John & Julie Down Under

A year and a bit later...

2011-01-10T23:07:00.005+11:00

It has been a while...

Bridge in the rain forest

A lot of different things have happened during this time. Most of it happy and some of it sad. Time continues to move forward no matter how much we wish we could go back.

Hoping that 2011 will bring lots of happiness and healing to those who need it. That it brings visitors to our doorstep. That it brings lots of memories to look back on.

We have started the new year with a relaxing time at home and are now back at work.

We took a day trip to Fitzroy Falls, NSW and Minnamurra Rainforest, NSW. It was a lovely day full of fantastic views. Having lunch in the rainforest was great. The sounds of the forest are just

fantastic.

Start of the walk through the rain-forest

Pathway

Lunch rain-forest style

Looking down Fitzroy Falls

Fitzroy Falls from the Western Rim Walk

View of the Valley

View over Kangaroo Valley

Video of a beautiful tree

New Kitty and Quilt Project

2009-07-20T23:37:00.006+10:00

It has been a couple of months. Last Thursday I took Julius to the vet. He was overdue for his yearly checkup and was also sick. Interestingly enough, we were at the vet the same week last year with the same issue. The vet thinks he may have allergies.

When we were leaving I noticed the kitty behind the desk, who was up for adoption. I could not leave him there. He is 5 months and had lived 4 months at the vets office. The pound took him to the vet when he was 4 weeks old. He was a very sick stray kitty. They had to shave to poor little guy bald to get rid of the ringworm and then his bits did not drop and they had to go in and get them.

So now we have a new kitty. We named him Charlie and he is settling in nicely.

"Charlie"

I have been taking classes at the local quilt shop. I was asked by a co-worker if I would like to go with her. So I signed up for the 8 week (1 night a week) Beginners Patchwork Class. It was good fun and I really enjoyed it. This past weekend I took a 1 day workshop on foundation piecing. I really like the foundation piecing, you can get really sharp points.

Me and my finished quilt top

I have to quilt it now. I am really good at piecing the tops, but not at actually finishing them into a quilt. I am up to 6 finished tops and 1 top in progress. Well now that I have written down, I must really try and finish one of these. Soon.

The blocks from my foundation piecing workshop. The blocks are currently 4 1/4 inches square and will be 3 3/4 inches square when finished.

A Cute Bag

2009-04-10T23:41:00.003+10:00

I saw this bag hanging in the quilt shop (Addicted to Fabric) and loved it. So I got the pattern and the kit the shop had put together and made myself a bag. I think it turned out really cute.

The pattern is from Melly and Me. They are an Australian company (2 ladies in Victoria) and they have best patterns. I like most of them. I already have 2 more bags of theirs I would like to make on my list.

I love the name of the shop.... Addicted to Fabric...that sounds like someone I know....maybe that should be "Addicted to Fibre" as I love all of it..Yarns, Threads, Fabrics, Roving, etc....

It has been a few months

2009-03-28T01:27:00.007+11:00

The Cat "Julius"

In realize that it has been a few months since my last post. So lets see....what has happened during that time. We had Christmas and New Years. We had Australia Day at the end of January.

The big news is I quit smoking on the 12th of December. I have a counter at the bottom of the blog.... so I can keep track!

We are all fine here. We have been working and coming home and working some more. I have been trying to figure out a way to fund my life without actually working. I think I need to buy a Lottery ticket.

I have been crafting a bit. As always I have a rather large collection of unfinished projects and an ever growing list of "Want to do Someday" projects. So I have started a "Crochet Along" on Ravelry & Crafster. There are several blocks each month and at the end of the year you can make a blanket. Well I have finished 2 of the 3 squares for January and printed the patterns for February..... and that's as far as I have gotten. Hmmmmm I suppose that I should work on that. So here is a picture of the 2 squares:

I have knitted and completed a couple of children's hats and I have tried out Faux Chenille. I made a pillow cover....and it turned out pretty good!

I am currently working on a "Window Quilt". This is actually a quilt that is designed to keep the cold out. We do not have ducted heat in our house and we have single glass windows....so we need something to help with the cold. Of course I could not just pick out a nice print fabric ....noooooo. .... I have to decide to do a little patchwork and embroidery as well as sewing and quilting. I will post pictures when I finish. The pieces are currently living on the dining table...with the sewing machine.

Here is the pillow cover I made:

Well I suppose I will close for now....it's almost 2 am and I need to get some sleep.....

Sunday Market Shopping

2008-11-23T23:01:00.003+11:00

Today was unseasonably cold. We are 1 week away from the official start of Summer and we had snow on the Brindabella's last night. It was cold and rainy today. While we were out going to the markets we could see the snow on the mountains. Well, I suppose it made it feel like Christmas to us.

The Kingston Markets are only open on Sunday's and we go every so often. The markets mostly have people selling things that they have made, such as, pottery, hand spun yarns, jewelry, clothes, paintings, and a couple of fresh veggie and fruit vendors, a lady who makes lovely bagels, people selling plants, and almost anything else you might think of.

Today there were fresh cherries. They are just lovely and I had to share. So here they are:

Tea Tree is Blooming

2008-11-15T20:47:00.006+11:00

Leptospermum 'Rhiannon' - Tea Tree

My Tea Tree plant is in bloom. It is beautiful. I am going to try and propagate new plants by cuttings and seeds. This variety is a hybrid and using the seed may produce a slightly different plant. I suppose it would be like Surprise Gardening.

We have also gotten the veggie patch growing. The spring onions and tomatos are doing really well. The fruit tree's are covered in fruit. We have started a Pineapple plant. I put in a Curry Plant. The Curry Plant smells SO GOOD! Just a wonderful smell.

The roses are blooming and strawberries are coming in. Yummy.

Things I Have Learned & Questions About Aging

2008-10-15T23:53:00.003+11:00

(Apple Tree Blossoms)

As I rapidly move towards becoming a “Grumpy Old Woman” (A distinction that I am looking forward to) I have discovered a couple of things and as one of those is the inability to go to sleep at a normal hour I will have a rant and see if I get tired.

Why is it when you age women suddenly start growing unnatural amounts of facial hair? I have these lovely whiskers on my chin. Why is the happening to me? They are scratchy and I can feel them, but the problem is my eye sight is going as well and I can’t see them to pluck them out. So then starts the blind plucking episode. If anyone was watching they would think I have bypassed middle age and gone straight into the dementia phase. Then, as if things could not get worse, I catch a glimpse of my chin in the right sunlight and realise that there are 1 inch hairs. These ones are soft so I cannot feel them. Why has no one in my family pointed this out?

And as it is not bad enough that we have had to go through being pregnant, having a monthly curse, we then have the grand pleasure of going through menopause and not just menopause; we have to have pre-menopause; a several year build up to it. I really don’t think we really need to visit abnormal hormone levels again. Did we not do this when we were teenagers?

I have learned that grey hair is rude. It stands straight up, as if to shout: “LOOK AT ME”. My grey is rapidly coming in, but I am not going to colour it. I am personally hoping for a white streak down one side.

I am completely convinced that the earth is made of metal and there are high power magnets in my chin, boobs, and bum. It appears that every day they are inching closer to the ground. I fear by Christmas I will be getting road rash on my bum cheeks.

I had a hot flash a couple of months ago. I thought I was going to die. I was in the shops and got extremely hot and faint. Well I REALLY hope that was the one and only hot flash I have. I am trying to convince myself that my whole “change of life” occurred in during that episode. I may be getting older, but I can still dream.

I also find myself looking at the Young People and thinking why would she wear only a long shirt and 5 inch heals? Why are her shorts so short that I can see bum? Is it necessary to dress this way? Why is there a need to show your stomach? I really don’t like seeing the fat rolls hanging over your waist band. I feel so old when I have these thoughts. People should be able to express themselves. I just get the urge to run up say “Darling you should really try wearing clothes that cover your body. You will look like a lovely young woman that a nice young man would WANT to take home to his mother.” Does this mean I am old?

I have also developed an unusual desire to hang out in the gardening section and kitchen appliance sections of stores. I find these areas to most interesting and can spend enormous amounts of time looking. I don’t buy a lot. Just look and think well if I buy the $2 starter I can root some new ones from it. How many of any one plant do I really need? Could I not just spend $4 dollars and get 2 and be done with it?

Right, I feel tired now. I will try to go have a sleep. I will probably still laying there awake in an hour.

Painting

2008-10-15T20:38:00.004+11:00

We have finally started painting the house. We bought the house last February and 90% of the interior was painted pale pink with dark pink trim. Well I love pink, but not all over the house. So we have gone with a tan colour with cream trim in the lounge, foyer, and dining room. We managed to paint 4 areas over 3 days and were sooooo tired. We have taken last weekend off, but plan on starting back up this weekend. We now have to paint the upstairs.

The Paint.....Yeah! I was so excited about finally painting, that quickly went away several hours into the project.

Looking from the foyer into the lounge. Notice the dark pink rosette on the ceiling. We have also changed the blinds and have put up wood venetian blinds.

Okay. This is not the best picture of me. Keep in mind this is day 3. I am very tired. In the kitchen / family room we went with a golden colour. The paint is wet in this picture and is actually a little darker and warmer than it looks.

I will take some after pictures and post soon.

Well I better be off to bed....need my sleep this week so I can paint again on the weekend.

Cheers

Julie

Apple Tree & Rain

2008-10-04T22:15:00.004+10:00

The Apple Tree is has bloomed. It is so pretty when in bloom. I got a great photo of one of the blossoms. I hope we can keep the birds out of the fruit. In February when we moved in there were apples on the tree and we had 2 Rosella's that were frequent visitors. I would not mind them coming to have some fruit, if they would eat one. The problem is that they take a bite out of all of them.

We also had some rain. Happy rain. We have had the 14th driest winter on record, and our dams are up to 50%, it looks like we will continue on Stage 3 water restrictions. At least we are not going to Stage 4. Not yet anyway.

Because of the water restrictions, I capture rain water in buckets and watering cans. I would like to put in a rain water tank to capture the water from the roof. I think that a 2000 litre tank would probably do well for us.

The cost is somewhere around $1500 for a tank. I will have to start a rain water tank fund.

We have also starting painting the interior of the house. Out with the Pink! I am so happy about the pink going away. I like pink, but not pale pink walls with dark pink crown molding. This was in 75% of the house, complete with Pink Blinds and Curtains and the family bathroom is Pink with Peach. The bathroom is at the top of my makeover list.

I will post some painting pictures soon.

Cheers,

Julie

Bargain Find

2008-09-30T20:42:00.004+10:00

I found this great crocheted bedspread at the local charity shop for $15.00! What a find. I could not purchase the thread to make one for $15.00.

In light of the current global financial woes, I thought I would share some of my techniques for saving a few dollars. As I have always been a bargain shopper and do not object to buying things second hand, being frugal is my normal routine. My problem in the past has been spending lots of small amounts that add up. I have resolved that problem, by deciding that I like having a bank balance; a positive bank balance. I like having extra money in the bank and being able to pay my bills the day they come in. It is nice.

So how have we gotten here? The first step is to STOP using credit cards. John and I stopped using credit cards about 10 years ago. If we cannot pay cash for it we don't buy it. We will save up for it. I have no problem with having a credit card. They come in handy in an emergency, but once used they should be top priority to pay off.

The second thing we do is to shop second hand first. We wanted to upgrade our lounge suite, so we shopped for about 3 months, looking at all the new things, the used items, over and over again. We decided that we wanted a leather suite and the style we wanted. Then it was a watch and wait game. We found what we wanted at a second have furniture store. We got a 3 seat lounge, 2 recliners, and a comfy chair, all burgundy leather, for $900.00. We would have had to pay $2400.00 new for just the lounge and 2 recliners.

When we needed a new fridge in February, we looked at new and scratch and dent and finally ended up buying a large Whirlpool from the classifieds for $400.00. It’s a great fridge.

In fact all of my furniture is used, except for 2 small end tables I bought at a discount store, $80 for the pair.

The third thing we have done is limit the loans. We have a mortgage and 1 small car payment and a truck that is paid for. We also did not go for the maximum the bank would loan. This is the only debt we have.

The fourth thing is I am careful at the grocery store. We have Aldi's, which is a discount grocery. You have to bag your own groceries and there is mainly Aldi's brand, but that is okay, it saves a ton on our grocery bill. I also shop for meat sales, so whatever meat is the bargain that week is what we have. Shopping the local farmers market is another way we save money. The less packaging it has the cheaper it will be. We also avoid convenience foods; they can use your weekly food budget up quickly. We cook at home and limit eating out.

The fifth thing is shopping for bargains and sales. I always look at the thrift shops and sales racks first. Don't get me wrong I have no problem paying for quality items, such as, shoes. I just try to find a bargain and keep looking until I find it. I recently purchased a pair of Timberland sandals for the summer for $20.00; they were marked down from $160.00. I certainly do not advocate purchasing undies and such second hand, but for summer shorts, jeans, etc....second hand and last season stock can save you heaps of money.

The other thing I do is watch my bank account. Actually I might be developing a slight compulsive behaviour with this one. Anyway I monitor it, track of it, and try to anticipate upcoming expenses, especially, yearly expenses. For example my car registration is due in October. I was going to go to visit my Aunt in Victoria, but have put this off until I get my car inspected to ensure that I don't have any extra expense to pay out. Also I have to pay taxes this year, Damn Income Tax, so I will have put my WHOLE family on extra frugal alert. This brings me to my next point.

The sixth thing is communication. We do not pretend that Mom and Dad are endless money pits. We try to teach the kids about money and I have no problem letting them know, here is what is happening and we have to cut back a little more. I certainly do not give them details about the family finances, but I do not pretend we have more than we do. The other part of this is we have 1 bank account and both our salaries go into this account. We do not make large purchasing without discussing it with each other. You have to be honest with your spouse about what is going on with the money. We rarely argue over money. In fact I don't think we have argued about money in several years.

The last thing I will talk about is a Plan. We have a plan, a goal. We want to move back to the country and do a partial retirement. I do not want to work until I am 70. To make this happen we have a plan. This plan was enacted before we moved to Australia and is well on its way. We purchased our house in February. Our purchase was not an emotional one. It was an investment one. We purchased in an area that we feel will grow over the next 10 to 15 years. We purchased a house that is in good condition, with only minor upgrading to be done. So over the next few years (as we save the money of course) we will start to upgrade the kitchen, 2 bathrooms, and lay some wood flooring. All in an effort to help our property value increase and it will over time. We also were fortunate enough to purchase our home below the property value. We did purchase at an action and we were the high bidder, but 24,000 below the reserve. We stuck to our price and were prepared to walk away, 3 days later the seller accepted our bid.

By keeping the plan in mind we are able to work towards it. We want our bush property and the peace that comes with living in the bush.

Alright; I suppose that is enough rambling on my part.

Cheers,

Julie

A Little Spring Gardening

2008-09-28T16:30:00.009+10:00

We have been doing a little more gardening this weekend. We have put in some flowers, started more veggie seed, and some flower seeds. The yard and gardens are starting to take shape.

The apple tree is getting ready to bloom and the plum tree is in full leaf now. We are hoping to have plenty of fruit from the trees. We also have an apricot tree that was covered with blooms, we will have tons of apricots.

This is the beginning of the veggie patch. Also please note our awesome wind driven, solar powered clothes dryer. It works a treat.

Spring has Arrived!

2008-09-26T09:41:00.000+10:00

I am so happy that spring is here. I am ready for the warm weather. Our fruit trees are blooming and we have started our vege patch! I have put in some new flowers in the garden.

The garden gnome is very happy, now that it is spring. This is one of our 2 plum trees. I hope we have lots of plums....so I can make some

plum jam. YUMMY!!!

This is our Pixie Peach tree!

2008-09-26T08:22:00.000+10:00

Getting started with the blog, so we can share our adventures in Oz with everyone.

Got to go to work.

Julie