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.

Surrey Devil Update

Today I've had an update about the Tassie Devil we named 'Surrey' in the Arthur River.

Apparently he is doing well and has become quite trap-happy, meaning he knows where the food is at the end of the trap (funny that!), and then just waits for David to come and release him the next morning.

There is to be a program about our trip on ABC Radio National this Saturday at 9am.

Welcome Ivy Ann Jacobs

Geoff and Jenny have a new member of the family, a baby girl called Ivy Ann named after her great grandmother Ivy and grandmother Ann. She was born on 23rd March by emergency caesarian and weighing 3050g. She has really long fingers and long feet and a cute button mouth.

At last I could give her the play rug I have made for her.

Both parents are ecstatic and exhausted but well.

Hospitals and Hope

Well we have Mum in hospital at St Vincents (King's Cross) recovering from spine surgery and Jen in hospital in Hurstville Private to have a caesarian shortly.

I hope and pray that all goes well with them all in their recovery.

Life for me is a busy round of visiting Mum, being on-call for Jen and gradually cancelling all sorts of things so I don't suffer too much from brain drain.

Hopefully my next post will have good news all round.

The thing that keeps me sane is learning all the music I need to know for Easter at St Stephens.