New Year - New School

Sophie starts a new adventure this year traveling to a new school Strathcona.  She will be with Holly and Ebony so they can compare notes.

Kate's Birthday

Kate's birthday celebration is usually a multi-functional affair.  Not only do we celebrate her birthday but also Australia Day and the dying days of the Christmas holidays. So it was last night. We had a great family gathering supported by the weather gods that fully cooperated for a fine mild evening.

  For the large group, food distribution strategies become important and we are gradually refining them!

It is a bit of a squeeze but we just make it into the available space.

RIP Jack Kervin

We attended the funeral of Jack Kervin today.  He was the last surviving cousin of Claire's dad, Pat Kervin.  He lived to 96 although he had not been well for the past two years.  He was well loved by his family and friends so it was a celebration of a life well lived.

Bryan and Coral Kervin came down from Leitchville for the occasion.

Mornings Improve

With any luck we might get some more clement weather over the next few days. It would make a change from the last couple of weeks.

 The parks and leafy streets are a joy for walkers at this time of the year

New Blog Book

We took delivery of the new Blog Book today.  This one covers family events of 2019 including the building of the new house.

It is growing to be quite an historic archive as the collection now goes back to July 2010.

Garden Time

Now the house is in reasonable shape we are quite enjoying the planning and development of the garden.  The area near the van is being planted for colour and durability.

The garden next to the deck has some new hardy natives.

The final planting needed the fence to be painted.  It has been very windy so it was hand painting rather than spray painting.

 Once that section was completed we could plant the "neighbour blocker".  Now it just needs to grow a bit!

Annual Portraits

For a variety of reasons, we have taken a little longer than normal to get Patrick and Sophie's portraits for Granny's Gallery.  Today, the garage became the studio for the day and we got our photos.

Warming the House

Friends have been watching as the house has moved from planning to reality. We had been told that a general inspection was mandatory once we were in. Yesterday was the day.  The weather was kind and all the family helped with food and hosting to make it a wonderful relaxed afternoon.  Our friends all knew of our children and grandchildren so they now had a chance to meet them and place them.  Claire conducted a masterclass.

 So all the planning paid off, the catering and the accommodation worked out as planned. We are happy campers!

The Renovated State Library

As the State library renovations are now complete, it was a good opportunity to see what we got for our 89 million dollars.  I have memories of this building.  As a child I used to visit the Museum and Art Gallery on the site and and it was dark and foreboding as a result of its gradual deterioration and patchy repairs.  All that has changed now as it has been returned to original condition and better.

 The reading rooms now have their original glass back in the domes for a huge light filled space.  The galleries have been greatly extended from the original but the roof skylights have been restored and the place is an amazing addition to the cultural landscape of Melbourne.

 Even better they have some great little cafes contained within the building

 After a day of touring Melbourne we had a relaxed meetup and barbeque with the Edmonds in the evening.

Phillip Island

Terry and Tricia invited the New Year Crew to Phillip Island for a few days.  It was a strange visit.  In the middle of summer, the weather was freezing and smoke from all the bushfires covered the Island.

We did get to the Nobbies to see the new Antarctic interactive exhibition.  It was worth seeing.

Being forced indoors, Videos and Bananagram earned their place in the program.

 As did a visit to the chocolate factory (to play with the chocolate trains).

Coffee at Mad Cowes was always a good option.  The pier variously appeared and disappeared into the smoky haze over Cowes.

Old Friends

While the Inchleys were in residence, we had a chance to catch up with Kaye and Ian.  We stayed with them some years ago to visit the Tamworth Country Music Festival but they now live down here in Yellingbo.

Touring The 'Burbs

The McClelland Sculpture Park was our venue of choice today.  The first view was somewhat underwhelming however on closer inspection it is a fascinating place to the extent that a second visit is highly likely.
Coffee is always the first order of business.

 Then we were able to venture into the park.  Highly recommended.

Marysville

We visited Marysville a few years ago as it was recovering from the devastating bush fires of 2009.  At the time it was still looking rather sad.  Today we saw a dramatic change as the community rebuilds.  The coffee is still good.

We went to have a look at the sculpture park that was totally engulfed in the fires.  A lot of work has been put in but the place is in amazing condition.

The sculptures are quirky and idiosyncratic but the place is interesting and a lot of fun with new friends to be found at every turn.