Sunday, June 18, 2017

Sand and pugs

It doesn't take long to start a tradition; you can just do something once and decide to keep doing it. Last year, one of Andrew's sisters decided that seeing as we don't all get together at Christmas, that we should all go away together, Andrew's parents, the four siblings and their families that is, in June. We went to a caravan park in Wollongong, the same distance from Wagga as it is from Gloucester, and we had a great weekend.

This year, we changed the caravan park, to one just up the road, but still all came together for the weekend. There were 21 of us last year, and this year, the oldest cousin brought a fellow, so we are a growing family again!


Our cabins were all in a row, right at the beach. Bethany asked what that noise was when we arrived. I may not like the sand or the water, but I do like the sound of the beach.


There was a lot of soccer played, sand brought inside, tea and coffee consumed and long walks taken. The cousins all slept in each other's cabins (we just had two teenaged boys - win!).


We went out for dinner, with the adults at one table and the kids (that word doesn't apply to all of them) at another. Afterwards, we asked a lady to take a photo of all of us. The patriarch turns 93 tomorrow!

We stopped on our way home and found two pugs! After admiring them from the car for a while, Bethany and I got out and made friends. Seriously, they were so cute I almost burst, but I don't want one. We got covered in hair just from our brief encounter, and they snuffled, snorted and sneezed. The lady said that they sneeze on her food, and she said one of them wasn't very nice! She used a word she had to whisper as Bethany was there. Still, the encounter made a great weekend even better.


Just in case you were wondering, Andrew came at the end and had a pat. Neither Bethany or I have a hairy arm like that.

Monday, June 12, 2017

I blame books

I could have been blogging, but I think the simple fact is that spare time is minimal, and I would really rather read. There is also the fact that my Mum and Dad were the only visible readers of this blog (visible in that they commented), so when they moved to Wagga, I didn't feel the need to blog, as I can just pop in for coffee. It has been pointed out to me, however, that I may have one or two other readers who aren't in coffee distance, so, here we are again. I won't make any promises regarding frequency, but we'll see how we go!

It turns out that I haven't taken many non-work related/card making photos in the last few months, but here are a few to give you a brief catch up:

I drove Joss and two of her friends to a music festival in Canberra. I dropped them off, then had eleven hours to fill, with no responsibilities! I spent hours at the National Art Gallery, looking at every single painting I wanted to look at. I checked in to our apartment and read Lord of the Rings for hours. I ate Chinese - you don't get much variety when there is only one person eating. I also went for a long walk next to the lake.


I really like Canberra; I think I could live there.


The One Book One Wagga book for this year was Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty, and I interviewed her at the gala dinner. The event was sold out!


Liane was lovely and easy to talk to, on stage and over dinner. It was a great night. I was very tall in those shoes, and I was careful not to fall up the steps. I was happy to take them off at the end of the night!


Toby and Bethany played with the school band, as part of the lineup for International Day of Jazz. Mum and Dad came to watch them, and it was lots of fun. You couldn't really see either of them, so I didn't even bother taking a photo. After the two school bands, Groove Factorie played, then a couple of other bands before Andrew played with an older group. There was some great music, but my favourite was the last Groove Factorie gig where Darren Coggan joined them to play James Taylor songs. So good!


All three children went to Presbyterian Youth Winter Camp this long weekend. Yes, we were child free, all weekend. It was awesome. I was glad to see them, though. Really.

What I am reading:
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (for book club)
Moonglow by Michael Chabon
A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty (recommended to me by her sister!)
What I'm watching:
Doctor Who
Unforgotten (British crime series)