I've had a great few days with Dad and Annette at their "pad" on Lake Menindee before going back to work next week. We've swum each day and eaten fabulous food. Tomorrow Dad and I start the drive back to Melbourne and will stop enroute at Hattah National Park.
We spent New Years Eve with Olivia and Stuart in Nurioopta at Andrew and Kath's wonderful house. Fraser saw the New Year in with us and is learning to party-on better than his parents! We had a great time with Liv and Stu - gorgeous food and wine of course and Fraser had a ball with his cousins.
We drove across to SA and despite the long drive, enjoyed dinner by the ocean in Port Fairy and a backpackers room in Mt Gambier where we smuggled Max in for the night oeps.... We than camped for 3 nights at the Willunga Tourist Park at the edge of a nudist beach!! No we didn't visit (Mike's British you know!!) The other beaches were gorgeous and we could even drive the car onto a few. Stunning.
Mike flew back earlier than us and started work again yesterday. The 700 cows don't take Christmas off....
Wednesday 4 January 2012
Sunday 30 October 2011
What a wonderful world
Ah, sorry - I've been taken away by study.... a CPA Tax module which I thought I'd do for interest's sake. Hmm.... water torture (as in drips), springs to mind. Anyway, the exam was on Thursday and I am now free to write blogs and write on Facebook....
But this will be a short one as I have so much to catch up on that only a few sentences are allowed tonight, (I'm also writing this on Mike's Mac and in true Mac fashion, it is misbehaving for me - how did this non-logical piece of technology become so popular????).
Cupcake update: cupcakes are doing well and progressing in designs and markets. We're a fixture at the monthly Tooradin Market and I have a few regular customers. Mike has now entered the muffin making side of the business and does the chocolate and apple ones for me each month - ok, they're pretty darn good!
Fraser update: I think we can now say he's lavatory trained now :-) a surprising lack of drama after only one day of constantly wet clothes. He's also asked his first "where, what, how, why" question and it was "Where does Vegemite come from mummy?" Lucky daddy wasn't here to answer that one. The Marmite vs Vegemite contest here backfired spectacularly on Mike. He was calling Marmite "Proper Mite" and Vegemite "Tasteless Mite" - but Fraser a) prefers Vegemite and b) now calls Vegemite "Tasty Mite!!" Ha, I won!
Cow update: Mike is working 3 days a week on a 750 cow dairy farm which milks 50 cows at once on a rotary dairy. He is also working with a mad Irish couple who are actually engineers escaping un-employment in Ireland and a Spaniard chasing, er, not sure, girls?? Apparently all the "workers" on the farm have university degrees - which are not in agriculture. Required: Discuss The Impact University Education Has On Your Future Career.
Tomorrow we're off to CERES (look it up - old quarry became rubbish tip, now eco park in heart of Melbourne), with my aunt and then Tuesday which is Melbourne Cup Day (and a holiday here!) we're spending with Juliet and the girls and we're having a Race Day party in Hampton.
But this will be a short one as I have so much to catch up on that only a few sentences are allowed tonight, (I'm also writing this on Mike's Mac and in true Mac fashion, it is misbehaving for me - how did this non-logical piece of technology become so popular????).
Cupcake update: cupcakes are doing well and progressing in designs and markets. We're a fixture at the monthly Tooradin Market and I have a few regular customers. Mike has now entered the muffin making side of the business and does the chocolate and apple ones for me each month - ok, they're pretty darn good!
Fraser update: I think we can now say he's lavatory trained now :-) a surprising lack of drama after only one day of constantly wet clothes. He's also asked his first "where, what, how, why" question and it was "Where does Vegemite come from mummy?" Lucky daddy wasn't here to answer that one. The Marmite vs Vegemite contest here backfired spectacularly on Mike. He was calling Marmite "Proper Mite" and Vegemite "Tasteless Mite" - but Fraser a) prefers Vegemite and b) now calls Vegemite "Tasty Mite!!" Ha, I won!
Cow update: Mike is working 3 days a week on a 750 cow dairy farm which milks 50 cows at once on a rotary dairy. He is also working with a mad Irish couple who are actually engineers escaping un-employment in Ireland and a Spaniard chasing, er, not sure, girls?? Apparently all the "workers" on the farm have university degrees - which are not in agriculture. Required: Discuss The Impact University Education Has On Your Future Career.
Tomorrow we're off to CERES (look it up - old quarry became rubbish tip, now eco park in heart of Melbourne), with my aunt and then Tuesday which is Melbourne Cup Day (and a holiday here!) we're spending with Juliet and the girls and we're having a Race Day party in Hampton.
Monday 18 July 2011
Winter layers
I was promised Melbourne's weather wasn't as bad as London's... well there's no snow, but by heck it rains!! However, it's not as cold and so we've actually been able to do quite abit of gardening.... the pond area has now been filled in and "Jurassic Park" behind the shed is no longer.... I wonder where the mozzies are going to live this summer.
We went to the beach again last weekend - Point Leo this time (touted as the "closest surf beach to Melbourne") and almost had the space to ourselves. The dogs had a ball chasing seagulls, tramping on our castle and pretending to swim... Fraser is improving his sand castle building skills and I'm sure he'll be an entrant in this year's castle building competitions for the under 3's.... We finished the day off with a picnic - not such a winning idea when it's a bit windy and the food ends up with a significant crunch to it.
I'm continuing to sell cupcakes at Tooradin market and did another one this weekend. Enclosed a pic of Fraser and I in "cupcakes at markets" kit....
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My last blog was just before a terribly sad day - on 14th June, Mike's friend Rupert died suddenly of a heart attack. They shared a flat together at university and as he'd emigrated to Australia with his family 5 years ago, Mike and Rupert were having a fantastic time rekindling an old friendship and sharing Australian experiences. He was a wonderful, inspiring, intelligent, fun loving man with a gorgeous family who are now trying to come to terms with life without him. Rupert's passing been such a shock and so terribly sad that we've not turned our minds to much else recently. We've seen Juliet and the girls quite abit which has been lovely - they're trying to laugh along with little things of life and we all remember Rupert when we're together. But they have such a long way to go on their journey - I hope we can shine a little light on their dark path.
A tiny silver lining in the dark cloud was that it was lovely, despite the circumstances to see Rich when he came over for Rupert's memorial service and that we've made some new friends whose friendship with Rupert we all have in common. Rupert will live on in our hearts, memories and conversations.
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We went to the beach again last weekend - Point Leo this time (touted as the "closest surf beach to Melbourne") and almost had the space to ourselves. The dogs had a ball chasing seagulls, tramping on our castle and pretending to swim... Fraser is improving his sand castle building skills and I'm sure he'll be an entrant in this year's castle building competitions for the under 3's.... We finished the day off with a picnic - not such a winning idea when it's a bit windy and the food ends up with a significant crunch to it.
I'm continuing to sell cupcakes at Tooradin market and did another one this weekend. Enclosed a pic of Fraser and I in "cupcakes at markets" kit....
My last blog was just before a terribly sad day - on 14th June, Mike's friend Rupert died suddenly of a heart attack. They shared a flat together at university and as he'd emigrated to Australia with his family 5 years ago, Mike and Rupert were having a fantastic time rekindling an old friendship and sharing Australian experiences. He was a wonderful, inspiring, intelligent, fun loving man with a gorgeous family who are now trying to come to terms with life without him. Rupert's passing been such a shock and so terribly sad that we've not turned our minds to much else recently. We've seen Juliet and the girls quite abit which has been lovely - they're trying to laugh along with little things of life and we all remember Rupert when we're together. But they have such a long way to go on their journey - I hope we can shine a little light on their dark path.
A tiny silver lining in the dark cloud was that it was lovely, despite the circumstances to see Rich when he came over for Rupert's memorial service and that we've made some new friends whose friendship with Rupert we all have in common. Rupert will live on in our hearts, memories and conversations.
Saturday 11 June 2011
Holes in the garden
Our puppies (enjoy the cute word as we won't be able to sensibly use it for much longer), have decided that our absence in the garden (due on our part to the cold wet weather), means that they need to take over gardening duties.
Tessa in particular has dug some magnificent holes for new plants in the garden beds, although so deep perhaps it is treasure she's actually digging for. There is obviously quite a hoarde under the lawn as it's had a good going over too. As I write this I should really go and shout at them because x is obviously marking the spot under a lovely little eucalypt tree as they're madly digging and barking at something at the bottom of the giant hole they've excavated!
Ah and Fraser's just them in! Marvellous chaos.
Mike took Tessa to the farm the last week and she loved it (although one would hope that she would answer the calling of her ancestors). She was very well behaved, following the cows at a respectful distance, hanging on for dear life on the motorbike and splasing about in the mud. Both master and hound returned home very happy.
The cupcakes have just become a definite regular fixture in our lives as I've taken a "permanent stall" at the Tooradin market down the road (the 3rd Sunday in every month so do tell your friends!) I tried another market at Bittern to the south of here, with limited success, so decided to return to the original posting which was somewhat more reliable. Having 60 cupcakes left over at the end of the market is depressing and is not slimming on the hips.
There was enough sun on Friday for a sojourn to the beach. Fraser, the dogs and I built sandcastles and ran up and down the beach. The puppies then decided to go for a swim and despite all threats to the contrary, Fraser decided to join them.... it was a wet ride home!
My new job is great - challenging, but without stress at the moment. The people are lovely, the product is interesting and seems to have great scope for further deveopment and sales. The owners are passionate about their product and are just happy to let me get on with my work. I feel rather fortunate!
Tessa in particular has dug some magnificent holes for new plants in the garden beds, although so deep perhaps it is treasure she's actually digging for. There is obviously quite a hoarde under the lawn as it's had a good going over too. As I write this I should really go and shout at them because x is obviously marking the spot under a lovely little eucalypt tree as they're madly digging and barking at something at the bottom of the giant hole they've excavated!
Ah and Fraser's just them in! Marvellous chaos.
Mike took Tessa to the farm the last week and she loved it (although one would hope that she would answer the calling of her ancestors). She was very well behaved, following the cows at a respectful distance, hanging on for dear life on the motorbike and splasing about in the mud. Both master and hound returned home very happy.
The cupcakes have just become a definite regular fixture in our lives as I've taken a "permanent stall" at the Tooradin market down the road (the 3rd Sunday in every month so do tell your friends!) I tried another market at Bittern to the south of here, with limited success, so decided to return to the original posting which was somewhat more reliable. Having 60 cupcakes left over at the end of the market is depressing and is not slimming on the hips.
There was enough sun on Friday for a sojourn to the beach. Fraser, the dogs and I built sandcastles and ran up and down the beach. The puppies then decided to go for a swim and despite all threats to the contrary, Fraser decided to join them.... it was a wet ride home!
My new job is great - challenging, but without stress at the moment. The people are lovely, the product is interesting and seems to have great scope for further deveopment and sales. The owners are passionate about their product and are just happy to let me get on with my work. I feel rather fortunate!
Sunday 1 May 2011
Fraser turns 2.
We decided to have a 2nd birthday party for Fraser. After we'd invited about 30 children, I read that it is recommended that at that age you invite 8 as a maximum, and for about 1 1/2 hours.... we'd invited them for 3!! So it was with a bit of trepidation that Saturday morning arrived....
But it went very well on Saturday, lots of happy children (no tears at all!!!) and I think besides Fraser, the puppies mum and Geoff brought over stole the show! The weather was fabulous - almost hot and so we were able to save the carpet, although not enjoy the freshly painted play room, and have the party outside. Mike did his usual brilliant job organising party things, great loot bags, lots of streamers and balloons. It felt very festival and the children did lots of running around shouting which is always a good sign.
Mike went back to the cow shed all day yesterday and is there again today, although today he's having Tractor 102 (moved on from Tractor 101) lessons and is feeding out the hay by himself.....so hopefully that's a bit more exciting than watching cow teats pass by for a few hours.
Tuesday 19 April 2011
Down on the beach....at Frankston!!
Quelle horreur! Fraser and I went to the beach at Frankston yesterday morning whilst Mike did a few errands around town. Rowena doesn't recommend Frankston as a place to visit, so we've been avoiding it, thinking the beach would be full of people with tattoos and too small bikinis with guns in their pants. But we found none of those, just a huge, sandy beach in pristine condition with a few nice people walking dogs. So we built a sandcastle, dug a moat, jumped on our creation and then paddled in the sea, getting very wet and generally having a great time.
We spent the afternoon gardening, pulling up ivy and a horrible plant against the fence which annoyed me everytime I looked at it. Since it's no longer there, now the gap where it was is annoying me as I am yet to purchase the gap filling plant....
Fraser has decided that eating is extremely boring and interferes with his games. So I've given up wrestling with him to get him to eat and so tonight he ate about 4 spoonfuls of spag bol and about 150mls of milk and that's it! I hope he doesn't fade away :-D His favourite game is "rackets" which involves hitting a ball to you and you back to him. He's getting quite good at hitting it and yesterday whipped a ball past me at a pace which made me glad his aim is still somewhat wayward.
Cars are also the new thing and they're all lined up and whizzed around the kitchen floor for a good part of the time I'm in there cooking dinner. Talking of cooking we've also been making muffins together which he LOVES doing. I've also had him up on the stool when I'm using the beaters and his eyes nearly pop out watching it go around and around with no place to go.
Mike's also embarking on new things. Last week he purchased a home brew kit and we now have a large drum of yeasty stuff popping away on the kitchen bench - I am told it will be bottled in a few days and that it smells great. I am sure that it just a ploy to get into my kitchen!! Mike's out at his "Album Club" tonight with Rupert - they're listening to one of Led Zepplin's albums. Mike's hoping that he will be convinced of the beauty of LZ as he's not been converted in during his preparation time.... despite owning ALL their albums!!
Mike's just called and said that Rupert has written a whole blog on his construction of a Tandoori oven! Cool, we're doing a pizza oven next..... watch this space.
We spent the afternoon gardening, pulling up ivy and a horrible plant against the fence which annoyed me everytime I looked at it. Since it's no longer there, now the gap where it was is annoying me as I am yet to purchase the gap filling plant....
Fraser has decided that eating is extremely boring and interferes with his games. So I've given up wrestling with him to get him to eat and so tonight he ate about 4 spoonfuls of spag bol and about 150mls of milk and that's it! I hope he doesn't fade away :-D His favourite game is "rackets" which involves hitting a ball to you and you back to him. He's getting quite good at hitting it and yesterday whipped a ball past me at a pace which made me glad his aim is still somewhat wayward.
Cars are also the new thing and they're all lined up and whizzed around the kitchen floor for a good part of the time I'm in there cooking dinner. Talking of cooking we've also been making muffins together which he LOVES doing. I've also had him up on the stool when I'm using the beaters and his eyes nearly pop out watching it go around and around with no place to go.
Mike's just called and said that Rupert has written a whole blog on his construction of a Tandoori oven! Cool, we're doing a pizza oven next..... watch this space.
Thursday 7 April 2011
Working Girl
Ah, it's back to the daily commute. But wait! No it's not quite..... Last Tuesday I started my new job at Sealite (http://www.sealite.com.au/). But it's part time (a long weekend every weekend!), only 9 - 5 (I can see the sun!), 10 minutes from home and there's no Blackberry!!
It's weird not having proper responsibility and weird to go home Thursday night knowing I won't see responses to my emails for 4 days. But nice to have a long weekend.... :-)
We all said a very tearful goodbye to Sally and David last Monday (28th March). We had a fabulous time with them here and tried to convince them to stay longer! The garden is now looking a 1000 times better thanks to all David's work and the house is now looking shambolic again without Sally's help! But we still have Sally's home cooked meals in the freezer for frantic, unplanned evening meals in the coming weeks (guaranteed!)
I feel as though I've got to know the Peninsula better, plus a bit of the Yarra Valley with the touring about we did - Flinders, Pt Leo and Yering Station in the Yarra Valley being some of the favourite places we visited. Sandy Point was also fabulous - thanks Judith and Julian! The beach there is superb, but don't tell anyone about it....
Last Saturday we bowed to Community Advertising pressure and attended the Tooradin Truck and Tractor Pull (not my idea!!!!). Wow, what a display of interesting people shall we say. Some interesting haircuts, outfits and girth sizes..... Shiny trucks for Fraser to see and er, not much else. We were too early for the "Pulling" and the motorcross stunt man had a crash on the first jump!! But Fraser saw a helicopter which looked alot like Harold the Helicopter (Thomas the Tank Engine's friend - don't you know!!!), so that was a highlight for a small boy.
Tomorrow Fraser and I are going to visit Olivia, Stuart, Claudia and Alexander for the (long!!!) weekend. Fraser is very excited about going on a plane.
and.... I've just written a snooty letter to "Civic Compliance Victoria" telling them that I won't be paying my latest speeding fine (the third one!!) until they sort out the "hoon drivers" - young people who zoom about making lots of noise and screeching tyres (do I sound old??) Anyone care to rate my chances of getting off??? I'm going for 6 out of 10.....
It's weird not having proper responsibility and weird to go home Thursday night knowing I won't see responses to my emails for 4 days. But nice to have a long weekend.... :-)
We all said a very tearful goodbye to Sally and David last Monday (28th March). We had a fabulous time with them here and tried to convince them to stay longer! The garden is now looking a 1000 times better thanks to all David's work and the house is now looking shambolic again without Sally's help! But we still have Sally's home cooked meals in the freezer for frantic, unplanned evening meals in the coming weeks (guaranteed!)
I feel as though I've got to know the Peninsula better, plus a bit of the Yarra Valley with the touring about we did - Flinders, Pt Leo and Yering Station in the Yarra Valley being some of the favourite places we visited. Sandy Point was also fabulous - thanks Judith and Julian! The beach there is superb, but don't tell anyone about it....
Last Saturday we bowed to Community Advertising pressure and attended the Tooradin Truck and Tractor Pull (not my idea!!!!). Wow, what a display of interesting people shall we say. Some interesting haircuts, outfits and girth sizes..... Shiny trucks for Fraser to see and er, not much else. We were too early for the "Pulling" and the motorcross stunt man had a crash on the first jump!! But Fraser saw a helicopter which looked alot like Harold the Helicopter (Thomas the Tank Engine's friend - don't you know!!!), so that was a highlight for a small boy.
and.... I've just written a snooty letter to "Civic Compliance Victoria" telling them that I won't be paying my latest speeding fine (the third one!!) until they sort out the "hoon drivers" - young people who zoom about making lots of noise and screeching tyres (do I sound old??) Anyone care to rate my chances of getting off??? I'm going for 6 out of 10.....
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