HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Friday 31st December, 2010


Time to say goodbye to 2010 and welcome in 2011.

Happy New Year and I wish you all a year full of happiness, excellent health and great prosperity.  As you reflect on 2010 may your very best day in 2010 be an average day in 2011.

Got all the washing and ironing done today and now look forward to a great night.  We don't do much these days as for celebrating the New Year, been there and done that in our younger years lol.  Let all the parties be for the younger ones.

Around 10.00pm we catch the bus into the city and watch the fireworks at Elder Park.  We then catch the tram down to Glenelg.....it's great just to watch the people on the tram, we are guaranteed to get some laughs.  We come back into the city and go and have a coffee in Hindley Street and watch all the drunks.  We then go and wait for the bus to come back home usually getting back at about 3.30 - 4.00 am.

We used to do it with friends of ours but the last couple of years they haven't come with us as he has knee problems and can't walk great distances.  Tony and I still go as it beats sitting at home.  New Year's Eve is the one time where I refuse to babysit.

From the Lens...........Fireworks over the Torrens

2 Days To Go

Thursday 30th December, 2010


2 days of 2010 left.  Today is HOT.....39 degrees, but what's that ....43 for New Year's Eve now.  If we do get to 43 tomorrow it will be our hottest New Year's Eve for over 100 years.

Monday and Tuesday were Public Holidays here and so Tony requested Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off.  That was granted and so this will be his first days off work since November 2008.

Yesterday we went out and did some food shopping and paid a few bills.  I was so happy because I thought we would be going into the New Year with no outstanding bills........well guess what, today we got our Electricity account, due in January.  I know I can go off and pay it by the end of Friday but bugger it, it's due on the 18th January, so I will leave it until around the due date.

Today we went through the house and gave it a good clean.  I always like to do that going into a New Year.  Tomorrow I have to finish off the washing and do the ironing.  Once that is done it will feel good going into a New Year with nothing outstanding from 2010.

From the Lens..........love the aroma from burning these scented waxes, this one is Sweet Pea

Got To Sleep In

Tuesday 28th December, 2010

This morning we had a bit of a sleep-in, finally getting out of bed around 8.30am.  I still had plenty of washing to do, so I got stuck into that early.

In the afternoon we went over to Rick and Diannes' place to catch up for a Christmas/New Year drink.  Pre Christmas was too chaotic to get to see them even though I did manage to drop off their Christmas gifts on the Friday. 

The weather is starting to warm up again and they are predicting 40 degrees C for New Years Eve.  Tomorrow and Thursday it will get to the mid 30's.  Will be nice to have some warmer weather but 40 is getting a bit too hot.

From the Lens...........first time I have seen one of these Echidna signs on the side of the road.  We saw it while driving in the hills yesterday.  Unfortunately we didn't see any.

Happy Birthday Bob!

Monday 27th December, 2010

Happy Birthday Bob!  Today is his ....... birthday.  Ummm...let's just say he's seen 21 a few times!!

We went up there again today and out to lunch at the Southern Hotel in Gawler to celebrate Bob's birthday,
Had a very nice lunch, and included in the price of the main meal was also soup and dessert.  After lunch Bob put a few dollars into the poker machines and I put $2 into a dollar machine.  For that I got back $30 so I was very happy.

We then went for a drive into the hills and Robyn and Bob took us to a new cherry place that they had found just outside of Forreston.  We got ourselves some more cherries from there.  Also called into another place and then went over to Gumeracha and to Kenton Valley cherries where we had coffee and scones.  Robyn and Bob had cherry muffins.

As we were driving along  there were still quite a few locusts around.  They were telling us that a couple of weeks ago the locusts were really bad in the Gawler area, but we didn't see much damage that had been done by them.

Came back to Robyns' and Bob gave us some tomatoes and cucumbers that he'd grown. 

One variety of tomato Bob grows is known as 'Mr Ugly"

When we finally got home we loaded up the car with all the empty boxes and rubbish from Christmas and took it into Tonys' Work.

From the Lens..........Bob has always had birds as his hobby but these days he only has a couple of varieties

After All The Excitement......

Sunday 26th December, 2010

After the wonderful day we had yesterday today has been very quiet.  I keep looking at all our gifts and wondering where on earth am I going to put them.  No doubt I will find a place for them.

Finally packed away all our goodies and tidied up a bit.......it took me all day.   We ate some of them so that I didn't have to find a place for them in the pantry.  I don't want to see another nut, chocolate or biscuit until next year.

Got to make a trip into Tony's work to get rid of all the paper and boxes......at least we can dump it in the big bins.  Our rubbish bin is a split bin, half for recyclables and the other half for rubbish.  It doesn't take much to fill our bin up for the weekly collection.

From the Lens..........Katie at the pool on Friday

Have A Very Merry Christmas!

Saturday 25th December, 2010

The big day has finally arrived and I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.  I hope this day is the best ever and you get to spend it with all your loved ones.

The last couple of days have just been a whirlwind doing final minute preparations, taking gifts to friends houses and taking Katie out to see the Christmas lights at various places around town.  Yesterday was quite warm so after picking Tony up from work at around 2.00pm we headed for the pool.  We thought this would keep Katie occupied for a couple of hours without her constantly asking "How long before it is dark?", "Would Santa have left yet?" plus all the myriad of other questions.  She thoroughly enjoyed her time with Poppa in the pool.

This morning she was up and out of bed early and that excited to see that Father Christmas had left her a whole lot of presents and was even more excited to see the basketball hoop he had left her out the back.  "Oh Nanna," she said, "I think I am going to cry."

Kahra and Darrin arrived a short time later so she got to open her presents in front of them and each one was opened to screams of joy.

Tony then cooked us a great breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs, hash browns, grilled tomatoes, toast.  After having eaten that it was then a bit of a rush to get organised to go up to Robyn and Bob's place.  We got up there at around 11.30 am.

From there we headed up to Nuriootpa and to the park where we set up our Christmas lunch of prawn cocktails for starters and then prawns, crayfish, ham, chicken and salads.  It was so yummy!  After having stuffed ourselves we sat around under the huge gum trees talking and laughing and enjoying the day. 

In no time at all, suddenly it was 8.05 pm and so we ate the rest of the food, packed up and headed for home.  Called into Robyn's again for coffee and finally arrived home around 10.45pm.  We had a fantastic day!

From the Lens............

Tony and I were well and truly spoilt

Father Christmas left these for Katie

Her basketball ring and new netball

Katie and her scooter

Katie with Polly Pockets

Just part of our Christmas lunch in the park

Happy Anniversary Tony

Wednesday 22nd December, 2010


Today is our 38th Wedding Anniversary.  Happy Anniversary Tony!  I LOVE YOU!!! 


I have been so blessed being married to you and I want to thank you for putting up with me for all these years.  I am so thankful for your patience, kindness and understanding.  Early on in our marriage I learnt that it was no point in arguing with you as you were not the argumentative type and so we learnt to talk about any problems we encountered.  This has resulted in the most happiest, wonderful marriage ever. 

I was supposed to go to the hairdresser today.  Now normally my appointment is usually for around 2.15 or 2.30 pm so at around 1 o'clock I thought I'd check to see what time I had to be there.  Whaaaaaat.....10.15 am!!!  Bugger.   I was so miffed because they didn't ring me to see why I hadn't shown up.  What's happened to looking after your loyal customers?
Oh well I know where I'll be going in future......not back there for sure!

From the Lens............

The Countdown Is On

Tuesday 21st December, 2010

Well the countdown has well and truly begun.  4 sleeps to go, then it will be Christmas Day.  It will be all over in a flash and we will have to wait another 12 months for it to start all over again.

Got an SOS call from Tony.  I am having my nails done today instead of Friday and was hoping to come home and just chill.  He received a hamper from Davki Security and being too big to bring home on the bus he asked if I could come in and pick him up. 

Lucky I did as he received another one from the Fire Services Company.  They are both picnic hampers and choc full of goodies.  He gets so spoilt at Christmas time with all the goodies he gets from various companies he deals with throughout the year.

From the Lens........

Summer......What Summer?

Sunday 19th December, 2010

Brrr, woke to a cold, wet and windy morning.  It was our coldest December day since 1988.  The good news is that they are predicting a temperature of 34C for Christmas Day.  Yeah right.......we'll just wait and see.  Just wish the temperatures would stay constant instead of warm one minute and cold the next.   Hey! maybe we'll have a White Christmas.....well, one can dream.

Got all the Christmas presents wrapped today with Tony's help.  I still have to write out the tags but that can wait until tomorrow.

We watched Carols by Candlelight tonight via the internet.  It would have been too cold and windy to sit down at Elder Park.  They even had to cancel the fireworks because of the wind.

From the Lens.........maybe we could build one of these if the weather doesn't warm up

Christmas Lights

Saturday 18th December, 2010

We ventured out later on in the morning and picked up one of the larger Christmas presents that we had bought for Katie.  We didn't want it around the house for too long before Christmas.....it's trying to hide it, that's a problem we have.  It's safely in the shed with the shed locked.  Hope she doesn't want to go in there for her bike while she's here in the lead up to Christmas Day.

Before we went Tony did get the lawn mowed and this afternoon turned rather pleasant.  The wind was cool but refreshing after being in the car with the warm sun coming through the windows.

Tonight we went out to have a look at some Christmas lights.  Some people decorate their houses very nicely.  We went last weekend but with it being wet we didn't get many nice photos.  Tonight we also had a sprinkling of rain.

A small cul-de-sac in Paradise have the best display and they win the Best Lights competition every year.  There are 6 houses and they all decorate their front yards.  It looks amazing.

From the Lens..........some of the lovely lights we saw at various places

The Excitement Is Building

Friday 17th December, 2010

The excitement is building as it's only 7 more sleeps before Father Christmas comes and delivers the presents.  I know because Katie is counting down the days.  It was also evident tonight in the city as people shopped for their gifts.  Everyone is getting into the Christmas spirit now.

Can't believe I last wrote on here on Tuesday.  It wasn't because I was out enjoying myself, it was because I was just doing the mundane things around the house like cleaning, washing and ironing and also there wasn't too much to write about.  Sometimes you just have those kind of days where nothing much goes on in your life.

Over the weekend we want to get out and tidy up around the backyard again, but it doesn't look as if we will get much of that done.  Our weather is crazy!!!  They are predicting showers and then strong winds for Sunday.  We have gone back to winter.  No point in sweeping up if the winds blow it all back again.  Hopefully Tony can get the lawn mowed.

From the Lens..........last weekend Katie had 12 days of the Advent Calendar to open, glad she loves chocolate!!

Time Is Beginning To Run Out

Tuesday 14thDecember, 2010

The days are really flying by and I have still got to write out my Christmas Cards and get them in the mail.  This year I am not writing out as many as in previous years........most will get a Christmas email.  There is so little time left to do all that I want to do before Christmas.

All day I have been finishing off the calendars.   I still have a way to go with them but in a day or two they should be finished.  Next year I am going to do each month throughout the year, that way I will know what folder I have put the papers and embellishments in, not searching through everything as I find I am doing now.

From the Lens..........Our Advent Calendar

Relaxing Sunday

Sunday 12th December, 2010

Didn't have much planned for today.  Decided to go out and see Robyn and Bob and so on the way we stopped off at Elizabeth Shopping Centre for some lunch.  For a Sunday it was very busy, but I suppose that's because Christmas, being only 2 weeks away, has got something to do with it.

While there I bought Katie a couple of tops from Pumpkin Patch.  She had so much fun trying on clothes......luckily she was in the mood for it.

We got to Munno Para and suddenly there was traffic chaos.  An elderly gentlemen was trying to cross over lanes and travel down the highway in the opposite direction to everyone else.  He wanted to travel south on the road that is travelling north.  Thank goodness there were some alert drivers as it could have ended in tragedy. 

Got to visit with Robyn and Bob.  Ended up having a game of Scrabble with Katie.  It was the first time she had played so she needed some help from Tony. 

From the Lens..........Victoria Square Fountain

Busy, Busy

Saturday 11th December, 2010

Time got away from me, hence no post for yesterday.  School is finished for another year and Katie said she is not looking forward to going into Year 4 as it is harder work.  Her new teacher will be Mrs George.  She got a great report for her Year 3 and we are so proud of her.

After picking Katie up we went back into the city and did some more Christmas shopping.   A lot of activities were held in the Mall and one in particular that she was interested in was the various groups of Hip Hop dancers.  I must say they were very good.

This morning we headed off to the Plaza (somehow I convinced her that Father Christmas needed to know her head size for a helmet in case he brought her a new scooter).   We decided to try our luck again at going back into the hills and getting some cherries.  Voila! it was our lucky day.  Both of our favourite places had cherries, admittedly limited supplies, but we got some never the less.

The cherry growers have really suffered this year.  They have lost a lot of cherries, especially the early varieties, due to the cooler weather, the humidity and rain.  They need the warmer weather to ripen them........Monday and Tuesday look good for this but then it is back to rain again Wednesday.   Ugh who'd be a farmer!!!

In the evening we went and took Katie to the Riverbank Christmas display at the Brewery.  Left the car at Tony's work and caught the tram to the Entertainment Centre.  Personally, I think the display is looking a bit tired and dated.  It needs to be updated with different attractions, but the kids love it and that's who it is for.

From the Lens..........Sections of the Riverbank Display

Political Correctness Gone Mad!!!!

Thursday 9th December, 2010

I hate nothing more than when overseas visitors come into our country and tell us what to do.  At the moment Oprah Winfrey is in the country and her production company people were in Melbourne checking out the places she will be visiting.  One place she is going to is to a Cocktail Party and to get to where it is being held she has to walk past a shop that is selling golliwogs.   The shop owner was told to remove the golliwog display from the window as it might upset her.

In this country golliwogs are allowed to be sold.  I do not see anything wrong with them.  I do not see the racist connotation they are supposed to impart.  To me they are dolls, just like Barbie, Bratz dolls, or any other doll you can buy whether it be black, white or brindle.  

I have one and I have bought one for Katie for Christmas.  Children are not born racist,  racism is taught.  I am with Jeff Kennett, ex Premier of Victoria, who has called for 'all golliwogs to rise up as one". 

As far as I am concerned this is "political correctness" gone mad!!!

From the Lens............the offending golliwog

More Rain On The Horizon

Wednesday 8th December, 2010

When we woke this morning all the thunder and lightning from last night had gone.  There was still some drizzle around but during the morning this also passed and the afternoon turned to bright sunshine.  We need the sun now to dry everything out. 

Now they are predicting showers for the weekend and for the middle of next week.  C'mon give us a break.......I know I don't like the really hot weather but 38 degrees last Saturday and now it's 18 degrees.  What is up with the weather!!!

This morning when I went outside these 'toadstools' had popped up everywhere in the garden.  By the time Tony got home from work they had disappeared.  Does that mean there ARE fairies?  When I asked him, he looked at me and just smiled.  Hmmm that's no answer!

Pssst......I think he believes there are fairies but just doesn't want to admit it. 

From the Lens............

A Very Wet Day

Tuesday 7th December, 2010

The day started off quite warm and we got to around 32 degrees when suddenly the heavens opened.  I have never seen so much rain.  We just happened to be underneath a thunderstorm, thunder, lightning and even hail stones.  The Village Shopping Centre got flooded.

The Emergency Services were kept busy, fallen trees, flooded streets, homes flooded and creeks bursting their banks.  We have had more rain in a few hours than for all of December.  Up to 3pm we had 43mm of rain.  It has been the wettest December day since 1936.

It is 11.00pm and there is still thunder and lightning and it continues to rain, though not as heavy as earlier on in the day.  It is supposed to continue until later on tomorrow.  If it continues for much longer we will all have webbed feet.

This photo was taken at 11.23pm ....the lightning lit up the sky and made it look like daylight

From the Lens..............

Storm clouds rolling in

Trees uprooted

A break in the clouds gave a beautiful sunset

Hahndorf ........

Monday 6th December, 2010

Hahndorf is a small town in the Adelaide Hills which was originally settled by the Germans that migrated to South Australia in the mid 1800's.  It is a popular tourist spot now and has lots of shops including crafts, souvenirs, clothing, gifts, cafes and bakeries and hotels.  A great place to escape the city life and just leisurely wander along the street. 

Further up the road is Beerenberg, a local business that produces jams and sauces.  When the strawberries are in season you can go and pick your own here.  Seeing we may have to go back next weekend to see if we can get some cherries, we may also go here too, as we will have Katie and she enjoys picking the strawbs.

From the Lens...............the sheep like it here too

Cherry Run

Sunday 5th December, 2010



Today has a real tropical feel to it.  This is my kind of weather........overcast, warm and humid.
After being inside all day yesterday it was time to get out and about and so we thought we would go and do the 'cherry run'.

We headed up to Kersbrook but the little cherry kiosk was closed.  Then it was on to Gumeracha and Kenton Valley but they were also closed.  What is going on?  I am sure we have gone and got cherries this early in previous years, as we have had to go back and get more closer to Christmas.  Perhaps it's because we haven't had the warmer weather to ripen them.
We did see plenty of cherries on the trees though.

So no cherries, well what about a coffee then.  We remembered that Edward and Dominic from The Dome (a coffee shop in Tony's work) was opening at Hahndorf so we decided to go and take a look there.  While enjoying a coffee and lepinja in their lovely shop the rains came.  Thunder and lightning and a heavy shower passed over cooling things down nicely.

On the way home we thought that while we were in the area we may as well go and have a look at Inverbrackie, the place where the Federal government have decided to house the illegal boat immigrants.  Oh my, it is like a little village.  I thought it was houses built in a compound, but there are streets with houses, it looks like any suburb.  It is behind the Woodside Army Barracks and I think previously it was used for the Officers and their families.

From the Lens..........feeding time for the kangaroos in the bush

The Hot Weather Arrives

Saturday 4th December, 2010


Finally we have some hot weather.  The temperature today got up to 38 degrees and guess what we did?  NOTHING!!!

Spent the whole day indoors with the air conditioning on.  I wanted to go up in the hills and get some cherries but it was too hot to even do that.  Maybe tomorrow or next weekend, though tomorrow is going to be cooler.....only 33 degrees.

Who would go out and sit in the hot blazing sun watching a game of cricket?  Obviously some people do but as shown on the news tonight many said they were going to go home and watch it on TV.   As it was, Australia did not do too good.....they could only get one wicket for the whole day and England made plenty of runs.

From the Lens........... can't wait to get some of these

Disappointment

Friday 3rd December, 2010


Well it was not good news to wake up to this morning.   Australia did not win the right to hold the 2022 World Cup.....that honour has gone to Qatar.   We shouldn't feel too bad though as England put in a bid for the 2018 World Cup and they lost out to Russia.  We cannot make another bid now until 2034.......don't think I will be around for that one.....lol

The weather has warmed up nicely, maybe a bit too warm after the last few days.  Good beach weather.  The city was really buzzing tonight especially after the cricket was finished.  The Second Test is being played here in Adelaide, the first day was today.  Sadly, Australia batted first and didn't do too well.

A busker in the Mall

We put a few Chrissie decorations on the 'donut' to give the building a bit of a Christmas feel.  Tony did it last year for the first time and received a lot of complimentary remarks.  The 'donut' is the desk for the Security to sit at during business hours.

From the Lens..........Christmas Decorations on the 'Donut'

Waiting In Anticipation.....

Thursday 2nd December, 2010


The day dawned bright and sunny with more thunderstoms forecast for later in the day but they didn't eventuate.  My day was very quiet with not much happening. 

All I am hearing about on the radio is Australia's bid for the 2022 Soccer World Cup.   I don't think we have a hope in hell getting it.  We are not a big soccer nation even though we are apparently the worlds' most multi cultural country.  The decision will be made 1.30 am our time tomorrow morning.

Oh wouldn't it be nice to be living, (nah maybe being there for just a holiday), in the US or Europe.  It seems they are having lots of snow and the piccies I have been seeing are just beautiful.

From  the Lens...........Supporting our Indigenous Kids

Last Month For 2010

Wednesday 1st December, 2010


Well here we are, into the last month for 2010.  God knows where this year has gone.  It is also the start of Summer......hmmm wonder if we will ever have it.  Maybe when it decides to get hot it will come with a vengeance.  We are supposed to get some hot weather over the weekend so that's something to look forward to.  

Gotta go out later on this morning.  It is Graduation Day for Tanecia.  She is graduating from Year 7 and next year starts High School.

Attended Tanecia's Graduation......it was a low key affair.  Being a Student Representative, she along with another girl, Bonnie, had to get up and report on her class' activities for the year.

After the ceremony the school had a light luncheon for the students and parents and friends.  Jodi booked Taylor out of school and we met up at the Plaza.

Dianne and I went and had coffee first and then met Jodi.   For her graduation I bought Tanecia a Pandora bracelet with a graduation hat charm.  For Christmas I thought we would get her some more charms for it and so she came with me and chose a couple more charms.

Tony was supposed to go out for dinner tonight down at Glenelg with the Michael's from Davke Security.  He rang me and said that instead of going out for dinner they decided to go out for lunch instead and ended up going to the Sushi Train. 

That was ideal for me as I wasn't looking forward to driving to Glenelg later on tonight. 

While at the Plaza we had a thunderstorm and they said about 35 mm of rain fell in a hour at Elizabeth.  Another storm passed by in the early evening with some heavy rain as well.  They say our summer weather is now going to be a bit more tropical with more humidity.  I don't mind the humid weather and love it even more when the sun isn't shining.

From the Lens..........