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Monday, January 31, 2011

How time flies!!!

When you are soooo busy you can't remember what day it is! We have been in a maelstrom of activity lately, this is what happens when you decide it may be an idea to leave the country!
The Dutchess was on school holidays and came for a sleep over then a swim at the local pool and a play in the new playground. I am not sure who had more fun on the flying fox but I think it might have been the Prince.


This park is fantastic! It has a vast range of equipment for all sizes and even though these little boys could not make the big disc spin while they were in it they soon worked out a way to have it spin and still have a ride dangling on the outside.
The weather has been fabulous and we have managed to get in quite a few swims lately. The water is warm and inviting. Australia Day saw us at the beach at Coogee with the Manchild and his girlfriend and a few thousand other beach goers. The weirdest thing was the sea haar (pronounced see haw) that had closed in on the beach overnight. A very weird sight and not what you expect in Oz at the end of January. This is a kind of fog that only occurs at the beach, something to do with dew points and salt crystals in the water or some such. Just fascinating to see!

I know the pictures just look like a grey day but I can assure you if you turned and looked west the sky was a blazing sunny blue. I love weather it is so interesting :)
On the baking front I made a scrumptious banana and blueberry cake and did a little fancy brown sugar and apple upside down treatment in the ring before pouring in the batter. YUMMO! Also a very small bowl of plum jam made from only 3 plums. Very tasty but alas a very small amount. I also made some cherry preserves from cherries I ordered from Tasmania. I am very slowly getting the hang of the jam/preserving skill but the cherries were a little caramelised but still luscious.

Thrifting has been going gang busters, so much so that we have invested in a ute to aid in our operations! It makes a huge difference to what we can pick up. As you can see by the photos it has a little more room than my regular car. It is amazing what I have fitted in this Mazda! I am not really looking forward to parting with her when we leave. I bought this car brand spanking new in 1994, it still only has 125,000 kilometres on the clock, has been as reliable as a swiss watch and is in great condition for her age. She has a few minor issues like the missing hub cap but nothing that affects the ride.

But I must say I am LOVING our ute! So much fun to know that you can just throw anything in the back! Woot!
A little more tweaking of the payment side of things and our Etsy shop diegoagogo will go live for sales this week. Here is a sneak peak at one of the items available.
Will try to do a thrift share entry tomorrow, so come back and check for the photos of some of our other finds.
Love
Lush

Sunday, January 16, 2011

London Calling!

It has been a week of big excitement here at the old hacienda. We like everyone else in the known universe at this time of the year have been reviewing the last & planing for the next year. As part of this we have been thinking that The Prince needs to move on from his current role at work. Then out of the blue The Prince has been offered not one but 2 jobs in London! Eeep!!
An overseas stint has always been bubbling away in the back of our heads but we did not think it was time yet because of the GFC etc.
We are now seriously considering the offers. It is very dependent on numerous factors but it could be a go.
Stay tuned for more info as it comes to hand!
In thrifting news, we have a new phenomenon occouring - lots of the neighbours now know about our little venture and they get so excited if they are about when the truck comes home fully laden. It reminds me of Christmas chats with the neighbourhood kids comparing ones haul. Well last night one of our neighbours was about and when she saw the BBQ we found (awesome bit of kit!! thanks Paddington) she excitedly asked if she may purchase same. We of course are happy to sell and not have to photograph and do the listing thing so win win!!
We had a lovely weekend hosting our friend who has just had a very nasty break up but we kept her busy and distracted with our company. We had two lovely trips to the pool one a regular concrete pond and the other a glorious ocean pool with terrific views of the beach and cliffs. Very restorative on what has been a sweaty hot weekend!
Well back to the coal face for me,
Love what you do.

Lush xox

Monday, January 10, 2011

New pictures

Hey check out my new profile picture! Here I am with one of the minions who does the typing for me.

They are easy to train these hoomans but you have to keep at them.

Love
Diego Pavlova xox

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Jammy Dodgers!

Tried my hand at making jam today. Ginger, peach and nectarine. A little dark cause it caught a bit on the side of the pan but all up not bad for a first try. Just a little yummy.





And in even better news The Prince took the pipe off the bathroom sink and found the lost crown!!!(days after it wentdown) It was comedy gold - eating a caramel lolly I should not have been, out comes the crown and straight down the sink as I was trying to clean it!!
Whoo hoo!!! No $2000 bill for me, 20 minutes at the dentist and the crown is back on the tooth and I am cooking steak for dinner. Not even a wrinkle in the cape - my hero!!


Do what you love, love what you do.


Lush



Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Woof!

Random dog: "Hooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll" "Bark bark bark bark bark bark bark bark abrk bark bark bark" Hooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwlllllllllll" Repeat for hours on end.
The Prince: "That dog must drive the neighbours nuts!!"
Queen: "Honey, We ARE the neighbours!!!"


And lets not mention the guy out the back who is really into Jimmy Barnes or the new neighbour who LOVES disco! They both love it loud. Really loud. And the same tracks over and over and over.


So much for a quiet 2 weeks at home. Le sigh. LOL


And now random kitteh pictures.








Not often I get a front shot of Ms Flynn but she was humoring me this day.


Movie of the day was Toy Story 3 - excellent fun.


Toy Story 3 Poster


Highly recommended, no matter your age.


Have fun people, this is not a dress rehearsal.


L x

Monday, January 03, 2011

Hello 2011!!!

It has been such a busy month, so busy I have not had time to record it all! So much for my plan to record life as it happens. LOL
Anyhoo, here goes with a snapshot of December 2010. 4/12 we did the markets but it rained so we decided to go home. Of course it started to cleat up just as we had the car half packed. Dilemma, stay? go? We went and vowed to stay home next time it rained. See learning opportunity, huh huh? We did the markets again the following week and discovered that it is not worth having both of us spend the whole day. Next time we will do half a day each. Still learning.
The good stuff of the month  - 9/12 - The Prince and I going to the Paddington night markets with our goddaughter The Duchess & my mate Claire. Had fun wandering around in veritable solitude. Felt so sorry for the stall holders. Christmas shopping in Sydney seemed to be a non event - I think thrift has become the new black.
14/12 The Man-Child and I went out to Olympic stadium to see U2 perform. Excellent show!! Took lots of pictures on my new HTC phone but can't for the life of me work out how to load them to my laptop. Oh well something to learn this year. Thank you to my wonderful sister for the tickets and the opportunity to spend some quality time with the MC - much needed especially at this time.
19/12 gathering of the Girls Club at CM's place - great to catch up and spend a little time together. The Prince and I had bought lollies from our childhoods and I made a "mixed bag" for each of us and also a lolly necklace. This had us strolling down memory lane discussing our favourites. We also played a fantastic game of "Articulation" (I think that was the name). Had to describe the thing without saying the name. More difficult than you think especially as we were under the clock.
25/12 - The Prince, the Man-Child and I had a lovely brunch, pancakes, bacon, eggs, fruit and present swapping. MC gave me a lovely set of table cloth weights which I have wanted for ages! Very laid back and relaxing, just the way to start the day. The Prince and I went on to a very late lunch at his Aunt & Uncles which was more the traditional chaotic family affair. More yummy food and presents. A bag of mulled wine mix from Aunt M - LOVE LOVE LOVE the mulled wine!!! I became addicted in London in January, love the smell. Just the thing for a cold day, will have to save it for winter.
26 -28/12 The Prince and I stole away for a few days by the sea which was lovely even if it rained, the people on the next balcony were chain smokers so we had to keep our door closed and the hotel facilities we most wanted were closed for our stay!!! LOL Seriously, we had a lovely relaxing time with some great food for dinner one night at a Greek place then the next at a Brazilian place. YUM!
Unfortunately the month also had it's sadness and on 12/12 I accompanied the MC to his Father's funeral. The loss is a hard one for the MC to bear and I feel so sorry for him. I only hope that my love and his getting a job in the new year will give him some purpose and ease his struggles and assist to get him through this very sad time. Time will tell.
30/12 saw me farewelling a quilting friend, gone too soon and missed terribly by us but especially by her loving husband. Strength and love to you C.
31/12 the Prince and I went to a local park to sit on the hill with lots of people and watch the fireworks on Sydney Harbour, very pretty indeed. We were lucky as we could see fireworks in several suburbs from our vantage point and we were home and tucked in our beds by 11pm. We neither of us are much into the late night party thing.
New Years Day we hosted friends on the Big Deck and the Prince cooked up a storm of duck, goose, salad and veggies with lovely grilled nectarines for dessert. Terrific way to start the year. Great company, great food and good weather. What more could one want?
The year has only just started and already a good friend has lost his beloved Mother after losing his Father last year. Love an best wishes to you my friend.
As is often the way the universe has a way of delivering balance and in this vein I am so happy to see the safe delivery of a gorgeous baby girl to my best mate, her partner and a very proud Daddy. Congratulations guys!! So very, very glad to hear this news and really looking forward to seeing you all soon. I have several presents for baby and will post photos once I hand them over.
For the coming year I am looking at how to balance my life and stay sane and something I found on Bonnie Hunter's blog http://quiltville.blogspot.com/ will help to keep me focused I hope.
secrettohappiness1

Some of these things I do now but it is good to keep them in mind.
Watch this space.
Do what you love, love what you do.
Cheers
Lush x