My red front door.

G'day. I came home from work last Wednesday to find hubby had painted the front door "Indian Red". Now, I have long said that I intend to get a stained glass front door at some stage, but, have not been able to find one that I like. So, until that happens, hubby got tired of looking at a plain wooden door.

Surprisingly it's not a bad color. It has kind of grown on me (bad luck if it didn't !!!). I did say to hubby that maybe the recessed areas of the door would look nice painted cream, but I don't think hubby was impressed with my suggestion. I got "The Look",  so to speak. Now, the other side of the door is pretty spiffy as well, this is a glorious white and really does look great. It has made a huge difference to the front door area. Hubby has, as usual done a very good job.

Well, it's New Years day here tomorrow and I have to work. Oh well, some people have to keep the country running I suppose !!!

Our street here, has a "street party" every New Years eve. This is held at one of the neighbours homes and we have been invited. It will be a chance for us to get to know a few more people and of course, for them to meet us. It won't be a late night for me, because of working tomorrow, but, hubby may stay and see the New Year in.

 I am not big on making New Years resolutions as I don't tend to keep them, but, my goal this coming year is to keep losing weight and  to enjoy everyday to the best of my abilities and to nurture my family and friends in every way possible. My son and I went to Europe last year for three weeks and we had an absolute ball, so much so, that we plan to do it again, though this time we will just go to France. I have tried to talk my daughter into coming as well, but Europe doesn't hold much interest for her. This next trip will be early 2013, so plans for that will be exciting and something to look forward to.

 I also look forward to reading more of the wonderful blogs that I follow. You are a great bunch. I wish I could meet you all. I greatly appreciate your comments and the time taken to write them. To you, my friends. Happy New Year... Take care. Liz...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

G'day. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year.

It has been a year of good things for hubby and I, but, I realise that for some of my followers, it has been a year that has had a lot of sadness in it, for one reason or another. I have wished many a time that I had a magic wand, but sadly I don't. I do hope that the New Year brings a new beginning and that there will be much laughter throughout this coming year.

I would also like to thank everyone who has followed my blog. I do appreciate it. A big thank you to Michelle Ridgway from Rag Tag Stitching who sent me "Walter" the gorgeous snowman who hangs proudly on my grandmothers treadle sewing machine, in my lounge room, alongside some of the Christmas dolls that I have made. Michelle also sent me some lovely Christmas themed patterns. I will have these made ready for next year.

It looks like it will be a hot Christmas day here, the mid to high 30's are expected in my part of Australia. The family are coming here to our lovely new home and we will have a traditional Christmas lunch with all the trimmings. The house is decorated, the lights are up and twinkling and have been announcing our presence to our new neighbouhood of a night time. It is my very favourite time of the year.

I wish you all glad tidings. Have a great day. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
Take care. Liz...

Oh, you poor cow!!!

G'day. I cam home from my Weight Watchers meeting last night (more about that later) to find my beautiful cow with a wreath around her neck.

I was given this large sitting cow as a present some years ago and she really is quite lovely. Hubby obviously thought her neck made a good place to hang a wreath that I had been debating where to put.

Having moved to a much smaller home some months ago, it hasn't been easy to find places for a lot of things and this bovine beauty has been shuffled around. She now sits in the corner near the front door and this is where she will stay. The wreath too, needed to find it's place this Christmas. I have had it for a very long time and it's rather tattered now, but I can't bear to part with it.It has been sitting on the coffee table for the last week and while I was away last night, hubby decided he was sick of seeing it there and took matters into his own hands. In fact, it doesn't look too bad on the old girls neck.

Getting back to WW. I can now proudly say that I have lost 8 kilo in 10 weeks.The walking is going well. Little brown dog and I hit the pavements at 6.30am and clocked up nearly 45 minutes. Needless to say we were both ready for a drink and a rest when we got home. I would normally be working today, but was asked if I would swap a shift at the nursing home where I work, so my working week now starts tomorrow. Depending on the weather and how I feel after work, it may be around and around the backyard for a half hour or so over the next few days. I have discovered that it doesn't matter where I walk, as long as I walk and as silly as it sounds walking around the clothesline and the backyard, it is still moving these feet that counts. I have also discovered Weight Watchers Chocolate Belgian Eclairs. I can highly recommend them. They really are yummy and only 2 Pro Points per serve. There are six in a box and although not cheap, they are a treat that is nice for a change. Trouble is that I have only ever bought one box that had the chocolate still intact on the top of the eclair, like the picture shows. Most times the chocolate has melted and run off into the plastic inserts that the eclairs sit in. They are in the frozen section at the supermarket and I have bought them, raced out to the car, straight home and still the chocolate isn't where it is meant to be. I have come to the conclusion that it is like this well before I buy them. But regardless, they are tasty. Even if you are not on a diet, they are worth giving a try. Take care. Liz...

Looks comfortable, doesn't he?

G'day. Let me introduce you to my big Aussie Santa. I started my Christmas decorating last week and this jolly fellow was the first to find his position and he doesn't look in any hurry to relinquish his post on one of the lounge chairs. I made this Santa many moons ago and even though there was room for improvement, he is still one of my favourites.

He is about four foot tall and he wears a pair of overalls made from red fleecy fabric and has a lovely green check shirt underneath.He usually sits at the dining room table, but this year because we are having Xmas lunch here in our new home, there is sadly no room for him, so he has found the next best position. Our little brown dog doesn't quite to know what to make of him and he actually growled at him when he first saw him on the chair. It was very funny to see the expression on little brown dogs face.

This chair happens to be the one that hubby favours when he is reading, because it gets the light from both large windows and he said to me the other day "I hope he's  not going to stay there, where will I sit?" I couldn't help but laugh out loud. I said, "He's only a stuffed doll, move him" Poor Santa ended up being tossed on the floor in an ungainly manner. When hubby saw the look on my face his said "He's only a stuffed doll, he'll survive" But, Santa is back in his rightful spot, for the moment anyway. Take care. Liz...

Cherry wreath cake.

G'day. I made this cherry wreath cake this afternoon. It's really only a sample one. if it tastes any good, I will make one for Christmas day.

It looks delicious and I am tempted to have a slice, but am being good, though only till hubby gets home from a plumbing job for a mate that he is doing today.

There are stoneless cherries on the bottom, these were put in first and then the cake batter spooned over the top. The icing is not as runny as it should be, it is meant to be a lot thinner so that it runs and resembles custard and some of the cherries on the top kept sliding off and trying to make their escape and then I couldn't find the sieve to dust the icing sugar on with and ended up using the only thing I could lay my hands on,which was the smallest mesh tea leaf holder. It did the job surprisingly well and I didn't end up making a mess as I would have done if I could have found the sieve. All in all I am pretty pleased with what it looks like. Wish hubby would hurry up and get home!!!! Take care. Liz...

So tired.

G'day. My little brown dog and I have just come back from a rather long walk. He promptly plonked himself down in a nice sunny spot to have a rest. I promptly plonked myself down to have a cuppa.

Did I mention that I joined Weight Watchers seven weeks ago? On the days that I don't work, little brown dog and I go for a walk early of a morning.Sometimes we are out the door at 6.30 am. On the days that I do work, I try to manage a walk when I get home, though this is sometimes hard and I really have to push myself. Once the weather warms up, it will be doubly hard.

 I heard once about a woman that lost a huge amount of weight just walking around her clothesline in the backyard, as well as watching what she ate of course. I tried this a few weeks ago. It was a hot day here and I had worked an eight hour shift and the thought of walking down the road and back in the heat was not very appealing, so I went round and round the backyard, up and down the steps that go from one area to another. To change the routine, I went clockwise for a while then anti clockwise for a change. Hubby came home part way through this bit of exercise and thought that I had totally fallen off my perch.I explained that there was method in my madness and that our backyard had a lot of shady areas in it and therefore I wouldn't be out in the hot sun so much. It sounded plausible to me at any rate. I am proud to say that I did this for a whole half an hour.

Anyway, the good news is that I have lost 6.4 kg. Not bad for someone who was told that because of my thyroid trouble that I would probably struggle to lose weight. The jeans that I bought early in the year and never wore because they were just a tad too tight, now fit nicely, though I will feel happier in them when a bit more fat has departed my legs.

The area where the little brown dog is laying will at some stage become a garden. It will be planted out in "pretty" plants and bushes.  I hope to have it looking really nice somewhere down the track. I am in the slow process of killing off the couch grass that persists in still trying to grow there. Take care. Liz...

A great weekend at the B&B was had by all...

G'day. Well it been a couple of weeks since we stayed at the B&B in Port Fairy. I will say that we had a fabulous time. The weather was just beautiful, the B&B was simply divine, the hosts were delightful, the breakfasts were scrumptious. I think that just about covers it all !!!!

As you can see from the picture, we took our little dog along with us.Did I mention that the B&B was a pet friendly one? Needless to say he just loved it as well and the owners commented on how well behaved he is. We took him for long walks along the beach each day, he also met a few other dogs on his travels, some were friendly, some were not, much to his disgust. A great weekend was had by all. It was a long drive to get there and back, almost 5 hours each way, but was well worth it.

A few days after getting back home, the computer chucked a wobbly and I have only just got it back from being totally reloaded. I have been without it for over a week and have missed it dreadfully. But, the upside of not having it is that I have managed to get a few other things done, like housework, gardening, sewing etc, etc, on the days that I have not been at work. Luckily most things on it have been saved, but there are some things that are gone for good.A sign in the computer shop says "You can never have enough backup" How true.

I look forward to reading all the blogs that have been posted while I have been absent. Take care. Liz...

Had a great weekend.

G'day. Hubby and I had a fabulous weekend at Port Fairy. Our little dog " Lucky" really enjoyed himself as well. The B&B was delightful and it was pet friendly which was one of the reasons we chose it. The weather was just the best. All in all we loved it. Now it's back to the real world. While trying to load a anti virus software on the computer today, something went wrong. Gremlins must have gotten in while we had our backs turned and now the mouse pointer is frozen in the centre of the screen and would you believe the computer guy is away on a fishing trip and not back in the store until Saturday. He has his wife holding down the fort and she doesn't know the technical side of things.Oh hum. I guess it won't hurt to be without the computer for a while. Take care. Liz...

A few days away. Woo Hoo

G'day. This gorgeous rose bush was given to me by my son some years ago as a birthday present when we still had the farm. I never put it in the ground. I kept it in a very large concrete garden urn and it never reached it's full potential, it didn't grow much at all and the flowers were always very small.

When we sold the farm some months ago, I decided I wanted the rose to come with me, it didn't matter that there were dozens of other roses I could have brought, I wanted this one. I did want the urn as well and one day when some abled bodied men were with us I asked them to get the urn out of the garden and load it on the trailer. Needless to say they all groaned when the saw the size of the thing and the effort involved in moving it. I did point out to these big Aussie blokes that when we first bought it, there were only three of us to move it in position, me included !!! That did the trick. Muscles were flexed,knees were bent and into the job at hand.All was going to plan when disaster struck, the jolly urn broke in half . I was gobsmacked, how can that happen, it is concrete? My beautiful urn was broken, men were shaking their heads, probably secretly thanking their luck stars. But, my rose was still ok. I planted it in the garden near the back door at our new home and it has really come into it's own. The flowers are beautiful, not a great deal of smell, but it looks a treat. Only problem is I have lost the tag with the name on it. So I can't tell you what it is.

Hubby and I are going to a B&B for the weekend. We leave here in a few hours for the long four hour drive, but it will be worth it. We are going to a little seaside town called Port Fairy. It is a beautiful historic town and has the most glorious shops. We haven't been there for a few years,so needless to say we are looking forward to it. Hubby has the fishing gear at the ready, he has decided not to take the boat this time though. Which is a shame as I love going out in the boat and I love fishing just as much, but I also have to say that we throw back everything that we catch. I think the only time hubby kept any fish was when he went on a charter fishing trip some years ago. I hope you all have a great weekend like we will. Take care. Liz...

Our red beauty.

G'day. These are the two reclining chairs that are part of our beautiful new lounge room suite. Hubby and I seem to gravitate to these chairs rather than the couch. There is no photo of the couch just yet, because at the time of taking this photo, it had cushions and quilts thrown on it until I found places for them.

If you look behind the front door, you can just spot the vanity basin from the bathroom and an old pink towel that I had on the floor to protect the carpet from the tiler who was walking in and out. Of course, we had to have a few showers of rain while he needed to go backward and forwards and I am very pedantic about keeping the carpet clean.I have discovered that a lot of tradesmen don't bother to wipe their feet.

The front door will be replaced at some stage with a stained glass one. I have always wanted one and figure this is the time and place to get it. That is next on my hit list. Bathroom is totally finished at the time of writing this post. It looks great, has really made a difference to the room. It has brightened it up considerably. A new outside awning for the one lounge room window that hasn't got one, should be installed in another week or so. The walls in one bedroom  to paint cream, a front and back garden to plan, though this is already on the go in the back yard.That should be about it. Maybe then hubby and I can kick back and relax. Yeah right,I would like to see that ever happen!!! Take care. Liz...

New bathroom is taking shape.

G'day. The new tiles for the bathroom are on the go.The first picture shows the area where all the tiles have been pulled off and the next picture is of the new tiles on the shower recess.

Only one "small" problem. The lovely young guy who is doing the tiling forgot to put the soap holder on the tile in the shower. Hubby discovered it last night when he was having a look at what had been accomplished.

I have the dubious pleasure of telling the tiler this morning when he comes, in about an hour from now. The soap holder is sitting in it's box on the tub of adhesive in the shower !!!!

The new tiles do look lovely, it will make a huge difference to this room. Hubby spent all day last Thursday and Friday pulling the old tiles off and putting up new plasterboard in preparation for the tiler to start. Needless to say our bathroom has now been out of action for the last four day and luckily the tiler was prepared to work over the weekend. He is a local guy, so it's no hassle for him.

I suggested that the bath be removed as well. We don't use it, but hubby and the tiler explained it would create major hassles. I couldn't see the problem. Remove the bath, remove the plumbing fixtures and re tile the whole bathroom, floor as well. Sounded real good to me. After all hubby is a plumber by trade, what's the problem? Needless to say, the bath is staying. Though I did pitch a good argument.

Oh, by the way, our new long awaited red lounge suite has arrived. Yippee. More about that later. Tiler will be here before I know it, hubby has run off to do something and I have just washed my hair in the sink in the laundry, which might be easy if your hair is short, mine isn't, it's nearly waist length. I long for that shower to be ready. I'm not worried about the rest of the room. Take care. Liz...

Just one of those days !

G'day. I am having one of those days. I have just realised that my post of a few minutes ago "Blocks for Baby" was supposed to be on my other blog Cotton Reel Corner, but it's not, it's on this blog. What can I say,? Nothing much, I guess. Oh well, I hope you enjoy looking at it.

Yesterday, hubby was in the middle of putting some agi pipes in to combat the water that lays on the ground, when a massive storm came through. We had 35mm of water in just under 10 minutes and our backyard was awash. The lightening was spectacular, the rain torrential, the thunder deafening, the dog was hiding under the bed, hubby and I were watching this onslaught from under the outdoor undercover area out the back.

The pictures show the area where the drains have to be laid, one (the black one) is already down. The other pic is as the storm was passing over and you can see the hint of a rainbow on the upper right side. Everything looked so beautiful when the storm had gone, the sun came out and was quite warm, the garden looked fresh, hubby gave up and came inside and made us both a nice refreshing drink...... Take care. Liz...

Blocks for baby.

One of the staff at work is expecting her first child in a couple of months and seeing that there are a couple of others quilters where I work, I thought it would be nice if the three of us put together a small quilt for her as a gift.

Blocks had to be 12 1/4" square.

Lemon and cream the colours.

Two blocks with applique and two without.

Nothing to over the top was the style we were to adhere to as one of our group is just starting getting interested in quilting.

One of our threesome has not long bought the top of the range Bernina sewing machine (not me) and she has kindly agreed to put the quilt together when finished and do some lovely free motion quilting on it. I will do the binding.

It's a shame I didn't realise these blocks needed ironing before I took a picture of them, isn't it. Oh hum !!!

Have a good day.

The best birthday he has ever had.

G'day. Hubby's 60th birthday surprise went off without a hitch. He knew nothing about it and no one spilled the beans. The flight, he just simply loved and yes, he had the thrills and adventure ride. Loops, barrel rolls, spins, you name it, he and the pilot did it. The look on his face when we pulled up at the airfield was priceless and when he knew he was going on a Tiger Moth, words failed him.  Then it was the long trip home where everyone was waiting. Another total surprise for him. I was told that his jaw just dropped open when the group (about 42)  were all standing under the outdoor entertaining area and he walked through the gates and they all started sing Happy Birthday to him. He told me numerous time that it was the best birthday he has ever had. Take care. Liz...

A surprise 60th ( I hope!!!)

G'day. This coming Saturday, hubby turns 60.I have been planning a surprise for him for some months now and so far it is all going to plan. I think...................

Friday night we are staying at a motel and on the Saturday morning I have booked hubby on a joy flight, though of course he knows nothing of this yet, well he knows we are going somewhere on Friday night, but he doesn't know where. The joy flight is on a WW1 Tiger Moth airplane from Point Cook, a fully operating military base about a two hour drive from where we live, though it is only 15 minutes from the motel we will be staying at. After the flight we head home, where hopefully there should be about 42 guests waiting to jump out and wish him "Happy Birthday". Hubby has the option on this flight to take the 'Ride of his life" meaning, loops, spins, you name it, this plane/pilot will do it. Maybe hubby won't be in the mood for a whiz, bang party after this adventure!!!, but he has the long drive home to get his act into gear. I don't think he has ever had a surprise party and I have threatened anyone who spills the beans, that I will get revenge. I will post more about this next week.

Thanks to everyone who has left a comment on my blog. I do appreciate it. Rosaria, you asked if I think about our former farm and what I miss. I can honestly say, we have been way to busy here to think a great deal about it, but, yes, there are times  I do think about the chooks, the garden and of course the beautiful cows and bulls. I don't miss having such a huge garden to worry about and the central heating here is divine. No more lugging wood around and the dust from the wood heater to worry about. The  new owners have called in many times and I always hear about the latest antics of the chooks and I try not to worry with what they tell me.The old girl was left outside for two nights to fend for herself, because she wouldn't go in her pen and the owners went away for a couple of days, so just left her. She was ok and there is nothing I can do, it is all out of my hands. The bird life has suffered also as they have two cats, once again, nothing I can do. I think of the many families of beautiful Fairy Wrens that were always bopping around and the lovely Grey Strike Thrush that came back every year with her mate to have their babies and how I used to worry about the babies when they fell out of their nest in the open bay of the machinery shed and the first year we were there, we picked them up, one by one and put them back in the nest and the mother bird stood by and watched us and hopped back in with them when we walked off and every year after that we kept an eye on them. Sadly we don't have such bird life here in town, but every now and then a few parrots will fly into the yard and I have seen a couple of Fairy Wrens once or twice, but that's it.

We have started a small garden  in the backyard and have planted a few bird attracting plants, in the hope of encouraging some of our feathered friends to come and visit . 

Last weekend we planted lavender bushes under the front bedroom windows, just to pretty it up. At some stage it will all look lovely. I bought a lot of pot plants with me and they have added color to some of the areas and it's all starting to come together.

The photo is of a ceramic watering can that I painted many moons ago when I was going through my ceramic phase.This "phase" lasted about 15 years, until a move (to the farm) put an end to it and then I went back to patchwork and quilting. I have  a great  love of pansies, they add color and brighten up any area. I have two very old wheelbarrows, that mainly have pansies growing in them and they look just spectacular.

Take care. Liz...

Rain, rain go away.

G'day. We have had so much rain here over the last couple of days, that this area of the yard is awash with water. This is along the back side of the house, the previous owners really let this get overgrown. The ornamental ginger that covered most of this area was dug out some time ago and the raised garden bed is in the process of being cleaned up and will at some stage look lovely and I think we will just lay gravel on the ground.

Hubby thinks that the agi drain that runs below the surface here is blocked and therefore is not letting the water run off. On his way to do a plumbing job this morning, he said "Don't let me forget to have a look here when I get home". Meaning he will dig a fair bit of this area up to find out the problem and because it backs against the house, it has to be fixed otherwise we could have problems. 

You can see on the left side, something black with a white cover, this is actually a worm farm that some girls from work gave me. Needless to say, I haven't even opened it yet and no ,there are no poor suffering, suffocating  worms in it. I keep meaning to get it started, I can buy the worms at the hardware store here in town and at some stage will have lovely worm wee to dilute and nourish the garden, but it will have to wait, there are other things to do.

This lovely daisy bush always puts on a great show. It is one of my favourites.I have some daffodils bulbs in with it as well and when they bloom, it really looks quite pretty. In my last post I added a link to my new blog, but have been told that the page cannot be opened, so I will try again http://cottonreelcorner.blogspot.com    Maybe this one will work. Thanks to those who have let me know and as always thanks to everyone who responds to my blogs. I really do appreciate it. I am out of quarantine now, so a girlfriend and I are hitting the town and treating ourselves to lunch at a nice local restaurant and seeing that my friend is driving, maybe a small glass of wine might be in order. Oh dear, what a life.!!! Take care. Liz...

Flowers to brighten my day

 



G'day. This old watering can and  kettle belonged to my late mother in law. I asked hubby to drill some drainage holes in them so that I could use them as planters and I think they are just so lovely.



I got a shock to find these Irises growing in the area of the garden that we haven't bothered about yet. I decided to start to clean it up as the previous owners had really let it get very untidy. This area is on the side of the house and runs the full length of it and at some stage we hope to have it looking very pretty. The irises are growing among some sort of violet, but I have pulled most of this out now as it was taking over everything.

We have had over two inches of rain here yesterday, in a storm front that brought massive lightening displays, thunder that rattled the house (and dog) The weather bureau warned of flash flooding, hail as big as golf balls and they were right , we got it all. This is our lovely spring weather here in Melbourne, Australia and it doesn't dissapoint.

Thanks to everyone who has left lovely comments in regard to my thyroid problems and my  new car.  I had a phone call yesterday from the lovely American doctor who I was luckily enough to get to meet a few weeks ago. She is out here for a year ( with her family )working and studying in the hospital where I have had my treatment. She rang to enquire how I felt after the radiation dose and she answered a few more questions that I have been thinking about and has set my mind at rest over a few issues. So at the moment all is just peachy in my world.

I have even started another blog.  Cotton Reel Corner  This one is all about my sewing, quilting, embroidery etc. I really haven't fiddled with Blogger much since starting my original one and still have to get the hang of how to get the pages right, how to get the pictures to go where I want them and the words. Oh well, I will keep trying. Take care. Liz...









Oh, you sweet little car.

G'day. Well here she is. This is my newly acquired Toyota Echo and boy do I just love her. Of course I still love my old car, but being fickle, my thoughts are with this little beauty now. She is so cute, don't you think ?

Yesterday hubby and I went to the hospital so that I could have my thyroid treatment. This was a single tablet, that delivers a kick. It was housed in an lead container and hopefully it will fix my thyroid problems. I am now in quarantine, though at home. This little tablet contains radiation and therefore I must not venture out. Hubby has to keep his distance and so does our dear little dog to a certain extent. I have to wear gloves when preparing food, though hubby has taken on this task. Flush the toilet twice, wash my hands continually, drink lots and lots of fluids etc, etc.

I was told that my jolly old thyroid was running out of control and that a extremely overactive thyroid is dangerous. My metabolism has also shut down because of this. I wondered why over the last few months my appetite was increasing, I just wanted to gorge myself. Well, at least I feel marginally better that I can blame the thyroid. Apparently it controls so much and if it plays up, a lot can be blamed on it. If I get cranky I can say to hubby "Darn, it's my thyroid playing up"!!! Oh well, it might have been worth a try and of course, I would just happen to be one of these people  with an overactive thyroid who doesn't lose weight, quite the opposite in fact. Under very strict orders I have been told to eat fruit and veg, lean meat and try to cut out the carbs, otherwise I will be in trouble. I won't know for about six weeks if this one dose has worked, another blood test will tell that. So we will see and hopefully watching what I eat, I might shed a few kilos. I have also been told that it will be a battle and that  I will still want to eat all the time, because of the metabolism not working I have to try to control it myself until the thyroid loses it's power.

Back to my little beauty. We took my car yesterday for the hour long drive to the hospital and hubby asked could he drive it home, with me sitting in the back (we have to keep our distance). Well, he hasn't stopped raving about it, how fantastic it is on fuel, how comfortable the seats are, how good it handles on the road, how zippy it moves along, how this, how that. Of course I was sure of all of this anyway, but it's always good to get a great report from a guy who really does know a thing or two about cars and he takes pride in the fact that he was the one who said it was a good buy when it was between the Toyota or a Hyundai that I liked.

I wonder if I will have to fight him to drive it if we go on any trips. He loves it as much as I do and now I feel guilty that my old car doesn't feel loved, wanted or needed any more. Oh fickle, fickle me. Take care. Liz...

Farewell old faithful.

G'day. Tomorrow my new car arrives, though I have just told you a lie, it's not a "NEW" car, but it's new to me. Last Saturday I bought a Toyota Echo 2005 model.

Since the move to our new home and no longer having to drive on the long dirt road to our farm, I decided it was time to get rid of my lovely dual cab ute, petrol guzzler that it is and splash out on something a bit more economical and smaller. Hence the new wheels that I will be driving soon.

I will miss the old girl. I have had her for a number of years , but she does have a big motor in her and therefore just loves to see me spending a fair amount of money at the petrol pumps every week. She will  still be here for a little while yet though, as I have decided to sell her privately and until a good home comes along I will continue to look after her, even though I may not drive her again, not on any long distances at any rate. I will be sad when the day comes to see her for the last time, she has been faithful, reliable and trustworthy in every regard. Has never broken down and left me stranded and has always started first go, even on the coldest frosty mornings.

Will my new car be as good? It's no where near as old as my ute and has no where near the kilometers on the clock that old faithful has. It has a digital dash and a few bells and whistles, that no doubt will keep me amused for some time. Hubby of course had to test drive my little zippy mobile, after all he is the car man in this family, so I bowed to his knowledge and he proclaimed it a good buy. He is a bit concerned that the you beaut display panel will grab my eye instead of me watching the road. !!!! Does he think I am silly, is that what he is implying??? I have only ever had one serious car accident and that was many moons ago when a truck pulled out in front of me and then he couldn't get across the road because of oncoming traffic and the car behind me couldn't stop in time and slammed into the back of my lovely little red Pulsar and destroyed both our cars. I had hold of the steering wheel so tight that with the impact (I saw it coming) that the seat runner snapped and I bent the steering wheel nearly in half as we both went backwards. My seat belt saved me, there is no doubt about that.  Enough of the drama. I am a good driver, though I am not too sure about the majority of people on the road these days.

I will enjoy my little zippy car and will post a picture soon. Take care. Liz...

Just one of those days.

G'day. Do you ever have one of those days where everything just seems to go haywire? Well, the truth is I just should have stayed in bed and finished a book.

I have thyroid problems and needed a blood test, so decided to walk to the local agency, a four klm walk I might add, but knowing that I needed the exercise off I went, all well with that, got there in good time, but was too bushed to try the walk home, so on a bus I went, still good, all pointing to happiness. Arrived home rather tired, hungry and thirsty as I could have nothing from midnight the night before etc, etc. The guy to hang the last of our new curtains was waiting on the doorstep, he really wasn't suppose to be here until late afternoon, not 10.00am in the morning. Needless to say he wasn't happy and informed me he was getting ready to drive off. Now, I don't like being stuck with needles and I don't like rude people. So because of my tummy rumbling and the cup of tea that I was hanging out for, I was in the right frame of mind for his attitude to tip me over the edge. I won't bore you with the details, but I came out of this battle with honors. I had the answering machine message to prove that he was meant to be here in the afternoon. Drapes got hung, not many words were spoken between us, guy left with a squeal of tires down the road.

The above patchwork block was suppose to have been made a month ago, it's for a quilt to be given as a gift to the lady who donated a lot of fabric to the quilting group that I go to every Wednesday night, though to be honest I haven't been to this group for awhile. I haven't done any sewing for some time, with the move to the new house and various other reasons, but my obligation was to get it done or let one of the other members do it. I had trouble with the triangles, had to unpick some a few times, blah, blah, blah, finally got it done and was ironing the last bit when the swivel chair leg got tangled with the iron cord and down the iron fell, hitting the chair leg, as it would, on it's way to the carpet. The hot iron landed plate side down on the carpet, in my haste to pick it up to see if the carpet was burnt, I got my foot caught in the chair leg and down I went. Thankfully the carpet was ok as was I, but my lovely iron that I have had for a very long time had most of the top casing smashed from the impact of hitting the chair leg. Then at that very moment that I was lamenting my iron and  a sore knee from landing heavily on it, the door bell chimed. The man from the local thrift shop was at the door to pick up the TV cabinet that we didn't want anymore. He must have seen the look on my face, as he tenderly said "Is everything alright love, have I come at a bad time?" My frayed temper vanished at once, his kind words and gentle manner won me over. My working week starts again tomorrow, maybe I'll be safer there!!!. Take care. Liz...

Spring has arrived.

G'day. We are into the second day of Spring as I type this and the sun is shining and the sky is a beautiful blue and all is pointing to happiness.

We have made a decision on a lounge suite and it should be here in about eight weeks or so. The color is a glorious red and a few friends have expressed surprise that we would go for something so different, but, hey, why not?

We have changed the lounge room around in anticipation of this lovely suite and have just bought a corner unit for the TV. The TV guy came this morning to put another socket in the wall, to accommodate this new change. Mind you, he was only here a few weeks ago, to do the same thing on the wall where the TV originally was, but after having a look at where things would be best put, we decided on another area to set up our new unit. No doubt the TV man likes us, after all, he has swelled his bank account considerably by coming here twice. As I bid him farewell, I commented that we probably won't see him again and he just smiled and said "Maybe you will change your mind again" Sadly, my brain didn't work quick enough to come back with a smart reply.  I thought of plenty as he drove out the drive though !!!!!!!

Hubby will be home soon from doing a plumbing job and we are going to look at tiles for the bathroom. A new vanity unit was put in last weekend and all of the old tiles will be pulled off soon and lovely large white ones will take their place. It's only a small bathroom and by using large white tiles, it will make it look a lot bigger, that's the theory anyway. Hubby hasn't decided if he will tackle this job himself or maybe get a tiler in to do it. I am cheering for the tiler, but time will tell.

We have started our garden out in the back yard. The photo shows our gorgeous little dog "Lucky" laying on the sugar cane mulch that I had just put down after I planted the small native bush  just across from him. He jumped up as soon as my back was turned and made a depression in the middle and settled in for a snooze. It didn't matter to him that half the mulch fell off.  Take care. Liz...

Having trouble with blogger.

G'day. I am having a spot of bother with blogger. This only seems to have happened since I changed my email address. It has been brought to my attention that I have been listed as a "no reply blogger". I have been trying to change this, but have discovered that my old email address is still listed in my profile and I can't seem to be able to change it. I am exasperated...................I will however keep trying and have gone into the help section and will see what happens. 

We are settling in here quite well, though it is taking time to get everything sorted. Friends call in on weekends, hubby is back doing a bit of plumbing work on various farms (just to keep his hand in, he says!!!) I work eight days a fortnight, so time at home by ourselves is precious. We are still trying to find the lounge room suite of our dreams. If we had ordered one in red from either of the various ones we have seen and liked, then our 14 week wait would have been underway by now, but no, hubby wanted to keep looking.

Later this morning we are going to the Home Show in Melbourne (our major city here in the state of Victoria where we live) Not that we expect to see a suite there, but just to get some ideas for improvements we can make around the house here.

Have had some lovely calls from the owners of our former farm, they have settled in really well, though are daunted by the garden, but have promised to make sure not one plant perishes and are enchanted by the bulls and cows and love to hear the mooing of a night time as they talk to one another, the cows that is, not the people......

The photo is of my beautiful dresser, hubby bought this for me as a surprise some years ago. I was working away from home through the week and one Friday night when I returned for the weekend, there it was set up in the lounge room. It holds a lot of treasures that I have kept that belonged to  my mother and grandmother as well as hubby's mother. It even has two old wooden extendable rulers that were my fathers, some beautiful green depression glass, two pearl necklaces (not real pearls) that were my grans, old crystal jugs, etc, etc. It has the perfect spot in our kitchen here now and it looks just great. Of course I just had to put one of my dolls that I had made on the top of it. Take care. Liz... 

In search of a new lounge suite.

G'day. Hubby and I made the decision some time ago that when we moved we would get a new lounge room suite. Hubby wanted a red one, not just any red mind you, but a hit you in the face kind of red. I'm ok with that, no problem there. At the moment we have a black leather two x two seaters, which we have had for some considerable time. Time for a change now though. A red lounge suite is not that easy to find, at least one where you don't have to wait 14 weeks for it to be made and delivered.

The local furniture shop here in town has a lovely cream one. We are after a two seater and two recliners, they have a three seater and two recliners, can't get it smaller. We both really liked it and the good news was they can get us a red one, not the exact red we were after, but close enough and hubby said it was the same red that the seats in one of his classic cars has, so I thought that cinched the deal and they would deliver it in one week or there abouts.Didn't matter that it was bigger than we had planned, we would adjust the lounge room. Hubby wanted to go and sit on the cream one again just to make sure. So off we toddle, this time hubby took his work boots off and would you believe his feet didn't touch the floor by an inch. I knew straight away that was the end of the lounge suite, red or not.

Of to the big smoke we go, sure to find a lovely red lounge suite down there we thought. Ha, think again. We went to about a dozen different furniture shops, not a red to be found. One place had a lovely black one and wonderful news, they can get it in red, not just one red, there were two shades we could choose from. Only problem, a 14-16 week wait.............

At the end of a tiring day we came home dejected, no lounge suite decided on. "I can ring the local shop and see if the red is still available (it is in another store in another state)" I said to hubby. "No, was his firm reply, my feet didn't touch the ground". Funny thing is that hubby is taller than me, only an inch or so, but my feet touched the ground and as the shop owner said , it's a recliner, so you recline.Oh duh, said hubby under his breath.

The saga of the lounge suite we don't have continues. Another trip to a large shopping area the next day, an hour or so from us, no red to be seen. There was a lovely bright orange one, but too expensive. Hubby made the comment that he would have a lounge suite more expensive than his car. The salesman had obviously not heard that comment before and politely laughed, but was otherwise not impressed. I don't know what our next plan of attack is at this stage. Nothing more has been said on the matter.

The picture was taken looking at part of the kitchen. I am slowly getting my crafty things and knick knacks where I want them.Hubby of course wishes they would all just disappear, he would have the house full of car stuff if he could, but he has a whopping big garage for that. Little does he know, I have more that I will trot out and place around the place when he is not looking. Take care. Liz...

The tooth fairy didn't come to me !!

G'day. I am so disappointed that that tooth fairy didn't come to me. I even stayed awake most of the night to see her creep in, but alas, she must have had somewhere else to go. Anyway the tooth is out and all is well, though my bank account is considerably lighter. I go back to work on Wednesday, so I am making the most of my last few days to get this home in some sort of order. The photo is my sewing/computer room at the moment, much better than a week or so ago, when I couldn't even open the door without something jumping out to attack me. It still isn't completely right though, but I am winning the battle. At least I can move in here now and all but a few things are in their place. The other photo is what I see when I look out the window of this room.

My son tells me it is an ornamental ginger ,but at some stage most of it will be pulled out. It has taken over and has been here for some time by the look of it. There is a lovely area down this side of the house, against the wall between us and the neighbours there is a raised garden bed, but sadly it has all been neglected. We will plant some lovely bushes all along here and I will have a lovely view to gaze out on as I sit and sew or am on the computer. The ginger does come out in lovely flowers that are on stalks about 18-20 inches long . Anyway, all of this happening is somewhere down the track and we won't be tackling this area any time soon.Thanks you to everyone who has left encouraging messages concerning the move and my tooth etc. It has lifted my spirits. Take care. Liz...

Buttons and Bows Swap package has arrived.

G'day. I was so excited when the Post lady rang the doorbell this morning and handed me a package. I tore off the wrapping and eagerly opened it up and what a wonderful surprise. My swap partner had sent me a collection of some wonderful things. Ribbons, buttons, a lovely little cross stitch, a gorgeous crochet brooch, two lovely fabric necklaces, a few other crochet items and so much more. The fragrant lavender bag is just the best, as soon as I started opening the box, I could smell lavender. I have it hanging in the kitchen and the smell is just divine. It is of course one of my favourite plants and something that I hope to plant here at our new home at some stage.

Thank you so much Penny. I just love it all and I am inspired to get sewing and using it all.

I am off to have my tooth surgically removed this afternoon, we will be leaving here in about a half hour. This is proving to be a very expensive process. I was shocked yesterday when I had my consultation with the Dr and he told me the costs involved. I could just about put a deposit on a new car for that, mind you it would be a very, very, small car !! My daughter rang me this morning to wish me well. She was telling me about her experience when she had the same thing happen with her tooth a few years ago and I remember at the time that she couldn't eat for a few days after having it done and was generally miserable. She just reminded me of what I was in for. She also said "I hope you have made some jelly, because that's all you will eat for a day or two" So I have made the jelly and will no doubt have that for my meal tonight.

Oh well, it's nearly time to get ready. Take care. Liz...

Settling in ok.

G'day. The move went well. No dramas for a change.Hubby and I are settling into our new home. there are still a few boxes with things in them to be packed away, but generally everything is in it's place so to speak. The picture shows my sewing/computer room, all my crafty things were just thrown in there, hoping that they would land where they belonged, but of course this just doesn't happen in real life.This room was one of the last to be sorted. I kept putting it off as it was a scary thought of all that had to be done to get it in some sort of order. The old kitchen dresser that I bought from eBay has been a great blessing, though because of it's size, it does take up up a bit of room, but who cares, it looks good and serves it's purpose.

We had nine helping on moving day (including hubby and I) so as you can imagine it was busy, busy, busy. I had come down with a bad cold on the Saturday before moving Monday and that was no fun. I was not feeling my best, but of course had to soldier on even though all I wanted to do was find a cosy spot to lay down and hide for a while. Move completed, family and friends said their goodbyes and best wishes (after a few good stiff drinks). Hubby and I retired exhausted for the night.

The next day saw the kitchen start to get some sort of order in there. I managed to get all my goodies in place. Hubby said "Can't all your crafty things go somewhere else"? I firmly said "No" A week after the move I had a filling on one of my back teeth fall out, an urgent phone call to the local dentist for help as the toothache was terrible and then an Xray to see the roots as I mentioned that the last tooth I had out many years ago, took a long time to get out and guess what ! One of the roots has a bulbous head on it, so it has to be surgically removed. I have an appointment with the Oral Surgeon tomorrow. I am home from work on sick leave now because of this jolly tooth, if I don't take the pain killers, I have a rotten toothache, if I do take the pain killers, all I want to do is lay down as they knock me around. What next, I want to know.!!!

The new carpet is lovely, our new drapes and curtains should be here in another three weeks or so. We have already started looking for a new lounge room suite and for a total change we have decided to go for a blood red or something similar. Friends from work want to call in of course, but I have managed to hold them off as I just can't be bothered, luckily they know me and understand. Though one friend, not knowing our new phone number called in last week on her day off work, hubby said "Liz is sleeping" (effect of the tablets) but of course the doorbell ringing woke me up. Up I got and we had a cuppa, hubby went back to sorting out his garage, friend didn't stay long, but the deed was done and I got stuck into a bit more sorting out. The house is lovely, though a lot smaller than our old one and we are having trouble finding places for a lot of things. The local thrift shop is on a first name basis with us now, we have been there so often dropping stuff off. We have wondered if we should have rented and built a house, but decided to buy one established etc, etc,for various reasons. The people here before us didn't leave it very clean which has been a bugbear as we have had to clean as we go. We came here three times before we put the offer in and it always looked spotless, however, they let the team down big time and obviously didn't care toward the end. I have told the agent this and it will get back to the previous owners as a relative works there, but I don't care. Anyway, it is all good now, we are happy, our lovely little dog loves it here and all is pointing to a settled life once again.  I have only had the computer up and running for a day or so now and as I expected there was no smooth sailing there either, after a few phone calls and frayed tempers (on my part) we are off and running again. I am enjoying reading all the blogs I follow, though I apologize if I don't leave comments on them at this time. Take care. Liz...

My last blog, but just for a little while.

G'day. This is my last blog for a little while.  We change Internet providers when we move, as we no longer need the satellite dish for coverage at the new home, I will not have the computer up and running until sometime next week and hopefully if all the connections work as good as they should and the assurances from the  providers that I will have no problems setting up the WiFi etc, I will be back on track late next week. But of course this remains to be seen. I never seem to be able to get these things right the first time around!!

We have all survived our busy day yesterday, everyone is still in bed, except of course me. I had  restless night despite a few glasses of bubbly. Amid utter chaos here, more packing managed to get done, the new owner got a handle on how to work the pumps, cousin and wife amused themselves by making lunch, hanging out and then when dry bringing in washing. Friends called in to say a last goodbye to our beautiful farm here, you would have thought it was them leaving and not us. A member of the car club we are in also called in unannounced, as they were on their way home from visiting relatives a good sixty or so klms  away from us, and thought they would take they chance we were here. "Oh sorry", they said, we forgot you were moving, but that didn't deter them from staying and chatting and after a few cups of coffee and a look by the men here at the classic car hubby picked up some weeks ago and much discussion over how it would be restored, blah, blah, blah, they were on their way and mighty pleased I was to see their car go down the drive. We had friends call in like this not long ago and they would just not leave, at least these ones didn't stay that long. Surprisingly I didn't have a headache by the end of the day, but I was more than ready to tumble into bed last night. Today will be just as hectic and chaos will reign no doubt, but it is our very last full day here and maybe it is good that there is a new friend (the new owner) and hubby's family here to have this day with us. Tomorrow will be hard, of that I have no doubt, but we are leaving the home and farm we have had for many years in very good hands and we look forward now to another chapter in our lives and of course the chance to create another garden, though on a very, very small scale. Oh, what fun we will have. The pictures are all that I have shown before. In my next blog, whenever that is I will have new ones to show. Take care. Liz...

Three days to go.

G'day. Our time here in our beautiful piece of paradise is now running out. Three days to go and we say goodbye to a place that we thought we would never leave. The promise of a quieter life, the chance to travel, relax and kick back is now just around the corner. I am not ashamed to admit that I am now in tears as I type this. But on another note, I will tell you about our drama with the new carpet in our soon to be new home.It was laid last Thursday and we didn't get to see it until the Friday and can you imagine our shock at seeing that the guy had joined two sections together in the lounge room and the seam ran right across the centre and stood out something shocking. Not only that, but the join was raised from the rest of the carpet and believe me, it was a shocker. Needless to say, I rang and complained only to be told the main store owner wouldn't be back until Monday morning. I then had all weekend to plan what I was going to say to him and first thing Monday I fronted up and told him how displeased we were and for the amount of money we paid we expected better than that. He promised to go and have a look and rang me several hours later and said there was nothing wrong with it and he couldn't have done a better job himself and there was nothing he could do and it would be just fine. Well, when hubby got home that day from helping out with some plumbing on a neighbouring property, he was furious and promised me he would sort it out the next day. I had to go to work and of course didn't know what the outcome would be and was eager to speak to hubby and find out how he went and wouldn't you know, he went into the store, saw the manager in the office and barged right in and told him that if it wasn't ripped up and a new complete piece laid down, he would cause as much trouble as he possibly could and would make it known to many people not to deal with this store in future etc, etc. Just let me say, the new piece is being laid today.!!!! I am going around there this morning to do some  cleaning and to oversee the carpet. That should be fun.

Thank you to everyone who has commented on my last blog. Yes, I have copped a fair amount of ribbing from my workmates as well when I told them I invited the new owner to stay on Saturday night as well as having hubby's cousin and wife here. Sometimes my mouth opens before my brain (obviously not a very bright one sometimes) gets into gear. It has landed me in trouble before and I still haven't learned to think first before I speak. We will survive the onslaught of visitors and I will work around them one way or another. I assume they can amuse themselves and the new owner will be too busy with hubby learning the ropes so to speak and that no doubt everyone will have a good sized headache by the end of the day. Hubby came home one day through the week with a few bottles of bubbly, so we might wake up on Sunday morning with a headache of another kind as well. The photo is looking up our drive from the front gate. Not much in the way of color apart from a lot of greenery when this shot was taken,but when the roses are out, it is a mass of vibrant color. Just beautiful. Take care. Liz...

Wet and miserable here today, a good day to be inside, what a shame I wasn't!

G'day. It is really cold and wet here today and would you believe that I have spent most of it outside, pruning this and pruning that and generally giving the garden a bit of a tidy up.

We had a friend call in to pick up some poly pipe and he asked why I was doing a garden that doesn't belong to me anymore, why not leave it for the new owner? Even our only neighbour asked the same question. It's because it makes me feel better and that's all there is to it. I will leave here in another eight days knowing the garden it in the best condition possible and if that means a bit of work for me, well so be it.

Yesterday morning friends called and said they were in the area (we are so far out it's not funny !!) and could they call in? "Of course, I replied, but we have the new owner coming for  lunch and there is so much to do"  "We won't stay long", they promised. Ha, I will never believe them again, they would just not go. I don't know what got into them. I even got so exasperated at one point that I went and got the vacuum cleaner out and left it sitting on the floor in the kitchen as a hint. Did they take it you might ask? No, no and no. I am sure they were after a look at the new owner and were just bidding their time until she came, but as luck would have it, she rang and said she was held up and when I gleefully told hubby and friends this, they decided they had better go. I couldn't get them out the door quick enough as there was so much I wanted to do before she came.

We had a great afternoon with her and she even bought lunch, though it was a late lunch by this time, just as well we hadn't eaten. She is coming up again early next Saturday morning and spending the day here and before I knew what I was saying I asked her if she would like to stay the night and she was so delighted and said she would love to. Of course next weekend will be one of our busiest here as it's the one before we move on the Monday and we even have hubby's cousin and his wife staying with us for a few days as well. In for a penny, in for a pound I guess. What the heck, we will survive it. The picture is looking across our back yard and the drive towards our paddocks in the distance. I will so miss this..... Take care. Liz...