From spring cleaning to repainting.... good grief what have I started....

OK so here's the go... after arriving home after the floods up here my poor little P&CC is going mouldy from all the water laying under the house. So I had the bright idea it was time to spring clean (even though it is Autumn down under) my house. I started in the smallest room in the house.. the loo, & have I was washing down the walls I decided they needed repainting! So it has started, I have completely redone the loo, painting walls, door, (white of course) bought new toilet roll holder (which by the way was very hard to find) pulled down the old scabby cupboard even though it was PINK, hung a large picture of my boys (U2) to hide where the old cistern use to hang even though I gave it so many coats of paint, put a calender on the other wall, new hanging toilet brush on another wall & the finishing touch a cane basket painted white to store the extra toilet rolls & air freshener & have to admit it is now a pleasure to *sit* in this little room & while away the hours! There is paint all over the REAL scabby lino which is going to be pulled up by Mr MP&CC & fresh new tiles laid but not before the new LOO is installed!



The piccie above is the old door handles which I had kind of hoped would be brass after I cleaned up one of the handles to find was brass, but these & the other handle are steel so decided to paint them white & then distress them. Photos are not the best but you get the idea right...?

One brass handle & the other painted whited & distressed... lookin' good. So next onto the laundry no repainting here just a thorough cleaning then onto the *little hallway* leading into the kitchen. I honestly have NO idea what possessed me to paint this room yellow (along with my sewing room & bathroom) as I have never been a yellow person so when I started to clean the walls I realised I just could not live with this colour anymore. Friday was spent painting yet again, this time cream instead of white & boy what a difference! Yesterday I got in & removed some of my endless amount of fabric that I store on shelves in this hall, cleaned the shelves down & today when I put the fabric back, colour co-ordinated all neatly stacked have found that what came out does not necessary fit back in! So the left over fabric is now sitting in my laundry waiting for me to find room in my sewing room..yeah right.

Some of my fabric....

And some more...

And even more.....

Now I just have to find room for my boxes of lace, old doilies, ribbons, etc that once all fitted in here!

OK so the photo above is the yellow that once was, if you look very closely you will see the cream round the edges, it really has made such a difference!

I didn't get around to finishing this post have completely cleaned the large hall & repainted the bathroom. Have started on our bedroom so am getting there! Leaving the two worst rooms until last.... the dreaded kitchen & lastly my sewing room, lord only knows where I am going to put all the *stuff* that is in there while I repaint it, going to be a nightmare I think.

Today my Sweet & I went to a Auction (after going to a 21st last night & only getting 2 1/2 hours sleep & with a rather bad hangover) it kind of took the shine off it a bit. Anyways ending up with a brand spanking new *loo* & vanity for the bathroom so although we were both suffering a tad what with all the noise was really chuffed to get a couple of real bargains.

OK so that's it for now had better post this before I forget .. again. Hope everyone had a great Anzac day, the one day Kiwi's & Aussies remember just how lucky we are to live in a free world.

Please spare a thought......

On March 31st 2009 the skies opened up around Coffs Harbour & surrounding districts & swallowed it up..... the second time in 13 years. I was over in New Zealand & just could not believe what I was seeing on the news, we were told in 96 that we had had a one in 100 year flood, boy one hell of a quick 100 years! My family was very lucky the water only went into our garage & garden shed although quite a few thousand dollars of damage was done. People further down in my street lost everything. The other night I was looking at the photos people had posted on Facebook & cried for the damage that has been done to this beautiful part of the world, & can only imagine what they went through trying to keep the water out of their homes & businesses. So many of them do not have Insurance & like my husband & I the ones who do are now left wondering if we are going to be able to replace what we have lost as news is coming out of Insurance Companies not paying out in full. I don't think I need to say how I feel about this.... to me it is just disgusting, the amount of money paid into insurance polices & there are a lot of people like us who have never made a claim before. I will find out next week if the company we deal with have a heart!
These photos were taken up at Dorrigo, the road is very aptly called *Waterfall Way*!

The photo below was taken by one of my neighbours, cannot even imagine how this poor lady must have been feeling....

Down the side of her house...

Looking toward the back of her house....

The street behind us, the house with the picket fence is directly behind us.....

The street behind us, at the far end is my street.....

In 25 days Coffs Harbour had 2 days without rain, it has only been in the last day or so that we could walk on the front lawn without sinking in mud, we still cannot go down the back yard without gummies on. The water stopped short 4" coming into our house if it had been high tide far more damage would have been done. My Darlin' went to pick Dylan up from school (in the next street) & was up to his knees in water, Dylan was up to his waist. That amount of water was dumped on Coffs in 10 minutes, Dylan was lucky to get home Taska had to stay at a friends house over night as our street was cut off.

We are seriously thinking of raising our house, think after being lucky twice in a row the third time may be pushing it.

So please spare a thought for the people up here who now are living in what has been termed *A natural disaster area* the one thing we can be thankful for there were no loss of lives.....

Flying away & 18 years of Wedded Bliss........

Good lord..... it HAS been a while, long time even since I have posted on here truth is have been busy, been away visiting my family. I didn't realise just how much I needed to *go home*, yah know sort the old head out, get rid of the cobwebs & come back home feeling refreshed & eager to tackle the *to do* list I had written last year & seemed to get nowhere with it all. This time it was Dads turn to be surprised & just wish I had my trusty camera at the ready to capture his face!

Ok so the above photo was taken at the airport just before I flew out....... I'm on the left, Dad, Mum, my sister Sue & brother Deane. Normally do not like having my photo taken but suppose it could have come out worse! Came back to Coffs after the BIG flood & cannot believe it is still raining, out of 21 days have had 1 day without rain.
Have to make this one short, today my Darlin' & I have been married 18 years so a very special day & looking forward to going out to Dinner tonight.
Hope you are all having a great Easter & talk to yah tomorrow.

Yah know that sickly feeling in your tummy you get when........

Saturday was very hard for me, you know when you get that real sickly feeling in your belly, cannot eat & just feel sick, well that was me on Saturday. I felt like I did not want 4.30 to arrive, dreaded it in fact & although I told myself I would not cry well sorry but the tears flowed like buckets! We received a call from Ryno just as we were getting in the car to go to the Airport asking if his Surf Board was here & if so could we bring it down! I stupidly said *yes* its here & even more stupidly took it to the Airport only to realise once it was safely on its way to the plane that there are *White Pointer Sharks* over in WA, OMG my little boy surfing amongst them, a mothers true horror especially after the amount of shark attacks that have been happening in Oz lately!


Sadly we only had about 5 minutes with Ryno & Chloe at the Airport, they sat in that bloody plane for soooooo long & I kept thinking to myself *that could have been another kiss & cuddle* but really it would have just been more torture I suppose, the parting just had to happen. Ok so I'm going to admit here that I was a bit obsessive & got on the net & actually watched their plane travel across Oz (they were a dot) watched it land & then went into Goggle Earth & had a look at where they are living, over protective Mum, no, just needed to feel the closeness I have always had with this special man, way too hard to let him go! I have spoken to him a few times on the phone (very hard to hang up) but he really seems to be enjoying Perth, the beach is just down the end of his street, has been partying & I think they are both just enjoying having time off until they get back into the reality of life, you know the real boring stuff, working for a living etc!

So as this week went on I thought I was doing pretty well, not crying ALL the time just on the odd occasion when I would walk past his photo in the hallway & happen to glance at it, until yesterday arvo when I heard a motorbike pull up the front, the dogs did their normal *this is MY place* bark, told them it was only Ryno, waited for the *shut up its only me* which didn't come, & off I went again something I just have to get use to huh! I rang Chris (Chloe's Mum) last night & it went to messages & here was Chloe on the other end, thought to myself *I bet Chris rings her own number heaps just to hear that* her youngest & only daughter left on Saturday, needless to say Chris was also a tad on the messy side!

This time in 2 weeks I will be on a train for the start of my holiday, so am now on countdown!

Hey guys hope you all have a great weekend...........

Dylans Birthday & From this to That......

I have just realised how slack I have been with my posting lately not that anything overly exciting has been happening anyway! We had Dylan's 8th birthday party last Saturday morning down at the Jetty Foreshores & was so pleased it turned out to be a beautiful day. He & 5 mates had a great time although I felt pretty worn out after it all. Couldn't get over how warm the sea was, was like being in a bath!

Dylan is wearing the stripped T-shirt!



Well last night we had a *Going Away* dinner for Ryno & Chloe, Chloe's Mum & Dad came round & it turned out to be a really good night. The photo below is of a parting *little* job asked me to do for him! He is having his road bike shipped over to Perth (don't even want to comment on that idea) & needed a cover made up for his Navman so he can put it on the bike! Talk about short notice! So I have spent today making this cover up for him, not the easiest of materials to sew especially the clear plastic stuff.

So this is the finished cover, am not happy with it, I feel the sewing is way to rough but he tells me it will do the job, fine so long as he does not show it to anyone! I have to admit though that there was NO cursing involved while making this up, had to undo it a couple of times & my reaction: *Oh dear* not the usual @#*% when that happens. I did find out that any pin holes do not come out & of course there are 2 each side right on the front!

They leave Coffs tomorrow at 4.30, fly to Sydney & then on to Perth arriving 11.30 WA time which I am told is 2.30am NSW time! Going to be a long day for them.

I am not looking forward to it, yes I know I have to *let him go* but that is easier said than done! Must remind Chris (Chloe's Mum) to bring plenty of tissues)

Have a great weekend.......

Gorgeous prints from a by gone era.......

I simply love the beautiful paintings by Maude Humphrey (Mother of Humphrey Bogart) Her series of children doing the washing (hanging their dolls out by the head on an old fashioned clothes line) playing nurses (above) doctors (sewing their dollies up) chefs (cooking their kittens) artists (painting a picture) & probably my favourite The old woman who lived in a shoe, picture at right, the little girl disciplining her dollies!

There is just something about these little kiddies Maude used to paint, beautiful soft colours & the expressions on their faces, priceless!

I have a few of her prints that have been put onto silk, you know the ones you make into cushions etc but I just cannot bring myself to use them think they would look lovely in frames, but then I guess I could make them up & just buy some more to frame!

I consider myself pretty lucky to be writing this post today, I honestly thought we were going to be flooding this morning. It just did not stop raining last night (to be honest it just poured down) stopped this morning for about 1/2 hour & then it came down like you would not believe. I have never seen rain like it. I have an old cane chair that sits down in my back yard & the water was up to the seat, not a very good thing to see when the rain has no desire to stop! I do not know how many times my Darlin' had to back wash the pool, was quite a sight to see the water flowing over the sides, our garden shed went under water. luckily the trusty Lawn Mower was moved just before. I had been speaking to my Sister in-law this morning (who lives in Kempsey) & she said her land value had gone up by $100,000 as they now had canals all around their home, I had to laugh at that one. The photo above is my neighbours back yard taken 1 hour after the rain stopped. Before that you could not see any of her lawn at all. The Mid North Coast is still on high Flood Alert & will be until the King Tides reduce. (King tides happen when the incoming tides are a lot higher than normal). Coffs Harbour has a lot of creeks running through the City & when it floggs (slang for *pours down*) the creeks fill up really fast & if there is a King Tide there is nowhere for the water to go so the place floods. We are all keeping our fingers crossed that there is no more rain. Dylans classroom started to get water in it today as the school has a creek running right around it, he came home from school very excited, told me all about their little adventure with the water in the classroom, he really thought it was great, typical boys they could not understand why they could not go swimming in the water.

Ok so I have prattled on long enough, to all the lovely Ladies in Victoria if I could send this rain down to you I would in a flash, we had 200mls over night, far too much!

So where ever you are hope Mother Nature is being kind to you!

Have a great night.

The Heavens have opened up........

It has been raining here since Thursday night & to be quite honest with you all, I am well & truly over it! When I say raining I actually mean FLOGGING down non stop which is not the best when we are also having King Tides, the last time it poured like this was back in 1996 (also had King Tides) & Coffs flooded!

Dylans party was called off on Saturday so had quite a upset little boy although he still had a good day. We have put it off until next Saturday so am kinda hoping the rain will be gone by then, keeping my fingers crossed anyway. Just to top everything off our swimming pool is about to over flow so can see Hubby is going to have to back wash it, won't that be fun in the flogging down rain. Better away I have a house that needs cleaning & it will not do itself I am afraid.
Have a great day.

Australia United, Happy Birthday to the big 8 year old........

$21 million raised in 5 hours, now that's pretty amazing to me. The last I heard the total had soared to $75 million all up, it just shows what a nation can do to help its own. Australian's should be very very proud of themselves. Thanks should also be given to the other nations who have contributed, this world is not so bad after all!
Above is the latest photo of my homeland (New Zealand) showing the smoke coming over from Victoria. Nearly all the South Island is covered in smoke except for Nelson right at the top. (Hello Mum & Dad) I read NZ has been renamed Land of the Longest White Cloud, I really had a laugh at that. Ok so for some good news at last, the police have arrested a 39 year old scum bag for lighting the fires at Churchill. I am kinda thinking here that he does not deserve to go through all the usual Legal procedure instead if I had any say in it I would let all the people who's homes & family he has taken from them have him. Going to Jail is just far too easy for him. I imagine they are going to have to have pretty tight security around him.


The 14th Feb to most people is Valentines Day, in our family it is also our Son Dylan's birthday . He is turning the ripe old age of 8!! Dylan was born 2 weeks early & his labour lasted just over 13 minutes! Just to top it all off he came into this world a breech birth (just like his Mum did 41 years earlier). He was a very sneaky little guy, not letting us know he was there until 20 weeks through the pregnancy, at times I still feel I have not gotten over the shock of it all. This is what an early Menopause can do to you, your hormones are so out of wack you do not get any symptoms at all. Don't get me wrong here I love this little guy to bits just find having an very full on soon to be 8 year old a bit much at times, I have after all recently tuned 49 BUT must say have been feeling a lot younger lately. The picture below was taken last year on his birthday, tomorrow he is having a party down at the Jetty Foreshores (I really really need this rain to go away) so will be a very full on day thinks me! Will get photos tomorrow & include them in my next post.

I also had a very lovely surprise this arvo, a friend that I have not seen in quite a few years just turned up on my doorstep! This was extra special to me as Dawn & I had a falling out a few years ago which really hurt me & you know it was like old times today sitting out the back catching up from where we left off, pure bliss.


Wishing you all a happy Valentines Day.

See you all on Sunday.

Oh & I forgot to tell you guys my daughters school had a special Icy Pole day on Wednesday & raised $4,500.00 & Dylans school had a Mufti Day today, cost a gold coin (will find out next week how much was raised) all to go to the Bush Fire Appeal.

What were they talking about, there are plenty of paddles......

I thought we all needed something to put a smile on our faces. My good friend Anna sent this to me quite a while ago..... Who was it who said *Up shit creek without a paddle*? It seems they have not been to this store!

Hope this makes you feel a bit better out there.

It just gets worse........

After watching the late news today I was both appalled & disgusted to hear that looting has broken out in some of the fire revenged areas in Victoria. People (actually I feel they deserve to be called scum) have been going into the homes that are still standing & helping themselves to whatever they want. I just cannot believe this despicable act can happen in Australia, good god haven't these poor souls been put through enough without this happening to them, it just sickens me to the core. I just hope these low lives are caught & severely dealt with.

In huge contrast $10 million has so far been donated from all around Australia. It just shows when times are getting tough financially in this country people open their hearts & give what they can, they just want to help whatever way they can.

131 people have now lost their lives....

In my thoughts........

It is much sadness that I write this post this morning. Last night when I went to bed the death toll from the fires in Victoria had reached 84, this morning when I turned on the TV I learnt it has now risen to 108. I honestly cannot quite grasp this, what has now become Australia;s biggest disaster, & to learn that quite a few of these fires have been deliberately lit I just do not understand how any one could do this. The penalties in this country do not justify the heartache, loss of homes & loss of lives that these monsters cause, I feel should these animals be caught they should be charged with the murder of every life lost.

The work that the fire fighters, both the Fire Brigades & the many locals are doing is just out standing, I have heard reports of many who have helped to put burning homes out only to have their own homes burn to the ground. Seeing whole towns on TV that have been burnt to the ground & looking like a war zone is just devastating, I honestly cannot even begin to imagine what it must feel like to be left with just the clothes on your back. To date 750 homes have been lost & although in some areas the temperatures have dropped down to the low 20's & rain is falling, near the NSW border the temp are still in the mid 30's & lightening strikes are now threatening even more homes. The Australian PM has told the nation this morning to *Brace yourself for more bad news* that hell & all its fury has come to Victoria. I watched this man this morning break down, talking to people who have lost everything & giving people comfort in a simple hug.

Australians are a tough breed, the homes lost will be rebuilt, towns will grow again but at the same time this tragedy will never be forgotten. I have done a lot of crying this morning as I watched the news, I truly feel for the people of Victoria my heart goes out to them & I rather naively hope the death toll does not get any higher. I am also very proud to think that my country (New Zealand) has come to the aid of Victoria in sending Fire Fighters over to assist in getting the fires under control.

While the bottom of Australia burns the top end is in flood, two lives lost & a little five year old believed to have been taken by a crocodile. A lot of the affected areas have experienced this disaster before & to go through it yet again must be heart breaking.

I really do not know what else to say here except to everyone affected *You are in my thoughts*

Lyn xxx

Creative Juices PLEASE come home.......

Ok so I really do not what is going on here but I like Kathryn at http://ourshabbycottage.blogspot.com/ cannot seem to get back into my routine. I'm kinda thinking here that maybe it has something to do with the state of my teensy weensy sewing come computer room. It has always been a real squash for me in this room but seen as our home is a tad on the small size I consider myself very lucky to have this room & I have spent many an hour happily sewing away to my hearts content. It like my sons room (couple of posts ago) has turned into a tip as I have pulled out fabric after fabric & just sat & looked at it & thought to myself *I have NO idea what to do with you*, it seems the fabric no longer *specks* to me the way it use to do! If I am really honest here I cannot stand the colour of the walls, I painted this room a few years ago this yucky yellow (as I did the bathroom) to *brighten* up the room but I have never been a yellow person so am thinking it is time I just pulled everything out (although that would mean not having my computer for a few days, god forbid!) & painting it my calming cream, what to do!

Today I had planned on cleaning this room up but my heart just is not in it, I have found since my application was *rejected* for the job I have always wanted, my heart does not seem to be in anything, its as if I have lost all confidence in myself, & I keep thinking what if I make all these *things* to list on ebay & they do not sell, I bash myself around too much & think I am not *good enough*! So I guess I am thinking what does not happen will not hurt me huh!

2009 is proving to be a very difficult year for me, too much self doubt, too much putting off until tomorrow, creative juices lost (if your out there PLEASE come home) & just feeling very unsettled, I no longer know what I want anymore!

Ok so here's the deal I do know I have to do something with this room, so I think this week will be spent packing it all up & repainting, I think colours set your moods & I know this one is not doing me any favours, there yah go have finally decided on something!

Before I go I would really like to mention a post on a lovely Ladies blog Tammy at http://forastitchinthyme.blogspot.com/. Tammy wrote a beautiful post about her Mum & I have to say it reduced me to tears. It really reinforced in me just how lucky I was growing up, pop over & have a read, leave a comment to this truly beautiful soul.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend & to the lovely Ladies down in Victoria my heart goes out to you all who's family have lost their homes.

Oh & one more thing, my daughter Taska has been reading all the comments that were left for her for her 16th birthday & wishes to thank everyone who wished her a Happy Birthday, she was truly overwhelmed.

The ever changing faces of Taska Rose..... For my Birthday Girl...

Today my *little* girl turns 16 & it really leaves me wondering where on earth have those last 16 years gone. Taska Rose decided to enter this wonderful world of ours while I was cooking Spag for dinner. The rush was on to get me to the hospital in time (my longest labour was exactly an hour) I know/knew that the first pain puts me straight into full on labour so its either drop everything or have my baby on the way!!!

I found out during my pregnancy that we were having our long awaited daughter. Since the age of 12 I had known her name was going to be *Taska*. The first time I learnt my Grandma's middle name was*Tasker* I knew that was the name I wanted to call my daughter when & if I ever had one! The name Taska has now gone through 3 generations. Originally it was my Great Grandmas maiden name, was then given to my Grandma to use for her middle name, & finally has been passed on to my daughter for her first name. Her middle name Rose is also my Mums middle name.

One very extraordinary thing (there are many) about Taska are her eyes. She was born with the darkest blue eyes I have ever seen, almost black. As she grew older they started to get lighter & one day we noticed her right eye was changing colour. She now has one blue eye (from her Dad) & one green eye (from me) not something you see every day.

This year Taska is in Year 11 at school, I find it hard to believe that my little girl has only 2 more years of schooling & then is off into the big wide world to chase her dreams. Her wish in life is to become a photographer, something I think she will go a long way in, she has always loved taking photo's & seems to have a natural talent. For Christmas we bought her a camera (mainly to get our camera back) & I'm amazed at the photos she takes. Taska has brought us a lot of joy & some heart ache over the years & I would not change her a bit, she truly has a beautiful soul.

So my gorgeous Sweet Sixteen enjoy your special day, & always know *you are much loved*.

Mum & Dad xxxx

Welcome to the *Tip*......

The photo above & below is what happens when the Summer holidays are just way tooooo long! This room (which became known as the *tip*) belongs to my 7 year son Dylan & he manged to make this mess in about 15 minutes flat while looking for ONE of his toys!

It took me a week to clean up, I now have three rubbish bags full to the brim ready to go to the Op shop & one rubbish bag in the bin! Decided to give his room a thorough clean, wash down walls, sort out outgrown clothes etc.

So this is the little *Darlin's* room now, back to normal & a lot cleaner & tidier than it was before.

Have told him if he EVER gets it into that state again I will, well I think you can imagine what I said! Sorry about the blurry photos but was in a hurry when I took these, not to mention very hot & bothered. I realised while I *lived* in this room during the major clean up that he is in the *pink* room, this was originally Taska's room but after my Sweet polished the floors in Dylan's old room we moved Taska in there as it is bigger. He has never said anything about having a *pink* room -so far.

THIS is the little *Darlin* who managed to turn his bedroom into a *tip* taken his first day back to school, going into the big part this year, Year 3.

Now I am like a Sargent Major every evening before he goes to bed, doing the rounds in his bedroom looking for anything out of place or not put away.

You know I kinda like school terms at least my house stays tidy. Until the weekend......