Best made plans of mice and men!

Not quite sure where to start.....

The Rented Place
The last time I wrote we were going to keep the rented place on until the end of the lease having signed up (so we thought) until the end of March. BUT there seemed to have been a few crossed wires and the end of the lease came quicker than we expected. So with the help, once again, of Deb and Robert, we finished the move lock, stock and barrel all in a bit of a rush.

Very much on the plus side as it turns out as it is soooooooooooo good to be here. We may not yet be able to find everything but we know it is all here somewhere in a box either in the house or the shed but for the first time ever within the same 4 acres of land. What a great feeling that is.

Dawn Chorus
The dawn chorus is fantastic. As the sun very slowly climbs the hill and lights up our gum trees with a golden light the first bird to sing out is the Laughing Magpie. So hard to describe their unusual sound. Quite often the Kookaburras join in closely followed by the Sulpher crested cockatoos, Galahs, Crimson Rosellas. Then, all of a sudden, they all seem to go off somewhere for breakfast and leave the smaller birds to it. Magical.

http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/birds/featured/Top-40-Bird-Songs If you are interested in hearing the sounds/songs hopefully this link will take you to the site so you'll have more idea what I'm talking about.

As the Equinox approaches the vines, European trees and shrubs are putting on their beautiful colourful Autumn coats. Night temperatures have dropped to 3c but can still get to 30c plus during the day. The clear and chilly night skies are full of stars, most of the constellations are upside down for me. I still can't get used to Orion standing on his head! And the mornings can be really misty and still with that gorgeous fresh crisp autumn smell.... it must be chestnut time soon.

Connections
We are still awaiting a visit from the 'signal checking man' who will hopefully pick up a great signal and in a blink of an eye and installation of some equipment we will once again be back on the world wide web. And you never know we may also have a land-line telephone. Not holding our breath but keeping all fingers an toes crossed.

For now we have a whizzy pay as you go thingamebob which is a lot more convenient than loitering on the town square logging into the library connection. And we don't like to keep going to Deb and Robert for help though I am sure they won't mind.

Pantry
And I am still waiting for the Pantry to be fitted or even to be given a proper date. I guess it will all happen in the fullness of time and perhaps I need to apply the famous Aussie laid-back-ness to paying the bills..... hmmmmm now there's a thought.

The Wood-burning Stove

A bargain! Unboxed and previously a display model but a (hopefully) perfect size for us. This slow combustion triple burn action wood burner also features a fan which blows the heat out the front vents rather than radiating heat which the traditional burners do. An important feature as we are going to be installing book shelves along the same wall and would prefer our precious books to remain untoasted.

It's not connected to anything yet but it does look nice! And the fitter has promised it will be properly installed and ready to use before winter.... before he left I did get him to promise he meant this winter. Which feels to me like it is fast approaching... now where did I put those woolly jumpers?





Land Rovers
We have decided going to Auctions and clearing sales is really dangerous for us. Rick can not resist Land Rovers which need rescuing and TLC, since I last wrote somehow we've ended up with two more!

Meet Rita

Rita, at the moment doesn't have a Landy engine but does have a Holden 186s engine which for some reason a few of people seem to be excited about buying. Good news for Rick as he wants to replace it with a Rover V8 engine which through chatting with various people he has since bought and brought home! He is turning into a regular Landy Dell Boy amazing how it all comes together.

And then we heard of this one which so far has no name or engine and four very flat tyres. But will be lovingly restored in the fullness of time and several sheds later.

The last edition... so far!

Happiness... for some is obviously Land Rover shaped, and it is always good to be happy.

It seems as fast as Rick has been collecting Landys I also seem to be gathering wardrobes. As some of you may already know at auctions if something gets no bids then it is put with the next item and so on until bids and a sale are made. I had my eye on a lovely, very unloved but old marble topped table.... which I eventually got for not very much at all... along with two wardrobes and a childs chalk board! The chalk board I sold straight away for a couple of dollars, Rick commandeered one of the wardrobes and has already put shelving in it and I will restore the last one.... eventually.

And then we picked up this cast iron ring, something we have been keeping an eye out for ages now. This will be our fire ring for when the fire bans are lifted, great for sitting around on chilly evenings and cooking over.

There is so much more to tell which will save for later..... ooroo..