Friday, April 22, 2011

A for April. A for ACTION!

The pitter patter of tiny feet..... Yes, we have another baby in the family. Well, we call the Eckerts family! Emma and Jed welcomed little Valeenah into the world on the 11th of April in Brisbane. She's absolutely beautiful. Well done Em! No drugs!

Here is a little pair of booties I made to match the two little jackets below.
I'm addicted to the BSJ pattern. It's an all in one knitting project. The stripes add wonderful designs to the jacket. 
The jacket below was crocheted. Quick and very cute! 

To add to the BSJ obsession, I made this little orange sunshine number for my friend Janelle's little grand daughter to be. She's due in a few weeks. 


Summer Harvest - all gone!
These are the last of the tomatoes. Boy, did we get a bumper crop this year! There were also a decent number of zucchinis, spring onions and one lonely cucumber! 
Oh, and let's not forget the small handful of my first batch of potatoes. I need to work on the growing technique. Horse feed bags (from my friend Fi) just didn't give me a big enough harvest. So I'm looking forward to seeing what I can grow in proper garden beds on the farm. 

FARM
Speaking of the farm... Frans and I took a drive down there a couple of weeks ago. On our way home we stopped off at Moriac, a very small Victorian country town. I just loved this ute! No, I won't get one for myself, but it does make you think 'pure Aussie outback'! 
Below is a picture of the farm we DIDN'T buy. It was set on the side of a very steep hill. And smack bang in the middle of the Otways. ie. High fire danger. Very pretty, but not for us.
The view below is a snippet of the Great Ocean Rd. We will be about 20 minutes drive from the sea. Perfect!

And the preparation for moving to the farm continues. Our home is up for auction. It's just a tad stressful! Lots of changes in the Hillege household are happening to make this dream come true.
 
One of the first changes, was getting rid of our old telly and replacing it with a big flash number. We have been wanting a flat screen for ages, but didn't have any reason to buy one as ours was perfectly ok. But, a more modern piece of technology looks better in the big lounge. Hopefully prospective home buyers will think so too! Now we just have to get rid of the old one. They're worth nothing. And you can't drop them off to the charity shops. They don't accept electrical goods. So it will sadly either go the tip or end up stored in a shed on the farm. Just in case... Here Frans is playing with the settings, getting it 'just right'.
And we've started packing. We have hired a storage space to store our boxes and excess furniture. We have decluttered the house and it's looking like a show home. Rather empty..... But that's the way you have to present it. 

And the biggest change this month has been the saddest one.....  Our little bird has flown the nest! Yes, Sara and Stephen have found a lovely old art deco flat close to the city. They moved in last weekend. She's become house proud instantly! It's been such fun watching her find a spot for all her goodies that she's collected over time! 
And some jobs are just better left to the men! Here is Stephen and his crazy mate Johnny, putting the bed together. 


And something to end this post with.... Many years ago, I visited my lovely sister Marie in Pensylvania, USA. She lived in the most beautiful spot on a lovely old farm. I took a walk one day and passed a farm with this really cool sign. I loved it. And I wanted a farm with a sign! Well, we're getting our farm. Now we have to find a suitable name for it. So we're starting to throw around ideas. And my dream is getting closer... I'm hoping to have a groovy sign up by Christmas!

And here is our new farm entrance. It definitely calls for a sign!
Willow Farm? Freedom Valley Farm? New Hope Farm? Hunter's Farm? any ideas?....

Monday, April 11, 2011

What we've been up to!

Well, I've been a little slack on the blogging front the past few weeks. The reason.... we've been busy!

We have been cleaning up our place. Painting, fixing, planting, shining.....

We are selling our lovely home in Melbourne. We're going to auction on the 7th of May.

And this is where we are going:
Gerangamete. In the Otways.

Doesn't this new home look devine? We have always wanted to live in the country. And now we're making the move! It's exciting and terrifying all at the same time.
We hope to be moving to the farm around the begining of August.