Annual Holiday at Nelson Bay

We arrived home from Nelson Bay yesterday after five days staying at the Oaks Lure Resort with Kerry-Ann, Felise and Jake. Tony came up to spend the last day with us. We had perfect weather although rain had been predicted. We left last Sunday and stopped on the motorway refreshment shop for lunch just outside of Gosford. Afterwards we continued on to our "holiday home" as the kids kept calling it, and settled into our 2 bedroom apartment (one upstairs with bathroom and one downstairs with bathroom). After unpacking we ventured down to the supermarket to pick up some supplies then into the heated pool for a swim. For dinner we picked up some fish and chips and went down to the marina to eat. The children had a play in the park and then we carried our weary selves back to the apartment and watched an episode of Glee before turning in for the night.

Next morning after breakfast we went to our old haunt "Dutchies" and pitched our tent. The children were not impressed much with the sand but we managed to build a couple of sandcastles. They were not too fussed about the water either unless we went in with them.

After spending a bit of time there they wanted to go back to the "holiday house" which we did and had lunch. While they were all having a rest I went for a walk around the town and it came to mind that not a lot had changed over the years. Nelson Bay's structure was the same except for some new apartment blocks. Nothing like its sister, Salamander Bay. When I arrived back Kerry-Ann made up some spaghetti bolognaise for dinner after which we watched some more episodes of Glee before retiring.

On Tuesday we went to visit Oakvale farm at Salt Ash. However, when we arrived we were engulfed in goats all around us with their slated beadie eyes and the kids started screaming and crying. After fighting our way through the goats we went to see the other animals but Jake always had one eye on the back of him in case a goat appeared. Even when we got on the tractor for a ride a goat jumped on and Jake was a nervous wreck until the keeper got him off. We saw the cows being milked and Kerry-Ann fed the lambs. There was this little piglet and I wanted to take him home. I did manage to let a couple of goats and a couple of sheep out the gate. I tried to round them up and got the goat and two sheep back in but when I coached the other goat back in the other three got out again. I then gave up and the last I saw was two sheep wandering up to the shop.

The children did enjoyed the snakes and lizards though. We then went back to the"holiday house" for lunch and a swim in the pool. For dinner we had some leftovers from the night before then headed down to the Marina for a special ice cream treat. The children then run themselves ragged and we plodded back to the "holiday house" for a good nights rest.

Wednesday was Australia Day and we thought we would go back to Dutchies for a swim. However, because of the public holiday all the parking around the area was taken up so we went on to Little Beach and found a spot. The water was beautiful and I could have spent all day in it as it was rather a hot day. Quite a lot of people were all set up for their family BBQs. We stayed until lunch time then went back for lunch and the children had a sleep before going down to the pool.

We treated ourselves out for a nice dinner at the Bowling Club. As we were entering the club Felise remembered going there last year. When we were having dinner Felise squeezed one of those sachets of tomato sauce to put on her plate only she had it pointing the opposite way and when we looked she had sauce all over her face. I tried to take a photo but my camera did not work....a pity. It wasn't Felise's night as when we arrived back at the ''holiday house" she run straight into the closed glass door nose first. It reminded me of the birds that fly into the window then fall down stunned. Poor little Felise! She was ok in a little while..... no broken nose.

More episodes of Glee then off to bed.

Thursday Tony arrived and we all went down to the pool for a swim, then down to the Marina for a play on the jumping castle etc and back home for lunch and a rest. Tony and I took it in turn to go to the shops while the others were asleep. In the evening we had dinner at the Hogs Breath and on the way back to the ''holiday house" Jake saw this back cat meowing and coming towards him and let out a piercing scream. He was terrified. He is not fond of cats......or goats....or Pinto. He probably now has nightmares about goats and cats. We thought we would go for a night swim and all got ready but there was a notice on the pool that it had shut at 7.30 tonight. The children were disappointed but we told them we would have a swim first thing in the morning.......and so we did.

We then packed and loaded up our cars and away we went back to Sydney stopping again at the half way cafe for lunch.

This Photo was taken by Felise

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Felise turns six on Tuesday and it is also her first day of school. Tuesday is also my first day back at Tebbutt Lodge after a rather long break of six weeks.

Queensland floods

Queensland's capital is preparing to face its worst flood disaster in 118 years with the Brisbane River expected to peak on Thursday morning as floodwaters head toward the city.

Yesterday Toowoomba was hit with a huge wall of water which they describe as something like an inland tsunami. Nine people were killed and about 60 are missing.

The area in Queensland that is flooded is about the area of NSW. So many people have lost their homes and belongings.

Today we went to the tennis at the tennis centre at Homebush. We watched a match between Chris Guccione, Australia and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Spain. This game took four hours as they had to keep stopping because of showers and Garcia-Lopez ended up winning 7-6, 7-5. We had tickets to watch games on the outer courts and began watching another girls match before the rain took over and we went home.

The other night I watched a movie which was a true story about a French journalist, author and editor of the French fashion magazine Elle. His name was Jean-Dominique Bauby and in December 1995 at the age of 43 suffered a massive stroke. When he woke up twenty days later, he found he was entirely speechless. He could only blink his left eyelid. Called "locked-in syndrome" this is a condition where in the metal faculties remain intact but most of the body is paralyzed. In his case his mouth, arms and legs were paralyzed and he lost 27kg in the first 20 weeks after his stroke.

Despite his condition, he wrote the book "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" by blinking when the correct letter was reached by a person slowing reciting the alphabet over and over again using a system called "partner assisted scanning. He composed and edited the book entirely in his head and dictated it one letter at a time.........amazing! His book was published in France in March 1997 and he died of pneumonia two days after the publication. He is buried in a family grave at the Pere-Lachaise cemetry in Paris. What an inspiration he was.

Trip down the river

Hope you all had a Happy New Year and that this year brings new hope and happiness for everyone. Tony and I brought in the New Year with a quite night at home. Not that we weren't invited to parties but this was our chose. However it was not so quiet at midnight when our neighbour, Victor across the road decided to let off these rather large fireworks that shook our windows and sounded like bombs going off. We looked out the window and there he was like a little kid running in and out of his garage lighting them and giggling.

I have put the new calendar up and marked off all the important days ie birthdays, appointments etc. We really rely on our calendar these days as we need to write everything down otherwise we will forget.

Today I am taking down all our Christmas decorations and packing them away for another year.

I think you are supposed to have them up twelve days before and twelve days after but I will take the opportunity today. Wednesday and Thursday I will be looking after Felise and Jake so I will need time to plan our days.

Last week we were invited on a trip down the Georges River. Barbara and Roy, friends of Terry and Janet (our Ghan trip companions) who we had meet a couple of times previously, invited us all on a BBQ on their boat. I, who do not really have sea legs, was a bit apprehensive at first but agreed. As it turned out I survived ok and didn't get sick even when we stopped for lunch and the boat was rocking. We started our trip with Midori cocktails and finished with a delicious bbq lunch. Barbara and Roy have a lovely big home at Picnic Point right on the Georges River with

their own jetty. Apparently Roy made all his money from spares parts and scrap metal.

Bring in the New Year

I have just celebrated Christmas for the 67th time. Wow that's a lot of Christmas's. Although the first few I don't remember and probably a few more I have wiped out. It was great this year to see the grandchildren so excited. We were also lucky with the weather. Tony had been working on the pool to have it "just right" for Xmas and we got a 33 degree day.

We started the day by opening the presents then going for a swim. By the time we were ready to eat the weather had cooled down a bit and we were able to sit outside. Craig and Anny provided the Enchiladas for entree. David cooked the turkey and Simone made the stuffing to go with the ham, pork, prawns, oysters, mixed veggies and salad. When all this had settled we went inside to have a beautiful dessert of Lime cheesecake and Berry Yogurt Cake which Kerry-Ann had made.

Of course I always have some disasters ......one the Christmas cake I burnt. Its not too bad if you cut off the top and bottom. I also had a problem when I was making some small quiches to take to our card night party. I could not get the pastry to kneed properly. I was getting rather angry and was about to throw it all in the bin. I then decided I was not going to let it beat me. I put some more milk in and broke it up into smaller pieces and rolled them out. They turned out ok but next time I'm just going to buy the ready made pastry.

I was waiting for Melissa to call on Christmas Day and when she did I said the wrong thing and made her cry. I hope this did not spoil her day!

The last 2 days have been quite relaxing. I have watched 10 episodes of the latest series of Dexter......only 2 to go. I can then start the 2nd series of Glee. Felise is wrapped in Glee and know all the characters.

We are going out on a friend of a friend's boat for a bbq on Wednesday. Will let you know if I have survived this in my next blog.

Forgot my password

Its been a while since I have had to log in my password and it slipped my mind completely. So I have spent the last ten minutes trying to reset a new one. Well here I am. That's not the only thing I have forgotten lately. I spend all last Sunday afternoon searching through old papers trying to find my maternal grandmother's birth certificate. I found it some months ago and noticed that she was born in England. At the time I did not notice where abouts in England so I have made it my mission to find out. Of course, I cannot remember where I put it but came across some interesting old letters. One was from my Dad's cousin written in 1938 advising him that he had been left some money by his Uncle. This is the uncle that lived in Belluvue Hill and where we spent many Christmas's when we were wee tots with all our cousins. The cousin is also the brother of Laurence, the one the caused a ruckus at my brother, Geoff's, funeral. Anyway the sum he was left was £34.7.7 which must have been a decent amount in those days. It probably paid for my Mum's engagement ring. I also found letters written by Kerry-Ann when she was overseas in 1991 and a letter from David when he was at a school camp telling me how dreadful the food was, how the rain was spoiling everything and would I have his favourite food and a warm bed for him when he got home. It was an interesting afternoon but I did not find that certificate. I am more determined than ever to do so. I know I can go on to ancestry.com and get a 14 day free trial but you then have to ring up to cancel it so you don't get charged. I have done that several times with dvd offers and would like to avoid it if possible. Sooooo onward looking.

We had our Christmas lunch at Tebbutt Lodge last week. Rev Gardner and all the dignities where there as our Manager, Helga, was receiving an award for her Special Services to the Wesley Mission. I had my last day for the year on Tuesday. Nellie, the lady that always holds on to her handbag for dear life and grunts, has come a long way we me this year. She now participates in trivia and even cracks a few smart remarks. The wedding is off between John and Diane. John has been in hospital for the last 2 months and Diane had now found out he won't be coming back to Tebbutt as he needs a place with a bit higher care. We are giving our pregnant volunteer, Olga, a baby shower after Christmas. She is such a sweet little thing. I think the resident's will get a kick out of that.

Last Thursday they held a ham raffle at Parramatta RSL........lots of whole hams and half hams.

We were going out on Friday with Peter and Carol (Dubbo friends) for dinner there so we asked them would they mind going Thursday instead so we could go in the ham raffle. They agreed so we brought $10 worth and they did as well. Guess who won the ham. That's right, they did.......and a whole one at that. The previous Sunday we had spend a few hours they waiting for this $10,000 draw. Only they drew 2 names out every 1/2 hr which meant we had to stay there. So we had afternoon tea, then dinner and didn't even get our names pulled out. There was one consolation, I had my name with another lady's pulled out for "the price is right" and had to guess the price of a bottle of olive oil with garlic. For the correct answer I received a gift basket. So the time was not completely wasted.

.......Roll on Christmas.

Nelson Bay is not the same when it is wet.

Hi............I'm back after a couple of months rest. I shouldn't say rest because it has been quite hectic and nerve racking and I haven't felt up to putting words on paper.

This is a photo of the Dancing Ten (although there is only nine now). It was taken at the Hogs Breath Cafe at Nelson Bay where we had our six monthly get together and stayed overnight at the Nelson Bay Lodge. Our 2 monthly meetings at Raymond Terrace became a bit of a chore as we are all getting on now so we decided to do overnights 6 monthly instead.

I was looking forward to taking the track to Dutches Beach and having a swim but the skies opened up and down came the rain and that was the end of that.

Tony's Brother and sister in law, Kenneth and Sheila are coming to Sydney next Thursday for 5 days. It is Kenneth's birthday on Friday so, guess what, we are going to Zacs. On Saturday, for his birthday, we are taking him on a seafood Harbour Cruise and on Sunday we are having a family BBQ.

Do you like our little frog? We found him sitting on our front window but we didn't invite him in.

This weekend we are off to the annual volunteer dinner at Wesley Mission in the city. Hopefully we won't have a heat wave like last year on this day. We will also be able to have a look at the David Jones Christmas Windows.

What .....is it only 37 days until Christmas? Where did the other 328 go?

We will do the Kris Kringle draw at the BBQ on Sunday.

Only a short blog today until I get into the swing of things.

Happy Birthday Jake

Jake is really into dinosaurs. We took him to Kids Playland for his Birthday but all day long he was waiting to have his dinosaur cake his Mum made. He was so excited about all the dinosaurs.