Humphrey Bear goes Gangnam Style....

OK this song still drives me nuts but this is kinda cute lol.......who doesn't love Humphrey Bear

This was filmed in Adelaide,,,my home town and of course home to Humphrey Bear :)

Healesville Sanctuary on a beautiful Spring Day

On Sunday we decided to break away from our tradition of late of going into the City.  It seemed we were spending way too much time of our weekends around markets, shops and the City area.  I wanted fresh air and green around me.

The weather on Sunday was beautiful.  It was cool in the shade but quite warm in the sun.  We went out to Healesville Sanctuary, a place that we had never been before.  The drive there took us through beautiful countryside and long winding roads.  We found an area just ten minutes from where we are now that Hubby and I both declared we would love to live one day.  It is country but still close to our area, in fact it is still basically the same suburb but you would think you were a world away.

Anyway, back to Healesville.  The sanctuary is actually covered under your Zoo membership when you join up.  In Victoria , a visit to the  Zoo is a much cheaper option than back in Adelaide.  If you go on the weekend or in the school holidays children under 16 are free,,,,a huge savings when you have a few kidlets with you!  Hubby and I decided that since it is our first year here and we hadn't been to the zoos here, that we would get a membership.  It cost us $184 for a yearly membership which also includes the kids.  For that, we can go to either the Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary and Werribee Open Range Zoo as many times as we like.  Also we are covered for zoos in other states as well (sadly we probably won't get to visit any others but at least we can if the opportunity happens to arise lol).

So on Sunday we ventured to Healesville and it was a beautiful day.  The only thing that disappointed us was there there was no where for the kids to actually pat the kangaroos or anything for that matter really.  It is definitely treated more as an animal sanctuary rather than allowing people to mingle with the animals.  In Adelaide there is the Gorge Wildlife Park which is truly fantastic.  You can walk in amongst the kangaroos, hand feeding them and they also do koala sessions where you can actually hold a koala free of charge and take photos etc.  Its  great for the kids to be able to have this sort of interaction with animals I think.  At Healesville you have to pay a further $25 per person for the animal interaction session which only lasts for 10 minutes!  Way too commercialised for my liking.  But overall, this Sanctuary is a beautiful place to visit and we will be returning here, next time with a picnic lunch.  One thing I did like was the dingos walking around the park with their keepers.  Once again you weren't allowed to touch but to be able to get nice and close to these beautiful animals was amazing, especially for the kids (we left with pleas of "Can we get a dingo puppy??" lol).

I will leave you with some photos of our day,,,,excuse the picture quality, I left my camera behind and only had my phone with me :(

The gorgeous dingoes

Little Poser :)

The Lineup

Lyrebird - so pretty

My boys having a rest

Zooperman - yet another superhero wearing his undies on the outside lol

The beauty and elegance of a Wedge Tailed Eagle

Gorgeous little orphan wombat the sanctuary is raising

Amazing wood carving

My little Zooperman

and a not quite as willing Zooperman lol

Sunbathing Pelicans

My boys posing with an Emu statue,,,,,you will just have to believe me that there is an emu statue there somewhere lol

Can you see the platypus

In the animal hospital

Also in the Animal Hospital

Red Kangaroos

More kangaroos,,,,I think these were Eastern Greys but can't be sure

Who doesn't love a koala

Have a beautiful day everyone!!

Monday morning Chilling Out

Can you believe it is Monday again!!!

These weeks are just flying by which means Christmas will soon be upon us.  This year I am the most unorganised I have EVER, and I mean seriously EVER been for Christmas.  Up until last Thursday I had not one present,,,,now I have a few stocking fillers but that is about it.  You would think only have two kidlets here with me, I would be super organised but nope it sure ain't working like that.  I think not have the other kids plays havoc with your emotions and just totally frazzles your brain and you end up not achieving anything.

But we must keep plodding on and I'm sure it will all turn out in the end.

Here are a few pics of my furry friends this morning......

Dopey in his favorite morning position in Mr10/s window

 

Mojo sunning himself (he is so over due for a clip and a bath,,,,,,,this week I really need to do him he is matted mess because every time it has rained he runs around in the rain and then rolls in the grass and turns into a nightmare dog lol)

Here is Shadow,,,,excuse the pic taken through the window, I didn't want to wake her

Smudge is also enjoying the warmth

This weekend, we finally got our butts into gear on Saturday and put together our new veggie gardens.  Originally hubby was going to build our own but these lighter coloured ones you can see were on special at Mitre 10 a few weeks ago for just $17 each.  They measure 1.2 x 1.2 metres and stand about 30cms tall.  For that price we couldn't really go wrong.  I would have liked taller ones but realistically since the budget is tight, the cost of filling the bigger ones would have meant they would have sat around empty, whereas the 5 we have (the one on the left is one from our old house we managed to bring with us) will only take approximately 2 tonne to fill.  So budget wise this is it for this year at least.

I apologise for this being taken through the window screen,,,was avoiding the dogs doing their over excited jump up routine every time I walk out the door lol

So now we just need the garden fairy to pay a visit and fill these up with soil and plant us out some veggies (and hope like crazy that the dogs don't destroy the little seedlings too).  I like to grow from seed but this year I think it is just going to have to be seedlings since I don't even have my box which contained my seeds here yet.....we still have boxes at Hubby's work that we haven't bought home!!!

Tomorrow I will be back to share some other photos of the weekend :)

My child is obsessed with Psy and Gangnam Style...

Just in case you haven't heard the song, here is the video clip.......

This song is seriously driving me nuts at the moment lol.  You can guarantee if I get in the car, its on.  If I turn the radio on at home, its on.  Then Mr10 comes home from school and has his computer time and it echoes throughout the house as he attempts to learn the song and the dance,,,sshhhheeeeessshhhh someone save me!!!!!

Trying to find my old Mojo

Since moving to Victoria I have found I almost don't know myself any more lol,,,,,let me explain.

In my "old life" back in Adelaide I was a pretty organised kind of person.  Not that I ever had a spotless house or a house where everything had a home and everything was in its place, no, I was more of a chaotic organised kind of person.  My house would never make the pages of Home Beautiful and my kids are far from perfect little angels but my life was organised.  I knew where things were even if clutter ruled our lives.  I knew what was coming up in the kids lives, I knew what was coming up in mine and Hubby's life and I knew that my cupboards and freezers were full of food "in case" it was needed.

Since moving here, my life isn't quite so smooth sailing.  While trying to find our place, I feel we have all become a little lost.  Hubby is settling in at work but I am struggling with it due to the amount of travel he has had and the last minute nature.  Out of 5 trips he has had so far, 4 of them have been the kind where he arrives home from work to inform me that he will be leaving at 4am the following morning and will be gone for 2 days and the other was his trip to Germany where he basically had 6 days notice that he would be gone for 8 days.  These trips tend to create chaos in my head.  I often sit here and wonder how I would have dealt with it if we had all 6 kids here to contend with.  With just the two kids, it is an inconvenience but not a major deal (well it is but you know what I mean lol).  These two kids don't do any extra curricular activities as yet so it is just school things to handle.  If I had all 6 kids here, I would have to deal with part time jobs, soccer training and games and if it was the same as in Adelaide, swimming lessons as well.  This job has changed us and it was something that I wasn't prepared for as this job supposedly wasn't going to have alot of travel.

The house here is a nice one, more modern than our old one but also considerably smaller.  Therefore we are still in the process of trying to find homes for things and working out what will stay and what we will get rid of.  Right now it is looking cluttered and I find myself cleaning around things all the time as it is just too time consuming to move everything.  This isn't how I wanted it to be and I am trying to address this problem as rapidly as I can.

The garden, well I should say the weedy grass, is something that is getting to me too.  I miss our veggie garden even though it was only small and basic.  Last week I purchased 4 small raised garden beds - you know the type that just consist of 4 bits of wood joined together.  I really want to start getting some things in the ground but they are sitting in the shed in pieces as we need the budget available to fill them with dirt/compost etc.

We have plans, so many plans but not the time nor the budget to get it done.  I have the time but sadly my back has been creating havoc for me and it is hard enough to get through the general housework at the moment without worrying about the gardening too.

Another problem is my food storage that I had painstakingly built up in Adelaide has gone.  I have a chest freezer and extra fridge that were always full in the old house, sitting here doing nothing.  I am operating with just the one fridge/freezer which is a first for me since my eldest boys were tiny little tackers.

We did manage to get solar panels installed on our roof, yay!!!  We have 16 panels (a 4KW system).  They got installed 2 weeks ago and were turned on last week by the inspection guy.  Now we just have to wait for the power company to come and reconfigure our meter so that the power we produce will actually feed back into the grid.  We missed out by two days.....2 days!!!....of getting paid 25 cents/kwhour for the power we produce and are now only going to get a measly 8 cents.  I'm not impressed but at least I do have the advantage that since I do stay at home that I can get my washing and main power consuming jobs done during the day and be operating on some free power!

So I have resorted to making lists of things that I want to achieve and get done.  I know this house can look good.  I have painting on the agenda and a verandah to get installed along the side of the house and some fence extensions.  First and foremost though has to be getting the clutter under control!!!

On a happier note......

My nephew and his wife had their second baby on Tuesday, another little girl.  They now have the beautiful Emasyn and cute little Jorja.  I can't wait until I can have a cuddle at Christmas time!!

Yesterday I crocheted up a little cardigan for her for when she is a little older.  I need to go shopping and find some cute little buttons for it but here is a sneak peak....

This was such an easy one to whip up.  I was amazed that I could successfully produce something that actually looks like it may be wearable lol and all in the space of about 3 hours!!!  Its far from perfect but I am pretty pleased with the way it has turned out.  I may actually try to make one for Emasyn too and see how I go.  The inspiration for this little creation came from Helen and if you follow her link you will find the pattern on Ravelry. I only discovered Helen's blog yesterday and she does some gorgeous crochet work.  Today I am spending a little time exploring her blog a little more :)

I have never made anything clothing related before and the fact that this cute little cardigan is crocheted up in just one piece gave me the confidence to just give it a try.  I have a feeling these two little great nieces of mine may well be going to get a little spoilt by me lol.  I only have boys and a tomboy for a girl so being able to spoil some little girls with crocheted items is a real novelty and I have so many ideas.......I just hope their mum doesn't mind crocheted/handmade things for her girls!!

The trip to Adelaide.....novelty is wearing off very fast on this one!

As many of you know, each school holidays now that we are in Melbourne, consists of us doing two return trips to/from Adelaide.  One to pick up the other kids and one to return the other kids.  The way we are doing this is to drive over there leaving early on Saturday morning.  My younger two boys stay with their Dad on Saturday night (hubby and I have to find accommodation) and then leave early Sunday morning for the trip back.  It is an exhausting weekend with about 18 hours spent driving.

The trip isn't a bad one.  It is reasonably scenic but at the same time when it is done regularly it seems a little neverending.  The best invention ever would have to be portable DVD players lol.  They have truly been our saving grace for these trips.  We have travelled this road 9 times in the space of 12 weeks, each trip lasting 9-10 hours and my younger two boys have been with us each and every trip.  My youngest, Mr10 loves the trips (how long this enthusiasm will keep up for is anyone's guess!).  Hubby is getting good use out of his inverter (converter?),,,,hmmm whatever that thing is you plug into the cigarette lighter and it allows you to run power from lol.  This along with the dvd players would have to have been money well spent.  Of course, we are also keeping the DVD industry in business now too as we have bought quite a few new DVDs over the last 6 months (thank goodness for Ebay).

I started making a crochet blanket to take with me on these trips.  I do find though that the majority of the time I tend not to do it.  I'm not the sort of person that can sit still for ages and when I'm home I tend to crochet and wriggle, crochet and wriggle,,,,,,,you can't quite achieve wriggling and crocheting a blanket as successfully in a car.  I found also that as my blanket is getting bigger (it is a huge crochet granny square,,,,well its not huge but it is growing lol) that it is just too warm to do in the car.  I kept turning the air con up or winding down windows and then everyone got cranky with me cuz they were too cold lol.  So needless to say my idea of something easy and relatively mindless to do in the car, isn't quite working out.  I think I will have to make something smaller and just follow a pattern as best I can while doing car trips.....either that or do a blanket like my previous one which requires many small granny squares!

Anyway, I thought I would share a few of the pics I took along the way too and from Adelaide,,,,,,strictly scenery this time (sorry the windscreen shots show a pretty horrible looking windscreen lol!!)

Approaching the city from the Citylink road showing the Aami Park roof on the right

Entering onto the Westgate Bridge

Westgate Bridge

Westgate Bridge (you can't get a decent photo over the sides since the tragedy with the father and daughter happened a while back they have installed barriers right along it)

View from the Majestic Minima which is on Melbourne Street, North Adelaide

The Minima stands for minimalistic rooms - only 14m2

Tiny but perfectly fine for a 1 night stay

The morning view from our room

Canola Fields

Entering Melbourne - Westgate Bridge

The Harbour

The entrance to the Burnley Tunnel which runs under the Yarra River - 3.4kms of darkness (Can you tell I hate tunnels lol,,,,especially ones which run underneath a river!!!)