Welcome Relief

This afternoon we had a private swim at the Deloraine Primary School pool with the Coronas. Last year the school got a new pool and they allow families to hire it out out of school hours. The Coronas have it from 4-5 each Saturday.

Charna and her funky goggles

The water was very refreshing and not too cold so we even put little Jonty in. He loved it and was kicking his little legs around, until he got tired. I think we definitely tuckered him out as it is nearly 9pm and he is still asleep after falling asleep at the pool.


Mel has booked it up until Easter and said that as the weather gets cooler, they up the temp of the water. There are also changerooms with hot showers so really it is a great opportunity to get some swimming in without a heap of people crowding and weeing in the pool.

Jackie taking a dip(is the camera far enough away Jackie?)

The maximum number of people you can have is 10. Mel also hires it out each weekday morning from 6-7 to do laps. The price is quite reasonable and so I am thinking next year I might hire it out for 1 hr a week for the kids to get some swim practice in. I think you can hire it all year round as long as it is not in school hours. And if I hired it from 3-4 and Mel did 4-5, we could get 2hrs in each week.

Hallie doing a somersault into the water as only Hallie does

I just loved the fact we had this whole big pool to ourselves. Thanks for the break from the heat Mel.

Surely not hotter today......

Much the same happening today as yesterday with little Jonty (he is lying smack bang underneath the ceiling fan, legs and arms out wide, fast asleep)but there will be 14 of us for a BBQ tea here tonight and with the cooking going on in my non air-con abode check out the temp inside the house now.... aah don't you love the rivers of sweat running down your back and making your tea-shirt stick to your skin!!

Too hot for babies

This is the temperature inside my house, in the kitchen (34deg -where is the air-con when you need it)

As we all swelter away, I think about how much hotter it must feel for the oldies and little babies. Today Jonty other than feeding heaps cos who wouldn't drink more in this heat, has been sleeping most of the day away in front of the fan.

Outside, the kids are cooling off by jumping on a wet trampoline and playing in the paddler pool. Charna is here for a sleepover and Oliver has gone to her house. Kealin and Oliver are so cute together. Kealin has been saying, "Oliver is my friend'. They have been planning a sleepover for ages so a kid swap sounded like a good idea.

Oh and we have been wearing rashies and sunscreen all day but it is now about 5.30 and muggy overcast so I was like, what the heck, wear what you like now.

Ha,ha and this is so funny.... I had Jonty on the floor with no nappy on for awhile making it nice and breezy for him and Simon had set out some Savoy biscuits and dips to have before he went to work and was ready to settle down to watch a repeat of Top Gear. He had the biscuits and dip set out on the floor. Do you see what is going to happen??

I reckon Jonty might be a basketballer (good aim) as he did a wee which arced up in the air and landed perfectly in the dips.

Family Reunion

Today for our annual Australia Day BBQ at Dad's, Dad had invited all our relatives from Nanna and Pop's side of the family. These included Nanna's brother's kids and Pop's cousin and all these people we had never met but we were related to.

Osma and her daughter Adele - Osma and my Pop were cousins

At first it was a bit confusing but then we worked it all out. Some had brought all their research they had done on the family history and along with all the work that Dad and Lisa had done, they were able to piece together a few more people and fill some holes.

Janice and Peter with their daughters' Sharon, Louise and Michelle - Peter's Dad Max was my Pop's brother.

It was so fascinating to sit and talk with people about my grandparents (they died when I was young) and understand a bit more about what they were like. I loved my grandparents and often try and take myself back to their kitchen and try and remember everything about them.

Patsy is my Dad's cousin -her Mum (Enid) is Pop's sister

Like the other day, Simon picked some fresh peas out of the garden and as I broke the pod and smelt it and ate one, it took me straight back to Pop's veggie patch where I would sit for hours and eat the peas. (and then sit on the loo for hrs) Our peas didn't taste as good as Pop's and for a moment I wished he was here to teach me how to grow the bestest sweetest peas.

Dad's sister, my Aunty Maureen

Dad has researched my Nanna (Jones) and my Pop (Lanham) right back to when they came out to Australia as convicts. yes no royalty here. On my Pop's side was Andrew Gooding (stole 200 pounds of lead) and he married Lydia Munroe (stole patterned cotton). On my Nanna's side, John (he stole a sheep) and Lydia Targett. The story there is that John was sentenced to 14 yrs over here and so Lydia waited 10yrs back in England and then brought herself and the kids out. What kind of crazy loyalty and love is that!

Paul and Chris Jones - their Dad (Ray) was my Nanna's brother

It was a wonderful day looking over the information everyone had gathered, looking at old photos and wondering what their lives were like behind the faces captured forever in time for us to pour over 100 or so yrs later.

Lisa and Osma pouring over some family research

Today it didn't matter that we had all never met before or that we were from all walks of life, we had our family history in common and from there a bond was forged, links in the chain connected, never to be broken.

And poor old Dad was once again roped into giving rides on the back of the ATV, again and again and again..... good on ya Dad.

I love my brother

Oliver loves his little brother. He is very gentle with Jonty and is always giving him a little kiss or cuddle. He has shown no signs of jealousy or resentment with Jonty being in my lap all the time.

I wish I could say the same for Hallie and Oliver together. One thing I have noticed since Jonty has come along is that they fight more as my attention is on Jonty and less on supervising those two rumins. Hallie loves to antagonise Oliver and being 3(which I hear is the new 2), he bellows back at her at the top of his voice.

When Hallie stayed at Lilly's on Friday night and Katie slept here, it was very quiet and peaceful.

Visit with Nan

Today after church we popped up to see Nan. Kim and Deidre were there, having brought Pop up from Grenoch so he could spend some time with her. Even from Friday when we were last there, she seemed to have improved and be more aware of us, but was very tired.

Pop spent all his time holding Nan's hand and kissing it and just looking fondly at her.

This is a shot of Nan, Pop and Jonty holding hands (a tad blurry). I love the way Nan's hands are curled around Jonty's.

Pop on the other hand is like Benjamin Button. Kim said he was walking better than he was 6mths ago and Pop said at Grenoch they were giving him physio everyday. eat your heart out Brad Pitt.

Windy Watersliding

Yesterday another windy cold day, we set off to Ulverstone for a BBQ and fun on the waterslide for Dion's birthday.

On the way down we stopped in to visit Nan T in the Deloraine Hospital. She had a stroke on Wednesdy morning. June King was just leaving when we arrived. Nan could not talk to us or respond but she liked us to hold her hand. When I talked about her garden, she squeezed my hand harder and she kept moving her head around to see Jonty so I put him next to her cheek on the pillow and put his hand over hers. I think she recognised us as she looked straight at me with her penetrating blue eyes and I could see Nan in there.

Simon mentioned her vegies and who would harvest them while she was there. I said, 'don't remind her of that or she will jolly well try and get out of bed to go tend to them'. I had a bit of a cry with Nan and I told her it wasn't because I was sad as I know she would be sitting there thinking, goodness me girl, pull yourself together, I'm not dead yet! :) I told her it was tears of joy over what a great example she is, how lucky I am to be in the same ward and get to know her over these past few years and how wonderful to have so many great-grandsons born in the past year to carry on her legacy and one day all serve missions at the same time. It was very peaceful in the room and I felt I could sit there for hours just holding her hand and talking quietly to her. Even the kids were quiet and well-behaved. After about 30 mins, she fell asleep.

I said to Simon that we should have taken the camera in to get a photo of Nan and Jonty holding hands, then chuckled as Nan would be cross with me, taking a photo without her hair or make-up done and not wearing one of her pretty brooches.

When we got to Ulverstone, just as last year it was cold and windy but that didn't stop some of them from going down.






Jonty and I stayed at Oma's and spent some quiet time browsing everyone's blogs.

By the time everyone got back all cold and shivery, Pop had the BBQ all ready and Oma and Aneika had got all the salads and other yummy nibbles ready.

Oliver really enjoyed the dessert...............


After tea the boys played some cricket and the girls drew with chalk on the concrete. I used to love doing that as a kid.




Look at all these lovely girls sitting together on the step.

Oliver's hair is getting so long now, that it is turning into ringlets at the bottom. His hairdresser, Pip just had a baby so it might stay the blonde surfie look for awhile until Pip is up for a visit.

Boys will always be boys................



Oh that's better.................

It's lovely when we all get together at Oma and Pop's as it creates wonderful memories for the cousins that they can look back on and remember together.