SHARING A LITTLE BIT OF OUR CHRISTMAS JOY

Our Girls!

Our Boy!

Our Clown!

Our Actress!

Our Sweet Thing!

OUR JOY!!

A JOYOUS CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!

CAN YOU STAY ALL DAY?

I wish we could!

Grandparents Day at Kindy - we got to ride in the boat.

Read stories

Look at that HAPPY little face!

Meet the rabbit.

Play trains.

Swing high............

EVER SO HIGH!!!!!!!!!!!!

HIGH ABOVE THE SKY :)

V for VICTORY

The last time we had a Staff v Students game it was basketball, my all time favourite sport as a young fit thing! I played, we won, I didn't walk for a week!

I vowed NEVER to do the Staff v Student thing EVER EVER EVER AGAIN!

2009 was the year of the Staff v Students cricket match - couldn't resist and had a ball! Still walking, but I'll reserve judgement until tomorrow!
No, it wasn't West Indies v Aussies, we were both on the same team - that's me and Walter and our VICTORY sign - the kids were not happy - but we were!

The kids' whispered, here's Mrs P, this will be a wicket!!! Hee Hee Hee, little did they know I've two sons that I had to bowl for and bat with for many years!!

The victorious team - isn't just great beating a team of 11 and 12 year olds - FEELS GOOD!!!

LIFE'S A WHIRLWIND SO.......

You know, all the end of year stuff (rave rave rave!)

Let's see if I can catch up a little.

Baie won a trophy for the Pipe.

Admired by Daddy.


Rori had her interview with the principal Mrs Eckermann and she's ready to start school!

Passed her aptitude test with flying colours - of course :)

Dean came over from Melbourne to build shelves for Allan's shed.
Now he can finally sort his tools.
And "stuff".

The girls had a sleepover and Tulle couldn't resist a snuggle in 'her' cot.
Even though she has well and truly grown out of it, she can't quite let go!!

Taken a bucket load of photos for:

Formals.
Beautiful Mum's and Gorgeous Babies.

Hello Shauna and Neveah.

Hi there Megan and Charley Lila.

Hello Narelle and Bailee.

Gorgeous 80 year olds on their birthday.
And that's just a few, but it's all been a whole lot of fun!

The Horse Whisperer

Bron's two horses escaped their paddock thanks to one of the farmhands leaving a gate open. Someone must have found them wandering the road and put them safely behind the fence of a neighbours farm!
This meant Bron had to bring them home.


So with no more than a length of rope, she led them back through the paddock.All the way along the road with Nash and me in the car with hazzard lights on hoping a double milk truck didn't come rumbling along!



And safely home again.She's a natural with animals, I was freaking out (inside of course!), Morty the bay is so big and Tori the palamino is not broken in yet but she had no trouble with them whatsoever, they followed along like little puppies!

BORN TO BE WILD............

Kylie Bubba Louie, you've never looked better - I just love it - God bless you and little Bubba Louie, it's count down now!

DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL..

For me the memories always centre around the excitement of NEW SHOES! Here's our number 3's new school shoes on her first orientation day at St Martins.

So very proud to be in her big sisters uniform.

Here she is peeking into Nan's office where she visits most days!

BABY SMOOCHES

These two little smoochers have been together almost since birth - no they're not twins!


They are "Just Friends" -They are Nash and Neveah!Actually, they just love each other!!
Even though they will eventually live on opposite sides of the world from each other...
I hope they will always remain friends :)
At the very least they will have these cute photos to remember each other by.

FROM PERFECT DAY TO PERFECT NIGHT

Each evening God paints a different picture for us outside our window. This was Wednesday's sunset and we sat on the balcony and watched it all unfold until it was dark - perfect!

A PERFECT DAY AT THE BAY

For those of you who are not familiar with "The Bay" - it's what Port MacDonnell is generally known as. If you were to ask, where do you live? The answer would be in "The Bay". If you are going for a drive to Port Mac. You're heading to "The Bay, and today it was a perfect day at The Bay.

We had a load of fun on the kayaks.
Tulle was up and dancing.
No waves - but lots of smiles
But that didn't matter, it was the perfect opportunity for the little ones to learn some paddling skills.
There was some hanging out to do in the warm water of the pools.
A quick chat amongst sisters.
And of course, finish off with a game of beach cricket.

We ended our delicious beach day with a belated celebration for Steve's birthday, complete with delicious Tarsha Torte....

.....and pretend candles! Who forgot the candles!!? Who needs candles when everyone has a great imagination!In deep contemplation - cutting the cake with a wish - I wonder what he wished for :)

SUMMER - HERE IT COMES

And summer, here we come!
The kayaks are out - Bron having her first paddle - Adam coaching and trying not to get his 'bits' wet!

The first day of the heat wave.



We're sure to be spending a lot of time at this spot!

CLOISONNE - beautiful handmade in China

We visited a 'factory' where the items are made by hand, painted and kiln fired (8 times) to produce a beautiful item that looked like fine china (the breakable kind!).

The "canvas" for a Cloisonné pattern is made of copper.

A coppersmith fashions the copper by hand into the shape required. He sits and hammers away for hours.
The pattern is imprinted onto the base, and copper wire that is approximately 1/16 of an inch in diameter is bent into the desired pattern and soldered into place. This is painstaking work.
To make to coloured fillings various pigments are ground into a fine powder. Then comes enamel filling. The pigment is added to each cell compartment by hand. See the droppers in the mix?
Once the first filling is complete, the piece is fired in a crucible. As the copper base turns red the pigments will melt filling each cell. There is a slight amount of shrinkage to the pigments on the first firing, and some re-filling of the cells will be required before a second firing. There can be as many as six or seven or more firings to achieve the desired results.
Once all of the compartments are sufficiently full the object is placed on a motorized wheel, and cutting emery is used to even the surface. (Didn't have anyone working on that the day we visited, so no photo). The object will be fired for a final time, then polished with whetstone and carbon.

The exposed metal filigree is electroplated with gold or silver to prevent oxidation from dulling the filigree. Then the object will be given a final polish.


Check out the beautiful end result...........

Decisions Decisions!!

FROM SMOG TO FOG

This is what greeted us at Mutianya.

FOG!!

We drove out of the smog of Beijing and hoped for a clear smog free day at the Great Wall.
Didn't go far because we couldn't see anymore that what the photos depict - it was still beautiful!

GRANDPARENTS DAY AT ST MARTINS

How lucky am I to work at the same school my grand daughters attend? Very Lucky! This year grand parents were asked to talk about their days at school to compare with how things are these days. It was fun and interesting. I got to meet the class pet - forgot to ask his name, but very cute!

Check out all the year's work - very impressive!

And great grand dad Ron came along and enjoyed talking about his days at school too.

ANOTHER SHOW HAS BEEN AND GONE and

We can't miss it because.............
A little girl has to ride on her grandfather's shoulders to see what's going on!And choose what ride she wants to take.





and a little boy has to check out the tractors..And take a long nap!
And our big girl dances......
I love to watch her dance!
Lots of good reasons to "Go to the Show"!

He wears it well........

Nash wearing his Daddy's old college hat - Immanuel College in Adelaide, ......seems a life time away when Adam wore it and well, Nash, he wears it well :)

COOEE ON THE GREAT WALL

Cooee! (IPA /ku:'i:/) is a shout used in the Australian Outback mainly to attract attention, find missing people, or indicate one's own location. When done correctly - loudly and shrilly - a call of "cooee" can carry over a considerable distance.

We had left Auntie Bev under a tree to rest a few towers back and walked on a little further. I sent off a cooee to her and were answered by a neighbour - a New Zealand neighbour who recognised the 'cooee'. As it turned out he was a friend of a friend of a friend (of course)! These things happen when you travel - the world sure is a small place!

So, welcome to the Great Wall of China. This is the Jinshanling section near Simatai. No idea what the inscription says, but I will ask Ming our Chinese teacher to translate for me one day.

As you can see from the pics this is part of the Wall is in it's natural state with not much renovation happening here.
It was magnificent!
Below is my favourite photo of the wall showing how the wall continues from one mountain to the other with the towers built on right on top of each peak.
The leaves were just turning and the scenery was beautiful, marred slightly by the smog that is blow in from Beijing.
This part of the wall was over two hours travel from Beijing which was heavy with smog that day. We travelled the whole way hoping that it would clear at the Wall. Unfortunately that wasn't the case but it was still magnificent.
Bev and I bought hiking sticks, Allan thought it unnecessary, but we girls were very pleased to have them on the STEEP STEEP steps!

And there were hundreds of them, they just kept coming and coming.
.....and coming...
Every now and then we had a little bit of down hill,
And a rest here and there.
Phew!! It was great to walk the Great Wall at Jinshanling :)

My Beautifuls

It was a long time with out my beauties - three weeks in China and Nash was in New Zealand for two weeks before we left, so it seemed FOREVER since I had seen them!So we spent a delicious Sunday together.
Just smoochin'
and talkin'
and ridin'
and playin'




I'm glad to be home :)

ON A SLOW PLANE TO CHINA

Hi!! We're Home!!

It's been a fun filled and jammed packed few weeks in China with an unscheduled stop in Manila and a few hours in an hotel in Hong Kong!! Why you ask? If you have been watching the news recently you will have seen the devastation in the Asia region caused by cyclones, earthquakes, land slides and floods. Before we left Australia there was a tropical depression forming in the area around Hong Kong and by the time we arrived it was a cyclone! After two aborted attempts to land our captain (an Aussie - Captain Donaldson) informed us we were heading back to the Phillipines so that we could land safely. So to cut a very long and tiring story short, we were fed and provided with a very comfortable suite of rooms in an hotel in Manila, several hours later flew to Hong Kong where we were allowed about 4 hours sleep in an airport hotel before heading on to Beijing, our original destination! Very weary and me with very swollen ankles!!

So below a few introductory pics of our arrival in China, starting with the sun trying to peek through the very thick smog in Beijing. We were fortunate to have one of our days in Beijing with some blue sky and clouds in vision.
And the traffic that contributes to that smog! The cars there are plenty, the rules there are not many!! But despite this the traffic seems to flow and the drivers are incredibly tolerant - no road rage here; cars, buses, trucks, motor bikes, bicycles and pedestrians weave in and out of the traffic, through pedestrian crossings, red lights, across in front of buses etc etc!!
Of course when you think of transport in China, bicycles come to mind. Not all of the 18 million inhabitants of Beijing can afford a motor car, though from the number on the very well organised freeways it looks like they can!Street kitchen.
A shot of an old lady in the old Beijing, in the Hutong area that we visited. More photos of that area later.
An old man practising his calligraphy using water on cement, he wrote "Australia" for us!

The building below is one of the most amazing I've seen. It is the National Centre for Performing Arts. It is called the "Golden Egg" even though it is silver in colour, the reason for this is the cost was exorbitant so the locals thought it must be made of gold! The pattern on top is Yin Yang and the egg is surrounded by water. The entrance to the building is under the egg and water, I'll pop another photo in later showing the entrance and the water overhead.Inside is massive and magnificent; check out the size of the people in the picture and you can get a better idea of the size of this huge complex.

From the new to the old. Below is one of the buildings from either the Forbidden City or the Temple of Heaven !!!! I need to check my itinerary, we went to so many places I can't remember what was where.
China is just totally immersed in thousands of years of amazing history with most of the finer buildings built for the Emporers and their families. The attention to detail is amazing.

Below: Moa and Al at Tiananmen Square. We were there while they were preparing for the 60th National Day commemorations and in Shanghai on the actual day being treated to some great fireworks displays.

Entering Tiananmen Square

A NICE EVENING OUT

Had to do a quick update before heading off to China! The camera has been collecting cobwebs the past few weeks, but it came out on Friday evening for St Martins annual Art Show. As usual the works were amazing and the evening was delightful. Steve has opened the show each year and in the past children haven't attended - but we attended to that this year and it was opened up to the students to attend the opening as well (as it should be in my opinion as the contributors to the show are the kids!).

The girls love to dress up for functions and this was no exception - check out Baie's hair, amazingly done by NAN, yes me - hair is so not my thing, but Baie thought it was groovy and stuck with it!


And front on with her gorgeous face and friend Maddie.
Tulle and Rori listening very intently to Daddy's speech.


And Baie with Daddy - time to leave the cocktail party and head to their favourite Italian restaurant where they are always treated to a special gelati.

And the reason for the show - Tulle's contribution to the exhibition which was named "Flight of Fantasy". The kids had the opportunity to make something within that theme and all together made beautiful mobiles.So this will be the last update for a few weeks but I'm sure there will be plenty after we arrive home.

Catchya then xxx

THINGS YOU FIND WHEN UNPACKING.....

Just over a year ago our old mate "Mate" died. We were all so sad and missed him very much. The girls in their innocence wanted to write stories about Mate and as I was unpacking a box of "stuff" came across their stories.
MATEY DOG
Matey Dog died because he was sick and old. I loved patting him and Grandad was talking about it cos he died. matey Dog liked to play throw. I loved Matey dog and now he died and that makes me sad and it makes Nanny sad. Matey Dog is my friend and then Allan takes his collar off and then he puts it back on all the time. Matey Dog and Me by Rori Perryman 06/08/08.
MATE'S LIFE
One day nanny and Auntie Tracy went to Melbourne to get a little puff ball what was a puppy. nanny went home and Grandad got a surprise. they called the puppy Mate. He got older and older and older until he got sick. the next morning he died. He lived for elevan and a half years. mate always came to say hello when we got to Allendale and he wagged his tail. Mate loved to play chasey and loves playing fetch and loves going to the beach for fun. mate loved to eat food too.
True story by Tulle Perryman 06/08/08.

MATEY AND ME
Matey Dog's life.
Me and Matey were good friends.
Matey and Me are still good friends.

Met us every time
Amazing dog
Terrific friend
Excellent

I have known Matey for eight years. He was four years old when I was born. When he was younger he went fishing with Grandad every day. He liked the old boat Ruby H but he didn't like the new boat, I think it was too noisy for him.
By Baie Perryman 06/08/08
This is a true story.
Never did get Robbie's story!!



He was the perfect family member.........
Loved a chatHad good manners

Always looked forward to Christmas - mmmmmmmm left overs for a week!


Go for a stroll and a play in the puddle.

I'm not sure what he loved most, a toss up between our family, the back of the ute, the beach, food, tug o war - the list goes on!
I know one thing, he was never far from Allan and what ever he was doing at the time.


Behind him...
Between..........
In front.........
Underneath..........
Right there...........
As close as he could get.....
On the run.........
Yep, right there.........
Actually, I think I do know what/who he loved the most....

It was his best mate the dog whisperer! Allan is a natural with animals, especially dogs and I think they know it. Mate just loved Allan and was happiest when he was with him :)

I'm so glad the girls wrote their precious memories of our Matey Dog and I found them and could reminisce and enjoy the memories.

SHARING SOME NICK NEWS

By the time you read this Nick will have completed his transfer of bone marrow - we pray pray pray that this is what it takes to place Nick into remission.


He has gone through so much to get to this stage......read on parts of the recent update from Sandie.

Hi all

Today is day -3 and Nick has already undergone two days of chemo, he experienced some light headiness after each lot of chemo managing this with bed rest. It it hard for him to just lay about but thanks to a great game (as described by Nick!) he has stayed relatively immobile.

He had his first Total Body Irradiation treatment today, this will occur 2 x daily for the next 3 days. The treatment itself doesn't take very long but the setting up takes about 20 minutes and he must remain in a static stable and rather uncomfortable position for the duration. One redeeming thing is that he can watch a DVD during this time.

When he returned to the room he was feeling very hot, but had been advised that this would be a result. After a period of time he wisely decided to get back into bed, then felt cold, so I covered him up and he has been snoozing ever since. We had been advised that he would be very tired and that it is best for him to sleep as much as he can - so he is doing just that. I suspect that the continual TBI 2 x daily will take it's toll.

He still continues to harass the nursing staff with many of them threatening to quit:) Fortunately they give as much as they get and have certainly got his number! They remain diligent and full of information and answers if/when we have any concerns or questions.

I can't tell how much we have appreciated your ongoing encouragement, contact and support during this journey, we know we have a few more bumps ahead of us but knowing that there are so many people putting their positive wishes and energy out to us gives us strength.

much love to you all and please keep in touch as we need you all

Nick Sandie and Sophalina xxxxxxxxxx

NASH CAN..............

Sit.....
Kneel...........

Crawl.............Stand up..................

And Walk...............

And he thinks he's the most 'cleverest' kid in the world!!

So does his Dad..................

Did I mention Run? Well that's where he's at - gotta run, walking just ain't fast enough!!

ON SAFARI

Can you see me Nan? Book Week at school and the theme "On Safari"

Show me your best safari face girls............

What can I say, they are the best safari faces I ever did see!!!

It was a whole lot of fun, safari jeeps and all!

SOME CATCHING UP

While we were in limbo waiting for our home to be built it was often difficult to keep up with the blog so I thought I would just place some random photos and happenings to catch up.

Check this out below, the kid walked away from it with just a scratch and a trickle of blood.
This is the track he took after a blow out.
But for the Grace of God - the photos taken the morning after. We were almost home (at Lewieville farm) when he passed us, we heard the pop of the tyre then just dust!!




We spent a week in Brisbane in July and caught up with the Kenchingtons in Surfers and Bubba Lewie with her little Bubba on the way L)
We had time for a spa
And pizza with the Muellers!
Allan and Anthony catching up.
And it was party time for Sophie Fleur Bai.
At the Tigger Playhouse with family and friends. Unfortunately Daddy wasn't well and in hospital, but the little 5 year old enjoyed herself - and has the pink cheeks to prove it!
No show without Tigger - Sharon and me hamming itup with the big guy!
Our own staircase to the moon. The moon rising over the ocean just out the front of Lewieville (Pt MacDonnell)


Hmmmmmmmm...... if you recognise these two, please let me know who they are!!
Ah ha - it's Chopper and his Chick!



Checking out end of semester reports and portfolios.
VERY IMPRESSIVE

A bit of late summer fun, two little four year olds enjoying the waves.
I can't help but wonder what she's thinking as she swings back and forth looking out on to the lake?
Maybe thinking of rainbows like this one.
Luckily had my camera in the car late one afternoon.
And was blessed with the sight of this beautiful arc.
There is something about rainbows that I just LOVE.

"OUR" SWANS

This is the sight that greeted me at 7am today - "our" swans making their way across the wetlands with one parent in front and the other taking the rear with five gorgeous little cygnets lined up in the middle. They were heading a couple hundred metres further on and had to pass.....through the double fence to get where they like to go! Still all in a line!

I went off to work and Allan snapped these almost an hour later when they had drifted back in to our back yard. How cute are those little chickies?!!

The top and bottom photos were taken through the office window upstairs and the centre pic is from the lawn out back.

THE BIRTHDAY CAKE

It's GREEN!
And you want me to eat it?
Has anyone else noticed? - It's GREEN?!!!!


OK, just for you mummy, I'll try...........It's not so good...........
On second thoughts - Hey, it's a Great Green Cake!

I think....

Happy Birthday Baby Boy

Where's The Party Sheep? "Where's the What?" I hear you ask? Nash's party theme was based on his favourite book "Where's the Green Sheep?" The book was a birth gift for Nash from Baie and he LOVES it, so much that is has had serious repair already from our librarian at school!

Bron and her mum spent HOURS baking and making flocks of sheep for the party. The sheep at the top of the flock was Nash's.


Followed by the party hat (Hey where's the sheep?)Here he is, so cute, made from cotton balls, white wool wrapped around and face and legs all made individually with felt and pipe cleaners. All sheep legs coloured separately by hand to match - the dedication of a Nanna!

Here's the whole flock of marshmallow sheep with cookie faces and liquorice legsAnd three cute little faces - each face cut and baked by Nanna Kaye.
AND HERE'S THE BIRTHDAY BOY in his little Billabong jeans and baby moccasins!

enjoying his day.......
Cake time and facing that very first candle...

MUCH MORE TO COME

Yep - I sure do have a pantry...

But first, I have a bath, I'm preparing for my first bath in my new bath!
It was DELICIOUS!!! :) and full of Radox salts to soak away the aches of a day moving and cleaning!!

But about the panty - it's straight off the kitchen, this photo is taken almost at the pantry door looking south towards the ocean (you can't see the ocean because the blinds are down!).
...so come right in...
and take a look around!
Lots of cupboards and shelves
and more........cupboards and shelves and a couple of bins - they are great bins! There's a story behind them there bins!
It's not just a pantry, it's a store room for the upstairs area too.
Office above.
Master bedroom (with ensuite in the back ground)
My robe below, Allan has his own elsewhere!!

Today our lounges arrived and with a little help from some friends.....actually a lot of friends.

The stairs were moved back to bring up the furniture. These stairs have been moved back and forth on several occasions usually with just 4 or 5 people to help - this has meant hernia's, back ache and other ailments that can't be mentioned! So this time Allan enlisted at least 10 men to help move the stairs and carry the lounges up and over the balcony

It was very successful and a lot less stressful than previous occasions when there has been just a few helpers!!!



So, here is the new lounge(s), not particularly beautiful but particularly comfortable!!
It took a whole weekend to choose between something that looked like it came out of a "Beautiful Homes" magazine but not particularly comfortable and this one that is not particularly beautiful, but amazingly comfortable.

We thought at this time of life, we needed to put comfort before beauty! We chose comfort.

And speaking of a little help from our friends, here's Rick helping dad put his bedroom furniture back together.

Thanks Friends!!

AT LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAST

Here's a few pics taken very quickly yesterday morning.

We are becoming impatient to move in, but just 4 sleeps to go!!!!

Kitchen

Alfesco

Laundry

Bathroom 2

Bedroom (can you tell!)

TV room downstairs

Living Dining Kitchen Stairwell

Kitchen view 2.

More to come when I get the time. Actually we are off line at home and these have been blogged at work!!

Sorry not much to say, but I'll make up for it eventually!!!!!! xx