The Renovations are afoot!

So here is where we are up to. The pond has been re-lined, re-filled, and we now have to replace the edging and surrounds. All has been fairly straightforward, except for the odd shape, which makes it a little difficult to fit the new liner neatly. But, we have done our best, and as you will see, Jim needed a little relaxation while waiting for the pond to fill up. So all that is left, is to replace the slabs round the edge, cut off any excess, and do tha pathway, and "hey presto"  a new pond.

Good News

I received these photos from Dilys. Her son Christopher and his partner have a new baby boy.....Barnaby Ralph.....born at Christmas...maybe Christmas Eve, I am not sure. The picture is the proud father, and the other one , no guesses needed...a typical English Christmas lunch....with, I am sure, Brussel sprouts.  This is one of the English Christmas' staples. Whether people like them or not...Christmas is the time for sprouts. Who knows why?  Just one of those things.
 Anyhow...many congratulations to them all, and all the best for 2013.
 I should say that the man next to Dilys is Godfrey, her brother, with Joy, his wife.

Christmas Day 2012

No prizes for guessing what I got for Christmas!!!  Actually, the little bottle in front, I bought myself when shopping for everyone else.....I liked the scent, and as it was cheaper than named brands (from Body Shop) I thought  "why not"?   Little did I know what Summie and Tiff had up their sleeves!  So I consider I have been extremely lucky this year.

We went to Tiff's farm for the day, and the weather was sunny, coolish, but very windy. We would have sat outside to eat, but I think the food would have been blown away, so it was cooked on the barbecue, but eaten inside. Needless to say, we all ate too much......it was so delicious.....prawns, cold meat, lovely salads, and my cheesecake and trifle, washed down with champagne of course.
 The roads were extremely quiet, both going there and coming home again, so that was a bonus. We got home at about 6 pm...pretty knackered, and had some leftovers for tea...which we had brought home with us.
 So all in all, a good time was had by everyone. Angus and Tiff will stay at the farm for a while...they both have holidays, so I hope they relax and have a restful time. They were both getting very tired towards the end of the year.

The Pond.....Again!

Yes...it's the pond again. We had it emptied, and it just sat there looking sad. When it rained, the water sat there too, and didn't drain away at all, so obviously there was no major leak. So today, I said I was going to just fill it up again...all the silt had been shovelled out. So the plants were hosed out, and put back, and the pump is up and running with the "Spume" nozzle going gangbusters. Of course, there are no fish...they have all been eaten by the birds, but at least it looks a bit better than 2 inches of muddy water in black plastic!!    So we shall see how it goes, and we can always empty it again if need be. One more thing that is no longer an eyesore.

Yes!! Again!

Mulwala Motel

And Again

The Hume Weir in full force!

Peacock by the roadside

So  here we are once more!!  It was a "shall we shan't we" sort of decision, but how glad we were that we went away again. We stayed 2 days in Mulwala, and the weather was glorious. Swam in the motel pool several times, and enjoyed a very convivial evening, sitting round this table with the owners, who we have got to know very well now. We also stayed 1 night in Albury, and drove out to the Hume Weir. They were letting some water out, and the force was breathtaking. Again, a stunning day.
As we drove away, we saw 2 peacocks on the side of the road, so Jim stopped briefly to snap them before they moved away. Not a sight you see every day.
 To round off the trip, on to Echuca for the last night. Weather a bit cooler, but still nice enough to sit outside the room with a chilled refresher. All in all, we had a wonderful time.