Jack Warner - Rest in Peace

This week we heard the unbelievable news that our dear friend Jack Warner had died of a heart attack at the weekend. He was a loving and fun father to four kids - Tim, Ella, Rosie and Kes and a wonderful husband to Sue. Sue is Daile's cousin, and therefore he was also Matilda and Phoebe's uncle.
We are utterly dumbfounded that he has gone, it was so sudden. We just sit here looking at the floor, wondering how the family will cope, how anyone can cope with such a loss, and wishing that we could be there, to just be there, knowing that there's nothing that you can do to take away the pain, but that at least you can do the chores... or something!
Sue is a very resilient person, they both were always, and the kids have that too I'm certain, but HOW do you get through something like that?
All our thoughts are with them, and we've done much talking about it with the girls, who've made Christmas decorations in memory of Jack - a man they greatly loved and admired - as did we, and as did everyone that knew him!

We love you Jack.

Books...and not judging by the covers!

OK, I'm allowing myself a little display of pride here (hopefully not short lived)... the girls have both finished school now and have got into the classes that we wanted. Phoebe, having been upgraded to to year one from prep this year, turned in a report that was up at the upper end of year one results, so she's done really well and will start year two in DGB which is the class that Tild has just left. DGB, runs from year two to year three, so she'll be in it for two years. This is absolutely fantastic as far as we're concerned because DGB (Mrs's Day, George and Bird) are a team of three teachers that are so in tune with each other that the classes go like a polished performance, all the kids seem to know the part that they are playing and there's always lots of smiles and laughter. Phoebe's transition into that class has been anticipated - and both they and Daile and I have requested that she be admitted to that class rather than some random other one. She does however have a very hard act to follow!

Matilda, has left a real and apparently very welcome mark on that class, is well liked by all the kids, who flock around us as parents when we pitch up. All the other parents comment on how their kids want to be like her, and how they all eat fruit and vegetables and try to read all the time like Matilda does. (Always got her nose in a book). Matilda bakes cookies for class and they're bloody good too, all the Mums are looking at us like we're parenting GODS!

She got a another stellar report, and they gave her this last Friday: (Click on it to enlarge)



Funny that we can't seem to get her to do all that at home innit!

Poem on the fly

Here's a poem that Matilda wrote whilst she was waiting to go on at the school concert the other day. They put it in the school newsletter:

THE CONCERT
Today’s the big day
Of the concert “horray!”
With bright pink tutu all lovely and soft
And singers practicing their voices cough, cough!
Cough, cough!
There are dancers, a band and narrators too
Your parents smiling and waving at you.
After the show it’s very late
Dad carries me into the car and past the gate.
As soon as we get home I’m tucked into bed
I lie on the pillow and rest my head.
Mum comes in and kisses my cheek,
“Well done!” she says, “to me it was a great treat!”
By Matilda Martin DGB
Before the show observations

Nice eh! A couple of nights after that, I woke up as I was falling out of bed. I hit the floor whilst flailing about trying to catch myself. After I'd got over my embarassment (funny that I'd embarassed myself... I was the only one to see it) I realised that I'd just been kicked out of bed by Matilda. Daile had already found somewhere else to sleep... so Matilda had obviously been 'snuggling in' and I'd been trying to get into a cooler space. Ha ha. When she heard she thought that it was very funny. I went to sleep again with Daile in the spare room.

Chocolate and Turtle tanning

Daile decided to get out the advent calendars this year, the ones that we brought from the UK. One is from Mum, and has pockets for sweets, and the other is a thing that requires chocolate moulds to be filled and the results go into little numbered plastic foil bags. Only thing was that neither of us really gave the problem of heat any thought until it came to deciding where to hang them. We realised that they would very soon be little puddles of chocolate in the bottom of the bags... and we couldn't think of anywhere that we could put them where that wouldn't happen. Our house is pretty hot, especially at the top, where Daile and I sleep. Even the bottom is hot, though there could be as much as 5 degrees in it.

We realised that we'd have to keep them in a fridge, not exactly festive, but in the end,, we put them in the fridge in my workshop. Normally this is my beer fridge, but hey, y'know, I love the little blighters and thought that perhaps I'd share it on this occasion! (Especially as there's no beer in it right now!).

So, I duly strung out the little tartan ribbons that hold the bags up, having first taken out the door furniture and given it a wipe down. This is what they looked like; I was actually really pleased with it, as were the girls!





The day after we got back from Melbourne we picked up the class turtle from Matilda's class. We'd been asked if we'd like to have her, because I'd expressed an interest in building her a larger tank at the beginning of term. Since no budget was forthcoming and the glass alone would have been circa $200, it didn't happen. Never-the-less, I'd obviously acquired the label 'sucker' in the process and so when they asked me, I just HAD to say yes! The girls were thrilled... and all Matilda's class mates were either jealous or just sad to see her go. Trouble was that at 8 years old, she was just too big to keep in the class tank any more.

This pet acquisition is like a creeping ivy, it just sort of happens whilst you weren't paying attention and before you know it you're committed to another being's welfare!

'Squirtle' is enjoying 'retirement' according to Mrs George and Mrs Day, two of Matilda's teachers, and we've been getting her out of the tank, something that hardly happened at all before. As a result, her shell is beginning to dry out, and flake away, a healthy sign I'm told. She LOVES sitting in the sun!



Here she is in the back of the Ute. I was trying to work and she kept trying to go down the garden and across the road! Jack the cat is trying to show her how to get out... but she's not got the hang of it yet!



Here's a picture of her proud owner!

Helen and Simon's wedding

Last weekend we went to my cousin's wedding in Melbourne. It was the first time that I'd been to Melbourne and I was expecting great things. In the event, we didn't really have much time or energy for going into the city.

I'd gone for the cheapest flights that I could find, but hadn't realised how much harder it is to get to Elaine's (My Aunt) house. We left our house at about 10.30 and got to hers at about 7.00pm. We were going straight out again to a party at Simon's (The groom) and so we were a little pooped by the end of the day.

Elaine has a lovely little flat in her garden, and currently my uncle (Don) is staying there for a few months. He visits from the UK every year.

Anyway, here's some pics in no particular order:

This is David, Elaine's partner of several years, a really great fella.



Elaine hasn't changed much in the 35 or so years since I last saw her!



Daile... we got back from the cafe too late for her to put on make up, so she just did without! I love that!



Mallee - Helen and Simon's little boy and a fine one he is - FULL of beans!



The venue, an Orchard!



Simon, (the blushing groom)...



Don walking up with Helen, and the bridesmaids... (not one of them blushing actually)





Leo, Helen's brother and Mallee. The gent on the right is Scotty, the photographer and a mate. The ute was driven in by Helen with the 5 bridesmaids on the back and Don and Leo in the cab with her...



The celebrant was a woman, and a really buoyant one!



One of the guests... a free ranging one.



Mallee again..



The happy couple...



After the ceremony just before the speeches...



Simon's Dad Peter giving a lovely speech, then Elaine on his right, and Don grinning.



Don and Simon



Helen and Susie - Simon's Mum in the background...



Leo's partner, Victoria (Tory)



one of Peter's grand kids...



Leo with the marriage certificate. (He was bemused to have been trusted with it!)



More free range guests... these are Lucas's girls...



Helen, making a gettaway!



We really had a lovely time, did some walking, lots of interesting talking with Elaine and David and of course Don, and drinking coffees at a local venue that is REALLY nice and part of Elaine's morning walk with the dog (Lancelot). It was fantastic to be invited and catch up with all my Australian family connections. I have to say that Helen and Leo are really fantastic, balanced and charming people.