January Catch Up

Here are Ziggy and Zoe keeping an eye on what is happening outside. We got some replacement chairs which are metal so they cannot chew them ( apart from the plastic stoppers!) So we have left a wooden chair for them to sit on with a view outside and they are allowed to chew this one as you can see!

Above Amy is giving Bill's macaw Budgie a head scratch. She just loves in and just collapses into you and looks like she is dead! She just loves it which is not hard to tell from the photo.

Amy thought Jack could take us for a drive!

This years sunflowers before the birds and the heat get to them. It looks like it is going to be over 37 for about 5 or 6 days in a row, we have had 35, 39, 38 and 39 with more to come- yuck!

  The produce from the garden, I have been picking zucchini, tomatoes and for the first time eggplant. The other night I spiralised the zucchini and stir fried it with olive oil and ginger and then added roasted egg plant, garlic and tomato all from our garden- very nice.

Here is Bill the pirate with his pirate patch. He got home from work and opened up this package that had arrived, he proceeded to put on this eye patch and wander around with Budgie on his shoulder and wouldn't respond when we asked him what he was doing. It turn outs out he brought the eye patch so when he looks through the telescope he doesn't have to close on eye- he wasn't really going to turn into a pirate!

In my new role at church as Stake Relief Society President I was assigned to  speak at Merimbula Branch. Bill came down with me, we drove down Saturday, stayed at a motel which is right opposite where they have church. We headed down to the beach and went for a nice long walk, it had been 34 in Canberra when we left (got to 39 degrees) It was 26 degrees in Merimbula, just lovely. Bill went for a swim and I got us some fish and chips, then later we had some yummy icecreams. Sunday morning I went to church and Bill joined us at the end for their 3rd Sunday Munch and Mingle before we headed home. It is around a 3 hour drive, was a nice little break away.

The Malamute Gets a Wash

Amy and took Luna down to give her a wash at the local dog wash at Pet Stock. What an effort it is to give her wash, is definitely a two person job! It took ages just to wet her down, her double coat is so thick. She wasn't particularly pleased about the whole process. We then shampooed her, conditioned her and sort of dried her. It was amazing how much  hair came out while we were washing her and then for a number of days afterwards, but she certainly looked very nice after her wash.

 We were both covered in dog hair and soaking wet after giving her a wash.

Canberra Christmas 2017

 As per the last few years we spent Christmas in Canberra- it is too hard to go away now with  our menagerie- finding someone crazy enough to look after 4 inside birds is a big ask! Amy and I went for a few walks before Christmas and enjoyed the Christmas lights in some of the nearby streets.

The last few years we have gone out Christmas Eve, we did a few years at the Hyatt but have branched out to a few more places. This year we went out to Kokomo's in the city- has a South Pacific theme. We had a lovely evening, we enjoyed their banquet menu, lots of tasting plates to share and the food was very nice. Service was friendly and quick. We invited our neighbour who lives on his own to join us and he had a great time.

Desert for an extra $1 if you had the banquet was Key Lime Pie and it was very yummy!

Christmas Day was very low key, we had a Christmas Brunch and then it was just get your own for the next few days. It was nice and quiet and very relaxing and very little work.

 I had brought a turkey buffet so kept the carcass for the birds to enjoy, we let them join us at their end of the table for a Christmas treat! They enjoyed pulling the meat of the bones- especially Beau- he had a great time!

Time to open presents about midday on Christmas Day- gone are the days when the kids were up at 5am.

Bill looking is usual excited self about Christmas present opening.

I made Christmas Pudding this year, here it is all ready to steam. We joined our neighbours on Boxing Day for a BBQ and I took Christmas Pudding. We had done it with them last year, so they were happy to have us come again with our Christmas Pudding. They had a 7 year old, 13 and 15 year old who enjoyed the whole process, it was a fun evening.