Great Outdoors

It seemed like a good idea at the time!  What could be better?

Camping in the bush with a camp fire and a warm tent and bedding.  All good!

Unfortunately, the script and reality diverged slightly at the point where we mentioned "warm".  The forest can be a cold place in a $10 K-Mart sleeping bag!

Boys Pay a Visit

Jack, Cooper and Lachlan came to visit this morning.  Lacklan was none too sure about the bloke with the camera

 but the others were not worried.  For Jack, interest of the morning tended toward aeronautics.

Cooper on the other hand was more interested in eating manderins 

and trying to instruct his Granny on the finer points of biological classification as it relates to fish vs sharks.

Parkinsons Walk

We had a wonderful day for the Parkinsons Walk in Melbourne yesterday.  We registered and started at Federation Square and then walked along the Yarra.  Great day and lots of people.

New Yard In Use

Lisa and Justin's back yard development reached another milestone with the completion of the paving.  It is looking great and drains beautifully!

There are still a few things to be done but the kids (and the adults) are loving the result.

Another Birthday Passes

We marked the occasion of Adam's birthday with a family celebration.  In a novel twist, the Guest of Honour chose for the menu to be Lamb Roast followed by Apple RollyPolly (who would have guessed?)
The wonderful meal provided by Chef de Maison, Claire was washed down with a great 96 Cab Sav from the Yarra Valley.  Although there were candles in abundance, he managed to extinguish them with minimal wheezing.

Other attendees also demonstrated their candle techniques.

Lachlan was initiated into the mysteries of the candle ceremony and seemed well prepared to have a go.

Photos from Felde Farm

Here are a few pix from my week in Felde Farm. The kangaroos have learned how to jump the fences so Rhondda is having to adapt the garden to deal with this new pressure.

I caught sight of one of the palace guardians hiding in the bushes.

The mornings were very still down at Lake Victoria.

The only problem visiting friends, is that with this outlook, lunch could take quite some time.

Tree Removal

In order to get a clear signal from the satellite a couple of trees had to be removed.  One was a bit close to the house so a bit of specialised assistance was called in from next door.  We were concerned about it but Fadin had the tree down in about 15 min.

Then it was a matter of hauling the log away and debarking it so it could then be used for posts

Clubhouse Nearly Complete

It has been over 4 years of hard slog but the Clubhouse is nearing completion and looking good.  Here are some photos of the interior.  Firstly, the living area and kitchen

The rear section contains the bedrooms and bathroom.

It is a very comfortable little house with heating and cooling and soon will have satellite TV projected on the large screen (as can be seen in Pic 2)

Play Time in the Bush

Well, I have just made it back from having a bit of fun in the scrub at Yarramalong.

It is all looking very green and wet up there as the rainfall has been off the scale this year.  There are a few new residents I got to know including a new alpaca family (L to R -Dad, Mum and Baby)

They were sharing the area with gentle old Barney who had come in to clean up the vegetation on the steep slopes around the main dam.

As can be seen, he has done a great job.

The purpose of the exercise was to install satellite TV to the Club House.  The task proved to be a little larger than originally anticipated.

Sleepover

Mum and Dad were hosting a special dinner so Granny and Pa had some overnight visitors.  Needless to say the morning started a little earlier than usual in this household.

The previous evening we had mixed up some milk to make icy poles so these became part of the breakfast menu.

Then Granny conducted a manufacturing workshop for SMEs.  The results are displayed below.  Pat produced S.A.M. (Small Automated Machine).

Sophie produced a bus and another robot with Granny.

And James decided that weapons manufacture was more the line he wished to pursue.

Sad end for an old friend

All good things come to an end.  Unfortunately the old Spotted Gum, Corymbia maculata (formerly Eucalyptus maculata) was developing into a monster.  It had the potential to grow to over 70 metre and was already towering over the house so it was removed on Friday.

The mulched remains are now waiting to be spread over the mountainsides at Donvale and all that is left is a small pile waiting to be collected.

Auskick Season Ends

Weather held for the last Auskick for the season.  Pat is really getting into it with plenty of kicking and a bit of "hip and shoulder" practice this week.

He was also an enthusiastic crash tackler.

And there was the occasional spill.

James, never one to be a passive observer, spent his time on the sidelines improving the accuracy of this kicking.