A quick catch up...

Apologies again for the lack of posts in recent months. Life up here is busy, and we don't seem to be doing much that is super newsworthy. Those are, of course, merely excuses, and like all excuses shouldn't really be entertained.

What I can offer though, is that over the last couple of months I have noticed I read less, and I was starting to get headaches when reading. I decided to get the peepers checked, only to find that as far as reading is concerned, they have gone 'kerflucketty'! Outside of that immediate distance they are fine, but... I am comforted in the knowledge that all eye muscles will tighten up between the age of 39-44, with the result being that reading glasses will be required. I dare say that there are a whole bunch of folks who just stop reading, but I enjoy it too much! It is certainly easier to write this post when the letters are crystal clear.

So - to satisfy your curiosity, these are my eyes. Perfectly healthy, with no macular degeneration, cataracts or glaucoma. They just don't read very well!

When we left you last, we were about to fly to Canberra. Jane was certified fit to fly, and we were away! We flew into Canberra, and had a lovely day in the cooler temperatures (until you live in the tropics, you have no concept of how debilitating it can be). We left MacK with Jane's parents and flew back to Brisbane for an overnight wedding. Again, the weather was lovely. The Kiwis present thought it was scorchingly hot... for us it was lovely and cool. Definitely jeans weather, and bordering on a sweater!

Pete decided to start to teach MacK the vagaries of chess, and some of the lads of the extended family

Back to Canberra for a couple of days before heading out to the farm. Our focus for this trip was a whole lot less on work, and more on fun. The farm definitely showed signs of a nine month period of neglect, with grass growing up through the verandah joists, and water coming in through some of the window frames. That was all easily fixed with a quick working bee, and then we could relax. We had our second 'movie on the deck' party - only this year was far too wet, and we had to move inside!

These are hanging in a neighbour's pantry on the farm. Such a motivation to be living there on a permanent basis!

Catering this year was camp oven styled, as the spit is with us in Darwin. We watched "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" two days before official DVD release - but don't feel bad, as we then went and bought a copy as it was so good! It was another brilliant night, with people rugged up in hammocks and deck chairs. Diem brought a ridiculously brilliant cake for us to share, and Ian brought his drone. It was a real highlight to see the farm and house from the aerial perspectives and we look forward to showing you those photos in future posts. We had the pleasure of Dave and Elise's company for four days. We think we are incredibly lucky, both with the families we were born with, and the village we choose to surround ourselves with.

We also planted the first of our orchards - this was the citrus grove. Seventeen trees have gone in the ground, ranging from mandarins and kumquats to oranges and lime. We have doubts about the native finger lime, but will see how we go. Sam, MacK, Pippa and Emily helped me plant the trees, while all the adults brought chairs down to sit and watch!!! I didn't realise that horticulture is a spectator sport... Looking forward to getting back to the farm in January and seeing how they are going - and (unfortunately) cutting off all the fruit that might be there.

Future citrus delights, the first sun in what seemed like months, and Diem's cake - gorgeous

                           

MacK with his mate Dave  (R)

An arty look at the house through Golden Queen Peach blossom (L)

(L) MacK supervising the delivery of more site building stores

(R) Some of the lads making up Jane's 'Axis of Evil' - Dave K, Ian, Steve, Leigh and Pete

Back in June I wrote about MacK planning a soup for dinner - a couple of weeks ago he made it. I had all the ingredients ready, and he took charge. He directed the order of proceedings, and in case you are wondering - the herbs were for flavour, and not decoration! It was a really nice soup - roast vegetable and chicken broth, with bacon and herbs.

 

The cook at work!

In other news, my boss at work is posting out to Canberra later this year. He worked our metalsmiths hard in his two year tenure, with lots of really challenging projects. To repay him, they came up with their representation of the unit mascot - a water buffalo. They had to weld 65x65mm bars of aluminium together to create the stock for the buffalo, and then cut and shape with a plasma cutter. Truly great craftsmanship. It is a pleasure to be able to watch these guys at work - and to know that there are still proper, old fashioned craftsmen and women out there.

The 1 CSSB Buffalo. Hand built and carved!

I have been doing a bit of cycling in the last couple of weeks, and have discovered a really good track that runs along the coastline. Imagine my surprise to see the sign below as I cycled along the path. You will be thankful I managed to avoid the naked bum that was threatening to be included in the picture! I find it vaguely amusing that on a coastline where it isn't safe to swim in a wetsuit that there are folks jumping in the ocean in a birthday suit. Still, it would be fitting if Darwin was the home of the Darwin Award...

Last week we decided to take a cruise on Darwin Harbour to view the supermoon. We had a good time - but the weather intervened to ensure that there was no supermoon for Darwin that night! The electrical storm was pretty good though.

Darwin Super moon cruise - Windy, wild and stormy!

Steve - The citrus prince supervising the planting.

  Jane with her triple chocolate mousse gateau. This was supposed to be a chocolate pavlova, until the tropics hit the mix and it collapsed. The meringue quickly became a chewy cake with the addition of flour and baking powder... Necessity is the mother of invention!