Caffeine Boy and Abba Girl Down Under

Caitlin WoMan Ray

2008-09-01T09:38:00.003+10:00

Caitlin has always loved to take photos. endless photos. endless photos of Boo. so it was good to see her branch out when she got hold of my camera phone the other day (well, in may, yes, yes still behind) and she took other pics. i like to think of it as snaphot of her important things...although i did edit out the pictures of the sofa and the floor she took....editorial privilege.

of course, the obligatory shot of Boo, i'd like to think she has arranged this portrait shot as an illustration of the ambivalence of love, the gaze falling onto the loved one but the loved one refusing to return the gaze (intimacy) offering merely a physicality that in itself is a rejection. however thee and me both know that she just dumped Boo on the ground.

Next up is the fairy dress. can you hear me grinding my teeth? well, the thing of the moment with the kids is dress ups... so we were looking one day at getting her some more dresss up stuff and of course fairies are the theme as well. Caitlin nearly exploded with excitement and desire when she saw this dress on the rail and after some humming and hawing and considerable doe eyed pressure from our ringleted cherub, we bought the dress and carted it home in expectation of much joyful playing.

4 months later it is known now, since then and forever more as The Itchy Dress. despite grim determination to shoe horn said ringleted cherub into the dress and force her to bloody well have a good time, the bottom lip would quiver and the eyes would blink away the tears as she pleaded 'it's itchy'.

sigh.

and now we have the much loved computer. yes, she is following effortlessly in her computer geek parents' footsteps. but if i have to exclaim rapturously over one more Charlie and Lola Butterfly....

the fairy that started it all...Laura, since joined by alina, feya, blue mer, butterfly, rainbow, purple pink...all of varying quality both in the finished product and in her choice of names.

and of course, the beloved (for now) mummy and daddy

Thank You To The Blackford Family!

2008-08-31T16:50:00.007+10:00

well, i tried to be smart and look up thank you in japanese but i guess my computer and my ability to work it has its limitations when face with two types of scripts so this is what i got: ありがとう. Anyway, i just wanted to let the family know how much we appreciated their hospitality. this picture was taken in the japanese restaurant we went to on our last night...the food was excellent and i was introduced to wasabi octopus. not being a huge wasabi fan ( i find it often too fierce and mustardy for my palate) i didn't order it myself and chowed down on dumplings of some kind, followed by enough sashimi to scare me, while Caitlin gorged herself on soy beans then tempura squid. however, james, egged on by phil ordered the wasabi octopus and i tried it. wow! yup it had that mustard wasabi taste but it was balanced out by a delicious creaminess. next time i'm there, the octopus is mine. Phil and James then engaged in some sort of male bonding involving snorting wasabi or such like. anyway in the pic, starting from the back on the left, going clockwise, you can see Yuki, me, Caitlin, James, Lynne, Gregg and Phil. i very much enjoyed Yuki's company, and i was privileged to look through her art work and even think about the possibility of one day going to an exhibition with her or to the opera. Gregg made me think of an archetypal english man and when i think about him now, i can only imagine him speaking in an english accent as he took considerable time to show us around and entertain us. And then there was the sideshow that was brother and sister Phil and Lynne. All i'm saying is that Lynne came over as the well adjusted, normal one...Phil, you know what i'm saying!

and included for Corina is a pic of their back yard with Caitlin trying to sidle up to one of the wild cockatoos that flit frequently through. not included is a picture of the possum that Basil the cat killed! all in all,we loved our weekend in Sydney and were made to feel very much home! we hope to return the favour somehow and look forward to see them all again, esp now Lynne has shaved her head and is gigging as the asian sinead o'connor.

The Hall of Show Bags (aka the royal easter show)

2008-08-25T11:52:00.009+10:00

now that's more like it! the day dawned hot and sunny for our trip to the Royal Easter Show at Homebush and off we set, having only had the Maclean Show as comparison....well, it was a bit like going to glastonbury but with less mud, more sun, fewer dogs on strings, more concrete. i'll admit it, it was only like glasto in that it was big with lots of stuff going on.

when we got there of course we separated into two groups, those dictated to by the needs of a 4yr old (i.e. me and james) and those child free and hence able to please themselves (i.e lynne and phil). I'm not sure what they saw (but i think it involved cows and wood chopping) but i know we saw a lot of miming by some probably very overheated actors in giant dora and fifi costumes. In between the bursts of incredulous excitement and dancing we of course tried to calm Caitlin down by taking her around the fairground and putting her on as many rides as we could cram in. And of course there was the pandemonium of the petting zoo just to ensure that she maintained her zen like calm.

we managed to squeeze in some stuff for us like a pretty thrilling avant garde acrobat troupe who were just back from Edinburgh (or on their way? can't remember), saw a man fishing standing on a big tank, and i got to enjoy another one of those ferris wheel type rides which scare me rigid but i'm determined not lose face in front of my daughter! through the miracle of the modern day technology called texting (and you all know how much i hate that) we were able to rendez vous periodically with lynne and phil, and lynne's very hungover boyfriend, dave. i think the blur of noise and colour that was caitlin was a warning beacon by and large. Or maybe that was just dave's hangover. Just to finish off the hugely relaxing (ha ha ha) and massively enjoyable day (and i DO mean that) we decided to go to what we thought was the jokily named 'Showbag Hall'. Now for those of you not in the know, a 'showbag' is a bag you can buy at the shows, obviously, and it's usually filled with cheapo toys and sweeties. it's often themed around tv shows, films etc. In our previous exposure to showbags, we had bought them from a caravan parked at Maclean Showground in a very Mitchell And Webb dodgily surreal moment. so little prepared us for the gargantuan effort that was THE SHOWBAG HALL (of dreams? build it and they will come...in their thousands). Imagine the SECC full of stands hawking every type of merchanised gift packs you can imagine, it was dizzying for us, let alone what it did for Caitlin's blood pressure. the flow of the crowd swirled us past a myriad of consumer options and eventually we hung on grimly to one island and gave caitlin a choice...she picked...the fairy one. out of all the tat she got, only the backpack and the purple face mask are still completely intact. overwhelmed by the mass of people we swam for the open sea and got out of there. we eventually managed to get back to the homeward bound train station, where we were joined by a fairy on the platform. she stayed awhile with us...but she didn't want to confuse anyone on the train into thinking there was a fairy on the train so Caitlin was returned to us, happily spoilt and glowing with her day of fun. Needless to say, phil fell asleep on the ride home and james and i took it in shifts to look after the little band of weary travellers. What a day.

Bright Lights, Big City, takeways, civilised opening hours, people, cars...yes it's Sydney

2008-08-22T14:57:00.006+10:00

Are bank holidays the same everywhere in the world?

Phil had very kindly invited us to Sydney to stay with his parents over the Easter Long Weekend, so of course we jumped at the chance to leave our rural idyll and immerse ourselves in urban decay for a while. He drew up an itinerary for us which i faithfully reproduce here:

Philby’s Tours Down Under

“She’ll be right, mate…”

Itinerary: J McInnes, L Grant and C McInnes

Date	Time	Destination/Accommodation Details
Thursday, 20^th March 2008	18:00	Check-in at Casa del Philby, Grafton’s finest ½ star hotel. Location: ?? Kent St Grafton, Ph: 664????? Inclusions: bugger all…
Friday, 21^st March 2008	8:00	Depart Casa del Philby for Coffs Harbour Airport, enjoy the thrill of travelling along one of Australia’s most dangerous roads. Sit back and relax in the sheer absent luxury of Philby’s Universal Coachlines and Livestock Transport Co.
	10:05	Flight to Sydney, on Plummett Airways, Flight #1. Enjoy the pure nostalgia of flying to Sydney on an original 1908 Wright Flyer. Arr Sydney 11:30am (there’s always a first time) Note: Passengers are required to assist with engine starting procedures.
	12:30	Check-in at Blackford (formerly Bates) Motel Location: ?? Valley View Cres Epping. Ph: ???? Inclusions: More than at Casa del Philby…
	14:00ish	Trip to Chatswood to view Asian supermarkets, Rugby paraphernalia shop, and a shopping centre which is everything that Grafton Shopping World isn’t.
	19:00ish	Dinner, venue TBA (Probably at Blackford Motel)
Saturday, 22^nd March 2008	6:30	Wake-up call, courtesy of Caitlin.
	7:57	Train to Meadowbank station, arr 8:07, 10 minute walk to ferry wharf.
	8:40	Ferry to Circular Quay. Arr 9:20.
	9:20 onwards	Explore Sydney-town, the Rocks, ferry to Manly, the Manly Aquarium, options include Darling Harbour, Chinatown
	19:00ish	Dinner @ Blackford Motel
Sunday 23^rd March 2008	Morning	Sydney Royal Agricultural Show. Trains leave Epping at 30 minute intervals on weekends, Change trains at Strathfield and then alight at Sydney Olympic Park. Too Easy…
	19:00ish	Dinner. Venue: Sushiya, Chatswood
Monday 24^th March 2008	Morning	TBA – more shops??
	13:30	Check-out Blackford Motel
	15:35	Flight to Coffs Harbour, Aeroflot Flight # ЯЙФБ. (1 night stop-over in Vladivostok, Siberia) Arr Coffs Harbour 16:40.

So we landed safely in Sydney despite our travel agent's best attempts...and we were met not just by Phil's dad, Gregg, but also by the universal welcoming grey skies of the Bank Holiday Weekend. In much the same fashion as i had carelessly thrown aside all woollens and warm clothing on leaving British shores, i had also abandoned any waterproofs, safe in my delusion that it neither gets cold nor rains in Oz. Despite having been rained on for a fair part of 2007 - 2008, i was resolutely clinging to this misguided notion so had not brought anything remotely useful with me. Luckily, Yuki (phil's Mum) and Lynne (phil's sister) were able to dig up a rain coat for me, notwithstanding the basic difference in body types between me (er, robust Scot) and them (slender Japanese)

So off we went into the thrall of the big city, with me repeating to myself the sage words of billy connolly, 'there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes' (only a scot could think that up). Our ferry station name amused us,as did the morningside of ashby. maybe i'll grow out of this, maybe i won't.

We reached Circular Quay and had the obvious tourist moment and uttered the same obvious words as every tourist has since it was built: 'crikey it's smaller than you think, eh?'. We then wandered around the Rocks and were reminded how hick we had become. I mean, god, who expects your shop assistants to be informative, helpful and friendly? where are you from, anyway? Maclean? where? Managed despite some determination on the seller's part to be as disinterested and dismissive as possible, to buy some purple fairy wall stickers for Caitlin. i remember when all her toys were going to be wooden and non gender specific...christ this world beats you down....cheap plastic? more please. but still struggling to maintain some integrity in the theme of her toys....anyway, we had a good explore and it was nice to see some builings than were older than a week or two ago. it was at moments like that when you finally experience some sense of dislocation, when you suddenly become aware of a disjuncture between our new world and our old one. anyway...we headed back to the ferries for a bumpy ride to Manly...any member of the grant family will understand the whitening of my knuckles during that trip!

The weather started to perk up (honest) once we landed safe at Manly. in this pic you can see our travelling compadres plonk in the centre -phil, gregg and lynne. all gamely showing us around AND dealing with the non stop chat machine otherwise known as a wildly over excited Caitlin .
We wandered down to beach and Caitlin built the obligatory castle before we repaired to the pub for lunch.

we then headed to the Manly Aquarium where we got these pics...i apologise for the lack of pics at this point, james had the camera and that's never a recipe for a gallery of pics from which to choose.

after this we headed back into town, lynne and gregg peeled off to head home and we headed into the CBD and had a peek amongst the fantastically expensive shops in the lovely Queen Victoria Building of course, by this point we are smelly as we have been on the go since 8am and have done a lot of walking...so i was bit scared of the super chic shop assistants so we just pressed our grubby noses against the windows and felt mildly superior. We finally hopped on a train home, worn out and city sated. Yuki and Gregg welcomed us back into their house for dinner where we supped aussie wine and japanese whisky and watched james' erstwhile boss morph into a brother in front of our eyes, teasing his little sis relentlessly before exhaustion hit. You see, he made the same mistake as Charlie...he tried to listen to Caitlin all the time....

here endeth the first day (thank god).

Easter Bunnies

2008-08-22T13:43:00.007+10:00

well, here i am again trying to get up to date with myself. i tell you, i am far too busy to blog, let alone go back to work!

Lucky old Charlie got to be here when Easter was upon us so was treated to the slightly surreal experience of the easter bonnet parade. it was put on by the local primary school, and all the local pre-schools were invited to come along. all the kids sported home made hats and were to be judged and awarded prizes.
Jacob came as the easter bunny's carrot and caitlin wore a hat she had decorated in the style of...well, anyone's guess really.

Josie was there and fully took part as a little pink bunny, despite being neither at pre-school or primary school. she also took advantage of the sweets being handed out to the pre-schoolers to console them after seeing kids winning prizes. for some of them the dawning realisation that hey weren't all getting a prize was almost too much...as for josie, you gotta admire her initiative!

caitlin as usual, got into the swing of things as you can see, just being there was almost enough excitement for her. but the sweets helped.

Robert Mcinnes

2008-06-27T10:45:00.015+10:00

As most of you know, James' father died suddenly this year. It has seemed to me that I needed to memorialise this here before I could even think about returning to making the usual light hearted entries. I was sadly unable to make the journey back to the UK for bob's funeral and have regretted the lost opportunity to mark my respect for a man who was part of my life for 17 years. However, I do have this forum to wave hello and say goodbye. I will be brief as I plan to include James' speech in the funeral in which, as always, he does a much better job than me in the end.

I have posted some of what few photos we have of Bob (the ones taken after the advent of the digital age) and I see I have picked the ones that celebrate being part of the family as the ones that seem the most important to me. In the past few months as i have reflected on my relationship with bob, it has been that aspect which stood out to me. I'm not always the easiest person to have around but, despite our differences, Bob welcomed me into his home and his family. We had quite different takes on the world and when i look back on it all now, I can see what i had difficulty perceiving then: that Bob showed me more tolerance and respect than I probably deserved.

Memories?
Being nervously drunk the first time i met James' parents and Corina saying afterwards she thought i was drunk as I'd laughed too much at Bob's jokes.

On sunny evening sitting in the dining room, Bob surrounded by a flock of young women (Jo's friends plus me)...he was having a rare old time flirting away with us with his stories of the fire service and the middle east.

Feeding him a godawful homemade vindaloo and he politely ate it all and said it was lovely.

Him getting all protective and cross with me in Dubai when i tried to lift up my suitcase after he knew i was pregnant.

His eyes smiling with pride when Caitlin sought him out night after night for her bedtime story. The fact that, despite his dodgy knees, he would crouch down to kiss her goodnight.

Despite being in his 70s, he came out to Australia to visit and was game enough to get in a car and drive himself about.

On asking if I would change my name once married or whether i had some stupid feminist notion...I looked at him and said 'you know me, Bob' and we both grinned.

Bob, it's been an absolute privilege and a pleasure to have walked some of the way in life with you and i leave you with your son's speech in your memory.

"When my father left Australia to return home at the end of October he left half a bottle of Ballantines whisky waiting for his return.

The next time that bottle was touched was last Monday evening as Lesley and I had a glass in celebration of my dad’s life. As I sat there I looked at a picture on the wall. It’s a picture of penguins which might not seem entirely relevant. The picture is a copy of a print by the author Mervyn Peake and alongside is a quote of his - to live at all is miracle enough. The quote is not meant as a blind acceptance that we just accept what life has given us because we’re just lucky to be here. Anyone who knew dad would know that was not the way he worked ( although perhaps mum occasionally wished he was a little more accepting of things!). No, the quote invites us to marvel at and revel in life rather than to mourn at its passing.

So how do I celebrate my dad’s life? First of all I give thanks that I was a part of it. When dad was visiting us in Australia he commented that if his father had come to Maclean, he would never have gone home…to which I replied that it was a very good thing that he had gone to Rhodesia instead otherwise the family might never have ended up in Bristol, he might never have picked his sister up from work and given a beautiful young nurse a lift home and therefore most importantly I might never have existed. I think that wry smile on his face was a good thing…

Of course the road to myself and Joanna coming into my dad’s life was further beset by difficulties. It was in Rhodesia that he was wandering through the bush on his horse when he was attacked by a lion which pulled him off his horse, leaving him with the scars on his arms which were visible for the rest of his life. Or so he told his neighbour in Libya. After a little too much beer. Strangely when Joanna recounted this episode to Jean when back in the UK, she didn’t appear to recall any such incident. There was the time that a warehouse fell on his head when he was fighting a fire. Lying in his hospital bed, he received a visit from mum, his fiancée. ‘Hello darling’ she said. ‘Who are you’ he said. Luckily he recovered his memory in time for the wedding. Ask mum for the full truth! Another time he was marshalling at Brands Hatch when a racing car left the track and headed towards him. It became airborne and hurtled over his head. Another near miss. Of course, the more whiskies he had had when telling the story, the nearer that miss became, the bigger that lion and the more dramatic the concussion.

Of course, once Dad had children, life settled down. Mostly. Obviously it wasn’t his fault that on moving to the middle east there was an Islamic revolution in Iran which precipitated war with Iraq. Being in Qatar he was nowhere near. It wasn’t fault that on moving to Libya the country got bombed by the Americans…though obviously this was a little closer. And it definitely wasn’t his fault that on moving to Riyadh Iraqi scud missiles started raining down. Though by now you couldn’t be blamed for wondering if there wasn’t a certain connection.

Of course dad’s life wasn’t all about danger…he was after all a safety officer as well as a fireman. So if you want to know about exploding bottles of beer, yank tanks, go karts, wine made of cherry pie filling, mechanic’s pits and melting shoes you’ll have to ask afterwards.

Dad’s life was of course also full of great stuff. I can remember listening to Max Boyce records with him, talking about a game I did not yet know, but I can still remember him singing along to ‘hymns and arias’ and laughing at the jokes…mainly at the expense of the English. In one, wales are beating England at Twickenham thanks to phil bennett and jpr Williams and one English chap kneels down in prayer:

Oh lord let us see a try, we’re losing I can tell
Oh lord let us see a try , something absolutely twiffic
And then JPR scored again and god said
‘You should have been more specific!‘

I remember Dad drawing out street plans on chipboard sheets for jo and I to play with our cars. Mine was called Jamestown, hers joannasberg. I remember him building a mini car racing track in my bedroom in Qatar (definitely for me, not him obviously). I remember being towed around the bay on a watersled, our attempts at sailing and camping, and going snorkelling (ask mum later about sting rays). I remember dad as the short-lived marsa el-brega spin bowling king and our triumph in the father and son tennis competition. I remember his pride when his fire department basketball team won the league, and even more so when he told of his Filipino firemen passing their british fire exams. I remember the look on his face when his granddaughter first climbed onto his lap by herself with a story for him to read.

Not all of dad’s life had to make sense. How does a rugby fan born in wales with a Scottish father end up being an England supporter? Wales winning the grand slam just before his death didn’t make much sense either but i know he loved their style and brought him back memories of the glory days of the seventies. If only Bill Mclaren had been commentating! What did make sense to me was that dad was a man who was could laugh at himself, but was always totally serious about what he thought was right. His love and support for his family, and those that joined his family, was unswerving. He was always there for us. I know he has left a big hole in our life. We cannot fill that hole, but his influence will be always with us. I have a thousand more memories to share, and could carry on all day. Luckily I know i can keep those memories with me, just as you will all own your own Robert Mcinnes with you. i ask you not to mourn that he is gone but to hold with you the life that he lived"

16th March: Charlie Part One

2008-03-28T10:03:00.008+10:00

the big day had arrived.

off to get charlie from brisbane!

and thanks to charlie's globetrotting tendencies, we all got booked into the marriot on his air miles. we managed to get a peek of the river from our room and you can see the blue sky out there...

of course, australia welcomes the visiting pom with grey skies and a bit of rain. however, we were spared the deluges that accompanied bob and corina's trip to these shores!

we started the introduction to our area with a trip to spookys beach in angourie where charlie enjoyed some boogy boarding....

...the compulsory dip with caitlin (very taken with charlie...he foolishly,due to inexperience, interacted with her and thus encouraged her to keep on talking. and talking. and talking).

and of course, beach cricket. james showing why he is still waiting the england call up

caitlin fielded but not even her filial devotion could stomach her father's bowling style...

10th Feb: Hippy Hippy Shake

2008-03-26T18:34:00.005+10:00

after months of threatening to do it, we did it. we went to the Channon Markets, locally renowned (in an area already famous for its hardcore alternative lifestyle seekers) as the place to go to get your eco-fix.

and your didgeridoo fix

Having lived in Bristol for some time, James and I felt very at home amongst the grunge and did remark at the lack of dogs on strings (mostly due to the no dogs policy).

there was a lot of fairy folk there, which tickled the fancy of Caitlin who is slowly becoming more obsessed with fairies as the days go by. you know, i swore there would be no pink, no gender stereotyping...but somehow the pink thing just crashes over you and swallows you whole ("stop saying 'isn't HE lovely?'") and as for the fairies..i'm rolling with that, she's been obsessed by penguins, dinosaurs and farts (still a current fave) so i can forgive her one trangression.

we decided it would be a good idea to let caitlin loose the candle making stall...mik and zara followed suit with jacob and matilda (you can see them behind us).

well, it started well but boredom set in for the kids after dipping the candle in the hot wax for the nth time and still it looked like a long drip of dirty water, not the technicolour marvel they were expecting within their allotted 5 sec attention span. so of course the grown ups took over to finish the job, braved the scary staff and got the candles carved as per the kids requests (horse, dog and fairy castle). if you can spot which is which, send the answers on a postcard. much adult hilarity afterwards, completely unnoticed by the rapt kids clutching their waxy delights.

the obligatory felafel stall, we were delighted to find it.

27th January: is it snowing in Scotland yet?

2008-03-26T15:50:00.003+10:00

i could be tempted just to post these pics with that tag line...

some of you will be familiar with these shots from Hell from over on my Facebook page. for those of you enjoying the cosy delights of short days and central heating and who haven't fallen prey to the evil of facebook, here is a glimpse into a pretty nice weekend over at our place....

this is sandon, part of the solitary islands marine park. we'd been here before a few times, but this time our friends sally and jamie (and their 4 kids) got together with us (me,james,mik,zara, and our kids) to make a party of it. they brought their boat which was a huge treat!

anyway, here is sally relaxing away, next to her is her daughter josie who will be in caitlin's class next year!

Jamie very kindly took the kids out in the boats...they all had a turn in these tyres and he took them for a spin around the bay.

when it was Caitlin and Matilda's turn, Zara and i went out with them and i took a snap back towards the spot where we were camped.

and then, what a shame, the kids were a bit nervous so we had to get in with them for a spin. despite all the gym training however, i think i still exterted a fair amount of drag!

after this, we had a barbecue on the beach and generally did some more relaxing. i'm sure i can't remember why we came out here.

23rd Jan: To the bat caves!

2008-03-26T15:35:00.005+10:00

we have been having some fabulous displays recently..there is a colony of fruit bats that live across the bridge from us in a small patch of rain forest. at dusk, they rise up in clouds to to swirl across the river towards us.

at first you are deceived by the distance into thinking its a flock of starlings but as they twist past the trees above you, you realise it's bloody big bat.

however, this lovely sight is not without its controversy. these bats were recently displaced off land next to the school as they do make a hell of an unhygienic mess with their poo. as the bats are protected, an order had to be gained for their displacement. well, the bats just shifted along a bit and are still right amongst residential maclean, despite being in the forest. they make quite a noise, mess and stink and the locals are complaining about the impact it is having on their quality of life as they are having to disinfect outside surfaces every day, can't hang out the laundry and the smell is very intrusive. they have been petitioning the local councils to get another bat expert in so the bats can again be moved on.

of course, this is not without its problems. for one people ask where will the bats go? there are some established colonies in angourie which appear to be better managed but i have vague memories of there being problems over there too
and then there are very clear voices raised in defence of the bats, arguing that we need to co-exist with the bats, that we are the interlopers on their territories.

i am hugely relieved that i can simply enjoy watching the bats whilst the debate plays itself out in the local papers

20th Jan: There's a frog in my bathroom,what am i gonna do?

2008-03-26T14:06:00.003+10:00

ok if any of you are eagle eyed enough to care, yes, there is a disparity between the dates posted and the dates in the title. i admit it, the blog has been overlooked (for 77 days as phil has so kindly pointed out). i've been busy ok? i got my driving licence, had charlie to stay and went to sydney in those 77 days and looked after a pre-school child and and and.

anyway, i have resumed and will be dating them until i've caught up with myself.

imagine my surprise on discovering an immigrant arriving in our bathroom? being the committed humanitarian and liberal, did i welcome it with open arms? no to my eternal shame.

i photographed the poor thing

detained it in the bathroom

subjected it to interrogation from my 4 yr old.

and then summarily deported it. of course i couldn't do my own dirty work so i subcontracted the work.

i'm sure james has nothing better to do with his break time than to repatriate a small, lost green frog.

On New Years Day

2008-03-26T14:00:00.002+10:00

well it was certainly the weather for a lovely new years race along the beach....after we scurried through the beach markets, we stumbled across these foolhardy souls

although, at least they were running in the rain and cold...we were standing watching so i'm not clear who was more stupid, on reflection

auld lang syng? no worrries.

2008-01-19T13:01:00.003+10:00

as with all good parties, the atrocious pics outweight the decent so in the interests of retaining a social life, i am only posting a select snapshot. we start with zara posing with the champers and the hit of the party season..the coaster shaped like a thong.

and for the poms reading this, a coaster shaped like a flip flop.

the till girls plus interloper (l-r: me, renae, michelle, zara, alicia and baby mia).

dale standing up for dads everywhere and customises his thong (flip flop) for a handy beer coaster.

need i say more...c'mon, lets get this party started?

Let it blow?

2008-01-19T11:48:00.002+10:00

having had such fun at christmas we returned for round two at new year. this time however, we didn't manage to be so close to our adopted christmas family..we had to camp up by the lagoon. as you can see, the views sucked.

we went up to the lookout over back beach and it was very blustery. you can see the surf behind me is very whipped up. i, of course, am enhancing your viewing experience with a comedy 'gosh i'm getting blown away' moment.

check out caitlin's mad hair. the wind was very high and some poeple did abandon the camping grounds as their tents were getting blown away. we hung around though, never ones to miss a party!

let it snow?

2008-01-09T08:49:00.000+10:00

finally, santa was here, having worked caitlin into a frenzy over the preceding weeks. i should really have got a 'before' picture to compare with this one after caitlin had ripped through the pile like a hyperactive locust.

just to really welcome in the aussie christmas, we decided to cook our bacon on the barbie!

and later on we joined the extended Till Family for a full on christmas lunch of varying roast meats and veggies. crackers were pulled, hats worn, jokes told and presents were given. it went a long way to easing some of the strangeness of the day.

and then, just for you guys back home, here we are with christmas drinks on the beach! it may comfort all of you to know that since about 20mins after this pic was taken, it has poured with rain till the date of writing this blog (18th jan). but hey, we are on the beach and it's sunny and it's christmas and i'm drinking champagne!

clouds rolling in, sun setting behind them. i've taken this pic from the verandah of the beach house, looking over the road to the camp site where we have pitched our own tent. just beyond the line of trees is the sea. it's all a bit different from Easter Road.

So Here It Is...

2007-12-20T09:11:00.000+10:00

i know, i know, a bit late...but better late than never right?

here, i'm memorialising our first xmas decs going up and marvelling at still how odd it feels to pin up fairy lights, set out the nativity scene and decorate the tree while the sun and heat flood around you. caitlin helped with the tree which may go some way to explaining why it's covred with every single decoration we brought with us from the UK. ok, i am exaggerating, we did manage to leave some baubles in the box but only after a protracted negotiation/explanation process with our artistic director.

caitlin models the santa hat/beach dress look whilst regaling us with her strange cry of ashaggala which she always makes when she pulls this face. it's been going on for about 2 years now and we are no closer to solving the mystery.

caitlin was very happy to see the nativity scene again (thanks, jean, a hit again). strict rules were needed to stop all the various characters migrating round the house and inevitably out to the garden. i didn't feel that the three shepherds would benefit much from a night in the tomato patch!

Santa Claus Is Coming to Pre-School

2007-12-14T10:36:00.001+10:00

on a sunny warm afternoon, it was time for the pre-school christmas party. Please note the suitably bedecked emu garden statues...

We had the obligatory raffles - dear lord, these aussies so do love their raffles...can't really knock though as james and i have done well to date from them, winning toiletries, chocolates, t-shirts and yesterday, james scooped a goody bag from the local petrol station! and a $10 book voucher. after that, the kids all lined up to sing us a selection of party and christmas songs, Caitlin getting right into it as you can see. for those of you thus inclined, you can see a selection of little vids chronicling the songs, the folder presentation and the main event of santa's arrival here

there is an old family story of my impatience one year, believing i had been overlooked by santa during a primary school party..i stood up and loudly reminded santa of my existence. well, watching my daughter's anxiety(and the petted lip protrude) grow as the presents were handed out and none came her way made me reflect upon that and the miracle of hereditary traits. however, santa discovered her present before Caitlin fulfilled her destiny.

there is always next year.

warm balmy christmas nights

2007-12-14T10:12:00.001+10:00

yes, this is as odd as it seems...

we were at a christmas do/barbecue, kindly hosted by one of james' colleagues vicky and it had got to that point in the night where it was late but no-one quite wanted to be the first to give in and go to bed, thus breaking the mood for everyone

so, vicky's husband, darryl, brought out a cardboard box and explained thus...the box goes on the ground and the contestants have to pick it up with their teeth, keeping one leg at all times straight. once everyone has had a go, he will cut an inch off the box and everyone tries again. as the game goes on, the box gets lower and lower...the game commenced and the only female contestant (i was keeping well out of it) was sadly hampered by her clothing, at one point being obliged to wear a towel around her middle to preserve her dignity as she lowered herself to pick up the box. she gave it a good go, though but eventually threw the towel in (ha ha ha ha ha ha) and let her boyfriend, shane and james battle it out. shane emerged victorious, seeing off james easily being able to get the box of the ground when thhere was merely a flat panel resting there. this may sound easy enough but i challenge you all to try, you know who i mean, Paul. and i want photographic evidence.

the next sporting challenge just looked painful. as you can see, the participants are balanced on 3 bar stools and then they have to pass the middle one around there body as many times as they can. phil triumphed at this (guy in blue t-shirt) despite having bowed out of the box competition at fairly early stage (although he stated that he had achieved a personal best at the box game). after this the party broke up so that people could apply neck braces and take painkillers. i just chronicle the events...or does my act of observing these aussie rituals alter them irrevocably, who knows....schrodingers kangaroo has a lot to answer for.

hanging around ilukan style

2007-12-12T15:49:00.001+10:00

not much to say about this one! Just a few snaps of what we did in iluka when we werem't at the Mason Rack show. i think the kids must have a real tough time of it here...

On the Rack

2007-12-10T09:58:00.000+10:00

with the election looming over us, we were invited by Alan and Debbie to go see Mason Rack's Blues Band in the frequently afore-mentioned Iluka. there was much talking of camping in the backyard at Alan and Debbies, but in the end we were able to shoehhorn the kids into one bedroom and james, me, zara and mik all got cosy together on camping mattresses in another. there was much nervous joking about that arrangment, mostly concerned around with snoring and nocturnal flatulence.

anyway, we got to the Iluka Golf Club for the band and it was a great night. Mason Rack was excellent and in true fashion the world over, all the adults hovered nervously round the edges whilst sober and kids just got up and danced no matter what

james came through in dad style to dance with caitlin

caitlin struts her stuff

the night was rounded off by news of john howard's fall from power, to be replaced by his grinning twin, kevin rudd. the whole thing was vaguely reminiscent of blair getting in to power, down to the sense of joy at howard (in portillo fashion) losing his constituency seat. at least the kyoto treaty has been signed and rudd has pledged to rid us of workplace agreements but there is a great sense of plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose....

Mosquito Coast

2007-12-03T10:55:00.001+10:00

well, the excitement and fun to be had just putting up the mossie nets!

this is one of those optical illusion pics...can you see the little girl? close up - no
far way - yes!

and these are jusy plain weird pics, with the sunlight falling across the room and into the nets....

Through The Round Window

2007-12-03T09:54:00.001+10:00

Caitlin was introduced to the world of theatre up in the throbbing metropolis of Grafton...Play School tour was hitting town, a morning of rock and roll debauchery lay ahead!

Caitlin was soon into the swing of the party...this pic was taken just before she bit off the head of a bat...

i had heard mutterings of strange on-stage satanic practices and sure enough, here we see the 'cast' bringing on effigies to be worshipped by the throng of 2-6year olds....

it's only rock and roll but i like it!

Fond Farewells

2007-11-14T10:46:00.000+10:00

it was with heavy heart that we geared ourselves up for our final trip into maclean and beyond on our trip up to brisbane for the night. we drove up to the maclean lookout as James had taken bob and corina there soon after their arrival but now it would make more sense to them. through the hazy sunshine we got a good view of yamba (now rechristened Yamboo in our common parlance)

as we drove back down the hill, we stoppped to take snaps of the view of the clarence river and ilarwill. if you look closely at the hill, you'll see a path cut through the trails (the local fire trail). we live close to the foot of the trail and if you look even closer you'll see the small white bridge crossing the south arm of the river from ilarwill on woodford island into maclean. this is the macfarlane bridge which endures a love from Caitlin similar to that of the jacarandas. it's also the bridge james cycles across on his way to work everyday.

anyway, onwards and upwards to bonnie brisvegas. or rather onwards, sideways and backwards then finally upwards to brisvegas...

you see, we had decided to treat bob and corina to a view of Surfer's Paradise, the Gold Costa Del Sol...so off we set confidently....took an early turning and got all turned back on ourselves in the gold cost suburbs of tweed heads and coolangatta. i, ever the back seat navigator, grew icier with every passing kilometre having (of course) suspected at the beginning that tweed heads was not the desired direction...but lacked the necessary courage of my convictions to voice my concerns. so when we emerged from the maze, james added to the joy by trying to thread his way through tugun's back streets to surfers. he finally admitted defeat when corina noticed two of her toes had fallen off due to frostbite, thanks to the extreme chill emanating from the seat next to her. at this point we returned to the Pacific Highway and located Surfers with a nanosecond. by this point, we were all obliged to disparage Surfers through gritted teeth having spent the better part of the day arriving there. and of course, having promised them lunch at Pete's Seafood Market in Southport, we had to see that one through to the bitter end too. suffice to say, the half hour trip to Southport was pretty silent as we all fantasised some form of nutrition and some blessed release from the car. and to cap it all, in our hunger induced blur, we all misread the menu and ended up ordering fish,calamari and chips for everyone. we were obliged to eat it all just to stop the table collapsing under the weight of all the food.

finally we reached the hotel! For an airport hotel, it was very pleasant - decor was standard hotel bland, but the rooms were spacious, comfortable and well equipped. we had a comfy seating area and a seperate kitchen for breakfast in the morning. so that meant we were able to enjoy our pre dinner drinks in comfort rather than everyone balancing on the beds precariously with their glass of wine

anyway, before the pre-dinner drinks were poured, james and i decided to kill a couple of hours and took the citycat (catamaran ferry) down the river to central brisbane. the trip downriver was lovely and it was great to neb at all the now very expensive riverside houses with their jetties and to gawp at the riverside city developments (planning our return to the riverside restaurants one day)

We didn't have much time really to explore brisbane so got off at North Quay and did a massive circuit of the centre from Queens Street to Fortitude Valley and back. unfortunately, not much really stood out but it was good to get a feel for the city as it started to come alive for the evening and we liked it enough to try to wangle a return, child free visit and 'do' the city more. anyway, we took the citycat back and timed it nicely for those pre dinner drinks!

the rest of the evening was quiet...a low key dinner in a nice italian
restaurant and then early to bed for everyone.

we sadly dropped off our house guests in the airport in the morning and made our brief goodbyes, reminding them of their talk of a return for three months next year!
we took off before things got out of hand and sped off down the road...after all ikea was close by and we could already hear its siren call...

Thanks, Bob and Corina, for a lovely time and for being such great house guests!

Sunny Sunday Lunch

2007-11-09T14:00:00.000+10:00

we talked about for long enough and finally on the last sunday we did it...we took the ferry from Yamba to Iluka.

on Sundays, a courtesy bus from the waterfront bar, Sedger's Reef, meets the ferry in Iluka and takes you along the road to have lunch at the pub, which itself is situated in a very nice spot opposite a calm bay with a small jetty.

The ferry took about half an hour...bob and corina stayed in the shade downstairs while we braved the sun upstairs. it was a lovely trip, if a little windy and occasional moments of fear thinking the overexcited children were about to tip over the edge and into the water. we were, however, safely deposited at iluka and the ferry went on, jazz musicans twiddling away on board to treat the remaining passengers to their sunday jazz cruise

the courtesy bus was waiting for us and we all crammed in, kids sitting on laps, for the trip to the pub. it only took a few mins but probably would have a been bit much for all of us to walk, especially in the midday heat. we all disembarked at the water's edge and the kids went straight in for a dip...zara threw the gauntlet down so i followed her in and we all had a great time swimming with the kids. (i'll blog that separately later). James lounged on the pier, master of all he surrveyed (yeah, right).

after working up an appetite, we nabbedd a table outside the pub. we felt like right locals me and james as we must have waved hello to half of the other customers. it has been said, however, that being considered an iluka local is not a flattering description due to the rather, er, isolated nature of the community.

Lunch arrived and it was the usual enormous portions of food at ridiculously low prices. i think Oz could give Scotland a run for its money in its love for deep fried food and i can safely say i'm looking forward to a few months chip free after a month of eating lunch out! in its defence, the food is so fresh and tasty, you feel the fish just jumped out the river into the kitchen.

bob and corina decided to take the courtesy bus back whilst the rest of us were game enough to try the waterside walk back. it was probably a little further than anticipated and a little hotter than advisable, but it was still picturesque...i took photos all the way along back to the ferry and will blog them too later.

The jazz was still going strong on the return trip so that was fun...we all arrived back in yamba, tired, full of food and glad to have spent our time in such a pleasant spot

Casing the Joint

2007-11-06T13:36:00.001+10:00

Just when we were giving up hope that Bob would see a single kangaroo during his holiday here, the kids laid on a good show literally right outside the house..we got both wallabies and kangaroos. the wallabies are the little ones in the pic with the orange flower.

We then had a fanmily of 'roos go for a wander up and down the street...perhaps it's the roo version of kirsty and phil (location etc)...

anyway, it was all very exciting... i am standing at the bottom of my drive to take these pics, getting ready to make a sharp exit if the roos took exception to the paparazzi. however, they just bounced over the fence eventually and vanished into the trees.

What Kids and Toys Do When You Are Not Looking

2007-11-06T09:22:00.001+10:00

i'd like to preface this by assuring everyone that this is not a normal situation.

Shortly after bob and corina arrived, and when we were all asleep, some local hoodlums quite clearly snuck around to the back of our house and left behind a whole empty bottles. i can only presume that their constant debauchery had already filled up their recycling bin and, noting our abstinent lifestyle, decided to avail themselve of our recycling facilities. had they but asked...anyway, suffice to say i have written to the council expressing my concerns iin no uncertain terms.

Jacob leads the band in a jazz rendition of twinke twinkle little star

the band look overjoyed on learning of their successful bid to represent Australia in the yet again expanded Eurovision Song Contest

Things have started to get out of hand, the roadies are getting stuck into the rider

Boo fights her inner demons

Party's over but the roadie is off to look for some more action. Boo, alas, is off the wagon.

A Wander Around Ilarwill

2007-11-04T18:15:00.000+10:00

i finally went for a walk around ilarwill with james, corina and caitlin. bob opted to continue to relax on the verandah. it was the first time i'd walked up to the top of the hill. those of you who have located ilarwill on google earth may find this laughable, but such is the pace of my life here.

as you can see, the view from the hill across the river is pleasing to the eye. james with his superior height advantage over my dwarf legs was able to capture the view a little better!

Rouding the corner at the top of the hill, we got a cracking view down the other side, across the fields where there were loads of kangaroos grazing. it felt like a scene out of Jurassic Park, except slightly less lethal and a whole lot more stupid.

Thus we carried on our gentle stroll, waving at neighbours who were undoubtedly muutering 'there go that scottish family' as we passed. we almost spent the rest of evening at one place as caitlin was transfixed by the 2 or 3 shih tzu puppies that were running about. she got to stroke them and with that awed look that only small children can have in the face of manifestly small and pointless dogs (apologies to any shih tzu lovers, no offence meant,it's a personal belief)

we were able to distract her as she cast longing glances backwards to the puppies as we rounded the corner and found a jacaranda tree in full bloom. those of you familiar with caitlin will remember the obsession with purple and understand the now accompanying obsession with the purple blossoming jacaranda....ah how we thrill to her shrieks of 'A JACARANDA!' as we drive around this area, noted for its jacaranda trees and the jacaranda festival....

The Obligatory Trip to Broomshead

2007-11-02T14:01:00.001+10:00

after the rain had stopped and we had stashed the ark in the shed, james took everyone bar me to broomshead for a taste of their first aussie beach. he took them up to the lookout and took a pic of them with Back Beach as the scenery. it's a lovely walk down through the hilly,grassy
dunes to a very secluded beach .

however, bob and corina opted for the relative comforts of Main Beach (The Snacky, picnic tables and level access to the beach)...they did however have to put up with the crowds to compensate for the amenities. Just take a look at the throng!

Paint The Whole World With A Rainbow

2007-11-02T13:27:00.000+10:00

well. australia rose to the occasion again and welcomed the visiting pommies (bob and corina) with a deluge, the likes of which had not been seen since our arrival on these shores! on the plus side, we had a lovely view of a rainbow, looking from our deck over to maclean!

Dance, dance wherever you may be....

2007-10-27T13:25:00.000+10:00

well you gotta do something for entertainment in this town....
for the director's cut, check out this ...and this too

Adventures In Brewing

2007-09-08T19:08:00.001+10:00

well, goddamn me, where has the time gone? i think facebook is sucking the life out of me. Plus i am being busy with my now 3 weekly jaunts to the gym and some general lazing about to be fitted in. still, i am working on the backlog of exciting mundanity in the bustle of ilarwill and maclean

so here we are over a month ago now, james has a new toy for father's day. i bought him a brew kit to satify his yen for flat warm english beer (let's see how that pans out when the temperatures ramp up to 40, hitting 35 regularly at mo). He got going on it eventually, with over-enthusiastic help from our daughter. i was able to source a kit for english beer and the pack contained also recipes for brands of beer.
however, james reckoned that with the first brew, prudence was the safer course and just went with the generic english bitter.

Caitlin took over really early on and has since been enquiring when her beer will be ready....

the whole process was relatively straightforward, especially if you are only taking photos of the moment. the majority of the mixing up took place in the bathroom, leaving a lingering odour of hops with some brief forays in to the kitchen for reasons i forget now. then the cask was put into the shed to work its magic....

unfortunately, just after this, we endured a surprise cold snap so after a few days of scratchy head, beard tugging, we (ok, james) lugged the cask back inside where it made a fetching addition to the living room, right next to the wood stove. gave the farmhouse that extra touch of class we both felt.

Zara has recently built a big deck out back so obviously we had to christen it...her dad, Dale, showed up with some fresh prawns so Z and I sat outside with pink champagne. On Dale's advice, James trotted home and collected a beer to sample (this being about a week or so after it was bottled from the cask) and we all had a try. the opinion was 'green, but good' so James is looking further ahead and is now preparing himself to have a go at some more complicated recipes....

Father's Day, Aussie Style

2007-09-04T15:25:00.003+10:00

Just to get it clear straight off, that is NOT James fishing.

Mik has recently bought himself a Ute and Zara for father's day (which is the first Sunday in Sept here) had bought him a pass to all the National Parks. They decided to make the most of this and planned to go the Black Rocks beach, just south of Evans Head, in the national park of Bundjalung. and they invited us to come along, which we duly accepted.

it was a bone jangling ride through the park once we turned off the highway onto the unsealed road, leading to a drawn out conversation along the way about the 'necessity' of buying a Ute for ourselves.

we had arranged to meet them there as we had not got off to such a quick start as them in the morning, distracted by a cooked brekkie. it was therefore with just a little trepdation that we kept driving for about half hour along this unsealed track with Caitlin adding to the joy by asking every 5 seconds if we were there yet.

eventually though we arrived at the barbecue area they had described, with the hippies milling about after a party that they had also described. we parked up and made our way over the sand dunes and were happy to spot Zara's large green bag she had left in conspicuous spot to reassure us that we were on the right trail. the tide was just going out, so we made our way over the black rocks (coffee rock) to a lovely little sheltered spot next to rock pools and staked our place there. we were, i'd like to point out, the only ones to be seen on that stretch of beach.

we all got into the water, with occasional glances back at the kids to make sure they hadn't been swept away or fallen off the rocks in a climbing misadventure. the waves were pretty fast, esp for an inexperienced midget like myself and i gloriously managed to be 'dumped' by a wave just by trying to jump over it!! i think i swallowed a copious amount of salt water on the way which created interesting tummy feelings!

james had a hoot on the boogie board as you can see!

we had a nice wander up the beach and i loved being able to look back along the expanse of beach and only see our 3 sets of footprints snaking back to our camp.

hunger soon set in and we collected up belongings and kids and returned to the barbecue area to cook up yet more suasages whilst the 3 children ran about collecting a variety of bumps,bruises and cuts. reluctant to let the day end here, we all agreed to meet back at Maclean and hit the dirt trail again...luckily more peaceful as Caitlin was worn out!

we rendezvoused with Mik and Zara at the river side (Phil joined us for a beer too as he had popped by to drop off a crate of ale for James) where we sank a couple of beers and watched the sun set over the river.

then it was off back home, to relax on the sofas, feeling warmed through to the bones by the day and full of sunshine and fresh air.

the whole album is here

First Day of Spring

2007-09-02T22:24:00.008+10:00

after a hard day's shopping for furniture in Coffs Harbour on the Friday, we decided to push ourselves even further with a hard day on the beach on Saturday...

Zara and i were at the gym by 8.30, window shopping in surf shops in Yamba by 9.30 and collecting various husbands and broods by 11 to go to Broomshead Back Beach. we took it pretty easy, the water was still a bit nippy and only james was staunch enough to go in the water to get his boogie board wet. when he was out there, a guy passing us on the beach told us of a pod of dolphins where james was boogie boarding. we waited to see if james would spot the fins and panic. luckily james' extreme myopia saved him from making a tit out of himself like i would undoubtedly have in the same situation.

after tearing ourselves away, we went up to the park at Broomshead and let the kids play on the swings etc, and fired up the coin operated barbecue. james trotted across the road to the store and came back with some beer that we just HAD to drink (it was only 2.8% but very nice with it too,it's a bit of fave these days)

then it was the long trek home for a lingering beer on the deck as the sun set and the kids bounced themselves silly on the trampoline.

after Zara, jacob and matilda left, poor ole caitlin had to console herself with snuggling up next to mummy, cuddling Boo and watching Dr Who

all in all. a truly awful day.

Beach Bonfire For the Lunar Eclipse

2007-08-29T12:37:00.000+10:00

hippies, i hear you cry!

we got an invite from our landlords, Scott and Colleen, to join them at Red Cliff for a bonfire, some food and the lunar eclipse. this was a no-brainer really! so off we all went, james and me plus caitlin, and zara and mik and their two. we stopped for supplies on the way - beer,sausages, crisps, dips and a few bottles of pink fizz - and then we were ready.

Red Cliff is in the national park on the way to Broomshead, so after driving along the Broomshead road for a bit, we took off into the bush along an unsealed track with just the stars twinkling above us. we soon found scott and coll, tent already up and bonfire on the go. they had rustled up a veggie curry too so we got on with making the sausage sarnies for the kids, while the kids rampaged around in the dark with the torches. occasionally we'd check that they hadn't fallen over the cliff in the dark.

we were lucky as what had been a hazy day cleared up into a cloudless night sky so we got a uninterrupted view of the moon as it underwent the eclipse. it was, i have to say, a very romantic setting, no light pollution, clear skies and a blazing bonfire. soon all three kids were fast asleep by the bonfire as mik whispered them stories about spacemen, jean luc picard and darth vader.

we packed up the slumbering kids about 11pm and went off home, all rather regretting that we either had work the next day or didn't have a tent to pitch right there and then.

i am indeed a little hungover this morning but it was worth it and we are certainly adding a tent to the list of 'must buy'. this Aussie life is slowly corrupting us....

Rain rain go away

2007-08-26T10:27:00.000+10:00

i write this on a gloriously sunny morning, temperatures are over 20 already and it's 10am. however, for the last week, i have duped into forgetting what the heat feels like! James' rain dances have been successful (memories of Girona, anyone?) and we have had up to 70cm of rain in some parts of Queensland with localised floodings, roads being swept away (again,, memories of Girona, anyone? Thank God, James is out the country, now we can finally watch the mighty Hibernian roar to their well deserved place at the top of the Scottish League, with glory in Europe awaiting). i digress. when it rains here, it does rain pretty hard and it worries me slightly for the rainy season as they have been calling this 'showery' weather. get a taste for the last week here. bring your wellies and cagoules, Bob and Corina!

A Visitor To Our House

2007-08-24T09:43:00.000+10:00

as you can see we are enjoying the famous aussie sun...it has tipped down for almost a week, we've probably had at least 15 inches of rain...and believe me, it RAINS here. anyway, whilst waiting to go to pre-school, Caitlin drew my attention to 'a thing' on the door. i think it was a praying mantis, sheltering in a moment of insectile IQ from the rain. if i'm wrong, tell me - unless it was some super poisonous aussie insect monster tthat i've pissed off by snapping lots of pics then flicking it back out into the rain. in that case, ignorance will indeed be bliss.

Caitlin's First Aussie Birthday

2007-08-23T13:14:00.001+10:00

Caitlin had requested a penguin party at first (damn you Happy Feet) but after some subtle hint dropping, she managed to change her mind to the slightly less demanding, mermaid party. given that there was the usual summer (or winter depending on your hemisphere) birthday burn out we postponed the bash a week to allow frazzled parents to recover. and then some of the kiddie guests got laid low by the good ole winter vomiting virus so that held the do up by another week. so by the time it came to it, i was in full on 'can't be arsed' mode. however, i rallied to the cause....

On the friday evening (party was on saturday lunchtime), Zara and i had foolishly signed up for another night of raffle ticket selling (pre-school fundraiser) at the local Retired Services League. this may seem inocuous but bear in mind we had done it once before and ended up drinking till midnight there and doing stupid dancing to a local band (los garbos...think aussie...these guys drive the garbage trucks in the area...to be fair, they were a lotta fun) so it was with some trepidation that we returned to the RSL. our reputation has already been established from that one visit and preceded us...the 'wild girls' had returned. however, with much mutual support we managed to restrain ourselves (altho it was a close call) and were home by 8pm. soooooooooo, we started on the decs and thank god we did because, as with all these things, it took waaaaaay longer than anyone expected. we stuck blue cellophane over the windows, ran string from wall to wall and hung off streamers and paper, glittery fish and mermaids from the string and curtain poles. we hung streamers in doorways and along the arch into the kitchen. we were knackered and thank god Zara was staying over to help us!

we started again the next day when i got back from my gym work-out (yes, you heard it here first!) and just managed to get all the food ready and organised for the first kids arriving. typically, Zara's side of the family were as organised as ever with Zara's kids and her sister's rolling up about half an hour after the kick off time! to be fair to renae (zara's sister) she did have to cope with comforting a car full of kids who had just said goodbye to their big sis who is off on a jaunt to europe.

anyway, it all seemed to go well...we did all the usual stuff - pin the crown on the mermaid, pass the parcel and had a right hoot with the sack race in the garden, sacks courtesy of the pre-school. the kids all LOVED the underwater cavern our house had become and i was pretty proud of it too.

Caitlin was a very happy girl that day!

i include the picture of the sheep cos it bit matilda's finger (the sheep live across the road from us) for the 2nd time and we think it has got it in for us...it looks shifty anyway!

My Winter Garden

2007-08-13T12:16:00.001+10:00

well, thought i'd take some pics of the garden and how it's growing in this transition from winter to spring....purple lettuce, much munched by caitlin who is still obsessed by purple.

2 lettuces have sprung up unexpectedly in a far part of the garden...

the ubiquitous cherry tomato that pops up like a weed everywhere

Broccoli of all all things,planted and cared for by me!

the gorgeous wattle tree that is much beloved by wasps and bees, now in full flower!

Welcome to the world, Ilse Grace Mellon

2007-08-01T14:55:00.000+10:00

what more can we say? Johnny found a woman insane enough to marry him and then bear him a gorgeous little girl! all of us parents out there know what a journey they are now on and how much their life has changed from one day to the suddenly baby filled next day. best of luck to them and we are hoping to see all 3 in person before little Ilse takes off to uni (oh the time passes that quick,eh?!!)

proud momma, Claire

gorgeous girl

Apologies

2007-07-30T18:44:00.000+10:00

there's been a bit of a silence i know. i blame facebook personally speaking. but i will rise to blog again. after all, there's been the trip to ikea, the christmas in july party and yet another bloody birthday party. i lack many photos so not been inspired but am on the case to scavenge a few. caitlin's birthday approaches, we are having her party on the 11th August due to birthday party burn out but james and i will be celebrating with her as normal. just to say, think things are warming up a little now, not having to layer up in the mornings until the sun gets going (usually by 10am) and i felt the need to shelter from the midday sun for the first time in a few weeks. also there's been talk of getting fit now that i am contemplating returning to the beach amongst all the surfer chicos and chicas. maybe i should also think st tropez. or maybe i should just think mu-mu...all suggestions welcomed but bear in mind that staying friends with me guarantees a free holiday in sub-tropical New South Wales.

wash day

2007-07-21T21:10:00.000+10:00

Well...all that burnt cane has to go somewhere and in order to allow les and zara to travel to brisvegas and ikea (sad innit?) in style caitlin and myself cleaned the car for the first time - this weeks fires had coated it in streaky black bits. As you can see my little helper really got into it...in fact i had to stop her washing the car after about 4 rinses. This also allows my dad to inspect the car for the first time after a few complaints that he hadn't seen it. Vintage model really....1990 and 220,000 kms Ford Telstar (no i'd never heard of it either) but this what an old car can look like without trying when there's no gritting on the roads and little traffic. shame about the radio which steadfastly refuses to pick up anything other than ABC local radio so every saturday we are treated to a diy show discussing the relative merits of cladding for sheds. priceless stuff.

and by popular demand....

2007-07-19T09:18:00.000+10:00

Goanna Pulling!
the goanna is apparently a monitor lizard but i don't know where the leather straps around the necks come from...
so here we are at the annual goanna pulling world championships, held in Wooli. it was quite an event with brickholding race to get us all pepped up for the main event of the goanna pulling.
the goanna pulling itself is subdivided into women/ children/ lightweight/ heavyweight etc. i think the winners get to keep the straps. suffice to say, james the physio looked on in horror as the straps were placed round people's necks (some kids doing it were about 7) and they proceeded to try to yank each other, by their necks, across a line on the mat on which they are propped. everyone looks on with beer in one hand and a sausage sizzle sanger in the other.

we missed the parade through wooli so we have an excuse to go back next year.

Cane Fires

2007-07-15T19:54:00.000+10:00

we had a treat last night...we spotted the smoke rising up and we could glimpse fire through the trees. luckily, we are canny enough to know that this is not a bush fire but the biennial cane burning round here. cane sugar takes 2 years to grow here as opposed to one year in Queensland and, as a result, the sugar cane is more snarled up with other vegetation etc. so, they burn it to get rid of the rubbish and then harvest the cane. when we realised that the cane field they were burning was one of the ones right next to the main road in, we took ourselves off for a closer look. it's pretty impressive, the fire burns fast and loud and if you stand downwind, you get the smell of burning sugar (unsurprising i know, but still pretty cool)
anyway, we may not get to see this again after this year as they are converting the mills to burn the vegetation as part of the process (which is then used as bio-fuel for the mill).

we were happy to get this close for our own little bit of personal history

Matilda's 3rd Birthday Party

2007-07-15T19:16:00.000+10:00

this had a princess/fairy theme...spot the slightly older and more embarrassed boy who is quite clear that last year's tutu is a no-no. so we all went off to a play park in a place called Palmer's Island (mentioned earlier somewhere in this blog). it was right next to the river and we all had a great time, relaxing in the sun, with beautiful views across the river whilst the kids ran riot amongst the swings/slides etc before coming together for a few party games. Here pictured is musical chairs...i can't figure if Caitlin just didn't really get...or if she REALLY got it, because she would periodically pop herself onto a cushion whether the music had stopped or not! you decide. anyway, she didn't win, Spiderman won. he won a tiara and wand set. unsuprisingly, he decided to pass it on to a girl and, in true bloke fashion, ignored his frantically mugging younger sister and gave it to the older, pretty girl that was there. poor ole younger sister was much miffed by this but was eventually placated with a hair grip, plastic jewel encrusted it was too. a good time was had by all as they say. last pic is yours truly, janelle in the middle (mother to Spiderman and younger sister, and Caitlin's pre-school teacher) and Zara at the end.

Tartan tat and All that

2007-07-15T18:59:00.000+10:00

well, the other weekend we treated ourself to a taste of the homeland, and i don't mean a crappy pint from Robbies. it was Tartan Day (to celebrate, allegedly, the lifting of prohibition on tartan wearing) in Maclean so off we went to see what was laid on....it was almost as good as the goanna pulling (that delight i am yet to blog) but lacked a certain je ne sais quoi. perhaps it was the stall selling the tartan licence plates, or the stall covered with doilies selling tea and shortbread. or maybe it was the sausage and steak sizzle stall that ran out of food by 1pm (James was foiled in his attempt to garner a second sausage sarnie). but overall, it was a lesser event that we had hoped for, notwithstanding the wheelbarrow race, the 'haggis' hurl and the bagpiper. however, Caitlin displayed impeccable taste as ever, just as she did in Edinburgh, by dancing frantically to the melodic strains of the bagpipes. we lasted about an hour and that was mostly so i could take all these photos and watch a bit of Hugh Barrington, a local celeb i can only presume. we left before Jocks and Kilts retook the Main Stage. i await the Highland Gathering next year with bated breath

i knew all these years spent on sim city weren't a waste

2007-07-12T12:32:00.000+10:00

hours (well, half an hour) i spent on this only to spend the next half hour exhorting Caitlin not to knock everything over. now i know why my parents had a perpetual pained look on their face. and why they didn't drop everything to amuse me when i informed them i was bored. still, this is sadly my idea of fun....

when the stuff came, part 1

2007-07-08T18:38:00.000+10:00

well, we got the call. or rather we called them and bugged them till they said they would deliver our wordly possessions on Friday 6th July, about 2.30pm. so here is a visual reminder of the house as it pre-delivery, the calm before the storm...

when the stuff came, part 2

2007-07-08T18:33:00.000+10:00

so in preparation, we decided to empty the living space so that the guy could just drop the stuff off easily and go. it also gave us the chance to move out some of the bigger pieces of furniture so we were starting on a blank canvas and would know what we would need to invest in

when the stuff came, part 3

2007-07-08T18:32:00.000+10:00

well, 2.30 came and went, 3.30 came and went...no removal lorry in sight, by this point, my paranoia is in full swing and i am cursing myself for ever believing that our things would actually be delivered to our house, rather than some shady charlatan conning us out of our money and flogging our stuff at a car boot. we contact the company who tell us the guy has been held up and will be with us, at the earliest 5pm. 5pm, the guy rings and reckons it will take him about 2 hours to get us. we say 'fine, see you when you get here' ignoring, i feel, the mute appeal to rearrange the delivery. anyway, he finally showed on his tod about 6.30 with a tale of woe - broken vans, sick drivers, bad backs and nightmare jobs. as James and Phil (his boss) had left just before he got there to forage for fish and chips, i smiled benevolently at the man, offered him a beer (light) and ticked things off a list as he humphed them in. Luckily, James and Phil returned halfway through and lent a hand. by the way, the bloke in the pic is Phil, not the removal guy getting comfy!!! Phil stayed over so he could share some beers (and i suspect, some of the malt whisky!!!) and he and James watched the rugby whilst i poked in all the boxes and generally pulled things out in a childish, disorganised and unhelpful fashion!

When the stuff came, part 4

2007-07-08T18:27:00.000+10:00

and here we are after 2 frantic days of unpacking...it's good to have our things about us (and our bed). even though Caitlin has a nice big room, it still seems to be bursting at the seams with toys...I'll post that pic on its own later...

hot action in ilarwill

2007-07-05T18:22:00.000+10:00

cruising for chicks on the electric boogie strip

reservoir ducks

All Art Is Destruction

2007-07-04T16:20:00.000+10:00

Caitlin continues on in her exploration of modern art and has moved on to Installation Art. here we see the Artist developing "Beach On Slide" and then symbolically destroying it in a headlong rush down the slide. (watch it here) it raises worrying questions. does she feel that, by creating art we are destroying the object represented and therefore seeks to destroy the representation in an attempt to restore authenticity of perception (if such a thing is ever possible)? or is she attempting to convey the headlong rush into global eco disaster that will lay waste to the world's coastlines. as ever, the artist remains enigmatic.

in the depths of winter

2007-07-03T12:42:00.000+10:00

well here we are, on the upswing into spring, temps hitting 25 today. Caitlin is tending to sleeping Boo there in a contraption designed to rock her to sleep.

the weekend was a good one, we headed to Lismore for some shopping, it's about an hour away and feels like returning to the real world, i mean, it has a population of just under 30,000. so dizzied by the swarming crowds, we blew some money on fripperies, somehow managing to spend over 4 hours there before legging it back to Ilarwill. we had been invited to dinner at Mik and Zara's so toddled up there about 6pm and got all the kids settled into bed before relaxing over several bottles of wine and a fine steak dinner (tofu, in young Michael's case). zara peeled off to bed at 10.30...she tried to sneak off at 9.30 but was roundly abused for her pains! James fell away next and trundled home at 11.30 whereas the Scots contingent flew the flag till 1.30. common sense impelled me to go home at that point as i knew we had a big day coming up in the form of Iluka market next morning.
so we set off early doors for Iluka and what a LOVELY place it turned out to be. the market was bigger than we expected, having about 20 stalls and not just fruit and veg. there was some good 'tat' stalls and mik managed to get a pristine Super 8 cinecamera and 2 projectors for $10 and i acquired a set 0f 4 pictures (framed) and about 20 unframed pics of scenes of Christian Martyrdom for $24 (ola, you will be green when you see them). there is one of protestants being drowned in Ireland that i am planning on framing to give to my dear Catholic friend, Mik, for his birthday. he is talking of passing it on to his protestant dad who lives in Harthill, West Lothian. we may not be in dear old Scotland but we are keeping the dream alive....

so the guy who sold us the projector and the prints was from London, and he had spent some time in edinburgh in the 50s learning to play the pipes before come out to Oz in the 60s, not sure if there was a connection there. We then promptly ran into Alan (a friend of Mik's) who is also from London, and also had a scottish connection in the form of a grandfather. we toddled back to their house, met his wife Debbie and had a lovely time there. their house is just lovely, they bought this old fisherman's shack 4 years ago for about $74k and have spent the last 4 years doing it up and what a lovely job...they have remodelled the inside and fitted beautiful old leaded decorative windows. just makes me itch to own our own place now! before being at Alan and Debbie's place we were undecided if we wanted a brick and tile place or what's called a 'Queenslander'...now we are clear it needs to be a Queenslander! anyway, after a great cup of coffee, we took our leave and James, Caitlin and i drove around Iluka, which has to be a contender for places to buy now. it's a 10min drive through a national park to get there and is bounded by the sea on the other side and there is a regular passenger ferry to Yamba. very impressed.

and yesterday, Zara and i + relevant kids met up with Alicia + her 2 at Palmer's Island Playpark for a morning picnic. while the kids ran riot, Zara and i eyed the river and laid our plans to get our fishing licences, dreaming of fishing while the kids played on the swings and slides...watch this space....

and watch this space for the upcoming pictures of goanna pulling....

Nothing to Report so here we all are with varying degrees of success with the timer

2007-06-29T19:28:00.000+10:00

so i survived my parent helper day at pre-school. being a bit of a third wheel, i covered some books which took me right back to covering my school books with brown paper and how crap i was at it then and how nothing much has changed. some pre-schooler's gonna get a fright when he or she opens up their library book! the rest of the day consisted of wandering around offering to help and doing a LOT of washing up after the esp after the play dough making session. then mummy, sorry, i mean Zara picked me up and we tootled back to hers where it seemed like we had our own little pre-school going on with Zara's kids (jacob and matilda), Alicia (Zara's sister)'s kids (lachlan and brodie), Amber(a neighbour)'s kid (kayleigh) and of course Caitlin, all running around. Jacob has recently acquired a trampoline for his birthday so there were a few turf wars being fought, with Zara acting as a peace envoy. i think i am possibly more worn out than Caitlin.

All is now quiet in the house with Caitlin limply struggling to pretend she is not exhausted, but this will be the quietest bath all week which is a giveaway.

James is relaxing by our roaring fire which is being powered by the blocks of wood he manfully hewed on his return from work. i have never seen anyone as excited as James when we finally invested in a wood splitting axe. Sun was back out today and it is predicted sunny and warm for the weekend, thank god, i've had enough already of this grey nonsense. i suspect i may be eating my words come november.

As you can see, an uneventful day and the weekend hopefully will be the same. Mik has threatened to take his kids to some junior rodeo...i have a feeling that shopping at Bi-Lo for our groceries may take precedence.

Jacob's Pirate Party!

2007-06-28T19:23:00.000+10:00

Jacob turned 5 this week so Mik and Zara threw him a big pirate party at Zara's folks house!

in line: Jake (janelle's son) Malea, Caitlin, Spenser, Lachlan and Talissa

The pirate cake!!! Hand made by Zara with support from yours truly.( recipe and internet coaching)

Caitlin and her partner in crime, Matilda, in the 3 legged race
given C's natural athleticism, it was a tough call if she needed
a partner

oo-aar, cap'n Jacob!

adventures in crafting: phase 2

2007-06-28T18:32:00.000+10:00

cold yukky day today here so curled up with the heaters on and watched finding nemo for the nth time. i say watched, what i really mean is that i answered a non stop flow of questions about the film from my constantly fidgeting daughter (stop smirking mum and dad). this experience was much like the experience when we went to see shrek 3 at the local cinema, much endearing me to the cinematic aspect of life with Caitlin. after that and heartening bowl of lentil soup, we finished off the salt dough creations. needless to say, Caitlin once again showed off her wide knowledge of modern art and put me to shame with her rothko inspired painting. i was so enthralled i handed over my butterfly from yesterday so as not to interrupt the artist in full flow. tomorrow is my 'parent-helper' day at the pre-school and i have already been promised lots of cleaning as it is the last day of term. oh joy!

more adventures in crafting:phase 1

2007-06-27T15:42:00.000+10:00

slightly busier day overall, managed to clean the kitchen and sweep the floors with Caitlin's 'help' of course so we rewarded ourselves with some salt dough modelling. this is pre baking and there will be the next exciting installment tomorrow when we graduate to painting! assuming they survive the baking process. sun back out today after three days of torrential rain, much akin to what's happening in the dear ole uk. so worked on the tan inbetween all this frenzy of activity during which time Caitlin played some game involving piling up all the toys in the living room, taking photos of them on daddy's carelessly forgotten mobile before they all went to the dentist, then school, then bed under the mozzie nets on the floor in the living room. i too was subjected to a dental examination with keyrings,mobile phone battery and a pen. and on a tangent, Cillit Bang is called Easy Off Bam here (and no Barry Scott). the mind boggles.

Craft Corner

2007-06-27T10:23:00.000+10:00

a running feature may be the things i make whilst attempting to motivate myself to study for my driving licence!
so here is the first installment!

Caitlin proudly painted herself a coaster and table mat following the school of fauvism,so talented for one so young!
I've turned into Mrs Beeton and will soon be opening my very own village fete to sell jams, preserves and chutneys...pictured are lemon marmalade; mandarin marmalade; preserved lemons and spicy cherry tomato chutney. all made from produce from this garden or friends'/neighbours' gardens!

i include these 2 at the insistence of the artist..still life with Boo and the upcoming publicity still for said artist

last of the birds

2007-06-26T19:30:00.000+10:00

kookaburra kookaburra on the old power wires....

you still like birds

2007-06-26T19:19:00.000+10:00

an ibis and some rainbow lorikeets

you like birds

2007-06-26T19:13:00.000+10:00

you seen rod?

Yamba

2007-06-26T12:41:00.000+10:00

these are some shots around Yamba beach. it's the nearest town and quite funky.
there is a strong surfer/hippy vibe and it's expanding quite rapidly. house prices there are a little higher
and you get less for your money! but as you can see it's a pretty nice spot!

A few beach shots

2007-06-26T12:32:00.000+10:00

James as a monster, Caitlin as Lily Allen...what more can i say? we have been exploring the beaches around here. i'm not a huge lover of beaches (why am i here then, eh?) but the beaches here are clean, empty and beautiful. we especially like Angourie Beach - Spookys - and we are told it's one of the best in australia for surfing.

James has been trying his hand at boogy boarding/surfing. he is loving it but not so keen on being 'dumped' into the sand and always landing on the same shoulder. i've not had a go so far, due to a combination of laziness, embarrasment and lack of a decent set of 'swimmers'. this is in hand and i am awaiting delivery from uk of something i can go out in public in and not frighten the children.

Caitlin is ever so gradually getting over her terror of waves, helped by the fearlessness of Jacob. They seem to play a game a lot which involves chucking sand into the sea to 'kill' it then running away screaming.

not yet had a barbie at the beach with snags and a tinny but rest assured it will happen and i will stick photos here when it does!

view from the House #2

2007-06-26T09:46:00.000+10:00

so here i am trying to be good and set up a regular blog..thoe of you familiar with us will know that i'm great at starting things but less committed to following them through when i get a little bored. bear with me, i'll try to stick at it. so anyway, this is the view from our front verandah. i think james made it his badge of honour that for the first 5-6 weeks he had hs breakfast outside on the verandah. however, as the mornings got chillier and the rain set in, he admitted defeat and beat a retreat indoors. not that that actually made him warmer, only drier. this house is a draughty old farmhouse and is really better designed at keeping you cool in the infernal height of summer, rather than warming your toes in the slight bite in the depths of winter. i mean, it's fallen all the way to 5 at one point at night (although it prob tends to hover around 11). lacking proper insulation or a properly sealed house or central heating, we have been heavily reliant on the wood burning stove in the evenings. daytimes are still warm and reminiscent of a british summer/spring but it's certainly got cooler from when we arrived at the end of april and we were basking in temps of over 30.

anyway, that's enough weather chit chat for now...i need to get myself and Caitlin organised for a trip into Maclean with Zara and her two kids, Jacob and Matilda. it's raining and grey today (aarggh more weather chit chat) so we are all rugging up. back with more excitement later. TTFN.

View from the House #1

2007-06-26T09:18:00.000+10:00