I am the Garbage Man

- Jack bringing in the bin

30 Cheers for Peter

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETER

Here we are at the Meewah restaurant to celebrate the event :-)

Melbourne celebrations were even higher key, up in the air on a ballon trip over the city with Bianca. (We are still waiting for some pictures.)

Followed by - more celebrations :-)

Lunch for 22

Christmas lunch was a great family occasion with all 7 hills and many partners and close family and friends. The magnificent Turkey and Christmas pud provided by Sue and Greg from Deloraine went down very well as did the many other exceptional dishes brought by other guests. Many thanks to all who were there and helped make it a special event.

From this picture it seems some practise is required to get everyone looking at the same camera. Maybe better next year.

Some pictures from the day are available here

Deck the Halls

No holly here, but the Christmas tree seems to be regulation ceiling touching and the girls are dressing it from a large selection of memorable danglings, some dating back to school projects :-)


It will look even better once surrounded by presents. . . .

Putting on the Ritz

Cath and Sarah have started tapping again with the teachers they had when Sarah was 3.

Here they are. . . . enjoy :-)

Exam Results in

Sarah now has her final exam results for the year:

3 Distinctions and one Credit :-)

Well done Sarah, one more year to go. . . .

Santa's Workshop

The elves seem to have been busy again . . . .

KIWI Land

Liz recently attended an IVF conference in NZ and the rest of the family, including both grandmas went as well.


They all enjoyed a few days in Auckland and then relaxed at the Bay of Islands for a few more.


More pics here

Chris on the move

Things seem to be on the move in Manly. As the pure fruit icy pole business grows, they have bought an old US Postal van (from West Virginia) to convert to a mobile vending/delivery vehicle, which is currently on the high seas.

Meanwhile Chris is taking a much deserved break, checking out the Mayan culture in Mexico starting in Cancun , then cacao farming in Costa Rica, followed by a couple of weeks on the Costa Rican surf beaches. Sounds like a great adventure :-)

Engagement Party

Many family and friends joined Cath & Ryan to celebrate their engagement.


Pictures here. . .


A great night, enjoyed by all :-)

Girls best friend

So now its official - and the celebration bash is set for the 6th October ! !
The wedding will be at Brickendon on the 9 March 2013
(Click on pic for detail view)

New Crop

Sarah has celebrated the beginning of summer with a new shorter hair style. And tried it out for a week-end trip to Sydney, catching up with Chris and Alice and viewing the sights. . .

A lot of Hot Air

Whilst many boys are excited by cars, trains, guns or TV characters,   Jack is very taken with hot air balloons.   Candle power was not enough but luckily. . .   Rob found a great blowtorch for a burner in the garage;    <-----  the results you can see in the video         Hmmmm. . . . . wonder what comes next. . . .

Nap Time

Max is 1

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MAX The Riley house-hold were a bit under the weather with the flu this week, but all had a good time helping Max to celebrate the occasion. There are a few more pictures here .

Whisky-Wednesday

Cath and Ryan recently spent a week-end in Melbourne and the drinks trolley seems to be well stocked at the moment.

Following ancient tradition; family members and friends gather to partake in sampling malt whisky on Wednesday evenings. Often follwed by a meal at a nearby restaurant.

(Toasting Max's 1st birthday to-day. Pics to follow. . . )

Ring Ring

CONGRATULATIONS!

To Catherine and Ryan who have announced their engagement.

Rumour has it that the wedding will be around March next year.

Stay tuned for more details as they come to hand. . . .

Happy CathDay

Cath has reached a quarter of a century ! As the days are very short here at this time of year she is having a birthday week to celebrate. (apparently a tradition learnt in Faversham) Denise put on a magnificent family banquet, Dave made a cake and other activities included High-Tea with Liz in Hobart and lunch at Josef Chromy vineyard. Cath thinks there are two pictures of Sarah in the mix. Which ones do you think?? One near the middle with sunnies maybe? There are a few more pictures here . There is also a prize for an accurate count (click on pic to enlarge) - put yours in the comments below. . . . .

Free Parking

More sawdust in the workshop has resulted in a toy wooden garage (click pic for detail). Complete with Diesel and Unleaded fuel pumps, Car-wash, Showroom, Lift, Boom gates, up the ramp to the workshop with hoist and engine analyser. . . . . and more parking on the next level by the Heliport.

It currently appears to be a Subaru dealership.

It may be heading to Jack for Max's birthday :-)

Surprise visit

Chris and Alice surprised us this week-end. They had managed to score a free week-end at Cradle Mountain Lodge courtesy of the Gourmet Traveller. (lucky for some)

We did manage to meet up briefly for a quick snack at Silverwater. It was cold even before going up the mountain, but judging by the eye-wear obviously sunny.

When I'm 64

When I got older; lost all my hair. . . . .

To mark the occassion a bit of a family get-together was held at a rented shack at Binalong Bay. Much beer and wine was drunk and much food consumed, but still, the jigsaw got finished and the fire was kept roaring. Sand castles were built and demolished although it was a bit cool for swimming it was a bright sunny week-end.

Many thanks to Peter and Bianca for making the trip from Melbourne and Liz and Rob for driving up from Hobart.

There are a few pictures from the week-end here .

Jack is 3

Jack turns 3 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK

To celebrate he had a Pingu (the penguin) themed birthday party, complete with icicles and snow (great job Liz) with all his little friends from playgroup.

In the afternoon Denise,Dave, Cath and Sarah arrived and celebrations and present opening continued.

There are a few pictures from the party here .

Magic Sydney

Denise and Rosemary recently spent a week in Sydney, staying with Chris and Alice.

While there they managed to take in "The Magic Flute" at the Opera House and "La Traviata" performed on a floating stage in the harbour and generally had a great time relaxing in and around Manly.

There are a few pictures here from the trip.

Tow Truck to the Max

After a month or so making a large quantity of sawdust in the garage, Dave has cobbled together a push-a-long/ride-on tow truck for Max. It is based loosly on a picture Liz found on the internet.

It is awating a test drive but no suitably qualified (size wise) drivers available at the moment.

Click on the picture for a closer view.

Up Deep Creek (With a paddle)

Dave and Denise spent a very pleasant weekend camping at Deep Creek; (Just north of Eddystone Point) on the East coast. The weather was perfect for exploring the many miles of beautiful white beaches and headlands of the Bay of Fires and kayaking up the creek.

(click on the picture for the full vista)

Miltiades Record

And on the subject of ships, here is a journal written and collated by my great grandfather in 1874 when he signed on as purser on the good ship Miltiades.


You can view or download the complete journal from here.


(Not exactly current news I know, but we will get back to that)

Navy Life circa 1914

Seeing Cath's Siberian travel diary reminds me of some sketches drawn by my grandfather when he was in the navy.

You can view or download the complete sketchbook from here.

or download the pdf here.

Siberia - the diary

Diary from a long train journey by Catherine Hill

View or download this to read and enjoy from here.



There are also some pictures here from parts of the journey.

3 Men in a Boat

Jack, Max and Rob drifting around honeymoon bay in Dave's kayak with a bit of propulsion from Liz. (click for larger picture)

We spent a lovely week-end camping at Coles bay with Liz and family. A little rain but all in all a delightful time had by all.

There are a few more pictures here.

Another Birthday Girl

Denise is still young enough to have birthdays and we went out to celebrate the latest. Doug and Rose, Cath and Ryan, and Sarah and Danny joined us at the MeWah for an excellent chinese dinner.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DENISE!

There are a few pictures here, including the Bombe Alaska