Easter break at a glance

Two weeks of Easter break are just about to end. It’s been good. Not exactly what I had hoped for on some accounts, just what I had hoped for on other. I have not been able to sleep in any morning because of the plumbers, carpenters and inspection people who have come every single day at 8 o’clock in the morning. We live in a brand new house that must have been built by apprentices and criminals doing community service instead of jail time. This time, they discovered that they had forgotten to finish a part on top of the house, meaning that every time it rains – which it does pretty often i Melbourne – it was like turning on a shower and letting the water drain between the outer and the inner wall of Oldest Daughter’s bedroom. No need to get into details, just trust me when I say that it was not a pretty sight when we moved her book case. Apart from the obvious nuisance with leakage and repairmen in the house, this disruption has created additional disorder in my life. I have not been able to clean properly in that part of our house and it is very stressful for a neat-freak like me. To have all these Jacks of all trades walk in and out of our house all day is tormenting the perfectionist in me. I want order, order I say!

                          Bedroom walls undergoing some serious repair work

My suffering soul got a well deserved break when we headed for the Victorian mountains for some days. My Husband had booked us into a nice resort that called themselves a spa-resort, naming their chalets names like ”Glasshouse” and ”House on the Lagoon”. We were staying in a Glasshouse that was ”on a more elevated location and had a clear view of all the surrounding mountains from the panoramic windows”. I have to commend the Australians on their ability to express themselves in such lavish terms. The noted elevation was a slope, the view from the panoramic windows was over a cow pasture unless you count the panoramic window in the bathroom that was indeed a loo with a view in case you wanted to admire the scenery while sitting on the porcelain throne. The lagoon was a tiny, slightly muddy pond. The ”spa” part was probably referring to the jacuzzi in the bathroom.

        The view from the loo with the "lagoon" behind the trees

We did like the little chalet, we enjoyed the nature and the beautiful scenery. I manage to impress the Daughters by knowing how to fish in the river with a fishing rod. Luckily we didn’t get any fish as cutting and deboning a fish is one of my many shortcomings. Husband and Daughters went horse riding in the mountains for an afternoon while I stayed in our Glasshouse with the panoramic windows (single glazing by the way and very cold at night), reading and watching Hugh Jackman in the film ”Australia”. We drove around in the mountains, went for little walks and enjoyed being together – just the four of us.

     Showing the Daughters that Mommy has done this before.

Back home in Melbourne, we were not surprised to see that the builders had not managed to finish Oldest Daughter’s room meaning I still have them coming around every morning. I long for the day when our home is free from construction negligence! I once again managed to impress my Daughters by teaching them the basics on using a sewing machine. All in all, we’ve had a nice Easter break and honestly, I will feel a pang of sadness when I drop them off at their schools on Monday. As I always do... 

My hiking shoes, I have a pair of those in case anyone was wondering