Wet weekend.

It’s Father’s Day here on Sunday. I know you’ve had yours already in the UK, but for some strange reason, the dates are different here in Australia. Last year we went away for the weekend, but now we have the hound, we thought we would restrain ourselves. Not to be outshined and always on the look out for something fun, I surprised Paul with the hire of a hot tub for a week (or a ‘spa’ as they are known here). It arrived on the back of a trailer this morning and is now ‘installed’ in the garden, full with water and slowly warming to the temperature of a tepid bath. It will eventually reach the giddy heights of 40 degrees (if we let it and the electricity wheel doesn’t spin out of the meter like a Frisbee!), but it takes HOURS to heat up. It was delivered at 11am this morning; took about an hour to fill. It’s now 10.20pm and it’s just about approaching the temperature where I would dip a toe in. Sam and Darcie of course have already been in and tested it, although we insisted they hop out once their lips started taking on a blue tinge. The good news is the weather is breaking this weekend. It was thunderbolts and lightening, very, very frightening on Wednesday night and I was lying in bed asking myself what the hell was I thinking hiring a spa when the wind was blowing a gale and hammering rain into the patio window horizontally! Still, Sunday is supposed to reach 25 and be a very nice, clear day, so I don’t feel quite so stupid. Even Pentley’s breath was steaming when I chucked him back into the garden yesterday for his breakfast.

The kids were SO excited when they saw it. I told Darcie that I’d ordered it for Paul, but she instantly forgot (quite lucky Darcie having the memory of a goldfish sometimes!), but Sam didn’t know anything about it and was more surprised and excited than Paul (I know – no surprise there! Paul doesn’t ‘do’ excitement anymore – in the same way that I no longer ‘do’ star jumps for similar reasons; both are age related :o) Sam is already asking if he can have his mates round for a ‘go’. I would let him, but boys and water don’t seem to mix well in my opinion and I’m not keeping the same water for a week that’s been shared with a tribe of pre-pubescent boys. I know – I could empty and refill the spa, but at this rate, it will only just be warm enough for me to get into my Wednesday night and it’s leaving the premises on Thursday morning. Also, I can’t afford the 8 hours electricity it takes to thaw out the water!

So, Paul – Happy Father’s Day. I know we don’t say it very often, but we do appreciate you (when you’re not here ;o) ha ha ha) Adam made Paul his first ever Father’s Day card with his own hands at daycare and Darcie and Sam are both working hard on their creations. He’s very lucky!

Pentley has a new training method. It’s a sock-thingy that fits over his hooter and stops him picking up the kids toys and chewing them. He’s not too bad on other things and he doesn’t nibble the kids, but he keeps grabbing their toys. Within 30 seconds of him being let into the house, he’s got something belonging to the kids in his jaws and it’s a mini version of the Benny Hill show chasing the dog around the house trying to retrieve things. So we took him to the pet shop and he’s had this sock thing specially fitted. He can still pant and drink and can still lick his nose, although his tongue is retracted in slow motion – very funny to watch.

Paul has named it the ‘Snouzer Trouzer’. His personality changes completely with it on. He goes from Norman Wisdom (all naïve, bumbling, full of fun) in to Jack Dee (very unhappy, eyes rolling with despair and the look of a small child that’s just been smacked). It’s fantastic!!! We can’t let him wear it out as people would think that he was vicious and muzzled – it does make him look a little like Hannibal Lector, I must admit. We had to do something, as last week; his toll reached a peak at two cushions, Darcie’s elephant, Adam’s kangaroo (sounds like a menu), three coasters and an iPod shuffle. Pentley sneaked into Sam’s room and snaffled the shuffle. Within seconds it was transformed into an ‘iCan’t’ and now won’t work. However, I don’t believe Pentley was solely responsible for this. Sam has long made his wish be known for an iPod Nano and I think he sabotaged the shuffle by coating it in the doggie equivalent of catnip in the hope that Pentley would maul it and he’d get an upgrade. I tell you, between them, they are cunning.

Yes..... they are under the bed.

We’ve taken Pentley on the beach loads over the last couple of weeks. He’s really good fun to walk there. It’s one of the only places you are able to take him off the lead. We have to have a dog licence here and he gets a tag that needs to be displayed on his collar. With the tag, the council also send a list of dog beaches (they are very specific about where the dogs can be walked off the lead) and other places dogs can be exercised. He chases tennis balls like Lynford Christie and impressively skids in the sand when he catches them. He’s still a little nervous of the water, but will slowly place his paws in the receding water now to retrieve his beloved ball. He always comes back when called and although enjoys saying hello to the other dogs on the beach, he is scared by them and stays close to us with his heckles up.

He protected Darcie and me today. There were two dogs being walked that were ‘that breed’. I don’t know what it is, but they look evil and nasty. Like a bigger staffy. Anyway, the owner was quite a way behind the dog and it came over to sniff us out. I didn’t like the look of it and pulled Darcie close. Whether Pentley picked up on this, I don’t know, but within seconds he was in front of us; between us and this other dog. Pentley’s belly was against our knees as if to say to this other dog ‘don’t you even think about it, or I’ll have you!’ It was amazing to see. He was standing like a barrier between us and the other animal; really protective. He knows what side his breads buttered. We *gulp* love him, feed him, walk him and keep him in iPod’s and coasters. What more could a dog ask for?

The kids have got their school photos on Monday. I’m off to the uniform shop tomorrow to see if I can get them a new polo shirt that won’t be covered in ketchup, dog slobber, texta, or general school-related grime, so they look presentable for the photo. No doubt Darcie will be up at 6 for hair and make up and Sam will be fighting for a place in front of the mirror.

Whilst I’m writing this, I’m also shopping at M&S. They’ve got a huge sale on and I’ve just bought loads of t-shirts for a pound! It’ll cost Mum about £30 to post them over to me, but we’ll not mention that and I don’t have to pay ‘that kind’ of postage :o) (love ya Mum!). I do miss M&S and a few others. I would dearly love an afternoon over the Howard Centre, or a few hours in Primark; but I’m getting to grips with things over here. Let’s face it; I was hardly rivalling Posh in the shopping stakes anyhow, so it’s not too bad. Australians as a rule don’t wear shoes unless they positively, absolutely have to. Great, says I – saves me a fortune in Hush Puppies, until you see Aussie men with their calloused feet naked in the supermarkets (their feet – not their bodies, that is! Ooh er! Adds a whole new meaning to popping to the shop for a pound of plums!).

We’re in the process of enrolling Adam for kindy at the moment. He is a rising 4 and as such in the UK would be in full time school next week, but in Oz, he’s only entitled to two full days schooling per week ARGH!!! We’ve looked at all available options and might be sending him to the local Baptist College. He had an ‘interview’ this week to meet the Principal. It went well and Adam was offered the position of relief teacher at the end – ha ha ha! It will mean a little hardship for the next year as ideally we would like Sam and Darcie to go there too, but there aren’t any places available in their year groups. It’s a new primary school and they are only having one class per year next year which will then increase to two in the 2009 school year. Hopefully S&D will then have a place offered to them (if not before). It’s a small, independent school about a 10 minute drive from Secret Harbour Anyhow, we shall see what happens. It had a nice feel to it and the Principal was very nice. We’re not unhappy with Secret Harbour Primary; we would just like a little more discipline – especially for Sam. The irony was it was Sam we wanted the place for and he’s likely to be the last one to get into the school!

Work is going well. We don’t know where the weeks are disappearing to at the moment and before we can blink, it seems to be a Friday again and we haven’t got anything done that we wanted to. My ironing pile has been left untouched for nearly a month. Sam keeps asking me if he will ever see any of his clothes again! On Wednesday, a small, Himalayan looking man knocked at my door and asked if he could climb my ironing pile. If it gets any bigger it will be visible on Google Earth – I really will have to get onto it. Erm….. spa / ironing? Spa / ironing? Maybe next week then! I just hope the pile doesn’t fall over. It could give a small child a serious injury; such is the weight of unironed slacks!

Actually, speaking of injuries, Adam came another cropper last week. He was hanging onto Pentley’s collar and being dragged round the house (like you do!), when he let go at an in-opportune moment and cracked his head on the metal strip between the tiles in the laundry. Much crying ensued and a large split in his head! It bled quite a lot and he also bit his lip which swelled up too. I’m changing all the kids’ middle names to ‘clumsy’ I think. It suits them. I dared not show Paul. One look at the blood and the lip and it would have been another A&E trip, I think. I monitored him closely and it didn’t bother him for the rest of the day, so I made the decision to leave it. The cut seems to be healing nicely, although it’s kind of ‘eaten’ his hair in the surrounding area. Never mind, summers coming. I shall hide his bald patch under a Bob the Builder bucket hat.

The house is still coming on in leaps and bounds. They are white set plastering the downstairs this week. We’re getting quotes on the AV equipment now and soon we’ll be looking at landscaping and tillers I expect.

The ceiling in the hallway

The cabinet makers are producing the bathroom cabinets and the kitchen stuff, so it’s all happening. Our client liaison seems to have a sense of humour this time (which helps), so we’re trundling along quite nicely on the house front. Hoorah!

The cornice and plasterboarded ceiling in the theatre.

It’s Mum’s birthday on Sunday. Darcie and Sam worked really hard on her cards and Adam made her something special at playgroup ;o) Hope you have a lovely day Mum and we’ll be thinking of you whilst we’re all warm and wrinkly in the spa; a bit like you, only the difference is after we’ve been out for a while, our wrinkles disappear; yours won’t! :o) Ha ha

Darcie with the birthday 'book' she's made for Nan.

I’ve got lots to tell you, but when I sit here at my little PC in the corner like a young Barbara Cartland, I can’t think what I want to write. Please let that be a warning that this may be a rambling, waffling, off at a tangent kind of post!

The tradesman have been super busy at the house again. We’ve got more cables running through the walls and ceilings than I can count. Paul reckons there’s at least 3 miles worth and I wouldn’t be surprised. Everywhere you look there’s a cable or a pipe. I’ll upload some more photos on flickr (to the right) as they are interesting (to us) by will take up too much of the blog. We’ve paid another progress payment (gulp). I think we’ve only got two more to go. We’re still on schedule for a January completion I think. There’s not really that much left to do, but, hey – this is Australia. Let’s go to the tavern! OK – a few photos (rather than me babbling on)…

The car adds an element of scale.

Adam's room. Looks go to go, eh?

Adam in the activity room.

Sam came a cropper on his scooter last week. He was ‘scooting’ Pentley (walking's too slow, apparently!), when the furry fleabag cut straight in front of him and knocked him flying. Don’t worry – his fall was broken by the tarmac on the road.

Nasty!

He was upset as it was his school assembly item this week and he had to speak in front of everyone. The irony is, a boy in his class was disguised as Ned Kelly with a bucket over his head. Sam asked if he’d swap, but he declined. He’s spent the last month ‘growing’ into his role. It worked as well as when he removed it, his head was still bucket shaped!

Sam did a fab job and was up first, asking everyone to be quiet and welcoming them to Room 21’s assembly. They sang the famous song ‘We are Australian’ which has the lyrics ‘we are, you are, we are Australian.’ However we altered them to be: ‘We’re not, Pentley is, he is Australian (and stupid).’ Strange how the dog’s got more rights to live in Oz than we have. If the business goes wrong, perhaps we can get him to sponsor us. We’ll get the old headscarf out again that we used at the Pinnacles and try the ‘grandma with facial hair’ approach again :o)

It was ‘Safety House Day’ on Wednesday and the assembly was about the Safety House scheme. I’ve mentioned it before, but basically there are houses in Secret Harbour called – wait for it - safety houses. They all have a sign on them and children know they can knock and seek refuge if they are hurt, scared or worried. A fantastic idea! Sam fell off his bike once and got patched up in a safety house. I’d love to do it, but could you imagine….’for GOD’S sake child, I know you’ve broken your leg, but please don’t scream so loud, Paul’s on the phone to a customer’. Can’t see it working really, can you? They gave out prizes for the best colouring of gift vouchers for the canteen. Paul and I were laughing that Darcie wouldn’t win; the canteen would be bankrupt in fifteen minutes! She has an addiction to pikelets and will be entering the Australian version of the Priory shortly.

I may have some news to tell you about Sam shortly….. watch this space :o)

We took the boat out last week for the first time in ages (the weather’s been absolute pants!). We still heave a sigh of relief when we look into the marina and see the boat still afloat – honestly, it’s rained A LOT! We pootled to the estuary and stopped for a BBQ – the weather was lovely. When we moored back in the marina, we met our new ‘neighbours’. They are old boating hands and went out to sea and about 2km off the shore, they met a whale and calf!!! How exciting! I’d love to do that one day – when we have a little more confidence.

Adam at the park - the boat's behind.

Darcie has been to Amy’s for another sleepover, which she thoroughly enjoyed (not as much as us though!) At the moment her front top tooth is threatening to fall out at any moment. I’m not surprised as it was wobbly before we went on holiday, but I threatened her with corporal punishment should she pull it out and look geeky in the holiday snaps. Well, guess what, it’s school photos in a few weeks and we’ve got NO CHANCE of hanging onto this little beauty. I may replace it with a tic-tac, or have her ‘photoshopped’. You can pay extra for this and they’ll remove spots or blemishes. May need it with Sam as his whole face is a blemish at the moment!

STOP PRESS: It’s out! Miss P will now look geeky in her school photo, although she is trying to master the ‘smile without showing teeth’, currently.

Gappy.

We had a get together on Saturday night with some ex-pats we’ve met through the internet. Keys were placed in the fruit bowl and swaps were made! I didn’t get to exchange Paul for a V8 Holden as I had hoped though. It was part of the ‘new friends for the Delaneys’ drive. I think we may get some coverage on the evening news soon. It went well and hopefully we’ve met a few new families to socialise with.

We’ve had the estate agents round the value our house. We wanted to know if we’ve covered the investment of having air con and the patio fitted really. Plus come next year when Arfur’s finished, we need to know what we are doing with this; i.e. keeping and renting or selling. It was laughable. The EA basically asked up for the plans of the block (didn’t have them, we bought second hand), the plans for the house (haven’t got them, we bought second hand) and which builder we used…….you get the picture! It’s all done on the scientific equation of block + house rebuild costs + any extras. Great! We could have worked that one out. So the upshot is, we haven’t made any money; but we haven’t lost any either. Things change so rapidly in real estate here though, by the time we come to sell in 3 months, it could have tripled in price; fickle Australian real estate.

I nearly cancelled our party on Saturday after the horrendous day we had on Friday. It happened like this: On Thursday night, Sam and his mate noticed that the rear wheel on the Prado looked flat. Paul didn’t get home from surveys until 8pm, so I thought we’d deal with it in the morning. All was going well, the kids were ready for school and I mentioned to Paul about the flat tyre. No worries, we’ll take them in the Ford. Got loaded up; flat battery; Paul had left the parking lights on! Bugger. The kids had to walk to school and ended up being late!

We spent the next hour frantically cleaning the house in preparation for the Estate Agent. Paul phoned all the tyre garages to see if they had a call out service as the car was on our sloping drive and we only get little jacks with them. No-one would come out to do it, so we joined the RAC and got a call out. The Estate Agent then turned up at 10am, so we didn’t have tome to jump start the car. She took AGES and was waffling on about this and that. The RAC man turned up in this time too, so Paul was outside dealing with him and the EA wouldn’t discuss price until Paul came in! The RAC man then said ‘where is the key to unlock the wheel cover on the back door of the car?’ We had no idea and it transpires that we should have got a key for this when we bought the car – ggrrrr! So it turns out that they’ll have to tow the car to the garage just to get the blooming tyre changed! So the RAC man buggered off and the estate agent woman eventually told us how much she would market the house for – ggrrrr!

Shortly after this, the lawnmower man turned up. He was a new one and took ages with his wife doing a lovely job, when ‘ping’ three stones flicked up and put huge chips in two panes of glass in the back windows! Ggrrrr! Paul went out to deal with this, when the door bell went; it was the tow truck for the car. They loaded it on and asked where it was to be towed to. I told them the name of the garage that I’d heard Paul mention and they just buggered off with the car. Paul come in from sorting out the window and went APE! How the bloody hell was he supposed to get to the garage when the Ford had a flat battery (and the jump leads were in the Prado) and PLUS, I’d told them the wrong garage – DOH! The lawnmower man ended up jump starting Paul’s car and – get this – he waived his $35 fee for cutting the grass and told us to ‘put it towards the cost of getting the window repaired’ – like $300!!!! How does that work? Do you not have insurance then???? Ggrrr! In between all this madness, imagine the phone ringing 20 times, Paul’s mobile binging constantly with messages and you will have a small indication of how crap our Friday was!

We did manage to get Adam’s hair cut after this, so he no longer looks like a surfer dude and can store breakfast in his hair until lunch!

Sam had his final footie match on Saturday. It was a ‘Derby’ (pronounced DER-by) between two Secret Harbour teams. The weather was lovely and they had a great match. Afterwards, there was a presentation and all the players received a medal for their commitment and team effort during the season. The season seems to have gone really quickly and Sam’s thoroughly enjoyed it and is definitely hoping to sign up again next year. It does mean that the summer’s on its way now, which is good to know :o)

Sam’s thinking about signing up for surf lifesaving now for the summer which is a more sociable thing for the parents too, so I’m all in favour of that!

We took Pentley for a walk on the beach today. He’s really good on the beach and runs for ages after his ball. We’re OK as long as we don’t throw it in the water. He just refuses point blank to get his paws wet and the anchors go on and he grinds to an abrupt halt. It’s good for a few days afterwards as his poo has a high sand content and it’s very easy to tidy up (forms little sandcastles round the yard!). We went to the deli afterwards for a warming coffee and bumped into a family who moved over on Wednesday, so we chewed the fat with them whilst we were at it.

Paul’s trying a roast chicken on the BBQ today. He bought a rotisserie thingy from Bunnings Warehouse and we’re giving it a bash. Will post more soon (if we haven’t got listeria!) ha ha.

Finally, there was a programme on the TV this morning about animals that help people. They had dolphin therapy and hearing dogs for the deaf. In this vein, we have decided that Pentley is a ‘dumb dog for the intelligent’. Suits him I think.

Fed Up, Pi**ed off and a long way from home :o( and the nearest Jaffa cake for that matter!

Another post in the long line of ‘doom and gloom’ tradition. It’s winter. We keep stumbling from one illness to another (mainly brought home from playgroup by Adam in a last ditch attempt to make us stop sending him!). We seem to have to battle with everyone to get anything achieved; from telecoms companies to BBQ companies, to patio companies; i.e. everyone!! And it’s cold; very cold. Imagine sleeping in the depths of winter in a rabbit hutch in the garden = this will give you some idea of how cold it is in our house. They don’t insulate AT ALL with anything. Literally, the tiles are laid on roof trusses with NOTHING in between the sky and the ceiling other than a layer of ceramic tile or corrugated metal sheet. Bbbrrrr.

So, don’t read on if you’re expecting a cheery, chirpy update from Oz, move on…… there ain’t nothing to see here this week.

The kids should have gone back to school on Tuesday, but seeing as we were all so ill, they only managed to stumble back in on Friday. Darcie’s chest was rattling like an Elvis convention and Sam had a cough like a barking seal. Paul was particularly rough (he’s a man, after all). Adam does appear to be warming ever so slightly to playgroup. All the staff know his name and he’s met with a welcoming ‘Hello Adam’ every time he goes (probably masking a ‘oh sh*t, here comes the miserable one with the snotty nose who does nothing but whinge every day.’ He makes me laugh with little things he comes out with like, ‘I didn’t get a sticker today’. Me: ‘why not darling?’. ‘Cos I wouldn’t help pack away!’ he said very stubbornly. He got the hump the other week when his favourite helper was too busy cuddling a baby to give Adam a hug. He was quite indignant and blanked her the next time he went. First rule of Adam: everyone needs to be at his beck and call, any hour of the day or night. Geddit?

Sam had his sleepover last weekend at the surf club. He had a fantastic time and really enjoyed it. I thought it was funny though as their trainer is in the Navy (as a PE instructor, so you can imagine how loud and gruff he is?). As you would expect, the kids were still up chatting at 1am; but he got them all up the next morning at 5am and took them for a run on the beach and got them doing circuits at that unearthly hour! Paul picked Sam up at 9am and by 1pm he was asleep in his bedroom (where he stayed for 4 hours!). Lovely! I’m petitioning for them to run the sleepover every week.

Arthur’s got his hat on now; the tiles have all been fitted to the ground floor and the wirings all being run in preparation for the plastering. It’s a very slow process what with the weather being pants. We could hire pedallos on the small lake that’s in our en suite!

House with the roof on :o)

A view of the stairs from the lounge; looking towards the front door.

The wiring for the theatre room - that's just one wall!

Pentley now has a new kennel and resides in the garden. He’s driven us mad. He ate all the retic pipes in the back garden – dug them up and munched them to oblivion! He’s starting a one dog crusade to tunnel to the promised land via our lawn. Even Adam and Darcie are coming to refer to him as the ‘Furry F8ckwit’ Well, this Friday was the funniest thing…… I took Sam and Darcie to school and when I came home, Paul’s car was missing from the drive. I knew he didn’t have a meeting and he wouldn’t willingly dress Adam and take him anywhere without a protest, so I was a little concerned. I just walked in the door when the phone rang; it was Paul in a state of panic. Adam had opened the front door and let the dog out whilst Paul was checking his email! Paul hurriedly dressed, bundled Addy in the car and was driving round Secret Harbour like a Moomin asking everyone if they’d seen our furry f*ckwit. I was just about to walk out the house and have a wander around when I happened to glance out of the kitchen window. This was the sight I was met with….

No, he's NOT a springer spaniel; he's a furry fleabag!

Best of all, when Paul walked back in the house with Adam, he was SO mad. I asked Adam what happened and he just sang to me ‘who let the dogs out? Woof, woof, woof.’ I had to try VERY hard not to laugh! The kids and I took Pentley for a walk on the beach later that afternoon. All was well until Sam went to kick Pentley’s ball for him to fetch and the stupid mutt got between the ball and Sam’s foot. Pentley’s teeth sank into Sam’s leg and the furry fleabag ran round in circles for 30 seconds, barking like a looney. I don’t know who was in more pain, Pentley or Sam. Neither of them looked happy after the incident though. Sam demanded to go home and Pentley no longer wanted to chase his ball.

I tell you, there’s never a dull moment in our house. I’ve got the vet on speed dial now, along with the local A&E departments. Ask me for the GP’s number – go on – I know it off by heart.

The kids have settled down at school, second week in. Darcie now has spellings as well as home reading. Sam has projects for homework now, rather than the boring times tables and spellings that he always forgot to do. Sam got another award today at football for most improved player and the coach gave a little speech about how much he is improving every week, considering he’s a soccer boy! I am so proud of him! He won a voucher for a meal at Hungry Jacks (Burger King). They’ve only got a few more matches, then it’s their derby and the prize giving. A lot of parents then sign the kids up for surf lifesaving in the summer, so we’ll see if Sam fancies that. I’m really proud of the way he’s stuck with it and thoroughly enjoyed the footie thing.

I took Sam clothes shopping at the weekend, so fed up was I in seeing him in supposedly long sleeved t-shirts that stopped at the elbow, or long trousers that flapped round his ankles in the wind. I can’t really shop for him anymore. He’s getting slightly more interested in clothes (in as much as he won’t wear what I pick out for him – says Noddy and Thomas aren’t his ‘style’ anymore :o( Target had a 20% off kids clothes weekend, so we trundled off with an empty trolley and wads of cash. Half an hour later (yes, half an hour – he went round twice), and we’d shopped. He got a pair of jeans, two pairs of shorts, a zip through hoodie and 9 t-shirts for the princely sum of $170 (about £70). The thing that blew me away was all his t-shirts were age 12 (the jumper with the sleeves was a 14!). He then chose himself a pair of trainers in the sports shop; picked them out, asked the assistant if they had them in a bigger size, tried them and said ‘I really like these Mum. Can I have them please?’ I didn’t really have the heart to say no (Paul says he played me like a fiddle!), so I paid for them. It wasn’t until we were talking later that I asked Sam what size they were. They are only a 9! Good grief. At least he’ll never fall over in a strong wind. Sam’s particularly looking forward to Nanny D’s visit next year when he is able to tower over her.

I don’t think I’ve posted a photo of our patio have I? These are colorbond (coloured metal) structures that bolt onto your house to stop you incinerating in the heat of summer. Ugly things really and look like the inside of a farm building to us, but you can’t have wooden fencing/buildings over here as they just fade and wharp in the sun. We’ve also got the patio heater fixed, so we can have leisurely nights in the garden as it gets a little warmer; swinging on our swingy chair like Dot and Doris.

Our outdoor enterainment area. Nice innit?

On that note; I'm off for a cup of tea and a Tim Tam. Catch you all later 8-)