Mon petite jardin

Ooh what to do on a sunny weekend when it's still too cold to sunbathe... The garden of course! Or in our case the courtyard.

It's been irritating me how drab the courtyard looks so mr lime took me to the local garden centre for inspiration.

Everything that existed in the flower bed prior to this picture (dead ish looking bushes and weeds) was removed and pretty pink ad purple flowers planted. I also chucked in a few wild flower seed packets to see how they fare in the Aussie climate.

There were spiders and millipedes and centipedes and beetles and even a caterpillar. But all seemed happy with their new and improved courtyard. We even butchered a tree but only because we had to... Health and safety obviously. And it was blocking sunlight to my new plants...

Now all we need is a BBQ for a housewarming... Oh and then there's the front garden too...

The washing machine

Across the English countryside there is a murmur...

"where do they have their washing machine?!"

"heathens the lot of them!"

Yes - our washing machine is in the bathroom. Due to some 'feedback' i thought we would talk about my washing machine today. Common practice down here in Ausland is not to have your washer in your kitchen. Most houses actually have a set apart laundry area. But some that are more purposely compact built- such as our unit, have the taps and space built in to the bathroom.

Liam says "why would you have it in the kitchen?" and you know - it actually makes more sense.

This is a country where they also have a lot of top loading washing machines though. Now I do think they are wrong. And the first time I used one I kind of put the powder in the wrong place... When Liam and I first bought washing powder here it took us about 20 minutes to realize we were on the wrong aisle as everything we looked at was for top loading machines. We mildly panicked that washing powder was not available for front loaders and could the store do an exchange?!! Seeing as we hadn't even used it yet...

But fear not they have their own section. And not only do they have all the normal vanish and persil (omo as it's called here) but front loaders also use the least water. Which in this country of constant water restrictions can only be a good thing!

Does no one in England have their washing machine outside of the kitchen?!

Porn 2011

It's here! The new ikea catalogue has landed!! You know you want some...

The in home exercise

Beanbags. Beanbags are fun. Beanbags mould to your body shape. Beanbags are flexible in where you throw them. Beanbags are also a tiring form of exercise. You sit down to watch telly... Ooh you forgot the remote. Up you get to find the remote. So you settle down again... Ooh you forgot your cuppa. Up you go again. Then you're there with your cuppa and the remote and the phone rings... Up you get again...

It sucks getting out of beanbags repeatedly! They're bloody low! I like to credit the beanbag with zero weight loss as I just lose the effort to move entirely!! Let that phone ring! I'd even almost ignore a spider to save the effort in getting up off the beanbag. I said ALMOST. Let's not be too silly!

But no matter. This morning before I'd even left for work a fabulous thing happened. The men from Harvey Norman called and said they'd be delivering the couches in half an hour! Yey!!

5 1/2 weeks we have waited. 38 days. And 38 evenings sitting on beanbags. I would only advise beanbag purchasing for short people who don't have as far to get up. And yes I know I'm vertically challenged. But only those even shorter than me could enjoy a beanbag chair long term!! Long term being more than ten minutes...

So on my lunch break today I may go buy some fabulous cushions to compliment the one I threw on the couch this morning. Isn't it lovely?! I do worry for the cushions safety when it's alone with Liam. He seems to have a strange reaction to it... Maybe it's the material he's allergic to... ;o)

Milo v Tea

Yesterday was a very bad day for the world (and the 32nd floor) as not only did we run out of milk buy we also ran out of tea bags...

In England this would be a union matter. How could such a travesty come to pass?!! Does HR know?! Buy here in oz there was great indifference to the absence of my afternoon cuppa.

As Liam put it when I got home and ranted some more, it would be "un Australian" to run out of Milo.
Even my phone auto corrects the word and gives it a capital M!! But of course to run out of something that is just a relic of their European heritage; my beloved tea just is not a problem for them... They really are upside down after all.

This is what happens!!

I don't know if you can read this. But this I read on the way home tonight in the freebie paper MX; the Melbourne version of the Metro.

It about a guy in England. So not even Ausland who killed a spider with hairspray and then lit a post-kill smoke only to blow the alcohol fume filled room up!!

This is exactly what we arachnophobes fear! Freak turns in events! Such as my gardens spider nest exploding baby spiders like EVERYWHERE!!

I did kill by hair mousse once. And set that alight once I was sure the spider was smothered. That was on my window sill by the way mum. I think you and dad were out so there was no one there to save me! What else is a girl to do.

But this article has taught me not to use hairspray. Although another fear of mine has been that the Aussie spiders are immune to hairspray attacks... Hmmm... We have a scary one hanging out by the front door so watch this space for tried and tested methods of spider death!!

If anyone has any methods they swear by please share!!