We would like to wish you all where ever you are in the world a very Merry Christmas and may 2011 be everything that you hope for.
Lots of love
The Ivey's of Australia
xxx
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas ...
We would like to wish you all where ever you are in the world a very Merry Christmas and may 2011 be everything that you hope for.
Lots of love
The Ivey's of Australia
xxx
Third time unlucky ...
We've been here in our house for less than four years and the water main has burst three times. Two strange squares of grass on what passes as a pavement in the UK are a constant reminder of when the ground opened up and the water spurted out into the air...
On Wednesday during a little party for Norma who looks after Alfie and Charlie a trickle soon became a steady flow and reduced much of the garden to puddles ... as well as the gardens beyond. So it was on to the water board who sent along a nice man with a can of yellow spray paint. He marked out where the offending section of pipe was before the digger arrived... with much excitement from Alf!
Basically the long and short of it is that its our section of pipe that takes the water to the meter from the main that has split. Luckily for us the rules on who pays for that section have changed so we won't be footing the $800 bill a couple of days before Christmas!
Ah the joys of home ownership!!! ;0)
On Wednesday during a little party for Norma who looks after Alfie and Charlie a trickle soon became a steady flow and reduced much of the garden to puddles ... as well as the gardens beyond. So it was on to the water board who sent along a nice man with a can of yellow spray paint. He marked out where the offending section of pipe was before the digger arrived... with much excitement from Alf!
Basically the long and short of it is that its our section of pipe that takes the water to the meter from the main that has split. Luckily for us the rules on who pays for that section have changed so we won't be footing the $800 bill a couple of days before Christmas!
Ah the joys of home ownership!!! ;0)
Summer Holiday ...
So we're four years into our Australian experience, and yet our feet don't seem to have touched the ground. We've had two children, picked up various part time and then permanent work, bought a house, extended it, purchased three cars and sold one!! Its fair to say we've been busy ... too busy for family holidays until now!
Last week we traveled with the aBecketts and Mung-hams (sorry couldn't resist!) to South West Rocks which is about four and a half hours up the coast for some camping. While we were there we also managed to catch up with the Murdoch's and the Reece's which made for a perfect week.... between us we had nine children the oldest of which isn't yet four!!! ... Amy and Mitch must have wondered what had hit them!
We were camping about a two minute walk from the beach, which can feel surprisingly long when weighed down with the worldly goods of a three and a half year old and his his younger brother required for a day at the beach. The weather was kind in the most part although a thunder storm on the Thursday night was ... character building!
I'm not sure that it left Beth and I feeling all that relaxed, in fact the longest conversation we had was on the way home and the books we took remain unread, that said we've booked again for next year so it couldn't have been that bad!
Last week we traveled with the aBecketts and Mung-hams (sorry couldn't resist!) to South West Rocks which is about four and a half hours up the coast for some camping. While we were there we also managed to catch up with the Murdoch's and the Reece's which made for a perfect week.... between us we had nine children the oldest of which isn't yet four!!! ... Amy and Mitch must have wondered what had hit them!
We were camping about a two minute walk from the beach, which can feel surprisingly long when weighed down with the worldly goods of a three and a half year old and his his younger brother required for a day at the beach. The weather was kind in the most part although a thunder storm on the Thursday night was ... character building!
I'm not sure that it left Beth and I feeling all that relaxed, in fact the longest conversation we had was on the way home and the books we took remain unread, that said we've booked again for next year so it couldn't have been that bad!
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Month by Month ...
Here's a little update in our not so little boys month by month albums ...
You wait a while for a post then three come along at once! ;0)
You wait a while for a post then three come along at once! ;0)
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
The Ashes ...
Just a quick thanks to Andrew Strauss and the boys for making my life bearable (..and all the more sweet!) here in Australia ...
... keep up the good work!
... keep up the good work!
Look out it's Spiderman ...
Alfie was given a Spiderman suit by a neighbour a couple of weeks ago and he loves it ...
He's pretty much Spiderman most of the time now and takes offence to him being referred to as Alfie. He has even been known to sleep in it! With the weather up towards the thirties most days it's not a good time of the year to be an one piece polyester clad super hero... so we on occasion hide the suit!
Even super heroes need a day off right?
He's pretty much Spiderman most of the time now and takes offence to him being referred to as Alfie. He has even been known to sleep in it! With the weather up towards the thirties most days it's not a good time of the year to be an one piece polyester clad super hero... so we on occasion hide the suit!
Even super heroes need a day off right?
Monday, December 06, 2010
Jumping Castle ...
Yeah me! Two posts in two days... anyway...
... about a month ago Beth came up with the idea of buying a jumping castle (A bouncy castle for UK readers!) Now these things don't come cheap so Beth hatched a plan of getting a syndicate of people together who have small kids that need entertaining...
... $50 later, that's about thirty of the Queens pounds, we've a part share in endless hours of entertained kids. Entertaining the kids is up there with "Happy wife happy life!" in my book!
We got the Jumping castle guys over for a jump and everyone seemed to be quite impressed. We circulated a calendar for next year and booked in the birthday weekends.... it also means that we get invited to all the parties which is great (I think!?!).
As you can see from the smiles it's clearly a hit with the little people...
... about a month ago Beth came up with the idea of buying a jumping castle (A bouncy castle for UK readers!) Now these things don't come cheap so Beth hatched a plan of getting a syndicate of people together who have small kids that need entertaining...
... $50 later, that's about thirty of the Queens pounds, we've a part share in endless hours of entertained kids. Entertaining the kids is up there with "Happy wife happy life!" in my book!
We got the Jumping castle guys over for a jump and everyone seemed to be quite impressed. We circulated a calendar for next year and booked in the birthday weekends.... it also means that we get invited to all the parties which is great (I think!?!).
As you can see from the smiles it's clearly a hit with the little people...
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Movember ...
Okay okay so another month passes and no updates... I've got a whole heap of excuses but they are all pretty much the same as last months so go check them! Movemeber wasn't all work, work, work though as I did manage to grow a moustache...
It was all in a good cause Movember! However its December now and its gone ... thank goodness you all say! ;0)
Today marks the onslaught of daily updates (promise!)in the run up to Christmas so you can pass away those last days in the offices wherever you are in the World!;0)
 | |
| Yes this is a months growth!!! |
It was all in a good cause Movember! However its December now and its gone ... thank goodness you all say! ;0)
Today marks the onslaught of daily updates (promise!)in the run up to Christmas so you can pass away those last days in the offices wherever you are in the World!;0)
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Tiki Beat with Marcus Thorn...
Aloha blog readers... One of my "things" that I've been following while in Australia is Tiki Culture. If you're thinking "What on earth?" then you need to check out Tiki by Wayne Curtis. ....Right now that you're back ... last weekend I traveled down to Sydney for a two day carving workshop with Tiki Carver and all round nice guy Marcus Thorn.
We started out will half a log and our own set of tools started carving. It was about 35 degrees so it was tough going!
It was amazing to watch him go at this piece of wood and make it do exactly what he wanted to to do. I'll never be that good but he seemed to think that my Tiki was a "good effort" for the first one. It still needs to be finished up but I'm confident that one day it'll be good enough to hang with all the others I've collected from charity shops etc in the bar.
An awesome weekend, I learned a lot, came away with my own tool set, something closely resembling a Tiki and plenty of ideas to help me fill the summer holidays.
Nice article about Marcus.
"Tiki carver and painter, Marcus Thorn of Tiki Beat has been carving tikis for the last 15 years and painting and drawing since his early teens. Born in Papua New Guinea and then raised in Tropical Queensland in Australia Marcus has always been drawn to the Polynesian appeal of all things tiki. Marcus is fast becoming one of the most highly respected tiki carvers in the world and his carvings have featured in various Magazines and movies for NBC Studios New York and Warner Bros Movieworld Gold Coast, Australia and carving in Hawaii for hotels and developments."It was great to spend a couple of days doing something creative and I hoped that with Marcus' help I could become a chip off the old block. I've really not done any art since leaving University so I was really excited when this opportunity came up. It was a four hour drive each day but well worth it.
We started out will half a log and our own set of tools started carving. It was about 35 degrees so it was tough going!
... don't try this at home kids!
It was amazing to watch him go at this piece of wood and make it do exactly what he wanted to to do. I'll never be that good but he seemed to think that my Tiki was a "good effort" for the first one. It still needs to be finished up but I'm confident that one day it'll be good enough to hang with all the others I've collected from charity shops etc in the bar.
An awesome weekend, I learned a lot, came away with my own tool set, something closely resembling a Tiki and plenty of ideas to help me fill the summer holidays.
Nice article about Marcus.
Summer's around the Corner ... still!
It seems like every time I post on here I say that I'm busy and that the weather has been ordinary... well ... we've been really busy and the weather is still ordinary but there are signs that Summer is just around the corner ... in fact only seventeen days if you use the end of term as the benchmark! Not that I'm counting at all! ;0)
Still with a warm day this week we all got outside to eat our diner, we enjoyed the fresh air and the fact that you can pressure wash the deck and the kids when they've finished!
... yes its an inflatable Kangaroo!
Still with a warm day this week we all got outside to eat our diner, we enjoyed the fresh air and the fact that you can pressure wash the deck and the kids when they've finished!
... yes its an inflatable Kangaroo!
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
From little things ...
... big things grow!
Alfie is certainly shooting up and growing in so many ways. He is quite a character with a vivid imagination, we thought he was a little slow on the uptake with the talking but he's making up for the slow start. He asks a myriad of questions and won't accept I don't know as an answer - "Why you don't know?"
He remains a wonderful big brother to Charles and sociable generally. We were at the local pool last weekend where there is a park area for the kids to play. A large group of slightly older kids were playing together when one of the group who obviously all knew each other said "Let's get back into the pool.""Yeah!" they shouted and made for the pool, Alfie who had yet to introduce himself to the group also shouted "Yeah" and followed them much to their bemusement!
It was only this week that I looked back at some pictures of him as a baby, its amazing to think that it was such a tough start for this little seed. He's become quite a sweet little seedling ... hopefully with the right amounts of water, nutrients and sunshine the boy and teenager stages will be as strong healthy and positive.
Alfie is certainly shooting up and growing in so many ways. He is quite a character with a vivid imagination, we thought he was a little slow on the uptake with the talking but he's making up for the slow start. He asks a myriad of questions and won't accept I don't know as an answer - "Why you don't know?"
He remains a wonderful big brother to Charles and sociable generally. We were at the local pool last weekend where there is a park area for the kids to play. A large group of slightly older kids were playing together when one of the group who obviously all knew each other said "Let's get back into the pool.""Yeah!" they shouted and made for the pool, Alfie who had yet to introduce himself to the group also shouted "Yeah" and followed them much to their bemusement!
It was only this week that I looked back at some pictures of him as a baby, its amazing to think that it was such a tough start for this little seed. He's become quite a sweet little seedling ... hopefully with the right amounts of water, nutrients and sunshine the boy and teenager stages will be as strong healthy and positive.
Park Pals ...
Some fairly ordinary weather of late, Summer keeps us waiting! Still this week it was jumpers on and down to the park for some fun and fresh air...
Terrible twos were fine ... Threes well!!!! Viewers with a keen ear will detect an Aussie twang!
Little monkeys!
Charlie gets into the swing of things...
Terrible twos were fine ... Threes well!!!! Viewers with a keen ear will detect an Aussie twang!
Little monkeys!
Charlie gets into the swing of things...
Toot Toot .... all aboard!
Last weekend it was "All aboard and ticket please" as we visited the miniature steam railway. Apparently these guys run their pride and joys around the track every weekend but once a month they give kids and their parents a go around the tracks...
We got there nice and early for a picnic and parking spot. Just as well we did as the place was packed within the hour. Its a great day out for kids (and parents!) as they get to ride all the different trains for a Gold Coin donation.
I managed to upset the driver (complete with drivers cap!!!) on my first trip almost tipping the carriage because I stepped on the wrong spot! The old guys do the trains, the ladies do the baking and they all stop of a cuppa halfway through the afternoon. All quite quaint really. A perfect day out for the whole family and friends, on this particular occasion we were joined by the Allen's and the Murdoch Clan.
I recommend Lake Macquarie Live Steam Society and their website which currently features a genealogy tracing 130 years of steam locomotive evolution by Neil Carlson. Enjoy!
We got there nice and early for a picnic and parking spot. Just as well we did as the place was packed within the hour. Its a great day out for kids (and parents!) as they get to ride all the different trains for a Gold Coin donation.
I managed to upset the driver (complete with drivers cap!!!) on my first trip almost tipping the carriage because I stepped on the wrong spot! The old guys do the trains, the ladies do the baking and they all stop of a cuppa halfway through the afternoon. All quite quaint really. A perfect day out for the whole family and friends, on this particular occasion we were joined by the Allen's and the Murdoch Clan.
I recommend Lake Macquarie Live Steam Society and their website which currently features a genealogy tracing 130 years of steam locomotive evolution by Neil Carlson. Enjoy!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Newcastle, Australia - Ninth best city in the World!
It's official our very own Newcastle, New South Wales Australia is the ninth best city in the World!
New York topped the Lonely Planet list, I'm not sure who was awarded second to eighth place, but I'm sure that Plymouth would have been well up there. Newcastle is one of those quite unfashionable places for Aussies and international travelers... long may it stay that way I say... but it seems to be building a great reputation as a great place to live and visit but then we knew that anyway!
Link : NBN News.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The Amber Necklace...
Now if you read the title of this post in your normal inside your head voice we need to stop right there... back up think about magic, wizardry, Lord of the Rings etc and then read it again in your best movie trailer voice.... That's it much better!
Right moving on. It would seem that there is more to mothers group than lattes and caramel slice/raisin toast... I know this was a shock to me! It is apparently also an opportunity to share the most bizarre child rearing tips and tales. Apparently the more distant your relationship to the person who has tried (insert tip here) the better. It goes something a little like this...
"My cousins, friends, sister in law twice removed was having real trouble with her child not sleeping because he was cutting teeth. Well one day she accidentally smothered him in Vegemite and guess what now he sleeps twelve hours straight. She's done it every night since... Maybe you should try it... "
Additional points can also be scored for the least scientifically plausible solution to a problem. I'm an open minded person when it comes to complementary medicine but an Amber Necklace! Purchased from a (still laughing now no doubt...) seller on eBay this special necklace, which incidentally has each bead double stitched for safety, cures tooth pain...
The result: Does it work ... maybe!
... however if it does then the effects of the Amber are long lasting as he was still able to get some shut eye while it hung in the bathroom for over a week!
If you are reading this and thinking hey maybe we should try that, then we have one for sale. One careful owner all reasonable offers considered. ;0)
Right moving on. It would seem that there is more to mothers group than lattes and caramel slice/raisin toast... I know this was a shock to me! It is apparently also an opportunity to share the most bizarre child rearing tips and tales. Apparently the more distant your relationship to the person who has tried (insert tip here) the better. It goes something a little like this...
"My cousins, friends, sister in law twice removed was having real trouble with her child not sleeping because he was cutting teeth. Well one day she accidentally smothered him in Vegemite and guess what now he sleeps twelve hours straight. She's done it every night since... Maybe you should try it... "
Additional points can also be scored for the least scientifically plausible solution to a problem. I'm an open minded person when it comes to complementary medicine but an Amber Necklace! Purchased from a (still laughing now no doubt...) seller on eBay this special necklace, which incidentally has each bead double stitched for safety, cures tooth pain...
The result: Does it work ... maybe!
... however if it does then the effects of the Amber are long lasting as he was still able to get some shut eye while it hung in the bathroom for over a week!
If you are reading this and thinking hey maybe we should try that, then we have one for sale. One careful owner all reasonable offers considered. ;0)
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Show me the way to Armidale ...
Much to our disgust (but with our full support!) Amy and Mitch the SPAREnts have moved to Armidale leaving us to look after our own kids! ;0) Having given them some time to settle in and find a home for everything it was about time we packed up half of our house and paid them a visit! Now Armidale is a country town about five and a half hours away... not too far when you remove the fact that we have two young kids and we're English and therefore consider a yearly trip to Butlins Minehead from Plymouth a road trip. Still I diligently went to Google maps, scribbled something about left and rights on the back of an envelope and jumped in the car.
How hard could it be? Newcastle to Armidale ... its just up and a bit left!
We reached half way, let the kids out for some fresh air and had lunch. After the stop we checked out the Barrington Tops which are beautiful at this time of year. However this was a good two hour inadvertent detour in the wrong direction, on dirt tracks in the rain, no phone reception, no food and half a tank of petrol in an area where New South Wales' serial murderer and most wanted man has sought shelter and is yet to be found!
If you stare at this image long enough you can almost hear the sound of hysterics coming from a black 4x4!
Beth and I were thankful that our relationship is a strong one as we slipped and slided out of the mountains and back to the town we had rested in about two hours earlier! Having seen the error of our ways we eventually arrived in Armidale after nine hours. Yes that's a nine hour .... five hour car journey...
Anyway moving swiftly on we had a great time with Amy, Mitch, parents and friends. We checked out Mitchell's new work place (conveniently a bar/club!), some of the sights and an indoor play center. There we managed to do some bowling and escape from the rain which seemed to fall throughout our visit.
We didn't let the weather dampen our spirits and we had great time, and we came away feeling that Armidale isn't that far away... I mean it's not like its nine hours or anything! See you soon guys.
Check out the Armidale Tourist Information Centre.
How hard could it be? Newcastle to Armidale ... its just up and a bit left!
We reached half way, let the kids out for some fresh air and had lunch. After the stop we checked out the Barrington Tops which are beautiful at this time of year. However this was a good two hour inadvertent detour in the wrong direction, on dirt tracks in the rain, no phone reception, no food and half a tank of petrol in an area where New South Wales' serial murderer and most wanted man has sought shelter and is yet to be found!
If you stare at this image long enough you can almost hear the sound of hysterics coming from a black 4x4!
Beth and I were thankful that our relationship is a strong one as we slipped and slided out of the mountains and back to the town we had rested in about two hours earlier! Having seen the error of our ways we eventually arrived in Armidale after nine hours. Yes that's a nine hour .... five hour car journey...
Anyway moving swiftly on we had a great time with Amy, Mitch, parents and friends. We checked out Mitchell's new work place (conveniently a bar/club!), some of the sights and an indoor play center. There we managed to do some bowling and escape from the rain which seemed to fall throughout our visit.
We didn't let the weather dampen our spirits and we had great time, and we came away feeling that Armidale isn't that far away... I mean it's not like its nine hours or anything! See you soon guys.
Check out the Armidale Tourist Information Centre.
Chick, chick, chick, chicken...
The two chicks that Alfie and I looked after for a couple of weeks are doing well, in fact they are already getting their adult feathers. Last weekend we went across to see how they were going...
Now what I forgot to mention last time when posting about the chickens is that it proved to be an excellent opportunity to have some father and son time. I took the opportunity to explain some Rooster and Hen stuff. I waffled on about boy chicken and girl chicken for a while and I could tell that Alfie wasn't really listening. After I'd stopped he pointed to the Rooster with it's red triangular cones arranged on its head and said "Daddy what about the Dinosaur chicken?" I had to laugh up until the point where he went to the veggie patch pulled up a healthy corn plant, looked at the roots and said "Nope. No carrots here!" Kids say the funniest things!
Now what I forgot to mention last time when posting about the chickens is that it proved to be an excellent opportunity to have some father and son time. I took the opportunity to explain some Rooster and Hen stuff. I waffled on about boy chicken and girl chicken for a while and I could tell that Alfie wasn't really listening. After I'd stopped he pointed to the Rooster with it's red triangular cones arranged on its head and said "Daddy what about the Dinosaur chicken?" I had to laugh up until the point where he went to the veggie patch pulled up a healthy corn plant, looked at the roots and said "Nope. No carrots here!" Kids say the funniest things!
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