If the rain don't fall too hard, everything shines like a postcard

Hello again!

You'll have to pretend it's tomorrow, as I just couldn't possibly have 2 posts in the same evening.........



You know how wet it's been on the coast? And how wet all the diggers and marchers got on ANZAC Day? Well, up here in Walnut Grove, there's been none. Zip. Nada. Nil. Well, maybe just some slightly thick mist......



But GG....... Well GG needs an ark for her bedroom at nanandpops... No joking. She woke up on Tuesday morning with water views. A bed over the water so to speak. And her window faces the wrong direction by about 180degrees. Actually, there was about 2 inches of water lapping under her bed......... so all the clothes, shoes, socks and papers on her floor are now soaking wet.... Her fab Nan and Pop have done their best to clean it out and dry it up, but the new carpet has what appears to be a waterproofed backing, so that most of the water is underneath the carpet, which was laid straight down over the concrete slab... plurgh.... so I guess, the carpet is floating too.....



GG used to step outside at night to hear the sound of the surf breaking on the beach. I reckon that now, if she turns the ceiling fan on flat out, she could create some fairly sizeable swell in her room.....Fun... Not.......

GG looking for treasures on the floor of her room....I kid you not; that is the colour of her carpet....

So, what has to be done is to remove all the furniture from the room. Then pull the carpet up, take it out and dry it off. If there is some dry and sunny weather, that is. Then try and stop the water coming in. We know where it came in, it's just going to be really hard to stop it. My mum and dad say that it's ground water caused by the bloke next door's love of concrete in his yard. About 40 metres north-east. Beloved and I tend to think that the problem originates from a downpipe on the corner of their house that goes into a clay pipe that is about 5 metres directly uphill from where the water enters GG's room. Given that the house was built about 44 yrs ago on the side of a hill, and trees have come and gone, along with a lot of earth movement, it isn't too much of a stretch to think that the pipe might be cracked or broken, so that in times of torrential rain, such as happened on Tuesday, then the pipe just might fail if it has to cope with all the roof water . If this is the case, which would be the simplest to remedy, then a rainwater tank could be put in place at the back of the house, and the run-off could be collected. Worse case scenario involves digging up large trenches in the front yard and in an existing lean-to (that has a concrete floor) and creating rubble drains...... If it was flooded as a result of excessive run-off from next door, then surely the front of dad's garage would have flooded as well. It has a small drain in front (I know, because we put it there), but if there was THAT much water from next door, then that's where it would have ended up. Bunnings was flooded too dad tells me........


I can't help thinking that if this is the case, then it might be cheaper and easier to find GG another abode. Which she doesn't want. Because as much as her pop is driving her insane, she loves being near her nan. She also has the emotional safety net of still living with family, and probably hasn't felt the wrench of moving out of home as much as some others have.


I feel as if I'm asking too much of my parents to ask them to cope with all this, but there really isn't another option. Beloved and I both have work committments, and we chose to participate in the relay for life in Muswellbrook this weekend as a show of support for Ester and Gaynor, who have both had parents battling cancer over the last year. And Sharon, a team member, who's been waging her own battle for quite some time now. I just don't think it would be the right thing to do to opt out so close to the event. Mum and Dad are coping, but it isn't going to be easy over the next few days, and that's just the clean-up and dry-out. I know the rectifying of the problem is going to cause them no end of grief. Because things like this, which in the big scheme of things really aren't all that bad, really upset their apple cart. Dad can never see a positive. He's a "the glass is half empty and going fast" kind of fella. And mum will pay the price of having to listen to him go on and on and on ....... Hmmmmm... She'll have to find her happy place.....

Yep... I think this picture says it all...

Well, we'll just have to see what happens. It's going to take a while.........

Love, Muggle :0D xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Do you have a little time?

Howdy Y'all!!!

Many apologies for my previous short novel.

• I promise that I will blog more often, and in less wordy manner.

• After all, I can't be held responsible for obesity due to snacking and milo-consumption whilst reading my blog.

• Nor do I want to claim responsibility for the collapse from exhaustion and dehydration for the same reason.

• Or the development of a diabetic coma

• And finally, I hate to think that reading one of my blogs resulted in one of my readers developing deep vein thrombosis

Or perhaps it would be better to check out my blog with a packet of rice crackers, a bottle of water, a few glucose-rich jelly beans or babies, and some TED stockings, making sure to wriggle your toes, lift your knees, and roll you ankles in lazy circles..............

Love, The Blogmuggle ;0)

Fool's Overture... or.. You took the words right out of my mouth.....

Hi all!

Since it's been so long, I'll just fill in a few blanks for you all. Get comfy, and help yourself to a drink and a snack; we could be here for a while.

The school holidays have just flown by. GG came home the Thursday evening after my last post, just in time to scam some late birthday drinks from Beloved and I, who were at the local pub's restaurant, belatedly celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary, which was the day before (April 11). A very excited (and a little embarrassed), GG shared with us the newest joy of her life; the "inkage" on her chest. We knew it was happening, and she'd had it done that morning, before she drove up. My camera's out of action; it won't load piccies on the computer, so I had to steal some from GG's Myspace photo album for you to see.





This is what the actual tattoo is based on. It's a dove, which is a logo of GG's favourite band, "Thursday".






As you can see, She has two, placed symmetrically on either side of her chest, just underneath her collarbones. They are plain blue ink. She absolutely adores them.


The other reason I was lax in my blogging was that we had planned a bit of a surprise party for GG's 18th birthday, which we held on on Saturday the 14th. Loose lips sink ships, so I had quite a job to keep it quiet whilst letting her friends know what was going on. And then there was the shopping and food prep. I kept it all very simple, especially given the fact that we only have a BBQ with a hood to cook on; no hotplates, no oven. Her lovely boyfriend, Tricky, and friend Kimmy, were invaluable in the organisation of attendees, but Vegeboy reckons it's still weird that I was SMS-ing and calling her friends. I worked until 1pm on Saturday, took Vegeboy to a friend's for the night, had friends call in on their way back from Mudgee, and the builder call around to discuss the additions, all between work and when the party was due to start, at 7.30....... GG had spent the Friday night with Tricky and his family, and was supposed to be home for dinner at 6.30 for dinner so that she had eaten before it all started, and as an excuse to make her and Tricky come home. She was late a usual. She thought that they were going out after tea. .... but.....

She was surprised when people that turned up a bit later, blowing party horns and popping streamers upon their arrival, screaming out "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLY!!!!!!!". She had been a bit suspicious that our yard and BBQ area were so tidy, with a large bonfire area and log seating area set up in the backyard. She had a great night;






That is 2 Smirnoff "Double Black" vodkas that she is sucking through the pipe. I think she restrained herself for the evening due to our presence. Guests came and went through the course of the evening, and a quite a few were exceptionally merry fairly early in the evening. I think that this is due mainly to;

1. the fact that the drinks that are consumed have a very high alcohol content


2. the drinks go down as quick as soft drink


3. they can consume a large number of drinks in a very short time, and have no idea of pacing themselves so that they can party for a longer period of time


4. they love to play drinking games


5. they can vomit very easily, and get back to the serious business of drinking some more.

There wasn't a lot of late-night partying though; most of the party-goers had left by about midnight, with just a core of 8 left to sleep off the party. It was a good night, with only a couple of tearful girls who needed their hair held back at various times.. The plainative call was heard;

"Have you got a hairband, Mrs K?", "Where do we empty the bucket?"

Beloved went to bed at 11 as he and Scorpaboy were off to Moonbi to ride bikes at 6am. I had a few interesting conversations around the bonfire until about 3am, when I headed off to bed for a couple of hours.

Sunday was quiet, except for a planned drop-in by my brother and his wife in the afternoon. They were meeting Lisa's parent's from Mudgee, who had been wonderful and had enjoyed the company of their grandchildren for a few days. GG, Tricky, and friend, Anthony Brown went to the movies at Singleton. Monday was quiet. Tuesday was Beloved's birthday, and GG went home to Newcastle :o( . I worked Tuesday and Wednesday, then on Wednesday evening, Beloved and I took Scorpaboy to Newcastle so he could have a few days of riding in Sydney with a friend from Warners Bay. It was a bit of an adventure for the two of them, as they didn't have an adult with them, but were under the watchful eyes of the park owner, Dave. Dave and his family has been wonderfully hospitable, and lets the boys stay in a caravan, rent-free. They also feed them breakfast every day. Earlier in the week, we had a few bike-related surprises. The day before Beloved's birthday, Paul, the bike supplier who sponsors Scorpaboy, had sent a "Scorpa" riding jumper for Beloved as a gift. We were very surprised. I kept until his birthday. He loved it. Then on Tuesday, two brand new bike tyres arrived in the post, without any indication of their origin. It took a bit of ringing around, but it turned out that 2 friends who had been very impressed with the way that Scorpaboy had been riding had chipped in together and bought the tyres for him. Amazing, isn't it how generous people can be...... Patto lives in near Tamworth, and he rang the Tarp, who lives at the Central Coast and is a bike supplier for another company, "Montesa", (I'll give them a plug) and organised for Tarp to send them up. Beloved used to ride a Montesa, so we used to buy quite a bit of gear from Tarp, but when the Scorpa sponsorship came up, he sold his Montesa. He's been feeling guilty ever since, and now we are very abashed, but extremely grateful. We were given a few hundred dollars worth of bike gear last week..........

This Scorpaboy and his sponsor, Paul, manager of "The HellTeam", Australia at Pacific Park last year, with Jack's 1st new bike.

The football season is on again, and twice-weekly training is back! Saturday saw us in Muswellbrook for a home game against Waratah-Mayfield, which the boys won, 32 - 12; go the Rams!!! Then it was off to Newcastle to attend my best friend's younger daughter's 21st birthday. Scorpaboy was dropped off at nanandpop's where we were staying, and then it was off to Nord's Wharf. The parties there are always a fabulous, fun and family night. It felt a little different now that Janina's parent's have both passed away. I'm sure I could feel the Alice (Janina's mum) there though. Beloved was hoping to go for a bike ride, so I went back for Brekkie on the Deckkie on Sunday morning, and arrived back at nanandpop's at lunch time. He didn't get his ride, but GG and I went to Garden City for a haircut while Scorpaboy went to JB HiFi. We met up at his parent's at Elermore Vale, and GG went home ;0( , whilst we travelled back up the New England Highway to arrive home just after dinner time. We ran into some friends who had travelled from Tamworth to "Steamfest" at Maitland at the "Baker's Cottage". A quick catch-up in the carpark followed.

A litttle look at Denman, AKA "Walnut Grove" very early on a Autumn morning about 2 years ago. The Mountains are wrapped in fog. They are more like overgrown hills than mountains....

I don't have to work until THURSDAY!!!!!! I'm looking forward to ANZAC DAY. I love the Dawn Service. It is so emotional and evocative. The Last Post brings me undone every time. I'm frequently known to become teary through the national anthem..... The boys will march with the school in Muswellbrook, then again at Denman. It is right that we preserve these memories. I don't do the pub and club thing, but it is a day that brings people together. I used to travel around Newcastle with the pipe bands and dance in quite a few of the RSL clubs when I was younger. My dad has always been a staunch supporter of the RSL club and Anzac Day, never missing Dawn Service, but oddly, he never asked nor encouraged me to go with him, but practically bludgeoned my brother into going with him. But Dad has always been incredibly old-fashioned and sexist in his approach. When I moved out of home to live on my own the week after I turned 21, he was following me back and forwards to the car, not carrying anything to help, but telling me over and over that "girls can't leave home until they are married" and "good girls stay at home". Bad, un-married girl, was I..............

I am to work Thursday and Friday, and Saturday morning I will drive down to Swansea for football. Beloved will probably work. We have to be home by 2.00pm as we are participating tin the "Relay For Life" at Muswellbrook Showground until 10am on Sunday Morning. The whole family is camping overnight. We are in a team with friends from the caravan park, and another family. GG is travelling up on Friday night (to party of course), and will be in attendance off and on over the course of the proceedings. It should be fun. Beloved has to work again on Sunday as well. Yegods, he will be tired.

The following weekend Vegeboy plays football at home, then we head to Newie again for my Godaughter's long-awaited engagement party. She's sooo excited, and has planned it down to the last detail. She is Janina's elder daughter, and it will be the first party not to be held at Janina's house, as Leah and Chad wanted to have it at their home in Mayfield. Our lovely Lil was born aged 25, I think. She was my first Godchild. Next was Lisa's Joshua, then my cousins' son, Zachary. I have let the boy's down I think; I have been very involved in Leah's life, but then again, we had so much time together before I met Beloved, and Beloved and I moved away from Newcastle. She was a very fetching co-flowergirl (aged 5) at our wedding, accompanied by Beloved's niece and Godaughter, Abby (also aged 5). I have moved in and out of Lisa's life, but I have probably seen more of her as an adult than I have seen my cousin, Ally. Ally and I were raised together as children. As she was an only child, and we practically lived together, I think I was more like an older sister to her than cousin. She had a bit of a hard life, and I think that I was one of the few positive constants. Both Janina and Lisa, together with my mum, minded my babies while I was at work; I couldn't have asked for more wonderful "Mum's" to love and care for my babies when I wasn't there for them.

Goodness; I've become sidetracked, haven't I??????

Another trip to Newcastle for footie on the May12, but only as far as Cessnock on that occassion. The weekend after that on May 19, we will play footie in Muswellbrook on the Saturday, followed by a BBQ at Beloved's workplace, but then we will head down to Canberra for Mototrials on the Saturday afternoon and Sunday. I'm going with the boys on this occassion as we will stay with Beloved's sister (Sis 1) in Canberra. I haven't seen her newly renovated home, and I love the way she makes a home feel. She had a home in Wickham, which she sold for the Canberra move, which was absolutely divine. She just oozes style, but does it in a way that makes me feel comfortable, rather than making me feel insignificant, which Beloved's other sister manages to do. Sis 1 came with us into the labour-room when Scorpaboy was born, which is a measure of our regard for her. She is warm, funny and smart. I love her to death. I think it will help to have 2 drivers on this trip as well.......

Phew! That's as far as the calendar goes... so far... I don't want to look any further ahead...... So, about making/manifesting some time to come to The Cottage girls...........

I think I need a cup of tea...... no, I think I'll have a Milo instead.....

While you're waiting........

Here's some more pictures of the Pete and Nyrie's farm at Moonbi, where we went camping/riding a few weeks ago..........

Our car and trailer; almost sunset.....

A bit later on.........

Believe it or not, this windmill works!

That Milo didn't last long enough. I think I need another one. With a biscuit. Or two.

So I think it's time I said goodnight!

Stay safe, and be happy!

Love, the (now typed-out) Blogmuggle <3,>

Born to be alive.......

Yes Bloggers, I am still alive, but I have been very slack on the posting side of things. It's very late, but I thought that I'd share this little joke with you.

What do you get when you cross a potato with a penis?

A Dictator........

Well, I thought it was funny anyway.....Thanks to Vicki for sharing it with me.

I promise I will post in the morning. I'm off to bed.

Goodnight xoxoxoxo

G'Day, G'Day; How'yre Going.....

Holy Cow! It's been quite a while since my last post. I must have been overwhelmed.......


Not really. Just busy, and probably not feeling creative. I must have expended all my blogging energy on GG....... By the way, thank you to all for the lovely comments. GG has certainly been investing a lot of time and money in her newly legal adult status, enjoying the ambience of many of the watering holes in the Newcastle area. And has finally discovered the joys of the public transport system. Well, you can't drink and drive, can you????



We had lunch with family at Cardiff RSL for GG's birthday; quite a feed, I can tell you. I can recommend this place to all. There's plenty even for the non-carnivores among us.



That evening, an incredibly sore neck and head decended upon me. I had very little sleep that night, and didn't go to work on Tuesday. It must have been a virus; I slept off and on all day, and had a mild fever as well. Back to life as usual on Wednesday.




Easter was good. My brother and his family arrived on Good Friday, and we went off picniccing and motorbiking (of course). They travelled off to Mudgee to my sister-in-law's parents in Mudgee on Saturday. It was wonderful to spend some unhurried time with them, and the kids are soooo lovely.



Sunday and Monday were "Work in the Yard" days. Finally, the yard looks less like its been abandoned. The GINORMOUS cactus that I had tried removing is gone, but it will be an on-going battle to remove the babies that will pop up.



Lucky me worked on Monday evening, and again all day yesterday. I'm off to work again, so I'd best be off. More later....... yes, I know..... It's ever so exciting..... yawn......



Love, Muggle :0)

My Eloise is like the stars that please the night, the sun that makes the day......

For my GG.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart.

You are 18.

An Adult.

The World is Yours.

Catch it and hold it in your hand.

Dreams your dreams and follow them.

Be Strong.

Be Brave.

Be Joyous.

Be Kind and Compassionate.

Be Courageous.

Be Honest.

Sing.

Laugh.

Be Happy.

Cry.

Be Sad.

Love.

Be Loved.

Choose.

Be ...whatever you want.........

Yourself.

Live your life.

<3>

Have a wonderful day my lovely.

All my love always,

Mum

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo