Life Goes On

Ok. It's been too long since I posted. As a result I'm going to do a 'whistle stop' tour of duty as it stands......

Back in February Ma and Pa left. We saw them off in fine style, over several days. This is at a restaurant for a farewell dinner the night before they left.

Meanwhile, The Baby Angel has landed squarely in the "I am a teenager, it's all about ME" phase.....
And yes. I'm afraid that is what her handwriting looks like.

In the week before the kids came back to school, the staff at my new place of employ went on a team building trip to the beautiful Hills District of Adelaide (don't ask me what that girl is doing with the apple! Disturbing!)

Here are some of my lovely friends, that I now get to work with, on our morning tea stop. And here's some of the beautiful things we saw whilst walking through the Mt Lofty Botanical Gardens.
Later in February, we went on our annual family sojourn to Port Vincent where Himself and
No 2 Son sailed two heats in the State Championships.

It was an eventful few days, marked as it was on the first night, by our family totally scaring off Himself's young crew! I guess it has to be said that we are competitive card players and somewhat melodramatic in our affectations. He was completely thrown and couldn't tell when we were being silly and when we were being serious. In a flurry of confusion and affront he stalked off into the night of the campsite leaving us all slightly bewildered. Fortunately he likes sailing enough to continue doing his 'crew' thing for Himself, although he hasn't spoken to us much since. Oh well. You can't please all of the people.......

On the Saturday, Small Boy, the BA and I walked on the beach with the tide out.
Chillin' after raucous card games.


Seaweed poppin'.

I love this picture of the Small Boy. There's a hint of teenager about him now. He'll be 13 in July.

And on our return I got to sleep in and read a book for a change, accompanied by two friends.

The tabby on the left is Pippin and he was the real reason for this photo. He NEVER sleeps on our bed since he fell out with Himself the day we moved into the house. Morticia on the other hand, practically lives on this bed. The amazing part of this picture is that she is on MY side!!!!

Port Vincent Revisited

Our annual sailing regatta holiday weekend over to Port Vincent on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula was a little shortened this year as the timbre of our lifestyle subtly adjusts to having another teenager in the house. Oh I know the Baby Angel has been a teenager for a while now (over two years) but the real implications of this new phase of her life are just starting to make themselves felt.You see she now has a JOB! Yes folks, the dark and satanic McDonald's mill has yet another slave stoking the boilers of its cholesterol kitchens. Unfortunately, her shift was on Sunday afternoon so we had to leave early on Sunday to get her back in time. Added to this, being in the older age group for netball now means that her Friday night matches are not finishing until 10.30pm! So we didn't even leave until mid Saturday morning.
Nevertheless, the short time we had there was lovely.
Our lodgings were a little more luxurious than last year when the three kids shared a bunk room and Himself and I had a fold out bed in the living area.

We did have to accommodate the lovely Lady Engineer who has been recruited to replace me as crew. This was easy to do however, as she is delightful. 505s racing.

The weather was superb and some good sailing was had by all, the State Title being retained by The Other One* with No2 Son and his skipper coming in a close second in Gunshot*.
*(not their real names!)

Here's Gunshot returning to the beach after their win on the Sunday.


And here's Himself and the Lady Engineer returning after their 5th place....out of 7. LE has previously sailed on big boats so she is just getting her head around this small boat stuff. At least she knows what 'downwind' means though. Unlike me.


Himself took one look at this shot and said "Hmmm....mast needs more rake..."
Whatever that means. However, even I can see the poor state of the old sails on our 'new' boat. Compare the beautiful, crisp, tight cut of the sails on Gunshot with the saggy, wrinkled effort on Bad Jester. That costs you in speed.

Small Boy, the Baby Angel and I had a lovely afternoon on the beachfront whilst the sailing took place. There were no funny stories this year; only a minor hissy fit from the Small Boy and a delightful evening getting to know the Lady Engineer. One could almost be forgiven for mistaking us for a normal family.