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...