In Memory of a special friend.

When we lived on the coast, my next door neighbour was a very dear friend and great support to me .
Hubby worked away a lot and with three young children and later teenagers she was  wonderful to have  right next door. I can not put into words  how appreciative I was  for her being there for us, she kept me sane I am sure. !!
After her lovely husband died she would pop over almost daily for coffee and a chat or I would pop over to her.
We used to go on outings, to lunch, to the movies and  sometimes her lovely daughter would accompany us and we also started to become good friends.
Then just over 6 1/2 years ago, she became ill and was diagnosed with cancer. She fought a very brave and hard battle but eventually passed away on 20th June 2009.
Her daughter  stayed in the home( she had moved home temporarily to care for her Mum) for a while and we really  had a lot in common and grew close just like sisters.
That bond still remains and as our  special lady would have celebrated her 90 th birthday this year, in November  we decided to do it for her ( she was with us in spirit),We always refer to her mum as "The Girl"
So I took a road journey to my other sisters' home

It was a long drive down through  the valley which is  known for its mining activity, and several times along the way I had to be pulled over by police patrol to let these big fellows pass by, there was a convoy of 4 of them.
I slipped straight to Newcastle and got myself a haircut,did some shopping( a real luxury these days), and met another friend for lunch, then  headed up to my friends home to stay the night.

She lives in a lovely tree studded area on a small acreage and the next morning there was a gorgeous family of wild ducks  hanging around her pool( she didn't think they were lovely as  they are causing a lot of  pool pollution problems with their droppings)

We were then taken to the train station by  a neighbour and caught the train to Central in Sydney.

We had booked an apartment for two nights  in the centre of Sydney, we were on the 29th floor ( I am

not great with heights, so I didn't even venture out onto the balcony the entire time)
We then had  our traditional wander past the David Jones Christmas windows( which were a massive disapointment  this year) , a roam through the  very expensive clothing section just to dream and then on to  "The Girls'" favourite birthday  treat of all High Tea at the Queen Victoria Building.

I must say they outdid themselves ,it was delicious and we ate every morsel, it was a lovely afternoon Birthday tea. While at the Queen Victoris building we  also checked out the gorgeous christmas tree that  is located under the central dome. The tree takes up three floors and is  beautifully decorated  with swarovski crystals.

And finally me at the base, unless you see this tree, you truly cannot imagine how large it is.
The queen Victoria building is a beautiful old lady, saved from  certain demolition at the last minute and  has been faithfully and lovingly restored.

They had a lovely spot where the kiddies could meet Santa and get photographs,

We headed back to our apartment, got ourselves all  gussied up and headed off to a place called "The Blue Bar" up on the top floor of The Shangrilah Hotel, from here you get a real  birds eye view of Sydney. We purchased one and only one coctail( as they were very expensive) and sat and enjoyed our stunning view.

From here we headed to the Opera house as we had scored last minute tickets at half price for a supposedly great  show.

The show we saw was called "Velvet" it was  a burlesque style show with Marcia Hines as the star, it was amazing, one of the very best stage shows I have ever seen.

We left the show on a total high, and came back outside to this  wonderful night time  view of the Harbour bridge on our way back to the apartment.

Next morning we were up and off, the plan was to go to Watsons  Bay on the ferry,

Over at Watsons Bay is a seafood restaurant called Doyles'  and "The Girl" used to always talk about her trips there , so in honour of her we went, but not to the flashy expensive  part,

We just did the cheapie take away part and ate it  in the nearby park .

When my friend was about to place a calamari ring in her mouth, this cheeky fellow swooped through and grabbed it right off her.

We then went for a walk up to the Gap lookout, stunning views, took this panorama, but not a great photo unfortunately.

The day passed all too quickly and we returned back to circular quay on the ferry  and on the way saw this lovely sail boat.

We once again returned to the apartment and  got ourselves all spruced up and headed off to see the stage show "Matilda"

What a great night, I have always loved this book, and then the movie and now the stage production.
we walked back to the apartment  and  collasped into our chairs and talked half the night, were were both on a high from our great weekend.
We had  a great night view from our apartment, life in the city just doesn't stop.

Next morning we had a wander around  the shops, saw this lovely old building reflected on the new and  thought how  lovely that was.

  We  were mainly window shopping , as we normally arn't big spenders, this trip was a huge expense for the shows and the apartment, so we walked EVERYWHERE, ( all my blisters will verify that) and caught trains when we couldn't , brought our breakfasts with us and just bought salad and fruit from the nearby supermarkets for meals, we saved where we could to allow for the extra treats.
We then caught the train  back to Newcastle,  were once again  picked up and returned to my friends house where I gathered my car and then  travelled to  another friends home to stay the night.
Next morning I returned home  thoroughly tired and exhausted but  feeling  great.
I think "The Girl" would have enjoyed her birthday treats and  she was in our thoughts and actions the whole weekend. We honoured her memory I think exactly as she would have liked us too and I hope that we get to repeat it again one day .
So, there is only one thing left to say... "Happy 90th Birthday Rita , Hope  it was a good one"
Treasure all those that are special to you, you never know when they may suddenly disappear  and leave a big void in your life,
Take care everyone,
Cheers
Jane.

My New Kitchen....almost !!!

The kitchen reno has slowed, through no fault of ours, but it is progressing....
Our builder  and hubby  began the process of lining the  kitchen walls which took a couple of days,

Hubby had  purchased a sheet lifter to aide  in  putting up the ceiling sheets  and it certainly made a huge difference, he and the builder were easily able to do the ceiling by themselves .

Once the ceiling was in  our neighbour, friend, electrician came back and installed all the lighting and power points into the  sheeting and hubby got busy with plastering the joins.

Then the kitchen installation day finally arrived, the  carcasses  were being done in Dubbo( a bit over an hour away, but the doors were a special  style I ordered and  were not made locally so had to order them)

So this is where we are at now,  unfortunately the doors have been delayed  and won't be  here and installed until at least the 17th of December. But it is reasonably functional for the time being.
We have purchased a new gas stove and a new dishwasher, but these also won't be installed until after the tiling is done, but the tiler was due to start yesterday but was a no show due to car issues.

So these are sitting out on the verandah just waiting to be installed.
During the  kitchen progress I have had a few injuries that slowed me down a bit, firstly I dropped the big heavy crow bar that I was levering rocks out of a garden edging with,

It was very swollen and painful.
Then a few days later whilst helping load  demolition rubbish onto the utility, I banged my shin not one but stupidly three (3) times on the tow bar of the ute.

And finally, while heading up to the chook yard to collect eggs one day soon after,  slipped over  in a chook  dust hole and   rolled my ankle badly, not broken just sprained. All my injuries have now healed, although the ankle is a little weak, but I will take care not to injure it again.

We  are finally starting to use  the house like normal, won't be much longer now and  life will return to our usual  routine, which will be lovely.
We have just had all our children and grandchildren home for a few days and   it felt good.

We put up a shade shelter and a paddeling pool and  escaped the heat as best we could. It will be wonderful when we  finally are able to erect a covered area out this side of the house.
We have had a wonderful glut of apricots on our old tree this year, I picked a total of 11 buckets of fruit from it and made up 3 batches of jam as well as 4  canner loads of preserved  apricots for the pantry.

The pantry is a mess, as I have been just shoving things in there whenever I need to clear spaces, but I organized this a bit to put all the apricot preserving away.
The vegie garden is progressing well, hubby has been struggling with the water, spending ages moving hoses and trying to keep it all  growing,

The first planting nearly ready to harvest and process and the second planting close behind.

We also had our first and only cherry off our newly planted trees, hubby very generously gave it to me, it was delicious.

It's been a huge month or so since I last posted, and I must endeavour to update more often, but time just gets away and always something needing to be done, But I promise I will try. :-)  :-)
So, until we meet again further down the track of life,
Take care,
Cheers.
Jane.