A great bonus of keeping the blog is the ability to look back quite easily at the happenings over the year. With the addition of pictures my journal is a colourful history of our life. Not that it is riveting reading for anyone else but me, but today I had fun reviewing the year.
Here are some highlights...
January saw us holidaying in Port Fairy and then later celebrating our 25th wedding anniversay
February was when Erin commenced secondary school and Chris quietly celebrated turning 50
In March Bacchus Marsh was flooded with what was the beginning of much rain, so much so I stopped counting the mls
In April our family got together for a picnic
In May I got glasses
June saw Erin become a teenager
In July we met up with Chris' cousins whilst on their trip to Australia from Manchester, UK
In August we saw both Hayley and Erin perform in Oliver!
We also got to vote in a new Prime Minister
September saw Collingwood play in the Grandfinal and win it in a replay match (20 years between flags)
I held my first big study day, then went on Long Service Leave to get over it.
October saw us celebrate both my birthday and Yvonne's 40th. in NSW. Erin got to go on her first plane trip and we had a lovely holiday in Terrigal.
November saw Callum get his motorcycle licence and a new motorbike.
Hayley started her new career in the Dentistry field.
In December we saw the Hoodoo Gurus live, celebrated Christmas with family and took a breather at the end of the year.
In reflection I have also read quite a few books, seen a few movies and it looks like I've done loads of scrapping, cooking, shopping and TV watching. I've also dabbled with yoga with surprising results.
These are the highlights, we've had a few lowlights too but it all balances out in the end. I believe you need to have a positive attitude even if things aren't going well.
So here's to the new year and the beginning of a new decade...
Have a good one!
My electronic timecapsule...my journal space full of thoughts, photos & crafty things
Friday, December 31, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Project tie dye...
Hayley wanted to do a little tie dying and picked a project to do.
She wrapped a double bed sheet in loads of rubber bands
Dipped in yellow dye first then into the pink
She is very happy with the end result. I think she did a great job, well done Hippie Chick.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
The tree's down...
A bit warmer today thank goodness, and time to take down the Christmas tree. It's all packed away for another year. All the decorations did not quite fit into the original boxes, might have something to do with the extras I purchased.
Colette's story was finally on tonights 'A Current Affair'. Have a look if you missed it. We have been watching a Harry Potter marathon, one each night for the last 5 days so I missed it also. Tomorrow I will get the 'Half Blood Prince' and then I will be up to date to see the latest HP at the pictures
Colette's story was finally on tonights 'A Current Affair'. Have a look if you missed it. We have been watching a Harry Potter marathon, one each night for the last 5 days so I missed it also. Tomorrow I will get the 'Half Blood Prince' and then I will be up to date to see the latest HP at the pictures
Monday, December 27, 2010
Travels to the movies...
Erin and I went to see Gullivers travels today at the local cinema
It was pretty entertaining and a good way to fill in a chilly first day of holidays.
We are heading to the coast at the end of the week and I hope the weather improves so we can get in some good beach time.
We are heading to the coast at the end of the week and I hope the weather improves so we can get in some good beach time.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Twas the night...
the night that finally everything is done.
Cooking - done
Baking - done
Pork ready, prawns marinading, salads ready to go
Shopping - done
Presents wrapped with even distribution in number and size for everyone
House - clean
Cards - posted
Lights - twinkling
Work - complete, holidays now for 2 weeks
Let the cheer begin!
Merry Christmas to everyone, hope you all have a lovely time with family and friends.
Cooking - done
Baking - done
Pork ready, prawns marinading, salads ready to go
Shopping - done
Presents wrapped with even distribution in number and size for everyone
House - clean
Cards - posted
Lights - twinkling
Work - complete, holidays now for 2 weeks
Let the cheer begin!
Merry Christmas to everyone, hope you all have a lovely time with family and friends.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Friday roundup...
It is time for reflection on the past week. A week in which I worked 4 days, treated a friend, attended yoga, cruised the neighbourhood admiring the Christmas lights, did some Christmas baking and felt guilty that Erin's first week of school holidays was very low key.
The girls made these strawberry cones today, the recipe came from the Christmas Better Homes & Gardens mag and really appealed to me. They turned out fantastically well and I will be making more this weekend, along with rumballs, pistachio/almond bread and the panetone.
Heres a random fact I learnt from watching 'Landline' last night:
Almond trees can't self pollinate, they are dependant on bees to pollinate to set the nut. The growers bring in the hives & bees to produce the crop. The honey that comes from almond tree pollen is very dark & not very good. Without the bees - no nuts. And because the trees aren't native the native bees don't pollinate those trees and there isn't enough of them anyway.
I'm glad there are enough bees to keep us almonds, especially at this time of year.
Do you know how hard it is to photograph Christmas lights with a point & shoot camera? very unsatisfying for me. Some of the houses were spectacular, Clark Griswald would be proud. I'm glad our lights are up & going and our Christmas tree is very pretty (even if the pic doesn't do it justice and Hayley thinks blue is not a Christmas colour)
Next week look out for Chris' sisters' dispute with her local council and the manikins outside her shop. The whole scandal will be on 'A Current Affair'.
I'm posting this without pics as the camera has been telling me to wait 'one moment' for about 2 hours, I think its battery like me is tired, I'll try again tomorrow, night all, Jo
Edited: photos added, a full battery is a marvelous thing
The girls made these strawberry cones today, the recipe came from the Christmas Better Homes & Gardens mag and really appealed to me. They turned out fantastically well and I will be making more this weekend, along with rumballs, pistachio/almond bread and the panetone.
Heres a random fact I learnt from watching 'Landline' last night:
Almond trees can't self pollinate, they are dependant on bees to pollinate to set the nut. The growers bring in the hives & bees to produce the crop. The honey that comes from almond tree pollen is very dark & not very good. Without the bees - no nuts. And because the trees aren't native the native bees don't pollinate those trees and there isn't enough of them anyway.
I'm glad there are enough bees to keep us almonds, especially at this time of year.
Do you know how hard it is to photograph Christmas lights with a point & shoot camera? very unsatisfying for me. Some of the houses were spectacular, Clark Griswald would be proud. I'm glad our lights are up & going and our Christmas tree is very pretty (even if the pic doesn't do it justice and Hayley thinks blue is not a Christmas colour)
Next week look out for Chris' sisters' dispute with her local council and the manikins outside her shop. The whole scandal will be on 'A Current Affair'.
I'm posting this without pics as the camera has been telling me to wait 'one moment' for about 2 hours, I think its battery like me is tired, I'll try again tomorrow, night all, Jo
Edited: photos added, a full battery is a marvelous thing
Monday, December 13, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
13 days til Christmas...
I had a pretty productive day after yesterdays funk. Maybe I was just tired from a day of shopping with a dirty house mocking me.
So today I cleaned and redecorated the Christmas tree with its new decos.
We now have a white/silver/blue tree! The angel on the top doesn't really fit in but she'll do this time.
Chris put the outdoor lights up but before it got dark the strong winds snapped the wire to the transformer so no twinkling is happening tonight, maybe after he works some magic it will be pretty tomorrow night.
And I have just pulled the Christmas cake out of the oven...the house smells good.
We now have a white/silver/blue tree! The angel on the top doesn't really fit in but she'll do this time.
Chris put the outdoor lights up but before it got dark the strong winds snapped the wire to the transformer so no twinkling is happening tonight, maybe after he works some magic it will be pretty tomorrow night.
And I have just pulled the Christmas cake out of the oven...the house smells good.
Friday, December 10, 2010
What have I been up to?...
Well you may ask
I've been really busy and the busier I am the more unorganised I seem to be. I keep telling myself if I could just get my act together things will fall in to place.
This is an offering of blooms that have flourished with the recent rain. The first year I planted these bulbs they did nothing much and then the wind wrecked it. It is amazing what water falling out of the sky can do.
Speaking of rain we have had plenty of it. I looked at a fancy rain gauge in Australian Geographic today. For $99 I can monitor the rain from inside the house but as it is no longer a novelty to see rain falling I will stick to the old fashioned estimation of 'a lot' or 'a bit'.
I also saw these Galileo thermometers. .
I always wanted one because I thought they were pretty and would be a nice feature, but they only read temperatures up to 28 degrees. Like when its raining I need to know how much, when I'm hot I need to know how hot I am. Perhaps the old fashioned estimation of 'pretty hot' or 'bloody hot' will also have to do.
Erin has finished school for the year. We've had Presentation night, which wasn't too bad. At one point I thought I was at a Pearl Jam concert as the Senior bad played 'Sweet child o' mine' really well. Nice & loud, woke us all up but made my hands sore from clapping. I don't mind going to Presentation night, it's nice to see the hard working students acknowledged and the year 12s farewelled but it's in the centre of the city and I hate driving in peak hour traffic.
Hayley is enjoying her new job but is looking forward to the real work once her course begins in the New Year. We have been able to travel together some days and I get to hear about all the personalities settling in together.
Chris has been hobbling around with a very sore foot. The doc thinks it is gout but Chris is adamant that is a sprain or even a break that can occur spontaneously without any hint of an injury(!). My sympathy is running thin as I want our Christmas lights put up before Christmas (I know - how unreasonable). I'll be dragging out the ladder myself tomorrow as long it is not raining!
Callum is...I'm not sure what Callum is up to as I have hardly seen him. He did get his pay from the Electoral office, maybe I'll see him when his money runs out.
Erin & I shopped with my sister and niece today so tomorrow will be baking, cleaning, decorating and collapsing at the end of the day (hopefully some pics to prove my activity)
Christmas cards may not happen this year
I've been really busy and the busier I am the more unorganised I seem to be. I keep telling myself if I could just get my act together things will fall in to place.
This is an offering of blooms that have flourished with the recent rain. The first year I planted these bulbs they did nothing much and then the wind wrecked it. It is amazing what water falling out of the sky can do.
Speaking of rain we have had plenty of it. I looked at a fancy rain gauge in Australian Geographic today. For $99 I can monitor the rain from inside the house but as it is no longer a novelty to see rain falling I will stick to the old fashioned estimation of 'a lot' or 'a bit'.
I also saw these Galileo thermometers. .
Erin has finished school for the year. We've had Presentation night, which wasn't too bad. At one point I thought I was at a Pearl Jam concert as the Senior bad played 'Sweet child o' mine' really well. Nice & loud, woke us all up but made my hands sore from clapping. I don't mind going to Presentation night, it's nice to see the hard working students acknowledged and the year 12s farewelled but it's in the centre of the city and I hate driving in peak hour traffic.
Hayley is enjoying her new job but is looking forward to the real work once her course begins in the New Year. We have been able to travel together some days and I get to hear about all the personalities settling in together.
Chris has been hobbling around with a very sore foot. The doc thinks it is gout but Chris is adamant that is a sprain or even a break that can occur spontaneously without any hint of an injury(!). My sympathy is running thin as I want our Christmas lights put up before Christmas (I know - how unreasonable). I'll be dragging out the ladder myself tomorrow as long it is not raining!
Callum is...I'm not sure what Callum is up to as I have hardly seen him. He did get his pay from the Electoral office, maybe I'll see him when his money runs out.
Erin & I shopped with my sister and niece today so tomorrow will be baking, cleaning, decorating and collapsing at the end of the day (hopefully some pics to prove my activity)
Christmas cards may not happen this year
Monday, December 6, 2010
Gurus...
I've had a buzzing in my ears and songs in my head today.
Songs like.. My girl
Wipeout
1000 miles away
All thanks to these guys
The Hoodoo Gurus.
We went to see them live last night at a local hotel. 20 years may have passed but it could have been 1983, what with the beer sodden carpet, the loud music and all our favourites being belted out. I had a great time and rocked on til a very late 1030pm!
We weren't the only ones reliving their youth, there were many older than us, a couple of younger ones and most of our gen (not sure which category we fit in to) but we were able to rock it out like the old days. Vanessa and I did have a giggle when we saw one woman with a walking stick though.
Thanks guys for that fantastic trip down memory lane.
Songs like.. My girl
Wipeout
1000 miles away
All thanks to these guys
We went to see them live last night at a local hotel. 20 years may have passed but it could have been 1983, what with the beer sodden carpet, the loud music and all our favourites being belted out. I had a great time and rocked on til a very late 1030pm!
We weren't the only ones reliving their youth, there were many older than us, a couple of younger ones and most of our gen (not sure which category we fit in to) but we were able to rock it out like the old days. Vanessa and I did have a giggle when we saw one woman with a walking stick though.
Thanks guys for that fantastic trip down memory lane.
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