Leisurely Lunch

 It seemed simple a couple of weeks ago when we arranged lunch with Terry and Tricia, Peter and Jill at Clive and Jan's place. Things would have been a lot easier if the belting 50mm of rain had held off until after we had arrived.

School Starts

 The new school year has started and we are all hoping for a much more ordered and stable year than 2020.  Cooper was looking forward to starting at his new school under the guidance of Jack who is now an old hand.

Lachy is heading back to familiar territory as he enters Grade 5.

Nearly There

 The upstairs rooms are nearly ready to receive Jack, Cooper and Lachlan.  Lisa has finished the plaster work and so the painting could proceed.

Torvo gave the "Go Ahead" so Mark suited up for the spray painting.

The paint brings it all together.  Excitement is building!

Community Hub in Operation

 The transformation of the grounds of the old Nunawading Primary School are now complete and the Community Hub has now started operating.  Great to see the place retained as a community resource.

Side Benefit

As part of the deal, Adam was promised flowers if he bought a BT50.  Mazda delivered and Adam is happy.

Transformation Continues

 The Barn at Adam and Kate's place is slowly evolving into the planned Retreat.  Mark has started the process of insulating all the walls to raise the comfort levels in both winter and summer.

Look What We Found

Looking to future plans, we did a little cleaning up in the back yard and found that we still had a van under the grey shroud that had been there for so long.

It had been in place so long that some work was needed to create a ramp so it could exit onto the driveway.

Kate's Birthday

 With the easing of restrictions we were able to have a family gathering to celebrate Kate's birthday. She arrived, chauffeured by James, in the latest family limousine, the new BT50 twin cab ute.

After the recent Covid hiatus there is a real sense of release that we are able to have larger gatherings again and Claire had worked hard to prepare an appropriate spread.  We have found that the "serve yourself" model always works best.

Prize for best photo of the night goes to Patrick for this cracker of Kate and Adam just before the "Extinguishing The Flame" ceremony.

Not Missing the Mazda

 Over at Adam and Kate's place the Mazda had not been feeling the love.  Adam had been missing his dual cab as a tow and camping vehicle so a turnover was inevitable.  The CX3 is making way for a BT50 dual cab ute.

It was bade a tearful farewell but Sophie and Holly made sure morale was maintained by making a  Japanese style vanilla layer cake to celebrate the new Ute.

House Guests

 For some years, we have had a semi regular catchup with ex-teaching colleagues Bob and Rob.  With covid and the fact that Rob and Tara had moved to Bendigo it had been a while since the last meet up.  That was rectified when they came down to stay a couple of days.  It was great to start old routines again.

Antics on Eildon

Lisa, Mark and the boys were able to enjoy the very luxurious but isolated holiday accommodation in the hills near Eildon.

They had good weather and clear skies.

It was all a bit of a contrast to the water sports that pushed the decibel count to maximum as the boys took flight.

And the boys all had their first ski experience.

In Search of Serenity

 Lisa, Mark and the boys headed off for a few days at Lake Eildon and Bonny Doon. Any one looking at the car would not have asked if they were off to a business meeting!

The chosen location provides privacy by the truckload!

Christmas Spoils

 In the Christmas Game, Lachlan became the proud owner of two massive jars of Nutella.  It was a win that has continued to give in subsequent weeks.

Our Barbeque Completed

 For the last year and a half the Community Hub has been developing on the site of the old Nunawading Primary School.  The old oval is now a pleasant green space.

On the high side of the oval next to our park, they have installed a shelter with a couple of (free) barbeques for our convenience.  Must send them a "Thank you" note.

Holiday Break

 Rosie, Max and Louie wanted a break from the usual routine so they sent their family off to Eildon for a few days.

They still like a little playtime.

Battle Damage

After his bush adventure, James managed to remove most of the mud from the Amarok.  Unfortunately a couple of wounds were revealed.

Belated New Year Dinner

 In previous years we have had a dinner together to celebrate New Year however Pete and Jill were not up to it this year and the Inchleys were covid contained in Sydney.  So the Russells and Reids decided to go it alone.  We have always liked Fedele's Italian Restaurant so we had a gala dinner there last night.  Wonderful food!  We are also pleased to report the resolution of a number of world issues.  The only difficulty is that we need to be in charge.

Holidays Past

 Being confined to quarters has given me the opportunity of digitising some old photo negatives.  Many are reminders of holidays taken in past years.