Dinner

We had a catch up dinner with Brett and Cathy and family last night.  Photos need to be taken as the family is changing so fast.  Mitchell has already passed Granny in height.

Football

The Weather Bureau got it right today. Wet, cold and miserable - and so was the weather!

The players could be seen occasionally through the driving rain.

Not great conditions for Pat and James' final game for the season before they leave on holidays.  Neither team won but it was certainly a game to remember!

Nearly There!

We are very close to having the Balcony complete, We are waiting on the final inspection and a couple of small items but the barbeque and the table and chairs have arrived

It is a freezing wet weekend so it may be a while before the new equipment is tested.

New Baby in the Family

I have been waiting a while for this camera to arrive in Australia and I now have one to play with.  It's a very talented little device incorporating technology and optics that were inconceivable only a few years ago. Fun times ahead.

Frustrated Footy Fan

Friday night football and Essendon goes down again!  Maybe next week.......

Bendigo Visit

Claire took herself off on a little adventure yesterday to spend time with her two Bridesmaids in Bendigo.  She travelled up on the V Line train which was awarded 4 Stars for its ease of travel, comfort and speed.

Cheryl and Sue have been long term friends since school days and at our wedding all the girls got fully involved with the big hair!

But it seems things change and over time, all your friends look a little older (and get a little wiser).

They had a great catchup and approved the new accommodation arrangements as Sue is building a new unit and Cheryl is contemplating moving to Bendigo.

Football - James

Today's game was going to be interesting from the start.  The Jets (bottom of the ladder) were playing Glen Waverley Rovers (top of the ladder).  The Jets had a new Coach and there was a feeling of renewal about the team.  They came out firing and had 7 points up before Glen Waverley scored.

Glen Waverley rallied and by half time had doubled the Jets score. 

The boys came off the ground grim faced but after the break, they came out firing on all cylinders.  It seemed to be all Jets as they out played and out scored the opposition.

Unfortunately the Jets fell short by 3 points at the final siren but to all the spectators they looked like winners with such a dramatic turn around from the first half and games of the past few weeks.  The boys would have liked a win but they sent a signal out today that they are back and ready to play.

As a post script, the opposition also saw the Jets as winners as they had clearly been expecting an easy win.  When most of the Jets had left the ground, the Glen Waverley Coach was still berating his players! He was not a happy (or wise) man.

Football - Patrick

I saw the first half of Pat's game today.  He was playing in defense and getting into the action when the ball came his way.  He is marking well and starting to burrow into the packs (unfortunately that action is difficult to capture on camera.

 

The Coach gave Pat an award at the end of the game for his marking during the game.

Dance Display

Ebony, Holly and Sophie all attend the same Dance Academy and tonight was the half year display.  We were very proud grandparents watching them perform so well and so confidently on stage.  As the school is selling photos they did not want photos of the acts so we had to content ourselves with photos after the performance.

The girls all looked very comfortable on stage and the night was well planned with a quick flowing presentation of a wide variety of acts.

Basketball - James

It has been a while since we have seen James in action on the basketball court and the opportunity presented today.  It turns out they were playing another Vikings team so it all became a little confusing after a few years watching the Vikings in their own colours.  We suspect it might have been a little confusing for the players having to pass to players in white.  However, it was a very close match with James' team going down by 1 point in the end.  James scored a number of goals and penalties and was in the thick of the action all day.

Power is On!

More progress on the balcony today with power connected and lights and fans installed.  The painter also finished off.  Now all that is required is a few touch ups and the replacement of one of the glass panels in the balustrade.

Approaching Completion

We had a day of progress on the balcony today. Painting and removal of the safety barriers together with some patching has made it look as though we may actually finish this construction!

With the electrical work to be done tomorrow (fans and lights) it is looking good.

Leisurely Lunch

We decided that a long slow lunch in one of the Yarra Vally Wineries might be the way to round off Murray and Judy's visit.  After a wander around Yarra Glen we went to De Bertoli for a wonderful lunch.

We tried a number of their dishes and all came away with a warm glow.  Murray even had their Gnocchi and pronounced it excellent.  (in my world, "excellent gnocchi" is a concept that does not compute). The Pork Belly starter and the Duck main were fantastic.

They are heading back west tomorrow.  Let's hope we can catch up again before too long.

Murray and Judy Come to Town

It was great to catch up with Murray and Judy again.  We missed them last time we were in Perth and on this occasion, Lisa and Justin are in Queensland but they were able to catch up with the rest of the family yesterday.

We visited Adam and Kate and James introduced them to Max

and Patrick showed off his new friends.  I don't think they have names yet.

Then it was off to see Brett and Cathy to check out the latest garden developments and take on a little more coffee and cake around the open fire.

Tiles Down

Development of the balcony proceeds - two steps forward one step back.  The tiles took 9 days.  Five days work and the rest waiting for additional tiles! The balustrade was supposed to go in today but one of the slabs of glass was cut incorrectly so we have to wait another week. AAAGGGHHHH!!!!

Murrindindi

OK - so it is the middle of winter - it has been wet and tomorrow morning is to be about 1 degree C.  What can we do? - let's go camping!  It was all going so well until I got lost (with all the firewood) and everyone else froze.  Finally it all came together and we got the fire going.

The snags were cooked and everyone could warm their chilled bones by the fire.

Then it was time to see how we all coped with the freezing evening.  In the morning there was ice over everything and the assessments of the bedding arrangements were variable.  Some seemed to have had a good night.

Others thought that the inclusion of an electric blanket in the camping equipment may have been a good idea!

But once the extremities had been warmed by the fire we were all happy campers.

Dinner

When setting up the family dinner, wine is one of the ingredients that always adds a little interest to proceedings.  Looking around under the house I found this one.  It was a good one at the time of purchase but had been overlooked and I expected it to be well past its "Use Buy".  On opening the cork looked good and the wine was fantastic.  Pity I did not buy a dozen. RIP Plunkett.

Tiling Underway

Tiling is finally underway on the balcony.  The first waterproofing layer had to be pulled up and another laid delaying operations a week.  That is now laid and cured and the tiler is on the job.  We didn't have it ready for last Christmas, perhaps this Christmas?