I was looking for them I heard a loud rustle in some grass and I nearly died.  The neighbours had told me wild pigs sometimes come into the area, so that was my first thought.  I stood stock still then realised I'd probably disturbed a wallaby or a bush stone curlew.  I steered clear of that area - just in case.

could this be a wattle growing on the creek bank?

Last Friday we got to meet our neighbours on one side because I'd come back from picking up The Princess and Little Man from school to find our white dog had a bone wedged in the back of her throat at the roof of her mouth.  The poor thing was frantically pawing at her face and I thought at first it was a wasp or some thing, then I saw she was foaming at the mouth and figured it was a toad, then I saw the blood and panicked.  The blood was from her feet from trying to get the bone out, as well as where the bone was sticking into her gum.  The neighbour drove my car to the vet while the children were left at her house with her family.  None of us could get the bone out with pliers, but the vet got it out on the second go.  $65 later, we went home and the dog was back to her normal self.

I've been sharing not only our home with green frogs, but the toilet and shower as well.  The children love it, but this morning I was keeping a wary eye on one frog that was on the shower tap and giving me the impression he was waiting for me to turn my back so he could pounce.  I do love seeing all the frogs, though.  It is a good sign that the environment is healthy around us.  

We have a little family of plovers that live out the front.  Their baby is so cute and so far the parents have been happy to allow the kids to wander around near them without trying to swoop them.  The cockatoos come in the morning and afternoon and vandalise the trees.  They are rather destructive and nip the ends off branches and let them fall to the ground.  I like the curlews most of all.  Their mournful calls at night sound so sad but they are lovely to have.  In the afternoons lorikeets come and screech around the poinciana tree in the front yard.  The mornings bring signs the wallabies have been around poo-ing everywhere.  I wonder if I could train them to do it in the vegie garden when it's built?  Without eating everything in sight in return.

Our house still resembles a disaster zone with unopened or partially opened boxes everywhere.  Some of the stuff belonging to the sellers are still in the house and most of the shed, so once it all goes after settlement we can start to get ourselves sorted and build in wardrobes and storage cupboards.  I have forgotten where I have put half of our stuff and found a half roll of toilet paper in a box with stationery yesterday.  My mind is still trying to work that one out.

So, so far nothing has been dull.  Not even the fright Little Man gave me yesterday when I was waiting to pick them up from school and he decided to jump on the school bus instead.  I had only told his teacher 15 minutes earlier their bus passes had arrived and they'd be catching the bus home from next week.  He only heard 'catching the bus home' part I think!  Thankfully he knew which bus to catch and where to get off, but it was an anxious wait at the school while the office was trying to find out from the bus company (via the drivers) which bus he would have gotten on and where he could be going.  I found him walking down our road with the boy from across the road who had caught the bus, too.  He said he didn't even notice his sister wasn't on the bus with him!  So, if he feels ready and old enough to catch the bus home, then so be it.  

I've handed them their passes and today they are both making their own way home this afternoon.  I was just worried he'd get off the bus and turn the wrong way and end up at the highway!  

Our other house we just sold settles today.  I'm a bit sad, but that's how it goes.  I had a call from the solicitor yesterday saying that at the pre-purchase inspection the buyers noticed one wall from the garden shed was missing and they told their solicitor it was there when they signed the contract!  They were adamant about it.  I called the agent who said she didn't even notice there was a panel missing, but then remembered that someone else who put in an offer on the place early on asked about the missing panel.  I told the solicitor it has been removed years ago to allow easier access to the shed for The Groom's bio-diesel making.  I told her I had photographic and video proof dating back to 2008 to show it wasn't there and to tell them that I would be more than happy to forward it on if they were going to dispute it.  I got a call from our solicitor this morning to tell me she had told the other solicitor about the photos yesterday and had a call this morning to say they'd told their client (the buyer) and they said they've decided to remove the garden shed anyway so it didn't really matter!  What the????

So, with that, I'm off to get some lunch from the library cafe, browse the papers and then head home to my telephone/internet/pay tv free home where I shall be sit surrounded by mountains of boxes and too much furniture, then I shall kick back on the couch and read my Grass Roots magazine that arrived in the mail yesterday.

We're not in Kansas anymore...

Well, we here in the North are on Cyclone Watch.  For us it's the first time this year, and it's promising to be a big one.  But the watch area is so huge nobody is sure who will be the (un)lucky recipient of Ului.  

I like the name Ului.  Reminds me 'yoo-hoo' - watch out here I come!

We've got our kit prepared but I just need to go to the supermarket and get some chocolate.  Luckily Woolies has 1litre Long Life Milk on sale this week for $10 for 1o litres!  I stocked up earlier this week - I usually keep a couple of bottles in case Little Man has drank the last of the milk in the morning and there's none left for my coffee.

We are mostly moved in at the new place.  I'm itching for settlement to come so I can start doing the things I want to it.  Like the garden etc.  The cyclone may change some of my plans if it gets to us, though.  

Looking toward where my vegies and chickens will go

We haven't got the phone or internet connected there yet, so at the moment I am driving to the library to plug in my laptop to their connection.  The airconditioner is so cold in here my arms are stiff and I'm freezing.  I've been clearing up some space on my hard drive as it's nearly full with photos and iTunes stuff, so I've been taking advantage of the high speed internet at the library to transfer photos to Facebook for keeping there. 

 

looking toward the far back corner of the block.  all 5.5 acres of it.

There is a lot to do here for my tastes and our convenience, but our main priority is to get wardrobes installed for the children and a storage/linen cupboard in the 'utility' room.  But I so want to get the vegies and chickens in.  I'm itching to dig and fork and compost and plant and grow and build.  It's a shame the cyclone has put a hold on things at the moment.  And the fact we still have some things left in the other house we need to take out this weekend - we settle on the other house on Friday next week and it feels so odd to go there and walk around and hear the walls echo with emptiness.  It feels like it is sad.

Well, it's way too cold here now and I've got goosebumps.  Next time I come back I hope to remember to bring a cardigan!

Half way there

Well, we are half way moved in to the other house.  

We finished building this house in late 2003, so it's been a while since we undertook the torture test that is moving.  I do not want to move ever again.  Then again, that's what I said last time!

Packing and moving really highlights how different The Groom and I are about it all.  I'm a 'pack everything in an orderly manner' kind of person - shoes in one box, underwear in another etc.  Everything should be methodical and orderly.  The Groom's idea of packing involves plopping a box on the floor and throwing everything in that surrounds it.  It will make the next couple of weeks interesting when I'm unpacking and searching for things.  Sadly, my way of packing takes way too long, but I keep telling him it makes it easier at the other end.  The downside to this all is you end up finding stuff you've forgotten about and waste time going over it and reminiscing!  The Groom found the scrap book I made from our engagement and wedding, complete with all of the cards, telegrams etc.  We lost nearly an hour of our day going over it!

The other house is starting to look like ours.  Most of our prints and photos are up, the clothes are in our wardrobe, half of the kitchen is unpacked, towels and toiletries are in place.  Most of our 'stuff' is there, all we have to do is the big furniture and things we have to leave until the last minute, like the computer and pots and pans and stuff.  

We aim to be in by Friday night, so when The Groom goes away again for work next week I can just bring over smaller bits and bobs during the week.  I'm so tired that I can't wait for it to be all done and dusted.  

We won't have the phone connected for a while out there, so there will be no internet access unless I go to the library with my laptop.  We won't get internet back on until May I guess as after Easter we head off on our big Northern Territory trip.  We've planned it over a year ago, and we were meant to head off next week but the house sale delayed things, and some of the "highways" etc we will be travelling on are currently cut off by flood waters.  

Once things get more relaxed and orderly I aim to get some photos up of our new garden.  There's a lot to do in it, getting rid of the oleanders is priority number one.  Then the mother-in-law's tongues  and other horrible plants the other people planted.  

I am thankful our house has sold and we can move into this new one.  Even if the decor is not to our liking and we have to live with it until we can afford to change things.

So, watch this space...

We finally 'gave away' our home

Well, it's done and dusted.  

Last night we signed the contract to sell our house - for a ridiculous $70,000 less than what we originally asked for.  We're unhappy about doing so, but had to weigh up whether it was worth holding out longer for not much more, or cutting and running.  Which we ended up doing.  

Don't get me wrong, we didn't 'lose' on our house, we owed little compared to many others, but what we made was profit that we could have used to further reduce the mortgage we'll take out on the next house.  And to spend towards renovations etc.  

But, it's done now and it's time to start letting go.  On the bright side, I won't have to have the house in a constant show-room standard!  For the rest of the month, until settlement, I refuse to clean anymore fans, walls, showers etc.  

Because we feel we gave away our home we have decided not to leave the spare floor and wall tiles here, or the shade sails over the cubby.  If we aren't legally required to leave it, then it's coming with us.  I'm sure I can use the tiles somewhere at the next place - a nice tiled chicken coop would look lovely I'm sure!

So, now is the dreaded start to the 'getting things ready for moving' phase.  Notifying utilities, businesses, subscriptions etc.  We probably won't get the phone connected out there for a while, and possibly do away with pay-tv even.  We'll see how we go I guess.  

I'm looking forward to starting on 'light' improvements to the next house like replacing ugly curtains, repainting icky colored walls etc.  The big stuff, like pulling out the yellow bathtub in the second bathroom and its mdf brown and white cupboard and sink, as well as getting rid of the ugly brown tiled corner spa with matching smokey mirrored tiles in the ensuite, and later the impractical kitchen cupboards.  

And once the wet season is over, start ripping out the copious amounts of 'mother-in-law's tongue' that's planted everywhere and all of the other horrid plants.  Most of the plants I want are to provide a purpose in some way, be it providing us with food, or attracting birds or butterflies etc.  

So while I'm sad to farewell our lovely home, I'm glad to be rid of the stresses of selling.  It's been a strain on us all.  Last night The Princess gave me a hug and said "no more 'psycho' mummy!"  That sums up how I've been the past three months!

I'm looking forward to sharing my journey in this blog so for now, while I am still sick, it's time for a hard earned rest until the moving nonsense begins.

It's Wednesday so why do I think it's Thursday?

Do you have days where you don't know if you are coming or going?  I do and today is one of them.  I am blaming it on being sick with whatever it was that Little Man had.

I think it is like the sign in the picture.  You kind of understand (in a way) what it's saying, but you don't quite know for sure.  I think that's what my body is doing to me at the moment; it's telling me something and I'm not quite reading the signs.  Or paying attention to them.  I'm sick.  I thought it was a 24 hour thing but it's not.  Okay, I get it.  Now let's get me better and get on with things! (BTW, this photo was taken in Port Vila last year outside a little supermarket near the fruit and vegetable market.  I wonder if they have a problem with staff hanging out around the trolleys?)

I think it is stress from the whole house sale thing.  We still have not sold the house, the owner of the other house we want (and had a verbal agreement on to buy) has now put the house back on the market.  I think they're sick of waiting.  But, I think they're making a mistake because they had their house on the market for a year with not a single offer, and it is definitely a buyer's market right now.  Now, if we get a contract on our house and we  put a contract on theirs, they will be up for agent's commission.  Which means less money for them than if they had have waited for us.  But, that's their choice.  I just wish we were told first rather than discover it in the weekend paper! 

I have signed up for tuck shop duty at school where my children go.  They (the children) are so excited.  Tuck shop is a rare treat for them so their thinking is that if I'm on duty they'll get tuck shop.  I don't know yet!  They have an online ordering system and you can set up a credit with your credit card or savings card etc, and use that to pay for your orders.  I like that considering I rarely ever carry cash.  I visited the tuck shop this morning to say hello to the convener, so next week I shall be 'on duty'.   I have yet to work this year, so it will give me something to do as well as a bit of knowledge about the 'inner workings' of the school if I get booked to work there.  I'm eager to don my apron and get going!  

I had to get groceries this morning.  What would normally take one hour dragged out to two hours.  I don't know how that happened, but I did get half way through the aisles and realise I was only half way!  And I did consider phoning The Groom and asking him to come and take me home.  Maybe it's because it must be pension day and I was surrounded by old ladies in their pretty floral dresses, but I was suddenly overcome by the need for a nap.  At 11am!  Yep, I'm sick.  And when I'm sick and I know that I'm sick, I turn into a little baby and get sulky and grumpy.  It makes a nice change from being a strong, 'able to shake off small sniffles in a single sneeze' mummy.  

I'm off for my nana nap.  Or maybe just read my new book on plants of Tropical North Queensland.

Enjoy your day!

Sniffles and Snuffles

My poor Little Man is home sick today.  He went to school yesterday with a bit of a sniffle and runny nose but not enough to warrant asking for a day off.  Last night he was getting snifflier and runnier, so a child's soluble paracetamol was in order before bed as he was complaining of a headache.  The poor soul was up and down all night getting drinks of water (and consequent trips to the toilet) and generally being miserable.  The Princess told me she heard him sitting outside her door at one stage, crying.  I must have slept through that part!  If it wasn't being kept awake by the croaking of frogs outside the bathroom window (I had forgotten to close it before I went to bed), it was hearing the sound of the toilet door closing and the toilet flushing all night that is the reason I am so tired!  

A quick trip to the chemist after dropping The Princess at school was in order.  We stocked up on tissues, some children's Phenergan for the runny eyes etc, and a box of paracetamol for the household (a box of 100 for $1.49).  Once home he was sent off to bed with his homework, tissues, tidy bin for used tissues and a bottle of water.  The poor little beetle is tired (thanks to the phenergan) but didn't want to be in bed.  So now he's quietly playing the Cars game on the playstation.  He's too quiet, actually, I have a feeling he's asleep.  I hope he's not, he hasn't eaten since having some Sultana Bran for breakfast (he refused a leftover piece of pizza for morning tea) and he needs to have some lunch soon.  Or maybe he needs some sleep.

There is a low forming around Cardwell, which is about 200klm north of here (I think); it's expected to move north, but these things have a habit of being unpredictable so I might do a trip to the supermarket for some bits and pieces - just in case.  Much of our supermarket supplies come in by truck from the south and we have been known to have bare shelves in the shops if the roads are cut off for too long.  We always have a cyclone kit ready anyway, but so many people don't and then when a cyclone is imminent everyone panic buys and there's nothing left in the supermarkets!  I like to keep some bread in the freezer in case we lose power and I can't use my bread maker (the joys of an electric oven and stove top).

I posted Lena's "Amber" bag yesterday so I'm looking forward to her receiving it.  I've had lots of lovely comments about it already from other bloggers I am rather chuffed.  I like this giving thing so much I can't wait to do it again.  I did try to post a picture of the owl bag I sent my aunt but there are gremlins in our internet connection (probably due to the rain) that the connection kept dropping out while uploading - I gave up after the third attempt.

It's raining, it's pouring

The weather channel told me last night that we were expected to receive around 100ml of rain in a 24 hour period.  I got woken up just before 1am this morning to the sound of the rain hammering down on the roof.  That is not surprising for most people when it rains heavily, but we have a tiled roof and the airconditioner was on!  If we wake up to the sound of rain in our house it means that it is raining heavily.  Our house sits up higher than everyone else's in our street, and we have channel and grates around the house to divert any excess water out to the road gutters.  We are okay here.  But the roads this morning were nothing short of chaos!  This photo was just taken from the back patio (with a bit of zoom on to get 'over' the fence). Believe it or not, there is a mountain in the background of the photo.  You can just make the lower part out if you look carefully.  Actually, I love looking at the mountain when it is covered in cloud.  It's so restful and mystical almost.  

I have a bit of a busy day but because of the heavy rain I don't feel like going out.  I have to drive out to the airport to pick up a parcel of motorbike safety gear we ordered in from the U.S for Little Man (with postage, it worked out to be about $200 cheaper than to buy the same stuff here!).  Then I need to get to the post office to post a letter to my nan and a handmade bag (this one has an owl applique on it) to my aunty in Melbourne as well as Lena's "Amber" bag, then I need to buy a 20kg bag of dog food for my furry babies.  I dislike driving in the rain, we have only a couple of months when we really get a rainy season, so for most of the year we drive in perfect conditions.  I was sitting on the highway this morning doing 90klm with my lights on and wipers at full speed, barely able to see two cars ahead, yet I was still being overtaken by idiots who were going way too fast for the conditions.  I'm just hoping our highways don't get cut off by flood waters as they alway do when we get a lot of rain.  The Groom is away this week and comes home on Saturday, if they highway is cut to the north of us, then he'll be stuck up there.

I love the rain because it means that while it's raining there are no mosquitos and stifling humidity!

Mindless ramblings of a tired mum

I am so tired.  I don't know why, I think it is just the weather we have been having.  It has been overcast and raining for so long, I think I'm just missing the sun.  I don't know how people living in Britain cope without seeing the sun for longer periods than I have.

Last night The Princess, Little Man and I went to dinner at Sizzler.  I don't know why we even go there anymore, unless it's for the convenience of being able to eat pretty much as soon as we walk in.  The salad bar and the meals are so expensive now, and there is little variation and real choice on the salad bar.  Our favourite place to eat out at is Cactus Jacks, so we should have just gone there instead.  But, we had people coming at 5.30pm to view our house (a ridiculous time for a viewing when you have children, but the house is for sale so you have to accommodate potential purchasers), so I didn't want to be out for too long as they go to bed at 7.30pm.  

We haven't heard back from the agent about the viewing other than the people weren't overly interested unless it was "the right price".  I don't know how much more right the price can get, considering we've now dropped our asking price by $40,000 because we are committed to another house!   Unfortunately for us, it is a buyer's market right now.  There were 12 less pages in the real estate guide last weekend than there was in the entire Saturday paper (not including the cars lift out and racing guide).  I'm just so over people wasting our time.  You either like a house or not, so why bother disrupting people's lives if it's not suitable?  It's not like it's a 'mystery' house and you don't know what it looks like before you go there.    Okay, rant is over.  Smile serenely and listen to trickling water from the pond outside and the birds tweeting.

The house is spic and span again, so there is really nothing to clean today.  I should clean the fans but I can't find the ladder to get to them.  I think I'm actually bored!  I can't get out all of my sewing stuff today because we have another open house on Saturday, and I have friends coming over tomorrow to pick over old school uniforms of the children's.  I've got no gardening to do and all the washing is done.  I do need to wash the doonas but can't do ours until the threat of rain has gone - it's a king sized doona and has to go on the outside line to dry.  I think I shall make myself some sardines on toast, a cup of decaf coffee and vege out in front of the tv to watch the morning news and then Dr Phil and Oprah before picking up the children from school.

Oh, and I'm so glad to have heard from Lena, who won my "Amber" bag.  She's even considering making something to gift to another, which is brilliant.  And, I'm so excited to have THREE whole followers of my blog.  I cannot believe that people are interested in my ramblings to come back to my blog time and again!  Thank you to all of you.

And the "Amber" bag goes to...

And naturally, it is LENA.  

Can you please send me a message (through my profile page) with your address on it and I shall post the bag out to you shortly.  

I'm so glad to be able to share something I have made and I hope you will enjoy it.

I have a busy day today.  We have some more people coming to view the house this evening, so I have to pack up the children and the dogs at around dinner time and disappear for half hour or so.  So today I have to do a quick tidy up of the house, my kitchen is the messiest part of the house so I'll spend most of my time there.  I've still got the dishes from last night on the drainer to put away, do the breakfast dishes, fold washing, wash another load of washing and hang it out, clean the bathrooms and vacuum and mop the floors.  It is so humid again today, and it's only 7.15am, I think I shall have to put on the airconditioning to get it done without melting.

Yesterday I picked the last of my ripened eggplants (we have 3 types), some chives and shallots and a bunch of mint and some banana capsicums.  I don't know what I'll make with it but I'll think of something.  Having the house up for sale has put an end to my gardening.  I can't plant anything new so have run down my supplies in preparation for a sale.  I cannot wait until we sell here and get into our new house and start all over again, this time bigger and better!