Exploration Sunday And A New Hair Cut.....

Bonjour Home, Love and Life friends.....well once again it's been a while between posts...I'm not sure why there's such a delay lately only to say I've not been doing a great deal of anything special to write about but this weekend was the start of school holidays for us here in W.A so we have Eva for the first week then Bec goes to Perth for the second week......Chris and I decided the other week we really want to start doing more on the weekends with the girls so this week we went and explored Donnybrook and Bridgetown on Sunday......We stopped at Donnybrook first for a picnic and so the girls could play at the Apple Fun Park.....they totally loved it.....If you know anything about W.A then you know Donnybrook is apple home over here....the country side of Donnybrook is beautiful, peaceful and relaxing and you can't help but enjoy yourself while there...the girls had a ball playing and after two hours they didn't want to leave but we decided it was time to go for a drive and see Bridgetown....

Donnybrook's Apple Fun Park



Bec and Eva with Apple and Pear People....

The girls loved this and going round in circles for ages...

Chris bouncing the girls...

Eva the surfer girl...

Bec loves to swing as high as she can go...

Leaving Donnybrook for Bridgetown...these Apple Posts are all over Donnybrook...

From Donnybrook, Bridgetown is about an hours drive from memory.....isn't it funny when you're in the car and not doing the driving you don't really pay attention to how long it takes to get somewhere....We didn't get to spend as long as I would have liked in Bridgetown as it was 4pm by the time we got there but what I did see of it I totally fell in love with......Bridgetown is home to the Blues Festival every November and this year I'm hoping to get back there to enjoy it.....there are some really great shops in Bridgetown which I know all my lovely interior blogging girlies will appreciate and next time I'm there I'll make sure I get some pics of them....I did however spot a couple of great fashion shops that we don't even have here in Busselton.....I also think Bridgetown must have been getting ready for Christmas in July as a lot of the stores were decked out with decorations.....the girls loved Bridgetown too and didn't want to leave when it was time to come home....I think Bridgetown is a place I could live in as it's just so me.....the main street of town is huge plus all the side street shops, lots of lovely green pastures and so quiet.....heaven in my book....I really didn't want to leave either but it was getting late and tummy's were starting to grumble...

Chris and the girls walking down the main street of Bridgetown....

Eva and Bec loved this clothes shop wewent past and so did I.....I'll be making sure I have some retail therapy dollars next time we visit.....

I saw this quote and loved it....they had some great things in this shop...as you can tell I was lagging behind hehe...

With our time in Bridgetown brief but nice we headed home just in time as it was starting to get very cold....in fact it has been a freezing week here in the southwest so far.....We had a great weekend and look forward to doing something fun this Saturday with the girls before they go to Perth for the second week of the holidays......

Monday morning was hair cut day for me....Saturday morning I woke up and my hair was driving me mad...it was wild and crazy and not doing anything I wanted it to and it has been doing that for the last couple of weeks so I said enough is enough it's going......I don't remember my hair ever being this oily or wacky while pregnant with my other kids but this baby does not want me looking decent in the mornings that's for sure.....So I called Crystal and she came and cut it for me....it feels better already and at least now when I wake up and it's wacky and wild it won't take as long to try and tame it....and here it is....

So what do you think...better?? I'm happy with it and I love the length...

Well I'm off for now as I've promised to take the girls into town for morning tea so I'll check back in later and I'll try not to leave too long between posts.....who knows something exciting might happen this week....you never know....take care mon amis xo









A South West Weekend Drive.....

Well I have been absent again for quite some time, mostly due to we're still trying to sort Lady out so I don't have to re-house her too and partly because we were out all weekend and I've spent the last couple of days trying to catch up on a bit of house work and trying to shake the last of this flu......just about gone thank goodness....

I'm hoping you all had a great weekend and the start to your week is going well. We decided Saturday morning that we were out of this house and going for a drive......sometimes you just have to escape for the day...especially when things seem to be coming at you from every direction. We were just going to stay home and tidy the yard a bit and do a tip run but I desperately felt like I needed to get out of the house and do something as a family and go for a drive....I didn't really have any idea where we were going as we hadn't planned anything but the advantage to living down south is that there is always somewhere to go. I grew up going out a lot on weekends and lots of picnics and drives and fishing and camping....all that sort of stuff, so while I love my home and being in the garden I really love getting out and about and exploring places.....I blame my grandmother as when we stayed with her growing up we were never home unless the weather was completely wild.......and because of this I have many great memories of my childhood and that's what I want to do with my kids so they can look back and say 'man we had fun growing up.'........For years I've been using a product called Tinderbox and it's made down south here in a place called Boyanup so I said to Chris lets go there and check it out......I knew roughly how to get there going through Capel...a town about 20 minutes from here........We packed up snacks and things and piled everyone in the car  and by ten o'clock we were on the road.....if you know the south west of W.A you know it's a lovely drive no matter where you're going. We made it to Capel fine but turned right when we should have turned left and missed Boyanup so decided we'd keep on going to Boyup Brook, another place I'd heard of that was lovely but hadn't been there.........we arrived in Boyup Brook to find it's the Country Music Capital of W.A.....and then I realized that this is where they have the country music festival after the big one at Tamworth. Being that we had been on the road for two hours we decided we all needed a toilet break and found the nearest ones...

Bec and Luke with Guitar Guy out the front of the public loos...

Bec with the Singing Girl in front of girls loos....

So after a much needed toilet break we wandered back to the car and drove a little further up the road to find somewhere for lunch as we were all starving.....this lovely, cosey, little place caught our eye so we thought we'd try some lunch there....

The Bluestone Cafe & Take Away......

We didn't realize when we walked in there was a separate dining area with a dine in menu and ended up ordering from the take away menu but dining in hehe.....they make a mean toasted cheese and tomato sandwich...I was dying for some ham but thought I better not with being pregnant.....

Bec, Chris & Luke enjoying lunch.....

Bec, Me & Luke finishing lunch....

Once lunch was done with Chris was in search of a giant white guitar he spotted driving into town, so we went in search of it.....I think Chris quite enjoyed Boyup Brook as he kept telling me it reminded him of Tamworth (he's from Tamworth originally).....We found the guitar not too far up the road from the cafe, right as you come into town....so like tourists we pulled over and took some pictures.....

Not as big as the golden guitar in Tamworth we know but it's our little piece of country here in W.A....

Daddy and Daughter sharing their love of country music......

Bec playing the giant guitar and dreaming about being a famous singer one day hehe.....

After we finished getting pictures of the guitar I noticed as we were walking back to the car there was an old Museum and although it was closed I did the touristy thing and took a picture as I loved the windmill....

The Museum just up from the guitar....will go in their next time.....

Boyup Brook is a lovely little town and as you can see it was a grey day but we enjoyed it any way and surprisingly we didn't get too much rain......before we left we had a drive around and I spotted this view from up high on one of the hills as we were driving...

I love the way it looks like the sun is shining just in the valley......

We left Boyup Brook and continued on with the rest of our country drive....we came home a slightly different way which brought us through Bridgetown where they have the Blues Festival every year, through Donnybrook which for anyone who lives in W.A knows it's the heart of Apple Town.....we're actually heading back to Donnybrook next week when we have Eva for the school holidays for a proper picnic and they have this amazing Apple Fun Park there for the kids....(will be lots of pics next week) Donnybrook is another lovely town we have here in the west. We also went through Balingup which is home to their famous Lavender Gardens and tea room so that's where I'll be taking Lyn when she comes for her holidays in the summer.......By the time we reached Balingup it was raining so we didn't stop as Bec was getting cranky and Luke was having technology withdrawls so we decided to keep heading home........it's a beautiful scenic drive over here even if you're not stopping to get out.....When we hit Capel there were cows out everywhere so I snapped some taking it easy in the rain.....

Just coming into Capel.....

We finally got home around four o'clock and it was colder in Busselton than it was where we'd just come from and they're all a lot further inland......Chris and I said we'll definitely go again soon when we haven't got kids for the weekend as then we can stop at all the towns and take our time and just enjoy it.....And although we were cold and getting tired when we got home it was the best thing we could have done it was so good to get out and just be away from home for a while.....

Sunday morning saw us at the meeting by ten o'clock, then it was home for lunch by twelve and with another afternoon in front of us we decided to go for a drive down to Cowaramup to see Chris' brother and sister in-law.........Bec was happy about that as it meant she got to see her cousin Brianna who's around the same age......it was another good afternoon out and we gave them the news about the baby and they were really happy for us...so it was a good catch up....we left after a couple of hours to head home as I needed to stop  at IGA to get a few things for dinner......Bec fell asleep on the way home singing to one of her favourite cd's so Chris ran into IGA then it was home and on with the usual routine of dinner, tidy up and get Bec to bed...

All in all we had a great weekend and I'm looking forward to doing it again soon.....sometimes there's nothing better than getting out of the house and exploring where you live and I have to say if it wasn't for kids, Luke loving his job and Chris' work you could drop me in a farm house in Boyup Brook in the middle of nowhere and I'd be as happy as Larry, as they say.........So that's it from me today and I do hope you all had the best weekend and had lots of fun and did something you love to do......soon we're going fishing and I need to teach everyone how to rig a rod and how to cast it....stay tuned....xo

Good Shopping And A Late Afternoon Walk.....

Bonsoir....I hope everyone has had a good day today and got lots done or found some bargains or if you're sick then I'm hoping you got lots of rest and were able to rest up......I'm still unwell but slowly on the mend thank goodness.

Today I had some followers who came to Target with me...namely Luke and Bec....normally Bec would be at Bumble Bee and Luke would be at intework but both decided they wanted to skip their social scene and see what I get up to on a Wednesday when I would normally be home alone. They both thought the idea of going to Target was a great one, in fact Luke asked me if I go every Wednesday when he's not home...to which I told him no....Bec thought it was just great that she was going to Bunbury and could sing to the cd player the whole way up.......40 minutes to be exact!!

We arrived at Target just after 10:30am, a little later than I'd planned but that was simply because we'd all slept in until 8:30am....I have to admit I had a very well behave 3 and a half year old today and a very helpful 18 year old as well.......having Luke with me sure did come in handy getting all those big boxes in the trolleys. We were shopping for bub and although I've got 8months to go Target just had some really good specials I couldn't pass up and it's most of the big stuff that bub will need.....

First of all we were after a bed for bub and we got this..(I actually saw all this on the weekend with Chris but just went back for it today)

I had a bassinet like this for Lauren 17yrs ago....argh when I say it like that I feel old...lol..

Secondly we were after a change table/bath all in one....save on space, convenient and the height is brilliant for saving my back....

I love this change table it has so many compartments and storage space....

Thirdly we were after good transportation for bub....I'm really fussy with prams and it had to have reversable handles....Chris and I checked a few out Saturday and in the end we decided this one was the best for us....

I love the deep basket at the back, the height of the handle is perfect for me as I'm short and the hood has a zipper you can undo to make it come down further for protection from sun and rain....

And lastly for today's shopping trip I was looking for a change bag that would hold all those nappies, wipes, bottles (later on), changes of clothes, my purse......and my sanity........

This bag has so many compartments it's not funny, the pouch for the bottle is insulated, the change mat is built in and I won't need a separate hand bag for at least two years......I got this in a nice dark red though as the navy was too drab for me....even a boy has to have some colour.....

So that was my shopping trip and I have to say that although there are still the same basic products out there that I bought 17yrs ago when I had Lauren they have all improved so much and are just much more practical and easier to use.....I really enjoyed investigating all these things and how they work differently from when I had my kids....the main difference was how much the prams have changed.....they're so much easier to work out now....got to love progress.....It turned out to be a productive day and we had some lunch while in Bunbury and although I thought my helpers might be more hindrance than help it really was great to have them along and share this part of shopping for their baby brother/sister with them....(I'm convinced already it's a boy hehe)

We came home and Bec went down for her usual nap, Luke went and fed the chickies, I let Lady out for a run and then Luke just helped me get a few things done around the house.....Chris was home before we knew it and we all went for a walk up to the beach then home......

The late afternoon sun over the ocean today....

Chris with Lady....

My boy even enjoyed his afternoon walk...

Bec being a dag in the pram...

So all in all we had a good day and finally managed to start and get our afternoon walk in....though it has been a bit hard to get them going when we've all been sick....that's why Bec's all wrapped up in my scarf....the wind here is very cold in the afternoon and as lovely as our walk was it was good to get back to the warmth of the house......Now it's just time to relax and veg out, Bec's asleep, Luke's in his room and Chris is reading the paper.......me I'm just trying to stay warm and thinking of seeing what movies are showing on foxtel.......Take care everyone and have a good night, I hope you all are keeping warm and cosey and have a great day tomorrow......I'll be back tomorrow and hopefully my day is as smooth as it was today...xo

Good News, New Cups And Not Well.....

Bonjour mon amis and how are you all doing on this cold, wild, windy day?? Well I can't believe it's been a week since my last post, where did that time go I'd like to know. So what have you all been up to?? I hope you're all keeping well and the flu is leaving you alone, unlike here where it just seems to keep lingering on with all of us...

Today I'd like to start this post by sharing some very good news with you all.....as most of you know Chris and I have been trying to have a baby over the last twelve months and finally we have success....

A definite positive....

We have known for about three weeks now but have only just told family and friends as we wanted to wait until I was a little further along before letting everyone know....I'm about six weeks along now and have my first doctors appointment today which I'm sure will just be as routine as it was with the other three....I should say Chris and I are over the moon about this little one and are already thinking of names and looking for furniture and deciding how to set up the nursery..hehe....Chris keeps saying we're getting ahead of ourselves but I like to have things organized and sorted out well in advance.....I guess I can take my time though as I do still have eight months to go...lol.....oh and I'm due the 10th February 2013 which is three days before our wedding anniversary....timing or what.....hehe....So that's my good news for the day.....

It was a quiet weekend here as Bec went to Perth on Friday instead of Saturday as she went on the coach with her Nan and enjoyed every minute of it.....why is it when your kids leave home even a day sooner than planned it seems even more quiet...?

My little traveller....

So with Bec gone a day early and Chris finishing work at lunch on Friday it felt like a very fast day....Once Chris was home we went to town and did some shopping where I just happened to pick up these gorgeous coffee cups from house....

I don't usually go for polka dots but really liked these....

After instagramming them one of my lovely followers said 'ooo I love the sprinkles range' and I'm thinking 'huh' and sure enough when I took the stickers off the bottom of the cup there was the word Sprinkle.....she's obvioulsy a House shopper, so welcome to my world as I love House....and they love me too hehehe...I was also lucky enough to get my new Samsung Note Tab/Phone Friday and I'm so in love with it......If anyone else has one what do you think of it??

Not the best pic but a great combination of phone and tab....

And as the weekend went on I continued getting sicker and sicker with this darn flu that Chris and the kids have passed on to me......there's been no fever but the chills, and I have just been coughing and coughing and coughing....even in my sleep....so much so it's wearing me out more than being pregnant......It seems to be easing up the last couple of days and I'm hoping it won't hang around for too much longer....I have things to do........

So that was my weekend really....and this week seems to be flying by very quickly.....tomorrow I'm off to Target to layby a few bargains we found for the baby......so have a good day everyone and I'll be back tomorrow....take care...xo

And if you'd like to read about The Baby Journey..... you can do so here....xo

And I'm Back.....

Bonsoir Home, Love & Life friends....well I'm back from a stint over at wordpress......for me personally I found wordpress just wasn't working....wordpress is tricky to use and not so easy to find your way around...I got feedback today that some of you weren't getting my posts in your news feed and had to subscribe via email to follow......I had other feedback that told me it was harder to comment at wordpress and I found for whatever reason I wasn't getting my lovely worldwide readers like I do here at Blogger.....so taking all things into consideration I decided I would come back to Blogger where I feel more at home, I know you will all get my posts and my readers from Russia, France, America, Spain etc can still find me.....so here I shall stay though in time I may have my own domain but it will still be with blogger......Let me just say, if you're considering the move to wordpress don't let my experience deter you, go and try it out for yourself it could be right up your alley but for me I really prefer it here at Blogger......

Now onto my day (not that it was majorly exciting).....today started off with the usual routine after Chris left for work which involves me going back to bed these days for an extra hour to an hour and a half sleep, then woken up by Bec to get her breakfast, have breakfast myself, shower, fold washing, do dishes (with Luke's help) make beds, put a loaf of bread on, then head into town only to remember it's seniors day and there's no parking as all the seniors are in town doing shopping.......so I take Luke and Bec over to Macca's for morning tea where we know it will be reasonably quiet to enjoy a Chai Latte.....I haven't had one for ages and totally enjoyed it....

Chai Latte...got to love them....

Then it was home to take one load of washing out of the dryer and put another load in, feed the chickies, let the dogs out for a run around, assess my white paint craft that's at a slight stand still, have a chat to a friend who's been sick, make lunch, attempt to get Bec to have a nap while putting my feet up for a bit......Then Finally at 3pm I took Luke back to town so he could do his shopping as I knew it would be a lot quieter at this time of day and this time we were successful in getting some parking, came home got Bec afternoon tea, had a chat to another friend and then Chris was home...yey...

The chicks are living outside permanently now and loving it...

Tonight I had a hankering for fish and chips and we decided to try the place up the road for the first time....their prices were pretty good but sad to say most of dinner was too oily and soggy.....we had a few pieces of fish, a couple of squid rings, a couple of butterflied prawns, a couple of crab sticks and some chips....the squid, prawns and crab sticks were done nicely however the fish was very, very oily and the chips were over cooked........so safe to say we won't be going back there for dinner again....Chris said he would have preferred baked beans on toast and that's saying something.......So any way after dinner we get Bec to bed and just sit down to watch t.v (Chris watching his sport) and blog (me naturally) when we heard and almighty scream coming from outside. Straight away we new it was Milly so we both flew out the front door to find her and make sure she was ok...it took a little while but she eventually came out of hiding and came to us....there is a big ugly cat across the road and I'm pretty sure it was him who attacked her......thankfully she must have got a few scratches in herself because she's ok and now she's back inside where it's warm, asleep on the couch next to Chris and enjoying the heater......we were mostly concerned because we're pretty sure she's pregnant, so I don't think there will be any more night time trips outside for her from now on.....

My beautiful girl Milly...

So there you have it that was my day today, tomorrow I'm kid free so who knows what I'll get up to.....for now though I'm going to go sit with my hubby and steal some of his body heat as I'm freezing and suffer through some sports news.....(save me!!) So take care and enjoy your night and I'll catch you all tomorrow....Au revoir....xo

Lyn's Visit, Paris Prints And Not So Well...

Bonjour Mon amis and how are you all today?? Well as most of you would have noticed I've been off line all weekend and with good reason....My closest friend Lyn came down from Perth for the weekend on Saturday and we had an excellent time catching up, talking all night and going to the meeting together...it's just a pity that it's a three hour drive from Perth and the weekend just isn't enough time to get much done really....However Lyn did bring Chris and I a lovely belated wedding anniversary present....some framed Paris prints which I'm totally in love with and just need to find somewhere to put them....

My Paris prints Lyn gave Chris and I for our anniversary....

As you can see the print on the left is the Eiffel Tower and on the right is The Arc De Triumph.....anyone who knows me knows I absolutely love Paris and will get there one day.....Lyn was over there last February while Chris and I were getting married and she had a ball, it's also the reason she wasn't able to make it to the wedding...Any how we had a great weekend and she's coming back in the summer to spend maybe a week here and we will be spending lots of time at the beach and  lots of driving to markets etc.....and in a few months we'll be heading to Perth for the weekend and Lyn has invited us to stay with her so I'm looking forward to that...

Lyn and I a few months ago catching up for lunch in Bunbury.....

So yesterday afternoon I said goodbye to my dear friend and wished her a safe trip  home then a little later in the day I started feeling unwell and by the evening I knew I had gastro!!....I really wasn't happy, I'd had a good weekend and to finish it I was now sick.....I'm still a little off today but feel ok within myself.....I even made a massive pot of pumpkin soup this morning for dinner tonight and am looking forward to that.......also we have a kid free weekend coming up this week so it'll be nice to just spend some time alone with Chris....

Well that's all from me for today Home, Love & Life friends....I will be back tomorrow hopefully to show you my finished white paint craft....I finally made a start last week and then ran out of paint...go figure....so off to Bunnings tomorrow for more paint and to get these things done.....take care and Au revoir for now...xokj

Computer Freak Out, A Hot Lunch & A Little Visitor....

Well have you ever had one of those moments when your computer does something completely stupid and you freak out?? Well that's exactly what happened to me this morning....I was doing the usual blog check and email check on the computer and then my screen went blue with a little sad face on it and turned itself off....it kept saying it was updating and all sorts of stuff then restarted itself and then.....my password apparently was wrong even though I tried it several  times. I was really starting to freak out and thinking 'noooo my computers been hacked and I won't be able to blog or do my banking or check emails or do my blog....argh!!!!' I took a deep breath and tried my password again and it worked and then I remembered that the number nine key was sticking earlier this morning and that's why it was saying my password was wrong because obviously the 9 was still sticking. Once I was in I was relieved to see everything was fine and working just as it always does but it did make me think just how much we rely on technology......sometimes I think we really do rely on computers and other technology too much and I wonder what we'd do if we lost it on a permanent basis? My bet is most of us would freak out at first but for those of us who didn't grow up with all this technology I think we'd adjust pretty quickly.

My computer....a love/hate relationship at times...

So after a major freak out with the computer and the rain coming down hard outside I decided it was time for a hot lunch to warm up with being as the weather had turned horrible again and the rain was coming down by the bucket loads...So left over casserole and some bread for lunch it was and it was good if I do say so myself...why is it certain meals always taste better the next day...?

A nice hot lunch...

Now this morning before the computer freak out and the rain returning everything was going well...I got to sleep in for a little while, got up and got Bec and myself breakfast and then tidied up the house...we then headed outside with Luke to let the chickies loose in their pen so they could get used to it and also so I could do another training session with the dogs and the zappy collars......all was going quite well....the chicks were loving being able to roam around in their big pen...the dogs were sticking to their boundaries, Luke and Bec were helping me tidy up the yard and moving a few things and even though it was a bit chilly it was nice to be out in the sun. While sorting out the chickies bedding we spotted this guy in their pen....

A Little Froggy Visitor...

Now I have to admit I'm not really a fan of frogs...well not being up close to them any way...I think it's because you never know when they're going to jump or in which direction they'll go.....however Bec spotted him and wanted me to take a pic of him so here he is.....though I think he was happier when we left the chook pen...We had a good hour outside before the clouds came over and I could tell it was going to rain...so we brought the chicks back inside, as they're too young to be outside in the wet yet and made it just in time.....within five minutes of being in the house the rain pelted down......I've made it a mission that even if I only get half an hour outside during the day from now on I'm out there doing something productive whether it's gardening, training the dogs or getting some painting done...Now I have a question for all my lovely veggie growing friends out there...as you know we planted our veggie garden not long back but I have something eating the tops of the carrots and the cabbages.....any ideas what it  could be??? And no it's definitely not caterpillars.....would love any thoughts.....xo