Just to make you envious, Winifred!

After your comments about weather in UK at the moment, Winifred, I just had to put this pic of my new beach towel drying in the sun!  (I'm horrid, aren't I?)  But wait a few weeks and I'll be complaining bitterly about the humidity.  There is nothing worse than an Australian summer, no, not even a UK winter!!!!!!!

Please send me some pics as snow looks really pretty.

I haven't put my house on the market yet, but have been to a conveyancer and it won't be long before I do.  These weeks of waiting are hard to bear, but there's no other way of doing it.  Plenty of time to mentally adjust to the idea of moving...I'm more than happy to be going.  I absolutely love my Newcastle home but will love my new one just as much and will have the added bonus of being with the family.

Soon be there...

I found this pic online.  It was taken somewhere near my new home, in the national park.  Not much is happening at the moment - I'm really just waiting till I can actually move.  Have been reading old diaries and deciding which ones to throw out.  Interestingly, not a lot has changed in my life - Philip, home, friends, Molly then Muffy and of recent years my daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.  Life is steady and there have been no real changes apart from stopping and starting a business.

I've always stuck to the same hairdresser, dentist, doctor and so on for as long as possible, and I'll go back to the doctor I had in Sydney when I lived there if he is still taking patients.  Here in Newcastle, many doctors have closed their books and, even when you can find one, you often have to wait weeks for an appointment.  I'll come back to Newcastle for the dentist, hairdresser and masseuse.

Yippeeeeeeee!

It's ours!!!!!!!  Yesterday I drove a couple of friends to see the new house and of course had to take a photo of the SOLD sign as I find it so hard to believe!!!!!!!!  We couldn't go in, as tenants are still living there, but were satisfied just to look from the outside.  A man was walking with his daughter, grandson and dog, so asked if we were the new buyers and introduced himself and had a long chat.  He's lived nearby for 30 years and loves it.

We drove all round, admiring the beautiful homes and gardens, then went to the very end of the street the school is in and found this:

Next stop was coffee and cake here:

This is the Wahroonga shopping village, one of my favourite places in the world, and it's not 10 minutes away from the house!!!!!!!!!!!

Then we went to another one of my favourite places, Parkers Nursery, where we had another cup of coffee:



Talk about being in Seventh Heaven!

Must go swimming now, then have my last piano lesson before starting with a new teacher in Sydney.

It's on!

Lina the Tosser is coming tomorrow, so I'm going to be one jump ahead of her and made a start on the study about 5am and have already binned about 10,000 receipts.  What a waste of money, buying all that stuff in the first place!!!!!!  Oh dearie me, what to do with old photos, old cards (I have an entire 7-drawer chest full), letters (I have some written by my late father to my late mother from Papua New Guinea about 60 years ago), ornaments, pictures and wall hangings, CDs, spare paper, etc, etc, etc??  I also have an entire row of diaries in the bottom of a cupboard.

Some things, like records of all the private students who passed through my hands, will not be so hard to throw out.  I got rid of my uni notes a year or so ago.

From now on, as I promised yesterday, I will only buy things that can be eaten or drunk (except for packing boxes, five of which I bought early this morning).

The best swim of my life

Have just started back in the ocean pool and when I arrived about 8 o'clock this morning, there wasn't a soul in the water!  It wasn't a fine day like this web photo  - it was raining and the water was choppy, just the way I like it.  It was absolute heaven.  One or two other people joined me after a while, and 20 or so police arrived to do water rescue drill.  They dived in fully clothed, shoes and all.  It was interesting to watch them.

Great to have you back, Frank.  I've been missing your comments for a long time.
Sensible advice about getting rid of stuff.  I have things I haven't used in years!!!!!!!!!  It will be a great feeling to start afresh and I swear to you all I'll never buy another thing unless it can be eaten or drunk.

Open Garden

Visited this open garden this morning, invited by a friend who knows the owners.  What a magnificent property it is, with hectares of garden.  My favourite pic is this one of the pool.  Check out some more photos if you'd like to:    http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2010/11/10/3062646.htm?site=&xml=3062646-mediarss.xml#bigpicturepos.  Of course, I'm very much into houses now, as you can imagine.

My thoughts on how to manage my move are evolving.  Had a furniture removalist come the other day to do a quote but have since decided to get rid of almost everything I own and make a fresh start in the new house.  Getting rid of piles of junk will be such a load off my mind.  Also thought I'd sell the house myself, bypassing an agent who would charge 5% commission for doing what I can do.  Houses round here sell like hot cakes.

At last...

If you are a good customer, I've already emailed details of my new home-to-be.  This will be my sitting room, and we'll put a kitchen in at the opposite end.  I know I said I wouldn't move with the family, but this house and area are to die for (which I will no doubt do, in due course) and the temptation was too great.

Good advice, Winifred.  I've actually rung an electrician who is coming this afternoon to fix the broken light fitting and attach the remaining rice paper shade.  Will need to attend to various little things each day now, till the house is in tip-top condition.

The things that frazzle me:

I am inordinately pleased with myself if ever I manage to do the least little thing round the house.  Today I have managed to put up two out of three rice paper shades.  The third connection is broken so I will have to send for an electrician.  I'm sure most people would think nothing of doing such a simple job, but I agonise over such things, thinking they must surely be beyond me, and get a big thrill and surprise when anything turns out right.

The other day I amazed myself by putting air into the tyres of my car.  Once upon a time driveway service was the norm, but for years now - about 30- you've had to do it yourself.  I tried once and the hose made such a hissing noise I was afraid I was letting more air out than was going in, so abandoned all hope and simply drove for 30 years without ever checking my tyre pressure.  But the other day when I was filling up with petrol, I saw a bloke putting air into the tyres of his motorbike, so went over and asked did he mind if I watched, as I wanted to learn how to do it myself.  These days there is a kind of box where all you have to do is enter the number you want, attach the hose and it all happens automatically!  Easy peasy.  I was up to the fourth and final tyre when a big black car pulled into the area and a Pakistani bloke got out and took the hose from me and finished the job for me!  I said, 'Oh for the days of driveway service.'  He said, 'Ask me.'  When I asked him where I was likely to find him in the future he pointed to the building.  He must have been the boss.  (Most of our service stations are run by Pakistanis, don't know why.)  But I won't need to, as I can now do it myself, Clever LIttle Sausage that I am!

I just amazed myself!

You all know how much I loathe and detest paper work - well, when I got back from swimming in the rain this morning I came into the study, put the heater on, and decided to actually do some sorting out.  I'd received a brochure in the mail offering 25% discount for house and contents insurance with the same company that insures the car.  So I decided to look into it and have actually saved myself $394!!!!!!!!!!!!  Amazing.

I also managed to burn some CDs of my reading workbooks for a teacher friend, something I've had no luck with for ages.  One particular book, Part A, for some incomprehensible reason, would corrupt itself and not allow itself to be printed.  I tried to trick it by copying an old one and burning this onto a separate CD.  I'll post both CDs to her and see if it works.

Winifred, I'm glad you had success with pelargoniums and geraniums in sunny Spain - mine are being eaten!

Michael, I have indeed received your mails, for which I thank you and apologise for not having acknowledged them sooner.

That black hose in the background of the photo is my vacuum cleaner, waiting to be used...I can't do everything today, so it will just have to wait.