houses - my kind of town - Bendigo, VIC

Oh man. I could live in Bendigo very very easily just because of the houses. A lot of time was spent walking and walking and taking photos. As little as $375K for one of these too. I love character towns. SO pretty and real autumn colours too. Really ran out of time to do everything the town had to offer.

Dishcloths and Melbourne, Australia

I have sent e-mails to everyone who has signed up for the dishcloth swap. if you have not heard from me, please get in touch!


I'm back from a quick 3 day trip to Australia. We lived in Melbourne 2002-3 (and I still wish most days we never returned to NZ....) and it is still my most favourite city in the world. Every year, my best friend from Melbourne and I meet up somewhere in Australia or NZ to keep in touch. Last year it was Sydney, this year Bendigo and next year's destination will be Queenstown.


I arrived on the Friday - Kristy was going to have a 3 day weekend too, until her school changed a curriculum day... instead I met up with the husband's Aunt Judy who was a huge help when we moved to Melbourne. A lot of Stephen's family have lived in Australia for decades. We also have a family business in Melbourne, which has run for decades too.


Some cities have a vibrancy about them - Melbourne is one of them! I think the city has had a population growth spurt since we left! The place was humming... Judy is a member of the art gallery, so we met for tea and ANZAC biscuits at their member's lounge before heading off down Bourke Street to H & M. H & M has only been open a month - it was STUPID CRAZY! I have never seen anything like it in terms of volumes of people and volumes of goods. I grabbed items for the boys and totally gave up on anything for me, as it was too much with the queues for the changing rooms etc. Not my scene. In all of it, I lost Judy and never found her - fighting my way through people was not my idea of fun. The boys have a few things - me zilch. Oh well. I'll wait till the hype dies down before even venturing in there again. Instead I walked back up to Zara and picked up a jersey. And then to Target for gorgeous merino tops. Everyone goes to Melbourne to shop from NZ - I think I am quite over the shopping anywhere and just do not need things! I was underweight coming home too.  A good thing.


The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around the city - the weather was incredible! (much like today - in skirt and tee - winter? No.) I picked up a box of rubgy league books from The Little Bookroom (in Degraves Street just over the road from Flinders Street station - the BEST children's bookshop around!) and walked around the city enjoying a walking city and the buskers, the autumn air etc. And a tram ride - ahem - I didn't have a myki card and for the life of me, could not find anywhere selling them... Half the rest of the people looked they they didn't have one either...
A good day, loving all the laneways and sunny warm weather, a cupcake shop, and a few photos.
Kristy picked me up after school; we got lost in Coburg (soooo cute!), before heading north to Bendigo. Tomorrow.

Trans Portugal Bike Race 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tURxchHIKw


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LINkm2Azcbg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8k-XGkB6zQ


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTpBVIoshvcin




SO PROUD of my little brother who finished in 3rd place in the 2014 Trans Portugal bike race, cycling  around 1200 kms over 9 days. All the training in the Swiss Alps (where he and his family live) paid of. He is in a green top with a grey goatee. :) Bike number 368.

Snapshot

Weetbix biscuit making

Roses

weather - still sunny most days and in tees still too but colder most days now

lemons - finally a good crop on our little tree

breakfast in bed

a kid back from a 3 day scout camp in the Waikato - got to gumboots as everything else soaked. And double layers of thermals to keep warm. (with a proper woollen jersey on top of that!)

fire four nights in  row

new tea love

new computer - my first ever laptop

my little brother is cycling in the Trans Portugal Garmin and is currently in 3 rd place. A 9 day race covering around 1200 kilometres. All the cycling training in the Swiss Alps is paying off. Go Malcolm!

A whirlwind

Firstly - can anyone tell me why I cannot seem to download photos onto a blog post via Blogger - it uploads them, but then when I go to add to a post, it stalls and does not come up with the "place in the centre etc" box.. . Have had this on and off for days before, but 3-4-5 days running now, I just cannot seem to post any pics..
I has been a whirlwind of activity everywhere.
School is MANIC. I am tearing my head out at not enough funding to help the students who need it (year 5 kid on level 7 reading - we lost his funding. What the?) at more than one school. NZ fails too many kids. Too many transient kids, with no agency tracking them as they jump. Schools have to figure it out.
I have been having fun throwing out years of school stuff - I got Archives NZ into the school to go through around 20-30 years worth of stuff.... so much in the bin, and lots kept too. School histories are important. Financial stuff from 20 years ago - no. HUGE bins full going. it is good to get rid of clutter.
Essay writing. Yes - STILL going. I am slow! First assignment I scored an A. :) Bit of a pattern emerging... hee hee. In a moment of madness on Sunday night, I signed up for number 4 paper in the 2014 academic year. I am crazy. nearly fulltime worker. Kids, BOT member, yeah. But this essay ahs 2 nights to go and assignment work over for this paper. Now A LOT of tutorial work to do and exam prep. Five weeks till that! Then a few weeks break till next paper starts.
Mother's Day - nothing in this house. Both of our families have never believed in it. One kid said happy mothers day and the husband made breakfast in bed, but that is usual :). I did buy myself my first ever laptop - school gave me one too, but it now lives at school due to library set up - hardly giving me one really....
The usual housework. Knitting - not much! Little brother (who lives in Switzerland) is currently doing the Trans Portugal 1200 km nine day long bike race, so we sit in front of the laptop every night and track him (in 4th place currently). Very exciting to follow! You tube videos they post every day are neat - what a beautiful country!
I am off to Melbourne and Bendigo this Friday for  few days. What's in Bendigo? The woollen mills... oh dear. Dangerous for me! It looks to be a beautiful regional city. Meeting up with my best friend from when I lived in Melbourne 11 years ago. We meet up every year somewhere now. Last year it was Sydney. Next year it is Queenstown! Can't wait - 3 years since I was last in my favourite city in the entire world. (Melbourne.)
Back , I hope, in next couple of days with dishcloth swap details. (hoping essay panic does not set in...).

Grumpy over chocolate

I'm grumpy. Well a bit annoyed at conflicting messages. A school fundraiser for general funds to buy whatever. But it is chocolate. Hate it. Hate schools fundraising with it. They force heathly eating into students , then send chocolate home for them to sell?
Not in this house. It isn't leaving the school. I'm writing to the powers that be and telling them why.
First time ever in 12 years at that school. I hope a few other parents join in, as I know a few are not happy. I think I will donate the money to Hospice NZ in memory of my lovely ex-principal instead.
(and I know all about school fundraising and how schools always need money. I am on said school BOT and know finances in and out and I also know it all where I work. Where I work, we get very, very little from parents being a decile one school. Hence why we need every single extra cent we get from the government). But chocolate? No.

Back to reality after hols over

 Lotta from Stockholm clogs - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.

 Very comfortable!

 sewing new pjs for me - not that I need them, but adored the fabric...

 and the most sweetest huge pinchushion from Tracy

a kid who LOVES woollen hats and wears them all the time! Playing on the computer (of course)

finished!

tulips from "Nosh" - such good specials there!

cotton from my aunt - loving the old wooden reels

at night

Starting a cowl for me knitting with Bendigo Woollen Mills wool (I'll be there in 2 weekends! Whoop!)

socks finished for the MIL for her birthday - the last one only started 4 days ago.

And that is the end of the school holidays. A VERY lazy time for me - but I needed it. And sneakily off to Melbourne in 2 weekends to catch up with a girlfriend. Driving north to Bendigo - yippee.
Draught essay flicked off to be checked - whew. getting somewhere albeit slowly!