Imagine

Imagine

Having a best friend for 65 years

Imagine

You woke up next to your best friend for the last 62 years

Imagine

Together you watched your children grow up over the last 56 years

Imagine

Together you dreamt about your future

Imagine

Together you watched your grandchildren grow up over the last 29 years

Imagine

You sat together and remembered about the way things were

Imagine

Together you watched your great grandchildren grow

Imagine

Waking up and your best friend is no longer there

Good bye Pop.........

It was an honour to know you and have you come into my life.

I remember when Nick was jumping through hoops to convince me I should take a chance and let love into my life again he pointed out that he had living examples of how a marriage should look and how his Gram and Pop had been happily married for almost 60 years.

I am glad that he was able to talk me round because I got to know you and that was a blessing.

Xx

In memory of Darrell Dick

22 February 1927 - 25 June 2011

Thank you

Just popping in for a quick one today to say thankyou so much for all of the lovely and encouraging feedback I had from last weeks post.

Today I am feeling really good and in fact this week has been so much better. I think that becoming aware of how I was feeling and that I was not coping well has helped alot.

So thank you my friends

In yesterdays post about our backyard makeover I mentioned that my wonderful hubby went out and planted the mondo grass just before it snowed.

Well this is what he looked like....

So dedicated.....LOL!

He tells me that he was nice aand toasty on top due to the four layers of clothing however he may need to invest in some long johns!

xx

A work in progress - backyard

I hope you can bear with me through this post, I think I had to include so many photos just to emphasize how big this project has been and how long it has taken!

Our backyard has been a work in progress, we started in January 2010 and my last update was the chook house in November 2010.

You can read about it here at the Chook House

It all started here you can read about it all at

"The beginning part 1, part 2 & part 3"

Then in November 2010 we started working on this area again.

We levelled it and we built retaining walls and we moved an awful lot of rock!

During the work we also installed the new sheds

read about it  

 here  and here 

you can see them in the background.

We worked hard and just in time for our Christmas Party on the 23rd December 2010 we left it at this.

 

In April 2011 my wonderful hubby started work on it again

We also decided it was time to finish the other unsightly areas that we had left around the place.

We had uneven surfaces around the new sheds, we had dirt around the side of the house, drain that still needed to be installed and messy areas that were just hard to mow and looked unattractive.

After much deliberation it was decided that the best way to fix this and avoid lots of back breaking digging was to use crushed limestone.

Is it really sad to get so excited about a finished path and an installed drain?

Hubby worked hard yesterday in the freezing cold and today just before it snowed to add some finishing touches

and were done....

except for all of the plants that need to get planted in spring and the lattice that needs to go in the veggie garden to support my climbing plants.......

 and I am sure there is still more......

but I was just too excited about our progress that I just had to share it with you.

What do you think?

I think that if you made it this far you deserve a big hug for being a great friend and sharing my excitement!

I may follow up with some more detailed explanations in the future including some really interesting stats like how many tonnes of rock, dirt and sand we have moved. LOL!!!

How much money above mentioned stuff has cost us and how much I have saved on gym fees by working hard in the yard! : )

xx

A life worth living

I disappeared again,

I am sorry.

I have been around and stalking you all just being antisocial and not commenting much.

Actually that pretty much sums up my life at the moment.

Around when I have to be, but anti social and hiding whenever possible.

I got back from a trip to Sydney last night for work and I was anti social while I was there, hid in my room with room service for brekkie and dinner, opted out of joining the others at the pub while we waited for our flight home and stayed in the hotel lobby reading and playing solitaire on my phone.

That is how I have typically been behaving lately and finally it dawned on me that I am probably suffering a bit of depression following everything I have been through during the last year. I suffered slight post natal depression after I had Nicholas, I didn’t realise anything was wrong but the doctor picked it up during one of my post natal checkups. She recommended that I make myself get out and be active and social. The exercise boosts your feel good endorphins and being social ensures that you have lots of opportunities to chat and not dwell inward for too long.

On top of the anti social tendencies I also noticed that I really struggled with making rushed decisions, really simple things like what pizzas to order for dinner when we had family over to watch the footy or one morning on my way out the door to work Nick reminded me that his folks were coming for dinner and asked me what we were going to eat. I hadn’t thought about it at all and I was running late and I found it all too hard and snapped! I did apologise once I got to work and had calmed down but it shouldn’t have happened and normally I don’t get flustered over such a little thing.

So I need to get out and exercise and I need to be more social, Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t spent the last few weeks holed up in my room in my pj’s, I have actually been quite busy and around a lot of people. A weekend conference, meetings, church, lunching with friends, dinner with friends and family but the whole time I have been around people, including at work I feel like I haven’t connected and have been there in body but not in spirit. I can have a conversation with someone and nod and smile and sympathise at all the right times but then when they leave I have heard what they said but I haven’t really connected. Does that make sense? That needs to change and I need to consciously make that change and keep making the decision until it is natural again.

So while I am working on cheering up I will be round to visit and comment,
not just silently slip by.

Have a lovely weekend.

xx

 

Image 1, 2, 3 & 4

Bag Lady

Earlier this week I read the post from

i love pretty things

titled “How many bags does a girl need?”

and I have realised that I have a slight bag obsession

it all started with a guest post on Mamamia where Kate Hunter confessed she owns just one bag

I immediately clicked on the link and read Kate’s post as well as all of the comments left.

Sure I have many bags (I am actually too afraid to count) but I only ever use one at a time! I mean I usually use the same bag through the week and perhaps swap it over on the weekends or in the evenings!

I confess I have bags that I bought and I have only used once or twice because they aren’t practical but they look too good to get rid of so they sit in my cupboard looking pretty.

Of course as I read through the “I love pretty things” post I stopped a few times, once was to visit the bragbags site because apparently they make great bags that are affordable, so of course I had to check them out.

One of my favourites

 

and then I saw this Epiphanie camera bag….

and that’s when I decided I need one in order to carry around hubby’s camera! I don’t mind that it weighs a tonne I think the red bag is just perfect! Do you think he’d mind carrying his camera around in it?

Even more disturbing is that when I saw this ensemble

Isoki reversible baby bag

I added the link to the shop as a favourite, hopefully there will be a time soon that I need to buy it! My favourite is this set

 

So what about you are you a bag lady or a shoe lass?

xx