Only in Austria

On our drive to Vienna we spotted a rather funny advert on a van.

Without us..... It would be dark????

Our house is a seductive blue!

August was a beautiful, sunny month, with temperatures averaging in the late 30’s. We managed to do various jobs and relaxing. Over a few weekends, we painted the outside of the house. This led to Ian balancing on a ladder trying to reach the top of the house (with a worried wife moaning at him). But after much hard work, with Ian up the ladder and myself painting the lower half, the house looks a‘seductive blue’ (the name of the paint).
We still have the white around the windows to finish, but we plan on doing that this weekend as, fingers crossed, the weather will still be hot and sunny.
We had people from the Caritas (home for the disabled) watching us work, tourists asking where the windmill, Retz centre, and various villages were, and our noisy new neighbours working hard on their house opposite us.

We also managed to take a couple of bike rides. I decided that it was far too hot to be cycling, and waited for a Saturday afternoon when the temperature suddenly dropped 15c…trainers on and bikes out. Little did I know it was the build up to a storm, and by the time we decided to turn back the wind was howling and it took us ages to get home cycling into the wind.




The fields are now starting to look sparse, with all the crops harvested. The grapes are now being driven around in tractors and delivered to the ‘squashing places’ ready for the 2011 wine. Even the pumpkins are starting to disappear. We were very shocked at the size of the pumpkin below.
After another drive to the Czech Republic, we purchased some more M&S bread mix, and attempted to produce Tiger bread. It was semi-successful, as you can see in the photo, but still not right.

We managed to take a walk in the sun and fly Ian’s helicopters, much to the amusement of some kids, who couldn’t quite work out what nationality we were. We could hear them discussing us, and then speaking German, Czech and English to see if they got a response from us. So we decided to ignore them and keep them guessing.



Morpheus also had a hairdressing appointment, where upon we decided he would look so much better with a Mohawk!
So September has arrived and work is busy leading up to the big general conference week, where I am arranging two large exhibitions. The free pens and post it notes have yet to arrive, and I still haven’t checked the newly printed exhibition…but hey a couple of days remain before panic sets in

Neo is a conehead!

Well August also started as a tired and lazy month; although we have been doing jobs on the house…..Ian tried his hand at plastering outside – which worked out wonderfully. We therefore need to paint the front of the house. We are hoping to paint only the bottom ½ of the house, so there is no need for scaffolding.

Neo went back to vets for another check-up, and unfortunately the herpes on his eye has not cleared up, so back to the vets for another operation. This time some of his cornea was removed and then his inner eye lid was sewn shut so it could heal…urghhhh. He also has to wear a cone round his neck to stop him attempting to scratch his eye for 2 weeks…..poor guy doesn’t like his cone head! He tends to just sleep, and moan! I swear he even plays dead...I woke in the night and thought he was dead. I prodded him, lifted him, tickled him and no responce...panic was setting in...I starred into his eyes and they were open (well one of them) looking at me..still no responce. Finally his tail moved slightly...OMG. Anyway he was alive when I awoke in the morning.
So after a weekend mainly spent asleep (we even didn’t get out of bed on Saturday), we are going to try and get our energy back and sell the house, book various appointments, ring our family and stop being lazy….I’m still going to test the house for carbon monoxide poisoning…..Trying to think of an excuse for our extreme laziness!

I end with a photo of a local co-op in the Czech Republic....not quite the same as the UK!

July went so fast

Apologies for not blogging last month. July seems to have passed in a blur. Ian and I have been super busy at work, and we have tended to sleep a lot…not sure if it is the weather or lack of it. Most of July turned out to be like the UK….raining and cold, well I mean 18-22c (which is cold for Austria). We did manage to have the odd BBQ. The first with Mollie, Andraz and Vinnie. Vinnie was introduced to our cats, and he couldn’t stop giggling and grabbing their fur…..obviously the cats then realised it was best to hide.

The second was with Brigitte, Gunther and Denise (our adoptive Austrian family). Let’s just say the jumpers came out as we sat outside eating sausages. We also managed to squeeze one in another weekend.
As I mentioned work has been crazy, and unfortunately we do not have a proper holiday until October, where we have taken 2 weeks off (some of this will be visiting the UK and the rest relaxing). For the first time in history I have managed to build up 18 hours in overtime in July, so finished early last week to visit Mollie at home, where we had a quick chat and a quick fix of playing with cute Vinnie.

I nearly forgot, a little bit of news - Ian received an award from work, for being fabulous (although I am not sure that was the exact term used). He received a pat on the back and a voucher to spend (or forhis wife to spend).
Oh yeah...forgot to mention, we finished the patio...

Limp Bizkit rock!

After much moaning (it was a school night), we went to see Limp Bizkit in Vienna. It was slightly annoying at first with a 2 hour wait after the warm up band finished....but it was worth it in the end....They were fantastic. We positioned ourselves near the front on the right side, as Ian wanted a good view of Wes (his hero). During the concert Fred decided to jump down and climb on top of the bar to sing, which was right next to us. There was much jumping, waving (keep rolLin' rollin') and singing!

Catch up time.....

Yes it is true; I had another 4 day weekend a couple of weeks ago.
To start the holidays we drove home to the find the following storms hanging over Retz.

The Thursday was an Austrian national holiday, so I took the day off from the UN to join Ian at home (The UN has its own set dates – doesn’t follow Austrian holidays). As it was a lovely day, we decided to cycle up to the windmill and beyond. It turned out to be a very sweaty, uphill battle with the bikes. I obviously complained a lot, stopped a lot, and moaned, but had the fun of gliding back down the hills later.
When we got home we found Neo sheltering from the imaginary rain. Poor guy must be confused and think he is outside.

I was also at home on Friday, so after watching many episodes of Masterchef Australia, I made some fresh homemade pitta breads and humus…..and they were lush.

Saturday, still in Masterchef mode, I also made a baby strawberry pavalova, but forgot to buy some cream, so it was basically meringue and strawberries. I also made homemade minestrone soup and marks and spencer’s fresh bread (just add water), and my goodness it was lovely to have soft fresh white bread, and not Austrian nutty dense brown bread.

Sunday was mountain biking part 2. This time we ventured through the Vineyards and fields for about an hour over farmers tracks and cycle paths, much nicer than struggling up big hills. Still energetic from the bike ride, I made Ian walk around Retz with a 10 minute stop at the Retz wine week festival, where we had one quick glass of wine, before going home to bed.

Monday was the start of a busy week for both Ian and I. Ian had 2 training events at the local Hilton to organise and attend, so basically we would set off every morning at 6am and return late at night. Luckily for me he had to attend a dinner on Monday and Thursday, so I could catch the train home a bit earlier.
I got a tad bit excited at work on Monday with the arrival of some British frozen food in our commissary…..frozen pies, toad in the hole and desserts.
So with Ian eating out, I had a frozen toad in the hole with marks and spencer’s lemonade….ok so the toad in the hole was pretty bad, but the lemonade was lovely.

This weekend was spent recovering from the week at work. Saturday we ventured back to Vienna to meet up with friends from the VSCR (in fact none of them work there anymore). We had a 3 hour brunch catching up and meeting Ben the 6 month old. The remainder of the weekend was spent sleeping, with Ian working and we didn’t get chance to the go to the wine festival due to the crappy weather.

This week, we will be re-living our youth and going to see Limp Bizkit in Vienna.

Long weekends.....

First long weekend
Well the weekend was a well-deserved 4 days, but unfortunately mainly spent doing the usual DIY. The patio was grouted, although there a few white shades of concrete, which adds to the aged effect. Most of Friday was spent on the roof, with both Ian and I balancing over the remaining 10 glass windows sticking film to stop the sun from heating our house up to above 30c. A lot of cursing, and a few squirts of water at each other took place, but a successful job done. New plants were potted in the window boxes and our house plants are making a miraculous recovery after moving them outside and spraying them with the hose pipe.

Second long weekend
A three-day weekend, this time. Saturday was spent searching Vienna’s outlet village for bargains. But much to our disappointment there wasn’t any. I should learn my lesson and firstly never go there on a Saturday, and secondly don’t bother and wait until I go to the UK for shopping. We then proceeded to explore Vienna woods. We drove to a town and then got a bit lost, and ended up using Ian’s hidden ability to find a small road to park on and take a walk in the woods. We did start to follow the marked trees (saying what colour trail you were on), but soon got bored and went onto to different paths. Luckily as it was getting late, we made it back to our car with just our skills of ‘let’s go left, and then take this path, then right….’.

Sunday was spent relaxing – me reading, and Ian shooting Xboxers online. Oh and with what was supposed to be a little nap, I fell asleep for 3 hours in the afternoon. Sunday was also a belated chat with my nephew, Sam, to say happy 7th birthday. He had been on holiday and opened his presents late. I must admit I love buying him presents (Ian can vouch for that too), plus I love putting play Mobil together as well.

Monday was a national holiday in Austria, and so we took the opportunity to venture into the Czech Republic. The perks of living in central Europe and in Retz, is that one country has a national holiday, so we drive 10 minutes and you are in another country that doesn’t. We drove to the city of Brno, and went to the 2 large shopping malls. Fortunately for our bank account there was nothing exciting to buy, apart from a pair of jeans for Ian (his clothes are too big for him now after losing so much weight). We did have a quick look in Marks and Spencer’s and managed to spend 40 Euros on food. They only have a small corner with non-perishables – but we bought some biscuits, canned food and sweets, and a bottle of bucks fizz (I know I can make it myself, but there is nothing like a glass of M&S bucks fizz). We also went to the Czech Tesco’s, and bought a few things they don’t have in Austria.
I love the way this shop isn't prejudice with its shop display.

And guess what? Yes next week is another 4 day weekend. It helps to explain that at the UN our daily hours drop 30 minutes in summer, from 8 hours to 7.5 hours excluding lunch. With that in mind and the fact that I have opted for 30 minute lunch breaks, I am gaining far too many hours (we have flexi-time), and so keep taking days off using my spare hours (it’s ace!)
And finally it was bedtime…..with the addition of Morpheus!
PS – For the English people – the weather is usually hot, sunny and in the late 20’s to 30’s……Hahahahaha

I want a crisp!

Neo wants a crisp!

Don’t Dremel my cat!….

After a four day week last, last week, I decided to take Friday off just because I could, although a vet’s trip was planned, and after a fantastic week of weather, it decided to rain on Friday. So my day was spent watching TV, a quick trip to the Czech Republic, and trying to be quiet when Ian had a teleconference (he worked from home). Later in the afternoon, we took a trip to the vets, where we saw the eye specialist with Neo. He still has herpes in his eye, so another supply of pills, and cream. What shocked us the most, and I wished I had my IPhone with me, was she put some numbing drops in his eye, and then started to tweeze a bit of ‘skin’ from his eyeball. So that’s not bad…I am fine with poking my eye with contact lenses etc., but then came the miniature instrument, which I can only describe as a baby Dremel, and she started it up and started filing his eye ball with it…..blurghhhhh. Ian and I were obviously shocked by this, and by the fact Neo was tolerating it!

Anyway on our way out we saw the other 2 vets, that we have seemed to struck a friendship with (seen them so many times), who wanted a quick stroke with Neo, and with that we see them all in 3 weeks’ time. A nice welcomed break for Neo.

Saturday was another lazy day, but with a little accident – I had folded the large rug over and managed to trip over the folded edge and catch my toe, which we presume is broken with an awful purple colour. A few tears came and went, and to be honest it only hurts if I walk in heels, or go onto tiptoes. As you can see I am very proud of my toe, and have been posting photos everywhere!

Sunday was hiking day – we started hiking uphill past the windmill and beyond, until my legs started to hurt, and then turned around and walked back down the hill (just under 2 hours). It was a beautiful day and I managed to get a little red patch on my neck from the sun. Needless to say, my legs are now aching.

It’s hot, hot, hot….

Summer has finally arrived, with a scorching 28c this weekend. With the weather so nice, I sat out on our new patio and read a book on the Ipad - until the Ipad got too hot and told me to put it somewhere cool (ingenious gadget). Saturday we relaxed, watched TV and went food shopping. Sunday I cleaned the patio, and washed all the garden furniture while Ian filled some holes on the outside of our house (although still more to fill), in an effort to dull the road noise. We also did some other chores, such as put the black weed stopper material on the roof garden, as a storm had managed to blow it off! Saturday and Sunday also gave us two huge thunder storms – which for the first time also made us have headaches and feel really weird.

Ian was also being careful, after he ate a biscuit, which managed to break his tooth in half. We found a new dentist in Vienna (this would be my third – as I still have not found a really nice dentist that I like – I’m very particular).Anyway he went on Friday and he had his tooth pulled out. They even gave him laser treatment on his gums to help, and a little massage on his neck and ears to simulate healing and his immune system…..a massage at the dentist…I’m soo going to try that one!

It is now Monday and I’m slightly bored. My team is all out of the office, and I listening to music whilst trying to work, but the motivation is lacking today. Plus the network has gone down, so I can’t send emails or open any documents…boring! I can hear a colleague asking our IT guys if we can go home! Plus for some reason I’m really tired, even though I fell asleep on the couch at 9pm last night, and after many attempts Ian made me go to the bedroom…I was zonked!

I could be designing a brochure in InDesign, putting a photo essay together, or arranging an exhibition, but I need my boss’s feedback, and she isn’t here, of and the network to work. Tomorrow is a busy day with putting up an exhibition, arranging a briefing from our department to all the Member States, and then attending a meeting on behalf of my department of the annual general conference.

The good news is that I have Friday off work, and then Thursday and Friday the following week, and then Monday a week after that, and then maybe Thursday and Friday the week after that….I have decided to take small sporadic holiday throughout summer, with maybe a full week in August.

We are happy to report that Neo is still getting better; we are like proud parents when he sat on his favourite chair and decides to sleep with us at night….the little things means he is getting back to normal. We, again, go to the vets on Friday. He still is not eating his biscuits, so we are buying him an array of different wet food to tickle his taste buds!

Neo, Neo, Neo...... What are we going to do with you?

Apologies for not writing for so long, but we have been busy with constantly taking Neo to the vets it seems. Last week, Neo went into the Vets for an MRI scan, followed by an operation as the scan showed his middle ears were full of something. After investigation, the surgeon found both ears to be full of tissue and liquid; the sample had to be sent to the UK for analysis as it was a puzzle to them. Fortunately, it is infection and polyps. Thursday night we met Sherry, as she was over in Vienna for 2 days. Really lovely to see her, although she had to endure a trip to the vets to pick Neo up, but it was nice to see her and catch up with their new life in Kenya. Ian even taught his mum to fly a helicopter.

We picked Neo up at the vets only to find the poor kitty shaven from chin to chest with 2 wounds on his neck (the only way to get to his ears). He looked miserable, but soooooo happy to see us. Lots of head-butting and rolling around. We took him home and then said our farewells to Sherry at the airport.

The weekend after was spent looking after Neo, who spent 2 days being super friendly and really wanting to eat, but unfortunately not actually managing to eat……so Monday, yes you have guessed it, he went back to the vets after Ian worked from home and noticed he still couldn’t eat and was miserable. He was at the clinic all week. The MRI scan was sent to the USA for their opinion, and the vet said he has brain swelling and that it is affecting his eating. So happily we picked him up on Friday to take him home. Luckily the vets did not install a tube to feed him through, as he had started to try and eat. …..poor guy. Hopefully the brain swelling will go down and maybe he will remember/be able to eat again, as that is Neo’s favourite past time.
So a cat fantastic week.

Neo decided he liked his cage after coming home from the vets

Last weekend we went to the Czech Republic for what we thought was a refund after a Google translated text message seemed to say our patio tiles were no longer available. Luckily after some interpreting from Ian, the tiles were on a crate in the yard waiting for us. So the patio is now nearly finished, with just some sand/cement to fill the cracks this weekend, and then it is BBQ time just in time as the weather is warming up to 26c.

Ian got his hand stuck in a pringles tube!

Mummy loves Morpheus

Mummy loves her little baby!

Easter Holidays

Well I hope everyone had a happy Easter, and ate lots of chocolate eggs. Well as usual the Pattisons had a lazy start to the holidays, but did manage to concrete another part of the patio, before a thunder storm ruined our DIY. Today is more DIY, but with a welcome delivery of cream slices from Brigitte.....not sure how many weight watchers points they are.

Tuesday was spent pretending to go to work (I drove into Vienna with Ian), and spent 2 hours getting my hair dyed and cut. It is very surreal to me that they still use tin foil and start at the front and work backwards, so you have a huge foil head and you can hardly see.

After the relaxing haircut, I visited my friend Mollie. We chatted all afternoon and played with her baby, Vinnie. As you can see from the photos and video, Vinnie had a great time.
Mollie attenpts to feed Vinnie - I love the idea of feeding him naked and then following with a shower.

Finally at the end of the day we had to make another visit to the vets, where we were told that Neo has an eye problem now….resulting in yet another appointment with the eye specialist on Friday.
Wednesday and Thursday were spent cleaning, washing, painting, and relaxing. The car went into a new garage in Vienna for its service and summer tyre change….this is a very expensive holiday at home.

Friday, Ian managed to take the day off (not because of the royal wedding). We started our day ready for a long search in the Czech Republic for an extra 3m of our patio tiles. Ready with Tom Tom we set off, only to discover a supplier was in the first Czech town, who kindly used Google translate to communicate with us, and hey presto we have some tiles on order ready for this week. Finally the patio will be finished and BBQs can commence again. The next exciting trip of the day was going to rubbish tip. It may seem strange that this has to be planned, but they only open when we are at work. So now we have a clear spare room, free of cardboard boxes. Finally we yet again went to the vets with Neo. This time he was given a drop in his eye, and if his pupil enlarged (as it was very small when we went in), he did not have a brain problem (although we think he probably was born with some type of brain problem – along with all the male cats we have :-)). Luckily his pupil turned into a huge black hole.

Neo not happy at the vets.

Look into my eyes....and I will dribble snot on you!

We then were told he had herpes in his eye, which after researching - most cats get this virus as kittens from their mum, and it only causes problems when they are stressed (such as a vets trip…..mmmmm).

They then checked his ear (bear in mind last time we went, the vet disregarded us telling her it is was his right eye that was a problem – and only checked his left eye and left ear), and he has a severe ear infection, which only a CT scan will be able to detect the severity. Question – are they trying to get as much money out of us as possible? Anyway guess what he got more pills, supplements, and eye cream, and the bonus of another appointment for a CT scan this week.
Poor Neo is now force-fed 2 pills in a morning, 2 at night, 2 squirts of cream in his eye and a food supplement which he dribbles everywhere. He is starting to dislike his mummy slowly.
Friday night was spent watching the royal wedding (was able to download it), which was very nice, although Ian would disagree.

Saturday was a trip to the local town of Horn to pick up essentials such as food, cat food, cat treats (to try and bribe Neo), and some car bits! Not to bore you anymore, Sunday was spent ironing (yes nearly all day), as I hadn’t ironed in about 3 months!
So an interesting, chore fantastic and expensive week at home.

Off the vets...again

Well, Neo went back to the vets on Tuesday and visited the dentist, had a heart scan and more blood tests...another 300 Euros. We picked him up to find they couldn't find anything wrong with his teeth, but has a slight heart murmur and needs to have pills for the next 6 months.
A slightly groggy cat slept with us all night!

Work was slow this week, as everyone was in holiday mode - so I took it easy, finished lots of jobs I should have done ages ago, had some furniture delivered and cleared my office out and filed.
Friday was the start of holidays, unfortunately Ian didn't have Friday off, as he is not protestant! He worked from home, so we could take Morpheus to the vets to check his heart. I wish I had my phone with me to video the 30 minutes of crying all the way to vets.....and with a small bonus of peeing in his cage, which left me slightly embarrassed about the stink coming from him while waiting in the vets. Anyway his heart is fine, but they want Neo back next Tuesday as he finds it slightly hard to eat (although the dribbling is subsiding) and his inner eye lid is sometimes half closed. Mystery.
He has antibiotics now. I think he has learnt that the pills aren't treats, so I now just pop it in his mouth and he just swallows it.
We came back to find Tara trying to commit suicide by suffocation in a plastic bag. Maybe she thought she was next to go to the vets.

Today (Saturday), Ian played Xbox, while I researched another side of the family tree and talked to Sam and Georgie on skype - although Georgie was only interested in the cats and not me. We then went into town to have ice cream with Brigitte and Gunther. Although we did manage to have a quick glass of wine as well (and buy 2 bottles for me - 4 euros each - bargain).
We walked home the 'nice' way in the lovely 25c heat.

A nice start to the Easter holidays. Next week is supposed to be DIY on the house, visiting Mollie and Vinnie, haircut and highlights, vets (again), and a trip to the garage. I am guessing a fun but expensive week at home!
Have a nice Easter :-)

Off to the vets

Friday night was spent at the vets with Neo, 2 1/2 long hours of mainly waiting. He had blood tests, kidney ultra sound and managed to just poop once in his cage. He has high levels of Sodium in his blood and probably a tooth cavity. So he goes back on Tuesday to the dentist, more blood works and a heart scan. Lucky Neo. Once returning home, we had the usual problem with Morph....the biggest baby of them all......he hides and won't come out, although as it was his brother that had been to the vets, I think he was more forgiving and came out of hiding after only 16 hours (last time with Tank it was about 3 days).

Me don't like Neo anymore, he smells funny!

Is it safe to come out yet?

Neo had to drink water, so we were given a syringe and told to force it down him, but little does the vet know.....put some fresh water in a glass and Neo will see it is mummy's drink and want to drink it...result! Next painkillers, put the pill in front of Neo and he will automatically think it is food and just swallow it.....result. The bonuses of having a greedy cat.

Neo with a naked belly from his ultrasounds.

He has perked up this weekend, probably because of the meds and water, but still dribbles most of his food back into the food bowl, which I have to say is really putting the other cats of their food.
Saturday - was a trip over the border to the DIY store. I suggested to Ian he should get a new toolbox for all his helicopter bits (as there seems to be pieces of helicopter in the dining room, kitchen and office).



So only 4 days of work left and I get 10 days off.....yippeee. The idea is to get this house once and for all ready for selling, but with a little break to see Mollie and Vinnie and maybe go to the zoo, have my hair cut, and go to the dentist......

16lbs and dropping

Well last weekend was a lazy, but interesting one. First as the title suggests I have now lost 16lbs, and Ian is well ahead with around 22lbs. It is very rewarding fitting into old clothes, and when I rest my chin on my hand at work….it feels smaller! Anyway, after watching many episodes of ‘Who do you think you are’ about US celebrities researching there family trees, I finally got around to starting my family tree, and wow is it addictive. I started with the grandparents and progressed from there, my Granddad’s side was luckily already there from another long lost relative doing the research. Interestingly on that side of the family we found that my granddad had 12 brothers and sisters (although some died very early, and some during World War I – their births spanned over a long period). I also found a photo of my great grandma, which was amazing – I later decided she spent her life pregnant, she couldn’t write and obviously liked birds from the photo. Now, the Scrimgeour side of my tree started off more difficult to find, until I found a Scottish ancestry web site that you could view the full images of births, marriages etc. So I got back to 1700 with the Scrimgeours, but only on the ‘Scrimgeour’ side, so still lots to do. I found out that there is a history of ‘gardeners’ in the family (my granddad was a gardener – worked for the Queen you know!), the photo shows the estate where my great granddad worked (shame he didn't own it). From looking at dates, my great granddad married his wife 2 months before their first child was born……Scandalous! What was also nice, a lady from Oxford contacted me telling me how her mum was evacuated to Skipton, North Yorkshire during WWII, where her best friend was my grandma (Nana)……small world. She is hunting for more photos. So after around 10 hours of researching, and many calls to my mum with exciting snippets of information, I left the ancestry alone. I actually suggested Ian play on his Xbox for once!

Unfortunately this week, Neo has not been well. We shall be talking him to the vets on Friday, as he was grumpy, and has now progressed to dribbling a lot, and struggling to eat food (although that is not stopping him from spending 15 minutes licking, slurping and drooling food everywhere). So we have prodded his mouth etc., and there is no sign of pain, so let’s hope it isn’t anything neurological related, and he has a sore tooth somewhere.

Ian and I were even more impressed this week, with our second attempt at a milk tart! Unfortunately it was for Ian to take to work, as he had promised everyone……so none for me. This time we bought a new flan baking dish (with a removable base – recommended), and it looked fantastic.

Spring is officially here.....

Yes, finally the weather has warmed up, and for the first time this year, flip flops were worn at the weekend (22c). You may think it is simply the month or the weather that pronounces it is spring, but no, here in Austria there are a few things that predict when spring is officially here.

• Our little friendly ants start to creep into the house through the tiniest of gaps and make a nuisance.


• Ian starts to get more irritated with driving to work, behind the slow tractors and the even more annoying tiny cars (the ones where you don't need a licence, and they only go 45km/h).


• My work decided to fill the huge fountain on the plaza, and take down the rope barriers (to stop people walking in the snow).


• It's light when we drive home from work.


• The twice a year ritual of swapping winter and summer clothes takes place in the Pattison household.


• Its time to swap the winter tyres to summer tyres on the car.


• Hazel starts to moan that is too hot


• Hazel starts to moan that we should never have put a glass roof over the wintergarden.


• and finally this year, Ian and Hazel rejoice in being able to fit into the summer clothes that have been stored away for 5 months.

So last weekend, we took the trip to Vienna and went for a little shop, as, after been extremely happy that we now had 4 PCs networked together, the PC in the lounge decided it no longer liked its power supply. So we went looking for a small power supply to fit a slimline PC......Stupidly thinking we may find one. But no this is Austria, yes there are big electrical stores, and one maplin-like shop (with only 5 different power supplies), but that is it folks.......If only they would bring a huge supermarket, electrical store, PC store, TK Maxx and, and and.....to Austria.

So internet shopping wll have to do.

Sunday, we finished the roof garden, by laying the final 60m2 of weed cloth protection, to kill the overgrown garden. Ian took a little trip outside with his helicopter. Oh yeah and we watched the whole and only season of 'Moonlight' - a similar minded sci-fi friend at work lent me the DVD - Vampires, romance, mystery and murder....oh and a wonderfully hunky Alex O'Loughlin. All that a girl needs.

Monday, my 'sista from another mista' (as Mollie likes to call me) came into work. I had been on holiday, and then she went back to the States for 2 weeks, so I was missing my BF. Little Vinnie has grown lots. She had been shopping while visiting the states and bought me a present from Marshalls (TK Maxx of the USA). A pink, cupcake, frilly, cute apron, a cake slice with red and pink shiney gems on it, and some cute Easter kitchen towels. She wants me to look like a Stepford wife I think.

Tuesday - Ian is somewhere in Austria with work, a team meeting/retreat thingy. He will be attending and also facilitating - using 5 types of balls, lego, and string (mmmm). I am at work (lunch break now), and have just receieved a parcel from my mum which includes some cadbury's easter nest cakes.....THANK YOU MUM! It made a nice surprise, as I was having slightly murderous intentions towards my office mate earlier. It makes me chuckle - the look of pity in her eyes when I say that we don't really 'club' anymore. We did that from the age of 16 - 28, and now it is more gigs, friends houses, meals and BBQs. I told her we were going to see Limp Bizkit in July, so she told everyone that I don't 'club' because I only like heavy metal music. Not sure if it an age thing or another cultural difference we all find working in an international environment.

Finally as I have no photos this week to share, I thought I would include 2 cute photos of Neo:

Peekaboo I really like the cushion, but I also like the sofa cushion.

I know I am so fat I can use both!

The Holidays part 3 and beyond....

So ‘down South’ we went. We stopped on the way at TK Maxx, Tesco and also to buy some shower gel that you can’t buy in Austria. Friday night was spent catching up with Pops and Pam, with some birthday presents and a belated Xmas present (thank you to my secret Santa), and then a special trip to Spurs restaurant in Staines…yum yum.

Saturday was another South African themed trip, to a little South African shop, where we spent 35 pounds on yummy chocolates, and Nik Naks, (luckily I can buy some items at my work’s commissary) – oh and also a fresh Melktert (milk tart)….mmmmm.

We stopped off at a ‘fish’ shop….not an eating establishment, but to buy some new fishes for the Pattison’s aquarium…..I fell in love with a little Nemo, and I am seriously thinking about having 2 little fish at home. We relaxed with the Pattison’s on Saturday, while watching the chickens in the garden jump for minced meat (thinking they were worms), and caught up with Georgie and Anton (who, may I remind them, will visit us in Austria soon). Saturday night was an hour’s drive to the Luton Premier inn for a cheap night’s stay, but welcomed as we had to get up at 5.00am to catch our flight at 7am. We arrived in Slovakia in the morning, and did a quick shop at the Slovakian Tesco’s……doesn’t really resemble English Tesco’s, but has so much more than Austrian supermarkets. Stocked up on goodies, we headed home to give our boys and girls so love.

Last weekend, we started our spring clean, or as Ian calls it, disinfecting the house. Two whole rooms were ‘disinfected’ and items thrown away. The rest of the house was cleaned on Sunday, with a trip to Hardegg to make sure the heating was working, and a little chat with Leo, the friendly neighbour, who I am beginning to understand more and more……his wife was ill, Austria is expensive and said that a man without a beer belly is a cripple! At least that is what I think he said. So all in all a successful weekend of cleaning, cooking, shopping, cat brushing and more organizing. Sunday Ian and I made a Milk tart, which was scrummy…not sure how many points that is on weightwatchers though, and then followed by ironing and packing for our 4am start on Monday to take Ian to the airport. I arrived at work at 6.30am, where I am currently writing this, as I can’t officially start work until 7am. So I thought I would keep myself occupied from not sleeping on my desk. I am definitely leaving at 4pm today to go home to sleep….. Ian is back on Tuesday.

This weekend, disinfecting the house started again. The office was ripped apart and all paperwork was organised. The recycling bin is now full of paper and we still have another month before it is collected. So the office is starting to resemble a room again, and I may even feel like actually sitting in it occasionally. All PCs were upgraded to windows 7, and a new router was installed. After a few hours of Ian cursing his PC, we had a fully operating network, where streaming video actually worked. In fact for the first time in 10 years, all PCs can see each other. A quick trip to the Czech Republic was made on Saturday, where we bought some new Reebok trainers, after we found out all shoes were ½ the outlet price. Ready to start the upgrade from walking, to trotting, to jogging and then finally running.

Czech Republic - Airplane restaurant and a big globe, with some dragons and knights (Don't ask me why).

19 Euros for a visit to Moulin Rouge....enough said!

You can but full size plastic cows in the Czech Republic.

The holidays part 2

Thursday was a day of fun and Richard's birthday (yes 3 birthdays in 3 days). We relaxed a while in the lounge, and I tried my best to annoy my sister, without success.
The best part of the day was our 75 minutes of lazer combat. Richard, Ian, Sam and I ran around the woods with our £1000 lazer guns trying to shoot our enemies, which included many 6-10 year olds.
My mum and dad were watching with amusement and catched some great photos.

Always time for a quick pose during war.
Ian trying to be a sniper.
Me hiding behind the Ammo shed.
The 4 shooters at the end of combat. As you can see I still had
my gun and helmet, I like to think that was because
I was better than the men and wasn't killed.

After combat we did even more exercise and walked the long way home across the forest to the house. Our last night was spent eating Italian food for Richard's birthday.

To commemorate our final night, Georgie decided she would have explosive vomiting during the night. Poor Pauline and Richard had a very upset baby, with a travel cot covered in puke and a very stinky bedroom......Everybody managed to get to sleep around 3am.
Friday was goodbye day, with an early start to trek to the car and bring it back for packing. We all left and said farewell to one another, which led Ian and I onto the next part of our trip 'down South'.