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As we’ve not yet mastered the art of getting trees to grow to the point where they’re useful for shade in a very short time we thought we should invest in something to provide us with a bit of respite from the very hot summer rays

there’s even a couple of extra walls that we can use to block the sun/wind from the sides. Not quite the usual square gazebo, but we figured we might need something just a bit more sturdy to cope with the usual summer “breezes”. Although pretty much as soon as we’d set it up we pulled it down again before the forecast very gusty nor’ westers hit. (Which they did. For days. Poor spuds aren’t liking it much.)

But should do us for a summer or two until we get something resembling some trees to lie under.

Yup, all the signs are there… Fruit trees covered in blossom:

Or about to be.

Lone daff in flower up by the gate waiting for its mates to pop.

Neighbours paddocks are filled with yummy looking lambs frolicking…

Willows down by the river have suddenly turned green.

Outer regions of the place are covered in dandelion flowers. And I have some radishes and peas up. Yup, it’s spring.

Of course what you can’t see and it’s difficult to get a picture of is the very strong gusty winds that we’ve been having that have made it not so enjoyable to be outside to enjoy it all. But this morning’s a pearler! Off to enjoy it.

My current occupation is housewife. It is therefore, apparently, one of my chores of the week to iron ‘the master’s’ shirts for the week so he can look well groomed at work (otherwise there will be a early morning blurry eyed debate on whether he can go to work without ironing said shirt). So this week I asked the wage slave for a new ironing board to ensure I have the best tools to carry out my tasks. Our current ironing board was a cheapy, and it was surely a perfect example of you do indeed get what you pay for: narrow, light and wobbly, and basically nasty.

But he did, he did indeed come through with the goods. Yep, it is the small things in life, but I am pretty happy with my new ironing board. It actually made ironing a pleasure-able experience today. In fact I think I might have been secretly smiling. It is wide, sturdy and even has a place on it to put a flag on it to alert everyone to the fact that ironing is taking place (apparently that’ actually for the cord so it can be kept out of the way). Lets see how long it takes before the novelty wears off.

All in all so far I would say it is well worth paying the extra dollars for a good one. My advice to all you budding housewives out there: don’t skimp on your board!

Slow news week. Not much has been happening here at all. Not even a cat up a tree.

But speaking of the the kitties, they do seem to be finding interesting places to sleep lately. I happened to walk past the bathroom and heard a bit of slopping from something. Wandering back to check it out I caught a glimpse of a little kitty cleaning his head with his front paws, as they do. I sneaked away and got the camera to catch the little shite in the act so Mike would believe me and not put the muddy kitty paw prints on the vanity down to the fact that I hadn’t filled up the kitty water bowl so he must’ve been looking for a drink.

Once he finished posing for the photo he got a short sharp shift!

Yes, this little rock hangs out in our kitchen, normally beside the egg timer. It’s a very quiet little rock. Doesn’t say or do much. We found it hanging out outside when the lawn was being prepared.

But it does perform a very important function in our lives. It keeps the lid of the rice pot more firmly squeezed onto the pot, hence avoiding too much spillage or steam seepage giving us a much cleaner stove and nicer rice.

Thanks, little stone!

Picture the scene: New Year’s day morning, 8 something AM. First thing we try to do in the new year goes horribly wrong when we turn on the washing machine and it starts dripping dribbling pissing water out of the bottom of the machine. Bugger. What a way to start the year!

And as it’s the summer holidays, trying to get hold of the commercial dealer guys that we got it through to find out what the warranty deal was took until the second week of Jan, then getting the fix-it guys out to have a look took another couple of weeks, then waiting for the required replacement part took another couple of weeks, then a last bit of swearing and cursing while I wrestled it into place…

So all up we’ve been without a working washing machine for forty-six days. Forty six days! That’s a lot of days! 12% of a year!

Huge thanks to everyone that’s supported us over that time with the loan of their machines over that time. Hopefully the veg has been enough payment for now.

And the problem? A tiny little hole in the main pipe caused by a tiny little mouse that (presumably) got lifted through the cat-door by Pinot one day or night and escaped into the machine and then got a bit thirsty and had a chew. Little bugger. And we suspect it might not be the last time this happens. But at least we know how to dismantle and reconstitute the machine now, so at least we can avoid the fairly hefty call-out fee in future.

Which leads me to digress as little from the initial subject to report that at around 5am this morning both kitties bought in a mouse. To our bedroom. That’s two mice at once, not both hanging on to the same one. Sigh. A bit of excitement and dancing around later we managed to get them out the door. Both the kitties and the mice.

We’re well used to Pinot bringing them in, but Fidget’s been a bit, well, slow to catch on to the whole catching them himself thing. Not quite sure how to feel about him finally working that out, but if the noise he was making when he came in was anything to go be he was very excited to have finally worked it out.

I think in the interests of open and unbiased reporting I should probably point out that his mouse was about a third of the size of the one Pinot dragged in.

We had a bit of wild weather here today. Not sure our drainage system knew how to cope with all the hail, and so decided just to dump it out on the ground instead.

I feel the need to point out:

• a) I only found this 20 minutes after it had stopped hailing; and
• b) This was on the sheltered side of the house!

…when puzzle mania takes hold of the house!

Yes, that’s right. January seems to be puzzle month. So we dusted off a beaut. About 2,500 pieces, if I can multiply right. And to make it more interesting we didn’t have a picture of what it looks like once complete (well we do, but we’ve no idea where it’s got to).

But we got there. Finally. Having run through the full gambit of puzzling emotions. The despair of feeling like you’re making no progress. The joy of finally putting in a piece. The frustration as the natural light gives way to artificial, and you then have to hold your head in just the right position to be able to see even the smallest portion of pieces…

We’ll see if we can face another one this month. Not sure yet. Ask me tomorrow.

A couple of weekends ago we took a bit of a break from our busy work schedule (hence lack of any posts lately – sorry!) and went to visit some newly born alpacas on a nearby work friend’s plot. Just to make things more interesting they were also shearing all the alpacas now that all the shows were over so they didn’t boil in the heat. It’s a bit different to sheep shearing. I’ve never seen a sheep needing to be tied down to get a haircut!

Here’s the big boy before his trim…

And after. Quite a change!

And yes, the baby ones were indeed quite cute.

“Box” seems to have been the order of the day. At the same time I was planting a line of English box across the front of the house, Bec was busy putting the last coat of stuff on the crate that contained our old TV when it was shipped from the UK.

The painter that was here sorting out a few remedial issues gave us the idea, suggesting a bit of work might make it something that might add a bit of colour and interest to the place. So a coat of stain and a couple of varnish later we’ve got something that will sit in a corner quite nicely for a bit. At least until something better comes to mind!

As for the front boxing, I think I managed to get it almost straight with the help of my trusty builders string. Any excuse and I’m likely to bring out my roll of string to much derision from Bec, but it’s worth it. I figure any small deviations will be able to be sorted out with a bit of pruning. Assuming it all grows! We’ve still got a spare plant or two if some of them don’t like their new homes.

As it’s the dark side of the house hopefully it won’t grow too fast. Twice yearly clipping sounds like enough work to me!