Jan Martin's blog

Monday 20th February 2012

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I am gradually catching up with all my blogs which have fallen behind while I have been on holidays.
I have only my holiday blog to do for Byron Bay and the Southern Highlands and one month on the Golf Events Blog.

We opted not to play golf on Sunday as we were both feeling tired and had enough of wet golf courses.

Sunday 19th February 2012 we went over to Rod & Anne's to have some time with Joel and Emily. Anne had taken Emily to the Medical Centre as she had a fever. We had some quality time with Rod & Joel and left when Joel went down for his nap. Anne came home from the Doctors with some antibiotics for Emily. Emily was not herself & was very lethargic & went straight to sleep. I was very tired & slept for most of the afternoon and then could not get to sleep that night. My tooth was still swollen but not giving me too much trouble. We were hit with a huge electrical storm with thunder & lightning & huge downpour of rain.
I listened to my Audible Book (Currently "reading" Broken Glass) for a while until the storm subsided.

Monday 20th February 2012 we were up early for F-Troop. We have been away for 4 Mondays in a row and had a lot to catch up with. I had organised delivery of some hedge plants before we went on holidays and they were delivered today. We worked all morning getting the garden together. There has been so much rain here while we have been away the gardens are over watered. The lavender plants that went in before Christmas are dying from wet feet. It is pouring down rain again as I write this & I wonder when it is going to stop.

I was able to get in to see my dentist today so he could pin point the trouble. The news was all bad. I have a cracked tooth that cannot be repaired so the tooth has to come out. - Not Happy Jan!
I now have to decide just how much money I want to spend on a repair method for the tooth. Unfortunately these procedures are spelt out in thousands rather than hundreds. Woe is me!
I am back to the dentist at the end of the month to face my fate. Meanwhile I will stay on antibiotics.

I am having a day off golf tomorrow as it is pouring rain & the course will be very heavy ( I have had enough of golf on wet courses). If it is fine I will wile away a few hours in the Golf Club gardens and catch up with what needs to be done.

Wednesday I will be taking Anne to see "Annie" at the Lyric in Sydney. That will cheer me up.

Saturday 18th February 2012

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Gosford Golf Club at 7.00pm Sauturday 11th February 2012

Gosford Golf Club at 7.00pm Saturday 11th February 2012

Golf Presentation Night - speaker Alan Davidson

and Club Patron Les Arndell

Our Southern Highllands Golfing holiday has regretfully come to an end. We had a good time in spite of the interference of wet weather to the golf courses.

We had a few days recovery between our two weeks at Byron Bay and our golfing excursion which gave us a bit of catch up time at home.

Wednesday 8th February 2012 I spent the whole day cleaning out the front gardens which had become a jungle in the couple of weeks that we were away mainly due to the constant rain that had fallen. The weeds are loving it.

Thursday 9th February 2012 was also more gardening and catching up at home/

Friday 10th February 2012 I cut some roses to take to my hairdresser Kath who had the job of rejuvenating my hair which had grown very long while we were away. Kath reminded me that I had a facial credit on hand so I was able to have a facial at the same time which was a bonus. Friday afternoon at 5 o'clock we went over to Rod and Anne's to look after Joel and Emily while they went out to a friends birthday party. It was dress up night so Rod went as a pirate and Anne went as his parrot. I had a red feather boa in my dress up wardrobe which was perfect for the parrots head and a green and gold vest (from Irish Day dressup) which completed the look. Peter was on raffle duty at the club so he came back after that to take me home. Joel was very good & we had fun playing with his toys and reading books. Emily was an angel and slept for the duration except for her night feed after which she went straight back to sleep.

Saturday 11th February 2012 we drove to Shane & Sam's place at Gwandalan to check the new house out. It is a much bigger home on a lovely block of land than we thought and they have got a lot of work ahead of them to update it all but the house has got a lot of potential. Shane had painted the main bedroom which looks nicely refreshed. The house outlook is good with a lot of verandah space and entertainment areas. The garden needs a lot of work - but all in good time. While we were in the area we called in to see Len and Helen at Summerland Point. They are only a short distance from Shane & Sam which is great. When we got back to Gosford we found that our street was being refurbished with new bitumen which will fix all the potholes out the front of our house that were getting very bad. I wish we had known earlier that all the diggers and tractors were going to be there as Joel could have been over to have a look. He is right into diggers, trucks, rollers etc and would have been beside himself to see them all in action. At 6.30 we went over to the Golf Club for the Annual Club Presentations so that I could record it all for the Golfers Blog. It was a good night and well attended. Unfortunately there were no trophies for me this year. My golf is at the crest of a slump.

Sunday 12th February 2012 we were packed and ready at 8 o'clock for our Southern Highlands week of golf. We were booked in to play at 1.30 pm at the Wollongong Golf Club where we intended staying for two days. There was a group of eight of us to play golf and we were looking forward to a great week. When we arrived at the Wollongong Golf Club to check in we found that the course was closed due to the recent storms and they did not know when it would reopen. That was a blow to all our arrangements so we managed to get into Gibraltar Country Club at Bowral which has got a similar stay & play golf package deal to Wollongong. The accommodation was beautiful with huge bedrooms and ensuites. There was an in house restaurant and bistro, indoor pool and gym. The golf course was very wet and not in good condition. We managed to have a five holes of golf in the afternoon before the weather closed in and poured down more rain. We had dinner at Gibraltar that night and Mark presented Anne with a diamond and ruby ring to celebrate her birthday and 40 years of marriage which was a good highlight for the week.

Monday 13th February 2012 it was too wet to play at Gibraltar so we decided to play at Highlands Golf Course at Mittagong which was a drier area. We were able to have carts there which surprised us as the course was very wet. It was a lovely course with some very challenging holes. Peter discovered that he had left his bathroom bag at home with all his medications in it so we found a Doctor at Mittagong who was able to give him another script. I was in the woes as well as I had an infected tooth which was causing me some grief. The Doctor gave me a prescription for some antibiotics which took down the swelling which will get me through until I can get to my dentist at home. As well as that I had developed a head cold and spent the week somewhat under par which was a shame. While we were at the chemist we spotted some heart shaped chocolates that were Valentine Day gifts so Peter bought one each for us girls. We went back to Gibraltar and had dinner there so that none of us had to drive.

Tuesday 14th February 2012 Peter presented all the girls with a chocolate at breakfast to celebrate Valentine's Day which was another highlight for us. We played golf at Highlands at Mittagong once again as it was still the driest course around. It was still very wet underfoot but much better than the course at Gibraltar. There was thunder and lightning in the distance and by the time we finished our golf the rain had arrived in force. It was very heavy in the Wollongong, Picton area and Bowral also got a lot more rain. We were booked into Dormie House at Moss Vale for the next three nights. The course there had got a lot of water and there were no carts allowed at that time. We checked into our rooms without any trouble. We had a nice room overlooking the practice putting green that had a king size bed and small bathroom but adequate. It is very old style accommodation which is quaint but in need of maintenance. Some of the rooms were not as big as ours so it is luck of the draw. The dining room was good and they had plenty of lounge/sitting rooms & nice outside areas in the gardens. Dormie House is part of the Golf Club which is right next door walking distance away. The Pro Shop was well presented and the staff very helpful. There were no carts allowed on the course.

Wednesday 15th February 2012 the carts were still not allowed on the course. We were booked to play early in the morning in the daily competition. It was still raining at breakfast time so we decided to wait and play social golf in the afternoon. I was not feeling well so went back to bed for an hour or so. We drove into Moss Vale later in the morning and had a look around the shops. The others went for a drive to see the Fitzroy Falls which they said was lovely. We met up with some of the other Gosford Golfers that were staying at Dormie House at the same time as us & arranged to play golf with them in the afternoon. It was a long hard walk around the course that day as it was heavy and wet which made it hard going. We were all very tired when we finished so needed a nanny nap before dinner. We had our own table in the dining room which was very sociable.

Thursday 16th February 2012 there were still no carts allowed on the course so we had to walk the course again. It was a nice hot day so that made the golf more pleasant. The boys had a golf challenge day between them so I played with Alice and Lauren. We managed to scramble our way around with Lauren managing to play half the course & then walked the rest of the way with us. Anne could not play golf without a cart so she treated herself with a new hairdo an manicure. We had lunch at the golf club We needed another nanny nap after that so we all met for dinner later that night.

Friday 17th February 2012 we needed to check out of Dormie House and return home. Our original thoughts were that we would pick a course somewhere on the way home and have another game on the way home. All the courses we thought might be good did not have any carts out because the courses still had not recovered. The big corporate day that was to have been held at Moss Vale had been cancelled which meant that we could get back on the course early. They also had the carts back on which meant that Anne could have a game. It was a nice hot day in the morning and we found the course much easier to play with carts
We had reached the 16th hole when we could see dark clouds rolling in. Thunder and lightning were in the background. By the time we had played the 17th the course sirens went off to call us in off the course. It was a shame as we only had one hole to play and Peter had a really good score. As it turned out the storm bypassed Moss Vale and we got very little rain. We had a few drinks and a late lunch at the club after golf and set off for home about 2.00pm. It was a long slow trip home through Sydney on a Friday afternoon as we expected it would be. We all got home safely after stopping off for some bread and milk I was happy to have an early night.

Saturday 18th February 2012 (today) we had a nice sunny day which was good to get all the washing up to date. I had to go out to the chemist for some more antibiotics for my tooth and picked up some fresh fruit etc. I was able to get an appointment for next Monday to see my dentist about my tooth which I was happy about.

The rest of the day has been a bit of a catch up and another early night coming up tonight as I am still feeling under par. We are not booked in to play golf tomorrow so may give it a miss until my energy levels rise.

Tuesday 7th February 2012

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Our holidays at Byron Bay have fast come to an end. We had very wet weather for the first week and beautiful weather for the second week.

Saturday 28th January 2012 we had another overcast & rainy day. Rod & Anne left for home as Rod had to be at work on Monday. They did get diverted off the highway because of the flood waters but did manage top get home. Sam & I had a retail therapy day in Byron Bay. That night we had dinner for all the crew in the camp kitchen which was the only place big enough for all of us on a rainy night. We watched the tennis and enjoyed a beautiful barramundi dinner prepared by George.

Sunday 29th January 2012 the boys went fishing so the girls drove to Lennox Heads Markets & checked out the dress shops before going to Nimbin for lunch. Sam had not been to Nimbin before so it was a good experience for her.That night we went to the Byron Bay RSL for dinner.

Monday 30th January 2012 Vicki & I walked to the Byron Bay lighthouse which is a great experience as the views are beautiful & the walkways well kept. Shane & Sam headed home & were also diverted off the highway because of the flood waters but did manage to get home okay. We had lunch at Brunswick Heads where the boys wanted to go fishing. The weather had improved so the girls went back to Byron Bay while the boys fished. That night we had dinner at the "Fishheads" Restaurant at Byron Bay with the Managers of the camping area.

Tuesday 31st January 2012 it was a beautiful weather day. Vicki & I did a walk to the lighthouse again & then had some time at the beach. We found time to have a drink at the Balcony Bar while the boys were fishing. That night the boys cooked up the fish they had caught earlier in the week and we had that at our cabin.

Wednesday 1st February Vicki & I did another early morning walk - this time along the beach which was beautiful in the early morning. Then we went to the Gaia Retreat & Spa for a massage, spa, swim & lunch..
Sausages & Mash at our cabin was the simple dinner menu followed by ice creams.

Thursday 2nd February 2012 Vicki & I did another early morning walk before going to Harbour Town Outlet shopping centre with Tosca and then calling in to Burleigh Heads dress shops & a drink at the hotel before heading home.

Friday 3rd February 2012 Vicki & I walked again to the Byron Bay lighthouse as we were starting to get good at this walk. We went to the movies in the morning to see "The Iron Lady" It was a lovely day for the beach in the afternoon. That evening we visited Maxanne & Dennis' lovely home near Bangalow and then went to dinner at the Eltham Hotel.

Saturday 4th February 2012 we had another lovely weather day. After our walk to the lighthouse we had another good day for the beach.

Sunday 5th February 2012 (our last day at Byron Bay) we enjoyed our last walk to the Lighthouse and then Tosca & the boys joined us for breakfast at "The Balcony" we went to the movies to see "Tinker, Tailor, Sailor, Spy" and then I spent a couple of hours at the beach. We had a take away dinner as we had cleaned out all our food stocks in readiness to travel home in the morning.

Monday 6th February 2012 we all left Byron Bay at the same time. Vicki & John were having a day with their daughter before going on to Foster for a couple of days. We headed straight home as did George & Tosca. We had a great run home & had no trouble on the highway stopping only at Nambucca Heads for a break. We arrived home about 4.10 in the afternoon which was really good time. The house was in good order when we got home - our security system was working well. Di & Ron (our fellow F-Troopers) called around with some photos so I could update the golfers blog with the F-Troop news.

Tuesday 7th February 2012 (today) I was at the Golf Club at 7.00am for a shotgun start for the first competition day of golf for 2012. My playing partners were Lorraine Bignall & Yvonne Wilson. We had a very enjoyable day & the rain held off. I was reasonably happy with my golf today as I had not played for some time. I think the time off has done me some good.

It is back to reality after two lovely weeks away. The garden is a jungle again as it has not stopped raining the whole time we have been away so I have work to do.

Sunday 5th February 2012

Saturday 28th January 2012

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This last week has been very testing with the unsettled weather. We have only had light showers at Byron Bay but the rest of the North Coast has been under deluge.

Friday 20th January 2012 I had lunch with Heather & Lorraine catching up with their latest news.

After lunch I had a visit to my beauty therapist for a pedicure etc in preparation for our upcoming holiday.

Saturday 21st January 2012 we spent the day doing last minute things before leaving on holidays. In the morning I spent a couple of hours at the golf club gardens & then spent the afternoon packing for our travel north.

Sunday 22nd January 2012 we left home about 8.00am heading for Coffs Harbour. It all went very smoothly until we got to the Port Macquarie area when the weather turned very dirty and we travelled through some very heavy rain until we got to Coffs Harbour. We had arranged to meet Duncan & Rosalie Dyer at Coffs Harbour as they were spending the night there as well as they were travelling to the Gold Coast on the same day as we were going to Byron Bay. We decided to share a unit at Coffs Harbour on Saturday Night at the Observatory holiday apartments. We met up with them at the Yacht Club on Coffs Harbour Waterfront. The unit was very nice and convenient to the restaurant areas. It was Duncan & Rosalie's wedding anniversary so we decided to choose a nice restaurant to celebrate. We settled on Latitude 30 which was on the waterfront. It was raining so hard we needed to catch a taxi to the yacht club for pre dinner drinks. We managed to walk to the restaurant from the yacht club and enjoyed a lovely meal there and then went home to watch the end of the tennis.

Monday 23rd January 2012 we both set off to our separate holiday destinations. Once again the weather was not good and we drove through heavy rain to Byron Bay. We arrived about mid morning and got some grocery shopping done before moving into our cabin at the First Sun Caravan Park. Rod & Anne arrived shortly after us & we managed to move in during rain showers. We had a two bedroom cabin so Rod, Anne, Joel & Emily had the second bedroom. A bit squashy but we managed as they were only staying until Thursday as they had already had a week at the Gold Coast. Joel settled in well and coped with having to play indoors.

Tuesday 24th January 2012 we intended to take the children to the play centre at Byron Bay to keep them amused. It was unfortunately closed for business. Anne & I decided to take them for a ride to the Gold Coast Harbour Town shopping outlet as we could at least get under cover there. The rain was relentless so it was a good move. Anne & I had some retail therapy & got some good bargains. We arrived home late afternoon after again driving back in the rain.

Wednesday 25th January 2012 the weather had not improved. We decided to try a day in Ballina to see if they had a play centre there. Unfortunately their centre had also closed for business. We spent a few hours of retail therapy at the big shopping centre there. George & Tosca came with us for the day & we had lunch there before coming home. I walked Joel to the beach in the rain so he would have a chance to see the waves before he had to go home. He looked so funny all dressed up in his rain gear. We looked after the children while Rod & Anne had a couple of hours escape by themselves as they were due to travel home tomorrow.

Thursday 26th January 2012 - Australia Day the weather was again unkind. We could not go to the beach which is what we would normally do. We had a nice lunch with our friends that were staying at the park having our traditional meat pies, mash & mushy peas lamingtons. Shane & Sam arrived in the morning to replace Rod & Anne who were travelling home. We saw them off on their journey before lunch. By mid afternoon we had a message that they had been blocked at Grafton & could not get through. Rod & Anne decided that it was easier to come back here & rent another cabin for a few more days until the flood waters had settled down. That suited me as it meant we got to spend more time with Joel & Emily. Their cabin was just a short walk from ours so Joel could rotate between cabins. Later that night we had a Baked Lamb Dinner followed by cornetto icecreams to finish off Australia Day celebrations with our friends.

Friday 27th January 2012 we had a nice laid back day. Anne went to visit a friend, Sam & I had some retail therapy at the shops & the boys watched the cricket. We bought Emily some little hair clips for her hair & she looked so cute. The weather cleared a little in the afternoon so we grabbed the opportunity to take Joel to the beach. Joel had a ball building sand castles with Uncle Shane & swimming through the waves. It is such a shame that we did not have good weather this week as it would have been so much better to have the beach as a playground.

Saturday 28th January 2012 (today) Rod & Anne headed hack home for the second time. We had some heavy rain overnight but it had cleared by the time they were ready to leave. Shane & Sam had a sleep in morning & then went for a Byron Bay tour up to the Lighthouse & all around. I went to the beach for a few hours & then got rained out. Peter has gone fishing with George.

We had a message from Rod & Anne that they had again been cut off by flood waters at Grafton & have had to be diverted to the New England highway to get home. That will mean a very slow trip home for them which is not a good finish for their holiday.

We are hoping for improved weather so I can at least go home with a sun tan. It is quite warm even though we are getting a lot of stop/start showers which don't really worry us now that the children have gone home. The R & R is good and I have been making some inroads into my Sudoku challenges. I do not have any good fishing stories to tell as the boys have not had an opportunity to do any serious fishing.Today could be the day as they have been gone for quite a few hours.

I have a beach day planned for tomorrow but we will have to see what the weather has to say about that.

Thursday 19th January 2012

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The last couple of days has been busy getting ready for a traditional couple of weeks R & R at Byron Bay which I am very much looking forward to.

Tuesday 17th January 2012 I chose not to play golf as I had a lot of catch up work to do at home as I have been spending so much time at the golf club getting everything in place before we go away. I have been busy organising a week of golf for a group of us at Wollongong and Moss Vale in February after we get back from Byron Bay. There are eight of us travelling so we needed to get it all locked in and booked. I spent the day between tour organising and washing sheets, towels and sorting out travel gear. That evening we went over to Mark & Anne Stimpson's for dinner so we can make our final decisions about the golf tour in February. We had a lovely evening overlooking the Brisbane Water from Mark & Anne's unit joined by Col Matterson who will be with us on the golf tour.

Wednesday 18th January 2012 Peter went to golf and I spent the day locking the February golf tour into cement & went to my beauty therapist to have my nails done followed by a little bit of retail therapy to cheer me up. I have got all the washing & ironing up to date and have started to sort out what I need to take away.
Shane called in on his way home from work to borrow a sanding machine so he can do some work at his new home at Gwandalan. He and Sam have moved in but there is a lot of work to be done. Anne messaged me to say that they had arrived at Coff's Harbour on their way to the Gold Coast where they will be holidaying before joining us at Byron Bay next week.

Thursday 19th January 2012 I had a reflective day being my anniversary day of "turning the page" towards recovery of my health. I started the day with my traditional walking (which I have been very focused on achieving in recent months) managing a 6klm walk to start the day which is my aim. I have lost some weight and feel a lot better in myself which is all good and I am off medications completely which is a huge celebration for me. I am moving forward and leaving the past where it belongs & this is my special day to remember that.

Rod & Anne messaged me to say that they had arrived at the Gold Coast and were on their way to the beach on a nice sunny day.

The rest of the day I have been concentrating on getting the house up to date and preparing my check list for the holidays that I have been looking forward to. Our F-Trooper fill in supervisor called around this afternoon so we can keep the ball rolling for F-Troopers while we are away. We are very fortunate to have a great group of very capable troopers who we can rely on.

Tomorrow I am having lunch with Heather & Lorraine (my old work friends) & it will be good to catch up with them and find out how they spent their Christmas break.

Monday 16th January 2012

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This week was about a lot of gardening work which I wanted to get done to get the lavender plants out of their pots before we go on holidays. It was a busy week with plenty of activity every day.

Wednesday 11th January 2012 I got to mind Joel for the day. Peter was at golf so I took Joel on the train for a ride to Woy Woy and back. He thought that was wonderful ad we sat on Woy Woy station having a picnic lunch while we waited for the return train to Gosford. After that we stopped off at the Gosford Hospital to watch all the workmen in hard hats (Bob the builders) working all the cranes and graders and big trucks which Joel thought was the highlight of his day. It was a warm day so I put some water in his wading pool so he could play between that and his sand pit. That kept Joel amused until lunch time after which he happily had his nap until 3 o'clock. Anne picked Joel up later in the afternoon & I got to have a nurse of Emily. Emily is just gorgeous now with huge dark smiley eyes - very lovable.

Thursday 12th January 2012 I went over to the club to water in some of the new plants because we had some wild winds overnight. When I got there the club grounds were a mess from falling bark & branches so I spent the day over there cleaning up.

Friday 13th January 2012 I went over to the club to work on the garden at the 16th and to plant in some of the smaller lavender plants. It was a big day & I worked there until about 2 o'clock. That evening we went to the Golf Club for dinner as Peter was on raffle duty. We won three lots of meat trays which was a bonus.

Saturday 14th January 2012 we did some household shopping in the morning. Peter played golf so I spent the day over at the 16th garden preparing the ground for some lavender planting on Monday. I worked there until 2 o'clock so it was a big day. We had some very heavy rain overnight & in the morning & then the weather cleared long enough for me to get the gardening done.

Sunday 15th January 2012 we had a couple of hours with Rod & Anne so we could see them before they left on holidays on the Gold Coast. I played trains & cars with Joel before we had to leave to have lunch at Rosalie & Duncan Dyers place with some friends. Rosalie & Duncan had renovated their outside deck so that required a celebration. I was up early to cut some roses to take to Rosalie and to make a salad to contribute for lunch. While we were there the weather changed in the late afternoon and we had some very heavy showers.

Monday 16th January 2012 (today) we were at F-Troop at 7.00am as we had a busy day ahead of us. It was still showering on and off throughout the day but we managed to get the lavender garden completed which was great. The weather has fined up now which will dry everything out. We worked until after 2 o'clock which was a big day. Getting all the lavender plants in was a bonus as I do not have to worry about keeping them watered.

I had planned on playing 9 holes of golf in the morning but may change my mind. I have a lot of catch up work to do at home which is probably more important. The course is very wet which makes golf hard going.

Tuesday 10th January 2012

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This week was a bit of recovery from New Year's Eve celebrations - mainly gardening and catch up at home.

Sunday 1st January 2012 - New Year's Day was a very quiet day with a late morning rising and the afternoon at Rod & Anne's to see Joel and Emily at play. We took over the New Year's hats and whistles for Joel and he was impressed. Emily was very unimpressed with the noise and preferred a quite cuddle. We stayed for a BBQ dinner with Rod & Anne & then went quietly home for an early night.

Monday 2nd January 2012 we had an F-Troop day even though it was a Public Holiday. There has been a lot of windy weather and the course was a mess. We had eleven helpers which was good.

Tuesday 3rd January 2012 we had a catch up day at home cutting back the ivy and banksia rose that was growing into a jungle.

Wednesday 4th January 2012 Peter went to golf so I had a quite day at home cleaning out the gardens at the side of the house so that we have better vision on the security cameras. I spent some time getting the security videos to play back but cannot get the iPhone to connect to the system so I will need a network expert to come and set the network up properly.

Thursday 5th January 2012 I did some more gardening at home & went out to Bunnings and picked up some more petunias for the golf club gardens and some garden fungicide spray.

Friday 6th January 2012 I was over at the golf club gardens to plant the petunias & tidy up a bit after all the winds. Late afternoon we went over to the Golf Club to have some time with Rod,Anne, Joel, Emily, Shane, Sam & Butch & Anne - staying for dinner with them which was a good catch up for all of us. Peter went to cards and joined us later. Graham & Anne stayed on with us for the Raffles and Members Draw where we did very well winning a leg of lamb, a breakfast tray of bacon, eggs and sausages and a tray of T-Bone steaks. Anne realized that she did not have a key for the Copacabana house where they were intending to stay so they spent the night at our place. "Aggie" their dog had made herself at home on the veranda while we were over at the club. We had a few more wines when we got to our place which seemed a good idea at the time.

Saturday 7th January 2012 was a very quiet day for me. Peter & Butch went to golf and Anne went back to Copacabana when her sister Sue picked her up later in the morning. The boys were very tired when they got home from golf. Butch picked up "Aggie" and went to Copacabana for the weekend. We had a very early night as we had golf the next day.

Sunday 8th January 2012 we had an easy morning and were at golf by 10.30 am. Our playing partners were Duncan & Rosie Dyer who are great company. We had a good day although the boys trounced us for the keno ticket. Peter won the golf day with a nice 41 points and Duncan scored 38 points. I was happy to win a ball. We stayed for dinner at the club after golf with some of our golf friends which was a nice way to finish the day.

Monday 9th January 2012 we had a big day at F-Troop. We had 17 volunteers which was great and we needed every one of them as the course was a mess from all the wild winds we have been getting. We have had a couple of big projects happening and we have made some inroads to those jobs.

Tuesday 10th January 2012 I played 9 holes of social golf with Rosalie Dyer, Kath Payn & Mary Ellis. We also played with Chris Cayley who is a new member to be who needs to get a handicap card in. We had a nice morning of golf & I spent some time with the girls who played in the 18 hole competition. Shane called in on his way to bowls & he is going to arrange for a network expert to look at our security system.

Tomorrow I am babysitting Joel while Anne takes Emily to the doctors for a check up. I am looking forward to that although he will run me into the ground with his energy.

Saturday 31st December - New Year's Eve

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New Year's Eve Celebrated at

Gosford Sailing Club

Well that is the end of 2011 - moving right along to 2012 which I hope will bring us some happy days.

Today Peter made my day by finally putting up a new mail box for me that has been sitting in the back shed for about 4 years. Hooray!

We celebrated the new year in at the Gosford Sailing Club which was a great advantage point to watch the waterfront fireworks display. We were there with some of our Golf Club friends Duncan & Rosalie Dyer, Des & Yvonne Wilson, Col Kelly and Alice Diamond. A good time was had by all as you can see by the attached photos.

I have lots to do in 2012 and places to go - so bring it on!.

Friday 30th December 2011

2011-12-30T00:26:00.000-08:00

My new toy

Bluetooth waterproof mini flexible

keyboard for my iPhone

(Christmas present from Shane & Sam)

I have a very relaxed and peaceful week between Christmas and the New Year - not doing a whole lot.

Monday Evening 26th December 2011 we had Tracey Burrett and her children Tori & Joel for dinner. We have not had too many opportunities to catch up other than by email or facebook so it was good to have a chance to have a good chat. Tracey was a good friend of Greg's who we saw a lot of in those days.

Tuesday 27th December 2011 Peter had a big painting job at the Club to finish off. I went over to give him a hand with a few of the other F-Troopers. It was a big day of painting and my arms were aching at the end of the day from unaccustomed brush work. Prior to painting I was out on the course planting in some new plants that were donated to the club. That was a big day that required a nanny nap. Shane called around and we organised for he and Rod to install the new Home security camera system that Peter and I had bought for each other for Christmas.

Wednesday 28th October 2011 Peter went over to the club to do some finishing off of the painting work and I had a morning out in the golf club gardens weeding one of the club gardens.

Thursday 29th December 2011 we had a catchup day at home with the house and gardens. In the evening Graham called in on his way back to Sydney from Copacabana where has been holidaying. We had a drink for the New Year as we will not be seeing each other until 2012.

Friday 30th December 2011 was a busy day with Shane & Rod arriving about 9.30 am to install the home security cameras. It was an exciting day seeing it all come together. I have been wanting this system for a long time as we have so many low life wandering our street. The boys put four cameras in place that record continuously when there is motion anywhere around the house. The camera results are recorded on a monitor that I can see inside the house so I can easily see who is at the door or around the house at any given time. It is a very sophisticated system which I will be able to view on my iPhone when I work my way through all the technical instructions. I feel much more secure in my own home now and it is good to be able to replay tapes to see just who is wandering around when we are not at home.

I have had such a lot of fun with my iPhone this week as I have had plenty of time to play with it. The available applications never cease to surprise me. I have so many I don't know which ones to use first.

Tomorrow is the last day of 2011 and I am looking forward to seeing 2012 arrive as I have places to go and things to do next year.

Monday 26th December 2011 - Boxing Day

2011-12-25T19:55:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2011 went very smoothly. The lead up week was typical last minute shopping and social events.

Tuesday 20th December 2011 I did not play golf. Instead I put some time into preparing the lavender plants that I have been nurturing at home - getting them trimmed and fertilized ready to go into the golf club gardens.
We were over at the Golf Club in time to have morning coffee with the girls that did play today. The rain set in which brought a lot of the social golfers in off the course which was a shame.

Wednesday 21st December 2011 Peter played golf & I finished off the lavenders & did some work in the back gardens.

Thursday 22nd December 2011 I spent some time burning photos to disc of our golfing holiday in China to give to Annie & Bert; Col & Lauren; Lynn & Ron who we traveled with. We went to a Christmas Party at Bert & Annie's with a group of the Gosford Golfers. We had a lovely night chatting and celebrating the Christmas Season. I was up early to cut a bunch of roses to take to Annie.

Friday 23rd December 2011 we were a bit slow to get up after a late night. We managed to get the last minute grocery shopping done & some tidying of the house in readiness for Christmas. We were at the Golf Club at 5 o'clock to meet Anne, Joel & Emily who were coming over to see Santa Claus at the Children's Christmas Party. Joel had a wonderful time racing around & was happy with his bag of lollies from Santa. Anne had to leave straight after as they had another dinner to go to. We stayed on for the club raffles and badge draw and met with Di Mosely, Neil Travers, Col & Lauren Matterson for a pre-Christmas Dinner at the club. It was a good night catching up with everyone.

Saturday 24th December 2011 Peter played golf & I filled in the day at home cleaning up the front gardens and the hedges at the front of the house. I made some Rocky Road to take to Anne's for Christmas Day & generally got ready for Christmas Day. I found some time to do a bit of shopping in Gosford in the morning for all the little things I had forgotten.

Sunday 25th December 2011 - Christmas Day. I have been very good this last week with my early morning walking & thought that Christmas Day should not interfere with that. I have downloaded the Beatles No 1 hits from iTunes to my iPhone & have fun pacing it out on my walking machine for an hour. Surely it will do me some good (eventually). I made a pavlova for Christmas Dessert which was my contribution for lunch as well as the ham that I had won at Friday night raffles. We were over at Rod & Anne's about 10 o'clock loaded up with all the presents from under the tree. Joel was in his element - not knowing which toy to play with first. He loved his "Bob the Builder" building set, his trampoline, scooter, truck, Diago Rescue Unit, train sets, new swing just to name a few. He played himself to a standstill at lunchtime and had to have a nap. Rod & Shane kept us amused as we watched them put together Joel's Train set - I think they had more fun than he did. Little Emily took the day in her usual placid style - not understanding what all the fuss was about. We had a lovely lunch out on the back lawn with Anne's Mum & Dad, her Aunty and three cousins, Shane & Sam. It was a very enjoyable day. We left about 3 o'clock to go out to Avoca where Butch & Anne & family had rented the Avoca Resort 4 bedroom penthouse apartment overlooking Avoca Beach which was a lovely spot. We caught up with all the kids and grandchildren & enjoyed a gin and tonic out on the veranda soaking up the view. We were home about 6 o'clock after a very tiring day, not doing much at all. I did very well with my Christmas gifts getting some lovely stuff. Some formal portrait photos of Rod, Anne, Joel & Emily, Face creams, beauty products, golf gift voucher, wine, wireless bluetooth flexible keyboard for my iPhone and laptop, costume jewelery, soap, sudoku puzzles and chocolates - how good does it get!

Monday 26th December 2011 - Boxing Day (today) Peter spent the day at the Golf Club doing some painting. I have been pottering around catching up with washing and ironing before the predicted rain sets in. I will now have some time to play with my new keyboard. We are having dinner guests this evening - old friends of Greg's from many years ago. Tracey, Tori & Joel are now living in Tamworth and Greg was Godfather to both Tori and Joel. It will be good to catch up with them. Tracey is one of my Facebook Friends which helps me to keep in touch. I am looking forward to seeing them now that they are all grown up into young adults.

Monday 19th December 2011

2011-12-19T01:21:00.000-08:00

This week has been busy - as it should be one week out from Christmas. I was able to focus this week and get everything done including present buying, Christmas Cards, wrapping gifts & social events.

Wednesday 14th December 2011 Peter was at golf so I had a chance to get some golf gardens done with Di Beechey working to 11 o'clock when Peter needed the golf cart to play golf. In the afternoon I went into Gosford and posted all of our cards & tidied up a bit at home.

Thursday 15th December 2011 we went out to Erina Fair to see Santa Clause with Joel & Emily. We had coffee with Anne's Mum Rae and Anne's Aunty Gale. Joel was a lot better with Santa this year & was happy when he could ring Santa's bell. Emily was quite comfortable with Santa & smiled at the appropriate moment.
We managed to get Emily's Christmas present from ToysRus at Erina which was the last of my gift purchases.
After that we went out to Dulux paints to buy some paint for the Golf Club so that maintenance can be done over the holiday period.

Friday 16th December 2011 I caught up with the washing & ironing and then went over to the Golf Club with Peter to help him to put up Christmas lights for the Badge Draw & Raffle night that evening. I cleaned up underneath the club where the function was to be. That evening Peter played in the 9 hole ambrose & was on duty on the raffle night. I went out to Terrigal Golf Club with Anne & Mark to see Louise receive her award at the "Molly" Awards night. We had dinner at the Terrigal club & then watched the awards.

Saturday 17th December 2011 I spent the day wrapping presents & cleaning the house & generally getting myself ready for the Christmas period.

Sunday 18th December 2011 we were over at Rod & Anne's to have some time with the kids before we left for golf for a 11.30 start. Our playing partners were Wally & Rhonda Robertson & we had a lovely day. The weather was kind to us and we did not get wet. I had a good round - the best for a long while - so I was happy playing to my handicap & winning a ball. We stayed for dinner at the club with Rhonda & Wally & some of our other golf friends.

Monday 19th December 2011 (today) we were up early. I have been back at my walking resume the last week or so and am getting my walking legs back so that I can get back to an hour a day on my treadmill.
I walked for 1/2 hour or so & then went to F-Troop at 7.00am for a busy morning of work at the club. The Golf Club Board put on a Christmas Luncheon for all the F-Troop workers and their partners at 12.30 pm so we had a nice afternoon there. (photo attached of the F-Troop group).

We have had rain threatening all week & tonight we have had a couple of downpours. There is more rain forecast but it will not worry me much as I am organised at this point. I am not playing golf tomorrow so I can have a free day for last minute matters before Christmas.

Tuesday 13th December 2011

2011-12-13T02:47:00.000-08:00

It is easy to tell that we are getting close to Christmas - life is getting hectic as the silly season starts to roll in.

Tuesday 6th December 2011 was a great day. The weather was warm & the Ladies Presentation & Christmas Party went like clockwork. Everyone was in good spirits and we all enjoyed a very entertaining day. After the presentation of trophies some of the girls put on a concert which was hilarious. My job was to take photos of the presentation & to video the concert. We started at 11.30am and finished at 4.30 pm. Big day but very enjoyable. While I was away Peter completed making up the swing that is Joel's Christmas present (or one of them)

Wednesday 7th December 2011 I had a "me" day starting with my beauticians for a facial in the morning and my hairdressers in the afternoon. I was up early to pick some roses from my garden for the girls. It was a very relaxing stress free day. The weather was not good but it did not interfere with my day.

Thursday 8th December 2011In the morning I caught up with some household tasks. In the afternoon Lorraine Bignall called around so that we could upgrade our Christmas Tree dresses with flashing LED lights for extra effect. We planned on wearing them for the Christmas BBQ on Friday night. After that I went over to the club to clean up for the Friday Events.

Friday 9th December 2011 we went out to Palmdale for the funeral of Robbie Brann. It was a large funeral attended by many of the Gosford Golfers. The wake was held at the Golf Club at 1.00 pm. Peter was playing his usual Friday night cards so I played in the 9 hole Ambrose Competition with Col Matterson at 4.00 pm shotgun start. After golf we had the usual Friday Night badge draw and raffles. This time it was held downstairs as the clubhouse had been completely booked out for functions. Fortunately the weather changed for the better & we had a pleasant evening outside. I had a good night as I won a Christmas Ham and a large box of Christmas confectionery in the raffles. Our Christmas dresses looked good in the night light with the flashing lights making an impact.

Saturday 10th December 2011 Peter & Rod had a concreting job to do for some friends so I went over to the club to clean up the mess from the previous night. Saturday Evening we went over to Mark & Anne's for a pizza dinner with Col & Lauren and Alice & Col. It was a lovely evening & the view from their unit was spectacular at night - overlooking Brisbane Water. We needed to sort out a golf trip that we had planned for next year at Moss Vale. Trying to get eight people to coincide schedules can be difficult so it seemed that next February would be the best dates. There are some lovely golf courses around Moss Vale so a week there should not be hard to take.

Sunday 11th December 2011we were up early to go over to see the grandchildren before we had to hit off at golf just after 11 o'clock. We had some quality time with the kids before rushing off to play the final round of the Mixed Team Series. Our partners were Mark Stimpson & Michelle McGrath who both play off a handicap of 5. We had a great day with Mark & Michelle getting seven birdies between them. Our score was not good enough to win but we came in a respectable place. We stayed for dinner at the club with a group of the golfers and finished off a good day.

Monday 12th December 2011 was a washout. We had a deluge of rain overnight which continued for most of the day. F-Troop was washed out so we decided to get some household shopping done. We picked up the Christmas Ham from the club and then went shopping to buy some paint for the Clubhouse walls which are going to be painted over the Christmas break. The weather cleared in the late afternoon so I went out into the garden to dead head some of the roses & trim the front hedge.

Tuesday 13th December 2011(today) we had a full on shopping morning at Erina Fair clearing the Christmas Shopping list & bought some cards. It was exhausting but worth the effort to get it all finished. In the afternoon we wrote out all the Christmas Cards so I can get them off in the mail tomorrow. Shane called around after work - on his way to play bowls. I showed him the security camera system I had bought for the house for added safety. I just love all the technology of today. I can review the cameras through my iPhone at any time which is fantastic if we are out of the house. I have had a lot of fun downloading iPhone apps for my phone this week. I am amazed at how many good apps there are. I think I am getting addicted.

I am feeling much more relaxed now that all the gift buying is done. I am looking forward to a quite Christmas watching Joel enjoy his first 'real' Christmas now that he knows what "presents" means.

Tomorrow I am planning to catch up with some of the F-Troop work that we missed out on Monday due to the bad weather so that the gardens will be looking their best over the Christmas holidays.

Monday 5th December 2011

2011-12-05T02:36:00.000-08:00

The silly season has arrived and things are starting to get hectic. Christmas parties and things needing to get done yesterday. Our weather has been very unseasonal this week - even back in winter woolies which was a bit of a shock.

Tuesday 29th November 2011 was our Ladies Golf Closing Day where we all dress up in Christmas cheer. We were lucky enough to get a fine sunny day which if anything was a little too hot. My playing partners were Lorraine Bignall, Shirley Daly & Yvonne Wilson & we had a fun day out on the course. We had a shotgun start at 8.00 o'clock & we had to be over there early to organise our Christmas Tree dresses that we changed into after golf. Our highlight was winning a ham & turkey in a lucky draw which was great just before Christmas. Our Christmas tree dresses were a big hit with the girls and we were definitely the 'best dressed' there. Shane called over to say hello after work. He was not doing a stop over as today is Len's birthday which needed celebrating. He gave me some eBay hints for his Christmas present which was good.

Wednesday 30th November 2011 it was a wet horrible day. I had an appointment with my Doctor first up in the morning that got changed to last thing in the afternoon. I was up early to pick the girls some roses for the Doctor's office. I managed to get some gardening done in the front gardens between showers before going to the Doctors at 4.30 - getting home at 6.00pm. I got a good health report so no dramas other than my weight loss program that is now in place. I managed to find what I was looking for on eBay for Shane so that was easily taken care of.

Thursday 1st December 2011 we had our Thursday Ladies Christmas Closing Day which was again an 8 o'clock shotgun start. My playing partners were Rae Brown & Judy Verlander & we had a good day managing to finish without getting wet. This time we won some Christmas Shortbread biscuits as a lucky prize. After golf Rosalie Dyer called around to pick up some of my spare garden pots to do a garden project that she is doing for her daughter. We did not have to dress up so much today so I re-visited my Tuesday Golf Gear to show some Christmas Spirit.

Friday 2nd December 2011 Peter was working over at the club so I made an appointment to have my nails done at my beauticians. I was able to get some roses cut for the girls between showers. It was not much of a day - a bit cool with showers on and off. I had time to catch up with the ironing & household tasks during the afternoon. A highlight of the day was getting an insurance cheque in payment of a replacement wireless USB fitting for my Notebook computer which gives me independent wireless while I am travelling.

Saturday 3rd December 2011 we did some early shopping before Peter went to golf. I spent the rest of the day in the front garden & managed to fill three garbage bins of rubbish. I was a nice peaceful day & listened to my newest audiobook that I can download to on my beloved iPhone. I have downloaded some very interesting apps and have had a lot of fun with my iPhone in recent times as I have increased my skills at using the iPhone.

Sunday 4th December 2011 was a very busy day. We were up early to clean up over at the Golf Club as there was to be a garden wedding that afternoon. After that we went over to Rod & Anne's to have some quality time with the grandchildren. We helped Joel to put up the Christmas Tree which was a treat to watch. We are going to take Joel shopping on Thursday where he may meet up with Santa. He was not impressed last year but may be old enough this time to cope as he understands the meaning of presents this year. Emily was as gorgeous as ever and was her usual happy self. At 11 o'clock we left to come to get ready for golf which was a shotgun start at 12.30pm. It was the Christmas Gala Day so again I re-visited my Christmas Golf Clothes. Our playing partners were Warren Gray & Mary Bromwich we had a lovely day except for a turn in the weather. It went from a reasonably pleasant morning to a very cold, windy, wintery day & I froze for most of the game. I had to borrow a jacket at the half way mark because I was so cold. We stayed for dinner at the club with Warren & Mary & some of our other golf friends to finish off the day. I felt sorry for the bride when the weather turned bad as she had wanted a garden wedding. They settled on the Marquee that at least had a bit of protection.

Monday 5ht December 2011 (today) we were over at F-Troop at 7.00am because we had a crane coming to lift a container for us which was a big job. We had a very busy day made all the easier because we had 14 volunteers turn up to help out. We were lucky enough to get our gardening work done without any rain. We were supposed to do some more poisoning this afternoon but the weather closed in and the showers were back. Anne sent me some photos of Emily's first taste of solids - she was not impressed. (photos attached)

Tomorrow I am looking forward to a nice day - Having the Ladies end of year Presentation and Christmas Luncheon starting at 11.30 am. We are not playing golf which is a good thing as the weather is not going to be wonderful according to the forecasts. I do not have any responsibilities on the day other than to take photos and a video of the concert that the girls are putting on - so it should be a good relax day that I am looking forward to.

Monday 28th November 2011

2011-11-28T03:00:00.000-08:00

We had a mixture of good and bad weather this week - four days of rain was a bit hard to take but the last couple of days have been lovely.

Wednesday 23rd November 2011 the rain had set in which upset the Men's Golf Comp. Peter had a meeting in the morning but did not play golf as it was too wet. I went to the Doctors thinking my appointment was this week - to find out it was actually next week so I amused myself around the house in the morning and then went over to the club to have lunch with Peter & Col who had finished their meeting. We had a very long lunch joined by various members during the afternoon who had come in wet and bedraggled from the course. By presentation time there was only two people left as the rest had gone home to dry off. By that time we were left still chatting with Di & Sally. Di needed to go home for dinner as Ron had cooked up some Lamb Shanks for her. Col & Sally came home to our place for a baked dinner which turned into a rather late night - two bottles of wine and a bottle of Bailey's later. Col wisely stayed the night. I was still doing the golfer's blog at 1.00am - so it was a big day.

Thursday 24th November 2011 it was a very quiet day at home. It was still raining so I had a good excuse to do very little.

Friday 25th November 2011 it was still wet so we decided to do the household shopping to save time tomorrow. We called into the golf club to check out a garden statue that had been delivered to the club. It is my job to design an area to show off this work of art that has been donated to the club. That will be a challenge. It rained all day so there was no action at the golf club. My golfing friend Lorraine called around
with a Christmas outfit that we are planning to wear in our team day next Tuesday. We are going as Christmas Trees. I spent the afternoon decorating my Christmas Tree dress & it looked good when I got it finished. Be sure to look for the photo next week.

Saturday 26th November 2011 the course was closed as we had so much rain. The rain finally cleared late afternoon and it was lovely to see some blue sky on the horizon. That night we had the Gosford Townies (Rugby League) reunion which we hold twice yearly. We met at the Erina Leagues Club and there were 26 of us this time. It was great to catch up with everyone, I did a separate posting with photos for this event. (see below this posting). We were home by 11.30 which was good as we had a big day coming up on Sunday.

Sunday 27th November 2011 Rod & Anne were at Nowra for the weekend so we missed out on our weekly grandchildren hit. We were up early to go over and clean up at the clubhouse as there was a 21st birthday party there last night with a lot of mess left around the entrance of the clubhouse. We were home in time to have a bit of a rest before going back at 11.30am for a shotgun start in the Annual Nagger's Cup Day. Our playing partners were Mary Bromwich and Warren Gray & we had a fun day. The weather was good and the course was remarkably dry considering all the rain we had this last week. We all stayed for dinner at the club which finished off a good day.

Monday 28th November 2011 (today) we had a big morning at F-Troop working from 7.00am until 12.30pm. It was a good weather day so we managed to get many jobs done. In the afternoon we had an appointment with our financial adviser & was relieved to find that we still had something left after such a dire investment year of doom and gloom. We had a coffee at McDonalds to celebrate! At 6.00pm I was back at the club with a working bee of F-Troopers to poison the paspalum grass that is infesting the course.

Tomorrow we are due for another good weather day for our Christmas Closing Day at golf. It should be a good fun day that I am looking forward to & I get to wear my Christmas Tree dress.

Gosford Townies Re-Union - 26th November 2011

2011-11-26T05:09:00.000-08:00

Another good get together evening for the Gosford Townies group held at Erina Leagues Club.

We had a good representation of the group which never seems to run out of conversation when we get together. The boys reminisced the old footy days and the girls caught up with weddings, engagements and grandchildren.

Those attending tonight were Trevor & Margaret Andrews, Garry & Carolyn Morris, John & Vicki Woods, Bob & Sue Clark, Peter & Jan Martin, Alan & Bev Grady, Brian & Lesley Gregory, John & Lyn McMahon, Ron & Marj Payer, Bub & Sue Wilkinson, Phil & Sue Hodge, Dennis O'Toole, Les Place,Garry Wilkinson and Judy Mulheron.

As usual we had a good night chatting and catching up with the latest news.

Tuesday 22nd November 2011

2011-11-22T01:36:00.000-08:00

After such a hectic week last week I aimed to fit in a few quiet days to catch up with myself this week.
The weather has been either very hot and humid or wet and showery.

Wednesday 16th November 2011 I had my promised day of rest at home. I just pottered around the house tidying up bits and pieces, getting out tax information together, washing and ironing & all that kind of things.
It was good to have a few hours to myself to get things up to date. I got to watch a bit of the golf on TV.

Thursday 17th November 2011 we did a bit of shopping at Erina Fair picking up a new iron, a couple of Christmas presents and a visit to Aldi where I got the kids a water slide for Christmas fun. Another quiet day which was good. The afternoon we spent watching the Golf on TV. Peter has repainted our trailer & it looks more respectable.

Friday 18th November 2011 we did the household shopping & a visit to Bunnings to get bits and pieces. Peter is building Joel a swing so we had to hunt down a new seat & ropes. While we had the trailer at home we decided to drop around our big white outdoor table to Rod & Anne's so they can use it for Christmas. We are having Christmas Day at their place this year which makes it easy for me. Then it was back to watch the end of the golf.

Saturday 19th November 2011 Peter was playing in the foursomes Championship at 8.30am so I went over to the club to tidy up for a garden wedding later in the day. Di was there to help me which was good as it was a very hot day. I got home about 1.30pm after doing a bit of gardening over at the club & then watched the golf for the afternoon. We went out to dinner with Mark & Anne to the Thai Restaurant at five ways Wyoming which was a nice night out.

Sunday 20th November 2011 Anne brought the two babies over to play while Rod was at work. It was a very hot day and Joel kept himself amused with the hose watering the garden & everything else including himself. We left for golf at 11 o'clock & Anne was going to visit her parents. Our playing partners were Mark & Anne Stimpson & we had a good day with them even though it was a stinker of a day & our golf scores were not good. In the middle of the match we got a call from our house security to say that the house alarm had gone off. We rushed home to find that everything was okay so we are not sure what set the alarm off. After golf we stayed for dinner at the club to finish off a good day. It was raining when we left the club which cooled things down a bit.

Monday 21st November 2011 we were at F-Troop at 7.00am. It was a much cooler day than yesterday so we were able to work until lunchtime and get some good jobs done. A nanny nap in the afternoon was good.
The rain returned late afternoon which was good for the garden.

Tuesday 22nd November 2011 rain had been forecast all day. Fortunately it was centered over Sydney and below and we did not get any rain until late afternoon after golf had finished. My playing partners were Georgina Lamb and Lesley Gregory and we had some good highlights. Lesley won our division and Georgina won a nearest the pin. I won a pair of golf socks as a mystery prize which was my own highlight. It was a fun day at golf with the A graders playing off the Men's Blue Markers and the rest playing off the Men's White Markers. It was a challenge making the extra distance.

More rain has been forecast for tomorrow which will help the garden along after all the very hot weather of this last week.

Tuesday 15th November 2011

2011-11-15T13:05:00.000-08:00

Another enormous week with very hot weather to deal with while golfing and working in the gardens.
This week was all about gardening and golf with not much in between.

Wednesday 9th November 2011 I was over at the golf gardens early to beat the heat. I worked on clearing the 17th tee garden so we can put down some more mulch as soon as we have time. It was too hot to work past lunchtime so I spent the afternoon having a nanny nap in the air conditioning.

Thursday 10th November 2011 We did some shopping - visiting Aldi's where we picked up a bargain priced play house for the grandchildren. Then a marathon visit to Bunnings for bits and pieces we needed for the club maintenance. I picked up some nice purple & white petunias to enhance the golf gardens for Christmas.

Friday 11th November 2011 We went back to Bunnings to pick up a floor for the cubby house and then I went over to the Golf Club to clean up for two garden weddings that were being held there in the afternoon. It was a popular wedding day with the club having two garden weddings, two receptions and one off site wedding reception to cater for.

Saturday 12th November 2011 I was back at the club gardens this time to do the hedges at the front of the club that had got untidy and also to clean up again for two more garden weddings in the afternoon.
It was a very hot day and I only got half of the hedging done. Peter played golf & felt the heat.

Sunday 13th November 2011 we opted out of golf as we are supporting a charity golf day on Monday and I have golf again on Tuesday - too much golf in hot weather. Instead Rod Anne, Emily and Joel came over in the morning. Joel enjoyed a good play in his cubby house, sand pit and splash pool & then we took them to the RSL club for lunch where Joel could play in the Club play room. We had some good quality time with them before they had to go home to give Joel a sleep as he had worn himself out playing. Emily was a little treasure and smiled at everyone all morning. That evening we went over to the Golf Club for dinner and to get photos of the presentation for the Golfer's Blog.

Monday 14th November 2011 was a huge day. We were up at 5 o'clock so that we could be at F-Troop by 6 o'clock as we had an early start to get down a large tree on the 18th tee and have it cleaned up in time for a 12.30 shotgun start for the Charity Day. I finished off the hedges & then helped the boys clean up the timber as best we could. After F-Troop morning tea we rushed home for our golf gear & was back at the club for the 12.30 shotgun start where we started at the 4th tee. Our playing partners were visitors & we had a lovely social day in spite of the extreme heat. We stayed for a few drinks and the Presentation before calling it a day. It was a sweltering day and night so I had to get some water on the gardens when I got home.

Tuesday 15th November 2011 I was back at the club at 7.30 am for another 8.00 shotgun start because it was the Ladies AGM day to be held after golf. My playing partners were Yvonne Wilson, Rosalie Dyer and Kath Payn. We had mixed fortunes but had some good highlights as well. The weather was not as hot as yesterday but we all had carts to make it a little easier. Our golf cart has been a huge bonus in the hot weather and has more than paid for itself. We had lunch together at the club and then stayed on for the AGM which was uneventful. We stayed on for a glass of wine after the meeting so we could sort out our upcoming Christmas functions and dress up day. I got home about 5 o'clock and Shane was at home just about to leave for bowls. He was staying the night so that he did not have the long drive home after bowls.
By the time I had updated the Golfer's Blog and had dinner I could not keep my eyes open I was so tired.

A quite day at home tomorrow is in order.

Golf - Tuesday 8th November 2011 - CCWGA Annual Tournament

2011-11-07T23:01:00.000-08:00

We have suffered a very hot day for the CCWGA Annual Tournament but it was better than having rain.

There is a severe weather warning as this is written so perhaps we had a lucky escape from the bad weather.

The A Grade Ladies was played at Gosford with the other grades at other courses.

The CCWGA Tournament Dinner will be held this evening at Gosford Golf Club in the Sunset Room.

I was up early to cut the roses for the Presentation night & then was over to the club to do the decorating.
I worked at the 17th garden until lunch time but it got too hot to work beyond that.
A quick lunch and a nanny nap was in order when I got home.

Shane called around to say hello before heading for his bowls match which he will be lucky to finish if this severe storm forecast reaches us.

Monday 7th November 2011

2011-11-07T03:26:00.000-08:00

Whew! What a week. It was so full on I feel physically and emotionally exhausted.

Tuesday 1st November 2011 was the all important Melbourne Cup Day which started very early for me as I needed to take some roses over to the club before golf so that the luncheon tables could be set up. We had a shotgun start at 8.00am which meant we had to be out at the 11th tee ready to hit off. My playing partners today were Rosalie Dyer, Lorraine Bignall and Georgina Lamb. We had a lovely day - not winning any prizes but had a great day of golf with some really good highlights. We played an Ambrose and combined very well together - being good players out of luck at times. After golf we changed into our "jockey" gear to add a different theme to this year's Melbourne Cup luncheon in the lovely Magnolia Room. After lunch there was a fashion parade after which we could settle back with a wine and watch the cup. Peter had a day out with his mates and I caught up with him much later in the day.

Wednesday 2nd November 2011 I had a big washing day as the weather was hot and fine (just as well as it rained just about all day on Thursday). At lunch time I went to my beauticians to have my nails done etc etc. after which I attended their Christmas High Tea at the Frangipani Cafe in Gosford. It was a really impressive high tea (reminded me of high tea at Raffles in Singapore) & all the girls from the beauticians were lovely hosts and I got to meet some of the other clients. The washing was dry when I got home so I got straight into the ironing as I knew what a busy week lay ahead.

Thursday 3rd November 2011 it was a miserable day for the most of it. We got a bit of shopping done & I got to get all the household chores done before Lyn & Richard arrived to stay a couple of days with us before Heather's wedding. We had a quite dinner at home so that we could be all rested for the weekend.

Friday 4th November 2011 was a very busy day. Lyn had an early morning appointment with my beauticians and I had to be up early to pick roses and flowers for the golf club Art Exhibition that was on that evening at the Golf Club. I met Doon & Helen (the artist & her daughter in law) and we put together the floral decorations for the room where the exhibition was to be held. From there it was a quick trip home to get some lunch together and then went back to the club to clean up the front entrance. Lyn and I had a 2.30pm appointment at the hairdressers so we went out to my hairdressers at West Gosford for that and then met the boys at the Golf Club for drinks at 4.30 pm. It is Peter's birthday tomorrow but as we are going to Sydney for Heather's wedding we decided to have Peter's birthday early at the club as we were going to attend the Art Exhibition anyway. It was club raffle night and we won a couple of meat trays which was good. Rod, Anne, Joel & Emily joined us for drinks and dinner. Anne made Peter a "golf course" birthday cake which Joel assisted with. Joel is just at "birthday cake" age where HE gets to blow out all of the candles and is the first one into the icing. We had a really nice evening at the club and then had a couple of baileys at home afterwards to finish the evening off.

Saturday 5th November 2011 was the big day for Heather. Thankfully it was a fine sunny day which was just nice by 3.30pm. We (the family) were all booked into the Marriott Hotel at North Ryde so we could spend some extra time together over the weekend. Lyn was having her nails done in the morning and we got away about 12.30 ish & made good time to the hotel in spite of the fact that our Navman took us on a bit of a goose chase. I think I had the "shortest route" in the system which is not a good idea in Sydney. We were able to check into our rooms in time to change for the wedding and we got to the Church in nice time.
The Wedding was at the lovely St James Church at Turramurrah. It was a good service and Heather looked divine in a silk gown that fitted her like a glove. She was a stunning bride. After the wedding there was afternoon tea served in the church grounds where Heather & Matt cut the wedding cake for friends unable to attend the reception. The reception was held at the Avondale Golf Club which is a perfect wedding venue. The reception room was beautifully decorated & the food was good. Heather & Matt had a live band playing great music and we all danced our feet off all night. It was a fantastic wedding & it was good hanging out with the family in happy circumstances. Graham had organised taxis to pick us up and to take us back to the hotel afterwards.

Sunday 6th November 2011 we had a quite morning enjoying a good breakfast at the hotel. about 11.30 am we drove to Graham's house for a quite day there and to have a belated celebration for Graham's 60th birthday. Graham had been in NZ for the Rugby Match for his birthday in September. We had a bbq lunch a a good chat before heading home late afternoon. Kay & Greg were flying back to Brisbane so had gone straight to Sydney City in the morning; Dale & Barry and Phil & Lorraine were spending another night at the Marriott and had dinner that night with Clare and Cate and Graham and Anne; Lyn & Richard were heading to stay the night with Richard's brother and then were heading to Canberra to get a grandchildren hit.
We had a good bonding weekend and managed to get in one "Marty Robbins" song. Heather & Matt (Mr & Mrs Faulkner) were there and were heading for the airport that evening to start their honeymoon overseas.

Monday 7th November 2011 we were up early for a big day at F-Troop. It was a very hot day & we had a big project on at the club. We had 14 volunteers turn up which made the task easier & we managed to get all the allocated work done. This afternoon we had a nanny nap to catch up. Shane called in after work to see how our weekend had gone, He and Sam have just got back from a trip down the Victorian coast which they enjoyed. Tonight I have been catching up with all my wedding photos to get them ready to send to Anne.

The weather forecast for the rest of this week is for rain so I hope to get some gardening done at the club tomorrow before it starts. I am not playing golf as this week is the CCWGA week of golf and my grade is not playing at Gosford. I am taking over some roses for the District Presentation night tomorrow night.
It has been very hot the last two days and the flowers have suffered.. So I have another early morning coming up tomorrow.

Monday 31st October 2011

2011-10-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

This week has moved very quickly. We have had a mixture of weather - good and bad .

Tuesday 25th October 2011 I opted not to play golf, but instead worked over in the golf club gardens. It was a Halloween dress up day for the girls golf day so I donned my witches hat & went over to the club for presentation & to get photos of the girls dressed up in their Halloween gear. After golf Shane picked me up & we went out to Telstra to get another Bigpond Wireless USB as my new notebook computer does not cope with the old Bigpond fitting. ( I think that is called progress???) Anything 3 years old in computer technology is considered a dinosaur. Peter's eye infection has been very bad and he has had to go to his eye specialist for further treatment. It seems like he had a bad bacteria & there has been a bit of damage to the cornea. He is on ongoing care & hopefully there is no long term damage.

Wednesday 26th October 2011 I got the Bigpond Wireless up and working & confirmed that my old email address & accounts were formally closed. If I have not contacted you with a new email address for me then give me a call and I will get you updated. I spent the day updating all my new equipment & thankfully everything is up and running well. It is so good to have a fast computer. My laptop & printer are wireless connected and my iPhone is a real bonus. I really love it and discover new ways of using it every day.

Thursday 27th October 2011 I was over in the golf gardens for a while planting in some donated plants. We did a bit of shopping and I got some gardening done in the front gardens.

Friday 28th October 2011 I did some more gardening & then went into Gosford to have lunch with Heather & Lorraine. It was good to catch up with them as we had not had time to meet up for a couple of months. After lunch I had some retail therapy & got some bargain buys. We went to raffles night at the Golf Club as Peter was on raffle duty. We had dinner and a good social night with some of the members.

Saturday 29th October 2011 I did some dead heading of the roses and some weeding out the front. Doon Jansen called around to pick out some roses for decorating at the club next Friday night when she is having her art exhibition. Doon is a very talented painter as well as a good golfer. In the afternoon I did some household stuff. Peter was playing in the Club Championships so when he came home we went to Gwandalan for Shane's 40th birthday party. We had a good catch up with his mates as we had BBQ dinner at a beautiful place on the water at Gwandalan where Len lives. We could walk easily to the water and watch all the boats. Joel & Emily were there with Rod & Anne so we could catch up with them as well. Joel had the time of his life playing with all the other young children there and was impressed with the jumping castle and birthday cake. Emily slept through most of it which gave me a good excuse for a nurse.

Sunday 30th October 2011 we had a big day at golf playing 27 holes in the Foursomes Championships. Our playing partners were Warren Gray, Mary Bromwich , Spencer Walklate and Tania Burt & they were very good company so we had a lovely day. We stayed for dinner at the club after golf with some of the other golfers. Neither Peter or I were on our game so the golf results were very poor - maybe next year?

Monday 31st October 2011 we were at F-Troop at 7 am & worked through till 12.30pm. We had a good morning with 13 volunteers so we managed to get some good work done. This afternoon I am putting my Melbourne Cup outfit together. We normally do High Fashion Stakes and dress up to the 9's. This year we are being jockeys & dressing in boots and silks with matching hats. Should be a fun day.

I have to be up early in the morning to cut some roses to decorate the Magnolia Room at the golf club for the Melbourne Cup Races. We have an 8.00am shotgun start for golf so I will be up and running very early in the morning.

Monnday 24th October 2011

2011-10-24T03:16:00.000-07:00

Another busy few days - I wish I could have a few more hours in the day to get everything done.

Thursday 20th October 2011 I had a lovely day babysitting Emily while Rod & Anne took Joel home from hospital after his tonsil operation. Joel came through the procedure quite well but it will take a week or so for full recovery. Emily was an absolute dream to babysit. She has a lovely nature and is a very happy settled child now that her formula has taken effect. Emily is lactose intolerant and it has made a huge difference to her progress. I was reluctant to hand her over at the end of the day as she had been such a pleasure to have around.

Friday 21st October 2011 I was over at the Golf Club preparing the wedding garden for a wedding later that afternoon. Di and Anne my two F-Trooper offsiders came over to help and lucky they did as it was a very hot day to be out in the gardens. We did not go over to see the children as Peter had a nasty eye infection which has been a bit of a worry.

Saturday 22nd October 2011 we made an early morning visit to see Rod, Anne, Joel & Emily. Peter's eye was showing signs of improvement and he was playing in the Golf Championships that day so we did not stay long. Joel was much better and was happily playing with his toys & getting Nanny to go down the slippery slide with him. It will probably take a week or so for his throat to settle & to get back to eating properly. Rod & Anne were going out that afternoon so Anne had Emily dressed up in a little frock that we bought her home from China. She looked just gorgeous. While Peter was at golf I weeded and trimmed the front gardens. The roses are out blooming beautifully but the unseasonal heat is burning off the rose petals.

Sunday 23rd October 2011 we were up at 6 am to play golf at Palm Beach at 10.30 with 22 of the other Gosford players. We hired a bus to take us there and had a very enjoyable day. Palm Beach Members were lovely hosts and put on a pig on a spit for a late lunch for us which was very nice. A glass of champagne and chocolates on the bus was a little bonus. We arrived home about 7 o'clock which was a rather long day.

Monday 24th October 2011 we were at F-Troop at 7 o'clock and just as well we started early as it was a very hot day. We had twelve volunteers & got some good work done by mid-day. We called it a day as it was too hot to get out in the gardens at that time. By that time a nanny nap was in order.

The weather is due to change tomorrow. The gardens would appreciate some rain. I have not decided whether to play golf or not. I will see how the weather shapes up.

Werdnesday 19th October 2011

2011-10-19T00:33:00.000-07:00

It was Joel's big day today - his first time in hospital and Anne tells me he was very brave throughout the procedure. He was not too happy when he first came out but had settled down after a sleep by the time I got there. He was managing ice, jelly and ice cream without being sick while I was there and was coping well.

He is due home tomorrow morning all going well and we should see a new boy with no more tonsillitis which has been a major drawback for him.

It is my turn to mind Emily in the morning - can't wait! She is a sweetheart to look after.

Tuesday 18th October 2011

2011-10-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

Video of Mission Hills Resort - click on the arrow above to play the video

I am sorry for the delay in updating my post. We had a great 11 days in China, a full weekend when we got home and then a rushed trip to Lismore for the funeral of Trevor Gardiner - a long time friend. Today (Wednesday 19th October) Joel is in hospital having his tonsils and adenoids removed so I am squashing this update in before I go over to the hospital to see him. Anne rang earlier and said the operation was successful and Joel was doing well.

While we were away I was unable to update any of my blogs as the Chinese Govt have a standoff with google - probably through a security concern so I was unable to view or access any of my blogs.

Also while we were away we heard of the tragedy of Gina & John's 9 year old son being killed when he ran in front of a bus. To top that off Trevor Gardiner died of a heart attack aged 73. He is also a long time friend. It was all devastating news. Fortunately Trevor's funeral was held over to allow for family to fly in from WA so we were able to have time to drive to Lismore for the funeral after we got home.

My long awaited lap top turned up while we were away so it has been updated & ready to go. This morning I WiFi connected it to the printer so I can scan & print at will. The only outstanding problem is my Bigpond Wireless connector which of course does not fit the new laptop. - Another trip out to Telstra.

Tuesday 4th October 2011 - We left home at 6.30am with Annie & Bert who's son-in-law drove us to the airport. We arrived in plenty of time & had a comfortable trip to Guangzhou flying premium economy. We had a couple of hours to fill in until our connecting flight to Haikou, Hainan Island. The flight took bit over an hour. We were picked up at the airport by our tour manager & bused to Mission Hills Golf Resort. The Resort is beautiful and our rooms very spacious and comfortable. We had a large balcony overlooking the complex & the resort itself was enormous with indoor & outdoor swimming pools, gyms, shops, pro shop & lovely restaurants. The only problem was that we arrived at the end of the recent typhoon & had some very heavy rain while we were there. In the resort it was not too much of a problem but the golf course access roads got flooded and only a few courses were open. We had a bit of trouble checking in as there was some confusion with our bookings. We finally got it sorted & then had to change rooms as they gave us a wrong room configuration. It was a long day of travel & it was nice to be able to unpack.

Wednesday 5th October 2011 We played golf as scheduled on "The Vintage" Course. We met my friend Judy at the Caddie Master's Office where Judy works. Judy had lined up all of our caddies & we set off to have a good day. All went well for the first 9 holes where we just had a few showers to play through. On the back nine the heavens opened up & the course was under water in a very short amount of time so we came in after eleven holes. It was a shame because it was a lovely course & we were enjoying ourselves. We dried out & went down to the swimming pool for an hour or so as it had stopped raining by then. We had a nice dinner in the Resort Restaurant.

Thursday 6th October 2011 the rain had continued to tumble down overnight & in the morning. The girls decided that golf in the rain was not on so Judy took us all shopping into Haikou by taxi. The roads to the better shopping part of Haikou were closed due to flood water so Judy took us to downtown Haikou which was quite an experience as I don't think the locals had seen a European before & we got some odd looks. My best buy of the day (& the week in fact) was a pair of rubber sandals which saved my good shoes from being ruined in the wet weather. Judy bought us each an umbrella which was also a bonus for the week. The boys were determined to play golf so they played the No5 course in the rain. The "Blackstone" course we wanted to play was closed. Again we had dinner at the resort restaurant.

Friday 7th October 2011 The rain again continued and we decided not to play any more golf but to continue on our bus trip to Sanya which is on the other side of Hainan Island - about 4 hours drive. We said fond farewells to Judy. The weather improved as we drove towards Sanya so we had a good look at the countryside & stopped at a local Village which is a tourist stop of the "Minority Village" It was very noisy & busy with market stalls & loud drums etc. We did a bit of shopping and watched some entertainment before continuing on to Sanya. Some of us bought "Hainan Island" pj's just for fun. (check out my photo). We arrived at the Sheraton Hotel at Yalong Bay, Sanya late afternoon.

Saturday 8th October 2011 it was pouring rain again so we switched our day to a touring day and visited the Pearl/Jade/precious stones Factory where we all did some damage to our credit cards. We had a nice lunch at a local restaurant and then went back to the hotel for a swim in the pool and a coffee in the foyer coffee shop. Again we had dinner at the hotel.

Sunday 9th October 2011 we played golf at Sun Valley Golf Course which was not far from the hotel. It was a beautiful Course & we got our game in without getting wet. The weather is so hot that a bit of cloud or a light shower was not a problem We had lunch at the course & then went back to the hotel for a swim at the beach which is only a very short distance from the outside swimming pools. There we could order cocktails & lie on the lazy lounges right on the beach which was very pleasant. The waves were not very big but the water was beautiful. Again we had dinner in a private dining room at the hotel which was lovely, but made the mistake of ordering Australian wine which cost us an arm and a leg.

Monday 10th October 2011 we played golf at Yalong Bay which was just across the road from the hotel. It was an easier course to play than Sun Valley but we still had a very pleasant day there. After golf we had drinks and lunch at the course. Each evening we met at 6.30 pm in the coffee lounge in the foyer of the hotel and had a daily presentation to the winners on the day. It was all good fun. In the afternoon after golf we went shopping at the Summer Mall which was a rather expensive area. I bought Emily a gorgeous pair of shoes & Anne a nice handbag.

Tuesday 11th October 2011 We played golf at "Dragon Valley" golf course which was a bit further out of town. It was a beautiful course with magic clubhouse - very 5 star with luxury locker rooms and amenities.
We all enjoyed the challenge of this course and had a good day. Afterwards we visited "Deer Looking Backwards" Park as it was on our way. It is a beautiful place overlooking Sanya where we could get a good look at the city and beaches. That evening we went out to a Chinese Restaurant where Peter tasted "Frog".

Wednesday 12th October 2011 We played golf at Forest Valley Golf Course which is set in the Mountain area. It was a difficult course for us ladies as there was a lot of water carry on some of the holes. It was a very enjoyable day regardless of most of us losing all of our golf balls. Peter last eight balls in the first five holes. We had showers through the day which were not too bad. Our caddies did not speak English which made it very difficult at times. On the way home from golf we called into the hot mineral spas which was a great experience. There were a heap of different spas to choose from ranging from cool to very hot. We had a lovely few hours there relaxing. One of the pools had little fish that would nibble at your skin eating off all the dead skin cells - that was an interesting experience - especially if you are ticklish. It rained fairly heavily while we were there but it did not matter as we were all wet anyway. That was a fun experience. We had our final presentation evening in the coffee lounge of the hotel where Ron and Annie were declared the Champions of the 2011 Hainan Island Golf challenge. I won a prize for having a "Fish" - " (****) it's still here" airswing at one of the courses. Our highlight was all three of us girls getting our drives to putting distance of the hole on the "Island" hole of the course and all getting a par. We had our final dinner night at the hotel.

Thursday 13th October 2011 the girls wanted to have a shopping morning before we had to leave for the airport. It was still raining so we did not want to play golf. Harry, our tour guide took us by taxi to the "Walking Street" which was a big shopping centre in Sanya. We did some good shopping there at more reasonable prices and we could barter which made it even cheaper. I bought Joel a remote control car, both of the kids some clothes and some more handbags for the girls. We caught a taxi back to the hotel at 12 o'clock. The boys spent the morning relaxing at snooker & at the pool. We were packed and ready to leave for the airport so we decided to wait and have diner at Guangzhou airport while we were waiting for our flight to Sydney & doing our last minute shopping. The flight from Sanya to Guangzhou was okay but running a little late. The weather was not good with rain all the way. Guangzhou was even worse weather with the rain pouring down the whole time. Our flight home was comfortable but our luggage including golf clubs got soaked during transport between planes so everything had to be laid out to dry when we got home and our house looked like a disaster area.
We were picked up at the airport by Bert & Annie's daughter who drove us right to our door which we really appreciated. We arrived home about midday which gave us time to buy some milk, bread etc to have some fresh food in the house. We went over to Rod & Anne's to see the kids and to pick up my laptop computer that was delivered there while I was away. We were very tired by the time we had unpacked so an early night was essential as we had a big weekend coming up.

Saturday 15th October 2011 Peter was playing in the golf Championships. There was a wedding at the club on Sunday so I went over & spent the morning tidying up with the help of fellow F-Troopers Di & Anne. It was a nice sunny day so I had loads of washing on the line. In the afternoon I set up the new laptop computer with the programs that I wanted & updated the golf club blogs & downloaded all the holiday photos which I had taken with my iPhone. The iPhone was fabulous overseas although I had to be cautious with my download time as the cost can be horrendous. The hotel had free internet for 45 minutes a day so I took advantage of that.

Sunday 16th October 2011 Rod, Anne, Joel & Emily came over before we went to golf. I took Joel for a walk to see the trains. Emily was very cuddly and well behaved giving us some lovely smiles.
The golf event of the day was a Captain Vs President Day and we were on the Captain's side. Our opposition was Rhonda Jordan & Geoff Bridge and they beat us by a point and a half. It was a shotgun start at 12.30-pm so we all came into the club house together. The President's side won the day. We stayed for dinner at the club with some of the Members which was a good finish for the day. Peter & I had two birdie holes which was good.

Monday 17th October 2011 we were up and over at F_Troop at 7 o'clock and were happy to have 16 of us there to help out which made things a lot easier. We managed to get some good repair work done on one of the fences and cleaned out a couple of the gardens for new plants to come in. The boys also got some more mulch for the gardens which makes them look better. We finished F-Troop at about 11.30 am & came home to get ready to drive to Lismore for Trevor's Funeral. We left home about 2.00pm and arrived at Grafton about 8 o'clock after a couple of refreshment stops. We stayed overnight at a motel there so we would be rested enough to get to Lismore for the funeral by 11 o'clock. We had dinner at the restaurant attached to the motel which was convenient.

Tuesday 18th October 2011 we were at the Lismore Memorial Gardens in plenty of time to have a coffee & get dressed. The funeral was well attended by family and friends and we had a good catch up with some of the family we have not seen for a long while at the Worker's Club where the wake was held. We got away about 2 o'clock & travelled straight home arriving back at 10.20pm which was good after some refreshment stops. Harry's Pies was a place I have been meaning to stop at for years as it one a prize for the "Best Pies in Australia" a lot of years back. We stopped for a coffee and pie & that got us home. The variety of pies is amazing & it took me ages to choose what I wanted. I can now tick that off my list of "Things to do before I die" list. We got a bit of rain along the way & it was cool at Grafton which surprised me. The Jacaranda Trees were just starting to come out & we were a bit early to see the magnificence of "Jacaranda Drive" which I always look forward to if in the Grafton area at jacaranda time.

I have just had a message from Anne at the hospital to say that Joel is having a good sleep so I will go over shortly & see him.

The rest of my holiday photos from China will be on my travel blog shortly. You can view the travel blog easily by clicking on my profile; arrow to the bottom of the page and select my travel blog from there.

Monday 3rd October 2011

2011-10-03T01:46:00.000-07:00

The last couple of days have been very busy getting my computer & iPhone set up with contacts and emails etc. as well as having a good result in the Garden Competition for the Golf Club Gardens.

Thursday 29th September 2011 it was a horrible wet and windy day so it was a good excuse to stay indoors with my new toys. Thursday evening I went to the Gosford Garden Competition Presentation Night with Di Beechey and Georgina Lamb at Erina Fair Conference Rooms. We had an excellent result with the Golf Club Gardens winning a major prize for the Best Commercial Garden and also got a finalist award for the Native Garden on the 6th which makes all our efforts at the golf club gardens worthwhile.

Friday 30th September 2011 I had some fun with my iPhone loading some good applications that we can use while we are overseas. In the afternoon I had some "me" time at the beauticians getting my nails done etc.

Saturday 1st October I spent the morning getting the house up to date in preparation for our holidays. Then I went over to the golf club to prepare the grounds for the garden weddings that were on this weekend. I was disappointed to find that one of our gardens had been destroyed by party goers at a function at the club the previous night. Luckily there was no rain until late evening so the golfers & brides did not get wet. I spent the rest of the day catching up at home clearing out my "to do" box & filing papers etc.

Sunday 2nd October 2011 we went over to Rod & Anne's to see the kids before leaving on our trip to China. It was teeming rain with some thunder and wind. We were to have been playing golf with Garry & Doreen Trigg but it was just too wet to contemplate going out on the course. It was a good decision as it rained for the rest of the day. We stayed at Rod & Anne's until it was time for Joel & Emily to have a sleep. We dropped Rod to the Elanora Hotel where he was meeting friends to watch Canterbury in the finals. We spent the rest of the day with a bit of R & R before going over to the club to check how the wedding party got on today as the weather was not too good. The rain had stopped & the Bride & Groom were out on the course having photos taken so it was not a disaster. We got a take away dinner & went home to watch the grand final of the football. I updated the golf blog on my iPhone as a test to see if it worked with no problems. It worked quite well which is a relief as I want to able to update the blog while I am overseas and I have to travel this time without my beloved laptop computer. The replacement laptop is in transit somewhere & will arrive too late. Anne is going to take delivery of it while I am away so I will have that to look forward to when I get back.

Monday 3rd October 2011 (today) we were early to F-Troop and fortunately the rain had stopped overnight & we had a nice day to get some jobs done at the club. I did have some joy when I rang the supplier of our garden hedge plants & he offered to replace the damaged hedge plants free of charge which was very generous of him. He even delivered the plants to the club so we could get them into place before we go away. We are on our way tomorrow so we spent this afternoon getting the bags packed etc. I have applications on the phone that tells me the weather in China, converts our currency, converts the time difference & gives me the correct flight details from the airport which will be a help while travelling. I just love the iPhone and am getting better at using it. I am using the iPhone camera in place of my normal camera as it takes better photos & just as easy to download to my computer.

My roses are growing beautifully as you can see by the attached photos. We have had a lot of rain & they are responding well to having plenty of water.
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Wednesday 28th September 2011

2011-09-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

These last few days have been a bit of a blur with so much happening.

Following all the rain of last Sunday we had a nice evening at the club at the Dinner Dance that was held regardless of the golf wash out. We had over five inches of rain these last few days but the golf course managed to recover very well and fortunately in time for the Ladies Foursomes Championships on Tuesday.

Monday 26th September 2011 we were up early for F-Troop. We were unable to get out on the course so managed to get a lot of work done at the front gardens & I got some plants out of my backyard and into garden areas at the club. Shane has been doing a lot of hard work on setting up my new computer so I have been spending a lot of time getting my email address book sorted and contact details for my iPhone.. Monday night we went over to the club to witness the voting count for the new incoming club directors. Peter was re-elected as Vice President unopposed and the two other directors were returned to their positions which was a good outcome.

Tuesday 27th September 2011 I was at the club by 8 o'clock to hit off in the Ladies Foursomes Championships. My partner was Rosemary Cohen who I have played with in these Championships for quite a few years. We played with Susan Bourne and Pam Witt and they were great company. We had some good highlights (and some low lights) but we all played well enough to win a ball. We had to play 27 holes which was long enough for me. The Div 1 players had to play 36 holes. It was a long day but a nice day. I did not get home until after 4 o'clock to be able to process my photos for the golfer's blog so it was a big rush to get back to the club by 6.30pm to attend the Club AGM. We did not have time to have dinner so after the meeting Col, Mark & Anne came home for a coffee & snack & we ended up having a very late night with Col staying over as it was too late to drive home.

Wednesday 28th September 2011 (today) Peter went to golf so I decided that I would have some retail therapy at Erina Fair. I need to get myself organised for our China trip now. I managed to get some new golf shorts and 3/4's, some summer tops, my medications and a few other things that I needed for the trip. I had a phone call from the suppliers of my replacement laptop and they told me that they were going to upgrade the computer because the old one was not in stock. That was good news as it will not cost me anything. I only hope that it gets here in time for me to set it up before we go overseas. The weather has changed for the worse again and we had more rain throughout the day with a forecast of more rain in the next few days.

I am really enjoying my iPhone with all the great applications I can get. The camera function is good and easy to use and transfer. The video of Joel swimming (last post) was taken on my iPhone. I have set up all of my email accounts into the iPhone so that I can access my emails at any time and am in the process of sorting my address book so that I can send out my new email address to all of my contacts. It is just so wonderful to have fast Internet & efficient IT products to make m life easier. I am a real gadget person & am having a great time discovering what I can do with my new toys. Finding enough time in the day is a problem.

Sunday 25th September 2011

2011-09-25T00:13:00.000-07:00

Video of Joel at swimming lessons: click on the arrow to play.

The last few days have been hectic with my new computer being installed, playing with my new iPhone and having some quality time with Joel & Emily.

Thursday 22nd September 2011 I was over at the golf club to collect some donated plants & then met up with Anne, Joel & Emily to have some shopping time at Erina & to take Joel to the play centre for a while.
Joel was tired and behaved badly while Anne was trying to get him some new shoes. A short time in the play centre settled him down & then a stint in the toy shop where I was able to get a present for him for Christmas that I knew he wanted. Emily was well behaved and slept through most of the morning.
After lunch Shane came around to install my new computer which was very exciting as I can now have plenty of speed and new technology to move the process along.

Friday 23rd September 2011 I was at the hairdressers at 9 0'clock for a bit of "me" time. I have changed hairdressers as my old one moved out of town so I am going to West Gosford for convenience. Kath is my new hairdresser and has done a good job of my colour & cut. Shane came over in the afternoon & we sorted out a few more things & Sam helped me with my iPhone settings. Peter had gone to the Hunter Vally for a game of golf & got back just in time for us to go t0 the golf club for dinner prior going to the Laycock Theatre to see Louise Stimpson performing in her Annual Concert which is on each year to give disabled people an outlet for their talents. The show was very entertaining & the supporting crew did a great job putting it together. I look forward to this show every year as it is so good to see them all enjoying themselves on the stage.

Saturday 24th September 2011 was busy day with Anne picking me up at 0 o'clock to go to some garage sales and to mind Emily while Anne was with Joel for swimming lessons. We picked up some lovely clothes for Emily (brand new with tags still on some of them) then stopped for coffee & a play for Joel at McDonalds on the way to swimming. Joel loved his swimming lessons as the photos and video will show & Emily slept through most of the morning and was very well behaved. In the afternoon I played with the computer & iPhone downloading software & setting up email accounts. My email will be changing shortly & I will send out messages to everyone in my contacts. If you do not hear from me give me a ring & I will give you my new address just in case I did not have you in my address book. Saturday night we went to Mark & Anne Stimpson's for dinner with Rick & Michelle McGrath to have a "Bonding" dinner leading up to the "Mixed Team Series" due to be played tomorrow. It started to rain while we were there and has not stopped since.
We had a lovely dinner & a good chat getting home some time after midnight & I was late to bed by the time I did the golfers blog.

Sunday 25th September 2011 (today) was a complete washout for golf. The course is unplayable so the Mixed Team Series has been postponed until November. It has rained steadily all day so I am glad we did not get started on the golf and had to keep going. I am not a wet weather golfer and would not have been happy. We are going to the Dinner Dance tonight that was to follow the Golf Presentation as it has all been prepaid. Apart from that the day was a write off. I cleaned up some of my old files & got rid of a lot of old irrelevant equipment now that I have a new system running. It is great to have a speedy computer and an iPhone that I can receive & send emails and get some great apps like my golf handicap update.

Wednesday 21st September 2011

2011-09-21T03:48:00.000-07:00

There has been lots happening this week along with a lot of garden work. The weather has been lovely so it has been nice to be able to get outside.

Saturday 17th September 2011 (Graham's 60th birthday that he celebrated while watching the Rugby in NZ) I spent the day in the back gardens while Peter went to golf. I managed to get just about all the gardens weeded & mulched.

Sunday 18th September 2011 the computer monitor I had been using with my computer spat it's dummy & I could not use the computer without it. I still not have a replacement laptop yet to save me in these situations so I scrambled through the back shed & found an old monitor (of dinosaur era) & plugged it in and to my surprise it worked straight away. That saved my day. We played golf with Des & Yvonne Wilson at 11 o'clock & had a very nice day - our main highlight being the boys winning the team event. They beat us girls for the Keno ticket at the 16th hole where Des had a birdie to seal our fate. We stayed on for dinner at the club with Des & Yvonne & were joined by Mark, Anne, Col, Lauren, Kevin & Lorraine where we celebrated Lorraine's birthday.

Monday 19th September 2011 we had a huge day at F-Troop starting at 7.00am & working through until 2 O'clock. We were donated some mature plants, a bird bath & a garden seat as well as needing to spread mulch so we worked all morning to get everything into place & to tidy up around the clubhouse & 1st tee for a big Ladies Invitation Day being held tomorrow. After F-Troop I just had time for lunch & a shower when Ken Gardiner from Megan called in to say hello. Shane also arrived to take me out to the Telstra Shop at Erina to get my new computer & telephone bundles in place. It took us until after 5 o'clock to get everything organised & in place for us to set up my new system later this week. I also upgraded my mobile to an iphone4 which was exciting as I have been wanting to learn how to use one. I had some fun learning to get started. My mobile number is still the same.

Tuesday 20th September 2011 I was at golf at 8 o'clock as we had a big invitation day with over 100 starters with all proceeds going to Breast Cancer Research. My playing partners were Jan Hoban (from Terrigal Golf Club), Jan Walker and Anne Burgess. We had a lovely day even if it did blow a bit of a gale later in the morning. Our highlight was Anne scoring an Eagle on a 4 par hole with two lovely shots. We did not win any prizes other than Jan Hoban winning nearest the pin on the 8th, in fact I did not even win a raffle prize. I did buy some cakes from the produce stall so I did not go home empty handed. It was a big day as I did not get home until after 4 o'clock. Shane was at home installing a new screen for me which was part of the system going in this week

Wednesday 21st September 2011 I had another day in the back garden cleaning up the last of the gardens and my garden room where I keep all the plants in waiting for the golf club. Shane called in after work & cleaned out the fish tank for me & replaced the filter wool. The fish look much happier. The weather has been lovely & I enjoyed the day outside. I got all my phone contacts up to date in the iphone which was a bit of a chore to clean up as I forget to delete old unwanted numbers & had a big list to go through.

I am looking forward to getting everything hooked up & in working order. My old computer is very slow as it is many years old & well out of date. A firm in Brisbane is supplying my new laptop to replace the stolen one. I should have it here next week some time all going well. I should be all wireless by the time we leave for China with new technology available to make everything speedy & easy.

Tomorrow I am going out for the morning with Anne, Joel & Emily which will give me some quality time with them.

Friday 16th September 2011

2011-09-16T01:49:00.000-07:00

The last four days have been pretty much all about gardening - my favourite occupation in the spring.
It is a very busy time as everything has to be weeded, fertilized, sprayed and mulched in preparation for the hotter weather to come. I love this time of year when the garden bursts into colour and all of the roses open up for the first time. I have been very busy with the golf club gardens as we had to be ready for the garden competition inspection this week. We have entered into the "Best Commercial Garden" section which encompasses the whole of the golf course. That inspection happened on Thursday so I am now back finishing off my gardens at home so that they will stay in good order while we are away in China for our golfing holiday.

Tuesday 13th September 2011 I had to fore go my golf in order to be able to finish off the golf club gardens ready for judging on Thursday. We collected another trailer load of mulch and finished off the native garden at the 6th. The I cleaned up the wedding garden area which is part of our "Theme Gardens" that are going to be judged on Thursday.

Wednesday 14th September 2011 I was up very early so that I could weed & mulch the garden at the side of the house before we had to leave to attend a funeral at Palmdale at 11 o'clock. My old work colleague Neville Pickering lost his much loved wife Irene after a long illness which was very sad. The wake was held in the tea rooms at Palmdale where we caught up with a few friends that we had not seen for a while. In the afternoon we had some time at Erina Fair where we took the old 12 year old vacuum cleaner in to be repaired and much to our surprise it was fixable and only cost $100 repair rather than $1400 replacement cost - so that was good news. We had a wedding gift to purchase from the Bridal Registry at Myers so we took care of that without any problems. My three year old colour printer/fax/scanner has been spitting it's dummy. We had a five year warranty on it so the retailers replaced it with a brand new one without even looking at what repair work was required - so that was more good news. I checked out the lap top computers so that I can select one to replace the notebook that was stolen. That is still with the insurance company. Shane is building me a new home computer which I should have in place next week so I should be up and running with all the latest technology by next week. On the way home from Erina we picked up another five bags of mulch so that I can finish off the home back gardens.

Thursday 15th September 2011 I was up early so that I could be over at the Golf Club by 8.30 am to meet up with the judges of the garden competition. I took them around the club gardens in a golf cart showing them each of the gardens that we have worked on and also each of the theme gardens that we have created. Hopefully we have done enough work to get a mention on presentation day. I was home by 10.30 am and worked in the back gardens,getting four if the back gardens done. The weather has been beautiful so it was a pleasure to be out there.

Friday 16th September 2011 (today) it was more of the same. I managed to get most of the rose gardens done before coming in to watch the Davis Cup Tennis. I plan on having another full day in the back gardens tomorrow which should have everything up to scratch. I will need to spend some time getting all of my old photos still on my computer organised, archived and backed up on external hard disc so that I will be working with a clean slate when my new computer system takes over.

Monday 12th September 2011

2011-09-12T04:05:00.000-07:00

It has been another huge week mainly about gardens as the Annual Garden Competition is being judged this week and I have entered all the golf club gardens. Having done that it has been a big effort to get all the gardens looking respectable at the same time. The weather has been a mixture of spring and winter which has not helped much.

Tuesday 6th September 2011 we has the security people in to install a "Back to Base" alarm system in the house. To do this they had to run cables through the roof into all the various rooms & connect it all to working order. The workers started at 10.00 and worked through until 4.30 managing to get all the cables in place. Peter & I collected a couple of trailer loads of mulch for the golf club gardens between working in the yard. I managed to get a couple of the front gardens weeded, fertilized & mulched while the security people worked.

Wednesday 7th September 2011 the Security System was finally finished and in place by 1.30 pm. The system appears to be very efficient & the alarm is very loud so I hope that we do not set it off by mistake. While the workers were here I managed to get the rest of the front gardens weeded, fertilized and mulched.
I went over to the golf club & planted some climbing plants at the Men's 10th tee & weeded the garden at the 13th tee. At 4.30 I came home to meet with a builder who is going to give us a quote on building the front veranda into a Queensland Room which will make it secure for the grandchildren & also keep out the flies & mozzies in summer.

Thursday 8th September 2011 I fertilized, watered & trimmed the ladies garden while I waited for Peter & Mark to bring a couple of loads of mulch for the garden. We then picked up some gravel to renew the path in the garden. We called into Bunnings for a couple of things and I got some petunias to add to the Men's 10th tee garden.

Friday 9th September 2011 we had some very heavy rain overnight & all the next morning which washed out the golf for the day. We did an intensive house clean while it was raining so that the house was up to date - then I updated our Centrelink information at Centrelink in Gosford. In the afternoon when it fined up I went over to the club and planted in the petunias at the 10th tee.

Saturday 10th September 2011 we did the household shopping & then I spent the rest of the day weeding the gardens at the 17th green while Peter played golf. It was a freezing cold day & I was glad to get home out of the cold. I was so tired I sat down for a nanny nap & woke up when Peter got home from golf.

Sunday 11th September 2011 we went over to Rod & Anne's to have some quality time with the kids. I saw Emily in a dress for the first time and she looked just so cute. Joel was in a playful mood & had us both playing games with him. Rod & Anne were going to a friends place for lunch so we left there about 10.30. We had golf at midday so we were over at the club by 11.30. Our playing partners today were Mark & Anne Stimpson who are always great company. We had a good day & stayed for dinner at the club with Mark & Anne and Col & Lauren getting home about 8.30. My golf highlight was getting more that 30 points and winning a ball two weeks in a row.

Monday 12th September 2011(today) we were at F-Troop at 7.00am. We only had a small crew of eight workers today so we had to work hard to finish off all the jobs that needed doing for the garden competition. This afternoon (after my nanny nap) I watched the final of the Women's Tennis and cheered Sam to victory which was a good result.

The weather forecast says warmer weather on the way so I am looking forward to that.
Luckily we have had fine weather even if it was a little cool at times.