We're not friends any more...

...and no I'm not talking about you, my dear blog friends and readers. I'm talking about friends that hubby and I made recently since we moved here to Tasmania. We knew members of our new friends family when we lived up in Sydney and we where happy to meet the new members of this extended family down here in Tasmania. Recently due to behaviour and habits exhibited by our friends in public that hubby and I find objectionable we can no longer be friends with our new acquaintances. In fact we will be going through extreme measures to cut these friends completely out of our lives. I'm sorry to do this but it has to be done. They made their bed and now they're going to lie in it.

Hubby and I are not hateful or vindictive people but our new friends have pushed us to the limits. We have been open and genuine with them and they have turned around and used our friendship for their own good. They have tricked us and now they are actually starting to abuse us. Granted it's not physical but it might as well be. The abuse is more mental and emotional and they are tearing us up inside because we truly thought that we could be friends and share some part of our lives but apparently they just wanted to use us.

I have actually told you about these friends a few months back. I told you how happy we were to meet them and how excited we were to have them in our lives. Well that's all changed and now it's time for them to go Just to jog your memory here's a picture of our friends.






Yes, that's right our cute little fiends the possums. They are visiting us now on a nightly basis. I say they because there are at least four of them that come to visit. There are two males and female with a baby on her back. They are still cute to look at and even though they look adorable and cuddly we know that they are not and we never tried to get that close. The thing that has strained our relationship to the breaking point is that during their nightly visit to our backyard they have decided that it is their mission to destroy our 15 year old Japanese Maple which I've shown you before here. They are eating all of the new leaves that are coming out due to the fact that it is spring here. The tender little leaves of the Maple tree are apparently a delicacy to hard to resit for our past friends.

We don't hate them so much as to hurt them. We would and never could do such a thing but I tell you what I'm getting pretty damn close to hurting something if they don't get out of my tree! We bought a product from the local nursery called Poss-off (get it Poss-off Piss-off cute huh?) which is supposed to make the leaves that have been sprayed taste bitter to the possum and as such they will move on to better tasting trees. We used the product a couple of nights and it seemed to work but the possums realised that we could only reach so far from the ground while spraying the leaves of the tree and that the leaves up higher had not been sprayed leaving them sweet and tender just they way they like them.

We have spent the past two nights out in our back yard spraying the intruders with the hose using an attachment that has a high pressure mode. The possums just sit there while we soak them with the hose and continue to eat and I suppose they just think it's raining really hard. We have thrown things at them and even used a long pole to poke at them trying to get them out of the tree. All the time while we're spraying and poking these sweet, darling demons we're stand there in the middle of the night yelling "Get out of our tree!!!" Can you imagine what our neighbours think? To be honest with you I don't give a rats behind what they think I want these little vermin to stop eating my tree and to get they hell out of my garden, end of story!

We are going down to the local hardware store to see what we can find to rid ourselves of these creatures. I'm buying everything they have in stock to combat the furry little woodland animals that find invading our garden a bit of fun. I'm dead set to rid myself of these cute, furry, cuddly animals once and for all. I have no intention of hurting them especially the mother with the baby. I just want them to stop eating MY Tree! They are protected in as much that we can't purposefully hurt them and we wouldn't any way, but whatever else is available to me to send them on their way will be purchased and put to use this evening. If this doesn't work I hate to think what will happen to the tree and hate even worse the prospect of replacing the tree as it will take forever for it to get back to the tree that is is now. Anyway, I'll keep you up to date as how we are going with our possum removal and if anyone has any suggestion we're listening!

Friend, visitor, guest or enemy???

It seems we have a new addition to our house for how long I don't know. They have been here before and they only stayed for a few weeks. Now the strange thing is I wouldn't necessarily call them friends as we have not really been formally introduced. I would not and am not opposed to being friends but that will be entirely up to them. Now as I said they have been a visitor in the past and actually they have been visiting us quite frequently as of late. It seems that over the past few days they have decided that they would like to be more than visitors and more like actual guest with all of the amenities that come with being a guest.

I'm sure they wouldn't be a problem except that they sleep all day and then they run around all night. They're always looking around to see what they can make for dinner. I don't mind them eating our food as long as they clean up after themselves. I mean it's only fair. They are very tidy and they have impeccable bathroom habits. All in all I can't think of a reason why they can't be a guest in our home.

Oh maybe I can think of one reason and then that's when they would become the enemy. You see I just don't think they get along with our cat Molly Brown. They are really allergic to cats and Molly thinks they are taking over the house. In fact we have never had an argument with them but I think I came home once and they were in the back yard fighting but stopped as soon as I came out side.

I just don't know if it will work out. We'll just have to see. Oh here's a picture from their last visit. you can see why we want to be friends. They are a great couple.

Thanks for the help...

This won't be a long post but I just wanted to take this moment to thank those of you that took the time to respond to the last post. The dilemma that faces James and I us not insurmountable but I suppose it's always nice when you can share it with others and then have those people be kind enough to actually give you feedback. We won't be making an hasty decisions and as I believe I stated before we are at least afforded the luxury of being able to pick and choose as to when and where what may or may not happen. With that all said eventually something will happen and when it does I'm sure that whatever decisions we make we will have thought them through and along with the help from friends both near, far and cyber we will move forward and continue to allow our life to evolve and grow into whatever it may become. All with just a little help from our friends...

(Update: I changed the title of this post only because another blogger used the same title and I'm not sure who came up with their title first but to forgo any I did it first issues I thought changing would be easier. Sometimes it can so difficult being a day a head of the world when it comes to the blogs I read which are mainly US based. Anyway new title same content Enjoy...)

Guess who ???

It's me! I'm back, but just barely so let me get my bearings and I'll write a big post about it later today. Thanks to everyone for all of their well wishes and kind notes. They meant a lot to me. It's kind of funny having friends that you've never met but on one level you seem to know so well. Thanks again and as I said I'll write all about my big scary trip to the big city and even worse my unforeseen imprisonment in hospital.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, etc.etc.etc....

Okay, well this will probably be the last post until after the New Year so I thought I would try something completely different. As you may our may not know we recently became the proud parents to an iMAC. The new baby comes with a very easy to use movie maker (or so I thought). So, I thought I would give it a go and what is to follow is my first attempt at making a video. This take is the best out of like thousands (maybe a bit of an exaggeration) but needless to say it took me forever to even get this one. I tried adding music but then you couldn't here my voice. I suppose you need the music playing in the background when your making the movie. Adding music is more for when you do like a picture slide show. I also hope that the movie isn't that huge of a file. You should be alright if you have broadband. If you don't have broadband it may take a little extra time to view, but again I'm learning. I will keep practicing but until that time, Enjoy...

Thinking of you...

Happy Halloween to every one in the states. I hope you have a frighteningly great evening!

We're off...

...to Brisbane that is. We will be gone for a few days visiting and old friend that we have not seen for a while. She actually lives in Mooloolaba but Brisbane is a closer airport. This trip is one of several we will be taking over the next few months. I'm sure I mentioned the trips in an earlier post but if not here's a quick reminder:

September - Brisbane
October - Melbourne
November - Melbourne (x1) and Sydney (x2)

Now I know that these aren't huge getaway's but none the less it gets us out of the house. If we take any pictures I'll be sure to post them. Maybe we'll get lucky on our last night in Brisbane as we are staying at the Conrad Treasury Hotel and Casino. Until then I'll post something next week when we get back.

We're back...

We got home last night around 6:30. A friend picked us up at the airport and the first thing we noticed is that it was cold back in our neck of the woods. We had expected it to be cold while we were in New Zealand but it actually was quite spring like all the time we were there. Our friend told us that the previous two days before we came home there had been horrendous weather including gale force winds and flooding. All of this was due to a strong cold front. It looks as if winter is still with us.

Anyway, I guess everyone wants to know about the trip. I have plenty of pictures to share but have not put them up on Flickr yet. Hell, I haven't even unpacked. I laid done on the couch last night and went out to it by 8:00. I find travelling exhausting. We thought that going to New Zealand would be a breeze because it was only a 3 hour flight compared to some of our 25+ hour flights to the States. We were wrong because in the end you still have to go through all the checks, immigration and customs. It is all too tedious and so not worth it. We've decided that for a while were are only going to take some local trips which do not involve customs and passports. Next trip is up to the Sunshine Coast near Brisbane to visit an old friend and then we are off to Melbourne for a few days so James can attend a conference and then we go back to Melbourne for my birthday where our friend Moys will be meeting us as she and I celebrate the same birthday. We will be going to see Priscilla will we are there.

I will make every attempt to post the pictures today and I will let you know as soon as they have been posted. As for the trip all I can say is it was very relaxing, filled with good food, lots of laughs and new experiences. I will make a bit of a more inclusive post when I get the pictures ready and try to explain what you'll be seeing. Anyway, I need to get on with catching up on my emails and all of my blog reading. It looks like everyone has been very busy while I was away.

We're outta here...

OK, we are off to the airport in a few hours to start or little getaway. We are spending tonight in Melbourne just so we do not have to get the 6:00am flight up to Melbourne tomorrow morning and hope we have enough time to go through customs once we got to Melbourne to catch our connecting flight on to New Zealand. We will be spending the first night in NZ in Wellington and then the next day our friend, who is driving down to meet us, will be driving us back up to her home in Hastings NZ, which is in the Hawkes Bay region of the North Island. We plan to spend a few days at her place and then I believe we have plans to go to Rotorua and Whakatane. I will have access to the net but I'm not sure how often I'll get to post updates but I will try. Until then I'll be back around the 11/12 of August. See ya when we get back.

Just a note...

...to let you know that I've been really busy lately get ready for out little holiday next week. James and I are head to the land of the Land of the Long White Cloud (aka New Zealand) to visit a friend who moved back there a while back. James and I have been to NZ several times but this will be the first time that we will be seeing our friends new home. She lives on the North Island and we will be spending all of or time on the North Island. You really need a couple of weeks if you want to visit both North and South islands properly. We are really looking forward to the visit as well as the chance to get away for a few days. So, needless to say posts will be at a minimum except for the few I might get done from our friends place. Who knows there may be pictures before we get back. Until then I will try to keep up with my blog reading and I'll see you when I get back. Cheers...

What's up???

Well I suppose that's the question you should be asking me. There are bloggers out there who seem to be able to write paragraph after paragraph about all sorts of things. I'm not one of those. I have a hard time thinking about what to write. I understand that this is my space and I can write whatever. I also know that I'm not going to get a million ongoing visitors who find my life and writings so fascinating that they can't go one day without seeing what I have to write.

A friend of mine recently sent me an email saying "I love your capacity to tell good stories about cheesecakes and HIV in the same blog." Now, I know she was being honest and truly meant what she had said but it made me think. I'm not sure what I write is that fascinating. Her comment did make me realise that this blog is exactly what I said it would be when I first started it over two years ago. This is just about me and the things I might find interesting. I never said you would be interested but am more than happy if you are so inclined.

This blog is a space in which I am able to talk about my life and what is currently going on. I do this so that my family and those few friends that are interested are able to keep up with what is happening in my part of the world. Occasionally I can also comment on certain things if I so choose. Seeing that we live in a relatively remote part of the world I don't get to see my family as much as I would like. To see my family requires me to get on a plane and fly usually around 25 plus hours. It's not like I can just pop in to see them. So I try to at least try to keep them posted about what is happening around here using this space.

I appreciate my friends words about my capacity to write about such a wide range of thins but the truth of it all is I write what I want to and what I write is not necessarily that ground breaking. I write for my self and if anyone is interested then I can only hope I at least make sure I spell check everything for them; other than that I can not promise what they will read will be even remotely interesting, kind of like this post.

Anyway, as to what's up, let me think. The oven is brilliant. I'm like a kid in a candy store. I'm as giddy as a school girl at the mall with my mothers credit card. I don't even know where to start. I love to cook and more specifically I love to bake. So lets just say for the next several months I will be reclaiming my life as a cook and I will be making up for a lot of lost time. Also, the new cook top, that we bought when we bought the oven, works correctly now that the proper gas-fittings have been installed so I'm now able to make a proper dinner.

In the short time that we've had the new oven. I've made:

Milk chocolate cheesecake
Pecan pie x2
Chocolate decadence cake
Oatmeal cookies w/white chocolate chunks and cranberries

Next up Pumpkin bread w/cranberry cream filling

What else is going on? Well James is still working most weekends on night duty, which is okay as it gives us most of the week Mon-Thursday to be together and do whatever chores need to be attended to. He also likes the nights because it keeps him away from the politics at work. I am still struggling with my neuropathy but that will never go away. I'm pretty well resigned to no more driving because of the amount of pain medicine I have to take now on a daily basis. I will just have to learn to continually adjust and I will. I have lost a few pounds/kilos, which is surprising considering all the baking I've been doing. Other than that we are just settling in getting ready for winter to truly arrive. We've had a few cold spells so far but nothing horrendous. James has done a lot of gardening and getting all the flower beds mulched and ready for their winter sleep. The Japanese Maple in the back yard is turning a lovely shade of red as usual. I love the fall colours but I am sad when that tree looses all its leaves, but i know it will be back next spring so there is something to look forward to as little as that is.

Well I suppose I've rambled on enough so I will stop for now. There is only so much boredom I can dish out in a day. Keep your eyes peeled for posts about our upcoming trip to Strahan with the bears in June and also pictures and stories will be forthcoming about our visit to the Hawkes Bay region on the North Island of New Zealand, which we are planing for August to visit our friend Moys. So you see there is something to look forward to if your really bored.

Update....

I know it's been a few days since I've posted anything and then that post was a list/meme so it was rather boring. I'm going to tell you right now this post won't be much better. Here's the deal. You are aware, or should be, that we have had visitors for the past few weeks and this is their last weekend here in fact today is their last day in Hobart. We all fly over to Melbourne tomorrow morning to spend the day there. We will spend Saturday night at the airport Hilton and then they fly back home on Sunday and we fly back home to Hobart. Why am I telling you all this? Well for one it fills up space and secondly to let you know that I will be back on a more active schedule as of next Monday.

We have really enjoyed our time with our friends but as usual time flies when your having fun. It seems like just yesterday that they arrived but alas it was back at the beginning of February. We have tried to show them a bit of where we live and we hope they have not been to bored. Life here in Tasmania is not for everyone. We lead a rather quiet existence but it works for us. Anyway, I'll be back with regular posting next week and as promised I will have pictures of our work and the eventual end result in relation to some doors we found in the shed and have refinished and hung in or house. We must thank our freinds for all the work they put into helping us with this project. Thanks Guys!

Until then take care and keep watching this space.