Sun, Sand & ....... Tony the Neighbour

Phew, it was a scorcher this weekend. We were up early on Sunday doing some gardening at 8am before the sun got too hot. Well, 'gardening' really being digging up couch and moving dust around. Now that the driveway is done we are starting on leveling the ground and pulling out bricks/concrete/wooden legs.

Then we spent the rest of the day at the beach with a picnic. While we were there I got to meet Andrew, the neighbour who lives the other side of Tony with his two dogs (a King Charles and a Red Healer). Andrew said to me "have you met your next door neighbour Tony yet?!" Ha. It seems Andrew gets the Tony treatment too- he wasnt too happy cos Tony had used some of the concrete from our driveway to fill in all around Andrews fence in his front garden. He means well (bless im), but it does look like it was levelled out using a big toe while blindfolded, balancing on a ball and drunk.

We both had a swim in the bay, there were people out on jetskis - then the police boat came along and booked one of them (for speeding??). Everyone and their dog were in the sea, apart from one pug that wandered up to the waves, looked a bit worried and then wandered back underneth its beach unbrella. and good fun was had by all...

what is this?

what is this?
Originally uploaded by NTRMonjoy.

as an alternative to 'where is dino' this week, is 'what on earth is this insect??'

it was the first official visitor to our new house - well it sat on the living room window all evening, doing some funny wiggly dance

any ideas....? oh, and its HUGE

kitchen

kitchen
Originally uploaded by NTRMonjoy.

the almost-finished kitchen.

click on the picture to see more from the new house on flickr.

lunchtime

lunchtime
Originally uploaded by NTRMonjoy.

our builders...

moving

moving
Originally uploaded by NTRMonjoy.

moving out of the apartment, back into our reno'ed house. they make it look so easy, all done by lunchtime.

mirror mirror on the wall.......

...i wish you were here

we are loving ourselves sick in the new house, but still dont have any mirrors. Joe went to work with mad hair, I had to put my tie on in the toilet at work. I shaved Joe's face, he shaved mine. Builder promises mirrors will be in next Tuesday, hopefully, maybe Wednesday. ho hum. i suppose we could always look at our reflection in Tony's bald head.

[dino]

house update

the good:: the kitchen benchtops are in and look really good, much better than i was expecting, hurrah.

and the tiler did turn up on holiday monday, but the spare tiles were in the garden and got soaked in the rain, so he couldnt fit them and will hopefully do that sometime this week.

the bad:: theres a leak in the roof in the dining area. pah. we've added it to the list of things for the builder to fix.

the ugly: we eventually got the ikea bed frames, after 3 trips to richmond and lots of phone calls, get them home and some of the panels are wrong, got 2-left-feet or something. well what can you expect for $23.41

dusting & cleaning

I can barely type this blog as my fingers are cut and sore from cleaning. cleaning the new house (which the builders were meant to have finished), and also cleaning the apartment ready for handing back to the agents.

today i cleaned out the new fridge, it still had sticky-tape holding the shelves in. there seems to be sawdust and plaster-dust everywhere. still, dust is low in fat and high in fibre. also removed a dead moth from one of the electrical boxes.

the builders are still here all week, still hoping and praying for the kitchen benchtops to be done tomorrow afternoon (friday arvo, I know), shower screen to be fitted on saturday at 8am and the tiler due on Monday even tho its a public holiday. gates and driveway to be done sometime next week.

after 11 months...

..we made it! We've moved back into the house.

We moved out on 7th April 2005 for our house to be renovated/rebuilt, moved back in on 7th March 2006 after just the teeniest amount of delay and stress. Yay

And a nice coincidence happened - the house was previously owned to two elderly sisters who came over to the house yesterday just by chance to take a trip down memory lane, and were delighted to be shown around the new house. Kinda had some closure, we celebrating with them when we first bought the house at auction, then again on the day we moved in after the rebuild.

(pics to follow)

Dogs & Cats

As seen in a dog's diary:
7 am - Oh boy! A walk! My favourite!
8 am - Oh boy! Dog food! My favourite!
9 am - Oh boy! The kids! My favourite!
Noon - Oh boy! The yard! My favourite!
2 pm - Oh boy! A car ride! My favourite!
3 pm - Oh boy! The kids! My favourite!
4 pm - Oh boy! Playing ball! My favourite!
6 pm - Oh boy! Welcome home Mum! My favourite!
7 pm - Oh boy! Welcome home Tom! My favourite!
8 pm - Oh boy! Dog food! My favourite!
9 pm - Oh boy! Tummy rubs on the couch! My favourite!
11 pm - Oh boy! Sleeping in my people's bed! My favourite!

As seen in a cat's diary:
Day 183 of my captivity... My captors continued to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the mild satisfaction that I get from clawing their furniture. Tomorrow I will eat another houseplant.
Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded - must try this at the top Of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favourite chair. I must remember to try this on their bed.
Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body in an attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of, and to try to strike fear in their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was. Hmmm, that did not work according to plan...
There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smell the food. More important, I overheard that my confinement was due to my powers of inducing "allergies." I must learn what this is and
how I may use it to my advantage.
I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit. The bird, on the other hand, has got to be an informant and speaks with them regularly. I am certain he reports my every move. Due to his
current placement in the metal room, his safety is assured. But I have patience, I can wait, it is only a matter of time...