A bit of a 'catch-up'

As some of you may know, we have been having a bit of a rough time lately with a lot of time spent at either Hospitals, Clinic's or at the GP. In fact, L was back at the hospital just this morning! These visits will be continuing for a little while to come as well... Almost two weeks ago now, another 'angel' went to heaven...

L is recovering slowly now, but is well on the mend. She is keeping busy, to busy I say, but I think this might just be a good thing as she will not dwell on what has happened.

We spent all of last week at home with a lot of 'us' time. Apart from that, Pa was also in hospital suffering from many things, but after releasing a blockage, he improved heaps. Nan this week, moved into a nursing home for some respite care, and pa will be joining her when he gets a little better, enough to walk. Not bad for a couple that are in their 90's!

I have also been busy, so busy that we have suddenly noticed that our Wisteria is about to flower! We have been SO unlucky with these over the last couple of years. At our old place, we planted one and in the 5 years that we were there, it had not flowered. We visited it the other week, and the people there tells us that it was about to flower! So here is a couple of shots of the first blooms:

Wisteria Bud

Wisteria Flower Bud

Also, it is now time to say 'bye bye' to my little old Suzuki...

Old Suzuki

She is being put out to pasture this afternoon, for a newbie, so I will post a photo of the new 'beast' over the weekend!

I will also be starting to 'catch-up' on ALL of my blogs in my reader, so my apologies to those I have not visited for some time. You have not been neglected!!

Take care, and have a great weekend!

This weekend...

Updated below...
This weekend, was a weekend of highs and lows. Saturday, another unseasonal warm day, we were up and out very early... 4am for me, as I was watching the live telecast (Internet) of the delivery ceremony From Airbus of the new A380 to QANTAS. Here is a screen-shot from the ceremony...

VH-OQA Delivery Screen-shot

Source: Airbus LIVE stream video of ceremony (Screen-shot)

After that was done, we were off to the Orange Grove Organic markets for a bit of breakfast, and to try and settle down the morning sickness for L. One of the Turkish Gonzlemes (Spinach & Cheese) did the trick, whilst I had the Egg & Bacon roll, YUMM! It was then off the the Indian Bazaar over at Riverview College, the High School that the BIL went to in his youth. This is an annual event, pilgrimage even, for the family to get together and have a morning tea and try and grab a bargain, with the school raising money for the Missions. A quick call into the MIL (she was off to a School Fundraiser) and down to the Nth Beach's to visit Nan & Pa and give them our news, as they are about to go into a nursing home for some respite care. A quick stop into the BIL home on the way to give him the Orchid we got at the morning Markets for his birthday, and we were home just before dinner! That night, L had a slight spot, and an early night was called for to reduce stress...

Sunday morning saw a return of the headache & morning sickness, but all did not seem ok... But, we kept on with the plans, and off to Holroyd Council's Pet Fest, to visit Jamilla as she was the 'Mascot' for the day...

Pet Fest 2008 Mascot

Pet Fest 2008

L, being incredibly busy at work, had to go off to work to meet up with her colleague and continue on the Annual Report, and I went of to the 'other B's' place for little B's birthday, she is 3...

Birthday Girl with Dad

Birthday Girl with Cake

I had a call from L saying that she was on her way home, and I had just left to go to Petbarn, as Macc's food was on special ($15 off!). When I got there, all of 5 mins before closing the doors, one of the staff was there with a Water Dragon on his shoulder, and an Albino Corn Snake in his hand! I finalised my purchase and put it in the car, grab my camera and returned to grab a couple of photos...

Albino Corn Snake

Albino Corn Snake

However, tonight, was the worst. The slight 'spotting' from yesterday, had turned into a flooding Murray and very bright. I called the Clinic to discuss with the After hours specialist, and unless it eases over night, we will be off to the clinic tomorrow for an assessment. If it gets worse, and I can't see how, then we will be off to the hospital sooner! Needless to say, L is devastated, and so am I!

3.04am (AEST) UPDATE: Ok, at 10.30pm (just after I posted this blog) we were off to the emergency ward at Westmead Hospital. We were seen to fairly quickly and a lot of tests were done. We are just home now, and have to re-attend the 'EPAC' Clinic (Early Pregnancy Assessment Clinic) early tomorrow (or is it today, like in 5 hours!)! Cramping has settled, whilst bleeding has subsided significantly. Initial bloodwork is good, a couple of little tid bits, but good all the same, and her hCg is 8,400! Will know more later...

Call the police; somebody stole the weekend!

Over the last weekend, an unusually warm one at that, we had a major attack of the 'lazy's', that is, not much was done! Well, not quite, there was a fair bit done, just nothing that really needed to be done! We did however, catch up on a lot of the videos stacked up to the side of the TV from mid-week shows that doubled up, shows that were on whilst we were busy and that sort of thing...
Saturday, which was meant to be 27 degrees (C), actually turned out to be 32 degrees, so after a quick jaunt to a sale (photo's and a separate post all to itself is warranted here...) where we L spent more than our recently instigated daily budget. After heading home and getting some house and garden work done, L went off to work, yes, on a Saturday afternoon!
I managed to get a bit of washing done, and although I was supposed to get the citrus sprayed (stick bugs on the Lemon) and the weeds sprayed as well (Onion weed in amongst the Roses), these were not able to get done due to it being really gusty! So I just had a spa instead...
Sunday, was a very lazy day... L went back to bed (headache, and feeling overly nauseous) and did not take to long to go back to sleep... I went upstairs to work on the new computer, and went down to see if she would like a cuppa. She was actually sound asleep! After she awoke, we decided that we will go to the shops for a bit of 'therapy' and some lunch before coming home to catch-up on those videos. During this, we both fell back to sleep, and when we woke-up, L went upstairs to continue with the report upstairs, whilst I got dinner sorted.
When she eventually came down, this is the site we saw on our bed...

Jasmine on tapestry

Jasmin on tapestry

Now L has been working on this tapestry for a little while now, and of ALL the bed she could have picked to sleep, she HAD to sleep on it!

For now, it's done!!!

Whilst over the last two weeks we have had some Chinese teachers staying with us, we are now on a 12 day break before we get another couple of teachers. In a separate post in a couple of days, I will tell you all about the latest lot of teachers. So, without having to prepare additional dinners etc, we can now move back onto 'normal' blogging!

After just over three years, we have finally (and almost all) painted the interior of the house. Not that it was all that bad a colour, but its amazing how just a wall vent almost falling off in one bedroom led to the whole house being painted!

Painted lounge room!!

1. Kitchen, 2. Kitchen 250708, 3. Laundry & Kitchen, 4. Lounge Room 250708, 5. Lounge Room: - Courtyard, 6. Lounge Room 250708

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

For now, we're done, but with two bedrooms to go, we are approaching the finishing line. After this, and we have already started looking at pricing, we will be replacing the bench top in the kitchen to a granite one!

A Chinese week...

This last week, we have been 'looking after' 2 very kind gentlemen from Chin, 'Peter' and 'Mr Day'! They are part of a group of about 40 students and teachers visiting Australia (Sydney) whilst on school holidays at home. We picked them up last Monday evening, and gave them some dinner at home and they pretty much 'hit the hay' as they were tired.

Their week with us consisted of 5:45am wake up call to leave by 7am to catch the train to Central. Then off to UTS for a morning lesson on English. Afternoons were touring around the city itself. This was also the week that L was up in Cairns, and did not return until late Friday evening!

However, on the Saturday, it was a long coach ride down to Canberra (approx 4 hours) for only a 2 hour visit! Needless to say, they were exhausted, and we treated them to an 'Aussie BBQ' of Sausages (bangers).

Yesterday, we treated to a visit to our local Gardens where the Council have some Kangaroos, Wallaby's and Emus. Off into Westfield for some shopping, where we had to find a Chinese speaking shop assistant, as the lady at the Lancome counter was getting a bit 'short' shall we say...

We then headed off to visit my 'In-laws' for an afternoon coffee down at Balmoral Beach. It was a really beautiful, mild Sydney Winter, and apart from the overcast conditions, we did not get any rain.
On the way over, we stopped in at Sydney Olympic Park to show them where we had the Olympics in 2000. First the main Stadium, then the Olympic Boulevard and finally the Cauldron that held the flame for the two weeks of the games. I showed them that ALL of the medal winners, had a small plaque with the event, country and name in the same colour as the medal they had won. BY CHANCE, the first one they found, was not only from China, but from their CITY!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Handmade Market Day... brrrrrr

Last Saturday, we were to have a very FULL day... L was going to be going to a work colleagues organic make up party in the afternoon, whilst I was to finish the repairs and paint our bedroom. You see, we live in a house that was built in 1928, and with the current drought, there are a couple of cracks. Most of them are not getting any worse, but one of the wall vents in our bedroom, was just about to fall off! I had repaired it the week prior, and stuck it back on, leaving only the sanding back and painting of the room to be done.

BUT, as she always does, L found an excuse to do more things in an already FULL day... Cheeky Beaks was having a Handmade Market in the morning over at Caringbah, about a 40 minute drive from our house, and it was decided upon that we will go further on to Cronulla for breakfast afterwards... Yes more to do... We left home (16 degrees) at around 7:30am and by the time we got over to Caringbah, it was 11 degrees!!!!

Craft Stall Day

There were lots of great things at the various stalls there, and we did grab a couple of hand made bargains whilst we were there... I will get a couple of photos this afternoon when I get home to share for a late WW!

We then left for Cronulla for breakfast, and the cold that L had gotten through the week had taken a turn for the worse (it had turned before we even left home, but it was NOT going to get in the way of going to the Handmade Market!!!), so after breakfast we headed for home, and a call was put in for the party organiser that she will not be coming and sent late apologies...

When we did get home, she snuggled up in her jammies, in front of the heater in the lounge room and fell asleep into a dozy state whilst I got stuck into the bedroom. Occasionally, I would get a "what are you up to" from her... By late evening, she was back to (almost) herself, and we gave the room a second coat!!! Sunday saw the room finished, first coat of the woodwork (where me being the 'boofhead' that I am, went and asked for a 4l tin of Aquanamel but got a 4l tin of OIL BASED ENAMEL of the colour for the woodwork... So it took a lot longer to dry, smelt really bad and left us with the windows and door to the balcony open in the middle of winter for hours!!! So this coming weekend, a final coat will go onto all of the woodwork, and I will get some more shots of it as well...

WW #26: - My ETSY purchase, Isaac

A few words...

This is my latest purchase from Etsy, and his name is Isaac. He is handmade, continuing on my handmade theme for this year... Thanks morninglori

Isaac

wordless wednesday

prince charming and prints charming

It has been so long since I have posted here, thank goodness for B keeping the posts coming, and also thank you B for loading the following photos of a cushion I stitched up and stuffed over a couple of nights in front of the TV. The cushion was a kit I purchased from Prints Charming around easter time, it came as a silk screened linen fat quarter, backing fabric and perle threads. The whole process was very theraputic from the random running stitch, so much so that I had to force myself to stop before over embellishing, overstuffing with polyfill, to fraying the edges. It was good fun. I am now fully addicted and am looking for more running stitch and polyfill projects.

Prints Charming Cushion
I am also obsessed with silk screening so it is just my luck that Prints Charming are running their silk screening classes again. I am booked for one in August with 'the next sister down' and my mum. This time round we will be creating our own designs using the paper cut method, and will walk away with 1.5 metres of printed fabric. Oh the hours of running stitch that could be had, but for now the pressure of thinking up some designs.

Prints Charming Cushion on chairLooking at these photos, I have got to get me some more of those kits, I think they might make a nice gift and I did pledge homemade for gifts this year. Prints Charming have a new blog, go take a look.

The next project...

Now that the laundry & bathroom are complete what's next to do in the burntofferings house? Well that's easy, no resting that's for sure!!

Well, the gazebo we are doing for the spa (on order) is underway. We 'won' this wonderfull gazebo on an online auction website, and after an inspection on the day of it finishing, we placed our bid... Then came the fun part, the dismantle works began with the FIL on Friday marking ALL of the pieces of wook and the removal of the roofing and the BIL on the Saturday for the final dismantle of the structure.

Gazebo 'Before'

Gazebo 'Before'
These next shots are of the two day dismantle works...

Gazebo 'Roofless'

and a little further along...

Gazebo dismantle
Now, the question remained, that whilst we now have to dismantle the old shadehouse, what do we do with Wally?

'Wally' on Shadehouse

Old Shadehouse
So, we now have a spa, a gazebo and the old shadehouse removed, what else is there to do but to do a slab! A quick call to a concretor and an electrician saw a length of conduit installed and the slab down within 24 hours!!! WOW!

Slab formwork

Our SLAB
Now all we have to do is make sure both Jasmine & Macc STAY OFF!!!!

Happy Easter...

Late I know, but...

Here is what 'L' baked (which, by chance, happened to work out...)

These were absolutely delicious to by the way!

circles and squares: yet another quilt!

L has been somewhat busy of late, fulfilling some of her "New Year's resolution's" listed here.

So, here is a bit of an update of her progress...

1. Make a Picnic Rug, the store bought one we used for NYE, is ugly and uncomfortable. This is now underway, thus the title of this posting on a lovely very warm Autumnal afternoon.

   
   circles and squares quilt
2. Laundry Conversion to be complete by the end of February. DONE! (well almost, we just have to have the shower screen installed...)
3. Bathroom Makeover to be completed by the end of June. This is about to go, here is the vanity we picked up on a 'Kerbside Pick-up Sale!
   

   
   Bathroom Vanity
4. I pledge Handmade. This has been started, and will continue throughout the year...
5. I plan to 'Pay it Forward'. This is still continuing, so will update more on how this has been going!
6. Phone a friend a month, some of my friends have been so neglected, we didn’t even get out Christmas cards in 2007, this will not happen in 2008. Those of you who have stayed with us, I thank you. Now, who of you has had a call... hmm??? I guess this needs more attention!!
7. Cook more dinners, I hate to admit it, but B carries more than his weight in this area. And it makes me feel real bad. I am still waiting!!!
8. Work smarter, I gotta get this sorted for a more sane 2008. I don't think that she is wining here. The last couple of weeks, she has spent many a night at work until 9.30pm!

So, I guess she is doing sort of OK, albeit busy. Another thing, not on the list but certainly is going to happen, is getting a spa for the backyard. This is of course for therapeutic nature for my rehabilitation of my back injury and surgery. I got a great deal of relief from the spa's in New Zealand, so I can't wait!!!

Oh, have you ever see a cat that likes vegemite?

Vegemite

Having a 'clean & green' birthday!!!

I just thought I would share with you, my 'birthday' present... Well, sort of!

It is actually a replacement machine, as it predecessor decided to retire from active duty, after spending a couple of weeks resting out on the verandah! So, with this new, clean & GREEN machine, we will be saving more on Energy and Water!

Our old washing machine would work to a point; that is fill up, then stop! No washing was being done at all! This became very frustrating and was made worse by having to do the soaking load by HAND! And at 11.30 on a Sunday night!

So, on my birthday, there was a lot of calls to various shops to get the best deal, and to ensure that it would actually FIT into the back of my car! This was all achieved, with me arriving at the warehouse at 4:58pm when it shuts at 5:00pm!

So, Happy Birthday to me...

Washing Machine

30 days : days 18, 19 & 20... Laundry Renovation cont...

Ok, so here is another update of sorts on the laundry...Day 18 saw the security come on board to safeguard the big 'unveil':

Laundry Security

Clearly he is busy 'guarding' something...
Then, as things were slowly slipping behind schedule, we had to get additional 'hired' help by way of an apprentice:

Laundry Apprentice

Clearly, unimpressed with being 'caught' sleeping on the job

Laundry Apprentice

And this is how she shows how unhappy' she is...

Laundry Apprentice

But, now for the big unveil (taken with our little camera for its wide angle lens)...

Laundry 19-02-2008

and with my camera...

Laundry 15-02-2008

30 days: day 16 Valentines Day

Well last night we went to a movie... Not any old cinema no no, that would be just to boring. Instead we went to where I work to the St George Open Air Cinema to see 27 Dresses! It is a truely beautiful night, watching a movie on a big scree that appears out of Sydney Harbour... You not only get to watch the movie, but also the changing lights of the city as office towers shut down for the night. Mind you, prior to that, we did catch up with some friends of mine for dinner at the Sienna Marina Restaurant in Wooloomooloo.

Valentines Day 27 Dresses

30 days: day 11

Bill's Tiling

floor tiles are in
progress is being made on the laundry renovation, the floor tiles have been laid, Monday the wall tiles go on. Tomorrow we will install the exhaust fan and fit the window frame.

30 days: day 10

Friday night markets

vege stall
a day off from work, so that I could be at home for the tiler to lay the sand and cement floor for the laundry. I sorted out paperwork, this took just about all day, so some fresh air and conversation was in order. Luckily it was the Epping Twilight Markets, where we had dinner followed by a visit with the favourite brother and SIL, and the nephews.

30 days: day 9

Rebecca Cool - Ginger-Cat

Last night we battled the weather to get to the opening of Rebecca Cools' art exhibition 'Hop, Skip, Jump' at the Paddington Contemporary Gallery. This is our latest acquistion. To celebrate our purchase, and because now we are broke, we had dinner at Harry's Cafe de Wheels.

30 days : days 6, 7 & 8... Laundry Renovation cont...

As you can see, we have been a little busy and as such, have not been able to complete a couple of days...

So, in an attempt to catch up here we have day 6:

Laundry Insulation Installation

Day 7:

First Waterproof Coat

AND, day 8:

What a great Bakehouse

What a 'Great Name' for a Bakehouse hey Genesis??
The tiler is coming back tomorrow to give it all a second coat, Friday to screed of a sand & cement floor so as he can lay the tiles on Saturday. It never stops here...