Well, it's been a while, but then a lot has been happening.
We are now settled in our new house in Penguin, Tasmania. We settled on 10th July, and were lucky enough to get our furniture delivered on the same day. Saved us a bit of money, as we were going to have to find accommodation for the 3 nights between arriving here and when the furniture was originally being delivered on Monday.
Between leaving Cairns and moving into the house, we had an adventure or two. Not really, but...
On the day before we left Cairns we decided we had to buy a new car. Paul's Camry was getting old and was leaking oil like you wouldn't believe. It was too late to put it in for repairs, and besides which, all the stuff that was getting left out to "go in the car" was getting out of control.
We were naughty and bought the first one we saw, but it fitted all the criteria, and it has proved to be a good decision, as we love it. It is a Honda CRV.
On our way down to Brisbane, we stopped off at Conway Beach, which is a tad way off the beaten track, but we were looking for dog friendly accommodation and this was on the net. It was nice, but nothing there - it is a fishers haven and caters for fishermen and women. But at least we could have the Cilla with us.
We left Conway Beach really early and five minutes into the trip were unlucky enough to hit a roo. We couldn't see the roo on the road, so have to assume it was able to hop away and we hope it wasn't too badly hurt. There wasn't much damage to our car, thank goodness.
The rest of the trip was uneventful. We arrived in Brisbane and stayed with Dean, Karen and the girls for a few days until the Pink concert. The girls (and Karen) were so excited about it. I sort of enjoyed it - too loud for me. I love Pink and the show was wonderful, but, the songs I didn't know, I couldn't understand as it was just too loud. The support act was WOEFUL.
From Brisbane we flew down to Tassie - stayed the first night in Launceston, picked up my car in the morning and then drove to our booked accommodation in Somerset. There is another story, but it was adequate.
We then drove around for days on end looking at houses, more houses and more houses. We evenutally found this one in Penguin and put in an offer. Once that was all sorted out, we flew back to Brisbane for a couple of weeks.
Then we drove down here - stayed in Armidale with Paul's aunt and uncle and it was so nice to catch up with them.
From there to Geelong - that was a happy accident. I thought our ex neighbours, David and Yvette lived in Geelong and I said to Paul we should stay in Geelong overnight, as it is only an hour away from Melbourne, and we can go and see the Roses. Well, he booked accommodation (dog friendly) so we were stuck with it. It was way out of our way, AND David and Yvette don't live there! They live in Ballarat or somewhere. (Still don't know exactly)
But, talking about it being a happy accident - the Kaisercraft factory is there! And being a scrap addict, I just had to go there, didn't I? Bought up, but had to put on some restraints, as the car WAS rather full!
And for a second reason, it was a happy accident. If it hadn't been for me wanting to go to Kaisercraft (and we got a bit lost) we would have had a bigger drama getting Paul's lap top back. He left it in the accommodation!! Took the USB and mouse, but left the laptop. We weren't too far away, so it wasn't difficult to go back, but it could have been a bigger drama.
So far we are loving Tassie - it has been a bit wet (wettest July in 30years!) and a bit windy (if we were still in Cairns, I would have called it cyclonic), but really, the cold hasn't been bothering us a bit. We put the heat pump on in the morning for an hour or so, and again of an evening, but during the day, it is fine. Can't say I like going outside when it is wet and windy, but needs must - I have to hunt Cilla outside to pee when it is like that, and she won't go unless I go outside!
B&%$y dog!
We are slowly finding our way around - we grocery shop in Ulverstone mostly, but occasionally go to Burnie. We have even ventured into Devonport once or twice. The nearest "big" shopping centre is Launceston, and I don't think even then it is that big.
The scenic route home from Ulverstone is just beautiful - we always go that way now.
They have the most marvellous farmers markets - one in Burnie and one in Devonport - or at least they are the only ones we know of so far. They are on every week, with then alternating between the 2 towns. We plan on buying all our fruit and veg there, or at least until ours are growing. Have planted a few things and they seem to be going OK. Have to wait for the weather to warm up before we can plant anything else.
Met up with Mandy, a scrapper I met on an online forum and also at the retreat in Cairns - she took me to the "local" scrapbook shop. Quite a good one too. The visit to the shop and talking to a fellow scrapper inspired me to start scrapping again. I was so worried that my mojo had gone and scrapping is such an expensive hobby that to lose one's mojo is almost a major crime. (What would you do with all the "stuff" you have accumulated?)
Here are the two recent layouts I have done - one was "just because" I had been to the scrap shop and was inspired to do a layout and I used what photos I could find, and the other was inspired by a challenge on Mandy's "Lets Get Shabby" blog. The criteria was to use floral and gingham, which I have done.
Well, that didn't happen as it should have! The picture has gone to the top of the page!
Will try again and see if I can get the next one in the right place!
Looks like I need to work on my blogging skills!
