We have a House..

Yaaay, we have a house... it is on the "patch" but that's ok... hopefully tomorrow we will know when we can move in... I'm sort of excited about it in a way.. We took the kids to see the place yesterday, they loved the place, right up until they seen the dishwasher would have to go into storage *laughing* they are going back to the old fashioned hand washing, which I personally love to do, and I have my kitchen sink under a window.. what else can I tell you about the house,.. oh yes.. it;s pink..pink carpet, pink blinds, pinkish cupboards, I am thinking someone with a sense of humour picked the colour scene, and I am thinking with our stuff in it, it will look a little more un-pink.., and I can not wait to put in some vege plants and a herb garden.  I will post pictures when we are in, in the mean time here are a few piccies from my cross country jaunt.

Now this is Nellie, or Nelster, I have dragged this wee Nellyfant while globe trotting, so it was just the done thing to have her riding shotgun.

Australia is a huge continent, and many people don't believe that there is a sheep station here in Australia the size of Texas, and rumour has it we can fit that big ol' state in to Australia about 10 times. This road is in the middle of no where, from where we stopped there was nothing for a few hundred kilometres either side. This was the road.

and it went in a straight line for

Periodically, while driving along you could be forgiven for thinking there were giant X crossings for Kangaroos painted on the roads..

But they aren't

they are aircraft landing strips in remote areas of Australia, for the Royal Flying Doctors Service  This organisation is amazing, they are not only air ambulance, but run medical clinics in outback Australia and bring health care to people who would not be able to receive medical care otherwise.

And then there is the wildlife, this trip was a bit lacking.. I have in the past seen squillions of roo's and even the most amazing baby Emu's playing on the sside of the road, but this trip was lacking in wild animal spotting.. I was really happy to see no road kill either, which meant there was enough food and water further back and the animals didn't need to come near the Eyre Highway where they often loose their lives.

I have no why people feel the need tp add graffiti and in desolate places who does this, but it made me look twice when I seen these guys with "road runner" wings "beep beep"

Oh now did I mention Nelly? Aww come on a girl can get bored on a 4.100km road trip

Bucket List, Rain and Houses

It hardly seems like yesterday since we left Western Australia to take up a posting here in Victoria Australia. We have driven over 4,100km to get here, arriving on Thursday evening. .. It was the most unusual trip, we had planned on having this wonderful holiday / honeymoon on the way, but what neither of us took into account was how we felt...  We are a Military family so posting to new places is not unusual for us, we just didnt take into account how this posting had rattled our cage and impacted on us.. all the support going into the children, who felt like they were abandoning their mum  and Derek and I feeling very sad this time leaving his elderly parents.

I had mentioned we were heading to the South West corner of Western Australia, where we had plans to visit a whaling museum in Albany before heading to Esperance. When we arrived at Albany we were both worn out, so we booked into a motel, skipped the museum and headed on to Esperance the next morning.. we got there at lunch time decided not to stay and kept driving,  it was crossed off our bucket list as been there, a done that and the t shirt wasn't worth buying.. *laughing* don't we sound like a couple of sorry a**ed cases. I do have some photos I will post, but the camera is still in the car and it is pouring down here.. that in itself is odd since we have lived the past 2 years in an area, that has been suffering from pretty serious drought..
Yesterday, we were offered a couple of houses, they are not in our *rating* but as they are all that was offered we have to choose between two. I think we have settled on one and it is down on the "patch" an affectionate term used  for the housing area, used by those who live on the Navy Base. The area is actually very pretty with lots of trees and bush, birds and at times Koalas. When I went through the place, I wondered how on earth I was going to squeeze everything from a large four bedroom house into a smaller three bedroom house..
I know I will manage, and I know in my heart I can make this house a home for us, I also remember something Rhonda said over on Down To Earth, and that is Bloom Where Your Planted  and if that is where the Navy plant us, then that is where I will grow.. Tomorrow, I will share the high light of my trip -  my visit to Maggie Beers..
P/S// as all our stuff is still in shipping containers somewhere, and as we are in temporary accomodtaion, I had to go out and buy a manufactured sponge for the kitchen... oh my goodness.. I hate it.. I so prefer my own hand knitted cotton dish cloths, I know now I will never go back to store bought clothes willingly.

Pike River Miners - RIP

As an ex pat Kiwi (New Zelander) my heart broke as I followed this best I could as I travelled across Australia. It was gut wrenching news to learn that all 29 men had perished at the Pike River Mine... My heart goes out to each of the those families whose men will not be returning home..

Conrad Adams, 43, Malcolm Campbell, 25, Glen Cruse, 35, Allan Dixon, 59,Zen Drew, 21, Christopher Duggan, 31, Joseph Dunbar, 17, John Hale, 45, Daniel Herk, 36, David Hoggart, 33, Richard Holling, 41, Andrew Hurren, 32, Jacobus 'Koos' Jonker, 47, William Joynson, 49, Riki Keane, 28, Terry Kitchin, 41, Samuel Mackie, 26, Francis Marden, 42, Michael Monk, 23, Stuart Mudge, 31, Kane Nieper, 33, Peter O'Neill, 55, Milton Osborne, 54, Brendan Palmer, 27, Benjamin Rockhouse, 21, Peter Rodger, 40, Blair Sims, 28, Joshua Ufer 25, Keith Valli, 62.

My Life In Boxes

Well, it's done and dusted... Both D and I are now just starting to unwind, we went and had fish and chips on the Rockingham Foreshore as a treat for dinner, it was beautiful with the sun setting in the West.. tomorrow we start the drive to Melbourne, with the wee detour we are taking down to Albany, it is a a road trip of about 4,400km. This time next week we will almost be there.. we are stopping for a few days in the Barossa Valley. 
When I get a chance to get coverage, with out little magic Internet stick I will post piccies of our journey.. but in the mean time, here is my life in boxes

My poor kitchen - half the boxes gone

Two trucks - 

Two containers, we got to much stuff

These guys were amazing, they are moving this stuff in 38c (100f) heat and they still had a sense of humour.. They rocked!

Woooaar

Over the last few days, I have been flat out like a lizard drinking - tomorrow the big guns arrive and pack up the house.. Thursday the shipping containers arrive... it is finally happening.
I spent a good portion of yesterday cleaning, the mans bar fridge, the kitchen fridge, two bathrooms, from top to bottom and then spent rest of the day with my head in the oven, no it isn't a gas one I was trying to get it perfectly sparklie and clean, I was getting seriously miffed with this sparklie thing and settled on just clean after the main screw that held the oven door glass in place, went down the kitchen sink plug hole! There were a few interesting and choice, newly invented expletives flying about the kitchen, as I figured since the tap was running, the water  would have washed the offending screw right over the S bend never to be seen again - the minute D walked in the door, I shoved him under the sink to look,  I knew he had the screw when I heard a muffled " Woooaar Gunbuster!" from under the bench. Never fear when a sailor is near.. door glass back in place I was much relieved, I had vision of  many big $$$$$$$ as it wasn't your run of the mill screw.
Mister P and DimSim fly to Melbourne tonight and into kennels tomorrow, both of them know something is up.. Well, I am off to pack up some more personal stuff.. and clean the deep freeze... but first go check out this... it is your awwwwww for the day, Sue over at Living The Good Life   has had a calf, no not Sue her cow Cara.. it is the sweetest baby, I dare you to go over and get a warm fuzzy.

Airport?  I'm not going to no stinkin' airport.

 I stay in here - they never find 'Sacred Temple Kitty'

Oh My Goodness

You ever have one of those moments in time, when realisation leaves you absolutely mortified and there is diddly squat you can do to rectify the embarrassing situation... and then you re-run it over and over and go "omg how embarrassing"  Welllllllll I been doing that since last night, and even as I sit and type it, my stomach rolls with each recall.. gosh maybe I am a closet masochist for reliving it.. but really I wish I could fix it and I can't and I can't apologise and and and ... aughhhhhhhhhhh.
Lemme tell y'all what has happened and then you can say it's ok it will pass and I will say but it's horrible.

As we are getting closer to leaving, I will be putting a on vacation sign over on my Made It store, and yesterday morning I was making up a few orders that had arrived via email. I had individual wrapping paper squares on the bench with the orders all in a row and on the table there were two more little parcels - these where not orders but little thank you gifts. Now yesterday morning had been insanely busy, I had been trying to pack up all my soap making stuff, print brochures and be finished for a hairdressing appointment, Miss 12 seeing me in a bit of a flap, asked if there was anything she could do to help.. yes bless her, "slide price lists into the bottom of all them", pointing to the stuff on the bench, "and I will come wrap" I gave her a hug and off she went to school.. I wrapped everything and took them to post...
Last night before bed, I gave her a hug and said thanks for the help this morning, I really appreciate it, she smiled a great big smile and said, "That is ok, I even did the two you forgot about on the table"
I near choked, my stomach rolled and I audibly groaned, when I realised she had put price lists into the presents and I had already given them to the recipients!  I have given handmade thank  you gifts to two people as a sign of appreciation and they have price lists in their for the same stuff.. I can't doooooooooooo anything about it... but I'm dying of embarrassment here.

Remembrance Day Tribute

On the 11th hour of the 11 day of the 11th month:
Will you stop to remember? Not only those men who served and fell at the Western Front back in 1918 but every man and woman who has served their country and paid the ultimate price - Those men and woman who serve and defend our countries, by choice with pride everyday.  Not many people realise that our Australian Navy play a huge part in these conflicts... Freedom is not really free and as my husband puts on his uniform everyday, I know that the freedom always comes with a price. I am eternally grateful my husband returned from 4 TOD's to the Gulf and my heart is with the families of those who did not. 
No matter who you are or what country you live in, will you stop to remember?
Lest We Forget.

I made this image for my husbands old MySpace page as a tribute to ANZAC Day.