Mid May

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.

End of April

It's the end of another busy month for us and a beautiful time of the year here in Canberra. This was the view outside our front windows a week ago.......

And the same view a day later in the afternoon sun ......

We're in election mode all over Australia - with federal polling taking place on Saturday the 3rd May. We voted early, on the 26th, and made our best effort to keep despicable Dutton out of contention!

We accompanied Abi and Sammy and a few of Abi's friends on a 6klm trail ride out at beautiful Freshford on Saturday afternoon. It was an absolute joy to see them all living their horsey dreams, far from the troubles of the world, in this beautiful bushland setting. It felt like a huge privilege to be a part of it with them.

Then Sunday (two days ago) - late afternoon - and those Autumn colours out the window seem to light up the whole room.

We've spent yesterday and today back in Sydney. There's more bathroom fittings to purchase and drop off and a kitchen maker to chase up. I haven't quite caught him as yet, unfortunately, but inching closer I hope!!

We stayed at the Novotel in Brighton-Le-Sands (because the price was right!) last night, in a part of Sydney we've not explored before. Its close to the airport and the hotel was great but the area itself doesn't seem to have a lot of character other than that. However, we did enjoy our walk along the "beach front" this morning, in perfect conditions - a pleasant break from chasing up tapware etc at Alexandria and Moore Park.

Builder Greg has everything neat and tidy and ship shape in our Coogee kitchen (and bathroom) ready for the renderer tomorrow. Hopefully it means we can have a break from rushed visits to Sydney now and Greg has everything needed for the reno to proceed smoothly.

Another Narrawallee Easter

We celebrated Easter at beautiful Narrawallee Beach with the young ones again this year. We set out on Thursday morning with Ella, while Abi, Josh and Jody joined us later that night. We enjoyed an early lunch at the new Dom's at Braidwood on the way and had a leisurely afternoon exploring the beach and relaxing before everyone else arrived. 

The surf on North Mollymook Beach looked pretty wild on Thursday and Friday having been stirred up by the Southerly winds and the high tides. It was wild all along the East Coast apparently with quite a few fatal drownings at a number of beaches. Luckily, this part of the coast is somewhat protected from the worst of it by its rocky headlands.   

We love our Easter breaks here at Narrawallee/Mollymook, with a well worn recipe by now for enjoying our four days together.

There's always some time spent in nearby Milton (with great shopping for the girls!) .........

..... and time for the joys of Easter gift giving .........

...... The girls spend hours devising an Easter egg hunt for the oldies - always with very sassy, funny and clever clues of their devising!

........ with time for a few handstands thrown in .......

...... our "Diamond Vista" had a great space for hiding some eggs too .........

..... there's always plenty of beach time too - and this year we were lucky to have 26 - 27oC max days - almost like summer .......

... just perfection .....

.... but probably what the girls enjoy most at Easter are the extended fishing sessions down on Ulladulla Harbour. On Saturday afternoon Abi caught so many fish from her spot on the wharf she was reluctant to come home when the sun went down - she wanted to keep on fishing in the dark! (Point to note - all these undersize fish are returned gently to their families back in the ocean!!!)

Sunday evening we made it a family affair - joining thousands of other holiday makers celebrating the big Easter Blessing of the Fleet down on the harbourside park.

... but the girls were not to be distracted by the live music and other festivities - there was fishing to be done!

.... a family portrait...............

.. another successful catch ........

The evenings are beautiful here. We saw dolphins in the harbour, pelicans, turtles, a stingray and dozens of tiny fish, of course, looking for food around the harbour wall.. just beautiful.

And plenty of big fish bites too!

Besides all this we get the chance to relax and unwind a bit at "Diamond Vista", playing Scrabble and catching up with old fave shows on TV, eating beautiful meals on that breezy ocean facing deck and eating way too many chocolate eggs. Its wonderful!!

Meanwhile, in the past week or so there's been more progress with the Coogee reno. The kitchen floor has been patched and all the new plumbing and electricals are connected. It's ready for the renderer.

The bathroom also has all its new plumbing and electricals in place. The new shower wall niche is there and it's ready for rendering too. It's all proceeding to plan, thanks to builder Greg and his team!