Happy Birthday Andrew.
Wish we were there to help you celebrate. Perhaps we can do that later in the year.
Hope you have a great day and that the celebrations continue over the weekend.
Friday 27 April 2007
Monday 23 April 2007
Friends
This weekend has been a good time to catch up with friends and to just get a few things done around the home and do some shopping.
On Saturday night, we joined our friends Barbara and Theo at St Martin's Anglican Church for a "Crazy Whist Night" where we played cards, met a whole lot of new people and had a great fun evening together. About 28 people attended and all were friendly and enthusiastic, despite a number expressing the view that they had not played the game before. General rules were:
On Sunday after church, Ben and Jackie came to collect their ladder which I had brought back from Andrew and Fiona's after Ben and Andrew had done the finishing touches before leasing out the house. Then Diane and I went to Sue and Roy's for lunch. It was a good afternoon of fellowship followed by the "mandatory" afternoon nap before church in the evening.
On Saturday night, we joined our friends Barbara and Theo at St Martin's Anglican Church for a "Crazy Whist Night" where we played cards, met a whole lot of new people and had a great fun evening together. About 28 people attended and all were friendly and enthusiastic, despite a number expressing the view that they had not played the game before. General rules were:
- 4 people per table
- play in pairs; partner sitting opposite
- separate score sheet for each player
- cut cards to determine dealer, highest card deals, "Ace highest"
- deal 13 cards to each player
- player to the left of the dealer plays first
- at the end of each game add up the number of tricks taken and add to your total score
- partners take same score at end of each game
- winning pair at the end of each hand moves on to next table and separates (do not continue as a pair)
- loosing pair each hand remains at same table and separates
- remember to take your own score sheet with you as you move positions
On Sunday after church, Ben and Jackie came to collect their ladder which I had brought back from Andrew and Fiona's after Ben and Andrew had done the finishing touches before leasing out the house. Then Diane and I went to Sue and Roy's for lunch. It was a good afternoon of fellowship followed by the "mandatory" afternoon nap before church in the evening.
Tuesday 17 April 2007
The big clean-up
Whether or not it was the experience gained at Andrew and Fiona's, or whether it is because there is a community clean-up campaign starting next Monday, the time has come to clean up the dreaded garage, where everything that did not have its own place was put over many years.
Led by the enthusiasm of Michael and tempered somewhat by me who does not like to throw anything out - in case I might need it some time in the future, we have spent two days burrying down to the floor. Yes! you can now see a lot of the floor and yes! there is a huge pile in the street in front of the house - probably 2 metres by 2 metres and about a metre high. That excludes a large supply of metal objects that needed to be kept separate and for which the scrap metal dealers almost fought each other over to get their hands on it. We even cleared off the large workbench and swept it clean and Michael made good use of the air gun to clean off the dust.
Great care had to be exercised as old things were removed. Red-back spiders abounded and it was a case of use gloves, look behind things before putting your fingers there, have the insect spray handy and wear good shoes to finish them off.
To be honest, we could do the same thing in the next two days and get another large pile, although Michael admits that we have broken the back of it. Then of course there is a large quantity of computer gear under the TV room, courtesy of Andrew and Michael which may have to wait for another ocasion. Michael thinks that we should hire a skip bin and really go to town - maybe that may come eventually!
It has not been so hard to throw things out this time. Perhaps having Andrew's example of being ruthless (or was it Fiona?) has helped and I have come to the realisation that old things from my father which I have not used for 18 years may have now come to the end of their useful life. Nevertheless, progress has been made and I thank Michael for his determination here.
Led by the enthusiasm of Michael and tempered somewhat by me who does not like to throw anything out - in case I might need it some time in the future, we have spent two days burrying down to the floor. Yes! you can now see a lot of the floor and yes! there is a huge pile in the street in front of the house - probably 2 metres by 2 metres and about a metre high. That excludes a large supply of metal objects that needed to be kept separate and for which the scrap metal dealers almost fought each other over to get their hands on it. We even cleared off the large workbench and swept it clean and Michael made good use of the air gun to clean off the dust.
Great care had to be exercised as old things were removed. Red-back spiders abounded and it was a case of use gloves, look behind things before putting your fingers there, have the insect spray handy and wear good shoes to finish them off.
To be honest, we could do the same thing in the next two days and get another large pile, although Michael admits that we have broken the back of it. Then of course there is a large quantity of computer gear under the TV room, courtesy of Andrew and Michael which may have to wait for another ocasion. Michael thinks that we should hire a skip bin and really go to town - maybe that may come eventually!
It has not been so hard to throw things out this time. Perhaps having Andrew's example of being ruthless (or was it Fiona?) has helped and I have come to the realisation that old things from my father which I have not used for 18 years may have now come to the end of their useful life. Nevertheless, progress has been made and I thank Michael for his determination here.
Monday 9 April 2007
Andrew, Fiona and Lucy leave Sydney
Andrew, Fiona and Lucy left Sydney this morning bound for Los Angeles, and then through Charlotte to Wilmington North Carolina where they will live for a few years.
A number of people met at Mascot airport to farewell them. There was John and Teresa, John and Diane, Michael, Kellie and Dave, Ben, Jackie and Cora and Kevin.
Lynda would have loved to have been there but she was at the Katoomba Easter Convention helping to run the kids' program.
After we saw them off , John, John and Diane went to Andrew and Fiona's Sydney home to nail the edging strip around the pool, plant some shrubs and do a couple of other jobs that needed completing before tenants move in on Wednesday.
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