Tricia Turns 80

 On Saturday, Tricia had a party for friends and family to celebrate her "Coming of Age" as she is turning 80.

A group of old friends and family celebrated at "The Pavillion" where they live.  It gave us all the chance to meet up once again with the family and some friends we had not seen for some years.

Inchley Visit

 The Inchleys came down for a belated New Year visit and to attend Tricia's 80th Birthday Celebrations.  We took the opportunity to catch up with the Edmonds but as we sat down for lunch at a local restaurant, a lightning strike took out the power grid.  We had ordered but had to eat in the dark!

We also took the opportunity to catch up with Kaye and Ian Faulkner at Kuranga Nursery in Montrose.

Following the meal we watched the contemplation,

the consideration.

and the eventual purchase of some of their produce.

James and Angel in Asia

James and Angel took off after Christmas for an Asian Adventure.

After a couple days in Singapore (they went to Cambodia and spent 4 nights in Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat and many other temples.

Then to Phnom Penh (Cambodia's capital for 3 nights.  They took in the sights including a Kun Khmer fight (Cambodia's kickboxing) and the confronting experience of the Genocide Museum and killing fields. Then off to Vietnam and spent a couple nights in a beachside town outside of Ho Chi Minh.

They finished the trip with some time in Ho Chi Minh to see the war tunnels and eat lots of great Vietnamese food.

Raised Garden Surrounds Completed

 The walls of the raised garden are now in place.  They have to be lined with plastic before the garden soil goes in.

The Great Fire of Nunawading

 Yesterday we woke to find our taps had very low water pressure.  It turned out there had been a massive fire that destroyed the "40 Winks" bedding store.  Hundreds of police and firemen were involved and water was being pumped from all the surrounding hydrants up to 3 blocks away.  Damping down took most of the day.

It took a couple of days to make the site safe and remove all the broken glass from windows etc. but the smell of smoke still pervades the area.

Lake House In Use

 Although there is still much work to be done, the Lake House is now capable of hosting visitors.  Both Cooper and Lachlan were taking friends over the school holidays to "camp out" for a few days and spend time around the Lake.

Visiting Old Haunts

 Following time in London, Brett. Cathy and family headed for Brighton where they had lived for 3 years.

In Brighton they saw their old house, old friends and old haunts.

Goodbye 2024 - Hello 2025

 It seems to have become a habit that we have our New Year Dinner at "Qilan" in Glen Waverley as we have gone there for the past 3 years.  The point was driven home when the wait staff welcomed us back again! Their memories are clearly better than mine.

This year the Inchleys are coming down mid January so we invited Clive and Jan to join us.  Following the usual great banquet, we headed for the Edmonds house to watch the fireworks.

Shaping the Raised Garden

 I have now started forming the new raised garden where we had previously parked the caravan.  As with all projects there are setbacks.  My first blip was to put a crow-bar into the storm water drain for Unit 2.  That has set the schedule back a couple of days!

Christmas in Paris

 Brett and Cathy had a few days in Paris after Christmas seeing the sights and checking out the French Cuisine.  While there they were able to see the newly rebuilt and cleaned Notre Dame and spend a day at Versailles.