HIDEAWAY up date

Sorry we've been non - bloggers for so long but since moving in to  the Hideaway it's been hard work from dawn till dusk. It's also been a communication problem.

We are at last are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel after we removed four truckloads of scrap steel, one very large hire trailer and two box trailer loads of rubbish.

The place is overrun with Lantana so have been pulling that out (in our spare time) and have revealed a beautiful hill at the back. The front is a lot denser with the bloody stuff but luckily the owner has agreed to pay for a bobcat to rip it out.

Annie has been more than pulling her weight ( and more than her fair share of Lantana ) so consequently we have both lost weight , but both in top form after all the exercise.

I ripped out a wall in the shed and we have extended the floor space with the intention of enlarging the interior.  We bought  some brand new faux timber wall panelling at an auction place to line the inside, so hope it will be attractive, ( if that's at all possible using fake panels ).

Annie has been planting gardens and they are beginning to flower and look pretty good.

We are presently at Marcia's in Cairns. When we get home the man is coming to set up our satellite dish for our wireless Internet and also a Tele aerial.

Having a great time here at Marcia and Mark's having arrived on Tues morning. We will be here a week and then back home.

Marcia and Mark are busy on the weekend and it's also Corrine's birthday on Sun, the big three oh!.

On Monday we hope to go to Deeral for a barbie and a swim at my brother's place.

We will blog re our week in Cairns when we get home. 

 

  

 

 

Chaos

It does get better! Things are looking considerably tidier. Steve's daughter, Nicole has moved to number 2 house, which at the time these pics were taken was occupied. She and the two little ones, Jamaika and Indie, are now settled in their new home along the track. I will post some pics of the little girls when I can catch them.

The Big Move

Almost three weeks ago we loaded up and headed south to our new home, the" Hideaway''.

Anyone having seen the movie, The Fringe Dwellers, will  understand how I felt. Although we didn't have chooks on board, we had Harry the budgerigar who travelled well. He is not a very friendly bird and I was secretly hoping he might not last the distance. Travelling in convoy, I was following in Miss Magna and was able to keep the trailer in sight as the table legs were always in view, bouncing around on top of the load.

Before and After

These are the "before" pictures. Watch for the "after" shots.

The dog doesn't come with the shack although she seems to think so.

Ma and Pa's Tree Change

Hi All

Well if you don't know already Annie and I are departing the city and taking up country life. We intend to live ( if you could call it that ) in the shed in the picture that is called ''The Hideaway''.

We are looking forward to going there - can't wait actually - but are held up here at Chinderah until we are paid for our van, which should be around the 20th-23rd of this month. In any case we will definitely be gone on the 27th.

Life should be a challenge there setting up and so-on, but it will definitely give us something to do and also be a lot of fun.

The lady who owns the place has given us free rent in return for my labour one day a week so we'll have the other six days to improve our living quarters and set the place up as we like.

The property is set out with several paddocks and horse yards so horses will become a part of our lives.

Annie will be able to have a cat - and possibly a dog - which she was unable to have here.

The property is about 15mins from the beautiful south coast so will have the best of both worlds.

Annie is looking forward to hunting out stuff at garage sales to with which to decorate our shanty.

Until next time,

Yee Haa!

Ya all come back now, ya hear!

A lunch with Paul

Hi All

Annie and I drove to Nerang for lunch with Paul today.

Paul shouted us lunch at the Grand, a golf style resort of which he is a member.  If you look closely in the pictures you can see the golf course behind us.

Paul and I had A half dozen oysters as entree. Oysters Kilpatrick is about as good as it gets for me.  Annie and Paul had Red Emperor for the main course and I had a Caesar salad. We had beer and wine too. And coffee. And Sticky Date Pudding - which we shared three ways.

Paul took us to the golf shop after lunch and let us pick some clothes. I picked a pair of  red shorts, a blue sleeveless pullover and a magnificent green shirt with a fine black herringbone pattern. Annie got a couple of pretty tops, one white and one a coral colour.

Talk about a millionaires day out.

Getting back to the car park to find our car parked in amongst Mercs, Beamers and would you believe, earlier - a Roller, seemed to somehow deflate our mood. Ah well, I suppose we've got our health. The trouble is as someone said '' What's the point of being in hospital - dying of nothing''. 

 

 

 

TOMMY

As we often do, we paid a visit to the Pet Superstore at Tweed yesterday to see the kittens that the Friends of the Pound have for adoption.  After talking to Trudi from the organisation we discovered that a foster carer was looking for a replacement to care for "Tommy" as she was going away for a couple of weeks. Of course, we jumped at the chance to take him. He is an oldie at 10 years of age and not likely to be adopted. The cats and dogs not likely to be rehomed are taken by the Friends and placed in foster homes to save them from the unmentionable fate. They are still available for adoption and are cared for by the fosterers. A great scheme! Check out the Friends of the Pound website (Tweed) www.friendsofthepound.com/adoptionpage.htm

Edna's Territory

On Saturday we spent the morning strolling around the Victoria Market marvelling at the fresh fruit and vegetables.

Brother Paul picked us up from there around noon and took us back to Moonee Ponds where he and Helen now live in a lovely Penthouse apartment. We went for a stroll down Puckle Street and found a photo opportunity at Everage Steet named in honour of the Dame. We were discusssing a venue for lunch when I mentioned that I often dream of the fish and chips you only seem to find in Melbourne, so off we went to our host's favourite cafe and had a delicious meal. Steve ordered a dozen oysters and found them so good that he ordered more. It seems they were from Tassie. Paul kindly took us on the "Paul and Helen" tour down to Williamstown via the Westgate bridge and back around the Docklands area where we saw the Melbourne Eye ( giant wheel) which is out of order for a year due to cracks in the structure.

Sunday we walked down to Spencer Street station, now called Southern Cross Station, and amazingly changed. There is a huge DFO complex in which we spent a couple of hours shopping. Whilst having a coffee break, we marvelled at all the football fans making there way to the Telstra Dome Stadium. They seemed to be all St Kilda supporters judging by the scarves and beanies. The weather  has been kind to us, quite mild.

 

The Big Walk

Today (Friday) was a better day weatherwise after a maximum of 15c yesterday although still a foggy start. We walked to the Carlton gardens to visit the Exhibition Buildings and the Museum. The new Museum is very modern and a contrast to the Exhibition Building which it is adjacent to.

Seeing Phar Lap brought back childhood memories as we often visited him in the old building. He is still in fine form. I think he has had a bit of grooming recently. We spent a couple of  hours walking around the various exhibits.

After leaving the Museum we walked along Gertrude Street to Brunswick Street, Fitzroy.  We strolled along Brunswick St window shopping until it was time for a coffee break and after we crossed Johnston Street, it was a late lunch at a sidewalk cafe. Feeling refreshed, we next walked down Johnston Street to Smith St, Collingwood to see the old "hood" which is not much changed, still "spot the Aussie" or perhaps more so. The big walk was taking it's toll, so we bought a few things at Woolies before we hopped on a tram to return to the city.  Talk about embarrassing moments, a bottle of milk in a plastic bag was leaking which we didn't notice while we were trying to work out the ticket machine. A young woman pointed it out to us. I was trying to mop up the puddle and get the tickets while Steve let the milk drip onto the tram step. The plastic bag still had milk in it and there was nothing we could do. All the passengers acted as if we were invisible. That was one tram we were glad to get off and have a good hysterical laugh.

 

Thursday in Melbourne

A foggy morning saw us heading off to see the sights. Old Melbourne Gaol was our first stop, being an easy walk from our accommodation in Lt Bourke Street. The gaol has a forbidding cold atmosphere. We walked along the catwalks, in and out of cells which all have items of interest including death masks of hanged prisoners. A popular exhibit was the gallows where Ned Kelly breathed his last.

After leaving Old Melbourne Gaol we did a city walk along LaTrobe Street to Swanston Street calling in at the State Library. The photograph shows one of the reading galleries. This impressive building also previously housed the Melbourne Museum which is now in the Carlton Gardens beside the Exhibition Building.

Strolling along Swanston Street we reached Flinders Street and another "must see'' attraction, the Painting of Chloe at Young and Jacksons Pub. We enjoyed a drink in the pleasant surroundings.

Taking advantage of the City Circle tram we went to the Crown Casino for lunch and a small flutter.

Melbourne

Our Melbourne sojourn began this morning. Waking up to storms and torrential rain we were reluctant to leave our warm bed. The taxi arrived in good time to take us to Coolangatta airport. Boarding was not much fun, running through the rain to the plane, but we boarded only to find that the seats we booked on line yesterday did not exist due to a change of plane (smaller aircraft). We usually go for the last row, often not too crowded. We stood with the flight attendant for quite some time as they were juggling passengers from seat to seat. Somehow everyone was seated and we were ushered to a seat beside an Asian lady with twin babies and a toddler. Her mum had two of her offspring in the seat behind us.

Surprise, surprise, it was sunny in Melbourne, not too cold. Taking the Skybus, we were duly delivered to Somerset Gordon Heights in Little Bourke Street. Gordon Heights is across the road from it's other property, Gordon Place which in the old days was a doss house for homeless men. It is a fabulous old building, now all self contained apartments for holiday letting. It is quite a convenient spot so tomorrow we will be off to do some sightseeing now that we have been shopping for essential supplies, food and drink.

This afternoon on our  way to the supermarket we stopped at a Greek restaurant for a drink and enjoyed some Greek dips and bread with our wine. Passing the Greek cake shops was not easy. Perhaps we will return tomorrow.

 

Happy families

New mum, Nicola with, Jamaika, Nicole, William and Richard

Cousins

William's brother Connor, Jamaika, Richard and little Indie. (not happy!)

The newest Handel

Last Wednesday we flew to the Whitsunday Coast, Proserpine, to celebrate the arrival of William Stephen Leo Handel on the 14th of May.

He is a bonny baby weighing a healthy 6lb 15oz. 

Mothers Day

Due to a surprise visit by number one son, Mothers Day was a very happy day for this mother. We enjoyed  lunch at the excellent Thai restaurant, in Kingscliff.

I have heard a rumour that number one daughter may also visit the Tweed area in June, staying in delightful Coolangatta.

MORE NIMBIN PICS

 

NIMBIN MARDI GRASS

The Nimbin Mardi Grass was all that the advertising promised. A sunny Sunday saw us drive approx 55kms to Nimbin to see how the other half live.

We were entertained by the various attractions on offer as well as the alternative lifestyle folk. We rather stood out as straight oldies in the crowds.

The Bong Throwing event was hotly contested by both females and males. Likewise the Hemp Olympix. The "vegies" were well catered for.

We tried some Yemen wraps, quite tasty but rather rich, mostly boiled eggs sliced with a  yoghurt cream and tomatoes.

Interestingly the Street Parade commenced outside the Police Station. The Law was in attendance with a mobile command post and mounted police.

The event is organised by the Law Reform Group in an attempt to change the laws and legalise Marijuana.

One would assume it has happened as there was no mistaking the scent of pot  in the air.

Of course, we had to buy a hemp shirt for Steve, a lovely pale green, to add to his collection. 

A job to be done

The Northern rivers district has been drenched in recent weeks, constant downpours. Our driveway is a quagmire.

We were lucky enough to buy almost 600 pavers form someone who wanted rid of them for the princely sum of

$20.  Unfortunately, we cannot lay the pavers until the ground dries out.

I spent time filling in the ruts with soil and mulch which looked fine until Steve swung into the driveway scattering

mud and grass. Ah well, back to the drawing board.

Chloe the cat

Chloe spends her days gazing out through the security door at the passing parade. She would love to get out

into the big wide world.

Patrick the cat

Patrick the cat started out in life as a feral stray kitten who decided to adopt a van owner in the caravan park.

As all pets must be on a lead patrick was tethered  by a rope attached to a brick. As he grew, he was able to

drag the brick around. Sounds bizarre! I am happy to say that Patrick seems to be a well adjusted cat and is

now tethered to three bricks. He spends his evenings indoor and off the lead. He is one cute cat.

Tweed River Art Gallery

After being housebound for two days of torrential rain, we decided to drive to one of our favourite spots, Murwillumbah. I noticed in the local rag, The Echo, that the Tweed River Art Gallery has a special event, "Great Collections".

What a surprise! The Gallery is amazing, set in a huge building on top of the hill at Stokers Siding. From anywhere in the gallery, through long narrow windows there are views of the lush valley, an interesting setting for the exhibits.

Great Collections featured documents and curiosities dating from before Capt. Cook chartered the coastline in 1770 to more modern times, such as prints by Picasso.

We saw a Dutch atlas from 1666 that charts three quarters of Australia, death masks of outlaws sentenced to hang in colonial times, execution certificates and some amazing letters written by Captain Moonlight (bushranger) to his family and friends just before his hanging.

The oldest item on display was the Nuremburg Chronicle from 1493.

The Gallery also has a great collection of paintings, old and new.

Murwillumbah continues to amaze. On each visit we make a new discovery.

Chinese New Year

You have to hand it to the Supermarkets, never short of a gimmick!

 Not content with having Easter Eggs on the shelves months before April and the "back to school" items prominently displayed they have discovered another marketing opportunity, Chinese New Year.

Woolworths had a large display of Tsingtao beer in their liquor department today. We were tempted to buy some but were put off by the price of $45 per case.

Aldi have  Chinese New Year specials which include, wasabi coated peas, rice cookers, sauces and noodles etc.

The supermarkets haven't forgotten St Valentine's Day either.

Happy Shopping.

The things you see when you don't have a camera

We were driving along the Tweed river on the way to Murwillumbah yesterday when we spotted a group of Kayakers. One of the group was rowing along with a Blue Heeler perched on top enjoying the trip.

 

We discovered an interesting old art deco Movie Theatre in Murwillumbah. The  Regent is operating with a novel twist. Patrons relax and view movies on bean bags. Pizzas can be purchased and eaten during the show. The theatre also has a vegetarian restaurant buffet which is very affordable. All this and tickets to see the latest releases at half the price of other cinemas!!

Stephen Van Gogh

 

The artist has been at work again

 

The picture is not quite finished but as I wanted a photo for the blog, here it is.

 

 Hope I don't get into strife.

 

The subject was my suggestion, no prizes for guessing that.