Turned out OK!

What started out as a pretty ordinary, windy warm day has suddenly become just the most beautiful spring afternoon.  I remember thinking as a teenager how weird it was that old people  loved their gardens so much and got excited if a flower bloomed.  Well congratulations to me.. I am officially old!!! I was just out the back and thought I must get a couple of photos of all of this.  The sun streaming down over verdant green paddocks, flowers just coming into bloom and trees into blossom.  It really is good to be alive and living right here let me tell you.!!!! Thought I'd share all this with you .. I just know you can't wait!!! (typed slightly sarcastically!!)

It followed me home ... can I keep it???

The beginning of our very own herd!!!!

Nothing like coming home and finding the back paddock has 2 new inhabitants!  2 cows from 2 different farms decided to make a run for it and hide in the bottom paddock.  Took a while and a little coercion to get them to leave.  One went fairly quietly off down the road back home, the other decided it was much better to jump through the bottom fence into next doors paddock.  They were a little fascinated by the chooks who seemed to take it all in their stride however.  You know you live in the country when there's a cow on your doorstep!!  Gotta love it!!!!

Cows???!!  who cares!

There is a Sun after all

I actually managed to kill only 2 out of 3 this time!

My wonderfully jam packed herb garden

Our own little garden path

Went a little over the top with the poppy seeds I think -
there's actually roses and probably unknown things
hiding in there!!!

A Day in the Life of........

Yes I'm aware that I don't go out to work BUT my days to seem to get rather filled up anyway. I wake up with Himself and the alarm at 5.00am and when he gets out of bed I luxuriate in having the whole space to myself.  I love him but somehow his 'side' of the bed starts in the middle and then moves over to my side where I spend 3/4 of the night sleeping on the edge of the  bed where my rather sizeable derriere threatens to topple me onto the floor.  Now our bedroom is actually the size of a normal walk in wardrobe, it has room only for a very small table next to my side as his side is right next to the door which when slammed open unexpectedly can cause Himself concussion if he's laying too close to it.  Anyhoo, next to my little table is literally the sliding door of our cupboards...yes right next to, so if I did fall on the floor, and there have been some close encounters, I could possibly be wedged for hours.

Then after about an hour of me snoring like a Massey Ferguson tractor (apparently) during which time I seem to cram lots of dreaming in I see the boss off to work and start to manoeuvre my body out of bed.  I have my early morning calls with daughters, brother, friends and others after which I have brekky, get dressed and start the day.  There's the bed to make, and I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to that, then the kitchen to be tidied, the bathrooms cleaned and a general house clean.  Then down to the shed to feed the still banished cat and then grab the chook food and into the girls I go.

Now I'm very fond of my girls, they lay beautiful fresh eggs for us every day and don't cause us too much distress, and they're really fun to watch.  I often dig the chook yard over for them, so they have plenty of worms and bugs and they gets lots of greens.  We had to put a fence around their rather large yard  because the foxes were killing them at a rapid rate and  it was terrible.  We have a lovely old girl who I call 'Mother" and she is one of our original girls which means she would have to be around 11years old now.  She has arthritis in one leg and so we limp around the yard together.

I think there's still room to move!!

I do love it though.

After seeing to the girls I normally either have washing or gardening to catch up on and the weather dictates which one comes first.  If its beautiful and sunny the washing goes on and then  out into the garden to check on newly planted vegies, cut back some of the overgrown bushes and just generally tidy up.  Because I love that overcluttered, overfilled look, and as people know that's what our house is like, the garden is chockas!  I threw some poppy seeds into the rose garden last year and now its crammed and the roses are struggling up through the masses. I've planted lavenders, hollyhocks, wisteria and bouganvillea etc etc.  The wisteria hasn't moved in about 5 years and the bouganvillea turned out to be a totally different type but slowly the house is being encompassed by all these different climbers until I s'pose one day we won't even be able to find the door!!! But then again neither will anyone else and as people will tell you, whilst I love the friends I have I'm not overly fond of people these days.

Again I digress ..... we now have a little dog compliments of our eldest daughter.  We lost both of our own gorgeous dogs within the last 18 months and weren't going to get another one however, this little staffy was getting a little frustrated and hard to handle so up to Nan and Pa's for attitude readjustment and of course now a permanent home.  She's pretty cool though and just follows me around all day and sneaks up onto the couch of a night time but thats ok.


So hence between housework, gardening, chooks, dogs, cooking and all other things my life can appear to be extremely  busy with those lovely little breaks in between time when you can just sit back with a coffee and look around and think .. well who's a lucky girl then!!!!

It's Friday Night and Footy's on!

It's Friday night and the footy's on TV and himself is ensconced in his chair, chips and drink at the ready, to do battle from the lounge.  The footy season's at the pointy end now (a little cheer from me) so of course every match requires the assistance of the 'lounge chair referee' who sees all and knows all and NEVER, EVER makes a mistake!!!!

I'm not a sports fan I admit, although I have been totally absorbed in the Para Olympics.  It's a pleasure to watch elite athletes who don't take themselves too seriously and who exhibit sheer joy in competing. There's a lesson to be learned by all from these wonderful people.

Sooooo, whilst the voice from the lounge blares out "you're a wanker umpire"  or "bullshit, are you blind you dickhead" I sit here typing away thinking of things to say.

I have however, been reading a wonderful book called "Mezza Italiana" by Zoe Boccabella.  Katy gave it to me and like her it has made me wish that a nice Italian family would take pity on me and adopt me and teach me  everything Italian.  I did get on the net and learn a few new phrases which I'll have to try out on the first random Italian I come across.  The book is the story of a young girl growing up in  Australia with an Italian father and an Australian mother and her rebelliousness against the very culture that later in adult life she embraces.  She and her Australian born husband, who incidentally becomes almost more Italian than her, travel back to and live in the house in the little village of Fossa, Italy, that has belonged to her family for generations.  It got me thinking though how it can affect you when you are born in a different country or into a different culture and be raised elsewhere.

Our street i n East ham for the Queens Coronation
a month before I was born

 I was born in the East End of London and even though I was a baby when we migrated out here (Mum, Dad, my brother and me) I grew up hearing about all the places in London that my parents lived and worked in and the sort of things that they did with  both of their families.  Dad's family was very large with at least 12 or 13 surviving siblings, but I've never known what it was like to have Uncles, Aunties, Cousins etc.  Plus I think as you get older you start to question where you belong.  We shifted around so much when I was a child that I don't think I've ever put "roots" (and that's not Puberty Blues type roots either) down.  The house we're in now is the longest I've ever lived anywhere and yet there is still something missing. I have been pondering this question and it occurred to me when I was looking at the photos that even though I was only a small baby when we lived in London I wonder whether living in the old Victorian '2 up 2 down' as we did had an effect on me.  Maybe the security I felt even then is something that I got from the old house and that feeling is what I've been looking for and why old houses are so appealing.

My brother and me in London not long
before coming to Australia

Don't get me wrong I love it and where we live but there's still that sense of not belonging and I do wonder whether that will ever change.  Anyhoo that's my D&M for today, hopefully tomorrow I shall think of something light and fluffy to write. Until then   Ciao

Leave the Rubbish on the Side of the Road

A lesson to be learnt today. My dear lovely slightly older than us neighbours are extremely generous in not only sharing their time, thoughts, and their home grown produce but apparently their hard rubbish pick ups.  I do think however, that after this little incident they may not be quite so helpful or caring.

I was visiting our daughter who only lives in the town nearby when my neighbour came knocking at the door.  In her hand she had an ice cream container with what looked like compost in it.  She was quite excited because they had found some bags of it on the side of the road when they went for their morning walk, and thought maybe a truck had dropped its load  going around the corner.  So she and her husband had collected it all ready to throw around their garden with gay abandon

She was a little curious however, about the brown beads mixed in with the soil and asked me what I thought they were.  She thought maybe they were seeds of some type and they didn't want to use it on their garden in case something grew.!!! I asked her what she had done with them to which she answer, "oh we left one in your driveway in case you wanted it."  Beeuoooouuuutiful!!

I explained that they would have been dumped because people had been growing 'plants' and obviously needed to get rid of the bags quickly. To her puzzled look I told her that they were the remnants of hydroponic marijuana plants and that she now had 3 bags in her possession and apparently we had one!..

When I came home there it was in the middle of the driveway for all to see, including the coppers raiding the house on the next road!  So whilst imagining myself trying to explain to the Police that the bag was a gift from the well meaning pensioners down the road, I dragged it out of site.  when I opened it, sure enough there was the main stalk of what must have been a reasonably healthy plant for all to see.  So I'm not sure how we are going to dispose of it but at least we only have 1 to get rid of whereas Bonnie and Clyde down the road have 3!!! Let this be a lesson to all of you, if it smells like compost and its in a black bag dumped on the side of the road, DON'T PICK IT UP AND GIVE IT TO YOUR NEIGHBOURS!!!!!!

Winter in Full Flight

It's 4.21 on Thursday and the temperature is 4.0C with the wind chill factor taking it down to -1.4c. Literally freezing!!  I've had the wood fire going all day so the house is toasty warm and I know a lot of people are fed up with winter but I have to say on days like this when I'm inside and cosy I love it!  We're in for a bit of a battering apparently with thunderstorms etc and we've had lots of rain and some  hail but it is winter and this is what you get up in the hills.

I've had my lovely friend Sharon over today and we sat by the fire at the kitchen table drinking champers and having lovely freshly made cream of spinach soup, from the garden of yours truly and having a good old chat and a laugh. She's always good company (and I'm not saying that just because she might read this!).  I'm very lucky to have good friends, not many mind you.  As we said today I wouldn't have to hire a hall for a party, but the friends I've got I know I can rely on and vice-versa.

 I've had a bit of a lazy day today so I'll probably force myself to do some ironing, yes I iron.... I know boring... just so I don't get a fit of the guilts, then the only thing left to do is lock up the chooks who are probably all frozen anyway, and get back up by the fire.  Himself is stuck away at work at the moment but will be home tomorrow, so looking forward to seeing him.  I must admit though I don't mind having the telly to myself or being able to potter around in the house til all hours without disturbing anyone.

Just reading what I've put down and realised that "I've got to get a life!!!".  But I'm actually not sure what to do to be honest. I've always been reasonably contented being a domestic goddess and have pretty much gone to work in the past because I had to.  I'm not overly creative, or a gourmet cook, hopeless at sewing at knitting, I'm still working on a jumper for himself from 2001!  The beannie I'm knitting for the baby won't be ready til she's about 12 so I'm really at a loss as to what to do when I grow up.  I do sometimes wonder whether I would be doing something for me or because these days it's all the done thing.  It almost seems a bit of a crime to be at home and be reasonably contented.  I've never been a career type of person and I envy these women who climb the ladder and seem able to raise a family, sit on numerous boards, are qualified lawyers and manage to do 10 hours of exercise a week and look sensational.  Sometimes my biggest challenge is putting my knickers on the right way round!! In my defence I would like to think that I'm a good wife and mother and grandmother AND friend and I guess if that's the best I can do then that's not so bad.

Well on that note I shall finish this little bit of self-indulgence and go do something constructive! Not sure what but will figure it out as I go.

I'm Back!!

It doesn't feel like a couple of weeks since my last blog but it is and so much has happened!  Where do I start?

Our Display before the dust storm!

Firstly,  I went over to Cleve on the Eyre Peninsula for the Cleve Field Days with Bronwyn from Spice Girlz, to help set up and introduce her products over there.  Well that was an experience in itself.  Met some lovely people and really felt like I was in good old Aussie farming country I can tell you.  The accommodation left a little to be desired so let's just say it was less than adequate and quite a disappointment but the lovely people of Cleve and surrounding areas made up for it.  

Just to give you some idea of the situation,  standing in the toilet block of the caravan park, I watched my life flash before me.You know things aren't well maintained when you put your bathroom bag on the sink and watch as the sink slowly starts to break away from the wall and believe me my bathroom bag is not that heavy!.  The tiled mirrors on the wall were rather unique though.  They were spaced diagonally so that you either had to be 3'2" or 6'5" of which I'm neither so it was a real trick to stand in  an inch of water, we had no idea where that was coming from, drying my hair  and praying that Firstly I wouldn't get electrocuted and that Secndly my chiro would be able to remove the hump from my back from hunching down to see in the lowest mirror.  I think the first day I look like a drag queen when I first walked out fully made up! Lighting wasn't great either!  Poor Bronwyn had it worse though because one morning she was a little late in getting into the showers  and had to take the 2nd one.  Big Mistake ... Huge!  All the water and any other debris from the first shower ran straight into hers and over her feet so what disgusting habit the person had in the first shower she copped!! Ewwwwww!!! 

 I knew from the start that they really weren't up to scratch when I tried to get out of the toilet the first time and found the door wedged in my belly. I sucked in that hard it made my spine hurt but managed to squeeze out. It did make me feel a little less whale like when Bron, who is all of 45kg dripping wet, got stuck as well.  I thought I did rather well to escape after that. 

Then of course was the night time entertainment provided by  the dulcet tones of a few blokes who had been imbibing  in the amber liquid, one of whom thought he was "Kevin Bloody Wilson"   I don't think you could put a cigarette paper between the f..ing and c..ing in his sentences, but there he was every night fixing the Government's problems from the inside of his truck which of course amplified things.  I was sorely tempted to go over on the 2nd night and say ..

"why don't you f..ing shut your f..ing mouth you ugly little c..t of a thing and stop pulling your tiny d..k so that the rest of us can get some f...ing sleep!!'        However, thought better of it and left him to it!!

We didn't do too badly at the field days , could have been better but that's OK we tried,  packed up on the Thursday night and hightailed it back to 'The hill" early Friday morning.  8 hours later and  pretty knackered we got home. Yay!!

Himself had the fire going the house all vacuumed and the place looking beautiful so it was even better to get back too.  Caught up with some friends on the Saturday , had a couple of drinks and was very proud not to have a hangover on Sunday morning when I went to the Meadows Market with daughter and grand-daughters.  Bloody freezing too, but managed to do some gardening in the afternoon so whilst the place is a bit of a quagmire if all the flowers come up, it will be a pretty quagmire!!!!

The rest of the week was spent just doing the usual housework, washing, ironing, telling my home I love it and I'm never going away again (and himself of course) and just plain revelling in being here. 

OMG it's Tuesday already!

How slack am I.  Here is it Tuesday and I have hardly written anything.  Of course that's not to say that nothing's happened. Sunday, whilst Himself was still in a fairly malleable condition (after the previous Friday nights effort) I managed to get him to take me shopping - just because I could.  So we started off getting some pieces from Big W and I had a fit of the guilts because I bought myself a couple of shirts.  So now he is the proud owner of approximately 25 pairs of socks and yet another 'dollar' shirt, which now makes 10.. so called because that's all they used to cost, now they're up to about $7.  Then whilst he had his customary coffee thick shake and hot dog off I went to Price Line just to top up my overflowing makeup bag, ( I do love the stuff) but I was fairly controlled this time. Just a lipstick (to go with the 30 I have) and an eyebrow pencil which I realised was way too light after I almost dug a trench trying to create eyebrows where there are minimal. By the way a question to the masses - as you grow older why do hairs disappear from some parts of your body only to resurface elsewhere?? And why do eyebrows become thinner but the hairs that are left actually start growing up towards your hairline like some obscene face comb over?? Anyway again I digress........

After that it was the dash into Foodland to do the shopping which I have to say was OK because there really  wasn't that many people being Sunday.  So there I am trying to makeup my mind about the chicken - kiev, cordon bleu, shaslicks, breast, thigh, maryland, drumsticks, wings etc (who knew chickens had so many pieces!)  when this shadow looms up next to and I swing around thinking some idiot's trying to steal my bag and there's Himself already to help.  I do get amazed however when he wheels the trolley down the aisle and I suddenly look around to find him gone and me loaded up like a forklift with nowhere to drop the stuff.  So then I have to walk back the way I've come to find him looking at something on the shelves that he thinks he may like, but after all these years I know he won't just so I can dump all the goodies in the  basket and trot off for the next load. Even better is when I look around to see the grandfather of our childrens' children scooting down the aisle on the back of the trolley!   Now, nearly 3 decades ago it looked cute, unfortunately now it looks like he should have a little orange flag up on the back of the cart.

Anyway after another stressful 20 minutes of trying to decide which cheese to get,  out of the 300 available, all is complete and we can go home.  Ah bliss!!  On the way we pop into some friends house and have a cuppa followed by a couple of heart starters (scotch for me beer for him) just to ward off the winter chills whilst looking out over one of the most magnificent views I've seen. Truly stunning and makes me very grateful that we all live where we do. Then off to quickly catch up with the daughter and son-in-law and babies to see the weekend gardening effort, excellent!!!! .. followed by a frantic 3/4 of hour in which we unpack the shopping, get the fire going, organise tea, lock the chooks up feed the dog and cat, make his lunch for next day, get clothes organised and collapse into the chairs and relax. Thank God for Scotch and Bourbon I say!!!!

Now this might be a long ramble because I'm going to fit it all in!  Monday morning comes around after our usual Sunday night restless sleep.  Both of us turning over and over like chooks on a rotisserie.  Happens every week not sure why.  He's off to work at some ungodly hour of the morning, freezing cold but I spring out of bed with my 'To do' list firmly entrenched in my brain:

1. Drop dog off at daughters place (she's been away )
2. Go to Accountants - who shatters me by saying we probably won't get much back ..povo again!
3. Go to my brothers for coffee
4. Take the beautiful coffee machine we got for Christmas to get repaired only to find that the kids got gipped and bought a lemon which no-one can repair.  Made in China ! Who knew!!!
5. Pick daughter up from airport - she arrives early luckily so do I
6. Pick other dog up from her in-laws
7. Go to her local shop to stock up on some food staples
8. Drop her at her place, have some lunch and then go home
9. Organise all the washing, clean the bathrooms, cook tea
10. 8.30 bed!  Why because we can!!

Tuesday up at sparrows fart only 3 deg!!!!  Banana muffins and a cake in the oven by 8'oclock, then stand and defrost under a boiling shower, down to the local hairdressers where I get coffee and a biscuit and a natter with the lovely Alyce and come out looking fairly spectacular compared to how I walked in.  I don't do skanky hair, sounds pompous I know but it's just not me.  Call in at the daughters place for a cuddle with the littlest granddaughter whilst the bigger one is at school then hightail it home which takes me all of 6 minutes to get the fire going and warm the place up as I have a dear friend coming for a cuppa.  

Later in the afternoon I have a conversation with another friend and we ponder the question - why are some people just downright mean, nasty, spiteful bitches and do they ever get their 'come uppance'.  I can understand people not getting on that's a given because we're all different but to go out of your way just to deliberately hurt someone...I guess that's life which is a bit sad really.


Tea organised and house reasonably cosy when Himself comes home. In for a fairly ordinary night, until the Brains Trust , that would be me, decides that we might  play the Wii game I got for my birthday.  Now let me explain something.  I'm a pretty ordinary person, I don't particularly like having to hurt anything UNLESS I think my family's under threat. Which is how there came to be a couple of snakes forcibly removed from around the house over the last couple of summers because They were a threat to our granddaughter.  But I didn't think I came across as some tobacco chewing, one single tooth redneck that likes to shoot things.

 However my birthday present, I secretly think chosen by my son-in-law, with ulterior motives in mind, was Deer Hunt.  Well, as loathe as I was to try it and it is just a cartoon thing, we set it up last night amidst much swearing because the instructions were in foreign languages with very few picture instructions which makes it a little difficult to put together.  However we did and eventually had a go.  I had to keep telling myself it was just a cartoon but at times a little too realistic and when I accidently shot Bambis' mother I allowed myself to be disembowelled by the bear as compensation.  But you know it was quite good fun and certainly good for the old hand /eye co-ordination.

So there you go, this week I've managed to shop, drop, pick-up, have a cup, do the tax, clean to the max, dye my hair, have a care, do some baking and lots of bed making, love those near and shoot some deer!!!!

And now it's Wednesday!!!!

Yay - It's Saturday!

Amazing scenes up here at the hill!  Blue sky, sunshine, although for how long I don't know but I've sent Himself down to clean out the chook yard and I've got the washing on hoping to actually get it dry in the same day.  Oh what simple things give me joy!!!.Bit tragic actually.

The chooks have been living in less than perfect conditions lately with all the rain etc (not by chook standards mind you) so today fresh sawdust for the nests and floors and straw in the yard... after this they should be firing eggs out like Exocet missiles!!!!

Of course Himself is putting on a brave face inhaling the fumes down there with what I should imagine would be a slight hangover after spending the evening with the son-in-law at the local.  Thankfully they live opposite the pub so he was able to go over afterwards have a coffee etc and was fine to get home. However, I did question why the car seemed to be parked a little more towards my tool shed than normal.  His answer "so that you can get past love!".  Now we're not talking about driving past we're talking about walking past.  As anyone will tell you I can be quite self deprecating about my physical appearance .. I am not what you would call sylph like and have never had a great relationship with excess dieting or exercise and I admit that I could have 'TITANIC" emblazoned across my backside, however I don't think I have reached the stage where I need a whole bloody driveway to myself!!! But it was apparently said with love so all is forgiven.  I will however, leave him shovelling chook shite and inhaling those wonderful earthy fumes for just a little longer than originally planned.

Well, went down to inspect the chook house only to find 'my man' with a large bleeding cut on the top of his head.  Apparently in his slightly overtired befuddled state he forgot that 6'4" can't stand up in a 5'8" shed without hitting something. I'm surprised I didn't find him flat out on the floor but with courage beyond description he valiantly carried on with nary a moan, chopping wood, cutting down tree branches that were overhanging my clothes line, which unfortunately these days has sunk down to only about 4 feet above the ground, looks like a Barbie clothes line - but I digress.. and generally doing lots of little jobs that have been in my Nagging Repertoire for about the last 2 months.

I did weaken and bring a barrow full of wood up to the house for him and tidy his 'workshop' part of his shed up but all in all a lot more was achieved today than I thought would  be.

So here I sit blogging whilst he is watching another game of footy but that's OK. I figure with the things that were achieved today and the exciting promise of Himself accompanying me to the supermarket tomorrow it's only fair and equitable that he be able to watch the game.

So all in all we are at peace with the world in our little house on the Hill. We have a lovely warm wood fire, full tummies and the promise of more riveting adventures from Haven Hill to come.

Another day Another downpour

Taken Yesterday but really no
different this morning

Well, here I am again feeling just a little hooked by this modern technology!  Waking to yet another downpour of rain up here in the hills, it seems quite natural to get the wood fire going, have some brekkie and then sit at a computer talking to no-one!!  Certainly nothing wrong with me!.  However, at some stage this morning I shall have to don the red wellies and  the parka, go down and let the chooks out to forage around in their rain soaked yard, feed the poor old cat whose been banished to the shed as punishment for coming to the conclusion that she was just far too superior to use a litter tray or God forbid go outside and get her delicate paws damp in the dirt, and grab some dry wood to keep the home fires burning.  You gotta love the country in winter.


Just to add to this somewhat inane description of my life I shall also attempt to make a banana cake today.  As my family will verify cake cooking has never been my 'forte'.  My children had no idea what a sponge cake tasted like and thought that the ones they had at their friends places were raw because they weren't dry and crumbly like Mummy's.  I have improved somewhat with age although watching the Nut roll explode out of the tin the other day was a little disheartening.  It was like watching Vesuvius in my own little oven, quite dramatic.  I did discover though that either my tin was far too small or the amount of ingredients suggested by the Country Cookbook was actually for 2 loaves.  Never mind I shall persevere because 'failure is not trying' .  I have been lucky enough to have my kitchen renovated recently by our son-in-law Shane and one of my most prized possessions is my new stove.  I have always loved the AGA but as we didn't win X-lotto I got the next best thing for me,  which is a Belling Richmond.............love it love it!!! A bit of self-indulgence now with a photo attached.  Believe me it is wonderful ... I don't even have to cook on it I'd be quite happy to sit and look at it and buy take-away.

To this!!!

From this

Anyway, that's enough of a morning report, I tend to 'rabbit on' because I write like I talk so I'll go do the 'chores' now and see if there's anything to say later.

And in the beginning........

So good to wake up to!

Not a bushfire - Just a sunrise!

Well, this is my first attempt at a blog with  the encouragement of my daughter Katy.  She is a "blogger" from way back (inspiredkate.blogspot.com.au) and thought this would keep me occupied and possibly be a challenge.  It's been a challenge just trying to get this far but here I am sooo I guess I will just fill you in on my life!

I'm married with 2 daughters, and 2 grand-daughters, I live in the Adelaide Hills and have done for just over 10 years, I'm 'retired' but help out at 'Spice Girlz' on a regular basis which is a condiment producing business on the Fleurieu Peninsula run  by a cousin (in-law) Bronwyn and just generally do the mum, grandma thing when needed.

After moving around a lot and having lived in the suburbs for pretty much all of our lives, we decided that we needed to fulfill a dream and move to the country.  It never seemed to be the right time with the girls at school and work etc, but it all got the better of us one day when we were sitting in our  backyard at Somerton ( a beach side suburb) and could hear the neighbours conversation just the other side of the fence.

So we wrote a list of what we needed which included  an old house with 4 bedrooms,2 bathrooms, 5 acres and sheds and all with a budget of $150,000.00!  Well we got 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, sheds and just over an acre in a reasonably new house and we came in under budget!!  I've told people since that whilst we didn't 'get it all' , the biggest disappointment being that the house wasn't old, we have got so close to our dream that we are breathing down the neck of it, which I think is pretty damn good.

Since we shifted in we've created vegie gardens, herb gardens, chook houses, flower beds, paved, planted,built, renovated and we're only part of the way there. All in all it's pretty damn comfortable and cosy and even though the girls hated it on site 10 years ago and went back to the burbs to live AND said they would never move to the country, one lives 5 kms away and the other 15kms away near Mclaren Vale.  Now they would never go back and don't even venture down to "town" unless absolutely necessary.  My how things change!!!