Well, after 16 weeks and bang on deadline (but rather over budget) our builders cleaned up, packed up and left!

They left at 3pm as Sam and his friends started to arrive for the weekend’s celebration of his 30th birthday. We weren’t completely finished, the paving guys were only 2/3 through, the aircon is still to be installed and the painter will be here for another few weeks but we were finished enough for 25 guests and that is what counts!! Of course after 2 weeks of the most beautiful spring like weather with temps in the mid 20’s it turned windy and chilly an hour after they arrived and my dream of holding a beautiful outdoor long lunch disappeared with every increasing cloud. Luckily the newly completed extension could hold us all comfortably and soon there was a pleasing sound of tinkling cutlery and clinking glasses and plenty of lively conversation as the day progressed.

We were lucky enough to have been gifted a beautiful little piglet from our friends at Claydon Park in Milton together with a spit roast bbq and 5.5 hours after it started turning we had this little beauty…..

Needless to say the Birthday Boy was delighted and there was much “tasting” of the crackling by all and sundry before we tucked into the pig itself. It was so lovely that so many friends made an effort to travel from Sydney to help him celebrate the big 3-0. There were times we weren’t sure our first born son would make it, he has definitely contributed to a few grey hairs over the years, but I wouldn’t have him any other way and it’s lovely to see him all grown up and happy.

Some lovely wines and lots of animated conversation later we adjourned to the front veranda for the obligatory cricket game with Cammo trimming the pitch on his ride-on much to the delight of the audience!

Back inside for dessert in front of the fire as things were getting decidedly chilly and then outside again to finish the day around a bonfire overlooking the paddocks.

Such a great way to end the day. I never get tired of sitting out there with a glass of red staring into the glowing embers, contemplating life and all its wonderful complexities!!

Back to their rented houses which were both lovely with gorgeous views of the surrounding countryside and perfect for large groups – we shall definitely keep them in mind for a certain wedding that’s coming up…..

The whole crowd are rugby nuts so they donned their green and gold gear and trundled off to their party house to watch the Bledisloe Cup full of optimism, however every picture tells a story and I think you can see what this one’s telling us…..

As they said their goodbyes we started the cleanup and I was pretty chuffed with the way the new kitchen and extension scrubbed up. Once I’ve sorted a few more cupboards out I will have it all working like a well oiled machine and it’s SO nice to have a clean and functional oven after all this time. My bathroom has my longed for deep bath and my new laundry is a pleasure to work in. The outside space will come into it’s own in the summer months and down the track a pizza oven will complete the outdoor entertaining area.

Of course the evening was not without it’s little dramas. As I was about to fall into bed Bailey started crying and after a few trips to the garden to no avail I was trying to get her back into her bed when she vomited all over my persian rug – just great! Way too many porky treats from everyone during the day and it was all too much for her system. I had just about cleaned it all up and finally got to sleep when I got a 2am text from the house rental company saying that the alarm was going off at one of the kid’s houses and they were going to send a patrol car out to check it out. As it turned out the guests were apparently ‘playing a prank’ on someone, a party trick that cost me $100 in call out fees from the security company. I’m still trying to find out who the culprit was….

Still causing me grief at 30!!!

So now we get our life back. It is going to be fun to cosy up the new room – rugs, artwork, plants and mirrors will all make it feel much more like home and then we can just get on with living! My poor garden has suffered over the past few months, a poor neglected second cousin to the new renovation as I have had very little time to devote to it. Now that our rainwater tank is connected up to the chicken house we can get back to watering it, once it rains of course, and before long we will be planting summer crops again.Tomatoes anyone??

Before that however………..we have a trip to go on!

My beautiful Mum turns 80 in a couple of weeks and we are heading back to celebrate in the UK for a knees up at the rather salubrious Thornbury Castle followed by some time with the Birthday Girl in Lake Como. We fly to Paris on Wednesday for a week – half in Paris and half in the South of France near Narbonne and finish up in Bordeaux for a few days with my sister and brother-in-law staying in a vineyard. All in all I can’t wait and at this stage I think I shall probably sleep most of the way to France as I’m totally knackered!!! It’s been 3 years since I have been in Europe with my family and I can’t wait!

A little montage of where we’ll be over the next few weeks – BRING IT ON!!!!

 

This week we flew to Townsville in Far North Queensland (or FNQ as the Aussies fondly call it) to spend a few days with my sister-in-law and her son in their charming little cottage. It’s built in the Queenslander style with weatherboards, ceiling fans and deep shady verandas, louvre windows to capture the breeze and a tropical garden of palm trees to filter the strong Australian sunshine.Built that way for their summer which is hot and long.Not built so much for the winter. Especially not built for the coldest day in 74 years!!!!!!!

Yup, lucky old us got there at the same time as one of FNQ’s “weather events” with an exceptionally cold band of weather coming through the Top End and lasting the exact 3 days we were there! We had to laugh as we all huddled inside with as many clothes on as we could find to keep the cold out. There is no heating in these homes as even in winter it is usually around 23 degrees! We had a delicious home cooked meal and after some stories about the old days and a few wines we tumbled into bed which was the only place to get warm. One of the few times their duvets have actually been used!

It didn’t stop us getting out the next day and Fiona took us on a comprehensive tour of Townsville, I can just imagine how lovely the coastline and the marina would look on a sunny day but in the cold rain we were pretty happy to find a cosy Italian restaurant for some lunch and more laughs, totally ignoring the outdoors. I still find it amazing that it was colder than the South Coast of NSW, the sun literally only came out about an hour before we got back on the plane!

We were excited to see what the builders had been up to in our absence. It was a lucky coincidence that the days we were away were the days the kitchen was due to be ripped out. We couldn’t wait to grab our torch and see what it all looked like and to see the view from our new bifold window. We now have a glorious view of the back paddocks and the bonus is that the light now floods in from two sides. It kind of makes up for our once beautiful house looking more like a junk heap. Inside and out we have MESS but luckily for us the weather has been gorgeous making our outdoor kitchen slightly more palatable!

The chief Washer Upper hard at work in our camp kitchen.

The back of the house is coming together nicely…..

Bailey was very happy to be home after 4 nights in the kennels. Much as she loves going there and runs off to say hello to Charmaine with not so much as a backward glance she is also happy to come home. She starts with an exuberant happy dance around the garden and this is closely followed by an exhausted crash out in the sunshine or snuggled up in her new bed. She is like a kid back from the school camp – happy and totally knackered.

During winter most of our nice local watering holes provide their customers with a cozy atmosphere courtesy of an open fire. You really can’t beat it and whether it is the local pub or winery, a restaurant, cafe or B&B it is very tempting to stay a little longer in the warmth that only the flickering flames of a real fire can provide.Luckily we are kitchenless at just the right time to make the most of a few of these little gems….

Fireplaces of The Shoalhaven.

A local photographer, Andy Hutchinson, has recently invested in a drone and took this little video of our local coastline which may give you an idea of the beautiful beaches we have in The Shoalhaven, we can drive to all of them in 15-30 minutes. No traffic lights on the way, no parking metres when you get there and hardly anyone on the beach despite the crystal clear water and golden sand…………………..

Sometimes we just can’t get home in a hurry. We got stuck behind these guys for a while the other day – had to wait for the local herd to be encouraged to the dairy by the dogs and the farmer on his quad bike. I like the fact that there are still these ‘slow’ activities in our modern world. No way were those cows going to go any faster to suit us and that’s just fine with me.

Our little bride-to-be arrives this week and we are really looking forward to spending some time with her. She will probably be a little disappointed that it won’t be quite as homely as usual. Needless to say I usually cook all their favourite meals when the kids come home but being at the height of the renovation she will have to adapt her quite considerable camping skills to our current situation. The new kitchen is supposedly being installed on the day she arrives so hopefully after a few days the new oven will be functioning and we wont have to rely on the bbq/microwave/toaster for breakfast/lunch/dinner. Wedding ‘stuff’ is on the cards as the only other time she is home before her BIG DAY is for 3 days over New Year.I’m hoping we will get all the big ticket items sorted and more importantly I want her to feel involved and part of everything as it’s always hard when you are only doing everything online from overseas and then she will be able to make informed choices about any changes she may like to the current plan. As a result of this wonderful Mummy/Daughter time I may go a little quiet on the blog front for the next couple of weeks, I’m sure you will all understand.

At least my parenting days are now mostly of the fun variety, I kind of feel sorry for the modern Mother in this politically correct world…..

No folks I haven’t gone stark raving mad.

These are not my chooks, although I feel mine are missing out not having these delightful little ensembles to wear during the damp and chilly South Coast winter. I’m sure the locals would well and truly talk about ‘those weird Sydney people in the white house’ if our chooks paraded around in anything other than their feathers. We met a few more locals last weekend when our lovely neighbour Darren threw a birthday bash to celebrate his half century.  He and Kath were wonderful hosts and they were blessed with a beautiful afternoon and a clear cold night with a million stars sparkling in the sky above the backyard fire which, along with quite a few beverages, kept us warm and toasty. It is the first party I’ve ever been to where the hosts phoned specifically to invite Bailey. She was in heaven as she did the rounds of the guests receiving many pats and later many treats. This (picture below) was the place she loved the MOST. She pretty much stayed within a metre’s radius of the spit roast in the hope someone would drop something tasty. This is the home of her friend Wally the black labrador and they had a lovely time playing on the property together and generally getting up to doggy mischief. It was really nice to meet some more people from the local area including our new neighbours now running the Meroo Kennels and Cattery. They are much  friendlier than the previous owners and are full of plans to restore their house to it’s former glory. Another building project for The Lane.

There is certainly no shortage of trucks going in and out of the lane at the moment as everything is full speed ahead with the renno. It has been a big week with the external wall cladding now on, the roof finished and the triumphant breakthrough of the old room to the new one, creating a really beautiful space.

We are now laundry-less and next week will be kitchen-less, just in time for the arrival of The Engaged One. It’s not going to be the welcoming homecoming she was hoping for with all her favourite meals and her holiday gear washed etc but we will muddle through and have fun nonetheless. Fingers crossed the new kitchen is installed in time for me to cook something delish for The Hens Weekend as promised…..yikes!!!!! In the meantime she is in the lap of luxury in Bali lapping up some sunshine and the odd cocktail. As an engagement present we gave them a few nights in one of the four villas our friends built in Seminyak. They are all beautifully designed and decorated and they provide a real oasis amongst the hustle and bustle. We stayed in one a few years ago and it was gorgeous. If you are after some upmarket serenity with unobtrusive staff to meet your every whim in a great location have a look at http://www.juraganvillas.com – we can highly recommend them.

This was our little patch of gorgeousness………

Bailey has a new beau. Cooper the blue cattle dog is now a daily visitor. He belongs to Adam, one of the builders, and she has dropped me like a hot cake to rush outside and play with him every morning. He takes all her balls and toys but she doesn’t make a whimper. She’s a tad fickle for my liking but Coopy is pretty lovable and I can see what she sees in him…. They love it if I take them up the lane for a walk in the outside world and they behave like puppies, running and exploring together.

We still have lots of beautiful places to discover in our vicinity and we decided last weekend to take advantage of the beautiful winter weather and head south to Jervis Bay and specifically to Hyams Beach. It is just a sleepy little town tucked away between Huskisson/Vincentia and the National Park but it is perfectly formed. A quite famous beach of pure white sand and the most beautiful aqua blue water framed with gum trees and architecturally interesting beach houses. The old original timber whaler’s cottages have been painted in gorgeous pastel colours and they sit alongside modern two story glass fronted beach houses with huge verandas, perfectly placed to view the whales migrating and the dolphins playing in the protected waters of Jervis Bay. In the summer holidays it becomes a playground for city families looking to escape the urban jungle for a week or two, searching for the simple life. One general store with an attached cafe is the only commercial venture in town and it has the feel of ‘the good old days’ about it which still resonates with people both old and young. It is one of the few popular coastal villages that boast a non surf beach where the littlies are safe to poddle about with a bucket and spade without Mum and Dad having to keep an eye out for a rogue wave coming in to wash them away!

In a bit of sad news the poor Plovers were robbed of their eggs overnight last week. After all that hard work sitting on her nest in the middle of a white frosted lawn Mrs Plover couldn’t compete with Mr Fox who must have come calling in the night. Not a scrap of egg left, it was is if they had never existed. I was a bit concerned they may try again but it seems they have gone to pastures new and I think that is a wise move. Nature sucks sometimes…..

Happy Weekend everybody – let’s get excited!!

I had a ‘moment’ the other day.

I was sweeping up rat poo into my dustpan as any good country-ish type girl does (Cammo has commited mass genocide and I now feel brave enought to go in and clear up all evidence of their existence) in my grossly mismatched gardening clothes, when I caught a glimpse of my hands, all broken nails and dried up cuticles and I wondered where that girl with the regular-as-clockwork-every-3-week-manicure went??? Don’t even get me started on the rest of me. I have been growing my fringe out for the last 5 months which is the longest I have ever had the patience to hang in, waiting for the lank weirdness of it to look somehow intentional and stylish. Waiting for it to transform into a bouncy thick bob or something I can tie back when working in the garden or travelling in the car with the windows down. But quite seriously when I look in the mirror all I see is a rubbish hairstyle with no style whatsoever despite my lovely hairdresser doing her best to keep things looking good.

Time to shape up/scrub up/ look like I give a damn, I thought.

It is SO EASY to literally just whip your comfy clothes on when you wake up and stay in them all day, weeding in the garden, walking the hound and generally pottering about with not a care in the world but after a while you forget how to be a girl and tizz yourself up, especially when I only go out occasionally and only work on Saturdays. Luckily the Engaged One is arriving in a few weeks and we are going to have a couple of weekends in the outside world. One weekend full with bridal salon appointments and catch ups with the Sydney Folk and another weekend celebrating her Hen’s and I am going to make a concerted effort to look and feel a bit like my old City Self with a hair do and manicure to match! Rat poo and broken nails will be a distant memory!

In animal news the new kids on the block have settled in very well and we even have a few new calfs already so they must be happy. It is amazing how different it looks having  black cows in the paddocks instead of the freesians and they seem super excited to be knee deep in lush green grass as their condition is a bit less than optimal after having been grazed on lesser grass the other side of the river.

I think I met one of the most stupid animals on the planet this week. Most species go to great lengths to  raise their babies in a safe place camouflaged against potential predators and danger but not these guys.

Meet Mr & Mrs Plover.

And the baby plovers-to-be……….

True, they are well camouflaged in a colour sense but the parents have laid these right in the middle of our front lawn. The same lawn that is going to be used in a matter of weeks for a cricket game when Sam and 30 of his closest friends are here to celebrate his 30th birthday. The same lawn that is currently the centrepiece of our circular driveway and home to the 11 trucks of the various tradies working on the renovation. Today we had 4 stonemasons, 3 electricians and 4 builders co-habiting in the workzone. I felt the need to escape so you can imagine how the poor plovers were feeling. Mum is quite dedicated, sitting on the nest all night in the freezing cold, but then  she loses the plot during the day, hopping off the nest at the slightest noise. Goodness knows how the (now 3 eggs) will hatch with such sporadic attention.

You also have to take into account The Cammo Factor.

After being away for a few weeks surveying likely business ventures in Europe he finally got back onto the ride on mower to spruce the place up and only noticed the eggs as he was literally riding over the top of them. Luckily only one egg got squished and he has now sprayed a ring of flourescent paint around the “nest” so he doesn’t inadvertantly kill any others. Amazingly Mrs Plover came back to the scene of the crime the very next day and laid another egg to make up the numbers. They seem to be very punctual as apparently the earliest time they ever start laying their eggs is after the summer/winter solstice on June 20th and here we were on June 25th with 3 ready to go!

Renno’s are in full swing after losing only one day to rain this week. It was also the coldest day in 22 years and my house was a very un-cosy place to be. I locked myself in the lounge with the fire blazing and lots of cups of tea until it was an almost acceptable time to hit the sack and my beautiful electric blanket induced cocoon. The boys were back full of enthusiasm the next day and I now have a (hopefully watertight) roof and a new rustic stone wall to match the old existing one. Luckily we had quite a bit of stone floating around the property – probably left from the time the initial wall was built and Matt and his team from Broughton Landscapes have done a great job matching the style and proportion of the original wall. The hero of the new 3 metre steps will be the sandstone slabs for the treads and they should hopefully be here on Saturday to complete the job.

Winter means cuddles with Bailey in front of the fire………..

As I am working on Election Day I pre-voted. My second vote since becoming a dual citizen and after the whole Brexit debacle I realised how powerful the vote really is. Powerful but nearly impossible when you have to fill in a minimum number of boxes and there are dozens of options, most of which I had never heard of. It might be democracy at work but it’s easy to see how the whole thing can go pear shaped when you dont always know what you’re agreeing to when you tick some random box to fill out the necessary quota. On a day when another airport was targeted by some demented fanatics all I want is to have stability and peace and quiet, surely that’s not too much to ask is it??

This week has certainly reminded us all exactly how we are all linked as a global community with the Brexit outcome causing immediate ramifications around the world. Stockmarkets and currencies plunged, Europe was reeling at this mostly unexpected outcome and the reality it will inevitably have on the other EU countries . People who trade with the EU were all left wondering what was going to happen to them as the ripple effect travelled far and wide across Britain, Europe and the World. As a Brit living in Australia I watched it all unfold and wondered if those people who voted leave to “get their country back” actually thought it all through and if they did, I guess you’ve got to be careful what you wish for. Things will calm down eventually of course and now we have to look towards the future as optimistically as possible and try and work this thing out for the best, there was no real plan for this result and there are a lot of unsettling factors at play however, in true British fashion, humour has helped ease the fairly volatile situation amongst the Stay/Leave community.

These memes sum up quite succinctly a few of the more humorous reactions to departure from the EU…

 Is this the end of yummy ‘foreign’ food?

Is the Chunnel suddenly going to be blocked off?

Most importantly can we still all be friends??

Well it’s definitely been a week of change in The Meadow. The dairy farm has been sold to a local cattle rearing family and the current farmers held their big auction on Friday selling their entire herd and machinery to the highest bidders. It was an emotional day for our neighbours who had reared a lot of those cows since birth and I bumped into a very teary Janette when I took Bailey for a walk in the afternoon. She was having trouble coming to terms with the reality of selling up their family farm of 5 generations and the fact that we won’t see the girls walking in single file up to the milking shed anymore. It’s even sad and strange for us and we have only been here 18 months so I can only imagine what they are feeling. The nicest thing is that the new owner bought a dozen of the herd to stay here and he also bought the oldest cow  (a very unusual and respectable 18 years old ) to live out it’s days here too. This shows me the calibre of the incoming farmer and I like him for that one single act of kindness already!

We have some new neighbours in the lane and everyone is so happy to welcome them as the previous owners of that house were extremely rude and unlikeable people. They ran a small kennel and cattery and we were so thrilled when we moved here to see one so close to home – such convenience we thought! Prior to Bailey actually arriving to live with us Cam went and introduced himself to enquire about the requirements for small puppies should we need to leave her somewhere overnight. As he approached he extended his hand to introduce himself and she took a step backwards and folded her arms behind her back…..not exactly what he was expecting. She questioned him “Is that your wife that walks up and down the lane taking photos?” “She takes photos of the countryside – yes” was his reply.  A total invasion of her privacy apparently and enough for her to shout at me to “get off her property” the one time I stepped foot through her gate when I lost Bailey one day. I had always stood up for her odd behaviour by saying some people are good with animals but bad with people, but after this day when I was obviously distressed about a missing puppy and all she could do was to scream at me to get off her property I realised she was no animal lover as anyone would drop what they were doing to help me look if they were. They had a similar attitude to everyone in the lane so needless to say they weren’t ever invited to share a bbq or Xmas drinks and it seems so strange that in this small country lane there are divisions between people when there are so few houses!!

Happily I have already received a wave from the new owners as I drove past their house and hopefully I will introduce myself with a much different outcome when I finally meet them, who knows it may be a perfect overnight location for Bailey after all…………

Some tranquility returns to The Lane with the arrival of some friendly neighbours.

In animal news, our little injured pigeon has been deposited at the vets this morning where they are going to x-ray its wing and also contact the owner via its microchip – it is a racing pigeon so it belongs to someone. Only problem is that if it’s not going to be able to fly well I’m pretty sure the owner wont want to be bothered with it so Cam may well finally get a pigeon in his life again! Bailey leaves her alone as she thinks she’s just one of the chickens and all in all it seems pretty contented although a bit skinny right now.

Miss Bailey is enjoying the company and snacks that come with the builders but she has had her sleeping arrangements changed on average every 2 days as they work their way through the back area. Her doggy door is now gone so thank goodness she is a big girl now and can last a whole night without having to go outside to the loo! During the day if she is not outside annoying the tradies she can be found snug as a bug in a rug on the leather lounge (originally this was out of bounds but we’ve caved on the condition she doesn’t come anywhere near our white couches!!)

The renovations are ploughing ahead despite some savage weather. If it’s not raining cats and dogs it is blowing a gale and I feel rather guilty when I’m all cosy in my ugg boots and dressing gown making my porridge in the morning and I look outside at the builders up on the cold metal scaffolding rugged up in their beanies and jackets trying to hold themselves steady in 60km westerly winds. In between the squally weather we have had some beautiful sunny days and so far we haven’t lost more than a day of the build to Mother Nature. We are now the proud owners of an outdoor entertaining area (or the shell at least) and we are beginning to see the shape of things to come. I have chosen most of the fixtures and fittings now and am enjoying seeing it all come together, just the odd tricky things I’m still waiting to get quotes on – the stonemason, landscaping and flooring are still to be locked in!! The worst is still to come as they work their way inside and start knocking down walls and ceilings……………

The hardest part of this week has been getting Cam set up with his phone line/internet/printer and scanner etc. in his new office. It is in a beautiful old listed building but it is for that exact reason that its so hard to run new wires and that all the plugs are way too close to the floor for the modern plugs needed to run an office in 2016. No plugs are in the right spot for any of the technology and we need a few extension leads and power boards to get operational. It looks a bit like a laser alarm system but with real wires crisscrossing his office! A nightmare!

You get the idea………..

Silos Winery have offered a ‘locals special’ in their restaurant over the winter period so we decided to go and check it out with our ‘local’ friends Noel and Nikki. A roaring log fire on a cold winters night and a bottle of big red was as much an incentive as the $29.50 price tag for a main meal and a glass of one of their signature wines. It was just what I needed after a week of being cooped up inside trying to keep the dog out from under the builders feet and the dust and debris out of our remaining living areas. Thank goodness we still have nice places to go to for dinner down here in The Meadow and an excuse to get out of your gardening/comfy clothes and put on some make-up!!

It’s been an up and down week in The Meadow. The Cocoa Trader has been languishing in Sicily fostering some new business in the Mediterranean, doing some sightseeing and force feeding himself the local food and wine whilst I have been cleaning up after the big storm and trying to get on top of all the orders needed for the extension. Both things are exciting in their own way. Perspective?

The builder boys have been working hard but it has been a case of one step forward and two back this week as reality hit home. The frame, once up, didn’t give me the space for furniture placement that I had envisaged from the plan and after consulting with the window and door company we have rejigged our order necessitating an extra $1000 fee for changing things. It is SO ANNOYING. Let’s face it – who wants to spend a Grand on nothing? Well, nothing obvious, but hopefully something that improves the way we live for the better once done. The small things add up to become either a great way to live or something that doesn’t ever quite work. Seamless is what we are aiming for and something you take for granted unless you don’t have it.

Things are taking shape

The old adage “Be careful what you wish for” became very apparent to me this week. I have admired and lusted after this particular house in Berry ever since they completed their renovations earlier this year. It is an archetypal Berry house, a stylish weatherboard with wrap around verandas and a beautiful garden. My Massage Therapist has her rooms right next door and now I can actually peek across the fence into this house and admire up close their eye for design and  great interior design skills as I purposely walk very slowly into my appointment, scanning the horizon for some renovation and decorating ideas. I noticed a beautiful annexe in the same style at the bottom of their garden and it had a hand painted sign saying “Pixie” dangling on the front. I thought maybe it was available as a holiday rental or similar and mentioned it to Sarah incase she knew anything about it. Her answer shocked and saddened me when she said the owner’s son whose nickname was Pixie, had committed suicide half way through their renovation and that was their public recognition of his memory, a studio in his honour. After being a little envious of their house I realised how lucky I am to have my little family in one piece and that you never know what people’s stories are and you never can judge a book by it’s cover. Every time I fret about a design decision with our extension I’m aware it doesn’t really matter in comparison to the happiness of my family. Perspective.

I have had a bird orientated week. The corellas have once again decided to roost every night in a copse of trees in a paddock of the dairy farm. There must be some trees providing them with some sort of treat or something similar because there are literally hundreds of them flying over us around 4pm every day to rest like white baubles in the chosen trees.

I found this little fella, a baby butcher bird, on the ground under a tree in our garden, a sad statistic after the big storm. So many branches down and our veranda furniture blown into the hedges and into the next property in the gale force winds.I still feel so awful when things dont go well for the animals. I was awake last night at 3am worrying because an injured pigeon was found in our garden yesterday wandering around hopefully pecking at things, little realising his days were numbered as he couldn’t fly away. It looks like he may have been attacked by a hawk. He is a homing pigeon as he has little tags on his legs and apparently they get attacked in the air on a regular basis – goodness knows where he has come from. I thought about popping it in with the chickens but then I remembered how awful they had been to the new chooks and could only imagine how mean they would be to an entirely different species. I tried to feed it some chicken food but it seemed impervious to it and I have no idea if it will survive another night in our cold garden. The cocoa trader also used to be a pigeon racer and I’m hoping he will know what to do with it when he returns home tomorrow. I asked our farmer neighbour for advice and he merely offered to put it out of it’s potential misery and the builders just laughed when I said maybe it would live to fly another day. I’m really not sure I’m cut out for this country life sometimes. Perspective.

 

The Long Weekend to celebrate Queen Lizzies 90th birthday was picture perfect. Blue skies, lots of sunshine and a perfect weekend for The Shoalhaven Winter Wine Festival. As Cam was away I was happy to potter in the garden and address some of those jobs that remained undone due to the wind and rain of the previous weeks. Sam came down for the weekend and Bailey was overjoyed to have someone to play with. She followed him around like a shadow and dropped me like a hot potato. When he joined some friends at the wineries for the afternoon she literally sat outside his bedroom door waiting for his return.

I used the wonderful weather to get on top of my garden duties. The roses just haven’t been able to work out what has been going on this year. So warm and sunny they had continued blossoming way past their usual time and here we were at the traditional time to give them a hard prune and they were still in full flower! I put together my last vase for the season and chopped them back hard – spiking my arms a gazillion times and now I look like I have some sort of infectious disease with scabs galore all over my arms. Four barrowfuls of offcuts are now in the firepit and we have a much tidier looking flower bed.

The last of the summer roses

Well I’m off to Sydney to meet up with the bookclub girls and do an IKEA run. I also have to bring the youngest son and heir his birth certificate as he washed his jeans AND his passport by accident. It wouldn’t usually matter but he has won an incentive trip with work and leaves in 4 weeks for Mauritius. A late flurry of paperwork and hopefully he will be on his way! The jetlagged one will have the house to himself and hopefully by the time I return he will be well rested and cheerful again! A 36 hour trip to get home is the price you have to pay for a European jaunt unfortunately.

 

Perspective from a carbohydrate point of view.

Who would have thought such an everyday phrase would become so famous?

Winter is indeed coming (although not as harshly as beyond The Wall..) and rather fast as these roos found out!! Mother Nature let us know yet again who is boss this weekend when an East Coast Low made it’s presence felt, chopping the East Coast of Australia off at the knees. Floods, century old trees ripped out of the soggy earth by 100km winds, a train system that couldn’t cope with the weather which in turn put too much pressure on the public transport and road system creating havoc just about everywhere. The only option was to stay at home, but once I eventually made it back from Sydney after dropping the Cocoa King at the airport and dealing with closed highways and driving through floodwaters surging with the increased volume of water, I heaved a sigh of relief and had visions of me cosily tucked up in front of the fire with a cuppa and some dinner watching something girlie on the box. Sadly it was not to be, with a power blackout for nearly 4 hours. Just as I was about to go to bed due to the fact I had no heating, no way to cook anything, no entertainment and barely enough light to read by with my torch – the power was restored and I thanked my lucky stars. So many other people were not so lucky and my thoughts were with the 2500 SES and RFS workers who were out in the dark cold night fixing things for us all to be safe and to have our services reconnected. The poor animals were all struggling too, with horses stranded on the odd grassy knoll sticking up through newly formed inland lakes and the cows, normally fairly static, were uncharacteristically running around the paddock (maybe in an atttempt to keep warm?). My thoughts kept going to the little calf that was born in the middle of this tempest and that I was scared wouldn’t make it to morning. Happily it did and as the sun peeked through the storm clouds I was very grateful to only have some minor flooding, blown over furniture and a few branches down. All the chickens survived despite their bedraggled appearance and Bailey was kept safely at the kennels for the extra night due to the road closures.

You can imagine my surprise when Monday morning dawned – still blowing a gale and decidedly unpleasant- and the builders arrived!! They are quite an amazing bunch with a superb work ethic and a happy demeanour, I can hear them now whistling away to their radio out the back!! I’m so lucky to have them onsite and attempting to get all the framework in before the weather gets any worse. Inside they have stripped everything out except my kitchen and laundry so things are still pretty civilised at this stage. By the time Cam comes home in 2 weeks I’m sure it will be starting to take shape. He is off galivanting in Singapore, France and Sicily and hopefully getting loads of new customers so we can pay for all this building work!! I’m quite jealous of his summer trip to Europe but luckily we do have our own holiday to look forward in a few months and his itinerary is fairly packed with things to do and people to see so it’s not exactly relaxing!

Our little chocolate dog has had her sleeping area completely opened up with the removal of the internal walls so the prospect of curling up on that little pull out bed seen in the picture above has obviously proved far too tempting and most mornings I find a little indentation that is still warm on it which is a deadset giveaway that she has migrated there at some stage during the night!! I can hardly blame her as it’s a bit chilly down there now in it’s stripped out state.

I am happy with the progress so far and hopeful that we can keep powering on. We have been pleasantly surprised at some of the bargains we have been able to snaffle. One of the advantages of building in June I guess is that with the end of the financial year looming most businesses are trying to offload as much stock as possible before the big 30th June deadline. My big ticket items have been offset with a few super duper bargains which hopefully is keeping the budget more or less on track.When it all gets too much I chuck on my coat and some walking shoes and take Bailey for a nice walk in the surrounding countryside. It never fails to calm me and remind me that we have made this move not to have some fancy show home but for the lifestyle change. With the crazy weather this weekend I was inundated with calls and texts from our new friends and neighbours asking if we were all right and offering help if needed. That’s what it’s all about when it comes down to it and I know Cam is reassured to have so many good people looking out for me in his absence.

These beautiful ornamental pears look fantastic as their leaves change colour – They certainly bring a smile to my face when I see them, they look a bit like some fluffy feather dusters that have been dyed or a little row of ballet dancers in tutus standing out against the  backdrop of the evergreen gum trees! Gorgeous.

All in all I fall into bed early and try and fall asleep before my brain jumps into gear thinking of the to do list for the following day. I used to try and stay awake thinking it was the beginning of the end if I started going to bed before 10pm and that it would make me officially old but now I’d rather go when I’m tired and wake up early to at least have a coffee before the builders arrive! This seems very appropriate……….

 

Our little white house seen from the back paddock

I used to wake up to the sun streaming in through my bedroom window, the magpies singing or the odd cow bellowing but now I wake to the sound of utes arriving outside my window, bricks being stacked into wheelbarrows, men sharing morning pleasantries and one very happy chocolate labrador being greeted by one and all. She thinks she’s died and gone to heaven with so many people to play with (and all those potential treats at morning tea and lunch). Despite my slightly less tranquil alarm clock I too am happy to see them as it means PROGRESS!!!!

Of course, as predicted, the weather changed as our first hole was dug and we are now experiencing the chilly starts usually associated with this time of year and those dastardly westerly winds have also come back to taunt us. We have still only had the odd shower and everyone is desperate for rain so I feel mean having my fingers crossed for a dry day! Rain as much as you like during the night I say but leave me the days!!! One week in and we have all the footings in and concreted and the brickies are here today so hopefully we will have some framework up by the end of this week but if the weather turns bad they will be starting inside – then the fun will really begin!

Poor Cam, he’s finding it hard to cope seeing the huge digger carve up his lawn that he has spent the last year coercing into submission. I don’t like to mention to him that a huge pipe is going to be dug into it soon when we move our water tank from the house to behind the chook shed…..All this will be worth it when it’s done – just like a bad dream it will disappear from our memory to be replaced with a fantabulous new living area! Fingers crossed…..

Don’t you think this tree looks like something from the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory?? An out of this world tree which I’m sure must be confusing the birds. It is our Mulberry tree that was HUGE and impossible to pick the fruit from. My gardening guru Peter suggested giving it a heavy pruning causing it to send out new shoots, which being young and pliable we could bend into what I am now affectionately calling my lollipop tree. This way we will be able to access the fruit and keep it all under control giving us half a chance to get some before the birds pinch it all.

A few days later……………..

I have been flat strap organising all the build – the kitchen plan is now locked in, doors and windows are ordered (despite me ordering them initially to open the wrong way – who knew they order them looking from the OUTSIDE of the building – aaaaarghhh!!) and today I am off to buy a loo, taps and all the shower stuff plus wall tiles.  All in all it’s very busy (and rather boring reading) but hopefully some day soon I will have a beautiful finished product to share with you all. I got a call at 7am this morning from the builder saying due to the rain they were going to start stripping the bathroom out and by 9.30 when they downed tools for morning tea this is what it looked like….

At this rate I will get this all done on time which would be AMAZING!!! Now just to get everything I want within that pesky budget

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Except I don’t feel so calm.

At least every other night I am waking at 3 am on the dot with a mind buzzing with the details and minutiae of the impending renovation. Did I order this door, that window, choose the right flooring, allow for the correct amount of drawers in the kitchen, when is the right time to arrange deliveries from Sydney and where the hell am I going to put them all as well as wondering how I am going to cope with no kitchen for 2-4 weeks and of course that eternal question of HOW ARE WE GOING TO PAY FOR IT ALL!!!!! So tedious and of course I always seem to fall back asleep just as the early dawn light is stealing through the bedroom windows and then I either wake up late and behind schedule before I even begin my day or wake up on time and am Mrs Cranky Pants!!

Anyway we are launching head first into it all next week and I know once it’s finished it will be beautiful and what the old dame deserves (the old dame being the house, not me thanks….) We have a 3 month window before we hope to host our son’s 30th birthday here……fingers crossed….

I try and sit outside and tune out at least once a day and feel much more serene looking up into the newly bare branches where these little guys have a great old time chattering away and dipping and diving as they chase each other through the garden.

I did have a lovely weekend last week when the boys came down for a belated Mother’s Day celebration. On the real day they had a pressing appointment at a major sporting event. A corporate box was at their disposal and it was too good to refuse apparently! We decided to stay at the house and have them cook for me! The best part was that they planned the menu, bought all the ingredients AND cooked it! Perfect. Tom was given the job of buying all the ingredients and caused quite a laugh when the recipe asked for banana eschallots and he came back with a packet of banana chips!! Fillet of beef and bananas – I don’t think so!!

Afterwards we had a lovely bonfire under a million stars

The chook house got a complete spring clean ( or should that be Autumn??) with beautiful fresh clean hay and scrubbed laying boxes etc and they seem to love it, scratching it all up into little hollows to lie in and preen! We are still getting 6-7 eggs a day so they must be feeling fairly contented although they are still looking a bit patchy with no re growth of those moulting feathers in sight.

An overnight trip to Sydney for bookclub ended up  giving me a perfect kitchen plan after I mentioned how despondent I was with the one currently being planned. It just didn’t feel like me at all. My wonderful friend and interior designer Leigh (www.leighholt.com.au) knocked up an entirely new option for me complete with drawings in 3 hours. We chose the paint colour, bench top and general concept and now I am really happy with the way things are going. Having a great architect and a great builder sometimes just isn’t quite enough and an interior designer can fill that all important middle bit, to look at the way we actually live and provide you with the practical design ideas to achieve it. She is so good at looking simultaneously at the details and the overall plan and I have total faith that it will all come together beautifully now.

We had our friends from New Zealand come to visit this weekend. They are in the chocolate/cocoa game too and it’s been wonderful to welcome them to The Meadow and share some nice quality time on the veranda nattering over a cuppa and discussing a million insignificant things . The weather was picture perfect, blue skies and a balmy 24 degrees, making it perfect for a walk along the beach and almost too hot to sit on the veranda. Crazy for this time of year and I’m guessing it will all go to pot the minute the builders arrive and start demolishing the house! Murphy’s Law!!! Nicki had been on a chocolate making course in Melbourne for 3 weeks and came bearing gifts of her achievements. They were visually beautiful and we demolished a few after dinner – yumminess indeed. So much effort goes into these works of art, I have a new found admiration for the length of time and the amount of steps that goes into each individual chocolate and I can see why the good ones cost what they do!

 A vino and cheeseboard overloooking the Shoalhaven River.

2 men and a dog enjoying the deserted beach.   

Brekky in town for the whole crew!

So as the days become cooler and shorter and the inevitability of rain increases (we’ve had none for weeks and weeks now) we plunge into the renovation and all the joys that that will bring! We have a great builder with a team of nice blokes so hopefully things will go well and I will eventually start sleeping through the night again…..