From sunshine and warmth to chilly weather

                                                                       Airlie Beach

Us mucking around with the timer on the camera in down town Mackay

Angela, Tom, Richard and Janelle on the beach. It was a bit of a rainy day in Mackay.

We are back home after a refreshing two-week holiday up in North Queensland. It was great see friends in Cairns and visit places like Port Douglas and Airlie Beach. We had a great time with Tom, Angela and Gene in Mackay too. We drove a fair way in the two weeks. The roads are pretty bad up that way, with precious little divided road and lots of roadworks, due to the huge amount of damage caused by recent cyclones and flooding.

                                            Mackay Orchid House

                                                      Cardwell

  Innisfail or Ingham? Can't remember which town..... but the sign was good!

Off the skyrail near Cairns

July has turned out to be a busy month. We will be away to celebrate Ma's 80th Birthday this weekend. The following weekend we are back to Sydney to pick up Stuart, Cherie and Lois. Thne it two weeks we will have an openhouse to welcome them to Canberra. In between that there's much to do to get the house ready. We need to finish cleaning out all the stuff that somehow happens to be in our spare rooms, ready for our special Korean guests!

Venice and John's garden in Cairns. We ate their home grown paw paw for breakfast

It was lovely to stay with Venice and John and have time to catch up.

Arrivng to gloomy weather in Canberra. We got the public bus right home from the airport.
Quite easy really!

Both of us have work now. I have part time work until December. Richard has full time work until then.

Time for a holiday

We had booked two weeks away before Richard had any knowledge of being offered a job! So here we are in Townsville after Richard had worked for only 5 days! I had worked for five days straight in the last week of school. This is an achievement for me as I think it's the most I have worked in one week since September 2009 ( just before I knew about the breast cancer).

                                     Leaving behind cold Canberra

                    Swimming in warm Townsville with a view of Castle Hill

Walking in the park in Townsville

We were able to fly directly from Canberra to Townsville, which was luxury! Going from where it was about 5 degrees to 25 degrees here....in less than three hours. We are about to collect our rental car and go North towards Cairns.

New job and good news

Richard starts work on a six month contract next Tuesday. He has been working only a handful of days in the last year or so. This is great for him to keep his skills alive. He has enjoyed being semi-retired, but is looking forward to the challenges of this new contract. He will be working in the same department and floor as Cameron! We went out to dinner last night to celebrate his new job!
Richard has also gone away this weekend to sing in some concerts. I will have the weekend here alone.

I worked 4 days this week! I managed well. I also got the "all clear" from my latest check-up this week.
This is always nice to hear.

Stuart is now enrolled in the CIT here, to start when he returns with Cherie and Lois in just over a month! Richard did it on his behalf. Stuart has been given information about a job opportunity and is applying.

We also got word that our solar panels will finally be installed. We'll believe it when we see it.

All in all a busy but good week for us!

A warm hat for Lois

This is just a note to show Caroline (and other doubters from yesterday), the little hat I have made Lois.... without a pattern. I am quite happy with it anyway, but I could still do with some patterns!

A day off

I have time today to write a quick note as I am not working. I have only worked one day this week! That was partly because I spent a lovely long weekend with Mum and Dad in Sydney. I didn't return until Tuesday afternoon. it was great to spend time with them. Dad hasn't been at all well lately, but he now seems to be recovering. This is great.
Rick spent the long weekend in Adelaide with a singing group. The big news is that this singing group (26 members) are going to tour next year (2012) and Richard has been invited to go along to sing. I am invited too.... to help with children's programs ans other things!
It's a LONG tour! 7 months in all. April and May will be touring in Australia and then June to October is touring many places around the world!
Richard has to work hard to learn literally hundreds of songs in preparation. All of February will be full-time rehearsals for him. I will be helping out with kids workshops here in January and then continuing with that throughout the tour. It is such a wonderful opportunity for us both ... but it is a long time away from home!
Also this morning I have finally decided to join facebook! I've been using Rick's account for months! I love seeing the photos of our new grandchild, Lois Janelle. They'll be here with us on July 30. Can't wait!

June already

 Lois is growing and we miss seeing her in the flesh. It won't be long though. They are due to arrive on July 30.

Lois is watching you!


The proud parents in Seoul: Stuart and Cherie are enjoying their last couple of months in Seoul before the big move to Australia.

Last Friday we enjoyed the company of friends at the Namgyal's home. Many friends had helped with preparations for the recent Namgyal family wedding, which was a lovely occasion.

Roz and Sherab always make us feel so welcome.

More pics of Lois !

 Couldn't resist showing you a few more photos of our lovely granddaughter, Lois Janelle. Some with her mum and dad too!

Cherie and Lois, outside their apartment in Mokdong, Seoul.

Angel?

Lovely bananas! They need to enjoy them while they can afford them.

May has been busy

It was lovely to catch up with Lorelle and Brad earlier in the week. Brad was attending a conference so we caught up with him for dinner. Rick and I spent the day with Lorelle.

The gentlemen at dinner

Earlier that day....

Near the lake and at the National Library

We had morning tea at the National Library
and back home for lunch.

We also had a visit from Alison and Richard last Sunday. It was good to see them when they called in briefly.

The roof.....

Rick has been very busy replacing the ridge capping on the roof. He seems to spend a lot of time on the roof these days.

Baby preparation....

We tried out the new baby car seat in the Jazz.

We had fun putting together this "baby change centre" ready for Lois! We now have a cot and a few other basic items all ready for Lois' arrival on July 3o. Mum was able to buy some lovely things off a kind friend in Sydney, who was moving house. So I think we are almost there!

I've been working a fair bit and going to a few too many night meetings! I'm feeling rather tired so I have to be more careful not to get too busy. Rick had a few days' work at Csiro in the last month. He has also audtioned for a small musical group that is planning to travel around Australia and oversees next year. He hasn't got the details yet, but so far it sounds interesting and challenging.

Lois Janelle is so cute!

Stuart with his daughter