Bella stuff

We picked Bella up yesterday, as planned! It was hard taking her away from her old family. They were sooooo nice. He's a proper aussie country bloke (a bull rider apparently), and when he shook my pansy hand, he nearly crushed it. They evidently loved her loads, so it was hard for them to give her up. She really wasn't sure of the car and had to be lifted in and out, but she won't be in it very often.

Had a bit of a nightmare on the way to Warners Bay from Tamworth. We stopped at a rest stop to have some sandwiches and let Bella out of the car. All fine. But when we went to set off again, the car wouldn't start. We've got full insurance but didn't have breakdown cover yet, and it was now pitch black. Fortunately there was somebody else in the rest stop who gave us the number for NRMA. They don't serve non-members and the local tow guy wasn't answering his phone, so we paid $300 on a credit card to join over the phone. They were then out within half an hour (we were only 6km from Singleton) and it turned out that we had a flat battery. Argh. Anyway, he got us on our way again and we got here about 10:15pm. Bella had been in the car longer than we wanted her to be, but she was great throughout.

When it came time to go to bed (roll mats and a sleeping bag as a blanket for us), we set what is now her bed down, but she wanted to be near us and just wouldn't settle. We don't really want her to sleep in our bedroom, but we brought the bed in and fairly quickly after that she settled on the bed next to us. We figure we'll have her sleep in the bedroom long enough to learn that it's her bed and then slowly move it further away.

She's taken to us well, but it's obvious she misses her old family (and the older dog they had). She's been very attached to us so far, following us around and stuff, so we left her outside today in the garden on her own. She cried (heartbreaking!), but she's got to get used to us being alone. We'll try and extend it a little bit every day and ease her into it. We've also done two walks today, one this morning and one later in the evening. She's not been on a lead that much before, so we thought she was surprisingly good. She doesn't pull too much and was fairly calm when other dogs and people came along.

One concern we have, and a question for all the more experienced dog owners, is about toilet habits. We picked her up at about 4:45pm yesterday, and she doesn't seem to have poo'd yet. We haven't seen her wee either, but it's possible she's done that when we haven't been looking. She's had plenty of time outside in the garden and on the walks to do it. She's also had plenty of water. Not very much food yesterday cos we were in the car, but she's had a normal amount this evening.

Oh, added info, she's a year old today! Happy Bithday Bella!

So, as new dog owners, we're wondering, is this ok? We're not sure how often she should go, or if it's harmful for her not to go for a while. We thought maybe at her old place she had a specific spot, and isn't sure what to do now she can't find it. If that was the case, is there anything we can do? Do we just wait until eventually she has to go?

Any suggestions or advice will be eagerly received!

Doggy update

So, we got the news today that the people that got to Lulu first decided to take her. They adored her apparently, and wanted her as company for their Labradoodle. We were a bit gutted, but it's probably our fault for getting too attached too soon. Ah well.

Aaaanyway, as it turns out, Kristy (fellow Dr and friend) saw an ad in the paper today for chocolate lab puppies. We can't really have a proper puppy, but just below that was an ad from a family selling a 10 month old pedigree black labrador. They have two dogs and are finding it too hard to look after both of them and their two little kids. My Mum would say it was fate!

We went to meet them and the dog, who is called Bella and she's gorgeous. She sits a bit wonky, and loves water (she was playing in the sprinkler when we got there). A right muppet! As a pure lab, she might be a bit more chewy than Lulu would have been, but that's fine.

We're going to pick her up tomorrow before we go down to Newcastle. That means Matt will be staying in Newcastle with Bella for the week and I'll come back to Tamworth on my own. It's only for a week, so it's not too bad, and if it means we can have Bella, it's cool.

Shipment, services, delivery, new TV

So, we're both doing well and still loving Australia.  The weather was really warm again today, up to about 30. Nice!

This morning we finally heard about our shipment from the UK. Turns out it will arrive in Sydney on the estimated date but that it could be 10-14 days before we receive it at the house. That means we'll need to root through the charity shop and get some cheap kitchen items, buy a new bed sheet and a blanket to sleep under. Not a terrible fate I guess, and it won't be too expensive, but it's money we could have done without spending.

Speaking of moving to the house, we're hoping to go and accept the furniture (sofa, bed, mattress, bedside tables). The guy at the shop was supposed to phone back today and confirm when it will be, but didn't, so i'll have to chase it up tomorrow afternoon. I need to know when it will be, so that I can arrange to have the electricity connected. Still think it's daft that someone has to come out to do it, but there you go. The broadband connection will be on by the time we arrive and Foxtel will be installed on the monday after we move in, so we'll be all sorted.

Today we made one of the big setup purchases, namely a new LCD HDTV. I've been after one for months, so it's nice to finally have a new toy. We went for a Panasonic TX-32LZD800A, which has had excellent reviews, and from the couple of hours I spent playing GTA IV this afternoon, is excellent. I was tossing up whether to go for a 42" plasma, which would actually have been cheaper, but the LCD is more energy efficient (it consumes half as much power!), and overall is a better buy.

The next big buys will be a washing machine, which we'll need as soon as we move in. We also need a TV unit/entertainment unit and at some point a fridge-freezer, but we won't be getting those straight away. 

The biggest purchase by far will be a dog. We've both wanted a pet for a loooong time, and we've found a rescue dog that we love. She's a labrador cross (not sure what she's crossed with), about 8-9 months old and is totally cute. She's used to being outside, which is perfect for us, as she'll be outside while we're at work and inside with us when we're home. Hopefully we'll go fetch her sometime soon after we move and we can't wait. The first addition to our family!

You can see Lulu here - http://www.petrescue.com.au/view/32281

Roast time!

Tonight, we're having our first roast since we left the UK. We like a nice roast, but the main reason we're having one is because Kristy (nor anybody else for that matter) had never heard of, nevermind tasted, a yorkshire pudding before. Nobody at the hospital has. It's a travesty. So tonight, we'll be having roast chicken, sage & onion stuffing, roast veggies (carrots, pumpkin and potatoes) and of course, gravy made with the juices.

For her part, Kristy is bringing with her a homemade tiramisu (including hand whipped cream), so that should be really nice.

Bring on the food!

Supermarkets, moving and stuff

It's about time I updated this, I've let it go a bit longer than before. We haven't been up to too much that's exciting. Sarah was off yesterday so we tried a different super... Woolworths! It was pretty good so I suspect we might end up going there more.

I've been following all the news from the Tokyo Games Show this week. That is exciting, if you're me, but as i'm the only person that's me, none of you care! I'm getting the feeling that, despite the Xbox 360 having some good games this autumn, next year, the Playstation 3 will really be the console to own. Which means I need to save up for one! One thing I don't have to save up for is a new TV. We'll finally be getting a 32" widescreen LCD, HDTV. They even have free-to-air high definition channels here, which means we can take advantage of the HDTV, other than for games.

We're only just over 3 weeks away from moving down to Warners Bay, which we're looking forward to quite a lot. This weekend we're going to pay off the furniture that we're buying, and hopefully we'll be able to set a date for delivery. It will be sooooooooo nice to have our own space, furniture, things. Speaking of things, the shipment we sent from the UK will hopefully arrive fairly close to when we move. Ideally, we need it to arrive early and then be delivered when we move. If it's not there, we won't have duvets, plates, cutlery or anything, so fingers crossed.