Cladding

Yes this is the same house, all we have to do naw to finish the outside off is paint the trims and put some new guttering on.

Meanwhile......every afternoon has been an excercize in hazzard prevention......

Putting ladders down.....

and putting beams on the ground......

and putting more ladders down......

Then going around and picking up or turning over every piece of wood he tore off the house, as it was full of nails.

So nice to have the house back to normal again and a yard that is safer and tidyer than it has been for the last 3 months!

So now we start comparing our power usage and how much is saved by the insulation, reporst back in 12 months on that one X:oD

MMOSSSOMETHING

Ok here is a big hello to my online gameing friends......yup the Hippy plays. Sometimes I go for weeks maybe months without playing, but, I go back. There is a community that everyone thrives for.......it is referred to as an Alliance, and in that community there are things that only can be expressed in this medium. Also, there are many SAHP, that thrive off this medium for adult conversation. Before you knock your mate for playing an online game....think....what human interaction am I really missing out on?ENTER WITH SEVERE CONSEQUENSES only go to this link if you think you have copious amounts of time on your hands.......or you will find there is not much time left in the day. Oh wait is that the sun setting....best go and enjoy before a night of ......muah....war........elol

Quick note!

Remeber to love the simple things......a good long walk........a nice fire...........a good feed.........happy kiddies.......sunny days. ....and....a good life!

AND take time to enjoy the flowers...........

Camping

We took the boys camping for the first time on the weekend. We had a 2 man tent 1 king single swag and 52 blankets, it felt like that putting them in the car.
We went down to a good clear spot on the Darling River, the boys climbed trees and bush walked and did sand drawings on the bank. We took a ball, and I really must say....WHY!!!!! Next time I will put my foot down there. The same way kids chase them out onto the road, they will also chase them into a river. So no more balls at the river!
When the sun got low we made a fire and boiled the kettle, we had coffee and sausage sanga's. With the warm kettle we heated up the sleep time bottles and the boys pretty fast went to bed.
So this is when I was freed up to fish, I HATE FISHING, so tedious and dull, (I am sure I have been described as such before). All this said I got a bell and put it on a rod and went through the motions for social reasons. Within 5 minutes I had a bite, so in it came, and I really showed my ignorance "whoot, it's a yellow belly" was my cry, to be met with "it's a carp lol" . I toughened up and removed the offending fish and threw it high up the bank! Shortly after my fishing mate got one and I (over keen) yelled the same thing!! To my credit it was dark and they were young carp.
For a non-fisherman, I rid the Darling of 2 carp on the weekend, and THAT makes me happy.
The boys woke as soon as the sparrow fluffed, and we were out and at it again for the day. Breakfast was weetbix, then sausage sanga's and chops with onion and potato. All that protein and carbs will take some moving this week. Good thing I have some work to do.
I hope our simple trip will inspire you all to get out and sleep rough, burn some snags and catch some pestilent fish!
Well hippies I will try and be a bit more consistent with posts so I keep you engaged and I promise not to lose my mojo in the garden under the crepe mertyl again X;oD

Just a little update, the garden is going great and there have been zero, yes zero fatalities. *so proud*

The cladding and insulation go on the house soon, just in time for the end of winter. We chose this over doing it ourselves, because every figure I worked out was still way high and we really have no idea about putting it on the house. This should save us heating and cooling dollars, and ultimately a little carbon too.

Whilst we have left the outside to the professionals, we are getting our hands dirty with the inside. The icky red floor is now gone from our bathroom, and so is the flaky ceiling and the water stained walls. The insurance covered the ceiling and some of the walls, we used laminex sheeting to line the bath area and got a great deal on our tap ware from AngelTouchBathrooms All the taps for the bathroom, kitchen and laundry for under $300. The tiles were laid by hubby, his first ever solo tiling effort *kudos* Good job dear! Oh and the tiles were leftovers and freebies from the folks home. The munchkins in the bath are showing off their Sailor Mouth Soaps a nice set of denture shaped soaps lol.

And so as the year flies by and the seasons move on, we find it comes to our Archie's 2nd birthday on Tuesday, so these are the experimental cakes we made. Henry has requested that he have a bug cake and Archie wants a dinosaur, yes he can say DINOSAUR. Some contemplation and a lot of googling for ideas later and this is the result.

So we rolled out the white icing(available from the supermarket) then stuck the dino shape on with water. then he was dried overnight and we painted him with food colouring just like water paints. TIP. do not over work the paint it breaks down the icing.

We are all pretty impressed by our handy work here!

So the same sort of thing here and painted with food colouring. I am going to put some egg white on the plates and  put some sprinkles around.

I have just had a wonderful week with 2 of my most favourite ladies, thanks girls. And on a little mushy note, Hubby and I have been together for 6 years, soon we will have been married for 3 of those, I love you Hubby XXXOOO

Due to his intense blue eyes his face can not be shown X;oP

My Town

About 4 weeks ago, I wondered why the tennis court was overgrown and unusable, and now I know, they have resurfaced the court and are starting reno's on the clubhouse.

I can't wait to have a game, I haven't played in quite a while X:oD

This lovely mans name is Philip Knight, he has been painting for weeks on a spectacular mural/freeze.

My pictures do it no justice!

It is on the old Carriers Arms Hotel, this, as you can see is an old coach stop!

Philip laughed when I asked about taking his picture, but he soon got into the spirit, we had a good giggle together. He drinks black tea if anyone is passing by X:oD

This is as old as it gets in Bourke, this a lovely motel on the site of the old markets, just behind here, on the river bank, was the most inland port in Australia

and this is what used to be a store, now the other half of the Riverside Motel.

I love my town and the folks who live here. Community is not lost out here as it is in other parts. Next week I will put some more people and locations around town up.

Ok well I am off to chase my kids around and around and around X8o'

SANTA SACKS

Well, these Santa Sacks, I have been working on for 12 months now!! Sorry but I never use a pattern (never been one for instruction)

All the sewing is done! They are made out of a jelly roll, from Moda and the range is "12 days of Christmas"

And from here in, it is embelishments that will highlight the whole thing, bells, beads and soforth!

Glad to have some free time to sew with the girls!!! I am learning a lot, and not just sewing skills!

I really think all us girls should hang out with the older crew, they are just like us, and have some great pearls of wisdim to share......plus a few choice words that may be left unsaid. It is amazing what gets said, but find you own girls, because these are MY GIRLS!!!! oh and mums!!