Bits and Pieces

I thought once we had the engagement party stuff sorted that the house and wedding stuff would be much easier to handle. So far though we have been as busy as ever, and a weekend at home lazing around looks really attractive.

Our engagement party went well. The weather looked incredibly suspect and had me a little worried. The afternoon and evening beforehand the temperature dropped to 11 degrees celcius which feels like winter to me. Luckily summer did come back and just in time for the party. We even got some unexpected guests:

It was also very sunny by the afternoon, and I got exceptionally sunburned after forgetting to put suncreen oil on my feet. For two days I hobbled around because it really was painful. After a week my feet still looked like this:

They have faded a little more now that even more time has passed but still look red, and are still a little tender and peeling. I'm never letting that happen again.

In a country that has the highest level of skin cancer in the world, and with predominately celtic ancestry my skin is just not made for this climate.

Still we had an amazing time at the Botanic Gardens, and having everyone together was really important to us. My friend (whom I mentioned in the last post) even attended after assuring us that even the bushfires couldn't stop her.

In other news, after lots of delays and setbacks it looks like we will be ready to exchange contracts very soon, which potentially means in the next 60 days we can move into our new home. I'm so excited and I'm really hoping the settlement date will be brought forward. I'm already researching puppies and planning the garden in my head.

I'm Feeling Productive

I've been absent from blogging for awhile, but it's been a very busy time for us. Let's recap:

In mid-December David and I returned to his hometown to attend his PhD graduation and look at potential wedding venues. David pulled off the PhD floppy hat quite nicely during the graduation, and gave an excellent vote of thanks on behalf of the graduates. The nicest surprise though was seeing my friend Lisa whose husband Ben graduated at the same ceremony.

After looking at multiple venues, we chose one that felt the most like us. With views of Bathurst, a relaxed country feel and gorgeous vineyards we are really happy with our choice. Best of all, we now have an official wedding date! Here's a sneak peek of our venue:

Then there was Christmas. We spent time visiting all our family, eating too much and being tourists. It was brilliant. The week off is never long enough.

In late December (just before Xmas) we put an offer on a house and it has recently been accepted. Looks like we will soon be homeowners! It is a four bedroom home, with a small yard and double garage. It is right beside a nature reserve and a pond so it is in a nice location. It's only 2 years old, so we don't have to do any work on it. Most exciting of all though, it is well insulated, energy efficent and has air-conditioning. The heatwave is currently horrendous at the place we are renting with thinly insulated walls and no air-conditioning, so my (soon-to-be) new home sounds wonderful. Pity we probably won't get to move in until the end of summer.

David and I are also working on our engagement party final preparations but it's coming along nicely.

My free time lately has been spent sitting directly in front of the fan, watering my distressed plants or jumping in the pool. Despite being from a hot environment originally, I can't stand the heat.

When you don't have air-con this is your best friend

In short:

wedding venue - check

wedding date - check

buying a house - check (or at least it is more underway than it was) 

engagement party - nearly sorted

Don't try this at home though kids. There's a lot to be said for working on one thing at a time.

From Little Things Grow Big Things

I've always liked gardening but renting has been really restrictive for me. I don't want to plant anything I intend on keeping in the ground, so I'm growing a small garden in pots.

I have to reign myself in so that I don't have too many pots. This is hard because I'm attracted to so many different plants and vegetables and it is easy to think 'just one more plant can't hurt'. Knowing that we will be buying a house I really don't want to deal with heavy pots. Moving is hard enough without moving a garden too.

I couldn't resist growing strawberries though. Strawberries are my second favourite fruit (after cherries) and they are relatively easy to grow. Like most plants all they want is a little water and some sun, and they give so much back.

This has been an experiment for me though, because I don't know much about growing strawberries at all (just that they taste delicious). So you can imagine my delight when I got to pick my very first strawberry. They look a little odd (or at least not like the immaculate ones in the shops) but they taste 10 times better.

There are lots more blossoming and about to ripen

My gardening bargain though, was my pomegranate tree. It was in the 'sick bay' of my local hardware store. My grandmother has always taught me that most of the plants that end up in the 'sick bay' are inadequately watered by the stores and just need some sun and a good watering and they'll recover. So since it was significantly reduced in price I took it home, gave it some TLC and here it is today:

I wish I had a before photo. It was once the saddest, scrawniest little tree imaginable.