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??

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!

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....

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......

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!!

Eighteen

This gorgeous girl is turning EIGHTEEN this week. We are so lucky to have shared so many happy times and adventures together over those eighteen years...... and this girl is just getting going (I hope we're gonna be able to keep up with her, no matter what the future may bring)!!

Happy birthday darling Ella! The world needs more people like you in it.

Fancy our Josh being the Dad of an eighteen year old!

We had a (Canberra) family celebration last night for Ella's birthday and she was able to join us for a glass of Majella to mark the occasion. 

(I'm sure there will be other celebrations for this birthday that may not be quite as sober as ours last night.)

Sober yes - but definitely not serious!

Joshy always cooks a beautiful meal. This was slow cooked pork - on for hours in the smoker - and absolutely delicious.

.... and did I say we definitely weren't serious - although quite sober?

Each year Ella's birthday coincides with peak Autumn colour in Canberra. These pics are of the Lipstick Maples outside our building - taken this morning.