It's time to go....................Speedy!!

Poor old speedy has reached it's retirement and has been traded in for a Subaru Forrester X. For those of you who never had the pleasure, Speedy is a dark blue, 5sp manual, 5 litre, VR series II SS commodore. Such a fun car to drive, but unfortunately, starting to need a bit of work. We pick up our new car (as yet un-named) on Tuesday! We got it in silver/black as shown above. It has heaps of safety features which sold me on it, (although I haven't driven it yet as when it appeared here yesterday I was all wet and dirty from gardening). Damian has driven it of course, and loved it immediately. We got a good price for speedy (the low Ks really helped) and although we would have got more privately, we are in a really closed market in Cairns and the demand for V8s while petrol prices are so high, is minimal. It also was due for some fairly full on engine work, windscreen and tyres so we sold it at a good time.
Here is one they prepared earlier.........
We are heading for a weekend in Port in a couple of weeks so it will be a good chance to play with all the cool stuff in it and test it out over a decent distance. Kylin hasn't seen it yet so it'll be cool to see his reaction, he will have more visibility in this car too. We will all miss the sound of speedy, it really was a lush car - but it's going to be sooo much fun in the new one, it's very exciting!!

[to Burt Johnson's servant] Are you sure you want to be a nightclub comic?

Arthur: Oh stay with me Hobson. You know I hate to be alone.
Hobson: Yes, bathing is a very lonely business.
Arthur: Except for fish.
Hobson: Pardon? Did you say "except for fish"?
Arthur: Yes... fish all bath together. Though they do tend to eat one another. I often think... fish must get awful tired of seafood. What are you thoughts Hobson?

Bed, Bathurst, & BBQ

Hello everyone, gosh I've been sooo busy lately!
This is a picture of my new bed. Mummy dropped the base of it to floor level, then sat it up on my drawers, bookcase and desk. Then she put mesh material across the top (so I didn't stand up and put my hands in the fan) and made some curtains to go across the front (I picked out the material, it has rainbow stars on it) It was one meter off the ground and was like sleeping in a little tent. I had a little light on the bed head and there was a little bucket for my bottle that I could pull up on a rope when I woke up.
(The curtains were not finished off here) As you can see, I just LOVED it. Curtains were opened and closed for hours on end, I flopped and bounced around like a demented bunny, the whole thing was just too exciting! That afternoon, my brand new mattress arrived as well. I kept peering over the side going "oooohhhh" and squeeling with delight.
But wait, there was more!! Because my bed was off the ground, it meant that I had a fab little cubby house underneath. Mummy had put in some push lights, which I quickly got the hang of, and there were glow in the dark stars and everything. I had some little bean bag cushions and my favorite books and dinosaurs under there, it was all just too much fun.
The whole idea was a huge hit but Mummy and Daddy got a bit worried about me being up so high and decided that I was a bit little yet - so Mummy put my bed back the way it was and now I have a normal bed. I love it too, and when I get a bit bigger, I can have my adventure bed back again.

For those of you who know him, Dave Rennie was in town recently and he came over for a barbie with Mark. It was really nice to see him again, daddy sees him at work sometimes but mummy hadn't seen him for 4 years. We all had a fab night, and the boys were sensible (being a school night) and went home before being enticed with more wine.

We had a spur of the moment Bathurst this year, Mark came over with enough salads to last us all through the current millenium, and Daddy set up both slot car sets, joining them together to make a giant track in the loungeroom. I was very good and took big steps over it so I didn't step on the track. Daddy let me have a go at the buttons that made the cars go, I went flat out and went ballistic when the cars crashed and rolled off. (There was lots of "ooohhh deeeaaarrr" )

We have continued to do our BBQ breakkies every Saturday morning, and the group is getting bigger and bigger every week. Here I am, manning the tap, and helping Mark to wash his chopping board - I am a very good helper.
We saw 2 helicopters this time, and the kids all went mental (some of the adults too) We can see them coming from the airport so there is lots of excitement when someone spots one.
Well I hope you are all happy and well, I have started potty training so wish me luck, I am doing really well and mummy hopes to be able to leave the house sometime soon :) Love and hugs - Kylin Jett. xoxoxo

New Wed Twidicle

Mummy and Daddy took me to the toy shop on the weekend and look what they brought me!! I can't quite work the pedals yet, but if someone pushes me, I keep my feet on them so it won't be long before I work it out.
this is my cheeky face! I love my new tricycle I run to find it whenever I get out of bed and zoom around the house on it terrorizing the cat and skishing mummy's toes :)
Love from Kylin. x

It's been a while :)

Hello everyone, well, mummy has been quite unwell, so we haven't been able to post for a while, sorry!

Let's start with a pic of me with a GIANT tweety that poitre & deb sent me, I just luuuuuvvvveee " teeetey" so much, he is bigger than I am! We have started a Saturday ritual of getting up early and meeting some of our friends for a breakfast BBQ on the esplinade - last sat was our first week and we all loved it so much we are going to do it every week we can. This is a photo of Erin who lives across the road and her daddy Rick.
When I saw Vanessa and Ryan arrive (who also live across the road) I ran up and muscled my way between them so I could hold hands.
We were supposed to be feeding the seagulls but I ate my bread!!

Ryan wanted to feed my mummy!

Here's Daddy, Rick and our new friend Mark doing the boy thing at the Barbies.

(note the flash picnic set in the foreground) I had my breakfast with Erin and Ryan on our own special rug.
We were right beside the helicopter landing pad and we got to see two helicopters land and take off while we were there - I was soooo excited and scared all at once. It was ace.
Mummy and I were playing ' Humpty dumpty' off the wall. I had the best time and crashed out in the car on the way home.
We are doing it all again tomorrow and have invited Filiz, Richard and their kids to join us too, Shane, Marisol and Jazz have a wedding so maybe they can come next week.

We send our love and hugs to you all and hope you are all happy and well.

Kylin xoxoxoxo

busy busy busy

About a week ago, in the middle of the night, the dogs were really fussing at the fence, Daddy got up and was trying to get them away, then when he left, they were back at it again. Mummy got up, put on sensible clothing and shoes and went to investigate with a torch. She found daddy turning the hose on them and saying they are carrying on and there's nothing there - knowing the dogs, this behaviour was very unusual so there certainly was, something there, mummy went forth....to find, an echidna, a big one, poor thing, it must have been terrified, it was part way under our fence, but only cause the dogs had dug a bit of the soil away and it had rolled into the hole. We coaxed the dogs away with food, Madi had to be physically and at times painfully restrained until we got them behind the gate. Then a temporary fence was made with tiles and big stones. The echidna was OK and had rolled into a ball so it was well protected from injury, but must have been scared all the same. We were hopeing it would still be there in the morning so we could show Kylin and Erin, who would have been absolutely facinated, but it had moved on - so we have no photos!

However!

I have always had a bit of a thing about vacuming - I have my own vacume cleaner but have finally plucked up the courage to face the big real noisey one and I just loved it - mummy went away and did something else for about 5 mins cause I wouldn't hand it back. I am particularly interested in a slidey bit I found, which sucks at my finger! Just magic!!
Today we went to Trinity beach with Marisol & Jazz, this is really the first time I have been to the beach, we usually just swim in our pool at home, at first I was a bit dubious about the sand, but I gradually got very brave and even went into the water up to my tummy.
We had buckets and spades and lots of help from the grown ups who built us sandcastles and found lots of pippies. Then I thought I would go for a walk. This is a dog friendly beach and there were lots of different puppies that came to say hello to us.
I really loved the waves, shovelling the wet sand, and perving on the pretty girls who walked by. There was one girl I started following!!
It was getting too hot so we all headed back to the car, Jazz and I held hands and helped each other back to the car. We have matching towels, Jazz has a butterfly one and mine is a froggy.
too much fun, I crashed out before we were back on the highway, my much anticipated apple and drink -discarded - I had a fab time.
Mummy and daddy put me to bed when we got home and when I woke up,

mummy had gone shopping.

I have been told ever since I started crawling, not to touch the bin, but now I am being very helpful and picking up fluff or any sultanas etc that I spill on the floor and I try to clean up by putting them in the bin. This was a bit of a dilemma for mummy because I am trying to do the right thing and be helpful. So, mummy brought me my own bin. Now I can still be helpfull, and pick up "fuff" or errant food droppings, but not be fiddling about in the nasty big bin. I love it and already have a tissue box lid and a (clean) nappy wipe in there - I really really love my new bin and every scrap of cat hair or dust is being very carefully placed inside. I have even given it a cuddle before going to bed tonight. !!

Don't I look huge beside it? I think it's just the camera angle!

Bye Bye Grunc !!

My dear Great Uncle Dermott has been with us for nearly a month and left us this morning to travel back home.There was cuddles and lots of kisses

I don't quite understand that he isn't in his room sleeping now.
We will all miss you Grunc, the time flew and it was so lovely to have you stay with us.
Safe trip home xxx

Collins St. Festival

Thought I would start off with a picture I took of the moon a month or so ago.

It was shining in our bedroom window and was so bright it woke me up.

I stayed awake and watched it set behind the mountain.I did the Big Tanks market on Fathers day (also Damian's birthday)

For those of you not "local" the tanks were used during the war by the Navy to store oil, there are 5 of them and they are now used as art galleries and one has a stage set up for outdoor entertainment. Set beside the botanical gardens and opposite a huge parkland, the grounds are full of lush tropical plants and trees, some are growing as part of the entrance wall.

This is the main entrance, you can just spot my stall on the right.

This was just outside the main entrance looking west down Collins ave. Last year we had 30 thousand people go through during the day. I saw heaps of friends over the afternoon, Vanessa, Wick, Erin & Ryan - Filiz, Richard, Ollie & Finlay - Shinobu & Aya - Warren - Bindy - Keith - Peter & Roz - plus some of my regular customers from the Smithfield markets.

This was my stall and the best I could manage with the space they gave me, my usual spot allows me 3 times this hanging space and up a lot higher which is a lot more eye catching. Unfortunately it rained so for a lot of the time, my stuff was covered in tarps - needless to say, I didn't sell very much at all - very disappointing!
I had a great day regardless, and got to catch up with lots of my fellow market buds - Anne who owns a shop in town that I supply, the ever luscious Belinda and Steve who had been working very hard to create all manner of beautiful wood/shell/sand & candle creations - Maya who has some unusual and gorgeous jewellry - John who makes the most amazing pottery people that he adorns with op shop jewels and is always good for a bit of gossip - Patricia who sells the local fruit wines - Robyn with the lions club - and the ever present lions club gents at the sausage sizzle (always good for a laugh) - plus I met some new people, Catherine and Danny who had the stalls on either side of me.
As usual, Johnathan the organiser was a blur all day and made sure everyone had whatever they needed. Damian, Kylin and Dermott came to see me about 2.30 which was lovely and it meant I could pack up when the time came, and drive my car to where my stall was, rather than having to carry all my gear (over two or three trips) into the next suburb where we had to park. As dissapointing as the sales were, it was a lovely place to spend the day, the local radio station were broadcasting from just beside were I was, so we had music either from them or from the local soloists who were performing on and off throughout the day. I got to see lots of cute kids and babies and handed out lots of cards to the locals, so hopefully I'll get some sales down the track from that. All the stall holders I spoke to said that their sales were bad too, and the theory was that everyone had spent their money on Fathers day pressies already, and that this year, there was nearly twice as many stalls so the spending money was spread out. We then all headed home and prepared for the sumptuous birthday dinner - with Vanessa, Wick, Shane, Marisol and the kids - we had luscious spring rolls, and little quiches that Vanessa made (they are egg and bacon pies according to Wick) Moroccan chicken salad, fresh prawns, garden salad and two cheesecakes to finish off - everyone had a fab night - there are no photos though cause it was too dark where we were sitting.

Hope you are all happy and well - love and hugs to you all - Kaz. xo

Stuff

Hello everyone, I have been having a lovely time with Grunk and get very excited to see him each morning. He has been reading to me and sometimes I sit on his knee to have my snacks. I think he's ace!

Here is a picture of my friend Erin, she is a rock fairy, a particularly pretty and loud fairy with loads of magic.

Last time Jazzmin came over to visit, we had a lovely time just hangin out on the couch with a few drinks.
This is mummy's herb garden, it's going really well, and has astounded mummy who normally kills all plant life.
The basil and tomatoes were going so well she has planted them in the garden already.
and for all of you who keep complaining that there are never any pictures of mummy

here you go!
Love and kisses to you all - Kylin. xoxo

Grunk, meeting Jordan, and inventing K.F.R

We have had Mat and Amanda up north recently and we finally got to meet their beautiful daughter Jordan, who is 2 next week - we worked out it had been at least 10 years since we had seen each other - but it was like we'd only been together yesterday, we had a fantastic time and wish we could have spent more time with them.

My dear Great Uncle (*Grunk for short) Dermott has come up to play and stay with us for a while. I get very excited when I see him and he took me shopping when he first got here. I can now say Grunk and can't wait to see him each morning.

Meet Jordan - what a little angel !! We wanted to keep her!!

The luscious Amanda - who looks more lovely everytime I see her

Mat & Jordan sharing a chip

Damian and Jordan sharing salad

Check out the dimple - could she be any cuter??? What a little angel

Time for a bath with Kylin after a big day, no sleep and still going !!

Mat & Amanda - thanks for coming guys, we really enjoyed your company.
Stay posted for more adventures with Grunk.

Corks & Medals

Daddy found this hat that he used for his Australia day party in the UK,

I loved it and now It's mine! I wore it for the rest of the day, even though it was very big, it made mummy and daddy laugh lots.

Last week Daddy was presented with his Australian Defence medalThese were awarded to everyone who has at least 6 years full time service in the military since the end of ww2.