Wednesday 29th August 2012

 

Scoreboard for the team series

We are going to be away for the last week

One of our injured F-Troopers on Monday

This week has been incredibly busy leading up to our big USA Holiday.

Thursday 23rd August 2012 we looked after Joel for the day while Anne took Emily into hospital to have grommets put in her ears.  The operation went well and Emily was allowed to go home that afternoon much to our relief.  Joel was happy to be with us for the day except for us not having any chocolate ice cream. That caused one little paddy but he got over it  We took him to McDonalds for lunch and he enjoyed playing in the tunnel maze and in fact showed an older child how to get out of the maze.  I had an appointment with our financial advisor for an hour in the afternoon and Peter was in charge and managed to cope.  Rod picked up Joel later in the afternoon on his way home from work (running late as usual).

Friday 24th August 2012 I had an appointment with "Screen for Life" which are a series of fundamental screening tests to check for potential heart, bones, diabetes etc etc  which is offered to "Ageing" people (at a price").  I thought I would have the tests done as a precautionary measure and hope they find nothing wrong. I will not find out until I come home unless I get an emergency email.  In the afternoon I did some more garden work in the back gardens getting them as up to scratch as I can.  Friday evening we went to the club for dinner as Peter was on Raffle duty.  We won two meat trays which have gone to the kids as we will not be home to use them.

Saturday 25th August 2012 we did a bit of household shopping and bits and pieces that we need to take away.  Peter played golf and I did some more tidying up of the gardens trimming back the ivy and hedges at the front of the house. Butch played golf at Gosford also and called in to borrow my golf buggy as he had forgotten to bring his.  It was a nice day so I enjoyed the sunshine.

Sunday 26th August 2012 Rod, Anne, Joel & Emily came for breakfast.  I played with the kids while Peter cooked up steak, sausages, bacon, pancakes, OJ, Team & Toast for everyone. Emily took her first walking steps and is showing a much better sense of balance now that her ears are getting better.  We had to leave at 10.15 for golf as we were playing in the second round of the Mixed Team Series at 11.oo am. Our playing partners were Warren Gray & Mary Bromwich and we had a lovely day in the sunshine.  Our golf scores were not brilliant but I managed to win a ball, Mary won nearest the pin and the girls beat the boys for the keno ticket so we had a good day.  Peter scored a birdie and the rest of us each got a 4 pointer.  We stayed for dinner at the club with some of our golfing friends.

 Monday 27th August2012 we were up very early for F-Troop.  We had a very busy and eventful day with one of our workers getting injured.  I worked until 3 o'clock trying to get as much done a possible.  Peter worked on the cart shed and got home about 4.30.   After I got home I managed to get some of the roses sprayed.

Tuesday 28th August 2012 I spent the morning getting the house clean doing the bathrooms etc before going to the club for presentation and to say farewell to the girls before going to my beautician in Gosford to get a pedicure, nails and waxing done in preparation for our holiday.  Rod, Anne. Joel, Emily, Sam & Shane all came for dinner to see Peter for an early Father's Day and to see us before we leave.  As it has been such a busy day we opted for take-away Chinese dinner to keep it all simple as we had reduced our food stock in the house.  Emily walked a few more steps to our delight so she will be well and truly on the move when we get back in seven weeks time.  Shane & Sam gave Joel a robot controlled digger which Joel was enthralled with and the big boys had fun with it as well. Sam set us up some timer lights that will turn on at various times at night while we are away which will add to our good house security that we have in place.

Wednesday 29th August 2012 (today) I have been flat out all day doing the floors and last minute washing and tidying up, watering the gardens as well as going to the hairdressers for a colour and cut that will have to last me seven weeks.  I had trouble today uploading photos to my blogs which has been very frustrating as i need my blogs to be running smoothly while we are away as I will have Wi Fi access in most places so I will be able to add some photos to the blog as we go along (if I can find enough time).

I am off to start packing now as our plane leaves tomorrow afternoon for the long flight to San Francisco via LA.  Hopefully I will be able to add something interesting in the next week.

    

Wednesday 22nd August 2012

This week has been busy - recovering from my birthday, golf events & getting the gardens up to scratch have filled in my week.

Friday 17th August 2012 I was in recovery mode after a big birthday night with the family.  I ventured over to the golf club and did some planting, fertilizing and watering in the gardens.  I needed a nanny nap in the afternoon before we went to the club for dinner and raffles night where I enjoyed my bottle of birthday wine from the club with some help from my friends.

Saturday 18th August 2012 I spent the day in the back gardens managing to get some of the large gardens weeded, fertilized and mulched.

Sunday 19th August 2012 Shane arrived to show us his new Suzuki Motor Bike which he has just bought (mid-life crisis purchase perhaps!)  so he can do some cruising with some of his friends.  He was on his way to join a group for a ride to Denman. We went over to Rod & Anne's to see the kids before going to golf for a 12.00pm shot gun start.  Our playing partners were Col & Lauren Matterson & we had a really nice day out in the sunshine.  The golf was not wonderful but the company was good.  We stayed for dinner at the club after golf & got some last minute things sorted with Col & Lauren re our up coming holiday which is approaching very quickly now.

Monday 20th August 2012 we were up early for F-Troop as we had a big day planned.  Peter & his crew worked on the new cart shed that they are putting together and my crew worked on getting some of the gardens mulched among other things. In the afternoon I had an appointment with the eye specialist to check my eyesight which has deteriorated badly over the last 12 months.   The outcome was that I need to have cataracts off of both eyes. The specialist wanted to do the first eye next Thursday but that is the day we fly out to America so I had to postpone the operation until after I come home in October.  I can't wait to have the operations done so I can see properly again.

Tuesday 21st August 2012 I had a big day at golf playing in our Bronze Salver Day which is a stroke match. I played with two visitors - Donna from Shelly Beach and Anne from Hawks Nest and we had a good day in some nice warm sunshine.  The course has dried out and there is good run which helps.  I played well enough to win a ball and had three good pars which made my day.  Donna & Anne were great company & we enjoyed the day.

Wednesday 22nd August 2012 (today) we had another lovely day of sunshine. I spent the day finishing off the back gardens so that all the gardens are now heavily mulched & that should hold them while we are away and keep the weeds down.  I cleaned out the oven & broke a finger nail which did not please me as I had them all growing well & had not damaged them with all the garden work I have been doing at the club and here.

Tomorrow Emily is going into North Gosford Hospital to have her ears fixed.  She has been having ear infections continuously so she needs to have grommets put in place which should help to make her a happier girl and hopefully she will sleep better.  We are looking after Joel for the day so I am looking forward to that.




  

Thursday 16th August 2012

Today was my 69th birthday and I had a nice relaxed day - not doing anything to the extreme.

A bit of grocery shopping and a visit to the chemist to pick up my medications that I need to travel with, a bit of lunch and a nanny nap at home, an hour in the garden weeding and then preparations for having the family for a Mum's Lamb Roast.  Anne made a cupcake birthday cake & Peter did the finishing touches to a baked dinner while I played with Joel and Emily as they helped me to open my birthday presents.  Shane & Sam arrived in time for dinner and we had a nice relaxed family night. Peter gave me a lovely new watch to replace my other favourite watch that I lost last time I was in Sydney.  Joel gave me a drawing and some candles, Rod, Anne & Emily gave me a new pen, some barocca & sun cream for travelling, Shane & Sam gave me a bottle of Glenfiddick Scotch so I did exceptionally well for an unimportant birthday - although I suppose I am getting to the stage where every birthday is important. I could easily drag this birthday out for at least a week.

Wednesday 15th August 2012

We had a big mixture of weather this last week with the wild August winds hitting at the weekend with a vengeance.

Thursday 9th August 2012 I played in the Singles Knock Out and lost at the 18th hole.  My opposition player was Kathy Small and we had a good tussle over the 18 holes.  I did not play very well in the beginning and was down 4 with 4 holes to go at the 15th.  I had picked my game up by then and won the next three holes but could only square the last hole which was not good enough to win.  We had a good day with our other two playing partners and the golf was played in good spirit.

Friday 10th August 2012 I was over at the golf club trimming some tibouchinas and tidying up the gardens at the first and 10th tees.  I need not have worried about tidying up as the August winds arrived that afternoon and created havoc all over the golf course.  Friday evening we went to the club for dinner and raffles night as Peter was on raffle duty.

Saturday 11th August 2012 the August winds were freezing and the golf course had branches and trees down everywhere.  We did the household shopping and I picked up some more bags of mulch so I can finish  weeding and mulching the gardens before we go away.  It was not a nice day to be outside.

Sunday 12th August 2012 Rod, Anne, Joel & Emily came for breakfast before we went to golf. Both Emily and Joel looked a lot better after being sick the previous week.  Emily is still having trouble with her ears and is going to a specialist for treatment.  It was too cold to go outside so we played indoor games with Joel and Emily after Peter cooked breakfast of pancakes, sausages & bacon, OJ, toast & tea.   We would have been happy to give golf a miss because it was so cold.  Peter has been fighting a chest infection all week and we would have pulled out if it had been raining.  Our playing partners were Robin & Doug Incoll & we had a nice day in spite of the bitterly cold wind and occasional showers.  Our golf scores were a bit ordinary and we were happy to get back inside the clubhouse to warm up.  We stayed for dinner at the club with our golfing friends.

Monday 13th August 2012 we were up early for F-Troop as we had two very big projects on that day.  Peter and his crew were working on erecting a new cart shed.  My crew were busy laying down new white gravel on the paths of the wedding garden after first laying down carpet weed matting.  As well as that we had to try and clean up as much as we could from the wind damage. I finished at 3 o'clock and Peter worked through until 5 o'clock so it was a huge day.

Tuesday 14th August 2012 I played golf in a Gosford/Wyong inter club day.  My playing partners were Yvonne Wilson, Yvonne Cumming and Shirley Daly.  The weather was a lot better than Sunday and by lunch time it was a very sunny pleasant day.  My golf score was barely respectable but I did get nearest the pin on the 8th hole and also scored a 4 pointer at the 17th by putting into the hole off the green which were good highlights.

Wednesday 15th August 2012 (today) it was another nice weather day so I decided to finish off the gardens at the front of the house getting all the gardens weeded, trimmed, fertilized and mulched.  I only have the back gardens to go now.  In the afternoon I went to the Post Office and got our Visa Debit Card to use while we are in the USA.  It seemed a good idea to do it now while the dollar was still good.

It is just about time to start getting organised for our holiday coming up in a couple of weeks.  Tomorrow I have a birthday to celebrate and if the weather is nice I might get a bit of gardening done in the back gardens in the morning.  The kids are coming for a baked dinner tomorrow afternoon/evening so I should have a good day.