Archive for All Sorts of Things

Firsts

April 14, 2012 / Molly / 4 comments

The photo above shows my hubby doing the first mow of the lawn here in this new house. There have of course been many, many firsts already from the first night sleeping in the house to the first time we drove out the driveway to do the shopping.

Such as:

The first time we used the dishwasher (or any dishwasher!)
The first time the girls slept in their new room
The first time I hung the washing on this line
The first time I used the oven
The first time I met people from our new church
The first time we experienced a real Sydney downpour
The first time we visited specific shopping centres
The first time I mopped this floor
The first time we rode on a Sydney train/ferry
The first time the girls saw the bridge/opera house/luna park
The first time hubby preached as Pastor of this church

You get the idea, there are always firsts. Some things seem more significant than others, obviously the first time Michael preached in the new church as Pastor was higher on the ladder than mopping the floor but each thing sets us off on this new journey.

There is one first that I am yet to have, the first time I have become emotionally overwhelmed by our new situation. There are so many things to be grateful for and be amazed at. Internally I am, mentally I am amazed but this isn’t showing much on the surface. I am very tired, very worn out and I’m finding a few of my old symptoms are returning. I suppose I’m not surprised about this, I have in fact been more surprised that I haven’t had some sort of collapse or gotten very sick.

Why would I think that? Well for one thing I’m not really physically recovered from the bouts of stress we had about a year and a half ago. The wonderful Doctor I had in Perth put me on a lot of supplements to balance out the deficiencies and I’m fairly sure these are a big part of why I am physically not sick. I do think that I have quite bad adrenal fatigue right now. I have all the classic symptoms (fatigue no matter how much rest, ‘waking up’ and feeling my best after 6pm, irritability, salt cravings and sometimes sugar, emotional flat-lining etc… actually I have pretty much the entire list) and my previous Dr told me I have AF.

How do you fix it? From what I know of AF its not a quick fix. It took a long time for my body to get out of whack and it takes that long and more to recover (as long as you aren’t putting extra stress on yourself, hence my going backwards with an interstate move). Elimination of gluten (I’m already gluten-free), sugar, processed foods, refined carbs and caffeine (and alcohol if you drink it) is the first adjustment. Light, non-aerobic exercise seems to be the next step (hopefully once things have settled I can join a gym or circuit program) and finally rest.

I do know however that things have NOT returned to the level of physical symptoms that I had a year ago, its no where near as bad as it was so I can praise the Lord for that.

So, in the long list of firsts I must say that I am looking forward to the day that I can sit and take in where I’m living and get all overwhelmed and have a good cry. After-all, a good cry does you the world of good don’t you think?

Category: All Sorts of Things, Deeper Thoughts /

Mt Annan Australian Botanical Gardens

April 12, 2012 / Molly / 2 comments

Another trip we made in our first two weeks was to Bunnings. Ha! Got you there didn’t I, the title says we went to the Botanical Gardens. We did go to the gardens but our initial plan was to pop down to Bunnings forgetting that on Easter Sunday it would of course be closed. When we found the car-park empty we decided to keep driving and explore the area.

We drove quite a way down towards Campbelltown and came across the Mt Annan Australian Botanical Gardens. The gardens are only 23 years old so not as established as we are used to but were well worth a visit. It was lovely to see an array of Australian plants from so many different parts of the country in one place. If you know me you know that I love any Botanical Gardens!

After a stop at the cafe and playground we went for a walk to the botanical area up on the hill. It was really lovely. Here are couple of shots from our visit:


Paper Daisies

Our drive home was long, hubby decided to take the scenic route. The entire trip (to Bunnings) was a 125km round trip! I’m glad we did it though, we now know where a great picnic spot is and a different place to take visitors!

Category: All Sorts of Things, Australia, Family /

Reverse Garbage

April 11, 2012 / Molly / 2 comments


I have been wanting to visit Reverse Garbage for years and this week I finally got to go there! We lived in Sydney for a couple of years in the early 90′s and I had always intended to go but didn’t have a way to get there. To give you some idea of what is inside here’s a shot:

They have an array of things that would have been otherwise classed as rubbish such as fabric, records, paper, foam core, containers, large cardboard tubes and lots more. I think what’s there depends on what they’ve sourced at the time. I fully intend on visiting their other store sometime too. Out the front is this huge sculpture made from scrap metal and all sorts of things:

So, after scouring each area and shelf here is what I bought (this time):


Those cute little notebooks were $1 each and the in tray was irresistible! Its quite the old fashioned office in tray and original too.


Another in tray but also some still-wet ink pads and a ‘received’ stamp from an old office somewhere. Oh and a roll of sticky tape that so happened to be on the shelf and a bottle of watercolour medium. Not pictured was a gift for a friend which I’ll not show, don’t want to spoilt things! The total for all this (including the not shown gift) was $10.

As we walked towards the shop I saw something that I was sure I recognised. It turned out to be ‘the shop’ from last year’s show The Renovators and it was right next door to Reverse Garbage. Had to get a shot of that!

The other interesting thing we saw was this installation by Adam Hill near the shop called ‘The Crate Land Grab’ (more info here):

Thought it was very interesting. So, overall it was a great day out (especially seeing as we went to Ikea as mentioned in the previous post, after this). So many places to explore!

Category: All Sorts of Things, Family, Thrift/Op Shopping / Tags: ,

IKEA

April 10, 2012 / Molly / No comments

In the two weeks that we have been here we have been to BOTH Ikea stores (yes there are two in Sydney). The first one was at the end of week 1 and we discovered that it was in a shopping centre, not something I’ve seen before. The trouble with that was that the parking was only for 3 hours and you couldn’t go out and back in again before the time was up as they took a record of your license when you entered. This meant we had only enough time to make it through the store and have lunch before rushing to get out of the parking lot in time. There was no time to go to the actual shopping centre, seems a bit odd to me.

The second visit was accidental. We had gone out for the morning and found ourselves in the Tempe area of Sydney, drove around the corner and there it was, the HUGE standing-alone Ikea store. Well that was lunch sorted wasn’t it! I thought our one in Perth (and the one I’ve been to in Adelaide) were standard size but no, this one was much bigger. Here’s a shot inside the lunch area:

This is what you can see from the carpark:

The strangest thing was that this Ikea is directly next door to the Sydney airport and while eating lunch we saw a plane land every 2 minutes in full view outside our window.

The other view we could see was this (can you spot Sydney itself through the smog):

The last thing that was very different to any other Ikea I’ve been to was the way we returned our trays after lunch, this clever little conveyer belt took the trays along and into the kitchen:

I realise that I’m totally sounding like a tourist and showing our ‘green-ness’ with being here but I don’t care. At this stage every trip out is an adventure and that includes the car trip on the way!

Category: All Sorts of Things, Family / Tags: ,

Sydney city

April 9, 2012 / Molly / No comments

Its been two weeks since we moved to Sydney and in that time we have unpacked around 100 boxes, set up most of the house and taken a few trips out with my Mum who has been here to help with it all. I’ll share a few of the places we’ve been in that time starting with our trip a week ago into Sydney.

For the first four or so days we hardly left the house, focusing on emptying the boxes and setting up (apart from a trip to do some food shopping). Then on the Friday we decided to make a trip out to IKEA to get a few things we were in need of.

On the Sunday afternoon we decided to take advantage of Sydney rail’s Sunday Funday ticket ($2.50 per person for families for all day, train, bus and ferry use). We took the girls into the city on the train, got off at Circular Quay and caught the ferry to Darling Harbour and back (didn’t get off). We thought that would be plenty for the first trip in, they got to see the Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and Luna Park. Michael and I lived in Sydney years ago for about 2 years so it was all familiar to me (not to mention many many trips to Sydney while we were with SIM). The girls loved it though and found the whole thing very exciting. Here’s a handful of snapshots from the day:

Just a couple of shots as most people know what Sydney looks like. Stay tuned for a few more posts over the next few days, I’ve got a few more places to share!

Category: All Sorts of Things, Family / Tags:

The Other Side of the Journey

April 2, 2012 / Molly / 2 comments

Eight days ago today we arrived in a new state. Along with that came a new house, new suburb, new church, new school and more. I am happy to say that we are now living in Sydney, NSW.

Our last week in Western Australia was crazy busy. We camped out in our own house as the removal company came and emptied our house (as per last post) a week and a half before we flew. It was in that week that we had to arrange rental of our house, fix anything that was left to fix, say goodbye to friends and family and everything else that goes along with moving states. At the end of the week we spent the last two nights at Michael’s parents house which was lovely. We managed to get our suitcases packed on the Saturday and the car packed and ready for the train. Sunday morning Michael took the car to the train station and Sunday lunch time we headed off to the airport (with the help of our good friend Karen, (thanks Karen) and Michael’s parents – thanks!).

We were so touched as some of our friends that was have known the longest came to see us off (Karen, Joel and Kids, Brad, Jenni, Graham and kids) alongside Michael’s parents. I felt as if it was the baton was being passed as they all carried our (many) bags into the airport.

The plane ride was uneventful but exciting, the girls were so excited to have their very own TVs and it was nice to relax knowing that they are old enough to sit and behave well for most of the ride. We were greeted at the other end by Helen and Greg and the church coaster bus!

Unfortunately Miss K started throwing up one hour after we landed and that went on until around 4am, not how I planned to begin our time in Sydney! We were staying at someone’s house too and she and her hubby were so relaxed about it which helped a lot. The big surprise for the girls was that my Mum had also flown into Sydney to help us unpack and look after them.

Early the next day Michael got the call that the truck was there so he left me with the girls and rushed off to the house. Our second truck load was meant to arrive five days later but instead they had unpacked both trucks by lunchtime! What an amazing bonus (PTL).


Here is Little L watching them unload the second truck outside our living room window


This was exciting, my drafting/drawing board arriving!


Here I am signing off on the delivery of our stuff. A very exciting moment!

Today marks one week since our ‘stuff’ has arrived and between myself, my Mum and Michael we have unpacked almost everything except for around 20 boxes (out of maybe 100). Most of those boxes are in my new studio space which I started tackling today. Hubby’s study is almost unpacked but far from set up. We have a HUGE pile of paper, bubble wrap and boxes out on the back patio (for which we have plans).

Between unpacking Little L came down with the same thing Miss K had and then Michael got it. We also managed a trip out to IKEA to get a few little things and the on Sunday we took advantage of the Sunday Funday tickets and caught the train into the city to see the Opera House and Bridge via the ferry. So much fun!

This house is amazing!! For starters is much bigger than our little duplex was. I emptied every box of kitchen ‘stuff’ and didn’t use every single shelf! I have a shelf with just first aid stuff on it, I have room in our wardrobes to hang things as do the girls! We are blown away with the character of the house. We think its possibly close to 100 years old (don’t quote me on that) and all the ceilings in the bedrooms and hall have different parquetry (plaster molding) like this:

God has blessed us with so many things, its as if he had me in mind 100 years ago when the house was built, the tiny details that are very ‘me’ amaze us!

The church members have really looked after us, we feel like family already. From putting food in the pantry to leaving gifts for the girls we are extremely grateful. Michael is now the Pastor at the Revesby Congregational Church and begins with his first sermon on Good Friday.

So, here it is, our new home:

I’m fairly sure that this summary doesn’t sufficiently express how I feel about moving here but I will save that for another post……….maybe after I get to box number 100!

Category: All Sorts of Things, Family / Tags: ,

The Truck

March 17, 2012 / Molly / 3 comments

So. The day has come and gone or should I say the two days. I know a lot of other people have moved house, some locally (I’ve done that a few times myself), some interstate (like us) and some internationally (I’ve only done that with one pallet and some suitcases). You are probably thinking ‘why does she feel the need to blog about all these aspects of moving house when everyone does it at some point?’. I suppose the answer to that is because thats the way my brain functions! I automatically cross things off in my head and my brain will not allow me to move to the next step until it knows I’m done with the previous step. Weird hey. I cannot rush ahead of myself if I try. Blogging about moving has been great as a way to acknowledge the steps and milestones so its more for me than anyone else.

Back to the title of the post. We have never used a removalist company before. Whenever we’ve moved house its been locally and therefore we have used whatever boxes we can get hold of, borrowed trailers, cars, friends etc…. to shift our stuff. Sometimes it was done in a day, sometimes over a few days. This time has been very different (and I like it!). I love order and organisation. In some ways its a strength but in others it can get in the way of my artwork. I’m still learning how to play to my strengths in that area (but again, I digress).

I’ve hardly had any time to blog at all, no time to think too deeply about things (including spiritual things) or even think too much about where we will be in a week and a bit’s time. I chose to pack most of our stuff ourselves, it costs more if we get the company to pack it and I needed to sort it all through for our garage sale (more on that later). I agreed however to leave the following for them to pack for insurance purposes:

All breakables and precious items
All electronics and appliances that didn’t have the original box for
All items that were odd shaped and didn’t fit into the company’s boxes

This was quite a relief, breakables take ages! The poor removalist guy, I’m fairly sure he was over packing our breakables by the time he got to the end.

I totally lost count as to how many boxes I packed, I ‘think’ it might be up near the 80 mark but I can’t be sure. Whenever I mention that to anyone they say that we have a lot of stuff but I don’t agree. After all, you have to put everything that fits into a box, in a box including things you would normally just leave out (like the kids toy cot for example). I also have a lot of art supplies (knitting, sewing, painting, polymer clay), Phoenix trading stuff and Michael has a lot of Pastoral books. We don’t have a lounge suite, a proper kitchen table or chairs or any wardrobes.

Its so strange to have our place mostly empty and still be living in it:

Everything thats left falls into a few categories:

Stuff we will take on the plane
Stuff we will put in the back of the car on the train
Stuff we are borrowing until the end of next week
Stuff we are giving away (or op shopping)
Stuff going to the tip

In fact here is a list of the ‘stuff’ we have left to give away (in total!!):

- 1 well used lounge sofa bed thing. It has a dip in the middle where the spring has gone and a hole underneath BUT still is usable, going to the tip at the end of next week unless someone wants it.
- 1 stand up fan. Works but is wonky due to loose screws on the stand.
- 1 TV glass turntable from IKEA.
- 1 air con that works as a fan unless you can fix it.
- 1 office chair, only thing wrong with it is some paint on the seat, could be used with a cushion over it.
- 1 set of four vinyl kitchen chairs. Complete with texta on one or two of them but thats all.

That really is it. Wow! You should have seen our back deck last week before our garage sale and before the removalists came. You could not walk on there at all!

So back to removalist day. Yes it was a little odd having two blokes pack up our stuff and cart it out to the truck (and then drive off with it all!). At the same time it was a relief. People have been asking me if I’m excited about moving interstate and I can say, now that that truck has gone ‘yes I am!’. We have one hurdle left with our house but then we are all set!

Little L was very good while they were here. Thank you to her Poppa who took her out on the first day, was much easier without her around. She was very good on day two.

So where are we now. We are 7 days off moving. Flying away. Changing addresses. Relocating. Scary and exciting at the same time.

Now I just have to get through our final farewell tomorrow.

Category: All Sorts of Things /

Opshopathon 2012

March 6, 2012 / Molly / 2 comments

Last weekend a few of my friends and I got together for our second ever Opshopathon (a term invented by my friend Sarah). Our first one can be found here: Opshopathon 2010. Taryn, Sarah, Jody, Allie and I went to a total of eight op shops all within close walking or driving distance of each other. Each of us had different treasures in mind. I was after shoes for Miss K in particular. I had my birthday money from my friend Karen to use which was a real blessing (thank you Karen).

Here we all are half way through (our treasures are in the car):

We spotted this funny table and chairs in one op shop (read the writing at the top):

We all got different treasures, here is what I got for a total of $38.50:


Five books for $1, a dress for Miss K (new with a $20 tag on it, got it for $3), a t-shirt for Little L ($1 each), two Barbie dolls, a pair of brand name gumboots for Miss K ($3).


A suede jacket for me (for $9), a pair of ‘puss-in-boots’ boots for me ($12) and a scarf ($3.50). Prep for where we are moving to I think!!


and of course, the find of the day, a pair of leather, hardly worn Clarks sandals. I couldn’t believe it when both Miss K’s sandals and sneakers broke in the same week. I didn’t want to buy her new school shoes till we get to our destination but these were a great find (PTL).


This is one of the five books that I got for $1, how could I resist this one!!


This one is for me!


and this is why!! I have a bit of a love for mushrooms great and small.

It was a really fun day, we usually go to op shops we know will have good ‘stuff’ and its fun to point out some of the more ridiculous items in there. Thank you ladies for a fun day and thanks Sarah for organising it! (I did miss those who couldn’t make it!).

Category: All Sorts of Things, Thrift/Op Shopping / Tags: ,

19 Days

March 6, 2012 / Molly / No comments

19 Days. Thats how many we have left here in Perth and I can’t believe how little an amount of time that seems. The ‘stats’ so far for where we are up to with organising our move include:

95% packed (minus breakables, electronics and anything I can’t fit in a box)
90% of our house has been repainted
Flights, Car Transport and Removalist all booked
Backyard 80% sorted
ALL animals have gone to their new homes (that totaled 17 animals)
Our VW Beetle is sold and gone

We are now living out of suitcases and our house is an obstacle course. We are spending a lot of our time telling the girls to stop touching the walls (or to get down from the box mountain) and now we are hit with a week of 35C and up!! Yuck! (can’t say I will miss the Perth summer).

This weekend we are having our garage sale. I don’t expect to make hundreds of dollars or anything but we do need to try. I am happy to say that the majority of the larger pieces of furniture have been sold. We still have left a pond, an Ikea chair, a blanket box, an old wardrobe and drawer set (going very cheap), a tiny computer desk and a set of VW back seats.

So, the days are slipping by quickly and the list is still long but NOT as long as it was!! Phew!

Last weekend myself and four friends went on an Opshopathon (thank you Sarah for organising it), that was the first of three farewells (blog post coming). This coming weekend sandwiched between the garage sale and our removalist coming a few days later is my Etsy farewell. That is, a few of us WA Etsy friends will get together and I will say goodbye. Thats the hard part really, saying goodbye. The following weekend we have our own family farewell with our friends. Yes, we are coming to the pointy end of the move and the second that removalist truck pulls away I think I will get very very excited……………wow, thats a week away!!

Category: All Sorts of Things, Family / Tags: ,

Gone

February 25, 2012 / Molly / One comment

With 30 days to go until we leave things are started to move quickly. I have finished as much packing as I can do, the removalist comes in 17 days but we have a garage sale two weeks from now. Being mostly packed at this point means I can focus on other things such as helping my Dad with any painting or fixing during the next week and also preparing for the garage sale properly.

Yesterday I shed a little tear as Little L and I watched the council truck collect our junk. As I mentioned in a previous post our pram was in that pile along with our duck and chook enclosures. Here they are being loaded on the truck (they were crushed second later):

Its nice to have the huge pile gone but at the same time there was a lot of history there.

In my post about two and a half weeks ago I mentioned some of the Things I Wonder. These included:

- Will I find a home for our ducks?
- Will someone buy our VW Beetle?
- Will we rent or sell?
- Will my health settle down or will this stress cause me more damage?
- Will we be able to afford to fix the things we need to on our house before we go?
- Will I handle saying goodbye to so many friends at once?

I also stated that I fully trust that God knows the answers to these questions. We’ve had some answers to these already. For example, in that short time ALL of our ducks have gone to new homes. About two weeks ago our VW Beetle SOLD and today the new owner came and picked it up:

In many ways its very sad to say goodbye to our ‘Latte’. She was a great little car but its time to move on (and buy a new VW one day!!).

As for the other questions, we still don’t know what will happen with our house and I haven’t started the proper goodbyes (these start next Saturday). My Dad is coming this week to help with our house so that answers part of the cost of fixing it question, his coming reduces that cost A LOT (thank you Dad). My health has been up and down but I suppose thats not surprising and so far I’m coping ok (apart from feeling exhausted).

So whats on the list for this week? Mainly house fixing stuff while Dad is here as well as back yard cleanup and a visit from a friend. The exciting thing for this week is a fantastic Opshopathon with my friends next weekend (can’t wait!). It is however bittersweet because I know it will the last time I see some of my friends for a long time. Time is going quickly!

Category: All Sorts of Things, Deeper Thoughts, Family / Tags: ,
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