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!! :)

Sydney Swans vs Collingwood Magpies

Saturday night was spent with Colin's cousin Cheryl and her husband Glenn and their three boys Alex, Lachlan, and William as well as Glenn's parents and our good friends Rod and Mel. We all went to see an AFL game at Telstra Stadium where the 2000 Olympics were held. (That tidbit of information was for overseas readers!!) Alex plays in an aussie rules comp so he got to play on the field during half time. So here are some photos! (The first photo is of the boys on the way TO the footy!) Rod and Mel were pleased with the outcome as the Magpies won by 13 points. I think the boys still had a good time even if their team didn't win!!

Oh and another quote!

You can always tell a real friend: when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job!

-Lawrence J. Peter

Another Quote for the Day.

Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.

-John Wesley

Quote for the day.

" I shall pass this way but once; any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."

-Author unknown

A win for the Terrigal-Avoca Panthers!!

As promised here are some photos from Colin's footy day. As it's a Saturday comp, Colin only plays the occasional game. He's been going to training with them for nearly 10 years. He came through with a goal for the team and set up two other goals. His team won 93-85!!

Here's his goal. The ball (it's red) is right above the power lines. Colin is #15. (Sorry about the size, I haven't learned how to modify the photos yet!!)

It was an absolute gorgeous day after a week of rain. Not that I'm complaining. We need the rain desperately. But it was nice to sit in the sun. Of course hanging out with my in-laws and our friends the Kosmeiers is always a delight.

And just to continue along the line of sport, the World Cup has started in Germany. (It's soccor for those who don't live with people who follow every team sport there is!!) Tonight is the first game for Australia who play Japan. Australia has not been to the world cup since 1973. Yippee. (Do you feel my excitement??) What this means is that Colin will be up to all hours of the night to watch every game LIVE. Can't miss a moment. He and his brother Leon have such a passion for soccor, well any sport really.

Have a wonderful week everyone. Thanks again for all the comments. Really enjoying reading your thoughts!!

The day with the Burzacotts

So we got to spend all of Saturday with Colin's family. Sort of a belated birthday meal for Colin. We took the kids to sabbath school and they totally love it! Loved singing the kids songs again!! Then in appreciation of winter Natalie made corn chowder. My favourite!!! Then to top it of she made Honey Jumbles.

And then the finished product that was abosutely delicious:
The cool thing about little kids is that they love to for you to play with them. So we got to play with little people. Here is my niece Ellana with her toys.

Today is the Queen's Birthday holiday, so it means no work. How nice of the Queen eh?? Colin's playing in a footy game so you'll be seeing some more photos shortly. And I promise to do some Nepal photos soon too!

Until then . . .

The little things and instructions

First of all I have to tell you how much the little things in life mean. Have you ever had a piece of popcorn stuck in your teeth and you can't get it out? You've tried floss, toothpick, brushing excessively, stuck a small mirror in your mouth while having your head cocked in a position that should never be repeated, only to be driven nuts but not being able to get at it? Well that happened to me. Me being from a family that loves popcorn (well mostly my Mom), made caramel popcorn and wouldn't you know it, got a piece stuck in my gums!! And it happened to be one of the last bits I had - definately Murphy's Law!! After working on day and having that piece drive me nuts, I rang the dentist to see if they could fit me in. I was kind of worried that it would become a cavity and all my teeth would fall out! They said come right in. I had to wait maybe 10 minutes, they fit me in and found the piece!! And the bonus - they didn't even charge me!

Now that piece of popcorn was so small and tiny but it drove me nuts. The little things can make a huge difference! If it was a big piece well than I could have probably got it out myself! I only spent a little amount of time with the dentist, but he made a huge difference to me by getting it out!

Other little things in life that make a difference:

• letting other cars merge in front of you!
• finding a package or letter in your mailbox instead of junk mail
• putting on a jacket from last season only to find $20 in the pocket(it's only happend once)
• having my dog fall asleep on my lap
• getting an unexpected discount at the till on an item you just love
• falling alseep to the sound of rain
• having people smile at you while standing in line at the grocery store
  

What little things make a difference to you??

And on the same line, to leave a comment is quite easy. At the end of my post there is a line that goes across the bottom. Underneath that you'll see Comments. Just click on that and you can leave a comment!! You'll have to register yourself and put in a user name and password. Once you register you can just type in your user name and password everytime. And then press log in. After you leave a comment you have to type in funny letters before you can post the comment. That's just a security thing. If you press PREVIEW you can see what you typed. If you press LOGIN AND PUBLISH it will come up on my blog. That way everyone can see the comments.

Hope that makes sense. If you need help, let me know. Have a wonderful weekend!!

Another day, another dollar . . . $ $ $

Just got home from work. Nothing too eventful, but I guess that's a good thing. Could have people screaming at me, or even worse. I could think of many other jobs that are worse than mine!!

Tonight is my tv drama night. Can't help myself. McLeods Daughters is on at 7.30pm and then House at 8.30 pm. Not a very productive night, but I always seem to find things to do while I watch.

We have a long weekend coming up. Always enjoy a shortened working week! Would love to work 4 days a week. Or even 3 days a week if I could!!

Colin's working on our Nepal movie. He does such a good job and it is so much work! We may have link when we get it finished ( and maybe a shortened version!!).

Thanks for those who are commenting! Love to see the little notes! Have a fabulous rest of the week.

:)

Colin's Birthday

June 5 was Colin's 34th birthday! Unfortunately he had to work, but such is life eh? I have to share a fantastic photo of Colin taken in the Himalayas in April.

And yes, that's Mt Everest just near his right foot. This photo was taken at the top of Goyko Ri which is 5500m! What a day that was. For those of you who don't know, we went to Nepal in April and went trekking for 3 weeks. An amazing experience. Amazing.

This was one of Colin's b-day presents that hangs in our living room:


And then today we received a package from our guide, Lhakpa, that had our t-shirts of our group and our certificates from the Nepal Mountainerring Association! Excellent.

The front:
The back:

My certificate:


And Colin's certificate:


Nepal is definately in our blood now. I feel such a connection to the place and hearing the stories of climbing, survival and death on Mt Everest this climbing season definately has a new meaning to me now.

I'll leave you with those photos for now. Hope no ones computer crashed! Feel free to make comments. The security code is so that I don't get a lot of rubbish. Thanks for reading!

:)

Our Dogs

This is Leah - our 2 1/2 year old Staffie cross with a Rhodesian Ridgeback. She's 20 kg (45+ pounds) who is a scaredy cat in one breath and a hunter in the next. She loves to chase the cats who live across the road, but since she takes her life in her hands everytime she does it, Colin has had to build 2 metre high fences. But she still wants to get out. Silly dog. She loves to be around people and can be lazy as anything!
This is Chewy - he's a 3 year old Keplie cross with a Jack Russell who is king of the yard. He doesn't let anyone boss him around and absolutely loves to retrieve. That's his kong he has in his mouth that he will chase for hours on end. He's one smart dog who taps on the door to be let in. And if he doesn't get what he wants he can sulk!! Very funny indeed.

Hope you enjoyed!

New Bedroom Suite

I know it's been awhile. So here's another post.

After a couple of years of looking for the perfect bedroom suite, Colin and I found this one. We absolutely love it. And for the cold winter ahead, I also purchased a new down quilt to keep us toasty and warm. We think it's nice.


I'm having a bit of trouble with my photos at the moment, so I'll try and post some more photos later!


Have a cheery Sunday (and saturday in other parts of the world).

drum roll please

Introducing my blog!! Welcome. The idea is for me to write little updates about me and my life so you my family and friends can see what is going on with me. I can post photos, tell stories and keep you updated on the comings and goings of the Burzacotts. Quite exciting really. You, as visitors to my blog, can comment on my ramblings! Should be fun! We'll still keep our email so any personal emails please send directly to our email box.