Green Fingers...

With most of the weekend spent stopping things from growing we are also trying to grow some veggies and fruit! We inherited some sage and parsley from neighbours and they strangely still seem to be thriving despite being dropped in our garden! Our efforts last year were fruitless... literally!





I also managed to pull three potato plants kicking and screaming from the compost heap and get some tomato seddlings planted. We'll update with pictures of healthy juicy friuts and veg soon!!!!

Pool Pals...

After all that hard work in the garden there's nothing better than a chance to cool off in Amy and Mitchell's pool. We are really keen to get Alf confident in the water this Summer before the fear sets in. He looked quite fetching in his life jacket and was soon gaining confidence while making his not so sure if you're laughing or crying noises. Their pool is fantastic and improved further by some of their wedding purchases. Think we might be spending quite a bit of time over there .... three season passes please guys! ;0)

De-forestation...

It's getting to that time of year when everything in the garden grows like mad, so this weekend was a good time to get out there and cut everything back so that it doesn't get too out of control.



Beth got down and dirty in the flower beds while I swung from the tree canopies! We ended up with some quite large piles of stuff. Good job our neighbour Dave (AKA Chainsaw Dave!)and Alfie with his Chip the Chainsaw were on had to help make the pieces more manageable.



I also managed to move some of the compost I've been lovingly cultivating to the flower beds as well as getting up on the roof to clear all the gutters of leaves before the storm and fire season really gets up and running...

My Family...

Two beautiful people on a beautiful day...

Biker Bubs...

Alfie loves nothing more than scooting around the house (increasingly one and sometimes no handed!) on his scooter. He has also made use of his bike to explore the deck, the drop off the deck head first and the soccer oval at Matt and Sharron's! The bike was only $20 (... ten-ish squid!) and consists of only four parts and some other bits and bobs! Not hard to put together you would think... wrong! Beth's haste was only outdone by my fustration and a slighty heavy handed hammer blow! Still one replacement bike later and Alfie is having a ball! Check him out in this little video...

Lazy Sunday ...

Sunday started with a Bush Walk with Alfie sporting a bandana! We spotted lots of birds while we were out and about... something of a theme for the day! That managed to tire Alfie out as he slept for nearly three hours!

In the afternoon we went to Blackbutt reserve so that Alfie and Ben could play in the park, check out the animals and chase the bush turkeys!!! Adults enjoyed a few drinks and nibbles as well as chasing the boys in every direction!

After spending most of the week away it was great to spend some nice family time together this weekend.

Bamboo Bonanza...

Regular bloggers will know that hard rubbish collections (... things that you might take to the tip!) are excellent opportunities for picking up stuff! People put stuff they no longer want outside, and its my hunch that little of it actually gets thrown away. Most seems to get picked up by people like us! On Saturday on the way back to the Doctors Beth and I saw someone putting out this Bamboo lounge set. We did a U turn and went back to have a chat with the lady. I'm a great fan of bamboo and know that the stuff is actually quite expensive to buy new or vintage, strangely these people had a love of Volkswagens! They seemed quite happy that it was going to a good home! We went back later to pick it all up and it now sits proudly in the garage in the space that Beth cleared last week!!!!

We have plans for this starting with some new cushion covers that Beth's mum will be starting next week!!!! ;0)



... John we have projects for you too! ;0)

A day at the races...

On Saturday we celebrated the end of the football season in some style with a day at the races. I have to confess that its the first time I've been to the races any where in the world. I actually quite enjoyed it on what was a very warm day. All the families came along to lose money like the rest of us. Alfie seemed to enjoy the racing and the escalator rides!!!



... Alfie cheered the horses along and was hard to get away from the fence!



... Later in the evening the lads kicked on by going to watch the Newcastle Jets play against Melbourne Victory. The Jets got up 1-0 so there were lots of happy people about! It was a good day and didn't suffer to much for it come Sunday morning!

School Excursion...

I spent three days away last week down in Sydney on our school excursion. We had a very busy three days with forty students. On Wednesday we traveled to Sydney before spending six hours at the zoo. After the Zoo it was off to the hotel for something to eat before hitting the road again for a night at the IMAX Cinema.

On the Thursday we had a tour of the ABC Studios (... think BBC in England!) before enjoying a wonderful cultural cruise of the harbour. In the evening it was all aboard the James Craig an 18th Century tall ship for a night in hammocks! Being staff we were allocated bunks but these were in the immigrant (... I didn't see the funny side!) quarters which were basic and not unlike lying in a coffin I should imagine!

On the Friday morning there was time for more nautical fun before going ashore for a trip to the Monet exhibition and a walk around the Botanical Gardens.

It was a great experience and the kids were great, although it was even better to be home!

Happy 1st Birthday Noah...

On Saturday we had a great time at Noah's party, Alfie had a great time too although the party hats did leave him a little bemused! He is seen here with one of Noah's prezzies from which Alfie needed to be surgically removed before departure!

The wiggles featured heavily and the Big Red Car was happily gobbled up by all. On arrival Ross had claimed the cake to be his own creation but I know from experience that Noah's pop is something of a wizz on the cake making and doccorating front!

Here's Noah with mum and dad, aged one year and a day! Like Alfie he was a little confused by all the hats and singing...

... but the blowing of candles is always a hit!

It was great to catch up with Ross and Sara again and for Alfie to spend some time with the other kids. I'm not sure I've ever seen so many children crammed into one ball pool having so much fun. Alfie also enjoyed the opportunity to eat as much as possible as usual. Ross' .... sorry Greg's cake went down a treat! ;0)

Ross River Fever...

I had a myriad of blood tests a week ago to try and get to the bottom of why I've been feeling so lethargic over the last two months or so. I've had a lot of fever along with joint and muscle pain and it just didn't fell like flu, even the virile Man Flu strain! So I actually got around to registering for a Doctor and getting some tests done. When my doctors receptionist rang after 48 hours having originally asked me to call after three weeks I knew that something was wrong. I've had something of a nervous wait since last Thursday until today to find out if it was one of the possibles - diabetes, Ross River Fever or Glandular Fever.

Turn out that I've managed to pick up Ross River Fever which I've since found out is...

a viral infection, transmitted through mosquito bites. The Ross River virus was named after the river in northern Queensland where it was first identified, but it is found in all states of Australia and throughout Papua New Guinea and many islands in the South Pacific.

The disease is most common in Australia from spring to autumn, particularly from January through to March, when mosquitoes are most abundant.

Symptoms
Infection with the Ross River virus is most commonly associated with fever, rash and joint pains. Swelling of joints may also occur – especially in the fingers, wrists and feet – and joint stiffness tends to be worse in the morning.

General symptoms such as nausea, headache, backache, and muscle aches are also common. Lethargy and fatigue are often debilitating, with some people unable to carry out minor activities, or even get out of bed.

Symptoms of the virus usually come on between five and 14 days after infection and disappear within six weeks. However, 10 per cent of people have ongoing joint pains, depression and fatigue for many months.

The Ross River virus usually lives in native mammals such as kangaroos and wallabies, but can also affect rodents and even horses. These animals act as natural reservoirs for the virus and when a female mosquito bites an infected animal it picks up some of the virus.

The virus enters the human bloodstream via the saliva of an infected mosquito. It then reproduces itself in some of the blood cells and builds up in organs such as muscles, joints and the skin, resulting in the symptoms of infection. This incubation time – or the time between being bitten by mosquito and early symptoms – is usually about one week.

Only a Lilly white POM would pick up a virus commonly associated with Kangaroos! I'm now faced with two weekly blood tests which will check to see if the virus levels increase or decrease. My test next week is crucial as if the levels decrease I'm over the worse, if they increase then .... Gulp!

There isn't anything that I can take in the way of treatment, although it has made me think more about prevention. I need to crack on with the rest of the window screens and ensure that I carry Aeroguard with me if I'm out at dusk. We do have a zapper outside which stays on 24hrs a day and we always make sure there are no stagnant pools of water in the garden! They do seem to like Beth and I, Beth picked up about four walking from the car last night! We have thought of them as an unwanted itch to scratch but they are obviously more serious than that... I am now officially at war with the Aussie Mozzie!

Double click on the picture bellow to enlarge...

Flat Packed Friends...

With the journey back to Newcastle from Sydney over it was time to unpack the car, something of a feat if you had seen it! Amy and Mitchell popped over to say hello and managed to stay and spend the next six hours assembling our purchases. They were certainly a great help as we managed to create pieces of furniture that looked amazingly close to those on the boxes!

I know that IKEA gets a bit of a bad press sometimes but I have to say that we are pleased with what we got, a good price for some quality. None of the pieces were damaged nor were any missing... in fact we seemed to end up with lots of pieces we didn't use!!!!!

Alfie assisted and couldn't wait to get his feet under his new table. We are trailing this as a replacement for the high chair! Beth did a great job of keeping Alfie out of mischief and the workers well supplied with drinks!!! It was actually as fun as putting together flat packed furniture can be. Thanks to Amy and Mitch as always for their help, I'm not sure where we would be without them other than still outside putting together flat packed furniture! ... We look forward to replaying the favour when their flat packed stuff arrives in a couple of weeks!!!

Sunny Sydney...

Following on from our Wedding weekend we hit the road again, this time to Sydney. We spent two nights with Ross, Sarah and Noah at Ross's parents house. I work with Ross and he is actually my mentor at school. We soon found out that we have pretty much everything in common and have become great friends.

On the Tuesday we travelled down, again in a car packed to the rafters for Alfie. We quickly found that having two babies it is bloomin hard to plan anything as one of them will always need 1. A sleep 2. Something to eat 3. A change of nappy or 4. All of the above. We did however manage to all get out to the Harbour for a fish and chip picnic. It was great to see the Harbour from a different aspect and also to chill out with Ross and Sara. Alfie and Noah had a ball in the playground, running/crawling around, chasing birds and tucking into the odd chip or two. Beth and I reminised about Bridge Climb proposals while taking it all in.

We shelved our planned excursion to Taronga Zoo on Wednesday as as you can see Sara isn't in the best condition to be lugging around what is a very hilly zoo all day! Sara and Ross are expecting some new additions in January in the form of twins. With these new additions added to Noah who is actually one today the Murdoch house is sure to be an interesting and busy one come 2009! With the Zoo off the menu we needed to find a relaxing activity, Ross's planned and very cultural vsist to see some 50,000 year old cave paintings depicting one Aborigional with an enlarged body part!!! was rejected in favour of a Swedish cultural experience.... IKEA!

This become something of a major mission. We had planned to visit IKEA on the way home anyway but Wednesday was as good a day as ever. We managed to spend about £600 but got a lot of bedroom furniture and other stuff so that we can return what we borrowed over 12 months ago. In the evenings when the kids eventually went off we managed to play some games and have some quality adult time which was great.

On the Thursday we made our way home with more stuff than we travelled with, in fact the fact that I didn't have breakfast was crucial as this would have taken up space we didn't really have. Alfie managed to sleep most of the way home and has been having an extra sleep all week, we've been so busy that I think it has caught up with him .. and me!

Daylight Saving...

Just while I remember the clocks have gone forward one hour Down Under while we think that yours haven't changed? Therefore the time difference is now +10 hours rather than 9 hours. We think that this actually makes it easier in some ways to call the UK but one down side is that football matches beamed live from Sky now start at an even more ridiculous time!

... if your not sure check the clocks on the left hand side of the page!

Wedding Monday...

Right I've almost caught up!... Today is Monday and while the weekend might not have yet caught up with Alfie it has with mum and dad! We got up this morning and packed up and then cleaned the place. This place was spotless when we got there and with a £500 deposit at stake we all cleaned like demons!

Then it was time to say goodbyes before the drive home... what a weekend!

We got back before Amy and Mitchell and hastily managed to create a "Welcome home Mr and Mrs Reece" sign for their door. Mitch then did the honest thing and carried Amy over the threshold. Here are the happy couple at home...

Wedding Sunday...

Sunday was something of a recovery day from the day before. Time for a family walk along the seafront, reading of papers and the watching of films. Alfie managed to catch up on more sleep, although on one occasion when the baby monitor went all quiet we actually found Alfie asleep in Amy's dad's arms on the sofa watching the Rugby League Grand Final.



Later in the evening there was the chance to read some of the gift cards, open presents and chat about the wonderful day before. It was actually quite a late night and I'm claiming (....not unsurprisingly!) a rare victory over Mitchell as I manged to stay up later than him! (This is a very rare event indeed!)

Wedding Saturday...

Saturday marked a big day for Amy and Mitch and also for Alfie. Beth actually remarked that she was more nervous about this wedding than our own and I could see where she was coming from - lets just say that the rehearsal proved that things would either go very well or very badly!

For most of the girls there was a 6am departure for the hairdressers, the wedding wasn't until 3pm but when you saw them it was certainly worth it! The boys had a leisurely start to the day with an 8:30am departure for the golf course. In matching shirts (... as given the night before!) we looked good, things went down hill from there. I'm not the greatest golfer in the world ... no wait I'm not a Golfer at all! Our threesome consisting of me, and the Grooms brother and dad managed to take out the inaugural Mitchell Reece invitational by one shot, although not without the odd broken tee and two lost balls... I did however find three others! With some rain starting to fall we quickly packed up and sought shelter in a local pub, where a suitable Golfing trophy was found and presented.

After a couple of quick drinks I turned chauffeur and drove the some of groomsmen to the Grooms parents. Amazingly I actually managed to find my way back to a very quiet house to pick up Beth and the Page Boy! Alfie and Beth had enjoyed a quiet morning and Alfie took the opportunity to catch up on some missed sleep! He was still a little grumpy as we dressed him up but he did look cute despite the face!!!

We arrived at the church and Alfie was cheered up as always by cousins Liam and Joel. The groomsmen arrived and Alfie managed to pose and smile for some pictures, the button hole didn't however last that long! I was foolishly left in charge of the music for the service which involved running at specific parts of the service to start and stop the right tracks! This left Beth, Matt and Sharron in charge of the Page! Amy was fashionably late as the bride and was led down the aisle by the son of two very proud parents. Alfie managed to safely deliver the cushion complete with rings and was eventually rounded up by Beth! Amy looked every part the beautiful blushing bride and Mitchell certainly had a tear when he saw her walk down the aisle.

Beth and I read our readings without too much of a hitch and I managed to get most of the music in the right places! Alfie seemed to enjoy his walk down the aisle that he decided to walk back down on his way out with the bridal party. He mingled outside and raised a smile for a picture or two. Alfie was more pleased than anyone to find out that the official photographs would be taken down on a local beach, the fact that he was wearing a waist coat, and bow tie did little to change his normal beach behaviour!

At the reception Alfie managed to tuck into what everyone else was eating and enjoyed having a walk around while everyone was seated. Mum or Dad were always in tow any on high alert when he decided that he would start running round and around cake table! Most people found Alfie quite entertaining and he was certainly useful at distracting attention away from me during my speech. Alfie sat through all the formalities and well beyond 10pm. You would think that would be it for a very tired boy but there was plenty of life left in him yet and he didn't actually fall asleep until after 12am in the taxi home. Mitchell had arranged a mini bus with a baby seat so that really worked out well... a great day and it was a privilege for us and Alfie to be involved!

Many congratulations to Mitchell and Amy... they are great people individually but even better as a couple! :0)

Wedding Friday...

On Friday we seeming packed up the entire house and most of Mitchell and Amy's into our car and travelled on a very warm day to the Central Coast. The Central Coast is situated half way between Newcastle and Sydney and is birth place of our neighbours Amy and Mitchell. They had booked a wonderful beach side retreat for most of the wedding party to stay in over the weekend. You can take a look at Copacabana Beach Resort if you are interested. I have to say that the location (... Yes I've been singing Copacabana by Barry Manillow all weekend!) was amazing as were the facilities. Everything you could possibly need and three of each!

On arrival we unpacked and headed for the beach to cool off. Alfie soon managed to get soaking wet and then covered in sand ending up looking like he was coated in breadcrumbs. We had a great time splashing around at first in the rock pool before tackling some waves. Dad even tried some body surfing whilst wishing he had taken his own boards!

The Groom and some of the Groomsmen arrived and so it was time to have a bit of fun throwing things at each others heads when they weren't looking!!!

Back at the house it was showers for all before a BBQ lunch and a briefing for the big day on the Saturday. I have to say that Amy and Mitchell (... with his 8%) put in an amazing amount of planning, effort and thought into their big day. With six bridesmaids, six groomsmen and a Page Boy to think about they needed to! Each of the bridal party ended up with a bag of goodies - Alfie's consisted of a shirt and top for Mum and Dad as well as some rainbow socks and cuff links for Alfie!

The excitement of the big day nearly got the better of Alfie who decided that he would stay up until 1am. Not long after that two very tired parents could be seen taking a very early morning stroll in the rain along the sea front! He eventually gave in and that marked the end of busy Friday.

What a helpful little boy #3...

Gardner!



As this video shows Alfie is also a great help in and around the garden, particularly when the hose is on. Making sure that all plants and people get a good soaking!

What a helpful little boy #2...

Car Washer!



Alfie also comes in useful when there are cars to be washed. He started on his own set of wheels first giving it the once over with the sponge and then the wipe down with a cloth... Good work Alfie!

What a helpful little boy #1...

DIY Assistant!



With the warmer weather on the way and us wanting to save a little on air conditioning costs we have decided to make some fly screens for the windows. That way we can leave the windows open making the most of any breeze there is while keeping out unwanted guests.



The lengths to make the frames were 2.5m in length and so assistance was required... nice work Alfie!