Under the weather...

On Wednesday night I was struck down with Erin's cold. First it was Callums who shared it with his sister who shared it with me. I was surprised at how quickly I went from feeling well, contemplating a run, to being consumed with a streaming nose, headache, watering eyes and a cough. The run was cancelled because it was raining and I wonder how I might have felt if I had actually braved the awful conditions.

Thursday I tried to go to work. Well I did go to work to present at a competency day, but as soon as it was over I headed home to lay on the couch. Under a blanket. I had to knock back a game of tennis. I cancelled the cardio session the following morning and also had to cancel a day with Big Sister.

I hate being sick.

But the thought of spreading my germs any further has kept me indoors. With the heater on. And a scarf around my neck while laying under a blanket. Rotten viruses that can make you feel rotten are the pits. It could be worse. It could be a 1000 times worse. So I look forward to recovery and normal activities in a couple of days.

To keep myself occupied between nose blowings and alcohol hand washes I made a couple of cards.

I should spend this quarantine time making 2 Bon Voyage type cards for Hayley and Sheryl but I wanted to try out the new onesie die that came in the mail. It works well with both foam and felt and I was happy with the results.

Now I just need someone to have a baby.

the newest British citizen...

Hayley received her British passport today.

It came so quickly we were surprised when it arrived. The application went to the UK and the passport flew back to her here in Oz. Much quicker than the Australian version. And fancier.

We were teasing her that it is not a real passport but a fairy passport to a magical kingdom because of the unicorn on the cover.

Ours is plain, but will still do the job of letting her back in the country. If and when she wants to.

She was very excited tonight and with just 4 weeks to go it is becoming more real each day.

Autumn...

The changing leaves in my garden are just lovely. We have had warm weather and I did a bit of a clean up around the garden.

The ornamental pear trees at the front of the house are taking turns in changing and losing their leaves.

 From green to orange to red to bare, its my garden's version of ombre.

This is the view underneath the ornamental grape vine at the back of the house, it was a glorious green shade during summer and is now a pink hued sanctuary still. Soon it will be bare canes and I will be able to reign it in a little.

 Two weeks ago I took this pic of the pistacchio tree in its glory, today it is bare branches also.

This is the gledistia tree which has a shady canopy during Summer. When the leaves fall these seed pods take a little longer to drop. They look like flat dry bananas and when the wind blows they knock together and rattle. There are hundreds of them. One year I took the many seeds from one pod and tried to germinate them. If I could succeed I could have quite a forest happening.

Today I collected a bin full that have fallen since I took this photo, seems like a waste but I don't know what else to do with them. The leaves have gone into the compost to continue the cycle.

Cold wet weather is on the way, I'm enjoying my time outdoors while I can.

Hayley's progress...

Hayley is a little closer to her dream tonight after receiving her documentation back from her British passport application. With the original documents was a slip saying her passport will be posted in 5-10 days.

Great news for her, after the grief involved in getting all the correct documentation together the passport from  the UK has been quicker to get than her Aussie one. Hopefully overseas mail will be as quick when she is away.

She went from being unemployed on Tuesday after finishing up at the mail centre to working full time plus overtime today. A waitressing gig she had secured is not needed now, it would have been too much to go from one long day of work to another. She is quite focused on her goal now, the shares about to be sold have increased in price lately which will help her just in time. Seems all her moons are aligned at the moment which makes her happy but breaks my heart just a little.

I had a haircut today with a new hairdresser and she is a keeper. She has done a great job and was just the right amount of chatty. I had a teary moment when telling her about my mothers' day plans and Hayley's travel plans. We just have to sort out her furniture and belongings.

We have had a couple of warm Autumn days which have been lovely. We really sweated it out at tennis this morning and after my haircut I was able to open up the windows and clean. It felt like Spring cleaning to me, next week is back to wintery conditions with the heater on, so today was a real treat.

AND out of the blue, after waiting and wondering what had happened to the Garden Bag Collector our garden bag was emptied! Chris and I were both a bit stunned. There was no note to say sorry we haven't provided a service for 6 months and now we are back to regular service, sorry we haven't answered our phone or returned your messages just an empty bag and a slip for payment. Thanks. Good timing though as the garden needs a good prune and clear out of dead/finished stuff.

That will be my Mothers Day, a day in the garden, clearing out and taking more pics of the gorgeous Autumn colours.

Unexpected...

We had an unexpected but delightful treat today.

Recently I won a Sunday Roast lunch for 4 at the Grosvenor Hotel in St Kilda. This came just by subscribing to a newsletter on Melbourne happenings. Aptly called 5 of the best, it pops into my inbox each week and has delicious suggestions like '5 best breakfasts' or '5 best cupcakes'. It has diverse and interesting offerings on where to eat, drink, play & escape.

Today the girls and I were treated to a 3 course lunch while sitting near a fire in this cosmopolitan hotel bistro. The meal was delicious and we would be regular visitors if it were a bit closer. Down that way the folks are spoiled for choice. It must be tough to compete.
The tavern was a short hop, skip and leap across St Kilda Rd from where Chris and I had our first flat in Elwood. It bought back many memories from the early days of our relationship. That little flat was where we lived when we were married. Erin now wants to live near the city when she moves out. She was quite taken with the cute little houses and leafy streets.

It was lovely to spend time with Hayley and talk about her upcoming trip, but it makes me sad also that she will leave and be so far away.