Happy Birthday Bernadette!

Yesterday was Bernadette's 60th birthday, and she had a party to mark the occasion. Leanne and Jim came up from Newcastle on Wednesday, and since then, have been preparing food for the night. Jim fancies himself as a chef, and is indeed, a very good cook - a bit like Bill. Everyone else had tasks too, ranging from the peripheral to the non glorious, and I managed to get away lightly with only a commitment to provide helium and a means of getting it into 60 balloons for a balloon release to mark the event.

The girls and I spent the day at our rental house which got them (and I) out from under everyone's feet. I have been preparing the front garden to take turf and it has taken three very full Ute loads of garden soil, and two Ute loads of river rock for an area around two of the trees, under which nothing will grow. (The iron bark Australian gum drops some kind of detritus from an insect that populates it). I went to pick up the 70 square metres of turf,, and the guy at the yard reckoned that I could take both pallets at once. Every time they've advised about the load carrying capabilities of my truck, they've been pretty spot on - but in this case, I think he must have just been keen to demonstrate how you actually fit two pallets onto a standard Ute bed. The first one went on at the back, he then backed up the forks, and picked it up halfway along the tangs and lifted it into the middle to leave space for the second one and then put the second one to push up the first. I did seem like a good idea to have them both, since I would have to completely unload one before I could go back for the other... but this is what the load looked like:







I had to sit in the truck whilst he loaded it, since the thing was being pushed forward without me keeping my foot on the brakes. When I got out I said 'perhaps this is overloaded and I should come back for the second one' he just said 'Na.... she'll be a bit light at the front that's all'...and proceeded to back away. He wasn't joking. Another couple of rolls and I reckon I'd have been looking at the sky!

Anyway, I got it all laid, and the kids were well behaved - making a turf sofa out of the off cuts.







The other coup last week was that Andrew scored some fencing for us from a building site on the other side of Brisbane. It looks pretty much the same as the fence you can see on these pictures that the neighbour recently had put up. We've got about 50 metres of it! Result!

By the time we got the turf watered, and all the new plants in the back garden too, it was completely dark. We got back to a party underway, and whilst the kids took a desperately needed bath to transform them from feral to 'angelic', I went out to fulfil my balloon inflating commitment - looking like a muddy tramp... as guests began to arrive, all clean and dressed up.

I'd arranged to take a couple of half empty bottles of helium from the Moreton Express dept at work, which were not going to charge me - since the bottles were returns. Steve, the manager of that dept assured me that there was enough gas for 100 balloons 'easy'. It was not the case, as by the time we'd done 20, and sucked in the contents of another 4 or 5 for the 'helium voice' trick, we'd run out. The big balloon release never happened. Needless to say the kids are delighted with this outcome this morning, since they can play with them.... and do more of the helium voice trick... We all love that gag.























It was a great night, with fantastic food, wonderful company, and speeches from Barbara and Leanne to express our feelings about a wonderful woman.

Today Bernadette is off to New Zealand for a week of fun and mayhem with her mates out there. Wayne was asked if he wanted to go... but he declined (experience of earlier times we assume...ha ha.) Have a great time Dette!