Not sure how to start this one…

My daughter Sophie, my only child, turned 18 on Friday. I have mixed feelings about this time in our lives. I am so excited and happy for her and so very, very proud. Although still young in my eyes, Sophie has grown into a lovely, sensible, self assured young adult, with dreams, desires and the world at her feet. The young generation are so lucky. Everything is available to them if they choose to accept. There will always be life’s challenges, but I believe there has never been a time where opportunity is simply so available.

Letting go is incredibly heartbreaking. She has no idea why I seem so inexplicably stressed out. I need to close my eyes and breathe. Simply take a deep breath, and trust. Trust that I have given her everything she needs in life to make the right decisions, to keep her safe, and to take on the world.

I love you Sophie x Happy 18th Birthday!

I am, and always will be right here whenever you need me. Try calling every now and then!!!

Preparations for the evening went like this:

A telephone call to nana and pop – I need your help…

A shopping list

Lots of food (including vegan food for the veggies)

Decorations

Fairylights

A gazebo

A firepit

A chalkboard

A cake

Music

and a big clean up before the night!

Can you believe that the weather turned ridiculously severe at 4am on Friday morning? Massive downpour, thunder and lightning. The swimming pool filled up again under the house and flooded the driveway. I had to cancel. There was no way everyone was going to fit inside my teeny tiny house. By midday I felt so stressed out about it all. No food prep was started, the backyard wasn’t prepared, I simply didn’t think it would happen. Thanks to my dear friend, who was positive the blue sky was on it’s way, I remained hopeful. Who would have thought…..the weather eventually cleared and turned into the most perfect evening. After an afternoon of last minute rushing around, it all worked out for the best.

The evening was perfect…and the following day the rain returned.

Here are some photos from the night of Sophie’s 18th Birthday family get together…

Thank you to all my family and friends who helped out.

See you next week…

M x

I can’t believe how my days seem to merge into oblivion. I am behind in my blog posts and feeling rather bad about it!

Just thought I’d add a pic here. Grapefruit picked from the tree next door. Good thing nobody lives there!

The Easter weekend at Long Jetty was stunning. Finally the rain stopped and the weather turned on it’s magnificence. Even the swimming pool under the house has evaporated! I have had a constant flow of visitors. I love the fact that people want to visit and I hope that it continues forever. Living in such a beautiful environment will always be a draw card. My friends pitched their tent in my backyard! How funny is that?

Easter consisted of sunny days, heavenly sunsets, and deliciously warm ocean temperatures, too much wine, and too much chocolate…just divine!

My nieces and nephew had their first sleepover on Friday night and Sophie also came to visit. We had so much fun!

The renovating has not progressed very quickly as there just simply has been no time. I have however chosen the interior house colours and started Sophie’s bedroom. I was hoping to have it finished before this Friday… her 18th birthday. Hmmm… not sure that is achievable. One coat might have to suffice for now. I have another visitor arriving tomorrow and am trying to get things organised for our special dinner on Friday night! I have also put some tester colours on the front of the garage and planted some gardenias in the front garden. What am I saying? There is no garden. I can’t believe there was not a single plant, apart from the two trees in my backyard, on this property. This must change….and soon because I can’t bare not having a garden…..

More from me after my baby’s special day…

Saturday morning was the grand opening of a new little shop in Long Jetty. The Green Tangerine.

Owned by a lovely young couple, it is a bakery, deli and healthy grocery shop. Just gorgeous – as are the owners. They told me they were opening at 7am so I turned up at 7am in order to be their first customer! (that and I had decided to drive to Sydney that day to go to a big greys online sale! Since I was the first customer ever, Kathy gave me my special treat for free!!!

Yummy Yummy Yummy – a Raspberry, Almond and Pistachio tart.

Saturday was eventful. After finding out that the Renovation Boys had gone into liquidation and Greys online were selling off all their stock at ridiculously cheap prices so woke up early and drove to Sydney to see the sale. -Thanks for the tip Cherie! (Renovation for Profit guru Cherie Barber) I came home with a bath, a toilet, a vanity mirror and a music player. Couldn’t believe it all fitted into my little old CRV (you’d be amazed what I have put in that car over the years!!!). Can you imagine? A bath? Anyway, I am now more than ever motivated to get the bathroom renovated!

Check this out…

It was my birthday yesterday. I won’t mention which one…just another one. Friends came to visit me over the weekend. They came to wish me a happy birthday, however mostly I think they came to check out the house and take a look at my ‘new’ life. It was lovely having the company, familiar faces, lots of laughs, and general catching up. We had lunch at the cafe, went for a walk to the jetty and later other friends arrived and stayed for a bbq outside on what turned out to be a beautiful evening. The next morning my friend Carol and I walked along the bike track to The Entrance, and had a lovely birthday breakfast! – Thank you, my dear friends.

By the way, what is with all the rain here? Is it normal to be raining every single day. One minute it’s sunny, the next pouring with rain. The locals are saying it is unusually wet. I hope so, because the swimming pool as not had a chance to dry up under the house!

More from me later…

Daylight Savings ended last night. I felt encouraged to wake up early and head down to the Jetty to see it in the early morning light.

As you can see…beautiful as ever.

My days have continued to be interesting as I learn more about the quirks of my little house and the new location. My cat, “Muffin”, has adjusted nicely. A little too nicely actually. I have only just started to let her wander outside alone, and last night she thought she’d be clever and race out the door before I could stop her! Thankfully, she came back.

It is an exciting place for her. She has never lived in a house that has an underneath section, not to mention an underneath with so much paraphernalia to investigate. Nobody lives in the old house next door. This makes for an even more exciting playground for her. On the second day of being let out, “Muffin” found a rat. Not a disgusting wild rat, but more a pet rat, white and cute, and to my surprise she wasn’t trying to kill it. I watched for a while at her fascination with this rat and it didn’t take me long to realise that the rat was either extremely friendly, or blind. I think they are friends?

I met the bird man this week. I forgot to mention the birds in my previous post. I love standing in my backyard, closing my eyes and just listening to the sounds of the birds. When I first arrived, I noticed what I thought was quite a strange phenomena. A flock of pigeons was circling my house overhead. They were extraordinary. I watched as they flew around and around in what seemed like some kind of pattern. Eventually, in complete unison, they stopped in mid air above the shed adjacent to my backyard, and fluttered their wings madly until they all finally landed on the roof. This is a daily occurrence. As you can imagine. I had grave concerns for their safety once I let “Muffin” on the loose. I had to meet the owner of the pigeons to find out a bit more about them and let the owners know I have a cat.

What kind of a person has pet pigeons? I have to admit I was a little apprehensive going and knocking on the door. My concern was more for “Muffin”. What if she kills one of the birds? They all land on the roof at the same time. It won’t take her long to figure out their routine and sneak up when they least expect it!! and with so many of them she has a good chance of getting one! What if this person is crazy and then gets a gun and shoots my cat??? Hmmmm. Time to meet the owner.

I knocked on the front door and nobody answered. There was a ute in the driveway so I suspected someone was at home. As I peered down the driveway to the back of the property and noticed someone sitting on a chair so I yelled out a friendly hello. Turns out the owner looks quite normal…phew. His name is Matt. We chatted for quite some time about the birds, the cat, the flood under my house, Long Jetty, renovating, his son (who apparently is the owner of the pigeons but I suspect it is dads passion that’s been passed on), and the budgies. I discovered he also has a huge cage of budgies. This is the beautiful noise I hear in my backyard. Matt said the cat didn’t worry him and won’t hurt the pigeons so my mind was put at ease. At least for now.

I haven’t done much about beginning the renovations. Lots of procrastinating as everywhere I look there is something that needs doing. One room at a time. That is the key. I will start with my bedroom.

Sophie is coming to visit today. She told me she has turned vegan. I will take her to the Glass Onion Cafe Society when she arrives as they have an amazing menu of vegan type food. Then I’ll cook a big steak on the bbq and eat it in front of her! (Jokes)

Yesterday afternoon….oh so beautiful!  More from me next week….

One last photo from today…