Back in the Ville

Monday 21^st January

We left the caravan park at our usual time and breakfasted at Maccas. Then we went to the second hand book shop to see if they would buy my copy of ‘The Casual Vacancy’. The lady who runs it was so apologetic that they did not pay much as she offered me $6.00. I figured that was a pretty good deal since I usually just swap them over in caravan park laundries.

My new found wealth was short lived as Ron scuttled off to the two dollar shop nearby and bought a couple more plastic storage containers for Indie.

We stopped off at a Homemaker Centre in Townsville and bought Ben and Anita a mattress topper (a belated $mas present).  We figured that since they probably won’t get much sleep in the near future, the bits they do get should be as comfy as possible. 

Then we thought we had better get something for Dollar so he wouldn’t feel all left out because I had the rattle and the bananas for Xander. Dollar already has lots of toys and he loves them. In fact Ben was telling us that recently he and Anita had taken Dollar for a walk down The Strand and they were talking with a couple who had a little girl. They asked if it was OK to pat the dog and Ben said he wouldn’t bite but to watch out he didn’t steal the little kid’s toy. It all went very well until about half an hour later when they bumped into them again and Dollar just grabbed the little kid’s toy monkey and bolted off with it!!!!!

 

We had a wonderful time with the baby Xander…..lots of cuddles and nurses.

He is soooooooooooo gorgeous! Just eats and sleeps….frowns a bit…..gurgles and bes cute!! He obviously takes after his nana on his father’s side.

And how happy does nana look?

 

Sometimes just watching Ben and Ron interact with Xander is in many ways as cute as Xander himself!

 

 

 

Of course all interaction must meet with Dollar’s approval!!!!

 

 

 

In the afternoon we took Dollar for a walk to the shops.

Tuesday 22^nd January

We received many thanks and much praise for the mattress topper.

Poor little Xander went and had his ‘snip’ this afternoon. He was very brave (braver than Ben apparently) and hardly cried at all. Anita had managed to find a Jewish paediatric surgeon who was quite happy to do it.  He whisked Xander off to the other room to do the procedure and when he came back, told them that Xander was much too young for pain killers so he had given him a couple of drops of Brandy. It must have done the trick because he was a bit grizzly when he got home but settled again fairly quickly.

Ben wants to put paving or decking or something down the side of the house so he and Ron have been busy measuring and getting quotes on different building materials.

……And then it stated to rain……..

Wednesday 23^rd January

It has continued to pour down rain all night and is still raining today.

Apparently the brandy wore off some time during the night and Ben spent three hours trying to settle Xander again. I have no sympathy for him though because I offered to take Xander out to the bus to sleep with us but Ben would not be in it for some reason.

I fed Xander this morning and he sicked up on me….aaaahhh, bonding!!!

Anita dropped Ron and I off at the shops on her way to a doctor’s appointment and I bought a little stork charm for my bracelet from ‘Butterfly Silver’. While I was in Angus and Coote, I saw the little elephant that Ron bought me ages ago. (It had broken and I took it to a Jeweller in Darwin and they wanted about $28 to fix it which explains why it was still in my bag!!!.) I asked the lady if they had any kind of guarantees on their jewellery and without even blinking she took my old one and gave me the new one to replace it. I was soooooo impressed.  Ron and I had lunch while we were out and I bought Xander a book of Nursery Rhymes so Ben will finally get to learn them.  We had lunch and Anita came and picked us up again.

Ron and Ben went in search of building materials in spite of the fact that I think we are on the cusp of forty days and forty nights again. We have seen hardly any rain for the last seven months and I’m sure we have had that seven month’s worth yesterday and today with much more predicted!!!!!

Thursday 24^th January

I finally saw a news report….I didn’t realise it was as bad as it was…..flooding, roads closed etc. I wondered why people were sending emails asking about Indie’s waterproof qualities and our swimming abilities!!!!!

Ron and Ben went off to the shops determined to buy building materials. I was left holding the baby (so to speak). We had a lovely time for a good couple of hours while they were gone and Anita had a sleep.

Ron came back with a new light globe, a new connection for the Navigator to plug into and silicone to plug up a leak next to my bed!!!!  All done….all fixed!!!! And Ben’s timber arrived!

Ron and Ben went fishing at 1.30 pm and returned (empty handed) at 4.00 pm. Slim        pick- in’s tonight!!

We ended up with take away pizzas at about 8.30 pm.

Friday 25^th January

Ben and Anita went to have some professional photos with Xander and Dollar.

We are defrosting the fridge…it has been playing up again it works fine (it does ice up) and then it will just leak water every where…..if it’s not one thing, it’s another!!!!!

Mesco, Ben’s mate came round. He bought the most enormous bunch of flowers and the hugest basket of baby goods I have ever seen.  Absolutely beautiful!

Saturday 26^th January

We have all been invited over to Ben’s friend Taj’s place for Australia Day lunch.

It was really good…..you could not have had anything more Australia Day than the wives around the kitchen table, the blokes outside at the BBQ and the kids alternating between video games in the lounge room and the trampoline in the back yard. I had a lovely time and it was interesting to hear some of their war stories. The most amazing thing though was watching Taj’s baby Grace. She is 18 months (not years, months) old and her mum gave her her mobile phone to play with. She just sat down and scrolled through all the icons till she found ‘The Wiggles’ and sat and watched it for a while then changed it to something else……unreal……Einstein’s fears are really coming true!!!!!

Sunday 27^th January

Did nothing went nowhere!

Telstra network has gone down…..phones keep saying….’emergency only’…..and we have no internet…..

Luckily, I made my important phone call this morning. Ron had ordered 2 pairs of fisherman’s pants on line and they have not arrived yet……that’s because they sent them to our old Helensvale address!!! I’ve arranged for the lady next door to get them and we will pick them up when we get there in a few weeks.

Ben and a couple of mates went out for Sunday Sesh this afternoon. (i.e. to the pub!)

It turns out, about 400,000 people were in the same boat (so to speak) with Telstra because the flooding all over the country side had knocked out a major cable and the back up one! Townsville had no ATMs or Eftpos either. Anita kept us up to date because she is with Vodafone.

Monday 28^th January

Ron and I went for a walk to the local shops, just to get out of the house. We were going to take Dollar but it was decided it was too hot for him. Good move Dollar; when Ron and I got back, we were almost deceased from heat and humidity………. Bring on Winter I say! (But we all know that I will complain about the cold then.)

Telstra got their act together and all has been restored.

I woke up in the middle of the night sweating to death….we had a blackout! It lasted a good 2 to 3 hours. So, it’s all happening in The Ville!!!