Water, water everywhere

Geoff, Jen, Ivy and Ponyo went to Underhill last weekend to be greeted with full to overflowing dams and all tanks full.

Far dam, Ponyo was delighted by the looks.

Far dam, Nathan's flooded gums are flooded.

The top dam is full and overflowing.

 

The chores for the weekend included...

Making a start on the fence around the fruit trees in the centre of the drive.

Adding another layer or two to the stove.

Putting a new wheel onto the stroller.

 Now it will be easier to put Ivy to sleep in the 4WD stroller scrounged from a cleanup pile.

All the 'plumbing' Geoff and Greg did last time to the tank catchment worked a treat so all this rain has filled three tanks.

Of course the other part of the weekend was to relax as a family while entertaining (or being entertained by) Ivy.

Bonus Days

On Friday Elaine, Pernilla and I were supposed to go to Underhill overnight but due to my cold and Elaine's shingles we stayed at home and played.

Our projects started by getting out all the 'orphan blocks' I had gathered (donations, left overs from Kogarah Library Quilters and Rainbow Connection Quilters, and left overs of my own from other quilts). While Elaine sat quietly and sewed the label on one of our quilts Pernilla and I shuffled the orphan blocks. It was then Elaine's turn to make suggestions to our layouts and what to do with the spaces left that needed to be filled. Pernilla and I continued the projects on Friday evening and Saturday and the results are quite stunning.

Pernilla is taking her blue and yellow medalion to mount onto her dark blue fabric that she has been storing at my place for quite some years. I look forward to seeing the final quilt. I will continue my very happy strippy quilt and probably donate it through one of my groups.

We had a fabulous two days even though it was raining most of the time.

A busy few weeks

The last few weeks have been quite busy. My cold made my hip muscles seize up so that has made me miserable but there have been some joys too.

My orchids are flowering profusely and lighten up my house.

One achievement was the completion of my latest quilt for me. This one is from shirts of Surrey's and other bits and pieces, some of which he bought for me. It is for my bed at Underhill and I had hoped to take it down this weekend but I'll not be going as I'm sick.

There have also been my regular days with Ivy.

Walks in the cold.

Visits from Pernilla

 Then this Thursday it was so wet we experimented with what you can do with a basket and a box.

You can sit in it

You can fall out of it and say bonk as you do. This results in much laughter.

You can wear it as a hat but it falls off. You can even play Boo.

A box makes a great boat for singing Row Your Boat. Then when it falls apart it becomes a slippery dip for girls and cars and balls. Then it becomes a tunnel too.

Underhill in June

A few weeks ago we had a day trip to Underhill and were quite a crowd. It was wonderful for me to get a lift down from Greg and Ev again as my hip was limiting my driving ability. I spent a lot of time taking it easy acting out my role as matriach.

Geoff experimented with his chimnea and discovered our antique fire top oven which proved to be a great warming oven for pies.

Nathan and Brad worked hard slabbing logs under Nathan's new shelter. This was a great bonus as they could stay dry in the rain that we had most of the day. Geoff's new container can be seen in the background.

One urgent job was to fix the downpipe overflow and tank filling drains. The inlet to the top tank was quite blocked with rubbish again so this time we have tried a single layer of mosquito net rather than a double layer.

 Of course Ivy continues to love it at Underhill but was a bit restricted to the shelter because of the rain. Thank goodness we have a large shelter now.

Everyone else enjoyed lunch together and lots of cuppas before heading home.

Royal Botanic Gardens 200th Birthday Picnic

Those who were watching the ABC News on Monday night might have caught a glimpse of Ma and Ivy. We were photographed at the Royal Botanic Gardens 200th Birthday Picnic. It was a great morning and we found John P so were able to have a long chat and walk together, catching up on old times and new ventures. Lea from St Stephens Choir also met up with us.

Of course we took our picnic rug made from Surrey's shirts to include him in the picnic too.

Chorus Oz 2016

This year was my 12th year with Chorus Oz, one of the Sydney Philharmonia choirs. There were around 700 choristers, 5 of whom were from the Sutherland Choral Society - Lee, Janetta, Betty, Phil and Lyndel.

Of course we all had a fantastic two days learning and then performing Handel's Israel in Egypt in the Opera House.

On our way home on Sunday we were treated to glimpses of Vivid. The only drawback being having to join the huge crowds to shepharded to Martin Place Station to get home.

Underhill in May

This month we were joined by Greg and Ev who gave me a lift down. Nathan and Karita came as well and Geoff, Jen, Ivy and Ponyo were there. We went down Friday this time and while I returned Saturday, Geoff et al returned Sunday morning. All the photos were taken by Greg or on his camera anyway.

Burning off was the main task for the weekend. When we left on Saturday the sky was thick with smoke out on the highway as every man and his dog had decided to burn off and the firies were doing backburns.

Another major task was to level the container Geoff had delivered a few weeks ago. If you know our soil you'll know it is hard as hard and full of rocks. It seems the container front is on the hard stuff and the back is on the only bit of soft soil in the place. Geoff was able to jack it up and put sleepers under the back but it continues to sink into the soil. A long-term project I think.

Ivy just loves the independance and space Underhill offers so someone has to be near her all the time to avoid fires and falling logs. There are also barriers appearing everywhere with chairs as the main fencing material at the moment.

Another long term project is the new stove but meanwhile  the chimnea is wonderful.

Ev, Greg and I kept feeding the fires and succeeded in clearing a lot of the fire prone rubbish left from various tree felling effors as well as household bits and pieces that have rotted over the years.

Tony and Mick from the block south of us are replacing the fence. Half of it is done and it looks fabulous.

Retirement is very very hectic

It has been ages since I updated my blog and I feel it is about time.

Since my return from Tassie I have been occupied with

• Grandkids - I really enjoy any moments I have with my two boys and Ivy. Ivy and I spend Thursdays together each week and every second Tuesday. She just loves being outside so I am able to do small jobs in the garden whilst playing with her.

"Where is it?

"stars"

• House repair - I've had various jobs done that I could not do myself. The window washing man (fabulous) cleaned windows inside and out, upstairs and down, took down all my curtains so I could wash them, replaced all my fire alarm batteries and a light globe, adjusted the night light sensor at the front and refitted one of the curtain rod brackets! He then said if there were any other bits and pieces I needed done to just ring him. Then there was gutter cleaning man. I had a plumber come to fix taps that had started to disintegrate. And Geoff spent most of a day with me doing odd bits of heavy work mostly outside. My dishwasher broke down and had to be replaced. Then I was offered 3 new single beds to replace some broken ones I had.

• Visiting doctors for the usual body maintenance - I've been trying to have this back-hip-leg-knee thing investigated with an xray and ultrasound used to find issues. I had had to curtail activities because I was in such pain. Last Monday I had a steroid injection in my hip bursa and that has made some difference in the amount of pain I have. I do hope it works for a long time. Maybe I won't need that wheelie walker too soon now. While all this has been going on I have stopped pilates but hope to start up again soon. My monthly massages are an absolute must though and keep me moving.

• Gardening - In the last few weeks I have had the paving under the back windows and down the drive redone. Now there are no steps and rough areas for when I need to exit the property with my wheelie walker (not necessary yet though). In this process all sorts of other bits of the garden have needed sorting. The paver man used all the good bricks I had used as garden edges and retaining walls so all these had to be replaced by me. Not quite finished that yet. Then I used some of the concrete blocks from the driveway to extend the concrete path to the chook shed so I can go up and collect eggs in soft shoes. The paver man also moved all the rose pots so I am having to put them somewhere for the long term. That will be a slower job. As Surrey always said if you finished everything then you would have nothing left to do and that would be sad. 

Before

After

• Singing - lots and lots of practice. This weekend I have two major functions, a choral matins at church on Sunday morning in which most of the service will be sung (except the sermon and readings), followed by the Sutherland Choral Society concert - Durufle's Requium and Schubert's Mass in G. On the June long weekend I'll be taking part in Chorus Oz with the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs performing Handel's Israel in Egypt (I've been doing my own practise with that one as it is completely new to me). Just because we all felt like something to fill our time I had a choir lunch at my place today.

• Quilting  - Unfortunately I am not getting much of my own patchwork done but I still attend the group at Kogarah Library every second week and also have the Rainbow Connection Quilters here every two months. As well as that I am making new curtains to replace the ones that fell apart in the wash.

• Projects - Just occasionally I am asked to help with projects like the plant cheat sheets for the Tassie Devils trip and I love the challenge of doing that sort of educational/botanical work. However, the other day I was asked if I could volunteer on a lizard behaviour project which I declined - they wanted me full time for a month!! I don't think so! When would I get time to do that?

• Travelling - since Tassie my travels have only taken me to the city, to Ulladulla and to Berry but I do have a long trip lined up for later in the year which will be exciting. Then there are visits to Underhill when I can. Surrey's birthday picnic was a small affair with Geoff and family. The tree is progressing well.

Surrey's tree is the one directly behind Geoff.

• Friends -  of course most of these activities are peppered with socialising with friends in various ways. Keeping up with friends (online, by phone or in person) is probably one of the most important parts of retirement as friends keep your mind and body active as well as giving joy and laughter in many small ways. Thank you to all my friends.

So if you are wondering why I don't update my blog as often as you look at it, or you can't actually get me on the phone, perhaps this explains a little. I will return emails and return messages left on my phone as soon as I can.