Cate's Diary

Good job on the cleaning Cate! Hope the rest of your weekend was productive :) We still have lots to do, hoping to get more laundry and cleaning done today as after tonight it will be weekends only.

Mystic: I agree. You spend so much time getting it cleaned but somehow it never stays long that way. And I don't even have kids I can blame it on like some friends of mine. Just our own laziness. Every time we do a big clean one or both of us say "OK now it has to stay like this!" Sometimes it will for a day, or a week or 2 at best.
 
Glad you enjoyed the par-tay!

It's very tough when having to decide whether to move away from friends and family. You can change your mind back and forth a million times.
 
Ooh, don't get me wrong folks. I'm not great at housework. I really hate vacuuming & I live in a house with LOTS of big windows & I can't remember when I cleaned them last. I just hate being surrounded by stuff I don't want or need. No-one ever notices when you do lots of housework. It's both frustrating & rewarding, just because you know you have done it, but no-one else knows or notices, or probably cares much anyway.
Mr Vee- the party was really good. They are great people & it was good to make their night a fun one. We are both good at doing the bar. I don't think our son has made up his mind yet. Tough one. I'm going to let him sort it out. He knows he has our love regardless of where he lives.
I'm tired tonight. I have done so much work for the golf club lately. We both have. It is taking up too much of our time & is not enough fun. I am trying to help him out & am doing the bar on Thursday again- this time for 100 people. We are not doing what we want to be doing- my husband does so much work, with little thanks & no pay. We would both rather be playing more & doing less organising & less work. We'll have to change things.
'night folks, zzz xo Cate
 
Today is pretty much a repeat of yesterday! Visited both Mums & mine seems to have thrown out almost all of her hand-knitted woollens :eek: & all the Christmas cards that I had in the drawers, ready to send when any came in. EEK! These things would be funny if they don't drive me crazy first.
More golf club stuff today & no actual golf. I think we have both bitten off more than we can chew. 8-ball tonight.... big tournament tomorrow.......zzzzz
Our lives feel out of hand right now.
Our YS is moving back with us next Monday & I don't know still what he has decided, or if he has actually decided, where he is going to live- here or Canada......
xo Cate
 
Thanks Icy, I had a lovely day yesterday & found time to relax xo
Our OS & our youngest GS came up to our place & my LH & our OS cut up 2 loads of wood. While they were doing that our GS & I got 4 wheelbarrow loads of small rocks to backfill a stone wall. We were all a bit lacking in energy, with the possible exception of our GS, who's only 5, & we quit at lunch-time & enjoyed a very light lunch.

They went home & came back later with the other 2 GK's & we enjoyed an early dinner together. Our OS has a cold & isn't feeling great so we made it easier for him with the kids. We were going to be baby-sitting them at his place for the evening, while he went out to a xmas dinner, so having them up her for a few hours was also easier for us.

It may sound like a reasonably busy day, but a day spent with our sons and/or grand-kids is always good.
In there my husband's sister & her husband visited. They are the ones who built the stone wall while we were away, which my husband really dislikes. We have put 2 Easter Island statues on it, which I gave him for his birthday & they have improved the look of it substantially. I need to get it backfilled & then planted with creepers so it doesn't stand out so much. It is a great wall (no pun intended) but looks very different to the rest of our garden, which looks much more natural. I'll take a photo of it tomorrow, along with one of the rest of the retainer wall that I built.

Today my LH has gone off to golf & I will go into town, visit mothers, see if I can locate my Mum's missing jumpers & do a little shopping. I think I had also better go find the chook farm & see about buying 3 chooks, hopefully that I can pick up next Sunday morning. It seemed like such a long time before I needed to organise our OS's Christmas present( a chook house & 3 chooks) but it is by next Sunday (the 15th) & I am not at all organised. :eek:

When I get home I will change into my work gear & do a couple more loads of backfilling if I have time before my LH gets home. When he gets home we are going to try to get our 6 sheep to our neighbours, ready for shearing on Monday. Wish us luck as they're quite feral. I have been luring them with delicious food out of a bucket & talking to them for quite some time, but they are still very wary of humans. I'll have a trail of food for them to follow ;)

I had better get moving. I don't feel stressed at all, which is good. I love spending time at home & love being outside, so I'll go do what I have to do & come home & do what I want to do. :)
Love to all, xoxo Cate

 
I seem to have lost a few days! I have been really busy. Our YS is now home & it looks like he has decided to stay in Tasmania!!! He is moving back to Hobart, so will be within a 2.5-3hr drive from us. Fingers crossed it works out & he stays. He says most of his friends back in Canada have now scattered all over the world.

In the last few days I have been into Launceston (120km return trip) done lots of shopping for the Golf Club & done the bar, visited mothers, bought the chicken coop, ordered the chooks, bought a feeder & feed for them, had lunch with my older brother & his wife, who, once again, arrived unannounced in Tassie & lots of socialising with both sons & my LH & read half a book. (NICE)

My brother & SIL are calling in to see our YS this afternoon. They were disappointed that he wasn't with me at lunch yesterday. He has been working with their older daughter & her husband in their restaurant in Canada. From what I gather from our conversation at lunch yesterday they miss their daughter badly & what to talk about her & the restaurant & catch up on the gossip. I think I got an inkling of what it would feel like to have a son or daughter on the opposite side of the world!

We have to madly vacuum etc before they get here as I almost have tumbleweeds rolling through our house :blush5: & my SIL is one of those prissy housewives that have spotless homes. It was good catching up with my brother. My SIL doesn't even bother exchanging pleasantries with me over the phone anymore. I'm not sure what happened but apparently she doesn't talk to my sister either since we moved our Mum over here. I can't even begin to figure it out, but I won't even try. She is very strange.

My weight has been steady, but I have not been dieting as such. I'm eating healthily, but probably not exercising enough. We are going to play golf tomorrow with our YS. That will be fun!

Cheers for now, xo Cate
 
We tend to do a full house cleaning when we are expecting people over. Makes me think we should have people over every weekend! Good luck with the cleaning but don't worry too much if it's up to her standards. Enjoy the time with them :) And have fun golfing!
 
Hi Greensurf & Icy- funny thing was they didn't come in the house!! :smilielol5: We sat out on the verandah & chatted. It's great to get the house so clean though. :) Icy, you are right. Maybe we should have people visit more often! It's the time of year that people can just rock up so at least we're ready for them now.

The visit was far from enjoyable. I can't even begin to explain what my SIL is like, so I won't even try. I like seeing my brother, but didn't get much of a chance to talk to him.

It looks like it's going to rain today & it's feeling quite chilly, so I'm not sure we'll get a game of golf in. Fingers crossed! I can't possibly imagine how cold it gets in Canada. Our niece lives in BC & the Kicking Horse River has a massive ice jam. I have seen photos of it & it is beyond my comprehension. I should never complain about it being cold here, even though it is meant to be Summer!
Bye for now xo Cate.
 
It was warmer yesterday. Got to +2°C I think? It's about -10°C right now so way better than the -40 from last week.

Sorry to hear about your SIL and that you didn't get a chance to talk to your brother much :( Hope the golf worked out!
 
-40 is INSANE! Glad it's warmer Icy! My SIL has always been an absolute scatterbrain & I'm grateful I don't live anywhere near her. I don't have to put up with her very often, whereas my brother lives with her! I can ring him if I need or want to, but never on his home phone.
We played golf yesterday, & it was good to get some exercise. I have a problem with my LH though. He tells me what I should be doing every time I go to play a shot, and he tells me what I did wrong every time I play a shot. I felt like whacking him with my golf club a few times. He really puts me off. I started off well & he drove me crazy! I just don't know how to talk to him about it without hurting his feelings & causing a rift. I am meant to be playing with him on Sat, the 21st in a Christmas "Fun" day. I'll have to try.

Our OS & the 2 GS's are coming up soon & my LH, OS & YS are going to cut wood, while we might get some more rocks to backfill a wall. Probably it will be me & our 5 yr old GS & our 14 yr old GS will go on the computer. I have some housework to do so may do that instead. I am very stiff from golf.

Something exciting happened last night. We were sitting watching TV & our outside security light came on. I got up to see what wildlife we had visiting & there was a little Spotted Quoll right at our glass door! We have never seen one on our land before!Later on I heard a noise on our roof & went out with a torch to check & there he was again.View attachment 21575
They are SOOO cute! It's wonderful to know that we have nature on our doorstep, literally. I did start to worry about the baby Swallows and the baby Pardalotes that are nesting in & around our house. I have a feeling they're in jeopardy. That's nature I suppose......

Better go. Grandkids will be arriving soon xoxo Cate
 
You guys have the weirdest little creatures there. Granted the Javelina is a weird creature around here, but still.

Anyhow, enjoy the visit from the grandkids!
 
Oh, we do Mr Vee. They are weird but wonderful! I just love living in the bush, amongst nature. The starlings are having flying lessons & this young Quoll would have been weaned recently & is finding it's way in the big world! It may have moved in under our house. It should keep the mice & rats at bay, & hopefully snakes. While I like snakes I don't want them to come too near the house.

We had a lovely time yesterday with the 2 grandsons & sons. The boys(GS's) & I did some digging & rock carting, while the big boys(LH & 2 sons) cut wood. We had lunch outside & then a nice leisurely afternoon, with a little more gardening & housework. I am enjoying life again & also feel that I have Christmas under control. Today was the first day I felt good about Christmas. I'm excited about tomorrow as it will be our real Christmas day. It will be the 2 of us, both our sons & our 3 grandkids. It couldn't be better than that as far as I'm concerned. Our older son's GF will be here too. I like her more as I get to know her better. They are all staying the night Sunday night too. Lovely.
I will try not to have a hangover Monday!

I have spent heaps on food mostly, but not on presents, except for the chicken coop & the chickens, the feeder, feed etc. We don't bother much about presents. I bought my LH a new golf buggy as his collapsed, but I insisted he use it straight away. It seemed silly not to. It's all our money & doesn't make much difference. I bought a really unusual urn like thingy at the market & will wrap it up for me, from him for Christmas. Someone will get a surprise-him! LOL.

I had better stop typing. When I feel really good words flow!
xoxo Cate
 
Last edited:
Hi Cate, great to hear YS is staying home...every Mums joy.

Snakes...I have only seen one in my whole life, and I know you live in a different setting from me but it still makes me laugh when I read people (overseas) saying we have spiders the size of dinner plates and Skippy running down the street, though we are starting to have that.:rotflmao:

I still rather that than a bear or fox.
We too don't spend much on presents....just more on looking after each other all year round.
Loved how you wrapped a present for you from LH.... I think I will do that too. That is a classic.:hurray:

Kindest regards R. xxoo
 
Hi R, I don't think he's changed his mind about going back to Canada, but I'm also not 100% confident that he'll stay either. We have to take what comes in life & I'm enjoying him being around. We are off to pick up the 3 chickens soon & I'm excited. I hope the kids love their present. I know their dad will.
Better scoot xo Cate
 
The GK's LOVED the chickens & the coop & were so excited, especially our 7yr old GD! We had a delightful, relaxed early Christmas. We all ate too much, but it was healthy, nutritious food, with the exception of the Toblerone. I only had one triangle- I dislike it. It's WAY too sweet & sickly for me. Lucky it wasn't dark chocolate. No-one drank to excess, so there will be no hangovers today. :D

The 2 younger GK's have just headed off with their dad, to go check on the chooks & then head off to school, then he'll come back, pick up our OGS, drop him off at his mum's & then he'll go to work. My LH is going to work today too. Our YS & I get to stay at home today. Nice! It's a beautiful day today- expected top of 25oC, chance of rain- zilch. :D

The house is quite tidy as I did it as we went. It was a lovely day.

Bye for now & love to all xo Cate.
PS I'll weigh tomorrow.
 
I have heard your insects are pretty big. Considering I hate creepy crawlies like spiders and things like snakes I don't think I could ever live there. At least bears and foxes tend to stay in the wooded areas rather than in my house or my backyard.

Glad you had a wonderful early Christmas with lots of healthy food and not too much alcohol! Hope you have a wonderful day with your YS.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top