This year has the lowest number of entries on it since we came here. It's a shame really as blogging is quite a good way of keeping a record of things, and it's nice to look back on previous years and see how much younger everyone looked.
So this entry is to try and catch up on some of the stuff that happened this year that should have been mentioned....just for the record, and in no particular order of importance or chronology, and I know that on occasion, the odd member of the family will have a catch up too?:
Actually, it's hard to remember what's happened...another good reason to keep up with the entries!
Things have been getting even more tight for us. For many years now (since we came here) we've been wanting to build on our little bit of land, but for one reason or another we've just not made it.
We've had two offers on the land, which has been on the market for over a year now. We accepted them both (after negotiating) and got to within two weeks of completion with both buyers, only for them to pull out at the last moment. All very frustrating and from a financial point of view, we're in a bad place.... If only we did the lottery!
So right now, we're in a cleft stick really, need to either sell it or build on it. We can't continue to rent our house AND pay mortgage that was secured against the land to pay for the times that I wasn't working, and the only people that have really made anything are the banks (of course). The value of the land is nearly the same as it was when we bought it all those years ago. We can't sell it unless we take a loss, and we can't afford to build....!
2014 will have to see resolution one way or another.
In the UK, Josh finished his Masters in writing for young adults and did really well. Nice going Josh, we're all proud of you! His novel is going REALLY well, and reads like a best seller. I'm looking forward to my Porshe Josh!
Molly continued into her final year of her illustration degree at Falmouth and is also doing really well...and staying focused on the task at hand. Power to you Molly for this last couple of terms. :-)
What else...?
Matilda graduated this month, and some people were daring her to wear a dress. She's never been a dress wearer as you may know, so it was a bit of a surprise when Daile told me she'd found a dress at BigW that Matilda thought had a good cut, but didn't like the fabric. Tild and I went to the local fabric store and found some fabrics that worked for her, and I made a dress. It's actually fully lined in a grey shiny fabric that cost more than the stuff on the outside!
I wasn't able to make it to the ceremony as I was teaching that night, but Deb took some pics, and they're below. It was a particularly notable night as she won the coveted 'Spirit of KP' award, which is for the student who best embodies the kind of emotional generosity of spirit that they want to foster, who is supportive and respectful of others, applies herself to her work and then some, and is an all round good egg. I was told that once Matilda's name was thrown into the ring, the teachers were unanimous. We're very proud of her, although slightly bemused (as we always have been), about the difference between her 'exemplary' behaviour outside of her home environment, and her behaviour at home. She also won the award for ICT (Information, computers and technology) and was runner up for the Production award (which we thought she ought to have won, since she's put in a heap of work for the school this year doing all sorts of shows (lighting and sound)...but hey. She was stoked with that, and rightly. Here's the pics, note how awkward she looks....bless!
The boots were always going to be part of the get up....and the socks are stripy...red and grey....all I could find at the shops.
Some people thought she looked a bit like that girl from the Hunger Games...? I thought so too....a bit!
Interestingly, Molly took a similar approach to getting dressed up when she graduated from senior school, preferring the boots to proper dress shoes and her 'ride' - Aaron, was bucking the norm to arrive in a limo, preferring to arrive in a wheelchair...:
A few weeks ago Matilda and I went to 'Gordon's Country' in southern Queensland for a weekend whilst Phoebe was competing in the National Cheerleading contests in Melbourne. (More on that in a bit).
The pic above is from high up on the Great Dividing Range that runs for many miles along the East coast of Australia. Driving 'Gertrude' (our old Red car) up here was quite arduous...and I discovered a whole 'new gear' that the car had that I didn't know about! (It's a crawler gear that I didn't know about because the lettering that says 'press' on the 4wd gear lever had worn off! You can just see a line that shows the action you're supposed to take with the lever. I'm getting old and my eyesight aint so good...so I'd not realised this was there. At one point we were burning the clutch trying to get up a slope that I KNEW a four wheel drive club had got up earlier in the day because I saw them go past our site....but we just couldn't make it! With THIS gear, both diffs are locked, and the gear is a crawler gear so you can get up unbelievably steep and slippery slopes...I was SO chuffed! Feels like sitting in a space rocket...lying in the seat as the car powers up the slope). I already loved this car, but now I love it even more! You feel so invincible in it!
Later, back at the campsite in the valley, Matilda declared that she was going to the lavatory....and took herself off, whistling as she went. I went off to get some firewood (which there's plenty of here, since the dominant tree in Australia by far, the ubiquitous Gum, drops branches all the time) and I came across her...availing herself of the hole in the top of a rotting tree stump. A proper 'Lav-a-tree'!
This is a more typical get up for her....
The view from our camp site...
Whilst we were camping, Daile and Phoebe were at a national level cheer leading contest in Melbourne, which incidentally, they won! Here's Feeb on top of the stack...
She's what they call a 'flyer' which means that she's the one that gets slung into the air, dropped and caught ...and all by a bunch of kids!!! I can tell you it's a source of great concern for me, but she's very hard working at it and loves to do it...
She puts in a load of practice to do this...it's a good example of her focus. Here's a video I took of her the day that she managed to do a back flip on the trampoline. She just practices and practices.
Phoebe also got School Production and ICT Captain roles for next year....woohoo! There will be no year 7 for her school next year, so the year that she will be in (year 6) will be the oldest year which is why she's been up for a captain role this year instead of next. It's easy to forget that she's a year younger than the rest of her year group too...since she was put up a year back in year 1...as some of you may remember.
Matilda now moves up to a senior school. Seems like only yesterday that she was having a tantrum. Oh yeah it was!
What else? Well, the girls, this time as part of the 'Greek Myth Robotics Australia' team, took part in the State competition and won it....which meant they went on to the National competition...and they won that too! SOOOO....now we're trying to raise money to send the three of them to the International competition which rather inconveniently is in Brazil the week after the world cup! Prices are, to say the least, extensively hiked!
Here are Vienna and Phoebe attaching figures to their mountain backdrop at the States...
Here they are at the end of the Nationals being presented,
and here they are being interviewed by ABC TV...
For a while you should be able to see the ABC piece on this link:
Now we have committed to this big Brazil trip and we reckon we need to raise circa $20k. It's a lot to find so we're doing lots of stuff.... Below is Deb, Vienna's Mum in one of our many stalls doing sausage sizzles...
We've been taken under the wing of the Rotary club and they've built us a website...still in development, which we will be able to take donations on when people see the media stuff about the girl's efforts to get to Brazil.
We're planning a gala dinner for dignitaries in March, interviews with radio stations, TV, the Major, and the local State Member of Parliament (who has already posted them on his facebook site).
Lots to do.
Matilda has also come on some way with her climbing hobby. She's been taken under the wing of a couple of climbers that she met at the wall, who have been giving her some tips and training to improve her style and help her progress. She's now able to climb quite a few climbs cleanly that many much more experienced adults struggle with. It's a great thing to watch her.
For Christmas, one of those climbers gave her a 'hanging board' which belonged to her as she's moving to New York. (Thanks Brooke!) Matilda was absolutely stoked! (See below in the car on the way home)
The idea is that you hang on this with your fingertips...and pull up. It makes you a much better climber.
This is Phoebe and Ned out on a walk at the place we stopped overnight on our way down to Leanne and Jim's new house in Canberra. It was SO dried out almost the whole way down, which we weren't expecting. The last time the girls drove this route it was all lush green, and what you see here is the result of several months without very much rain.
Here we are Christmas morning in the tent outside Leanne and Jim's house.... we had a waterfall outside the tent...but I didn't get any pics of that...so you'll have to use your imagination. :(
On Christmas Eve, there was a fight between Ned and Leanne and Jim's dogs...and two of the dogs, including Ned, sustained some quite nasty cuts and bruises. Ned was given a sound telling off for his part in the affair. I didn't see it, so I don't know quite what happened... but he was left in no doubt about how OK it was. The photos below show him looking remorseful...don't you think? He was definitely NOT his normal bouncy self....
The onesies are from Gilly et al. Thanks petal :-)
This was the moment before the presents got unwrapped...
This is some of the land around their place....I think they own this bit...
In the background are the famous 'Snowy Mountains'... which in winter I believe might even have some!
Whilst we were there, the girls were thrilled to be allowed to groom the horses! This one is a rescue horse that had been abused in the past and has put on a third of his weight since he arrived. :-)
But the main drawback for the place, and it's a big one for me, was the flies. Worst thing is that nowadays you don't get corks in bottles...so I had to improvise...! Can you tell what these are?
...and then we were on our way home again. One of the presents I got was a little set of clip on lenses for my iPhone....
Earlier in the year I had my first exhibition. It was called 'Thinkers' and was at Logan Art Gallery...just a little local one...but apparently well regarded by people that know about stuff like that...(all beyond meaning to me).
There was a fantastic turn out for my stuff....over 150 people came on the night, so it was great!
Hey, some were better than others, but I was running a school! Better to be there than not to be there I reckon, and you get better with practice...so hopefully I'll do another one in a while.
Did a large painting of Matilda and entered it for the Moran Prize which has a $150k first prize. It didn't even make it past the photo stage to the Semi's. I don't get what these prizes are looking for really....
So I've decided that I just want to paint ''for me' by which I mean that you have to be true to what 'does it for you' if you get my drift. What 'I' want to paint is fluid and fast portraiture (and other stuff)...with 'Bravura' and flow. Here's one that almost made it...each time I paint one I get a little bit closer to what I'm after. This is my son Josh: It's also 6ft by 4ft like the Matilda one. (I've bought 6 canvases that size...so more to come).
The ute saw another year go past with no action....
Syd the spider is getting a bit big methinks!
Almost finished the long awaited beds....
Matilda and I made an air rifle this spring...to fire gum nuts at the Minor birds...! It's plastic pipes and water fittings. Works quite well with the trigger...so that the valve opens without shaking the gun.
The pics below are some I took with my new iPhone lenses whilst out for a walk with the dog the day we got back. Amazing what you can see if you walk a bit slower!
And this was a blow fly I sprayed....
....and Feeb's eye..
Matilda made a dog house for Ned....
OK....got to go. Hopefully I'll keep this updated better now.
