Jannie Jaunts

Hi! Or "so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye" ... Sooz and I moved about a month ago ... and it's probably time that the blog did as well. You can find us now at janniejaunts.blogspot.com - make sure you bookmark the new site (or add it to your Home Screen) so you can find us again easily! Look forward to seeing you at our new place!

Friday

There's nothing like an early mark and we were fortunate to get one without having to really work for it (although we actually did ... all week). IT was closing us out of the financial system mid-afternoon for maintenance and upgrade - and without it it was just a little difficult to do things - and yes, there were other non-accounts-computer-related tasks that could have been done - but none were nearly as exciting as an early mark!

It was good that I didn't squander it at a coffee shop (as if I would ... squander time in a coffee shop that is!) ... there was a shiny thing to procure ... this time a contact grill from Harvey Norman.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, earlier in the day, Sooz was off to Aqua with M. It's not one of their usual days but it sounded like the same folk were there. Because it was Sooz's first session in a while, and because she worked hard, she was a bit tired at the end of the session and she took herself off for a nap this afternoon.

We had leftovers for dinner - Mouse soup for me and Zen for Sooz. Yum. Then, while I watched some videos, Sooz flicked between Better Homes and Gardens and The Living Room on the television. She seemed to manage to turn to each program just as they were going to ad break ... there must be a way to watch television more effectively ... and efficiently.

Also from Harvey Norman today - a corded phone so I can try out the home line to see if it is the line or the new cordless phone that's causing issues. We now believe it is the line and 48 minutes on the phone later, Telstra are going to service the line and see if (a) that fixes the phone and (b) if that increases the internet speed!

Thursday

As planned, the girls went off to their breakfast with Julia Gillard this morning. I was very impressed when I had a message just after 6:30 from Sooz saying they were at the venue in good time. It had meant an early start for them but it was well worth it. They both enjoyed it. In a way I'm sorry I didn't go, but I'm the only one who has started reading her book out of the three of us ... and I would have wanted to have finished it by the time I heard her ...

I'm looking forward to seeing the photographs. M had tried to take some but her phone was not quite up to the task but luckily someone there took her business card and offered to send her some pictures.

After breakfast, Sooz and M went off to Harbourtown. There was shopping to be done and with Bertha it meant Sooz could stock up on a few things and bring them home. And since they were there when the Turkish place Mi had recommended was open, they had a light lunch of dips and bread.

Sooz was tired by the end of the day and didn't want to come in to The Big House tonight (Thursday is a very good television night she told me) so I went in and met M and we had Zen dinner (with leftovers for Sooz) before we went upstairs for a coffee (they are down to their very last double-walled coffee mug that everyone loves so much ... they keep breaking in the dishwasher) and some Numbers. There were a couple of Asian girls there and they were having a fabulous time at the Table ... and it was fun to watch them. They were so excited ... and even though one of them professed not to know much about what was happening ... they were doing rather well. I was happy to watch ... but not as happy as Sooz was last night at Latimers when Maggie chose to sleep on the bed with her. Tinka didn't ... she was sleeping on Pearl's bed ... but Maggie stayed with her all night.

Wednesday

There was no Aqua today ... aand there won't be for a little while from what Sooz was saying. That's okay thought because there was enough to keep her busy around here ... she is still valiantly making her way through the many boxes that are waiting to be unpacked. I haven't been much use to her, of course ... the last thing I want to think about at the moment is lifting and moving boxes ... which will be my next task so we can finally start unpacking the kitchen goodies.

Sooz is having a sleepover at Latimers tonight so it makes it easier for she and M to be on time for tomorrow's breakfast at the Convention Centre. They are going to see Julia Gillard, our first woman Prime Minister and our first woman ex-Prime Minister, and she will be talking about her book "My Story". The breakfast starts at 6.40 - so hopefully they have an early night.

M didn't have to cook because she managed an invitation to dinner for all of us at Mouse's. It was very good - soup (with leftovers ... yes!) and spaghetti. Yum. And the extra bonus was that we were able to spend some time with Pearl as well - she's still on a sleepover with Mouse. From what Sooz was saying it seems that the furries out at Latimers are missing Pearl too!

It was a relatively early night though and I think Riki and Miki were pleased of the company when I arrived back at Jannie. Riki even came out of the hidey-hole and took up a position in my lap as I sat down to do some computing. From what Syl has said, it is something she is used to doing and she certainly seems to recognise a computer from 20 paces.

Tuesday

We have broadband! It's not exceptionally fast but it is there! Now if only I could get the phone line working! But that isn't going to be today at this rate. But I was able to watch one of my programs, so I was very happy about that. It has been a while. What would we do without iView I ask you.

Ka came today ... she has agreed to come to clean Jannie fortnightly for us - luckily she is doing a place up at Helensvale on a Tuesday as well, so it works out quite well for us all. Sooz has missed her so it was good for her to have the opportunity to catch up.

Meanwhile, back at work, I was catching up with site diaries and other construction-related odds and sods. We are nearing the end of the main contract and any day now the three lanes on both sides of the Motorway will be open to traffic. This is a major milestone!

Riki and Miki take turns at being sociable and then not. They don't both seem to be out of their litle hidey-hole at the same time ... and if they didn't have different collars, and the missing whiskers on one of them, you would truly be hard-pressed to know there are two of them.

There was another "shiny thing" (thanks for the terminology M) coming into the house again today - or, to be more precise, into the garage because that's where it is until I take it out of the box and put together what bits of it need to be put together ... and then I will be able to mow the lawn! There is a good chance I am going to have to get a whipper-snipper at some point too ... well, that's what I'm saying anyway ... you know I've always wanted one!

Monday

Well, the back is still problematic so I decided to give work a miss thinking that a day of data entry and filing may not be the best thing for it. Is it possible that I am getting more sensible in my old age? I hope so!

Riki and Miki were fairly low key today and spent a fair bit of time in their scratching post Watchtower - in their basement. They continue to be as cute as … but that is not to say we are missing those Latimers' furries any less. There is something about the three of them that is so endearing … probably because we know them so well.

Pearl has gone for a sleepover at Mouse's so that will make both of them very happy. I must remember to ask M how Pearl went climbing into Bertha.

Trivia tonight and St made his first appearance since returning from France where he fitted in cycling as well as some golf (which he played competitively on the local team which then went through to the Nationals). All we need now is for an to come back and we will be our full complement again!

Sunday

There was fresh rocket and tomato from Latimers this morning at the Markets. M had been harvesting before she came in - and it was well worth her effort. She was sorry she hadn't remembered the mulberries though because they apparently don't last long once they are off the bush/tree

ROM had a workout yesterday … M was telling a I and all that the morning dew, and no doubt a bit of Spring sun, is making the grass grow quite quickly. She said Jane mowed yesterday and will probably need to do it again tomorrow or the day after. I miss ROM but at the moment it would be a bad idea to volunteer to give it a run around the yard because of my back. Quite uncharacteristically I took myself off for a massage at the Markets this morning. It has shifted it a bit but not enough … thank goodness for painkillers say I!

Folk at the Markets were in fine form - and they agreed not to hit the latecomers with the Penalty Plate this time … but as from next week, if you're late, you have to pay up … no excuses.

After the Markets, we had a quick drop-in to JB's to get a phone just in case our Broadband/Landline bundle does get activated on Tuesday as promised! Apparently Telstra don't provide handsets anymore - or not for free at least!

Next, Southport Park where Target and the supermarket were on the list. Sooz kindly did the shopping as I waited for her (still nursing my back) at the coffee shop.

Then, back to Jannie where Sooz had a rest before going out to the Movies at The Big House with M this evening. It's part of the Movie Convention currently on on the Coast. The movie is about Stephen Hawking - based on a book by his first wife, Jane. Mi showed us the trailer at Mouse's the other night and it looked quite good - and M was going to see if she could get extra tickets (they'd only given her two) … and, drat, wouldn't you know it, she did score an extra ticket which I could have used, except for my back.

Riki and Miki continue to be cute. They are so affectionate as well …and smart. I left the laundry door open this afternoon and one went out to have a look. Luckily Syl had been there first and had sealed up the cat door with pegs so they couldn't get out. (This is the same Syl who went through and sealed all the holes in the fence so, just in case they managed to get out of the house, they wouldn't be going further than the fence.

Saturday

We were up early and on the road to Toowoomba by 7am! We left the furries sitting on the couch - wondering, no doubt, how long we were going to be in the laundry this time! Or maybe they are cleverer than that because when we came around the front, I noticed they were both sitting at the window - and while little noses were not pressed against the window, they might as well have been!

It was a good drive up, made better by finding a cafe that does decent coffee at the service station where we filled up, and because we stopped for a leisurely breakfast at The Sister Cafe, just out of Marburg. Also, the roadworks along the way, while still there, are less annoying and not as time-consuming!

Gr and Abs are in good form and the had just arrived back from "a hit" as we came down the street. I don't know what it is about some people but they never seem to change - not in terms of their external personas anyway. He is still the same jokester he always was and he had us in fits of laughter soon after we arrived with his dance moves.

I'm was totally smitten with Abs - just like she was when she met Ja. How those years have flown! And how many changes there have been along the way!

Lunch was at Mum's - a little taste of a few things - and we all managed to crowd around the tables (we had to join two together for us all to fit).

After lunch we drove Gr and Abs over to the tennis centre at the University so she could have another "hit", this time with one of the tournament girls rather than with Gr - and while I don't know that much about tennis - she seemed to be very good. She is in the top 500 in the world with her doubles, and top 750 individually.

We set off from Toowoomba just after 5 and were back home with Riki and Miki just after 7:30. It didn't seem as though they had missed us that much although one did go and sit with Sooz on the couch as she watched New Tricks! And as soon as the keyboard (for the iPad) came out, I had a little visitor as well.

Friday

Why is it that short weeks always seem incredibly long? Is it because we try to fit five days of work into four? Or, in Ch's case, two? It was productive though, so much so, that Ma favoured us with an early mark ... not much of one for me though as I leave at 4 ... but the extra fifteen minutes meant I had time to call into the Post Office and the Chemist on my way to the doctors (nothing serious).

Meanwhile, back at Jannie, Syl and An were dropping off Riki and Miki and settling them in. We will have them for three weeks and both Sooz and I are looking forward to having them. It will be interesting to see if they decide to sleep on the bed at all ... or whether they can tell that we've had other cats on the bed!

Dinner was at Mouse's tonight, so we had to work out how to effectively lock Miki and Riki in so they wouldn't slip outside while we were leaving. While Syl had patched up all the holes in the fence that might have allowed them to venture out into the big wide wonderful world, we don't want to risk putting it to the desk.

In the end, we decided it would work if we locked them in by us going out through the laundry and the back door. I can't help but wonder if they wondered why we spent three hours in the laundry ... and whether they were grateful that we had moved their litter tray and other accoutrements into the main bathroom.

It was great at Mouse's ... some good discussion and fantastic food - thanks Mouse! We also noted that Allure, the Currumbin restaurant where we had been with David and his family, had been named as the second best in Australia. (Aria was #1.)

Thursday

Today was Ch's first day off now that she is working part=time ... that's four days a week ... so she can spend time on her studies - end goal: acupuncturist. She has four years of study in front of her but as we all know, the longest journey starts with the smallest step (or something like that).

She was away yesterday too ... sick - so I am really looking forward to her being back at work tomorrow. Hopefully she won't be taking Friday as well and having an extra long weekend.

But enough about work. Sooz and I are not so much loving the kitchen sink at the moment. Marty fixed the leak there when he put the dishwasher in but Sooz noticed today that there is a leak in there again. She contacted Fl and Marty will drop back in tomorrow morning to have a look.

Sooz continues to do a marvellous job with unpacking boxes ... and making space in the second bedroom ... you can see the floor in there ... room enough for the ironing board to go up ... as it was this afternoon when I arrived home ... and Sooz (thank you!) was ironing me a work shirt for tomorrow.

We are very much looking forward to Riki and Miki arriving tomorrow for their holiday with us; while they are not Maggie and Tinka, they will be furries on the bed. We've missed that!

Wednesday

Wednesday 

l was so much looking forward to the lunar eclipse tonight but there was cloud cover which meant we couldn't see it.  We kept setting the alarm on the offchance the clouds would part ... but not to be.  We'll have to catch it on television or wait until the next. ne.  I just hope that all the people I encouraged to watch out for it did and that they had better weather than we. 

Sooz made good progress again today, probably helped by bed tea. It is a wonderful thing. She had a heap of boxes ready for relocating to the garage when I arrived home.  Tomorrow will be kitchen things. As long as Sooz can get to the boxes in the garage that is.  I have warned Sooz but I will try to clear the way a little before I go to work on the morrow.  (She hasn't been in the garage for a few days So may not realise how many things are now residing there- even if only on a temporary basis! .)  

Tomorrow will be an exciting day for Sooz. I did get a replacement hose for the washing machine today and now the laundry detergent has made it out of the car and into the house as well, I doubt she will be able to resist her first WashAthon at Jannie.

An had come down with a migraine (the bad kind) overnight and with M off at another engagement, there was no Aqua for Sooz today. 

Tuesday

No ... no ... not time to go back to work _ there are still way too many boxes to unpack! But we are getting there so that is at least a bit encouraging.

I woke Sooz with bed tea this morning ... she had to be up and ready for the plumber who was due at ... 7 am. Obviously I had made that booking without thinking it through properly. And it was just as well she was up because the plumber arrived spot on time. He was fantastic (thanks FI). The dishwasher looks fantastic - and works too! Ditto the washing machine except for the split hose from the tap to the machine - only discovered after Marty departed.

But he wasn't Sooz's only tradie today luckily ... there was also Chris who changed the locks and reduced our key load dramatically! Now to have some spares cut and distributed to folk. Chris was also very helpful in diagnosing the hose problem and taking it off so we can source a replacement.

The only ones who didn't show up today were Telstra who had managed to mess up our order - so still no Broadband for us. Do they not know I am hanging out to get back online?

Dinner tonight was down at the Broadwater ... seafood as we watched the almost (if not actually) full moon in the sky and the walkers, strollers and runners on the ground.

Despite my best intentions, there was no boxes unpacked by me today but I did help Sooz carry her empties out to the garage.

Monday

It was a lovely start to the day - bed tea and toast. I had wanted to sleep in just a little longer but my first mistake was setting the alarm - and then resetting it. The next thing I knew Sooz was at the bedside putting down tea and toast ... so my eyes opened and it was time to start the day ... with the SMH Trivia quiz. Alas, it wasn't our best score but we will have the chance to hone our skills tonight at Trivia. We're going to have our full team back on deck - for tonight at least; Syl and An are off for three weeks from Saturday which means we will have to manage without An.

We had a plan when we started the day ... to put up the curtains - one set Stone, one set Mocha, and I didn't catch the name of the ones going up in the bedroom. We were safe about it too ... taking into account Syl's words of advice that anyone over 50 shouldn't be up a ladder - except her.

Next task ... break down some of the boxes that have been entered but are still in the house ... to make the office and the second bedroom look a little less cluttered.

But what we really wanted to do was the washing. Otherwise it's going to be a little difficult to have clean work clothes since the plumber hasn't been to fix the tap in the laundry yet!

Over to Latimers. Syl and An were there - An came a bit later though. They were doing caravan cleaning out - although Syl had already been working with M on cleaning out the shed and they had already been on a tip run by the time we arrived.

It was good to see the furries again. It is the first time Sooz has seen them since we left. Tinka was lovely and when she saw Sooz she gave a huge purr, and then trotted over to the drawer where her cookies are kept, waiting for Sooz to catch up.

Pearl was happy to see Sooz too ... and rolled on to her back so Sooz could pat her tummy. Maggie stayed on the bed ... but she didn't get out of our visit that easily because we were in Shep's room with her sorting out the clothese we had left in the wardrobe there. (I can't believe how much stuff we haven't taken with us yet.)

Then it was out to grab a bite of lunch, and then home for a rest (of sorts ... I am still playing with the boxes in the office) before we went to Trivia. St wasn't there, he had his mother staying, so Ni brought Cl with her instead. 70 ... we managed 70 tonight which was enough to give us 2nd place. There was a tiebreak for 3rd and, wouldn't you know it, on ones where we are not competing, we can sometimes pull out the stops ... who knew there are 47 strings on a harp. Well, apparently I did!

Sunday

It was good I could make the Skype call from Latimers to Tr this morning because next week she'll be somewhere off Tahiti and not taking Skype calls. Alas she was a little early for the call ... there may have been a some confusion about Daylight Savings Time ... but she did find something to do in the two hours she was waiting for me to come online.

Out at Latimers, as well as using M's internet, we were also looking to use her washing machine... and her furries - we have been missing them.

M had a late night last night... with Bertha - when she had a flat tyre. It was probably good we were out there reasonably early so she was up - and thinking about going out to lunch with the extended family.

By the time we were finished at Latimers we had a car full of things to take back to Jannie. Which we did before going in to The Big House - to have lunch at Food Fantasy. It was good to be able to have tastes of lots of things - it was just what I felt like and Sooz felt like salads, so it all worked out well.

Then it was back home and a relatively early night ... there is much to do tomorrow ...curtain, breaking down boxes, and perhaps a little shopping.

Saturday

We started the day well - I was up a Iittle earlier than Sooz, starting to sort out the office, but that was good because I was able to get some done and feel a sense of accomplishment before starting what was perhaps the most important task of the day - making bed tea for Sooz. Ulterior motive ? Why, yes ... we had to be out of the house early because we were doing breakfast with An and M. I had suggested Cafe Alfons on Chevron Island and that's where we ended up. It was good too!

We managed to get in some shopping today - Bunnings, OfficeWorks, Spotlight - and we managed to get a couple of bargains for the house which we were both very pleased about.

Then it was back to Jannie and doing more boxes shifting and unpacking. I have learnt a lesson or two which would be useful for another move (if there was ever going to be another - but based on the past week I would be strenuously resisting any suggestion of that!). We are still thinking about desking the office area ... it's definitely a work in progress.

We had an early night - there's more boxes and unpacking to do on the morrow.

Friday

End of Month is now over - but I was a little dissatisfied with it. The process was different from last month - and, I don't know why this surprises me at all, they have gone and changed some of the key reports again - I would like to say they had merely “fiddled” with them but that would be something of an understatement. But we finally sorted it out … and I managed to sit tight and not express my dissatisfaction at some of the decisions made … better that way .. and we'll have another go next month. 
By the time I arrived home this afternoon, Syl had been again. This time she was taking out a cupboard … the one which is where the dishwasher is intended to go on Tuesday. All we have to do now is bring the dishwasher in from the garage, and that will be a job for the weekend after we've been out to Latimers to pick up the trolley. 
Sooz and I went over to HarbourTown for dinner this evening - and while we had thought we might eat at a Turkish place Mi had mentioned to Sooz - it was closing as we arrived. So we ate at Fasta Pasta - and while we may have ordered a little too much, they had plastic containers so you could take your leftovers with you. It saved me having to go back to the car for plastic containers (we'd noticed there were some) - and as it was I was fairly sure I wouldn't have brought back enough.

Thursday

What an absolutely wonderful sunrise this morning. Okay, I wasn't actually up for sunrise but there was sunshine streaming through and around a cloud formation as I drove to work that was simply spectacular!

On the way home I went shopping ... for more shiny things ... and they were shiny: paper towel holder, dish rack, clothes airer ... that type of thing. I was a bit surprised how long it took but that may have been because I also stopped to look at cushions (yes! there was a pineapple one), and BBQs, and curtains, and probably some other things as well ... plus some glasses. Then home and a catch-up with Sooz and a look at Syl's handiwork ... she took her whipper-shipper to Jannie's lawns. It looks much tidier now! I'm thinking we may need to invest in a cutting device ... but will that be lawnmower, whipper-snipper or scythe ... or is that a sickle - and how much more dangerous would one of those be than a whipper-snipper?

Dinner tonight was at Spinners - I had the Pork Cutlet ... quite nice ... although I think M’s Gyro and chips had something going for it as well. Then it was upstairs for a cup of coffee and some numbers (not enough of them mine unfortunately). It was odd driving back to Labrador rather than Latimers - and strange that it didn't seem to take nearly as long to get here!

End of Month continues but it didn't seem to be quite as stressy today. We sent Da out (he volunteered actually) to do the coffee run - and that was enough to keep us going until lunch. It's always good to have an incentive.

Wednesday

There is no doubt about it-the mornings are getting lighter. I am still struggling to believe that it will be Daylight Savings Time next weekend. I am still on Latimers time in the mornings... with plenty of time left over to feed the furries if they were here instead.

M visited Sooz today and was saying Tinka is still sleeping on Pearl's bed. I'm not sure where Pearl's moved to, although she had been sleeping beside M's bed. We do miss those furries ... it's just not the same stretching out in bed and not having to mind Tinka, or being able to stretch down to give her a "little chuck under the chin"- she likes that. She's let me pat her the last two times I was at Latimers, but she wasn't totally enthusiastic about it. Hopefully, in time, she will forget that she's unhappy with us ... Pearl too.

The missing giraffes have been found! Thanks M who located them behind the chest of drawers in the bedroom. We had been looking all over for them and I'm sure one of us would have looked behind the drawers sooner if someone had had any recollection that we had had them up in the bedroom - before I put them away to put the night photos up. Hmmm ... thinking about that, I had up until now thought that they had been about "light" but just as equally they could have been about "dark". Funny what you think about!

Sooz has had a good go at the unpacking today and, doing my part, where I hadn't yesterday because of the dentist, I did spend some time tonight sorting out my clothes. I am taking Sooz's advice of separating summer from winter attire - and the "off" season will be stored somewhere other than the bedroom closet. There's still a bit to go but, as they say, the longest journey starts with a ... well, I actually don't know what they say. But I do know what they say about eating an elephant ... one bite at a time!

The drive in to work still takes about 17 minutes but that may change when the school holidays end next week. Still, I am leaving early enough to beat the traffic!