Beach Bonfire For the Lunar Eclipse

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

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

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

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

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

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