G'Day!

Welcome to our blog! It's our way both of keeping a record of getting to know our new home, and also of keeping everyone at home in touch with what we are doing.

Love Wendy, Andrew, George and Anna xxx

How to comment!

We like comments! It lets us know that someone is reading this rubbish we are sending out into the ether. Don't be put off by the need to set up a google account - you never need to use it other than to sign in to make a comment (although I have to say that googlemail is rather good!).

And if you already have a google account - why not leave a comment today?

Friday, December 28, 2007

Boxing Day



The surf at Manly




We woke up on Boxing Day morning to blazing sun and the promise of high temperatures. Lucy, Mike and the children had left in the early hours of the morning to fly up to Hayman Island for some sun and scuba diving, and we had made arrangements to meet the Watson lot on Manly beach for a bit of surf and sun fun.

Ally is Andrew's best friend, and they have known each other since their school days in Winchmore Hill. He and his family, wife Ally, children Zoe and Samantha and parents in law Sheila and Peter, are on something of a world tour, having visited Japan (and other mutual friends Pete and Christine), then doing Perth, Ayers Rock, Cairns and Surfers Paradise before getting to us. From here they will go on to New Zealand and then San Francisco - then back to St Albans. It is great to see them again.



Ally and Lou


As Ally and Lou are staying in the city, we thought the easiest place to meet them would be Manly Beach, as they could just get the ferry over. Nothing is ever simple though is it?! We had forgotten about the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, as and a result all the ferries were cancelled. However, they all braved the bus again, and by the time they left, the ferries were back on.

We were also joined on the beach by local friends Nicky and Graham with all their children, and a very nice day was had by all - with the possible exception of George, who was got by a blue bottle (a type of jelly fish which leaves a nasty sting). However, he was super brave, and didnt cry at all. When we were finally thrown off the beach by the chap we had hired our sunloungers from, we were all feeling very chilled, and Nicky and Graham invited us back to their house for some supper, which was greatly appreciated.



Nicky




Anna



You know - it's not really Christmas - but I think I like it.....

Christmas Day



George and Anna open their iPods

We had a lovely Christmas Day. The children succeeding in not getting up until 7am (hurrah - jetlag does have its uses after all) and were thrilled with all their presents. George and Anna were particularly pleased with the video iPods that Aunty Lucy and Uncle Mike had given them. I think the next favourite thing was probably Anna's Singstar for the Playstation, courtesy of Granny and Grandad. We will live to regret this, I'm sure, as we are now subjected to karaoke-ing 9 year olds every minute of the day.



Anna and George on the pool seesaw

Katy and Emily were excited to open Australian stockings, and all the children spent some time in the pool with all the wonderful inflatable toys Father Christmas had helpfully delivered. Even Daddy got in the pool with them, and when Ally, Lou, Pete, Sheila, Zoe and Samantha arrived, there were even more people in there!



You absolutely have to have a Crimbo water fight!



Hmmm

I have to say that in terms of preparation and cooking, it was probably the most relaxing Christmas I've had. I had ordered cooked lobsters and tiger prawns from the fishmonger, which we collected on Christmas Eve, and we had a seafood and cold meats and cheeses buffet table, plus a pavlova and Christmas Pudding. It was a lovely day, but I have to admit that it didn't feel like Christmas that much.



Christmas lunch Australian style - not a brussel sprout in sight!

We did have a very Australian Christmas story though - during the afternoon, we found a bandicoot in the tennis court. Bandicoots are a small marsupial, and this one appeared to be paralysed in its hind quarters. It also had a joey, which we later discovered to be dead. Andrew, Ally and Lucy had plenty of silly jokes about it all - 'it doesn't look like the bandicoot on 'Crash Bandicoot' - where is its little blue jumper?' - but I was really upset about it, especially given that it is an endangered species. In the end, after wrapping it in a towel and putting it in a box for safety, I phoned Taronga Zoo, who put me onto the Wildlife Rescue Service. Within an hour, a volunteer had arrived to collect the poor thing, and hopefully they will have been able to help her.






This did all delay Christmas lunch rather!

All the Watson clan caught the last bus back to the city at 10.40pm and the rest of us fell into bed!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

All the latest photos!

Christmas morning entry is the previous one! I've finally sorted out the picture upload problem, and wanted to update you all, but if you are looking for Christmas greetings, you will need to go to the previous post!




The children enjoying the pool



Anna, Katy and George on the Opera House steps



George doing his thang at the Opera House



Andrew and Mike at Customs House



Lucy, Mike and Aboriginal chappy at Circular Quay



George playing tennis on our court with Uncle Mike - who was also able to give him some very useful coaching!



Jack, Luke and George on Mona Vale beach



Our kitten Stanley!



Anna and Evie at Speech Night



Lewis, Andrew and George at Speech Night. Don't they look smart?!



New house plus damp towels!



Katy and Emily catch sight of Anna at the airport!

Family Christmas!



Merry Christmas one and all!

Here we are in Australia for our first sunny Crimbo, and I have to tell you....today it is NOT sunny. Who do we send our complaints about this to? However, we do have Lucy, Mike, Katy and Emily here to keep us company, and it was hot yesterday. Apparently it will be hot tomorrow too. Typical! It does mean that it is unlikely that we will go to the beach, but we are hoping it will be warm enough for the pool later on - especially as Father Christmas delivered a selection of pool toys!





As you can see from the photos on here, I have resolved the photo downloading issues (by downloading a new browser), and so I will do another post with all the latest pics on.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Some photos! (I got it working!)



Anna and George all smart for their school Speech Night.

Oh. It won't work again...sorry about that folks! Not sure if it is something to do with our new connection here, or whether it is to do with Blogger. Will try again tomorrow.

But while I'm here, I may as well update you on the comings and goings of the last few days. We got a Christmas tree - a real one, although they are not the same sort of pine as we have at home. It is called a New York pine, and is probably the most perfect shape Christmas tree we've ever had (if it doesn't fall over - it is leaning forward rather menacingly at the moment). With the children we have made and decorated christmas cookies and hung them on, plus dried slices of orange in the oven, threaded them on ribbon and hung them on also. Nigella Lawson would be proud of me. Along with the tinkly lights, the tree looks lovely - and I would put a picture on here if I could!

Yesterday we puppy sat two puppies for the local pet shop. As pet shops here do sell animals, it is possible to look after them over night - and given that we can't have a dog as yet (apparently, according to Andrew) it is a good way of reminding oneself that frankly Andrew is right. They were fantastically cute, and the children were smitten immediately, but obviously they were both incontinent and needed constant supervision. I managed to get them settled to sleep by 11.30pm and they woke up and started crying at 5.30am. A reasonable night in the old days of babies, but I am soooo over all that! Anna named them Hazel and Bray. I think you should take this as a compliment Hazel! Anyway, we took them back to the shop at 9am this morning, and I imagine we will do it again some time....

I still have a couple of gifts to get, and now I'm feeling like time is running out. I have the world's largest pile of ironing, which has taken over the guest room, and I am conscious that my sister and her family are already on a plane to get here. As we have a full calendar of children coming and going over the next few days, I can feel the panic setting in. I've got to wrap everything too...aaagghhh...it was only a few weeks ago that I was feeling smug because I was so ahead of myself! I rested on my laurels! I got complacent! OMG - I need to get to the mall NOW!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Mona Vale

We're all unpacked, all settled and looking forward to Christmas, which we are nearly ready for. Now we are in the house, we are all very happy. It's very homely, and functions better as a house - even if it doesn't have the stunning views etc. The pool is almost ready to be used (it had not been serviced properly recently, so it has needed some work to get it into a state that was hygienic), and the kids have been enjoying using the tennis court.

It's a little like living in Milford again - we can walk into the village, where there is an excellent array of shops and restaurants, or walk to the beach. In fact, there are elements of living on the Northern Beaches peninsula that remind me of the New Forest generally. They call it the Insular Peninsular, as people who live here rarely leave - much like the Forest. And they joke about not crossing the Spit Bridge - which takes you out of the Northern Beaches and towards the city. Is that not rather like not going over the cattle grids?! I suppose it is not a surprise that we would be attracted by such a place - after all, we were very happy in the Forest. We just wanted to shake things up a bit!

The children have broken up for their summer holidays as well, and this last week has been fun and relaxing. It's good not to have to function with such a set timetable, and we have had our first day on the beach. It's been raining on and off the last few days, with a lot of thunder and lightning, but hopefully that will clear soon, and the sun will come out a little more reliably. There have been lots of friends over, and we've had an afternoon at the indoor climbing centre, which we all really enjoyed - the children climbing, and me belaying. I forgot to take the camera - sorry!

Andrew and I have attended our first Arup Xmas do as well, which was a very nice affair. It took place at Darling Harbour, which is always a lovely place to be at night, and I met a lot of new people. It was odd being back in the position of not knowing anyone, and I can't tell you how many times that evening I was asked how I liked Sydney! However, everyone was very friendly, and we enjoyed ourselves. Andrew was very impressed that the beer, wine and champagne was free all night. I was driving....The meal was good, but served in a manner that I found unusual - in that it was either turkey or lamb (to cut out all the poncy french words that appeared on the menu) and equal numbers of each was brought to the table and served alternately. When I was served turkey, and told them that I would prefer lamb, I was told I would have to make a deal with someone else on the table! Apparently, this is common practice...odd. Even odder was the practice of serving a platter of desserts to the table, but no plates.....side plates had not been cleared and it was expected that we would use them. Also apparently normal.

Lucy (sister), Mike, Katy and Emily arrive on Friday, and we are very excited about it. They will be with us over Christmas and New Year, with a break in the middle when they go up North for some diving. Also on Christmas Day, we will be joined by Andrew's best friend Ally, his wife Lou and their children Zoe and Samantha, plus his parents in law Sheila and Pete. It is all shaping up to be a great Christmas!

We've had a bit of excitement here this evening. Next door a load of trees were on fire and the fire brigade had to be called. We spent a bit of time crawling around the Christmas tree, convinced that the burning smell must be coming from the lights or something, before we heard the sirens and went outside to take a look! Next door there is a group of 5 twenty somethings, who were out there with a hose trying their best. The only girl amongst them was taking photos, and when they realised after the firemen had dealt with it, that their were no pics of them with the hose looking heroic, they were gutted. So gutted in fact, that they then spent a while posing below the trees looking like they were putting it out, despite the fact that the trees were in fact drenched and far from being on fire. I think we are going to have fun living next door to them!

I've really tried to upload some pics on here, but it's not having it. I'll post now, and hopefully later it will all sort itself out!

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Moving on again....










So tonight is our last night in the house on the lagoon. We all feel sad, but none of us feel as bad as Anna, who has been inconsolable this evening. It's been absolutely idyllic for us all, but Anna's life here has been like a fairy tale. Children available to play with all the time, unprecedented levels of freedom, a whole lagoon to swim, kayak and boat in.....it's not going to be the same at the new house, but hopefully she will settle, and come to appreciate the new and good things that it has to offer.

Of course, the other issue is that we are asking the children to say goodbye to something again, and after so much change, I do feel bad that we are inflicting this upon them. We really do need a period of stability - I hope so much that we are able to stay at the Mona Vale house until we are in a position to buy. I'm not sure I could cope with packing up again either anyway - this week has been exhausting, and rather depressing. I've loved this house too, and I will miss waking up to the stillness of the lagoon, watching the kayaks and sailing boats, and listening to the shrieks of laughter from all the local children on the trampoline.

However, on a more positive note, I think the Mona Vale house is going to be good. We will have even more room, the children will love the pool, and I've been having some tennis lessons so that I can enjoy our tennis court. We will be able to walk to a wonderful range of restaurants in the village centre (Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Thai, Australian, and the ubiquitous Chicken Shop). There are also wonderful shops, a great beach, access to Pittwater.....

It's just that you work hard to make somewhere feel like home, even though you know it's not. And now we have to start again a bit. Sigh.....