Margaret saves the day!

As previously blogged, we've put our house on the market. And trying to organise all sorts of things before photos are taken for realestate.com.au

Things like painting the back deck ceiling, installing proper lights into two of the bedrooms and getting the lawn mowed. Mum and Dad have really helped by getting the lights and the paint, but the lawns, well that's a different story.

It doesn't help that Brisbane has had bad weather for the past few weeks. And you cannot find a mowerman for love or money who's not booked up four weeks in advance! I rang 4 companies today, left three messages and was laughed at by one bloke when I asked if he had someone available in the next few days. So I left a message for Margaret asking for the number of the bloke that does her lawn.

She rang back an hour later, she'd just spoken with her mowerman, Andrew, and he was willing to come over late today or tomorrow to do the lawns, as a favour to her!!!!!

Margaret, you are worth your weight in gold.

Ado Annie moment

I've sort of said that I'll be in the St Mary's christmas street parade next week!

My belly dancing instructor asked all of us if we would dress up and "march" with her and another women from her troupe. Everyone said no, they didn't want to look silly. I just used the excuse that I had nothing to wear.

She rang me at work tonight, saying that she had some outfits that might fit and it'd be great to have me and Mim there, and her brother might be able to bring his pet python. So I had an "Ado Annie" (Oklahoma) moment and said yes.

I'd already made a blue veil/scarf for myself and a pink one for Mim. Should have made a burka instead! Wonder if I can be a "masked bellydancer"?

Words of wisdom

Tonight, Michael and Caitlin had speech night. He dropped Mim off at the hospital for me to take her home and feed her.

"Hmmm, what about yummy spaghetti? I've still got some meat sauce left over and it won't take long to cook when we get home."

"No, KFC would be easier for you, trust me Mummy"

How can you defy logic like that!

The Child has no shame...

One of the teachers at Michael's school has on two occasions given Mim a little present, a bar of soap and something else which escapes me at this present time.

Last week, Mim went skipping into Michael's staffroom, ignored him and went straight up to the other teacher, "Do you have something for me today?"

That child's got more front than World War 2!!

No Mushroom Cloud on the Horizon

No need to head for the bomb shelters, folks, the expected nuclear explosion did not occur.

Caitlin doesn't like change, and she's very fond of Kedron, so we were dreading telling her that we'd put it on the market. We'd expected much ranting and raving, disownment followed by massive sulking.

I told Caitlin the news on Tuesday afternoon. She reacted more maturely than expected.
She sobbed for a little while, until Mim said "I think Caity needs a sleep", which brought forth giggles.

I'm very proud of how grown-up she's been about our decision. We've explained to her why we've decided to take that action and she's accepted our reasons with good grace.

Plus, I've bribed her with the promise of a Wii when the house sells. And given her my old mobile phone (I'm using Dad's old one now).

So, if anybody out there knows of anybody interested in buying our Kedron property, contact David Lazzarini at Ray White Lutwyche!!!

What the puppies have done over the past week

More photos of the life of puppies:


Sleeping with head in ugg boot


Good morning Jemima


Destroying an old pillow


Exhausted, resting on Caitlin

Waht a waste of a day!!

I had grand plans for yesterday, so much to accomplish! I wanted to put on a few loads of laundry, vacuum and mop floors, make lasagne sheets, make jam drops, make the curry pie, as well as blog.

Mim slept in until 10.15am and so I was limited to doing the dishes quietly. The grey clouds looked promising, so I decided to leave the washing 'til later. The dogs had had me awake since 5, so by 10.30 I was a bit pooped. Told Mim that I was going for a little lie down, and she could play quietly for a while.

I remember her bringing Jess in and putting her on the bed about 11ish, I mumbled that I'd be up soon.

Next thing, I hear Mim outside yelling. I thought she'd hurt herself, so I raced out of bed only to find that she was yelling for Sarah. Looked at the kitchen clock - it was 2pm!!!!!!!!! I still had to iron clothes for work, have a shower and then we had to leave. Mim got to have a bakery delight as a late lunch.

And today I've got Michael and Caitlin home sick, so won't get much done again. May as well just go back to bed :)

I wanna be a schoolgirl!

We picked up a "school uniform" from the second hand shop for a whole $2.

Mim thinks it is the best thing since sliced bread. She wants to wear it a lot because it's a school uniform just like Caity has to wear.

Doesn't she look cute! She says she is ready for Prep NOW!

Belly Dancing girls

Mim and I made it into The Spec on Saturday. They did an article on the belly dancing class that we attend.



I tried to hide up the back, I wasn't expecting a photographer that day so wasn't looking my best. Mim was looking cute as always!



Will have to post a photo of Mim in her (Caitlin's old) belly dancing costume, she looks wonderful, and all the girls are jealous of her flat tummy and her belly rolls!

More photos of the puppies

Just a few photos taken over the last week.

no point closing the gate, they just fly out

I didn't dig this hole, honest

Butter wouldn't melt in my mouth!

Who, me?

Sarah, chook dog!

Double delight, in full bloom

How the world looks at 6am, after you've been up for a few hours!

It's been a rough week

Last week was a very rough week.

The sunday afternoon we discovered the two large rainwater tanks in the western paddock were dry! They supply the house with all it's water, and they were empty!! Shit, shit, shit.....

So we flicked the supply over to the smaller tank attached to the garage, which was full, it couldn't get any fuller and called the plumber out first thing Monday morning.

The plumber, Greg, seemed to think there might be a blockage in one of the drains, but we should wait until the next time it rains to see where the blockage might be.

Monday night, we were only getting air through the taps, so called Greg again first thing Tuesday morning. This time, he suspected the pump in the garage wasn't working properly, so he took it to pieces, couldn't find any problem and put it back together again. I was able to fill the sink to do dishes and go for my shower, all appeared fixed. When Michael got home on Tuesday night, he only got air coming through the pipes again... and was not a happy chappy.

So, out comes Greg on Wednesday morning and was greeted by Gomez like one of the family. He removed the big yellow air compression tank on the top of the pump and replaced it with one of his own, and all worked fine. He thought it might be the diaphragm inside this device, it appeared to be sticking. So he lent us his big yellow thingie until we got our big yellow thingie fixed.

Anyway, we didn't know how long it would be before we got a decent amount of rain at a time that we could check gutters, so Michael bought a long hose and the last weekend we poked it down drainpipes to see where any potential blockages could be. Found only one, thank goodness, at a point that is reasonably easy for Greg to get to with his worm or eel or whatever they call those things.

So hopefully this will all be rectified in the next few days, and we can have water carted in to fill those tanks to last us through summer. Unless we get a decent rainfall between now and summer!

As well as the empty tank saga, we learned that we were losing our best tenants! So now the decision has to be made, sell or rent the Kedron property? (Congratulations on Gigantor, Carla, hopefully it didn't cop too much of a blasting during Sunday's storm)

And now, it looks like Gomez might have conjunctivitis, so I'm taking all three dogs to the vet this afternoon, the puppies can have their jabs and be microchipped while Gomez gets checked out. That'll be a fun trip!!

PS. The plumber has just left, the drains are unblocked so Bring On the Rain!!!

Dinner and Show, Coleraine style

Michael took me to dinner and a show, Coleraine style, on Saturday night.

It was a Johnny Cash tribute. Enough said.

Now, the food was very good (usual Julie standard), the music was well played and sung .... it's just that I'm not a Johnny fan ... or a Willie fan ... or a Dolly fan - you get the message! Even though I knew the words to most of the songs.



Jemima had a great time, she was dancing with Nell, another little girl her age. She even requested the band (the two men) play Burn Burn Burn (Ring of Fire) and Jackson.



Before the live music started, Mim and Caitlin went upstairs to see "the girls" .... and came downstairs with straight hair. Viannah had been using her hair straightener, and had then "done" Mim and Caitlin. Mim looks so different with dead straight hair!



It was a good night for the pub, Julie did about 90 meals and there were the others in the bar area. I took the girls home at 12.30am, the "big girls" (Viannah and her friends) had been teaching Mim to ride a scooter, she looked great in her white party dress and pink socks, carefully riding the scooter up and down the hallway.

Needless to say, the girls slept in until quite late the next morning, they didn't have to deal with puppies!

First Pee Free Night!

Friday night was the first Pee Free night I'd had for a long time!

It helped that I'd let the puppies outside around 10.30pm for a last romp and pee.

Then woke up at 3.30am and couldn't get back to sleep (Mim was busy trying to kick covers off and pushing me out of bed), so got up at 4am and let the puppies out again for another pee. Then, when the sun came up at 6am, I left the door open and they could come and go as they pleased. It was so nice not having to mop the floor down or pick up dog poo off the tiles before Jess danced through it and smeared it everywhere.

I went back to bed after lunch and slept for a few hours, so Michael could take me out Saturday evening.

OOPS!! Should HAVE used spell check!

We are having council elections down here soon. And you get the usual paraphernalia in the mail.



This guy should have used spell check!!



You can see why he's supporting educational developEment!

The Annual Coleraine Show

Yesterday was the annual Coleraine Show. I had been roped in to help in the Kindy hut, selling slices, soup and sandwiches. Got down to the showgrounds at 9am with my allotted items and started making sangers. The slices were very popular and sold well. There was a beautiful jelly slice, vanilla slice, apple cake, banana cake, caramel slice, caramel hedgehog, chocolate cake, peppermint pavlova, normal pavlova, chocolate mousse and fruit salad.

The day started out overcast with quite a few showers in the morning. Attendance was very slow at first, but pony club was happening and the tea and coffee sales were numerous.

Michael and the girls joined me at about 11.30am, so we wandered around looking at the animals. Little Stewie was in charge of the chooks (maybe because he is the size of a bantam?) but he was on his lunch break by the time we got over there. They had a small enclosure with a pony, three little pigs and two lambs. There was a beautiful Kelpie puppy for sale ($50 - no thanks, I think we have our quota of dogs now, maybe Owen would like it?), some ducklings, rabbits and guinea pigs. Along the western side there were a few remaining cattle from the earlier judging. Mim got to practice her "is it a bull or a cow" skill.



Then around to the back of the showground to watch the pony club and the chance to pat a beautiful Mim size black pony called Charlie. Mim lamented that she couldn't ride and desperately wanted to learn. Anybody got a pony they want to give away?



So, we bribed Mim into having lunch in the Kindy shed - the reward being a camel ride! It was a laugh watching Mim's and Caitlin's faces as the camel got up, and again as it knelt down. Mim enjoyed it so much that she went on a second ride, this time without Caitlin.



She also went on the two jumping castle things but was a bit young for the ChaChaCha (a vomit producing machine!)

So, after some rides, some food, a look at the animals and a showbag, we took the girls home (around 2pm) with the promise that we'd go back in the evening. They were able to play with (exercise) the puppies, go through the showbag and then have a sleep (well I did, and Mim had a rest).

(When Harry Potter meets Groucho Marx)

(puppies at play)

At 6pm, we rugged up (did I mention we'd maxed 18 degrees, and it dropped to 12 degrees, and windy) and went down to the pub to drop something off. A wedding party was having a few drinks before heading to their reception. Managed to get this shot, but missed a beautiful shot of a bridesmaid, in her finery, clutching a pot glass of beer.



At the show we had a few rides on the dodgem cars. Caitlin is NEVER getting behind the wheel of my car (will try to blog the video later).



Snags on bread (free) for dinner and then we watched the games. Eel catching, rolling pin throwing and haybale rolling. The eel catching was fun to watch. Participants had to run from their bin of water to a bathtub filled with water and eels, grab an eel (no scooping) and race it down to their bin of water, holding it out from their body. You can see where the expression 'slippery as an eel' comes from!



The rolling pin (extra big one) throwing was also a hoot. Mim asked what it was all about, so I told her that the girls had to throw the pin at Stewie (who was acting as a judge). So she went up to the compere and asked if she, too, could throw the rolling pin at Stewie. Unfortunately, she was too young.

Live music was on from 6pm onwards. The band (the one on bass is Caitlin's art teacher) played some good rock songs, and after it got dark, Mim had a great time dancing to them. They were set up in a truck.



The band wound up at 9.30pm and the fireworks started. Mim loved them! After that, we viewed the Beaut Ute competition (best spotlights, best revving, best horn) and I think the fire engine won! Then it was home with two tired girls. Mim is asking already when the next Coleraine Show is on!

Girl on Girl Action

Michael needs to have a man to man talk with Gomez.

He was watching the puppies play together this morning when he got excited by the girl on girl action. He kept trying to hump Sarah and his 'lipstick' kept coming out (another Jemima story there). So Michael needs to explain some things to him:

1. He has no nuts
2. Sarah is just a puppy
3. He has no nuts
4. Sarah is bigger than him, even at 9 weeks.
5. HE ... HAS ... NO.... NUTS!!!!

Re the lipstick - Jemima had asked what the red thing that came out of Gomez's whizzer was, she thought it might be his lipstick (you know how you twist a tube of lipstick and it comes out), well, it was less complicated to say, yes dear, and change the subject!

Should I do the washing?

I was planning on doing some washing today - the towels I've been using to clean up the dog pee really need to be soaked and washed.

But it's looking pretty overcast and is very VERY windy.



Watched some cockatoos try to fly in a straight line from one set of gum trees to another. They got to just above the house and then were swept sideways for at least 300m.

I suppose that the washing will dry very quickly, if it doesn't get blown to Portland.

Little Miss Independence

She's grown up so quickly. We now don't need to prepare breakfast or lunch for Mim, she does it herself.

We've left a little jug of milk in the fridge. In the mornings, Mim gets her cereal out of the cupboard, pours it into a bowl and then adds her own milk. (And we've caught her trying to refill her small jug with the almost full 2L milk container - it's not a pretty sight!)



For lunch, she makes her own jam and honey sandwich, and then cuts it into four (sort of) squares. Well, if you partially close your eyes and use your imagination, they are squares.

And snacks, she is allowed to help herself to the apples in the fridge, or the carrots. She's not allowed to help herself to sweets in the cupboard, but she does anyway if she thinks she can get away with it. She's also made herself drinks of Quik / Milo (at least three heaped teaspoons to half a glass of milk.

Next, she'll be cooking dinner for herself!

A week of little sleep

I have discovered the joys of Mudcake Latte coffee. As I'm not a coffee drinker, I need some sort of caffeine to kick start me in the morning (and Michael won't let me eat a block of chocolate first thing in the morning).

The puppies start their howling just on 6am, it's like they have an alarm clock with them. So, I roll out of bed and open the laundry door. I then try to stop them slipping and sliding all over the puppy pee on the tiles. I put a lead on Sarah (she likes to wander away, quickly) and take the two of them outside, where they relieve themselves and have a little wander around the house. I then tie Sarah up outside, tell Jess to stay with her, and quickly mop and clean up the laundry area, get the cat's breakfast, and prepare their breakfast - all to the accompanying howls ... they want to BE with me.

Then I can let them in, so they can eat breakfast and pee on the floor again. Actually, Sarah is pretty good by now, but Jess is Little Miss Pee Pot. Whilst they are eating breakfast, I can let the chooks out and feed them... and hopefully not be seen by the sheep, who will come running and jump the fence again.. and again... and again......

By now, it's 7 am, so I can wake up Caitlin and badger her into getting ready for school. The puppies play underfoot for a while, and I often sit on the floor so they can climb on my lap for a quick cuddle.

(Photo taken by Mim)

I managed to get half an hour's snooze yesterday afternoon, but only be taking Sarah to bed with me and stroking her belly for a few minutes. Jess snuck into the lounge room and curled up on some clothing whilst Mim quietly raided the cupboard for Michael's stash of jersey caramels!

Sarah is still quite reticient to get up close and personal with the sheep, but Jess is very curious about them. She'll still hide under the rose bush when Lulu jumps the fence and noses around.

Yesterday morning, I tied Sarah outside and told Jemima to keep an eye on Jess whilst I had my shower. Had just finished when I heard Mim sobbing, so I raced out of the house, starkers, to find Mim crying that Lulu and Ethel had hurt her. The silly child had called the sheep and then opened the shed door to get them some lamb nuts. Of course, the sheep were over the fence in a flash and pushing Mim out of the way to get at the food. She was fine, just scared. I must have looked a silly sight, rounding up sheep stark naked whilst the two dogs watched on!

And now the chooks have worked out that they can fly from the fence to the ground, and there's more grass out there! Spent this morning chasing three of them back into their pen!

So, it's now 9.10am, the puppies are sleeping, the chooks are in their pen, the sheep haven't jumped the fence yet and I'm going back to bed whilst Mim is still asleep.



PS. scratch that last thought, Mim is now awake. Oh well, maybe another cup of Mudcake Latte? Or should I just grab a block of chocolate?

Introducing Jess

This is our second baby. She is a 6week old Kelpie/Coolie/Smithfield cross. Jemima has decided that Sarah is now my dog and Jess is hers. She named her Jess after the bargirl at "Plaw's pub".

Yes, we are officially insane. We love not getting any sleep, having a house that smells of dog pee, having Morticia beyond being pissed off, Gomez looking at us with eyes that say "I liked being the only dog!".

Sarah is a very boisterous puppy, as Mim learnt tonight. Sarah also learnt that there are consequences when you playfully bit Mim. Big Daddy smacks you.... hard. Sarah loves 'playing' with Jess, but has learnt that she should never lie on her back with Jess around - Jess went straight for the nipples!

So, we now have five chooks, three sheep, three dogs, one cat ..... and we are still working on the partridge in the pear tree (got the pear tree - will a cockatoo do, Michelle?).

Anyway, this little black duck is going to try to get some shuteye before the whining from the laundry gets any worse!

A Second Set of Wheels

We have a new car! Well, a second hand new car. It's another diesel Pug, naturally. Michael had been "window shopping" on carsales.com.au and came up with a shortlist of 3. There was a blue station wagon with roof racks and towbar, on the other side of Melbourne that was listed as way above the Red Book recommended price. There was a white sedan in Melbourne that had 230,000kms on it. And there was this one. A silver sedan in Ballarat, good mileage, one owner and serviced at one place only. We arranged to go there yesterday for a test drive.

Michael wanted to leave by 8am, so i was up at 6am to deal with the animals. Sarah was let outside to relieve herself, the chooks were fed, watered and let out of the chook house. The lambs were watered and "nutted". It was then that my exercise regime started.

Ethel and Lulu jumped the fence. I had to open the gate to chase them back through. Sarah just looked at me "better do it again, don't think I got it the first time". The sheep jumped back in. I opened the gate again to chase them through, whilst watched by Sarah. "Nope, didn't get it that time either". Lambs jump fence again, I repeat the process, then notice the chooks are all on the top of their chook house, ready to fly over the fence. I chase them off, lambs come around to different part of the fence and sail on over. By this stage I'm swearing like a shearer "get your friggin' asses out of the yard, or I'll turn you into lamb chops!!" Chooks fly onto the roof again. Sarah just grins at me and pees. I get another serve of lamb nuts for the potential Christmas roasts and they happily munch on them in the paddock whilst chase the other potential Christmas roasts off the chookhouse roof.

By then, I was ready for my shower. Unfortunately, Michael and Caitlin had already been through showers, so I was left with tepid water to wash my hair in (whoo hoo!). But we managed to get out the door by eight. It was cold and cloudy the drive to Ballarat, only maxing 12 degrees.



As the car was just south of Ballarat, we took some minor roads to get there, avoiding the city. We were lucky (or unlucky) to come across some sheep being herded across the road. Mim enjoyed watching the sheepdog and man on horseback work the stock. Michael was ready to drive over the top of the cyclists, they were being a damn nuisance.



We arrived at Tim's place (absolutely beautiful house and gardens) and took the Pug for a test drive. Michael liked. Michael liked very much. I took the girls for a walk around the gardens whilst Michael and Tim talked, and five minutes later we were the new owners of a motor vehicle. I say that loosely. Tim told us we may as well drive it home, save coming back for a second trip. So, despite the fact that we hadn't signed any paperwork, and hadn't paid him any money (yet), he was happy for us to take the car. Guess we must have looked like trustworthy people :)

We proceeded on to Ballarat city centre and dined at Dino's, a Mediterranean restaurant. Rather nice. The sun had come out and the temp shot up to 20 degrees, so it was very pleasant. Caitlin chose to ride in the new car with Michael, and I had the Mimster. She was full from lunch, and I didn't put the air con on, so the car was lovely and warm, and quite inducive to having a sleep!!! Luckily, she did... I didn't.



Had to take a photo of this on the way home. Some people just have too much time on their hands!

Colours of Spring

I'd promised Mum that I'd blog (eventually) some of the flowers that are "happening" around our house. So here they are: