Road trip: Victoria - Part 4

From Walkerville we headed north to Jeeralang Junction, near Churchill. Richard wanted to catch up with a high school friend. They hadn't been in contact for 39 years. The last time they saw each other was when they were in Year 12. They showed us around their sheep farm and we saw a lamb being born! Richard also liked seeing their pet parrot, dogs and pigeons.




The dog that guards the sheep.





Daughter Merrin playing with the pet parrot.



The next afternoon it was time to return to Canberra. We drove home via Cann River, Bombala and Cooma. We had a good trip with little traffic to contend with.

Road Trip: Victoria - Part 3

Phillip Island to Walkerville: July13 & 14


Venus Bay


Jim and Jane's house at Walkerville. We had a lovely time catching up with Jane. What a beautiful part fo the world! We missed seeing Jim as he was swanning around the country with overseas guests.




Jane's workshop. She started the firing about 6am
and was checking the kiln temperature
every half hour that day. She finished the firing at about 8:30pm.
It was a long and busy work day for her.
We had to leave before we could see the finished products, as Jane had to wait many more hours for the kiln to slowly cool down before she could open it to view them.
Later she told us that she that she had a mixture of successes and disappointments.


We saw the old lime kilns and the beach at Walkerville.
A little too chilly for swimming.



We encountered emus on Wilson's Promontory







Sad to leave Jane... hope to visit again sometime.

Road trip: Victoria- Part 2

Melbourne and Phillip Island - July 11 & 12.

It was great to catch up with Phil and Wendy in Melbourne. The kindly offered us their house to stay in on Phillip Island. We enjoyed a lovely day there.


The Nobbies - fairy penguin area.




Bass Straight

July road trip to Victoria - Part 1

Towong: July 6 to 11
Rick was experimenting with his mobile phone, which has an option to take panoramic shots.



We were offered a lovely retreat overlooking the upper Murray River. This was made available through a special foundation that helps those affected by a diagnosis of breast cancer. There are such caring people in the world!



The house was situated on a hill in a tiny place called Towong, in Victoria. It had stunning views of the Murray River and green pastures in the foreground, with snow covered mountains, including Mt Kosciuszko, as the back drop. We had a very relaxing time. It was freezing cold and foggy every morning until midday. When the fog finally lifted, a 180 degree spectacular view appeared!














The house had a Blue Wren theme. Rick tried many times to get good shots of these little birds. I included this one as it was the best. It was on the glass panel in the front door!

Birthday weekend: July 3 & 4

Cameron cutting his birthday cake, with Noah looking on.

I haven't written for a while. On the weekend of July 3 &4 we had celebrations in Canberra for those of the family with July Birthdays: Bruce on July 1st, Mum and Cameron on July 3rd .
Paul & Jeni , Mum & Dad, Deirdre & Paul and Miriam, Matt & Noah joined the rest of the family here in Canberra for the Saturday celebrations. Mum was disappointed that she lost her voice and hadn't recovered from a very bad cold she had had for weeks. Despite her being unwell, I think she and Dad enjoyed being with the family.

In the last month or two, Cameron and Richard have been working on Cameron's kitchen to upgrade the stove top and oven and install a dishwasher and new cupboards. It's looking good!

I am trying my best to manage the fatigue and body aches, that have come as a result of the recent treatment and medication. I have to limit a lot of my normal activities and adjust to a new way of living. This is a big challenge for me. I think a lot of the battle is being able to adjust mentally to my new health situation.

Looking forward to Stuart and Cherie coming this Saturday! They are staying for a week. After we have a welcome lunch for them in Sydney, we are bringing them home to spend the rest of the week in Canberra. It will be so good to see them and spend time with them.

Taking it easy

Since I last wrote, I've been busy working, visiting Mum and Dad in Sydney, billeting four people for four nights for VFJ conference! This year,we had a couple from Sydney and a mother and son from Tathra.

Two weeks ago, Mum was admitted to hospital with chest pains. She had to stay in two separate hospitals for two days each. This was to have an angiogram to check her heart. The results showed that there was nothing wrong with her heart or arteries. She was told that she had a heart of a 20 year old! She had a very heavy cold, which may have complicated the symptoms. It also made it very unpleasant for her in hospital. It is not known what caused the three hours of pain she endured. I stayed in Sydney during the week after Paul and Deirdre had managed things over the long weekend. Dad and I visited her in hospital and then brought her home to recover from the angiogram. It was great news for everyone,that Mum's heart is healthy!

I am glad that the school term has finished and I can now have three weeks completely off. I was filling in on year 5 for the past week. I am finding, these days, that I need to take time out to rest and recover. Can't quite do all I could do a year ago.

Rick has three more working days left on his contract. We are planning to drive to Victoria in July. We have several friends to visit. For part of this time, we are going to stay at a retreat property, especially and generously made available for those who have been dealing with breast cancer. There are some very kind and thoughtful people in the world!

Also, this week we have seen the appointment of the first female prime minister in Australia! Quite an amazing week in politics.

Nice that it's Friday

Nothing much of interest to report this week. I have taught a couple of half days ( darting here and there to fill-in) and a more pleasant full day, on the one class, today.
Also this week, I found out what fatigue really feels like. I am so thankful that I am not working full time and was able to have some days at home to rest. I had to miss a night meeting! If you know me well enough, you'll realise how tired I must have been feeling!
Now, at the end of the week, I am feeling OK. It's a funny journey I am on! Not really sure what each week will bring, health-wise.
I am looking forward to spending a relaxed long weekend at home. Maybe we'll even fit in a visit to a tourist attraction and pretend we are overseas again!
We also have thousands of leaves ( front and back) that need raking and lots of jobs to catch up with around the house... but we won't work too hard!
It was minus 3 overnight... and more of those chilly nights to come. Hopefully the days will be bright and sunny.

Winter has arrived

The frosts are beginning! We've also had sunny days, so far, in June!
Over the last week or so, we've had some much needed rainfall. Great for the countryside, but not so much fun for me, when I was teaching kids inside all day! Last week I did a bit much, with teaching on four of the days and being at two important night meetings. This week I am feeling much better. I have taught both Monday and Tuesday and have today at home. Nice to have a day off.
I had a flu shot yesterday, but I forgot that I should have injections in my left arm only to reduce the risk of lymphodoema! Whoops! I had it in my right arm. Hope it's going to be OK!
This afternoon I have a specialist's appointment. It's my second check-up with the breast surgeon since my operation seven months ago. Another one to tick off.

Visiting Orange

I visited Orange, NSW, for a couple of days this week. I went with Bev, to keep her company while driving there and back on the country roads. She was at a conference and I walked around the town, did some reading and crocheting and had a look at the shops.






Me in my "automatic timer" shot in the park.




I had never seen real holly growing before!

Work and Pleasure

I have worked at school a fair bit in the last two weeks. It is now three months since my last operation and I am noticing that I have more energy and that I seem to be managing more actitvies each day.

Last week end I spent a lovely, relaxing time at the coast, with 10 special women. We hired a huge house and enjoyed chatting, eating,walking, reading and more chatting and eating! Being May, the weather wasn't quite as warm as we'd had in previous years, but it was warm and sunny enough in the middle of the day for us all to go on a few walks and even some of us to swim!