More of what we've been up to lately

I could not resist a few more beautiful nephew pics ...
He's walking now... and saying some words in Polish. He seems to understand quite a bit in both languages.
Here's something I did in November. A group of us ESL teachers got together and we took a group of grade 6 & 7 students from several schools into the city. It was a really good day out actually!They sketched the Town hall and the Story Bridge.
They even did work! They answered questions about every place we saw -- it was a lot of fun! We had some great conversations. Brilliant kids :)

Just about 1 and a half weeks of school left. Then I'll be home for a 5 week summer. December 15th and I'll be free! plenty of time on my hands... more work on the house and garden I hope. I'm keen to start painting all the doors! So give me a call or stop by sometime... happy summer ;)

Some After shots - long overdue

For those of you who haven't had a chance to see it yet, here's an idea. But you must forgive the pre-Christmas mess on the dining table. There's a LOT of work to be done this time of year...and it's so nice to have the space to spread it out on :)

Some may have said that we got into the spirit of Christmas just a tad early... I really wanted to remember some traditions around thanksgiving this year. So we decided to celebrate it in our own little family way. After a long day of work and report-card writing, we set up the tree and decorations on Thanksgiving Thursday night. while we listened to good old Christmas music and waited for just a half of a small turkey to roast. It took 3 hours. unbelievable. We didn't get to eat until nearly 9:00! But it was a fun and festive night nonetheless.

A shot of our lounge-room pre-Christmas decorations. Now there's a nice little bunch of fake poinsettas, but it wasn't really worth photo-ing.

My roses blooms are gone now. They were gorgeous all through October and a few days of November. Now I think they're just sadly lacking water. Don't know if I should spoil them with buckets of it though...don't know if they should get used to such a luxury item.

Another big event in October was nephew Sebastian's first birthday. It was Glorious baby-watching fun.

Turned out he wasn't quite sure what to make of his cake. He'd never had cake before. These cakes are gorgeous. I'd never seen this done before moving here, but it's a really simple kids' cake. It's basically just 2 thin cakes with whipped cream in between and on top. Then they top off the cake with fruit and jello (which here is known as jelly - don't get them confused. The stuff you put on toast is called jam. And it's acceptable on toast and pikelets - little pancakes- but not so common on sandwiches with peanutbutter cause who eats peanutbutter anyway?)

Well, that's about it for that lot. I'm afraid I haven't got many words at the moment, since so many of them are going into my reports. Just 2 more weeks of school...and it's that crazy year-end + Christmas crunch time. But I have got a few more photos to share in the next blog.

:)

Before and During

So here is what our house has looked like in the past month. Let's start in the kitchen. Yes, that was the kitchen & dining area before the house was officially ours - with the most lovely brown carpet you ever did see! That just had to go!

So we began the renovating process. Lots and lots of scraping and puttying... Dan and Uncle Terry were up at that ceiling for many hours of fun!

And then there was the painting. I reckon Pam had the most artistic touch of all -- she brough along her own special paintbrush! If you ever come to visit, be sure to notice the fine detail work on the bathroom ceiling!

And here we are - homeowners in our backyard. That was just after the work had begun...we were already a bit tired.

And Pam and Geoff enjoy a break under the mammoth Jacaranda tree.

There are more photos, but unfortunately, I can only choose 5 at a time to post. Computer's being real stubborn about that. So the AFTER shots will be forthcoming. :)

Our New Home

(Our Backyard garden & Gate)

Who knew moving in to your own home would be such exhausting, time-consuming work? And why didn't you tell us??!! We are stuffed! We need a holiday!

Ok, enough of the whinging. We are really loving living in this place!! Slowly by slowly, it's beginning to feel a bit more like home, and a bit less like this overwhelming-project-we-must -complete-by-a-certain-date. All the must-be-done's seem a bit more conquerable now... now that we have a kitchen -- the Lord-knows-why-it-was-there-in-the-first-place carpet in the kitchen is gone, the new faux-wood floors look and feel perfect, the kitchen stuff is unpacked. :) And in the study it's the same story, and we finally have a computer with working internet. Ah yes, relaxing can happen once again. And blogging :) (As the photos show, it's still a work-in-progress, still a very lived-in sort of place. not the kind of photos I'd want going to any home and Garden magazines just yet, but I wanted you to get a feel for where we live.)

It's still hard to believe it's actually ours. And that we won't be moving again for... years? Weird. Not moving. Having sheds and multiple rooms for storage. Having a guest room for people to visit from far away. I'm starting to feel like a real grown-up!

My garden is gorgeous! In the midst of all these must-be-dones, I find botanical surprise gifts -- literally in our own back yard. We have joyful pink-orange lillies, bunches of blue hydrangias, and my childhood favourites -- orange-yellow gladiolas in the front yard. It is the most beautiful welcome. Soon, I must learn how to take care of them!
Our Jacaranda tree is amazing. It began to bloom the very moment we and October arrived. Now its purple blossoms fall in much the same way as the leaves of Minnesota Maples in this month - sporadically and constantly, covering our yard with blankets of colour. I love it! (But our yard does desperately need a good rake and a lawn-mower!)

We really will have a house-warming bbq party at some point, but I have no idea when. When I feel our home is ready I guess. When somethings are on the walls and we have some sort of dining room table and a bbq and the lawn gets mowed...that would be a start. :) We'll let you know.
I've got to get to school. This is starting to be a really good term. I'm really enjoying it. Dan seems to be enjoying his new job as well. More responsibility, more projects and challenges...but he has to wear a tie every day now. More about work stuff later...if I can think of more to say :)
I'd love to hear from friends and family anytime... we think of you often, even in our busy-ness.
Lots of love :)

(I'm having a bit of trouble posting more photos here, so I'll post them seperately...coming soon!)