Full House for 3 Months

Since just before Christmas Geoff, Jen and girls have been living with me. Now that baby Heather is nearly two months old and Jen is able to drive again they have moved back to their house albeit temporarily perhaps.

During their time here it has either been in the high 30s or even low 40s during the day and often very hot at night during January/February then teeming with rain for days on end in February/March.

When Heather came home it was so hot that I had to have the aircon running upstairs day and night and the stair room was the only cooler place in the house. This meant that it was a very crowded room both day and night.

So much for swaddling a newborn!

In early March Ned and Gill (UK) came to stay and Chris and Michael came to visit us. Of course Ned and Gill were lucky to see any of Sydney in fine weather as it rained the whole week they were here.

Luckily the really hot weather had all but finished by the time Arianne came to stay with us all while she continues her TAFE course in Sydney. Upstairs now has lots of theatrical costume creations and Bertha is dressed again.

It has been a lot of fun with a house full, in fact the last 3 nights being completely on my own have been very quiet. Of course there have been tensions exacerbated by the heat and rain but in all it has been a wonderful time and I'd do it all again. It is great to have a house full! There have been huge benefits though - I have had lots of time with my grand daughters and Geoff has found lots of projects to dabble in to help me in the house and yard (more later).

Underhill fruit harvest

Early in March we arrived to find plenty of fruit ready to harvest especially from the trees that had been netted. We went down for two separate day trips so work had to be shared and done quickly. Ivy came down with Geoff and I and Nathan, Karita and Brad came down to work with the Lucas Mill.

This peach gave us a huge harvest.

There were a few apples and Nashi pears.

The Burbosc Pear which we had also netted was loaded.

And the pear in the centre yard also had some tiny but ripe pears.

The quince harvest was not prolific but the Golden Delicious Apple that we had netted produced boxes full.

The first job of the day with Nathan, Karita and Brad's help was to change the locking mechanism on the shipping container. All done and locked properly now.

Lots of fun was had testing out the new Lucas Mill that Nathan and Geoff have invested in and we are all really pleased with the results. So much quicker than Nathan's ingenious home made design.

Found in the wood pile tarps. There were lots of them. I think Crinea sp. 

Showing off one of the slabs newly cut.

Of course Ivy was Miss Independence and eager to help with everything.

Shh! Don't tell Mummy how dirty we get.

The surprise was the tree that had been hanging at 30 degrees across our path for many many years has at last fallen so now we can deal with it and perhaps mill it too.

Ivy's first day at playgroup

Ivy had a wonderful time at playgroup last week. Geoff and I took her and although she was reticent for the first 2 minutes, she did not want to leave 2 hours later.

Our new arrival

Baby Heather was born today to Geoff and Jen and Ivy. 3330 g, 50 cm.

Mum and bub are both well and coping with life.

Congratulations to the little family.

January at Underhill

On Friday Elaine and I set off in the afternoon for an overnight at Underhill to pick any fruit that was ripe. We arrived to find a large tree down on the turnaround at the end of the road. I wondered why I could not see our gate as we drove down the hill.

There were two swamp wallabies grazing in the centre of the circular drive and they could jump the fence really easily to escape. At least they have done the mowing in the centre orchard yard.

As it was still quite light when we arrived we decided to start picking and as the only fruit ripe enough to pick were three varieties of plum (greengage, damson and unknown seedling plum) we were finished by an early bed time.

There are lots of fruit on some of the pears, peaches, and apples and a very small crop of quinces. They will all be ready in a month or two.

As we were packing to leave early Saturday morning we found a funnel web hole in one of the old holes from the proposed tank stand that we had filled with rocks. I sprayed it with surface spider spray as it was too close to the shed for comfort, especially with little kids around.

Happy New Year

As you can tell from the delay in updates, life has become quite busy with Geoff, Jen, Ivy and Ponyo moving in, Christmas and all its music and family commitments and then our holiday in Gerroa.

Gerroa was a great place to start the new year. Plenty of room for us all although Ellen and family were only able to come for one day. So here is a little glimpse of life in Gerroa.

Friday 30 December 2016
Today we drove south to our annual beach holiday. After settling in (we had to wait an hour for the cleaners to finish) we went to the local restaurant for dinner.

It has been a stinking hot few days and the stillness and humidity today has been quite debilitating.

Eventually Ivy settled and we all collapsed into bed with a bit of a welcome breeze.

Saturday 31 December - New Year's Eve
Today we had time at the surf and did some shopping in Gerringong, stocking up on food at the IGA for the next few days.

Ivy is a bit dubious about the waves but loves looking for shells along the beach.

She enjoyed drawing on the back paving with her Christmas chalks.

The random NYE fireworks through the night meant none of us had much sleep except for Ivy. Ponyo slept in my room and I sat on the floor with her for the noisy midnight fireworks.

Sunday 1 January 2017 - Happy Anniversaries
An early swim, meeting Gherry coming out on our way down. This time we spent more time walking along the beach with Ivy to help her adjust from pool to surf.

Ellen, Rod, Alex and Luke arrived in time to have lunch with us and then another surf while Ivy slept. Then we had a walk along the beach and back to the house. The river is still not flushing through.

Brad and Ali, Keogh and Lily called in for a chat and Nola and Gherry drove past on their way for a walk.

Dinner at the Fisherman's Club then Ellen et al headed home and we returned to the house for an early night.

Monday 2 January
A walk along the river with Ivy. As we had no visitors expected today we drove to Nowra to do a bit of shopping - pool noodles for Geoff's roof rack and shoes for Ivy and I.

The traffic was quite slow as it was the last day of the Christmas break and lots of people were heading home so we decided to skip a stop in Berry.

In the afternoon Geoff and I walked Ivy along the river shallows again and this time she walked in past her knees and actually fell over a few times with no tears or fear. Much more confident but not happy with even tiny waves yet.

Movies on TV and an early night.

Tuesday 3 January
Ivy was much more confident in the river this morning and looks so cute in her wet suit.

Janice and Rauri arrived at about 11am for their annual beach holiday with us. We had a long chat over nibbles in lieu of lunch, working hard on a jigsaw that came with the house. It was a map of the streets of Paris so many pieces are just green with the word Rue on them.

While Jen and Rauri each had a nap, Janice and I took Ivy to the beach. Still no luck with the waves and surf beach but lots of fun in the river. She actually went out further than me and wanted to play with all the "babies" having fun with their families.

Back for an early dinner of Werri fish and chips. What beach holiday is complete without a fish and chip dinner served in newspaper!

More jigsaw after Janice and Rauri left but we were just too tired and went to bed early again.

Wednesday 4 January
Our early morning swim saw Ivy actually riding on the body board and chasing fish as she ran through the water.

Charmaine and Patrick came at about 12:30 pm and went to the beach but after we'd had our lunch we went shopping to Berry. Of course this exhausted us all but we were able to stock up on a few dinner necessities.

More jigsaw when we came home then a barbeque dinner before settling in for the night.

Thursday 5 January
Another early swim after breakfast but only for Ivy. Geoff, Jen and I just supervised although Geoff did get a few waves before we others got to the beach.

A sleep for Ivy followed and a fun at the dog beach for Ponyo.

We all then headed for Berry where we bought pies to take to Rauri and Janice's for lunch. It was only a short visit for Geoff to fix some computer and TV issues and for Ivy to meet the cows, ride on the tractor and ride on the little tricycle. The two dogs went crazy of course, Ponyo and Stella just loving the fun of having another dog to run with.

Back home to start packing and to enjoy last-night left-over stir fry for dinner. More jigsaw but unfortunately we were not able to finish it.

We watched the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy then off to bed ready to leave in the morning.