A Hard Day's Work....

Spent the WHOLE day in the back yard yesterday!

Got Tori and Brody to give me a hand for a couple of hours. Brody worked so hard, Torza not so hard after an hour :)

The weather was perfect for a day outside, so I ignored everything else, and just got into it. I used Brody's stereo in the shed and played cd's loudly all day.

The backyard is nearly how I want it to be, just need the lawn to spread more, and do some retic. Will still have to do the side bit, but haven't decided exactly what I want there.

I spread mulch, re-potted, re-organised, weeded, trimmed, moved, cleaned, tidied........

The mulch (lighter colour one) I bought off http://www.mulchnet.com.au/ . Great buy! I got 3 cubic metres for $110. There is sooooo much. Heaps still out the front, I hope to mulch the front garden (have already done the smaller one, just need to weed the larger bed first)

Have a good week....

Sandy

Tori's graduation...

was on Monday night.

Both her and Shayla looked gorgeous!!!!You can't see her hair very well in the photo, but there was a cute diamonte hair clasp and I curled her hair.

The night started with the formal speeches and presentations, Tori's best friend Teisha got the Citizenship Award and Tori got the award for Best Faction Leader. Well done, girls!!

They finished off the night with some dances, including the Tango. All the kids came out on to the floor, in partners, with the boy holding a long stemmed rose. Then the boys bowed and presented the rose to the girl. So cute!!

I managed to have a dance with Tori and Jay did the daughter/father dance with her :)

This is her official Graduation Photo :)

It was a lovely night!!

Sandy

Has it been that long....

Since I posted? Can't believe it!

A very quick catchup, before I get ready for work.

Kitchen is out, what a drama that was! Had to get a builder in to support a beam in the roof, so that the feature crappy brick could be taken out. It was a builder that we use at work, and he took 3 weeks to get here, although telling me every couple of days that he was on his way! Anyway, then I had to get the ceiling fixed, along the wall where the brick came out and some of the wall repaired. All done now and looks good. Now some of the flooring has to be lengthened, because when you get cupboards built they don't make them to what size you want, they are all a standard 600mm deep! Some of that crappy brick wall came out 700mm (around the oven) and so that is where the floor had been laid. Have to check my excess sitting in the shed, to see if I need to buy more. Have got two quotes in the last couple of weeks, first one for $9200 and the second for $12000. These are both better than the $14000 Kitcraft quoted me back in January (does not include any appliances). I have passed on the design that I drew up to my old boss, Elizabeth (interior designer) and she gave me back a page full of changes!! So now she is drawing up what she thinks I should do. May not get that back until next week.

Kids are well, Brody is unemployed at the moment and not very interested in doing anything. He told me that he wanted to start doing some work on the Mazda that I gave him, so I drove it into the back yard. But him and his mates just seem to sit in it and smoke cigarettes!

Tori has just finished 2 weeks swimming lessons and passed both Level 7 and 8. Congratulations Torza!!! You clever girl :)

In the vegie garden - dug out a good pile of beautiful potatoes from the garden bed (still have the tyres to dig out), had to feed some cauliflowers to the chooks as they were no good (not sure if any of them will be ok), have planted some beetroot, have been picking brown onions when I need them (they are fantastic), still have some spring onions left, tomatoes are ripening up and pick a couple every couple of days (hundreds of plants coming up from where the chooks used to be), Tori tried a snow pea (won't be long til they are ready)

Ok, time to go. Sorry there are no photos, haven't had a chance to load them onto the computer. Will show some over the weekend :)


Sandy

A catch up....

Finally......

Have had computer problems and bits and pieces happening, and I couldn't get on.

Tori and Shayla won their last 2 netball games. Both good games. The second last one, the score was 28 - 12 and Shayla got 15 goals. She played so well!! We had their windup at a rollerskating rink last Saturday. Kids had a ball, but 2 mums had their arms in slings and had to go to the hospital after! Tori has told me that one broke her wrist. Never fear, Bub and I didn't put the skates on :)

Vegie garden is going well. I have taken some photos, will try and upload over the weekend. I planted punnets in the new bed - chinese cabbage, cabbage, lettuce, potatoes (also in tyres), some chinese stir fry vegie, broccoli and cauliflower. All look good! The potatoes are absolutely booming!!

Chooks are going well in their new spot, all the grass is gone. Getting 3 eggs a day.

So...the electrician and plumber have been and disconnected everything in the kitchen. Charged me $130 all up, I was pretty happy with that. But....have now found out that the bricks I want to knock out, are a supporting wall! Bugger!! Jay is going to talk to Gil, and we will see what happens. The mini skip is here, we still have it for another week, but I don't like my chances now of knocking it out before then.

Tori has the flu. I stayed home with her on Monday and Tuesday, and now I have it as well. Shocking cough, body aches, head aches. I feel like I have been hit by a bus. Poor Tors has the school athletics carnival today and as she is faction captain, there is no way she is going to miss it.
Ok, that is all I can cope with now.

Not crash hot photos, but these are of the kids at the carnival in 2006.

Sandy

Book Week...

was last week at the kids's school. On Friday, they had to dress up as a favourite book character.

Tori went as Pippi Longstocking.....

Shayla went as Dorothy - from Wizard of Oz......

Willow went as the Scarecrow.....from Wizard of Oz.....

Tiana made the blue checked apron for Shayla's outfit from a sheet from the Salvos....not a stitch in sight....2 buttons hot glued on, and a large safety pin in the back. The red shoes were Nanny Meryl's - they were already red, with the bow on the top, but Bub painted them a stronger red and sprinkled glitter. They honestly looked fantastic!!

They all looked great on the day.

Sandy

Monday morning...

Sorry I didn't type during the week...two reasons - Nothing to say, and I was too tired!

Weekend roundup -

Tori and Shayla won their netball game. At half time the score was 18 - 3. We didn't find out the score at the end of the game but the difference was probably something similar. They played the team that both the girls were on last year. Some of the girls have really improved, it was really good to see. Both girls played well.

Tori's friend Beck slept over on the Friday night, so she came to netball as well. On the way, I called into Tracey's as she was babysitting the twins. We picked them up and took them to netball as well. It was good to see them, as we don't really anymore.

After netball I dropped the twins off to have a play with Willow and took Tori and Beck home to Beck's house. Tori was staying the night there.

Then I drove up to Elizabeth, my old interior designer boss. Had to fix up some super stuff that had mistakenly been sent to me and had a lovely afternoon tea. Max's vegie garden looks good, but he is losing some of the vegies to possums or something.

A quiet Sat night at home, with Brody (surprise, surprise) and Bub and Jay. Brody actually had a bit of conjunctivitis, so he was laying low really. It's heaps better now though after some drops.

Sun morning, Bub and I went to a couple of garage sales - she managed to buy a Body Book for the kids and a car CD player that you plug into the cigarette lighter. That's all we got! Don't know if that is good or bad :) Last thing Jay said before we went was "Don't buy any crap!" As if!!

Called into an old italian (maybe) couples house up the road and bought a couple of vegies. They have a huge plot behind and next to their house. Used to go there all the time, and just sorta stopped. But now that I am not going back to the Midland Markets, will go back to them. She went and picked some spinach for Bub, so she was impressed!

After Tori got dropped off, we went to Sizzlers for a late lunch. Not too bad, but I think I overate :)

Cleaned out the chook house when I got home, and played catch with the dog, and that was it for the weekend.

Did go around with the camera to take a couple of photos to leave you with....every post needs photos!

Sandy

Weekend roundup...

Nothing exciting this weekend....not that there ever is actually...but one can live in hope!

Tori and Shayla played netball again on Saturday. We didn't even bother finding out the score. I am such a shocking mother of the player watcher!! Honestly, I could slap every one of the girls they play against and god knows what I could do to the umpires. Smart little upstarts!! One of them came up to our team at quarter time and told them to watch their attitude, because she is giving up her time to umpire their game and didn't appreciate the girls being a little vocal about her shocking decisions!! The team they played against has won every game this year, but we did make them earn this win, anyway. Shame one of their girls didn't get injured...told you I was shocking :)

Sunday morning Bub and I went out to the Midland Markets again for fruit and veg. Got some more beautiful strawberries. Also got some asparagus. Really pissed off when I got home and realised it was from Thailand!! What the...! I thought everything for sale out there was at least grown in WA. Don't know if I want to go back now :(

When we got home I got into the garden. Weeded a bit out the front, and then some more in the back. We moved the chook pen, and cleaned out the chook house. A bit of the fence fell on 2 of the chooks, but they just shook their feathers and kept on their business. Thank god!

I dug up some strawberries and put in a hanging basket. Dug up 2 rosemary plants and some lemon thyme to give to a work colleague.

Pulled out some carrots too. Don't think I will be selling them very quickly!! But they are yummy! I grated one tonight for our fajitas, and it was really nice.

Don't laugh....

Karen came over with a bottle of red and her and Tiana (with her beer) gave me gardening advice and instructions!! Well then I had to open my bottle of red....Four bottles later.....

Tori and Shayla spent hours making an Olympic circuit for Willow for Sunday afternoon. Tori used her pocket money to make little lolly bags for them and made up medals. They had a ball :)

Beautiful weather all weekend, and I think another week of it, so hopefully will be able to do some more gardening during the week after work...fingers crossed.

And for those that asked.....here's a photo of the fish. This is Tori's fish Goldy, unfortunately his 2 housemates died a couple of months ago. We also have a couple more in a bath tub out the back.

Ciao..

Sandy

Currently drinking......

this....

Well...not RIGHT now, because it is 6.37am.....but last night.....and the night before.....and the night before.....NOT REALLY...only last night......and Sunday night.....Honestly, I LOVE the stuff!

Note the full egg basket in the background of the first photo. The day before I got 5 eggs!! and yesterday only 1! Didn't I tell them off! There was more poo in the chook house than eggs!

Curtis was watching me take the photos last night wondering "what the.....". Then he asked me to take his photo to send to his mummy. "I miss you mummy. Lots of hugs and kisses"

Sandy

Weekend roundup....

Tori and Shayla had their usual netball game on Saturday. THEY WON!!!! I think the final score was 19 - 13, something like that. They were in front by 2 at the end of the first quarter, and the second quarter the team was fantastic and were in front by about 6. Then the third quarter the coach put someone in to centre position that had been off for 8 weeks with a broken arm. She came back last week, but there was no way she was fit enough to play centre for a third quarter. She was already tired from the first 2 quarters! So the team ended up being only 1 goal in front at the end of the third quarter, and they played shocking. The fourth quarter they picked back up and managed to jump ahead a bit again. This is the last time I will let Tori play in a team where the coach's daughter is on the team. It just doesn't work.

After netball Tori and I took Curtis to the vet. He had been limping for a couple of weeks, although I couldn't find anything wrong. By Friday though, he wouldn't walk on it at all, and the pad on the sore foot looked like he had been chewing it. Anyway $45 later, the vet said the chewed pad is actually healing and it is all new pad coming through, it won't be hurting him at all. He did feel something in his creushin ligament (no idea how to spell that!) but it wasn't very bad. He said large dogs can go lame from the same problem, but small dogs can handle it and will use the leg again. Something like that, anyway. So nothing to worry about, just go back in a couple of months if he is still limping or if he starts to whimper. The vet was really being quite rough with his leg and he hardly took any notice. So all good!

After we got home from the vet, I started another vegie garden. I had got Brody and his mates to move some sleepers for me last weekend, to set it up. I laid newspaper and cardboard down first. I had some rakings in a pile, that was all dead so I laid that down next. There was a little bit of straw left over from my last garden and I put that down as well. It had just been sitting at the end of my other vegie bed, and you should have seen the worms through it. OMG, heaps. Then I shoveled soil from the original chicken spot, and put that in the bed. Again, literally hundreds of worms. These vegies are going to be fantastic! The bed is not quite full, so will try and finish it off during the week. Planted some potatoes in a tyre. Will have to dig around and get some out though and put them in the new bed, as I think I have too many for just a tyre.

Sat night was an early one, as I was so tired!!

Sunday morning Tori and I went into the Midland Growers Market to get some fruit and vegies. Cauliflowers were $4.50, but I did manage to pick out a nice big healthy one. I will make a cauli mornay and maybe a soup for work. So it is not too bad. Some lovely strawberries and apples.

Then Tori, Shayla and I went caught the train into Harbour Town with Tracey, Tyla, Ben and their Japanese exchange student Yuka (not sure of the spelling). I didn't manage to find anything I wanted, but Tori and Shayla both bought one top each. We didn't make it all the way around when everyone was ready to go though.

Back home to a glass of red and the Eagles and Dockers game. Watched bits of it next door. Poor old Eagles lost again. But it was good for Sean McManus who played his last game for the Dockers.

So that was the weekend, and now it is Monday morning, another week starting. Pay week this week though, that is always good!!

Leaving you with a couple of old photos, because photos make a blog look interesting :) I took these in Febuary, obviously my vegie garden. Not looking quite so healthy at the moment. It was beautiful back then!

Sandy

Woodman Point...

Last year we went camping at Woodman Point. Brad and his boys along with Bub and Jay and their kids and Tori and I took her friend Teisha.

The park was actually booked out, but because they knew Jay (him and Bub go there quite a bit with Jay's parents) they allowed us to go into an overflow grassy area.

As much as we went camping, we had showers, toilets, electricity, shops not too far away, swimming pool, bbq's. There is a large kitchen with fridges as well for campers. So it wasn't a real roughing it weekend. But we had a ball! Especially the kids. Kids love camping anywhere.

Bub and Jay stayed 2 nights and Brad and I stayed an extra night. If I didn't have work, we would have stayed another one!!

Some ball games...Walking to the beach...

Some water play...

Some deep discussions....

Some fishing...or at least looking good while holding a fishing rod over the water....or carrying the bucket along the jetty....

Digging to China....

Meeting the locals...

And finally...some one on one....

Sandy