Week 5

January 29th
A trip up the Hume Highway to my precious girls.  A hot day (in my cool car) and a refreshment stop required at Macdonalds.  My first Big Mac in years and a cup of Iced Latte.

January 30th
A special birthday for a special girl.  A wonderfully relaxed party in the shade of a huge tree in the Botanical Gardens ... just what the doctor ordered.

January 31st
There's nothing like being entertained by three gorgeous little dancers (and Dorothy the Dinosaur of course!).

February 1st
It's been so hot and muggy over the past few days.  This pool has been extremely refreshing and delightful to cool the body down.

February 2nd
Still more heat!  Waiting in the car for the others to finish their shopping for dinner, trying to cool the interior when outside it was 40 degrees in the shade.

February 3rd
Two excited little girls ready for school - second day in Grade 2 for Ella and the first day of school for Sophie.

February 4th
After the tragedy of losing 3 cute rabbits with the Mexo disease from mosquito bites, it was decided to replace them with Guinea Pigs.  These two were outside their closed box while Hummer remained hidden.

Week 4

January 22nd
National Free Ear Piercing Day!  Never heard of it!  But, the line up of willing customers at Chadstone Shopping Centre showed that someone must have!

January 23rd
The two cats are funny to watch, Gypsy doesn't tolerate Lulu very well.  She's far too mature for childish pranks!  Lulu thought it was good having the 'upper' hand here!

January 24th
I am so grateful for this car!  It is very zippy and comfortable and gets me to where I want to be without any hassles!

January 25th
What more can I say ... our letterbox, the deliverer of good news and bad!

January 26th
Happy Australia Day!  A quiet day spent at home ... these native orchids are one of our beautiful flowering plants that are also very hardy.

January 27th
I used a starfish on one of our mobiles that lost its 'tag'. The spiders have created a wonderful piece of art with it ... beautiful in the sunshine.

January 28th
This is part of a stunning mobile, that hangs in my office and was created by my amazing daughter!

Week 3

Saturday January 15th
Rob and I saw the movie 'The King's Speech' in La Premiere at Hoyts (Christmas present) and when we got out it was still light.  The movie was excellent - and so was the bottle of champagne, chicken crisps and cheese platter!

Sunday January 16th
Finally we got a good drying day!  Lots of warm sunshine and a slight breeze - just what I needed to catch up with the washing.

Monday January 17th
I have a scented diffuser next to my desk and the Rose perfume is beautiful.  It wafts through my room and is delightful when I walk in to it.

Tuesday January 18th
I'm in love with my iPhone!  There are a squillion apps that can be downloaded, covering everything anyone needs.  This is just my first of five screens!

Wednesday January 19th
There is nothing like a cup of tea (Earl Grey of course) after dinner, with my feet up and relaxing in the lounge room.

Thursday January 20th
Fresh flowers in the house are a must! They just seem to brighten up any room and add an air of freshness into the place.

Friday January 21st
After a hot, sticky day it was refreshing to have a meal sitting at an outside table in the mall.  It started off quiet but by the time we'd finished eating the cafes were quite busy.

Week 2

Friday January 14th
My fifth day in a row working - can't believe that I am getting up at 6am - me, a person who likes to snooze in bed for at least another hour!
The massive rain has certainly been a bonus to the garden.  It is growing beautifully!  Luckily, we have only had minor flooding and some water over the roads, unlike our northern neighbours.

Thursday January 13th
Now that the supermarket trolleys need a returnable coin in order to be able to use them is both good and a nuisance.  Now, shoppers are more inclined to return the trolleys rather than leave them as a hazard all over the centre car park.  The down side is that I always need a coin if I want to use them - luckily someone thought about designing a plastic token, the size of a dollar coin, that can be kept with the car keys!  very clever!

Wednesday January 12th
Happy Birthday Bronwen!!
The old house next door to us is being renovated (or rather gutted and re-built) and it's going to be a big house!  Two storeys, lots of rooms and windows.  The tarpaulin is protecting the wooden flooring underlay from the rain falling right now, until the roof is put on next week.

Tuesday January 11th
After hearing about the amazing amount of rain falling in Queensland, and the shocking devastation caused by the rushing wall of water in the Lockerby Valley, north of Brisbane, my rain radar on my iPhone is showing that we have some wet days ahead.

I downloaded this photo from the internet that shows the devastation the water has caused.  There are some people confirmed dead with many still missing. It has been classed as an "Inland Tsunami'.

Monday January 10th
After a hectic day at work, Dad, Beti and I headed into the city for some sightseeing.  We went to the Eureka Tower Skywalk - 88th floor - to be confronted with a dismal outlook over the city and surrounds. The view, although misty and wet, was still quite amazing.

Sunday January 9th
We headed to the north-east part of Melbourne, into the Dandenongs where we had a lunch overlooking a misty skyline from Mt Dandenong.  After lunch we drove to Healesville to see how the bush has recovered from the 2009 fires and then headed back, calling into Rochford Winery for a taste or two.  Strange to be there without a crowd!

Saturday January 8th
The day began with high temperatures - 35 degrees Celsius and after a sticky gym session followed by a refreshing shower, we headed to Tullamarine Airport to pick up a cousin from Wales.
We had a lovely meal in Lygon Street on Saturday night, the weather was cooler and we enjoyed a meal on the footpath.

Week 1

January 1st
After a relatively quiet New Years Eve (after leaving a venue because the band was so bad!), we woke up this morning to a little bundle at the end of our bed.  Lulu was obviously missing Grace and came into us for company.  She was so cute snuggled up and sound asleep.

January 2nd
At a visit to the farm at Thorpdale, we were graced with the presence of two huge wedge-tailed eagles.  they were gliding around the paddock, one landing in the dead tree down the hill.  Amazing birds!

January 3rd
What is summer without a barbeque? The weather is cool at the moment but I like it better than the heat. These were for last night's meal but we ended up at Thorpdale so they needed to be cooked tonight.  Chorizo sausages and spicy Chicken drumsticks with green salad, followed by Plum Pudding, custard and brandy cream! Yum!

January 4th, 2011

Our front garden is ablaze with colour and these Lobelia flowers are just glorious.  The bright purple colours are stunning - it's a beautiful entrance to our home.  We've had some lovely comments about our front yard.

January 5th

Note to self: Wearing new shoes to work, without stockings (socks) is not a good idea! I bought these very comfy shoes, at 50% of what I was going to pay for them, to wear on warm days at work.  by the afternoon my feet were burning and there were a couple of small blisters crippling me.  Lesson learnt!

January 6th

After the morning in training to use the work computer program, I met up with a group of our residents on the banks of the Yarra River while they had a BBQ lunch.  It has been an amazing day - the river looked glorious and sitting in the shade was just perfect!

January 7th

This is not a hairy monster but rather my pen container with a bright pink duster sitting in it. Rather cute don't you think!  Nothing like having a collection of pens to choose from!

Well, Week One completed, 51 to go!

Till next week ...

Starting Again (or continuing on!)

Well, I missed this activity last year so I have decided to make 2011 another year of recorded memories.

I'm looking forward to the changes and excitement of this year and having them all recorded in photoss.

So, here's to 2011!

PS I left my camera at my SIL's place (100kms away) so will have to improvise till it's returned!

Week 52 and 365 Days!

December 31st - Happy New Year! Woo hoo! I've done it - 365 days! The end of 2009 and the beginnings of a new adventure. We signed for this house today so officially from the 7th January, this will be our new home for a period of time. Goodbye 2009 and welcome to 2010!

December 30th - Well, it's official, Grace is growing up just too quickly! And her new interest in 'girly' things is proving to help her grow up even more quickly. This is her new maxi dress - all ready to party!

December 29th - We attended a funeral today (a colleague's father) and the refreshments were at the Seaford Lifesaving Club. It was a hot day and the outlook over Port Phillip Bay was stunning!

December 28th - Just getting used to having a morning coffee in the mall. We parked our car in front of the house we are after and walked to the coffee shop - very easy to get used to!

December 27th - I am so sick of packing and cleaning and Rob organised for us to get out and see 'Sherlock Holmes' at the cinema in Chadstone. I really enjoyed this film - didn't even nod off once!

December 26th - We had Christmas lunch in the country yesterday with my family and then visited Rob's family today, Boxing Day. We were on our way back home and I love this stretch of country road, edged by trees.

December 25th - Not the usual Christmas photo! So, following on from my Grinch style christmas this year, this is the only photo I have. Grace is talking to Ella on the phone to see what Santa brought her.

Week 51

December 24th - All ready for Santa's visit. Looks rather miserly - I thought about years past where the amount of presents under the tree was ludicrous! There are only 3 of us here tonight - lots of love in these packages (there is still one not put out as it's a surprise!)

December 23rd - There's nothing like waiting for the phone to ring and finding yourself sinking lower as the day progresses and the anticipated call doesn't eventuate. I so hope that we'll know before Christmas Day if we are making a move or not.

December 22nd - I felt guilty about not having a Christmas tree when one of Gracie's friends made a comment about us not having a one. So, I decided to get a small one then I wouldn't need to do a major decorate and unpack in a matter of two weeks. It's a cute fibre optic one - very colourful!


December 21st - This is what our hallway looks like right now - packed boxes. We are still not sure if we are moving but if we need to be out by 7th January then I can't afford to wait to start packing. At least I am doing a clean out and de-clutter in the meantime!

December 20th - This is the most amazing shop I have ever been in! I love it! It is so cramped and messy and often it is impossible to get down the aisle - but, you can almost find anything you want in it - and all going cheaply!!

December 19th - How neat and tidy do these CD's look! It took me most of the day to organise and re-sort the collection. I got rid of a few strays and found the covers for others. This is only 1/3 of the collection - but hey, doesn't it look great!

December 18th - I've finally got my car back! It's so wonderful! And how new and shiny it looks! The downside is that one key is still missing so we need to make sure it is 'penned in' at night time. Until I get the locks changed.