Purple fig

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

More of the same, and a big birthday

There's been a lot of progress with the Coogee reno over the past week or so. The new kitchen and bathroom vanity were delivered to the apartment on the 1st July and installed the next day. It looks good to us in the pictures Greg sent. Can't wait to see it in reality!

Do you remember what it looked like at the start of all this? (Pic taken on the 14th March before demolition started at the end of March)

We have a new pantry too (not too wide, not too deep either!)

The new bathroom vanity .......

This picture was sent through today. The new cornice is in place and Joey has finished the painting in the kitchen. The stone bench top and splash backs will be installed at the end of this week and then the plumber and electrician will fit all the appliances, sink and tap off. Then finito!!!

And more pics sent through today ....... Greg and the plumber have installed the long delayed bath, and fitted the tapware and toilet. The vanity basin and tapware will have to wait until the end of the week when the stone top goes on the vanity.

Luckily that bath tap swings out of the way when not in use.

Back in Canberra we had Claire's milestone birthday to celebrate on Sunday night, with a happy family get together. In one of the biggest years we've had in a while with a lot of grief and stress it was great to get together and celebrate a big birthday with these special people. The fact it was the start of school holidays gave (some of) us an extra reason to feel happier than usual on a Sunday night

Ella always has a funny story up her sleeve ........ that Abi and Angus can always find a rif off - it's very entertaining!

We spent the afternoon before at Freshford with Abi, helping to prepare Sammy for his 3 event show at Equestrian Park the following day. Abi trimmed his mane......

.... and i helped her do the required braiding. This is the result - which Abi was happy with - although Sammy doesn't look as impressed with it in this pic. Please note all the chopped pieces of his mane on the ground.

Sammy and Abi came second in their grade on the day. Even Sammy looked impressed with their prize rosette in this pic. Their best event is cross country which both Abi and Sammy LOVE competing in!

Then for a complete change Rob and I spent a few hours at the National Gallery today - enjoying a talk and viewing of the Cezanne to Giacometti exhibition from the Museum Berggruen in Berlin. Highlights for us were seeing the Cezanne collection, the amazing works by Paul Klee and a room full of Picassos. In between the stressful hours we spend sorting out the bureaucratic requirements of taking over Rod's admin as he enters aged care, under the watchful eyes of the NSW Trustee and Guardian and Centrelink (Aged Care) its wonderful to find these times of pure joy in our life.

Thursday, June 26, 2025

Making progress

We're happy to report we've made some positive progress in a few areas over the past 10 days, since our return from Geelong.

Abi has taught us to lead Sammy with a lot more confidence around the wild tracks of Freshford - always on the lookout for things that will make Sammy "spook", and getting him to match his pace to ours - it's a lot more complicated than you'd think - but we've improved our skills and confidence, a lot.

Sammy behaved perfectly during this lesson last weekend......

We're also very confident we've now found the right place for Rod to live, and be cared for, now his hospital stay is coming to an end.

Arcare is opening its first residence in Canberra in the next week or so and we have been able to select this room for Rod - it's North facing, has a balcony and overlooks the Aranda grass oval (and lots of trees). Rod likes the location and the building and hopefully he'll like his room once it's bits and pieces are all in place and it's ready for move in day. It feels like a small miracle we have found this place, at this time, and that he seems happy with it - so far!

We've just got back from an overnight stay in Coogee to check on renovation progress. Our timing was also perfect for a farewell lunch with Ollie (and Tess) yesterday in Wollongong prior to Ollie's departure for London tomorrow. It was a lot of fun sharing a few hours with this lively pair and hear more about student life in Wollongong and Ollie's plans for travel in Europe and the Mediterranean after he leaves London.

It was such a windy cold day in Wollongong yesterday, but luckily we found great shelter in the laid back Diggies Cafe, on the beachfront for a few hours of eating, talking and lots of laughing!

Our builder Greg continues to make progress with the Coogee reno. He's been doing major restoration on those 100 year old bathroom windows to make them worthy of the rest of the bathroom upgrade........

It's slow work but he's just the man for the job - and it's looking beautiful after all his efforts!

The completion of the bathroom has been held up by the delay in delivery of our Italian bath tub. It will arrive (allegedly) the week after next which will be a dramatic step forward in terms of getting all the other bathroom bits and pieces in place too.

I got this great pic of builder Greg this morning working in the kitchen with our painter Joey - getting the walls prepped for the kitchen cabinetry install - possibly happening as early as next week.

We are so lucky that everyone who works with/for builder Greg is a top notch tradie and a top notch human being too. They are all doing a brilliant job on this complicated, challenging (while still small scale) reno. Lucky us!

The reno is still on track for possible completion by the end of July (fingers crossed).

Coogee Beach looked beautiful this morning on a cold clear Winter morning.

We're wondering if this will be our last stay at the gracious old Royal Hotel, in Randwick, where we've been staying for all our progress checks with the reno.

Maybe next time we come to Coogee we'll be able to stay at our place??

Monday, June 16, 2025

Geelong visit

We're just back from a 4 night stay in Geelong. We were meant to go two weeks ago to see sister Ros, and Pete, but at the last minute we cancelled because with Pete undergoing immunotherapy we didn't want to risk him catching any of Rob's cold germs then.

As it turned out it was good we went this weekend anyway. Pete is not well; he's had 4 nights in the ICU with serious complications resulting from his immunotherapy the week before and is currently in the oncology ward undergoing further treatment. It was good to be around - spending time with Pete at the hospital and keeping Ros company, at a difficult time.

We all have our fingers crossed that Pete continues to improve and get stronger and he's out of hospital soon. He's been on a wild cancer ride, on and off for over a decade now, and his current battle with melanoma is probably the wildest ride of all.

It was cold in Geelong over the weekend - but clear and sunny most days. We took long walks along the beautiful Barwon River each morning we were there and spent the afternoons at the hospital with Pete.

Saturday morning we spoilt ourselves with a pretzel/pastry stop at our fave Born & Bread just off Pakington St in Newtown.

We love the way Geelong looks after its beautiful riverfront. Balyang Park in Newtown is a sanctuary for birds and wildlife and very restorative to walk by.

Me and my darling sister Ros....... precious time together!

... and me and my darling Rob (and a loaf of olive bread from our fave bakery!)

We left Geelong this morning for the long drive back to Canberra - hoping for the best for Pete, and for Ros, as they navigate the next stage of Pete's cancer treatment!!

Meanwhile, we have other hospital visits to make. With his intense medical/rehab program now complete Rod was transferred to Queanbeyan Hospital on the 19th May, almost a month ago. He's comfortable there and being a small local hospital it feels much more suited to Rod's needs compared to the larger hospitals in Canberra.

We're trying to find a suitable place for Rod's longer term care but there aren't many vacancies at the moment - it's hard!!! Until that happens, friends and family are trying their best to make frequent visits to keep him stimulated and his spirits up. We're also contributing our bit to Queanbeyan Hospital fundraising with all the coffees we buy from the volunteer run cafe.

Our Coogee renovations are progressing well. The bathroom tiling is done and the kitchen plans have been finalised. We are very hopeful it all might be ready by the end of next month - which is just as well as we have very important visitors arriving in mid August. We won't know the place!

Friday, May 23, 2025

Eighteen years of Ella

I started this blog in 2007(!!) just before Ella was born. She was the reason I started doing this. I have posted all of these photos of her over the years, through play times, birthdays, Christmases, holidays, trips away, family get togethers, cooking in the kitchen and everything in between. I thought on her eighteenth birthday it was definitely time to look back over some of my best portraits of this gorgeous girl over the years. I treasure them all and all the wonderful memories they bring back.

Ella - not quite three months old in 2007....