STILL HERE!! - MOSAIC FRENZY

Lucky me....My daughter gave me a Gift Certificate for my Birthday....Wow! too generous Gai, Mike and Sean....but I will do my best to spend it..So onto the computer..order up big.  I have purchased tiles from this shop before and they are super quick with orders and have a vast array of colours and tiles... CHECK THEM OUT HERE...CLICK
I have been experimenting so far on little and medium size tiles.  I find them far too heavy when they have the tiles stuck down and grouted.

Learning to cut curves and fit it all together...

Not really sure about this fish...Ah! well I will grout it as is and see how it turns out


Up early to grout as the pieces are adding up and need to be finished.  The weather is still hot, I grout outside (it's messie) so early is best before it warms up Then I shift them into shade - if they dry out to quick,  it is not good for the grout...(which is a cement mix actually) .  I was daring this morning....wanted to try some colour in the mix, and as I have some paints left from my Folkart painting days...I squeezed some green into the grout.  I think it will dry lighter than the pic.


I reckon Gai is right when she said, "Mum, I think you enjoy the designing more than the grouting".  I was in town the other day and went to the hardware store to get a sheet of marine ply wood to use instead of tiles.  I read about it on the WWW Google book.  The young chap was good enough to cut it into sizes for me.  Wacko!!!! proper backing...need to get serious now.  All set waiting for tile order to arrive.   Working myself into an excited frenzy here.....
   

See Ya!!!

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LAWN REDUCTION. ..

Hubbie has decided "Too much Lawn to mow"...so with persistence he has sprayed the side lawn, waited for it to die....dug it out...and now comes the no water, no mow topping....

Now we have a trailer full of crushed gravel....it will save the day.  spread a bit to see how it goes...Yep all good...park in driveway and continue tomorrow.  It has been  very hot here and this is a job for early mornings or late evening....

This side area belongs to the local council....but we have maintained it for years keeping it tidy and mowing the lawn (which we originally planted) so being on a corner block has its highs and lows.... More highs than lows actually....with a back entrance over the little channel it has been a bonus.

Well can you believe it.. up early to finish spreading the gravel....NOPE rain is bucketing down.  OK back to bed is the best bet I reckon.


So late this afternoon - rain cleared....very humid after the rain...but steady, with much persistence again,  the trailer was emptied....

All done.......

Now it is up to the neighbors to do their thing, and keep the council land neat.......
Wonder if they would give us a price cut on our rates for village beautification....?????
NAH!!! that wont happen.....


No more mowing outside our boundary....save on water rates....no more running in and out taking pics for this Blog post....LOL
Cheers.................

TREE SAGA - ONGOING....

OK....I have been waiting and waiting....they say patience is a virtue...but in my case I was lucky to look out the back door...hearing lots of bird disturbance....YEP YEP they have arrived....Now there is a long seasonal story to his tree and the birds that visit....so you should read this before you continue....BEGINNING...CIRCLE... It has been happening for years and I have been watching..BUT, I AM RETIRED NOW AND HAVE TIME TO DOCUMENT THE HAPPENINGS..  The tree now:-

The tree blossoms......


AND BEST OF ALL THE AWAITED VISITORS......


ARE THEY NOT AWESOME........


SUCKING UP THE NECTAR.....


Now there is also a story to my fascination with bird pictures....there is a blogger :- CLICK HERE... Al and Kelly have been traveling and blogging for ages, originally from Canada and to escape the harsh winters there...together with loads of snow..they travel down south to Arizona to enjoy a more comfortable life style... .along with hundreds of other travelers that are called "Snow Birds"......Now he is a great photographer and has some fantastic/awesome pics of birds along with other stuff on his site and together with being a great yarn spinner it is always a most awaited post.....DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND HAVE A READ.....

I know I harp on about this tree....but it has been in the backyard for yonks - ages - years - (the original tree was in my Father-in-laws property in town) and as it drops seeds that come up all the time....in the garden below...that is how it came to be in our garden.  My Brother in Law also has one that was dug up out of our garden - potted -  nurtured - planted.....I wonder if he will get birds like this into his tree?????


I have my eye on you lot........

TRAVELLING LOADER. . ..

Son in Law has been looking around for a loader thingie to 

 use on his property in Canberra....and whilst visiting here 

saw this advertised in the local paper....Yep! that will do the

trick....So Hubbie has been working on it before arranging 

transport to Canberra First thing he welded a roll-over 

bar to protect the driver....then fixed up axles with grease 

etc....loads of stuff..plus painted....I know he was filthy  for 

a good couple of weeks working on this loader.

HI! HO!...AWAY WE GO.......All fixed up ready for trip
Looking good, spick and span all relaxed and chained down for a trip down the Highway to new home in Canberra.


So from here to there - safely.  Let the fun begin - S.I.L will have anxious moments learning how to:  shift dirt and rocks from here to there and back again.....cart wood in the bucket from paddock to shed...the list is endless.  Boys and their toys - all is good and the loader is happy in its new environment.  


P.S. this Loader story has been sitting in my draft hiding away - I had uploaded the pics but needed to add story....Hope you find it interesting......

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YEP! YEP! - CELEBRATE......


Does this look familiar?  - of course,  it is my celebration drink when I feel deserving and excited......and want to tell you all why I am excited.....

and the REASON ??????
MY BLOG HAS HAD 5000 - I SAY FIVE THOUSAND..... visitors.. See I am excited I'm shouting......
  
So to all my visitors....many thanks....I hope I have entertained you all - given you all an invite into my retired life and rantings.....I know I have enjoyed thinking up stuff - typing up stuff - learning how to do better stuff - changing stuff......etc. etc...you bloggers all know the time and effort put into our blogs and I salute all the ones who blog daily - I know because I read them LOL......
 And this is what happened when I had 1000 visits..CELEBRATING . (click here)
AND you can guess I will keep drinking to celebrate....big glass full you know....LOL 

CHEERS........

COURTYARD GALLERY. ..

I love my courtyard - it is through a sliding glass door off the bathroom.....very unique I think...I treat it like a room and often change things I have on the walls.....I really started with wind chimes - they hang down and because part of the courtyard has gauze on it there is a breeze..tinkle tinkle.....
 
My grandkids, when little, would love to be lifted up so they could make them tinkle Nanna.......
 So since I have been flat out with my mosacis, I now needed a place to display them.  Along with my masks....(another story - model/clay making) ...courtyard to the rescue..I am happy with them being there.
Wonder if I can cover more brickwork with my works of art.......


NOW THIS IS A VERY SPECIAL ROOM IN THE HOUSE..............
WHY - BECAUSE:- Not only but also: ...
1.   It is unique - my friends love going to my special room  
                                  2.   Open the bathroom door - let steam out...                                 
                                  3.   Great for pot plants..
                                    4.   It houses our open air WC....There - that's a surprise Eh!                                            (there are 2 other WC's in the house.)


SO I will continue to mosaic, knowing I have more brickwork to cover for gallery gazing.........Where "Rest Room Facilities" are A1, You Beaut, Fantastic and dare I mention again UNIQUE
Cheers......