Hey guys! How’s things? We’ve missed you all… sorry it’s taken so long to touch base. We haven’t had enough time to scratch lately. We have managed to get access to a friend’s puter a couple of times, but had to answer emails and what-not, which didn’t leave enough time to catch up. So I’m doing this in preparation for the next time. We’ve got our computer set up, but we don’t have internet connection. I figure that if I get some stuff together on a disc it won’t take so long next time I’m there.

So, what have we been doing for the last couple of weeks? Well…

We’re currently taking up most of the space underneath our friends, T and N’s place. Yes, once again we’re abusing our friends’ generosity. They looked after us the last time we were homeless too. They’re legends and we love ‘em heaps.

We had to find some of the animals new homes when we moved out. We decided that we were going to keep Bitty, and perhaps the cat. I placed an ad in the local rag for the others. Missy was gone before the paper even hit the streets. My niece and her partner (who had graciously agreed to look after them for us for a few nights) fell in love with her and decided that they needed a new family member. This could not have made me (or G) happier, because it means that we can still visit her. Boo was taken by a young fellow from the bush. He seemed like a nice young bloke, looking for a good friend. He’s got a bit of space for her to run, and his mate has a good-looking boy puppy that she might be able to befriend. She’ll be happy out there. In the meantime though, little Bitty has disappeared. She was pretty stressed and must have decided that she didn’t like it here. We found her down the road a couple of times and bought her back, but she escaped again. No sign of her yet… some old lady probably found her and took her in. I hope so, anyway. So now we have Jack. He’s the only one left. Oh… the cat… My ex-sister-in-law, K agreed to look after her for us… And I think she (and my niece) has claimed her. The goats went back from whence they had come… another friends’ farm. If we get another place in the bush we’ll take them with us, but if we have to stay in town they’ll stay on as permanent residents. That all taken care of was a weight off our shoulders. We miss them all like mad, but at least they’re all taken care of.

Most of the last couple of weeks I’ve spent looking through houses. There are a couple of good prospects in the housing department, but they are in town… well most of them. Keep your fingers crossed, we might be able to find something kind of bush-y yet. There are a couple on offer, but the market is pretty fierce at the moment. Actually, I was so surprised to find how the real estate market has changed in less than a year. For a start, we’re looking at an average $50 per week more for a similar house. Real estate prices have just boomed around these parts. But to make it worse (well, from my point of view) some of the real estate offices now no longer hand out keys so that you can inspect the houses for rent. Instead, they have open days specifically for everyone to have a look through the houses. Yeah, that’s ok, I suppose… but it’s a bit of a pain when you can only look at a couple of houses per day. It was far more convenient from a prospective tenant’s point of view, to be able to look at a half a dozen houses in a day. Aannd… certain real estates don’t advertise the prices of the houses any more. You put in a bid with your application and they usually take the best one. I guess this ensures that the owner gets the best deal for his house… but it kind of feels like entering a lottery. No matter, hopefully we won’t have to look for much longer.

Speaking of moving… guess what!!?? No, go on… you’ll never guess. My sister is applying for some houses down here!! She might be coming down to live!!! Yay!!!! Tracy’s been off-line for a few weeks now. Her puter is playing up, and the doctors don’t know what’s wrong with it. She should be back online soon though… she got cranky with them the other day. They have promised action!

We have managed to get out and do some exercise too. And it’s about time too… I got on the scales this morning and was a little shocked… to say the least. All I’m going to say about that is ‘Damn T and her home-cooked meals’. I’m going to have to get out and walking a bit more, I think. Driving around from house to house all day long does nothing for your exercise quotient, let me tell you. Add to that the yummy food factor, and it’s a recipe for disaster. I can use the photo factor to add more weight to the argument, if necessary.

Well, I should away and have a quick read. There's so much I need to catch up on.