Another one!

Last weekend we headed off for another weekend walk. This one was Tasha's choice and she decided on this place.......... I must admit we did cheat slightly and only started at the showground not down near the bridge but it was still a decent walk. The amazing thing....... Tegan willingly joined us again! I thought after dragging her around the bush at Currarong she would never come back!

We had a great time - did a lot of walking down memory lane - the kids loved hearing stories from both Tony and my childhood (even though there was quite a gap between said childhoods ~L~)

Wow the place has changed a lot but there was also a lot of familiar sights. The rope swing. The river crossing. The suspension bridge.

And yes again - a good amount of clowning around, hamming it up, laughing and rock climbing. (Including a discussion about the Ministry of Funny Walks from Monty Python!)

Well this weekend we will be heading up Georgia on Woodhill Mountain for the massive clearance sale. So probably no walk for us this weekend :(

Scrapping

Yes you read that title right - "Scrapping". I actually spent some time in my scrapping room over the last few days and got some work done. As opposed to just sitting in my craft room with the door shut to pretend that the rest of the world (or at least the house) doesn't exist.
The scary bit..... I used Basic Grey! I have been feeling kind of overdosed on BG and had kind of avoided it a bit lately but the bittersweet papers jumped at me so out came the scissors (sorry Cass) and away we went! The first layout I did was using some photos from a couple of years ago. Tasha's biggest complaint was that it should have been titled "the weird ones" ~L~

Then with the left over bits I did a layout of Tasha and I. I keep telling myself I am going to try and do the minimalist type layout but this definately needs something added to it....... just got this far and the scrappers block kicked in - so it is in my pile to look at again at a later date.

Glimmer mist........ I love this stuff! I don't know if I should thank Kim and Cass or yell at them for teaching me about it and helping me to fall in love.

And a very, very simple, plain album full of family pictures. Still needs some tweaking but I'm liking it so far.

Bits and pieces

Yes I know I have been slack - but Jane you should be careful what you ask for..... hold on tight as we head off on the update ride.

Lets start at Mothers Day....... I was reminded that I havent done show and tell yet so here you go. Firstly my nice warm boots for standing out on freezing cold soccer fields in the middle of the week in winter at night time. Having done the test last Wednesday they work well. I got new purple slippers for around the house and........ my gorgeous now black boots! JJJJAAAANNNEEEE........ they need a dance night! Now back to our normal viewing ~L~ Saturday morning we went up to Georgia - this is probably the last chance we will have to get photos etc. Next time we go up the mountain will be for the monster garage sale and clear out.
These hills are a lot of the reason Mum and John are leaving the mountain and heading down into town - imagine walking these hills a couple of times a day (at the age of 85).

We had a photo session with the kids in different places on the property. I love the relationship these two have. Yes they fight, argue, bicker etc....... but you take on one of them you take on both! I love how protective they are of each other. The other night I stuck my head into Kyle's room and they were playing a game of tetris with 3d blocks and the laughter coming out of there was wonderful.

Pity the grass covers half the faces but I love this shot. I was down one of the hills and looked up to see everyone standing at the edge of the driveway - love this pic.

The kids down at the front gate.

After spending some time at Georgia (and seeing some of Mum's old friends from school - one couple were one of the families we spent so much time with at Currarong, Noelene and Keith Larsen) we headed over the mountain to Kangaroo Valley and then up Barrengarry Mountain to Morton National Park and Manning Lookout.

Who said my family was normal??? They hammed it up something horrid at the "look out".

The view into Kangaroo Valley was a surprise - normally this view is a glorious bright green. I was shocked how brown the valley looked.

Oh and I have done some scrapping today! Will take some pics later if the light gets a bit better for show and tell!

Our little stroll

Little stroll.... PPPffffttttt!
Friday night Tegan came to stay and since it was such a lovely day on saturday we decided to head out for a little bushwalk out to the wreck and back at Currarong.

Currarong has always held good memories for me as it was where we went nearly every school holidays as I was growing up. Mum, Dad, Mark and I would head off to our "holiday house" - (read tiny, tiny shack - had a look on the weekend I am sure it wasn't that small back then ~L~). We spent hours each day exploring the beach and climbing over the rocks. We were usually joined by other families - mainly the Riggs, Larsens and Stuarts (in their own places - they couldn't fit in ours!) and I always think back on those times very fondly.

So with this in mind I decided to take the kids for a nice walk out to the wreck of the SS Merimbula which I visited many, many times as a child. A nice easy stroll through the bush with a short climb over the rocks to get back. The problem with our plans? We took Tony!!!!! Usually it is just the kids and I who head out and we have a nice little stroll, look around, chat and enjoy the sunshine (and if we find some sand to play in then all the better). With Tony not only do you keep walking you "just go down this track" and "we may as well go this way" and 4 hours later you get back to the car.
So yes we were very exhausted and it was with sore feet (all the girls) and one sore ankle (yes - me!) we got home.
Having said all that we did have a great time and the kids had a ball exploring the rocks and wlaking along very narrow and extremely high cliffs. We found spiders, lizards, crabs, plant life, seaweed, and even a knife and fork and toothbrush! It was great to see the kids having so much fun in a place I had such good memories about.

I was amazed at how little of the wreck was left. Hmmmm I am sure it isn't that long since I was out there as a kid.

What a weekend

Well what can I say - after last week and all its ups and downs this weekend started with a bang - LITERALLY!
After picking Cass up at her place and driving up to Sutherland we had just about made it incident free and were pulling into the car park near the train station when... WHAM... a guy on a pushbike cut up the inside of me using a footpath and as I turned into the drive way he rode full speed into the passenger side door. Poor Cass - big dint in the door, side mirror broken. That would be a shocking way to start the weekend right.... oh but wait...... theres more. I was still quite shaken and not quite with it so after booking in at the hotel I turned and walked straight into the ropes they use for the queue and then....... somehow managed to sit in bird poo at lunch time (yes I had black pants on!)

Oh well the day had to head up from there! And it did! We went to the Capitol Theatre and bought our Ozmopolitan cocktails whilst we waited for the show to start. Wow what a show (note * these are not my photos - I cheated and used publicity shots). The costumes, the voices, the lighting - Rob Mills poured into tight tight pants that looked suitable to be worn by Gaston from Beauty and the Beast! I LOVED the whole thing. The story line was incredible - it confronted racism, bullying, friendships and incorporated the Wizard of Oz in such a way that I will never watch it the same again. If you get a chance you MUST go see Wicked.

Now last time we were in Sydney they kindly put on a fireworks display for us as Cass and I both loooove fireworks. Well they must have known we were coming because for this weekend only - Fireworks at Darling Harbour! YAY

Oh and what trip to Darling Harbour is complete without a trip to the Lindt Cafe!

NOTE* I thought I was doing okay after the car accident on the weekend until I was sitting in the driveway on Monday waiting for the garage door to open and poor Tasha knocked on the passenger side car window. Only for me to totally lose it and sit there in the driveway bawling and shaking. I just heard the bang and saw a person at the window and it brought it all back to me. Poor Tash!