This’n'That

So. I have finished quilting my customers quilts! Yippee. I have to bind one for a customer (no hurry) and quilt another for a friend (again, no hurry), so I have kept this week for me. On Monday I went to the gym and then came home and cleaned the house. Boy did it need it. I have been sadly neglectful of my home the last month or so, keeping busy working and ignoring the fact that some jobs (mostly vacuuming) need doing, but making them wait. Well, it feels great to have a clean home and now I am trying my best to keep it up. We had the daughter of one of my online friends over for dinner on Monday night. She was a very nice girl and after dinner, we took her to the city and drove over the Harbour Bridge and back again. It was fun.

I had a haircut yesterday and lunch out with a friend. Came home and vegged out for a bit until the kids came home with their school reports. All reports are great and the youngest kid won an award at Presentation Day for Academic Achievement. I am very proud of him. My eldest also came 6th out of his entire school grade (about 200 kids) in a Spelling Bee this week. I thought that was fantastic of him considering that he was out there in front of all of them spelling out loud. That is a big achievement for him.

Today I went out for lunch (again) with my friends from school – all the Mums. It was a nice lunch and a good catch up before the school holidays start. Tomorrow is the last day of school for 6 weeks. It is pretty hot today and we are expecting a storm this afternoon. It is getting windy. We are having a roof put on out the back over the paved area. Otherwise we have no outside shelter. We will even be able to BBQ in the rain unless it is horizontal rain from the east (unlikely). The frame is all up and the builder will be completing the roof tomorrow. Weather permitting.

These are the before shots of the side of the house…

Looking back the other way.

And this afternoon after 4 days, we have the frame up and the roofing will go on tomorrow. In the second photo below, part of it is done and this is how all of the roofing will look.

Now. About the Guinea Pigs. Lara was hastily re-named Seth and we have decided to have him desexed. They are now separated until he is big enough to do the operation. We cannot in good conscience return him to the store and ask for another. They are living things and I believe that once you adopt them, they are yours, come what may. OTOH I think it is quite extravagant to fork out the $$$ for guinea pig desexing in a world where children starve for want of food. However, this is my life and my decision to do the best with what I have. I do have a conscience about these things and there are many factors to consider. The most overriding factor for me in this case is the responsibility for me to set the best example to my children. I cannot teach them that animals are disposable. I also cannot teach them that it is OK to bring unwanted animals into the world by recklessly allowing them to breed. I do believe that the pet store made a simple error sexing the animals. It is hard to tell when they are so little. Seth is rapidly maturing and now the difference is blatantly obvious. So that is the story of the guinea pigs.

My dog, Kira, will be 14 in March. She is a labrador (you can see her in the above photos) and is now showing obvious signs of ageing. 3 weeks ago she got an ear infection and was miserable. She got haematomas in both her ears and her ear canals were swollen practically shut. This happenend very suddenly. She has been on eardrops and anti-inflammatories and the ear infection has almost cleared up. To the vet’s amazement, the haematomas have all but disappeared as well. We didn’t think they would go away, but they have. I was very upset the day I took her to the vets as I thought it was all over for her. She has now taken on a new lease on life and is doing very well. She is, however, very old for a labrador and I am very aware she will not be with us forever. I have had her most of my adult life  – since I was 22 and had no children. Initially I thought I would not get another doggy for a few more years, but I have changed my mind. I have my name down for a poodle puppy, which is due to be born in the next 10 days or so. I want a poodle as I grew up having one and they are gorgeous dogs. I would like the puppy to be more of a house dog. Kira lives in the backyard. Poodles do not shed and they are much cleaner to have around. I will have to spend a lot more time grooming, and I can do that for sure. I am really excited about the puppy. She will be coming to live with us in February. Now I have to think of a name for her…

My garden is going gangbusters and tonight we are having stir fry with home grown bok choy. Yum. The tomatoes are starting to fruit, the corn is growing and we have 3 melons on the vine. The first strawberries are also forming too. It is very exciting. The plants seem to grow slowly and then, bam, they take off and are growing almost out of control.

This was this afternoon, above. And below is a mere 18 days ago.

We have lots of things growing…

Heirloom yellow pear tomatoes (and other types too)

Rockmelon, another heirloom variety

 We had a gorgeous sunset last week. It was just beautiful. This is taken from out the front of my house.

My Gardenias are flowering. They smell absolutely gorgeous. I wish I could share their fragrance.

Now, what do you do with an egg that has a feather stuck to it???? You draw a face on it, of course. My 11yo son drew this onto the egg yesterday. It is hilarious. That is eggsactly how the feather was stuck onto the egg. You can’t think these things up, you know.

That is what I have been up to. I have been working on the Chrissie gifts I was talking about. I will reveal them when they are all done, hopefully early next week!