Dreams- they may be grand, but they feel so good

Last Sunday Scotty and I decided to take a drive around Orange and view the possibilities..... You see, Scott does not like the idea of my driving to Orange and back each day to work. Well, we have been talking about getting a house here in Bathurst and have been looking at property for some time. We thought that when we get back from Canada we would look more closely at the situation. After having spent a couple of months commuting, we thought we would decide if we would stay in Bathurst and find a place or look for something in Orange.

As it turns out, we came across something we absolutely loved straight away (well, we have been looking for a while- just ask mum who has all the emailed photos and Sam at Scott's work who helps him rate the links I send for his approval). But when it came down to the actually pounding the pavement and walking through a house- we only walked through one.

In fact, we had not even intended to see this. A colleague of mine gave me the paper on my way to lunch with Scott on the morning we were setting out last Sunday. I had our list of possibles with me and we were going to drive by each and make a short list for contacting agents- when we were eating lunch, we saw an ad we could not believe. It was open 11am-3pm Sunday (it was presently just on 2pm as we sat in Hog's Breath Cafe eating lunch.)

It is at times like these when things just fall in your lap.

Let me show you around our dream....... Welcome, to our new home:

This is the front door; on the other side of that flax, there....
When you get on the inside of the gate on the other side of the flax, you have a beautiful timber and glass door which is really wide which opens onto a wonderful entry into the home of our dreams- yup- that is me back there at the back of the house!!!

I love the turquoise wall- don't you?
That is the entry hallway- looking at the family room back wall, just past the dining room (on your left) and lounge room (on your right)
The study you see here is on your right immediately as you open the door. For the display home here, the garage has been converted to the office for the building firm and is accessed through the study....

As Scotty calls this, the workbench.... he is so embarrassing. We are including video and commentary at the end of the photos....
This room is large enough for a game of footy....

Standing in the same place as in the photo above, the photographer (AKA Scott) has simply turned another 45 degrees or so- so that you may see the walk through robe to the ensuite from this position in the bedroom (aka workshop)

There are two vanities and two showerheads in this bathroom- somehow I think we needed two toilets....



Me in my happiest place- the wardrobe!
I think I might be staying "STOP! No admittance for YOU!"

or something like that....

Back in the hallway entrance is the linen press (outside our door, across from the study) and there is a powder room for guests.
Ok, we have now left the workshop and are walking toward the back of the house- this is the dining room

And across the hall, the lounge room

Now we are at the back of the main house, and this is the family room and meals area- I love that table- that would be our GAME TABLE!!!

The alfresco area is not covered in here, we will have a covered entertaining area to the left and across the side I am facing:

Can you tell that I love the kitchen!

Looking back to the front entry:
Here is Jen admiring the kitchen that I just LOVE


All of the bedrooms (except ours) and the laundry and main bathroom are off of the family room down a separate hallway. The hallway door is to the right of this photo- let's take a peek:


Here is the kids bedroom. It is presently the size of our bedroom on Ribbon Gum Pl. It does not show it well here, but this room is actually 3.7 x 4m
Who is this crazy person in my bath???!!!

Oh, that is just me, I had to check to see if I needed to order a LONGER one- you know, I am so tall and all....



This is where Scott THINKS is the kids' bedroom.....he has news coming- if he is getting his shed- the kids are getting THEIR room! Sam said they should have their OWN room, as we have the space for it, but I am not greedy- plus they like to snuggle up...

Inside bedroom 4: this is 3.5 x 3.5m- Scott has his back to the window here but we will have a sliding door instead and this leads out onto the entertaining deck.

This the last bedroom (Bedroom 3) which is also about 3.7x 3.7m anyway, it has a pretty big wardrobe.....
Back out the hallway to look once more upon my divine kitchen:




We went outside in the cold- the winter day did not provide sun, unfortunately and so the pictures are gloomy but it was our last opportunity to get back to the display home before heading overseas and so these shots will have to do. I think I am saying to Scott at this point that I am cold and heading back into the central heating.....

Next I will post the land we will purchase to build on and a map of where you can find us....

Please enjoy your walk through our home with Scotty on the following videos:

17 Sleeps

I just thought, as I start my new week, I would share the exciting news:

17 Sleeps until Scotty and I take off for Newfoundland!!!

YAY!

We are so looking forward to seeing everyone and of being able to show Juanita and Scott the beauty that is Newfoundland and Labrador.

We are looking forward to 'the re-enactment' as we get married in NL and celebrate with my friends and family.

We can not wait to see (and for Scott to meet in some cases) mum and dad, Chris, Andrea, Hilary, Aiden, Robbie, Trinity, Lindsey, Nan, Aunt Ruth, Uncle Wayne, Les, Jordan, Aunt Max, Uncle Rob, Mandy, Reese, Aunt Sue, Aunt Lin, Aunt Bren and Brian, Aunt Brudy and Uncle Juice, Auntie Gwen and Uncle Dave, Uncle Bill, Nana, Lindsay, Bob, Nathan and Alex, Erin, Muggs, Joan and Rex, Bev and Doug, Marjorie and Jim, Maxine and Trevor and Tavian, Evelyn and Peter, Shona and Volker, Lynn Dyson, and of course my other sister, JUANITA!!!!

YAY!

As you can tell, with this most happy thought, I am starting my week on the right foot.

Hope you are as well!
love Jen- the Lost Newf....

Happy Birthday, dad!

In fine Janes fashion, for dad's birthday this week, Scotty and I got him something WE wanted!

Happy birthday, dad!

We got a new TV!

I got this pathetically sweet text message on Friday at work that sort of went like:
"Interested ina new TV? Full high def LCD $1000 with free $700 PS3 for blue ray movies."

My reply, of course was:
"Dear god, call me direct and tell me what that means in English."

I think it means, Honey we are getting a new TV!

So, I get home Friday night from work and the Harvey Norman van was parked out the front- not a good sign. Scott drives a 4WD Toyota Land Cruiser Prado- it is big. It fit gear for 6 adults, 4 dogs, 4 adults, and 4 dogs for 5 days camping and it could not fit this TV..... hmmmm

So I get into the house figuring to see the thing set up already, as he was a little eager. As it turns out he needed help to move the old fat thing (the TV not me on this occassion) and bring in the new slim TV.

We did that, no worries, and here is the best bit: the box. Boxes are so clever these days. Do you see the two rectangles at the top (AKA bottom) of the box in the photo on the lounge? Well those are not hand holds- they are the screw plug things for the bottom. You stand the box on the table, unscrew the plug and lift the box off the TV- CLEVER.



I know it does not take much to amuse me. I thought the box was a very clever design.

So then we placed it on the stand. Now, our lounge room is pretty small, we live in a terraced townhouse and don't have much space and I am always griping and grumbling (apparently) about the amount of room the damn TV takes up. Well, this thing is not going to give us that trouble any longer!



It is 42 inches of high definition LCD TV of the year, the new X series features Motionflow 100Hz, (Whatever that is) which Scott tells me reproduces fast moving videos sequences with life like smoothness. (I thought all television and motion picture did this unless it was Thunderbirds...) The new X series also features a full HD1080 resolution, 10 bit panel & BRAVIA Engine PRO

According to the paperwork with the box are the following key features:

• Full HD 1080
• 1920 x 1080p LCD panel
• Motionflow 100Hz
• Integrated HD Digital Tuner
• BRAVIA Engine PRO
• 10 Bit Panel
• WCG-CCFL backlight 2nd generation
• 3 x HDMI Inputs
• Theatre Mode
• 24p True Cinema
• x.v.Colour
• Photo TV HD
• BRAVIA Theatre Sync
• Changeable Bezel Colours

I can now rest easy knowing that I have a second generation backlight.... or something or other.

Ginny was sat on the floor with me taking it all in.... like me, she did not realise that the tv was actually bEHIND her...


And of course, it comes with another *$%@ remote


Because we did this Friday night when I really just wanted to sit down and eat my kebab, I decided to take photos Saturday morning. Sash was pretty keen to see what all the fuss was also...

Whereas Neville was quite happy to stay in on the bed in a heated bedroom on a fleece blanket which was piled just-so to form his perfect path to spiritual enlightenment nest.

Ta-da! Happy Birthday, Vic- from Scotty with love
I know it is winter outside and mum is asking where is all the snow! We will be in Newfoundland in 18 sleeps and are escaping our cold winter to go to Summer in Canada and learned this morning that the temps will be comparable- that is about right. Knowing our luck, at least it will be an opportunity to show off Canada and NF to Scotty and for us to catch up with family and friends- can't wait.



I have not told Ginny Weasley that we are going yet.... she might need some counselling, I think....

I don't think she will be the only one in therapy, Scotty will join her for grief and loss counselling as he will obviously be missing his tv! haha

Better get going and grab some tea- it is Sunday night and Scotty just arrived with tea and movies for (you guessed it) his new tv.....

Happy Birthday dad!

See you soon, mate!

Back to Kanangra....

Happy Monday Morning!

What a fun weekend. Thanks to Bill and Karen for the RIPPER of a barbie on Saturday night. It appears that the kids were all home- what better time for a barbie! We joined Bill and Karen, their children Shannon, his girlfriend Emma, their son Chris, daughter Sam and her boyfriend Shane, their neighbours Robyn and Don, Karen's sister Jodie and her partner Darryl, Bill and Scott's mate Dave and his wife Deb, the kids, Alex, Liam, and a couple of others I did not see hide nor hair of all night for a great night of reminiscing, wine tasting and bbq. Can't get much better than that, can you ?!

Oh, but wait... you can!!!

Danny and Wattsie joined us from Queensland and Sydney on their way to Wellington and we topped it off with a bushwalk in Kanagara-Boyd National Park.... you remember Kanagra.... it was where we went to Reduce Speed Campsite....

We set off on Sunday morning and had to drive back to Lithgow to Karen and Bill's because Scotty left his wallet there Saturday night. But that is okay because Jenolan Drive loops like a letter "C" around Lithgow and so we could go straight to Lithgow and drive to Jenolan from the Eastern side of Lithgow and back track to Kanagra through Jenolan.

(This is the first time I have tried to place a map in the blog and I can not get it centred or scaled to what I like. So, to see the "C" loop, you have to reduce the scale by one notch on the thingy, then put your cursor so you get the hand next to the red "A" pointer of Kanagra-Boyd National and drag down toward the bottom right right hand corner and you will see Bathurst appear in your top left hand corner and Lithgow in your top right hand corner and be able to see where we went)

View Larger Map

Easy-Peasey.

As mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we were in National Parks and could not take the kids, which means that Dolly (Grace's Yorkie) couldn't come either. I'd like to see YOU tell her that! She had her jumper on and harness and was ready for action. But alas and alak, to no avail. Cute as she is...

We arrived once again in time for lunch... food just tastes better outdoors somehow. As you can see, Kerry, Andrew, I, Scott and Grace were pretty happy to be in the great outdoors.

On Saturday I took the kids for a walk around Mount Panorama (again) and was in shorts and a singlet because it was so nice. I realised that we would be in the mountains on Sunday but thought it would still be nice. I was wrong. Well, sort of. It was just chillier than I was prepared for. So, thank you, Kerrys' Nanny for Kerry's wonderful jumper! (It kept me warm!)

Scotty and Grace were good girl guides and were prepared, and of course Kerry and Andrew are ALWAYS prepared.... I guess I am just the optimist!

Shortly after we had lunch we started a bit of a wander and what to our wondering eyes doth appear?? (It was not 3 reindeer)

But our wallaby and kangaroo from a fortnight ago... Can you find him? He is a little wee wallaby to the left of the tree in the very middle of the photo... he was little.OK, here is a tough-y, then: Can you see the joey? (for those of you who are not aware, a Joey is a baby Kangaroo) Can you see him?

Can you see him? How about now? (Click on the photo to see the oval around the joey)





He did not wait long to join his mum and mates....


Shortly after, I almost stumbled into this wombat hole... I love wombats, and took a peek in, but I could not see him.

After the excitement- a nice walk in the fresh air, joined by wildlife (Andrew and Scotty normally qualify but in this instance we also saw Kangaroo, Wallaby and a Wombat hole but no Wombats) a great picnic with family it was soon time to head back to Bathurst.

We got back in time to watch the rest of Hidden Valley (a v8 race in Darwin) followed by a disgusting NRL match- Parramatta Eels v Penrith Panthers..... the Eels were atrocious. They clearly deserved to lose. Guess who I tipped this week?! It was disgraceful. Just a terrible game.

Ah well, after such a great explore this weekend, if the worst I have to complain about is losing my tip in the Eels match, I guess I am faring pretty well.

Hope all is well in your world!

Bring on NEXT weekend!!

By the way, for those of you counting with Scotty and I, we have 25 sleeps until we land in Newfoundland!!!! YAY!

Jen's New Work

Well, week 1 has come and gone and I am feeling good about the new job.

For those of you unaware, I am the new manager at Riverside Centre. The NSW Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care have 3 remaining Large Residential Centres. These are institutions for people with developmental and physical disability. The NSW state government are in the process of changing disability services across the state. (Thankfully.) DADHC is the largest human services organisation in NSW and as the name suggests, encompasses aged care, disability services and home care services.

Riverside Centre, is one of 3 remaining LRC (Large Residential Centres), as I mentioned. Hunter Residences encompass facilities at Stockton, Tomaree, Peat Island, and Kanangra which are all located in the Newcastle to Central Coast area of NSW. The Metro Residences are Marsden (at Westmead), Lachlan (at Ashfield) and Grosvenor. And then there is Riverside. Riverside is in Orange on the campus at Bloomfield. Between these 3 LRC there are over 1,500 residents.

I am really excited about working at Riverside; the role is a new one and so there will be a bit of an adjustment for everyone. The people are great, the staff are compassionate, competent and take pride in their work. The residents are happy and engage well and the facility itself is stunning. It is heritage listed and just gorgeous.

Monday was a bit fragmented and Tuesday I had an exec meeting in Sydney with the other LRCs. Wednesday things started to really pick up, which was a ripper because I arrived on Thursday morning and it was fan-bloody-tastic.

I did my thing until half ten again then wandered down stairs and had a chin wag with the admin crew.

After that, I said to Russell, the retiring Nurse Manager Accommodation & Services, that I was going walk about. Which I did. I got back to the office around 4pm!!! I had a lot of people to see and chat to. I really enjoyed it and the feedback was great and the staff are wonderful and compassionate and committed and the residents are delightful. I have picked up a few drawings already (a few residents who were very outgoing whom I met on Wednesday remembered me when I dropped in on Thursday and so I came back to the office with three drawings and pictures they had drawn for me and are now on my wall)

Here is the run down:

There are 6 units, one of which is the admin office.

They are all named for Rivers, hence the name Riverside. When Riverside was a part of Bloomfield hospital (1940's until 1985) the units were named after local rivers and when someone from Bloomfield was coming to the disability units they would say they were going to 'riverside' which explains things well because there ain't no river round here!

The buildings are absolutely gorgeous- as I mentioned they are heritage listed. Huge ceilings, beautiful mouldings, leadlight windows, all the beautiful things found in heritage cottages.

The campus is gorgeous also- it is surrounded by a country golf club on one side, a nature reserve on two other sides and I can't see what is on the other side of Bloomfield hospital from here in my office. Bloomfield hospital is a mental health facility with 10 or 12 units for the care of mentally ill patients and two drug and alcohol units. There is also specialist centres (6 in all) so Bloomfield is big. It is part of the Department of Health and is not us. We separated from Health in 1985 when DADHC was created. (NSW Dept of Ageing, Disability and Home Care) I have been out to Bloomfield a lot with my work with Lifeline.

Riverside is actually 8 units, 2 of which are vacant and no longer used, but because they are heritage listed, they can not be demolished so they are just there and are empty. One of them, Ward 5 will become a laundry and the washing machines arrived today and will be installed next week. (another story)

The organisation is structured like a hospital, but it is NOT a hospital in that sense of the word. I will draw you a chart: (just click it to see a larger image)

A Legend for you:
RUNM = residential unit nurse manager

RN = Registered Nurse

EN= Enrolled Nurse

AIN = Assistant in Nursing

I will start with the residential units:

Bell Unit- Bell is a unit for frail aged clients and is run by Ray (RUNM) and has 16 residents- I really like Ray, he and I are going to get along a treat.

Namoi Unit- Namoi is a bit of a mixed bag and is run by Kerry and has 15 residents- I have not had a chance to catch up with Kerry but her staff are all ok

Macleay Hostel- has 3 very highly functional residents and is the flag ship unit of Riverside- it is fitted out with all the mod cons and looks a treat. It has a kitchen and dining area unlike the other units which have a place where residents go and are fed by staff or at least where they pick up their meals to feed themselves, but in Macleay, the residents cook and prepare their own meals which is really, really good. (A nutritionist comes in a day a week to plan the following week's meals for each unit)

Peel Unit- has 14 residents, this is the only all male unit. It is divided in 2 operational units, one is high functioning and the other is very low functioning. There are 2 CJP (Criminal Justice Program) clients here. Both Macleay and Peel are run by Chris- I must have spent 2 hours here, it is great. A really well run ship and Chris and Ray are like peas in a pod and work closely, I really like Chris also. Peel does not have the luxuries or mod cons of either Macleay or Bell; largely due to the destruction of property which happens here. It also has a fenced and secure yard. Whereas the others have open courtyards and gardens and are really pretty.

Narran Unit- Narran is the unit with the most dependant and low functioning residents, it is run at the moment by Kate who is on leave and has 18 clients.

So, in testing your math, there is 66 clients, however 86 is the capacity with about 40 or so staff.

The other unit, in case you were not paying attention after looking at the org chart, there was another unit which I have not mentioned, Severn Oakes is a Day Program facility only, there is a coordinator there as well as domestic staff however it is not a residential unit.

There is a juke box and dance room as well as an art and craft room and a theatre room in Severn Oakes. Each unit also has a garden and a covered picnic area and a pretty back yard feel. Severn Oakes also has the relaxation room and spa area for residents.

Finally, Nymagee is the unit that is no longer direct care and has been transformed into an office for the administrative centre. In this office is the admin clerk, the account clerk, the Nurse Manager and his off sider, a Nurse Systems Support Coordinator and myself.

Now, there was a whole range of other positions which appear on that org chart, but they are vacant.

In a nutshell, now then, you have a bit of a picture of my new centre. More on the job another time. Hope you have a stellar weekend! I am about to take the kids for a walk.

Toodles!!