Thursday, January 18, 2007

Imogen's 5th

That's 5th birthday, not 5th symphony, of course.

Last night Imogen uttered the previously unheard phrase "Can I go to bed now?"

She was up with Emily and Charlotte at 5:45am and we all opened her presents together. As a result of her presents she will be able to knit, sew and read complex 100 year old novels (The Wind in the Willows, if you're wondering. Alright, so it's only 99 years old. Surprised? I was!)

This evening we were fed at Jo's mum's with birthday cake and everything.

And what about the previous week? Well. My suggestion would be to start reading the following paragraph, and if you think it's really really boring, go back to one of the old posts and pretend we're on Thursday Island again. Ready?

We cleared out the garage.

What? Still here?

On Saturday we are having a party for Imogen and a small select group of friends and family where the house will be out of bounds. Much of the party will be in the garage. The forecast is for 38C heat, so we might be slightly mad. But the garage does have air conditioning. And a couple of fans. And it will have cake in. What more could you want?

Friday, January 12, 2007

Back on the Mainland

I've been prodded into action by discovering that a few observant readers checked the blog yesterday to see if I really was continuing to post on Thursdays. And I haven't. Until now.

So hello again, and happy new year.

This week we have all been trying to get back into out usual routine. I'm back working at Wentwest and Tharawal. Jo is preparing for her new job at ambulatory care in Campbelltown.

Imogen is revelling in seeing her friends Jem, Abbi, Emila, James, Kate and everyone else I may have missed. Emily and Charlotte have become addicted to pushing their dolls around in their buggies.

The garden is looking lovely, as there has been rain while we've been away - the first in about 400 years, and we've been eating home-grown cherry tomatoes.

On our arrival back at the house, April and Ethan had put up a big Welcome Home sign and left us with food. Having all the rest of the Picton gang visit that night made us feel very welcome.

Our next project is the visit of my parents, my sister and their twins in March. Could anyone lend us a caravan...?

Monday, January 01, 2007

Happy New Year


We treated today, the first day of 2007, like a seaside holiday, that just happened to be on Thursday Island. We walked to the jetty and enjoyed the clear turquoise water, watching the boats and the fish, looked back at the island as if we were looking at it for the first time. We noticed the bright flashed of pink and red flowers in the trees against the bright green of the island and the deep blue of the sky, and all was beautiful.


The rest of the day was spent with water, too - the paddling pool back on our balcony and the sea as the tide went out. High tide now comes up to the road, removing the beaches almost entirely.



Last night we had a barbecue by the beach for New Year's Eve, and several of the other doctors and their families came along. It was early, though, and we never came close to being awake when the New Year arrived. Earlier in the day, Nathan, Jess, Innes, Ziggy and Felix left to go back home. We'd had an impromptu meal on the shared lawn outside our houses the night before. We all cooked up the food we were trying to get rid of, and shared a feast - stir fry, roast vegies and fresh-caught fish. The strangest part of the evening was seeing a huge cruise ship park at the jetty and then sail out of the bay into the sunset. Apparently, our on call doctor had been contacted by the ship's doctor as they had someone ill on board. The patient had a look at the hospital to see whether they wanted to get off and be looked after here, and decided the hospital wasn't good enough, and got back on the boat! If the story is true....




The day before Imogen went out on Maryanne's boat (she's one of the hospital administrators, and very friendly) with Nathan and the boys. She was gone all day (about half a day more than we were expecting) but caught a fish, snorkelled, met up accidentally with the Arnold-Notts, who were camping on another island and came back exhausted but very happy. She's really looking forward to getting home now though. She's missing her friends.

We leave the day after tomorrow, so we are in the midst of packing now. And what will happen to the blog? Well, I've enjoyed writing it, and some of you have been kind enough to let me know you enjoy reading it, so I might continue it. So the title is not misleading, I'd probably update it every week, on a Thursday, of course.