Monday 23rd August 2010

This was a week of mixed fortunes & I managed to stretch my birthday out for some extra days.

Tuesday 17th August 2010 we had fine weather for the 3rd round of the Ladies Championships which suited me nicely & I had the best round I have had in ages coming in breaking 100 and with a nett 67 which was good enough to win the day. An extra bonus was that it was the Stroke Monthly Medal Day so I won that as well. We stayed back for birthday/golf celebrations after golf which made it a long day. That evening we went to Mark & Anne Stimpson's for dinner & to discuss a possible golf holiday to Perth next year. It was a huge day with many celebrations including another birthday cake.

Wednesday 18th August 2010 it all the celebrations caught up with me so I had a quiet day at home feeling a bit under the weather, so a good rest was in order.

Thursday 19th August 2010 it was back to the golf course to play in the 4th & final round of the Championships. The weather was a bit windy but not wet which was good. My fortunes turned & I had my worst score of the Championships which took me out of contention altogether. Prior to that I was coming 4th in the gross & 2nd in the nett. Such is golf. Maybe next year! Peter had gone to Sydney for a couple of days golfing with his mates so I had to console myself.

Friday 20th August 2010 a bit of retail therapy with Anne & Joel was in order. We arrived at Erina about 10.30ish & left at 2.30 so I managed to do a fair bit of damage to the credit card - spoiling Joel outrageously at Pumpkin Patch, Target, Big W, KMart, Best & Less & Toys-R-Us.

We actually went out to buy a baby seat for our car so that we can transport Joel when required. We managed to fit that purchase in after stopping at the play centre to watch Joel play while we had coffee and then had a nice lunch along the way. We had a lovely day & I managed to pick up some Christmas presents for Joel as well. (photos attached of Joel with some of Friday's purchases)

Saturday 21st August 2010 we had some shopping to do before going to watch Joel at swimming lessons. It was a lovely day so I spent the rest of the day over at the Golf Club doing some clean up work at the front of the club and the putting greens. It was a full day & I was tired when we got home.

Sunday 22nd August 2010 Rod & Joel came over for Sunday breakfast. Anne was working so I kept Joel amused by letting him dig in the dirt with his "Thomas the Tank Engine" garden tools that I had bought him the day he was born. He loved digging in the dirt (in his "Pumpkin Patch" overalls). It was a lovely sunny day & at 11 o'clock we went to golf for our usual Sunday golf. Our playing partners for the day were Des & Yvonne Wilson & we had a great day. Yvonne played really well and had 39 points which was just enough t0 win a ball. The course has dried out so much that the run was amazing. The top scores for both the men and the women were 45 points so my little 34 points won nothing. We stayed for dinner at the club after golf with Mark & Anne Stimpson & Lorraine Bignall where we chatted on about holidays & overseas trips which I am getting interested in again. We had another bottle of wine to celebrate my birthday which has stretched out my birthday about as far as it can go.

Monday 23rd August 2010 (today) it was raining lightly. It was F-Troop day and we had a lot of jobs to be done at the course because the garden competition is coming up soon. We decided to work through the rain & managed to get a lot of jobs done including planting 100 pansies that had been donated to the club. The Pro shop renovations are going well & the buggy rooms that we have spent so much time working on are up and running really well. The next couple of weeks should see the Pro shop in full operation & by then the garden competition will be decided so we can ease off a bit.

Tomorrow I am playing in the President Vs Captains Day at golf which should be fun. I am in the Presidents side & have to wear a blue shirt & the opposition will be wearing red. I am hoping for a nice fine day & some good golf.


During the week I posted off a gift to my friend "Judy" who works and lived at the Mission Hills Golf Resort at Hainan Island in China. Judy was my caddie years ago when I played golf in China. Judy sent me a recent photo of herself working as a Caddie Master at Mission Hills. Judy is learning to be a good golfer too. I am hoping one day to get there to play on the Hainan Island golf courses.

Monday 16th August 2010

The last few days have flown by with full activity every day. I am happy to say that the weather held for the 2nd round of the Ladies Championships & I have improved my position to about 5th in my division. I will need to have two spectacular rounds tomorrow and Thursday to feature in this year's championships as my first effort in the rain was not good. After celebrating my 67th birthday all day today Round 3 of the Championships early tomorrow could be in jeopardy.

Thursday 12th August 2010 I had an early hit off for the second round of the Championships. It was a cold windy day but no rain so that was a bonus. My playing partners were Lesley Gregory and Margaret Pratt & they were excellent company. We played the back 9 first & we had many highlights where I turned in 45 strokes & no 3 putts which was a bonus. The front 9 was not nearly as good however I came in runner up in my division & still had no 3 putts at the end of the day so I was excited. The result improved my position in the scoreboard so anything could happen this coming week.

Friday 13th August 2010 I spent the whole day doing catch up at home. It was a nice sunny, windy day which was great for drying washing - so everything got washed, ironed, polished so that I was up to date with the house. The wind was very cold even though it was sunny so it was not too hard to have a day inside.

Saturday 14th August 2010 we did some shopping & included a visit to the plant nursery to pick up another iceberg rose for the Golf Club putting green garden. That is a deadly thing for me to do because I am sure to come across some plant specials which I did that day & added 6 new camellias to my purchases for the golf club so that I could replace some struggling small camellias at "Camellia Way". I spent the rest of the day planting out & fertilizing and then went back to buy 4 more camellias to finish off the patch I have been working on. It was a full day and I was very tired at the end of the day.

Sunday 15th August 2010 Shane, Rod, Anne & Joel came over for the traditional Sunday morning breakfast - this week - orange juice, pancakes, toast, tea or coffee. It was a very unsettled day so it was too cold to take Joel out walking so we kept him amused inside as best we could. Rod & Anne had some shopping to do so we all left at the same time - us to Sunday golf where our partners today were Shirley & Cyril Daly (our next door neighbours). We had a very enjoyable day & our best highlight was Cyril coming in with 38 points. We stayed for dinner at the club with Cyril, Shirley and some other of our friends. It was a strange weather day with us having all 4 seasons while we were out on the course including rain. Luckily there was not much of it & we finished in sunshine. The cold wind kept the temperatures down.

Monday 16th August 2010 (today) was my 67th birthday. As it was F-Troop day we presented at the Golf Club at 7.00am for a full mornings work. I painted some finishing touches in the Pro Shop Buggy rooms & then went out into the gardens where we planted the 4 additional camellias, weeded, raked & cleaned up in that area. I did not get home until about 3 o'clock & by then it was time to get ready for a visit from Anne & Joel who were coming over so Joel could see me for my birthday & he gave me a little rose "Hot Chocolate" which we will grow together. Joel made me a birthday card at his pre-school today which is proudly displayed on my fridge (photo attached). That evening we went out to dinner with Sam & Shane and Rod & Anne to the "Trackside" Restaurant at West Gosford. After a nice meal there we came back home to enjoy a birthday cake for dessert which Sam had made for me (Yumm!) not to mention the fact that the boys wanted to watch Monday night football. I have had a lovely day, receiving lots of phone calls, messages, emails & best wishes for my special day - so it was all good.

I am hoping now for a good day tomorrow starting with some really good weather which would be a great beginning for my golf day.