2012 Comes To A Close...

As 2012 comes to a close...

The year that was -  Duncan Julia and I head to Tassie for Poppy's 1st Birthday. How great is that!

Duncan qualifies as a soccer referee.

Julia and Duncan turn 18

Duncan and Julia get their learners licenses.

Julia travels to Spain on a language tour.

Duncan, Percy and I spend Easter with Toby, Poppy, Henry, Sam, Lu, Robert & Kara - Perfect.

Percy headed to Redmond, Washington for EMUG conference.

Looking through the diary I see nearly every weekend from February to August is taken up with soccer,    really?

Percy is still playing tennis every Saturday, and loving it.

August Year 12 Trial Exams, and the fun begins.

Louisa joins the Country Women's Association, and loves it!

Year 12 Graduation for Duncan and Julia.

Sam, Lu and Henry come to visit.

Brother Tim is diagnosed with lung cancer, everything stops

                                     and stands still.





Big Hopes

It's only a small plant but look at these blooms.

I gave Percy's mother, Frances, an hibiscus when she lived on Ohope Beach, NZ.  I couldn't grow them in Tassie and hoped she would foster a plant for me.  She did of course, but as it happens, she and Paddy moved to Whakatane and I like to think the plant grew into a beautiful bush.

Now I can grow my own, in a pot of course so it will travel with me.

Touches of Summer

Frangipani flower found on our walk to the lighthouse in Newcastle.

Looks and smells just like summer.

Newcastle Trip

Day trip to Newcastle about 160 km north (2hours)

Quite a hot day - 35c, just a beautiful area.

We travelled on the Pacific Highway, avoiding the freeways, and staying close to the coastline.

Duncan drove, getting his hours up.  He did well as it was a fairly long stint behind the wheel.

Nobbys Beach Lighthouse

Walking out to the lighthouse on the causeway.  Goofy kids.

Looking back to Fort Scratchley

http://www.fortscratchley.com.au/

Nobbys Beach

I had always heard of Nobbys Beach, and now I've been there.  It was a happy accident really.  I saw the lighthouse as we drove through the city streets of Newcastle and thought lets take a look.

Quite an interesting area.  Huge port area.  We found a cafe in the beach pavilion and watched as huge storm clouds rolled in, lightning, with just a sprinkle of rain.

Great day out!

Julia's Gal Pals

Christmas get-together.

Anna, Julia, Monica and Sammy

Costco Cake.

Clarks took a trip to the new Costco.  Unfortunately they are not close enough for regular shopping trips. 

We found a familiar friend, slab cakes.  Nothing comes close size wise in Australia.

We also found Hershey Kisses, Nuggets, and Peanut Butter Cups. (American Chocolates)

 WooHoo!

Julia's friends were amazed that a cake could come this big.

We did our best, over a couple of days, but less than half of the cake was eaten.  Still it was worth it if only for the trip down memory lane.

December Starts

Pelican on the Hawkesbury River.

The CWA ladies, of which I am a member, decided a cruise on the Hawkesbury River would be a lovely way to celebrate Christmas. 

We boarded the Postman River Boat, leaving from Brooklyn Wharf and sailed up the Hawkesbury River.  Just beautiful scenery, a great running commentary from the captain highlighting historic points of interest on the way.

Jacarandas still blooming early December.  View from our deck.

Beautiful Jacarandas Line The Streets of Gordon

This is my walking route from the car to the train station.

How beautiful is this!

Spring has sprung, very different from a northern hemisphere November.

CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY

Queen Victoria Building, Sydney

You can just see the Christmas tree rising up 3 storeys in the atrium of the QVB

Christmas lights in The Strand Arcade, Sydney

Beautiful old world shops, all polished wood and wrought iron.

Love it!

Farewell to The Wiggles

Shopping with Sam, Lu and Henry in Sydney.

This is by the Queen Victoria Building, waiting for Sam to come out of Red Eye Records.

Henry at The Wiggles farewell show in Hobart.

Fun had by all!

1985... Blast From The Past

1985 - Sandfly, Tasmania.

Sam, seated in red l/sleeve top, and Rob, seated in two tone blue t/shirt.

Wow this brings back some lovely memories living in the old farm house.

Hmm...my dear boys.

TARONGA ZOO 2012

 Clark & Vince families head out to visit Taronga Zoo.

Percy took the lead, but whoops prams not allowed through this entry. 

But thank you Percy for the chance photo of the inside of the famous Zoo entrance.

After eating a huge burger for lunch, Henry is off to see the elephants at closer range.

Hurry up everyone!

Chimpanzees; the sun seemed to make them a little docile, until,

as expected, the younger chimps decided to liven things up.  Fun! 

My favourite photo.

Henry very much wanted to see horses/zebra, so when we finally found them - he really wanted to SEE horsey.

Whoa there Henry!

You did an awesome job, Henry. 

We all looked, and felt a little weary, but you were ready for fun!



What A Happy Boy You Are HENRY

Those Big Brown Eyes....

Is that a little grin I see there, Henry?

Having fun while mummy and daddy did some shopping at DFO (factory outlet stores) Sydney.

Henry Comes To Visit

 

What a wonderful time we had when Henry came to visit. 

Henry seem to manage the stairs fairly well, well until the last day that is, where he had a bit of a stumble which resulted in a large egg on his head.  The back yard was the place to be.  Running through the many leaves, riding the little car through the leaves was a great game.  Thankfully the weather was warm and dry.  Henry loved to feed the lorikeets and cockatoos that come to our deck. " More, More" was music to the birds ears.  Thank you, Henry.

Sculptures By The Sea - 2012

For the past two years we have tried to visit Sculptures By The Sea exhibit.  These sculptures line the cliff top path from Bondi Beach - 2kms - to Tamarama Beach.  This is Tamarama Beach showing the last group of sculptures.  Why photos of the last items, well, we drove to Bondi Beach on a lovely sunny Sunday, which happened to be the last day of the exhibit.  We, along with 10,000 other people decided today was the day!  We drove and drove until we found the next available parking spot and this was it.  Tired, hot and fed-up we jumped, out grabbed an ice cream, and walked to the nearest headland, thankfully it was Tamarama Beach.  Next year we will be different. 

Our dear George...

Today, our dear George died.

 

October 31, 2012

He was a sweet, crazy, silly, lazy, fat, dear cat and we miss him terribly.

Dear Little Man...

Henry and furry friend, Scruffy.

So cute!

Henry at the Hobart Show - 2012

 Little Man sure loves Diggers!

 And bunnies too...

Congratulations Duncan and Julia

St Ives High School   Year 12  Formal Dinner

held at

Doltone House

Pyrmont, NSW

September 19th 2012

Formal Evening, Sept 19th 2012

Julia, Duncan and Ashleigh.

Have a wonderful night my darlings.

Let The Transformation Begin

Well done Peter you did it!

We love the end result with lots of giggles getting there.

2012 SRC

Julia speaking on behalf of the SRC 2012 as they

gift money to the school to purchase a new lectern to replace the lectern shown here.

Great idea guys!

Graduation Night Sept 18th 2012

A quick photo before the Graduation Ceremony.

So proud of you both. 

Duncan your improvements in grades over the past 12 months have been commendable. 

You should be very pleased and proud of yourself, we are.

First in Engineering Studies.

Third in Industrial Technology

Julia you have organized your school studies, major works, Open High School work, SRC commitments, your casual job, and social life extremely well. 

Add to that a trip to Spain and you have had an extremely full year. 

Second in Ancient History

Third in Visual Arts

School Vice-Captain 2012

Medal of Excellence 2012

Extras from Graduation

 Balloons arched over a yellow carpet runway.  Lovely garden urns full of yellow marigolds and fern on the stage.  Flanked by topiary bushes.  All lovely touches provided by Year 11 parents.  A tradition held at St Ives High, where Year 11 parents step up to decorate and organize the Year 12 Graduation ceremony.

Outside we walked towards the gym on a path lined with pots of marigolds and tealights.  Lights were strung from the trees in the centre quad as well as fairy lights in topiary bushes lining the walk. 

This all added to a lovely atmosphere, totally transforming the school yard.

Again I wished I had taken more photos.

2012 Graduation Cake

Cut by SRC members,  Angela & Michael School Captains,  Julia and Michael Vice-Captains.

I hear it was very yummy.