More furniture has been added.

All photographs enlarge when clicked.

We have furnished nearly 3/4 of the villa and only have the lounge and dining suites to arrive (about six weeks away) in order to complete the fitting-out.

The most recent addition was my desk & L-return for the study.

Like many furniture items these days, these arrived as a "flat-pack" and had to be assembled.
In this case that only took about 40 minutes and I was able to put the two pieces together unassisted.

The style and colour of the desk was chosen to blend in with that of the 1970s Chiswell unit that we brought up from Canberra.
All that I need to get is a comfortable office chair to replace the temporary white plastic outdoor item!

The week before last we took delivery of the second of two entertainment units for the living room.
One was pre-assembled (thank Heavens!) and is home to the TV unit, DVD player and surround-sound audio amplifier. It had been delivered earlier in the week.

It has two drawers and two glass shelves and weighs a tonne! Once in position that is where it stays for the rest of its days!
The other unit was a flat-pack job and required assembly from a multitude of parts.
It took me more than two hours to assemble this item. You wouldn't think so when looking at it but with two cupboards, two drawers, partitions and shelving, believe me when I say it was a long process.
This unit now houses our DVDs and LPs.

On the same day that the above flat-pack was delivered, so was the double bed for the second bedroom.

This was also a flat-pack but consisted of just the head, foot, slats for the base and the side frames and was the easiest and fastest of the lot to assemble.
It didn't take long for our cat to discover a comfortable spot on the "zebra" blanket.

So there we are......nearly fully furnished.
Roll on the lounge and dining furniture. At least it's all pre-assembled!

Those "Moving In" blues!

(All photos enlarge when clicked)

On the 6th. of June, after the painter had finished doing the walls and ceilings, we moved in the first items of new furniture, which we had bought "locally" - the nest of tables from a furniture store here in Yamba and the arching floor lamp from Harvey Norman in Ballina.
These were the only items belonging to us when this photo was taken. The removalist was to arrive a week later.

On the 12th. of June they turned up and unloaded SEVENTY-THREE boxes!!
I thought we'd packed about 46 but no, the total was almost double that number.

Two weeks have passed since that day and we still have 13 boxes to unpack.
Most of those contain books, magazines, CDs, LPs and DVDs plus a smattering of miscellaneous stuff not needed on a daily basis.
Once all the boxes are emptied I will be putting them up for sale on the internet.

We are still awaiting the delivery of furniture that we have ordered over the past three weeks.
The items include a dining suite, a lounge suite, a bedroom suite, an entertainment unit and an office desk for the study.
So we are making do with a couple of bean-bags, cushions, a collapsible picnic table, some plastic garden chairs and empty packing boxes as desks and bedside tables.

Packing-up a household, moving it 900+ kilometres and then unpacking it into the new home should only ever be done once as a maximum and preferably never!

However, the BIG positives, which far outweigh the pain of the moving process, are the location, the weather, the people and the overall ambiance of Yamba and the region.

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On a walk along the breakwall a couple of weeks ago I spotted a lone fisherman accompanied by his dog.
It was a lovely scene - very peaceful. Just a bloke and his mate fishing for Blackfish.

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Rosie the cat settled into her new home pretty smoothly after we picked her up from the cattery on June the 17th.
We hadn't seen her for exactly a month but she remembered us and within a few days had eased into the new situation, even finding the best sunny spots in which to snooze and grab some vitamin D.

It's a hard life, being a cat!

On guard!

Just across the road from Waves Fitness Centre here in Yamba is a grassed area  adjacent a sports ground and it is hemmed by ti-tree (or"tea tree" or "paperbark") bush.
(Click on the link and you'll get a Streetview. Rotate it and you'll see the location to which I refer).

The other day a large male 'roo was sunning himself right on the edge of the scrub.
But he wasn't relaxing; he was quite alert. Notice his ears (checking for sounds behind) and also the way he is holding his head.

You wouldn't want to come across this big bloke unexpectedly - he could be dangerous if surprised.

I was about 50 metres away when I took this shot, using the full zoom of the Lumix TZ40, resting it on the roof of my car to reduce unsteadiness.

TLC FM 100.3 Yamba

Yamba is home to the studios of The Lower Clarence community radio station, TLC FM 100.3, a station which must sit in arguably the most picturesque location of any radio station, anywhere!

I've mentioned before in this blog that the studios occupy the replica of the original lighthouse building, which sat here from the late 1800s until 1955, when it was demolished.

The two photos below show what the replica looked like well prior to completion (left) and then as it is today (right).

The view from this spot is delightful.
Here is a short video made from just outside the studio. It is in high definition and 16:9 ratio, so watching it directly on YouTube may be preferable............

Incidentally, my "Baby Boomer Radio" program has moved (along with me!) from Canberra to Yamba and may now be heard on TLCFM every Wednesday afternoon between midday and 4:00 PM.
I have a separate blog devoted to the program - just click on Baby Boomer Radio to access it - where you can find information about the show.

Yamba - Seascapes

One of the things I love about living on the coast is the relationship between the sea and clouds.
When the clouds build up over the water they take on a completely different appearance to those I've been used to living in Canberra, which is some 150 kilometres from the sea.

Here are a couple of seascapes taken a few days ago. All photos enlarge when clicked.

Looking north past Turners Beach towards the southern (Yamba) breakwall on the Clarence River.
A rain-band is building up out to sea and within 12 hours we had good soaking rain for a day.

The cliff at the south end of Turners changes colour, depending upon the time of day and the sun's intensity. Out on the horizon the clouds are billowing.

A couple of people fishing from the rocks but there was only one surfer this morning.

This picture hangs on one of the walls in the TLC FM studios. A wonderful photo, more than a metre in length.


SUNDAY 1st. June
We did a trip up to Lismore (70km) this morning and on the way back went off the highway on the north side of the river to visit Iluka.
The village is 40+ km from Yamba by road yet less than 5 km by water!
Here are two shots of the "harbour" (Iluka Bay) taken from the extreme western-most point (see map link above) .

Yamba - Our new home town.

We have now been in Yamba for almost a fortnight, having arrived on the afternoon of Sunday 18th. of May.
Our new home has been vacated (yesterday evening) by the previous owners and next week the painter will be going in to give the eight-year old interior walls and ceilings a fresh coat before we move in.
So until the 13th. or 14th. of June we are in rented accommodation - a town-house not very far from our new address.

Yamba lighthouse and pilot station, taken from the TLC FM studios in the old lighthouse replica

The past fifteen days have seen beautiful weather - unusually warm, with blue skies and soft breezes. Not at all what we would be experiencing in Canberra and even unseasonal for this coastal area. This is, after all, supposed to be almost the end of autumn. But nobody is complaining!

Last weekend the regular "last-Sunday-of-the-month" markets were held in Ford Park and it was another balmy day  - a superb morning.

I have to pinch myself now and then to make sure I'm not dreaming that I'm living this lifestyle!

The stained-glass panels

When we moved into our Canberra home (1985) the front door was accompanied on one side by two translucent, yellow, glass panels. Very 1970s.
Well, the feature went well with the Mission Brown window frames and roof tiles.
Again....very 1970s, and a decor enhanced (?!) by the dark-red laminated bench-tops in the kitchen and bathrooms.

My wife had just taken up an interest in stained glass/lead-lighting....creating her own from various designs.
This was proper, legitimate lead-lighting work, not the faux stuff that can be bought now, where decals and paint are applied and the "lead" is actually a stick-on rib of plastic material.

Her first attempt, a panel of about 2 feet by 18 inches, is still in our garage.
The learning process continued and finally she felt confident enough (1986) to "go public" and decided to create two panels to replace the yucky yellow items at the front entry.

We can't take them with us, unfortunately, but last night I turned the porch light on and, for the first time in almost 30 years, took some photos with the lead-light panels back-lit.

They are reproduced below, one above the other, as they appear in real life.

I'm going to miss them but my wife has resumed her interest in lead-lighting and copper-foiling and intends getting back into it after we settle in Yamba, so maybe one day our new home will feature some of her work.

Canberra - 14 days and counting

It has been a very cold day, with temperatures hovering around the 10 degree mark and accompanied by a constant pattering of rain. Nothing like Yamba, where it has been sunny and around 20 degrees. AAAAAGH!!

Our last garage sale is being held this weekend and today was pretty good, with a constant flow of people between 7:45 AM and 4:00 PM, when we closed shop for the day.
Tomorrow might be a waste of time as there's not much left but you never know; one man's trash is another's treasure.

The house is becoming more empty as we continue to pack. There is more space in each room and in some there are echoes because soft furnishings have gone.
A few shots.......

Firstly, the dining room now features just the table and chairs whereas for almost thirty years there was a wall-to-wall shelving unit across that back wall and on the left, under the A/C unit, was a framed picture.

The lounge-room now stores (temporarily) a three-drawer filing cabinet from the study and the top half of one section of a Parker shelving/cupboard unit.

Prior to the sale there were two 2-seat leather lounges and a coffee table in here plus a large rug and a TV unit.

The living room looks particularly attractive with its expensive cardboard-box coffee tables.
Beyond, in the alcove where a round table and four chairs once sat, another fine suite of cardboard boxes allows for gracious casual dining!
The two lounge suites have been bought by the new owners and will provide us with about the only bit of comfort right up to D-Day.

Finally, my study.
Once the location of a full-width desk, the fine shelving unit (seen disassembled), a comfortable office chair and with the walls resplendent in framed posters and paintings, it now looks like the hastily-assembled quarters of a war correspondent in the Middle East.

As it was in 2004.....

Fourteen days to go.

Yamba - Our new home.

Long story short - we've been through nine homes, shortlisted down to five then shortlisted to three and finally, after starting at 9:00 AM yesterday, we chose a place at 3:00 PM and made an offer.
It was rejected so we upped it a bit and it was accepted at about 5:00 PM.

So we have placed a deposit on the house and will be moving in early June, as the current owners are away on a trip and won't return until the end of May.

Here are a few photos:-

Until tomorrow we have been staying at the Moby Dick motel.....a lovely spot right on the Clarence River and adjacent the boat harbour here in Yamba.

A few of the local fauna waiting for their afternoon fish-feed......

And as the day drew to a close, the setting sun cast a soft pink over the eastern sky.......

D-Day is set.

Five months almost to the day from when we first advertised our home for sale, contracts were exchanged last week (16th. April) and the agent's poster outside our home now sports a "Sold" sticker.

Settlement date is 30 days from the exchange and that means we have to vacate by midday on the 16th. of May.

It's a funny feeling knowing that in less than a month's time someone else will be living in what we have called home for almost thirty years.
But with autumn temperatures here in Canberra of  17 degrees maximum and 2 degrees minimum for today/tonight and Yamba being 25 degrees and 17 degrees respectively then I know where I want to be come winter!

This morning I did my regular 1.6 kilometre walk and took a photo of the autumn colours now becoming more prevalent each day.
We will miss this aspect of the seasons when we move; deciduous trees are not common on the far north coast and the change from summer to autumn goes almost unnoticed.