1-31-12

Martin: One minute from the Holiday Inn is the Harbour Bridge.

Bob and I plan to climb the bridge!

Me: More progress! Today James took the wall that was behind me completely out. He then worked on raising the kitchen ceiling and also started creating the loft above me by removing more drywall. The ceiling in the room I'm standing in will eventually come out to create high vaulted ceilings in this part of the downstairs. James is doing a fantastic job and we continue to like the changes! 

1-30-12

Martin: Sydney Holiday Inn.

Martin took this photo when he was downtown. This is where Bob and I will be staying the last couple nights of our trip. It's near The Rocks, Harbor Bridge and has a view of the Sydney Opera House!

Me: Progress! Today James & Bob took out the drywall from the walls that will be removed. Wow, it's going to open up the home so much. I love how the east windows now fill the home with more light. 

1-29-12

Martin: Ruth, Adrian, Daniel and I went into the city to eat and walk around. An aboriginal busker was playing the didgeridoo. Sounded pretty good through his amplified sound system. Caught the train back and arrived home at about 6pm.

Me: Enjoyed a cool evening roasting marshmallows in our backyard!

1-28-12

Martin: Ruth with her friend and daughter at Blue Mountains National Park.

Me: Down come the trees! Our friend Mario is in that huge Mesquite removing it from the top down. What a tough job! He and his crew worked so hard today and the improvement it made to our new yard is astounding. We are lov'n it! Bob worked extra hard on the house today too, cleaning and removing all kinds of junk. Fun stuff!

1-27-12

Martin: Other side of Freycinet facing Oyster Bay on the island of Tasmania. 

Martin sent this pic to show some more of what we'll be seeing soon!

Me: When life gives you lemons, make lemon bars!

This is my second batch of lemon bars this week. Oh, the fresh lemons make them soooo delicious! I sent these home with Emily to Iowa. We also loaded her up with a suitcase of grapefruit and oranges. All the citrus trees are bursting with tangy goodness right now. 

PS: We closed our our new house today. Woo hoo, yippy, yeah!!!!

1-26-12

Martin: Flowering eucalyptus tree in the garden where I was working.

Me: "Stitched" photo that Bob took with his phone when we were out mountain biking. Turned out kinda cool.

1-25-12

Martin: Always like to see the pattern in the paint tin before you stir.

Me: Bob, Joan, Emily, Janna, baby Kavan and I had a picnic lunch in the park today.
71 degrees and gorgeous!

1-24-12

Martin: Looking towards the headland to Wineglass Bay on the island of Tasmania.

Me: This is our sad lemon tree at our new house. At least 1/2 of it is dead, but one branch is producing lemons. We went over today to give it extra water. Next week, when the house is officially ours, we are going to prune it way back and see if we can revive this poor citrus.

1-23-12

Martin: Yesterday I posted a photo of Adrian hiking up Cradle Mountain. This is the view from the top.

Me: Bob's dad sent this photo to Bob today and I want to post it 'cause I think it's cool. Bob is a Model A and Model T guru and this is his current project. He's rebuilding a Model A pickup that he took apart 30 years ago. It's looking great!

1-22-12

Martin: Adrian hiking to the top of Cradle Mountain.

Photo is from a past trip that Martin and his family took to Tasmania. This is one of the hikes that Bob and I are planning to do while in Australia! 

Me: Bob was called out to fly to San Diego today. Here is a photo he took at the harbor. Pretty shot! 

1-21-12

Martin: Spotted Quals

Me: Janna's parents (my brother, Monte & SIL, Emily) are visiting from Iowa this week. Of course they were thrilled to meet, hold & love their newest grandson, Kavan.

1-20-12

Martin: Wineglass Bay from the lookout point on the walking trail. 

This photo was taken on a trip to Tasmania that Martin and his family did a while back. Tasmania is one of the places that Bob and I will be going when we visit Australia. Looking forward to seeing this!!

Me: I spent much of the day on the computer booking lodging, domestic flights and rental car for Australia. Everything is coming together. It's going to be a great trip!

1-19-12

Martin: Panning for gold in the upper reaches of the Shoelhaven River at Oallen Ford around three hours drive south of Sydney.

Me: Harley high-5'n me after we made it to the top of the mountain for sunset. Bob was with us too! This is Bob's work week but he's been home since his first day on, Tuesday. His company has him on home reserve and so far no scheduled flights. Lucky us!

1-18-12

Martin: South Coast next to Bombo Beach, Kiama.

Me: Harley's room with a view. 

Bob and I walked Harley this morning and had to stop by to see our new place. :-) The home is now vacant giving us access anytime we'd like! Harley was quite content to sit on the deck and scan the desert for rascally rabbits.

1-17-11

Martin: Blue Mountains National Park

Me: We're going to Australia! Our tickets are booked and we'll be flying into Sydney on February 24th. We're so excited to meet and spend time with Martin, Ruth, Adrian and Daniel! And we're looking forward to exploring Tasmania and the Great Barrier Reef (the two areas we'll be visiting in addition to our stay in Sydney). We'll be in Australia for 2 and 1/2 weeks. Yahoo! Woo hoo! Yippee!

1-16-12

Martin: A shot from Jelly Bean Pool, Blue Mountains National Park.

Me: We made all natural peanut butter with our Vitamix tonight. No added sugar or preservatives and yummy! I had a bag of shelled peanuts in the pantry so first we shelled a bunch of peanuts.

Then we dumped the peanuts in the Vitamix.

We turned it on and watched it churn.

The end result was creamy homemade peanut butter!

1-15-12

Martin: This weather is becoming predictable.

Me: Went to Tempe to cheer on my friend, Wendy in the Arizona Rock-n-Roll Marathon. She did great! Way to go, Wendy!

1-14-12

Martin: The boys are still asleep & may be for a while. Ruth got up at 3am & found them both watching a movie on TV. Well, it is the school holidays & neither is working today.

Me: What is this? We're not really sure. We went biking in South Mountain this morning and rode up to this. We've seen it from a long distance before but have never actually ridden up to it. It looks like a burned down house that sits part way up the hillside and is not accessible by road, it's deep in South Mountain. Since going there this morning we've read that it's origins are in dispute. We did hear from a reliable friend that it was a mining lodge in the early 1900's. I'm glad we let our curiosity take us there, it was interesting and would have had quite the view in it's day.

1-13-12

Martin: Soccer practic in the horse paddock.

Me: Our soon to be new back yard! :-)

We are excited to close on our new house in 2 weeks! Just a 1/2 mile from where we live now, we'll eventually be moving into this home on the preserve! It's perfect for us. The home and yard needs work, but Bob and I welcome the projects - we think that's fun!

1-12-12

Martin: A pic from Kangaroo Valley

Me: I broke the sewing machine. :-( I was sewing today and something didn't sound right. I pulled the bobbin out and found this piece. Ugh.

1-11-12

Martin: When the piston ring went in one of the mowers.

Me: Have I ever posted a photo of our green and purple bedroom? Well, here it is. I added the pom poms to the lamp shades a few months ago.

1-10-12

Martin: Bark that had fallen off a Scribbly Gum.

Me: Family hike outing: Bob, me, Joan (sister), Andy (nephew-in-law), Isabella (great-niece) & Brittany (niece). We walked a small section of the Peralta Trail in the Superstition Mountains. We didn't make it very far since Isabella wasn't thrilled to be hiking. It was still a beautiful day to be outside. Sunny and 60.

1-9-12

Martin: The boys in an 'organised' approach to mowing the grass.

Me: Awesome photo from Bob