Email update

If any of you are wondering why I haven't replied to my emails it's because we no longer have email accounts. You may still write to Colin on his work email, but I won't have email access until mid November. Something with living in the country and we can't get fast internet connection until then. You'd think we lived 500 km away from civilizations instead of 3km! I'll be in touch when it's up and running! Until then, you can keep commenting on my blog. Thanks:)

Been doing some painting.

No photos yet. And they may not come for awhile. Didn't realize how long it's going to take to paint my house:
1. First got to gap fill all the holes.
2. Wait to dry.
3. Sand.
4. Then sugar soap.
5. Wait to dry.
6. Then prime (since all the doors, frames and skirting boards are unpainted).
7. Wait to dry.
8. Then paint with semigloss paint.
**Careful not to drip on wood floors or walk in paint.**
9. Wait to dry again.
**Sit down to rest and watch Bathurst 1000.**
10. Then paint second coat of semigloss paint.
11. Then begin to cut in and paint walls.
12. Wait for wall to dry.
13. Paint second coat.
BEAUTIFUL JOB WELL DONE!
(and that is only for the entrance way!)

See what I mean??

That's about all that we've been up. Or I should say I've been up to. Colin's been busy digging holes, moving sprinklers, cleaning sheds, and everything else around the house. I tried to do some gardening yesturday. Got a bit of a jungle going on. Stepped on sprinkler. Oops. Colin was able to fix it. Then stepped on it again and this time broke it. Colin's a little annoyed. Told me to stop gardening. Go inside and paint. So I did. Haven't got to step 10 yet. Maybe next weekend.

I'm now 28

Sunday was my 28th birthday. Wow. And the cool things is that my brother Michael turned 30 on Sept 29. So we're are 2 years and 2 days apart! Happy Birthday to Michael! He got to go to a Canucks hockey game so I'm a little envious! I got to go to the beach! Here are some photos:




And we had a long weekend so it was a delightful birthday!! I just wanted to thank everyone who reads this and that I appreciate everyone of you. Have a wonderful week!!

Oh and my new rooster

After we lost our beautiful rooster, a colleague of Colin's offered us one of theirs. It seems she had two that had been fighting and was pleased to give us one of hers. So here's our new rooster who wakes us at 5 am instead of 5.30 am! We also think he's a little scared of the four hens since he's smaller than they are!

Our dogs have been getting used to living at Maplegum. Chewy sticks around and just begs us to throw him his cong (red ball). Leah is still keen as ever to chase after wildlife, espeically down by our dams, so she can go swimming all the time!

I hope you have enjoyed the photos. I know they don't do the place justice, but it must give you some idea of the place. And if you want to see more . . . well you'll have to come and see it for yourself!

Pictures continued

I was unable to post all the photos on the same post, so here are some more!

Finally some pictures

The driveway:

Guest bedroom:
My craft room (still needs to be organized!):

Sadness at MapleGum

We woke this morning to quietness. A few song birds, but no rooster wake up call. It seems a sly fox crept on to the property and stole our beautiful rooster. He was there yesturday, I"m sure of it. I went in today to collect the eggs and couldn't see him. I looked around and noticed an area of the chicken wire and been pushed in and some dirt dug away. A few stray feathers. And a few more outside the coop. How annoyed, frustrated, upset, and sad we were. We've only been here 4 weeks and already a rooster is gone. And he was a beautiful specimen of a rooster. Shiny coat, perky feathers and the crow of the wild.

We'll be doing some digging and rearranging this weekend. We don't want that sly fox back anytime soon. In fact never. I'll be getting a new rooster, but only once the coop is stronger.

And, we don't even have a photo of him.

We're in.

Sorry no blog for awhile! We've officially moved in and pretty much settled. The dogs have been really good (only one incident of chasing wallabies!!). We love visitors, so please come any time. For those of you on our email list (that's probably anyone reading this!) you'll be getting a mass email shortly with all our details on them. We're are currently changing our internet provider since we live in the country now, and it's not up and running yet. HOpefully soon.

I can't tell you how much I love our new place. We're calling it 'MapleGum'. Why, you may ask? My answer: BECAUSE I CAN!!! I love the quiteness, the serenity, the peacefulness about it all. The kookaburras on my porch, the wallabies on my grass and I even like the rooster call at 5.30am!! Colin and I will probably become early morning risers because of ol' Mister Rooster! I've fresh eggs, fresh lemons and tank water! My fireplace is relaxing and my outdoor spa - spectacular!

Have I convinced you to come and visit??!!

I'll be posting photos soon once our computer is up and running.

I am thoroughly blessed. My husband took on this challenge with me and we're doing it together! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Isn't that what they say??

Stop by anytime!!

phoneless

We've been busy packing. Right now I"m in the midst of packing my kitchen and I have found a few more tea towels than I thought I had! Lucky me. It's amazing what you find when you have to pack a house! Last week I was looking through my husband's box of goodies and I found a diary he kept when he was 13! Oh so cute. We had a good chuckle or two!!

Moving day is in 3 days time. We get the keys in 2 days time. Anyone available on Thursday night and wanna help us move?? We've only got a few heavy things - piano, fridge, washing machine. That's about it. I might even get you some pizza for tea if you stay long enough . . .

Right now I'm logged into my neighbours internet access (I'm sure Scaz won't mind!!) to blog this. It happens that our phone provider (should I mention names!!) disconnected us 5 days early!!! As my husband would say "Mongrels!!" So, if you try to ring me you won't get through. You can try our mobile phones. We do have a new number for our new place, but I"m not sure when that will be connected and I won't be posting it here. I'll be sending a mass email with all our new details. If you don't get one and want to know where I live, you'll have to leave a comment!! Did I mention that you might want to know where I'm moving to since the new house has a hot tub and pool???

You can bet I'll be posting some photos very soon. Grandma - I"m sorry it's taken so long. I'll be posting them as soon as we move in!! My Grandma has been asking for them for ages and I haven't done it yet! Terrible.

Anyways, back to packing my plates. We'll see how much gets broken in the move!! Any excuse to buy new things right!!! Nobody tell Colin of my scheme!!

Update and a birthday!

So . . . no one has nagged me about updating my blog. I bet it's because you've been adoring my house so much and didn't want to see it move! I know that's why. Don't try and hide it!!

Good news. Have ourselves some renters. Thrilled actually. The plan of attack for next week is get keys on Wed, moving truck Thurs and Fri, clean house Sat night in time for renters on Sun. Or so it'll go! I cannot tell you how much I'm looking forward to heat!! I'll be a new person!

Well, New Zealand was our last trip a few weeks ago. Met my best friend Delena and her husband Dale in NZ and did some driving. Check out photos here:

Landed in Christchurh: (how's my depth of field!!)

Delena and Dale:



The view from the car (which was seen a lot)
New Zealand is known for the sheep. Never got tired of the seeing them.
This was a progression shot and this was the final outcome!

Our rental. Sould I send this photo to Mitsubishi or what??
Mt Cook. The highest mountain in New Zealand. All we saw was fog!

Snowboarded for the first time. A few sore bits still.
Another photo from the car!!

And I also want to tell my dad HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Aug 13 is his special day. Hope is was nice! I love you heaps!

Have a great week everyone!

House for Rent

Our great news is that we've bought a new house. We'll be moving in about 4 weeks time and we've decided to rent out our present home. The property manager has asked for photos. Great I thought until I realized I had to tidy my house first!! So I've spent today doing some organizing and some tidying and took some photos. A glorious sunny day. So, if you know of anybody who needs to rent a four bedroom home with 2 bath (master bedroom has ensuite), formal dining and sitting, living room, lock up garage, carport and shed, then this is the house for them. Oh and it's in Australia if you were wondering!! We'll allow outdoor pets and you'll have wonderful neighbours!! (That's the sad thing about moving: we'll really miss our fantastic neighbours!) Hope you enjoy the tour!

Front of House:



Living Room:

Other view:


Kitchen:

Backyard (the domain of the dogs):


Have a wonderful week everyone!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

July 28 is my Mom's birthday. So for her, it's her birthday today! It's a significant birthday and I want to wish her the happiest day! Wish I could be there to make you a cake! You'll have to come and visit sometime very soon! I love you very much!! Happy Birthday!

The dreams of summer

It's the middle of July. And cold. People don't think it's cold and they give me a hard time about being Canadian and the cold. "You should be used to it" comes the phrase many a times during winter. I don't bother to explain it makes no difference! When it's 6 degrees in my bedroom in the morning when I wake up - it's cold. Sure the sun comes out during the day, but the evenings are cold. So to help me make it through winter, here are some shots taken last summer at Catherine Hill Bay.

Bought paint

We painted our house a few years ago. Well actually we've been painting it in stages. First was our purple entrance way. Why not?? Then I wanted to do a feature wall in out bedroom. So we had wasabi green and white (see June 1 entry). Then my parents were coming to visit so we did a feature wall in our front living room a stone blue (textured paint) and reiki the rest of the walls. Reiki is a colour between gray and brown. Quite a lovely colour really. At that point in time, we became bored or lazy and didn't do anything for awhile. Then decided to paint the rest of the house. So with the help of Leigh, we finished the kitchen, living room and hallway.

That takes us up to now and since we had left-over paint, I decided to paint one of the bedrooms, our bathroom and garage. We're painting the bathroom white. Ran out of paint so had to spend $34.95 on 2L of paint to finish "using up" our old paint. Ironic isn't it? But I'll put the blame on Colin. He didn't like the apricot colour coming through the white. Can't understand this guy?? Has he no taste?? So I had to buy paint.

Soul Nourishment

Here's a quote that I love. I have no idea who this person is or what he does, but here's the quote;

" We have to decide for ourselves what's nourishig to our souls and do those things over others."
- Thomas Moore

Does that sound good or what? Why waste time doing things that aren't relevant, important or good?? The things that nourish my soul is to talk with family and friends, walk my dogs, cook, make cards, sew, play piano, read, exercise and (would you believe) clean my house! (Now I don't clean my house all the time, but boy does it feel good when it's clean!) Why don't we do more good? Good for others, good for ourselves??

Tell me what nourishes YOUR soul?

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!

Today being July 1 is Canada Day! So a happy day to all my Canadian family and friends!!

Here's how we celebrated in Australia:




Thanks to Mom and Dad for the hats! My shirt reads:

"I may not be perfect,
but I'm Canadian
and that's close enough!"

Gotta love it!

House Rules. . .

. . . for the dogs.

1. The dogs are not allowed in the house.
2. Okay, the dog is allowed in the house, but only in certain rooms.
3. The dog is allowed in all the rooms, but has to stay off the furniture.
4. The dog can get on the old furniture only.
5. Fine, the dog is allowed on all the furniture, but is not allowed to sleep with the humans on the bed.
6. Okay, the dog is allowed on the bed, but only by invitation.
7. The dog can sleep on the bed, but not under the covers.
8. The dog can sleep under the covers by invitaion only.
9. The dog can sleep under the covers every night.
10. Humans must ask permission to sleep under the covers with the dog.
11. There is only to be one dog in the bed with the humans at night.
12. OK, so never more than two dogs in bed.
13. Well . . .



Can you see the smile on Leah's face?? You can't tell me she knows full well what she's doing!! When we purchased our new lounges, we had all intentions of not allowing our dogs on them. Well, time goes by and we missed the warmth from them. So now they are allowed when there are blankets to cover them. Unlike the photo!! So naughty!! However, the dogs aren't allowed in the bedroom. But if Colin ever had a job that made him travel lots . . . that would be a whole different story!!

For those of you who aren't pet people, you just don't understand!! They are such wonderful creatures that make my life so complete! I love em to bits!! God knew what He was doing when He created dogs! Or any pet that brings you joy for that matter. Someone once said to me that pets wouldn't be in heaven. I completely disagree. I think heaven will be big enough to hold them.

Well, that's my two bits for the day. Expect more tomorrow!!

woof, woof for now!

Some scrapbooking and cards

I just thought I'd share a few of my hobbies. I have my fingers in a few different things and enjoy dabbling in a bit of art!! These photos are a few samples of what I do. If anyone would like some cards made, I'd be happy to oblige. I welcome any orders and you might even get a discount!

The little girl is my gorgeous niece Alannah who lives in Canada. She is the daughter of my brother Michael and his wife Lisa! As you can tell, she is one little cutie!!








Other than that today was a normal Tuesday. A coolish day, but a pleasant one nonetheless. I am begin adventurous tonight and am making red lentil soup. Haven't made it before so we'll see who eats it all - us or the dogs!!

Oh, I should mention what a disappointment it was for Australia to lose to Italy in the world cup! I even got up at 1 am to watch the game live and was terribly disappointed when they lost due to a really stupid call in the dying seconds of the game. A penalty kick was awarded to Italy and they scored and won the game. According to the radio reports, the referees have not been up to scratch during most of the games during this world cup! A pity. But it has been fun cheering on the Aussies in their quest! Perhaps we'll try again in another 4 years!

I better go check my soup! Thanks for reading my ramblings and leave a comment so I know you've visited!! :)