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.

Stuff

The weather has NOT been helpful so our driveway and fences are still not in. The landscapers haven't been idle, though.

Before ...

After ...

There will be ferns and the like in the beds and if I can find them some staghorn/elkhorn things on the fence. 

I woke up this morning in a deep funk. I felt as if I was at the bottom of a well looking up at the sky and sunshine and just had no desire to get out. I couldn't decide what to have for breakfast (crumpets or toast so I had meusli). 

The internet at the rental ended at midnight and we planned to hotspot our phones except the phone plan we are on (Vodaphone) sucks even though we have a direct line of sight to a tower. Himself had gone up to the house to water the grass seed and I thought "Fuck it. I need to be out of here".

So here were are. Here, not there!

We made sure the animals had all they need including the cushions from the couch we shared.

The dogs were fed ... including the feline dog.

It took them all a while to get settled. There was a lot of exploring and meowing and panting (from Murphy - probably not the best week to reduce his anxiety meds) but as I write all seems ok. In fact I had to stop there to give Max a stroke and a smooch which is a first!

Pizza for dinner (too much effort to cook) and then a settle in in front of the telly.

Tonight we will sleep in our new bed with new linen.

It feels like it's taken forever but here we are. 

Finally.

It already feels like home and we all seem a lot calmer.

My week in pictures (with some words)

Last weekend was glorious. We had high hopes that the landscaping and concreting and fencing would proceed with speed.

Here you can see my collection of plants awaiting planting. I am going for colour.

You can use your imagination to picture the pops of colour amidst the black mulch. I think they will look amazing.

The concreter laid the formwork for the driveway and front porch. It is a LOT of concrete!

Unfortunately the rain came and as a result we won't be having the concrete poured and the fencing dude can't deliver his cement posts as the block next door is too soggy. 

The reason we need rain free days for the concrete is that we have chosen a dark grey colour (normal light grey would be way to glarey) and if it rains during application the colour will be washed away. I could try and explain what we have chosen but you can wait until I can show you the finished product! 

I have offended the weather gods as there is no period in the foreseeable future with enough rain free days forecast so this will impact both the driveway and the fencing.

So what does one do when it rains? One knits, of course. This is a top I am knitting for The Mermaid because a) she's a lot smaller than me so takes less time and b) I don't wear knitted garments as I overheat. 

 

On Thursday I went to a weaving workshop run by a local artists' group. I wouldn't call this weaving per se but I enjoyed the process and am going back for the remaining three workshops. Hopefully I will pick up some tips for weaving with local grasses and other fibres. (This is raffia and some sort of sisal cord which was the easiest thing for the teacher to provide for so many people). 

There was a woman from my history group that I sat and chatted with. These encounters give me a sense of becoming part of the community. The next day I saw a couple in the doctor's waiting room who were also at the weaving group.

The reason I was at the doctor was to discuss the ongoing pain in my hip and seek reassurance after the issues I had with the whole wound thing. The more I spoke the more neurotic I felt but she ordered an xray. I ain't no radiologist but things seem to be in place. And I can understand why I am still a bit stiff and sore!!!

Pixie pointed out that my full name and date of birth was on the xray so I have deleted it until I can edit the original and repost. I wonder how many were as observant as she!

And here is the amended xray with personal details removed! 

The cats have a tendency to shred our furniture. Himself needed a Bunnings fix had to go into Bairnsdale and found a new scratching post that didn't cost as much as our house. Minnie loves it and since taking this Max has had a good scratch so I think we will get some more. 

It is Alice's third birthday today. I ordered her a Barbie doll set and a Barbie book from Amazon and it was delivered wrapped to their door (very promptly - I doubt Australia Post would have delivered that quickly). Three sent me videos of her opening them and this is a screen shot as she is seeing the Barbie dolls ... "OH. MY. GOG". I cracked up and that is now my favourite saying.

Not gogs but near enough, Himself took them to the beach for their walk today. 

Lakes Entrance .... bloody magic (even if it is still raining!)

Life trundles on

I recently had my hair degreyed and trimmed. I took this from my chair in the salon. It reminded me of why I love living here. Water, boats and bush - what's not to love.

Rain is forecast for this week which means the driveway is, yet again, on hold as we have opted for a dark grey concrete and it if it rains while being laid the colour will wash away. The  heavy stuff of the landscaping has been done so we are now waiting for the fencer to get back to us with a date to get that ticked off. 

Our rental is advertised and we have an open for inspection on Thursday. I will be very surprised if there is much, if any, interest as the figure they are asking is ridiculous for this town. And the type of person that could afford it wouldn't want to live in this place. The only thing going for it is the view. It has meant that we have had to have a flurry of cleaning which we hadn't expected until we vacated but the upside is that moving out will be less painful.

The hip is improving but the back is twitchy. As am I so I am looking forward to seeing a GP on Friday when I hope she will agree to an xray to put my mind at rest regarding the hip and/or work out what, if anything, can be done with the back. I think I will be biting the bullet, buying bathers (swimming costume, togs, swimsuit) and enrolling at the local gym/swim centre. They have gentle exercises for seniors (and oh my giddy aunt do I hate putting myself in that category as I have done some serious weight work in the past but time marches on and I stopped any sort of marching) and I can use the pool for water walking which is supposed to be good for back and joint issues. 

We could actually move into the new house if we wanted to. We have everything up there we need (apart from food but we do have tea, coffee, milk and english muffins). We have taken the dogs up there a couple of times to get them used to it. Himself took their beds up today so that should help as they seem to find it hard to settle and pace and pant a lot. Once they are there with the cats and have had their dinner up there I am sure they will be fine. 

On the social front I continue with my much loved U3A. On Thursday I have enrolled in a weaving class which uses plant materials run by a group of local artists. One of my history group is also going so my circle is slowly expanding. 

So that is life chez Merlot. The waiting to move is telling on us both but we are both still in agreement that this is the best decision we have made.

Life is good.

The landscaping is coming along really well. 

There will be a fence between the tree and the shed (the shed belongs to the bloke who owns the blocks behind us) but the tree will grow and you get an idea of the fencing from the second photo. The tree, by the way, is a Little Gem magnolia.

I am thrilled with the steps. There is a gentle bend that reflects the bends in the garden beds.

Again, you need to imagine the fence which will be roughly where the dirt ends and the grass begins. This is the other side of the house from the fence above. Things look a bit stark with the black mulch but once I have planted the whole area will sing with colour and texture.

I will need a bit more than these, though! We bought them at the local monthly market and I have ordered more from the chap that runs one of our mini golf venues. What ... isn't that where you get good plants? Tis here! I'm picking them up tomorrow.

Himself wanted to clean the rocks and this was him on the weekend with the garden hose but he ended up using  the power washer which did a great job. You get an idea of the difference the mulch makes.

 

We are getting so close to the end and more and more is being moved into the new house. 

On other fronts my hip has been giving me grief to the point that I have been taking heavy meds and been woken through the night. I had some brusing on my right buttock that concerned me and I rang the surgeon's rooms last week. I was told to see my GP as the procedure shouldn't be producing bruising at this stage. That evening I realised that I had been deeply massaging the area to relieve the ache so the bruising was self inflicted! I see the GP next week (country living, folks, but to be fair city living isn't much better in this regard) and will ask for an xray to set my mind at rest that I haven't damaged things. 

Yesterday I celebrated another trip around the sun. My coffee friends sang to me (and cleared the cafe), Himself and I had a fabulous dinner at the local pub and my kids and friends contacted me. 

I am so fortunate.

Progress pics

I wasn't going to post these as it looks as if we are living in a quarry (all rocks sourced from legal and sustainable quarries) but I have given you blow by blow accounts of the build so it's not fair to go "ta daaahhhhh" without showing the steps towards the final reveal.

Fencing will surround the property which will make things look a lot more enclosed. Soil and mulch will be installed, plants planted and the rocks will be washed to remove the dust and expose their beauty.

And I will have an easily accessable record of the process so you get the photos of the dumping of the rocks. Actually, very precise placing of the rocks. I am amazed at how the landscaper has picked the specific postining of each rock. We are talking many tons (or tonnes?) of rock.