11pm into bed, dog tired but serves myself right for getting hooked on a late night foreign film.
1am dog needs to go out for a wee.
3:30am woken by the sound of a tap going full belt
3:40 discover the kitchen flooded as our hot water cylinder had decided to give up the ghost.
My latest boy toy a $80 wet dry shop vac was used in anger for the first time (I had wonderd of I’d ever use the WET feature)
6am up no water for breakfast, lucky discovery of a bottle of water allowed charging of coffee machine!
6:15am “Who gets the loo first?” argument, really about who gets it second.
7am off to work to leaving Jenny to organise plumbers, electrician, insurance assessor, dehumidifier, Hamish, PhD, etc.
12am phone call to say we are up for a $4,000 job for an all new fancy system which will save us and the planet.
1pm realisation that our “nest egg” has been decimated strikes during school playground duty BUGGER BUGGER BUGGER
5pm realisation that it could have happened three days ago when we were in Queensland hits home, now that would have been fun!
Hamish and Jenny headed off way up north to Brisbane (half way up the mainland on the east coast) to celebrate her grandfathers 95th birthday. I flew up later to join them. Hamish’s first flight was taken with all aplomb a 3 year old could muster, especially one with “Gastro” as the Aussies call it. For two or three days before hand he had exploded at either end but was improving so off he went!
The rather frail old boy had a ball, got to watch great grand kids using his garden and even saw some of them riding his four wheel drive wheelchair. Loads of pics will follow!
Flying back we were just about to land in Sydney, the light came on to say “Don’t get out of seat” as we were heading down to land.
“Daddy I need a poo”
“We can’t leave our seat”
“BUT DADDY I REALLY NEED A POO!”
The poor wee bugger had then to endure 20 minutes of descending and taxying all the time pleading to be let to go to the loo.
AS soon as the plane stopped I made a run for it, let’s juts say NOONE got in my way.
I can’t remember how may levels Dante’s Hell had but a new lower one is cleaning up a three year old in a hot toilet cabin of an airliner.
Not nice, not nearly nice.
For aroung two week he’s been asking “Is it my party today?” then crying when we had to say “no not yet.”
Today we had about 15 little friends and their parents around for brunch.
Luckily the sun shone and everyone ended up outside laughing at the kids running rampage.
The coffee machine got a massive workout and massive amounts of bacon were scoffed.
By 1pm most were drifting off having muncher their way through lots of Pink Piggy cupcakes and massive amounts of Fairy Bread.
Hamish’s friend Erin and her parents stayed back and chatted as we watched the kids happily playing, sudenly it was dinner time, cupboards turned out and a put together meal laid out. More scoffing and general merriment followed.
There were tears from H when Erin had to go home at 8pm, tired out, they both needed their beds, the house looks like a bombsite
5am:
Squeals of delight as presents were unwrapped at the foor of our bed:
Ugg boots as slippers, immediately put on the sheepskin boot were a huge hit.
Sticker books full of trucks and diggers
A head torch all of his own although no “included batteries as the pack asaid there would be.
A Bob the Builder Space Hopper (not our wisest choice giving him that so early in the day )
Tonka Tow Truck had to tow everything from Fungus to Mum’s toes.
And all of this is before the doting Grandparents get a look in………
Maura has been complaining that I haven’t blogged for a month.
A combination of a temporary promotion and a new wood turning lathe have kept me busy in the evenings.
Why no pictures?
We seem to have the greatest difficulty keeping the batteries charged in the camers so whenever we want to take a picture it is dead.
I used to just Bluetooth my phone pictures to the laptop but school has given me a new one which doesn’t have bluetooth, I will have to buy a bluetooth dongle off ebay.
Winter, my birthday and 7 tonnes of firewood have all arrived at once.
My birthday weekend was spent barrowing the said wood intt he back of our shed so we don’t have to go out in the rain (if it ever rains again, it has barely rained since November). The temperatures are starting to drop here and we have had the first frosts of the year, mountain snow was forecast on a number of days (another 1,000m up Mt Wellington) but has yet to eventuate.
Last weekend Hamish and I headed of with Glenn (fishing buddy) and his daughter Erin to Liaweene the coldest spot in Tasmania and the main trout breeding station. Minus ten is about as cold as it gets in fact minus ten and half is the record so we were only half adegree away from being record breaking.
The kids had a ball in the shack on the bunk beds and eating the junk food the existed on for the weekend (mothers were safely in Hobart enjoying a break / PhD weekend).
Finally on holiday, it has been a very long term, mainly becaus ehI have been and acting senior teacher trying to set up alternative programmes for the kids at school; welding, boat building, Duke of Edinburgh Award, wood turning, Cake making with the Country Womens Association (think WI in UK), permaculture horticulture, etc.
Better go Hamish wants to Skype Maura…. bloody kids
The wee man has been struck down with croup.
We had a fun night on Sunday with him coughing and vomitting.
We were up all night answering plaintive cries of
“I need the red bucket”
Jen was off yesterday taking him to the quack, steriods seem to be solving it.
I’m off today “looking after” (he’s glued ot the TV) him.
)
