Never work with kids or animals!!

A famous performer is much-quoted as advising to 'never work with kids or animals'. After a little photo session tonight, I'm inclined to agree! You see, Mum and Dad are visiting this week, along with Mum's 'baby' - a long-haired Chihuahua called Sunny, which my brother Paul and I bought for her 8 years ago. Paul and I joke that Sunny is much more spoilt than we ever were!! So ... I decided I wanted to get a photo of the 'tall and the short of it' with Sunny and our boofy Border Collie, Wombat. Easier said than done!! It probably would've made a great entry for "Funniest Home Videos"! Poor Scott had difficulties galore! Imagine if you will, me, kneeling in the middle of our lounge room with Sunny tucked in the crook of one arm, with the other holding Wombat in place to stop him eating Sunny's dinner and Scott trying to get all three of us looking at the camera at the same time! The results were not Pulitzer material, believe me!! Here's the best of the bad bunch.


Not the most flattering photo for any of us really! I look like I've been dragged through a tornado backwards and the dogs' glowing eyes make them look like they're possessed!! You do, however, get the general size difference I was trying to show. Sigh! Sometimes ideas are so much better than reality!!

Mum and Dad have been here for a few days and have incorporated several things into one visit - Dad's annual heart specialist checkup, Mum's shopping fix, Easter and celebrating my birthday - which is today! Happy Birthday to me!! We discussed going out for dinner to celebrate then decided that since it's the Thursday before the Easter weekend, everything would probably be crowded and driving today led us to declare it official "Idiot Driver Day", so we were all happy to stay home. Mum took charge of the kitchen and as you can see, took her task seriously! Tee! Hee! Hee!


We enjoyed delicious steak, fresh steamed veges and a berry cheesecake for desert - all for much less than a restaurant would have cost and Dad said the best part was that he didn't have to get all gussied up!! My Dad's from the bush!! Tee! Hee! Hee! However, I didn't take any photos of this yummy feast, because it disappeared far too quickly!!

I've received some lovely gifts - isn't it nice to be spoilt for at least one day of the year?!?! Scott's Mum and Dad are currently tripping around Europe, so my early present was a Victoriana style heart-shaped cushion and a beaded potpuri hanger which both look right at home in the previously featured spare room.


Mum and Dad's gift was a promise that they'll pay for me to travel with Mum later in the year to visit my aunt who lives outside Adelaide - Yay! She and her husband have a small farm and raise alpacas (and a managerie of other assorted animals!), which I've been dying to see in person, but haven't been able to save up for the airfare before this.

And from my terribly romantic husband????


No, you're not seeing things - it's a new pump for the pond waterfall! The old one burned out some months ago and it's been on the 'must replace that one day' list ever since. Apparently, I was heard to bemoan the fact that it still hasn't been replaced so my wonderfully practical hubbie decided to kill two birds with one stone! He may not be romantic, but he is mine!! Tee! Hee! Hee! While not what I was expecting, it will be nice to have the waterfall working again. We've nursed the pond through the drought to save the fish and water plants that we've been nurturing, topping up with precious tank water to keep the mini-ecosystem thriving, so seeing the waterfall in action again will be nice, as I find water very soothing - must be a Pisces thing!! Will include some photos once the pump is installed - hope that was part of the gift or I'm up the creek!!!

While I haven't done anything very extraordinary for my birthday this year, I have to say I've enjoyed it a lot - some lovely pressies, lots of SMS messages and phone calls from friends, a delicious home-cooked meal and surrounded by the people I love most - does life really get much better than that!!! Of course the down side is that I now have to remember how old I am - it's taken me the last 12 months to remember last year's increase! Tee! Hee! Hee!

And as this is so close to Easter, I'll wish you all a Happy and safe Easter break - hope you spend it with those you love and if you're travelling, take care. Til next time, Bear Hugs!

CHEERS!
KRIS