I feel the Earth.... move.... under my feet....

But hopefully no sky tumbling down!! Yes,we had yet another earthquake the other day. This one was only a 3.5, "only," but enough to scare the beejeesus out of an Aussie!

Just wanted to give a couple of shout-outs to some buddies of mine who have had their birthdays since my last posting. Happy birthday to my awesome buddy Ailie on August 7th (well, nearly after my last posting); Niki, who is currently living in England but came to visit us in LA earlier in the year, has her birthday on Aug 12th; my brother Patrick who also came to visit us a few weeks ago had a birthday on August 14th, and my buddy Catherine who has her birthday today on August 18th. Happy birthday you guys!!! Hope you day was as spectacular and fabulous as you all are!!

Jimmy and I have been having a bit of a sticky beak around the housing markets here during our past few weekends. We're looking into buying a house, exactly where or when yet we don't know. We're in the best situation for the moment where we don't have to buy, we want to buy. We're in a great apartment paying very reasonable rent and are saving up nicely. However, a turning point came last week when we came across a car that had run into a fire hydrant, creating this:



And here's the artistic, shot, naturally:



So we had to make a detour. While we were weaving through uncharted streets, Jimmy thought he'd show me a couple of his favourite type of houses, absolutely gorgeous works of art called Craftsman Style houses. They're found here and there around LA, particularly in the older historical parts and were built mostly prior to 1925. Anyway, Jimmy was about to show me one of his favourite craftsmans when he suddenly saw a "For Sale" sign out the front of it!! Wow!!! Imagine one of your favourite houses up for sale just when you're thinking about buying!! It said there was going to be an open house on Sunday, we were soooo going to check it out!! Unable to stop thinking about it, we went home and looked up the details on the net and saw that it was somewhat out of our price range. Disheartened, but not without hope, we went to check it out on Saturday and then again at the open house on Sunday. WOW again. This house is nothing short of incredible. It was built in Hollywood in 1913 and transported to Van Nuys in 1920 where it has remained virtually untouched for 87 years. We were drooling all over each other and cringed at the thought of what we'd have to sacrifice in order to be able to afford this magnificent dream home. Here's the website link, go check it out: http://www.hamlinstreet.com/ Stay on the main page and let the photos scroll around by themselves. The outside is not my favourite, but the interior is phenominal. It even has a basement!!! In order to buy it though we'd have to give up trivial things, like food, clothing, petrol, etc. While it took us a while, we've kinda come to the decision that it's a little out of our reach (Jimmy thinks eating and filling the car with petrol is important, like, sheesh!!) and we might have to pass. There were a lot of things that needed fixing and updating, a lot of TLC would be needed, and we wouldn't have any dosh left to mess with if we made that house our home. Alas!! I hope no one buys it and it's still on the market in a year's time... wishful thinking... We're very protective of that house now. It should be ours. Bahh humbug.



I am sad to report that our little Max Biallystock passed away last week. He was a very cute birdie but was not quite right from the beginning. Whether whatever ailment he had caught up with him, or he was exhausted from all the unwanted attention and shagging he was receiving, we separated him from his buddies for a few days. He was very sick at the beginning but seemed to perk up after 3 days in isolation. The other birds were always calling to him and he would call to them, he missed them so, so we decided to reunite them. He seemed to be doing alright until one morning he was gone. The others are missing him, but at least the shag fests have substantially subsided since his passing. Here are some photos of the boy quartet... That's Max with his head under his wing, surrounded by his ever-vigilant body guards; pigging out on some yummy seeds and that's the four of them snuggled up together.

You have to forgive me if there are any mistakes in this posting, I'm competing for keyboard space with Harriet, our new(ish) cute little yellow cockatiel. She's awfully friendly and loves to play with whatever we're doing, especially the keyboard. Why do birds always go for keyboards??

And I'll leave you with that thought for the evening. Goodnight all, love & hugs xxx Laura