Memories from Rocky

Well it has been close to 2 weeks since I last wrote a blog. I guess Andreas and I have kinda just settled into town here at Rocky. I've been working 4-5 days a week the last couple weeks and then Andreas and I have walked the dogs or run other errands.

We have really gotten quite close with the Higgins family, who we went 4x4ing with 2 weekends ago. A week and a half ago they invited Andy and I over for dinner. We brought desert! After a BBQ meal we sang karoke for at least an hour and a half. It was so fun and funny. Jeff and Petie Anne are great and their daughters are so lovely. When you live somewhere for 5 weeks, that's about the length of time it takes to connect with people. But now we have to leave....sigh

Then just this past Saturday the Higgins invited us for dinner again. Yummy! The Higgins couple friends, Doug and Jen were also there. Fun to meet new people.

I have really enjoyed the staff I've been working with as well. The employers, Rolf and Claudine treated us staff to a lovely fancy restaurant lunch. It was so good. And considering I'm only a temp very generous of them. They also give all staff and their spouses free adjustments and massages. My spine and hips are now corrected and Andreas has experienced his first adjustments as well.

We also attended Life church a few more times and met some friendly and kind people there. It was good to attend a smaller church, people noticed us and reached out. Andreas also did some labor help there one morning.

We will be leaving this housesit tomorrow morning. Then we are off to Alpha, staying at a homestead for a weekend, then slowly start driving south, Brisbane, Ballina, Armidale, Hunter Valley, Sydney and then Queanbeyan, our next housesit.

In the pictures above are the two dogs here, Splodge (the small lab/sharpa) and Muddy (the big labradoodle). We loved Muddy and would consider having a labradoodle when we have our own place. I'm holding Missy, the black cat with personality!

The family in the picture is the Higgins daughters with their dad Jeff. The other bloke in the picture is a family friend.

Skittles, Ferns National Park and work

So this last week has been fun and relaxing, yet steady. The Skittle and mouse story is already two weeks old, but funny.

So a few days after moving into the house, I noticed mouse poo and urine under the sink cupboard. Since the homeowners had mentioned, if we happen to see mouse signs in a cupboard, just leave it open and the cats will get it, I figured the cats had already got this mouse. The cupboard just needed to be cleaned out. So I cleaned the cupboard and sanitized it.

About 5 days later, Andreas came home to find water all over the floor. He opened the cupboard beneath the sink and saw the leak in a hose. He closed the faucet and realized it was the dishwasher hose, then detached it from the outlet. Examing the hole, we realized it was definitely a mouse trademark. Plus I noticed more mouse poo on the cupboard bottom. We were like, where is this mouse coming from? We had taken everything out, and cleaned the cupboard. We had not seen the mouse. Then we spotted the hole in cupboard that the hoses go thru to attach to the back of the dishwasher. Small but enough for a mouse to squeeze thru. Skittles the cat was already in the kitchen prowling near the dishwasher. Andreas pulled the dishwasher out a bit and saw the brown mouse. Skittles was interested too, we pulled the dishwaser out abit more and she darted in right away and grabbed the mouse. Then she carried it to one of the boy's rooms. Then she dropped it and it ran up the closet door. Skittles couldn't get up there. Andy pulled it off the closet door by it's tail, and dropped it back on the floor (the bedroom door was closed). Mousy just ran under the bed. Skittles followed it under the bed and somehow managed to get him back into her jaws, but then she dropped him again. Mousy ran behind the desk and bookshelf. No way Skittles could squeeze in. Andy and I were like, oh great we need to get this mouse out, but we can't pull the desk and bookshelf to far out, as there were a bunch of books near the top. Then Andy thought of a mop handle, and Mousy wasn't too smart. Andy put the mop handle behind the desk and slowly drew it out and Mousy just ran closer to the top of the mop, and Andy's hand. We decieded not to give Mousy back to Skittles because she was just playing. She was not interested in harming it.

Then we tried drowning it into a bucket of water but Mousy just kept pawing the water. Finally we just went to the end of the backyard and tossed it into the field behind the house. Immediately the birds were at it. Let nature run it's course!! I don't think we'll be seeing Mousy

again.

Then on Saturday we had a very nice invitation from a neighbor family down the street. They are close friends with the couple(family) we are house sitting for. Jeff and Petie-Anne have 3 daughters, 9, 12, 14. They were camping out for the last weekend of mid-winter school break at Fern's National Park. They invited us out to go 4x4ing with them.

We drove an hour to the National Park and joined in for a very fun day of 4x4ing with the 5 of them in their SUV. We went on the big, high sand dunes of the area. It was very fun and we got pretty stuck at one part for abit. All fun and adventure. The girls, Charlotte, Elousie and Emma were very nice girls, it was great to spend some time with kids again. We just had such an enjoyable time with another family and getting to know more people. We feel we know Jeff and Petie Anne better then the family we're housesitting for, probably b/c we've spent more time with them already.

We went to a different church last Sunday, it was a much smaller church, maybe about 50 people. But it was warm (temp) and the pastor had a good message and since it was so small we actually met quite a few people. We will be going back to Life Church.

I have had quite abit of work this week, working 5 days of the week. At the end of last week a part-time employee quit and suddenly they needed me for more than 2 shifts a weeks. I had no problem obliging. I'm glad I've been able to help during this pinch. They have hired another massage therapist but will still give me the 3-4 shifts they offered for next week too. We will be done here in Rocky in excatly 2 weeks. I have really enjoyed working in the Hauert Chiropractic Clinic. I love the set up, it's a clean, simple, airy set up and very modern. The chiropractor and his wife are very nice as well.

Included a cute picture of Missy drinking a tad of milk.

Rocky! (aka Rockhampton)

Andreas and I have now been in Rockhampton for almost 2 weeks. It has been great to be in a house again. We were getting just a little tired of the air mattress and a few of the cool nights we camped out.

The house here in Rocky (as it's affectionatly called by Aussies) is fairly large, well larger than the place in Townsville. However I did do some deep cleaning once we arrived and settled in, so it would feel comfortable to my standards. Growing up with a perfectionist, tidy mother and home has somewhat shaped how I like a house to be. And the family that lives here are also very busy and don't have a lot of time to spend cleaning. Well I had plenty of it!

The animals are interesting, and funny. There are 2 dogs, Muddy and Splodge. Muddy is a labradoodle, and only 2 years old. Splodge is a 9 year old lab sharpea breed. I must admit I quite miss Tiggy compared to these dogs. First of all Muddy is incredibly hyper and needs a firm hand and consistent commands to not jump up on you. He is a pretty big dog, thigh height.

We are taking them for walks to the dog off lead area. Muddy runs all over the place, though at least he does come when you call. Splodge on the other hand does not listen. She could care less, I think she is undertrained, that's probably the main reason. So we leave her on the lead now, that way we don't have to run after her. Muddy we are working on training with treats as incentives. Seems to be working somewhat.

They also have two cats, Skittles and Missy. They are cute and pretty affectionate, half indoor/outdoor cats.

Then there are 4 chooks (chickens) in a pen at the back of the backyard. Easy to look after, and the free eggs are great!

Some of the best news is I am finally working! A friendly and helpful neighbor passed on a newspaper ad from a chiro office looking for a massage therapist. I phoned the receptionist/part owner and had a interview. This was just over a week ago now. All she could offer me was a casual postion, but hey, I'm only here temporarily, I'll take what I can get.

So I work about 2 shifts a week. It is great to be doing massage again. I really missed it and it's a neat opportunity to work with a chiropractor as I have never worked with one before. Also massage therapists get free adjustments and massage, so I will book myself in for one before we leave. Ahhhh......

Andreas has not found any work and that has definitely been dissappointing and frustrating for him :(

We have attended a church here several times now "Cathederal of Praise" It's a nice sized church with a really great worship team. The messages are good as well. The only down side is the air con is turned up way to high. Feel like I'm freezing thru half the service. To bad my husband is just as cold as me!

We did meet a really nice couple from the church though, Simon and Linda. They are our parents age and have a small boat. A week after we arrived in Rocky they took us out on the boat to this island 30 mins away. Humpy Island. It was such a beautiful day. We went on a hike, then had a quick bite, then the guys went snorkelling in the wet suits, while I suntanned on the beautiful beach. Then after Andy came back I put on the wet suit and went snorkelling. Some beautiful fish to see! We hope to get to the mainland beach at least one more time before we leave.

The story of the Skittles and the mouse will be the next blog.....