Megan - January 2011

We had a lovely couple of days at Megan with Ken & Marg on our way for some R & R at Byron Bay. Megan is about 14klms from Dorrigo and a pristine little farming community.

Thursday 20th January 2011 was a hectic day rushing about doing last minute things around the house and garden.

Friday 21st January 2011 we got away about 8 am on a nice day for travelling and reached Megan mid afternoon after a rest stop at Kempsey. The traffic flow was good and we did not have any dramas on the road. It was a lovely day at Coffs Harbour and we travelled to Megan via the "Waterfall Way" and the temperature dropped 6 degrees as we approached Dorrigo.

Ken & Marg have made some lovely improvements to their property since they moved in this time last year. We stayed until Sunday when we were due to arrive at Byron Bay.

We managed to catch up with Ken's brother Trevor who was staying with them as well as us.

Ken's sister Robyn and her husband Sam visited on Sunday and stayed for dinner. Jim also arrived on Sunday for a 10 day break from WA and cooked us all up a lovely dinner. Carolyn , Bailey, Kye and Ella visited every day and was hostess for Trevor's son Brett and his two children. It was a very busy couple of days for Ken and Marg.

We had a visit to Dorrigo to get some supplies and we had a look at the Dorrigo Golf Course.

Sunday 23rd January 2011 we travelled to Byron Bay via the alternative road to Grafton which was a bit of a windy road but a bit shorter than via Coffs Harbour.

Wednesday 19th January 2011

I could not resist posting these photos of Joel. These were taken today while I was babysitting him.

Tuesday 18th January I spent all day in the front gardens and filled up 3 green bins with weeds and cuttings. I only went out to do some dead heading but found a jungle had grown with the recent rains so it just had to be done. I did not play golf as I had so much catching up to do at home. With our holidays coming up at speed I am running out of time.

Wednesday 19th January 2011 (today) I looked after Joel from 6.45am until 3.30pm. He was just a delight to look after and we kept each other amused all day. We managed to fit a good walk in between the showers, a 2 hour sleep, a swim in the wading pool, a play in the sand pit & cooked some cupcakes which Joel thought was wonderful. He ended up with chocolate from head to toe but it was all good fun. We had some great fun with the soap bubbles which Joel chased all around the veranda - he was facinated when they floated along & then just dissapeared. I was worn out from blowing bubbles by the time he got bored with it.

Looking at all the flood reports today reminded me that my life has not been all bad. Today, 19th January, is a good day to mark as a reminder to myself each year that a dose of reality does help us to appreciate good friends, good health and what we have got and not to worry about what we have not.

I had Joel all cleaned up by the time he was due to go home. Anne stayed for a cup of tea & we taste tested the cup cakes which got the seal of approval from Joel and Anne. Tomorrow I will be in panic mode trying to finish off my "to do" list by Friday.

Monday 17th January 2011

We had a mixed bag of weather this week ranging between rain, wind and very hot days.

After all the horror stories of the floods in Queensland and Victoria we have to accept that we have had an uneventful week.

Tuesday 11th January 2011 I did not go to golf as it rained all night and into the early part of the morning. I spent the day at home in the gardens after the rain cleared in the afternoon.

Wednesday 12th January 2011 I was on babysitting duties with Joel from 6.45 am until 4.00pm. Joel was really well behaved and it was a pleasure to look after him. It was a hot day so he had fun playing in his wading pool and sand pit. He had a 2 hour sleep in the middle of the day so I was able to hand him back to Anne refreshed and in a good mood. I was watching the reporting on the television of the floods that were affecting Queensland. Kay lives in Ipswich but was not personally worried by the flood water other than the drenching downpours they had received at the same time as the flood which were damaging enough. Luckily Kay lives at a higher point above the flood danger.

Thursday 13th January 2011 I went to Sydney on a bus tour with a group of twenty girls most of whom were from the golf club. We were picked up in Gosford by the tour operator who has a 20 seater very comfortable bus. We stopped for morning tea at St Ives and then travelled on to meet the cruise boat that was taking us for a 2 hour cruise on the Pittwater. The tour is inspired by a local author Susan Duncan living at the Pittwater who wrote a book about the history of the place called "Salvation Creek". It was an interesting day especially if you had read the book and could relate to the places but it was also just a good day out. You can see a full report and more photos of the day by visiting my travel blog http://www.janmartinstravelblog.blogspot.com/

We had perfect weather which also enhanced the day.

Friday 14th January 2011 we had a day at the golf club firstly washing and polishing the golf cart. After that I got busy trimming hedges and cleaning up the front of the club and the Wedding gardens. We have had a lot of windy weather which brings down all the branches and leaves from the gum trees. While over at the club I picked up our new GPS system that we settled on after trying out three different systems. We found the Guru was a great GPS but a bit too sophisticated for what we wanted - we would not have used half of the applications. The Sureshot was a simple to use device and easier to read with it's only downside being that it will not automatically advance to the next hole. I have ordered a cart bracket to hold the GPS in place & that should arrive in the next few weeks.

Saturday 15th January 2011 I set up the Sureshot GPS system & downloaded all the courses we wanted both here and in Perth when we do our golf tour there. After that we did an early morning shop before Peter went to golf. I spent the rest of the day catching up with washing, ironing & household cleaning. It was too hot to do any gardening or outside work.

Sunday 16th January 2011 Rod & Anne were both down with head colds so they did not come over for breakfast as they do most Sundays. We had a quite morning prior to going to golf at 11.00am. It was a very hot muggy day so we were very glad of our cart. Our playing partners were Jan & Elly Van Den Berg who were very good company. Peter & I both won a ball and my highlight was that I was an improved player and did not wipe any holes. We stayed for dinner at the club with Col & Lauren Matterson which was a good finish to the day.

Monday 17th January 2011 we had 7.00am F-Troop. It was shaping up to be a very hot day so we were glad that we started early. We managed to get some good jobs done by 12.00 oclock & then had lunch at Subway which was very nice after a hard mornings work. I had a Doctors appointment at 3.45 so I managed to scrape up a vase of flowers to give to the girls at the Doctors Office. It has been so hot that the roses have been getting burnt off. Last time I visited the Doctor I had high blood pressure that the Doctor was not happy with. This time I passed the test and do not have to have my medication reviewed.

I am not playing golf tomorrow as I have a lot of household things to catch up with here.