Monday, March 26, 2007

In the words of the old kids programme, ‘You and me’, this week there’s ‘lots and lots for you to see’ on the blog – some of it good, some not so good )o:

Firstly, let’s start with the school beach carnival which took place last Friday on Secret Harbour beach.
Darcie, raring to go. That shine isn't from sun tan lotion, it's from the lard with smothered her in for the cross-channel swim!

It was the school’s first ever beach carnival to take advantage of the wonderful facility that’s right on the doorstep in SH. The entire school de-camped to the beach for the day with years one through to seven all enjoying the games on the beach and in the surf. The school was split into two halves – juniors and infants and each group did a circuit of about 6 activities. The school had two huge marquee thingies on the beach, along with a PA system that the Principal used to announce the activities and move things along. In between his ‘MC-ing’ they played 80’s tunes to keep the parents happy. It was fab and a great time was had by all.

See, the whole school was there!

Even though the weather was unseasonably cold that day. The wind came hammering in off the ocean and the temperature was only about 22 degrees (I know – you’re all shouting ‘Heatwave’, but when you’re used to temperatures in the mid 30’s, let me tell you, 22 feels blooming cold!). The kids were really shivering when they came out of the surf and with the wind, they were instantly turned into little sandsickles.

Darcie 'Iron Man'

The kids enjoyed the day. Sam loved the game where they had to run into the surf with a surf-lifesaving board and navigate round a volunteer in the water, before turning to paddle back and hand the board to the next team member. Darcie liked the tug of war, especially when Daddy helped her team win.

Sam enjoys the day.
Sam's in the surf somewhere with the man in the funny hat!

Last weekend we visited an animal shelter looking for a dog. We had discussed the matter time after time and agreed that now we were in our own home and felt much more settled, we could get a dog to complete the family. We’ve been keeping our eye on the papers for a few weeks, looking for puppies, but nothing took our fancy. There are lots of cross breeds here and breeds like Mastiffs and Pit Bull-type dogs are very popular. Obviously with the kids and Adam’s probable desire to use the dog’s rear end as a pencil sharpener, we wanted to get an animal with a high level of tolerance (we called it the ‘ear-pull scale’). The shelter had older dogs, but the staff were really pushy and kept on until we took one out of it’s cage for a ‘walk’. To say it was ‘hard; was an understatement. It looked like an alcoholic who smoked 40 a day and I’m sure I saw ‘love’ and ‘hate’ tattooed on his knuckles. He even tried to do a deal on an early release for good behaviour. He was a lovely looking dog, but after he jumped up at Adam twice, we just had to say no and he wasn’t for us. They did have some puppies there, but they were Collie crosses and no-one knew what they were crossed with; might have been Shetland Pony or dingo. So with all that in mind, we decided to get a puppy – at least then he could get used to the kids slowly and grow up with them and have more tolerance for ear pulling, tail flicking and pencil sharpening incidents!

We also decided to go for a pedigree so we knew what we were getting in terms of breed and temperament. It means more money for the dog, but it will be worth it if we can trust him with the kids. So, with all that info, we were left with a shortlist of three breeds: Dobermann, Dalmation and Weimaraner. I did some searching on the internet and found puppies for all three breeds, but Paul and I decided to go and see the breeder with the Weimaraners. We took Sam and Darcie to school and whizzed off with Adam to see them………. And fell in love instantly.

Given that, I would like to introduce you all to.........

Mr Pentley Bark
(those of you who know, we used to live in Pentley Park in WGC and Pentley BARK just seemed like the perfect name for him).

We can’t pick Pentley up until Thursday after the kids break up from school because…. Paul’s operation was brought forward. The hospital phoned on Monday to see if Paul would be available on Thursday, so we trundled off to Fremantle at 5am on Thursday to take Paul for his surgery!

The operation went well and the surgeons are happy that they managed to remove all of the tumour; they’ve sent it off to pathology, so fingers crossed it will all be ‘normal’. It was quite a nasty operation, so you can imagine my surprise when I got a phone call from Paul this morning (Friday), to say ‘can you come and get me? I’m allowed home.’

He looks like he’s had a run-in with the back end of a London bus and has VERY stong painkillers that he’s abusing when he can take no more, but all things considered, I think it looks better than I thought.


Oh dear )o:

He’s got to go back to have his stitches out on Tuesday (all 15 of them!) and then (what we didn’t realise), he’s got to have another general anaesthetic in about 10 days where they remove all the packing that they’ve stuffed his cheek with. At least it’s done now and hopefully following the removal of all the packing, this should be the end of things – apart from the constant checking he will have to go through to keep an eye out for any new tumours.



Get a load of that hooter!

The staff were absolutely fantastic. As it was a teaching hospital, everything was explained over and over and nothing was too much trouble. It has to be said that all the nursing staff Paul has come into contact with have been amazing and it’s been wonderful that the care has been so good. He’s sitting here tonight though, looking pathetic with a device like a tampon in a sling hung over his ears and resting under is nose. I really thought that the nurses had improvised this dressing until Paul produced a new one, in sealed packaging that was exactly the same! His tampon’s not that good though – he can’t roller skate or go paragliding, or anything!

The house has moved on again – we have plumbing pipes installed now and they have run all the electrical cabling for switches and sockets. I haven’t got any photos of that stuff as we had to limbo under all the scaffolding and dice with death to go and have a look the other week whilst we lassoed the kids in the car – otherwise they’d be out and climbing all over the scaffolding like a bunch of naughty monkeys from a safari park! The solar hot water system has been fitted now to the roof and they want us to OK the render colour so that this can be done. Next step is plastering inside and render to the outside. Amazing really to think that if they got their finger out, they could probably get it done very quickly, but they still anticipate it’ll take the best part of 12 months to complete.


Great! Hot water - no bath yet though!

The council have also been out and approved the planning for the swimming pool, so that’s another job jobbed.

Adam’s potty training is complete, apart from the very odd accident. He’s still very clingy though. Here’s a photo of him after he barricaded himself in my bedroom and cried himself to sleep when I popped out to pick Darcie up from school today.

Ar*e!

He got very jealous when we went to see Pentley. I gave Pentley a cuddle, only to have Adam tug at my arm, saying ‘put doggy down Mummy – cuddle Abam’. He seems to have warmed to the idea though and now every time we get in the car, he asks if we’re going to pick ‘Pegley’ up. We’re off to the supply shop tomorrow to get his basket, bowls and all the associated goodies. Can’t wait!




Sunday, March 18, 2007

Anyone for crabs?

This weekend was the Mandurah Crab Fest. It's an annual event; food and wine based to celebrate everything good in WA food. There are lots of fairground rides (although at $7 a pop, I'm glad my daughter was considered a midget and unable to ride (o: )

Darcie and Adam try to hook a duck.

We met up with some friends, so wandered around, let the kids spend a few bucks and then settled down ready to watch the fireworks at 9pm. As it turns out, the firworks were very good; they were let off from both sides of the river and they had fireworks that exploded in the shape of a heart and ones that looked like they'd gone horribly wrong and just fizzed and landed in the water... until 30 seconds later, they started into life and spiralled round, letting off lovely colours into the night sky. This was much better than the 'parade' which took place at 5pm. It was billed as 'filling the streets of Mandurah with all the life and colour of carnival'..... it was pants! It was full of teenagers full of attitude, dressed up as little lolitas with faces plastered in make up supposedly masquerading as 'dancers' and a local radio PA van, a few sad looking floats and a man dressed up as a crab!

I ask you; hardly Mardi Gras!

So, apart from the excitement of crabs...... well, as you know (OK, belatedly!), Paul's op has been postponed until 29th March - just as well really, as work was REALLY busy last week and I'd never had coped! The kids enjoyed wacky hair day on Friday and went off to school with red and blue hair in 'free dress'. This Friday we have the first ever Secret Harbour Primary School beach carnival to look forward to. The kids walk to the beach and spend the day there playing 'sports-day' type games in and out of the water. They'll then have a BBQ for lunch and more fun and games in the afternoon. Hopefully they'll then be knackered for the weekend (o:
I know I've got loads more to tell you, but my mind's gone blank! So I'll just post this little update with a few pictures and post another entry soon.

Take care guys - email me )o: I'm lonely (o;
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Arthur (as in 'arfa house) now has his roof tiles on.
We worked really hard in our garden this week and shifted two and a half trailer loads of gravel to make the garden look nicer. What do you think? Fancy a PIMMS?

And this is how well the grass came back after we fertilised it and treated it. We had it cut on Thursday and it looks cool.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Sorry :o/

.... to the woman in the corner going purple with her legs and everything else crossed for good luck for Paul's op..... it was postponed. Should have told you lot sooner, but it's been a really busy week - sorry!

We got a phone call on monday to tell us that an urgent case needed Paul's slot - always a possibility as Paul is being treated as part of a cancer unit, so god bless to the poorly patient who took Thursday's slot )o: So, the op has now been rescheduled to 29th March, which might be a good thing as it's the week before Easter and hopefully things will be a little quieter business wise (plus I won't have to rush from pillar to post with the kids). Business has been fab this week, which is great! Paul's birthday in particular was a very good day. Just as well I didn't plan on taking him for lunch somewhere! We all went out to dinner in the evening instead (I'm getting too long in the tooth for lunch...... I just know what happens when I try and plan things during the day).

Monday, March 05, 2007

Hooray, horray, it's a holi, holiday!

It was labour day here in WA and as such, we had an extra day off - woo hoo! Mind you, the rest of Oz wasn't on it's hols, so Paul had a few phone calls to deal with , but all in all, not a bad sort of day.

On Saturday we went to do a bit of shopping; returning faulty lights, food shopping, that sort of thing, then on Sunday, we went up to the 'big smoke' of Perth to get a better selection of stuff. We were after two little coffee tables and a sofa bed......... Six hours later, we retuned with (well, not literally - it's all being delivered - a bedroom suite for Paul and I, three bar stools for the breakfast bar (god, how 1980's!) and a microsuede sofa with a chaise - basically, one seat is longer than the others and the kids can fight over who gets to lounge with their feet up, getting sand all over the upholstery! So - a successful shopping trip in one way, but not in as much as the one shope we were headed for (Ikea) wasn't even bl**dy well open! Never mind. We were very decisive and came away with a few bargains. The sofa only cost us $475 - that's less than £200 for a brand new sofa! You'll love it when you see it, I'll post a picture when it arrives (o: the bedroom suite is huge. It's a hardwood sleigh bed (King size, so I never have to even so much as be breathed on my Paul in bed anymore!) with two bedside tables, a double chest of drawers and a mirror. This was a bit of a bargain too at less than £800! Gorgeous!

Today, however, we gave the kids the day off from shopping and took the boat out. We tried a new route today and a new boat ramp. We actually went out into the sea! and headed for Penguin Island where we went with Mum the other week. It went very well - although the boat ramp was very busy and people were up our chuffer whilst we were getting the boat on and off the trailer; but we sped round to the Island and came into close contact with lots of dolphins. After a year of taking crappy photos of the sea, I managed to get this today, and I am SO chuffed!



You don't know how long I've waited for a picture like this!

We waited ages with the dolphins; there must have been about 8 at one point, all playing and fishing, then we pulled up near the island and actually used our anchor for the first time. It was failry successful, although our technique could probably use some work! The kids and Paul hopped out for a snorkel and splash about and then we headed back for home. Lovely! As we were drifting along watching the dolphins, another boat owner shouted out 'it doesn't get much better than this, does it?' and he was quite right. Moments like that are magical.



This was on my camera from Mum's visit. We went to another Dam on a reccie trip to see about taking the boat there. It's quite a large dam that they allow boat-owners to use and it's very safe if we ever wanted to learn to water ski, or something. Although it's a good hours drive from our house and I think we'd loose the will to live in that journey time and go off the idea completely - probably pull in to a McDonalds, forget where we were going, have a shake and a burger and turn round and head for home again!



The house has got it's hat on; hip, hip, hip, hooray!

And finally for today; exciting news of the house variety. We now have a roof! OK, it's not very water-tight, but hey, we're easily pleased! That bit only cost us another $68,000, so please look impressed!

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Well we're in!

If this is gibberish and makes absolutely no sense, then please forgive me! It's 11.30pm and we moved house today! I am absolutely knackered and should be asleep in the lovely land of nod, but my gorgeous little three year old is still wide awake and watching Blues Clues )o:

The move went well really; we had two guys and a van from a local removal company and they were lovely (had to do three trips, mind - although I'm convincing myself that it was a small van - not that we've just got loads and loads of crap - OK, humour me, all right?)

It 'feels' right all ready and really homely. We've bust our ba**s painting and carpet cleaning and getting everything organised for the move and it's been worthwhile. We've been able to have a few nicities - like being able to connect our fridge to the water to get ice; like a 'bing bong' door entry system on the front door; like an alarm system. It's SO lovely to know that we can hang a picture where WE want to, not where there's an existing hook only! I think it'll really make this place feel like home, now we're able to put some roots down.

We've had another shi**y letter from the Estate Agents, informing us AGAIN that we're in arrears with our rent and we haven't paid anything since 17th of last month (OK, so what was the $500 cash we've got the receipt for then - scotch mist?), so it will give us great pleasure to shove their keys where the sun doesn't shine tomorrow!

The kids are all well and ploughing on with school. Darcie's loving the reading books (they are completely boring me to tears though - they are just SO repetative). Sam finishes his two weeks of school swimming tomorrow and all I can say is thank god I bought my Tumble dryer with me! The weather's not been too good this past week and the house is full of the smell of tumble drying chlorine - lovely! Sam's doing really well with his swimming (having said that, both he and Darcie had a day off from their lessons today - although I did have a legitimate excuse (o: ) and his teacher has told him he's passed level 5, so that's great.

I've got to try and wean Adam back into his own bedroom now after 3 months of bedding down with Paul and I! The conversation I had with him today went along these lines:

Me: 'Adam, do you like your lovely new bedroom?'
Addy: 'Yes'.

Me: 'Do you like your lovely new truck light in your room?'
Addy: 'Yes, it's brill yant'

Me: 'How do you like your duvet cover with Thomas on?'
Addy: 'It's tanstic'

Me: 'What do you think of your big-boy bed?'
Addy: 'cool'

Me: 'So where are you going to sleep tonight?'
Addy: '..........With Darcie'

I give up! I'm sure it'll work out in the end /o:

We'll the lights have dimmed, the credits have rolled on Blues Clues and my day seems to have finished. Got to be up early for the carpet cleaner at the old house; he's coming at 8am! Obscene! I'll let you know how we get on with the Estate Agent and how many firemen it takes to extract the keyring :D :D :D

Night night xxXXxx