Kieran’s 21st Birthday

April 20th, 2012

We had a fabulous party at our local pub with our favourite family and friends.  We started with the obligatory family shots while everyone was still tidy!

Boy cousins (Young side of the family)

Just add Daisy and Ruby for all the cousins!

Kieran and Ryan with Nana and Grandpa

Nana and Grandpa and all their fabulous grandchildren

3 generations….

The Young/Soole family…..Chris, Carol and Charlie

My speech…..I started writing it a couple of months ago…..it was also the speech I didn’t do at Denis’ funeral…..thanked all the nearest and dearest and let everyone know that we’re all doing fine!…Talked about Kieran eventually!

Ryan’s story was the one Denis would have told…..when Kieran thought he had found dinosaur bones in our local park……it was old dog poo that had turned white!

Uncle James had another of his fabulous speeches.

Kieran’s speech was great too!

Mother and son…:)

We sang…..great harmonies!

Cake was awesome!

Jacque’s arty reflection photo….

A party isn’t a party unless The Fishies sing!

Dale. Matt, Cam and Kate (Matt’s girlfriend)

Kieran and his girlfriend Courtney.

Alex, Courtney, Kieran and Robin

My cousins Lizzie and Dave Hartwig and Andrew Kirvan

 

The younguns….Ryan, Doris, John and Fraser

 

Carol and Daisy….Aunty and niece

Jack and Oscar

Cousins Oscar and Ryan

Daisy and her beau Jack

Anne and Cleo…..Fishbowl mums

Mark and Tricia with Kieran

2 of my besties Jacque and Tricia with Joan.

More besties…Greg and Donna

The Kurpita family – Paul, Cathy, Josh and Maddy with Nick Jacka

My cousin Paul Eckert

Me and Chris….

Awesome foursome……

Mark and Sledge (Jacque’s husband)

Best girls….Donna, Annie, Cathy, Jacque and Tricia

Eliza (Chris’ daughter), Maddy and Josh (belong to Cathy and Paul) and Nick (Jacque and Sledge’s youngest)

Liam (belongs to Jacque and Sledge) and his girlfriend Georgie with Nick, Josh and Maddy.

Tricia and James Keating

Annie and Jacque

Chris, Cathy and Tricia

My favourite (and only) brother in law, James

Carol with her favourite brother in law too!

Nearly there…..

April 11th, 2012

Easter Sunday I cooked everyone bacon sandwich…and the frying pan didn’t wobble on the hot plate!

Maybe the last time we do the dishes together……why am I the only one smiling…..the boys will obviously miss the quality time we spent together washing up!

 

Yesterday the cupboard outsides and doors were put in and the fridge arrived!

 

 

I’ve never had so much room……Will probably have to buy more stuff to fill it!

Won’t be long now…..just a few more things to be done…..

A little aside…..not kitchen post!

April 11th, 2012

First Crows home game last Saturday night…Coffee and buns and 3/4 time!

 

A koala cam to visit Mum and Dad for Easter….

..and 3 weeks after I made this bird feeder…..success…and they were huge…..Sulphur Crested cockatoos

 

Had to sneak up to take pic…..

Floor’s in (part 2)….done!

April 5th, 2012

It feels so much brighter and airier……

 

 

Now to put the lounge back together……

Floor’s in (part 1)

April 5th, 2012

These boys are working very hard….

…and it doesn’t take long ……

…to take shape…..

Already looks fabulous!

It’s just like having a new house…..without moving (completely)!

Stay tuned for the final product…..then to move everything back in!….:(

Time for new flooring……

April 5th, 2012

As usual the preparation is the horrible part…..clearing everything out (finding somewhere to put it all), ripping up the carpet (very dirty underneath!).

I hope I find where dad has put everything!

The cheap labour also brought dinner and wine with them!

I hope Kieran knows how to put the TV etc back together again…..there are lots of leads/cords etc.

Great to see everyone helping!  Thanks Kieran and Courtney!

Almost there…..

Ready!

Instant transformation!

April 3rd, 2012

Well Tuesday has come and gone and wow, what a couple of good tradies can do in only 8 hours.  The sink is working and I could use the stove top but will wait for the range hood to be fitted.

Almost completely bare.

This is the first view I got when I got home from work…..

Wow…that’s all I can say…forgotten what it used to look like already!

All Kieran wanted to know was…where does the dishwasher go?

A corner pantry…..to put lots of stuff!

…and lots of useful bench space…..

The linen press…..completed.  Now to cull before putting things back…..I think it’s going to be a busy Easter!

We’re ready for it all to begin!

April 2nd, 2012

Tomorrow morning, Tuesday 3rd April my kitchen man will be here bright and early…….I’m ready, the kitchen is empty, the linen press is empty…..and the rest of the place looks like a second hand shop……how many single ‘boys’ quilt covers does a family need?

Fridge went yesterday…..it’s now on the back verandah.

Ryan and Ariya did a fab job unpacking, moving, cleaning and re packing the fridge!

This was just the beginning!

Looks pretty much like how we first saw it back in 1987!

I’m sure it’s the original lino!

Getting a new linen press too…..making the most of having a cabinet maker around.

Look what I found!…brings back many memories.

Day 1…..the wall is removed.

March 18th, 2012

The boys were not impressed to be up and showered before 7.30am…..they’ll have to get used to it when it starts to happen every day!

The lounge shifted….all the yuk vacuumed ready for the morning.

All of a sudden it looks so different!

The doorway on the left will be filled in.  It will be the corner pantry.

The Denis O’Dea memorial kitchen 2012…..the transformation begins

March 12th, 2012

I am calling it the Denis O’Dea memorial kitchen because Denis’ insurance money is paying for it…….

This will be a progressive post…. stay tuned!

These are the before shots



 Don’t you just love the chocolate brown……

It’s amazing that now it’s going how bad it looks…how did we cope with it for 24 years!

This wall will be partly removed to open the space…there will be a bench and large drawers underneath.  So the first job I had to do was the empty the shelves and shift the white cupboard….it will eventually go into the shed (that’s another adventure for another day….the shed that is!)

This says it all……

 

Then the boys (and friends) discovered there was fun to be had……