Shaping up to be another great day.

G'day. It's 7.45am on Friday the 1st of April. Hubby got me "Pinch and Punch"this morning as I was too slow in remembering the first day of another month. Yes, I can hear what your thinking, and yes, we are big kids and yes, it is always fun to see which of us is the quickest to get the "pinch, punch, first of the month", thing in. Hubby has won the last few months, but I will make a determined effort not to be outdone next time. I did  have a bit of revenge by getting him first in April Fool. Nothing too serious, just a bit of lighthearted  "Watch out, don't sit down, there's a spider on your chair" Now we are so used to spiders here, after all we live in the country, surrounded by trees etc, live on a huge farm and see spiders all the time, nothing out of the ordinary for one to be in the house, but, still hubby jumped, only a little bit mind you, but I saw it. Neither of us are worried or frightened by these sometimes hairy creatures, we have seen all shapes and sizes, but sometimes when something is said in a certain tone of voice, or a voice which has the edge of alarm to it, even the bravest of the brave can still be edgy. Needless to say hubby is still talking to me and had a bit of a laugh and I felt a bit victorious by getting him at something, though the morning is early yet and there is still time for him to plan revenge, but, I will be on the lookout.. I can look out of my window as I am typing this and the sky is a beautiful blue already, not a cloud in sight. It is shaping up to be a wonderful day. I am getting stuck into some gardening this morning, usually my Friday off work is my sewing day once the housework is done, but today is just 
 too lovely to be inside and as usual there is always something that needs tending in the flowerbeds. The pic is of part of the backyard, you can just make out a part of the roof of our house in among the green. Take care...

Back on line. Woo Hoo

G'day. Well, I have my computer back. It chucked a wobbly on Saturday morning so I raced into town and dropped it off at the repair shop and the guy said it should be ready on Monday, but, it wasn't and when I came home from work yesterday and there was no computer sitting there waiting for me, I felt lost, still I did manage to get some housework done and a bit of sewing. It's amazing how much we rely on these gadgets of modern technology. I have resorted to using my iPhone for emails and checking on my favourite blogs, just so that I didn't miss anything, but, there is great joy now that I have this treasured toy back in it's rightful place. My other good news is that it really does appear that our property is sold. Agent rang me yesterday afternoon with the good news that the buyer said all is going well and her deposit should be in the bank either later this week or on Monday of next week. So it looks like we will be starting to pack soon now, that in itself is a scary thought as we have acquired so much here, but no doubt we will get it done and live to tell the tale. The pic is of part of our back yard not far from the back door, it is one of our favourite sitting areas, we sometimes have our meals out on the seat when the weather is nice, matter of fact we may eat our dinner out there tonight as it's been a glorious day here and the sun is still shining and it's still rather warm. Oh well, I had better go, so many things to catch up on with my lovely computer. Yes, I know, I need to get a life!!!! Take care...

Her name was Molly. She was a good old chook.

G'day. My tale today is a sad one. Many years ago we bought four Isa Brown chickens, as there is only hubby and I, four eggs a day turned out to be too much really. I would give them to workmates, make egg and bacon pie, you name it, if it had an egg in it I made it. Over some years three had died of natural causes, which left one old girl, so feeling sorry for her on her own I bought two more young ones, just on the point of lay.Some time passed and the original old girl passed away leaving the two sweeties to keep up the egg production. I had named them  Molly and Tilly. Up until Wednesday they kept us in eggs and they were my pets. They would follow me around when I let them out of their run into the paddock and would let me pick them up and carry them if so desired. Wednesday afternoon I came home from work and went up to let them run free, I thought it strange they were not waiting at the door to their run, eager as always to come out. As I walked into the run a flapping and screeching shook me out of my daydreams, a rather large hawk was in there, it had it's talons caught in the bird netting that we put over the top of the 40'x 12' run. I saw that one chook was dead, it was ripped to pieces and it's head had been bitten off. I was not game to go too close to this hawk, but, needed to see where the other chook was,. I couldn't see her, she wasn't in sight and she wasn't in the chook house itself which the run connects to, so I just left the main door open in the hope the hawk would get untangled and fly out. After getting hubby we went back up to see what we could do and the bird thankfully had gone. Molly was the one that was dead and poor Tilly couldn't be found at first. Hubby heard this faint little noise and there she was, jammed up against the fence hiding amongst some branches of a Wormwood bush. This would not have protected her if I hadn't gone up to the chook house when I did. I think the attack had not long happened and the hawk would easily have gotten her as well. The hawk got into the run by tearing at the netting with it's beak and then once in it couldn't get back out through the hole it had made. Tilly is ok, though she is still terrified to come out of the house and I have kept her locked in there the last couple of days. Went back up yesterday morning to see how she was as I thought she may have died of fright through the night and would you believe it, the hawk was back in the run again, it had torn another hole in the netting and couldn't get back out again. Thank goodness I had locked Tilly in her house. Hubby came up with a straw broom, his overalls on and his motorbike helmet to try to get this nasty looking bird out. I do wish I had had my camera as hubby really did look a treat.Anyway after hubby threating it with the broom, it got the hint and  went through the door opening and flew off into a nearby tree. My neighbour was telling me yesterday that they lost a chook  a few days ago and it was in the same condition, so this hawk must be going between the two properties for the chooks.In all the years we have been here, we have never lost a chook to a fox, or a eagle and now this happens. I will have to find a good home for Tilly as it is too dangerous now to let her in the paddock and she will be lonely without her best mate. The photo is of the chook house and run with the white bird netting behing the bushes. The middle opening also housed a one cow dairy a long, long time ago. I was watching the two chooks only last Sunday evening as they were foraging in the paddock and I was thinking how great they looked and that I would miss them when we move as the new owner said she would like to have them. I buried Molly, hubby dug a hole, but I picked up what was left of her, because she was my chook and my responsibilty and I owed her that for the few years of pleasure she had given me and the lovely eggs that she faithfully gave us. Take care...

We are still celebrating

G'day. I guess that headings not quite right as we are only quietly optimistic that this time the sale will go ahead as planned. Just had a email from the agent saying that she had spoken to the buyer earlier this morning and everything is on track. So, still celebrating is not really right, but, we are still to some extent on a high. We are going into town late this afternoon to have a real good look at the home  that we have our hearts set on, but, hubby told me when I arrived home from work that the guy who owns the mower shop here in town is selling his house and has suggested to hubby that we might be interested in having a look through it at some stage. It's another option anyway and it won't hurt to have a look. The photo is of the SuperMoon, not a very good pic I admit and I know it doesn't look very super, but then again it was only taken with my poor little digital camera and if nothing else the roses and trees look nice!! I took this at about 7.30pm and the moon did look slightly bigger than normal and it was a lot brighter. I went out a few times before going to bed and took a few more pics of it, but this is my favourite. Take care...

We are off and running again.

G'day. Well, it looks like the champagne cork will be popping tonight after all. Contract on the sale of our property has been signed, offer was great, too good to refuse, so we are off and running again. Surely this has to be third time lucky. Still have two weeks to wait until her finance is cleared, but by all accounts there should be no problems and yes, we have heard that before and the sale has fallen through, but, our agent assures us that this is the one, so time will tell. We really are feeling very hopeful this time around. It's a long four month settlement, but that will be handy for us as we have a lot of things to clear here. So fingers crossed. The photo is in part of our backyard. The roses are beautiful and the climbing jasmine smells divine when you walk past it. The French lavender is my favourite of the lavenders and it grows extremly well here.Take care...

Maybe the champagne cork will pop tonight!!!

G'day. Thanks for all the birthday wishes I received from my friends in blog land. I do appreciate it. I did have a wonderful day. Have not long arrived back home because of the two inspections back to back we had here today. The agent told us via my mobile phone that the lady who has been interested has put in an offer and signed her part of the contract, but, the agent had to take the second couple to look at another property some distance away and is calling in to see us later this afternoon to discuss the offer/contract etc. So, we still are none the wiser as to what the offer is or if the champagne will be opened tonight. Because we have been there, done that twice now, the gloss has worn off a bit, but if it's a good offer, there is no reason why this sale won't go through. Agent also said that while they were walking around the dam closest to the house, they saw a three foot red bellied black snake, these are not as lethal as the brown snakes we get here, but all the same I wouldn't like to get bitten by one. I asked was Robyn (lady with offer) frightened and the good news is that she wasn't. I guess most Aussie's know that if you move from the city to the country areas that you have to expect snakes.They are a fact of life here in the summer months and we have been lucky, we haven't lost our dog or my chooks and hubby and I have never been bitten by a snake so that's something. The photo is looking down from part of our back yard towards the house. The different shades of green can be quite striking at times. Will be outside to see the SuperMoon tonight and it looks like the sky may remain cloudless which will be good. Take care....

What a great day.

G'day. I have had a great morning at work, even though I usually never work of a Friday, but it was required today. At the stroke of midday I was out of there and making my way to a great little cafe here in town for my birthday lunch with a few good friends. After some yummy food and good conversation I made my way home to do a few things around here and then get orgainzed to go out again for dinner tonight. Just hubby and I tonight, my son, daughter and their respective partners were to come and join us and stay the night, but due to the fact that we have two inspections happening here tomorrow, it was deemed that we make it next weekend where hopefully we will be celebrating the sale (again) of our property. I had a email from the agent before telling me that the lady who is interested will put in an offer provided that she thinks it will be suitable for her to ride her horses around here. She has been here before and checked all that out, but, wants to go through it all over again. Well, hello, we have something like four and a half thousand acreas and the other property that borders ours has well over two thousand acreas, if she can't ride a horse in that, what is wrong with her? But, we have our fingers crossed, sometimes there is just no pleasing people. Anyway I am not going to worry about it and just get on and enjoy the rest of my birthday. The photo is a wider view to the one I put on the blog a few days ago. You can also see the jolly gravel that gives me grief with the weeds that seem to like to grow in it and has me out there on a regular basis with the weed spray and that is only a small portion of the drive to boot. But I know that one day I won't have to worry about it and that I should be still enjoying it all while we are here. Take care...