1998

17 Dec 1998 Schools Out
All the kids are now off out of school until early February. Plans are a bit light on, but we are expecting the Beatie family here for Christmas and several other gatherings of friends and relations. A week of camping down the east coast is planned for late January.

13 Dec 1998 Showtime !
This week saw the girls perform in two excellent performances. On Thursday evening Cath and Sarah sang in the school choir in a performance of Benjamin Britten's "Ceremony of Carols" in St Johns church. On Saturday the dance studio put on its Christmas show with magnificent performances from Sarah, Catherine and Elizabeth. It was a bit of a special occasion as their tap dance teacher is retiring and they may not continue next year... Meanwhile at home the Christmas tree is up and sparkling with decorations.

20 Nov 1998 Honda Rools! OK
After looking around for some time and considering several options Dave has finally got another car. '92 Honda accord station wagon. Liz is really pleased as she gets the use of the '82 accord at least until Chris manages to pass the driving test. This has meant a major tidy up of the various sheds in order to make room under cover for both. This included selling a couple of old kayaks, one of which was nearly sold complete with mother and baby possum firmly ensconced in one end.

15 Nov 1998 Party! Party! Party!
Well Liz has now finished exams and is in a more relaxed mode. End of term Ball has been and gone and the summer lies ahead. Chris still has exams next week before completing year 12 and Peter has his leavers dinner for year 10 next week. Chris and girlfriend Beth look dressed to kill. (Click photo for enlargement)


5 Nov 1998 - CDs R Us (NOT)
Chris had trouble obtaining the CDs he wanted locally and ordered half a dozen via the 'net. A week later, the great excitement when the parcel arrived soon turned to a very long face when he found they had sent the wrong ones! Anyone interested in Canadian Brass bands drop us a line. I think some people may get interesting Christmas presents this year. CD-Universe have promised to send the correct ones so we are still waiting...

28 Oct 1998 - Pocha Hondas
There seem to be more Hondas in the drive than you could poke a stick at at the moment. We are currently car-sitting a 94 Prelude belonging to a friend as well as our 82 Accord and 94 XL180. The Prelude has a reputation for being quick as owner has collected so many speeding tickets he has lost his licence for a spell. Its in our garage to remove the temptation. We have to run it now and then to keep the battery charged though ;-)

16 Oct 1998 - Vote for Chris
Chris turned 18 to-day, pity the federal and state elections were two weeks ago (hehe). There was a bit of a party here with lots of his mates dropping in, but it all went of quite quietly with only a couple of people ending up in the pool. Liz is all dolled up and off to the university ball tonight. (we won't be waiting up for her return)

7 Oct 1998 - 9 Hills ?
The Hill family seems to have increased by two this week. Please welcome Fergus and Cedric, two furry guinea-pigs. A Cage has been hastily re-juvenated from behind the shed and they seem to have settled in well. At this stage Catherine and Sarah are being good mothers and they have food, water and bedding.

4 Oct 1998 - Flipping web pages
Chris seems to be into rap & hip-hop just now and has created a web page for one of his favourite groups. You can check it out at www.home.aone.net.au/flipmode

14 Sep 98 - Disappearing kids
Its two weeks of school holidays now and the kids are hanging around the house complaining of not enough to do, UNTIL.... Dave starts setting to work to clean up the pool and suroundings ready for spring and next summer. Suddenly there is no sign of them anywhere.

28 Aug 98 - Rapunzel & the Witch

It was dress-up day at school to-day. Cath went as Rapunzel with long braided tresses and Sarah as a witch, complete with broomstick.

8 July 98 - Cath turns 11
Catherine's birthday to-day!! Lots of presents to open, and the party is on Sunday with all her friends coming. Pass the parcel in wrapped up and the pinyata is made. Not much news reported lately as Dave has been working weekends for the past month and not much time for this stuff.

12 Jun 98 - BFG sighted in Hobart
Its school holidays here at the moment for 2 weeks. Denise took Cath and Sarah to Hobart for a few days, staying with the Beatties. While there they saw a full size puppet rendition of Roald Dahls's Big Friendly Giant. Liz is studying hard for exams which are fast approaching.

30 May 98 - Who you know!
Its not what you know but who you know that counts in Launceston. One of Chris's skate-boarding friends spotted someone with Chris's skateboard. They have now been persuaded to return it. The dreads are gone, brought about by a desire to find work? or recent female companionship? who knows but the result is an improvement.

23 May 98 - Cath's Concert Band wins Launceston Competitions!
Well they won their section and put on an excellent performance. Well done Cath (and Mr Scott). The clarinette and group also performed creditably as well as the choir which also included Sarah.

16 May 98 - ..... with brass knobs on
Meanwhile Dave is busy fixing all the doors that don't shut and replacing all the handles with lockable brass ones. No more intruders while contemplating in the smallest room :-)

15 May 98 - Win Some.... Lose Some...
Peter often misses out a bit as his birthday is right after Christmas. This year after having many problems with a second-hand bike, he is now the proud owner of a new mountain bike, front suspension, alloy wheels an' all... On the down side Chris has a long face as his skateboard was stolen from his locker at college this week, recent female companionship his only solace :-) ...... he has even trimmed the dreads!

2 Apr 1998 - Jury is In
Denise spent some time this week balancing the scales of justice on jury duty in Launceston supreme court. Outcome is yet unknown.

20 Mar 1998 - Tim Snips
Durring a recent trip to Sydney Dave managed to catch up with cousin Tim Findon, the legendary hairdresser of Busby Hair in Bondi. Much time spent mulling over times past and present in trendy Tim locations.

15 Mar 1998 - OctoRuss
Russ Bowen (Grandpa to the hill kids) turned 80 to-day. A large family lunch was held (click photo for enlargement), follwed by afternoon tea for 80 or so more friends and relloes from around the state. The cake was topped with a sugar bee-hive complete with bees which kept the conversation buzzing. Happy birthday Russ.

15 Feb 1998 - Pommie Sheilas

As part of a round the world and around Australia trip we were pleased to see niece Tracy Mayes and her friend Tamsin, who are spending a couple of weeks in Tassie. Liz is taking them down the east coast for a few days before she goes back to uni the following week.

10 Feb 98 - Another fine day for skateboarding !
Chris picked up another fine for skateboarding in the otherwise unused city square to-day. $50 this time. It's an expensive hobby Chris. (The council seem to have got his name wrong on the ticket so he might get away with it this time)

31 Jan 98 - ( 5 = 7 )
Our fifth offspring, Sarah, turned 7 to-day! The usual party/bbq with family and friends ensued. Liz is off camping down the east coast with some friends this week, Denise and the others probably going down to Hobart to see the tall ships, leaving Dave to batch for a few days.
18 Jan 98 - Keeping in the picture
The pictures have been updated to-day!

12 Jan 98 - He'll be back
We have a pottaroo (ankle high kangaroo) living in our courtyard, christened "Arnie" by the girls. He drops in just after tea each evening. We often have to chase him back outside. Its dry and brown here now, grass is crunchy underfoot, had to turn down the pool solar heating to keep it refreshing in the heat.

11 Jan 98 - Tamagotchi update
Catherine's is thriving, now 11 years old! Sarahs seems a bit tempermental and packs its bags and runs away nearly every day, maybe she's not cut out for motherhood?

6 Jan 98 - Liz makes Deans Roll of Excellence
Liz's 5 high distinctions and 3 distinctions in her first year exam results earned her a place on the deans permanent role of excellence. Onyer Liz, keep it up.

4 Jan 98 - Licensed to thrill
Chris passed his motorbike test to-day and is now dreaming of a CBR. (However one girl taking her test at the same time failed as her CBR/250 could not do a U-turn in the required distance... hehe)