It's been a while since I updated the blog.......about 3 months!!

Callie and Steven finally got to put the SOLD sign on their block of land in Valley View before Christmas and then last week the footings went in and hopefully the concrete goes down this week!!

We travelled home from Broome via the coast, spending 3 nights at Exmouth so that we could do so more snorkelling.  The weather was glorious and we warmed up on the beach between sessions.

We also stayed at Dongara for a couple of nights so that Bun could surf again. After looking at stand up paddle boards in Geraldton, Bun decided that he would try Ben's board and then make a decision about whether to get one himself.  Obviously he liked it haha because we now have one each....early Christmas presents :)

We had intended to catch up with Dot and Ray at Dalwallinu on our way through, but it was harvest time so the guys were working and Dot was in Perth for a couple of days.  It would have meant waiting for about 3 days and by that stage, we were very keen to get closer to home.

The photo below was taken on the jetty at Esperence on the way home.  The really bad fires started that morning and shut many roads in the area.  As we left the next morning, intending to head to Norseman and then back across the Nullabor, we had to backtrack west, north, east and then south to get to Norseman.  A  trip that would normally be 200kms took us 850kms!  So we managed to get to Cocklebiddy before stopping for the night.  We had thought about setting up the camper but opted for a motel room at the service station.  Thank goodness as it rained most of the night!!

So we got to spend a lot of time during December and January in Adelaide with the kids.  Ben got home from the UK in early December and is currently in Las Vegas for work....he's been working night shifts so that their work time corresponds with Australian time.  However he has had some time off on weekends and has seen the Grand Canyon, a David Copperfield performance and a Cirque de Soleil show so it's not been all work!  He's due back this coming weekend.

Josh and Kara are busy with their gorgeous family, it's been lovely to see how Kasiah and Kayah are growing and changing, we are loving the Nanny and Poppy time with them!  Kara was keen to make an outfit for the girls before Christmas so I was able to provide the sewing machine and some guidance and she did a great job!

I had a lovely day back at Winkie and indulged myself with making ruffles haha, so much fun to sew for little girls.

Ben came up with his board and  there were many trips to the lake over the week, Stevie got to have a short Winkie holiday so she enjoyed it too.

Bun tried out a vespa, thanks to Kym....don't think we'll be buying one though haha

I finally tried making nougat and it was delicious!!

We got to spend Christmas Eve with all the family at Josh and Kara's.  I took the tripod in hopes that we could get a good photo of everyone....I just kept setting the timer and this was the best.  We worked out that this was the first Christmas that we had together for 4 years so it was the best present!

After spending Christmas morning with Josh and Kara and the girls, we went to Winkie to Patty's for the rest of the day.  

There was some backyard cricket played and Bun decided that this was the spot for fielding.

Callie hitched a ride with Bun down in front of the Ski Club at Martin's Bend.

Stevie had a short ride with Bun before falling overboard and deciding to swim back haha

These are some of the photos Bun took at Deep Water Point.  I had trouble getting them off the camera but all good now.

He was pretty happy with the photo above as he reckoned he nearly got a "Stairway to the Moon"!!

The last photo is from the front of our van, looking towards the river at Boundary Bend in Victoria.  We arrived here on Sunday afternoon.  We did an on-farm training day at the almond property yesterday, it was bloody hot and we were standing around outside a lot of the time.  Bun is going to be supervising a group of people driving the V-sweepers, so that will keep him busy.  I will be driving a blower-sweeper.  It will take a little while to get used to I think, as it's all hand controls and no pedals :)

So now we sit and wait for the start date.  However, it means that we got to go paddling in the river this morning, had a swim at lunchtime and Bun went for a bike ride along the river this afternoon.  Tough times until the weekend I think ;) 

We'll probably go to Swan Hill on Friday or Saturday to do a food shop so that we're set for a while.  The caravan park here has a service station that does food too so we reckon we'll be right if we run out of food before we get a day off haha

We think it might be about 4 weeks of work but it will depend on the weather.

I think that's about it for now, hopefully it won't be quite as long before I update again.

Cheers

Anne