The Block 2014

We took a trip to The Block. 

I couldn't see an awful lot, mainly due to the action starting on level one and me not having a ladder.

It's a gorgeous old building.

I'm loving the pool area.

You can see my previous Block visits here & here.

Trentham Spudfest 2012

One cold Saturday, Chyken took me on a craptastic adventure.

We went to Trentham, to Spudfest 2012!

Trentham is a lovely little town, not too far from the castle.  There were three markets there.  And a man with an assortment of animals in his ute. I wanted to take one home, but Chyken rightly pointed out that we don't have a ute.

However, he couldn't say no when we found a stall selling BEE hats!!!  It even has wings!!!

They had twirly potatoes on sticks.  If you have never had a twirly potato on a stick then the next time you see them for sale you should RUN to the stall and get yourself one!  So great we went back for seconds!

I met Mr Spud.  He was lovely and didn't even try to feel me up, like so many mascots these days do.

We went on a bus tour to see some Spud Huts.  No idea what a spud hut is?  Nah, I didn't either this morning.  Turns out they were huts built in ye olde dayes by the spud farmers for the spud pickers to live in.  There are lots still standing around Trentham.

This one was pretty basic. No power or anything, basically a room with a fireplace and room for a bed.

This is Reg.  He had just come from the paddock where he had been picking potatoes and knows quite a lot about Trantham, pubs and spuds.  He made very good friends with Chyken, sat next to him on the bus and everything.

This is a brick spud hut.  Once again, pretty basic inside, but somewhat less draughty than the wooden ones that weren't sealed up from the weather.  It's very cold in Trentham.  Reg told us a story about a potato picker who took his boots off one cold day and two of his toes stayed in the boot.

We stopped at this pub, I think mainly so Reg could get a drink, but also to hear some tales of spud farming from one of the district's old timers.  Interesting stuff.

The photo doesn't really do these chickens justice, they were HUGE!  Or maybe just very fluffy, either way, they were very cool.

And they live in a very posh looking chook house.  Glass windows!

This was the last spud hut we saw.  There was a man who lived in this hut until he died at 90.  Apparently when the current owners bought the land, he came with it.  They had power put on for him, but he still washed in the creek nearby and had no toilet.

I should mention that he didn't die until 2004.

He lived in these conditions until 2004! Amazing!

After we had another twirly potato it was time to go home.  On the way home we saw the biggest group of alpacas I have ever seen.  Alpacas are Chykens favourite animal.  Do you know what the collective noun for a group of alpacas is?  Nah, me either.  I tried to look it up, but it would appear no one is really sure.  Some say flock, some say herd.  My favourite suggestion was a 'Spittoon of Alpacas'.  I'm gonna go with that!

This was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday.  We are so lucky to live where we live!



Do you love craptastic things as much as I do? What's the most craptastic thing you've been to or seen?

The Block 2012

***edit***

Previously there were some photos here that showed the backyard and the interior of one of the houses.

These have been removed following a request from the Nine Network.

***

Yesterday I took a little trip to the The Block.

Here are the houses when the renovations began...

Pretty ordinary, huh?

Wanna see the finished product?

*

Of course you do!

*

Ta-da!

Pretty cool, huh?  I really like how they all look the same.  Last year they were all different.

All the same, except for different coloured doors and slightly different plants in the gardens.  I really like the grey woodwork.

 

Notice the subtle marketing in the letterboxes?

All in all, I think they've done a fantastic job.  It's on a busy road though, not sure how it will cope with the influx of people on the open days, there were quite a few people there on a normal Saturday afternoon.

Do you watch The Block?  Who do you think will win?

The Block

We found ourselves in Richmond late yesterday, and we couldn't resist a drive by of The Block houses.  Obviously we couldn't see inside them, but the outsides look fantastic!  If you need a reminder of how they looked to start with, try this link.

House number 1, Jenna and Josh's house.  It used to have a blue door.

House 2, Polly and Waz's house.  This door used to be yellow.

House 3, Katrina and Amie's.  Previously a green door.

And lastly, Tania and Rod's house.  What once was red, now is brown.

I love them all, but I think my favourite is number 1, Jenna and Josh's.  I love the timber shutters they have going on.  I almost can't wait to find out who wins!!!!

Bits Of My Weekend - Volume Twenty

How is it the end of February?  Seriously, where does the time go?

The Guard Cats are starting to get along.  Well, that's if 'getting along' can be described as chasing each other all over the house.  When she thinks we aren't looking Nutter is being quite lovely to Sausage, but when she catches us watching there she is hissing.  I think it is only a matter of time before she gives in and they cuddle up together like the cats of my dreams!  It gets rather cold here in the winter and Chyken and I are gone all day...

Had a super amazing day yesterday, even though nothing extremely interesting happened, it was just one of those days where everything went well.  Had a wee sleep in and then went and had my hairs cut.  Then Chyken and I headed off to the big smoke.  Saw a production of Avenue Q and almost died laughing.  More on that in another post!

Then we went and had Cold Rock Ice Cream.  Have you ever been?  Oh my, it is AMAZING.  You should go.  Now.  Sooner if possible! 

Then it was dinner time!  We went to Acland Street in St Kilda and it was busy.  Like, super busy.  Or perhaps it wasn't and I've just been living in the country too long.  In any case, we stopped at the first place that had a free table and that happened to be Grill'd Grill'd is YUMMY!  I had a chicken burger with brie.  Chyken had a very nommy looking steak sandwich type thing.

We then popped in to Luna Park.  Because they have Fairy Floss and I felt that I would need a half time snack at the show.



Luna Park Gates

 Then after standing around for what felt like hours out the front of the theatre it was show time!


Interior of the Palais Theatre

Tim Minchin vs The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.  I'm not sure my words will do it justice.  It was amazing!  Funny, offensive, note perfect and visually stunning.  Here is a small example.  Not with a full orchestra, but you'll get the idea.


It was a most enjoyable day all round really.

I have spent today in my pajamas.  Chyken is off at a conference somewhere and has promised to bring home takeaway from the Indian restaurant that was our favourite when we lived in Brunswick, but haven't had since we left (it only does takeaway and if we're eating in Melbourne we usually go somewhere with chairs!)  I've had a pretty chilled day here with the cats.  There are a million things I could be doing around the Castle, but I haven't had a weekend where I haven't worked in what feels like ages, so aside from changing the sheets on the bed I have no real plans.  In fact, I might get off the laptop now and go and do that and then I can get in the bed with a book and wait for dinner to arrive.  Bliss!

What have you been up to this weekend?  Add your link in the comments...


Today I am grateful that we live so close to Melbourne.

Bits Of My Weekend - Volume Nineteen

Ohhh man I love a good pool.  I spent most of the weekend in one of my favourites.  It belongs to one of my best friends parents and it was a lovely 26 degrees.  See that lilo on the left in the picture below?  I spent a LOT of time on it this weekend.  It was divine!  (Thanks AGAIN for inviting us down there!)

THE Pool!

On Saturday morning we picked strawberries.  I don't eat them, but Chyken assures me that they are delicious.  I did have some ice-cream and some strawberry wine and they were great!



Strawberry Farm

This weekend was spent with my oldest friends in the whole wide world.  A few were missing from the gang (Hi P, K, C, K and O!), but we soldiered on without them.  As it turns out, the four ladies who went were four of us who went to kindergarten together about a million years ago.  Please excuse my 'I only got out of the pool because there was ice-cream on offer at the pier' hair.  Thanks!

Kindergarten Buddies!

We ate ice-cream while watching a beautiful sunset over the bay...



Sunset at Rosebud Pier


On the Sunday we had lunch at the Portsea Pub.  We sat in the room up the top that you can see in the picture below.  It was beyond delicious.  Then we all began the long trek home.  It was great to be back in my own bed.  Nutter was extremely glad that we returned.


Portsea Pub

How was your weekend?  You should totally write a post about it and leave a link in the comments section below!



*All photos taken with my iPhone and edited using the Instagram App.


Today I am grateful for lifelong friends.

Bits Of My Weekend - Volume Eighteen

Sorry I haven't been very bloggy lately. I've had a lot going on. Some of it great, some of it woeful. In any case, I haven't felt like writing, so I didn't. Doubt anyone even noticed really.

Yesterday was a designated rest day. I did sweet bugger all except for some cleaning and reading. Chyken went to the Castle with his Dad to collect fence offcuts and generally play in the mud while I had a big fat sleep in.

At this stage, Ownership of the Castle is scheduled for September 21st. It has been a looooong time coming and we are super excited! We got fences this week, and those and the IXl tastics in the bathrooms are the only bits of the house that we actually own right now. Not us and the bank, but just US.

Today Chyken and I (and some other lovely friends!) went to a concert at his school. "Colours of the Drum" by David Jones was AMAZING! He plays with two drumkits. And an array of Tibetan and Japanese bowls and at one point a broom! If you every have the opportunity to see David perform, grab it with both arms!

Bits Of My Weekend is an idea stolen from Six in the City. Please go over there and check out her blog, she hasn't posted for a while because she has had other things on her mind. You'll understand if you read the last few posts on her blog. Please say a prayer for her while you're there, if you're into that kind of thing.

What did YOU get up to this weekend? If you have a blog, I'd love you to leave a link to it in your comment below.

Bits Of My Weekend - Volume Seventeen

Here are some bits of my weekend...

Went to the Castle... The bathroom just needs a shower screen now...

Kitchen might need some more work...

Lunch with friends on Sunday...

Lemon Meringue Pie. Home grown lemons and eggs!

My current two favourite pictures of my second cousin, Oliver...

Found some puddles on the way home. Believe it or not, this is after we 'rinsed' some of the mud off...

What happened this weekend in your corner of the world?

Bits Of My Weekend is a concept stolen from Michelle at 6 in the City. She's had some stuff going on in her life that have meant she hasn't posted for a few weeks. If you have the time, please go over to her site and show her some support.

Bits Of My Weekend - Volume Sixteen

I've been posting this for 16 weeks? Really? Fair enough, if you say so then it must be true.

Saturday we popped by the Castle.
We almost have bathrooms!

Close up of the feature strip...

Sunday night we caught up with Brian and Kristen one last time in Melbourne. We went to Mrs Parma's.

Chyken and Brian had the Parma-geddon.

Kristen had a Mexican parma.

I had the Kiev Parma. It was every bit as good as it looks!

Cheers Guys! We miss you already!!!

What did you get up to this weekend?