November 2014

It was significant for me to note that I have reached four years post breast cancer diagnosis ( Oct 6 2009) and operation ( Nov 6 2009)! Drug treatment is ongoing, but the time is ticking away.

We celebrated our 36th Wedding Anniversary ( Nov 26). Where has the time gone?

Also many fun times were had with Lois and Phoebe. Such a joy to watch them grow and change.

I visited Mum and Dad in Sydney for a week, which is always enjoyable.

Both Cameron and Stuart have been busy at work doing higher duties. They have appreciated the opportunities and experience this has given them.

Rick is working hard, not far away from Cameron. Rick's contract finishes in late December and with the uncertainty of employment that the new Government has brought, he is appreciating having a job at all and is hoping it continues into the new year ( against the odds).

I've been teaching regularly and have been enjoying the fun and flexibility of  day-to-day casual work.

We caught up with our friend John H . He came for a meal and Roz joined us too. Life gets busy and it's easy to forget to spend time with friends at home. My energy levels are improving, for which I am grateful, but I still find that I need to rest a fair bit.

October Birthday Celebrations

Rick's 60th Birthday
Rick turned 60 on the 16th October! We had a party for him on Saturday 12th October. Lots of friends came to celebrate with us. We were very grateful that Ma and Pa made the big effort to come from Sydney, along with Paul and Deirdre, and Paul and Jeni.
Bruce and Sylvia, Lyndal and Amy also came. Sadly Rick's four brothers are scattered over the country and weren't able to come. Richard and Jenny came from Nowra and there were lots of local friends too. I am sure Rick enjoyed it.

Moruya Jazz Festival
Rick and I had a weekend at the coast so that Rick could perform with his choir at the Moruya Jazz Festival. He enjoyed the gigs.

Stuart's Birthday
Stuart had his 28th Birthday on the 21st October. We had a lovely family dinner to celebrate and we were all surprised and impressed when Lois sang "Happy Birthday" to her father, both in Korean and English!

Merimbula weekend with the family

Canberra had a long weekend at the end of September. We took the opportunity to stay down the south coast at Merimbula. From Canberra it's about a 3.5 hour drive via Cooma and Brown Mountain.
All the family came. We booked two apartments.

Floriade visit

On Wednesday afternoon of 25th September, I visited Floriade by myself....after teaching for a half day. It was a very pleasant, warm day and most enjooyable to wander around looking at the flower displays.
There have been several other days at Floriade this year, that have unfortunately experienced a combination of wet, cold or wild and windy weather. I took a few photos as I wandered.

                                            Mirror reflection....

Lois has a sleepover

Lois stayed the night with us on Friday night, so that we could head out early on Saturday  morning to the huge Canberra Centenary Picnic at Government House. Rick had two choir performances. One at Govt House with the Men's Choir and then with Strange Weather Gospel Choir, in the city, to open an art show. Lois and I tagged along. The choirs sang well.

It was a lovely sunny and warm Spring day. Lois enjoyed patting the farm animals and watching a sheep being sheared at Government House. Then a trip into town, where she had a couple of rides on the classic Civic Merry- Go- Round.  Forgot the camera! We took a few with our phones.

Lois and Grandma

Lois feeding a lamb at Govt House Open Day

Lois would not budge until the lamb had eaten every last piece of food in the bowl. The other kids just had to wait!

Lois riding  Pharlap on the merry- go- round. Lois patted the wooden horses and kissed a few on the way out. She loved it, but it's hard to catch her smiling when you have a camera these days.

In the afternoon she helped Granddad with distributing the eucalyptus chips in the garden. Lois was very determined to stick to the task and helped empty the entire load of eucalyptus chips. She had a big day.

                                     
       The white camelias are blooming once again in our front garden.

Lois and Phoebe

Spring is here

They tell us that it has been a mild Winter, one of the mildest, or the mildest, on record ; but I felt that it was long and cold. Could have been the frequency of grey skies and wet weather days that made it seem colder.

July and August have been busy months. We had two weeks holiday in July, which was wonderful. We went to the Red Centre for the first week and to the Gold Coast in the second week. In between we celebrated Cameron's 30th Birthday with a brunch at our place.

Then back to work for both of us. Rick was fortunate to get a new 6 month contract at the same place... till Christmas Eve.
I filled in at school for almost six weeks of term 3. Now I am back to doing day to day relief, which I prefer.
We've just bought a new car...... a Skoda Yeti. We then waved goodbye to our little Honda Jazz, which we'd had and enjoyed for ten years. We have also just celebrated Fathers' Day with a picnic at the lake.


PHOTOS TO FOLLOW when I get a chance..

Fathers' Day

We all enjoyed a picnic at the lake to celebrate Fathers' Day.

Sydney visit - June long weekend

 June 8 : We had a great time in the city on Saturday afternoon and evening. It was very pleasant to walk across the Harbour Bridge. We had dinner over on the northern side of the bridge. This was a good move as the Circular Quay and Rocks area was packed with people trying to find something to eat.

 We enjoyed seeing the "Vivid" light show... with thousands of others.

 Mum and Dad have had a new possum house installed as the other one rotted away after 15 years or so. The birds were peeking in , so we think the possum has found his new home.
Mum is glad the possum has found it because it means it won't try to come into their house roof.