Back again

We are back,
We had our short break away in a place called Mintaro. This historical village remains pretty much the same since its establishment. Thankfully it does have running water and power, not to forget the wood fire, Yipee!
The cottage we were staying in (Mintaro Hideaway) was formerly known as Jollys house. It was built in 1856 and was the home of Mintaro's carpenter and undertaker, Henry Jolly. The walls are about a foot thick in stone, which proved to be very toasty once the fire was going.
As you can see by the pics, it rained. A lot! I think South Australia should hire our family out as rain makers as it always seems to pour when we go away on holiday.
Not to be deterred by the rain ( after all it is a winter holiday ) we carried on with our outings. Visiting Mintaro's Maze - with umbrellas, Middleton Hall - with umbrellas and of course wine tasting, umbrellas not required.
Both boys packed their guitars but only Gary seemed to be doing any practice on a regular basis, though Connor was pretty good at pulling his guitar out at bed time. Any excuse I guess.
It was a true winter holiday with lot of sleeping in, reading books and sitting by the fire. One piece of decadence was the huge spa bath in our cottage. Connor's eyes nearly popped out of his head at the size of it and he couldn't wait to fill it with water and bubbles. A happy hour was spent by him on the second night sloshing around in the bath, making beards out of bubbles and then 'shaving' them off.( sorry, I wasn't allowed to take pics )

and we are off . . .

Smile McCarty family.
The kids and I were looking back over the holiday snaps from January and I thought it would be nice to do something with the big McCarty holiday photo.
The first week of the school holidays are over and we are organising to go away for a few days as of tomorrow. We are heading inland a bit to a place called Clare, so it will be a true winter holiday. Thankfully our little cottage has an open fire and has the added bonus of being on the Reisling Trail cycle route. Everyone is looking forward to a bit of a getaway from the every day grind.
Gary had a work course today so it was just Eilish and I up to watch Connor play his rugby. It felt like true Wellington weather (bloody cold) and I was pleased of the coffee cup to wrap my hands around. Connor did well, scoring the first try and managing some fairly impressive tackles. He also got winded being tackled by the opposition and collected a war wound when his leg was sprigged. We may make a rugby player out of him yet.
Will update more when we get back.
ttfn.

Winter is here

It is certainly starting to feel like winter here now. No more watching Connors rugby in my sundress I think. With a definite nip in the air I thought I would dig out our ski pics from last year and do something with them. This one of Eilish is hopefully the first of a few pages I aim to do.
We went to a friends place to watch the rugby on Saturday. Yes, there are people that watch the rugby in Adelaide. Admittedly a lot of them are kiwis'. As we saw the weather in Wellington we couldn't help but feel pleased that we weren't there. It looked terrible. A good result for the All Blacks though.
The kids are now on school holidays for two weeks and in true winter holiday form the weather here is looking fairly horrible. We will have to make up a list of indoor things to do over the next few days to keep them from killing each other.
At this point in time the kitchen looks like a bomb has hit it but the homemade bread and muffins have gone down a treat. The kids are busy upstairs making forts in their bedrooms as they still don't have the wardrobes in dividing the rooms up. The call has gone out for more pegs to hold up sheets. I remember all the fun my brother and I used to have as kids making train forts in the lounge. It is nice to see the kids doing something that doesn't need plugging in.

Remember Me?

I know it has been a long time but I am putting it down to moving countries. A good excuse I feel and I am sticking with it. Finally started scrapbooking again and am now remembering the headaches I used to get trying to decide on just the right colour combination. Anyway, thought I would start my digiscrapping in a new country with a page on me. Just in case any of you had forgotten what I look like, lol.
It is a nice page I think, reminding me of the many warm sunny days that I did experience in NZ. Perhaps that is why I have done it, to have photographic evidence so to speak.
Well we are all settled in now and the kids are already inbetween with their accents. Neither one nor the other.
Eilish is like a pig in mud and so happy to be back with all her buds that she almost glows. Connor has also settled in with all his old friends and has started back at his old ruby club. He is quite chuffed actually because the NZ training was more intensive than it is here and he is now towards the front of the pack in ability. We may not have to get a tutu for him after all.
Gary and I have been enjoying the location of our new place in that it is so easy to walk everywhere. We have now visited a few of the local pubs, slowly ticking them off the list. Have managed to find one within walking distance that actually plays rugby. Believe it or not this is quite an accomplishment in South Australia.
The kids have joined us on a couple of Saturday evenings for a beer and chips over the rugby (kids have fizzy, not beer in case you were wondering).
Tomorrow we are having a mid-winter Christmas party with all of our old neighbours coming over for it. The tree and decorations are up and secret Santa pressies under the tree. I just have to do a pile of cooking in the morning and then it is time to party on. Hopefully I will remember to pull the camera out and use it. Depends on who is pouring the bubbly I guess.
So a very belated hello to everyone. Look hard at my pic in case you have forgotten me :-} and dont forget to leave a comment.
ttfn

On a Jet Plane

'The time has come . . .' the walrus said.
The past couple of weeks have been bittersweet as we move through our farewells with friends and family. Some have been very hard, but it is good to know NZ is only a short skip away.
I hope to see some if not all of you at some stage visiting Adelaide, it is a lovely place.
The kids are literally bouncing off the walls with excitement. It has been 6 1/2 months since we have seen Gary. The kids have grown a lot in that time and I will have to remember I am not Queen anymore.
It will be nice to be back together as a family instead of communicating by text and msn. We already have our first camping trip in the planning stages.
The suitcases are all packed and the kids have checked under the beds (or so they say). It is going to be a bit of a weightlifting exercise getting the suitcases in the car. Who knew clothes could weigh so much.
So to all our friends in NZ, thanks for the great times and memories, it has been a blast.
To those in Adelaide, hold on to your hats. Here we come.
P.S I finally finished my Connor page and here it is.


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