new curtains came!

finally we have some curtains for our patio doors.  they're nothing fancy but they block light and keep the heat in so that's good.  miski really really loves our living room rug and takes every opportunity to stretch out on it...which really annoys jose.  hung a few more paintings around the place.  will take more pictures when all of them are up and once we've gotten the curtains up in the second living room.

more gardening and house pics

more photos   
we got into gardening a bit today - because it's seriously a disaster and so overgrown.  we pulled down all the plants and weeds and stuff choking the lemon tree and generally wasting our yard space. we took down the dog run and made a makeshift fence for that part of the yard.  once we can cart off all the debris we will cut down more branches and take down the random planters all around the yard and rip out some bushes and generally expand the grassy area for miski.  i can't wait!  it already looks better and bigger but i am just so excited to take that wall down and the 3 random sheds too. such a waster of space.  these people were allergic to the sun or something.  jose arranged his bar/game room nicely and i put some wall stickers up. still deciding if i like them there.  made a big pot of curry today for the week and jose is off playing soccer in the crazy wind that started this afternoon.  a great weekend overall. wish we had a few more days!

bluff knoll hike!

bluff knoll hike pictures
what an amazing weekend, and it's not even half over!  well almost half over.  jose finally has a weekend off so we get to spend some much needed time together.  we spent friday afternoon chatting with our lovely neighbours and putting up a temporary fence so that miski can have more room to roam in the backyard.  it is looking better and better every day.  and miski is so happy - she immediately went tearing around the yard, doing laps, and rolling around blissfully.  can't wait to start ripping up more of those awful plants.  anyway...sadly forgot my good camera at work so we only had the little camera when we went hiking today.  sigh. this weekend has been so beautiful - we decided to take a break from working on the house and enjoy the sunshine by driving an hour north to the stirling ranges national park and hiking bluff knoll.  it's one of the most famous hikes around here and for good reason.  the weather was perfect for it- sunny but not too hot. drove up there and hiked the 3kms to the top...all steps (ugh)...which was hard but worth it for the incredible views. we got to see some amazing plants that only grow up in these mountains and they look like crazy dragons.  we also saw a lot of poo up there but we're not sure what animal it's from. i'm really curious! might be some kind of kangaroo perhaps?  took us about 2 1/4 hours round trip which isn't bad at all considering how steep the hike is and how much gain there is in such a short amount of time/distance.  after our beautiful hike we drove home and enjoyed lunch and drinks outside on our new patio table with miskers.  now we're having some wine and watching funny videos and other random tv.  very satisfying day!  wish you all were here. there are say more photos and videos in the album linked above

backyard stuff

more photos

jose's been working hard on the back yard and this weekend we put up a temporary fence so that miski could have more room to run and enjoy and explore.  it didn't take long and it looks ok. we just need to pull up lots of plants, trim trees, take down the random wall and sheds and well ... lots more.  anyway she is loving her extra space. we also got a second hand outdoor table! love it! we've already used it multiple times to enjoy the great weather we've been having this weekend. you can also see our new fruit trees in the pots - we got a peacharine, kaffir lime, avocado, and fig tree. yay! more shots under the album above

finishing off the white paint and some of our art finally arrived!

more photos here

well except for touch ups and baseboards/trim the living room, dining room, kitchen, entry way is painted which is super exciting! can't wait for the trim to be done and to be able to afford to replace the blinds.  anyway one of our photo canvases finally came!  it's a shot of kangaroo paws that i took on our trip to perth last april in kings park.  i think it goes pretty nicely with the red wall.  also hung a couple of wedding shots in the living room. can't wait for the other canvases to come and to get the bedrooms painted too!  at least it's coming together a bit now.

pretty sunsets and more painting

more photos here 

feels like we are NEVER going to be done painting. we didn't do too much today but we at least started on the baseboards behind the tv so we can put the speakers up finally.  our dining room came and so did the fridge. so things are starting to come together. annoyingly we can't afford to do any of the renovations we want to do.  sigh. it's been a really busy couple of weeks for us and we're both pretty wiped out so we've not been charging ahead with painting as much as I had hoped.  anyway after quite a few chilly and very windy and rainy days we had a really gorgeous saturday and had the best sunset i've seen so far...love seeing this from our living room and bedroom windows...except for the annoying power lines in the way.  we finally got to eat at the famous vancouver cafe today and it lived up to the very high expectations. a great place and one i am sure we'll frequent!  here's hoping we can build a deck ourselves soon :)

2 year wedding anniversary & making progress in the house

i can't believe it but today (well tomorrow really for our time back in peru/states) is our 2 year wedding anniversary and our 4 year anniversary overall.  it seems unbelievable that time has gone so fast and yet when i think back on things we've really come a very long way together - in terms of physical distance and in terms of overall changes. in two years we've gotten married, gone on an amazing honeymoon, moved to a new continent, adopted a crazy and wonderful dog, made incredible friends, enjoyed breathtaking travels, moved across the biggest state in australia, and bought a house! poor jose's head must be spinning - i know mine is.  we've also come a long way as a couple too, learning much more about each other and our respective cultures and our pet peeves :)  and i think that all things considered we've weathered those well and come out the other side stronger, closer, and really happy.  so happy anniversary amor!   as a minor side note - we've managed to paint the dining/kitchen area and most of the living room. we still have touch ups and trim to do and need to replace the ugly blinds and get good curtains but overall i think it's an amazing improvement...i guess if you aren't into grey and red you'd disagree but anything is better than purple and green. yuck!  my only concern is how bright white the living room paint is...still not sure about it. more photos here