Bugs, Bids and a Wombat

What a lovely spring day for our annual country school auction and some time spent at my childhood home. Out in the garden masses of ladybirds were brunching on the aphids, so many I filled the card in my camera in no time. They're just so cute! Oh well, no pic's from the auction.

I'm quite impressed by my degree of restraint given that I managed to come away empty handed. I cheated though, if you take no money, you can't spend it! And lucky for me cos there was this gorgeous little antique timber fridge or ice box, which in my opinion went cheap at $120. It would have looked much cuter in the studio than a boring white power sucking bar fridge. I could easily imagine sipping cool lemonade straight from the ice box, whilst working on a long overdue quilt. Oh well. Maybe next year I'll keep an eye out for one (when hubby's not with me)

My eldest had her first taste at bidding, thanks to the openness of Nannies purse. She was the successful bidder on a box of miscellaneous odds and sods containing some old Christmas decorations, a few mismatched dinner plates, quite a few, and a cake container that she'd been eyeing off full of little Winnie the Poo, Piglet and other Disney characters. Well... at the raise of her finger, the auctioneer was smitten and refused to take any other bids, declaring it sold to the young lady in the front row. I'm sure if we'd let her go, she would have purchased many other pieces of interest otherwise known as 'Junk'. Either way she has the bidding bug now so I will need to teach her a few lessons in sticking to your limits and not getting carried away in the moment, and to stay off eBay!

After a spot of lunch back at home our attention was redirected from car racing carnage of the Bathurst 1000 V8 Supercar Races on TV, to the screaming sirens of the local fire truck, which had been on display at the auction for all the kids to climb over and press the siren buttons.

Sirens were followed by more sirens, and then the whiff of smoke from a grass fire...coming our way! After assessing the possibility of being burnt out, we decided to drive over there to determine just how bad it was before making any rash decisions. Not sure of the cause, but someones grassy backyard was burnt out and it had run up the embankment and a couple of gum trees just beside the main road. The three fire trucks had it under control. Definitely lucky they were just down the road, or things may have been worse if it had managed to jump the road.

What an exciting diversion for the day. Whilst over that way Poppy decided a short educational walk was in order down to where an old lime kiln once existed. Unfortunately it was filled in due to being a risk to public safety. So why visit a filled in lime kiln? For the fossils of course! Within metres of stepping out of the car the girls were finding shell imprints in limestone rocks at nearly every rock they turned over, oh... and a good Australian red back spider. We left her right where we found her.
And then, another very good spot by my eldest... a wombat just resting under the lime layered cliffs

So we went to an auction, photographed masses of ladybirds... went to a small grass fire, fossicked for fossils, picked up scats... I think it was owl poo which contained the furry remains of a ring tail possum (I found his body further down the track), I'll get those analysed when I get back to work! Spotted a lazy wombat, walked up hill and down through pine forests, then went back home to finish the day with a beer whilst kicking back in the spa. How good's that?

Theory of the 'Bumless Beetles'

As I sit at home tending to the ill and my own aches and pains, a moment of corporate commitment prevailed with the addressing of my work emails. The following theory of the 'Bumless Beeltes' was emailed to me by a woman I work with, whom never ceases to amaze me with our often bizarre and comical conversations that no doubt keep us somewhat sane... or is that insane? Which ever it is I'm glad for them. Thanks S for sharing your theory with me.

Bumless Beetles
The following story has since been removed upon request.

It was none the less an interesting and somewhat theatrical story and has since prompted me to inspect several little black beetles in my travels, some with their heads chewed off, others missing their bums, but the most still intact and struggling in the final hours of their tiny lives. Perhaps they were naive enough to accept an invitation for dinner at Bats house. Only they were the dinner.

White Fluffy Paradise

I now have a very real appreciation of how my mother must have felt skiing the slopes of Mt Hotham when I was young. Trying to keep eyes on two excitable and extremely fearless children is stuff grey hairs are made from. Add to that a husband hell bent to learn how to snowboard and one's in for a shit load of laughs and anxiety.

Don't you just love the look on our lodges snowman's face.... Looks like we caught him out up to no good I reckon!

Did I happen to mention how beautiful the days were? Cloud free! Sunny! 13 degrees C! Too hot for winter jackets... I had to strip off to a t shirt by lunchtime. Better still, we didn't have to worry about lines for the lifts until the weekend came. By then the beautiful days were starting to close in on the weekend day trippers. Didn't bother us when the weather turned to mush for the steady trip home off the hill, while they were left trying to get their weekends moneys worth in the hail and rain. We got the best of the last of the season. That's for sure!

It's got them all hooked and after twenty years it's nice to know skiing is just like riding a bike. Hubby is already scouting eBay for beginners boards, boots and bindings! Look out next year, we'll definitely be staying longer. Might even have a bigger car by then so I'll have room to pack a quilt or two to work on at night round the open fire. That's what dreams are made of!

Sunshine and Snow

Come hell and high fever, finally after months of waiting our postponed trip to Mt Hotham was here. I didn't count how many times we heard 'are we there yet?' from the back seat, but each time we did... I knew we were just that bit closer to a few days of paradise...

Paradise!?! Stop! Let's back peddle about 24 hours....

I was determined to get the last coat of paint on the dado wall in the hallway, so the paint fumes could entertain themselves in our absence. So determined was I that it took priority over packing for the trip. Ummm.... as the witching hour approached it was finally complete, just had to wash out the brushes, have a well earned shower and crawl into bed for a 6am start at packing.

As I sat on the loo... as one does prior to a shower... the mobile phone violently rattled it's way off the bench and onto the floor, scared the daylights out of me in my half exhausted stupor. Hubby's mum needed a bed to crash into after a last minute transport decision was made... but that's another drama that I'll leave for the old fashioned grapevine.

Within minutes, all options for a shower were abandoned for a panicked attempt to make a spare bed... with very little linen (as this was packed into storage earlier this month prior to painting) and what we did have was out ready to be packed at 6am to go. It was a toss up to use them and then at 6am steal them back. LOL

A strong cup of tea followed by bleary eyed children wondering why they could hear the familiar yet unexpected and extremely late (make that early now) booming of their nan's voice, then requests for hot chocolates, followed by a cursing husband who was barely even awake wondering who the hell was here at this hour... and after being told three times 'it's your mother'... I just told him to go back to bed as he obviously was not registering.

6am came around very quickly.... I think I managed four hours in the end. Why is it the beginning of most trips bares close resemblance to the ending blows of a relationship? Hubby was mega grumpy I had been up so late painting... the car wasn't packed... neither were the bags and we had promised to meet friends at their house by 9am - 40 Min's drive away. The unexpected extra threw a spanner in the works to further irritate matters... trying to creep around someone, pack bags, in between screams of 'DON'T TOUCH THE WALLS'. Just bedlam!

OK... it wasn't the smartest move painting the hallway when a packing frenzy was about to commence. I'll admit that. But there's no better feeling than ticking off another job well done as you walk out the door destined for a few days of fluffy white stuff with children.

Life gives us some great days and we have to go to work....

I went to work today, honest....

Saw some interesting things well suited to audition for my weekly desktop redressing.

And this is the view that greeted me after about an hour of scenic snow shoe shuffling (say that ten times), but still managed only half way to the Mt St Gwinear Summit. That was far pretty enough for my aging bones to carry me. Note to Self: Must walk snow covered mountains in uncomfortable footwear more often. The views were worth the blisters. Correction to Self: obtain better fitting shoes first!

Did I mention I went to work today?

David Rhodes Chain Letter Scam

I made a whole 5 cents today, just for walking to the mail box... pretty cool hey!?

Not! because it means yet another poor sucker has fallen for the long running and often tailored version of these chain letters offering guaranteed fortunes by simply participating in a mail out... O and sending a ten dollar 'gift' to the addressee in number one spot.

I mean seriously people... Don't fall for it if you receive one. Your smarter than that! You've heard of STRANGER DANGER, right? We work long and hard for every dollar we earn and yes things might be getting tighter BUT.... Don't throw it away with the lure of becoming rich in a chain letter. Cos you'll surely regret the hefty fine that may greet you in the weeks following a post out.

Not convinced, still think it'll be a bit of fun?

Google it before you act.... or check out some Australian Fair Trading sites for similar scams. And remember.... If it sounds too good to be true... it usually is!

Seeing Red!

Gorgeous isn't it! I've been seeing red a lot this week, literally and metaphorically. Who'd have thought such a gorgeous colour could ruin my week.

It all started with a can of red paint called 'Autumn Rust' destined for above the picture rail of my kitchen lounge area and if lucky, a little below the picture rail as well.... I know that was back in January when I painted up the sample to get a feel for the colour and if we liked it or not. Well I've taken some time off work to finish as much of our long overdue renovations as possible. We've had enough and have paid the deposit to start building a new house.

Crack the lid, lets get into it. Hmmm... My 'Autumn Rust' looked strangely bubbly. Lets pour a little into the paint tray.... Bubbly? Let's rephrase that... more like Cappuccino Froth? Let's roll a little onto the wall.... Arr, That can't be right. Where are all the bubbles surfacing from and why? OK Coffee Break! Lets phone the Customer Service Number on the can.

Yes sir... I'm following the directions...

Yes sir... We've heated the room to the desired temperature.

Prepping... Yep done that too and used the Grey Undercoat recommended...

Was the can shaken when originally mixed at the store? Yes sir (raised eyebrow, duh! who uses a stick these days?)

OK well the store must have frothed your paint by over shaking it, that colour should be hand stirred...you'll have to let it sit for few days to settle out then try using it again.

What the! A couple of days! Yeah right. This jobs been put off for months, I'm not waiting a few more days. Did I mention the chunks of rust inside the can? Perhaps the quality of the paint has deteriorated. It was an old can after all.

And what about what's on the wall already??????? Let it dry and then sand off. Arrrrrrrrrrrggggghh! Looks Good doesn't it....NOT! Back to the store....

Over the course of almost a week this became several visits back to the store (and others). Several visits included several cans of paint and several attempts for the same red using different brands of paint only lead to a very frustrating and disappointing week. That's the problem with using a colour that requires a neutral base as opposed to a 'True Red' base. You don't have too many options with other brands. The paint appeared to be 'off' somehow with the dye separating from the neutral base and causing the blistering effect no matter what technique was used. My options were to wait for the Rep to turn up and inspect the paint... Order more cans of Neutral base to try (at least a week wait)... or change colour and brand.

Stuff it, I'm not waiting any longer. Give me that Dulux 'Red Box'. That should be red enough for me! Just hope it's not too red for hubby!!!! LOL.

Well tonight we finished the painting and although I'm not that thrilled with the Antique White chosen for the lower wall and ceiling (it's a bit too yellow for me) the red is 'bloody' awesome against the kitchen. And hubby thinks it's pretty nice too.

Next job is to complete the installation of the top kitchen capping and paint the top coat enamel around the window surrounds. Then get the timber floor sanded and sealed.... hang some window furnishings... a few pictures on the wall...