Happy Birthday Jared!

Happy Birthday! Hope you've enjoyed your day so far and glad you liked your pressie :)

What are you having for your birthday dinner?

Love, Uncle Damien, Auntie Cheryl and your little cousins Oscar & Lily

-xxxx-

Happy birthday Bruce

Happy 32nd birthday babe.

I know we both had to work yesterday but hopefully you still had a good day. It certainly looked like you enjoyed the pudding platter. :)

We've got nothing planned for the weekend so we can just have a relaxing couple of days.

Love you.
XxoO

Happy birthday Os

Dear Oscar, 

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday dear Oscar

Happy birthday to you! 

*big hugz and lots of love*
Aunty Dayna and Unkie Bruce
xxoo

Weekend!

The weekend is here, finally.

We finished work a little early tonight to take a quick spin to Knox - we completed our cutlery set, and Dee got some cupcake baking trays, whilst I splashed out on some running gear. The guy in the Mountain Designs shop had even heard of the ToughMudder course!

Two more months of training for me, then: I'm nowhere near ready yet but I can already see an improvement, and I'm totally psyched about doing it! We're going to head down to Phillip Island on the Friday (run is on Saturday morning) with my two team-mates, maybe stay 'til Sunday to make a weekend of it - a muddy, freezing, exhausting weekend!

Tomorrow we might have a friend or two over for a barbeque lunch I reckon. Saturday is my Cheaturday - a day to refueling on carbs and eating/drinking those things I've denied myself during the week - so at the very least I will have some chocolate and beer. Probably not at the same time.

Plans for the weekend?

Puppygate 2012

A couple of weeks ago, Lucy jumped her fence while we were out and went wandering off down the road. When we realised she was no longer in the backyard, I went walking up Baker Street following the sounds of barking, and found her a few houses up where they keep Rottweiler pups -- indeed, they'd locked her in their backyard and left a note on our door but she'd managed to escape again.

We didn't know how she got out, but "hardened" the perimeter in various ways: more wire, nails, tent-pegs so she couldn't tunnel under, etc. A few days later she got out again but this time we were home and vigilant and Lucy made it as far as the driveway before I was after her with a leash.

I reached the bottom of our driveway in time to see Lucy sniffing around the neighbours front yard, whilst said neighbour, rather irate, harrangued her from the porch. Mongrel this, mongrel that. I collected my dog and faced off with an apoplectic middle-aged woman. "She bit my duck! She bit my duck! That cost me $100 vet bill! I'll call the council!" I promised to come back once I'd put Lu back inside.

She was raging! Pointed out paw prints in the mud, but grudgingly admitted she'd not actually seen Lucy do anything - indeed, she hadn't seen Lucy before that day. When did it happen, I enquired? "Yesterday," she sputtered! Ah, but Lucy wasn't out yesterday. "The day before then," she groaned. I agreed to pay the vet-bill, all the while protesting Lucy's innocence - considering it "neighbour tax" and helpfully warning her about the many dogs in the street, not to mention the area. She was nice as pie once she had the money in her hot little hand.

Then yesterday we were putting the final touches on a dog proof fence -- 6-foot high, staked into the ground, made from electrified adamantium -- and Lucy, recognising the inevitability of yard-bound life and wanting one last fling, saw her opportunity and made a break for it. She'd been somewhat under house arrest for the interim, chained up when we were out and supervised when she went out for a pee, so we were quickly after her.

This time she didn't bother with the neighbour, walking past towards her German suitors, but nevertheless our Crazy Lady neighbour was out there brandishing a pitchfork and flaming brand, with the now-tired threat of a call to the council. Difference? This time she met Dee.

"Calm down, she wasn't even in your yard," I imagine Dee said, but it's hard to be reasonable with unreasonable people. "Good, call the council!" Dee returned with Lucy, then went back for a chat that was reportedly even more frustrating than the first. "She's not a mongrel," Dee explained to me later. "That's just factually incorrect." She did however manage to get a copy of the bill and a receipt for the money I'd paid.

The end result is we're finishing the fence today and hoping our neighbour -- a renter, "townies, eh?" -- was so distraught by the situation that she moves out and we never see her again.

If you haven't got a penny..

A ha'penny will do...

I made my mini Chrissy puds today. I used approx 400g of fruitcake and a good splash of a brandy/rum/alcohol from Spain. :-) I cut up the fruit jellies from Adelaide to make the 'holly' (which took ages).

No idea what they taste like, but they look pretty. :-)

I also want to try making these:
Rudolf tartlets
but I'll have to find substitutes for most of the ingredients. They look cute tho.

Hope everyone's Xmas planning is going well - we're off to the cabin on Friday so I'll look for you online tomorrow (your Thursday pm).

*hugz*

Happy Birthday Lisa!

Dear little-big sister,


Hope you have a wonderful day full of wonderful things!
Did you get breakfast in bed?


Happy Birthday!!!


*big hugz*
-d&b-

Happy 18th Carolynn

Dear Carolynn,

Hope you had a fabulous 18th birthday and that the year is full of everything good.

We look forward to seeing photos of your party.

Lovenhugz,

Aunty dayna & unkie bruce

Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat

Please put a penny in the old man's hat...

Hi all,

We're going to be spending Christmas in a log cabin in Devon this year. I'm hoping to have internet so I can chat to everyone but we may need to play it by ear a little.

Anyway, I'm trying to get everything organised before we go and I want to make those cute little Christmas Puddings that Nana and Mum make.. I've found a few recipes on the internet but I want the fail-safe/tried-and-tested variety.. and I thought you guys might like it to.

So, Mum (or Lisa?), could you please put the Mini Christmas Pudding recipe in the comments to this post?

I'm sure I've had the recipe in the past (I must have, I made them 2 years ago and Bruce's Dad liked them - which is why I want to make them again)... but I can't find it now.

Thanks!!

-the Xmas Elves-

School's Finished...For now anyway

So I have finally finished school, until I find out about Uni or TAFE. I feel confident about my exams but hate the wait to find out about my results. I've been driving heaps, I don't realise how much time mum spends in the car because I'm doing all of her driving when I'm home which is good :) I'm upto 27 hours only another 93 hours to go. I'm helping out with the step up week at Bendigo Senior, I did so much walking aroud on friday helping students find classes and carrying the food and drinks for the BBQ lunch, I felt it on saturday.

getting organised

Thank you for the info on the international finances. I'd love to borrow a money belt. Hoping my ING card will be good for overseas.Today I booked accommodation for Chris and Emma's wedding. We have a suite and a cottage at Fleurbaix, as close to Fortnums (where the wedding will be) as we could manage. (about a kilometer). Also paid RACV for travel insurance and made a Christmas cake. Smells good. Always made Dad decide to made a boiled fruit cake he could eat immediately.

After all the rain yesterday, today is glorious. Think I need to get out the electric hedge trimmer and tackle the bush although it seems a shame when it's about to flower. leaving the big hedge to Dave. He was at Mum's today and has a big job when he gets here.

Julie and John Gibson are coming for afternoon tea tomorrow and I had a call from Sue Wall (Hay) to see if I wanted to go to a dance there next weekend. Can't because it's the Red Hat Christmas party on Saturday.

Trip to Tocumwal next Wednesday. Leaving at 7.45am so an early start.

I know Christmas is coming but I haven't got on to that yet.

Hope all are doing well. Chat soon on Skype or the hangout.

French-Roberts update

Mum seems to be doing most of the posting so I thought I'd better update on things here. I can't believe Christmas is just around the corner, I'm not really prepared but there's so much happening before then. We've got break-ups happening every week - the Uniting Church invites playgroup to theirs, we have HIPPY (the program Trinity's been in these last 2 years), Connections, and we're having one just for playgroup this year as well. Usually once the church Christmas party has happened there's no playgroup but Julie-Anne and I have decided to go for 2 more weeks and finish the week before school breaks up. The feedback has been good, one mum said it's hard to find things to do in the holidays so she appreciates playgroup going that bit longer. The only thing is that the ladies that help out in the kitchen (cutting up fruit, setting the table, cleaning up afterwards) won't be there but the mums are all happy to help out. Tamara said she'll do it as long as we don't mind watching her boys and I've volunteered Carolynn as well LOL

Carolynn is waiting for her results now, then in January she'll find out if she gets to go to uni. In the meantime she gets to do some driving. I seem to spend quite a bit of time in the car LOL It means that Carolynn's hours are going up gradually. She won't have enough to go for her licence when she turns 18 but hopefully by the time she is 19 she'll be driving the laser around.

Now it's time to go to playgroup, we're making ants on logs (sultanas on celery and cream cheese) and fruit kebabs for snack today. Hopefully we'll have another quiet day today, it's easier when we've got under 10 children :)

Sassafras

I'm looking at accommodation near Sasssafras for Chris and Emma's wedding next March. Glenn and Dee, do you know of any that aren't online? I thought you may be prepared to give Josie, Rob and family a bed at your place if they needed one. Only 60 guests so no cousins I'm afraid. Denise, Pete, Mum and I thought we could share if we can find somewhere with easy access for Nana. Have a couple of possibilities near Olinda but they are disappearing fast.

Good news

Rob Hamilton is in remission. He still needs to finish a the chemo and have the radiation course but from the PET scan, he is in remission. I guess that means they can't see any cancer, but still can't understand why they couldn't check dad a second time like that. We did ask but they said it wouldn't show anything.

Booked the tickets

Today I booked my flights to (and from) Birmingham. I leave here on Friday 27th April at 6pm and arrive at Birmingham at 12.35pm Saturday 28th April. Flying Emirates so we have a stop at Singapore and Dubai on the way. I have two straight through flights on the way home on Saturday 30th June, with only a Dubai stop. Airport bus transfers are well timed (but not so close there could be a problem, I hope). Still sorting travel insurance. Need advice on how to carry money and how to send some so I have some there. We'll chat Dayna.

I've given Lisa the money for three shares in the bracelet she ordered for Auntie Denise's 60th, so you are all on the card that I'll deliver tomorrow with the bracelet. It arrived yesterday and Lisa wrapped it today.

My advice on Carolynn's present is the universal gift card (known as cash) for any who ask. Lisa mentioned a JB HiFi gift card but with mine she can spend it anywhere and it doesn't run out of time.