A busy month

Good to read about everybody's comings and goings!

We've been keeping busy over this side of the world too. I can't believe that it's been more than a month since Mum went home, and I've had over two months of being forty. The week after we waved goodbye to Mum, Bruce spent a week in a tent. No, we didn't have a barney; he was working at the Green Man Festival making solar cells, batteries and woollen molecules. In the end, the molecules were made out of pom-poms rather than crocheted (but thanks for the prototypes, Mum!).

Bruce making a water molecule

The weekend after that, we enjoyed a very Welsh weekend - beer, bogs and Brecon. We spent Saturday evening tasting local ales at the inaugural Cardiff Brewfest.

Cardiff Brewfest

Then on Sunday morning we headed into the Brecon Beacons to watch some of the International Bog Snorkelling Championships.

Bog snorkelling championships

After a picnic lunch (in the car because it was starting to rain..) we headed across the hills (through Ministry of Defence land, around a rally and along some very winding single-track roads) to the Llandrindod Wells Steampunk Weekend. Apparently they'd had a whole "Victorian Week" (the era, not the place) and this was the final weekend. It was disappointing - no activities, only a couple of people in costume, and the heavens about to open. So instead of staying around for a few hours (for the music and fireworks), we drove back towards home and watched the latest Mission Impossible movie instead. :-)

The next week was fairly non-eventful, I took some leave and did nothing (ahh... doing nothing.. although I feel a bit guilty for not sorting out the photos from mum's trip..). B had to work as normal.
The weekend of 11-14 September our friends, Vicki & Steven, visited us in Cardiff. I collected them from Bristol airport on Friday afternoon and we had a lovely evening in playing Killer Bunnies.

Killer Bunnies game in progress

We had a relaxed start on Saturday - brunch and a few games of Forbidden Island (the game that Glenn introduced us to when we last visited). Vicki and Steven's visit was well-timed - it was the Millennium Centre's 10th birthday celebration, so we headed to the Bay for Ar Waith At Daith - A journey of Welsh myth and magic. The outside performance told the story of The Birth of Taliesin using puppets, storytelling, music, projection and pyrotechnics.

Ar Waith Ar Daith at Cardiff Bay

We explored Waterfall Country on Sunday. We packed a picnic, drove into the Brecon Beacons to the Waterfall Centre. We decided to take the shortest waterfall walk, the Elidir Trail - a trail past four waterfalls with a round trip distance of 4 kms. It was beautiful weather.. right up until we'd finished our picnic back at the car! Score!

Waterfalls on the Elidir Trail

Before Vicki and Stephen headed home on Monday, we popped over to Weston-Super-Mare to experience Dismaland - the depressing arty exhibit curated by Banksy. I'm hoping to get my photos sorted soonish so you can see more of the exhibition. It was such a busy (and fun) weekend!

Stephen & Vicki outside Dismaland

After another week of work, we drove up to visit B's folks - we were going to visit Grandad in the care-home but a number of the residents were ill, so no visitors were allowed. We still had a good visit with John and Gwen, so it wasn't all a waste.

As a belated birthday get-together, Vicki, Steven, Bruce and I travelled to the Black Forest in Germany last weekend to catch up with Angelika and James. Vicki, Angelika, James and I worked at Manchester University together seven years ago. James and Angelika moved to Waldkirch a few months ago, and with two small kids it seemed sensible that the rest of us would visit them.

We were only there for a long weekend, but still managed to pack a lot in. All of the things you'd expect from the Black Forest - beer, hiking, and Black Forest cake. In Waldkirch we ate home-made spatzel (a type of pasta), read books to the kiddies, went hiking on Kandel, drank champagne (for my belated birthday), and explored the lovely little town.

Waldkirch

We spent a day in Freiburg, wandering around the market and the Minster.

Freiburg

And on our final day in Germany, we went to the tourist-town of Triberg - cuckoo clocks, the highest waterfall in Germany, and tasty Black Forest cake. Yummo!

Triberg

What a great weekend!
So that catches me up.. Sorry for taking so long to get there!
Who next?

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.

Engagement

Exciting news last night at Denise's 60th birthday. Chris and Emma announced their engagement. Wedding will be 31st March ( not clashing with my Red Hat Goldrush or my trip to Wales) in Sassafras since that is only 20 mins from home for them. She flashed the bling to let us know. Nanna was prepared and we chose a gift and made a card this morning, then went to Denise's.

I spent the night at Nanna's because my car had been showing a red battery (which the RACV man this morning told me meant the battery wasn't charging). Problem is a shredded alternator belt. Solution is to take it to a garage. I'll ring tomorrow to see if that will be to the RACV or to Col's. The RACV will tow it regardless. It's at Nanna's so I might need to uncover the Torana if I need wheels, or I might get plenty of walking happening.

Frustrating since the vaccuum has also thrown a belt (maybe more) I found the directions so might try taking that apart and then I'd just need a new belt.(once I have a car to go get it)

Planning a trip

After a wonderful two weeks visit from Dayna and Bruce, I decided to start sorting my visit to them. Got some prices on an April to June stay. At the moment Malaysia or Qatar are offering the best prices from Flight Centre. Dayna, what dates would suit you. I guesstimated 26th April to 25th June on my request but wanted to check on any dates to suit you. Best to get to London on a weekend? and similar for leaving?

Val and Peter Loomes are coming for a visit this weekend. Probus on Monday, Spinners on Wednesday, Denise Drysdale on Friday. Need to fit in visit to Fairthornes and make some Christmas puddings. Not sure if Denise's birthday dinner is the 19th or 26th. Trinity tells me her school fair is this Friday and I have a Red Hat meeting on Friday afternoon.

Visitors mean I'll clean on Saturday morning and I've already washed sheets and remade the spare bed. Think we might have fish and chips or chinese for tea.(so much for my diet?) Still trying to get some order in my room but at least I've put the suitcase away and most of the now clean clothes. Wondering how your flight went Dayna and Bruce.

Today I weeded the tomato bed. Mostly I weeded out tomatoes and pumpkins so I've tried to plant them in better places. After much rain, I was amazed at how dry the ground was in some places. This is why my house still needs work. Jared will come and mow again over the weekend. Much needed although it's only been a week and a half since he last did it.

Hope Carolynn's exam went well today.

Back on the knitting that is still very confusing. fingers crossed it will work out in the end.

Lots of love and hugs to you all from Mum

I want more power tools

We've got a bit of a break between visitors so I thought I should write a quick update.

We were expecting Darryl at some point before the baby was born, but he surprised us by calling us a few days before the weekend to say he'd be here along with his family. Luckily I had just spend a large chunk of the previous weekend cleaning the spare room (for the guys to come and fix our shutters) so we were okay. It was great to see Darryl, Alicia, Charlotte, William and Spencer, and although Oscar got a little upset about having to share his toys early in the week (especially after his nap when he was still tired) by the end of it he was happily (for the most part) playing with everyone. He seemed to like following Charlotte around, copying her, and later he and Spencer both copied each other.. which was good, because they were playing together, but not so good if they both wanted to play with one little toy :) I think it's a small taste of what's to come for him though. Daz was brilliant.. he made us the wardrobe (which we're still in the process of filling), fixed up the front security door, reattached the linen press door.. just generally did those tasks you really need power tools to do. We repaid him as best we could with beer and chocolates, but I think we still owe him big time.

This weekend Rach arrives, which will be great too. She's staying for a week, and I know Os is going to love having family here who don't want to ride on his bikes or read his books ;) Sadly Rach wont be bringing power tools to fix up whatever is left, but that's okay.. I think Chez has got a day off work so I'm sure they'll get up to no end of hijinks.

Speaking of Chez, she's doing really well. Only 10 weeks to go, and the little girl is very active. Os calls her "baby sister" and occasionally points out toys for her :) The time seems to be flying by now. We put up some photos of Cheryl so you can see her belly too.. I don't think it's as big as it was for Ossie. Either way I'm sure you'll agree she looks beautiful.

And me.. I'm on a weird low-carb diet. I'll write more about that when it's over if you're interested.. Then I'll have final numbers and the like. Either way, it seems to be netting a result for me, which is good.. because I do miss delicious carbs.

Update from Adelaide in the form of an epic novel

Hey all,

I thought it's about time we did an update from us. Let me start with childcare..

Friday a week ago was to be Oscar's first day of childcare, and Cheryl's first day of work. We were totally psyched for it, I was going to take lunch off and we would both drop Os in and ease him into it. Unfortunately, best laid plans and all that, Os got a fever Thursday night which continued throughout the day. We decided it was better for Chez to have her first day, so (with big thanks to my boss) I took a half day, dropped Cheryl at work and took Os home. Unfortunately his temp continued to rise, and once it got to 39.6 I took him to emergency. 3 hours, much poking and prodding and a very unhappy Os later we were able to take him home, Cheryl having left work early to catch the bus. The doctor's final report was along the lines of "probably a virus, we can never be sure with kids, no other problems so he'll be okay in a day or two".

It wasn't an ideal first day.

Over the weekend his temp sorted itself back out and he was looking fine for his Wednesday childcare when on Tuesday arvo he picked up a fever again. Thankfully while generally these things are 48 hours or so he was fine on Wednesday and was able to have his first day.

Once we got him there, he was fine. I suspect if you surround him with toys and girls who smile at him he'd be happy anywhere (and who wouldn't?). Apparently it took a little while to get him to sleep, but once they found out the tricks (rubbing his blue bear against his face, patting his leg) they got there and he was asleep when I arrived to pick him up.

Oh, that's the other thing. On his childcare days I leave the house before 6am, walk 4.5kms to the train station then train into the city and bus to work, to be there by 8am. Then I leave at 4pm, bus to the childcare and pick him up.. although the plan is for me to stay there with him for a while, to help him get comfortable until around 5:30 when Cheryl finishes. There's probably a bus I could catch later in the morning, but I need a couple of big walks in the week. Plus when Os is older I can say "back in my day I had to HIKE for 45 minutes through the SNOW etc etc".

On Friday he stayed home with Nanna and Granddad who by all accounts doted on him and carried him everywhere like a little prince :) So he's only had the one day.

Sunday (today!) we had his birthday party. We had something like 25 adults and 10 kids, but somehow we didn't run out of food or seats.. Certainly not something we could have done at any of the units we lived in ;) It was a really great day.. Os had a sleep from around 10:30 until 12:30, so he was in a really good mood for his party. He even got to eat some cake, although I'm sure he didn't realise it was a treat. Babies played with Os' toys, kids played the Wii and ran around outside, and adults ate, drank and generally made merry. Just as a first birthday should be. I'll post photos up to flickr later, and I'm sure Cheryl will post some to facebook too.

I might get Cheryl to jump on now and tell you how her first few days of work are going..

Cheryl here :) Work is going well. My first shift back my supervisor got me to do most of the sales to help me get back into the swing of things. Nothing like being thrown into the deep end to refresh your memory! Apart from wondering how Os was doing, it all went well. I'm enjoying being back at work, and Os & I are slowly working out our new routine. And I'm enjoying not having to worry about all the supervisor stuff I used to do! It's also great just being around my work friends and students :)

Okay, that's it from us.

Happy New Year for 2010

Happy New Year to everyone.
We stayed up to watch the Sydney fireworks. Damien, Cheryl and Oscar left this morning to return to Adelaide. I've washed the sheets and towels and this afternoon we packed up the Christmas decorations.
We had a visit from Palliative Care on Wednesday. Ruth was very sympathetic about the run around Dad had in hospital. She will chase up the referral to Oncology but this is a difficult time of the year to be sick. Dad has a supply of pain killers and other medication. I try to get him to eat so he'll be a bit fitter to cope with any treatment. Just taking each day as it comes.It was good for Dad to have the children around for company although he does get tired.
Nana enjoyed a visit on Tuesday before she and Auntie Denise flew to Maroochydore for Dot's 70th birthday. Lisa and the family came on Wednesday for tea and to catch up.
Thinking of you northerners with freezing conditions while we melt here. Good swimming weather and last night it rained so I don't need to water today.

Photos photos everywhere, and all the boards did shrink

For those of you who have been waiting patiently for the photographic evidence of our trip to sunny (actually quite freezing cold) Bendigo, here they are in all their glory. We took a lot more, but trust me, these are the best ;)

Me too!

I'm also coming back to the land of sunshine for a spell.

Hope it's a good spell, one that brings some rain to Australia (but preferrably not when I'm there) and some sunshine to England (preferrably when I'm there).

I'll be arriving in Melbourne on the 1st December and flying out again on the 7th January. I don't get any fancy 5-star hotels or anything but my flight was relatively cheap, so I'm not complaining.

Is there anything that anyone would like me to bring specially from the UK? I plan on bringing my clothes in a carry-on bag and my backpack full of fun things (to be replaced with Aussie fun things for the trip back).

I'm not sure when I'll be where just yet - I have a lot of people I need to catch up with and a limited time to do it. But I plan on being in Bendigo for about 2 of the 4 weeks! Including Christmas. So I can catch up with everyone and do some sewing and find some well-fitting clothes. *grin* Yes, it IS that difficult to find good clothes here that I will fly all the way to Australia to get some. hehehe.

I have a lot more to talk about, but long posts are silly, so that's all from me for now.

*big hugz*

p.s. the photo is from Glenn and Chris' Manchester Adventure at Easter (oops.. it's taken me a while to upload the photos)

names

Hi all, I'm back at work and we have four new children due on Wednesday. One is called Dayna. Even spelt right. I met her today but haven't had a chance to ask her Mum where she got the name. After one day I'm tired. I'm sure by Thursday night I'll be looking for takeaway tea and collapsing. Oh well the children so far are OK and have even coped with a change in routine because of the weather. Our Blue group is now full but we haven't had the full 29 in either group yet. I should be losing weight but somehow I'm gaining. All that energy used should be making a difference.
Today Dad and Phil put the formwork up for our ceiling in the sunroom.
Yesterday we had a visit from Val and Trevor Peacock for lunch and the afternoon.