Working on the flat

We also got some flat work done this weekend
We had to order custom blinds because our windows are slightly (like an inch) larger than standard - so annoying. I can hardly believe they are longer than our table - wow - big windows.

Of course a lunch break with hot dog leftovers was necessary - another miserable winter day in Sydney!

And finally - both bedroom blinds were up! Looks 1000 times better than the original blinds from the late 80's!! And these new ones completely block out the light - fantastic - since the building next to us has a hall light that never goes off - very annoying in the evening!!!

Shame we didn't get them done in the time for the 4th of July - but between cooking & cleaning like mad there just wasn't time.

Oh and we got curtains for the living room up too - I must get a picture!

Rain = Shopping

It rained all day Saturday, so I didn't get to go ice skating as planned - instead I went shopping!
Pillows that I think are SO pretty (and comfortable - bonus!) for our sofa

Well this we didn't buy - but it matches Beautifully with our sofa - the wedding blanket my Grandma Sally made for us.

And our new dining set :)

It helped that the sun came back out on Sunday as well! Made for a great weekend. They say July is the middle of winter here - so we are getting close - but we were still out in flip flops and just a long sleeve t-shirts down at the beach this weekend - SO lovely!

OUR BEACH IS THE CLEANEST!!!!!!!!!!!

I heard this on the radio yesterday - North Steyne beach (just down from Manly beach, but part of the same stretch of sand) - which is the closest beach to our flat (just a few minute's walk) was voted the cleanest beach IN AUSTRALIA!!!!

HOW EXCITING!

'North Steyne Beach is the only beach in an Australian capital city to win Australia's Clean Beach Award.

Previous winners of the six-year-old awards have been country beaches or at smaller towns. '

FANTASTIC :) Nice to know we live a short walk from such a lovely beach:)

Sandy Jamaican Coconut Husk

Saturday we went to the IMAX with Helen to see Star Trek and it was FANTASTIC! I admit I really did like it - and Murray had to ask me to stop doing the live long and prosper hand signal as we were leaving:) I am not a treky, but it did remind me of dinner time while I was growing up as we always watched it cause Dad loved it!

Saturday - it finally happened - our sofa FINALLY arrived (we ordered 9 weeks ago....)
First - the cushions

And yes, we still have the big old blue sofas - we are working on selling them, but at the moment the sofa and recliners are just piled up near our dining table - just a BIT crowded in here!

Murray had to help the delivery men out with the second piece as it wasn't really fitting through the door.... they ended up having to take off two of the legs then it JUST fit - whew!

Meet - our sofa (that big rectangle piece is the ottoman - it actually goes on the other end - but we will put it in this configuration when we want another spare bed for guests! SO comfy - should work well!)

Murray likes to say the color is called Sandy Jamaican Coconut Husk - we LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE it - not bad huh?

Tomorrow - I will introduce you to the new lady in my life - Betty.....

Lights & BBQs

A few pictures from last weekend.........
On Saturday Anna & Ali came over for a BBQ and Ali offered to help put a light up!

Eventually they figured out the wires!

Looks good! Flat to the ceiling at least....

Final adjustments - and much pondering over the many many wires that were up there!

Then it was time to cook - German style!

Anna with Murray's lovely appetizers and the FABULOUS prawns they brought over!

Work work work! Me peeling prawns and Murray preparing stuff for the BBQ

He does LOVE his new grill!

We sat down to eat and the Murray popped over to turn off our new light so it wouldn't be so bright. Then......... ALL of the lights went out!! Circuit popped!

We tried the switch - nothing - so we just got out some candles & our lovely little battery powered emergency lamp so our food wouldn't get cold!

After we ate the boys figured out what was wrong - turns out the red wires - are for nothing! They were not meant to be connected I guess!

A little peak in home improvement book didn't help either! Looks like we'll only have one (new) light in our place that works....ha...hmmm we'll figure the others out by trial and error.....error would be Murray sticking his finger in the light socket again....ooops.

It was REALLY fun to have them over - and fun to make use of our new dining table again :)

4-6 Weeks

Very exciting - we ordered our sofa today - it is going to be beautiful - I cannot WAIT!
They are custom building it in Sydney just for us - whoooo hooooo
I hope it comes in closer to 4 weeks rather than 6 :)

Clean clean clean

Today we decided to clean our screens and windows and put in our new blinds
I CANNOT believe how black the panes of some of the windows were - ewwww - did the previous tenants EVER clean? Nasty

The before - murky dirty bug screen & old yucky blinds

Cleaning the screens in the shower - it just took some water as it was all just built up dust - but still - ewwwwwwwww

The after - clean windows, clean screen - and........... the same blinds.

We got our new gorgeous blinds out of the box then realized - our windows are NOT standard size - the new blinds we bought are standard sized and 1.5 cm too long. Bummer.

So, we had to put the old ones back up for now (as the bedroom windows are like fishbowls because of the walkway to the building behind us - people can see right in).

And then we went and returned the blinds, and got an order form for custom ones - *sigh*

Oh well - at least the view out the windows is much better now! (Murray was exclaiming during lunch 'look the screens are so clean that fly tried to fly right in - he couldn't even see it!)

Misc in Manly

I just got back from driving for the first time - by myself! It was scary!! Murray drove down to the ferry (so we wouldn't have to walk & get all sweaty in his suit - he needed to go into the city for interviews) and I drove the car back. I drove down along the beach (also for the first time - that was kinda fun!) and then back to our flat - negotiating a roundabout and tightly pack side streets! A small step I know - but it was scary to remember - blinker on the right, left lane, left lane - without someone to remind me. But I made it - no worries!
I even got Bruce back into the garage on my own - and that's difficult because it is a TIGHT fit!

I thought it was time to show off the kombi parade that's going on in our kitchen (Murray used to have one and LOVES Kombi's!)

The egg cups, the salt & pepper shakers & the piggy bank - on parade

How CUTE are these egg cups??? The top comes off & the surfboard doubles as a salt shaker - cute!

And finally, our little jelly bean dispenser. It came free with the surge protector that we bought for our new tv (odd combination if you ask me)!

And that's all for now..................