Cooper's Drone

Cooper called over to see us and show us his new drone.  It is a fantastic piece of equipment.  It's very light and controlled with his iPhone.

The flight is amazingly stable and well controlled with smooth take offs and landings.

Cooper was able to easily fly it inside and photograph us all watching it hover in the room.  I want one!

The Artful Butcher

The local butcher was tired of the nuffies scribbling tags on his wall facing a side lane.  His approach was to get a local to do his own artwork on the wall.  So far the nuffies have left it alone.  Big tick for the butcher.

Garden Development

The "garden bed" facing our deck has been through some torrid times.  Firstly it was compacted under a concrete driveway for about 20 years then it had to contend with the builders stomping around.  It needed some TLC.  It had been dug over a few times then early on Friday, Adam and James arrived with a trailer full of compost that they put on the garden.  That has now been dug in and it is starting to look as though plants may survive in it.

Civilization 2019

It was another momentous day for the countries and territories surrounding the Mediterranean Sea as they fought for supremacy in the 2019 challenge.

 Mitchell and Adam, the heavyweights of the competition, decided that they would beat each other to a pulp and that allowed others to quietly grow their empires.

 Brett (the ultimate winner) found that red wine smoothed the way to glory.

 To the surprise of everyone I came in second with the winning technique of cowering in a corner (the Gulf of Suez) and hoping no one would notice me!

Family Christmas

It all came together yesterday for a wonderful family Christmas lunch at Adam and Kate's house.

Kate laid out a fantastic spread and we all brought food as well.

The chocolate index was already high and our contribution did little to reduce it.
The monster turkey had been cooking since 6.30 in the morning and looked a picture as it emerged for carving.

Lisa again dominated the wine competition with a 1998 Tahbilk Shiraz.  There was plenty of crunch in the bottle but the wine was delicious.

It was the perfect day for lunch being cool and clear so we all kicked back for a fantastic meal

This year, everyone took part in the Christmas Game.

As usual, there were some hilarious moments with people receiving a range of inappropriate presents. Others received exactly what they needed. Brett's new office calendar featuring champions of wrestling was a standout as was Granny's head scratcher.  The perfect Christmas lunch.

Loitering in Laneways

Lisa, Mark and the boys spent some time in Melbourne today taking in the sights.  Hosier Lane has a whole different set of artwork since we last visited.

Holly Finishes Primary School

Holly has had her final day in Primary School and for Brett and Cathy it means they have also finished with Primary Schools (for the immediate future!).

Family Celebration

We had the family celebration of Lisa's birthday last night.  She was in a mood to celebrate as for her birthday this year she received the dream gift, an AEG nail gun!

It was the perfect night to try out Mark's deck for pre-dinner drinks and nibbles.  The mozzies stayed away so it was a great success.

As usual, there was no shortage of food and drink. The star attraction of the night was the 2002 Clonakilla Cab Merlot provided by Lisa.  She extinguished the candles with alacrity and added to her supply of interesting reds as a result of her great age.

Birthday Dinner

For her Birthday Dinner, Lisa chose a delightful Thai restaurant in Vermont.  Clearly others liked the food too as they had spread into two shopfronts and were doing a roaring trade.

The food was delicious and well presented and we all ate our fill.  The place is likely to see us again.

Arlington Reconstructed

Jack and Coopers' room has been undergoing major change.  Their old window opened into the garage and was crumbling and brittle so Mark is installing a new double glazed window in the west wall as in Lachlan's room.

The plaster was removed,

 and the boards removed.

Then Mark installed the the new window and replastered  the surrounds.  Then the old window was removed and the wall replastered.  The boys now have an external window and the room has completely changed in character.

Sophie Graduates

As the year ends, it was Sophie's turn to graduate from Primary School.The school arranged an impressive ceremony for the students with each one being presented to the audience of parents and teachers.

The compiled video presentation with all the students was a highlight.

The parents left so the students could enjoy an evening of feasting, socialising and dancing.  It was an excellent event to mark the completion of the students’ time in Primary School.

The Planting Begins

The soil has been prepared so today was the day when some of the plants we had brought across from Efron St were planted into the new garden, along with some more recent additions.

In Celebration of Fifty Years

The family organised a wonderful celebration to commemorate our 50 years of marriage.  Lisa and Mark obviously worked all day to transform their house into a fantastic party venue with outdoor cover, lights, barbeque, heating and eating arrangements.

 It was the perfect opportunity to get a photo with the most important people in our lives.

 We had a great meal with contributions from all.

 and Cathy produced a cake with proportions suitable for the occasion!

 Mark and Lisa had not only worked on the venue and the meal, they produced a video review of the last 50 years for us to enjoy.  On top of all this we were presented with a voucher for an escape to a resort in Hepburn Springs that we will thoroughly enjoy.