A few good books

I was shocked to realise yesterday that I haven't been to the library since early May just before we went on our holiday to Bargara, an indication of just how busy we have been since then. I have been reading though as I had my Birthday Books and a couple I bought for myself. I am currently reading `Just a little Italian' by Sally Hammond about her travels in the south of Italy. This is a less travelled part of Italy and as I have been to some of these places I am really enjoying this book. I am definitely an `armchair traveller'. I love reading travel stories of all sorts and about any place at all but Italy has a special place in my heart. I have also just finished reading the biography of artist Margaret Olley `Far From A Still Life' by Meg Stewart. I have always loved Olley's work and of course now she is an official `National Treasure'. I really enjoyed this book and it has inspired me to do some `still life painting with pixels'. Next in a completely different genre Sue gave me `Running with Scissors' by Augusten Burroughs for my Birthday. This book was very different and not one I would have bought myself (one reason I like receiving books as gifts) and I found it really fascinating. One for all those people who thought they were brought up in a weird family - Burroughs can outweird everyone :) I have also been reading `Stupid White Men' by Michael Moore - very interesting. It reminds me that most of the men I admire the most are black. Food for thought.

Our Kitchen Garden

One nice thing about our new home is that it has an established Kitchen garden, although at the moment it is probably what you would call `fallow'. The previous owners let it die off as they were moving so we have a bit of work to do but the basics are there. There is a large rosemary bush, some tomatoes, basil, a Curry tree, parsley, mango, orange, mandarin and lemon trees, plus quite a few other things which we can't identify but which look very interesting. One of the pluses is that we have several tall and prolific paw-paw (papaya) trees and we currently have 6 large paw paws on our kitchen bench and yesterday we gave 2 away. The problem we had though was how to pick them. Anyhow Alan has invented a `paw-paw picker' which is 2 old broomsticks joined together with a plant pot cable tied on the end. The trick then is to twist the pot so that the fruit breaks off and lands in the pot. Sometimes works sometimes doesn't but it is better and safer than a ladder and we can use it for mangos too :)

Digital Visitor's Book

I have always liked the idea of having a Visitor's Book, it is a really good way to look back on a lot of great social moments while at the same time having a record of dates, names and contact details etc. So in our new home rather than buying an old fashioned book I have `done it digi'. I am printing out a 6x4 page on photo paper which is inexpensive and can be easily put into an album. I ask every visitor to write their name and contact details and to include a comment if they like, then I can scan this and make it into a brush (like a digi stamp). Then I just add a photo and some of my own thoughts about the day. Next I am going to buy a beautiful 6x4 album to put them all in and then any time I like I can look through it. Also handy for keeping contact details of all these wonderful people who come to visit :) Here is an example of the one I did from yesterday. I have erased the personal details for my Blog but you can see the general idea.

A Very Social Week

I have been a bit slow updating this week but my excuse is that we have been very full on being social, entertaining and being entertained and it has been really busy but a lot of fun. Last Monday Alan's sister Margaret arrived to visit for 3 days. We really enjoyed this as we love seeing Margie. Then on Saturday we had Sue, Brian and our grandchildren Joel and Sam for lunch and dinner. We also all watched the AFL Grand Final This was great as we got to test drive our new barbie which went well. Then on Sunday we drove down to Brisbane for our friend Carita's 18th Birthday Party. Carita has her Birthday on the same day as Alan and they both love horses so they share a special bond. This was a lovely party where we even got to be part of the entertainment doing some rap dancing, I wore a rainbow beanie and Alan had a hooded jacket :) Then we continued on to visit Alan's Mum in the Nursing complex where she lives. Iris is 89 and doing wonderfully. After this it was back to Margaret's overnight to watch the NRL Grand Final and have some wine and pizza... Yum!! Monday morning we went shopping in Brisbane for our new Plasma TV and an Electric Wok, then home via Louise and Jeff's at Caloundra for a pitstop for afternoon tea and some time to play with new grandbaby Tate who is doing really well. We finally made it home at about 7.30pm after doing about 500 kilometres. Then on Tuesday it was Alan's Birthday and we had friends Nancy and Margaret for morning tea so I made a cake with 1 candle so Alan could make a wish while we all sang Happy Birthday. We enjoyed this visit and then after lunch we whizzed into town to buy a lowline TV Cabinet for our new TV which is still in its box. We also bought some really nice fresh fish and a bottle of bubbly to celebrate. I steamed the fish for dinner in my new wok and it worked out really well (I have never steamed fish before) Whew........ So now I am having a very quiet morning with some time to myself.

Another Busy Week

We are still settling in and getting organised but we do know that we really love our new house and also we seem to have some lovely neighbours. Last week we also were able to connect to a DSL Internet Service which after slow old Dial Up has been totally awesome. We have been on Dial Up since the mid 90's when we first got internet access and each year it has been harder to use with many sites no longer even accessible due to all the blinking and winking graphics. Also it is great not to have our phone line tied up while we are on line. Woo Hoo!!!

In the mean time Louise and Tate have been in hospital for over a week, (are still there). Tate has had feeding difficulties, Louise has had mastitis and other related problems and now Lou and Jeff have both contracted rotavirus. It has just been ongoing stress for us all but on the bright side Tate is starting to smile, drink his bottles and put on weight. Hopefully their whole little family is now on the improve. Louise has had a really tough start to motherhood but we are all so proud of her and the way she is coping with it all. We are also really impressed by the wonderful staff at Nambour Hospital where they are now and where Tate was born. I have finally managed to find a window of time to some artwork, I have used a picture here of Alan with Tate the day after Tate was born.

Still Unpacking

We have been in our new home for 2 weeks today and we are still unpacking! Trying to find the right place for all those odd bits and pieces is frustrating. We have also been shopping for a new barbecue and a new TV. We took one look at our ancient old Weber barbecue when it came off the truck and we both just went `nope stick it in the garage'. It was second hand when we bought it in 1991 and we think it has reached the end of its life... with us anyway. We have found a new Weber which looks like it will be the one we will buy. The TV is harder. We love the big Plasmas but we don't have the room, let alone a `Media Room' so we are now looking at LCD Models. The choice is mind blowing. We left the shop more confused than when we went in. In the meantime we are trying to work out where we could put it. We have also replaced a couple of light fittings. We are keeping the chandeliers in the family/dining room though as they seem to fit in with our `retro shabby chic' decor. LOL This morning we were invited to have Morning Tea with all our neighbours in the Cul de Sac on Friday morning. I think we will really like living here. Also this morning while I was in bed drinking my early morning cup of tea I looked out the window and saw a kangaroo hopping past. He hopped through our garden and then crossed the road. Nice to see but I can see we will definitely have to fence our kitchen garden as we also have rabbits. We had a beautiful paw paw ripening nicely yesterday but the birds have just beaten us to it. We are going to have to learn to be quicker than they are. We have loads of paw paws ripening on about half a dozen trees so we are lucky as they are quite expensive to buy

Settling In

Here I am finally back on line and Blogger. Thanks to everyone for your birthday wishes and also for your best wishes re our move. We made it without too much stress but it has been a very tiring week. We have been in our new home for just over a week now and we really love it. We have already met some of our neighbours and they seem really nice and welcoming. We are in a Cul de Sac where all the blocks are 5 acres and it seems everyone gets on really well. There are even 2 ponies next door for our 3 to talk to over the fence. We are appreciating being so close to town (5k rather than 20), having a weekly rubbish collection, a dishwasher and a beautiful modern kitchen. I am also looking forward to saying a fond farewell to dial- up internet :) We have a nice garden with lots of herbs and fruit trees and a kitchen garden already constructed. Bella and Lewis have settled in well and have met the neighbours dogs. We love the colour scheme - mainly pale blue, a restful colour we both love and we have a lot of blue furniture for this reason. We have given away or sold all our country style furniture and decor and we have switched to something a bit different, not really definable but we like it. The colours will be pale blue, aqua, pink, yellow and some brighter touches. I am finding that I love the chandeliers in the family dining area so they are staying. Anyhoo here is a photo of our dining area with the kitchen in the background. Also a beautiful rose I photographed in our garden yesterday.