It's Monday here and the sun is just starting to come up. The weather is perfect right now. Sunny warm days and evenings and nights that are cool enough to turn off the A/C.
We are very well settled into the new house. It does seem like home.
I am so much more relaxed!!! Life is good.
30 March, 2009
27 March, 2009
Finally, the NEW HOUSE!
This is it! Also is the view of the fairway that is right out the front door. It's not a very busy country club, so it's very quiet here. Loving every minute of it!
More new house
Pictured are the laundry room, the main bath (-toilet that's in a different room next door) and the LONG hall from one end of the house to the other!more new house
These are the main living areas.
The lounge, the kitchen, the dining room and the huge covered patio.
26 March, 2009
EXHAUSTED
The move went pretty well, especially we did not officially get the keys until noon yesterday.
By 6, furniture and appliances were delivered and in place and the rest of the stuff was hauled from the other house. Luckily it was just three blocks b/c a lot of it was just thrown on the back seat or in the trunk of the cars.
Frank was tied up in meetings, so he sent Lee and Derek in to help me.
This morning, I stuck a small load of prints in the washer and headed to the way other end of the house to work on the master closet! I hear the washer beep (done) an hour later and went to put the stuff on the line. I got 1/2 way down the hall on the other side of the lounge and hit water...
lots and lots of water...
the closer that I got to the utility, the more water there was. (I 1/2 inches deep in the laundry room)
apparently the guy that installed the washer screwed up the drain.
The laundry room, the family bath, the loo (toilet room), 2 halls and one bedroom were all wet...
I grabbed every towel in the house (and one cotton blanket) and threw them around to try and soak up what I could. ( I have no mop!)
got it done, the plumber came and also fixed the leaking dishwasher connection... and i started washing towels. I then had 6 loads of laundry to do, instead of the 2 I started out to do.
Still had to finish the shopping for household items today, as the bill is due in tomorrow.
Have not managed a meal yet (it's 3:30PM), think I may pass on the food and take a nappy.
I have to be careful using that word here (nappy) as that's what they call diapers!!!
Pictures of the new house are going to have to wait, sorry.
By 6, furniture and appliances were delivered and in place and the rest of the stuff was hauled from the other house. Luckily it was just three blocks b/c a lot of it was just thrown on the back seat or in the trunk of the cars.
Frank was tied up in meetings, so he sent Lee and Derek in to help me.
This morning, I stuck a small load of prints in the washer and headed to the way other end of the house to work on the master closet! I hear the washer beep (done) an hour later and went to put the stuff on the line. I got 1/2 way down the hall on the other side of the lounge and hit water...
lots and lots of water...
the closer that I got to the utility, the more water there was. (I 1/2 inches deep in the laundry room)
apparently the guy that installed the washer screwed up the drain.
The laundry room, the family bath, the loo (toilet room), 2 halls and one bedroom were all wet...
I grabbed every towel in the house (and one cotton blanket) and threw them around to try and soak up what I could. ( I have no mop!)
got it done, the plumber came and also fixed the leaking dishwasher connection... and i started washing towels. I then had 6 loads of laundry to do, instead of the 2 I started out to do.
Still had to finish the shopping for household items today, as the bill is due in tomorrow.
Have not managed a meal yet (it's 3:30PM), think I may pass on the food and take a nappy.
I have to be careful using that word here (nappy) as that's what they call diapers!!!
Pictures of the new house are going to have to wait, sorry.
25 March, 2009
MOVING
We are moving, the new house was lovely.
so much to do...
will write and post pics of the new house later!!!
so much to do...
will write and post pics of the new house later!!!
24 March, 2009
New House
Going at 10am to look at another house. BRAND NEW!!!
appears to be much larger than this one but built by a reputable builder!
I peeked in the windows yesterday and it looks lovely.
Drove by 4 others this am that are already leased to the company that our contract is w/.
quickly ruled out all 4.
long story short, the first was old, not-so-niceville neighborhood, bars on all of the windows, carport, no garage.
2, 3 and 4... all identical, all three built on one lot, 3 deep!
entire front yards were blacktop to allow access to all three houses. no porches, no decks.
views from the bedrooms were the neighbor's bedrooms. single car garage, that i'm not even sure that you could make the corner to get the car in. Nowhere for any guests to park. small kitchens, no pantry, few cupboards.
hopefully the one I'm looking at this morning will be PERFECT...
ok, so maybe perfect is not necessary.
bug and pest free would work. (and at least 2 air conditioners!)
appears to be much larger than this one but built by a reputable builder!
I peeked in the windows yesterday and it looks lovely.
Drove by 4 others this am that are already leased to the company that our contract is w/.
quickly ruled out all 4.
long story short, the first was old, not-so-niceville neighborhood, bars on all of the windows, carport, no garage.
2, 3 and 4... all identical, all three built on one lot, 3 deep!
entire front yards were blacktop to allow access to all three houses. no porches, no decks.
views from the bedrooms were the neighbor's bedrooms. single car garage, that i'm not even sure that you could make the corner to get the car in. Nowhere for any guests to park. small kitchens, no pantry, few cupboards.
hopefully the one I'm looking at this morning will be PERFECT...
ok, so maybe perfect is not necessary.
bug and pest free would work. (and at least 2 air conditioners!)
23 March, 2009
More Critters
The bad thing is that we now have at least one mouse in the garage...they do not have gaskets around the garage doors here. I could fit my hand through the existing crack when the door is down.
the good thing (I think) is that if there is a mouse surviving in the garage, that likely the snake is not around...
I've still added mouse traps to my shopping list for today.
the good thing (I think) is that if there is a mouse surviving in the garage, that likely the snake is not around...
I've still added mouse traps to my shopping list for today.
Church (and more critters)
I attended St. Mark's Lutheran Church yesterday. It was a full house. The sermon was about when Moses and the Isrealites were in the desert and they were complaining about the lack of food and God sent deadly snakes to bite them. GREAT! (Leave it to a guy, not to ask directions in 40 years!!!)
I will never complain about the food here again.
We had gone out for a coffee last night (when Frank got home from work) and when we got home, we did not close the garage door as it was a cool evening and we figured that the snakes were already in hiding. I went out to close the door at bedtime and found a little green froggie in there. I have a flyswatter shaped like a hand and was using it to bump him in the bum to encourage him to get out b/f I closed then door when out of the corner of my eye, I saw something running...
It was a baseball (at least) sized spider...He got out the door and hid b/f I had the chance to smack him.
The bug guy is due Tuesday. It can't come too soon!!!
I will never complain about the food here again.
We had gone out for a coffee last night (when Frank got home from work) and when we got home, we did not close the garage door as it was a cool evening and we figured that the snakes were already in hiding. I went out to close the door at bedtime and found a little green froggie in there. I have a flyswatter shaped like a hand and was using it to bump him in the bum to encourage him to get out b/f I closed then door when out of the corner of my eye, I saw something running...
It was a baseball (at least) sized spider...He got out the door and hid b/f I had the chance to smack him.
The bug guy is due Tuesday. It can't come too soon!!!
21 March, 2009
Saturday down under
Absolutely NOTHING is new.
Luckily that means few bugs and no sign of the snake...
Frank is working all weekend.
that's the update, sorry.
Luckily that means few bugs and no sign of the snake...
Frank is working all weekend.
that's the update, sorry.
20 March, 2009
No Power, AGAIN
We woke again this (at 4am) morning, to no power! They shut off power to the whole town to do repairs! Such fun. It's still really dark outside at that hour. Luckily we use the alarm on the cell phone. BUT NO COFFEE!!! We do have a gas cooktop and managed to heat some water for tea. (of course we had to light it as it's electronic ignition). Warmed a pan of water for Frank to get ready for work, as the on demand water heater is also electrically started. Since the outage last week, I have purchased candles and more batteries for the torch (flashlight). We managed pretty well...
Frank was ready for work on time, Derek was here on time... Lee had to be wakened.
Heaven only knows what Frank has in his lunch cooler, as I packed by candlelight!
PS, no sign of the snake YET!
Frank was ready for work on time, Derek was here on time... Lee had to be wakened.
Heaven only knows what Frank has in his lunch cooler, as I packed by candlelight!
PS, no sign of the snake YET!
19 March, 2009
The Snake
The gardener was here yesterday. He said it was most def. a brown snake and that it's the largest that he's ever seen. AND that he (the snake) will be back! Gave me his cell phone number and said to call if we see him again.
That I should stay away... (like that's a problem)
I'm still a wreck over it!
That I should stay away... (like that's a problem)
I'm still a wreck over it!
18 March, 2009
World's most deadly snakes!
Number 3The Australian Brown Snake
As the name suggests, the Australian brown snake is native to Australia. Even a baby brown snake has enough venom to kill a human. One fact about Australian brown snakes is that out of the three thousand snakebites in Australia each year, half are Australian brown snake bites. Another strange fact is that less than half of the bites contain venom- the rest are ‘dry bites’ which means that they don’t contain venom. Either way, it wouldn’t be a good experience!
there was a picture of the snake in this article, no doubt at all that this is the type of snake that we had in the garage last night...
shit!
The rest of the story...Last night b/f trying to deal w/the snake we called:
the local police, they do not do snakes.
The local fire department does not do snakes.
The wildlife protection people (the number the police gave me) do not have anyone in Dalby. (should i be surprised about that one?)
The guys could not remember the name of the guy at the jobsite that is the snake handler.
(it is on Frank's list to get his name and number today)
The loop was where he was STUCK under one of the rollers of the garage door. Moving the garage door meant freeing him. I did not like that idea what-so-ever. Once we did it, (i lost the vote) he wrapped himself around the iron work of the garage track. We tried throwing things at him (plastic kitchen utensils) and shooting him w/water from the hose... (a 45 was my choice, but sadly not available)...it was finally a swiffer floor cleaner, attached to a broom, to give Derek almost 10' of reach that got him out of the garage!
As the name suggests, the Australian brown snake is native to Australia. Even a baby brown snake has enough venom to kill a human. One fact about Australian brown snakes is that out of the three thousand snakebites in Australia each year, half are Australian brown snake bites. Another strange fact is that less than half of the bites contain venom- the rest are ‘dry bites’ which means that they don’t contain venom. Either way, it wouldn’t be a good experience!
there was a picture of the snake in this article, no doubt at all that this is the type of snake that we had in the garage last night...
shit!
The rest of the story...Last night b/f trying to deal w/the snake we called:
the local police, they do not do snakes.
The local fire department does not do snakes.
The wildlife protection people (the number the police gave me) do not have anyone in Dalby. (should i be surprised about that one?)
The guys could not remember the name of the guy at the jobsite that is the snake handler.
(it is on Frank's list to get his name and number today)
The loop was where he was STUCK under one of the rollers of the garage door. Moving the garage door meant freeing him. I did not like that idea what-so-ever. Once we did it, (i lost the vote) he wrapped himself around the iron work of the garage track. We tried throwing things at him (plastic kitchen utensils) and shooting him w/water from the hose... (a 45 was my choice, but sadly not available)...it was finally a swiffer floor cleaner, attached to a broom, to give Derek almost 10' of reach that got him out of the garage!
THE SNAKE
I was taking a small bag of trash out to the hopper, just b/f Frank got home from work.
I saw what appeared to be a loop of rope hanging down from the garage
door track and I wondered what a loop of rope had to do w/the garage door working. I bit closer look made me quickly realize that it was NOT a rope... but that same snake (or one that looks just like him) that had peered under the fence a couple of weeks ago. The lawn guy had told me that they are territorial...and that if we saw him once, that likely we would see him again.
The snake lived through the process of getting him out of the garage track... (under my protest). There were 6 of us... ok, Derek did the work and the rest of us offered pretty worthless suggestions! He was coiled up under the trash bin last night...i'm not looking this morning.
Oh ya, he was just about 5' long...
16 March, 2009
The village in Fiji
We visited one of the two villages on the island when we were there.
It reminded both of us of central Mexico. The kids were adorable!!!
Flowers in Fiji
Anyone that has been around me when I have my camera in hand, knows that I cannot resist flowers or kids...
so here goes!
Off to the Races
We went to the Dalby horse races on Saturday afternoon. Frank had worked late, so we just got there in time for the last race. When I was shopping earlier in the day, the lady at the store said that most people would be very dressed up. I figured, ya, it's Dalby that dressed up would mean taking off your high visibility work shirt. I put on a denim knee length shirt and a very cute cotton collared blouse w/silver sequine trim and silver jewelry.
so we arrive... OMG... you'd have thought that we were at the Kentucky Derby...
there were evening gowns, clubbing dresses, huge hats and headbands w/feathers curled in varied directions. Way too much skin showing for many of them. guys were in slacks, shirts w/ties or suits.
I'm thinking FIRST... this is Dalby and SECOND, where the heck did all of these people come from. AND FEW cared about the races... it was obviously the social event of the season. The bar was the busiest place!
Now this place is a bit shabby. The grand stand (bleachers) might have held 40 people if you'd have jammed them in. There were only a handful of people up there. Obviously NOT the place to be...And there were gravel and some blacktop paths... and most of the women had on high heeled sandals... and walking in the grass...
I'm still trying to figure out of it was just a dream.
I was in shock... I'm still in shock!!! and to top it off, I forgot my camera.
so we arrive... OMG... you'd have thought that we were at the Kentucky Derby...
there were evening gowns, clubbing dresses, huge hats and headbands w/feathers curled in varied directions. Way too much skin showing for many of them. guys were in slacks, shirts w/ties or suits.
I'm thinking FIRST... this is Dalby and SECOND, where the heck did all of these people come from. AND FEW cared about the races... it was obviously the social event of the season. The bar was the busiest place!
Now this place is a bit shabby. The grand stand (bleachers) might have held 40 people if you'd have jammed them in. There were only a handful of people up there. Obviously NOT the place to be...And there were gravel and some blacktop paths... and most of the women had on high heeled sandals... and walking in the grass...
I'm still trying to figure out of it was just a dream.
I was in shock... I'm still in shock!!! and to top it off, I forgot my camera.
12 March, 2009
Favorite pictures from the trip
As Dalby is still gray and windy from the cyclone, I decided to pick a few of my favorite pictures.
I guess these are to brighten my day. Hopefully they might brighten someone else's also.
11 March, 2009
Kava Ceremony
They use a root to make a drink. Tasted a lot like dirty dishwater! It's quite the ritual. Everyone had to be silent (that about killed me)... hats had to be off. They say it's narcotic, but no one that tried it noticed much more than numbness in their lips or tongue.
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