 |
 |
 |
| Saturday 13th August, 2002 |
| Hello to you all....This is just for you Aunty Judy. Made the time just to update. What a glorious day we have here today. Absolutely wonderful! Awaiting the rain however as you would all be aware we are so desperately in need of. It is cloudy and the clouds are starting to come in so it is looking slightly hopeful. Once again there is a bush fire burning close by (and hopefully won't get too close) so there is the lovely smokey atmosphere outside...Great part of Queensland this time of year. All our clothes have the constant bush fire smell these days. We had to get a load of water the other day. Had half put into the pool as we had turned the filter off as the water level was so low. The rest put into the water tanks. The pool is all cleaned and ready for use now. We spent two entire days in the garden last weekend, we had a long one because of the Brisbane show. We removed all the fronds from the burnt palm trees so now we just have trunks. I am sure they will be great again come December. They have all shot up a new frond each in the last week. I removed all the tops off the other shrubs with the "You beaut hedge trimmer". So they all look ab fab once again. Other plants where trimmed and prunned and I was amazed at the new growth under all the damage. So there was some good moments in amongst the heartbreak. The hedge we planted looked completely dead but on removal of all the burnt top and digging down under the mulch I discovered all was not lost. So they are starting to shoot more growth every day. We also got our first burst of colour with the sweet peas and the Jasmine are all flowering also. Our Golden Cane palms have suffered the most and my huge big specimen outside the dinning room has been reduce to half its size which I was quite distressed about. Phillip has been extra busy with the back pergola to get it finished soon as the sun glare in the kitchen is horrid. On several ocassions I have had to don my sunnies just to do the vegies for dinner. The frame work is just about complete as I type. He is just doing the finishing welding parts. It looks great and will be so wonderful when finished. I shall take some photos and maybe one day get around to updating that part of the web page. He is buying some sheeting for the roof this arvo when collecting Josh from Bunnings - making the most of Josh's discount of course! He may get a couple of sheets up this arvo and then put some more up tomorrow if he gets the time. Phillip is playing golf in the morning then we have a BBQ at Linda and Denis's place so he will just have to see how time goes. Well, we've had the Brisbane Exhibition for the past 10 days, hence our day off on Monday. The children and I also got the Wednesday off (but not Phillip). I had a RDO on Thursday which meant I only had to work on Tuesday......and guess where I went. Yep....to the Exhibition. I had a group of 10 kids from yr 4 - yr 8. Great bunch and really well behaved so it was quite a nice day. I managed to get Phillip his Darryl Lea Liquorice bag...which he is still working his way through.. I did however return home very very tired and still sore from the garden work on the previous weekend. Aim and a group of her friends went to the exhibition on Wednesday. She had a very long day there, train at 9am and then didn't return to her friends place till 10.30pm. I don't think I could have spent that long there and she had the blisters on her feet the following day as proof of the walking. She said they had a great time and saw a great show in the main arena (outback thrunder) and great fireworks. Josh went off to a camp for Biology on Thursday morning. I had to have him at school at 7am which was fun of course. They went to Stradbroke Island. He said it was good and he returned yesterday very tired. He had work today which was a struggle for him. He is going to a party tonight so I imagine we won't see much of him tomorrow. Phillip & Josh are very busy trying to sort out their itinerary for NZ and after a phone call with Aunty Judy and Uncle Leon last night I think they probably needed more time in NZ. We will set about doing a rough itinerary this week and passing onto everyone for approval. They are so very excited about the whole ordeal and we would just like to thank all of you who are also making them feel very welcome. Josh in particular is very excited as he has no recollection of NZ as the last time he was there he was only 2. He had a big grin on his face last week when we booked and paid for the tickets. I think it became real to him at that moment. Don't know how Aim and I will fare when they aren't here for 2 weeks however. Well, it is our 19th Wedding anniversary on Tuesday next week. It is hard to believe it has been that long. We were going to go out for dinner but decided to buy some sheeting for the pergola instead and I will cook a nice dinner on Tuesday night. Funny though, as soon as it's our anniversary the rest of the year seems to fly by after that and it is hard to imagine another year has gone by. I have been busy working on Phillip's family Album and hopefully will get it completed tomorrow while he is at golf. Thank you everyone who has assisted with information for this project. It means a lot to Phillip and myself. The dogs have been well behaved and stuggled with the cold nights. Thank goodness for their jackets. I don't think I could have left them outside if they didn't have them. Toby in particular has ben a lot more active with the cooler months and has trimmed down quite a bit. I have taken some photos of them in their jackets but haven't had them developed as yet. I promise to update the photos within the next two weeks. Don't have the time (or patience) to do it today. Our love to everyone. Stay in good health. Phillip Karen Josh & Aim |