New Car and Other Stuff

Lachlan brought Amy these cute little felt parrots for Christmas- they are so cute- I love them and Amy was delighted!

This is our little red Getz that we have had for around 8 or 9 years and the car Amy learnt to drive in and the we have shared for that period. There were a few things that needed fixing and we were tired of tying up the sun visor with a piece of string so decided it was time to upgrade. We got a 2016 Hyundai 130, we are very happy with it, it has a reversing camera, bluetooth, cruise control and a bit roomier- most importantly the sunvisor stays up and I can listen to ABC Canberra on the radio.

I was asked to go down for a speaking assignment at Merimbula Branch at short notice this week. So Bill and I drove down to Merimbula on Saturday and stayed overnight. It was 22 degrees in Merimbula and when we went for a walk on the beach I needed to put on a long sleeve shirt, it felt wonderful after a week of 40 degree days in Canberra! I spoke and Merimbula Branch Sunday morning then Bill and I headed back to Canberra, it was a nice little break away.

That is Bill in the water- too cold for me!

 Each time I go down to Merimbula I enjoy a walk along the boardwalk around the edge of the lake. It was a lovely morning.

Mallacoota

Bill, Lachlan and I went down to Malacoota for three nights between Christmas and New Year. Bill's two sisters and their families hire holiday houses down there over Christmas and January so it was a good chance to go down and catch up with them. It is approximately a 4 hour drive.

One morning Bill and I did a lovely walk along the edge of the lakes near Hilary and Stuart's house. It was a warm day but there was plenty of shade and being close to the water helped keep things a bit cooler as well.

While we were out walking, Lachlan went out on the boat with Hils and Stuey. They spotted us walking along the lake so pulled in close to say hello.

Bill walking in his fluro gear- no wonder they didn't have any trouble spotting us.

While they were out on the boat, Lachlan took over driving the boat so Hil's and Stuey did some trawling and caught 8 Taylors- they were very impressed with the good luck that Captain Lachlan brought them!

We did some other walks including one along the open ocean beach. It was a nice little break away and nice to catch up with Bill's side of the family.

Bird Themed Presents

Amy brought me a lovely scarf for Christmas, I wore it to church today. Has lovely bird wings over the scarf.

Lachlan gave Amy these very cute felt birds for Christmas that look very much like Beau and Lyra.

If Beau and Lyra ever have babies this is what they might look like!

Christmas 2018

I really like our quiet Christmas's at home and not having to go away- must be getting old! Not sure if we will ever have any grandchildren to bring the magic that little kids bring to Christmas but enjoy this stage of our life. For the last few years we have gone out somewhere nice for dinner Christmas Eve as a family. This year it was Blackfire in Braddon. A Mediterranean style cuisine, cooked on a fire pit or in a wood fired oven. I use the kid's board money to pay for the dinner, it is a present to them and a present to me not having to cook Christmas lunch. We then came home and opened presents with the 'grand birds'. Bill has always been a bit of a humbug about Christmas and never very enthusiastic about presents, but the last couple of years there has been a bit of a bird theme to his presents, so if you give him something with a macaw on it he is usually pretty enthusiastic!

Birds helping to unwrap the presents!

 Even Luna came to join us and see what was happening!

 We had Christmas Brunch on Christmas Day, nice and relaxed and nothing too difficult. A friend of Amy's who has recently moved to Canberra joined us. Mars was a real character, she had lots of stories to tell about working for Air Services and her life in Indonesia before she came to Australia for her schooling.