I
have just looked back and realised that our last post was 9 Nov 2017. I can’t
believe how quickly time runs away if you aren’t keeping a close look! In our
last post, Hugo was taking his first, rather tentative steps. Now he is running
around the house and climbing onto the table (and sometimes nearly falling
off).
To
bring the diary back up to date, since that last post, we packed up the Darwin
house (absolutely glorious fun in the back end of the build up!) which wasn’t
quite as smooth as we might have liked. Our removalists were fantastic, but we
had hoped to spend a couple of days preparing stuff for the packers. And by
preparing stuff I really mean culling the unnecessary dross you tend to
collect. And then work happened. After I had finished work for the year and
handed my portfolio over to my replacement (but before he started in the
position) the proverbial hit the fan.
Instead
of a couple of light and easy days peppered with farewell lunches and good
times, I was head down sorting out a bunch of urgent issues until the boss
kicked me out. He then called Jane to thank her for her sacrifices of the
previous couple of years. The role of Adjutant is busy, often thankless and
draining. It was fantastic for Jane to have that call. Having said that, it
didn’t do anything to alleviate the fatigue. I didn’t realise until after I had
left just how tired I was. Jane of course was acutely aware…
We
had earlier made the decision to fly to Canberra rather than drive. Now that
was a decision that was a godsend. I reckon we might have made it to Humpty Do
on Day one before having to stop for the night (that is about 50km from Darwin,
making a long trip!).
We
spent a good couple of days on the farm, showing the house a bit of love after
nine or so months away, and had a good hit out at the electricity. We now have
lights, power and fans in the shed, and external lights on the house. Progress
knows no bounds…
Christmas
was nice and relaxed, here in Canberra, and we all enjoyed the transition from
the humid north to the dry Canberra summer. I was able to go foraging in the
streets around Canberra and have now identified sugar plums, another plum of
unknown variety, apricots and mulberries. We spent a couple of weeks in New
Zealand – a trip to visit family and friends and to show Jane and the boys
where I grew up. It was wonderful, but I will leave the details for following
posts.
We
finally got our new house in Canberra in mid January, and have almost unpacked
all the boxes. Peter and Phyl have taken advantage of our proximity to offload
some of what we have had stored at there place for a while… And I have been
enjoying baking bread with Harriet (sourdough starter) and the quality of the
fresh produce here.
Jane
(for all her concerns) aced the exam to confirm her last years’ worth of study,
and is about to kick off again. My year of study (being lucky enough to be
doing my Masters in Human Resources for Army) is about to kick off also. We
will be a family of academics for the year, but will still be up for spit
roasts and beers!
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