A day of rest

Rob has been busy the last two days. We had 80 (of the 108) square meters of the paving delivered before Christmas. Rob has spent several days (5 truckloads-about 25 tonnes) spreading, leveling and compacting the gravel. Then we got paving on Monday. Rob had carefully drawn out a plan for the full 27m terrace, my job was to check which size pavers he'd need next, go and collect them from the crates and trolley them over to him. The first row was the slowest, but then we got in a bit of a rhythm. Most of the time I randomly selected the pavers, but I did select a few particularly nice ones for in front of our bedroom French doors.
Of course the last two days have been the hottest so far on our holiday, and the terrace is in full sun.
By the end of Tuesday we had run out of three of the sizes, so today was a day of rest, literally. After we headed into town for a little shopping, we both fell asleep on the window seat for a couple of hours!
The remainder of the paving arrives tomorrow, so our last few days will be spent finishing it off and helping out with my brother's 30th birthday party. He decided on a science fiction theme, so I'll be making a Doctor Who tardis cake and some alien cupcakes over the next few days.

Friday Flowers

Thanks for your comments on my last post, Mum's at least speaking to me again! Sorry it was such a long and rambling post. The blogger app on my phone won't let me intersperse the images through the post which is why they're all clumped at the end.
I've lost track of the days this week. Rob has been busily moving FCR gravel around and getting the base right for the pavers.
I'm trying to work out the pattern, which is easier said than done. So instead I painted two gates our favourite blue to match the laundry hut doors. But now it's back to the paver design, maybe a drink will help?
I can't believe it's the end of our 3rd week of holidays, I'll try to make the most of what's left, but I know that I won't be able to help myself and work will start to hover at the edges of my consciousness.
What are your plans for new years eve? Ours is just to have a quiet night in, I'm thinking a roast chook and a bottle of bubbly and maybe some ice-cream afterwards. We rarely make it to midnight! I have started to reflect on all the things that have happened in 2011, but will post about it tomorrow.
The lilies are nearly all flowering, a new one for this week are the royal sunset lily. Rob doesn't like this one, but I do!
More promising is the expansion of the Christmas lily flower buds, they are very beautiful with their creamy trumpet flowers. But a little late for Christmas! I've loved reading about how everyone's celebrations went.

A delivery

Today we had friends down to the hut for lunch: our standard Lebanese feast, followed by a chocolate pavlova with raspberries.

But in the final rush to get things together, an important delivery occurred.
Our pavers, well 80% of them.
Some have got these intricate patterns on them we're calling fossils. We've got some hard work ahead of us in the next 3 weeks! Rob has been making up a little paper version to work out the right pattern, and couldn't resist playing with the real thing.

Our life...

The end of the working week found us shopping, first at Bottega Rotolo for cheese, and Christmas treats such as glacé clementines and chocolate with nougat in it. If you're a local and haven't visited them you have to check out their Christmas goodies.
Next was the Mother's market in Battery Point for jam, melting moments and brownies from C & C cupcake factory. I have to admit the melting moments didn't make the end of the street! I also bought a cute brooch for a friend for Christmas and an elk for the window from Dick & Dora.
It was a lovely evening, Rob spent some time outside raking the grass, I couldn't help myself and wrapped a few gifts, with all my new accessories. Last year we left all the wrapping to the last minute. It started off neatly, but soon disintegrated into hastily wrapped and scribbled tags. So with good intentions I plan to do them as we buy them this year.
We've decided to have categories for our presents for each other and Rob's daughter. The categories are: need, want, wear, eat, drink, read, play, write and watch. (We don't get the last few!) I'm feeling pretty smug as I have 4 of Rob's 6, and know what one other is (he does too- I wouldn't dare buy his scythe for him!) Do you have any present traditions?
Today has been grey and a bit damp. After the gym and a little shopping, we met a guy at Margate to check out the pavers we hope to buy in the next few weeks. Having the terrace paved will make the hut feel really complete. We're planning on having different sized sandstone pavers. That's what we're planning for our holiday, what fun we have!?
Then in Margate we stopped to pick up some (18) fence posts, although we had the trailer, I think Rob meant to go and get them tomorrow, so we didn't actually have a rope. My worst fears were realised when, as we drove onto the main road, one of the posts rolled off the top! Luckily it just ended up in the gutter. After sheepishly retrieving it, a nice guy gave us a piece of rope, so we safely got them home.
So Rob has been out in the rain all afternoon (he couldn't help himself) digging post holes whilst I stayed nice and dry stamping gift tags and baking a chocolate prune cake.