James is 17

The family celebrated James' seventeenth today.  All the usual suspects gathered for a very relaxed afternoon.

On this occasion, unusually, the weather failed to cooperate but that did not dampen spirits.

Louie Looses His "Ls"

Louie is no longer a "Learner".  Today he graduated from Puppy School and has a Diploma to prove it.  Sophie is very proud of him.

Ready for the Bricks

And the build goes on.  Windows are gradually being installed and the intricate wood and metalwork for the roof has taken a considerable time.This week we are expecting the brickies back to start on the walls of the ground floor.  The remainder of the ground floor windows should be installed and the painter is working on the upper floor exterior.

Pete's Progress

The Grand Plan was to get Peter to an AFL game to see his beloved Saints for possibly the last time.  The tickets had been purchased and the planning was in place. Graeme was flying down from Sydney to join us but unfortunately Peter had got to a point where it became too difficult for him and we had to cancel.  The consolation was that Graeme's flight had been cancelled by a fire at Sydney Airport and the weather was appalling so our train trip in would have been problematic. So we indulged in a little screen time instead.

The positives of the night were that the Saints came home with a win, we remained warm and we had a good dinner in comfort.

Drought

Being in the middle of a drought has had some benefit for us as there has been very little in the way of rain delay.  Not sure that the builders would have been in attendance today if it had been a work day!

Releasing Our Inner Escher

Since the mid 60's I have been fascinated by the work of Escher and his ability to present anomalous perspective images.  Happily, the National Gallery of Victoria has been hosting an exhibition of his work so we visited today.

It was a comprehensive collection showing how his early etchings and interest in symmetry and perspective lead to his later work.  The presentations included models, built environments and printed material.

It was a beautiful day in Melbourne so lunch in the laneways was mandatory.

Mitchell's Birthday Photo

We managed to grab Mitchell for a few minutes yesterday to get his (long overdue) portrait for our wall. Here 'tis.

Sunday Playtime

After the rain it seemed to be a good day for an experiment.  Time to add a little Pop Art to the build.

Sophie's Season Ender

Sophie has had a good run this season. After a couple of Grand Final wins, the girls had been pushed up a couple of divisions and had to fight a lot harder for their wins. They did not win their semi final but fought hard against a much taller opposition. They did themselves proud.

 All attention for the Team Manager for the end of season Finale.

 Sophie and her mates had a good season.

Build Progress

The build of the new house continues apace. As the more detailed work is now taking place, externally things seem to have slowed.  However the gutter protection is in place, the eves are being installed, bearers are in place for the lower storey roof and insulation is being installed.

Autumn Evening

On a beautiful autumn evening we had dinner with Brett and Cathy and family. 

Bubbly seems to set the agenda for a very relaxed evening.  Brett was convinced that this would be one of the last evenings for a barbeque so he was making the best of it.

And we made the best of the resulting steak, kangaroo and sausage.

The star of the evening was the hazelnut cream cake and blackberry ice cream.

No one left hungry!

Greg's Birthday

We went to Echuca today to catch up with Greg for his birthday.  He was in relatively good shape and enjoyed the visit and (of course) the cake.

 We went to the Bowls Club for lunch amd caught up with Megan and Luke.  Megan has returned from her time in London and is now based at Carlton in Melbourne.

It Must Be Autumn

The moon puts on a good show on these cool clear evenings.

Basketball - James

James and his coachless, trainingless team put on another commanding performance tonight nearly doubling the score of the opposition.  They are fun to watch.

Catch Up

Peter has been having his health problems of late so it was about time to catch up with Pete and Jill for coffee.  He is maintaining his spirits but is facing some major issues as his Parkinsons Disease progresses.

Adding the Lid

The roof of the house is gradually being added.  We are very happy with the colour that seems to change with the changing sky.  It is probably taking a little longer to install as there is thick (anti condensation) insulation being installed under the iron.  This will also dampen the sound of rain on the roof.

 The TV antenna is in place a little earlier than we expected!

Travelers Meet Up

The difficulty of catching up with fellow travelers is that they are always travelling.  We caught up with our friends from our European tour for lunch and an inspection of the new house yesterday.  Our next meeting looks like being in November when everyone is back in Australia!

Birthday Lunch(es)

We were late with Mitchell's Birthday lunch but balanced that by being early for Ebony's lunch.  AngAng, our favourite little restaurant at the Ringwood Town Square treated us well yet again and we came away quite replete after some great food and conversation.  Of course no matter how good the meal it had to be finished off with some ice-cream.

Roof Arrives

Work continues on the new house.  This week all the windows arrived and have been stored inside.  The major work has been on the roof with the gutters and the steel roof being installed over padded anti-condensation insulation.

The windows are stacked up ready for installation.

The upper storey is taking shape and looks quite spacious with wider landing area and the higher ceilings.