It was raining............

Well - we had everything ready to catch all that desperately needed rain which should have come in the last couple of days................ but.......... we only got a few passing squalls which helped anyway and some rain is better than none.........

Parts of the island had huge amounts of rain but I guess we are just on the verge of the rain bands because we didn't get all that much.

Had to make sure that the caravan was secure (I have a few leaky patches in the roof) yesterday when the first squall came through and I got absolutely soaked even though I used an umbrella. There's no protection from horizontal rain!!!!

Have just cleaned up another batch of beads - hearts this time for Valentine's Day so all I need now are some photos to post them up.

Well - just a short one for now.

hugs
Bea - Kangaroo Island

Back on the torch....... !!!!!!!

Well - that was a scare........... my oxygen concentrator was acting up a few weeks ago and I wasn't able to get a nice steady flame........ so I guessed it was the circuit board again.

We went to Adelaide last week for a few days of shopping and catching up with family and friends....... so the concentrator had a service and sure enough it was the circuit board.

Thanks (NOT) ETSA !!!!! The power spikes we have been having over the last few weeks were the most probable cause because that was like the last time a few months back when the circuit board went out on me........!

Now the concentrator is plugged in to a surge protector so hopefully it won't play up anymore. I might have to move my lampworking area in to the house just to make sure it doesn't get too hot in the caravan because that could be another reason the circuit board was damaged.

I got some new bead presses and am loving one of them especially so I guess you will be seeing more of that shape in my beads to come.

We also bought a new digital camera.......... one that fits into my bag and takes really snazzy photos........ so that will also help with the photos of my work.

All good toys - just got to find the time to play more.

stay tuned..........

hugs
SimplyBea - Kangaroo Island

2007 - hope it's better than 2006 !

Well, 2006 ended on a sombre note for us.

We should have spent Christmas in Adelaide with Paul's family as it was "our turn" since we did not take leave from work last Christmas but it was not to be...... when we submitted our leave application we were told that since the island was on high alert for the fire season, no leave was going to be approved for the period.

When the new roster came out there were noticeably a number of staff who had been allowed time off during the Christmas break - so we were understandably upset by that.

The double whammy came when we received a phone call on 23rd December from Paul's mum notifying us that Paul's grandfather, Larry, had passed away overnight. The shock plus the fact that we could have been there with them was horrible to us.

It was to have been an important Christmas with Larry and Paul's brother David who had just come back to live in Australia after a few tumultuous years in the UK. The first family Christmas together again - but we were denied the opportunity because of a "management decision" which was very discriminatory and which we will have to take up.

Of course that has impacted on me and I could not feel enthused before and after that period. Firstly because I did try to downplay the disappointment of not being able to get away for Paul's sake and there was no Christmas feel for us at all this year from the time we received the roster and saw what had happened.

Now my oxygen concentrator seems to be misbehaving, so I haven't been able to get to the torch on the rare occasions when the nights have been cool enough.

Off to Adelaide next week for some shopping and we will be taking the concentrator to be serviced while we are there. Then I will have to relocate my torching area inside the house so that the concentrator is not subjected to the extreme weather changes as in the caravan - it's probably the reason the circuit board seems to play up.

Here's looking forward to a better year ahead.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year.

Bea - Kangaroo Island