It was nice to be back in Australia and our beautiful weather.
We had great intentions this year of playing more golf, but unfortunately this didn’t happen. We live in hope that we will be making the golf course our second home sometime in the next couple of years. Liam is getting older and more self reliant every year, so we should be able to get out more during the day while he rides his bike to his friends houses and plays.
The property was a bit over grown when we got home, but with a lot of hard work we got it back to the way it should look. It was fantastic to see the kangaroos have shifted into the paddock.
During the first holidays, we went bike riding to Gnarabup cafe and took a good look at some of the cows on parade. The cow parade was a great idea and we enjoyed stopping by to take a look at as many as we could.
Liam took up football again this year and made tremendous improvements. His kicking and running were a stand out feature and it was pleasing to see him thinking quickly and using the ball well. I think Liam will continue to play football and become a great winger.
July saw the annual school ski trip. This one was particularly enjoyable since it was the final catalyst for major change taking place in our school. The atmosphere at the school is back to normal and very positive. The staff have been fantastic and Bruce has had one of his most enjoyable years as a HOLA.
The usual crew came along on the ski trip and we took 42 students as well. As you can see, Merv and Wayne enjoyed themselves immensely.
Rosie has always been keen on getting some Grass Trees (Black Boys if you are not being politically correct) but Bruce wasn’t the slightest bit interested in trying to dig them out. She announced during the third term holidays that Daen was going to help her. Bruce was skeptical until she then went and picked up a trench digger. This did tend to make the task of digging out a few cubic metres of dirt a bit easier.
Now that we have planted them, we need to put a lot of water on them for the next two years – this seems a bit excessive, but given the effort required to get them, I think we will do it. So far they are looking healthy and appear to be growing, so all is well.
Liam took up cricket this year, and after a shaky start, he is starting to improve rapidly. His running between wickets is fantastic and his batting is coming along well. He still has a bit of practise to do to improve his bowling, but with persistence this will happen.
Bruce was inspired after his coaching in Canada, and has taken on the role of scorer. It helps to keep him awake and at least this way he never misses anything that Liam does, though he does have trouble recognising players (especially his own son).
Bruce scoring with Iris KH. Liam and Iris’s son Jaz doing fielding practice.
Blue turned 80 this year so the October Darby Day took on an added importance. Larry also had his birthday (may have been 55, but I think I am being rude). We all made the effort to be there and it was great to catch up with Kim and Karen after nearly two years.
Bruce had a very social Year 10 class this year and as much as they frustrated him with their lack on endeavour, they more than made up for it with their good nature. It is the first birthday cake a class has brought in for me. Savannah even went to the effort of decorating it with π (which is pretty good given Savannah is legally blind).
The Summer holidays (December/January for you Northern people) have been very busy with a couple of renovation projects. We have covered in the sundeck at the Studio and put a fence around it so that we can improve our occupancy. This is working so far, but it was very hectic getting it ready. Bruce was flat out and then just when it was finished, we had a bit of a disaster with our water tank and had to clear away all the trees and take off the top so that these enormous roots (that came in from the top fortunately) could be pulled out. There were four big roots in the system, but all seems good now.
The other major improvement was improving our outdoor area at the house. We put in a decking and covered in the roof so that it is more of an all year area. It has made a fantastic improvement and we now tend to sit outside for breakfast and dinner. We love sitting out in the afternoon and watch the birds in the birdbaths, it is so relaxing and the array of birds is the best we have seen in years.
We also had a slight problem with our rain water tank this year. The inflow pipes were broken by a. root invasion into the tank. When we took the roof off the tank, we were able to pull out a root system that took up one third of the tank. It was very impressive.
Peg and Blue came to join Rosie’s mum Betty for Christmas at our house and it was great to all sit out and have a leisurely lunch amongst the trees and birds.
Daen and Sophie came over in the morning for breakfast, which was a good start to the day. Daen has a dog called Vegas – it is Great Dane, and as you can see from the pictures below, it is enormous.
In the evening Merv and Robyn joined us for the evening meal of left overs and a curried crayfish. We then went over to Dave and Barb’s to have dinner with their family and were joined by
After the main meal we walked over to Dave and Barb’s for coffee and dessert. It was a great time amongst family and friends, one of our best Christmasses yet, though it is hard to top our wonderful Christmas in Stamford, NY last year.
This year, Liam decided to chose a present for himself to give Rosie. He asked her what she wanted and was told just his love was enough. He decided that a picture of himself for Xmas would capture this idea. It was a well thought out idea and a lovely photo. Taken December 23, 2010
New Year was spent at Merv and Robyn’s house along with Ed and our usual crowd. A nice liasurely dinner and several drinks helped us to while away the time so we managed to last till Midnight.
2010 has been a year of reconnecting with friends and appreciating what we have here in Margaret River. It was a great year.
Throughout the year we have been putting up the flags of the different places we visited in 2009. We have done this at around the right time of the year.
The flags are keeping Bruce amused and also keeping our neighbours Sally and Mike intrigued. We obviously also put up the Australian, West Australian and Aboriginal Flag during non holiday times. The Nevada flag is due to fly soon.
