Christmas

Good news - Paul has work from tomorrow so he was only out of work for a week and a half. The downside is that he now has to work 6 days a week to try and recoup our financial losses but at least we have money coming in now.

So Christmas is just over four weeks away and I seem to have a complete character change. I used to love Christmas, the build up, carols by candlelight, the lights, food etc but now I feel like I can't be bothered. It's not a bad feeling like it's depressing, I just seem to have other things to concentrate on instead. The Christmas lights in the shopping centres went up in October and, as we drove down to the quay for a fish and chip supper, there were a few houses with their Christmas lights (and full nativity on the front lawn) up already. The shops are filled with Christmas things but they don't get packed like the UK ones, in fact I can't really see any difference in the number of shoppers than I do all year round. The carols are no longer by candleight as, with daylight saving, it's light and no one really talks about Christmas and it just doesn't seem to be a big deal. I think it's because the weather is improving all the time, it got to 38 degrees on Saturday and it's hot but with a cool breeze which is lovely. The mozzies have all gone and we just have the odd fly now when the wind is in the wrong direction so, instead, peoples lives are revolving around the bbq, beach and surf club. It's quite refreshing but I am glad the girls grew up with all the excitement that we had in the UK.

Another bit of good news - Tallulah got picked for an interview for School Councillor. She reckons that there were 100 apps and 20 have been picked for interviews fro 6 jobs. She has her interview tomorrow before a board so, once more, fingers crossed for her. On the one hand I do hope she gets it, on the other she already has leaflet deliveries twice a week and the Body Shop parties so I have no idea how she'd fit it all in - roll on the summer holidays !!

09:51 - Sun 25 November 2007 - comments {1}

Work

What a week !! Paul is now jobless, which is a bit worrying but Tallulah has got herself a job ! She has to deliver all the advertising leaflets to 300 houses in Halls Head. So Friday I picked up a total of 3000 leaflets which she then had to bundle into 300 sets of 10 (took Friday evening and all day Saturday) and then her and her two friends spent a couple of hours Saturday evening to deliver them (closely followed by me in the car! with the bundles they couldn't carry. She did struggle with it all and she was very tired but she earnt herself $60 so will be pleased when she gets paid. The only problem is that she has to do midweek as well as weekend so tomorrow we have to start all over again which will be a lot harder as she has clubs and school !! Mind you, only a few weeks left of school so, if she can get through those she'll have the summer hols and will earn herself a packet. Hopefully we'll have less demands for money - would be good if she could save though as well !!

No news on the pool, suprise suprise, but Mutley managed to pick up an eye infection and, over $300 later, no one really knows how or why but the tablets seem to be working. The only problem now is that he doesn't seem to want his food, but, other than that, he's back to normal and bombing around all over the place and chewing everything !

Tallulah has applied for a job as a school councillor. She had to do a cover, letter and full resume which was good practice for her - and me ! It all has to be in tomorrow so fingers crossed for her. I should get Paul to do a resume too and get that out there - you never know what he may pick up.

05:34 - Sun 18 November 2007 - comments {0}

Yellow lines

Well it's been a while since I've been on so I thought I'd better let you all know that we are still alive and kicking !!

The pool saga continues but at least work has progressed somewhat. Paul has been working all day then spending all evening and every weekend on it and it is in the final stages, just the fencing (which is all ready just waiting for a date that they'll fit it), the quartzite (guy is coming to have a nose to work out how much quartzite he'll need and is then telling us when he can do it) then all the lights, pump etc can be fitted before the water goes in and then it's just a case of waiting for the gubbins to do their job before we can throw ourselves in. Boy do we need it, 35 degrees today and no breeze so very sticky and it's supposed to be hotter tomorrow. The dog hasn't even been able to raise his head at all he's so hot, bless.

A bit of excitement last night, the kids hadn't been long in bed when Nakita comes out (forever the drama queen!) complaining that she couldn't sleep because she heard a gun shot. Paul explained that it's just the zapper killing all the mozzies who now have a permanent home in our concrete hole. Next is a siren, then another and another and more. I thought it was on the telly and Paul was snoring so didn't hear it.
Then it's the helicopter complete with search light and it's right over our house. Argh !!  The chopper landed and the end of our road and was there for at least half an hour before taking off again. Today, when we went out, there's just lots of luminous yellow lines and arrows but no one is any the wiser as to what happened !! It was a real reminder of the UK, especially when we lived in Broad Croft, as it was a standard thing every weekend, it took this for us to notice that the siren noise is barely around here.

Building work in Peel has now come to a stand still so Paul is officially unemployed - never very good for someone is self employed. He's confident that he'll get something though so is now out on the campaign trail searching for work. I think the hold up is with the council approving planning and there'll be a lot of guys out of work in the area as they won't be prepared to travel. So many blocks have been sold and there are building sites everywhere but no work because some dipstick doesn't realise that their actions actually cost people their livelihoods. Oh well, lets hope it's a short term blip (it had better be we haven't got any savings !) and I'll have better news next week.

Oh well, back to the ironing.

10:00 - Sun 11 November 2007 - comments {0}

Pool update and Pets in the Park

Work has started back on the pool but the money has now run out. The plumbing has now all been laid and this week the pool headers will be too. Our fencing is all ready and waiting and the decking is fitted. All we had to do was organise the poured limestone. We had a guy round who quoted over $8,700 which, at the price per sqm he originally quoted, worked out at 140 sqm. I don't think so, obviously the B.A.T. (British Added Tax) has struck again. As soon as they hear the accent, they double the price. It happens a lot here, shame. So we are now unsure what to do, we won't be allowed to leave it as it is and there's no money to do anything else. Catch 22. Oh well, I'm sure it'll get sorted somehow.

Today was 'pets in the park', Nakita and I took Mutley and the park was heaving with dogs (mainly maltese shitzu crosses all dressed up). Nakita, in her wisdom, entered Mutley for 'prettiest' dog and 'most talented'. Needless to say he didn't win anything but he spent so much energy sniffing everything that he slept for hours when he got back. I bumped into 3 friends which is good as it helps to reinforce the fact that you have made a life here especially as there's no Tescos to bump into everyone !!

The Body Shop parties have now picked up big time and sales are jumping. I would be earning good money if Tallulah didn't keep putting in her orders for Christmas. She must be the only 11 year old with nearly the complete Body Shop ranges. I was in the top 400 consultants for Australia last month and won myslef an ugly Ruby doll. It might be ugly but I am dead proud of myself.

I've stopped working every week at the school canteen now and only work fortnightly. I was hoping to claw back some hours to actually clean the house but church have now started up fortnightly ladies meetings on the alternate weeks so it hasn't changed anything. I still run around like the duracell battery on speed but, as Paul says, if I wasn't I'd find something to do. So, on that note, I'll log off and finish the ironing !

11:11 - Sun 21 October 2007 - comments {1}

Bricklayer in Oz

At what point do you think Paul will get the message that he shouldn't be a bricklayer anymore ?

In less than a year he has hurt his back badly, torn the muscles in his arm and, on Friday, he fell off the scaffolding and has torn chunks of his flesh out (one in particular is still raw, he should have gone to casulty). .

Ok, so it's not cold here and, whilst we have had a fair amount of rain the last couple of months, no where near what we would have got in the UK but I do think that he's finding it harder to work here than in the UK. In addition, you may need to get a health and safety card to work here but h & s is otherwise non existant.

Compared to most other occupations in WA, brickies and tradies are very well paid. That said, I think they all earn every single cent. 

We're still hoping for a lotto win before Paul kills himself !

01:24 - Mon 15 October 2007 - comments {0}

Wildflowers and the Dore programme

09:29 - Mon 1 October 2007 - comments {0}

Education

This week seems to have revolved around schools once more. Tuesday was parents evening when we got to go in and see all of their work. Other than the two of them starting a fight in the Japenese room it went very well. We were impressed by both of their work and Tallulah's teacher didn't stop raving about her...........apparently she's top of the class, always listens, is always interested and can be relied upon to behave maturely and responsibly. I have no idea how much she paid him but I think she has found a teacher, finally, who inspires her and she'll remember for life

On Saturday we attended an open day at one of the private high schools we are interested in. It's a fairly new school and is still only half built which didn't look good, but the facilities (when they're finally finished) do look impressive and the standard of work was high. Tallulah is much more open about private high schools now and not so dismissive, none of her friends are going privately but she does need the discipline which isn't there in state schools as they believe in self discipline, ok for some, not for her. We haven't discounted the state school but we are looking at a couple of private schools too. She will have the interviews for them next year and they will be looking at her school reports from last year until then and we'll then find out if they want her. At that point we'll sit down and discuss the options. Luckily she's even come round to the idea of wearing a skirt !! Her first choice of school is actually a specialist school where she can do dance, drama etc in Fremantle, but the standards there are very high with 600 pupils applying in each class for only 100 places and I think it's too far for her to travel and too much pressure on her to 'perform', not to mention all her school friends being too far away !! Luckily, despite being 11 now, she doesn't start high school until Feb 2009 when she'll be nearly 13 so we have plenty of time to think about it (and save !!)

I have taken on the role of Service co-ordinator at church. It involves setting up the church and basically doing everything the Pastor asks both before and during the service. The only downside is that I have to be at church for 8am !! I have now done this the last 3 Sundays and am desparate for a lie in. It doesn't look like that will happen anytime soon though.........it's mad here !!

06:23 - Sun 23 September 2007 - comments {0}

Faction Carnival

Sports Day was held last Monday only here it's called a Faction Carnival. It is a mini olympics - the whole school did the parade at the start and then all the children were in constant races all day. They all had a go at everything and, with the individual races, they divide them into divisions so that they only race people of the same ability which is great. Nakita came first in tug of war then had a 2nd and 3rd in the team races with a 4th in the 100m so got a ribbon. Tallulah had loads of stickers for 1st and 2nd but came 5th in the hurdles and 100m so missed out on a ribbon, she was really close to getting a 4th on the 100m but got pipped at the post - should have been a photo finish but no one had cameras. It was quite a warm day and a lot of parents were red by the end, luckily the teachers had sun lotion for all those who had forgotten !! What got me was the number of parents who turned up. They were all there from the beginning and lined the 100m track with their chairs, eskys were brought filled to the brim with food and drink and the canteen (where I spent most of my time) was busy serving coffee, tea and cakes as well as the usual lunches and recess. A sausage sizzle was also put on. Next year I'll be prepared !!

After that the weather turned bad so Paul lost a lot of time and money at work again but today is gorgeous so he is out working on the pool. It's down to him now to build the water feature and tile it, he used a lazer level to get the line for the tiling........only to find that the pool wasn't level (it was 90mm out, so he has had to build up one end. Lucky he is doing the tiling or we wouldn't have known until the water was put in and then it would have shown up wonky !! You never know, we may still make the pool being finished for the summer (I'm glad we started at the beginning of winter !)

03:32 - Sun 16 September 2007 - comments {0}

I can never tire................

.........................of Perth's skyline. Everytime I go NOR (north of the river) the freeway takes you almost directly into Perth CBD (central business district ie the centre !) you just end up skirting all the tall buildings. By day it is a lovely sight but at night it is all lit up and absolutely stunning ! I love it. I do travel NOR quite frequently (am contemplating buying a place closer to the CBD pending a lotto win) and the sight never ceases to amaze me.

The same night I saw this (Friday) was the first time I have ever been stopped and breathalysed but I'm sure it won't be the last. Over here they shut off  the whole road and stop everyone, you don't even see their 'bus' until you've passed the last junction so you cannot escape it unless you already know it's there (and a lot seem to).  They do this quite frequently too. The allowable level is very low, I think you can have a half and that's it. I rarely drink and never drive if I do so wasn't worried, the guy in front had to show his licence and the one in front of that was pulled over. Unfortunately, despite this, drink driving is very common and I think this is because it is socially acceptable. I hear many stories of people drunk driving home and guys just seem to pat them on the back. Almost everyone knows someone who has lost their licence.............and then they wonder why there are so many deaths on the roads !

This week was a great week for Tallulah. Her choir performed their song at the school assembly which is held fortnightly and she was awarded a merit certificate. Oz is not a country renowned for their 'PC' behaviour and so you really have to work hard for a certificate - no making sure that everyone gets at least one in a term/year. No reward goes with the certificate but it is held in such high regard that she really wanted one and did everything she could to get one. Paul even took time off from work to see her  being presented with it.

The last bit of excitement over here was the appearance of the mating whales. I knew you could see whales in WA but I thought we'd have to travel quite a bit north or south to see them. We didn't actually get to see them as no one thought to text us, but they were really close to shore and I keep walking the beach in the hope of seeing them. All my friends have been put on text alert too so have to text me if they see any and I'll drop everything and go ! Mind you, it took me months before I saw a wild roo and dolphins so I won;t hold my breath for a whale. I did see a quokka on Thursday though which was a first !

03:33 - Sun 9 September 2007 - comments {2}

...........and so a year has gone.

12:35 - Mon 3 September 2007 - comments {4}

no swimming yet !

The pool has now been concreted and there's a little bit of water in it (from the rain) but we're still a bit off from using it !!

We have had an awful week weather wise, Paul has lost quite a few hours and we also lost quite a bit of ground when it collapsed bringing the steel down into the pool !! There were quite a few swear words which is what originally highlighted to me that there may be a problem, but the pool guy rang Paul and got him to come home and prop up the retaining wall to next doors garden and then all was well again and smiles all round.

We're just waiting for a revised quote now and then the tiles and headers can be done. I am still chasing pool fencing quotes which range from $9k to $12k, we are getting as many quotes as possible but none are cheaper than the first few we had.......and they shocked us !! Mutley is still having to be contained indoors as there are huge holes around the pool which need backfilling, but I hope that won't be for much longer - especially at the weekends.

I had the meeting with Nakita's teacher last week that was requested on the report but it was just really a catch up re the dyspraxia etc. Her teacher is very pleased with her progress and amazed at the achievements she has made (shows the difference a fab teacher makes without the hinderance of government laid down curriculums !) but she is concerned that she doesn't run 'right' . Apparently her gait is wrong and so I need to get this checked out but would explain why she really does struggle with walking and running despite the amount we do. Of course, when we are out with her she's always by our side but, if there is anything wrong, I am shocked it wasn't picked up by the UK teachers. There again, perhaps I shouldn't be shocked, the kids are fair happier and achieving much more than they ever did in the UK.

I had another trip to the dentist and another bill for nearly $1000 - that will be $4000 all told in less than a year. Paul finally woke up and is now getting insurance. My teeth alone means we will get our monies worth !!

No more to tell - will add some more pool pics and update more next week.

04:04 - Sun 29 July 2007 - comments {0}

The news we've been waiting for !!

Yippee. Our licence came through for the swimming pool so work commenced with a vengence on Wednesday. We had a couple of nice sunny days and a couple of horrible wet and windy days but they still managed three complete working days and only had to go home early (at 10am !) on Saturday. They start at 7.30am with loud music and lots of banging, I'm planning on hiring them when the pools finished as it's amazing how quickly the girls get up after they start !!

The bobcat came the first day and made quick work of digging out the massive hole. It took two days to dig out and then they started to line the area with steel. They're hoping to spray the cement on Thursday so I'm hoping the weather will improve. We've been back and forth about whether to paint the pool or have quartzite and I think we've decided on the latter - it should give a nice glittery look to the pool as opposed to the usual flat look they have here (in WA not the rest of Oz, they're more advanced !) as almost all pools are either fibreglass or painted. It should, hopefully, last longer too.

So it's all go and very exciting here, the only downside is that Mutley can't go out in the garden as it's all open and would get in the way so, bless him, he's contained to the house and not very happy about it. Even this weekend he couldn't go out as he could collapse the walls so it looks like we'll have at least 6 weeks of him being in and being full of energy, not nice for a pup.

I'm now running around getting quotes for fencing as the original ones were for $9,000 (we're having glass) which we can't afford so we are looking at seeing if anyone can come in cheaper, then we need to pick the quartzite (and find out how much extra we're going to be stung for that) and then pick the tiles, arrange for the poured limestone, get the solar heating and pool blanket and then live on beans on toast forever until it's paid for. Roll on summer, I say !! Paul's already planning his Christmas day around the pool and Christmas presents are sorted - lilos all round !!

05:46 - Sun 22 July 2007 - comments {0}

First week of the hols

10:26 - Sun 15 July 2007 - comments {1}

The weather has finally changed

The last week we have had quite a bit of rain (still doesn't stop some people having their retic on watering their gardens!) and wind. The house Paul was building fell over so he had to redo it and I don't hold out much hope for it still standing tomorrow when he goes to work ! Despite this it is still fairly warm (in the late teens) and the rain does stop and the sun shines brightly most days. My roses need to be pruned back but they are still in full bloom so I don't want to and the narcissi are out and looking lovely, they obviously don't know that it's mid winter.

Not much is happening now, next week is the last week of term (it'll be the 11th straight week of school too !) and we all really need the holidays for a lie in, almost every night seems to be a late one and every morning an early one. I held my last Body Shop party on Friday and I now have no more booked in. I have tried everything to get people to host a party, flyers around houses, posters up, catalogues into both primary schools etc but haven't heard a thing. Lots of people said that they wanted one, but have not followed through so I am now jobless. Fingers crossed someone nice takes pity on me soon.

The girls' school reports are out next week and I am hoping for good things but you never know. They are both very happy though so that's the main thing and they are learning. Tallulah is off on Friday to plant some native trees in the community and then, in August, she has a trip to Fremantle to visit the round prison and boat museum. Paul and I found both of these fascinating but I can't see Tallulah being interested. Still, it's a day out of school for her and a chance to chat to her mates all day !!

My friends back in the UK have all been off to Cedar Falls (the health spa we went to annually) this weekend and I thought I'd find that tough, but I haven't, so I must be more settled here now. I counted up that it's 33 weeks until my 40th so not enough time for Paul to save for me to go to Las Vegas (which I really want to do), we should have done it from the UK as would have been much cheaper. I have thrown lots of ideas at him about things to do but, no doubt, he'll leave it until the last minute and then not be able to sort out anything and we'll end up at the McDonalds like last year !! I have informed him that, should that happen again, divorce is on the cards !! Not good at 'thinking' or 'organizing' my hubby.

Paul is cracking on with the house, he has put in a door and bricked up above it so it's not quite so open plan, but is struggling to match the colour of the cement as the previous builders used cream but hadn't cleaned out their mix form the grey so it's a 'dirty' cream !! So he had to dig it all out and start again as it was too grey and this last lot is too cream so looks like he'll have to do it again, poor thing. The work is very, very slow as he only has weekends and still does his daily trip  to Bunnings so ends up with only two afternoons . I don't mind as long as he is doing it and not glued to the telly !

Oh well, time to get off. It's 'home open' time soon - where people who are selling their houses open the doors for 45 mins on a weekend and you just walk in and have a nose. Debbie is looking at houses as well as my friend Jill, so at least I'm no longer being nosey and am legitimately looking, if not for me.

02:55 - Sun 1 July 2007 - comments {0}

mundane stuff

Not a lot happened this last week - Paul has finished the fruit garden and made a start at putting a door in to separate the girls bedrooms from the living area (they kept complaining the tv was too loud at night!). We have high cathedral ceilings so he put in the door frame and then needed to brick up above it, unfortunately, he could get bricks to match so instead he has had to knock down part of an internal wall to do so.  The wall was going to come down eventually but not quite yet so outside looks good and now inside is a building site !! Paul's never happy unless he's living in a mess ! No door has appeared yet though !

It's a long 11 weeks of term this time and we're all struggling to get up in the mornings, I'm still the nasty mum and make them walk to school and then the dog and I take off for a longer jaunt on the way back. We do a different route every day and I seen some awesome houses and views. The four of us took Mutley out for a walk down to the beach on Friday and it was gorgeous. The sun was setting and the girls picked up loads of shells from the beach and rockpools. Nakita has found an outcrop of rocks which she believes to be a mermaid's home and she's marked out all the different rooms - I must remember the camera next time !! It was nice taking time out as a family to walk our local area and remind ourselves of what we have on the doorstop. There were even surfers out but I'm a wimp, the water is way too cold for me.

The weather has been really nice again though - a week of 20+ degrees, just one storm which saved the retic having to come on and we got to sit outside for our coffee morning once more. No heating needed at nights anymore and we're due a couple of weeks of this. If this is winter - bring it on, although I do know that August can be bad but I can cope with one month of winter.

Good news re the pool too - the plans are now into the council so we have just 4/5 weeks to wait before the licence will be granted (fingers crossed) and then we can book a date for the digger to start. Can wait for our first Christmas in the pool and Tallulah is already planning a pool party for her birthday (will have to get the pool heated!)

03:15 - Sun 17 June 2007 - comments {0}

Medicare

After nearly 10 months of being in Oz I decided to test out the Medicare system ! This is similar to the NHS in the UK, but with a difference !

A few weeks ago I hurt my back shovelling soil in the garden, a week ago this became quite sharp leg pains which were constant but in different parts of my leg. I gave it a week of sleepless nights then rang a local doc for an appointment at 9am on Friday morning. I got an appointment at 9.45 THAT day ! No emergency appointment needed - this was normal - I was stunned, shocked and very, very pleased. Turns out I have arthritis in my back and sciatica in my leg, lovely, got many tablets none of which are helping and told to go back in a week for a back scan if things no better. The doc chatted away explaining it all to me, I didn't feel rushed, I felt valued, not moaned at for my weight (well he couldn't really he was 3 times the size of me!) and gave me some tablets for free to try.  I went out to the desk to pay (you then claim a portion back from the Medicare office) and found that they bulk billed too (they charge Medicare direct) so nothing to pay either. After the dentist visit, this was a very pleasant experience !!

Things are getting easier with the dog. We fitted a dog flap into the patio door, it's a separate panel that just slots into the runner so it's not permanent and was fitted within minutes. We've finally decided that he really is stupid and not stubborn as he can use the flap, but quite often forgets where it actually is and goes up and down the whole length of the door tapping with his paw to find it !! It does mean, however, that he can just go out when he wants the loo so toilet training is now sorted. Yippee. Now we just need to fit an internal door to stop him going into the bedrooms and taking all the girls' toys and putting them in his basket !!

Work continued this weekend on the garden but still no pics of "after" as nothing has been finished. We still need some mulch to finish off the fruit garden but Paul has promised to get it tomorrow - we'll see !! I'm desparate for at least one project to be completed in this house, the pool is held up at the engineers, we need bricks for the internal door (oh, and a door but we have a frame !), have to get the plans drawn up for the second storey and the changes we want to make to the first floor  and most rooms need decorating and new lighting and sockets put in. I've drawn up a list and there was 127 items to do - and only 6 crossed off - at this rate we'll be finished by December 2017. Perhaps we'll throw a party for my 50th birthday to celebrate !!!!!!!!!!!

09:47 - Sun 10 June 2007 - comments {0}

Schools

Tallulah had a few problems at school when we left the UK, she was quite anti-teachers, disrespectful and couldn't be bothered. When she started school in Oz, she started off in the same vein but all that has now dissappeared !!

Her new teacher is lovely, really clued up on kids and well aware that Tallulah used her 'cuteness' to get away with things. In the last 5 months her behaviour has totally turned around and she came home grinning on Friday because she had completed her challenges. She was given 16 stretch targets about attitude, behaviour and work and she achieved all 16 - I was a very proud mum. So I gave her a treat of her choice and she chose a day out shopping with her friend, so Saturday saw me up at Garden City with Tallulah and her friend Tenielle - we were there for over 5 hours and they loved it. We are now all shopped out for a while but she loves school and is doing brilliantly. Mr Bell is so pleased with her too and says she has high potential - even more pressure on to find the right high school !!

Today Deb and I went up to Burswood Dome to see the Grumpy Old Women. It was funny, I was crying with laughter a lot of the time and it was nice to see Debbie laughing too. Paul was a star and had 5 kids for the day - still, gave him an excuse to get out of the gardening !! Bank holiday tomorrow so he won't have any excuse then. We'll be back at the Burswood Dome for Christina Aguillera in July and I quite fancy a visit to the hotel and casino sometime soon !!

09:53 - Sun 3 June 2007 - comments {0}

More boring housework

This week Debbie and I went up to Fremantle for the day whilst the kids were at school. We wandered around the shops and finally found Myer quite by accident (we've looked for it every time we've been there before but never found it). They had a sale on so Nakita gained some new clothes (Tallulah is still too picky) and then we had a nose around the perfumes before getting told off by a hoity toity sales assistant. We then had dinner at the Little Creatures Brewery (wierd menu but we found something we liked) and I picked up a crate of stubbies (pils). Good day out.

The socket situation, especially in the kitchen, has really got me down. We only have two useable sockets so, if the breadmaker is on, we're down to one for 4 hours !! For some reason most Ozzie houses only have one double socket in each room and it's awful, extension leads trail everywhere ! The final straw this week was when the slow cooker and breadmaker were both on and Paul had to plug the kettle in on top of the fridge freezer - really dangerous. So today he's having lots more extra sockets put in - about time too.

In the fruit garden the trees are all finally planted. We just need to mulch the soil and put the wires up for the cherry and it's a job that can be ticked off. I'll then take a pic so you can see "before" and "after". Hopefully you'll see a difference. It will take a good few years before we can pick the fruit, but I look forward to it and a reduction in our food bill !

We've been checking out home opens this weekend too, just for ideas about what we can do with our house, today we saw one with a nice fireplace so now I'm undecided about whether to go for a gas fire or woodburner. Paul is still stuck on a woodburner so we'll have to have a nose around the shops and see. The shops are only open Monday to Friday office hours (when Paul's at work) and a Saturday morning so we'll have to get out early on Saturday. The shop hours do annoy me - if you work full time you have no real chance of wandering around the shops in winter, hopefully WA will pull themselves out of the dark ages soon. They're the only state that have these laws.

One thing the homes opens have shown though, is that we are now priced out of the UK housing market. I checked out a real estate website in the UK (for fun) and found a house identical to the one we had up for 286,000 - that's $715k here - I could get an absolutely massive, stunning house for that, could even build our own. If we sold what we have here and returned and had the same mortgage as we had originally in the UK we'd be lucky to get a 2 bed tiny house. Luckily we have no intention of ever returning, it does amaze me how the kids growing up are ever going to afford UK property, it'll probably go back to the dark ages when only the rich people had houses and everyone else rented !

05:31 - Sun 27 May 2007 - comments {0}

Finally....

... the garden is starting to take shape. Paul has finished  making a path to the side gate and it looks brilliant. I've planted strawberries, carrots, broccoli, beetroot, leeks, rhubarb and garlic so I'm hoping to live off the land soon, hehehe, don't think that will ever happen !!

This week we need to start removing sand from the garden (yes, our garden is pure sand !) ready to order some soil. Today we trotted off to Bunnings for some fruit trees so we now have an apricot, cherry, pear, necterine, orange, lemon and granny smith and pink lady apple trees to plant, it's amazing being able to grow some of these. Nakita can't work out why we can't grow bananas and doesn't understand that we're only "temperate" and not "tropical". I'm sure she'll end up living in Cairns with her own mini rainforest !!

The days here are still fairly warm (20 degrees) but some nights have become quite chilly. Some friends have woodburners and the smell and comfort these give are awesome. Paul and I are actually in agreement about getting one of these so we just need to save the $2000 to install one, then we'll, later on, get some ducted reverse cycle air con so we'll be able to have heat and air con coming from the ceiling in each room. The fact that it's turned colder is making us all Christmassy which is wierd - I can see now why there are a number of people who celebrate it in July. There is a big hype for Christmas here in July as most people buy all their presents then on "layby". This is where they put everything they want into a trolley and take it up to a desk. It's all scanned and you pay 10% with fornightly or weekly payments thereafter - once you've paid for your goodies, you can take them home.  We decided not to do this last year as I felt you'd end up spending more but, what we didn't realise, is that everyone else does this and stocks aren't refilled so, come November - nothing is left !! An advantage of this, of course, is that you don't need to find hiding places for all the presents as the shop itself has this headache (but then they don't have little children nosing around either !)

Today is our wedding anniversary and Paul bought me a lovely card and some gorgeous earrings. I think this is our first one ever that he's really bothered ! He is certainly quite a different person from the UK one, much happier, more laid back and not so wound up. We were planning on going out for a meal but Nakita was sick yesterday so we felt better not to chance it. Instead we're getting a take away, so far we are yet to find a good one. We were recommended a chinese but they gave us a completely wrong order so won't be back. There's plenty around - if you like burgers and chicken ! So if anyone knows of any good ones around here - please let me know !

06:53 - Sun 20 May 2007 - comments {0}

Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day and so far so good !! I was brought breakfast in bed, given a gorgeous pair of pjs and some chocolates and had some lovely cards. At church I was given a flower and the girls made a flower arrangement each for me, then we had a women only tea with sarnies, sausage rolls and cake. It was all lovely. Paul is now doing homework with the girls but promises me a lovely cooked tea !!

This week has been incredibly busy. On Monday I spent the day in Hocking visiting a friend and her new house. I was a little apprehensive about visiting as, initially, it was an area I wanted to live in before Paul persuaded me to move (much further) south. However, whilst the house was lovely (and very big) I did realise that I take it for granted that the beach is just at the end of our road and roos live in the area in between. The shops are better NOR but I just need to be patient and wait until someone realises that it makes good business sense to build a shopping centre here.

On Tuesday and Friday Debbie and I ventured to the gym - it has been a year or two since I last went but it was good to see that I could run for a bit without collapsing. I am no where near as fit as I was but not as unfit as I thought I could be !! I also ended up walking the dog both in the morning and evening on Tuesday and it was good to see that I was able to get out of bed quite easily on Wednesday !!

Mutley has been scratching a lot since we've had him which I thought was fleas but he has been defleaed so, at his final vaccination, I asked the vet and she confirmed that there are no fleas but that he may be allergic to his food !! I had just bought a whole new bag but looks like I need to go and get another type to see if his scratching stops ! He was star of attraction at the school on Friday when both girls took him in for "news", he absolutely loved the attention and kissed everyone and didn't embarrass himself or me at all !!

I worked in the canteen again all day Thursday and Friday too. It was only meant to be the one day but it's been hectic and they couldn't cope so I was called in as an emergency. It may be that I end up in there more often - shame really that all the other non working mums don't help. I thought parent participation in the UK school was rubbish but, here, it's non existent. Shame on them !!

02:57 - Sun 13 May 2007 - comments {0}