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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Our three monthly Travel Group convened for a Greek inspired lunch at the Hellenic Depot in Hughsdale. We were looking forward to it after our experience at "Hellenis" in Box Hill however we quickly discovered, some do better than others.
Having sold the caravan, our beloved Toyota Hilux was now surplus to requirements. A lot of effort had been put into making sure this unit remained in prime condition so it was a great joy to us that James decided to take it on. We were very happy to see it remain in the family.
With a lot of "behind the scene" work completed at the Lake House, things are now starting to fall into place. Having much of the plumbing and electrical infrastructure in place, plastering can be completed and installation of cupboards etc and painting can begin.
We are now in an interesting phase of life where we find ourselves with more grandchildren through secondary school than those still there. Sophie and Holly are in their last year so things are changing rapidly.
Events conspired against holding a family gathering for Lisa's Birthday at the time and Kate was away for hers so we combined the two last night. We decided that the big family table had become difficult in our confined space so a more serve yourself casserole style was tested out. This allowed more flexible use of our limited space.
We now have some soil in the new raised garden bed. A couple of cubic metres shoveled in with Adam's assistance is now settling and it will require another couple of metres to fill it.
