I"m on a roll, so lets keep going.

G'day. As the title says, I'm on a roll, so lets get things moving. First up let me just say that if this is boring and you think I should quit while I am ahead, please, please let me know. I do not offend easily and besides you all live too far away for me to do much about it anyway ! I finished the first part about ME, by saying  our health worries contributed to our decision in selling our beautiful property and moving into town. I will get around to telling you about that at some stage but I am not quite finished talking about myself just yet (Conceited, aren't I?) well that's just too bad.  I am a hoarder, always have been, always will be. I collect the wishbones from chickens when I cook one ( not my chooks, by the way) and make hubby put his little finger on one side and mine on the other and pull it apart and make a wish. My mum believed this worked, but I am not so sure, but I do it anyway. If I see the evening star, I make a wish, can't say this has worked either, but I am not taking any chances. I pick up paper clips, rubber bands, safety pins etc, etc and add them to the others I have collected, after all you never know when they might come in handy. I like to cook, but confess that I am not going to be giving Nigella Lawson a run for her money just yet and there are no TV crews knocking on my door, ready to make me a star. I am very much into the shabby chic look at this present time, soft blues, pinks, pale greens and soft yellow are my favourites. I am a winter person, hate the summer with a passion, give me the cold anyday, though if I lived where the temperature was extreme I might change my mind quick smart. I love animals and have had many over the years, our pets consist of the lovely chooks, Tilly, Pippa and Bella and our beautiful dog "Lucky". This little boy is the light of our lives. He was an abandoned dog and we adopted him and named him Lucky, though to be honest we are the lucky ones to have found him. We have had him four years now and have so much fun with him, he is just simply a pleasure to be with. The above photo was taken only a few days ago. Take care...

Time to change a few things.

G'day. For those that read my blogs, you will see that I have changed my title, simply because I wanted too and seeing that it's my blog, simply because I can. I haven't told you much about myself, have I? Oh, you know about the move  and a bit about the farm we have here, but that's about all. Well, lets change that. I'm an Aussie girl born and bred. 59 years old. I love life in every way shape and form. A friend has a tattoo on her foot that says "Enjoy Life" I'm thinking of getting one. Take note that I said I'm only thinking, at this stage. Have never considered myself a wuss, but maybe I am !  My better half (or so he tells others) is Ian, my darling hubby, though to be honest he is not a darling all of the time and of course he would dispute this fact. We own a farm, but not for much longer. The cattle are Herefords, lovely creatures, except when they are naughty or the bulls get out. My two children are well and truly adults with their own lives, a son and a daughter, son is not married just yet, though will be soon and my daughter has been married for two years. Life for me is great. I work in aged care and have for many years and really do enjoy going to work. I love to sew and have been doing patchwork and quilting for quite some time. Gardening is also another great passion. My main passion in life would be without a doubt my family and friends, of which their are many, though there is one less friend now because of my wheel !!! Hubby and I have travelled and seen a bit of the world and from my way of thinking it's a truly beautiful place. I can see beauty everywhere I look. I travelled with my son to Europe last year and we had a ball, we laughed until we cried at some of the things we saw or did and I wouldn't hesitate to travel with him again. My daughter is my closest friend and for that I am truly grateful. I love them both from the bottom of my heart and the heart of my bottom. Hubby is calm, I am hyper, he is peaceful, I am noisy, he loves blues, I love rock 'n' roll and so on, but it works and it works reasonably well most of the time. All has not been perfect, over the last twelve months or so we have both had serious health scares, which is probably the main reason for selling the farm, but that's another story to be continued some other time. The photo is in our back yard, the autumn foliage is stunning, though tomorrow marks the first day of winter here in Australia, the seasons are changing once again. Take care. Liz...

Everyone is out to get me, or so it seems.

G'day. I am glad the end of the working week is here and can only hope next week gets off to a good start and stays that way. After the kerfuffle with my friend and MY wagon wheel, I thought the rest of the week would be uneventful, but I was wrong. I was the lucky winner of  an item on eBay,  yesterday, actually I was the only bidder, which from my point of view was rather good, but not so from the owner of the item. The item is a 1950's kitchen dresser, all original and quite a decent size. Yes, I know we are moving and downsizing, but no, I couldn't wait until we moved, sometimes when you see a bargain you just have to go for it, well that's the case here. This dresser is not for the kitchen, it's for my sewing room. I got rid of two items in this room and wanted just one to take their place, hence the dresser,you see, I have a lot of bits and bobs in my sewing room and needed something of substantial size to replace the two cupboards that went to the thrift shop. Anyway, I was so pleased with my win and because it was pick up only I rang the woman who advertised it and she went on to tell me how disappointed she was that out of seventeen people watching it , I was the only bidder and that had she realised that it was going to go so cheap, she would have put a higher price on it. Then she went on to say that it had been in her family since new and it was in perfect condition and was only selling because she was moving to a smaller place and had no room for it (Oh hum, I hope it's not too big for my smaller place!!) and that she felt like she was giving it away. I had the strangest feeling of what was to come and yes, I was right, she asked me would I like to give her more money for it, because she felt cheated. I was dumbfounded and said that she should have started it at the price she wanted if that was the case. I stood firm though and said no, as far as I was concerned I won it fair and square and went on to say that it would be well looked after and I intended to keep it forever. She relented and said yes, that was fair enough and we seemed to reach a truce.  I rang her a hour or so ago and said that it would be picked up by courier next week and she was very short with me on the phone, so I will be interested to see just what happens with this dresser. I wouldn't have the nerve to ask someone for money like that, though it didn't seem to bother her. I don't think the saga of the dresser is over just yet and I won't be happy until I have my hot little hands on it. The photo is looking up part of our drive to the back area of the house yard. Take care...

Friendship, usually always great, though sometimes things go wrong.

G'day. My friend  left about an hour ago and to be honest I was glad to see her go. We have know each other for a few years and even though the distance is not that far between our respective towns, we don't catch up all that often. Today I had a visit from her and while we have a lot of common interests and get on really well and are always pleased to see each other, today a shift in our relationship was created and the reason was the old wagon wheel in the photo. I have had this wheel for many years, it used to sit in front of a large tree just inside the front fence beside our front gate and was always commented on when anyone visited etc. We moved it to the side of the house some weeks ago which was when I took this photo.I don't know the age of the wheel, but my guess is that it's quite old, the wooden spokes are still all there, though weathered and aged as you would expect, but it's a great old wheel. This is one thing that is coming with us to the new house. My friend Jane has always coveted this wheel and today she made a great song and dance about how good it would look in her garden and that she had just the spot for it and that it would be going to a good home etc, etc. I made the mistake of saying that I wasn't sure where it would go at the new home, but that no doubt I would find somewhere fitting for it. Over the course of a couple of hours I had to listen to Jane going on and on about how she wanted the wheel as she has always loved it, she even became a touch nasty at one stage saying that if I was her friend I would give it to her and when that didn't work she offered to pay me for it. I made light of all of this throughout the time she was here, but actually I was seething inside at her cheek and I was starting to get very annoyed at her whining. Hubby made the mistake of coming inside for a cuppa and Jane seized this opportunity to ask him for the wheel while I was in the bathroom and  thinking that maybe I didn't want it, told Jane that she could have it. The look of triumph on her face when I returned from the bathroom would have knocked my socks off had I been wearing any. I am not usually a nasty person or prone to violence, but I'd had enough and this was the last straw. I told both hubby and my so called friend in no uncertain terms that the wheel stays with me and moves with me and that I didn't want to hear another word on the subject. Hubby didn't wait for that cuppa, he said he had a cow that had gotten into another paddock and he's better chase it out, he wasn't sticking around to see the fireworks. My friend got in a major huff and said she couldn't understand why I was getting upset about a silly wheel and that she didn't realise it meant that much to me and after all it's only a wheel. My final comment on it was that it's my wheel. My friend left in a huff but I still have my wheel. Hubby has yet to reappear !!! Take care.

It's raining, it's pouring and my dear hubby is snoring!!

G'day. It's a wet and miserable day here and hubby is firmly ensconced on the couch in a blissful slumber. He came in for some lunch not long ago and decided to have a rest for a bit on the couch, need I say more! In an earlier blog I mentioned about his blunder at walking in on the carpet with his boots on, well thankfully the carpet cleaning guy managed to get the carpet looking like new again and just as well as I really don't know what we would have done, that secret spray stuff that he told me about really did the trick and needless to say hubby has been very careful ever since. All is on track with packing etc, at least from my end here in the house it is anyway, the machinery shed is a totally different ball game . I think hubby is hoping that something magical will happen one night while he is tucked up in bed and that the fairies that live at the bottom of the garden will wave their magic wands and "voila" the shed will be packed and ready to go. I have been dropping hints that he will have to make a start on it soon and he just nods and agrees. We have arranged with the local charity shop to come and pick up some furniture that is not needed any more and they should have been here a few hours ago, but I think the weather has delayed them today. I am just waiting for a break in the rain to run up and let my three lovely chooks out into the paddock, they really are the very best of friends now and it is great to see them socialising with one another. The picture was taken last night, we had a lovely sunset and even though it is not the best of photo's I still like it. This paddock is just across from the side of the house and for some strange reason it's my favourite paddock, maybe it's because my sewing/computer room faces this paddock and I am so used to looking out into it, anyway who cares, I like this paddock. The rain has stopped and hubby is up moving around and it's time to let the girls out. Take care...

Still home. Oh, hum.

G'day. Yes, I am still home off work with my sore wrist. It seems to improve, but then I will lift or hold something and then the pain returns, but it could be worse, at least I am in a lovely warm home, the wood heater is roaring as the weather has turned very cold here lately,our nice autumn days have deserted us and it's like winter has come early. I have managed to get quite a bit of packing done and hubby and I have just the essentials in cupboards, wardrobes etc. If we have a influx of visitors, I might have to resort to the use of paper plates !!! Hubby even went through all of his clothes and many have found their way now to the local opportunity shop as have a lot of other things that we really don't need and that someone else may benefit from. Talking of hubby, I was less than impressed when he walked into the lounge room on Saturday with his work boots on and grease on the bottom of them. Our cream fleck wool carpet was not designed for this new pattern added to it. I don't know who got more of a shock, hubby when he realised what he had done or me when I heard him swear loudly and rushed in to see what the problem was and saw the black marks on the carpet. Needless to say I swore as well and hubby got the gist very quickly of who I was swearing at. He at least had the good sense to take the boots off and not do anymore damage and did offer to help clean it up, but with a withering look from me and the threat of bodily harm he retreated back outside, not to appear again for some time, hoping that by then I would have calmed down and that a meal might still appear on the table for him that night. I did manage to get most of it up and with a carpet cleaning man coming tomorrow, I hope the carpet will come clean relatively ok. We were planning on getting the carpet cleaned before we go and will probably still do so, but this has just been a glitch in the works. Hubby never comes into the house with his boots on, they are always left at the back door and after this effort he will be doubly sure they stay at the back door. The carpet cleaning guy has promised me that he will be able to remove every trace of what's left in the carpet, so I have my fingers crossed that he knows what he talking about. He mumbled something about a "secret" spray whose content he could only divulge on the threat of death. I hope such drastic measures are not called for as I don't think  my wrist would hold up and hubby is making himself scarce tomorrow and going to a cattle sale. The picture is part of our garden in our backyard. It is a photo that I have posted on this blog before, but, this is my blog and I happen to like the pic, so what the heck, I thougth I would put it on again. Take care...

Still home and enjoying it.

G'day.I am not back at work yet and I can honestly say that I am enjoying this time at home. Yes, the wrist is still playing up, though not quite as bad, if I am careful with it, it doesn't give me too much trouble. It's 8.14 am Monday morning here as I type this. Very cold here at the moment and the wind has just started blowing a bit, but the sky is a beautiful blue and the sun is shining and it promises to be a lovely day, though by the weather forecast it will remain a cool day.We have the wood heater going and have done so now for the last week or so. I have spent a bit of time over the weekend raking up all the leaves that have fallen from the trees and using it along with a few other things added, as a mulch for the garden beds.I look out of my window here in my sewing/computer room and know that in another eight weeks or so the sight that will greet me will be vastly different from what I am seeing now. Now I look out onto one of the large paddocks and I can see the dam and the biggest of the concrete tanks that sits not too far from the house. I can see the garden bed that hubby and I made some years ago that runs along the length of the fence that separates the house yard from the paddock and just the other side of that fence are the towering trees whose remaining leaves are gently falling with the wind rustling through the now mostly bare branches.I can also see the natives bushes that we planted in beds on either side of this rooms window, that are now reaching upward and in full view, their lacy delicate foliage blowing in the breeze. I have been realising more and more lately how hard it will be to leave here. Last Friday another of our old farm implements that was used as a garden ornament was picked up by the man who bought it from us and he had driven a few hours to get it and he commented on what a great place we have here and how picturesque it is etc, etc and while I was listening to him I felt a lump in my throat and a feeling of sadness envelope my heart and when he was gone hubby and I made some sandwiches, hopped on the quad bike and went up to our ridge line and had a mini picnic and talked about how good it will be not to have all of this work here anymore, how we will be able to see a bit of our beautiful country and not have the general worry of what's happening back home when we are not there, but, even though our life will be a lot easier,I was not able to shake the sadness. My sewing/computer room at the new house will look out onto a garden area that at the present time has been neglected, but we will replant it and have it looking lovely. I am not in the doldrums anymore, the packing has resumed, the excitement of a new home is very appealing, the thought that we can travel a bit, a new garden to plant out. We intend to get new carpet and drapes throughout the new house and this morning I go to the carpet shop in town  to have a look at what they have.Luckily the owners of the house have moved out and they have said that we can get the carpet and drapes done whenever we want. So it's not all doom and gloom. I will shed a tear ( maybe many) when we go, but I am looking forward to the future. On another good note, my three lovely chooks are now getting along great. I let them all into the paddock for the first time on Saturday and even though they were a bit hard to get back into their run at dusk,all was well and yesterday evening they went back on their own. So all's worked out good on that front. The picture is of part of the cottage garden that I planted some years ago. It's a bit untidy at the moment and I will have to clean it out some. The angel and pedestal was a goodbye gift from my former workmates in my last job. I cherish it greatly. Take care...

glorious autumn

G'day. I am home from work for a few days, have had a very sore right wrist. I had this problem  quite some time ago and it went away after a week or so, but this time it is very persistent and has been giving me grief for nearly two weeks now. My doctor thinks a Carpel Tunnel operation might be in order. I am hoping a couple of days of not doing much might alleviate the problem. Well, the Royal Wedding has come and gone and now the headlines are about the death of Osama Bin Laden. Our Prime Minister has warned Australians that we have to be vigilant, that the threat of retaliation  is a very real possibility. We sometimes feel safe being so far away from the rest of the world, but in reality it is not so.We are just as vulnerable as any other country.Yes, the world is rid of him, but the others fighting for his cause are not just going to throw down their weapons and say "We give up" are they? That's enough about Bin Laden and the baddies of this world. I would much rather talk about my lovely new chooks. Bella and Pippa have settled in nicely, though that naughty Tilly is still giving them a bit of a hard time. It usually takes a few days for the older chooks (though in this case one older chook) to accept any newcomers. I had one old girls some years ago who used to run at the new ones and really peck at them and try to stop them from getting any food, but in the end all worked out ok and they all became the best of friends and this will happen with these three too. In a day or so they will be just a very happy trio of chooks. Pippa and Bella have been keeping together as they know there is safety in numbers, they are not silly. The packing of the house is going well, though has come to a bit of a standstill because of my wrist, but I did get a bit done yesterday and hopefully a few more boxes will be full before the end of today. Sometimes I think the bigger the house, the more stuff you collect.I have been doing patchwork and quilting for some years now and have collected a few hundred magazines over the time and as I am a bit of a hoarder, I have just found places here and there around the house to stash these magazines once the bookcase was full, but that now has all changed. Reality has set in. I just won't have the room for all of them when we move, so I have off loaded most of them to a friend and she can have them stashed all around her house!!! Now I just have to convince hubby to get rid of all his car and bike magazines and that might just be a bit of a battle as he has said "NO, they have good stuff in them" Oh duh, didn't he think my mags had good stuff in them as well? The photo is of a beautiful pair of trees in our back yard that look so lovely with the autumn color of their leaves, this pic was taken a little while ago and most of the leaves are now on the ground, waiting for me to rake them up, which will not be happening just yet.Take care...

Friends for Tilly

G'day. Tilly has her new friends, not that she is entirely happy about it. In other words she hasn't rolled out the red carpet for them, but then again I didn't really expect her to. Meet Pippa on the left and Bella on the right. They are about seventeen week old and won't start laying for another eight weeks or so. With a bit of luck before we leave here we may get an egg or two from them, but I'm not holding my breath. You would think that because Tilly has been on her own for some weeks now, that she would welcome some friends to associate with and to snuggle up on the perch with on these cold nights, but no, not at the moment anyway and probably not for some days. As is the way with chooks, the old girls don't take kindly to new kids on the block. Tilly will give them a hard time for a while, but then she will realise that they are not going anywhere and that she is stuck with them and before you know it, they will all be the best of friends. They will have to stay in the chook house and the run for about four to five days, so they get used to it before I let them in the paddock and the good thing about this is that Tilly has to stay in there as well and that means no chook in the garden for a while. I do hope Pippa and Bella are good girls and not easily led astray by Tilly and that they know when they are on a good wicket and keep to the paddock side of the fence.Over the next few days I will start to handle them a bit, always good to be able to do that in case you need to pick one up for any reason. Well Tilly better get her act into gear and look after these two pretty soon as I just know that there is a chopping block here somewhere..... Just kidding.
Take care...