Day 31 Yuk!

This evening I decided to take the nail polish off my toes as I was getting a little tired of the colour. Interestingly it was still looking fairly good for the length of time it had been on! 

As I cleaned it off, the was a line on two of my toes that was stubborn so I scratched it, and the nail on each toe peeled off! 

Last year I had my first pedicure, OMG it was SO good! At my 2nd or 3rd one (I got hooked fast!) I noticed 2 of my nails had white spots, but wasn't overly concerned, as they didn't hurt, and I thought I would know if it were serious. Then over the past few months I have been painting my nails and therefore couldn't see the spots!

I am now thinking my toenails need a rest from painting and primping until they are totally healed at least, I expect that they will look better after a soak in the shower and some shoe wearing, but in this pic, they just look YUK!

Day 30 Back to it!

Yesterday was my first day back at work for the year, today was the first day my students were back. 

The above pic is of a timetable app I have found. The problem with making a timetable for me is that as I travel to different schools, who each have different bell times, it is not easy to remember what time I need to be at what school and I wanted to be able to type in the times and have it show me pictorially how it worked. This app does that! I was worried about the amount of spaces I had, until I looked harder and found that even though there are 4h 45mins in a normal teaching day, that I am trying to teach for 5 hours each day (and succeeding to fit it in!) as well as travelling between schools-and out of town! Who needs lunch?!? 

Day 29 Happy Birthday Helen!

Today was Helen's Birthday. 

Here is Helen with her cake.

Here is Helen's song, which she had not heard before. (Click here to hear the song.)

Let's not forget last night

Yeah, how we drove along the Yarra

How we sang harmonies 

To Carole King

These three years now just gone

They are the legends of my mind

We both kneel at these rocks 

To drink of the mem'ry

You are the tunes in my head, the fire in my ribs

You are the voice in my heart that whispers compassion

Happy birthday Helen

Oh-oh..., oh-oh..., oh-oh...

We kissed on that bridge that fell down

While we held hands at the Taj

We've been stuck in a cave 

With that bloke who says Oi Am

And when I cried for my cruel heart

You rubbed my back 'til I felt better

We ate bread on the lake 

And yearned for the seasons

You are the tunes in my head, the fire in my ribs

You are the voice in my heart that whispers compassion

Happy birthday Helen

Oh-oh..., oh-oh..., oh-oh...

You are the tunes in my head, the fire in my ribs

You are the voice in my heart that whispers compassion

You are the storm on the ocean, poems in the trees

The smell of the winter that haunts me each autumn

You're my everything

You are my everything

You are my everything

Happy Birthday Helen

Oh-oh..., oh-oh..., oh-oh...

Shake

Oh-oh..., oh-oh..., oh-oh...

Oh-oh..., oh-oh..., oh-oh...

Happy birthday Helen

Happy Birthday Helen!

Day 28 Better than bought!

A few weeks ago, I bought some fabric at Spotlight and crossed my fingers. As some people know, I can be quite inventive when sewing and seem to generally be able to make things work for me. So when I had no measurements to work with when I saw the fabric but had a spontaneous idea about how to use it, I went with my instincts!

I bought a quilt cover set some years ago and it came with a 'neck roll' and a 'breakfast cushion' as well as European pillow cases and normal pillow cases. It looks fabulous when all set up. However if I change the bed covering, the print doesn't match anything else! So I bought some plain blue European pillow cases, but couldn't find any covers for the neck roll or the breakfast pillow. So normally, when the original quilt cover is not on the bed, I put the odd pillows in the cupboard! Until today!

I had the thought when I saw the pintucked/ruffled fabric, to make covers for the pillows. I took the original covers and laid them down on the fabric, cut them out, used a pair of compasses to shape the ends of the neck roll and inserted zips in both to make them nice and plump.

I think they turned out well, especially for a no pattern endeavour! Go me!

Day 27 The day after...

This morning I popped up to Belconnen to have coffee with Teresa. I haven't seen her since graduation in 2008! We had a lovely time catching up and hope to get together more often as she has some other friends who have just moved to Canberra.

On the way in to the centre though, I found that I couldn't get to my normally preferred parking area as part of the way in was roped off. I couldn't figure out why until I got out of the car and looked back and up! 

One of the pipes that runs along parallel with the roof, was hanging at right angles! I would have thought this was pretty serious, but when I came out, it was fixed....now that could be a sign of how efficient the plumber was, or of how long I spent in the shopping centre...nah couldn't be that, the plumber must have been amazingly fast!! ;-)

Day 26 Don't look now!

We had a fabulous afternoon/evening with the Iannas, we were invited over for an Aus Day BBQ, and mid afternoon the clouds rolled in and we got a massive downpour of rain. According to the BOM it was  approx 60mm in 2 hours! 

We were all keeping an eye out on their place as they have had issues with downpours in the past and actually had a new garage roof and guttering (and tank) installed 2 days prior! For the most part they fared pretty well...and the tank was full within about 30 mins!

When we got home around 10-ish, Sean did the rounds to check if we had anything amiss. It happens some times as the slab the garage is on is not raised high enough off the surrounding ground (I think they back filled after building!) to deal with lots of rain, and we are slowly clearing away and getting to add drainage to the immediate area. He walked inside and said to me, the was a little bit of water in the shed, and the office got wet. I asked how wet, his reply was maybe you shouldn't look tonight! NOT the way to get me to not worry!

I went out and looked, the office had about 2 cm of water in places. the rug on the floor of the storeroom had soaked up heaps, the curtains were soaking up quite a bit (the just touch the floor normally) but there was still water over about 40% of the floor! I took the rug out and got the mop to start getting rid of the water, but realised it would take hours that way. Luckily I hadn't had time to do all of the washing today and so had the family's towels waiting to be washed in the laundry. So I used all of the towels and mats to soak up and then pulled back the lino too to mop up some more!

Most of the furniture was saved as most of it is on wheels or legs (following the disastrous room we had while living in Fisher that flooded EVERY time it rained!). I have a feeling that we will have to take up the lino as it will go mouldy underneath as there was SO much water there...I am NOT looking forward to that task!

After an hour of mopping and soaking up water, I called it a day and came inside. I will deal with the fallout another day!

Day 25 Plugging the hole

On Wednesday, a guy came and removed the old split system air conditioner from the lounge room wall. The system had been disconnected from the power before we bought the house as it now has ducted air con. We had to get a guy to do it though, as it needed to be degassed before removal.

Now that it is gone, there is a hole in the lounge room wall on the inside and a corresponding one on the outside through the brick! 

This evening Sean and I were talking about how to plug the hole. Sean was talking about removing the brick and re concreting an new brick (the hole it only about 1/4 of a brick in size). My suggestion was to get a house number on a backing plate and stick it over the hole and fill the void with space invader foam.

 In the end I won, as it is much less hassle, but I will let Sean have his own way with dealing with the inside, not only has I got a hole but it also has a large pink spot to be dealt with (and I really don't feel like painting the room to deal with it!

Day 24 Fickle sizing

Over the weekend, I bought some things online from a clearance store. They were items of clothing that I had been interested in, but balked at paying full price for them. So when I found them on sale, I snaffled them.

The order arrived today and to my disappointment, the tops fitted but the bottoms didn't. I have bought from Undercoverwear before and based the sizes I was ordering on my previous experience. However it didn't pay off. I thought it would not be a problem, as exchanges through them are easy. I hadn't read the fine print in my excitement though, as they don't refund for change of mind on sale items :(

I reordered the correct sizes though and hope that I can sell the originals on line, otherwise the whole bargain shopping idea will have gone out the window! Gee I hate fickle sizing!

Day 23 Round and round.

Some months ago, I was discussing rotisseries with Marie at Gunning. I was looking for one to go on the BBQ I bought from Aldi in December 2011. When I priced them at Bunnings, they were about $50, but I wasn't THAT keen to get one. Marie suggested I keep an eye out in Aldi as she got hers there for $20!

So fast forward a month or three, and I found one only rotisserie in Aldi one day. It was $25 so I snapped it up. 

Fast forward another 2 months, and I asked Declan to attach it to the BBQ yesterday, only to find the screws included did not fit and Sean didn't have any the right size! So today I went through my inside toolboxes (the ones Sean is not allowed to touch) and found screws and nuts so Declan could finish the job.

That meant that I could do my job and cook the chicken! It took just under an hour and tasted divine! I have another rack that goes in the oven that hold the chook upright while cooking, and I usually spray the outside with spray oil and sprinkle with seasoned salt, and I treated the rotisserie chook the same way. However, the taste was quite different...but not for the worse! I am a convert, I think rotisserie chook is the way to go, I just need to find someone to clean the BBQ for me now!

Day 22 Hanging with friends.

Today I spent the day hanging out with Rowena and Baxton. I was on baby duty while Rowena was on sewing duty! 

We started out by going to choose some fabric and a pattern from addicted to fabric. I never knew that plain old printed woven fabric could cost so much! There were very few rolls of fabric under $20/m, and some we picked up were $50+ per metre! We considered a trip to Spotlight, but being a very hot day with a bub in tow, we bit the bullet and dealt with our options. 

As with most things we make (and the fact that no-one is ever the size of the dressmaker's dummy that the pattern was fashioned on) we made some minor (and some not so minor) adjustments to the pattern, and by the end of the day, the fabric was all cut out. One skirt and one dress. I think we did ok, we'll have to see how it goes when put together though!

Day 21 Art

Following the hanging of the fabulous art I got for Christmas, I am now focusing on the other available wall in the lounge room. 

Before we moved in, the house had ducted air. Apparently before ducted, it had a split system just in the lounge room- this was decommissioned but never removed. Unfortunately it is not one of those stylish "looks like art" models and is not the sort of thing I would choose to decorate my loungeroom wall! 

Thanks to the power of Facebook, I am arranging for someone to come and remove it (even though it is not connected to the power, apparently is has to be degas before removing). 

Now I have to figure out what to put there in its place. I found the above artwork last week and bought it, however it doesn't quite suit the space. So now I have to decide what I can to to make it suit, or whether to hang something else in that spot and use this one in the dining room...hmmm what to do!?!?

Day 20 Going grey

Canberra. Middle of summer. This is the hottest summer since we have lived here....in fact they said on the news we have had the hottest day since records have been kept this summer! Unfortunately as there has been next to no rain this year, the grass is looking very ordinary. It is brittle and brown. 

Today I finally convinced Sean that we HAD to get some sort of grey water system happening. He started talking tanks and storage, I was talking hoses straight onto the grass. Unfortunately our back yard is uphill from the house (up a retaining wall) so it will eventually mean we need to do something more substantial to get the water to the back lawn. In the mean time, my many loads of washing are going to mean that our front lawn/garden/nature strip will be the greenest in the street!

Day 19 Waiting

Today was spent waiting. Waiting for children to get out of bed; waiting for the dentist (I got the appt time wrong so we were late before she was); then waiting for someone to turn up (who eventually cancelled, but not until almost 4pm!). 

With all of that waiting, I got a whole lot of not much done today. Maybe tomorrow will be more productive!

Day 18 What were you before?

More jobs today. This time it was Illi, Declan and me. 

We again started in Phillip and went to Queanbeyan and then we went to Majura Park. While we were at Majura, we saw this sign at the noodle place in the food court. 

It got us talking. If they have been Asian since 1987, what were they before that? 

Oh by the way, service was very average, food was ok, pricing structure was impossible to understand! Not tempted to go back!

Day 17 Doing jobs

Today was spent doing jobs, however I had company. Rowena and her baby Baxton and I traipsed all over the place, from the xray place at Phillip (now I know where it is, I have to get Declan's toe checked out from karate last year) to Spotlight at Queanbeyan.  

Along the way I got to feed Baxton and change nappies, and even experience the effects of one of his nappy explosions (you forget how much mess a little baby can make!)

All things considered, I reckon I could handle another baby. Although Sean has said no more cats, so even if I still had the equipment, I am not sure I could convince him of the idea of another child!

Day 16 In my jeans!

No, not my genes, my jeans!

Today was the first day since 3 December that I have worn jeans!

As my surgery in December required a cut from my belly button to below my bikini line, all of my tummy area has been either a healing wound, sore or just plain too sensitive to wear jeans. I have spent over 6 weeks wearing dresses and tights, so today was a momentous occasion as I am a jeans every day kinda gal! 

Although now that I know I can be comfy in other types of clothes, they may make reappearances at any time! 

Day 15 Pi on their faces!

This evening we went to see "Life of Pi" at the movies. We were enjoying the movie until the last 10 mins or so when a disturbing noise seemed to be coming through the speakers.It turns out the fire alarm went off, but we didn't know it was the fire alarm and all we heard was weird banging noises all aver the place, a wind tunnel effect and straining to hear the soundtrack over the interference running through it-they didn't evacuate us nor did we know what it was all about until we got out!

As we were leaving, a staff member told us there was a fir alarm but there was no danger as it was a false alarm, and they were going to organise refunds, however they were not immediately forthcoming. One lady asked if she could get the promise of a refund in writing, and the above pic it what she got. However, the staff member did not extend the courtesy to the others waiting! 

Lets see what happens if I go tomorrow to ask for a refund-it was certainly inconvenient as I walked out with a thumping headache from the noise!

Day 14 Brekky with Brendon

Today I had a last minute get together with Brendon who worked at QWPS last year. We decided to have breakfast as neither of us had eaten before leaving home. We went to Woden and tried a coffee shop, but decided to not eat there as we were unimpressed with the brekky menu and there were a group of flies in the dining area hanging around the light shades. 

So we went to the other end of the centre, near JB HiFi, to a new place called "Cafe Cherry Beans." (The name reminded us of Abbey!)

The staff were extremely nice, service was great, and prices were fair too! I am not sure how long this place has been open, but if they keep it up, I can see they are going to be popular with the locals. I think a big draw card will be that they have tables out near the kids play equipment so you can recharge while the little ones burn some energy on the playground!

Day 13 The cost of grilled cheese.

I was looking at ovens in The Good Guys today and looked at the one equivalent to what we had in Gateshead. On special, it was priced at $1124 (NOT its RRP). 

The reason we got this oven at the time was that it had a grill and at the time, we were changing from having an upright stove to having separate units so we couldn't imagine not having a grill. Unfortunately the main thing we found we used it for was to cook grilled cheese on toast!

Fast forward back to my shopping trip today, when I looked at the equivalent WITHOUT a grill, it was $613. I reckon you would have to eat a LOT of grilled cheese to make this oven worthwhile in our house these days!

Day 12 Donk...with a smile!

Last year, we had dinner with Sean's workmates at the end of the working year (just before Christmas) and his boss (female overseeing a staff of guys) made a comment about how frustrating it was getting through to them at times. I said that she needed a blow up baseball bat to brandish at them (instead of hitting her head against a brick wall!). 

So I went in search of one. I ended up giving up finding one in a store and ordered it on ebay. I wrapped it up and have had it sitting at home for some weeks.

Today we got together again as one of the guys is leaving to move to Cairns for 12 months,,,and wouldn't you know it, I FORGOT THE BASEBALL BAT...oh well, no matter, Sean is back at work on Monday and I have given her permission to use it on him!

Day 11 Friends from the past.

For some time I have been trying to track down a friend I used to work with in Sydney. We kept in touch for a some time after I moved to Newcastle, but then lost contact. She was moving to either Melbourne or Canberra last I heard. It has been about 13 years since I have seen her, Facebook and Google have failed me in tracking her down. 

I posted about this on Facebook and within 24 hours Mum had found Megan on Facebook....I had been spelling her surname incorrectly! The when I found Megan, I also found Misha! They are both still in Sydney and both sound to be up to as much mishchief as ever! I am thinking a visit to Sydney might be on the cards in the immediate future as I would love to have a catchup...might even be in the next week or two I hope! 

The above pic is a scanned pic of Megs and Mish at our wedding....ahh the memories!

Day 10 Modification needed!

I bought the dishwasher!

We got a Bosch and decided to take the easiest option and put it under the dining room side of the breakfast bar. We slid it in to position to make sure it looked right before we cut holes in the cupboard for the power and plumbing. Bugger! It is about half a centimetre too tall! 

The salesman mentioned when we were talking to him that if ever in future we wanted to build it in, that the top would come off, so we took the top off to at least see how it might fit there. I am not overly happy with the position though. 

Sean said we could make another top for it, but on inspection the lid we took off has a heap of soundproofing so I don't want to leave it off. So now we have to consider where to put it, whether we can modify the kitchen bench section after all or what other options we have.

Any input is welcome cos it is doing my head in!

Day 9 Dishwasher shopping.

I went shopping today to look at dishwashers. It was more of a fact finding mission than a buying trip, I walked a way with some info some prices and some research to do.

I went to the Good Guys as they are the only major appliance retailer near us (didn't want to drive over the other side of the town as all I wanted was info). One of the things I found was that none of the prices shown on the appliances were what you actually pay! For example, the appliance the above price tag was on, was then verbally reduced to $1244...and then Bosch has a $100 cashback offer on redemption! It was a little hard to compare final prices then, as all of the actual prices were verbal and cashback offers needed to be taken into account for final figures...and I wanted to go home and Google to compare products and prices! 

The good news is that I know which one I want...and the prices quoted in store are nowhere near anything quoted online (instore is much better)...Oh and it is not the one above...stay tuned!

Day 8 Combating a power cut.

So today was ridiculously hot.

Temps around 37 degrees C!

Then the electricity went out!

I called ACTEW - their message said expected to be restored in 2 hours!

We got in the car (air con cranked up).

Went for a drive.

Bought Slurpees.

Visited a showroom with air con.

Went home suitably cooled.

Power was restored.

Life continues!

Day 7 Methods of cooling.

The days are warming up and there are massive fire warnings across much of the east of Australia. 

To counter the heat, I am happy to say, our house has air conditioning! Interestingly, the air con is too cold to leave on overnight even though it is evaporative rather than reverse cycle.

Living in Newcastle, evaporative would not have worked as it is so humid, however in the relatively dry environment of Canberra it works fine. I have to admit though that I do still use the ceiling fan in the bedroom during the night, I can't quite do with no air circulation in these temps!

Day 6 To dishwasher or not to dishwasher....is not really the question.

This pic is of the sink section of my kitchen. We have a double sided double bowl sink. NOTE we do not have a dishwasher. This didn't used to be a problem, but in the past few months, I have been missing having a dishwasher. I have mentally tried many different ways of accommodating a dishwasher and have a few different options ranging from putting it on the dining room side of the breakfast bar to totally renovating the kitchen, dining room, laundry and study! The preferred simpler option is to modify the sink/sink cupboard, but this is still pretty involved and I am not sure we could manage it ourselves. I guess I will have to give the idea some further consideration...

Day 5 Weather

Today was HOT! 

Last summer was not very extreme, this week we are looking at a week of temps in the high 30s.

Everyone is talking about the weather. My Facebook feed is filled with people commenting on how hot it is, how they want a pool to cool down, how they want/or have air con, how they are going to use someone else's air con or pool, or just that they are HOT!

This morning it was 35 degrees on our back verandah at 9.30 am. Our top temp was expected to reach 39, but I suspect our back verandah exceeded this (our back verandah faces east so doesn't even get full sun in heat of the day!). 

Late this afternoon, we had a weird summer storm though. A huge raindrop and massive downpour type storm. Although this cooled things down (temp dropped about 15 degrees in less than 2 hours) I am suspecting there will be even more weather talk tomorrow.  

Today's conversations went "It's SO hot!" "Yes but at least it isn't humid, it is at least bearable because it is relatively dry." "Hmm yeah you could be right!"

I anticipate tomorrow's conversations will go "It's SO hot!" "Yes it's the humidity from that storm yesterday, at least before that it was bearable because it was relatively dry." "Hmm yeah you could be right!"

Ahhh weather.....guaranteed to be a topic of conversation, while ever we are having any!

Day 4 Merry Christmas

No, I am not living in the past, nor am I thinking so far in advance that I am planning next Christmas (well not in this instance anyway). 

For Christmas, Sean gave me a painting (yes I had to take him to the shop and show it to him, but at least he knew it was the right one). He also suggested that I might want to add something else to it as the wall I wanted to hang it on is so large. He said that he had seen some 3D wall art in Loot that was nice. So I went and had a look, took pics and came home to compare which would look best with the painting. Then I got an email that Loot were having a 1 day sale with 15% off marked prices. So, decision made, I went back to buy the 2 3D pieces. 

When we went to hang them though, all of the fixings were so close to the top that the picture hooks would have been able to be seen when the works were hung. 

So off to the hardware shop, and a few hours later, I had installed new hang points on all three items. Then after a lot of 'discussion' the picture hooks were in the wall (think pieces of string, chalk, levels, rulers...!).

And finally after more than 24 hours, they 3 works were hung. I quite like them (which is quite lucky huh!?!).

So Merry Christmas to me, from Sean!

Day 3 Satisfactorily Sweet.

When we lived in Newcastle, I bought a cake stand with a glass dome lid from the Reject Shop. It wasn't the most amazing thing but it was cheap enough and it did the job. You know when you go into a coffee shop or restaurant and they have their cakes or biscuits on the counter displayed nicely in glass domes and you can't resist because the are under your nose? I wanted to employ that kind of marketing in my kitchen. I hate it when you bake and put the results in a plastic container on the bench and because it is covered, no-one tends to remember it cos out of sight is out of mind and the revert to packetty stuff in the cupboard to snack on and the baking gets stale or mouldy cos it has been left so long. 

Unfortunately, in one of the moves (I think it was the big on from Newy to Canberra) the cake dome died. 

So it has been at least 3 years since I have had one. 

I have kept an eye out at the Reject Shop but have not found one similar that I was willing to pay the money they were asking. I found a really nice one in a kitchenware shop, but again, was not willing to pay the money they were asking. In the lead up to Christmas, Spotlight had one advertised and I had a look at it and thought it was nice but quite heavy and didn't buy it. Then I got a Spotlight VIP voucher and thought 'what the hell, if it is cheap enough and add in the voucher, I can deal with a heavy lid and the heavy lid might mean it is less likely to break!'

So off I went back to Spotlight and got it. I reckon sometimes things are meant to be, especially when it turned out to be cheaper than when it was on sale in the catalogue AND I then got to use my voucher too!

I finally got it out today, and while it has been too hot for baking, I bought a couple of things at the shops and put them under it and...it works! Rather than endless amounts of 2 min noodles or many glasses of milo (standard back up food for the kids atm) they ate the food from under the dome! I think my marketing ploy has worked small scale, and I am happy to see the return of the dome!

Day 2 Thinking ahead.

One thing I have learned about teachers, is that we seem to love a good back to school sale. 

Apart from the fact that it means that the retail sector is reminding us that the holidays are going to be short-lived, it means that we can indulge our passion! I am amazed at how many of us think we are the only one who has a dirty little secret that a trip to Officeworks can keep us busy for ages! 

However I wonder which came first, the obsession with stationery or the deep seated calling to be a teacher. You see in my previous life as a public servant, I loved to explore the stores room. At one site, I was even the stores officer and would spend my lunch time browsing huge thick catalogues to find things others would never even dream of! 

So is loving stationery a prerequisite to being a teacher or is the teacher gene a host to the stationery addict?

Day 1 Wrecked!

No, not me! This evening we all went to see Wreck it Ralph. After the movie, Illi Googled and said something about what Vanellope was wearing and I realised that she was kind of dressed like Illi does sometimes. Then when I looked at some images, I realised that Vanellope looks a bit like Boo from Monsters Inc. Then I remembered how we used to say Illi looked like Boo when she was little (Monster Inc came out when Illi was 3). So I guess you could say, Vanellope is like Illi....Nah that is a bit of a stretch of the imagination!