Big Thirsty Aussies

The Wagon Queen Family Truckster. You think you hate it now, but wait till you drive it. Woo ! Hoo ! finally, time for our grand adventure. We may post when we hit Coff's, if not stay tuned for 2 weeks time. I am so excited as this is our first big camping/ holiday that isn't just to Coff's(although one can't complain about those-- only the livers can or liver scan which ever fits the bill at the time). See you in a fortnight all!

Winter is here and the bromilliads are in bloom. I dont know if that spelling is correct and frankly my dear...... Anyway a busy couple of weeks here. After all the rain a big weekend of make-up games for soccer (Tory scored a goal) and the usual netball (Kaiya scored as well). We spent the long weekend up the hill at Joanns place and met her newest addition :Criquet the farm poodle! The ice on the fenceposts was good to look at (mind you I looked at it through the window near the fire). We have had a bit of frost here as well but it seems to warming up a bit this week so far. The girls had a disco on Friday night so they went off to school tired from a long fun weekend.

Not a whole lot of excitement down this way lately. Both girls were chosen to speak at the Education Week assembly. They also had some art on display for the local Art Festival "See Change". okay thats enough prideful boasting for now. If they could only clean their rooms........ We have had about 5 days of solid heavy rain unfortunately only here coastally and not where it is really needed. We are looking forward to our big adventure in July. Out camping and sight seeing. People have said we are crazy for camping in the winter, but they have never camped in Colorado in the summer where the nights are colder than what we will be expecting. Jeez, really, you just take the proper equipment. We hope to see Jenolan Caves, Western PLains Zoo as well as the Warumbungles The Gold coast and of course the usual July revelry with those Williams up North. With a lot of stuff along the way.

GlobalWarming: ignore it War: forget it World Hunger: not a problem come on now people, these things don't count a hoot when you look at the epidemic that is plaguing the elderly of todays society. This menace is something that we really need to tackle head on. I think this is the new war on terror, I know it terrifies me to even contemplate the possibilities. Let us be ever vigilant and please Mom and Dad when you travel do the right thing. Sorry but I just couldn't let this crucial bit of news go unanswered. will post real Williams updates tommorrow I think.

Well, You start with a bacon and egg fry-up on the BBQ along with coffee and Tia Maria (Baileys or Kahlua can substitute here quite easily).I would have gone for champers and oj, but being the only champers drinker here it would have been the whole bottle and I chose to see the rest of the day. Follow up with a morning of doing nothing. It may take a few of you a while to figure out how to just do nothing. At some point in the afternoon I truly recommend a bubble bath/spa if available. I could not find my Mozart cd so had to content myself with Strauss... although he did live up to the moment today. I am now so relaxed I can't feel my legs. Which takes us all back to how we became mother's in the first place.... But seriously, Happy Mother's Day to Mom(the grand poobah of Mother's), Michelle, Barb, Jen, and a warm welcome to the club to Sheri, and ....happy 1st Mother's Day to you. On this side of the globe , Happy Day to Pauline, Cathy, Julie, Kylie and a first ...

Well, it was a successful fishing day. Sekaiya caught a 3 inch whiting, Tory had a good time, and I got in several hours of practise in the untangling of line, retying of hooks, and baiting of these same hooks. Upside being that it was enthusiastically enjoyed rather than the old "I'm bored, when can we go home?" so perhaps we can now do this on a more regular basis. School holidays finish with the weekend so back to the grindstone for another 9 weeks. I have a bit of work happening,hopefully I will get a bit more as well. We had our first "burning off" fire today with many more to come. Great winter sport: lighting a fire, throwing in a damper ,(we wrap ours securely in foil and cook it in ashes/coals) opening a beer and standing around, with the occassional shovel and/or raking activity taking place! There was no damper today, but hopefully with the next lot of fires. There are still a gazillion sticks to get into piles yet.

Today was ANZAC Day,(veterans/memorial)-Australian & New Zealand Armed Corps. The girls march in the local parade with the school each year. This is the first year that there were no WW1 vets marching in Australia...The last one passed away last year. It is a great sight when you see all the old "Diggers"-that's what they are called- marching down the street with the new cadets. We have two naval bases here so we get a pretty good turnout. my favourite that makes the goosebumps rise and the eyes turn sort of misty is when the very elderly veterans are driven by to the sound of pipe music. seen here after the parade.