Notice anything different?

Yes, it's pretty obvious ... I've decided on a change of template for the blog again. Was getting bored with the old colours, so I've gone with one that is nice and clean for a bit of a change.

I'm sorry that I haven't really blogged much lately, but I haven't really had an awful lot to tell you all.

We had an interesting weekend last weekend - we decided on Sunday to take a drive out to Marysville, to see for ourselves the effects of the bushfires. I knew it wasn't going to be particularly pleasant, but it was something that I felt I needed to do. It was very sad to see that the Black Spur has been burnt, but thankfully there are parts of it that are untouched by the fires. The drive into Marysville itself was a different story - Narbethong, at the turn-off, has basically been reduced to rubble, and there's not much standing all the way in to Marysville. There are a few very very lucky houses, and some not-so-lucky right next door, and then once you round the last bend coming into town, all that is left is a few chimneys and twisted corrugated iron. There is one house down to the left that appears to be untouched, but everything else that you can see from the main road is gone. Thankfully, the beautiful bakery in the main street is still standing (although only just - all the gardens are burnt, and the building right next door is gone ...) and was doing a ripper trade with the lunch crowd.

We sat down and had some lunch ourselves, and then wandered down the main street, remembering what it used to be like. For the last 10 years, we have spent the Christmas/New Years period in the Marysville area, and it feels like a second home to us. It was a very sobering afternoon, but I am glad we went to see it.

After much consideration, I did take some photos of the main street, which I will probably turn into a layout at some stage in the near future.

Anyway, on a lighter note, we got back today from a couple of days away camping - our friends Greg and Brooke invited us to go away with them for the long weekend, and Greg's brother and his girlfriend joined us as well. Headed down to the lovely Golden Beach, on the 90 Mile Beach south of Sale, which is a bit of a favourite spot of ours. It's such a lovely beach, and the campsites are terrific - right behind the sand dunes, tucked under the teatree. The kids and the dogs had a fabulous time frolicking on the beach (as did the adults, mind you!) --- it's hard NOT to have a great time at a beautiful place like that.

Greg's brother proposed to his girlfriend last week (and she said yes!), so they will be busy planning their wedding from here on in. I think I will be doing their wedding invitations too ... can't help myself! :)

I haven't really done much scrapping in the last couple of weeks - the mojo seems to have taken a bit of a holiday, but I have at least been making quite a few cards, which has been nice. I will take a couple of pics in the daylight, and will upload them soon.

I have been having some trouble with an online scrapping store of late, not sending out my orders (there are two), and not responding to my attempts to communicate with them, so I have been forced to take the matter to the next level, which was something I was hoping I wouldn't have to do. Unfortunately, I am not alone in my complaints. Hopefully we will all have a satisfactory resolution to the problems shortly ... I just want the stuff that I have paid for; I don't think that is being unreasonable at all. I think this could be contributing to my lack of mojo too ...

Anyway, I'm loving the fact that I don't have to go back to work until next Friday - it's fabulous! Nick's got the whole week off too, with time in lieu that he has accrued, and he's got the following Monday off as well, and then the following Friday! How good is that?

I hope everyone has had a lovely Easter so far ... and I'll talk to you soon.
Ness.
xoxo