Impromptu Road Trip

This made me chuckle.... the guy driving the tractor pulled over, got out, bought a cappucino, got back in and tractored away again!

....and it seems that there's been some strange goings-on in the chook shed too (check out that weird shaped egg)!

Delivering Chooks

Nooooo, not those sort of chooks!

I headed off to the country with my big sister in tow yesterday to deliver a Technicolour Chook for my Mum's birthday.

I remembered the leftover bread from my freezer for the chooks, her birthday pressies, and her poor old forgotten puppy dog (under the table above) that I've been fostering (long story), but I managed to forget my camera, so the little late adopter Sony Ericsson phone had to suffice.

We were early getting into town to take my Mum out for lunch, so I suggested a spot of op-shopping.... when suprise suprise we just happened to run into the very famous Chook Artiste herself , along with Punky & Suspence (who are just as uber-cute in real life by the way)!

We couldn't have timed it better if we'd planned to meet up!

After a spot of Op Shopping, it was time for a nice long leisurely lunch by the lake.....

.... and I picked up some yummy tomato and chilli relish to bring home.

For old times sake, we took a drive through the Botanic Gardens. I remember having picnics here as a young kiddie with all of our Aunties and Uncles and Cousins.

Time was pressing on and we had to back in time for the school bus, so we took Mum back home, bid farewell to Mr Limpy Turkey....

.. and Gypsy the Shetland Pony and No Name the Goat (he's a recent acquisition so I really have no idea what his name is), but you may notice that he's sporting a very spiffy goat coat. It's all the rage in goat couture apparently.

The End!

The Birthday Loot - Part 2

Part 2 of the birthday loot went on a little country detour before it made its way to my house.

You may remember that I visited The Big House a couple of weeks ago in Ballarat, and I was drooling over the selection of vintage dresses.

There was a particular vintage housecoat that took my fancy.... you can see from the photo where I've taken it from the rack and looked at it, and it put it back rather messily!

Well, my little sister very sneakily bought it for me after I left!

It's very large and very shapeless, but the fabric (and the buttons) are beautiful. In the interests of my sanity, I'm not going to try to convert into a shapely dress that I can wear. I think I shall make an a-line skirt or a wrap skirt instead.

She also included a beautiful vintage tablecloth and teatowel.

My mum went to Ballarat on Friday, so she took my pressie home to Beeac with her.

So, on Saturday, my older sister and I packed up all the kiddies (six of them in total) in her people mover, and headed off to visit Beeac for an early Mothers Day celebration.

There was lots of collecting firewood...

Feeding the ducks and chooks..

Feasting....

... and dancing while the band played 'Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car', 'Incy Wincy Spider', and 'If You're Happy and You Know It' a thousand times!

Little Zaney even skipped the visit to the lolly shop with everyone else because he wanted to stay behind and play his guitar. I think my sister may have a future rock star on her hands!

Courting Fame

My PR Manager (errrr that would be my Mum, by the way) has been hard at work on the Cosmo Fun Fearless Female Campaign trail.

When she came to visit last weekend, she brought along the current issue of the Beeac Advocate.

Just in case you've never heard of Beeac, it's a beautiful little country town in Western Victoria, only around one hours drive from Geelong, and only 20 kilometres from Colac.

The Advocate is put together by a group of volunteers to provide information to the local community, so I'm honoured that they've included a little story about my Cosmo nomination.

Voting closes at noon on Monday (9th May)..... I'm getting very nervous!

Escaping to the Country

I packed three of my nephews into the car yesterday, and took a little drive to the country to visit my mum.

Even though it was hot in Melbourne, there was a lovely cool breeze down in the south west of the state.

Gypsy the Shetland loved all of the extra attention.... the poor old ducks, not so much!

The boys were able to collect eggs from the chooks, ducks and turkeys.

The quails had just had little babies on Friday, so there were five tiny little yellow fluff balls (and one grey one) running around the bottom of the bird aviary.

The little boys collected turkey feathers with Nana to create these fantastic headbands. I just need to add some elastic to the backs of them, and then return them.

It was such a lovely day out. I really should do it more often!

Nice weather for ducks

I headed off to the country today with Mr X and Moo Moo in tow, to celebrate my mums birthday

Gypsy the mini shetland

It was cold and windy and wet....

...but inside, the wood burning stove was nice and warm, and there was a yummy roast lunch (and birthday cake) for everyone.

Before and After

Luckily, mum hadn't experienced the flooding rains that my sister and BIL had yesterday.

 Before and After

They live right across the road from the local park where the creek runs through the middle of town...

Before and After

...which is currently a swimming pool (and these photos were taken before the peak of the water)!

Here's the actual pool!

A kitchen update

This was the extent of the kitchen before - a wood stove, sink, and bench with open shelves

I don't think I ever got around to sharing the photos of mums new cottage kitchen (after sharing the before photos).

I took these photos a little while back while things were still a work in progress - notice no kickpanels yet.....

Painting all the wood panelling has really brought out the features of the beautiful original wood stove and mantel.

 

Mum decided to keep the wood panelling natural above the sink (I would have painted it, but it's not my house so I didn't get the final say).

 

.....and at this stage we were still waiting on the new benchtop for the storage units next to the fridge (thankfully it wasn't my error so I didn't have to pay for it - phew)!

Oh and a quick tip if you're doing a kitchen reno - don't order white kickpanels. They are impossible to keep clean. This kitchen is getting black kickpanels which will be perfect for all the country mud!

I still miss my old kitchen.... sigh

Room to Breathe

I'm in the midst of a health hiccup at the moment, and feeling a little blue.

A chauffeur driven trip to the country, filled with green grass and fresh air and giggly nephews was just the medicine I needed yesterday.....

.....along with lots of billycart rides

The Weekend

How time flies when I spend time hanging out with my little nephews.

I took Moo Moo and Nico to a friends sons 6th birthday party on Saturday.
The DS pouch was a hit - the birthday boy loved it!
All the kiddies had a great time - there was a pinata, pass the parcel, and pin the tail on the donkey.
I filled the boys up with sugar and food colouring and then delivered them both back home to their parents (that's the advantage of being the aunty).

Collecting firewood

On Sunday I headed out to mums place in the country for some fresh air with my Sister and BIL and the kiddies.

 Climbing into the goat enclosure

The boys had a great time running around and visiting all the animals on Nana's farm.

They got to feed the chooks and ducks, and collect the eggs....

...and talk to the goldfish.
 

There's a big tree in the paddock next to the house with four swings...

.... and plenty of space for fossicking.

What fun!