Melon's Cottage opening draws closer!

Hi everyone

Ive just been reading through the blog again...and i have tears pouring down my face...who would have guessed that even after 3 years those words would mean so much to us. After reading the blog, it feels like it was all yesterday. And to be honest, im kinda proud of us for being able to share such an intimate time with you all especially knowing how hard it was with what we went through...

but...we are so very close now with the cottage, and that is FANTASTIC....just another 6 weeks to 'spruce moose' the place. A fair bit of gardening work to do (mulching and pruning)...the new herbs have been planted, with the inside basically complete. AWESOME...we absolutely cant wait to have the first family through, it will be bloody terrific and something pete and i have waited so long to do...

anyways...just a short hello from the family...we are doing well...Archie has 8 teeth now and is commando crawling - not too fast thank goodness...he is a cracker of a kid...and our little 'rooster'...5am starts are starting to get a bit better, it still hurts a bit though LOL.

anyhoo...take care everyone and we will keep you posted...

luv and sunshine

the simpsons

xoxox

One step closer!

hey everyone

happy new year and we hope everyone had a brilliant and very safe xmas....again, our xmas was bittersweet...especially having archie on board and no melon...we lit all our candles (archie has one for melon too)...and reflected on what should have been, but we knew melon was with us...

Christmas was a bit overwhelming for archie this year...he woke up in a terrible mood which slightly improved when we went to stratford for our wonderful and traditional xmas tea...lots of other little ones to play with which was exciting.

Pete and i are glad we had xmas at home with our own traditions...will have to wait and see what this year brings...weird saying this year already...geez...time flies...

So, update on the cottage...we are so bloody excited...we have the cottage pretty much to where we want it...and it is basically ready for families...our grand opening is 6th March, so it will have families from then onwards...we still have a little bit to do...we have to keep on top of the garden and grounds...but the inside looks an absolute treat and functional...we are aiming to have some new bunks in by the opening...it will have a single bed on top, with a double on the bottom. Extra room which will mean we can fit 4 in our old room...with a family of up to 6 if needed. Not bad really!

We are just so bloody excited...it has been such a long slog for us all...and to have the dream realised is amazing...I have been invited to do a couple of presentations for lakes rotary and the rotary "inner wheel" group...so hopefully that will lead to some volunteers giving us a hand here and there...

The cottage itself doesnt really need anything...we will just update things as we can afford them...first will be a new flatscreen tv... LOL...

For those who are keen to donate $ to Eli's Foundation, pls email me on eli-simpson@hotmail.com...i can give you the bank details directly but please note...you wont receive a tax receipt - we are still waiting for that to come through (hopefully in the next month or so)...All monies will go towards the running of the cottage, including paying for bills (electricity, gas, rates and most importantly insurances)...at this stage, i think if we can raise about $5000 a year, it should cover everything...but i guess we will need to just wait and see. Our aim really is to keep the overheads as low as we can, but with the cottage being used up to 48 weeks a year...it might be a bit tough!

anyways...best toodle...it was just a quick update...

luv and hugs

the simpsons

xoxoxo