My two cuties

So great to have jose home! Sadly we have to do more paperwork now so no rest for the wicked.

Enjoying Sydney

Before the visa appt we had a nice breakfast at a little cafe. Then we spent several stressful hours at the us embassy. Didn't go as expected but his visa will be approved once we do a bit more paperwork. So boo and yay. The whole process has been awful and stressful. Anyway after we did some shopping and had a great Japanese feast in a private room. It was very  nice but sydney was so humid while we were there - we were so sticky! Then had room service that evening. Next morning we left at 5am and had a 4+ hour flight to perth followed by a 5 hour drive back to albany. Yikes.

Dinner in Sydney

While in Sydney we had a so so dinner at a local pub. We had chicken lollipops and crab linguine and steak and a few drinks. By the end we were almost falling asleep in our plates but nice to go on a date again! i loved the little lobster on my wine glass...i want a set of those.

Arrived in Sydney!

Long travels but we got here. I dropped Miski at her aunty's house on Sunday then drove 5 hours to our perth hotel that turned out to be absolute crap (don't go to country comfort inn at airport). Jose's flight was delayed so poor thing got in close to 9pm but I had a big smile, hug and a burger waiting for him :) next day a 4 hour flight to Sydney and then we walked around a bit to see the harbour bridge and opera house again and got an average dinner at a local pub. We were absolutely knackered so went to bed right after that. It's super humid here which is weird. Interview in 2 hours!

amazing albany storm

had this crazy storm the other afternoon - the sky was incredible.  i think it's the best sky i've seen here so far.  and what a view from our house! tomorrow i drive to perth to meet jose (yay!) and we spend the night there before flying to sydney monday morning.  then tuesday we have our US visa interview - finally, after 2 1/2 years of paperwork! so after all this preparation, paperwork, time, energy, and money we'll finally be able to go to the US! can't wait to see jose.  miskers and i miss him terribly.

painted door and dirty puppy

got our door painted in spaniel brown. i think it looks pretty nice. just missing the security screen now.  and came home one day and played with miski in the back with the hose - her favorite game.  after she decided a sand bath was a good idea. naughty girl

pretty skies

jose took the incredible top photo of a derby storm. miss those skies! i get to see him soon - can't wait! also took a sunset photo here outside the house and later saw a really cool sun shining through the new glass by the door.

blue tongue, moon and chair

a little baby blue tongue lizard was unfortunate enough to find himself in our back yard with miski. she didn't hurt him thank goodness but i don't think he'll be coming back. too bad because they are very cute. had a nice crescent moon rise the other night outside our house.  and my lovely neighbor made me a cushion cover for my newly painted cherry red chair!  yay!

Our first fig!

How cute is our little first fig?! Love it!

Pretty skies, lazy weekend and tiny lemons

This week was pretty nuts and on the crappier side of weeks if I'm honest. Anyway going out on Friday to those shows with friends did me good but I have managed to do nothing productive really this weekend. Sigh. Though I probably need the rest considering how busy I've been and that we go to Sydney for the us visa interview next week. Yikes! Long travel for one day. So gearing up for that and it's always hard to have that many days off work especially right now with the pending move to the new hospital and all. Anyway did manage to take moo for a romp and saw amazing clouds and then we napped. Did a bit of house puttering and cleaning and gardening. My veggies are growing quite well. Yay! Though Miski keeps eating the tips off my lemongrass. Sneaky. Doing battle with snails and slugs and caterpillars. They used to be my friends but now that it's my garden I'm not so keen. Still think they are cute tho. And found two teeny lemons on our tree that had been choked by other bushes before we moved in! How cute! Many more have started to bud and I'm sure they'll be bigger now that the tree actually can breathe and get some sun and water. It rained today for the first time in ages. So kind of nice but also means I can't do more planting or painting. Forces me to rest which is a good thing. and i'm babbling!

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Free comedy shows!

Albany has some pretty great events. The newish entertainment centre right in town on the waters edge hosted three free events this weekend. Awesome! First up was the exchange, 5 guys from the US who met on one of those talent shows in the states and sing crazy good acapella. They were so talented and it was so fun to hear some american accents and humour again ;) Then an Aussie singer/comedian taking about the women's weekly cake book that all Aussie kids pick their bday cakes from apparently. I remember a few that margot did for stason way back when. I got about 90% of the jokes which I was pretty proud of-I'm well and truly integrated here. Then divalicious, an operatic/comedic duo. They had the most incredible voices and sang lots of songs I knew and were quite funny. And it was all free! Can't get over it. So much fun!

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Fun with ponds

Took little Miski to the park with a pond today. It was pretty hot so all she wanted to do was loll in the pond. First time I've ever seen her pass up playing with the soccer ball. Also today Jose's drivers license came! So exciting! I'm so proud of him :)

Bathroom done and more veggies

Had a slow start to today but eventually got going and finished up the second toilet room. Yay! Just need a new doorknob and it's all done! Also planted a bunch of herbs and veggies out back and am hoping I can develop a green thumb. Got some lettuce, dill, more mint, lemongrass, kale, climbing spinach and a passion fruit vine. Yum.