Tuesday 31st July 2012

This week has been incredibly busy but I do not seem to have achieved very much.

Wednesday 25th July 2012 Peter went to golf and I went out to my hairdresser Kath to have a much needed haircut and felt much better for it.

Thursday 26th July 2012 I spent the morning at Erina Fair with Anne, Joel & Emily doing some shopping and watching Joel play at "Little Kickers".  Rod had the day off and came out to Erina and watch Joel play. While at Erina I bought a new set of saucepans for the new cooktop which have to be a special stainless steel to work on the induction cooker.  I was hoping that the cooktop would have been installed by the time I got home but the installers were running late.  They did finally arrive and did the installation easily.  I was happy with the result as it fitted the cupboards well. In the afternoon I went into Gosford to have my nails repainted and felt better for having that done.

Friday 27th July 2012 I spent the morning at the Golf Club trimming the tibouchina trees on the 2nd fairway. In the afternoon we met Col & Lauren out at our travel agent at Ettalong to sort out our American Tour details and pick up some of our tickets. After that we went shopping for nibblies for the Trivia Night that was being held at the club that night.
Graham & Anne were coming from Sydney to attend the night & to stay overnight.  We went over to the club to set out the nibbles at 5.00pm as Peter was on raffle duty.  Graham & Anne met us there about 6.00pm and we had dinner before the trivia night started.  I won a couple of bottles of wine in the raffles which was a bonus.  We had a good night at the trivia.  Our team did not win the night but came in a respectable middle of the field.

Saturday 28th July 2012 Anne had to go back to Sydney for an Open Garden day and Graham went to golf at Gosford with Peter.  I had an easy day at home and met Anne back at the club late afternoon when she came back to Gosford to pick Graham up after golf.  

Sunday 29th July 2012 we were up early to visit Anne, Joel and Emily before going to golf at 10.30.  We had a special team series match at golf and our opposition team was Arthur Collien and Kay Frewin. It was a cold unpleasant day for golf and we were glad to get back into the clubhouse.  Our team did not do all that well in total however we cannot finish the series as we will be away for the last round.  We stayed for dinner at the club with some of our golf friends.

Monday 30th July 2012 we were up early for F-Troop as we had a lot of work to do.  We worked through until 10.30 morning tea,  After morning tea we had a visit from two ladies who donated plants to us so I took them around the gardens so they could see what we did with their plants.  It was bitterly cold so we went into the comfort of the clubhouse and had some lunch as a thank you response to them. I finally got to cook on the new cooktop preparing dinner very quickly and easily.  The induction cookers are fast and efficient.

Tuesday 31st July 2012 (today) I was up early for an 8.27am hit off at golf.  It was another bitterly cold windy day but thankfully no rain.  My playing partners were Leonie Casey and Glennis English who were great company.  My driver had been missing out of my golf bag so I had been trying out a new "Ping" driver which I have now put on my wish list.  I played a lot better today and won a golf ball which was a good highlight.

Tomorrow I plan to go over to the golf club to plant out some lily bulbs and lavenders weather permitting. The weather has been very cold with bitter wind and rain threatening.

 

Tuesday 24th July 2012

Gosford Townies re-union at the Elanora Hotel

Gosford Townies re-union at the Elanora Hotel

I am well and truly over the constant wet days we have been having.  We did have a couple of nice sunny days and then the rain was back.

Tuesday 17th July 2012 I played golf in the Monthly Medal stroke match.  It was a freezing cold day & not pleasant at all on the course.  My playing partners were Di Beechey and Helen Stuart who were great company which saved the day.

Wednesday 18th July 2012 I worked out in the back garden pruning the roses and weeding. It was a cold day and by 4 o'clock I had to come inside out of the cold.

Thursday 19th July 2012 Peter had to work over at the club so I did some more gardening out the back & filled up the green bin.

Friday 20th July 2012 we went out to all of the kitchenware outlets to look at cooktops as our old one had had it's day having done 20 years service. I was amazed at the available choices and spent hours deciding on what type to buy.  We watched a demonstration of a Westinghouse Induction cooktop at Domayne which held my interest because the cooktop was so easy to use and offered great options for cooking.  We spent a couple of hours comparing prices at Good Guys, Harvey Norman etc and finally got the best offer at Harvey Norman.  The induction stoves require special stainless steel saucepans so we went to Erina to check them out and to have some lunch.  We are having the cooktop installed next week so I am looking forward to that. Friday night we went to the club for the raffles and badge draw.  We did not win any prizes for the badge draw but had a nice dinner with good company.

Saturday 21st July 2012 we had a quick grocery shop before Peter went to golf.  I spent the rest of the day tidying up the house etc.  It was a cold miserable day so I was glad to be inside. Anne went to Melbourne for the weekend to have some time out with one of her girlfriends so Rod bought Joel and Emily around when he had finished work.  We got the kids fed & bathed in time for Rod to take them home to bed.  In the meantime John McMahon arrived to spend the night as he was going to the Elanora Hotel with us for the Gosford Townies re-union dinner.
We had a good night at the Elanora catching up with the old footie mates.  Attending this time we had Garry & Carolyn Morris, Trevor & Margaret Andrews, Bob & Sue Clark, John & Vicki Woods, Peter & Rhonda Hall, Chris Wilkinson, Les Place, Bub & Sue Wilkinson, Phil & Sue Hodge, Ross & Wendy Shepherd, Ron & Marjorie Payor, Brian & Lesley Gregory, John McMahon & Peter & Jan Martin.  - Not too bad for a winter re-union.
After getting home from the re-union we were tempted to sit up and watch the British Open Golf but Rod was bringing the litttlies for breakfast in the morning & then we were going straight to golf.

Sunday 22nd July 2012 I was up early in anticipation of Rod arriving with Joel & Emily & got everything ready to go to golf so we could get a quick get away. Shane called in on his way to bowls and Rod arrived for breakfast.  John McMahon was going back to Sydney as Lyn was arriving back from Melbourne where she has been on a work conference. Anne was also flying home from Melbourne today after her weekend getaway.  Peter cooked up some pancakes which Joel enjoyed. I played with Joel & Emily until it was    time to go to golf.   John headed back to Sydney & Shane went to bowls.  Our playing partners at golf were Rhonda Robertson and Donovan Parsons.  It was wet on the course and we all got wet during the match which made it hard going and we did not have many highlights except the girls beat the boys for a keno ticket and Peter got a birdie.  We stayed for dinner at the club with some of our golf friends. George & Tosca rang to say they had spent the day with Lyn & Richard at the Opal Dig which they really enjoyed.

Monday 23rd July 2012 was wet and cold.  We got up at 3.00am to watch the final couple of holes of the British Open & then back to bed until it was time to go to F-Troop. After all the rain of the past few days we could not get machinery out on the course and as it was such a miserable day we called off the usual F-Troop projects and gave everyone the day off.  Peter and a couple of the other F-Troopers spent the morning doing some measurements for the new cart shed.  It was too wet to do anything else so I went home about 9 o'clock to get warm and catch up with some much needed rest after a big weekend. I did some photos and scanning for the work manual that Peter is putting together  for the new shed at the club.

Tuesday 24th July 2012 (today) I was in two minds whether to play golf or not.  We had more rain overnight   and the course is already very wet and we were to be playing a par match.  The day looked like clearing so I made a decision to play which turned out not to be such a good idea because we all got wet again with more showers.  My playing partners were Kath Small & June Bowen & they both came in winners which made my day.  I stayed back after golf chatting for a while and got home about 4.00 and it was still raining.
I am a fine weather golfer and am not enjoying the constant wet play which makes hard work out of golf.

We are having the new cooktop installed on Thursday so I will go shopping for saucepans when I go to Erina with Anne on Thursday morning.  Tomorrow I am having a much needed haircut and will do some more gardening if the weather holds.  

Monday 16th July 2012

Clare with her new baby son - "Fletcher"

It was a pretty ordinary week at times while I was recovering from that awful stomach virus and now am coming down with a head cold.  Peter was sick on Friday and over the weekend with a touch of the same virus that I had which was not good.  Some good happy news was Clare giving birth to a very healthy baby son named Fletcher.

Thursday 12th July 2012 I had a morning at Erina Fair with Anne, Joel and Emily.  It was another rainy cold day so we were better inside the shopping centre than out.  We had some lunch and did a bit of shopping after Joel finished "little kickers".   I have got a couple of videos on my Ipad for Joel but he always wants to watch his favourite "Cars" video which he will watch endlessly.  Emily was very well behaved and easy to look after.  While at Erina I bought some storage units for my costume jewellery so I can sort it all out in some meaningful order.  In the afternoon I did some more scanning of photos from my photo graveyard.

Friday 13th July 2012 Peter had come down with a touch of the stomach virus that I had previously.  I spent the morning out in the back gardens pruning the roses and filling up the green bins. In the afternoon I did some more photos and downloaded some good books from Audible so I can listen to them when I have time and will be useful to have on the flight to the USA to kill a few hours.

Saturday 14th July 2012 we did a quick household shopping trip and called into Officeworks so I could pick up some USB memory sticks and some printer ink.  I have made some good inroads into my photo scanning this week and the project does not seem quite so daunting now - although I am a long way from being finished.

Sunday 15th July 2012 we did not visit the children for fear of passing on the stomach virus so we had an easy morning and went to golf at 11.00 oclock.  Our playing partners were Des & Yvonne Wilson and we had a good fun day.  I played fairly well except for a couple of holes so I am encouraged by that. The course is still rather heavy after all the rain so it can be hard going at times.  I won a ball and was happy with that. We stayed for dinner with our golf friends and then came home for a reasonable early night.

Monday 16th July 2012 (today) we were up early for F-Troop.  The weather has improved so I rushed through a load of washing before we left so I didn't waste the sunshine.  We had a busy morning at F-Troop as we did not have a lot of volunteers today.  We got home about 1.30 and my head cold was becoming evident with a sore throat and some sneezing.  Tomorrow we have a monthly medal stroke match so I will dose up with some cold and flu tablets tonight.

The weather this week is supposed to be nice and sunny so I am looking forward to some nice warmer days.

Wednesday 11th July 2012

This week was a mixture of good and bad weather - the rain had been every other day.

Wednesday 4th July 2012 I spent the day in the front gardens pruning the roses and weeding which was quite a task.  I filled up a full green bin with no trouble at all.  Fortunately it was a sunny day so it was not unpleasant outside.

Thursday 5th July 2012 I went to Erina with Anne, Joel & Emily to look after Emily while Joel did "Little Kickers".  It was a wet, cold & windy day so it was good to get inside the shopping centre where it was heated.  We did a bit of shopping, had a coffee break and then took Joel to Little Kickers which he enjoys.
He is funny to watch as he is more interested in running than kicking the ball.  The coaches are very good an patient and all the children enjoy themselves. Emily loves to watch the action & it will not be long before she is out there too.  Emily got her second tooth through this week so they are coming through quickly now that she has started.  Her ear infection has cleared up & she is a much happier little girl.  After soccer we had lunch at Erina Fair.  I have copied Joel's favourite DVD "Cars" onto my iPad & he watched it in total silence while we had lunch - so it is a winner!

Friday 6th July 2012 it was another bad weather day.  We were intending to deliver some firewood to Shane but it was too wet to get into the woodpile at the Golf Course.  We went to Erina Fair instead as we had some things to do there.  I picked up another clothes rack for my walk-in wardrobe which we got 50% discount which was a good saving.  I went back to medibank with my receipts that I was having trouble claiming on line.  The problem was solved ( a software glitch) & I can now continue to claim on line which is convenient.  Peter bought a couple of tracksuits to take away on holidays & got a new battery in his watch. While there I selected a nice watch for my birthday & had it fitted to my arm size.  Unfortunately Peter has pocketed it until my birthday - so I have to wait.......

Saturday 7th July 2012 Peter was at Golf so I spent the day catching up at home & sorting out all my costume jewellery into the storage bags that I had bought.  It was a good drying day so I got all the washing and ironing up to date. Mark & Anne Stimpson came over for dinner after the boys finished golf & we had a nice night catching up with a wine or two.

Sunday 8th July 2012 I was not feeling the best when I got up early as Rod was bringing Joel & Emily over for the morning so Anne could have a good sleep after doing night shift at the hospital.  I felt a bit off colout but thought it was the late night & rich food/wine from the night before.  I had a lovely time looking after the two children as they are an easy age to entertain.  At 11 o'clock we went to golf leaving Joel watching the "Cars" video that he loves and Emily asleep.  Our golf partners were Geoff & Helen Darkes who are new members to the club.  We had a nice day with Helen being the star and winning the Singles Event of the day.
Peter & I did not play well and I put that down to being overtired.  We had dinner at the club with some of our Golf Friends and celebrated Lauren's birthday.

Monday 9th July 2012 we were up early for F-Troop and I was feeling very lack-lustre all day.  We managed to get through all the tasks & in the afternoon picked the firewood for Shane and took it to his home at Gwandalan.  It has been a cold winter so he was happy to have a new supply of timber. By the time we got back from Gwandalan I was feeling very off colour.  I got the Golfer's Blog done and then went to bed feeling exhausted.  By 10 o'clock I was up again, backwards and forwards to the toilet until 3 o'clock in the morning suffering from a stomach bug.  I can't remember the last time I felt so sick.

Tuesday 10th July 2012 I cancelled golf and spent the day in bed feeling quite miserable only getting up to update the Golfer's blog & then back to bed again for the night.

Wednesday 11th July 2012 (today) I was feeling a little better for my day in bed but still felt weak.  In the morning I went over to the golf club & planted out some Agapanthus that were donated to the club on Monday. We had more rain overnight so it was all very wet.  It was a nice sunny day & I contemplated doing some more pruning in the sunshine but decided it was pushing myself too much so I rested up for the afternoon downloading some more books into my kindle which I have neglected recently.

Tomorrow there is more rain forecast so I may not get to the roses.  I am going to Erina Fair with Anne again tomorrow morning so the rain will not worry us there.

Tuesday 3rd July 2012

Winter has arrived and we have had some very chilly nights and days.

Tuesday 26th June 2012 we had another downpour of rain which did not clear until the afternoon so I cancelled my golf in disgust.  I am a fair weather player and will play in the rain only if I am caught out on the course.  The rain was quite heavy and only six girls finished the day which is a good indicator of the conditions.  I got a good lot of photos processed through the scanner which helped with that project.

Wednesday 27th June 2012 Peter went to golf and I had another day at home processing photos and sorting the house, washing etc.

Thursday 28th June 2012 I went to Erina with Anne, Rae, Joel and Emily for some shopping, coffee, Little Kickers and lunch.  While out at Erina I bought some more storage units for my walk in wardrobe which is shaping up well.  I have now added my hats (finding another box of golf hats that I had forgotten about) so they are now sorted into storage boxes.  I have also bought storage pouches for my handbags which are fantastic.  I have them on hooks and they hold quite a few bags with minimum wasted space. I have also got storage pouches for costume jewellery which keeps them all in some organised state. In the afternoon I went to the Ladies Golf Presentation day to take photos of the daily winners.  Peter had spent the day at the club sorting out the area for a new storage shed so it was about 5.00pm before we got home.

Friday 29th June 2012 I went over to the club to help Peter with measurements for the club shed, then came home and did some photos on the computer before we went out to lunch at Des & Yvonne's new home at the Pineneedles Lifestyle Village where they have just bought a new unit.  The gardens there are just fabulous and well looked after.  It is a big complex with good amenities and their unit is spacious for two people with a nice sun lounge and back garden area.  We had a lovely lunch and a walk around the complex.  That evening we went to the Golf Club for Raffle night as Peter was on raffle duty and had dinner there with our golf friends.

Saturday 30th June 2012 I was into the rose gardens at the front getting a start on pruning and weeding.
It was a nice sunny day so it was good to be outside enjoying the sunshine.  I managed to fill two bins which was a good effort for the day. I did some more photos in the afternoon.

Sunday 1st July 2012 we went over to see Rod & Joel before going to golf.  Anne & Emily were out visiting so we missed out on seeing them.  Our golf playing partners were Clyde & Lyn Cruickshanks who were great company.  We had a fun day with Clyde the star player getting two birdies on the day.  My golf was not too wonderful but I did get a couple of good three pointers which made my day.  We stayed for dinner at the club after golf with some of our golf friends which finished off a good day.

Monday 2nd July 2012 we were at F-Troop early on a very cold morning.  It did not rain which was a bonus and we had a busy day getting our projects done.  We had 13 workers which helped.  We worked through until 1 o'clock which was a big morning.  At 3.30 we went to Duncan & Rosie Dyer's place to go out with them to the movies and dinner at Ettalong.  I had been told that the movie "The Way" was a good show and it was on at the Ettalong Movie theatre (The Paridiso) which we had never been to.  We had meant to go the previous Monday except that Peter had a Board Meeting he had to attend so the event was postponed until today.  The theatre was quite an experience as it is a quaint little place with six theatres & finding out way to theatre six almost required a road map.  We all enjoyed the show so it was worth the effort to get there. After the movie we had dinner at a little restaurant next door to the theatre that does special deals and we managed to get a pasta & wine special for $20 ph which was a really good deal.   It was a good experience and I am looking forward to doing it again some time in the future.

Tuesday 3rd July 2012 I would normally be playing golf.  The golf event was 3BBB Par Team event which had the finals playing after we leave for holidays.  I could not get a late timeslot (after 9 o'clock) so I opted to do some more rose pruning as it was bin emptying night and I wanted to get as much into the bins as I could so I can do some more tomorrow.  I had ordered a new gadget (on line) which had arrived yesterday while I was at F-Troop.  I needed to go to the post office to pick it up so I walked into Gosford while Peter was getting a new battery for the lexus car. I  have bough a gadget that converts old vinyl records and tapes to USB storage which means I can convert all of our old stores of music which we have in a box somewhere around the house. We had to go to Erina to see Medibank as a couple of the claims that I put through earlier in the week were not processed properly and Peter needed a new watch battery.  Medibank have got to follow up the problem as they did not have an answer to the computer glitch.  While getting Peter's watch battery I also chose a new watch for my upcoming birthday.  I had managed to lose my old watch last time I went to Sydney must have dropped off my arm sometime during the day. I was upset at being so careless as I really liked my old watch that I had bought years ago when we were holidaying in Dublin - Ireland.  We had lunch at Erina & then I came home to finish off the pruning   The days are closing in quickly and it is just too cold to stay outside in the late afternoon.  


Tomorrow the green bins will be empty so I can get serious about the rest of the pruning and weeding.  The master plan being that I get all the gardens up to scratch now so that I have to do a clean up, feed and mulch just before we leave for holidays which will keep it all tidy while we are away. Rain is forecast for the afternoon so I will need to be quick.