The Day the Washing Machine Died

And I am singing Bye Bye my Whirlpool, Bye.
Trusted you, busted you,
No, you did that, WHY?

Them good old days when we could trust an appliance,
You had to break in an act of defiance.

RIP Washing Machine. Purchased Nov 2011. Yep folks, last year. It's 8 months old.

It is now 7 days since I rang the customer service line to report a problem with my washing machine. I still have not had any of the 3 promised return phone calls.

The local warranty repairer has stopped working with Whirlpool because their parts are to hard to get.

So there is nobody who can fix it under warranty in whatever radius they use.

Yesterday I resorted to hand washing. For a family of 5. Fun much? Ah, nup.

Yesterday I also resorted to buying a new machine machine. Not a Whirlpool.

Lat night and this morning see me happily washing loads and loads of clothes & towels.

This morning also saw me back on the phone to Whirlpool customer service (who have been very polite and apologetic, just not good at carrying out promises). They want to replace my machine. TOO LATE BUSTER!! I will have a refund instead please.

I wonder how long it will take..............

Have you ever had anything replaced or repaired under warranty?

Yours in washing heaven,

Karen xx

UPDATE UPDATE!!!! THEY HAVE PROMISED US A REFUND!!!!!! YAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!

The Countrification of Us. Part 2.

So continues the story of our move to the country.

For those who missed part 1, it's here.

First impressions certainly last. I truly believe that being on the receiving end of such a warm welcome as our first impression was a major factor in our first week feeling magical, as we stayed in that beautiful farmhouse.

dining room to kitchen

lounge room

can I please keep this hallway?

study, Zac's bedroom behind

laundry, enormous!

front entrance

master bedroom

Zac's room

Liam & Megan were happy to share

even set up a baby's room, just in case we had a really young one

front door, doors on left lead to main bedroom

view from the doors to main bedroom

driveway

one of a family of 6, seen daily in the paddocks

remains of a frost

very sad to leave it

The farmhouse is on a 163 hectare block, owned by the company. It borders the road to the mine. I think the mines up here tend to buy the land immediately surrounding them to act as a buffer between them and the residential area. I think it's a great idea. And an even better one is that the land is open to tender, meaning people with horses or cattle can tender to use the land to graze their animals. What a great way for it to be looked after! The house will remain available for families just like us, who are relocating to work for the company.

It was for us, the perfect opportunity to slow down and think of it as a little holiday before we moved into the rental house. Poor hubster Ray had to start work on the Monday, so hasn't had a holiday yet.

From here we were less than a 5 minute drive to the shops. I find it amazing here that you are driving through town and all of a sudden you are surrounded by farms. The suburbs don't roll into each other like they do in the Illawarra (and most of suburbia) - you get past the last street of houses and WOW - open space like I've never seen before. Speed limits go seem to be either 50 or 100 km. 60 & 80 zones are short and only there as a wind up or wind down to the 100 km zones.

Over that first week, hubster went to work and the kids & I did a bit of exploring, just finding out where shops are & stuff. We found a park to play in, which the younger ones loved. We took it nice & slowly until our furniture started arrived at the rental house on Day 4.

So we travelled 30 minutes through those wide spaces, along the 100km zones, and finished 2 towns along, to where the rental house is, in the stock horse capital of Australia.

More about that in Part 3.

Karen xx

Winner Announced - Cocoon Grid-IT Winner

This prize is unclaimed as at 28/07/2012. New winner is Lisa W.


To find out more about the Grid-IT, check out Cocoon Bags Australia's Facebook page for some inspiring ideas! I am STILL in love with mine. Don't forget they come in a range of sizes and colours, to suit everyone's needs.

contents not included, sorry! they are my personal items!

The winner of the super awesome Cocoon Grid-IT is:

MichVee

with the following entry:


With three kids aged seven and under
My handbags a mess, is it any wonder?
There's the youngest one's dummies and snacks
For when those tantrums or munchies attacks
There's notepads and pens, hair ties and keys
Nail scissors, chewing gum, and tissues for when I sneeze
As you can see, I really need this little device
So when I open up my handbag instead of a mess, it'll look nice!


Congratulations, the poetry won us over!

Please send me an email at mummabear1970@live.com.au with your postage address to claim your prize by 21/07/12.

Have a fabulous day everyone!

Karen xx

The Countrification of Us. Part 1.

To bring you up to speed, over the past two weeks, we have packed up our family of 5 & moved to a town 5 hours northwest from everything familiar to us. Was it really only 2 weeks ago? Feels like we've been gone for ages.

It's a tree change, the ocean is now hours away. We are being countrified! And we are loving it.

The packup took 3 days, which looked like this:

my balloons from farewell lunch

looks HUGE when empty!

nothing left in here Mum

my entryway

my hallway



our highly efficient movers

To escape it, we were able to stay at alternative accommodation (Thanks new company!):

where I spent my 2 evenings, luxuriously bubbling

love the mini supplies

So that's where we left the Illawarra region. 32 years of familiarity for me, gone. Hubster Ray was born there 42 years ago.
Fast forward to the Saturday & we took the drive to our new town (which took 7 hours with Sydney traffic & a lunch stop).

Here's one for all you keen photographers:

(It's a history of cameras, found the the cafe we stopped at for lunch).

Let me tell you, that after that long trip, having google mapped the address for our temporary accommodation, to reach the house at dusk, and be met at the door by a friendly housekeeper who had unlocked & warmed the house AND bought us some grocery essentials, was an AMAZING first impression that is tattooed into my mind. Plus there was a gourmet food & wine hamper on the bench. And a bag full of touristy guides & maps - this area is full of wineries, I'm thinking I'll feel right at home.

Here's a glimpse of the farmhouse. More to come next post.

This is where I will leave Part 1. Stay tuned for part 2.

Do you have a moving house story to tell? Share it with me!

Karen xx










Another indication I need a life.

Found: double power point under kitchen island bench.

Excitement level: High. Brilliant designing right there.


Let me explain, I've never had a kitchen island bench before.

Is there usually a power point there?

Karen xx

Why I dislike technology Reason # 1.

I have spent several hours the past couple of days trying to do something technological all by myself. I am trying to get my photos off my phone onto my computer so I can finish writing some blog posts. Sounds easy doesn't it?

Well, IT FREAKING ISN'T!!!!!

Ruddy phone just wants to charge itself using my computer, instead of transferring the photos. Hubster Ray has shown me a couple of times on my previous computer how to set the phone up as an external drive thingy so I can choose which photos to upload, rather than having them all move across each time (and ending up with the same 300 photos 4 times, including the useless sample pics on the actual phone).

Well, I CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT!!!!!!

Neither. system. will. work. I can't even get the option to transfer ANYTHING across.

I often call myself a techno idiot, but this proves it.

I am going to take a deep breath.

After that? I don't know what I am going to do!

Something annoying you?

Karen. xx

What made my handbag (and me!) happy (it's a giveaway)

This competition is now closed.

Hands up if you have a handbag with all sorts of bits & pieces rolling around in the bottom of it.
Hands up if you waste time searching for a pen. Or your lipstick. Or your phone charger. Or your phone.

Since my last blog post we have moved. And my handbag has been a magnet for many bits & pieces that just need shoving somewhere "because we will need it when we get there". And paperwork.

So when given the chance to road test the new Cocoon Grid-IT, I said yes please (or words to that effect). This little baby will let me keep my bits & pieces separate to everyone else's bits & pieces in my bag. And it's PINK!!!!

Here's what's in mine:

I really like that I can just pull it out of my bag & feel quite posh whilst I make my selection of what I would like. I didn't put my phone in it because I have quite a large phone (old eyes need big screens lol) so I keep it in a separate compartment in my bag.

The back has a zippered compartment, fabulous if you have a hubby like mine who is known to sometimes raid my purse for cash instead of stopping at the ATM on his way to work. Especially when I have the exact denominations I need for all the different activities for the next 24 hours. Here's a new hiding place! (And for you REAL multi-taskers, you could use the back as a mouse mat).

Oh, and I also like that you can just pick it up & chuck it in another bag. No repacking needed! (Although it does come in 5 sizes, so you just have one for each bag, AND in 5 colours - pink, red, blue, grey & black).

This is what it looks like empty:

Layer upon layer of rubberised woven elastic straps that will hold all your bibs & bobs exactly where you put them. Decluttering to the max! Let's you organise your bag, your way. Let's face it girls, our bags contain our lives!

I took it to my last playgroup session before we moved away to ask the other mum's what they thought. Like me, they had never seen one before but thought it pretty cool. And handy.

Yep, it's a "yes" from me.
Where do I get one, I hear you ask? Well, JB HiFi (www.jbhifi.com.au) is the place to shop!

Or, you can enter my competition. I have one of these nifty Cocoon Grid-IT handbag organisers to give away. Want it?

Leave me a comment on my blog (not my Facebook page) telling me what needs organising in your bag and the answer we think is the best will win!

Please note, you must live in Australia to enter this competition. Closing date is 17 July 2012, so get cracking!

Yours in organised bliss,

Karen xx.

My disclaimer: I received a free Cocoon Grid-IT for the purposes of review. Opinions are my own.