No photographs with this blog. This is really a country of feast or famine. One minute we are in drought conditions with lots of bush fires and the next too much rain in a very short space of time with the resultant floods. With all the wet weather the garden has been going crazy with plants thinking we are in spring mode. The lawns need mowing twice a week.
Most of the big gum trees around us have nice fresh green shoots which the birds are loving. The bigger birds though are vandals, the cockatoos in particular, who rip off whole twigs rather than just eat the new leaves and shoots.
This morning we were woken by heavy breathing, or so it seemed. When the baby Galahs and Cockatoos call for food from their parents they make this loud wheezing sort of call. Its now 7.15am and for the last three quarters of an hour, just after day break, we have been watching a huge flock of yellow tailed black cockatoos swooping and wheeling in the big trees around the house. They are beautiful to see and hear. They are about 600mm tall with yellow cheek patches and underside of their tails. We only normally see them when they fly over in the early morning and late evening, heading down to the river to drink but they must have roosted in our big trees over night..
A really lovely way to start the day.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Birthday Boy.
It was Alex's birthday last weekend but because of other commitments, the actual birthday party couldn't be held until yesterday. My job was to blow up 100 balloons. Luckily there was a tank of helium and a special nozzle to help me.
Do we have lift off?
Balloons every where, even up the stairs and on to the next floor.
Alex had lots of presents and I think was a little overawed by the number of children that accepted his invitation, along with some of the parents. Noise every where.
There seemed to be children every where, either inside or out.
Alex getting ready to blow the candles out on the big chocolate cake that his Nanna made.
His cake gets hidden by the stand of Dalek cup cakes.
A great party for children and grown ups alike. Here's to the next one Alex.
Friday, February 08, 2013
Holiday 2012
In 2011 we had a wonderful visit from our little Swedish family and at the beginning of 2012 Elin and Jim started a big push to get us to travel to Sweden and see their new apartment. Jim encouraged us to stay for longer than last time.
When we did the England, Sweden trips in in 2007 and 2009, I followed them up with a series of blogs exactly a year later, or as close as possible. This way I was getting double the pleasure from the holiday and reliving very happy memories, so here we go again.
Early January and after the decision was made that we would make the trip once again, the first thing to do of course was to check our passports. Good job we did as Di's was out of date. About a month later and the new shiny passport arrived, having cost the staggering amount of $230.00.
Once the news leaked out that we were planing to travel to England again, our wonderful family jumped in with ideas and offers of accommodation. We would like to be in the UK in May so that I could share my birthday with Ray once again, and possibly with Elin also. Rays birthday was another incentive to make the trip this year, but more of that closer to the date.
We had a terrific offer of accommodation from Jane and Glynn who had just moved into a new house. The house has three floors and Jane set the top level aside for our use and also said that she could put Elin and Jim up if necessary as Emma and John would be at Uni. We were a little unsure about this, not Janes generosity but the fact that she and Glynn are very busy people and have to travel two hours each way to work.
After a lot of thought and planning we arrived at the following plan. We would fly directly to Sweden, staying for just a week to see Johan and drop off some of our heavy clothing. Fly to England for approximately a month, Elin and Jim to join us for a week and then we would return to Sweden for another two months. Its a long time to be away but Jim says he has plenty of jobs to be done in the new apartment which will keep me busy!
At the beginning of February 2012, we went to see our favourite travel agent and set the wheels in motion. By this time last year everything was sorted, flights, seat allocations, car hire and even a baby seat for Johan. All documentation should be ready to pick up this time next month.
When we did the England, Sweden trips in in 2007 and 2009, I followed them up with a series of blogs exactly a year later, or as close as possible. This way I was getting double the pleasure from the holiday and reliving very happy memories, so here we go again.
Early January and after the decision was made that we would make the trip once again, the first thing to do of course was to check our passports. Good job we did as Di's was out of date. About a month later and the new shiny passport arrived, having cost the staggering amount of $230.00.
Once the news leaked out that we were planing to travel to England again, our wonderful family jumped in with ideas and offers of accommodation. We would like to be in the UK in May so that I could share my birthday with Ray once again, and possibly with Elin also. Rays birthday was another incentive to make the trip this year, but more of that closer to the date.
We had a terrific offer of accommodation from Jane and Glynn who had just moved into a new house. The house has three floors and Jane set the top level aside for our use and also said that she could put Elin and Jim up if necessary as Emma and John would be at Uni. We were a little unsure about this, not Janes generosity but the fact that she and Glynn are very busy people and have to travel two hours each way to work.
After a lot of thought and planning we arrived at the following plan. We would fly directly to Sweden, staying for just a week to see Johan and drop off some of our heavy clothing. Fly to England for approximately a month, Elin and Jim to join us for a week and then we would return to Sweden for another two months. Its a long time to be away but Jim says he has plenty of jobs to be done in the new apartment which will keep me busy!
At the beginning of February 2012, we went to see our favourite travel agent and set the wheels in motion. By this time last year everything was sorted, flights, seat allocations, car hire and even a baby seat for Johan. All documentation should be ready to pick up this time next month.
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