Bits and bobs

Because you can't have too much of Max the Magnificent ... 

... he does love being outdoors. Nothing like a good roll on warm ground and an explore through the garden. If I leave him out it's not long before he's at the door demanding to be let back in. I would NEVER allow him out unsupervised, just so you know, but if I go out and come back in he's not far behind me. Of course that could change ... he is a cat after all ... and if it happens that he even thinks about expanding his domain then he will be firmly advised of the error of his ways.

I finished the top I was knitting for the Mermaid. I hope she likes it.

Yesterday it bucketed down. Our wonderful landscaper made a trip out in the rain to see how the drainage was holding up. I think we got the tick of approval. He is also happy with the way the grass has taken off so Himself gets a tick of approval there because he put a lot of work into it. 

We received an email from the property manager of the rental saying she is waiting on a copy of the report from the local carpet company. Himself went down to said company seeking a copy and ... surprise, surprise ... they don't do reports, just quotes. And not room by room as we were told but for the whole house. I was at the supermarket this morning and bumped into our old neighbour who gave me the email address for the landlord's ex husband who might be able to shed some light onto the state of the carpet when he moved out. I just need to compose an email to him and hopefully he will be happy to help us (she apparantly did the dirty on him financially so there is no love lost there).

This morning I had coffee with a very dapper looking gentleman who has driven down from Melbourne for a wee break at the seaside. It is always lovely meeting internet friends in the flesh.

The year is racing to a close. Even though we don't do anything at Christmas I am still arranging a few presents to get to family and couple of friends and hopefully Three will be able to come down for a few days after Christmas. I have no idea when I will see One and his lot. The Mermaid will come down I am sure - I just hope it's not at the same time as Three! I had said I would try to get up to see Two but it's hot and humid on the Central Coast at the moment so I think I will wait until Autumn for that visit. 

At the beginning of October I decided to take myself in hand and do something about the ever increasing waist line and restarted the Fast 800 program with which I had some success a few years ago. The weight loss must be showing because a few people have commented on my new hair cut - which isn't! Obviously I must look different and they can't quite work out why. I am feeling better in myself so will keep going. And the withdrawals from the anti-depressants are just about gone, thank goodness. That was a bit of a torrid time.

Time to start prepping dinner and then it will be gin o'clock.

A story

When I was a kidlet I remember being given a series of pictures and being tasked with making a story about them.

For your edification I give you the following ...*

 *No animals were harmed in the taking of these pictures but sensibilities might have been offended!

Max and Murphy really are very good mates.

More random photos and an update.

Where does the time go? I didn't realise how long it has been (again). Thank you Angela for the message.

In no particular order ....

 First up my gin collection. The numbers vary as bottles get drunk and others arrive.

The local authorities have built an amazing playground on the foreshore. It includes a wonderful water play area. I think it's meant for human kids but someone's four legged kid had a ball ...

I can't wait until Sally and Alice come down over summer.  They will love this ... especially Alice.

Part of my walk in pantry (the builder called it a butler's pantry but I don't have a butler and it doesn't have a sink so as far as I am concerned it's a walk in pantry - technically a walk through, I suppose, as we can access it from the garage). To the left is a cupboard with shelves that slide out when you open the door and holds all sorts of things that I really need to sort through like spices and tins of stuff and pasta and rice and all that paraphernalia! To the right is the kettle and toaster and teas and coffee and sugar. And biscuits although as fast as I bake them Himself eats them. I'll take a photo one day.

I had this bright idea of weaving with fabric. It involved cutting a jelly roll (precut strips meant for quilting) in half, stitching the pieces together into one long strip, folding the ends in and stitching thus making one long piece. 

I won't give up but it is not bringing me joy and is taking a lot longer than I thought. 

Someone posted on the local facebook page that she had tomato plants. She grows an incredible amount of heirloom and other varieties from seed and brought them up from her home. People who had said they would buy didn't turn up so I got a dozen seedlings for $30. She also gave me some great advice on how to grow them (it's all about the soil) and said I could contact her at any time if I had any issues. Love living in the country!!

The dogs love living here, too.

This popped up on Facebook. As I have weaned myself off my antidepressants it was very timely. I hope it helps others who live with the awful twins.

In one of the nature journalling workshops the facilitator brought plants along for us to look at and really examine and see. 

This is a Thomasia Pygmaea. It is just delightful. It is an Australian native and to my delight I found one in the local Bunnings so now have it in my front garden. The flowering season is over but I can't wait until next winter when the pretty little purple spotted bells appear. The leaves are also spotted - dark green on one side and gold on the other. Just delightful.

 

The landlord of the rental refused to back down so we now have a VCAT claim against us. Interestingly, we have been waiting on the report from the carpet company and so far, it is not forthcoming. I wonder if it is the same as the roof repairs and the heater maintenance ... the landlord lied about work being done and was called out thus costing her money to repair the issues. I wonder if she has even had a carpet company out to quote. Anyway, the fact that the carpet is more than 10 years old (probably closer to 30) means it is worthless as far as claims go. I will pay 50% of the depreciated value because 50% of fuck all is still fuck all. Of course, it all depends on who we appear in front of when our day in court arrives. 

So life goes on. I had to make an emergency dash to Melbourne last week as Sally had Covid and Amy's company insisted she had to work from the office for Thursday and Friday. Not five minutes after I arrived (after a 4 and a half hour drive) they decided that they didn't, in fact, want her in in case she had Covid. It wasn't a completely wasted trip as I was able to amuse Sally so her mum could work from home. And I got to come home a day earlier than anticipated.

As I finish writing this (it's been a few days since I started) it has just gone 4pm Wednesday which means it has just ticked over to Wednesday in the States and the news coming out is very depressing. My heart goes out to my American blogging friends. This is not what anyone wanted to see. Apart from the lunatic right.

In which I blitz you with pictures in no particular order.

A couple of weekends ago several chapters of a Chrysler car club had their annual gathering in Lakes. I am not a big fan of cars but I would have quite happily taken some of these home. It was a glorious day. I only took one photo but you get the idea. They had cars from the 30's to current models the latter of which didn't do much for me at all. They reminded me of the cars men drive if they have a need to compensate if you get my drift. The cars from the mid 50s were my absolute favourites.

I enrolled in a four week course on a different form of weaving. The photos below are of the final day. We made fish out of all sorts of things including raffia and leaves and cane and shells and I learned to make cordage out of plant fibres. Really interesting and thoroughly enjoying and I plan to continue with it at some point. 

The sessions were held at the newly repurposed slipway and these are the view from where we were sitting. You can see the old slipway in the first.

I'm not sure if you can get the sense of the cloud in this photo. It was almost like a flying saucer (that is our house in the bottom left).

Stepson's step daughter was married the same weekend of the car show above. All were invited except for us. We have done something to that family but have no idea what. Anyway, all the boys went up and Two and Three took their families. Amy flew up and back with the girls and Three drove up so they had a car with seats. He then drove back and stopped in with us for a couple of nights which was so special as we don't get him on his own very often. 

I took him to a local aboriginal museum with a cafe advertising they sell indigenous food. We were underwhelmed but the toasties were good and the surroundings were beautiful. We went for a walk through grounds.

We then went to Bullock Island to see the Entrance and encountered this handsome chap.

I am always amazed at how such a large, awkward looking bird can fly so gracefully (landing is another story!). Apparently their bones are incredibly light.

We went for a walk this morning. This farm owned the land our estate is built on. We can see it from our house.

And this is the ocean from the new road. Houses will eventually be built here but for now I enjoy the view.

Murphy. Such a needy dog but we love him.

You might remember I went up to Melbourne to collect Sally and bring her back. Alice modelled the dress her mum had bought for her to wear to the Qld wedding. It passed the twirl test.

                                                 

On the way home we stopped for breakfast. Sally wasn't impressed with the artisan raisin toast but she did enjoy her hot chocolate.

                                                      

And of course, Lakes isn't Lakes without doughnuts for breakfast.

And a play on the beach

When Three and Alice arrived we did the usual things including a walk across the bridge. Alice was sooking so to distract her I poionted out the water under the bridge through the metal mesh. Both girls found it fascinating - I decided not to tell them that fisherfolk clean and gut the fish there!
 

Today I went to the U3A AGM and have joined their committee. First step in becoming a true part of the community here. Someone had brought in bags of limes so of course I grabbed a few. 

Archie Rose Finger Lime gin and tonic with fresh lime ...

I was meant to finish this and post it last night but as I was working on it Himself got an email from the rental agent saying that the landlord had come down from Melbourne to check the house and said it smelt of animal and that considering we had already had the carpet cleaned and deodorised would we consider contributing to the cost of replacing it.

This resulted in phone calls with Three and Amy as they have a vast rental experience and were able to direct me to the right govt bodies which state that any carpet over 10 years old should be replaced at the owner's expense. The carpet in question has to be at least 20 years old, is faded, stained, frayed and the underlay is non-existant. I composed an email back for Himself to send stating this and saying, no, we will not be paying anything towards replacing the carpet. To be honest, it should have been replaced before we moved in as should the house have been painted. The owner has lied to the various property managers we had over the 12 months saying repairs had been done when they hadn't - and the relevant trades and businesses were able to back this up. Our next door neighbour also warned us that the owner was the sort of person who would try to get money out of us. As a result I have put in a claim to the body that holds bond money to get our bond back. It may take longer but it means that the owner can't just get the agent to withhold part of it without taking us to VCAT which will cost them money and could take years with the backlog of issues VCAT has to deal with. For the amount of money involved it won't be worth their hassle and I imagine VCAT would find in our favour anyway. It will mean the bond will be a bit longer coming back to us but it will come back in full.

Not the end of renting we hoped for - the agent even commented to Himself that the house was cleaner than when we moved in! Agent is lovely - landlord not so much.

So after that unwanted interlude this post was abandoned and I went and poured another gin.

Still alive

Sorry sorry, sorry.

Life is wonderful but very busy.

I am trying - actually not trying, it's just happening - to reduce my time on the computer so still reading blogs but comments and composing take time.

We are settling in really well.

I drove to Melbourne and collected Sally and brought her back. Three and Alice came down a couple of days later. The house survived. Not sure about Three. Alice is toilet training. 

"Daddy I done a wee" ... as she proceeds to wee on a dining chair (chosen to be easily wiped down and non staining - tick).

"Granny, I need new undies ... I done a poo" as we were playing in the playground as Daddy was getting the car packed up ready to head home. Daddy dealt with the result which ended in tears - definitely from Alice but I'm pretty sure Daddy was close.

The glorious three year old phase of knowing everything, conceding nothing, refusing help, screaming when thwarted then looking at you and beaming thus melting your heart.

Sally spent too much time talking to friends from school which caused her angst. Little girls are cruel.

Next time the ipad stays at home and she can use my phone to call mum and dad.

Three will be down on Wednesday for a couple of nights on his way back from Qld. I explain more later.

This really is a very brief post to say all is well and thanks for asking.

And Penguin, how close are you? I would love to meet up.