Winter Arrives in Oz - Brrrrrrr

This picture was taken by my boss, Paul, up at Mt Macedon on Thursday, picking Elly up from school.  Got to love that hat/scarf.   I think it looks so beautiful.  So i fired one back at him from our office in West Footscray which he had left 40 min before.

Winter certainly arrived on time with the calendar date of 1st of June.  It has been the coldest run of below average temperatures for decades.  Brrrrrr   I don't think any of us were expecting it to be quite so cold. Waking to near freezing temps and maxing out at 12C by mid afternoon.   Leaving my office with a heater under the desk and going out into the factory has been like a walking into an icebox and the boys are all wearing beanies and fleecy jumpers while working.   I think Jon doing the powdercoating has the best job in winter.  He has ovens to warm himself up on though he wouldn't agree in summer when its 40+C out there.

Speaking of arrivals, there was a huge one this week.  Well maybe he wasn't so huge but the combined expectation of so many people waiting for him to arrive has put some mighty big pressure on this little guy to be at his cutest.  This week our beloved Kirsten and Jaxon produced a little baby boy by the name of Cooper McIntyre Durham.

  
Despite being a little late, all went well and Mum and bub doing well.

So my sister now has 3 grandchildren to cuddle and love.  Busy family this one.  Three weddings last year and now two more babies to join their cousin Banjo.  Facebook has gone made this week with well wishes and photos.  Its times like these i miss being at home.  I might have to plan a sneaky trip soon.

Other family news this week sees Mum's house finally being pro-actively marketed by a new agent from Griffith.  I think they scared the beejeebers out of her when they started talking about clearing out furniture, presenting the house, open days etc but she has been most impressed by the busy activity.  At 85 the decluttering process to get a house presented for sale was just a bit too daunting but with the help of family bulky furniture was removed and boxes and boxes of a lifetime of accumulated things found there way into storage.  You can view the You Tube presentation here.

Mums House - Leeton NSW 

As someone who watches a lot of real estate programs on buying and selling, i think they have done a great job with what they had.  The wallpaper definitely needs to go but i think you can see that the house has great bones and with the addition of a two bedroom unit for income, its a bargain at $250-280K.   Typically, Mum has already viewed and decided on her next house which will be in Narrandera, 30 min away and closer to Church and family.  After being disappointed in the couple of houses she was interested in she asked the agent if there were any others.  She walked in the door of one and turned to the agent and said "this is my house".   The owners have agreed to hold it until Mum's auction in July so we all have our fingers crossed.   She called me up and exclaimed "I've bought a house before selling the other one".  So excited.  She sounded like she had lost 20 years.  My sister Glenda has gone home this weekend to make sure she is out of the house for the first open day.  She has been upset by previous viewers walking around making negative comments in front of her. It needs updating but that is reflected in the price.  I sent flowers for the dining table to make it more homey.

With the temperatures being so low, i finally pulled down the last of the tomato vines.  Really!

I think tomorrow will be the last breakfast of tomatoes on toast using my own.  Lots and lots of green tomatoes to make into pickles.

 
The peas are looking very healthy but i doubt that the peppers will ripen, though you never know with that wall behind them.

I was watching River Cottage Australia Season 2 the other day and they made champagne out of Lilli Pilli fruit (known as Riberry).  Hang On, i have two of those outside my front door.  Given, they are not the 10 mtr high trees that were shown but......

I must have pruned the one on the right at exactly the right time as the other one on left has no fruit at all.   This one is loaded and my footpath is turning a shade of purple.  I never thought of eating them but they said that they tasted like a strawberry apple and you know what, they do.  Slight after taste but i image you could do something with them.  The birds will like them anyway.   Check out some recipes on this Australian bushfoods site.

I've added a few more plants to the fernery side of the house.  Its a jungle out there....

Its been a Bla week this week for me physically.  This blood phobia thing has got to go.  I've passed out twice this week and the resulting illness lasts almost a day.   Saturday night i saw something yucky on TV and Monday morning i cut my finger on a broken plate in dishwasher.  I had actually taken the day off to go on a day trip with Rob on his RDO.  Wasted day.  My boss says its much safer at work and i shouldn't have time off.  How stupid it feels but i cannot control this at all.   It doesn't make sense that i can work with meat and have no trouble but with people, i only have to talk about it.  Its happened several time this year already. Who can forget (I cant) passing out at a First Aid Course.  How embarrassing.  I think i am more afraid of being unconscious and then clammy illness afterwards.  I feel so vulnerable.  

 I'm investigating hypnotherapy.  Has anyone had this done?  It really is debilitating not knowing what your body is going to do.

Add to this a finger that got squashed while moving a freezer resulting in a black nail and black finger (ouch) and then on Friday i had a "thing" chopped off the top of my head at a skin clinic to send away.  I took Tom with me to drive and to care for me in case i, you guessed it, passed out. Its not funny!

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