Family – Page 3 – Unraveling…

Farewells and welcomes

I returned home Friday, only to farewell our lovely Sibylle the next morning.
She has been an absolute joy to host and slotted into our family so easily.
We are sure gonna miss you, you bundle of Swiss sweetness xxxx

Lenore & Ross had enjoyed their time with her & Mahalia as well.
They had been out on a few adventures sussing out some of the local scenic spots.

We welcomed Anja a few hours later.
Also from Switzerland, and also had problems with connecting flights into Nelson.
But she eventually arrived and all is well.

Sunday morning I roused Azzan from his slumbers and we all went out to Melrose House for brunch.
It was a rainy day but still pleasant enough to sit out on the verandah.
The cafe is under new management but the food is still spectacularly wonderful.
The staff were delightful, made some new friends whilst connecting with them 🙂

Mahalia was bemoaning having to share her smoothie with yet another flower.
Flowers everywhere amongst her food.
But so pretty Halia 😉
The man of the house easily tucked away a decently proper man sized breakfast.
This beautiful young woman holds a very special part of my heart xxx
Azzan headed off into the showery elements to walk the Grampians…. mmmm, maybe meeting friends was a preferable option which he quickly opted for 😉

We took Anja for a tiki tour in the rain and ended up languishing on the floor in John & Sally’s lounge, in front of their fire.
It was very cosy 😉

Phoebe & Sapphie came for a visit the next day.
Sapphire enjoyed some story book time with Nonna.
It’s not often she stays still enough so I made the most of it 😉

Ross & Lenore packed up and said their farewells and headed south back to their land of normality.
It was so lovely having them here.
Thanks so much for all your help, and I am glad you were able to have a break, rest up and recover from your jet lag.

I am pretty much over mine now and reality is hitting :-/

Final farewells

We were up very early.
said goodbye to Evan at 6am, then Jesika and I were out the door by 6:30am.
Half an hour later I dropped her at work and took her car for a jaunt further north up the motorway.
I arrived at Jac’s in time to see Isaac before he headed off to school which was a lovely bonus.
Jan and I spent the rest of the day together which was a wonderfully special ending to my week.

At 2:30pm I had to do a mad scramble out the door and back down the motorway to pick Jesika up from work by 3pm.
We had a couple of hours left so went to a nearby mall and hung out.
Then to the airport, checked in my bag and with plenty of time up my sleeve Jesika took me upstairs to visit her Virgin Airline friends from her previous life.
It was so lovely to meet them and see where she has been spending so much of her time until recently.

All too soon it was time for me to disappear through the security barrier.
So some last minute selfies with my girl.
Sad to be leaving, but I will be back!!
Love you my darling one xxxx

The day was fading as I waited to board.
Farewell Perth, it’s been short but very sweet.
A very necessary and appreciated break from my normal normality.

My last night in WA

We took the afternoon off and retreated to the darkness of the movie theatre.
Apart from the two heads way down below we had the whole place to ourselves.
Which was actually good because we laughed and laughed out loud and nearly peed ourselves laughing while we rolled in the aisles some more 🙂
The movie – Bad Moms.
If you haven’t seen it you absolutely have to.
It is a life changer 🙂 🙂 🙂

Then it was back home to organise my last supper.
It was a good night.
Sam came.
Which raised the tone immensely 😉

The party stuff was still a happening!

I was doubly delighted because Rory and Alaine were able to join us.
It was ultra special to meet my distant cousins in the flesh.
It was a delightful evening.
Very relaxed, lots of chat and good food and great company.

Brunch in South Fremantle

Jesika found a wee pet making a get away as we left the house.
Cute eh?
We had a lovely cruisey day.
Began with brunch at a cafe that I cannot remember the name of but I am sure Jesika will remind me 😉
And I was right!!
It was Roasting Warehouse
It was another funky one with cute decor.
Murray met us there as he had some spare time up his sleeve so I got the bonus of catching up with him again.
Food was pretty good and presented beautifully.
You don’t have to guess hard to figure out which was Ev’s meal and which was mine!!
Jesika & Murray
We chatted for a while over our meals and coffees and then we said our goodbyes.
Murray was heading off sailing and we were off to somewhere we hadn’t yet figured out.

An evening at Manuka

For a Tuesday night treat I was taken to a favourite haunt of Evan & Jesika’s.
Manuka Woodfire Kitchen.

It is a delightful restaurant.
I loved the ambience and also the staff were fantastic.

Everything is cooked in this woodfire oven.

They have a cool menu which changes according to the seasons.
You order any selection that floats your boat and it comes out in a random order as it gets cooked.

This is a new Ginger Beer to me and it went down exceptionally well.

I’m not a huge olive fan but these roasted olives were wonderful, couldn’t stop eating them.

The baby heirloom peppers were SO good, and the roasted potatoes were very more-ish too.

Roasted cauli with avocado was interesting – actually this is all making me really hungry – I feel like hopping back on the plane and heading there for dinner tonight!!

Of course Evan’s meal was not complete without his portion of meat.
I let him enjoy the lamb shoulder.
I was more than happy with all the delicious vege dishes 🙂

And this really tells the story of total satisfaction.

It was lovely to spend the evening just with these two.
Can you tell I’m loving my new scarf – don’t think I took it off for days 🙂

Even is one of them is a total nutcase!

We felt we needed to do justice to the menu and sample some desserts.
But actually the first course was enough.

This was on the wall – it spoke to me.

Walking back to the car I spotted this cool piece of mixed media in a random shop window.
It says –
Kindness Matters
the hope and kindness
we give to the world
not only nurtures us
but it becomes
a gift for someone else
to receive for their own healing.

Thanks for a lovely end to the day J&E.
Love you both muchly xxxx

The day after

Had a bit of a slowish start after the party,
Jesika was up and on the ball and wanting to go do stuff but Sam was wanting a bit more time to wake up.

I did a spot of painting while she took her time
Then we headed off for brunch at Gesha Coffee Co.
Food was good, beautifully presented, but the service was ‘interesting’.
Seems to be something that is lacking in a vast number of Australian cafes ;-/
I opted for the salmon while the guys chose the big breakfasts.

Blair & Evan bro-loving 🙂

Cousins keeping a safe distance from the boys

Afterwards Jesika drove Ev, Bud and myself up the coast for a sightsee.
It was very blustery and the wind surfers made a very colourful sight as they whizzed across the waves.

We got stuck in the crowds for a wee while.
I had never experienced an AFL crowd before.
They were wearing purple, team colours of the Fremantle Dockers, droves of supporters heading to the Subiaco Oval to support their team.

All too soon it was time to take Bud to the airport.

And back home to collapse!

Ev’s 40th – Party Time

Saturday night was party time.
The All Blacks had just beaten the Wallabies in the Bledisloe Cup for the 2nd time in two weeks so all was well in Evan’s world and he was ready to party by the time the full time whistle was blown 🙂

Jesika had made a fantastic photo board for him.
He was sporting the satin shorts from Shoshannah and the flashing lit up horns & jandles that Marah sent.
Perfect party attire.

I presented Evan with a celebratory picture that I had painted on my way over.
It’s carrying my main present – which was too big for me to bring in the flesh, so he has to come home and get it 😉

The other main man was also suitable attired to attend the Kiwi themed party.
Welcome Fred Dagg 🙂
He was really rocking those gumboots.
Fred Dagg aka John Clarke has always been a favourite of our family.
One skit in particular always made Tim laugh and he was always commenting that ‘the front fell off’ when things didn’t go to plan 🙂
Jesika went all out as did her Chilean friends Jacqui & Javier.

Me and my girl
Jesika & Sam getting the cake finished
Cheeky cousins 🙂

There was quite a storm blowing outside the marque so lighting candles took skill
Evan with workmate Tracey and her daughter

Ev with Sam’s present – yes he drinks tea 😉
The ulteria motive was to stop him drinking her cups of tea when he visits!!
Ev with ‘old’ school mate Tracey.
There were 3 Tracey’s at the party so we had to differentiate with clarification nicknames. IMG_9366 (1)
A major amount of drunken hilarity occurred of course.
Measure biceps at this point…..

Wal lost his wig later in the evening – somehow looked a lot better on Bud methinks 😉
I love this last photo – it was the last one I actually took that night and it shows the birthday boy in full swing.
He was really enjoying himself 🙂

Surprise x 2

I had inside information because I had been pumping Jesika for several months.
I knew that unbeknownst to Evan she was taking Friday off work to pick up his best friend from the airport and to prepare for his party.
So Jacqui and I rocked up at the house early arvo to surprise Jesika only to find the place all locked up.
I unloaded and waited around the back, thinking they wouldn’t be long.
After about half an hour I messaged her asking how the party plans were going and I received this photo.
She and Bud were out lunching!
Great ;-/
Soon after Evan arrived and on hearing me knocking on the back door got the surprise of his life to find his favourite mother-in-law on the step.
We had a cuppa and a catch up, then he told me that Jesika was on her way home from work.
Mmmm, I agreed, knowing the other side of the secret 😉

She messaged him saying she was going straight to Sam’s to do party prep & for him to come there, to which he responded ‘Come home now! The marquee has been put in the wrong place and I am not happy about it’!
Unbeknownst to us his caused a major meltdown at the other end 🙁

So we hopped in his car and drove round to Sam’s and on the way passed Sam heading our way.
Ev commented to me that there was a guy in the passengers seat and that it was ‘probably her other husband’, as he refers to her best mate Blair as!
I knew exactly who it was!!
So we ended up at Sam’s with me giving Jesika the surprise of her life – she was shell shocked to see me so I got lots of hugs and tears.

Then Sam returned with Bud so there were man hugs and tears when Ev saw him.

We couldn’t have bettered the plan if we’d tried!!

Jesika was making the birthday cake and vodka jelly shots so I helped where I could and the guys retreated to the living room with their beers to talk guy talk.
As it was Evan’s actual birthday I took the opportunity to unpack and unload the excess from my bag.
He loved the tee-shirts
As did Jesika.

Her birthday was a week back so I had bought her over a bone carving made by our friend Fumio.
It represents & symbolises the paua, fern leaf, waves and fishhook.

To celebrate we put on our glad rags and braved the torrential rain.
Took an Uber ride to Tony Roma’s for dinner.
Happy Birthday ole fella 🙂

We had a great night.
Food was really good.
Our waiter was excellent, so good in fact that the guys made sure we all tipped him extra.

The place is a carnivores dream.
I had the chicken salad.
It was excellent.
Perfect balance of salad and not too much meat.

The desserts were not only very good, but they were very generous servings.
I danced with chance and on the young waiters recommendation ordered Tiramisu.
I am very particular with this dessert so normally do not risk it.
It didn’t fail – for once it was nailed.
Sam had to sample Blair’s sundae with some help from Evan’s finger!

Torrential rain again as we ran to the Uber car.
Great night but we were all too tired to go clubbing so headed back home for some sleep.

Y’know, I quite like rain :-)

Monday in Nelson – precipitation much!
Kids were glad I decided to drop them at school

My day moved from a frankly fraught 9am-er to being cosied up inside Cafe 7010 with Roni for a most enjoyable brunch and heart to heart.
Not arduous at all 😉
Home to check on my furry babies then up the street to the Sprig to sip ciders with Penelope.

Sophie pampered me this Tuesday morn – face and fingers got fussed upon.
“Take care of your body.
It’s the only place you have to live in.”
Relax, rest, revive…..

A mocha and curly fries and a catch up with Gay at the Sprig rounded off the morning perfectly.

And when you have got nothing better to do than to succumb to the Scottish blood which runs so strongly in the veins.
You spend time making chocolate cakes to use up 2 cups of sour milk rather than tip it down the drain!

Anson arrived to collect his young bro and they were very happy to take a couple off my hands.

The shelf which has been reclining in my bath for the past few weeks called to me and said ‘enough’!
So I answered the call tonight and and along with my trusty hole drilling thingee whatsit I managed to successfully hang the thing.
And whats more, it’s hanging straight!

Now the lil bro has departed for a few days big sis launched an invasion into enemy territory.
The war was waged tonight but not completely won.
Extreme exhaustion overwhelmed her so she withdrew to rally defences for a final onslaught tomorrow.
Major progress has been made and the morrow should see the floor exposed once again!

Do more of what makes you happy

Tiki-touring on the way home took us to the end of a road.

Going down is fine – but every step down has to be reclimbed in an upwards manner 😉

Hey Sibylle! Where are your shoes?
Wet!

Obstacles do not block the path,
they are the path.

You can shake the sand from your shoes,
But not from your soul.

Take me to the beach and I will show you joy 🙂

Taming a prehistoric beast!

Cave creatures

Looking back from whence we came.