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.

A new life for my cat cages

As Geoff and Jen will be moving in later this year it was time to consider how their cat will take the move. We decided to move one of my existing cat cages to outside the room they will be sleeping in and allow it to go in and out through the window directly into the cage. This will avoid a cat roaming at will so close to the highway and killing all the birds in the area.

So many thousands of steps and much weight lifting afterwards the task is now complete.

In 2012 Kim and I completed the paving and moved the old recycling box to the southern side of the cat cages.

Bananas were planted on the northern side near the gate to the chook yard.

The cat cages loomed large and were quite useful for container storage and the occasional visit by cat or chooks.

Early September 2016 work started on the removal.

Once Geoff and I figured out how to move one of the cages that was bigger than both of us (we used two trolleys and took it very slowly) it is now in place under the window and Geoff's task is to make the escape route for the cat.

My next job was to dismantle the remaining second cage.

I used the far wall of the second cat cage to make a new fence level with the chook yard gate. I needed help to move this which was gratefully received from Elaine. Again the piece of fencing was too large for one person to move even though it was only light.

This left the recycling box to move. I was able to get it this far but then it got stuck on something so I had to wait for Geoff to come with Ivy one morning so we could move it just that tiny bit further.

 Once all the major parts were in place it then took me about 18000 steps to clear the rubbish (waiting for our next council cleanup or a trip to Underhill) and smooth out the area. I am using neighbours green bins to deal with all the garden waste the project is generating. I still have to empty and move the double laundry tubs. I have the space but again I need to be patient and wait for a few people with more muscle than I have to move them into place. Soon I will plant some grass and then only time is needed for it to become a pleasant part of the garden.

Bubbles, dirt and music

September has been a very busy month with grandchildren. Ivy continues to come to Ma's at least two days a week and we have such fun together. She is a treehugger and just loves dirt.

Smooth, cold, heavy

She loves to help Ma collect the eggs from the real chooks but we thought this place was good for a photo.

She helps collect the mail

One rainy day we make a 'tent'

She is learning how to brush Ponyo

and loves to draw and play with playdoh

Bubbles are her favourite

But dirt and being outside are just heaven.

 

Alex and Luke came to play one day and the three got on famously.

But the boys loved helping Ma sort some of the boxes upstairs - lego and marbles were fun.

Luke said the marbles looked "glorious" in the sunshine.

The boys each made their own creations.

I took Ivy to the boys school on Grandfriends Day where Alex was involved in Sport Dance, Band and Choir and Luke in Hip Hop Dancing and Choir. They are both very good with their musical talents. Ivy just loved the morning and both boys were great with her.