Cold snap...

After our lovely weekend a very cold front has blown through bringing low temperatures, cold winds and heavy showers. I've been able to get a daily walk in with some good timing and brisk walking!

I've packed and repacked and am ready to go on Friday. I am really looking forward to our trip now that it is so close. Our intended surprise gathering is no longer a surprise but will be a great chance to catch up with Chris' family. I've been able to see both my sisters this week, which doesn't happen very often, but more often than Chris gets to with his family spread around Australia. Not all of them will be together for this trip but you have to take what you can and enjoy the moment.

A glorious weekend...

Finally the sun has broken through and given us a perfect weekend. Aside from the stunning draw in the football grandfinal, the weekend has been just perfect.

I was able to do some walking, baking, cleaning -I even washed my car. We went for a ride with Callum and for a while there I was glad he was behind us and I couldn't see what he was doing. For the short time he was ahead and I was yelling in my helmet...merge, merge or STOP STOP.

Father teaching son...listen closely grasshopper...

 

Learning on a bike is not so different from learning in a car, they still need instruction, supervision and time to gain experience.  Chris can't be the boy racer at these times, Callum needs to know that he can follow his fathers lead to be a safe rider, these are not the times for riding for pleasure.

I've seen 3 movies this weekend, firstly Erin wanted to see Avatar The Last Airbender, which was quite good but she tried to explain the whole thing during the movie which was a bit annoying but showed how much she like the whole Avatar story. We were just 2 of a dozen people in the theatre.









Erin  borrowed the new Alice in Wonderland from the local rental, she enjoyed it but I don't think she was completely sold on it. I went to bed I didn't like it much and I love Johnny Depp.








 I also borrowed Beneath Hill 60 which I really enjoyed and recommend. Based on a true story of an Australian unit fighting on the Western Front during WW1, I was thinking of our ancestors whose stories I have been researching lately and it made it all the more poignant, an insight to what those men went through and how hard it must have been to come home to a normal life after the war.


As Molly used to say 'do yourself a favour'

Grand final...

Chris has been waiting 20 years to retake this photo

Hayley was just 2 years old when Collingwood last won the Grand final and he was able to capture this pic with his little daughter, a daughter who was malleable in her choice of teams.

Looks like he will have to wait another week for the photo opportunity

One to go...

I've been counting down to my holiday. I'm taking a glorious four week break from work and now have just one shift left to work.

I have made a lot of plans in my head and I know I wont get it all done but I am looking forward to this time off, a real, fair dinkum break.

My plans include...

get some exercise

walk every day

a trip to Sydney

and explore Terrigal and the Central Coast

open up the house and spring clean

and read and sleep and sleep and read

One day to go!!!!

The little things...

the little things you do can be big things to others.

On Saturday afternoon, after our trip to the river, I went down to the local park where the locals were participating in the 'Relay for life'.

2009 opening lap

Participants walked in teams around the oval earning sponsorship money for each lap they did from 4pm overnight and into Sunday morning. The first lap was a special one  for the survivors, carers and people living with cancer.
According to their web site they have raised $100,000 so far for the Cancer Council.

I went down to encourage a patient/friend by walking with her for a bit, not a lot but she was really grateful.I found out today how much she appreciated it. A little thing for me but it meant so much more for her.

Glad to do it Leanne.

Thoughts...

Riding on the back of a motorbike doesn't allow for much conversation. But it does allow for thoughts to wander.

I was having wandering thoughts on the way back from Daylesford yesterday. I saw a sign post for a lane, the name of which was the surname of  the family that lived next door to us when I was a child.

They were really nice neighbours, the woman was a painter and she had many oil paintings, too many for the walls of their home so she leant some out to hang on other peoples walls. Our parents had one on their bedroom wall, a naked woman reclining, in a style reminiscent of another time

similar to this but not this one, as far as I can remember, it was about 35 years ago.

One evening a tragedy occurred...their house burned down. It was very dramatic at the time, fire engines, a red night sky, spectators and stern intructions from our father to 3 frightened girls to 'stay inside'. Their little dog, a yorkshire terrier had alerted them to the fire, saving their lives but not their belongings. After that they moved away, they didn't rebuild and she took back her loaner paintings. We were really sad to see them go, another family built a much bigger (uglier) house on the block, they didn't speak English and pretty much kept to themselves so the dynamic altered greatly.

I wonder what became of their family after that. These are the things you think of on long drives.

The river...

is flowing again.

The Lerderderg river at Mackenzies Flat is running and has settled a bit after the large amount of rain we have had lately.

I took Erin down to the river  just to check it out and compare since our Anzac Day picnic. On that day five months ago the river was bone dry and we had to walk a long way to find the dam so we could skim some rocks. Today the river was running and it was very nice to see.

Restless...

I was having quite a vivid dream last night. When people tell you their dreams it is pretty boring so I'm not going into detail but I woke up with the clock radio in my hands!






I don't recall that being part of my dream but I did think what am I doing?

I put the clock back and went back to sleep, not back to the dream, and had a giggle this morning looking at the clock askew on the bed side table. Chris said he wondered what I was doing in the middle of the night, I wondered that myself.

My working self...

As a nurse I am divided between clinical and other duties.

Two days in each week I work in the Day Medical Unit doing clinical nursing and the other days in my week are consumed with education, audits, policy & procedures, KPI's and even more education.

(PS I hate these photos but they were the best of a blurry bad bunch)


I recently organised a study day which turned out to be a more of an ordeal than I first envisaged. After the event my mentors from the Department of Health wanted a short report with photos to add to their report. In the blur of the day a photos was the last thing to think of so last week we opened up the conference room, loaded up one of the 2 presentations I gave and mocked up a photo opportunity. It will have to do.

Note to self: next time you organise a study day apart from booking caterers, guest speakers, thankyou gifts, venue, IT, case studies and presenting...remember to take the odd pic or 2. I wont have to worry about it for a very very long time!

Mmmm macaroons...

I have had a great day off.

I went for a walk, had my haircut, sorted out some papers, found my broken bracelet to put it into the jewellers, solved a mystery and spent some time making these french macaroons.

I tried a new recipe on the family tonight - Pea and Bacon Risotto. A recipe I found in a magazine at the hairdresser today. I really enjoyed it, the rest of the family not so much. They know now not to say its not nice, they say it was OK and please don't make it again!

Now I just have to decide whether to have rum and raisin pudding or a macaroon for dessert (because I ate all my risotto) or maybe both, its been that kind of day.

Another...

Another teapot has been added to our collection...

A trip to Hi-point with Erin included a visit to the t2tea shop to taste the teas and admire the wares. This little beauty had to come home with us.

Erin had a bowl of noodles with an Iced tea drink to wash it down

I have decided I really don't like eating in food courts. The whole thing seems grubby and rushed. You have to circle and swoop to get a seat at a table, then while you are eating try to ignore the hoverers that you were just minutes before. Needless to say we didn't stay long, a quick bite then back to shopping.

Another handbag was added to my collection

I couldn't resist this summery looking number, perfect for our trip to Sydney soon.


The whole weekend has been mild... a taste of warmer weather, a chance to get washing dry on the line, also to get some weeds out. The buds are forming on the trees ready to unfold into leaves and flowers. I picked some of the freesias that pop up and Erin wanted to do a little experiment.

She put one stem in some blue food colouring and we watched as the flower took up the colour with just a hint, it looks like someone has painstakingly tipped each petal.

Another recipe tried

Rum and raisin puddings. I just wanted to try this recipe, it is from a (Donna Hay) Christmas collection and I will make it again, mmm delicious warm with custard

Bus drama...

there was a little drama near Bacchus Marsh today....A school bus....caught on fire!!!!!

The driver apparently heard a noise, pulled over, got the 14 kids out, then the bus went up in flames. We are very curious as to who the female driver was. The fairly new, air conditioned, bus took 8 firefighters to put out the flames, not something that the small fire extinguisher was ever going to do. As yet the tomtoms haven't reached our place for us to find out which of Chris' old colleagues it was.

Even if Erin was ready in time to catch the bus it wouldn't have affected her.

The wiper story...

With all the rain we have had lately the wiper on the cars have been getting a good workout. Chris thought mine needed changing, so he put some refills in and they seemed really good, working well. Then a piece of the rubber broke off. Chris set to fixing it when he realised that you can't replace the rubber on the Astra, the whole blade on the arm needs replacing!

So $120 later I can use the wipers again. That's what is known as a RIP OFF!

Musical friends...

I had this photo in mind when I sent Hayley off to the last show yesterday.

I asked her to get a photo of her and Lucy together with their instruments, just as they had done years ago. They have been friends since they met in grade 4 and stayed close with their particular humour and common interests, just that now Lucy has grown taller than Hayley

They studied music together in VCE and have performed multiple times together in shows, concerts and school performances. Such a lovely pair of young women, I'm very proud of both of them.

Fathers Day...

Fathers Day around here has been a little unusual.

The girls were at the show most of the day and I went along to that last show with my sister and neice. It was another fabulous performance and a great way to finish off the shows run but we left the fathers at home. Again I was full of pride at the way they performed and loving the opportunity to see Hayley up close showing her talent with the flute.

Chris was going to replace the timing belt on Hayley's car but that big job can wait for another day, a day of relaxing was in order. We'd had a late night yesterday celebrating a 21st/18th for two very nice young men and another weekend has passed.

Louise and Olivia went home to have a special dinner with Bill and I had put on a pot roast to have here, so I hope the fabulous fathers were happy in the end.

Our younger sister is surviving the floods, having about 50mls fall at their place, they are not flooded but pretty soggy. We only had 15 mls here, just enough to make everything wet underfoot. I'm looking forward to some warmer weather, bring on the sunshine!

Its raining and they say its going to rain...a lot

See that yellow dot in the middle of the radar snapshot...thats the rain that is raining on Callum as he rides home on his bike.

Mobile...

Take one bike that looks like this...

Add a young man that looks like this

Then give him a permit to ride, some new boots and gloves, and a 30 year old jacket that once belonged to the first boy racer (but doesn't fit any more) and he is mobile.

Even though it was wet and cold it didn't stop Callum from heading out on his new wheels today.

Of course I will worry every second that he is out and have given him lists of rules and safety reminders ad nauseum, it won't be long before he takes the title off his old man and becomes Boy Racer Jnr