Update on the Chicken saga - and a farewell to Ant !

The chicken must have had a good old night in the laundry - when we went in there this am there was poo everywhere - who would have thought a chicken could poo so much - she had even jumped up on top of the toilet seat to do one ... good girl !!

Anyway, after delivering the fliers last night and not hearing a word from anyone this morning, we were beginning to panic about what to do with her ! (Especially with our first open day being this Saturday !).
So - this arvo (about 3 pm) when I drove back from a job, I thought I would have a look at the street behind us - to see if I could find a 'chicken-looking' house !  I was in luck !  I met a lady in the street, who directed me to the house at the back of her who she thought had chickens !

So - I went and saw those people, asking them if they had chickens and the lady said she did indeed have one !  So - I asked her if that one chicken might have gone missing !  We went to inspect the run and it was indeed chicken-less - so I went and got her and took her home ! Apparently, she hadn't had her wing clipped lately, but had never tried to escape before !  I was very happy to leave her with her lovely home and her deluxe chicken-run!  It turns out her name is 'Dog' !!!  ... quite appropriate since our two wanted to have her for tea!

Anyway ... when I went back in the laundry to clean up .. she had left us a pressie ... how special !! We will savour that egg like no other !  One day I would like to have my own chickens - so it was a good intro!

Anyway - with all the chicken saga going on ... we forgot to mention that our lovely nephew has departed these shores and is now back in Blighty!  Here is a quick pic I took when I was farewelling him to the Shuttle bus !  He was here for 3 months in total - the place is pretty empty without him here - although I am glad he wasn't here for the chicken ... he is the biggest carnivore I have ever met !!! :) 

That's my lot for today ... settling down for the evening with a glass of champers - to celebrate our 'for sale' sign board going up outside the house !  (any excuse !) Elaine xx

Rugby World Cup

Bugger all to do with canals and narrowboats, but this made me laugh.........GO THE AUSSIES!!!

Chicken Anyone

Just got home from work when we heard the dogs going nuts on the front deck, checked it out and there was a bloody chicken!!

We live in the city for Christ sake, what do you do with a chicken? Eat it of course, only problem with that is that Elaine is a big time vegetarian.

The said chicken is now safely ensconced in the laundry and Elaine is going around the streets putting chicken found flyers in the neighbours letterboxes.

I wonder......chickens on a narrowboat....nooooooooooooooooooooooo!

The Campaign Begins!

The ads are in the papers and on the Internet click here its all go for the 1st open day this Saturday, I really hope we sell before the auction, but either way 1 month from now we should know exactly where we stand.

Good news is that yesterday the  Reserve Bank of Australia held the interest rate at 4.75%  so the buyers should be out there.

Canal Webcams

Just checking the canal webcams before leaving work for the day, and I would have to say the weather looks decidedly rotten click

Of course this is at 8.04am UK time. Hopefully your weather will improve later!

Here in Manly its sunny and 26 degrees at 5.04pm :-)

Melbourne Weekend and Long Lost Relos

We arrived in Melbourne on Friday afternoon, picked up the hire car and went straight to the Hotel. Bags deposited, we spent the rest of the day walking around the city and being good tourists.

At night time we took a cab to Lygon Street,  which is famous for its Italian restaurants.....we had Thai ! :)

On Saturday we drove up the Dandenong ranges - to Gembrook,  which Elaine goes into in more detail below.

On Saturday night we went to the Crown Casino where we won $21.00!!!! ... and then lost it!   We had dinner later (at 10 pm!) at a very amusing Italian restaurant.
On Sunday we went to St Kilda (which, once again, Elaine describes below) and in the afternoon we went back to the city for more exploring of the city and headed off to the airport and home late afternoon.
All in all a great weekend in a not so bleak city....and they do make very nice coffee!

Flying in over Melbourne

The Yarra river

Southbank where we stayed



The famous Flinders Street Station

Flinders Street Station

1930s tram on the free circle line

On Saturday we headed off to Gembrook, which is a beautiful little village in the Dandenong Ranges - you can click HERE to see more info about Gembrook and also Elaine's Uncle, who is an Artist.

A Cockatoo overlooking the party !

Family pic !

Long lost cousins !

Catching up on a few years !!

The Gembrook cottage and 'Aunty Pat'

Long Billed Corella in Pat's garden

At last .. some young 'uns for Ant to converse with !

The youngest members of the tribes !

View from the veranda .. not too shabby !

More long lost cousins ! (He was shorter than me last time I saw him  - Elaine)

Elaine and Lynne

Paul snuck off with Ant to check out Puffing Billy !

Sunday ...

Elaine's Uncle and Aunt run a stall at the St Kilda Esplanade Market - most Sundays !
Uncle Lionel aka Leo Buckley - paints personalised book marks to-order and 'Aunty Pat' is in charge of card sales (beautiful pen and ink prints of Melbourne and the local wildlife).

Lionel has also written a book about drawing - you can find more info on that by HERE



The Stall



Constant flow of customers all day

The whole stall is built on a small trailer and all folds up after use 

Artist at work !

Off To Melbourne

We are flying off to Melbourne tomorrow for a 3 day break, Melbourne to us Sydneysiders is commonly known as the bleak city and Mexico to name but a few. There is a great rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne, Sydney has great weather, fantastic beaches, incredible harbour, Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, the best harbour in the entire world, held the best Olympic games ever, and I could go on for ever, Melbourne however does nice coffee!! 
Our main reason for the trip is so Elaine can see her Auntie and Uncle for probably the last time before we take off to the UK. We are staying in a hotel in the city but will drive up the Dandenong ranges to see them on the Saturday.  We are taking Anthony with us and will obviously have to go out and have a few drinks whilst we are down there, Anthony leaves us next Tuesday and heads back to the UK and Sheffield Uni.

Should be a good trip, we will post some pics next week.