rain go way

Well we still don't have any hot water. It looks like maybe next Tuesday for delivery and who knows when, for install. We can't actually book the install until we know when the delivery will be. Not happy Jim! We could always pay $1000 more and go with someone else but for $1000 we can live without hot water for another week. Cold showers are an interesting experience but I'm sure our electricity and water bills will be good this month. We are learning some little tricks to the art of showering in cold water and boiling the kettle for washing up. The dishwater heats it's own water and the clothes come out OK in a cold water wash. I will have to wash my hair tomorrow night so I think we will try and 'borrow' a friends shower or Graham will have to help me wash my hair in the sink.
I've finished the second coat of oil on the deck and we set up the new furniture and BBQ which means I can now get to the top step of the deck to seal that. Have to do the railing too but that will have to wait until it's not raining.
Setting up the new furniture and BBQ took us 3 hours. It mostly came flat packed/self assemble. The table took a few goes to stop it wobbling and one of the chairs has to go back because it's broken (came like it). I was quite paranoid about the glass table top breaking. I didn't want a glass table but it was quite a bit more affordable than a wooden setting. It survived the installation process though which included me dropping a handful of spanners on it and Alex stepping on it (that was scary). The BBQ took the longest to set up. Lots and lots of fiddly bits and pieces. Luckily I make a habit of reading the instructions that come with everything so I was able to work out what went where and we got everything in the right place first go. Would you believe even the 4 legs are all different? Actually we haven't attached the gas yet so we don't know if it works. I suppose we should check it soon.
Alex was into everything. He tested all the buttons, screws and bolts for us and hid in the box.

Installation chaos and Alex helping.

Furniture and BBQ.


Alex found a beetle to play with and then he let it go on the plants.

Alex had his visit to the plastic surgeon yesterday at the children's hospital to have a look at his hand. The conclusion is that we will wait another 12 months to see if it corrects itself. The Dr said that a lot of children he puts on the waiting list for surgery end up not needing it by the time their turn comes up (shows how long the wait is). The Dr wants to see us again in 12 months and meanwhile if it gets worse we are to go back sooner and if it gets better we don't need to go back. The Dr added that if Alex has to have any surgery for anything else he can do the hand surgery at the same time which would make it a bit easier on Alex. Fingers crossed (bad pun) it never happens!
Alex was very well behaved at the hospital. He got a bit restless towards the end of the hours wait, when he had finished all the books, but you can't expect a toddler to sit still that long.
After the hospital Graham dropped his car off to get the aircon fixed and we got it back today so we finally have aircon in the big car. Didn't need it today but it's going to make so much difference this summer.
Tonight Graham's work had a staff sale night at DSE. They had some good discounts plus the staff got 10% extra off. We've been to these nights before but never bothered buying anything 'cause the check out queues have been so long they filled the store. Tonight though wasn't too busy so we did a bit of Christmas shopping, got a new game each, some new salt and pepper grinders (Alex smashed the old salt grinder), a security camera system and I got a little point and shoot camera. I've been thinking for the last few years that a little point and shoot camera would be handy to keep in the nappy bag for when I'm out and don't want to miss any cute Alex moments but don't want to have to lug around my heavy camera gear. I wasn't prepared to pay the price of a decent quality camera though and the cheap no-name models were crappy quality. Well tonight we scored a bargain Olympus FE-210. It's small, 7.1Mpix and does movies too. It's slow, especially compared to the SLRs I'm used, to but the image quality is OK so it will do just fine as a nappy bag camera. It was the display model (locked up in a glass case) so it was being sold hugely reduced without box, software, cables or manuals. We didn't need the box, software or cables and I've downloaded the manuals from the Olympus web site. Haven't read them yet cause it's pretty easy to use and has a built in help system. I might have to have a read to work out the panoramic setting cause the batteries went flat while I was checking that out. It takes 2 AA batteries but for some reason none of our vast collection of rechargeable batteries will work. We'll have to recharge them tonight and try again. Oh yeh on top of the reduced price we also got the 15% off they were doing on discontinued cameras tonight and then we got the 10% for staff. Not bad at all!
I was not expecting Graham to buy a security system. My first reaction was 'NO' but it was 50% off plus the 10% for staff so not too bad and whilst I didn't think we had any need for it, it is nice to sit here watching Alex on the monitor, sleeping with his pillow on his back. The system came with a monitor and 2 infrared cameras. So we can have one in Alex's room to watch him at night. Not because we have some obsession about spying on our son but because it's nice to know if he is OK without having to open his door and risk waking him to check. Mainly we always wonder if he is warm/cool enough when we go to bed at night. He plays around in bed for a while before he goes to sleep so we never know where the sheets end up. Looking at the monitor now I can see that he is not under the sheets so his legs and feet will get cold in the early hours and the pillow is on his back covering his head so the back on his neck will be sweaty. So before we go to bed one of us can tiptoe in and cover his legs and take the pillow off his head. It was interesting to see just how much he was moving around before he went to sleep. Last night I kept hearing him cry out in the night and bang the bars but I didn't know if he was awake or asleep and dreaming. I lay in bed listening for ages trying to decide if I should go in and settle him or risk waking him if he was asleep. In the end I decided he was asleep but now with this camera I'll be able to see. It will also be interesting to see if he makes any attempt to climb out of his cot when he thinks we aren't looking. Once he moves to a big bed we'll be able to use this camera to check that he stays in bed at night.
Right now I can see Alex is awake and staring towards the window. He keeps putting his hands over his ears and I just heard him say 'rain go way'. It's raining quite heavily and he obviously doesn't like the noise. I know the rain has woken him before I until I saw this I didn't realise the noise was something he disliked. Doesn't look or sound like he is going back to sleep anytime soon.

Here's some photos from the weekend.
I got new door mats.

Graham worked hard in the garden.

I painted an old seat. I should have taken a before shot. This was white and rusty. I cleaned it up and spray painted it. I wanted to paint it grey to match the new table and chairs but couldn't find the right colour so went with silver. Now I just need some cushions for it, back and base. I'm thinking maybe blue.
It's to go on the deck.

The birds have been enjoying the recent rain. These tiny little blue wrens come out and dance in the rain.

and this big beauty visits every morning and evening. Usually while I'm looking out the kitchen window and then he disappears as soon as I get outside with the camera. I think he's a Red Wattlebird. I'm guessing a young one despite his size.


It's raining on my deck again!

and here's a recent digiscrap.

huge update

Wooohooo, it's a new month and things are off to a great start!
We have our internet bandwidth back so I can finally blog again (and do emails and eshopping etc) and we have water again so we can flush the toilet and wash etc. We still don't have any hot water but at least we have water. A few cold showers wont hurt us and Alex is staying at Mom
and Dad's so he can have a warm bath. Hopefully we'll have hot water again by the end of the week.
Such a relief to have water again. I thought we could manage because we are used to being careful with water but you don't realise how often you need water.
At the moment everything around here looks half finished. The deck is done but I have to do another coat of deck oil and do the top step and rail. I ran out of oil doing the first coat and now it's raining so I can't finish the deck until it's dry and clean. The rain has left pools of water and dirt on the edges but the oil is doing the job and keeping it from soaking into the deck. It looks really yellow though. It's supposed to be a natural, uncoloured finish. Hopefully the yellow will
fade.
Here's the water pooling on the deck

and the colour of the sealed deck

and here's the colour difference between the sealed bottom level and the unfinished top step.

I want to get started on the garden but that can wait until the rain stops.
We did the washing at Mom's last night but can't hang it out so I have wet washing sitting around waiting for the rain to stop too.
It was funny not having any water while there was so much coming down outside. Graham used a bucket to collect water from the neighbours gutters because they have a missing down pipe, and we used that water to clean up the laundry where the leaky hot water tank had left a smelly mess.

Now we have plans to paint and rearrange the laundry once the water tank is out. It should look bigger, cleaner and a lot neater.
We still have a trench all down the side of the house that needs filling, just waiting on the road base for that.
So much to do!
Here's Alex sweeping the deck while the digger digs a trench. This trench is filled now, it's the one on the other side of the house that isn't.


Right now Graham is in the laundry 'removing' the cupboard from around the water heater. It should make it easier to get the water tank out and the cupboard itself is so horrible (badly made, shabby and smelly now) that I just want it gone. However the idea of Graham dismantling anything stresses me so I'm doing my best just to keep out of the way and pretend it's not happening (typing nice and loudly). I'm sure he can't do too much damage (repeat repeat!).
So what's the story with the water heater you ask? Well it's a 1996 model, well past it's warranty and ready to burst. Thursday night I went into the laundry to get Alex's PJs from the clean washing pile and I stepped into water! Bit of a shock and then I noticed the strange hissing water noise coming from the water heater. So Graham turned the hot water heater off at the fuse box and tried to turn off the water inlet to the tank, but couldn't so he had to turn the water off at the mains. The water was seeping out of the bottom of the tank but only when it was filling at the same time (ie under pressure) so once the mains were off the leak slowed right down. When I pulled the release on the tank the water that came out was just rust coloured mud. We've never been in one house long enough before to experience the death of a water heater so we weren't prepared for this. Never even occurred to use that it could happen. Luckily I had sealed the deck that day and this happened about 15mins before 'touch dry time' otherwise it would have made things just a little more difficult, especially considering that the only way to get to the fuse box without crossing the deck would have meant climbing the muddy trench on the other side of the house, in the dark. I was still not happy about the idea of any dirt or water getting on my nice pristine deck! Just shows, 'pride comes before a fall'. I was so proud of the job I had done on the deck Thursday and I was waiting till 'touch dry time' so I could take Graham out for a walk on the deck to show off. Then the water heater had to go and take the wind right out of my sails. Good thing the deck has at least one coat on it though or it would be staining badly now.
Friday was a busy day with both of us on the phone trying to find someone to install and supply a new water heater for a reasonable price. We have a long list of plumbers who haven't returned our calls, many which advertise a 24hr, 7 day a week emergency service.
Because our water heater is inside, in a cupboard (not a good idea when it leaks) it meant that our chances of finding something the the right dimensions to fit were very slim. Also with our recent electricity bills we weren't too keen on a small, quick recovery, electric tank. We don't have gas (unless you count Graham after a pizza night) and with the deck all down the side of the house, there was nowhere suitable for an outdoor tank without cutting a hole in our deck. So the best idea we had was a solar water heater on the roof (close coupled). The tank is out of the way, it can be positioned right over where we need the water to go and our roof has the right NE-NW aspect with about a 25 degree pitch. Add to that we should get cheaper power bills and with the current government rebates for solar it works out only just a bit more than an electric tank of half the size.
Problem was most plumbers just aren't interested once you start talking solar. One of them told us it's because all the rebates make it too confusing for them.
Anyway we have ordered a Rheem Hiline 300L solar hot water heater and Graham found a plumber who said he could install it for a reasonable price (he hasn't returned our call yet about actually booking a time for install). So we should have the tank delivered midweek and hopefully can get hold of the plumber to install it the same day or soon after.
Today we got another plumber to come and cap off the water to the old heater so we could at least turn the mains back on. I celebrated by flushing the toilet! We took Alex to Mom's last night and we thought we could manage until the new heater arrives. We were turning the mains on a few times a day just to fill the toilet cistern and bottles and jugs to keep us going but even in just a few mins with the water on, the laundry floor was becoming a puddle again so we gave up and decided the call out and emergency rates for a plumber were worth it if we could at least get the water back on.
The smell in the laundry was getting really bad. The water was sitting along the wall behind the sink and washing machine. All cleaned out now and once the cupboard is out it should be even better (Graham is still banging away in the laundry). It's surprisingly difficult to clean up smelly, muddy water without clean water, hence Graham collecting water from the neighbours gutters for mopping.
It is so good to have water again. Don't ever take it for granted. Now we are just looking forward to having hot water again. Pretty soon anyone near us will be looking forward to us having hot water again too :P
What else has been happening? Well Dad finished the deck! I just have to finish sealing it and then we'll get a door in from the dinning room out to the deck. It makes such a difference just being able to walk out onto the deck. It all feels so much nicer outside now, cleaner, roomier and more relaxed. Alex loves it and I can sit there and watch him play. I bought Graham his Christmas pressy already, a new BBQ. Once I've finished sealing we can set up the BBQ on the deck but eventually it will go down in the BBQ pit once we get the road base down. That way any drips or splashes from the BBQ wont damage my deck and we can stand around the rail and watch Graham cook :P We also got a new outdoor table and chairs set for on the deck. Not assembled yet but will be soon. I had to get Dad to run me around with the ute on Monday to pick all this up but at least we got it all in one day and saved on delivery costs. I can't wait to take photos of the BBQ and furniture all set up and Graham and I keep coming up with new guest lists for future BBQs. So far I think we have 4 different BBQs planned for various groups of friends and family. Don't know when we'll be ready but I think Mom and Dad will have to be our first guests after all the work they have put into this deck.
Deckman himself!

and the finished deck.


We went over our internet limit the beginning of November (about the time of my last blog) so we've been struggling along at less than dial up speeds for weeks now. Most of the time I haven't even been able to download my email without it timing out. It made online research for building supplies/plumbers etc difficult and at night when we both wanted to check our email we would have to take turns trying to get access. Very glad to have our connection speed back today and I'm going to have to keep an eye out for things like Photoshop upgrades downloading in the background and using up our download limit (that's what took us over).
Alex is doing well and has loved all the extra Grandparent time this month with Mom and Dad over so often for deck work. He also got to spend a few nights there when we had the flu, to get away from our germs plus it's hard to look after an active little boy when your feeling so sick. Toilet training is happing sporadically and he is going great guns with his numbers and letters.
I cut his hair and he looked instantly bigger without the curls. Now people keep commenting on how big he is. It's so funny, people will say 'what a big boy' as a casual comment while we are out somewhere and they have no idea just how happy that makes me. He really has come such a long way and has caught up so well. On Tuesday he finally has his appointment with the plastic surgeon to look at his hand. Fingers crossed he will tell us he doesn't need to do anything and send us away again. After waiting since June for this appointment I'm not at all worried about it anymore. Might be a different story if the Dr starts talking surgery and anesthetics but Alex is bigger and stronger now and I'm sure we will cope just fine.
Where's Mama?

There she is !

New haircut!

Last weekend I was supposed to help deliver Austprem cooler bags to the hospital NICU to help promote/celebrate National Premature Birth Awareness Week. I was looking forward to visiting some of Alex's old nurses and checking out the new NICU department, not to mention catching up with another Austprem member, but with the flu there was no way I could risk going near anyone with a baby. So instead I went and had a blood test :) Nothing to do with the flu, just my regular test. Got the results Tuesday and I am STILL in remission from Graves Disease. Thats 18 months of normal results now. The Dr did make a point of reminding me that it can still come back anytime. I know that, because this is the second time I've been in remission but still I feel really pleased and I know what to look out for and I'm sure I can beat it again if I have to, over and over even. Next check up now isn't for another 6 months! Wooohooo!
I guess things are looking pretty good around here. It's been an expensive month with all the work we are doing and there is still a lot I want to get done but it is so nice to be getting things sorted around the house.
Tilly is loving her indoor/outdoor cat status and eating lots of grass. Her points have got so dark from the sun and she has freckles! We haven't lost her yet but she did get locked under the house once.
Tilly the great grey grass hunter


Oh almost forgot. Photo wise, not a lot happening really, haven't had a lot of time. My main lens is still in for repair, for the second time. It went off 29th Sept, came back worse and went straight back. Now they say I'll be lucky to have it back for Christmas.
I'm loving my new camera and lens though. Everytime I download photos from the 40D I'm reminded how much I love it, and the 70-200mm L lens is beautiful. Took me a while to get used to it but now, it's a dream. I so want more L lenses.
We went to the camera club finals. I only made it to 3 shows all year so I wasn't in the running for the finals but I got a medal for scoring over 100 points. 100 points is the score needed to move from B grade up to A grade so it's considered quite an achievement. The thing is Graham and I can't work out how I made 100 points from just 3 shows. I know I did really well but unless places are worth more points than we though it wouldn't make 100 points. I was in B grade for my first show and then they moved me straight to A grade so maybe they gave me the medal as an award for that without worrying about the points. Strange but nice :) Hopefully next year I can get over there more often.
Here's some photos I took (from the deck, in the rain) today while waiting for the plumber to arrive.
The beans/cherries on my coffee plant.



Just had a parcel turn up on the doorstep. Gotta love these pre Christmas Saturday deliveries. It's a coffee mug from Homescan, the scanning service we do. One of those metal thermal mugs with a lid and detachable cup on the bottom. Not a bad little gift.
Hehehe it's going to take us a while to get over the novelty of having water again. I just heard Graham cheer after flushing the toilet :)
Graham has just finished in the laundry and it's getting late so I better upload some photos and find some dinner. I didn't bother defrosting any meat because without water it's hard to wash veg and cook and wash up, so now we have water and no food ready to cook.
Before with cupboard.

After, cupboard gone but a lot of fixing up to do.

More wee?

Huge celebrations here tonight!
Alex did wees in his potty for the first time, after his bath tonight!
He has previously caught me out by weeing unexpectedly after a bath so tonight when he got a bit restless as I was drying him I asked him if he wanted to go wee in his potty and he said 'yeh' and ran to his potty. He sat there for a while with his sudoku book (he reads the numbers) and then we heard a glorious tinkling sound from the potty. It surprised him too! We cheered and clapped him and made a bit fuss about how clever he was and I ran to get the camera. Not that him sitting on a potty with wee in looks any different from him sitting on a dry potty but it's important to photograph those 'firsts' in his life, even if it's just to embarrass him when he brings his first girlfriend home. Naturally as soon as he saw the camera he decided to leave but when he stood up the potty had stuck to his damp, fresh washed, skin. So when he stood up the potty did too and promptly emptied down his legs and onto the bathmat. Hopefully this unfortunately accident and his parents rolling on the (dry) floor laughing haven't put him off using the potty again. Considering he kept saying 'more wee' and wanting to sit on the potty again and again, I think we shall be alright.
Wow I feel so proud! This potty training thing might actually happen this year! My little boy is growing up.
So no potty photo but here's a photo of Alex with his new electric frog tooth brush. He loves it. I bought it yesterday and ever since I've been plagued by demands for 'more tee' (teeth). He just wants to keep playing with it. Last night he wouldn't sleep. He sat in bed saying 'more tee' over and over. We knew he wanted his tooth brush but pretended we didn't. Until he speaks more clearly we can get away with that. Eventually Graham went in and gave him one of his plastic tea cups and he went to sleep. Maybe he really did want more tea!

Another cause for celebration is our new deck. Not quite finished, and there's the rendering and garden to go with it, then there's the carport floor and a new back door, but in one very wet week Dad has taken our back yard from this

to this.

Actually it's been less than a week, he started Monday, had Thursday off and Sunday will be his day of rest (and fixing the electric drill Alex broke).
We replaced the old pergola earlier this year and now the decking is almost finished. It is so nice to walk out the door onto the deck now.
I'm looking forward to being able to sit out there and edit photos on the laptop while Alex plays outside.
Here's some progress shots.
The old pergola coming down and the new one with the deck going in.
Not the best photos. Some of these were actually taken in the rain.


The old pergola was dark, green and falling down.

Tilly is an inside/outside cat now. She got to play outside each day at my parents while we were away and she didn't get lost, eaten by a dog or run over. So we have decided she can go outside here now. I'm still worried about her getting lost, eaten by a dog or run over but so far so good. She has a cat flap on the back door and goes in and out all day then at night we shut her in. Her favourite activity is doing laps right around the outside of the house, in through the front gate, straight over the neighbours fence (they are not impressed) and down the footpath to do the loop again. All at high speed and over and over. She has a bright green collar with a bell so I can hear her even from inside the house.
She likes to think she is a hunter. She certainly can look the part, she is very good at stalking and blends really well with the fence and grass but she has no hope of catching one of the native birds. They can spot her anywhere and they make such a racket rousing on her. Even without the bell I'd know where she is from the birds dobbing on her. The bell is just to make sure she really can't get close to any birds.
Here's the outside version of Tilly before we got her collar. We had to buy the smallest we could find and cut half of it off and make new holes just to get a collar to fit her skinny neck.

Here's what she wants to catch.

Tomorrow we are photographing 'Team Eunos'. It's an early start so I have to get the camera batteries charged and the gear packed up tonight. Here's some shots from our last car shoot, last month. This one was for the UK Toyota Sera calendar.