I am sure I will be echoing every generation of parents who have gone before us- but we really can't remember or even imagine a life before MacKenzie entered our world. And that was only eight weeks, two days and a handful of hours ago! Since I last wrote we have had visitors from Canberra, and took MacK on a whistlestop tour of the major family nodes on the East Coast. Needless to say, we took a photograph of him with absolutely EVERYONE we saw along the way... We haven't included all the pics in this blog, as the computer would probably blow up trying to load them in. See below for a link to an online album that has most of the photographs of our wee man.
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| MacKenzie Jack |
Clare, Phillip and Jasmine visited from Canberra, and were here for MacK's first ANZAC day. Not too sure how impressed the teenage-type kids were at getting up to attend a dawn service, but such is life. MacK almost made it through the service, but decided after the ode that a nice warm drop of milk (sans the rum) would be just the ticket. We really enjoyed their visit, and I am sure they equally enjoyed the escape from the onset of the southern winter.
Earlier in the year Jane and I had made the assumption that MacK wouldn't hold things up too much, and bought tickets for a trip south in mid-May. We flew into Sydney where we were able to introduce our little man to another bout of (thoroughly deserved) fussing from Jane's Aunts, Uncles and cousins. We nearly caught up with Paula, but unfortunately were working on different time/space continuums that weekend! Jane was attending a wedding as Melissa's date (much better looking than the alternative!) and I assisted Ron & Trish with a lunch for their families immediately after the wedding. Jane went to the 'breakfast', whilst I settled in for a 'bit of a catch-up' with Dave... (Just couldn't get over that Dave and Kirsty have moved to where the wedding was... just love coincidence).
After a weekend in Sydney, which included a ride towards Cessnock in too tight jeans wearing a helmet that only just fit, we drove to Canberra to spend a couple of days with Peter and Phyl. The weather was blissfully crisp and cool after the humidity of the northern summer, and we positively reveled in the sub-zero temperatures. Jane did push to turn the internal house temperature up to 16 degrees though...
We were able to introduce MacK to almost everybody along the way, and had plenty of time with friends over dinners. On the Monday, we drove to Canowindra, where we inspected a farm... but more later!
From Canberra, we flew to Brisbane (MacK's second flight where he didn't even open his eyes. Good little boy!) and stayed with Raf and Susan. We cooked for Susan to celebrate her 20-somethingth birthday, before heading north to the Sunshine Coast to introduce MacKenzie to Ken and Mary for the first time. MacK is so lucky- he has two complete sets of grandparents who love him dearly. There is only one problem- they are both Nanny & Poppy... I am sure he will be smart enough to figure out who is who!
On the Saturday, friends and family drove up from Brisbane and the Gold Coast to meet the young gentleman. Again he was happy enough to be passed around, and didn't seem to mind the 'snaparazzi'. We really didn't have a lot of time to relax on the trip, but it was fantastic to have everybody meet MacK.
Now for the other stuff and surprises:
The good life begins...
As you will have read, we went to Canowindra to look at a farm. Canowindra is a sleepy little country town a couple of hours north of Canberra, where it is perfectly normal (at least on the day we were there) for residents to ride their horses down the main street texting all the while...
The property is a part of an organic, biodynamic neighbourhood scheme. We have made (and subsequently had accepted) an offer on a property in the scheme. It is in two lots- a 5,000 square metre house block and a 25 acre farm block. The other enterprises in the scheme are wineries (two), figs, olives, market garden vegetables and organic lamb. All the homes are built on sustainable lines - think straw bale and mud brick. and the properties are exceptionally productive.
Our intent is to eventually increase our stockholdings (3 chooks would be lost on that size property!) to include rare breed pigs, goats, ducks, cattle and sheep. The pigs are to be the primary agricultural enterprise, and will need supplementary feeding. To do this, we intend to plant fruit and nut trees and have the pigs graze. The trees will take a good 7 - 10 years to be fully productive, so we now have a couple of years to plan.
We too will build from straw bale and mudbrick, and can't wait to get started. Needless to say, there will be plenty of parties. We will have to celebrate the first smoked hams and sides of bacon, the first properly matured cheeses, and possibly even the launch of the wine cellar. Prior to that of course will be the fencing parties, the bale raising parties and the plastering parties!
On another note, Tyson has finished the remodel of Mum and Dad's house. He has done a magic job, and the results are really unbelievable. See below a before and after, that still does no justice to the finished product.
Needless to say, the pictures above are the before shots!
