Greetings one and all,
Breaking with tradition and starting this in June. Could be a short one as COVID has curtailed much of life as we know it! Well, that worked well, it is now November so I should really try harder.
Have no recollection of last year’s XMAS and New Year but that’s pretty normal these times. All we knew was that we were glad to see the last of 2020 (and the big orange Trumpster). Didn’t realise that 2021 would be as bad !
Dad would be proud of me, I keep a spreadsheet of Deakin rainfall. We did have some decent rainfall over the summer, so much so that I can’t remember any nearby bushfires.As I do the finishing touches to this letter on 10 Dec, 1086mm for the year to date with more to come.
Now, Facebook can be useful, I’ve checked back over my posts for the year to see what happened. I’m happy to report that much pizza has been consumed and we are so delighted by the visits of Jetemia and Alex to the house, each and every time. It can be tricky when she doesn’t want to go home, she shows signs of being very strong willed. I have 2 dedicated solo baby-sitting spots (subject to COVID lock-downs) for looking after her, Monday afternoons and Thursday mornings. Cuteness personified when she strikes her yoga poses !
We have a few routines, we go looking for birds in the driveway, we play with the DUPLO and the tent in the lounge room. Always worth a visit to Krysia’s bed side table to check out the sprays and the humidifier. She loves remote controls (especially talking into them like they’re phones) and pushing buttons is her speciality. She doesn’t mind having books read to her but she does love watching videos of children’s songs on PCs or phones – we are aware of not letting her do too much of this. She has a huge vocabulary of words she understands and her spoken vocabulary continues to grow – “Ma Ma” is her favourite! She is very observant. Playgrounds are always worth a visit though it can be tricky when she is sick of the stroller. Krysia and Alex have been taking her to near the zoo when she can see the reindeer and the giraffes.
A few rides to the coast for me, both to the Bateman’s Bay Area and once to Jervis Bay.
A party was held here for Jetemia’s first birthday, I’m not sure she noticed all the fuss or appreciated all the presents, but she met her obligations of being gorgeous!
Canberra’s good run with COVID was to come to an end, mainly due to NSW incompetence when the Delta outbreak hit Sydney and their Government basically did nothing for 2 weeks. Canberra went into Lockdown in August and just this week has removed most restrictions.
COMCAR work was affected with less politicians coming to Canberra and strict protocols in place when driving clients. At least, there was much less of my least favourite part of the job, the after-dinner pick-ups. The hours are certainly less and there seems to be more drivers quitting. My plan is to keep at to get to the 10 year mark but this is subject to change. I have been re-instated to a BMW 620GT but they are no longer being imported to Australia so there will need to be a new replacement sorted soon. Probably electric as COMCAR have been trialling a few electric options.
Krysia’s work is as busy as ever, complicated by much having to work from home. I’ve had the odd COMCAR on-line meeting at the same time as she has had one of hers ! Quite funny when one can’t hear what the other parties are saying.
With a second wet winter in a row, Lake George near Canberra is almost full, first time in about 30 years. I don’t want to appear ungrateful, but we have had soooo much rain. All dams are overflowing , hopefully fire-fighters will have a quiet summer.
More dramas with our magpie family. A young chick fell out of the tree, again like last year in miserable weather and was rescued from the road. We built it a cubby but I never saw the parents feed it. Sadly, I buried it near our Mulberry tree. Then the good news, there was a second chick and this one has grown and survived. However, the Mum didn’t look healthy and we haven’t seen her for many weeks now.
Michael has finally got Development Approval for his houses next door. He has been busy doing some major fixes to our Red Hill property and we can expect some serious activity in the new year. His willing apprentice is on Stand-by. He and Eva have set a date for their marriage next year !
The usual place we go for weekends near Wollongong has come off the holiday rental market. Krystyna has struck up a direct relationship with the owner so we are back to having the odd weekend done there. I do have to say that despite its loveliness, it has the Driveway from Hell and it is quite unsafe to join such a busy road. We had 2 stays there this year, once in Winter and once again in early December. Sad to say but the Winter stay was probably a bit warmer or at least, we had packed winter clothes. The December visit was wild and woolly. Lots of rain and cold winds. Even with such weather, the sounds are magnificent. Still, Jetemia has such a ball down there with everyone looking after her. She even walks Eva’s dog Caesar !
Breaking with tradition and starting this in June. Could be a short one as COVID has curtailed much of life as we know it! Well, that worked well, it is now November so I should really try harder.
Have no recollection of last year’s XMAS and New Year but that’s pretty normal these times. All we knew was that we were glad to see the last of 2020 (and the big orange Trumpster). Didn’t realise that 2021 would be as bad !
Dad would be proud of me, I keep a spreadsheet of Deakin rainfall. We did have some decent rainfall over the summer, so much so that I can’t remember any nearby bushfires.As I do the finishing touches to this letter on 10 Dec, 1086mm for the year to date with more to come.
Now, Facebook can be useful, I’ve checked back over my posts for the year to see what happened. I’m happy to report that much pizza has been consumed and we are so delighted by the visits of Jetemia and Alex to the house, each and every time. It can be tricky when she doesn’t want to go home, she shows signs of being very strong willed. I have 2 dedicated solo baby-sitting spots (subject to COVID lock-downs) for looking after her, Monday afternoons and Thursday mornings. Cuteness personified when she strikes her yoga poses !
We have a few routines, we go looking for birds in the driveway, we play with the DUPLO and the tent in the lounge room. Always worth a visit to Krysia’s bed side table to check out the sprays and the humidifier. She loves remote controls (especially talking into them like they’re phones) and pushing buttons is her speciality. She doesn’t mind having books read to her but she does love watching videos of children’s songs on PCs or phones – we are aware of not letting her do too much of this. She has a huge vocabulary of words she understands and her spoken vocabulary continues to grow – “Ma Ma” is her favourite! She is very observant. Playgrounds are always worth a visit though it can be tricky when she is sick of the stroller. Krysia and Alex have been taking her to near the zoo when she can see the reindeer and the giraffes.
A few rides to the coast for me, both to the Bateman’s Bay Area and once to Jervis Bay.
A party was held here for Jetemia’s first birthday, I’m not sure she noticed all the fuss or appreciated all the presents, but she met her obligations of being gorgeous!
Canberra’s good run with COVID was to come to an end, mainly due to NSW incompetence when the Delta outbreak hit Sydney and their Government basically did nothing for 2 weeks. Canberra went into Lockdown in August and just this week has removed most restrictions.
COMCAR work was affected with less politicians coming to Canberra and strict protocols in place when driving clients. At least, there was much less of my least favourite part of the job, the after-dinner pick-ups. The hours are certainly less and there seems to be more drivers quitting. My plan is to keep at to get to the 10 year mark but this is subject to change. I have been re-instated to a BMW 620GT but they are no longer being imported to Australia so there will need to be a new replacement sorted soon. Probably electric as COMCAR have been trialling a few electric options.
Krysia’s work is as busy as ever, complicated by much having to work from home. I’ve had the odd COMCAR on-line meeting at the same time as she has had one of hers ! Quite funny when one can’t hear what the other parties are saying.
With a second wet winter in a row, Lake George near Canberra is almost full, first time in about 30 years. I don’t want to appear ungrateful, but we have had soooo much rain. All dams are overflowing , hopefully fire-fighters will have a quiet summer.
More dramas with our magpie family. A young chick fell out of the tree, again like last year in miserable weather and was rescued from the road. We built it a cubby but I never saw the parents feed it. Sadly, I buried it near our Mulberry tree. Then the good news, there was a second chick and this one has grown and survived. However, the Mum didn’t look healthy and we haven’t seen her for many weeks now.
Michael has finally got Development Approval for his houses next door. He has been busy doing some major fixes to our Red Hill property and we can expect some serious activity in the new year. His willing apprentice is on Stand-by. He and Eva have set a date for their marriage next year !
The usual place we go for weekends near Wollongong has come off the holiday rental market. Krystyna has struck up a direct relationship with the owner so we are back to having the odd weekend done there. I do have to say that despite its loveliness, it has the Driveway from Hell and it is quite unsafe to join such a busy road. We had 2 stays there this year, once in Winter and once again in early December. Sad to say but the Winter stay was probably a bit warmer or at least, we had packed winter clothes. The December visit was wild and woolly. Lots of rain and cold winds. Even with such weather, the sounds are magnificent. Still, Jetemia has such a ball down there with everyone looking after her. She even walks Eva’s dog Caesar !