A New Year At The Hedge

It's high time to rid your blog rolls of the Hedge's Merry Christmas post, so just a quick update on what's been happening here.

• Chrissie came & went in a flash & baby Gracie now has a direct line to Peppa Pig via her new Peppa cell phone.
• MOTH & I hopped in the car on Boxing Day & drove to Melbourne. It's a long 7 hour drive & by Bordertown we've well & truly run out of things to say to each other. But this year was a breeze thanks to Pinterest & the great 4G network on my phone. I managed to add a further 1,278 pins to my account on the trip over & back......how good is that! 
• We did Chrissie Mk11 with MOTH's family, caught up with our mob of lovely Melbourne friends, spent quality time with the 3 Melbourne sons & hit the post-Chrissie sales with a vengeance (well at least I did!)
• Work has been full-on since the 2nd week of the year, lots of nerve-racking, complex cases to welcome me back. I just want it to get easier......
• We've just lived through one of the worst heat-waves in decades, think 5 days + of unrelenting 110-115F. The poor Hills wild-life really suffers in this weather, this photo of a koala trying to find some shade on the verandah roof of my favourite store Maple, in Stirling's main street sums up how we all felt on Day 6.
• A shiny new PC has been installed on the desk at home, I'm optimistic that it may provide me with the impetus to post more regularly, although I think I just heard a collective global laugh from Hedgies everywhere!
• The main bedroom has been totally out of commission for nearly 3 weeks. As usual, what started out as a small 2 hour job, has turned into the full catastrophe. It's too complicated to explain now......pics & an explanation to follow soon.
• The birthday fairy waved her wand at me & added another year to my passport.
• Sadly, no offers for full-time work in the media have been forthcoming since I dropped that less-than subtle hint in my Chrissie post. MOTH's offered to act as my appointment maker, so Helen McCabe from Bauer Media's PA had better be prepared for the call from His Smoothness. Although I'm not sure his opening line of 'Gidday love, MOTH here, put me through to Hels will ya.' will achieve the desired result!
• How are things in your world? 

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas!

So this is Christmas......another year almost over. Work has just finished & I'm done, totally & absolutely. 2013 has been full of challenges far greater than I'd expected, on many, many levels. Things have been tough, some things I've handled well, others I've totally stuffed up. I learnt that I don't do pain & incapacity well & that patience as a virtue, is a myth. But I did discover more about myself than ever before -  just how far I could push myself, how deep I could reach & what of the Orthopaedic Surgeon's post-op advice I could totally disregard without being found out!

This year I've taken on the most challenging & demanding job of my working life & I'm exhausted. Being a 24/7 on-call role, it leaves little time & energy for anything else & I think it's got a finite timeline. There are other things I want (& need) to do to feed the inner Millie & the pull to write is stronger than ever. I don't know just yet how I can accomplish this, so I guess I'll just toss it out to the Universe & see what happens. But boy, am I open to offers!

I've missed the contact & interaction posting daily here brings....I've missed it big time. It is a hugely pleasurable experience that I need to draw back into my everyday life. The demanding technical aspects of my job leave no room for creativity or expression. It needs calculated precision & perfect clinical execution to ensure the best possible outcome for the patients who need us to survive. 

To those dear Hedgies who have stuck by me this year...thank you. The messages of friendship & support that appear regularly in my Inbox bring warmth to the coldest of days! To my trusty group of long-time Bloggie mates, who still happily give me their opinions on Facebook about all matters in life & always, always have my back, I love you to bits.

After the full catastrophe here at The Hedge last year, Christmas is quieter & more restrained this time around. Baby Grace at 17 months is an absolute cherub & totally obsessed with Peppa Pig. I've heard a whisper that Santa has made some Peppa acquisitions that will make her very, very happy. 

I have 10 days Leave now, so I'm looking forward to my annual Bloggie Wonderland catch up. It's exciting to think what I'll discover in your world! 

Merry Christmas

Source: Norwood Flower Market

Hello & Goodbye

This post has taken me ages to do, I've had 3 glorious weeks of vacation & I'd almost forgotten how to collect my thoughts, dig out some pics & compose something! Anyhoo dear Hedgies WELCOME BACK!! I've had the best time 'cos I've nested. I really needed to veg out & relax at home with nothing particular on the Agenda, & its done me a power of good.

I managed to do Chrissie with a last minute sprint & it was lovely. MOTH refused to remove his hat & apron for the pressie opening ceremony. And Son #5's size 16 feet in all their glory sans shoes appeared out of nowhere. Each year I ask the kids to observe a little decorum & wear shoes to Christmas lunch & each year they ignore me.

Puppy Lulu experienced her first Christmas & loved it!

It has been birthday month, with 2 close girlfriends celebrating their special days, my beautiful Aunt clicking over 88, Son #2 turning 32, Son #4 marking his big 30 & moi having to write 56 in the sand as of last Monday. So lots of fizz wizz has been enjoyed, but it was the brandy bottle I needed to turn to after my visit to the Orthopaedic Surgeon on my birthday.

After chucking my scans up on the viewing box he informed me that I need a knee replacement. No cartilage, bone on bone, a meniscal tear & ACL damage were his observations. Unbelievable really, as while it's been annoying the 'you-know-whatsies' out of me, I'm yet to take any analgesia. To say I was dumb-founded would not be gilding the lily. Anyhoo, cutting to the chase at 56 he needs to buy me some time before heading down Replacement Highway. I'm going to have an Arthroscopy next month & he's going to try & do some urgent remedial work. Oh joy, there goes my Footy season.

The leaning tower of books on the bedside table has been replenished BIG TIME, & I get little thrills of excitement each time I see them......especially the names Giannetti & McCulloch, hugs & kisses to you both.

However I've saved the best book 'til last. I'm absolutely thrilled to tell you that I'm going to be a Glamorous Grandmother or Glammie for short! Son #4 & his delightful girl Miss K. will be welcoming their little cherub mid-year, so I'm in Glammie overdrive. On hearing the news, MOTH took immediate steps & blocked the Baby Burberry Online Store from our PC. But I have ways & means!!

I'm off to Sydney on Sunday for the week as it's the Company's 2012 Kick-Off Meeting. A huge week with a full-on Agenda, so deep breaths Miss Millie & I'll be back next weekend. I'll tweet while I'm away, although I'll have to keep things tidy to protect the guilty. It's the weekend, so go enjoy!

Images: Notonthehighstreet & Welcome

Moving Right Along

That's it, I'm done for the year. Apologies for the lack of all things Christmas here at The Hedge - the Chrissie decorations are up & my Christmas Playlist is on 24/7 trying to jump start my festive spirit, but that's about it. The (in)famous Millie sparkle has gone AWOL, but I've got 2 weeks vacation now & I'm going to make locating that lost sparkle & doing a reinstall my main priority. The second half of 2011 has been one of the most personally challenging I've experienced in a long, long time & I'm not sure I've handled it very well. Still I can't rewind that tape, so I'll just have to cop it & move right along.

This year only 2 of the boys will be gracing us with their presence on Christmas Day. #1 will be staying in Melbourne with the other side of his family, #2 is flying out to Burma tomorrow for a 4 week back-packing & filming holiday with his lovely girl, #3 is driving over from Melbourne tonight to join us briefly, #4 will be spreading his legendary good cheer at his workplace-the most remote mining site in Australia & #5 & his bride-to-be, the sweet Miss A. & puppy Tazzie will be with us. We were lucky to have 4 out of 5 home last Chrissie, so I'll take who I can get this year & be grateful.

I have a rendevous with our In-House Orthopaedic Surgeon on my birthday early in the New Year. I need to sort out a pressing issue with a very dodgy knee that has been causing me much grief this past year. The Radiology report was ominously presented to me in a black envelope & it made for a nightmare read! All the years I spent trying to impress the sons with my massive torpedo kicks playing footy with them at the park has come back to haunt me. Then it's off to the Company's Annual Sales Meeting in Sydney for a week & all the standard rah-rah stuff that brings with it.

Thank you dear Hedgies for sticking with me this year. It's been a yukky year for us here at The Hedge. The renos came to a screeching halt when MOTH's crook back appeared & put his entire life on hold for 6 months. It appears the last ditch procedure he had in Sept. is finally starting to help & he's now managing to do a few hours work each day in his business. Then there was my change of jobs & return to full-time - enough has been said about that & I'm putting all my ducks in place to effect happier times there. Chuck a few family issues in the mix & I'm over 2011.

The Hedge will be back on track next year, with the renos. ramping up again & more shocking Before & After images than ever! MOTH & I wish you all the most wonderful Christmas Day on Sunday with your precious ones. We value your comments, emails & personal contact more than you'll ever know. I love you & I love the joy this medium brings me. Onwards & upwards & let's do it all again in 2012!!

Image: Not On The High Street - Indian Garden Company

Time To Start My Chrissie Engine

OK it's time to rev up my Christmas spirit! I'm on my second day of vacation, so dashed into the City with a long, long list, amazingly completed it all in under 3 hours, hurtled back up the Freeway, stopped off at The Stirling pub for a glass of bubbles & a mince pie to celebrate the successful completion of my mission & have plonked everything down on the sofa for Later to deal with. No-one else is home & the peace & quiet is magical, with just puppy Lulu & this year's Playlist of Millie's Worst & Most Cringeworthy Chrissie music loudly blaring softly playing in the background.

Thanks to everyone who left comments & voted in the previous post. It seems dear Hedgies we fell about 999,955 votes short of the 1,000,000 I was hoping to use as a bargaining tool in my network submission, but anywho........ What was most gratifying however is that Option #2 (Yes - as long as the blog disappears) to the question Should The Laurel Hedge become a reality TV show in 2012? received ZERO votes - yay!

I'll be back tomorrow for my last post of the year, in the meantime, I need to brace myself as MOTH the Christmas Grinch is due to make his annual appearance any moment now. My spies have forewarned me that he's heading up the Freeway now in the truck. It's easily recognizable as it's the only one without tinsel wrapped around it's bull bar!!

Image: From the lovely Rosemary at Content In A Cottage

A Sweet MOTH

With work being totally responsible for me now actually having lost the will to live (MOTH reckons trying to deal with this particular group of clients is akin to herding cats!) & a major family issue that needed me to hang the Dr. Millie Family Therapist shingle out urgently, it's been a tough, tough, tough, tough week. I'll share the family thing with you when I can get my head around it & I've lowered the level in the vodka bottle a bit more. MOTH's been his normal 'Deal it with it & move on Mills' self, but this morning he rendered me speechless.

'Hey Mills, I noticed Balhannah By Design have got a VIP shoppers night on tonight. They had a new container of stuff from France arrrive last week & one from Belgium on Monday. Mon's had to hire out the Balhannah Village Hall temporarily to fit everything in. If youse like, I can come home from work early & we can go up there together. They've got free grog, free gift wrapping & 10% off everything. Would that cheer youse up?'

Would it ever babe, fire up the Millie-mobile & let's go! Oh & if you or the girls are reading this Mon, for goodness sake if MOTH offers to man the gift wrapping table & gives you a story about his prowess in that Department - DON'T LET HIM!!!

Images: Balhannah By Design

A Change Is Coming

Over the years many of you have blogged about the take-up of online shopping - how it's affected your shopping rituals, online vs. bricks & mortar, etc. Last year I did about 50-60% of my Chrissie shopping online, this year I've already knocked over about 70% of The List & I'm yet to enter a High Street store. Returning to the full-time work grind this year has probably influenced this to a degree, no more glorious no-work Fridays & Mondays to leisurely wander around the stores. It's been a natural progression, quite unintentional on my part, but I have set myself some online ground rules.

Use reputable Aussie stores that have a retail outlet with a great online presence (note to David Jones - you guys REALLY need to get your act together with a much more comprehensive online catalogue than your current woeful offering!), check the gift wrapping option each & every time, not pay more than $10 delivery per order & use a direct debit facility or move on if it's not offered.

Are things changing at your place this Silly Season? Are you hitting the Buy Now button more than last year? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

ADDENDUM: Thanks to Jac for reminding me that MOTH needs to do his 2011 Christmas Gift Wrapping post. For those new to The Hedge, here's what you can expect. Last year's post didn't eventuate 'cos The Ten Network didn't cough up to televise the 2010 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in Australia. Crumbs I hope they've seen the light of day this year & done the deal with the US network or he'll be impossible to live with!

United We Stand

Like so many others, I've been deeply affected seeing the devastation & loss the horrendous floods have brought to my fellow Aussies north in Queensland.
The response by Brisbanites to their brothers in great need has been awesome. An army of 16,000 volunteers turned up on Saturday & 10,000 answered the call yesterday. I am so proud of these ordinary people who stand in a queue with their gumboots, brooms, mops, hoses & buckets. Ready to be bussed out to the houses & businesses of complete strangers in faraway suburbs. They just want to do their bit - you are legends each & every one of you.

My 3 weeks vacation has gone in a flash. We had a house full of guests for 12 days & it was bedlam. The bookings spreadsheet I had done pre-Christmas never left my hands & was an organizational God-send. I cooked, cleaned, shopped, stripped beds, washed linen, remade beds & then started the cycle all over again. I haven't opened any of my Chrissie books, seen a movie or spent an arvo on the sofa. Although I did get my priorities right & managed to hit the New Year sales for some compulsory retail therapy.

We had a lovely Christmas Day at Son #5 & his gorgeous girl Miss A's house. I was so proud of them both, they did a spectacular job with lunch. With 4 out of 5 sons home, it was inevitable that a large amount of post-prandial clowning around occurred. I have the perfect caption for the above image, but MOTH would sue!

Over the Christmas period, things got out of hand amongst the reunited brothers on occasion & I was forced to read the Riot Act to a number of the sons. You know who you are & are pictured below.

Enough said!

A much more civilized shot of the Little Darlings & MOTH for The Hedge's Christmas Album. At 6'5" MOTH looks to be the quite short in this pic, either that or Son # 2 is still growing at 31. Each Christmas I put out a request that they make an effort & dress up for lunch & every year they do - NOT!

There was another birthday for moi. The numbers 55 suddenly appeared on my speedometer last Sunday, but there's no way I'll be sticking to my speed limit this year!

MOTH's famous Christmas Lillies displayed a great deal of confusion due our cold, miserable, inclement December weather. For the first time ever, the yellow Asiatics bloomed first & were a riot of colour for weeks.

Then their White siblings made an unfashionably late appearance last week & have filled the house with their breathtaking perfume.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone for the beautiful & very generous comments left on the Our New Bathroom post. Your words have left MOTH & I positively buoyed & we are so grateful that you all managed to go the distance with us. In all the flurry of activity around here I really hadn't a chance to stop & revel in the joy of it all. However, we had a group of friends over for dinner on Saturday night & during the course of the evening I did what everyone else was doing. I wandered up to the new 'facility' instead of dashing into the grotty ensuite as normal. As I watched the nifty self-closing lid gently descend to meet the loo seat (only a mother of 5 sons can get teary-eyed over that remarkable innovation) I suddenly became quite overcome with emotion.

For the first time it really, really hit me that the Bathoom-From-Hell was no more, & in it's place was the fabulous room I've been dreaming about for so long. Back to work for me tomorrow, but it's lovely to be back here with you all. I have a big year planned, so I'd better get to it.

Images 1 & 2: Courier Mail 4: Amazon 7: Treehugger

Our New Bathroom!

As promised, for my last post of the year, I am delighted to reveal the end results of almost 2 years blood, sweat & tears converting the Bathroom-From-Hell into the Bathroom-From-Heaven! While there are a few things not quite complete, (the 2nd shower rose is still sitting on the floor ready to be thrown up, the far side panel of the vanity bar needs to be fixed in & the newly painted door needs to be put on its hinges), it's pretty much done. This room is never going to win any awards for style & design, but I'm so thrilled with the results & that's all that matters. Our main objective was to turn a tiny, dark, grotty, disgusting space of 1.7m. x 3.1m into something functional & light. All on a budget of under $10,000 & doing all of the work except the plumbing & the major electrical ourselves on the weekends.

Here's what we started with. The original 1972 tiled floor, no power points, a shower over the bath, desperately inadequate storage & poor lighting.

We barrowed lots & lots of bricks down the stairs & out via the front door!

The rotting timber window had a bizarre external grid of bricks on the outer wall, MOTH ripped those off early in the piece to try & let some light in.

The space is still the same & we needed to keep all of the major items (loo, basin, shower) in exactly the same spots to save on plumbing relocation costs.

Despite some initial doubts that the configuration would work, I think it all flows really well & just feels so much more spacious.

I knew from the start that I wanted a really, really big mirror to create the illusion of lots more space than we actually have. I had to really fight to convince MOTH & the manufacturers that I needed such a huge mirror. This is what we had before, with the man of the moment starting to rip the tiles off the bath surround on Day 1 of the reno.

And here's what's in the same place now - I really think it works a treat.

The single shower over the bath before image.

And now the double shower recess. We decided against installing a bath here, as I'm planning on putting one in the en-suite when it gets it's much-needed renovation next year. Yes, that thud you heard was the sound of MOTH dropping to the floor in dismay!

As you can see the ceiling height here sloped up & was too high, so MOTH built a frame & dropped it down & we now have 2 varying heights in the room. The yucky window went.........

....to be replaced by a bank of clear glass bricks. I love being able to see all the big trees from our front garden through the glass & all that daylight is scrumptious.

Look away now if you are a fragile flower, as this is not a pretty picture!

A great improvement in the loo department! So here it is, albeit a brief post. I want to do a more thorough post on the project & will do that soon. MOTH has had many structural challenges along the way with this room & he reckons this project has been his renovation nemesis, but I think he's amazing for a 62 year old amateur!!

I go on 3 weeks vacation today & the first of our interstate Christmas guests has just arrived, so I need to say my goodbyes now until next year. I have had another year of blog love, thank you, thank you to everyone who's left comments or lurked, kept our spirits up & had a laugh with us......it's been a pleasure beyond all measure. Merry Christmas from all of us at The Hedge & I'll be back in the New Year. xx

JOY

Last Christmas our beautiful 'girls' down on the Tennis Court flowered early, so I was able to enjoy dozens of white Christmas lillies strewn artfully arranged throughout the house over the Festive season. Sadly, this year the freezing cold, miserable start to our Aussie summer has delayed their blooms & a couple of nights ago when we wandered down to check on them, the buds were still tightly shut. MOTH reckons they are at least 2 weeks away - cue deep, heaving sobs from moi! However, when MOTH stumbled in from work last night, he was carrying the most exquisite branch of stephanotis (Bridal Veil). 'Here Mills I knicked this from a customer's place I was working on today.' Oh always the romantic my MOTH! So I popped the blossoms into small water vials & tucked them into the stocking hanger on our grotty, smoke-stained mantle. I wish we had SmellaBlog, as the scent wafting from them this morning is nothing short of divine!

God Save The Queen

Christmas Party # 2 of 9 is going to be held in this gorgeous room today. Although I work in an extremely competitive industry, each Christmas we forget all that stuff & about 12 of us leave our sharp knives at the door & get together for a long, long, long lunch. This year it's my turn to organize & host. So I've chosen one of my favourite pubs, The Queen's Head in North Adelaide. It has been met with universal approval, so I feel a very Festive session coming on.

MOTH & I have sat by this fire often & once we've secured those Egg chairs, no amount of bribery from other patrons will move us on.

And here she is looking down on us, Our Gracious Majesty - raise your glasses please to the year that was!

The Queen's Head is in a quiet side street in North Adelaide within batting distance from the world famous Adelaide Cricket Ground. It's the oldest pub in Adelaide, having served its first drink in 1838 (& no I wasn't there that day!!). While it's been given a very snazzy internal make-over in recent times, it still retains enormous heritage charm & street appeal. Adelaide still has little bluestone gems like this scattered around the city - & long may they continue to thrive & prosper I say.

Images: The Queen's Head