Much of today has been used looking for housing over the internet and getting ourselves ready for our trip to Launceston tomorrow – We have to be there by 9am and as the trip takes over an hour we have to basically be up and out in the morning.

Thankfully we have been able to get the kids into care for the day, which is a relief. We are only going to Launceston to get the gas fixed on our car. It has been playing up, working sometimes, then not working at all for over 3 months now. It is so frustrating. We took it to a local guy to look at, but were told it is definately a gas issue. So now have to take it into Launceston as no one around here deals with gas – Infact you can’t even fill up your car around here with gas, the closest places to home to get gas is in Launceston or St Helens, both over an hours drive away in different directions!

So once we get to Launceston and drop the car off SZG and I will just be hanging around until Hopefully the Gas guys can fix the issue. Thankfully only a corner block away, we have a McDonald’s, so will be able to grab a coffee there and wait for the car to be fixed. Now don’t get me wrong, we don’t really like McDonalds, but it is close and will save us money having to find somewhere else to go while we are waiting.

Hopefully the car will be fixed quickly and we will be on our way again. I am hoping that we will be able to check out the shops while in Launceston and pick up any bits and pieces we need while there.

Lets just hope the weather is nice, as regardless of what happens, we will have to do some walking…..

Today was a relaxing day, JAHG went to vactation care and NIK stayed home with me, while SZG was at work at the Mill. JAHG had been bugging me to let her go for weeks now. Every time we dropped NIK off she would ask to stay. There was so much for her to do and other children to play with. So we made arrangements for her to be booked in. You should have seen the smile on her face when she realised she was going to Care for the day she was very excited.

So with NIK and I just home, we managed to clean the house, do some cooking and then spend some time together doing fun things like drawing, playing games, singing and dancing.

NIK has a real love of music, she sings everytime a TV show comes on that she knows the theme too. Her favourite is the theme to “Two and a half men”. She loves singing “men, men, men, MEN, MENNNNNNNNN!” She is so cute. She loves to ‘jiggle’ to the music too, and is always pulling at JAHG or me to get up and “OGGIE” as she would say, with her.

Another of her favourites is the TV AD for Jim’s Servcies. You know, the Jim’s Mowing, Jim’s dog cleaning  services and things. The AD on TV has a number of Jim’s Marching out and she does exactly what they do as she sings the jingle from their AD… She brings a smile to our faces everytime.

Well today has been one of those really wild and windy days.

I don’t think I have never seen or been in the middle of wild and windy weather like what we are currently experiencing. The trees outside are doubling over with the force of the wind and so far I can see a lot of broken trees, branches, and a few trees uprooted from the ground. granted they are not huge trees, but they are not small ones either!

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the winds have gotten up to 100 klms an hour around here, in some parts, and believe me that’s very fast when you are there. Makes me wonder how people survive and live through things such as hurricanes and cyclones. I don’t think I would ever wish to live through one of those if I had any choice about it.

We are not the only one’s with damage to our property. Across the road our friends have lost the roof of their shed and a number of other neighbours have put bricks onto of their roofs to try and keep the tin on and secure, in places where it is starting to lift.

Luckily there were a number of people away from work today at the mill so SZG gets to work inside the shed today and not outside surrounded by the wind, rain and wild elements.

Some of the Damage from the Strong Winds