Christmas 1

We had our first Christmas celebration here at Saint Germain last Sunday. There were all the traditional elements: the Canberra clan together, a glass of Majella on entry, Christmas carols on rotation (groans from Ella), Secret Santa presents to open (yay says everyone)..........

Abi's present struck the right note: a squeaky toy for her Sniffy dog and a new food bowl for him too (apparently Paddy the dachshund gave it his seal of approval too after quite a fuss!)........

We were so lucky to have Claire and Angus with us - despite Angus's surgery a few days before......

A beautiful late lunch: turkey, ham, prawn salad and creamy potatoes, following on from Josh & Jody's yummy canapes..........

Ella was the star turn at lunch: a 20 minute tour de force of her free form social commentary complete with cockney accent - hilarious!! How does she do it?

A game in the park then icecream dessert and the rare treat of chocs and licorice allsorts: a perfect day, though somewhat tiring by the end! .............................

That time of the year

Ros and Pete usually visit us in Canberra at this time of the year for our Mum's birthday. We've kept up the tradition this year even though dear old Mum is no longer with us (RIP Betty K - bless her).

We were able to spend a lot of time together over the past three days, although the threat of an imminent sniffle or cough meant some of us had to absent ourselves at times.

There were ten us of us for dinner last night here at the apartment. Ollie and Angus are looking so tall and grown up now......

It's so good to see Maxie out and about and able to socialise - most stylish girl in the oncology ward - indeed most stylish girl anywhere!

Darling Ella and Abi had to pull out at the last minute because of the risk of infection, but still managed to deliver their handmade dessert: gluten free cupcakes, chocolate fudge and fresh berries - all made by Ella and Abi (and Jody). We MISSED THEM so much at our family dinner!!

It was Mum's actual birthday today (103 years ago). We woke to a spectacular sunrise...

...and made our way up to the bushland at the base of Mt Ainslie, amongst the kangaroos, cockatoos and Mum's beloved magpies...................

where we carefully spread Mum's ashes around the base of this very elegant Scribbly gum......... in loving memory of this fearless and remarkable woman......

RIP Betty K from your three "girls" and all the members (and partners) of your beautiful extended family.

24 hours in Melbourne

Claire's work was selected for the Exploration 14 exhibition of emerging artists at the prestigious Flinders Lane Gallery. We were all in Melbourne last night for the official opening of the exhibition - so exciting!

Each year one of the emerging artists "wins" a solo exhibition at this beautiful gallery. Because Claire had prepared us we were fairly unsurprised to hear that Annika Romeyn (another ANU student and coincidentally a former student of Claire's at Lyneham High School in another lifetime) was announced the "winner" of this rather wonderful opportunity, as her work was a clear favourite of the gallery  director.

The night didn't end there. We celebrated Claire's amazing achievements with a wonderful Italian meal after at Yak on Flinders Lane - with flavours to die for!

We kidnapped the boys this morning and took them for a tram ride up Elizabeth Street to the lovely old Victoria Markets. Rob had promised them a brattwurst and sauerkraut, but they were in no hurry, and spent ages taking a keen interest in all the food stalls, even the old school seafood and butchers' stalls.

They were amazed by seeing rows of beautifully arranged pigs trotters, livers and pigs ears for sale.

Ollie enjoyed his brattwurst but Rob couldn't tempt Angus - he preferred the raspberry doughnuts from the Polish baker.

The Victoria Market has an area out the back devoted to the sale of cheap bling and ticky tack and the boys were looking forward to checking that out.  But they were easily distracted by these cages of gorgeous chickens (for sale).

The boys eventually chose wisely at the bling stalls - selecting Pokomon cards to build on their existing collections.  I watched them play a game with them as we tried to warm ourselves over a hot coffee - It was surprisingly mathematical!

The boys showed us their hotel afterwards - the Intercontinental on Collins Street.  I offered to swap them our room keys at the Melbourne Citigate (on Flinders Street) but they wouldn't agree!

We love Melbourne, especially in Winter. The laneways are full of convivial warmth and life, the shopping and food outlets are amazing and we love the surprises around every corner - like the old ANZ bank building on Collins Street - still trading to this day - and looking amazing!

We met up again tonight: drinks at the old Young and Jacksons Pub opposite Flinders Street Station and then the most wonderful Japanese meal at Kenzan on Flinders Lane.  Claire chose beautiful dishes for us - fresh, delicately balanced flavours - enhanced with Japanese plum wine and semi dry sake - unforgettable! The boys just adored the food too. They'd been looking forward to it all day. They knew what to expect as they'd been before!

The best zoo in the world

The early morning bus number 373 from Coogee Beach takes us through Saturday morning awakening traffic to spectacular Circular Quay. It's still too early for the indigenous buskers to be working but it's fun to watch them applying their body paint straight out of the Chromacryl bottle.

Armed with our Zoo passes we board the Taronga Zoo ferry and take the best seats in the house to capture that amazing bridge, that amazing opera house, Kirribilli, Garden Island, and, best of all according to Ollie: the bumpy waves.

We had to see the crocodiles first. Ollie quickly became impatient with my map reading ability so tried to find where they were himself. Jeremy also became disillusioned with my map reading ability and took over the job too. He ended up as lost as I was - we just zig zagged back and forth around the "best zoo in the world" on this perfect Spring Sydney day with both O and A finding delight in every ordinary and wondrous thing - even the sleepy crocodiles who were doing a great impersonation of big hunks of logs in the water.

The cable car ride was too thrilling for words - gave us the best view of the elephants and that stunning harbour view.

Ollie's day was made perfect by the crocodile treat to take home and an extra bumpy ride back to Circular Quay on the ferry - this time up on the top deck.

Back at Coogee there was time for a quick drink and then some beach time. Angus caught up on some sleep as I tried to emulate the womb experience for him by trundling him up and down the paved boardwalk in his stroller. Ollie headed straight for the water and ended up getting happily soaked as his "paddle" went a bit out of control.

We ended a perfect day back at the apartment with imported beers and great takeaway from Coogee Thai. 

We woke today to another perfect Spring day. We enjoyed breakfast at Barzura's with the Davies who were recovering from a noisy night at Coogee Sands. We handed over the keys so they could enjoy the next night at our apartment while they caught up with son Gareth. We envied them being able to stay on.

Back in Canberra we were able to catch up with the beautiful Ella who dazzled us with her smiles and her dumpling soft thighs. She is very settled at the moment, sleeping well and just starting to roll onto her side. She slept her first full night in her cot her last night.

Spring starts

We celebrated the start of Spring with a stay at home weekend, baby sitting Nellie the beagle while J & J & baby Ella enjoyed their first weekend away at Coogee. We tired Nellie out with lots of walking and garden mulch spreading in perfect Canberra Spring weather. We so enjoyed the novelty of being quiet little homebodies that we even resisted going to a (cut rate) advance screening of Lady Chatterley's Lover at Dendy. A Saturday afternoon spent reading and snoozing was too appealing.

We enjoyed a visit from Big O and little A for Father's Day. Big O loves going through the same routine every visit: setting up Rob's old wind up train set and his surviving 50 year old Matchbox cars, building towers with the 25 year old wooden blocks (no lead paint; they were manufactured in Australia), eating a selection tof the food on offer, checking out the parrots and filling up the bird feeder. This afternoon the added attractions were watching Nellie do her amazing ball catching act and blowing some bubbles in the back garden.

Little A loves standing up now and moving himself around with the help of furniture and grabbing peoples' knees. He learnt "up" and "down" today, bobbing up and down with a big cheeky grin on his face to show he knows which is which.

Josh came and picked up Nellie tonight after a great weekend at Coogee. Although Ella has a cold and was not always in the best of spirits while driving and shopping they had great weather and great dining (including their favourite Than Bhin at Cabramatta) and they loved the experience of staying in the apartment for the first time.

Jungle fever happening

The Jungle fever party today was a wild event. Six hours of feverish play, presents and party food with 12 little people and all the adults. We counted at least 6 grandmothers among the invited guests, four of them attached to the Price, Primrose, Pettiford clan. Big O and little A handled themselves beautifully while being deluged with tonnes of new toys, noise and all the excitement of the cubby house launch. Jeremy, Josh, Rob & Donny did the bar-b-que thing in Jeremy's amazing new outdoor kitchen under "Winton's" deck. Claire and Jeremy staged the most beautiful party for their two gorgeous boys. Unforgettable!

Baby Ella's smiles are more and more dazzling every week. Here she turns it on for Great Grandma Pettiford.

Jeremy could rely on the support of "the boys" when the going got rough and the flames licked higher.

Angus was delighted to claim the cubby house verandah as his own. He found it a real chick magnet.

John & Erin stayed the distance, looking relaxed after their five days in Melbourne to celebrate Erin's birthday.

Ella looked gorgeous in the winter sunshine.

The "talkie talkie" was a big hit.

Just a few of the gorgeous girls experiencing "Jungle Fever".

Ella with her mummy and daddy.

One of the wilder moments.

Great grandmas

Ollie's jungle cake

Two boys, two birthdays, two amazing cakes made by their amazing mummy.

It's great having a big brother to blow out the candles.

In the end it is all about the cake.