Hard Yakka and New Skins

Babybro is a piece of work! He and Stressany do nothing during the winter but work and sport. He coaches a premier league soccer team and plays, she umpires netball and until recently was the Secretary of the Baulkham Hills Netball Association (pretty huge). So from April to October they are non compus mentus, in absentia. I potter about blowing leaves, watering hanging baskets, shooing ducks and maintaining things as best I can and Adam mows.

On the odd days that they had free, they took short breaks, completed their Sudoku or watched sport on telly. So now, because it's a long weekend, sport has finished, Pete has decided that he'll order two tip trucks full of pine bark to dress the garden borders which of course have to be weeded first, have a massive rubbish throw out, pick up all the bits that have fallen off the trees in the past 2 weeks and get everyone moving. Well he didn't insist but I felt guilty watching him labour so the three of us dug in while Adam tidied the shed and moved his new tools from cluttering the verandah. Really, this is tidy for our shed!

Steph put in the hard yards actually but boy she has more smokos than a brickies labourer

Pete was a trojan and with two of us shovelling and barrowing it really only took a couple of hours.

Oh, it rained . . .but that nice summery drizzle that kept us cool. And I hurt my back because I worked like a bloke while Stressany pootled around with a rake and had a beer and was bitten by a bull ant (ok that's a good excuse to shy off) Me, I had the biggest wheelbarrow and the heaviest shovel and have discovered that I do still have muscles in my bum!

Anyway, most of it is done. Except the bit where the bull ants' nest is which Adam has just bombed with diesel and some toxic insecticide. The only problem, their little love next happens to be on my side of the ranch! Make these boys angry and they're a formidable force! If any come in the house there will be hell to pay! They're aggressive and very tough so a thong won't cut it, you need a steel capped boot to smash these big boys, they're about 2-3 centimetres long, they bite and they sting!


So there's this little pile for me to contend with tomorrow (or maybe Monday given that I'm walking around like a cripple). Depends when the Voltarin kicks in, my back is killing me . . might be a good excuse for a Sunday massage.


There's always some beer drinking 'here's Wally in my shot!


Amazing what a difference it made. The only problem with living on a big block in a big commune is that the borders are huge! This is just a fraction of the border at the back.


At least the pool is clean, even Lily is happy to dangle her toes with Adam!


And on another note . . we have a saying here when we receive something novel or kitch "That's going straight to the pool room!" These things can be tacky bar toys, ugly statues, novelty drink bottles - the sort of 'I wonder who gives these for Christmas' things that you find in Tobacconist shops. You know, the lava lamps and semi-pornographic mobile phone holders. The metre high beer tin money boxes, and giant bottles of Galliano with the little tap on them, the glass yard that's broken out for 21st birthdays . . catch my drift?

Well not in our house. Besides a half size pool table, wet bar, three bar stools, computer station, numerous signed photographs of sports celebrities, the mandatory Manchester United strips, dart board and a signed cricket bat. There is also an entertainment system and a massive TV (largely for XBox nights and Grand Finals).

. . .then last night, these came home to roost. Adam's is normally at the band rehearsal studio and Babybro just ordered his in! I wonder which one decided they were going 'straight to the pool room'?


Two kits seem a little excessive to me! Pete's a bit rusty but it won't be long before there's a 'drum off!' Earplugs please! That'll show the new neighbour!