Monday, June 29, 2020

Murrumbidgee Corridor Run

It's great having time off in the week and even better when your best mate does too! Makes for lots of adventures and today was no different. Cath and I chose to run part of the Murrumbidgee Discovery Trail. The whole trail is 27km long running adjacent to the Murrumbidgee River from Casuarina Sands to Pine Island. We chose to complete the northern part - from Kambah Pool to Casuarina Sands a total length of 14km.

We left my car at Casuarina Sands and thankfully Eoin dropped us off at Kambah Pool. It was an eye opener at the start - another car had pulled up behind up and two guys in kinda work gear wandered down the trail and the car took off. Weird we thought...what were they doing?? Nevertheless we hopped out of our car, got sorted and began to walk towards the trail when we noticed a sign that indicated the Kambah Nude Bathing Area was 200m down this trail!! We then observed a map board which showed our trail head actually began back up the road at the top of the hill. Luckily for us Eoin hadn't left so we got back into the car and found the right spot to start!

The start of the trail was a great little single track. Soon though, it was tough - lots of short steep rocky ups and downs as we climbed in and out of small gullies. Our km's rate really slowed down. The river would come in and out of view which was lovely with the Bullen Range as a back drop. 



We were grateful as the landscape changed - flattening out as we cut through a grazed area.The second half of the trail was much easier although still tough on our tired legs. We were very happy to see the bridge over Casuarina Sands come into view and stopped our watches at the car completing the run in just under 2hrs - a little longer than expected. All in all a good run. Now we have to organise to run the southern part of the trail.




Sunday, June 28, 2020

Another Present

Katy's final present arrived in the post! A handmade necklace from Yondale Designs. The necklace was sent back as it was a little long to be resized which took a little longer. She was pretty chuffed with the final piece and it rarely comes off.






Saturday, June 27, 2020

Tribute to Fuji

Fuji the beautiful gentle brown eyed fluff ball has sadly also made her way to doggie heaven to join her best mate Pippa. We have so many wonderful memories and will miss her dearly.


 

 






Friday, June 26, 2020

Indi update

Lanky legs, floppy ears and crazy haired crocodile....much cuter when asleep and not biting everyone!!




Saturday, June 20, 2020

An Interesting Bloom

The four hyacinth bulbs are on different time schedules with the final one only has just blossoming! Unlike the previous bulbs, these one are sadly quite scraggly. Oh well it's been interesting watching the growth...



Tuesday, June 16, 2020

New Gear

In the wake of the ski season being seriously interrupted thanks to covid, I have taken the opportunity (egged on by Al and Rob) to make the plunge and have purchased all mountain skis and boots! It took a few visits to various ski shops to compare the products, finally decide only to find out the skis I had chosen had sold out!! Anyway we got there in the end as did Cath who also was convinced to join in on the ride ski!! So now we are sorted and will be able to at least go on a few back country touring adventures if all the chairlifts close down...



Sunday, June 14, 2020

Graduation

A few more first for Indi -

graduation from puppy preschool and a walk! Although we don't go far and stay on the road as she still has one more vaccination to go.  I'd forgotten how annoying it is to walk with a puppy!!

 

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Andy's Work Bench

Andy's work bench is coming along although he hasn't quite finished as the top isn't secured yet! He is blaming the lifting of coronavirus restrictions for the decrease in his productivity....



Monday, June 8, 2020

Bedroom Rules

Both girls were obsessed with the reality tv show house rules and so when talks regarding Katy's window began Ella immediately decided on doing a bedroom rules for Katy. The rules defined by Katy were -
  1. Calm rainforest feel
  2. Green, blues and aqua colours
  3. Styled by sloths!!
Planning began immediately once the rules were established. Ella spent hours drawing, trawling the web for inspiration and suggesting many options.

At various stages these ideas were raised - 
  1. Ella (with Andy's approval) decided to cut Katy's bed so that it would fit into the alcove
  2. Have a canopy over the bed
  3. Have a hanging chair
  4. Build a platform bed after I vetoed the cut up of Katy's bed.
In the end after numerous compromises and redesigns, Katy got a new loft bed, a new big chair with a sheer curtain and fairy light backdrop and a hand made hammock - a home for all of her soft toys.

While Katy was at a sleepover, work began on Friday night with patching and sanding to prepare paint areas. We also began to construct the loft bed. Saturday saw us paint the wall, window and continue with loft construction. Sunday we added the final touches and then it was time for the big reveal :) 

Katy was pretty stoked with the results!!

Here is a reminder of what Katy's room looked like in 2015....

 


and now...











Sunday, June 7, 2020

Bulb Progress

My indoor bulbs are growing well although one of the four hasn't yet sprouted.



Saturday, June 6, 2020

Friday, June 5, 2020

Building Work Begins

It's been 5 years since our renovation and we have finally made the decision to change Katy's room by adding in another window. Katy's original room design had a corner window like Ella's however we decided against doing that because the outlook would be straight on to the fence. Instead we only installed one window on the western facing wall which only gets direct afternoon sun. 

Wanting more light into Katy's room we decided to add a window into the southern facing wall. First a chat to our builder made us rethink our original plans to create a window with interest. Our choices were -



After considering all options we settled on design three - a window that jutted out under the eaves and had views over to the beautiful snow gum in the garden. The window was ordered and arrived in Feb (like the fridge, oven, etc) and then sat in the front room waiting while covid did its thing.

Finally we made contact with our builder and set a date. Over a few days, a hole was cut, window installed, the internal and external holes filled in and window sill installed.





We are thrilled with the window and wished we'd done it sooner. It completely changes Katy's room. Now for the bedroom makeover....