Thursday 1st December, 2011
As I was changing the calendar this morning it suddenly hit me.....it's December!!! Where has the last few months gone? It is officially the first day of Summer. Spring came and went, I know it was only a few months ago I couldn't wait for Spring and here it is, it's come and gone and I somehow missed it.
I had better get my butt into gear and do some Christmas shopping. I have made a start but need to do a lot more.
This last week has been hard. I know Tony has had a few sleepless nights thinking about this job offer in Brisbane. He said he would love to take the job but it's all the other things that goes along with it, like accomodation, packing up our house, organising to get it rented and so the list goes on.
Then yesterday we had another decision to make, whether to buy a new car or not. On Monday I had arranged to meet Tony at the Plaza. On the way, I called into the Village to go to the ATM, came back to the car and it wouldn't start. I knew it wasn't the battery as the radio still worked and all the lights worked.
I rang Tony to tell him about the car and to come straight to the Village. I rang the RAA and waited. They showed up after about half an hour, and after trying to start the car he got out his hammer, gave the starter motor a couple of hits and walla....it started.
We decided to take the car back home and walk back to the shops so that we could do some shopping. On Tuesday morning Tony left for work later than he normally does as he was hoping to get the car booked in to be seen to. Unfortunately they were booked out and so it was booked in for Wednesday.
I dropped the car off at the mechanics and Tony picked it up after work. When he collected the car he said that he got no further than just around the corner when suddenly he heard ping, ping, ping. Not knowing what it was he walked back to the mechanic and got him to come and have a look. He saw that the fan belt was perished.
They got the car back to the workshop, and luckily Repco were still open to get another fan belt, and so they replaced the old one at no cost to us. Norm, the mechanic, said that the fan belt should have been picked up during the service.
Now, this is where it gets technical and I have no idea what Tony was trying to explain to me. He mentioned something about a fly wheel and when we had the gearbox overhauled, the problem with that should have been picked up. It also must interact with the starter motor somehow.
Anyway further investigation is required and so Tony booked the car in again for Monday morning for them to have a look at it. If this needs fixing it will cost us well over $1000. There are also other bits and pieces that need doing like CV joints and the like.
I know that about 12 months ago we spent quite a bit of money on the car but we have had another 12 months use out of it. The car, a Nissan Pulsar, is 17 years old, done around 330,000 kms and I don't think Tony is prepared to spend any more money on it. It has been a great car and over the years we have had to spend minimal money on it, it's just been the last 12-18 months that major problems have started to arise.
Tony is hoping to be able to take Friday off so that we can go and look for another car. At the moment we are looking at buying either a Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3, Nissan Tiida or Hyundai I30. He spent all of last night on the web looking at and comparing cars. He also looked at the Puegot, Honda and Subaru.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Tony Is A Wanted Man!
Tuesday 29th November, 2011
This morning Tony had another phone call from Brisbane. It now appears that they want to fly us up there for a weekend so that we can go and look at apartments. They are also going to speak to the owners of the building that Tony will be looking after to see if they are prepared to pay our rent.
They told Tony that they WANT him and will do everything possible to get him up there. If we do go, I am getting quite emotional walking around my home and looking at all the items we may have to get rid off. Having gone through a cyclone and losing everything, I never thought I would be so attached to material things.
The latest on this saga is that they are still looking for an apartment for us.
This morning Tony had another phone call from Brisbane. It now appears that they want to fly us up there for a weekend so that we can go and look at apartments. They are also going to speak to the owners of the building that Tony will be looking after to see if they are prepared to pay our rent.
They told Tony that they WANT him and will do everything possible to get him up there. If we do go, I am getting quite emotional walking around my home and looking at all the items we may have to get rid off. Having gone through a cyclone and losing everything, I never thought I would be so attached to material things.
The latest on this saga is that they are still looking for an apartment for us.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Negotiations Are Still Continuing
Monday 28th November, 2011
Last night when we came home after dropping Katie off, Tony wrote a letter to decline the offer for the job in Brisbane, and he emailed it off. We had a lot of discussion about it over the weekend, and it just wasn't going to be financially viable for us.
This morning Tony rang me early. Brett, from Queensland had rung him and said that he would still like Tony to take the job and so to entice us up there he increased the salary. Unfortunately, it still wouldn't be enough to cover any rent we would have to pay. I went on to the website and rents vary from $350 up to over $1000 a week. Tony has to ring him back yet to say if he will accept it.
When Tony came home from work we looked at some of the rental apartments available. Those at the lower price end I would pass on, middle price range .........a couple looked OK, but at the higher end of the price range was where I would start looking. It's hard to get a feel for a place by just looking at it on the net.....you have to be there.
It also looks as if we would have to sell some of our furniture here as it wouldn't fit into an apartment. We are in a real dilemma. They would like Tony up there by the 1st January but that doesn't give us enough time to organise ourselves here, to pack up our house and get it ready to rent out.
Brett told Tony he would like to keep the line of communication open. The only communication I want to hear is.....we will cover all your costs (rent, relocation, storage)!
Last night when we came home after dropping Katie off, Tony wrote a letter to decline the offer for the job in Brisbane, and he emailed it off. We had a lot of discussion about it over the weekend, and it just wasn't going to be financially viable for us.
This morning Tony rang me early. Brett, from Queensland had rung him and said that he would still like Tony to take the job and so to entice us up there he increased the salary. Unfortunately, it still wouldn't be enough to cover any rent we would have to pay. I went on to the website and rents vary from $350 up to over $1000 a week. Tony has to ring him back yet to say if he will accept it.
When Tony came home from work we looked at some of the rental apartments available. Those at the lower price end I would pass on, middle price range .........a couple looked OK, but at the higher end of the price range was where I would start looking. It's hard to get a feel for a place by just looking at it on the net.....you have to be there.
It also looks as if we would have to sell some of our furniture here as it wouldn't fit into an apartment. We are in a real dilemma. They would like Tony up there by the 1st January but that doesn't give us enough time to organise ourselves here, to pack up our house and get it ready to rent out.
Brett told Tony he would like to keep the line of communication open. The only communication I want to hear is.....we will cover all your costs (rent, relocation, storage)!
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Crossed Wires!
Sunday 27th November, 2011
Someone had their wires crossed this weekend and it looks as if it was me. A planned quiet weekend was now going to be one of , "What are we going to do today?" Still, that's what makes life interesting.
On Friday I headed off into the city to meet up with Tony and while there we planned on doing a bit of Christmas shopping.
We went off and had our usual coffee and then to the Chemist to get his prescription filled. While there Tony's phone rang. It was Katie. "Hello Poppa," she said, "Where are you?" He handed the phone over to me. "Nanna," she said, "I thought I was coming to your house so that I could go and see Father Christmas". "No," I said, "That is next week". She was adamant that when we last spoke she said she was coming over this weekend. "OK", I told her, "we will come and pick you up".
We got the prescription and then went over to meet up with Kahra and Katie. After picking her up we headed back into the city and then went off to the Magic Cave. We were quite surprised, the lineup to see Father Christmas wasn't that long, maybe we had a wait of half an hour. She went into see him, and they had a good long talk with each other. It was hard to hear what they were talking about as there was a lot of whispering going on. When we came out she said, "Oh no,"I didn't even tell Father Christmas what I wanted." "Never mind" I said, "I did hear him say something about a surprise".
With that she was happy, and went off to ride the Carousel, and the horses, Nipper and Nimble.
It must have bothered her not letting Father Christmas know what she wanted, because she asked to go and see Father Christmas at Myer. So we headed off down there. She believes that Father Christmas at David Jones' Magic Cave is the real one, and the one at Myer is his helper. There was no lineup at Myer and so we went straight in. She made sure this one knew what she wanted.
Father Christmas was very impressed with her, and on the way out he commented to us on that fact. He said that she was a delightful, charming and very polite young girl. It was a pleasure to have her visit, he said.
She thought she had better write a letter to Father Christmas as well to make sure he really knew what she wanted.
I thought last year may have been her last year of believing in him, but this year she appears to be just as excited as ever, and we have had no mention of kids at school saying that he isn't real, or her asking if he is real or not. I know that that day will come and I am dreading it.
By now it was getting close to shop closing time (9.00pm) and we still hadn't eaten. Yikes!!! So off we went to Vili's for a much needed coffee and something to eat. On the way home we called in and filled up the water bottles. We also noticed that the Christmas Riverbank Display at the Brewery has been turned on, but we promised Katie that next time she came we would go and see that.
On Saturday we were up early and off to the shops as I didn't get any shopping done last night. While out we had breakfast and met up with some of the Christmas characters.
Did some grocery shopping to tie us over for the weekend, dropped it off home and then went to Bunnings. We needed some new fly wire for the front screen door.
Also called into the Good Guys (again....lol) and bought a new cordless vacuum cleaner. I love using them in between having to get the big vacuum out. My old one is needing a new battery and sometimes it works out cheaper to buy a new vacuum instead of replacing the battery.
We then thought we might take a drive into the hills and see if there were any cherries. We were in luck, we found most of the cherry places were open. We bought some at Kersbrook and then went to Kenton Valley and got some more. Even Katie enjoyed them this year.
We waited to see if he would show us his tail. After around 20 minutes we decided to leave and as we were getting into the car up goes his tail feathers. Katie quickly went and got a couple of photos.
We came back to the city and as it was now getting late we decided to go and have dinner at the Hampstead.
Sunday morning was spent lazing around. Tony replaced the fly wire in the screen door and Katie helped him put the door back. She said she really felt like she was working when Tony allowed her to use the drill.
We couldn't see too much of a difference. A new roof and some plants removed (making it feel more open) and that was it. Katie wasn't bothered, the pools were still there and she could still swim.
From the Lens............
On Friday I headed off into the city to meet up with Tony and while there we planned on doing a bit of Christmas shopping.
We went off and had our usual coffee and then to the Chemist to get his prescription filled. While there Tony's phone rang. It was Katie. "Hello Poppa," she said, "Where are you?" He handed the phone over to me. "Nanna," she said, "I thought I was coming to your house so that I could go and see Father Christmas". "No," I said, "That is next week". She was adamant that when we last spoke she said she was coming over this weekend. "OK", I told her, "we will come and pick you up".
We got the prescription and then went over to meet up with Kahra and Katie. After picking her up we headed back into the city and then went off to the Magic Cave. We were quite surprised, the lineup to see Father Christmas wasn't that long, maybe we had a wait of half an hour. She went into see him, and they had a good long talk with each other. It was hard to hear what they were talking about as there was a lot of whispering going on. When we came out she said, "Oh no,"I didn't even tell Father Christmas what I wanted." "Never mind" I said, "I did hear him say something about a surprise".
With that she was happy, and went off to ride the Carousel, and the horses, Nipper and Nimble.
It must have bothered her not letting Father Christmas know what she wanted, because she asked to go and see Father Christmas at Myer. So we headed off down there. She believes that Father Christmas at David Jones' Magic Cave is the real one, and the one at Myer is his helper. There was no lineup at Myer and so we went straight in. She made sure this one knew what she wanted.
Father Christmas was very impressed with her, and on the way out he commented to us on that fact. He said that she was a delightful, charming and very polite young girl. It was a pleasure to have her visit, he said.
She thought she had better write a letter to Father Christmas as well to make sure he really knew what she wanted.
I thought last year may have been her last year of believing in him, but this year she appears to be just as excited as ever, and we have had no mention of kids at school saying that he isn't real, or her asking if he is real or not. I know that that day will come and I am dreading it.
By now it was getting close to shop closing time (9.00pm) and we still hadn't eaten. Yikes!!! So off we went to Vili's for a much needed coffee and something to eat. On the way home we called in and filled up the water bottles. We also noticed that the Christmas Riverbank Display at the Brewery has been turned on, but we promised Katie that next time she came we would go and see that.
On Saturday we were up early and off to the shops as I didn't get any shopping done last night. While out we had breakfast and met up with some of the Christmas characters.
Did some grocery shopping to tie us over for the weekend, dropped it off home and then went to Bunnings. We needed some new fly wire for the front screen door.
Also called into the Good Guys (again....lol) and bought a new cordless vacuum cleaner. I love using them in between having to get the big vacuum out. My old one is needing a new battery and sometimes it works out cheaper to buy a new vacuum instead of replacing the battery.
We then thought we might take a drive into the hills and see if there were any cherries. We were in luck, we found most of the cherry places were open. We bought some at Kersbrook and then went to Kenton Valley and got some more. Even Katie enjoyed them this year.
We went back into Gumeracha and to the Giant Rocking Horse. Katie wanted to climb it. It was too late to wander in and feed the animals, but one of the peacocks had wandered outside of the enclosure. He was just laying in the grass, resting.
We waited to see if he would show us his tail. After around 20 minutes we decided to leave and as we were getting into the car up goes his tail feathers. Katie quickly went and got a couple of photos.
We came back to the city and as it was now getting late we decided to go and have dinner at the Hampstead.
Sunday morning was spent lazing around. Tony replaced the fly wire in the screen door and Katie helped him put the door back. She said she really felt like she was working when Tony allowed her to use the drill.
I cooked some fish for our lunch and then we went off to the swimming pool. The Aquatic Centre had just gone through a major upgrade and so we thought we would go and check it out.
From the Lens............
Thursday, November 24, 2011
A Job Offer
Thursday 24th November, 2011
I was having a quiet day until the phone rang. When I answered it, it was Tony. He asked me whether I was sitting down. Yes, I told him. He then proceeded to tell me that he had just had a phone call from his former employer asking him if he would be interested in taking a job in Brisbane. Whaaaattttt!!! I screamed.
He said that he couldn't talk to him properly as he was with a contractor and so the guy told him to ring him tonight. OMG what to do!! It would be a great opportunity.....as Tony said, think of it as a 4-5 year holiday. Yeah, but........
I can't help thinking, what do we do with all of our gear, there's too much to pack up and move it all to Brisbane. There's no way we would sell the house.......we would rent it out. Why didn't these opportunities present themselves 10-15 years ago? I wouldn't have hesitated, but we are nearing our twilight years and it's a big decision to make.
At the moment there's more cons than pros but there's no point getting too excited until Tony has a lot more information.
Tonight Tony rang the CEO of the company and at the moment he doesn't think he will take the job. Firstly the wages are about the same as he is getting here. If we moved up there we would have to rent a place and put a lot of our belongings into storage, and as we own our home that would be an expense that we don't currently have.
There is no point in going if you aren't going to benefit financially. I don't know if we want to spend the rest of our years living in Queensland. Like I said, if this opportunity presented itself 10-15 years ago we wouldn't have hesitated. We could have sold our house, purchased one up there and after 10 years or so come back here and set ourselves up ready for retirement.
It's still nice to think that even though Tony is going on for 66 years of age, he is still highly regarded as being capable of taking on another job. There are many people, younger than him, that are considered past their use by date.
I was having a quiet day until the phone rang. When I answered it, it was Tony. He asked me whether I was sitting down. Yes, I told him. He then proceeded to tell me that he had just had a phone call from his former employer asking him if he would be interested in taking a job in Brisbane. Whaaaattttt!!! I screamed.
He said that he couldn't talk to him properly as he was with a contractor and so the guy told him to ring him tonight. OMG what to do!! It would be a great opportunity.....as Tony said, think of it as a 4-5 year holiday. Yeah, but........
I can't help thinking, what do we do with all of our gear, there's too much to pack up and move it all to Brisbane. There's no way we would sell the house.......we would rent it out. Why didn't these opportunities present themselves 10-15 years ago? I wouldn't have hesitated, but we are nearing our twilight years and it's a big decision to make.
At the moment there's more cons than pros but there's no point getting too excited until Tony has a lot more information.
Tonight Tony rang the CEO of the company and at the moment he doesn't think he will take the job. Firstly the wages are about the same as he is getting here. If we moved up there we would have to rent a place and put a lot of our belongings into storage, and as we own our home that would be an expense that we don't currently have.
There is no point in going if you aren't going to benefit financially. I don't know if we want to spend the rest of our years living in Queensland. Like I said, if this opportunity presented itself 10-15 years ago we wouldn't have hesitated. We could have sold our house, purchased one up there and after 10 years or so come back here and set ourselves up ready for retirement.
It's still nice to think that even though Tony is going on for 66 years of age, he is still highly regarded as being capable of taking on another job. There are many people, younger than him, that are considered past their use by date.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Who Will It Be....Andrew, Reece Or Johnny?
Tuesday 22nd November, 2011
Over the last few months we have been watching the X Factor. Last night was Grand Final night. Three contestants are left.....Andrew Wishart (over 25 age group) Johnny Ruffo and Reece Mastin (the favourite to win) (male under 25 age group).
During the previous week all three of them were taken back to their hometowns, Andrew to Melbourne, Johnny to Perth and Reece to Adelaide. They were filmed meeting up with their family and friends and also performing at their local shopping centres.
Reece was filmed going back to his school which happens to be Golden Grove High, and also at his house, his family live at Greenwith. He performed at Tea Tree Plaza, there were so many people, around 5000 they estimated.
Soon after they aired this segment the phone rang. It was Katie, "Nanna I can't believe it." "What can't you believe?" I asked. "That Reece goes to Golden Grove High school, and we may have seen him at the shops when we go there. OMG Nanna he may live near you as when they showed his house it was down a hill just like your house is and when we go for walks we pass houses that look like his. Oh Nanna can we go past his school on a school day just to see if he is there?" I laughed, she was that excited about it all.
Tomorrow night we will see who wins. Reece, mentored by Guy Sebastian, is the hot favourite, at only 16 years of age and with the maturity of someone so much older, he has got an amazing voice. He loves singing rock.
Johnny, also mentored by Guy Sebastian, never had such a good voice at the start but as the show went on he has developed so much. His voice is so much better now and he loves to dance. He is the overall entertainer.
Andrew, was mentored by Natalie Bassingthwaighte, and being the oldest contestant at 40, had a good voice too. His voice is somewhere in between John Farnham and Jimmy Barnes.
Over the last few months we have been watching the X Factor. Last night was Grand Final night. Three contestants are left.....Andrew Wishart (over 25 age group) Johnny Ruffo and Reece Mastin (the favourite to win) (male under 25 age group).
During the previous week all three of them were taken back to their hometowns, Andrew to Melbourne, Johnny to Perth and Reece to Adelaide. They were filmed meeting up with their family and friends and also performing at their local shopping centres.
Reece was filmed going back to his school which happens to be Golden Grove High, and also at his house, his family live at Greenwith. He performed at Tea Tree Plaza, there were so many people, around 5000 they estimated.
Soon after they aired this segment the phone rang. It was Katie, "Nanna I can't believe it." "What can't you believe?" I asked. "That Reece goes to Golden Grove High school, and we may have seen him at the shops when we go there. OMG Nanna he may live near you as when they showed his house it was down a hill just like your house is and when we go for walks we pass houses that look like his. Oh Nanna can we go past his school on a school day just to see if he is there?" I laughed, she was that excited about it all.
Tomorrow night we will see who wins. Reece, mentored by Guy Sebastian, is the hot favourite, at only 16 years of age and with the maturity of someone so much older, he has got an amazing voice. He loves singing rock.
Reece is singing with Kylie Minogue and in my honest opinion he totally outshone her.
Johnny, also mentored by Guy Sebastian, never had such a good voice at the start but as the show went on he has developed so much. His voice is so much better now and he loves to dance. He is the overall entertainer.
Andrew, was mentored by Natalie Bassingthwaighte, and being the oldest contestant at 40, had a good voice too. His voice is somewhere in between John Farnham and Jimmy Barnes.
Good Luck to all three. They all deserve to win. I am sure they will all have careers in the entertainment industry.
The three finalists with Kylie Minogue..........
It is now Tuesday night and we have just finished watching the Grand Final Live Decider and the winner of X Factor for 2011 is.........
REECE MASTIN
The votes between first and second were very close (only 1% in it). Andrew came second and Johnny was eliminated earlier in the evening.
I am off to download Reece's single from ITunes now......"Good Night". Hope it's a hit for him!!!!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Our First Real Taste Of Summer
Friday 18th November, 2011
What a day!!! Predicted temperature for today is 37 degrees. Here it is , 7.00am and the temperature already is 27. They say for hayfever sufferers and asthmatics, make sure to take your medication as the wind will pick up later making it a horrendous day for all sufferers, and I am just getting over a bad case of sinus.
It took me to yesterday to start feeling better after having had sinus all week. Monday and Tuesday I just lazed around the house, whenever I tried to do anything my nose would drip like a tap. Wednesday I did improve but had that irritating cough. Still got the cough but I feel so much better today. I won't venture outside unless I have to.
As the day has gone on it has warmed up even more, latest temperature is around 35 degrees. The wind is blowing a gale outside. Earlier on in the day they were predicitng thunderstorms and some rain but where is it??? I have to go out later to do some shopping for the weekend. Hope the rain gets here by then.
Well, we didn't get any rain. It looks as if it missed Adelaide. We were right in the middle of 2 bands of rain that went either side. The temperature did drop a few degrees and the wind subsided but it's still warm outside. I went and did some shopping at the Village, Tony met me when he got off the bus and then we went and had coffee and then thought we might try Cafe Primo for dinner, here in Golden Grove.
They are always busy there, so we thought that must be a good sign. I ordered a Surf N Turf (it's schnitzel, instead of steak, and it came with prawns and served with a garlic sauce) and it was YUMMO!!! Tony had a Veal Scallopine and he said his was very nice too. A bit different to that other Cafe Primo we went to for Tanecia's birthday. The food was much nicer here.
The only downside.....their airconditioning had broken down and it was so hot eating inside. All the outside tables were taken. Still, the food made up for it.
Here it is now Monday, the weekend has come and gone. On Saturday morning Tony had to replace the light fitting in the study. On Thursday night I turned on the light in the study and it threw our power out. At first we thought we must have had a local power failure but the fridge light was on when you opened the door and so was the light for the oven.
Tony went to check the meter box and yep the meter had tripped, so he reset the RCD. I tried the light again and poof....out goes the power again. Back to the meter box, reset it and we have power. We have had trouble with this light for ages.......we had to keep replacing the light bulbs way too often.
Lucky we still had the light fittings from the hallway when I replaced those fittings, so Tony swapped one of them over and we haven't had any more trouble......yet. While in 'light' mode he then went outside and checked the solar lights. Most of them need new recharge batteries. I keep forgetting to check to see which ones work.
On Saturday night we had made arrangements to go out for dinner and a movie with Rick and Dianne. They wanted to go down to Semaphore and the movie theatre there and also for a meal at Wee Willie's Tavern.
Seeing they hadn't seen Red Dog, they said that they would like to see that movie. Even though Tony and I had already seen it we said we would go and see it again as it was an enjoyable movie. I must say, we both enjoyed it more the second time around. Rick and Dianne also enjoyed the movie.
After the movie finished we went to Wee Willie's. By now it was around 8.45 pm and they still cooked meals. We were the only ones there dining by this time, Tony and Rick had a seafood platter each and Dianne and I had schnitzels. Nice meal for a relatively low price.
When we went to the toilets we had to smile.......they were marked "Wee Willies" and "No Willies". Bugga!! I had forgotten to take the camera too. I ALWAYS have the camera in my bag, but not tonight.
It was a nice night, sitting and talking and eating. We got home around 12.30am.
On Sunday we had nothing really planned. Went and vacuumed out the back, seasoned the bar-b-que as we decided we would christen it by having a barbie for dinner.
Later in the afternoon we decided to go out and get Katie her Christmas present. We headed out to the Good Guys and got her an IPod touch (which she said she wanted). While waiting to get served I went and had a wander around, and came across these coffee machines. Hmmmm, I thought, they look OK.
After Tony paid for the IPod I just happened to slowly move him towards these coffee machines. While looking at them and trying to work out how they work a salesperson came along. She explained the function of them and as we already have a Senseo coffee machine (for which the pods are hard to buy) we thought this machine would nicely take the place of it.
They are made by DeLonghi and use Nespresso coffee pods. They had several models but the one we liked was the one that had the unit and milk frother all in one. Some models had the frother separate and so it needed two power points.
Also, they had the black one on special for $428. Of course the one I liked was the cream one and that was $498.
I jokingly told the salesperson that if we could have the cream one for $428 she would have herself a sale. She looks at me and said that she would have to go and speak to her manager first. Funnily enough he was standing just behind us and so off she goes and talks to him and when she came back she said we could have it for $420. Done....you have a sale!!
In the box they give 16 pods of different coffee to try. Yes, Robyn they have 3 varieties of decaffienated coffee, so you don't have to bring your own when you come to visit. So far we have tried 5 varieties and they have all been very nice. They are at different strengths and flavours, some described as how they describe a wine....fruity and full of flavour, fruity and delicate, floral and refreshing. And here's me thinking coffee is just.....well coffee.
Now I can have a latte, cappucino or a flat white any time of the day or night. The frother even froths cold milk for an iced coffee.
On Sunday night Tony cooked a barbie for us for dinner. Yum!!
Later on today I am going to cook a roast in the bar-b-que. Will do the vegies as well, so it will be interesting to see how it comes out.
From the Lens.........
What a day!!! Predicted temperature for today is 37 degrees. Here it is , 7.00am and the temperature already is 27. They say for hayfever sufferers and asthmatics, make sure to take your medication as the wind will pick up later making it a horrendous day for all sufferers, and I am just getting over a bad case of sinus.
It took me to yesterday to start feeling better after having had sinus all week. Monday and Tuesday I just lazed around the house, whenever I tried to do anything my nose would drip like a tap. Wednesday I did improve but had that irritating cough. Still got the cough but I feel so much better today. I won't venture outside unless I have to.
As the day has gone on it has warmed up even more, latest temperature is around 35 degrees. The wind is blowing a gale outside. Earlier on in the day they were predicitng thunderstorms and some rain but where is it??? I have to go out later to do some shopping for the weekend. Hope the rain gets here by then.
Well, we didn't get any rain. It looks as if it missed Adelaide. We were right in the middle of 2 bands of rain that went either side. The temperature did drop a few degrees and the wind subsided but it's still warm outside. I went and did some shopping at the Village, Tony met me when he got off the bus and then we went and had coffee and then thought we might try Cafe Primo for dinner, here in Golden Grove.
They are always busy there, so we thought that must be a good sign. I ordered a Surf N Turf (it's schnitzel, instead of steak, and it came with prawns and served with a garlic sauce) and it was YUMMO!!! Tony had a Veal Scallopine and he said his was very nice too. A bit different to that other Cafe Primo we went to for Tanecia's birthday. The food was much nicer here.
The only downside.....their airconditioning had broken down and it was so hot eating inside. All the outside tables were taken. Still, the food made up for it.
Here it is now Monday, the weekend has come and gone. On Saturday morning Tony had to replace the light fitting in the study. On Thursday night I turned on the light in the study and it threw our power out. At first we thought we must have had a local power failure but the fridge light was on when you opened the door and so was the light for the oven.
Tony went to check the meter box and yep the meter had tripped, so he reset the RCD. I tried the light again and poof....out goes the power again. Back to the meter box, reset it and we have power. We have had trouble with this light for ages.......we had to keep replacing the light bulbs way too often.
Lucky we still had the light fittings from the hallway when I replaced those fittings, so Tony swapped one of them over and we haven't had any more trouble......yet. While in 'light' mode he then went outside and checked the solar lights. Most of them need new recharge batteries. I keep forgetting to check to see which ones work.
On Saturday night we had made arrangements to go out for dinner and a movie with Rick and Dianne. They wanted to go down to Semaphore and the movie theatre there and also for a meal at Wee Willie's Tavern.
Seeing they hadn't seen Red Dog, they said that they would like to see that movie. Even though Tony and I had already seen it we said we would go and see it again as it was an enjoyable movie. I must say, we both enjoyed it more the second time around. Rick and Dianne also enjoyed the movie.
A scene from the movie, Josh Lucas with Koko (Red Dog)
After the movie finished we went to Wee Willie's. By now it was around 8.45 pm and they still cooked meals. We were the only ones there dining by this time, Tony and Rick had a seafood platter each and Dianne and I had schnitzels. Nice meal for a relatively low price.
When we went to the toilets we had to smile.......they were marked "Wee Willies" and "No Willies". Bugga!! I had forgotten to take the camera too. I ALWAYS have the camera in my bag, but not tonight.
It was a nice night, sitting and talking and eating. We got home around 12.30am.
On Sunday we had nothing really planned. Went and vacuumed out the back, seasoned the bar-b-que as we decided we would christen it by having a barbie for dinner.
Later in the afternoon we decided to go out and get Katie her Christmas present. We headed out to the Good Guys and got her an IPod touch (which she said she wanted). While waiting to get served I went and had a wander around, and came across these coffee machines. Hmmmm, I thought, they look OK.
After Tony paid for the IPod I just happened to slowly move him towards these coffee machines. While looking at them and trying to work out how they work a salesperson came along. She explained the function of them and as we already have a Senseo coffee machine (for which the pods are hard to buy) we thought this machine would nicely take the place of it.
They are made by DeLonghi and use Nespresso coffee pods. They had several models but the one we liked was the one that had the unit and milk frother all in one. Some models had the frother separate and so it needed two power points.
Also, they had the black one on special for $428. Of course the one I liked was the cream one and that was $498.
I jokingly told the salesperson that if we could have the cream one for $428 she would have herself a sale. She looks at me and said that she would have to go and speak to her manager first. Funnily enough he was standing just behind us and so off she goes and talks to him and when she came back she said we could have it for $420. Done....you have a sale!!
In the box they give 16 pods of different coffee to try. Yes, Robyn they have 3 varieties of decaffienated coffee, so you don't have to bring your own when you come to visit. So far we have tried 5 varieties and they have all been very nice. They are at different strengths and flavours, some described as how they describe a wine....fruity and full of flavour, fruity and delicate, floral and refreshing. And here's me thinking coffee is just.....well coffee.
Now I can have a latte, cappucino or a flat white any time of the day or night. The frother even froths cold milk for an iced coffee.
On Sunday night Tony cooked a barbie for us for dinner. Yum!!
Later on today I am going to cook a roast in the bar-b-que. Will do the vegies as well, so it will be interesting to see how it comes out.
From the Lens.........
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)