Throw Out Time: - Let the 'fun' begin...

Today, and yesterday for L, is being set aside to 'clean out' the in-laws... Only trouble is, that yesterday it was in the very high 30's (38 from memory) and today, it is like already 40C!

But, there has already been a lot done, you can now see at least three of the four walls in the first bedroom! More will come, paintings have been taken to the last sister down, we took BOTH cars full of box's home, and there is still a LOT more to go!

So, I can't stay on here to long, I might get into trouble, as I am listing a lot of things on eBay for the FIL in his new account. Set him up on the net through this last week, and within a day or two, he has an eBay account, where he has also made his first purchase and is already searching for books He had better NOT collect to much after we de-clutter the house!!!

Cheers for now, its hot and I will be going for a quick swim to cool down and start listing on eBay.

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Clipped wings and flights of fancy... (and some other stuff as well...)

Being summer and all, we have been somewhat busy, so sorry for the sporadic posts...
Last week, we finally had our ISP changed over from Virgin Broadband... Now, whilst this is an incredible service, when it is running, it was more often than not, slower than dial up! We tried installing an external antenna (which gave us some respite and additional speed), but then it started to slow down again! It even got to the point where, if on the net and a phone call came in, the modem would go 'on-hold' whilst the phone was in use, and sometimes the phone would even drop out!
Anyway, I digress, we now have a super fast Internet connection and a return to a 'landline'! Happy as a 'pig-in-mud'!
We have also been busy in and around the house as well. I have been asked (and repeatedly asked...) to hang some hooks in the recently renovated bathroom. It is not that I was trying to get out of it, but there were two bits of timber that we had to choose from! I wanted a slightly fancy version, whilst L was looking at a plain piece. The piece that had a bit of trimming about it, was from an old dressing table that the FIL had and I thought that, with a bit of trimming here and there, it could be used. It was!

Bathroom Hooks

Bathroom Hooks

Bathroom Hook

And then today, we were pottering around the house not doing much, went off to get L's car detailed as she gets a new one tomorrow, and she also got a pedi and a manicure! I hung the hooks as mentioned, and then we went into the 2nd bedroom and started hanging some of the pictures. I had to find the staple gun mind you, so we got started. All 'pictures' were hung and it was only left to the plaster wall vent L purchased for an 'art work'! It was a scene of some branches and a couple of birds sitting upon them. After putting some hooks in and then gluing them... they did not want hold tight, so I got another style and glued it on. All hung and it was looking good. Until... the hook came off and the plaster vent shattered! It was agreed that in, the unlikely event of it falling, there would be NO tears, right! So out came the vacuum (again) and mess all cleaned up until a replacement vintage bird was hung... Alas, a broken flight (down to the floor) ended in it being in more than one piece! Luckily enough though, there was a smaller one to be found...

Crafty Wall Hangings

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Out with the old and in with the new...

Three and a half years ago, we purchased our FIRST laptop. It was a Samsung X20. We took it everywhere with us, New Zealand twice, Bali as well as to Brisbane, Melbourne etc... It was a sturdy little thing, but alas, it had been slowly failing... There was the odd 'crunch' under a couple of keys, a couple of start-up failures and program 'hiccups' but enough was enough when, looking at websites, the up and down arrows did not want to work, the mouse pad was becoming eratic and it was generally becoming slow!

So, on Sunday (before going to see Benjamin Button) we went and looked at a couple more laptops. Guess what, we found one that was fairly well spec'd up, in our price range AND looked pretty flash (L really liked it...)! But, you will have to wait until tomorrow (Wordless Wednesday & Thematic Photographic) to have a look!

With this, and a 'gift' from our phone prividor, we will have a very wireless home! I will be able to shift music from PC to xBox 360 and vic-versa, I already surf the net wirelessly and we are also able to get on the net, go to the TV guide and tell our TiVo to record a show if we are out!!! I do love technology!!!

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Syzygium moorei

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NYE 2008: Let it all begin!

Here are a couple of shots I took this morning whilst waiting for the gates to open:

Last minute mowing

Everything ready

Art Gallery Line

Line waiting

First through

Interview & rolling

Loaded

Not to sure what he has in his pack, but he must have friends coming along! The line for coming in is almost 1klm long now, and it is still quite early, and the site will accomodate 20,000 people. Lets see if we hit that target!

Cubby rebuild...

Over the last couple of months, the cubby has been getting much more of a lean... It was about to fall over! So, I tried to take the roof off to brace it up a little, but as I touched it, I quickly found out that if I was to try and lift it off, the whole house would simply fall! The previous owner of the house, had a little girl, and I think it may have been a rush job to build it many years ago, as some of the joints were... well... not that good!

So on the weekend Christmas break, we dismantled it, and I built two new side wall frames. The back yard looked as though a cyclone (tornado) had gone through it!

Cubby 30122008

Cubby II 30122008

Cubby III 30122008

We also did a 'new' floor, as the old one was just chipboard on a couple of bricks! Great for ALL sorts of bugs and stuff when kids are inside!!!

Cubby Floor 30122008

Now, yesterday afternoon, frames were finished and the rear cladding was nailed on. Right hand side cladding and window were also installed and then the cubby was placed onto the new floor. Whilst L was off getting dinner (it was too hot to cook anything, and that is a story in it's own right that I will tell you later...) the cladding and window were completed on the left hand side.

Now, as I said, it was rather hot and as I was busy, L said that she will do dinner, But as it was hot, we were busy so she decided to go to Alpacino's Pizza & Pasta house nearby. She left and dodged her way through traffic at a nearby intersection where a motorcyclist had an accident and later died. When she got to Alpacino's, it was closed! She left and then called me and it was decided to go to the local Lebanese bakery, where they have the BEST, woodfired pizza's. Sounds good? NUP, it was closed as well!!!!

By this time, somewhat deflated, she came home and defrosted some stir-fry beef, cracked open a bottle of Vietnamese sauce and cooked some rice. What a disaster! This dinner was so hot (spice), she could barely eat it! I had one bit of the beef and some rice, and I swear that it took off the lining of my mouth!

So, here I am, at work on New Years Eve (NYE). Outside it is a lovely day, where we are expecting a top in the city of around 30 degrees C. Our site is one of (if not THE best) the best sites for the NYE fireworks. Fencing has gone in and will not reopen until 10am. There is already thousands of people out there waiting. These are mainly backpackers (UK and USA to name a couple), and have already started drinking as grog is not allowed inside. It is not even 9am! We will be at home tonight, with family, having a BBQ, enjoying the spa and having a game or two on either the xbox or the PS2.

Your turn: What are your plans to see in 2009? Have you made a resolution yet, and will you?

Have a great night everyone, and stay safe. See you in 2009!

Enjoying the summer after Christmas!

Boy, am I glad that Christmas is over for another year... Since, mind you, we have been sort of 'flat out'! With doing things around the house, and L having a bout of the Summer Flu! We have been enjoying some rather warm weather with afternoon thunderstorms (one now actually, stopping work on the cubby-house). I do not really mind this however, as it allows me to watch the second test, Australia v Sth Africa in the Cricket!!!
But, I just thought I would share some shots of what our Christmas day entailed...

Christmas Table 2008 II

Christmas Table

Rosie, seemed as though she was a little 'confused' as to what was happening, but she did like her Santa's hat:

Santa's lil helper

Both Max and Will got Chef's hat's and Max (being the photogenic person he is by always jumping into a shot...) was willing to show his hat off. But as it was late in the day (a very long day for the boys), Will was a little more camera shy:

The mad chef

I can't remember what Rosie got for her Christmas present, but what ever it was, it must have been good (given both mum and dad have the same facial expression):

WOW

Merry Christmas!!!

Wishing you all, a very MERRY Christmas!
The 'One True Media' website was giving me grief, so thanks to Flickr, here are the pics...

EDIT: (26/12/2008) Ok, so the link above didn't work, so lets see how this one goes!
View slideshow.

Carols, a photo essay!!!

Saturday, after a busy day of doing this and that, (not to mention having a 3 hour sleep causing us to run more than a 'little' late, saw us sitting in the VIP Lawn area for this years, Carols in the Domain. The day had been forecast for showers/rain, but thankfully, these had stayed away! It was a lovely evening...

Carols 2008

Shannon Noll

Delta Goodrum

Delta & Bryan

Bryan McFadden

And then, there was always SOMETHING for the kids, The Wiggles!!!

The Wiggles

Carols Finale

All photos were taken handheld, no tripod, so they are not to my usual standard, sorry...

On a night like this...

Yesterday, we celebrated our 8th anniversary, and was it a very different day to that day 8 years ago... No where near as hot (from memory, it was nearing 40 degrees c...) where as yesterday was simply MUGGY!

We had decided that this year, we will once again go and see Kylie Minouge (aka as the singing budgie), and boy, was it a great night! I managed to get, what I thought were pretty good tickets. It was not until we got to the seats that we VERY quickly realised that we actually had GREAT seats! Slightly having to look to the left, but we were pretty much level to the stage and about 25m from it! Whilst this show was a little dark and lite on with staging, but the light show more than made up for it... I tried to get a couple of shots on my mobile, but they simply did not work out (and I thought there was no need to take the little 'point and shoot' camera as there is NORMALLY no photography allowed!).

We got to the venue, Acer Arena, a little early and had a bite to eat at the 'Brewery'. We both wanted to have the Salt & Pepper Calamari, but it had sold out, so I just had the Fish 'n' Chips and L had the Seared Chicken breast and salad. I also enjoyed a Bourbon & coke, and at $9.50 boy, did it taste good!!!

After leaving the Arena, with ringing ears and still buzzing after an additional 5 set encore (it was her last Sydney concert...), we got home just around midnight to a couple of pets angry we were not home! So Happy Anniversary L!

Whats next though, I hear you ask? I have also managed to get tickets to this years Carols in the Domain. This is being held on Saturday night, and is a lovely event. We will be catching up with friends for the night, so hopefully the night will be storm free and a typically Wonderful Sydney evening. Here is a shot from a previous Carols:

Carols Domain

Carols Crowd

Carols Man with hat

Carols Dog