Christmas trimmings and all the rest!

Christmas is official in our home because today Tim and I got stuck with trimming the Christmas tree and redecorating the house to bring this wonderful festive season into our lives this year. The reason why I say Tim and I got stuck with it is simply because yesterday Lance wanted to get the tree and all it's trimmings down from the roof area in the shed.....ok no problem there and then he did not want anyone else to help him put the decs on the tree after he put it all together.....no problem with that either. The problem was 5 minutes after all the fuss he made he didn't won't to do it anymore and neither did any of the other kids.....lol so my loungeroom was full with boxes of decorations and all the extras that we have gathered over the years. Tree up, lights flashing, santas a many, decorations adorning and now all we need is the snow to make it truly magical. One of the things I desire greatly is to have a White Christmas and sometimes I think with the climates changing that maybe the White Christmas is not an impossiblity here in Australia....one can only hope and dream and after all that's what part of Christmas is all about.

So what else has been happening in the Turnbull household?! Well the air conditioner on our Ford was not going and with those hot hot days we have been getting it wasn't much fun having to drive anywhere so last week we decided (after Tim and his dad couldn't fix it) it was time to pop it into the specialists and see what was going on thinking that it may just need a regas and perhaps a little tweaking, that was the shock of our lives!!They have had to replace everything on it and to top it off it still isn't going. We took it in last Tuesday only for them to ring later that day saying they needed to replace the condenser with a new one and that would fix it along with all the other bits they replaced. Part is ordered, car is in shop overnight, part comes in, part gets put in, car gets regassed, car is started and cabin is filled with gas. NOT a good thing so fellas put car back together ring us to say what is happening we pick car up and the bill so far is just under $700.00, (the fella was nice enough not to charge all the hours of labour which we were so grateful for) and the air con is still not working so they say the evaporator is what has had it and to get to that the dash needs to be pulled out as thats where it is and about 7/8 hrs of work is involved and don't forget it will need another regassing as well. Quote this time round at least another $700/ $800??? and then it should be right. Car booked back in for today and tomorrow and hoping that after all this it will work....GRRRRRR!!!

So what a wonderful shock this time of year with it being so close to Christmas. So I did happen to ask Tim if this is basically a new air con for the car and he said that the only thing they haven't replace are the pipes everything else is brand new and all I could say is it would want to be and also made of gold for that price.

So we won't talk any more of the FORD that I have not named yet!!!

Lance started exams this week and had his first one today being English. Tomorrow is Maths and the rest of the week is full of them so it will be very interesting to see how he goes with them. I did not have them in Yr 9 only in Yr 10 so Lance is really lucky (NOT) to have them this year as he is in Yr 9 as well as next year. Then one of the kids informed me that they are thinking about bringing them in to years 7 and 8 soon, in which I replied that I thought that it was ridiculous and kids don't need any of that pressure at that young age. Down here there has been lots of changes with all its planning and implementing with new schools and new curriculum so nothing would surprise even if I do think it unfair!

Yep so enough of that topic too!

The weather is gearing up and it is getting hotter each day. Our water restrictions are so tight and I hear Melbourne is set to go on stage 4 earlier next year as well. There is no rain there is no water and I do believe things will only get worse before they get better for alot of us. I know Bendigo will always remain on water restrictions.....that thay have already announced and it is only understandable. Australia has taken that resource for granted and we have all wasted so much of it in times past. I have to admit I'm all for water restrictions...or in other words better water education, so long as they don't stay where they are and at least drop down a level or 2 when we get the new pipeline in then that will at least be helpful. I don't care for green grass just so long as we have enough to drink. When you look at it that way it makes you stop and think how precious water really is.

Well I think I have said enough for tonight and it's time to close off, so to all my buddies and mates enjoy this read and as the banner suggests it is just more of my mundane ramblings.

Take care and stay safe.
Ciao!