I’d like to have actually SLEPT in to 7:30am on a Sunday … just this once … however somebody was awake at 5:10am and barking, so I had to get up and wop him with the rolled up newspaper. We had another round at 5:18am, which included him seeing me coming, stopping mid-bark and moving smartly into the kennel – however he’s on a chain overnight so wasn’t hard to get him out again and have a little chat about early morning barking at nothing at all on a Sunday and the impact it has on both me AND the neighbours and how we’d all appreciate it very very much if he’d CAN IT!

So he did … until 7:10am … which I figured was fair enough, so I got dressed and we went for a walk. He’d actually timed it very well as it had been raining until he barked, and it commenced to pour once we’d returned and I’d given him his breakfast. He’s now throwing his dinner bowl around the yard and yipping, but that’s fine – the ‘children’ down the back deserve a bit of an earlyish wakeup call to give them an idea of what we all put up with when they come back home at midnight and have a screaming argument, waking up every dog in town. I say they’re about 12, in reality I think they’re about 17′ish, obviously finished school and moved in together, very very young … it’s certainly a very immature relationship but hey, they might make a go of it.

The beach was lovely this morning, though we didn’t walk on it as it was completely sogged, but it is nice to get the fresh ocean air

Yes, it’s raining … it’s basically been raining all day on and off .. but I haven’t really minded too much, as I had stuff to do inside, and hubby is off on his four wheel bike expedition.

I went into town, which is gearing up for Bloomin’ Tulips ‘07, and checked out a recently (re)opened cafe, the White Dog Book Cafe …. quite bizarre, in an old building, possibly in an old shopfront? (not up on my local history, as you can imagine, after only 9 months here!), shelves to the 12foot (or more) ceilings full of second hand books (dad and Deeleea will love it!) and some apparently rare books – kind of like Berkelouw’s Book Barn in miniature (and much cheaper!). There are old carnival horses and mermaids hanging from the ceilings, the walls are covered in rose wallpaper (or contact maybe?), there are shells painted white and stuck above the doorways, a weird tiled area at the front window, and a wild white haired woman in charge. Books are great, she’s eccentric, and the coffee (gotta try ‘em all!) was FOUL – so I’ll go for the books and maybe a cake (they looked good) but will probably order tea in future.

Nice to have a wild weird bit of complete eccentricity in conservative country North West Tasmania!

I also went to the HARDWARE store – finally, living up to my wiblog name!!!!!! I bought – a rubber mat for the front door (the old rug is worn to the weaving), a bow saw (really gotta have a good solid saw to do so pruning!), and some all purpose fertiliser – which, if it hadn’t been raining, I would have put on the garden – but hopefully I’ll get a gap between showers tomorrow and I’ll get a chance, so it can wash in nicely. WE’re on sand and I’d lay good money on the gardens here never being fertilised – and nutrients just wash away in sand, so they’re all starving!

CAme home, read the local papers, did two loads of washing and put them through the dryer – some on racks, not quite at the completely drier friendly clothing stage, but working on it! – tidied generally, thought about cooking but decided didn’t want to, cleaned the bathroom, took dog for VERY wet walk and gave him his dinner, and now am deciding what to have myself. Probably will take the easy route and have a Lean Cuisine – the single girls standby

Probably early bed and watch TV there – the one blessing with all this rain is that puppy is a sensible boy (most of the time) and he heads right to the back of his kennel and goes to sleep – yay!

I am contemplating starting to work my way through my Lord of the Rings (extended) DVDs though …. only 12 hours worth … and non fantasy watching hubby is away …. hmmmmmmmmmmmm

Mr Tasmania has taken off with a pack of boys to go four-wheel motorbike riding and 4 wheel driving for the weekend. They will drive to a spot, park the cars, unload the bikes, then ride in to the head of the Pieman River (where the family has a shack) and hang out, go riding along the beach, drink beer, eat steak, and generally have a great time. One of his mates is all packed ready to go but has had the game called by the wife as he’s been away the last 6 weekends in a row … kinda understandable I think!

IN the meantime, I have a list as long as your arm …or mine at least! So far I’ve vacuumed and have hung a set of bamboo door beads (to stop the flies … the joys of Australia!) … the house has no screens on the windows as yet and we had flies all over the place last summer, not to mention the mossies – aaarrrgggghhh!!!!! I can’t afford to screen everything, but the BroBoss has given me a website that does velcro screens – which is great as our windows open outwards, not up and down or sideways, so I can buy one at a time and put them on the insides, pull them up to open the window etc, and it won’t cost a fortune. Done the door beads, so that’s step one, step two will be our bedroom, then one above the ‘office’ desk (in a corner of the living room) and then the bathroom. Spare bedroom is last, but as long as the rest gets some air it’ll be cooler in too and mossie free! OH, mustn’t forget the loo! Most important as mossie bites on the derriere are not my fave!

It’s grey and gloomy and windyat the moment, but we’ve had a bit of solid rain, so hopefully it will rain more. I’m going in to town now but want to come back and do some more bits and pieces outside, happy to do that in between rainshowers as I have lots to do inside as well.

Finally got around to transferring my membership from NRMA to RACT – those are the NSW and TAsmania Road Service organisations, respectively. Only been in Tassie 9 months …. I may be slow but I get there eventually! I THINK that’s it as far as changing names, memberships, addresses, etc is concerned … only my passport outstanding, but I’ll do that when we organise Mr Tasmania’s as well as it’ll cost me $150 to do it – darn it!

Whew – I’d always planned to take my husband’s name when I married … but if I’d known it’d involve in this mucking about I might have taken it in ‘name only’ and kept my maiden name as my legal name – might have been easier!

THanks for prayers too – mother is on the improve. Sister in law is down with awful lurgy too … Spring lurgies!

Father is much better, doesn’t think he’s going to die anymore … just a touch of drama queen in the last couple of days … good thing he’s on the mend ’cause mum has now been sent on 5 days complete bed rest with huge antibiotics by the doctor, as she’s a whisker away from pneumonia!

They have been working very very very hard … and have been doing lots of good God things too … so I’m thinking combination exhaustion and possible attacks (sorry to those of you who have difficulty with the idea of the Devil taking his chances on any weaknesses, but I believe it, and have seen it happen too often not to take it into account).

If you could give up a little prayer or two for mum (usually known as the Party on Legs … at the moment, not so much) it’d be greatly appreciated! And prayers for all of you two

Husband’s opinion of the Principal of the business is not great … we’re talking toilets here … so scrap that one! I don’t have to agree with him all the time but he does know a lot of people, and the area, and is a good judge of character so I’ll go with him this time.

I hated looking for a job earlier in the year, interviews are fine, but endlessly not getting the job, for whatever reason, is soul destroying, especially when you've left a great job! By the by, that job would be finishing at end October this year, as my brother has downsized the studio to 1 employee – him! So I'd be in the hunt in Sydney – I don't know if that's better or worse actually, more jobs but more people, as opposed to less jobs but not being a ‘Tasmanian' … trust me, I didn't want to see it, but the attitude was there in at least two interviews – not quite sure why they gave me an interview actually, as they obviously didn't want to give it to me … anyway, I digress, as usual.

The job I have is good, people are great, money is okay (benefits are good so make up for lower salary) but I do find myself a bit dissatisfied at times, for no real, good reason.

I just keep an eye on the job section of the paper in case something catches my eye … and something did today … so now I don't know whether to apply and see what happens or just be happy where I am, and where they like me!

Hmmmm

This is discussion with husband material obviously … and if I did apply and got to interview and was, perhaps offered the job, what do I do then?

Cons … don't know how much it pays, haven't worked in that industry before (but then again, have not worked in THIS industry before …. Or in shipping, or in graphic design, and I managed in both of those okay)

Pros … 15 minute drive from home (would be 2mins once we build) as opposed to 40mins (petrol saving alone would add up to 250mins worth of travel a week – I guesstimate about $50 worth of petrol, which adds up over a year – about $2500 right there!, let alone wear and tear on the car!)

Ah well, thinking and praying, thinking and praying

So, JD has lost his voice, as I mentioned before. He is very happy that we're home, and I think is getting straight back into his normal routine – we had a little bit of barking on Sunday night but he settled fairly quickly and slept without barking all night.

Last night we went out for dinner but managed to sneak out without waking him up and had not a peep out of him again. Poor little tacker was pining for us while we were away. He's very happy to see Mr Tasmania in the morning when he goes to get him for our walk – jumps up and hugs his arm with his front paws – very cute.

Spring has sprung in North West Tasmania – it's been interesting coming back and looking at two very different Tulip Festivals. Where I grew up, in the Southern Highlands of NSW, the Bowral Tulip Time Festival is quite famous and has become very well known and quite a large event. Many many tourist coaches travel through to the Highlands and bring people to Corbett Gardens to view the tens of thousands of bulbs, as well as the other gorgeous flowers. Lots of gardens are open to the public and the shops in town go all out with displays in their windows. It's great and doesn't seem to stop growing. Of course, the fact that you can stop in the Highlands either on the way to or on the way back from Floriade in Canberra helps.

Now, back in the North West, the Wynyard Bloomin' Tulips Festival is starting to get into full swing. Lots of tulips in little patches around town, the Table Cape Tulip Farm is hitting it's stride, the festival program was in the paper today, and it's all on. Interesting to compare the two .. or not really compare, contrast might be the better word. This is my first year seeing the Bloomin' Tulips Festival so I'm looking forward to it!

Yes, I’m (we’re) back after a lovely holiday up north, 9′ish days with family and friends.

Ups … dad’s successful CD launch – 65 sold on the day, 120+ at the launch, a great day
… brekkie with girlfriends
… time with niece and nephews, brothers and sisters (in law)
… attending opening of new Berkelouw’s Bookshop in Mona Vale – loverly
… seeing mum/dad’s almost complete renovations (commenced early last year, interrupted by termites, a wedding, and arrival of grandson, and two trips to Tassie)
… husband enjoying good time with mates in Byron
… shopping – even though no shoes purchased
… lovely parents in law who took care of puppy for the week
… lovely friends who walked puppy as parents in law are in their 80’s

Downs … attack on dad before CD launch – laid low by dehydration (self inflicted) and food poisoning … so torn between complete sympathy and complete exasperation
… no shoes purchased
… not enough time for all the stuff I wanted to do
… dog with no voice due to (despite poor not quite as hearing as well as they used to parents in law saying he was quiet) obviously barking all night every night while we were away – ’cause he’s doing it now!

Ah well … it was good of them to do it, very good, and he’ll relearn not to bark after a bit of discussion and a few wops with the rolled up newspaper on the bottom … or a night or two on his blankie in the laundry … I just don’t quite know what we’ll say to the neighbours!

He's a learner this puppy of ours. Blue Heelers are known for being tough AND intelligent, a good mix which can also be a complete nightmare as they are very independent thinkers, and not necessarily interested in YOUR opinion. But JD is learning quickly. We've taken to tying him to his kennel at night, as I might have mentioned previously, and he's quickly learned that we don't come out for one or two barks, but continued barking brings people investigating – and if it's just barking because he can then he gets a smack. All I had to do last night was lean out the door, ascertain that he was barking at, basically, the air, and yell “JD be quiet” and we had dead silence for the rest of the night. Lovely!

We've been quite relaxed, really, that most things will be trained out or we would come up with a solution – we have been very worried about the barking in the car issue though. Couldn't see a way to make him stop short of massive beatings which, as I'm sure you agree, we're not really interested in doing! Not his fault he's a car barker, he was obviously (by the way he moves in a car) tied to the back of a ute and left to run about and yell his head off while the car was moving, which the person in the cab not at all worried.

Anyway, we tried the bark muzzle, which lasted about 5 minutes before he hooked his dew claws through it and tore it to shreds. The sonic anti-bark collar seemed to have no effect whatsoever. We were thinking of trying a citronella spray anti bark collar but we seem to have had a breakthrough. Mr Tasmania has been sitting with him at his feet in the front seat, and doing the ‘no', smack nose when barking, and give rewards when quiet routine, and it's been working. On Monday he took him into town, dog buckled into passenger seat, and with pocket full of treats, and had only 3 or 4 barks. Today he took him in and just phoned to tell me there was not one single bark the whole way in … and of course he's gained treats and lots of pats … puppy quiet happily sitting there looking out the window – albeit with oceans of drool on the floor – gross, but way better than the sprayed saliva we also had with the barking. So we seem to be reaching victory on this one!

The aim of it all, of course, is being able to take the dog when we drive back to NSW at Christmastime … he won't like the trip on the boat, I'm sure, but we can tranquilise him for that. We just couldn't see a way to take him if he was going to bark for 7 hours – and piercing barks too. But now … looking good … we're going to have to take him on some extended drives, see how he copes, and learn the ‘desperate for a pee signals', but we can manage that. Hooray!

Oh yes, and we're going on hols from tomorrow until 23 Sept! Yay! Mr Tasmania's parents are coming down to stay and look after JD. Will be great, need a hol, looking forward to seeing the family, friends, and mum/dad's extensions!

We are basically doing a spring clean of our living area I think … in the last couple of weeks we've fixed a door so it slides properly, replaced tea towel rails with new rails that don't poke you in the eye, added two towel rails to the bathroom, burnt 2 huge piles of prunings (and I'm talking large, 3m tall), built a backyard fence, moved a few things around in the kitchen so they fit better, and knocked down the old brick BBQ which stood next to the verandah.

It's making a difference! There's more to do, but it's seasonal … I'm aiming to buy at least two fly screens in the next month or so. Our windows push out, rather than slide up, so screening from the outside is out … my lovely brother has found a site where I can order some Velcro screens though, which stick on the inside and pull off easily so you can open and close the window – fabulous – and not scarily expensive! I'm also buying a nice bamboo door bead screen, so the rotters don't get in through the open front door. I've seen some lovely ones in Sydney, but they're about $80, so I think I'm going for the Spotlight version in brown bamboo for $30 – gotta be realistic about these things!

We went up to our block on Sunday and planted 5 more grevilleas, the first of our driveway screen. We already have a camellia at the top, and I've ordered one for the bottom. We only have 19 more to plant down the driveway! Our first lot of 10, planted at the bottom of the driveway to block out the Western neighbours, were in $6 pots, but we decided to try the $3 pots this time – and they're great, not much smaller, so that's what we'll do from now on. They're all planted up in their little tree tubes and look like a little plastic forest. We also dug the 36 holes along the back fence behind the shed, which are going to be planted out with yellow flowering callistemon's, which will grow to, hopefully, 3 – 4m tall. All the natives we're planting are designed (sort of) to be native bird attracting, and flowering most of the year (except in deepest winter) .. but they also have a variety of foliage shapes and colours, so will bring a little bit of variety to the dark winter green which is the predominant theme in this part of Tassie.

JD (the dog) enjoyed being up at the block, unfortunately he still has to stay on the lead, but he loved it. We have to put up a bit more chicken wire fencing over the existing ring lock fencing to keep out the rabbits and wallabies, so once that's done, and the gaps under the gates filled in, he'll be able to be let off and run around to his heart's content. We'll gradually get the whole place fenced in so he can run around the whole block (6 acres), and he won't know himself.

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