Saying Goodbye to a Friend

I have worked with her for 6 months and she has made those 6 months sparkle.

She welcomed me with open arms and has helped me through some very difficult situations. Rache has taught me a lot about nursing and a lot about life. She has taught me to stress less and joke more! She is a lovable, fun, quirky, easy going girl who is about to take the next step in her journey of life and move interstate to live with her fiancee. Sadly this means the awesome Rachey must leave us behind.

Normally it's me leaving and saying goodbye, this time i'm on the other end. I'm staying in the same spot and someone else is leaving. I'm not sure how we will cope without her, she is totally irreplaceable and no-one can fill her shoes!

Rache, you are awesome! Don't ever let anyone else tell you otherwise. You have been a true friend and i'm going to miss you terribly. I wish you all the best with the next step in your life. XOXO

June 21 - 28

Day 28 - On Your Shelf. Lots of DVDs and a little bit of love.


Day 27 - Bathroom. I love having a bath!


Day 26 - Where you shop. Coles supermarket.


Day 25 - Something Cute. Fluffy trying to squish into the little basket!


Day 24 - On my mind. The massive cooking mess I have to clean up! *sigh*


Day 23 - Movement. Attempting to get Sascha to play with her 'panic mouse'


Day 22 - From a high angle. A treat to myself for sucessfully completing a semester of Veterinary Nursing!


Day 21 - Where you slept. My Bed................my messy bed. :-P

Blogging, apps and technology

My sister has been my inspiration into starting my blog. She has actually been my inspiration for a couple of things recently. Blogging and sharing my creativeness through an app called Instagram and the photo a day challenge.

I find blogging a good way to release any stresses and express my thoughts a feelings, even if only a few people read it. Although I do wish I had more followers, I just don't know how to get more people to read my blog!

I'm still learning how to set-up the pages appropriately and I find myself asking my tech savvy sister to help me when I don't know the answer. I apologise if my blog seems a bit of a mess at times!!

I'm not the best with technology. Recently my phone was low on space so I went into settings and deleted a few things that I didn't think were important, turns out I deleted my entire contacts list! I'm still trying to get everyones numbers!

Technology is forever changing and we will be forever trying to keep up. By the time I get my blog sorted out and I actually know what I'm doing there will possibly be a new form of communication.

Playing the waiting game

Playing the waiting game to find out where we will move to next is not my idea of fun. Will we be in Sydney for another year? Will we be moving to another state? Will we be going back to South Australia?

Around the first week of July most defence members find out where they will be posted next year. It can be a very exciting and/or frustrating time. It is something we must face at least every 2 years, the possibility of packing up our life again and moving to a new town, meeting new people and making new friends.

Thus far my husbands position is stable so it looks like we don't have to move at the end of this year, which I'm very grateful for. Although moving so often allows you to get rid of a heap of junk and throw out a lot of things you don't need it is very stressful.

It has taken me a long time to get used to life in Sydney. I do enjoy it but it's completely different to Adelaide. For some reason it seems as though everyone in Sydney is in a hurry to do something...I feel as though they never sleep and there is never any time to do "nothing"......"something" is always happening.

I have mixed emotions about staying in Sydney another year. Sometimes I think it may just send me crazy, other times I feel like I need to embrace the city more as there's still so much for me to see and do.

June 11-20

Day 20 - One of the best photos you've ever taken. 2010 in the Netherlands.


Day 19 - Imperfect. Dinner!!


Day 18 - Something we don't know about you.... I have a new found love for tea!


Day 17 - In your handbag.


Day 16 - Out and About.


Day 15. Yellow. Fishies at TAFE.


Day 14 - Time.


Day 13 - Art. My body art.


Day 12 - From a low angle. Looking up at Louie on his scratching post.


Day 11 - Door. Zorro wanting to come in at work!

My BFF, Blackie Penty.

Blackie Penty is a legacy cat which resides with us at the AWL.

Since the start of this year he has been staying at the clinic so we can closely monitor his health. He is a 12.5yr old, domestic medium hair with chronic arthritis and weighs a whopping 8.5kg!! (He did weigh more!!)

Blackie has a great personality that I fell in love with whilst I was working in the shelter. I gave my boss a proposal to keep Blackie with us at the clinic to put him on a strict weight loss plan and exercise regime. I was exstatic when my proposal was approved!

Since being under the care of the veterinary clinic Blackie has lost 1kg and is moving around at an alarming pace! He used to sit on his bed, get up for eating (or sometimes not even get up! His food was sometimes placed right in front of his face!) and sleep. That was Blackies day. NOW he gets up, has brekkie, takes his meds like a pro, walks around the clinic, starts fights with dogs, explores and makes me smile every day.

A few weeks ago I was told Blackie would be taken away from the clinic - he would go into foster care. I was devastated. Blackie made me so happy and I didn't want him to go, I was very upset. I met the lady who was going to take him and instantly I took a disliking to her. She was abrupt and rough around the edges. I wanted Blackie to stay.

I have thought lots about this situation over the last few weeks and I guess i'm warming to the idea, I guess it will be better for him, since he does pick up every teeny tiny piece of food that is spilled on the floor and he has learnt to slip his hand through the bars in some of the cages and steal food out of other cats bowls!! (he is very clever!)  I do worry that he will be too much work for the foster carer and she will forget to feed him the right diet, or forget his meds....I don't know, I guess I have to wait and see how it goes.

I'm very protective of Blackie and I want the best for him. I treat him like my own.

Blackie helping me with the washing.

Cheeky Blackie

Blackie and Fluffy having a nap

June Long Weekend

So I was fortunate enough to work this long weekend....YAY (not).

I found it rather frustrating that I had to work all 3 days whilst my husband had all 3 days off!! All I wanted to do was spend some time with him. Life here in Sydney always seems so busy and I find little time to spend relaxing with my other half.

I was lucky enough that on Monday I only had to work 3 hours.

My husband had been speaking of going to a brewery in Manly for a few months now and we thought Monday for lunch would be a great idea....however, the weather was horrible!!!!!!!! But, we decided to go anyway. So in the car we got to drive an hour over to the other side of town. As we were driving down the M5 I was thinking "OMG, we are totally crazy". It was absolutely pouring and the traffic was chaotic (more so than usual).

We drove around Manly and spotted the brewery, the next thing we needed was a car park. As we drove around I saw a quaint little sign that read "Adriano Zumbo." YES! Right next to the brewery! (I have had a slight obsession with Adrianos pastries since MasterChef 2010)


Lucky I had decided to 'dress for the snow' because it was still pouring with rain and we didn't have an umbrella! We sploshed our way to the 4 Pines Brewery, arrived looking like drowned rats.

It was quite cosy and warm BUT busy. We found a seat, outside. Thankfully it was just out of the rain and the bar staff turned on the outside heaters for us.

We orded lunch and my husband ordered his 'tasting rack' of beer! We ate and drank as the rain fell, it was rather peaceful and lovely to finally spend some time relaxing together.


My 4 Pines Cider


The 4 Pines 'Tasting Rack'

After lunch we sploshed our way around the corner to Adriano Zumbos patisserie, only to find out it was closed. Sob.

Since I hadn't been drinking I had the task of driving home.....the LONG road home. I don't like driving in the city and I had to drive over the Sydney Harbour Bridge so it was a big deal! And to have a husband in the passenger seat who was half drunk didn't really give me the confidence I needed! Anyway, after a lot of stress we made it home safely. Dodging a few crazy vehicles on the way.

Even though it was only half a day, it was a great half a day and it's all the little things that make me happy!

An update on my friends, Zorro & Baby

Baby - Once Baby's surgery healed she went up to the shelter for adoption. It didn't take very long for her to be snapped up by a lovely couple with a few young kids.
A few days after her adoption Baby and her new family came for a visit down to the clinic. She still remembered us all and gave us a big kiss and a cuddle when we went to say hi. It's great to see Baby go to such a loving new family. I know her new family will bring her in for more visits in the future.

Zorro - Zorro is becoming a part of the furniture a the clinic. He has been with us well over 2 months as his road to recovery is slow. We sent a few xrays to a specialist to get an opinion on his healing process as we were all unsure whether his leg was healing properly. The specialist said it looked fantastic and we just need to keep up with physiotherapy. If you were to meet Zorro you would realise physio is a struggle.
You go outside, struggle to put his lead on as he bounces up and down, once the lead is on you get dragged out the gate and around the edge of the perimeter! As i've mentioned before Zorro is a very exhuberant, young dog who doesn't know what slow is and we are all struggling a bit to keep him calm. He is kept in a large cage due to his post operative instructions so he is always just itching to get out.
I worked over the weekend and felt sorry for him so I was a little sneaky and let him have a bit of a larger space to trot around in. When I went back to check on him I saw that he'd tucked himself back into bed and was resting peacefully. There is a quiet side to him, we obviously just don't see it often!
I will keep you posted with Zorro's time in the clinic and let you know when he finally goes up for adoption!

June 1-10

Day 10 - Best part of your weekend. Getting a foot massage from my husband after a long day at work.


Day 9 - Your view of today. Looking down at Blackie sitting on all the clean washing at work.


Day 8 - 6 O'clock. Beer O'clock


Day 7 - Drink. Keeta and Chubbs sharing a drink


Day 6 - Hat. Carlos in a hat using some of my creativity skills and awesome apps!


Day 5 - Sign. Some of the best chocolates around!


Day 4 - Close up. Feeding kittens!


Day 3 - On your plate. Cookies I made!


Day 2 - Empty. My empty vodka next to a full one!


Day 1 - Morning. The poochies waiting for me every morning!

Photo A Day June!

Day 27-31

Day 31 - Something Beautiful. Luscious, pink, feminine lips


Day 30 - My Personality. Bright, funky, cute, quiet, independant.


Day 29 - A number. The Chapter I'm up to in my book.


Day 28 - The Weather Today


Day 27 - Something Sweet. Lokma, a Turkish dessert.