Busy Busy Busy

Well, the last week and a half is mostly certainly the hardest I’ve worked in...well a long time! We moved mum and Dad in to a new house down in Hastings which is about 65kms south of Croydon on the Mornington peninsula. It's a great place, makes you feel like you are on holiday everyday! It is close to Mum's sisters, close to many wineries, coastal walks, picnic areas and all the things that retired folk should be enjoying. It does have a few country hicks (you know the type, mullets, missing front teeth driving a rusty ol' pickup...sorry UTE!)

Any way Kat and I came down on Monday the 15th and didn’t stop (I mean 7am till 1am everyday) up until the 22nd when my sister arrived from Sydney. We started with an expectation of painting a few of the key rooms because they the previous owners had a blue colour scheme throughout...YUCK! So we kicked off at 4pm on the Monday after a 5 hour delay on handover...dang lawyers.






Like I said the plan was to paint the living room, family room, dining room, kitchen and Mum's bedroom and bathroom (walls only). This, with over-confidence turned into the guest bathroom and toilet too. But it wasn’t until we started applying the second coat late on the second day that we realised that what we thought was a “normal” white ceiling was actually a very acute pale blue!!! Bugger, we had to do the ceilings too!!! So it was another past midnight night.

BEFORE


AFTER


Wednesday we did a couple of trips to and from Croydon carting boxes and furniture, Thursday was one last trip for the stuff that Mum and Dad (and my old stuff I left before heading to London) had in storage. Friday thru Monday is a bit of a blur. It was unpacking, fitting new bathroom fittings, digging new garden beds, a little more painting but the one thing we do remember is the lack of sleep! But it is all done now and very satisfying! Mum has a new house, we have more space and it is a thousand times more pleasant that what they had. Mission accomplished! It’s been good to come home and get a few things sorted out. Kat and I need a mission otherwise we get bored and that is what Mum gave us when we arrived, firstly she wanted a new TV and secondly, a new house!

A well earned privilege!! John deer and beer!!


On that topic Mum is making great progress on the Cancer front (touch wood). She is responding well to the trial treatment and we are hopeful that shortly she’ll only need to visit the hospital once a fortnight rather than weekly and then move on to a maintenance regime. Kat is missing her folks terribly (especially at this time of the year) and we a vowing to spend more time with them hoping to return to UK in April to have a few weeks in the UK before heading out to Turkey.

So the plan as it stands (but as a good man once taught me…the plan is always subject to change!) is to head to NZ on the 3rd of Jan for a spot of hiking, returning about the 24th. Then early to mid Feb we are planning on heading to Canberra to visit the nationals capital , see my cousin Phil and then head on to Sydney for our good friends Lee and Sal’s wedding, which will see us through towards the end of Feb. Finally a few weeks with Mum and Dad before heading back to ol’ blighty. But having said that Kat’s client might be looking to push the button on a transaction which could see her here for just a wee while longer...but we’ll have to wait and see.

Merry Xmas to all

Love B&K