Back to the burbs

The successful completion of a house building project will not be fully realised until the property is sold. So now we realise this success with the settlement of this property today to new-comers to Australia from the UK. They got off the plane and the next day bought our house.

It is with a mixture of sadness and happiness that we are returning to live on the Mornington Peninsula. It feels like going home. Our family are there. We return to care for my ailing father.

We have enjoyed the wild south-west of Victoria for four years now and it is truly a beautiful place that is yet untouched by the rat-race that is Melbourne and surrounds.

#PFFF2013 = @Myer Boxing Day Sale

So it is the weekend after the long weekend in March when the Annual Port Fairy Folk Festival occurs. I am still tired; and not over my disappointment yet. It was a fantastic line-up of singers, performers, and musicians. No doubt about it. And they did actually stop selling tickets about two weeks prior to the event. BUT I think they oversold. The tents could not accommodate the people. And they did try to disperse the big names to try to equally disperse the audiences, but despite that they still oversold. Must be due to greed I think. Or perhaps it is the increased regulations that they must comply with that causes them to oversell to try to recoup some of the costs. The point is they oversold and it was a CRUSH and not my idea of fun at all.

Don’t even think about messing with those over 60-something women with their folkie chairs and thermos’s and wrapped sandwiches. Many of them will stare down the meanest looking security guard, and their ability to squeeze a metal chair into a handkerchief sized patch of grass rivals the wizardry of Harry Potter himself. Multiply that by 10,000 and you might begin to imagine the problems. That is 10,000 per tent! Yes many of them do have husbands who are happy to let the MRS do the muscle work and tag along then once his chair is settled he will duck off to the Shebeen for a Guinness or two. There’s no way he is going to sit there for 4 hours – as long as his chair is there waiting for the big name acts.

Outside area for non-stop children’s entertainment

The performances I did manage to see did not disappoint and I managed to enjoy the experience, but I did not get anywhere near the tents to see the performances of: Tim Finn, Finbar Furey, Ruthie Foster, Christine Anu, and Russell Morris. I did get to see Arlo Guthrie, Xavier Rudd, Kim Churchill, John McCutcheon, The Tom Richardson Project, Gurrumul, Baby et Lulu, Blue Shaddy, and the Women’s Voice concert did not disappoint.

I don’t think I will go next year as I am quite over it. I hate crowds at the best of times and will always shun a Myer Sale because nothing is worth that much pushing and shoving. And unfortunately the Port Fairy Folk Festival has become akin to a Myer Boxing Day Sale. So sad!!

Folkie 2012

For the third year in a row we went to the Port Fairy Folk Festival and had a great time once again.

John Butler was the stand out performer and as the Artist of the Year he did not disappoint. His solo performance on stage was exhilarating and has to be seen and heard to be believed.

The Pigs are a favourite and it was fun to see them and hear their silly songs again. Musically and vocally they are talented but it is their country American hill-billy slant that wins audience favour.

Archie Roach performed and despite his health issues and breathlessness he still managed to give several convincing, heart-felt, and powerful performances.

It is always great to discover new artists and this year I loved the work of Harry James Angus and Tinpan Orange. Harry James Angus is a musical poet with original funny lyrics set to strange yet beautiful tunes. His partner is the lead singer in Tinpan Orange and I love her clear sweet vocals.

The event was as crowded as usual with audience space at a premium and ‘space rage’ common especially when people tried to claim territory using picnic rugs. The Shebeen (the Guinness tent) was as popular as ever being the only place that alcohol can be consumed. The annual singalong is a loud all-in affair with beer swaying from side to side along with the crowd. The food was healthy, plentiful, and varied. All the facilities were well tended and easy to negotiate. The entertainment for children was as popular and as silly as usual. The biggest gap seemed to be a shortage of acts for teenagers and the Circus Tent, that is usually jumping, was a disappointment.

The only disappointing act was Adam Cohen who is the son of legendary Leonard Cohen. It is obviously a hard task to follow in the footsteps of your famous talented father and Adam Cohen should have tried to find an alternate career. Forget the comparisons to his dad, he was pathetic, had clichéd lyrics, and seems to be battling some kind of self esteem issues. Poor guy. The crowd were unimpressed and a constant stream of people left the tent throughout his gig. We stayed because we were hemmed in and actually couldn’t get out.

This year I finished off the event by going along to see Tripod. I have never seen them perform live but seen their silly acts many times on TV. They were hilarious and a great way to finish off another great PFFF.

Fragrant petunias

The fragrance of petunias is one of my favourites and so I have planted them in my front garden. On warm summer evenings the scent fills the air. I can think of nothing better than sitting on the front veranda on a warm evening listening to the birds with a cold drink in my hand.

The garden is doing well after less than one year. The roses are amazing and I have had vases of full red blooms that you would pay enormously from a florist. Our two baby cherry tree sticks have produced a bumper crop of 14 edible cherries in their first half year of life. The local bird life have not yet discovered them yet.

There is still work to do; a carport planned, stair handrails, back door porch, canopy over the front bedroom window, and a vegetable garden. Plus more roses I think wherever they will fit.

The big tick

The documentation is all completed satisfactorily. We are done! Yay!

Home sweet home…

Space for stuff

The cupboards are now fitted out and we have space to put our stuff. Our walk in wardrobe in spacious.

The laundy too has room for all our needs.

The other bedrooms are fitted out with the bare essentials.

And the other.

Red tiles

Things slowed down over the Christmas break while Michael worked as a butcher for IGA, but it is now March and finally some progress is being made.

We eventually found the red tiles we wanted for the kitchen and Michael laid these last week.

Look nice don’t you think?

I added some roses and other plants to the front garden yesterday for the beginning of what I hope to be a lovely cottage garden.

After some problems with our water tank it is now functioning properly and we can switch between the town water supply (which tastes awful) to rain water.

The house in the next block is underway and that is good because we will be able to build a fence and plant the garden along that boundry.

Christmas 2010

At our 2009 family Christmas get-together I courageously announced that the next Christmas get-together would be at our new home – yet to be constructed at that stage. Twelve months on and we succeeded in achieving that goal.

We squeezed into the front sitting room where the Christmas tree was placed to share our Kris Kringle present giving.

The kitchen became the hub for all of the weekend’s conversations, food preparation, meals, cups of tea and games.

Games were played. (Notice the handy shelf under the glass table top? Perfect for iphone placement whilst playing cards apparently!)

And more games…

And much food was prepared

and eaten of course.

Time spent with family is precious.

And my breakfast the morning after.

Chez d’Ebay

I jokingly call this house Chez d”Ebay (pronounced with irony – Shady Bay)

Because many things in this new house were found via Ebay.

The front door with frame and side windows with bevelled glass (yet to be painted) was the first purchase by chance at a second-hand dealership at Mailors Flat. This required the redesign of the front entry and hall.

Light fittings were also located via Ebay. Some are second hand whilst others are new. Although the bedside lamps we found at a garage sale in Heywood. The second light we found at the Portland Recycle shop (the tip). The third light is a pair of two that we collected from a private seller in Ballarat. The red ones are new but also found via Ebay.

The bathroom fittings were also found via Ebay.

As well as the kitchen fittings. The applicances, sink and tap are all new but have tiny flaws. The dining setting we found at a second-hand dealership at Smythesdale.

Our cat Muffin has settled in really well loving the place after being very scared and unsettled in the rental property at Portland. From the veranda it is possible to look far up the Moyne River inlet to Tower Hill.

I have to admit my concerns about buying things via Ebay, but Michael did all the searching and sourcing, with excellent results and no problems.

Unpacking

With still lots to do we are unpacking and shuffling things around to fit.

The pantry is fitted with shelves but needs some tweaking to fit things properly.

I have managed to sort out the two bedrooms at the back of the house so that family and friends have somewhere to sleep when they stay.

This one I finished yesterday. They both will get carpet laid on the floor eventually.

The decking is finished on the veranda and al fresco areas and now those areas are being fitted with the ceiling lining boards.