Saturday = Sunday

Today was Saturday but I called it my Sunday because we are opening The Happy Abode tomorrow, which is everybody else's Sunday.

Again, I have enjoyed my three days off, though I was not the slightest bit productive and have nothing to show for my time, except a very relaxed demeanour.

The pool has been curing nicely in the back yard so there are no updated photos to share.

This is what my bath mat looks like ...

... it's what happens when your entire back yard consists of fine black sand.

The Motivator had a very successful day in the shop today and I'm hoping that tomorrow will be equally successful for me.

It's been a warm day and we turned on the air conditioner for a while, commenting that it would be nice to go for a dip in the pool right about now!

Won't be long now.

Commiserations to Adoring Husband whose footy team lost the AFL grand final today by a lousy 5 points.

I hope that Melbourne Storm win the NRL grand final tomorrow - although it really doesn't matter that much to me. Both teams are worthy opponents.

I'm feeling a bit peckish, so I think I'll have some papaya before bed.

Nite all.

Moving Fast

Early this morning, our yard was full of workers waiting for the big yellow truck to bring the concrete.

Not a lot was happening for a couple of hours - just double checking the formwork and plenty of talk and laughter.

Once it all started, it was full on! It was loud and messy and busy ...

... the 'blind' guy arrived an hour after the concreting had begun so that he could take the measurements for the indoor/outdoor kitchen. We selected colours before he left and then Adoring Husband had a meeting at SES and I had a meeting at The Happy Abode.

The Motivator and I did some catching up and I checked out the new stock that arrived yesterday. I served a couple of customers when it got really busy and a little after 2.30pm I met up with AH who had come to buy coffee and we left to rendezvous at The Motivator's house to pick up some cardboard.

When I arrived home, we inspected the pool site and I took some photos before making myself presentable for the usual Friday night at the club.

It was an unlucky night for all of us and the club was very busy and full of tourists and very loud. Having said that, the bus was relatively empty for the first trip home so the drive was short.

Can you believe it's already after 11pm?

Time for bed.

Have a great weekend.

Nite all.

R & R

While I had intentions of at least visiting the shop today, those intentions faded to insignificance as the day wore on.

I spent half the day in bed and the remainder of the day searching for the missing parts of the editing screen that I sent No 1 Son last week. I found half of it. Perhaps the other half is at the shop. It's the last hope.

Here is Day 3 of the pool build ...

I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring!

That was my day.

The Motivator and The Fisher King got busy doing this ...

Wahoo for one new sign where it should be. One down, one to go!

Bed time for me now.

Nite all.

Messy Business

Did I mention the disaster area in our back yard?

It is unrecognisable as our garden.

The sole avocado was lost from the tree on day one, but I discovered a new one right at the top of the tree. It may be safe there. Time will tell.

I started today with Meditation.

The Motivator returned to work with a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her dial.

It was a quiet morning and a busy afternoon with lots of kids wanting their pick of the snap jewellery and their grandparents wanting to make them happy. Quite noisy at times.

I'm taking a couple of days off now and plan on getting out with my camera, walking on the beach and having at least one lazy morning in bed.

Time for bed.

Nite all.

It's Here!

Look what happened today ...

When I announced that this was going to happen, a friend of mine said to me that whatever mess I imagined would happen with a pool build, multiply it by 100 to get close to how messy it really is.

She was right.

Not just in the yard, but through the house and through the neighbour's houses! Luckily, one of our neighbours will be working for the pool guy, so at least he gains something from the experience!

So the day started with the heavy machinery arriving in our back yard at 6.30am and the psychotic dogs going 'OFF' with all the strange faces and machinery and noise.

The pool guy asked us where we wanted everything as far as landscaping went, so that he could figure out where to put the pool. He gave us a rough idea of the pool size by laying out his tape measure in the freeform shape that he suggested.

Before I'd left for work, they had levelled the raised garden beds and were able to show us properly where the pool would go.

After I'd left for work, there was a problem with a sewer pipe that had to be redirected and luckily (again) the local plumber was available to do the work immediately!

Next, we remembered the giant pool umbrella that needs to be concreted into the ground beside the pool, which we hadn't organised or ordered yet, so Adoring Husband contacted the umbrella guy who, luckily (again) was going to be in our area this afternoon, so he added us to his list of visits.

After he spoke to AH and our pool guy, he came to the shop so that I could choose colours. The umbrella should be ready in three weeks.

My last customer for the day came into the shop just before 3pm and didn't leave until 3.30pm and didn't even make a purchase (which makes her a non-customer!) so I had time to grab a coffee just before the umbrella guy arrived.

He stayed for about 30 minutes and then I made a quick trip to The Motivator's house to look at all the lovely work she has been doing in her house and to tell her about our pool.

Knowing that AH would be at home waiting impatiently for me to come see the progress in our back yard, I finally made it home at around 5pm.

By the time we looked at the hole and discussed everything that had happened and everything that is yet to happen, it was almost 6pm and I hadn't got anything out for dinner so we decided to go to the local cafe to get take away.

While we waited for the food to be prepared, we went for a quick walk along the beach. It was very windy and very cool and the water was cold, so we only lasted for about ten minutes - which was just right because by the time we returned to the cafe, our food was ready.

Best decision ever.

The food was good and I didn't have to do anything.

It's after 10pm and I'm exhausted. It was a busy day in the shop and a busy afternoon and I'm done.

Nite all.

"P" Day

As you read this, the hole for our pool is being dug!

It's "P" Day!! "P" = Pool

Our outdoor lounge and rug were delivered from AMart this afternoon and thankfully, it's all boxed so it can be stored in the new kitchen until we are ready to put it all together. Hopefully, it's sealed well enough that all that dirt and grime doesn't find it's way inside the box.

My new macrame hammock arrived from Venezuela and looks beautiful. I can't wait to hang it and relax in it with a good book.

The Gypsy was in house today. We had some good chats again. On Saturday morning she visited the shop briefly with her daughter and partner who were up for the weekend, so there was plenty to talk about.

I accidentally charged a lady almost double the price of an item this afternoon, so I'm hoping she realises my error and comes to the shop tomorrow to yell at me!

My final customer for the day came in just before 3pm, which meant I was late leaving the shop. Under normal circumstances, that wouldn't be a problem, but we needed to drive into The Bay so that I could pick up some photos from the framers.

I had all but one photo framed with mat board and one sunset photo professionally framed with a nice rustic white frame. I've still got five more photos to have done and I'll get one of them framed with a nice white frame too.

A customer came in to the shop to request a copy of the duck photos that I took last week, so I had them printed while I was in The Bay.

Adoring Husband and I pondered over the barbecues at Harvey Normans, for the third time in a matter of weeks, and still did not come to a decision. We will come across the perfect barbecue when the time is right.

There were a LOT of tyre kickers in the shop today, which made it busy but not profitable. Hopefully, all those ladies who came in with their husbands, will return later this week without them - as the ladies tend to do.

It's now 8.30pm and I'm off to bed. I'm going to read myself to sleep.

Nite all.

Productive Duo

Adoring Husband completed the kitchen cabinetry before I'd even got out of bed this morning.

He stopped to bring my morning coffee and then returned to work.

I got up and made some breakfast to eat with my coffee and I did a bit of reading and chatted with the multitude of engineers that I'm playing Words With Friends against at the moment.

Lots of males play WWF claiming to be engineers, mostly working in California, but a couple in Canada, one each in Greenland, Iceland, Romania and somewhere else in Europe.

They all tell me that they were born in one country, experienced some devastating loss eg parents killed tragically when they were a child OR their wife left them for their best friend OR their wife and children died in a car wreck OR ... well, you get the drift, and because of that tragedy, they move to another country to study and become an engineer.

After they chat for a while, they ask me to join some chat room (I can't remember the name of it right now) so that we can chat more easily - I always decline and they soon lose interest. I can only assume that they are attempting to con some lonely woman somewhere else in WWF.

It's now at the point when a male introduces himself, I say "Let me guess. You are an Engineer right?" and he is always surprised saying "How do you know that?"

Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah

At lunch time I decided to make my way into the day, got dressed and was immediately dragged (not literally) outside to have a look at the progress of the kitchen. It's looking amazing and I really like the colour that AH chose for the doors.

After that, I hung out some washing, brought some in from the line and put on another load. I cleared the lounge chair that I've been using as a storage unit for journals, notebooks, paperwork, catalogues, study folders, hats and other bits and pieces.

AH and I have also used our dining room table as a storage unit for laptops, cameras and camera gear, folders, paperwork, jewellery, re-usable grocery bags, handbags, pens, SES stuff, essential oils, letters and bills, books etc etc., so I cleared all of my stuff from the table.

I did a bit of decluttering and rearranging in the back bedroom, but then decided that it was all too hard, so I gave up and did some more washing. I did a little tidying up in our bedroom and then I planted my butt on the lounge, where I stayed until I made AH's dinner.

Yesterday evening, I caught the last twenty minutes of this show on SBS and after the credits rolled, it was announced that it could be viewed on SBS On Demand. I haven't had a chance to view it yet myself, but it's definitely on my 'to do' list.

Here is the link if you're interested ...

Sugar Crash on SBS

I think it's time to sleep now. I have three books on my bedside table that I want to read, so I'm going to start them tonight. Two of them were written by The Gypsy, so I'm keen to get onto them.

Welcome to Monday! Have a great week!

Nite all.