23 years!

Today is my 23rd wedding anniversary. Boy has that time flown! Hubby is gone this morning on a course to do with keeping his Roadworthy license. But he will be back this afternoon and he has asked if I would like to go to the movies on a date. We didnt buy eachother any gifts, at least I didnt and I told him not to as we have spent lots of money on the new heater and we leave for greece in 23 days.
On the heater update, my poor cat is very confused. This morning he ran to the old heater meowing, which usually means it needs more wood. But we have let that one go out so we can clean and do maintenance on it. So I pick Sabastion up and sat with him in front of the new heater. But as its a radiant it has no fan. I think this is what is confusing him. He likes to feel the warm air blowing through his fur.
Must be a mid life crisis, I get him a red convertable.
Enjoy your weekend everyone, and Leanne the fire was going about two hours after it was installed.
toasty warm

A new Heater

Here is the new heater, just installed and ready to be lit. Its a radiant heater, so no fan to run and it has a cook top so I will be able to put a pot of soup on in the morning and have it ready to eat by night. Save on electricity and get more bang for your buck each time you put a log on the fire.
now I will have to get one of the old fashion kettles and I will always have hot water to make a cuppa with.
So now you can just pop it and the kettle will always be on!
I cant wait to light her.
see ya

Winter Wednesday 3

What I love about winter is staying in bed, nice and warm and reading a good book.
Nothing more to be said really.

What is that

 Well I have been knitting and knitting and following the instructions. And this is what I ended up with. Doesnt look like much. I wonder what I did wrong.

 Hang on if I fold this bit in like this,

and this bit in like this, Surprise! Its a baby jacket.
Amazing isnt it. All I have to do now is stitch up the two shoulder seams and add buttons.
I wont sew them up yet. I want to do another so that it all jells in my head.
I am pretty proud of myself. Thank you Elizabeth Zimmermann, and the women of youtub.
see ya

Outta my comfort zone

Today we had planned to go to a friends thousand acres farm and get some wood for the fire.
I even had the lunch all made up and ready to go last night but when we turned up this was meet us. Lots of rain and very soggy muddy paths. I was all for turning around and going home but hubby had other ideas.

 He made me drive this! He cut the fallen trees into long lengths and with the fork at the front I was to pick them up drive back to the car and put them into the trailer. Was he kidding!! It took all of about 2 minutes for me to get the hang of the gears, and to get it to go up and down the very slippery track. But then I was having a ball. Hubby was very proud of me. He said I took to it like a duck to water, and was driving like an expert.

These are the logs we loaded into the trailer, I loaded them all without putting one dint into the trailer. Always a bonus.
Now that we are home, he has unloaded them and when the weather is better he will finish cutting them up and we will split them, ready for the fire.
I wasnt sure at first, but pushing myself out of my comfort zone made for a fun day.
enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone.
seey ya

Still learning

I have been trying to learn how to read knitting patterns. I have never been shown how to do this. As a child I was taught to knit and purl, and that was about it.
My mother never knitted from a pattern, she just knitted. Which was great for her, not so good for me trying to learn.
I first saw the baby surprise jacket on http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/ and I thought what a wonderful little thing it was. When you knit it, it doesnt look like anything really and then you sew just two seams up and presto! Its a baby jacket.
I got on the net and ordered Elizabeth Zimmermanns book and that was it. It has sat on the shelf for about 18 months .
so the other day I was determined to master the art of the surprise jacket. I got the wool out of my stash and the circular needles from the heaps that I got from freecycle and grabed the book and started.
I cast on the number of stitches she told me too and stopped. it had all these abbreviations I didnt understand, so I youtubed them. There are many videos explaining what all the stitches are complete with a demonstration. Then I youtubed the surprise jacket and found a series of vides to watch as a very kind lady acually knitts the jacket, so you can knit along.
WONDERFUL!!!!!
so I am in the process of knitting videos two, there are two more vidoes. As Im a see and do person, rather than a read and do, its working out perfectly.
I will post more pics as I progress.
I love the internet, its just like having a wise women living in your home.
see ya

worst cold and flu season

The weather here has been bone chillin cold. On the news last night we were told its been the worst cold and flu season in many years here on the eastcoast of Australia.
I myself am not having a great day. So very tired, last week really knocked me around. Head is feeling like its packed with cotton wood, sinus is blocked and my ears are very sore.
Got up to get to gym this morning, but my body just didnt want too. After just fluffing around for a couple of hours I was back in bed and fell asleep. Woke up two hours later, not feeling much better. I will be glad when the new woodheater is installed next week. Then Ill have both going. That should keep me toasty warm. So I will plod along today, and rest when I need it. I think greek chicken soup sounds like a good idea.
Hot soup, and DVD's. Some handstitching and Ill be ok.
see ya

Winter Wednesday 2

snuggling on the couch with quilts and blankies, and warm fluffy scarfs.
Thats a part of winter I love.
now go to Hazels blog to see what others love!
http://hazel-dene.blogspot.com/

Wild about Harry!!

OMG. The final harry potter has exceeded all expectations.
I cried through the movie, and at the end.
Then I cried because it was the end. No more Harry Potters.
Its been a part of my life since I started reading it to my kids when they were too little to read it for themselves.
And now its over.
I want to see it again. Lucky Hubby wants to see it too.
If you havnt seen it and you have seen past harrys, then go. Its brilliant.

Yeah Finally!

Finally I am going to see the new Harry Potter movie today.
I cant wait.
see ya

a spoilt little chicky

Today the birds are singing, the sky is a wonderful grey colour, and the sound of the ride on mower is in the background.
But the best part of today is I have finally got the wireless to work, and hubby gave me my own laptop. So I am typing this in bed, nice and warm with the cat asleep next to me.
It really is a wonderful world.
see ya

what a week!

The week started slow, Monday was an average day, where I just ran errends and caught up on the washing.
Tuesday I woke up feeling tired and very grumpy. So Leanne suggested I just come over to her house and we watch some funny videos.
sounded good and all was well unti l got home around 2ish. I arrived to fine the phone line and internet not working. It has only just come back on this afternoon.
I was a little miffed but excited as it was only one more sleep till I got to see the new Harry Potter.
Baby girl got home and as she was going to the midnight screening we decided to watch part one.
At about 6ish I started to feel very sick. I then started throwing up and soon after it started at both ends.
By 9.30 that night I was a very sick girl, and hubby rushed me to the hospital. I was put on a drip because I was so dehydrated.
Coming back home at around 3 in the morning I fell fast asleep. I had tablets to take that would make my stop being sick. It still took another full day before I could eat real food.
Its now Friday and I only left the house for the first time today.
I missed out on seeing harry and was very upset. So Bec, Leannes stepmum, has purchased more tickets for Monday so we can all go see it together. She is sooo sweet. Even her kids are coming again, so they can see it with me.
I choose to believe its me, and not the fact that they loved the movie so much they want to see it again. lol
So after spending the afternoon on the phone to tech help, I am finally back on line. I will spend the weekend catching up with all your blogs.
Have a great weekend everyone
see ya

KooWeeRup swamp tower

 This is a photo of the KooWeeRup swamp tower. I didnt take this photo its off the net. I acually forgot to get one of the tower. I have been driving past this tower for about 30 years and I dont ever remember climbing it. So of course I pick a day were its freezing and the wind is blowing a gale. The following photos are ones I took from the top.

 This is a photo of dear hubby lining up to get some donuts. The are very yummy. If you click on the photo it will enlarge. Hubby is the one all in blue, second in line.

 This is the South Gippsland Highway, heading North and back towards home.

 Looking at the highway directly infront of the tower, this car is heading north.

And the highway heading south towards Phillip Island.
Just a little about my back yard.
see ya

the king is in his counting house

when Hubby gets home everynight he emptys his coin into our money box.  It takes about a year to fill and in the last 12 months it has had alot of coin dropped into it

Hubby used a can opener to open the tin and started to stack all the coin.
Final tally banked. $565.00 Priceless!
Thats over 500 dollars that we would not have had if he had just hung on to it, and spent it on stuff we really didnt need. ie lollies, gum you get the idea.
It worked out brilliantly, as hubby had his eyes tested and he needs glasses to read and work on the computer.
cost of new glasses, $435.00. The money is there waiting to pay for the new glasses and we are still ahead over $100.00.
New money box is in place and already it has some coin in it.
Its a great way to save.
see ya

chemo day

Today is the 6th chemo day in this cycle.
Hopefully its the last one for a long, long time.
Acually we hope a miracle happens and it goes away for ever and we never have to do chemo again.
Please let it be.
But for today, it off to the hospital we go.
see ya

Winter Wednesday

Ive decided to play along with Hazel Dene and blog about what I love about winter. I love my combustion heater. Its sometimes smelly, if hubby has touched it, and its dirty. It alway makes a mess when others bring wood in. but its cosy and warm and makes a house a home.
So if you want to play along follow the link
http://hazel-dene.blogspot.com/
and check out what others love about winter.
see ya

Earthquake

An earthquake has hit in Korumburra measuring 4.4. I have to admit I didnt feel it because the weather here is so bad the windows are shaking anyway. The roof sounds like it going to take off, and I worry about my solar panels.
Earthquakes in Korumburra are nothing new, and we have had quite a few in the last 24 months. When I worked at Crystal world one of the geologists showed me a map of Victoria showing all the fault lines. We acually have lots. It looked like a spidersweb. All the hills in the Korumburra region were formed buy volcanic activity.
Kinda scary really as its only a 40 minute drive south from here.
So hang on if you feel the earth move for you, and batten down the hatches as this wind is not looking like its going to stop anytime soon.
Its cold, wet and misrable here, and thats how I feel.
Time for a cuppa I think and more wood on the fire and after I finish the vacuming a dvd.
I will finish the vacuming. I promise!
see ya

4th july

To all my American friends in blogland, have a happy 4th of july

warning

This is to warn everyone about the dangers of dishwashing. I only had a few coffee cups, so rather than put them into the dishwasher I decided to do them by hand and put them away.
Well I held one by the handle and put my other hand into the cup with the dishcloth to wash the inside, and the handle broke off the cup. It dug into the base of my thumb.
It really really hurt, and it would not stop bleeding. wonderson came over and took me to the pharmacy were my friend nancy is the pharmacist. I had no bandages at all in the house. She very kindly patched me up and I purchased more bits and bobs to be able to change the dressing.
I did this on Friday afternoon and the bleeding did not stop till saturday afternoon.
So all craft work has come to a halt as everytime I move my hand it starts to weep again.
Very frustrating.
So there you go, I should of just put them into the dishwasher and continued to hand stitch the binding. Now I dont know when I will finish.
bugger it!!

Boat licence

Last night Bronwyn and I attended a training course to obtain our Boat licence. It was 31/2 hours long and I thought I would not remember anything.
But our teacher was very good, he would have to be to get me to remember everything, and I passed the written test.
It was like being in high school again. No books allowed, no talking, just using your brain. You can see why I panicked. Hubby asked me as we were driving to Montrose if I had read the book. The look of horror on my face as I asked what book made him laugh. Everyone told me that you did the test together and everyone passed. Not our teacher, he has been on boats all his life and he was not going to pass anyone who did not know his stuff. Great attitude but hell for Bronwyn and myself. So our short drive to Lillydale lake was one of silence as we pondered what the hell we were doing. We didnt want to drive the boats anyway. This was the boys making us do this.
But we both passed and then we felt very proud of ourselves.
Very tired today though, getting home at 11.30. So I will continue to stitch the binding off on the finished quilts.
have a great weekend everyone.
see ya