Grateful

No flags. No symbols.

Just happy that I live here.

We're not perfect, but I think it's about as close as any country can get

As Mark Seymour wrote in an opinion piece in the Age on Sunday, "there are all these other places that have exciting, vibrant cultures with a great deal to offer...many of them just as sophisticated and interesting as ours...perhaps more so'"

Australia Day is not a day all Australians think is worth celebrating and lately it feels like it's turned into a day that's all about BBQ'd lamb. I hope that's not really the case.

This year, the Australian of the Year is Professor Pat McGorry. A psychiatrist who has worked with young people with mental health issues. All I can say is, thank goodness it's not another sportsman, specifically, a cricketer. It seems over the past 20 years or so, we seem to have had our fair share of sportspeople taking out the country's top honour.

Congratulations Professor. Your recognition is well deserved.

Life Is Good

Even though it's been raining...

...and the weather's been cool and overcast, it's been a wonderfully relaxing few days.

..and to think, it's not over yet!

Thank God It's Friday!

Or to be more specific: Thank God it's Friday, January the 15th, because that means from tomorrow the residents of Number 10 are on a two week break!

It means, MONT will (hopefully) be using this a lot.

I'll be doing a lot of this....

I'll be seeing a lot of these guys...

...and on Australia Day, if it's a clear night, we'll grab our deck chairs and sit down and look across the bay and watch the fireworks display from Melbourne.

We take our annual two week break from tomorrow and up until now, neither of us have been able to get into the "spirit of the holidays". But I know when we crack open a bottle of something tonight, sit back and relax and start to think about it, we'll get into the spirit pretty darn quickly.

I'll have my laptop with me (for some part-time work I do) so will be able to show you some photos of our (very) lazy days by the beach.

Getting organised

Say the word storage and you instantly get my attention. I love storage of all shapes and sizes and it seems I'm not the only one because there are a lot of new stores popping up devoted solely to getting us and our stuff organised

There's a reason for all of this though and it's all to do with us wanting lots of stuff and not being able to "cull" any of the old stuff we've got. Like my china cabinet here. Who in their right mind needs all of these cups and saucers? Apparently, I do.

We want everything to have a "home" so there's no clutter...Funny really, seeing we live in an age where our homes are ever increasing in size to accommodate all the stuff, but personal storage facilities are also a growth industry. It seems people want stuff, they just don't want it at their place, so they rent a cubicle at one of these places and store it there. Bit of a mystery to me...but anyway.

image-decorology

Now, this is a great office space. But The Number 10 Office will NEVER look even remotely like this because MONT needs to spread his stuff out when he's doing his invoices and book work and I'm afraid MONT and NEAT are not two words that fit together easily.

image-country living

This is a great way to organise and display all of your white dishes. The thing is, you'd be forever cleaning the darn things. Maybe not as practical as it seems. Bummer!

You see I love my stuff and I love storage. The thing is I always think I just don't have enough places to put things when, if truth be known, I just have too much stuff for our little house.

I'd love my sewing room to look something like this. But it's a job that's going to take some time...maybe all year!

image-design is mine

I've been reading a few blogs where people have been saying they're going to use 2010 to get themselves organised. Get rid of the clutter. Have a clean out. Rid their lives of all the surplus stuff. I'm not sure if I can go that far .....but I'll give it a try.

You're eyes are getting sleepy...

It was hot now it's cool and I'm still exhausted!

I've been working full time these past two weeks because we're down a person at work and there was no-one else but little ol' me

I don't mind but oh boy!

Early morning starts are a killer and while I still do them three days a week, I'm afraid I'm just not cut out for them full-time any more.

Time for a little nap I think....and not on the ironing board!

Hopefully, I'll have some pretties for you tomorrow.

43 degrees

Or, 109.4 in the old language

In the words of Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam, "It's Hot. Damn Hot"!

This isn't the current weather map of Australia, but it gives you an idea of what we're feeling done south in very sunny Melbourne

We're feeling HOT!

He's still here...

In fact he's made himself so much at home, he slept in the chicken coop last night with the girls...

Not only did he sleep in there...he actually settled into one of the boxes filled with shredded paper and had a snooze.

While MONT was putting the girls to bed last night, he willingly hopped into the coop and settled down for the night. In fact, he was still in there today when I went in to check for eggs.

I think I'd better start charging him board

It's probably a good place for the girls to be today...43 degrees is the expected temperature and it is not pleasant!!

It's Victoria's first Catastrophic Code Red fire alert day. A total fire ban is in place for the entire state and everyone has their fingers crossed the day passes without any major fires.

Africa Comes to Melbourne

Not sure if I've mentioned before, but we have fantastic neighbours!

The people who live at Number 12 have become really good friends, so much so that we've often said if ever either of us decide to move house, we'd have to find somewhere that has two, neighbouring houses for sale because we like living next door to each other so much.

Each Christmas we exchange gifts with them and their two gorgeous daughters...and this year they gave MONT and me a day with them, at Werribee Open Range Zoo.

That's where we all went yesterday afternoon. Apart from the beautiful animals, they also have a special entertainment program at this time of year...yesterday it was "Rhythm of Africa" with the ASANTI DANCE THEATRE...and it was fantastic!

Asanti dancers

There was of course lots of wonderful animals, like Tony.

Tony's a mature gent who likes to keep to himself a bit, but sadly, he also has an allergy to what giraffe's generally like to eat, so he has to have injections and a daily brush down to keep him functioning, well, like giraffe's function.

This is one of the younger males in the group. Lovely isn't he

There are zebra's roaming the plains....

...and Meerkats...

...and of course these guys. Very Regal!

because he can

ahhhh, not so regal.

...and the most dangerous of them all...the hippos, who just wanted to stay submerged for most of the day.

...and these gorgeous creatures.

Stunning!





Hi there handsome

We all had a great day!

A Christmas Gift

Just before Christmas I entered my Chrissy Wreath in a competition over at Cavania.

Karen Sanders is based in London and makes some of the most beautiful cards you'll ever see.

Like this one below.

Well, I won....and yesterday my little parcel turned up in the mail. Or should I say my rather large parcel arrived. In it was a collection of absolutely beautiful cards from Karen.

I know who's going to get this one with her birthday gift next month.

...and this is the wrapping paper Karen used. Isn't it beautiful? !

Thank you Karen. I love my gift.

Also, if you're in Australia and want to check out her products, her distributor here is:

Gallery Collection in Melbourne. It's well worth a look.

All Welcome

This little guy's been paying us an extended visit this week.

He turned up on Wednesday and seems to like it here...I don't think he can fly properly just yet

So Dionne's befriended him. Making sure he knows where everything is like towels, food, fresh linen etc.

He seems to have made himself quite at home with the girls.

He looks up to Dionne...seeking her approval I think.

Red? Well she doesn't really care...

...and as for Val...hmmph... let me sleep.

The thing is, I missed the best photo op ever! The little guy jumped on Val's back as I approached to give them some food. Pity I didn't have the camera with me. Funny what critters do to make themselves feel safe.

Coffee Table

I'm on the market for a new coffee table...or an old one that I can "do-up"

Image - Ada & Darcy

I quite like this one in the photograph, but it's a bit big for our small lounge room. At the moment we have a blanket box performing the task of coffee table in there, but I want something that has a drawer or shelf, so I can clear all of my stuff off the top.

I saw one on the footpath outside someones home the other day and it looked kinda perfect...but I was too late. It was gone by the time I drove back there.

Also, if I'd brought it home MONT would've killed me!

I'm aiming for lots of clean surfaces this year. Not sure how I'll go with that because my past performance on being clutter-free is not good...still I can only try I guess.

Blue and Green Should Never Be Seen

... Unless of course it's Jasper Conran's designs for Wedgwood.

My girlfriend "G" and I don't get a chance to catch up on or around Christmas Day, what with family commitments and all, so we usually get together on the Saturday after Christmas and have a cuppa and exchange gifts.

This year, I nearly cried when I opened my gift and saw this gorgeous duo. It's funny how some people just know you so well...

A New Beginning

Welcome to 2010! Hope you all had a happy and memorable New Year!

Last night, there were some fireworks in Melbourne, but they weren't as spectacular as previous years because we had something far more important.

RAIN ! !

...and there was lots of it. There was also thunder and lightning and at one stage, some of the thunder felt so close to Number 10, we thought a house down the street had blown up! I even got out of bed to check that there was nothing on fire.

I've never heard thunder like it.