Holidays Done!

Hi Readers

Well here we are, Sunday night and it's the end of a two week break that has gone by in a flash.

As you know by now, we have had our house on the market for the past two weeks. Already it is becoming a bit of a pain making sure that it is constantly spotless, just in case some prospective buyers are brought through at very short notice.

But...it is quite nice having it spotless all the same. I just have to do my part in making sure that I don't leave stuff lying around...

Like today!!

I had to duck out today to our other house this morning to meet a bloke about removing a big palm tree removed.
Of course, I missed him as he said he was there earlier and then left before I got there. It just seems I can never arrange to meet him in person, I'm beginning to wonder if he really exists!!

I've digressed. Back to the story!

Anyway, as I got home I saw this big blue ute outside our house, and a couple standing in the driveway talking to Jen, my wife.
I didn't recognise them at all so I presumed they were relatives of Jen's, as they seemed to be getting on famously.

Far from it.

It turns out that they were from Melbourne and were visiting one of their children who lives near Bendigo. They had seen our house online and had been keeping an eye on it, and as they were in Bendigo they decided to do a drive by.
One of our neighbours saw them looking from the court, and suggested that they knock on the door to see if we were home as we would most likely invite them in.
Which is what they did, and what Jen did.

I drove in just as they were about to leave and they were just lovely. More importantly, they liked what they saw and will be ringing our agent tomorrow.

Fingers crossed with that one!!

Cooking Urge!!

For some reason today I got the idea in my mind to make some sushi. Why? I've got no idea, but when I get my mind locked onto something it gets hard to change it!!

So, off to the supermarket to get some gear for it and off I went.
I had to make one that was gluten free for Jen, so that was my first one (ie the one with all the mistakes!!)
This one was fairly large to say the least, and I knew it would fill Jen up, so I made a mental note to go easy on the filling for the next ones which were for me.

It did look more like a massive green sausage rather than a sushi roll, but she loved it.

Even mine turned out perfectly, mainly because I decided against using wasabi this time, as on my last go at making sushi I put too much in and it just about killed every taste bud I own!!

Looking good so far...

They actually turned out okay!!!

And this tuned up at my sister's house as she was moving recently. This was an annual 16.5km race that was held in Ballarat when we lived there.

If you look closely at the bloke running with a pram, that's me and our eldest boy Sam, who was 3 at the time. He's now 27, so I doubt I could push him far these days! I did the same race with each of the boys and made the paper each time. This time spent running with the boys was priceless. I loved it, so did they, and it also gave my wife just a little more respite at home. (Probably needed respite from me!!)

And to finish the day, I got called out to my school as an alarm had been triggered. As it was such a nice day, I rode my bike out to check things were alright, as they were.

However, I was alerted that one of our pigs was out of its paddock and was roaming the school, which it was contentedly doing.

So, here I am, zooming around the school on a motorbike rounding up a squealing pig that did not want to go back to its paddock. Eventually I cornered it, and it pushed its nose under the fence, squeezed through and was back where it belonged. Then it just stared me down, as if to say "As soon as you're gone I'm going back out there"!!

There is no way we can really 'pig proof' the fences, as they always find a way out, but always find their way back later in the day.

Well, it's back to school tomorrow and an 11 week school term that will hold extra significance for me as I'll be taking next year off to do other things. I just need to make sure that I finish it well and do all that I can to ensure that my last term as Co-Principal is done well.

Until my next post Readers...

Cheers!!

Lazy Holidays...sort of!

Hi Readers,

Well, here we are in the second week of the holidays and I'm making my first post!
I was sure that I'd use the time to really get back into the blog, but for some reason I've found it to be just so busy!!

Let me just say that the holidays started disastrously when my football team, Richmond got knocked out of the finals by arch rival Collingwood.
This game was so hyped up beforehand as it involved two teams with a long history of not liking each other much at all, and attracted a crowd of close to 100 000

The only consolation in this loss (if there is one) was that Collingwood played so well right from the start and blew us out of the water. We were never in it, sad to say.
I think it has taken me about a week to get over it, made worse by the fact that we spent most of last week in Melbourne for Grand Final week, a week where I was hoping I'd be watching Richmond preparing for the Grand Final rather than Collingwood!!

This broke my heart, but I'm already looking forward to next year!!!

Speaking of Grand Final week, it is an amazing time to be in Melbourne.

Jen and I always spend a few days each holidays at a favourite hotel in Melbourne and just have a few days wandering the streets, shopping, going out for lunch and relaxing with a nice dinner each night.

I must confess that I always have to go for a run in the Botanical gardens, as it is the best place to run in Melbourne, so many hills and challenges, it is addictive!

Normally I go for a run near Punt Road, where Richmond train, but as they were out of the finals I stayed clear (plus it was fenced off anyway in preparation for the Grand Final) 

Two days before the Grand Final and the security is on high alert at the MCG!!!

I must admit there was still an element of sulking here!!!

Since watching the Grand Final on Saturday, which Collingwood lost (I'm sure Richmond would have won had they been in it!!) it has been busy, busy, busy with our houses.

Where we are living is now for sale, and we are also in the process of getting things done at the other house we have bought.

It was a sad day getting the 'For Sale' sign erected!!

Every day is the same now, we just have to have the house spic and span at all times just in case some prospective buyers organise a viewing at short notice.

We have had a number of groups through and a few open house inspections, a few bites but no-one has come good with an offer...yet! 

It has only been on the market for a week, so we need to be patient.

Another open house this Saturday with a new price might bring out some more buyers!!

Meanwhile, at the other house, we have a large palm tree in the driveway that we don't want, as it blocks so much access.

I put an ad on a website (Gumtree) offering it for free to anyone, provided that they pay for all removal costs.

We got a few inquiries straight away and I'm hoping the bloke who I'm dealing with can get the job done this week. Hopefully!!

My other task over the past few weeks has been to build anew shed at the new place.

What was I thinking!!!!

This was the flat pack from hell!!

Over a few weekends I managed to get the panels all assembled, but the last three days has been all about getting the panels joined together. 

A nightmare would be the kindest way of describing it!!!

I managed to get the four walls joined...eventually.

Today I organised our youngest son, Lachie to be there to help me with the roof panels. 

"No worries Dad", with his youthful enthusiasm that I'm sure evaporated 5 minutes into the task this morning!!

After a few hours of lifting, screwing, sweating and swearing we eventually had success and the shed was complete!!

So what if we missed a few holes, and put screws in place where there were no holes, the shed was complete!!!

Despite the hassles of getting it done, the cuts all over my hands and legs (and Lachie copped a few as well) the aching body...just being able to finish it off with Lachs was the best part of it all.

He was brilliant!

So Readers, a rather boring post but I hope to have something better to finish the holidays with in the next few days.

Until my next post...

Cheers!!