We continue to fit a lot into our days. Over the last two weeks we've had the tribunal hearing to settle Rod's legal affairs and take the first steps (under the guidance of the UC Rehab Hospital) around Rod's discharge plan. Rod's been in that hospital 76 days now - nearly 11 weeks - after his transfer there from Canberra Hospital on 27th February.
About a week ago Rod was moved to his own room in Cotter Ward. It feels like such a luxury for him to have his own space after all this time and he's really happy about it. He and Claire (and we) have to take each day as it comes now - which is hard some days!Rob and I were granted the responsibility of feeding and stabling Sammy last weekend while J & J & A & E were in Sydney. Sammy didn't seem to mind the situation too much and it was a lovely experience for us.
We heard a rumour that the Sydney shops were grateful for the young ones' visit!
Sammy's home at the Freshford Equestrian Centre is always a pleasure to visit.
Meanwhile "our" front garden is looking its best at this time of the year. We re-started our weekly walk (climb) up Mt Ainslie this month. We're pleased we can still manage it after our few months break. The walk back down the mountain and then through our front park to home is definitely the best part of the "climb".
Meanwhile builder Greg and his team are making great progress with our Coogee reno. Our bathroom and kitchen have new ceilings now, all the plumbing and electrical lines are in place and its definitely getting to the stage when all the really dramatic things can start to happen (eg the tiling and the install of bath and toilet and all the other lovely things we've been buying over the past few weeks).
We had another overnight stay in Coogee on Monday and Tuesday this week. There are a million details and choices to sort out and always something to order or buy that we hadn't thought of before. We also had a kitchen joiner to meet with on Tuesday - we're still trying to get this part of the project nailed down!
This is how the bathroom looked at the start of this week.... ready for the final layers of waterproofing before tiling starts next week.
And this is the kitchen - with its new ceiling and no remaining signs of that nib wall that used to break up the space into two tiny rooms. It looks like a much bigger space now.
Today is the 14th May - the 82nd anniversary of the sinking of the hospital ship Centaur in 1943.
Rob's dad Alan was one of only 64 survivors of this war crime/ tragedy. We attended the Last Post ceremony at the Australian War Memorial this afternoon in honour of Rob's dad and all the other men and women (332 of them) who were on the Centaur on that fateful day. Its always a very moving ceremony.
Today there was a specific focus on two of the 2/12th Field Ambulance Officers who lost their lives on the Centaur (brothers Fred and Alan Fortier). Members of their family were there as part of the ceremony, which must have meant a lot to them.
Seven months old - her first Christmas 2007....
Almost two - with her cousin Angus, in 2009 ....
Taken on a hot January day in 2010......
Almost three and a half, in 2010.......
She has a baby sister - February 2012 .....
Ella is five - 2012.....
Ella and Abi - July 2013.......JPG)
Seven and a half years old in February 2015.......
First day of school 2016.......
At Joel and Kay's wedding in Seoul, Sth Korea in September 2016........
August 2018 - Ella is eleven ........
End of March 2019......
January 2020 - Ella is twelve and a half......
January 2021......... thirteen and a half....
Christmas 2021 - Ella is fourteen and a half .........
Sweet fifteen - May 2022......
At Coogee together - September 2023...Ella is sixteen (I am so much older than that!)
The Year Ten Formal November 2023.....
November 2024 at the National Gallery of Australia. Ella is seventeen and has her P plates!
Our Ella - still seventeen - Narrawallee - Easter 2025.....
Happy birthday - darling girl!!
.JPG)
