Together 57 Years!!

 Claire and I met 57 years ago today in a restaurant in Kerang.  It was a first outing for the new teachers at Cohuna High School and there were too many men so one of the organisers called in Claire to address the imbalance.  The rest is history.

Jack's Team Goes Into The Finals

 Jack had a good day yesterday as his team had a good win for the end of the season.  They are now in the finals and Jack received the Coach's Award for his season.

Lachlan's Season Ends

 Lachlan's Basketball season ended yesterday.  While they did not make the finals, Lachlan's game improved out of sight during the season.  Coach Jack really had no option but to award him "Most Improved Player".

New Fence In Place

 It has been a while coming but the new boundary fence is in place.  Next job will be to get it painted but we are happy with the resultant changes to our garden space.

Fencing Has Commenced

 It has been a while coming but the fencer turned up today and removed (most of) the old fence in preparation for the new boundary.  It is going to make a significant difference to the look of the back yard so we are happy.

Lake House Progress

 The Lake House development continues at a rapid pace.  The sewage system is in and commissioned and the plumber has checked off all the water and gas fittings.  Mark has installed a roof window in the inside toilet and last weekend they managed to plaster the cavity.

The Joys Of Old Age

 My eyes have never been great and getting shingles in my left eye did not help one bit.  Unfortunately the resultant slow deterioration resulted in an ulcer rupturing my left eye.  The consequence was a night in the Eye and Ear Hospital as they applied glue to the eye to seal the wound.  Luckily the Hospital is near Parliament Station so getting to the followup checkups has not been too difficult.

Birthday Celebrations - Mitchell and Claire

 Brett and Cathy hosted a family gathering to celebrate both Mitchell and Claire's Birthdays.  As the family numbers grow, we can't all fit around a table so a more casual arrangement was put in place.  General opinion was that it was highly successful.

Lachlan Scores Again

 Lachlan's basketball team are not the strongest in the competition but they are getting better.  We were hopeful this week that they may get a win but they fell away in the second half.  Lachlan, on the other hand continues to improve and came away with a bunch of goals this week.

Sophie's New Wheels

 Sophie had a good day yesterday.  She had looked at some cars that she would like but was afraid that she was going to inherit the Amarok ute that Adam had been using.  So it was a complete surprise to her when on her way home from school she went to the Toyota dealer to pick up her new Corolla Hybrid that had been on order for some months.  It was her dream car!

Claire's Birthday

 As Claire's birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, most of the restaurants in our usual favourite places (the Yarra Valley) were closed. The Inchleys were in town so with the Russells we decided to revisit the Botanic Gardens at Cranbourne.  We were very pleasantly surprised by the development that has occurred since our last visit.

An Evening With The Ancients

 As usual the last Sunday in February was the time for a meeting of our old "Youth Group".  It was another opportunity to catch up with friends and their travels, changes and inevitably, the travails of managing aging bodies!

We Have Plants!

 The long process of installing the raised garden in the old caravan parking space is now complete and we have finally been able to search out appropriate plants for the area.

Lake House Plumbing

 With the sewage system in place, the next plumbing task is to connect all the components.  A special drill was required to install the underfloor drainage and water collection systems.

The tanks are connected so when the rain does come it can be pumped from the lower collection tank into the storage tanks at the rear.

Kate's Birthday

 We went to a favourite local Japanese Restaurant with Kate and family last night as a late celebration of her birthday.  Celebrations stretch out as she has another next week!  The food, as usual, was worth the wait.

Van Gogh At The Lume

 One of the early presentations at the Lume was "Van Gogh" that we missed.  We enjoyed subsequent exhibitions so were pleased to see a return of Van Gogh so we trekked into the city to see it today.

The Exhibition Centre that houses the Lume is worth a visit itself.  We enjoyed the presentation and the insights it provided into the art and the life and tortured soul of the artist.

Then back home on the train, our easy access route to the City.

Basketball - Hostilities Resume

 Basketball takes a recess over the school holiday period and on Saturday we watched Lachlan. Cooper and Jack playing their second game since resumption of the fixture.  There was the added interest in that Jack is now the official Coach of Lachlan's team.

Jack kept a watchful eye on his charges and Granny kept an eye on Jack.  It was a close game going down by 2 points but there is always next week.

Cooper had a better time with a hard fought win.  It had been a while since we had seen these boys play and the improvement in teamwork was evident.

Jack also had a win in part due to Jack throwing a rapid fire run of goals that bumped the score about 10 points in a couple of minutes