Ant and Spider Town...Population...Billions

Well I believe I said I had an interesting ant and spider post for you all, so here it is. Here in beautiful sunny Busselton we have everything you could want, gorgeous beaches, cafes, shopping, wineries just half an hour away, Simmo's, the best ice cream parlor in the world as far as I'm concerned and then we have two of the most wonderful creatures in abundance.....yep you guessed it....ants and spiders. Now neither of these particular bugs bother me much at all, if I see a spider and know it's poisonous, I kill it immediately....I mean I do have little ones running around after all and if I happen to see ants in my sink I simply turn the tap on and send them down the drain...though the ants in Busselton seem to have learnt to swim because they occasionally come back up the drain. Busselton is known for it's ants and you don't dare leave even a crumb on the kitchen bench or sink because you will come back to find a trail of fifty ants carrying one crumb and once they think there's a supply of food they just keep coming back.

Now like I said they don't tend to bother me too much, I deal with them as I see them but Chris on the other hand....now there's a story. The ants are driving him mad and he thinks Busselton has formed a mutant strain of ant because no matter how many times he sprays or puts ant-rid down they just keep coming back. I've never heard anyone curse ants the way Chris does and some days it takes all I have not to laugh at him when he gets on a rant about how it's his house and not theirs....hehe quite funny really. Prime example, I was clearing up the dinner dishes last night and Chris was wondering around the house aimlessly when he just happened to look down at the cats bowl, and what do you think he saw....yep, ants.....and not just a few there were hundreds!! Now the cats had left a few measly crumbs in their bowl after eating and the ants came for those few measly crumbs as if they hadn't eaten all week. Needless to say Chris was not impressed at this latest development in his war on ants, so out came the spray and the ant-rid warfare style. If I was an ant and saw him with that can coming toward me I'd be dropping whatever I had and running for my life because not a single ant was left alive last night and I swear Chris felt much better after abolishing them all from the house. Now this is not a weekly or fortnightly occurrence in our house, it's a daily occurrence, so can you imagine the amount of bug killing spray Chris goes through?? And it's not little ole fly spray it's the big ole powerful ant and spider spray, dead set determined to kill all your pesky pests.....lol.

And then there's our lovely little friends the spiders....my oh my...the spiders we have here are everywhere and I am a believer in if you leave them alone they'll leave you alone, after all they mostly stay outside but occasionally one or two find their way inside the house. Now if they're Daddy Long Legs no ones aloud to kill them because I like them and they kill other bugs that come in the house and aren't harmful to people because their fangs are to short to penetrate the skin. So I leave them alone to keep the rest of the house bug free. If we get garden spiders, red backs, white tails or anything else that can cause harm and dare to break through the boundaries and come inside, I kill them before they even know I've hit them. Now my wonderful hubby Chris is not a fan of spiders at all, he would rather annihilate the ants than deal with spiders. Take for example the other night, we're getting ready for bed and Chris is paranoid about checking the window....not for burglars but for ants...I guess to make sure we don't get over run in the middle of the night and taken hostage.....hehehe...(he's going to kill me) and though he didn't find any ants he did happen to find his friend Mr Spider. Chris says to me, 'there's a spider down there.' And I replied, 'so, it won't hurt you.' Chris, 'how do you know it won't crawl up the bed and bite us in our sleep. 'we' better kill it.' Me, 'So I guess you want me to kill it then?' No response from Chris just that look that says you betchya. So out of bed I get after having just gotten comfortable, walk around to Chris' side, pick up the closest thong and smacked the spider into the ground. He never saw it coming, probably just heard the crazy humans discussing whether or not to kill him. So I picked up the remains and flushed them down the loo, got back in bed and asked Chris if he felt better now, to which he said 'yep, now I can sleep.' To which I responded, 'unless another one comes in.' And then I wet myself laughing because the look on Chris' face was, 'Shit, I never thought of that.' Then while laughing my butt off I told him this would make a very interesting blog about how the man of the house had to be protected from the big bad spider by his wife. Then I really lost it and so did he and got me back with some tickling which I hate because I'm super ticklish and he knows it.

I guess you had to be there and some of you might be thinking we are just plain old weird but it was funny and sometimes it's the weird and funny things that happen in a day that make life interesting. I'm telling you, I went to sleep laughing at Chris, his obsession to kill all ants and his paranoia of spiders eating him in his sleep. I couldn't ask to be more entertained if I tried. Why go out and see a comedy routine when I have my very own right here at home....lol.

And the Nesting Continues...

So I thought the nesting bug would have settled down by now and while it dimmed a little it's now back in full force since I picked up my material from Spotlight to make my curtains. It had been on lay-by for so long I forgot what it looked like but once I picked it up and saw it I fell back in love with it all over again. I also happened to catch sight of the furnishing fabrics and they were gorgeous and straight away I had ideas flooding through my head. I've thought to make my own doona cover as I just can't find one in any of the shops I like, and cushions, lots and lots of plush cushions made from beautiful fabrics....Thank goodness I own a sewing machine.

I'm also trying to decide whether to buy new sofas or buy old ones that are built well and have them reupholstered....hmmm decisions, decisions, I think I'll have to think on that one a bit longer. Either way it'll be nice when I eventually find the right couch I'm looking for.

This nesting bug has hit me so hard this time round I'm even starting another interior design course. I did one a few years ago and it was more on interior decorating but this new course is a lot more in depth and it looks amazing. Now being that I have kids at home I'm studying online!!! How cool is that? I don't have to leave the comfort of my house and go out into the heat to sit in a lecture theater, I can do it all from home while the air conditioner keeps me nice and cool. I'm really excited and looking forward to starting this course, it should keep me even busier than I already was which is great, I hate getting bored.

We also got our Olive trees in on the weekend and my beautiful roses and hydrangeas are finally in the right spots as well. The grass in getting more and more green every day and really starting to feel like carpet under your feet. We're lucky with our lawn, we don't get prickles... just dog poo which Bec just happened to step in the other day. Thank goodness it was dried out and not fresh...ugh..gross.

So all in all the yards and house are coming together nicely and I'm on a design roll for the exterior as well as interior. It would be oh so bad if I ever won lotto but boy would I have a house and a half built to the exact way I want it designed. I can visualize it already.....hmmm....better keep dreaming for now I think but then you never know what's around the corner.

P.s..........I have an interesting ant and spider post coming up soon so keep reading

Half Function and A Clutzy Start......

So hear I am once again up at the crack of dawn and not able to go back to sleep so naturally there's not a lot else for me to do at this time of morning that doesn't wake up the rest of the house but to write.

I'm finding at this very moment however my fingers don't exactly want to work with me, I'm hitting all the wrong keys and my fingers are sliding around all over the place. I cut my finger yesterday while cleaning and patched it with steri-strip and now every time I try to use it on a key it slides right off. And then there's the fact I think I'm really only working on half function at the moment as it is only 6:16am here in sunny Busselton this morning. Whatever the reason I can tell it's going to be one of those days where I drop everything and probably spend half the day tripping over the cats too.

I have to say though I am looking forward to 11am this morning as I'm heading to the hairdressers for a cut and am just trying to decide whether I should go layers or choppy, doesn't matter too much but I've decided I'm keeping the length as this is the longest it's been in years. Now if you've seen my profile picture you might be thinking ooh it must be quite long now, well.... no it's not. You see I have a bad habit of going long, short, long, medium, short, long, short, medium and it has been this way for years but now I'm determined to get it to a reasonable length and keep it there and I'm keeping the blonde too as it hides those nasty greys that are coming through.

And now for a very blonde moment. Since I started this blog I've noticed when I publish a post it dates and times it on Amercian time, which is fine really as long as it's published I haven't minded but on occasion I have thought hmmm I'm talking about the weekend and it says Friday?? Not to worry people will get the idea, has been my reasoning. And now I've just discovered I can set the date and time myself so it shows the right day here in Australia!!! So very, very blonde of me that it's taken three months to figure this out, sheesh what am I going to do with myself, talk about half function.....hehe. I'm telling you it's going to be one of those days I can feel it in my bones, I know myself well enough to know when I'm going to have a clutzy day.

Well it's now 6:45am and I think I'm going to take advantage of the fact that the kids are all still asleep and have a coffee in peace and quiet, then water the lawns which are looking oh so lovely and green again before anyone wakes up and the clutziness begins.

And now I've just discovered if I set the date and time myself the blog won't publish until it's that time in America....argh...so looks like I will leave the schedule set for automatic so I can publish straight away and my weekends will just be earlier than they really are and I'll just have to be on American time....I'm telling you.....I can feel it's going to be a very long day....

Au revoir......

A Most Painful Time Of Year......

As someone who doesn't celebrate Christmas, I have heard about nothing but Christmas for the last 6 to 8 weeks. I haven't celebrated Christmas for the last eight years and it has been peaceful and stress free and I have enjoyed every minute of not having to rush around to do last minute shopping for food and presents or had to worry about who to invite for lunch or where I am going for lunch or needing to have the kids ready to fly out the door or have them rush around cleaning their rooms so guests and family don't see how truly messy they are.

Now, I'm suffering through Christmas for a second year running. Chris and his family celebrate the holiday and his Mum in particular puts a lot of emphasis on it. Admittedly I'd be ecstatic to stay home and enjoy the peace and quiet and just have some nice family time in the comfort of my own home, however that won't be happening this year but it sure will be next year as Chris and I have already decided we're staying home.

Things really do go wrong at this time of year, all the bills seem to come in at once, there's presents to buy, travel expenses, the kids are finishing school and driving you crazy and just our luck our hot water system and stove died at the same time last Friday night. Talk about living old school, we have had no gas or hot water for 5 and a half days now and it has been a challenge to try and cook decent meals without a working stove and lets not forget the cold showers, what joy that has been, but I've managed it, just. At the moment it feels like everywhere we look something is just not going our way but thankfully persistence pays off.

Now I'm not trying to sound like the Grinch here, it just seems to me December is the worst time of year every year or am I wrong? Perhaps I am, who knows. All I do know is that I'm missing my peace and quiet and stress free December I've gotten accustomed to having and with only a week and a half left til Christmas, I'm already looking forward to boxing day where I will be back home, in my own bed, in my garden, down the beach and enjoying what time off Chris has left before he goes back to work.

So yes for me Christmas really is a most painful time of year........