I'm Back - Where has the time gone!

Wow that year has flown. I hope everyone is well and are still following me and haven't given up on me!

Where to start - I moved into my new house in the Blue Mountains of NSW in July 2014. I had my Dad living with me for 6 months, he is now settled into his Retirement Village which a 10 minute drive from me and one of my sisters.

I still have some boxes to unpack (very unlike me) but working full time and with the extra travel time to work I have been feeling it.  I also started doing a Market Stall selling country and vintage homewares/gifts and Christmas decorations/ornaments from the USA and this has been keeping me busy too.

I have also been trying to organise/sort out the gardens. They were very full of plants and they were taking over so I have had a lot of them taken out and I am in the process of planting my cottage garden again. I will start posting some photos of my progress so far once I have sorted them out.

This time last year I went on a road trip to my Mum's hometown of Narrabri in NorthWest NSW.  We still have cousins up there so we try to visit as often as we can.  Its great catching up and thinking about the old times when we used to visit for our school holidays.

We went to a town called Eula Creek a few km's out of town.  My Pop helped build this old bridge when he worked for the Local Council.

Then on to the cemetary where we found out that my Nan and Pop had 2 babies that had died not long after birth and they where buried at the Eula Creek Cemetary.

We had just missed out on seeing the cotton plants before they had been picked.  They were picked a couple of weeks before we got there.  I remember as a kid we always went out and got our photos taken in amongst all the cotton plants. My cousin works where they bundle the cotton once it has been picked and processed, so he took us to his work. Wow what a big shed and full of a lot of bundles of cotton.

 My great niece Brooke and I.

In July last year my Dad sold and moved out of our family.  It was very emotional for all of us.  Dad and Mum had lived there for 48 years together and Dad moved out after 54 years.

I hope to be back soon and not leave it so long in between posts.

Take care
xx

Plodding Along...Slowly...

I'm still here, well it is certainly taking some time to get my Dad’s house decluttered. It has brought back a lot of memories of our childhood, growing up and how different our lives were then.

This weekend we are on a road trip to my Mum's hometown of Narrabri in country NSW.  We have to pick up some antiques and old furniture that was left to us by our late Uncle.  My Mum doesn't have any of her brothers or sisters alive in her hometown now, but we still keep in contact with our cousins and our Mum's heritage.  We will be visiting our great grandparents graves and visiting other local places that have our family history.  I will be back soon, hopefully, with photos of our childhood memories of our holidays in the country.

Take care
xx
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where has the Time Gone...

 

 Well this year has been busy so far, I have been very slack with my blogging but I hope that will change in the next few months. I have still been checking on my fav blogs but I haven't had the time to post one.

 

Last month I was considering a job and a move down the south coast but I decided against it at the last minute as I didn't think it was the right decision at the moment, even though it would have been great!  Also, we are looking into the move for my Dad into a Retirement Village, so there is the clean up of his house which we have been slowly progressing through.

 

Then a couple of weeks ago I found a house in the Blue Mountains.  I went to have a look and put an offer in and they accepted it.  As soon as I walked in the house I fell in love with it and it felt like home.  Nothing major needs to be done to it, accept for the overgrown gardens, but that is right up my alley...I am certainly going cottage garden again!!
 

With a few minor cosmetic changes inside, it will be perfect.  There is only a small patch of lawn, enough for Bailey, but the rest of it outweighs that. There are plenty of garden beds for me to still have my vegie patch too.  Bailey is going to love all the gardens to explore!

 

This is my new house, it is brick as I didn't want weatherboard cottage again, but it is still country looking, and I am sure with all my treasures, inside and out, it will be very country by the time I have finished decorating. 



 

Settlement is not until July as the owners are purchasing a house off someone who is also purchasing a house, but that suits me as I can save more.

 

Can't wait to move in and have all my treasures around me again....I miss them so!!

 

I look forward to getting stuck into the garden and sharing my new journey with you all.

 

Take care

xx

 

HO HO HO.....Merry Christmas!

 

I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2014.

 

I have missed not being able to put up my Christmas decorations this year but I am sure I will be back next year bigger and better...haha.  I have been buying some new Christmas decorations, yes I know, exactly what I don't need, but its what I love.

 

 

Hopefully I will be back to normal posting on my blog, I have been out of sorts with everything these last couple of months.

 

I hope to find my new home in the new year and share with you all my new adventures and the setting up of it.

Anyway, don't eat too much Christmas pudding and don't forget to leave out the cookies and milk for Santa and the carrots and water for the Reindeers!

 

 

Christmas Blessings!

xx

Finally, I'm Back...

 

It's been a while since I have posted.  What have I been up to. Well, after moving from the sale of my house, I have settled into my Dad's house, well if you could call it settled.  I seem to have stuff everywhere still. I am missing all of treasures around me.  Bailey is very clingy to me, he didn't like me going away for 2 weeks, and since I have come home he follows me everywhere, more than usual. He has started to want to sleep on the bed with me to be closer to me. My poor little man, I moved him from his old house and then I went away, of course, he doesn't know what is going on.

Packing up my house.

 

Wow it looks empty. 

The sad thing about me leaving is that I have heard from my old neighbours that my garden is not being looked after and is looking very very sad. 
 

I went on my cruise, it was great and the 14 people I went with were a great bunch to go away with and we had a ball! I won't bore you with too many photos, just a few.

Leaving from Sydney Harbour under the Harbour Bridge, it was like you could nearly touch it, but we were no where near it..haha.

Bye bye Sydney! 

 

 The 2nd day at sea was my birthday, and they put balloons outside your door on your birthday.

That night at dinner I received a small birthday cake. The wait staff were great and very friendly, we had so much fun with them.

Every couple of days we would get an animal made out of our towels, so cute.
Dog

Rabbit.

 

We stopped at 5 Islands, this is Mystery Island

Isle of Pines

There were sunsets every night.

 

My 2 sisters and I had a quick weekend visit up to see our country cousins in Narrabri, northern NSW. After my uncle passed away in May we had to clear out his house and we were able to keep a few things, we each got an old single wooden lounge chair (haven't got a photo yet as we couldn't bring them home yet).  They will need new fabric. I loved sitting in those chairs when we went to visit as kids, so I am glad that we were able to hold onto some of the memories.

 

 I hope to get stuck into some Christmas cooking at the end of the month, I can't believe it is next month.  No Christmas decorating for me this year, all packed away in storage. 

Enjoy your day!
xx
 

NSW Bush Fires...

My thoughts and prayers are with all the people in NSW who have been affected by the bush fires.  What a horrific day it was yesterday, 35 degrees and very strong winds made the fires jump.

My sister in the Blue Mountains had their house under threat of being burnt but luckily my nephew worked nearby and was able to get home and he and their neighbours saved their houses and animals, even after the water losing pressure to near no pressure. The fire came up to their back fences, they are very very lucky as there are about 30 - 40 houses near them that have been destroyed. It happened so quickly and with most people at work they didn't get a chance to save anything.

They haven't been allowed back to their house yet as there are still fires in the area, so they are not out of danger yet as the fires could start up again like they have in other areas.

This is Sydney, and the smoke that came from the Mountains, it was a very eerie day!

 

A very big thanks goes out the all the fire fighters, which includes volunteer fire fighters, they do a wonderful job even when their own houses are under threat, which was the case up in the Mountains.

 

God Bless Them!

 

xx



Girls Weekend Away....

 

Last weekend I went on a girls weekend with my 2 sisters, niece and 8 other girls to Moss Vale in the lovely Southern Highlands of NSW. It's just over 1 hours drive from where I live so its not too far to visit for even a day trip, so I am sure I will return for a day visit.
 

The "oldies" (as we were called) went down on the Friday.  First stop was Mittagong, where I bought this cute rusty rabbit to put in the garden, then it was on to Berrima. This is a lovely little town, I haven't been there for a few years but it is always good to visit.

This is a lovely old sandstone house on the main street which has been turned into a Restaurant.

Looking up the main street of Berrima, some older building are now shops.

Then it was on to Bowral for lunch...this is the main street of Bowral. There are some nice shops to look at here.

Then it was on to Moss Vale where we had rented a house for the weekend.  This is the  main street of Moss Vale.

Home Sweet Home....well for 2 nights anyway!

The house was so big, it had 6 bedrooms each with 2 king single beds

There were 3 bathrooms...this one had a clawfoot bath. 

The games room with billard table and a big range of other games including tennis rackets for the tennis court outside

 

 

The Living room.. 

 

The farmhouse style kitchen was my favourite....as I was the cook for the weekend (my choice), I couldn't have been happier to work in this kitchen....

The fridge is behind the middle cupboard, good idea!

Friday nights dinner was Baked Pumpkin Risotto.

 

Sitting down for dinner...

Dessert was Sticky Date Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce....forgot to take a photo, everyone said it was yum!

Saturday we met up with the rest of the girls who are the "young ones", so we all headed back to Bowral to finish off the shops and then headed to Moss Vale Hotel for lunch and then hit the shops at Moss Vale.  We found Bernie's Diner, which is a 50's style diner so we decided to rest our feet and have an old fashioned malted milkshake....it tasted so good!

 

  

 

  Saturday nights dinner was a Baked Lamb Roast and the same dessert....forgot to take a photo, it was yum too!

This is all the girls (minus 2 who had to leave early).

A great weekend with a few lot of champagne and wine being had by us all with games and plenty of laughs, which made some of us have tears rolling down our faces!

Looking forward to the next one.

Enjoy your day!
xx
 

Sold....

 

My lovely little house is sold....wow, wasn't that an experience!!

 

 

It was on the market for 4 days and on the fourth day was the first open house and it was sold that day. The street was packed with cars, 25 couples went through (mostly sticky beaks), 4 couples were interested, then it was down to 2 couples and they kept pushing the price up and up, each of them really wanted it...which was good for me...haha. The contract was signed at 7pm on that same night.  It was sold for a lot more than we expected to get, which was just amazing!

 

I am so overwhelmed, shocked and it still hasn't sunk in yet.

 

And so the packing begins.  I have 6 weeks to pack and the settlement date is on the day that I sail out on a cruise for a 2 week holiday....so it couldn't have worked out better.

 

It feels strange packing my things up and the house is starting to look very bare!

 

Can't wait for my next adventure....

 

Enjoy your day!

xx

A Big Decison...

 

Well, I have finally made the decision to sell my lovely home.  There were a few factors for me to come to this decision....continuous wood rot having to be fixed...plus other repairs that will have to be done in the near future...plus a time to move on from my current job (been there for 15 years), I need a new challenge, don't know what yet but something will hopefully fall into place for me and also for me to have a new adventure!

 

 

I will live my Dad for a few months until I decide where I want to go but it will most likely be down the south coast of NSW.  It will give me the opportunity to save while living with my Dad, I won't have to travel so much to drop his dinners off, its closer to work so I won't have to get up so early. So living with my Dad for a short time will have its pluses but I know it will have it minuses too and we will most probably get on each other nerves every now and then but that will make me get out into my Mum's poor garden as it has been very neglected. Bailey will love it too as he will have my Dad as company during the day and I am sure my Dad will enjoy Bailey's company too!

 

It's scary and exciting at the same time, don't get me wrong I will miss my house that I have put so much work into, mainly the gardens.  But, that is the fun of owning a house....doing it the way that you want it.  I will definitely be having a similar cottage garden as I just love them!

 

I would like to have a bigger vegie garden too and most of the houses that I have been looking at have bigger backyards than I currently have.

 

 

It will be on the market by next month so I have been decluttering and moving what I can now to my Dad's!!  It will be a good opportunity for me to have a big clean out!

 

Stay tuned!

 

Have a great day!

xx



A Sad Road Trip....

Last weekend my family and I had to go on a sad road trip.  Our close Uncle, my Mum's youngest brother sadly passed away unexpectly. It was a big shock to us, since we were looking to visit him on the June long weekend.

 

So on the Sunday we started our trip to Narrabri in north west NSW, about a 7 hour trip. The drive was a trip down memory lane as we went to way that Dad used to drive us when we were young as we used to go up there for just about all of our school holidays.

 

We had a stop for lunch at a small town called Dunedoo...yep, we used to always laugh as we always went to the toilet when we stopped there as kids.

 

Of course, I had to go in a have a look at the Antiques Store...didn't buy anything.

 

This is the main street of Narrabri...my Mum grew up here and moved to Sydney for work in her early twenties.

 

This is the house my Mum grew up in, this is where my Uncle lived. There are a lot of memories in this house for us from when we used to visit.

 

My Dad and me and my sisters outside the house.

 

This is looking from the backyard up to the back of the house. Notice the small outside toilet, this is what we had to use when we were there as kids and I didn't like the dark so I had to get one of my sisters to come out with me and yes they used to run back inside and leave me there....lol.

This is the chicken coop with the wood stack at the side. My Pop used to have ducks and chickens and we always used to collect the eggs.

 

This looking down the backyard with the chicken coop to the right. There used to be a fence from the chicken coop to the back of the garage to the left with a lot of garden beds.

This is the old cockatoo who, yes, was there when we were kids and he is alive and kicking and we worked out he is about 58 yrs old....he will probably out live all our family!

 

This is the old fuel stove in the kitchen, which they used to cook to this day. We used to cook our toast on the coals. Toast tastes so good that way.

 

This is my Mum's old cupboard, so we will be going back to get that. If you look at the bottom of the cupboard door you will see there is a lighter colour, this is from the floods that you used have back in the 1950's. There was a flood once when we were up there, it didn't come near the houses but the bridge was flooded so we couldn't get back home...what a shame we had to miss out on a few days of school! 

It was great wondering around the house bringing back a lot of memories...but it was sad for the reason we were there.

 

It was great to catch up with a lot of relatives that I haven't seen in a long time, as I haven't been there for about 12 years and now I wish I hadn't of left it so long.

 

Have a great day!

xx