OW!!!

I knew there was a reason why we didn't build a two storey house!!

My back is so sore I am using a stick to walk. I have been up and down stairs more times than I can remember and each time I was carrying something. 

At least the house smells a bit nicer, the inspection report has been submitted (with comments and photos!) and we are probably 50% moved (the small stuff). 

Tomorrow I will focus on emptying this place. I was stressing about getting everything put away but hell, I have 12 months!

Just to give you an idea of what I am dealing with ...

I could show you more but you get the idea.

At least I don't have a high mark to reach on exit!

Oh my giddy aunt

We picked up the keys at 9.00, had a coffee and started to read through the property report. 

"Not too bad" I thought.

Then we got to the house. It is filthy. OK, the carpets have been cleaned. The white carpets I was so worried about? Turns out they were originally grey as seen in wardrobes where the sun don't shine! The sheer curtains? Hiding the hideous, barely working vertical blinds. The grease and grime in the kitchen? EW. 

At least the bathrooms and toilets are clean.

The garden suggests this was once a much loved house and we plan to return that, at least, to some form of former glory. 

The curtains have been taken down cos, you know, cats! We were going to leave the verticals but they are so bad I have to cover them, even though it will cost us a little bit. I have to live in that house for up to 12 months and I hate hate hate functioning verticals, let alone ones that should have been binned!

I am feeling very shell shocked at the moment but I hope that tomorrow things will start to make a bit more sense and the house will feel a bit more like home. I have already cleaned the kitchen walls and benches.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking.

And it begins

The finger pointing, the name calling, the blame laying. Unhappy losers and ungracious winners. It is a shame to consider the amount of money spent on the referendum that could have gone a long way to address so many of the issues our remote indigenous communites face (about AUD450 MILLION).

We took the dogs on one of our favourite walks.

The colours in the water were just beautiful.

I love how the water is so calm outside the orange and black pipe but choppy inside. 

We have often wondered about this boat (?) (it moves about) and we found a fisherbloke today who said it had something to do with keeping the sandbars at bay and thus the lakes navigable. I consulted Dr Google and found this which explains it nicely. The vessel you see here is the Kalimna and I see the Tommy Norton regularly and now understand it all so much more.

This patch took my fancy for some reason. I wonder if the grasses would be weavable but I think the ground they are in is very boggy.

One can hire boats without a licence for limited use in daylight hours. We heard much hooting and hollering and this came around the point. It is advertised as a party boat and I guess that is what they were having!

The Entrance. I am always amazed at how, on the ocean side it can be rough and full of white caps and terrors of the deep and on the lakes side it can be like a millpond. Not quite today but still a difference.

And if you can tear your eyes away from the beauty of the water and turn around then you see rain forest covering the hill. Just beautiful.

Tomorrow we are at the real estate agent at 0900 to pick up the keys then off to the new house to complete the property inspection which will take a couple of hours (we have to go through every room comparing their photos with what we see, send photos of our own if we find anything and then sign off - this is the basis of our exit report and needs to be thorough to ensure we get our bond back).

And then the move starts.

It looks as if the referendum did not succeed.

This is not surprising in the historical light of referenda in the past (8/44 succeeded). 

How do I feel? I just hope that this whole process doesn't lead to increased division. There are certain parts of the country that were bound to vote no and I don't think the yes campaign did enough to address their (unfounded but real) fears of what a yes vote would result in. This would have been a brilliant opportunity for some basic education rather than political rhetoric. On both sides.

It's a tricky situation. The constitution dictates, to a degree, who we are as a nation, and I don't think politics should come into it but I don't know how to conduct a referendum without political influence.

Anyway.

We parked the car and walked up to the voting place with the dogs. Such a change from voting in the city! In and out in no time.

A quiet afternoon for me. Himself went for a drive up to the block (cos it's Saturday) and went to check out some cars on the waterfront. It is the Rocktober festival here (had no idea or I would have invited the Mermaid - she loves her rock and roll dancing) and the place was buzzing. Sadly the winds put a bit of a damper on things.

We then went to the Bowls club for dinner. We used our birthday vouchers so the meal cost us $18 all up. We won a venue voucher in the raffle for $30 to use down the track and paid our dues at the pokies. It was a most pleasant evening and just what we needed after a bit of a trying time.

We are old fashioned and use hot water bottles in the winter. I do not like electric blankets, especially after friends' house nearly burnt down as a result of a faulty one. The dog alerted them and they weren't in bed or it would have been a fatal fire, according the firies who attended. 

Last night one of our hot water bottles was faulty. But we didn't die. 

Himself just ended up sleeping in a wet patch.

No photos today

Having a bit of a blah day. I think it's the upcoming move and all associated with it.

Crikey, the stuff you have to do when you move! And I've only just done it. Inform banks, government departments, subscriptions, health funds, medical specialists, insurance and then just in case - put in a mail redirection. And when I got the email they have misspelt my first name. A common thing and I am not going to make a fuss. My surname is so unusual and the first name sounds the same I would be hard pressed to find anyone even notice it. Apart from me!

Wee Jacob is on naso-gastric feeds for a while as his suck reflex isn't good and he needs to build his strenght. Sadly Dr Teacher's ex showed up just before they did so he wasn't able to see the new mum but he did get to see his son holding his grandson. Families give me the right royal irrits sometimes.

We took the dogs for a run in the local grassy area which backs onto houses and stuff. There is a house with a wire fence and a large dog that ours made a beeline for. We got chatting with the woman there. It is her daughter's dog that she agreed to mind for a week five years ago!

Tomorrow we vote in the referendum. Regardless of the outcome, it will be messy and political and I will be angry.

I think I need to be out of this house.

I may be scarce over the next week as I deal with everything. 

Lovely weather for ducks.

More so, of course, if you are a cygnet ...

Rain clouds from the block.

Water sodden turf ... too early to know if the agi pipe is working as it was a very heavy downpour but we live in hope! (Biggerise to see the water)

Himself went up this afternoon and dug a small trench to divert water into the agi pipe or something storm water related and it seems to be working. Photos will follow!

We have had a bucketing, though, not unusual for this time of year.

I received a message from my brother this morning to say that my nephew's wife had delivered her baby by C-section 3 weeks early (the wedding from last year) and mum and bubs were well. The nephew negelected to say the gender, weight or name!

Turns out we have a Jacob Geoffrey S..., weighing a tick over 4 lbs (just under 2kgs) so very small but healthy and his weight was not a surprise due to issues that were recognised and addressed during the pregnancy. It's funny, I am happy to be a granny but finding out my baby brother is a grandfather? I am not old enough for that!

Today's post is brought to you by the colour blue

I won't comment on every photo. There really is no need. You know where I live - and why!

The dogs love the water so much that Murphy was yelping with excitement the whole time we were there.

Don't stand next to two wet German Shepherds havinbg a good shake!

These are looking towards Bullock Island. I have added a lovely video of Lakes and Bullock Island but it is old and the area (which includes TAFE and Gippsland Ports) has recently gone a massive upgrade which will include a cafe/restaurant featuring seafood straight off the boats with amazing views. You can see this building in the last photo of this group.

When we first came here the dogs were hesitant about going into the water. Now Jinx will actually chase a stick into deep water and go for a proper swim.

Murphy is still not too sure.

Yes, it was warm enough for a paddle.

For some reason these images reminded me of Boud. Something about the colours and the textures in the nets.

After we had walked the dogs to dry them off we went to the fish shop and bought some stargazer (also known as monkfish) for dinner tonight. 

Yesterday I saw a post from the local neighbourhood house asking for donations of long life milk so I dropped a box of a dozen cartons off on my way to coffee group. They do an amazing job putting together weekly food packages for those in need. As I said to Himself, if I can't afford to support something like this there is something wrong. I will be doing this on a regular basis and I encourage everyone who can to do something similar. I know many of you do but a gentle reminder can't hurt. We often don't see those in need and the results of some quiet support.

I then went to coffee group and had a fabulous time. So many laughs. This really is home.