BIG WEEKEND

MY FIRST NIGHT WITH ETTA - just the two of us at sunny's while she and luke had a night in the city - hotel with pool and a restaurant meal.  they cycled in and back.   etta kept us both amused the whole time, she never stops.  

no trouble at all and i feel we really got to know each other a lot more.

Sunday Rene and family arrived for a picnic lunch after spending the night at mark's.   thrilled to know mark and lani are expecting a new baby very soon.

the kids were all very shy with each other at first and cal and mara just bombed out on the couch and slept soon after arriving.  but we all had lunch and headed off to the park, ron too.  all the kids loosened up and i know they'll be settling into Oz when they get here tomorrow :0)

it's wonderful to see them all and throw my arms around rene, it's been too long!!  4 years!

WHOO HOO!

I'M AT SUNNY'S  Today i'll be looking after Etta while Sunny and Luke have a night in the city, dinner and a nice hotel.  

AND TOMORROW RENE AND FAMILY WILL BE HERE!!  

Etta and i are making a birthday cake for Mara today, Mara turned 8 yesterday.

Yesterday morning, a large group of pelicans joined us all for morning tea after our swim at Indented Head Boat Club

CATCH UP

I'VE BEEN FORGETTING TO POST!!  i had a great train trip to bairnsdale and lakes entrance on the train, fares have been dropped drastically recently and it cost $3.60 to get home, train from bairnsdale to Melbourne, train to geelong and bus to Indented Head.  pretty good value, i'll be doing it more, exploring victoria.

there were huge storms the day before and all the way i could hear people on phones talking about trees down, power outages etc.   when i got to alan and meryl's they were cooking on a camp stove in the dark, wearing headlamps!!  outside there was a delicious aromatic chicken dish cooking in the closed bbq.  power came on just as we sat down

Next night we had the most beautiful dinner and relaxed evening,  

martinis with feet up, then bbq fragrant pork and fennel sausages and gorgeous veges, then home-made blackberry ice cream with amaretto biscuits (also home made that afternoon) and 

a lovely botrytis dessert wine

Meryl's

bread

Meryl has two of my collographs on the wall,

i'd forgotten i'd done them

HEADING HOME   swifties at southern cross

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WRECK2REEF

WHOOPS - wrote this on the 12 th and forgot to post it

 ON SATURDAY the annual Wreck2Reef was held at Indented Head.   The Salty Bitches first ever pole swim (600m) was held as a part of it, all welcome.   Sunny and Etta were down for the weekend and the weather was perfect, as it had been all week.  Warm sun, mild temperatures and beautiful calm clear water to swim in.

my first Ikm swim

from the yacht club

to the last boat

house

Last week i decided to train by swimming along the shore. It proved a good idea, swimming past the picnic table, the boat, unusual trees, boathouses proved to be incentives, each day i would swim on to one more thing and by friday i swam from the Yacht Club to the pier, my goal to work towards for the end of the year.   and now I've done it already - 1.3km.   So i was well prepared for the 600m on Saturday. It was a terrific day, a lot of WOWs came over from Torquay, there were masses of people on the shore.    The Salties swim was really well supported and we were pretty chuffed with the whole day.

came home to make a big yummy late afternoon bbq lunch.  Sunny and Etta stayed for two nights, Etta's such a little dynamo, running running all day long, busy doing things and kepping us busy too.  the water here is perfect for her and the vacant lot across the road is a good playground too. 

Pics from this week's swimming,  the water's been so beautiful

16 pelicans flew overhead

sometimes things just come together in a shot accidentally

the birdbaths are all being used, all kinds of birds. these little honeyeaters were funny 

this eerie little statue base in well and truly lodged in the 

sand at the start of the pier

 

SWIMMING SWIMMING

I'M IMPROVING on a daily basis - yesterday i hit 1km which was my goal for this year and it's only feb.   so now i think i'll concentrate on breathing and stroke.   the Wreck to Reef is on saturday and i've entered the Salties inaugural swim, not a race - a 600m fun swim.

it's lovely to see wildlife every now and then, here a banjo shark and a jellyfish, very graceful but i steer clear :0\

nice lunch on friday with the girls, we all turned up and had beautiful asian food at the Bao Place.

started working on my book again, my gastric health feels back to normal after being on the meds - they worked almost instantly :0)  And the longer swims are so great for my mood - i feel terrific

I'VE ENTERED sonja's portrait in the Darling Portrait prize, not really happy with parts of it but it's good to put it in the mix

SWIMMING IN DIAMONDS

THE LEMON MYRTLE denise gave me is flowering and the 

butterflies just love it