Welcome New Subscribers!

Hi. I've been doing a little bit of marketing work today. Even for this, my WendEmail blog. I love sharing a few tidbits every now and again to keep connected with my friends and family in the USA. I also realise that some of the people here in OZ are interested in what I'm saying. Probably in case I say something about them....

Well, today I will.

Parties

We had a lovely party here at our place on Saturday. It was a celebration of our good friend Karen's birthday. About 20 of us drank and ate and talked and laughed and sang and were sung to for about 12 hours. 2:00-2:00. Our neighbours are saints. They have never complained about our parties.

Of course, once the deck goes in, and the parties become more frequent, the anonymous notes in our mailbox might start to come.

So, to Karen, we hope you had a happy, happy birthday party in your new found home down under. To Richie, thanks for bringing her here to us. To Kat, thanks for having such a cool bro. To Paulie, thanks for your iPod, your gee-tar, and your friendship. To Colm, thanks for coming after getting called into work on a Saturday. You arrived and everything lifted even more. To Ange and Dee, thanks for cheering the Swannies to victory while the rest of us huddled around the heaters outside. To Benny-boy, thanks for finally escaping the Welcome to join us and share in the festivities. To Jadie and Kanga, I so wish I had a camera to take a picture of you as you sat in the last rays of sunshine. To all of Karen's Aussie (and non-Aussie) friends - what a great day!

Thanksgiving

The fourth Thursday of November is always the date for the great American holiday, Thanksgiving. This is our favourite American holiday and this year, we've decided to make it one to remember. We've invited the US to come to us. My mom, dad, brother, and cousins, Pete and Ali will be joining us for a turkey dinner to remember.... I can't wait!

Music

On September first, we're going to put some tickets up for sale to a fabulous musical event on the Harbour. On Sunday, November 21st, my band, Little Big Horn ("LBH" with Ben, Mark, and Vince) will be joined by my dad "Uncle Buck" on sax for a three and a half hour harbour cruise with live music, dinner, sunset and a full moon. Wayne and Rosie will start off the musical festivities and then LBH will do a couple of rockin' sets to finish the night. Let us know if you want tickets. We would love for you to come.

Bed

And now, it's time for me to escape to bed. Copper has already gone in. Alan is snoozing north of the border at a work do. I've a big day tomorrow in my candle business: a leadership workshop that I'm really looking forward to.

Stay tuned for The New Deck Part 2 (see Part 1 here). It hasn't been written yet, because it hasn't happened yet, but the before shots are coming....

Copper Whopper the Poser

Hi. My friend Vicki has been pestering me for a good photo of my dog. She is his groomer and don't you think her salon would look fantastic if it were wallpapered with images of this beautiful boy? Of course it would!?!

Actually, I've been thinking about contacting an animal agency to see if Copper would be a good candidate for a commercial. He attracts attention wherever he goes. It's his size more than anything. He is very tall and his mane of hair gives him more presence than he really has.

If we could get him in pictures, or a commercial, then perhaps he could earn some money to pay us back for his vet bills. :) And even better, we could cover his grooming bills and keep his hair long forever.

I can dream, can't I?

Anyhoo, if you click on the image here, you'll be redirected to a small album of full size pictures. So, Vicky, there you go. Take your pick! I hope you like 'em. :) WLC.

The New Deck (Part 1)

Image from GoogleMaps

Today the local council inspector came to look at our property. But that's not the beginning of the story.

We started this process about 5 months ago. On April 21st, I met with our architect for the first time. Then I researched a few other firms and we selected the first one (figures). On May 25th I introduced architect Mat and his sidekick architect Alex (FYI - a chick) to Alan. That's really when the project started... May 25, 2010.

Our vision is to create a backyard and deck that expands our living space, makes us want to be out there all the time, and provides lots of room and comfort for the hordes of guests we love to entertain (that's you).

What's that mean?

• Knock down the garage (see my car in front of the existing garage)
• Knock down the shed (aka "the spider house" - see building in back right corner of the yard)
• Knock down the old outdoor dunny (a small room with a toilet in it) and laundry room (connected to the dunny) - see small building jutting off the back of the house
• Fill in the window in the living room (the window would open into the new garage, which would be unsightly, no?)
• Build a garage next to the house (on the driveway, between our front door and the back of the house)
• Build a deck (ooh la la)
• Build a new bathroom, laundry, and cooking space (with room for a beer fridge, of course)
• Open up the back of the house to the deck with big, beautiful bi-fold doors
• Landscape

So we had Mat and Alex draw up the plans and submit them to our council for approval. This IS rocket science. Don't think so? Well, just have a look at this approval process. We are on step 10 (or maybe 11) right now.

There is so much to do now. We had to wait for approval. Now that we've gotten an indication that it will be approved, we can get a structural engineer involved, design the deck in detail and get builders to bid on the job. We want to start construction next month.

So this is Part 1. I'll be taking heaps of before, during, and after photos. Stay tuned.

And make your reservations for Casa de Curley. 2011 is sure to be a sell out!