Two days with the grand boys

As the school holidays have started I was thrilled to have Alex and Luke stay over for two nights.

We watched movies, did more dot-to-dot pictures, had fun gardening and went to the city.

Alex and Luke at Surrey's tree

Alex and Luke planting the tree in 2010

We met Rod on the train and travelled to Circular Quay. Then we walked to the Rocks first and saw Cadman's Cottage, Nurse's Walk, and The Big Dig buying lunch to take to the Royal Botanic Gardens and eat at Surrey's tree. Geoff met us there for lunch too.

We had morning tea at the Rocks

 After lunch we strolled to the Opera House, taking time to commune with the huge fig tree and gather a few tennis balls from a tiny beach.

Back to Town Hall station by train and bought some new shorts for Luke so he did not have to spend all day hitching up his very loose pants. Then on to Hobby Co and back home by train.

I had covered 14000 steps by the time we got home so the boys, who had done a lot more running than I had, were pleased to collapse in front of a movie after dinner.

The next day was the scheduled replacement of my ailing solar hot water system. As the process involved a crane dangling heavy items over the roof I decided it might be expedient to have a morning outside.

We harvested the grapefruit and raked all the leaves in the chook yard.

This game was called boxing, kicking cardboard cartons around the yard until they broke up. Later we loaded up the recycling bin.

There was soil to move and put on the garden.

Because we could not go out the front we missed all the action with the crane but it did happen.

I now have a brand new solar hot water system on my roof, and a clean roof.

In all a very busy few days with no sewing. Luke really wants to do some next time he comes.

Mum turns 92!

Last week we had some family gatherings prompted by Mum's 92nd birthday. Cath and Alexandra came up from Melbourne and Geoff, Jen and Ivy were able to visit them on Sunday.

Lots of 4 generation photos and the babies eventually almost warmed to one another.

Alexandra

Geoff and Ivy

Jen and Ivy

Happy birthday from the children, grand children and great grand children.

Another June trip to Underhill

Arianne and I headed to Underhill for an overnight stay. Leigha met us there and despite the cold we had a very busy time clearing out cupboards from the tank shed and putting them into the scullery (aka stone shed). We put the old bunks together again and in general made the living area a bit more usable.

After a good night's sleep we enjoyed a bit more sorting time before Geoff, Jen and Ivy arrived, closely followed by Nathan and Karita.

We all walked down to inspect Nathan's plantings near the far dam, taking time to show Arianne and Leigha some more of Underhill.

Ivy enjoyed herself, spending a lot of time asleep in the pouch. We were able to mount the solar panel to the dog yard fence. Hopefully next time we come down there will be a bit more power in the caravan battery and we'll be able to see at night. Our new shed area will soon be quite workable once more.

We even had a bit of a parking lot going when all the cars were there.

Of course there was lots of burning off done thanks to all our helpers.

Next time we go down there will be more burning off and tidying. I hope to move the hoses out of the tool shed and into the old fuel store as they are taking up too much room.

A clean shed at Underhill

A few weekends ago Geoff, Jen, Ivy, Ponyo and I went for a day trip to do a few chores, the biggest one of all was clearing and cleaning the stone shed ready to use as a kitchen storage area.

In the process we found "Yukky Doll" given to Ellen by her grandma when she was about Ivy's age. As the name implies, it is really yukky and used to make an awful crying noise.

Ivy loves Underhill. In fact she likes being outside just about anywhere. She calms down really quickly if we take her out into the yard at home too.

The stone shed has now been emptied completely and cleaned. We now need some recycled kitchen type cupboards to put all the things into. We have a few and will try to move those in soon but a few more would not go astray.

This has left us with an awful mess outside because we only had a short winter day there. I'm sure this will be tidied quite quickly in our next few visits.

The next job is to clear and clean the tank shed which has been officially claimed by Geoff and Jen. We need to get all the 'kitchen' type stuff out so that we can all access it when Ivy is asleep.

Let me know if you have a desire to clear and clean and we can make a trip of it.

A moment of fleeting fame

You are probably not wondering what is keeping me busy this weekend. However, music is it. I became fleetingly famous this week with my photo appearing on the Sydney Philharmonia facebook page. You'll have to scroll down a bit by now to see me. I have been learning the music for our Chorus Oz concert on Sunday night and am enjoying it immensely.

What to do with a backyard pool

Last week I visited Helen and Bob and just loved what they have done with their pool. No longer needed for swimming in, they removed the toxic chemicals and planted it out with wonderful greenery. A colony of fish keep the mozzies down and hey presto! A great place to sit on a hot day.

You just need to be aware and not walk on it thinking it is lawn! Yes, it does still have its pool fence.

Ivy's first visit to Underhill

Last weekend we went on a mini adventure with Ivy. Just a day trip to Underhill. She slept both ways with just a short wake when we stopped for food and fuel. Straight back to sleep when the car started again. It was all a great success.

Mick came up from Canberra to visit and really enjoyed the cuddles he had.

After a rather squishy trip for Jen, Ponyo and Ivy in the back of the car we arrived to an overcast but fine day with an occasional drizzle. The temperature was in the high teens so Ivy did not get cold and did not have to be overly bundled. Jen even had a chance to try out her pouch and spent quite a while hands-free.

In all we had a fabulous day and even did some burning off and clearing of tree debris near the toilet. There was no damage from the storms and rain and we did not seem to have had anywhere near the rain and wind that Sydney had.

Anzac Day at Berry

I spent a few days at Berry to end April and on Anzac Day Geoff, Jen and Ivy came down to visit.

The dawn was beautiful!

Janice had given me a small knitted poppy to wear on the day so here it is in close-up. You can also find it in many of the photos below.

The winter palace

The front entrance with a new ramp

Rauri making Medlar Chutney

The happy adopted grandparents

More fun in April

April was a very wet month! But there were some good things to remember. Mum went home from hospital the week after this photo was taken of her nursing Ivy, this is Mum's fourth great grand child. She was thrilled to have a visit from little Ivy.

During the huge storm that lasted more than 2 days the tree out the front (next door) did a lot of swishing and swaying and lost a branch that made quite a thunk as it fell in my drive. Luckly this time there was no damage but I hate to think what will happen to the house (or me in my bed) if a bigger branch decides to come down. Time to fight with council I think for its removal.

It is still quite wet but the forcast predicts a drier week this week.

Keeping me busy in April

This March-April has been a family month. Apart from my singing practise which is about an hour a day, I have had lots of family time.

Visiting Mum in hospital is a daily activity - chatting, dealing with washing, paying bills, and troubleshooting technology issues. She is to stay in rehab for another week then to go home.

On Saturday night I had Jen, Ivy and Ponyo for a sleep over while Geoff attended a wedding. It was great fun to just be together and I didn't really get woken during the night. What a beautiful baby, a wonderfully calm mum and Ponyo is so chilled out about it all.

These photos were taken at 10 days old by Chalk and Cheese Photography.

For three days of the school holidays I've had my boys and one of the fun activities was getting to 500 on a 1000 dot dot-to-dot puzzle each. It takes so much concentration we did it in stages and will finish the rest when the boys are next over.

We also walked to Carss Park for a play on the equipment and a paddle in the water. Last week we did sewing but this week we did not have time. There were things to do in the garden, movies to watch and games to play inside. When we left Luke said "but we did have not done any sewing yet." Next time I'm sure we'll need to sew.

My scores for Chorus Oz in June have arrived so apart from St Stephens practice I now have to learn:

Orff - Carmina Burana: O Fortuna
Handel - Zadok the Priest 
Mozart - Requiem in D: Introitus, Dies Irae, Confutatis, Lacrimosa
Rachmaninoff - All Night Vigil: Bogoroditse Devo
Haydn - The Creation: The Heaven’s are telling
Brahms - Ein Deutsches Requiem: Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen
Mendelssohn - Elijah: O Lord, thou hast overthrown, Thanks be to God
Sculthorpe - Requiem: V Canticle
Verdi - Missa da Requiem: Libera Me
Beethoven - Symphony no. 9 in D minor: Finale
Encore: Handel - Messiah: Hallelujah Chorus

If you'd like tickets then let me know as I can get a discount. The performance is in the Sydney Opera House at 5pm on Sunday 7 June. No tickets are available at the Opera House.

What a month I've had. I havn't had time to do anything in the garden except fill the green bin.